[2.6] Ten SkeleMages

- Zana Torture Chamber Boss Kill (7:00) - Using 6link Femurs of the Saints BBBBBG
- Rare Gorge #1 with temporal chains (~9:00) - Using 5link Femurs with Pierce + Slower Projectiles
- Rare Gorge #2 (~10:00) - Using 5link Femurs with Faster Casting + Minion Speed
- Rare Gorge #3 with chilled ground (~10:00) - Using 6link Femurs with Less Duration

I have played this build to level 84+ on 3 different SC characters:

1. 84 Scion in Talisman (no ascendancy). At the time, Dead Reckoning was bugged and didn't work with projectile support gems. This toon had to parked at level 84 because it couldn't progress anymore, despite having a 500es dual res shield (over 10ex). This was a lowlife, non-Shav's with 133% chaos resistance using Montrgul's Grasp. The 12 skelemages were only in a 3-link (Summon Skeletons + Spell Echo + Blind) because their damage was so bad.

2. 85 Scion in Ascendancy. The Necromancer node works, but the Scion's Deadeye ascendancy does NOT work for skelemages. No pierce, no extra projectile, nothing at all. It is completely blank for this build. The only other option is Scion's Juggernaut or Guardian, and I went Guardian. Note that you run all your auras on Generosity, you don't get Guardian's +12% attack and cast speed. I had to run a level 1 Clarity to get the bonus. A scion can get 12 skelemages by about level 70 because of her extra skill points.

3. 86 Witch in Ascendancy. This is the strongest choice. In fact, all summoners have to be Witches for Necromancer if you want to max minion damage. You get 45% from minor Ascendancy nodes, which is your strongest DPS source!

We get Mistress of Sacrifice so that our Offerings affect us and the skill duration is very strong, too, helping Skeletons, SRS, and various other things like curses and Vaal Haste. We can run a Bone Offering on our Cast When Damage Taken setup to give us more block when we need it (I have also tried using Desecrate there but it seems to lag and not work - the corpses arrive too late to be immediately used by Bone Offering. So I just use Cast When Damage Taken level 1 + Bone Offering + Immortal Call + Convocation).

From there you can choose Ascendancy passives to your liking that fit the rest of your build, whether it includes Zombies, Spectres, both, neither, Animate Weapon, Minion Instability, etc. The strongest I've found are the % mitigation per Zombie (witches easily die to big or rapid physical damage) and the +100% to Spectre life and damage (my spectres have NEVER died to damage after choosing this).

This build is centered around the Dead Reckoning unique Cobalt Jewel, specifically 4 of them (which is the max the passive tree can reasonably support).



Passive Tree for 4 Dead Reckoning and +6 max skeleton limit!

Dead Reckoning always grants +7-10% to minion elemental resistances. I have always been able to trade for 10% for 1 chaos or 1 alchemy, so it's a very cheap item. In fact, I have also tried to corrupt them for a useful corruption like +1-3% Chaos resistance.

Dead Reckoning is a threshold jewel. The special Skeleton Mage bonus won't work unless it is socketed into certain places on the passive skill tree with 40 intelligence within its radius (that is, near Witch, Templar, or the northern Scion slots).

Dead Reckoning modifies how the Summon Skeletons active skill gem works. Normally, Summon Skeletons summons 1 skeleton warrior per cast, up to your max skeleton limit. Skeleton limit is usually 5 from a Summon Skeletons gem, plus whatever you get on your passives and gear. Ways to increase your skeleton limit include:
- +1 from Queen's Decree
- +1 from Oberon's Warpath
- +1 from Midnight Bargain
- +1 from Catarina prefix master craft on a rare chest - if you have an empty prefix on your chest you can get fancy with this craft that most players don't even know exists. Note that prefixes are extremely powerful on a chest so you're very lucky if you have a usable that still is missing a prefix for Catarina to use.

Skeleton warriors don't require a corpse - simply cast them at a target point spending mana. They are less tanky than a zombie but more tanky than a raging spirit. Skeletons only last 20 seconds, modified by skill effect durations. They walk reeeeallly slow toward enemies hoping to melee attack them so you want to summon Skeletons close to targets.

Skeleton Mages are different than Skeletons Warriors. They still last 20 seconds, still walk slow, but instead of a melee attack, mages "cast" a projectile spell, a single floating ball of elemental energy, modifiable by cast speed supports and projectile supports. Each mage is randomly Fire, Cold, or Lightning (a reference to Diablo 2) so you can't rely on having all or even one of certain element, but you CAN rely on having a mix of all 3.

A popular trick is Spell Totem + Summon Skeletons + (Blind or something) which creates a totem that continuously summons skeletons. However, Spell Totem can't use Spell Echo, and the spell totem keeps summoning past the skeleton limit, so it starts despawning skeletons that might be already attacking, which is somewhat inefficient.

Self-casting Skeleton Mages can use Spell Echo, which summons 4 skeletons each cast at a target point on the ground. Spell Echo also gives the Skeleton Mages more cast speed, making Spell Echo the best support for mages, so we should always assume we are self-casting our skeletons and never using a spell totem.

I personally bind Summon Skeletons to my left click - I move freely by left-clicking as if it were Move Only, but holding shift + left click will summon skeletons at my cursor. You can alternatively do this with a Golem. Summoners often use every active slot on the hotbar so this lets you squeeze in an extra active skill.

You need 4 Dead Reckoning to get the required 12 skelemages (3 per jewel). You can slot them in one at a time as you reach the 50 INT thresholds in the passive tree. My preferred socket order is:
1st - Witch north
2nd - Near Elemental Equilibrium
3rd - Templar west
4th - Near Conduit

Tip: You can tell hover over the socketed Dead Reckoning jewel and it will say "Can summon up to 3 additional Skeleton Mages" if you've met the 40 INT threshold. If you haven't, it'll just say "+8-10% to minion elemental resistances".

Note: If you summon past your max count of skeleton mages, you get warriors. EVEN IF you have 12/12 mages, summoning more replaces 2 mages with 2 warriors, but then you start summoning mages again. GGG_Nick says this buggy behavior is the only way they got the skill to work at all. It's not a big deal, so don't be alarmed if you see a couple warriors in your army.

The end goal is to have 12 skelemages in a 5 or 6 link or in a +2 minion helmet.

Summon Skeletons - the main skill, being augmented by Dead Reckonings.
+ Spell Echo - deploys 4 skeletons per cast instead of 2, and double dips by making mages shoot faster
+ Minion Damage - the biggest "more" multiplier and best link
+ Faster Casting / Faster Attacks / Minion Speed - use Faster Attacks if you have mostly warriors, Faster Casting if mostly mages, or Minion Speed for a mix of both.
+ Pierce - now has a "more" multiplier and helps clear speed
+ Greater Multiple Projectiles / Lesser Multiple Projectiles - I have found GMP better
+ Elemental Focus - big "more" multiplier but no longer chill/shock/ignite. Mages can crit but it's a relatively low chance.
+ Slower Projectiles - Very pretty, big damage, but often missed monsters. OK for big bosses.
+ Faster Projectiles - Good at delivering the payload quicker
+ Empower - level 2 or higher raises the level of Summon Skeletons, making them stronger.
+ Less Duration - A red gem that gives more damage, only use if you are short on Chromatics. Your skeletons lose duration to maybe 15 seconds, which is still usable.

I setup my summoner where my resistances are capped and my auras work even with my main hand, offhand, and chest slot empty. From there I tried various weapons and chest slots.

In general, summoners need tons of gem slots! That means you'll make frequent use of Jeweler's Orbs, Orbs of Fusing, and Chromatics because the raw number of workable sockets is more important the stats that rolled on the gear. The reason: there is only one minion bonus stat to roll on rare equipment (+1 or +2 to minion gems on your helm)! You can only make your minions better with links, auras, passives, and jewels, and maybe some unique summoner-themed unique gear.

- Normal Oak (if life-based) for +40 life, otherwise Kill All
- Cruel Kill all for skill point. You can go cast speed if you are SRS.
- Merciless Kill All for skill point (we don't use charges).