[3.9] Discomancer - Skeleton Mages | SSF HC viable | All Content | Budget

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AkumaNoTsubasa wrote:

Hello there,

welcome to my Skeleton Mages + Spectres Necromancer Build.



Do you like my guides?
Help me build a new computer as mine is dying currently and I can not afford a new one: https://www.patreon.com/AkumaNoTsubasa


Until last patch this guide didn't need any updates as it still was ready to go but with the new changes I thought it is time to fully rework.

Pros:
- Dead Ass Cheap (Currently ~80 to 90c for your own full setup + 5-20c for animated guardian gear)
- Totally SSF viable
- Even HC Viable
- Skele Mages = Disco on your screen
- Too much DPS for little investment

Cons:
- For Endgamebosses we need to switch GMP for Slower Projectiles
- Need to cast Arc to keep Elemental Equilibrium active

Path of Building: https://pastebin.com/X8fKhFrs
Warnings:
1. The rings are Vermillion Rings, NOT Cerrulean. They are not yet implemented, so I had to rewrite the Cerrulean ones!
2. The rare gear is just a reference to show you how easy you can achieve numbers. You do NOT need to purchase the gear 1:1 as shown.
3. Rewrote the Dead Reckoning as it hasn't been updated yet
4. Rewrote the Femurs of the Saints as it hasn't been updated yet

Videos:
Dark Forest: https://youtu.be/w-vK6RTo58Y

Gear:

Needed:
* Dead Reckoning (Build enabler - If SSF just farm it, you can play with Melee skellies until you get it)
* 4x To Dust
* Femurs or the Saints
* Any amulet with 67+ dex (can be put anywhere else too but this is cheapest)
* Any Bone Helmet with at least +2 to socketed minion gems

Rest is just gear to cap your resists and to get life.

Gear after 3 Days

This was collected either selffound or bought with currency found while leveling.

This will get you roughly 4 Million DPS just from the skellies alone on simple 20/20 gems.

Gem Setups:

Bossing Weapon Setup: Vaal Summon Skeletons - Minion Damage - Elemental Army - Elemental Focus - Spell Echo - GMP/Slower Projectiles

If you are only on a 5L keep Elemental Focus out. 4L keep Elemental Army away.

Normal Gameplay Setup: Vaal Summon Skeletons - Minion Damage - Elemental Army - Pierce - Spell Echo - GMP/Slower Projectiles

If you are only on a 5L keep Minion Damage out. 4L keep Elemental Army away.

What is the difference?

While Pierce does a lower base amount of damage and lowers our damage by ~60k per projectile you have to keep in mind that pierce will make each projectile hit up to 5 enemies, which, in this case, add up to tons of more damage. The only impact is on bosses but unless you are going to farm uber elder the normal gameplay setup is more than sufficient for all of the content.

Helmet: Raise Spectre - Animate Guardian - Minion Life - Blood Magic

Gloves: Arc - Skitterbots - Faster Casting - Culling Strike

Boots: Summon Lightning Golem - Summon Stone Golem - Minion Life - Feeding Frenzy

Chest: Zealotry - Vaal Haste - XXX / Leap Slam - Faster Attacks / Desecrate
(It does not matter if you link Desecrate to any of the 2 setups or not so 4/2, 3/2/1 and 3/3 are all totally fine)
We do not use the Haste normal Aura
XXX is currently a placeholder while I try to find something worth.
Currently I suggest Flesh Offering for more DPS or Portal for them lazy folks.

Spectres:

For this build the Spectres are just buff and support slaves.

1. Carnage Chieftain (Act 7 - Ashen Fields)
He gives us and all allies Frenzy Charges
2. Host Chieftain (Act 7 - Ashen Fields)
He gives us and our slaves Power Charges
3. Defiler (Act 2 - The Crypt Level 2)
He curses our enemies with Elemental Weakness
4. Tukohama Vanguard (Act 6 - The Coast / The Mud Flats / The Karui Fortress)
He puts out Scorching Ray Totems that give the enemy a nice fire debuff which boosts our fire skeleton mages a lot.

Screenshot with Pierce and GMP:

Keep in mind that the DPS is PER projectile and PER Skeleton and it can hit 5 enemies. So the maximum possible dps if every projectile would hit the maximum amount of enemies (which will only rarely happen) would be ~58 Million but as said, that is barely ever to happen but should give you a good idea why pierce is a very good option.

Screenshot for pure bossing (no pierce and slower projectiles instead of GMP):

Since projectiles can not shotgun, we try to maximize the projectile damage of a single projectile. With this we get a clean DPS of 5 Million (3,1 Million Shaper DPS)

The damage numbers are roughly averaged keeping in mind we do not only get fire skeletons which are our biggest damage boost and not taking the shock from skitterbots into account which raises the damage values.
And all of this with the gear in mind that has not been enchanted or crafted in any way.

Bandits: Kill all

Annointment:
There are some things you can go for.
If you are rich Soul of Steel is really great.

Disciple of the Unyielding is a nice option too. As our Arc culls, we do kills and can get Endurance Charges this way. They are not that reliable but we would have at least one always up.

Aspect of Stone is an awesome Annointment for HC players

Death Attunement is a good option to save some skillpoints to go for more life nodes.

Leveling this Character

There is seriously no magic at all with this. Until Level 10 you just use Raise Zombies with any damage increasing support you can get. While getting to level 10 you will create this SKILL TREE and put in Dead Reckoning into the Jewel Slot, after that it really does not matter on how you skill. Just have a 3 Link and at Act 4+ a 4 Link for your Skelies and use Spectres as soon as you can. If you are on HC go for Life Nodes and Minion Life Stuff first, so your spectres are always up and you life enough. Else just go for Death Attunement -> Elemental Equilibrium -> Gravepact and then finish.
I didn't even go to the lab until I was 70 and did all 4 in a row.
In terms of gear a tabula and some boots with 20%+ Movement Speed is everything you need. You can go for the standard leveling stuff if you want to. On HC go for Resistances and Life.

FAQ:

Can we raise our damage further than on this super cheap version?

YES totally. You can switch out gear for items that give +1 to skeletons. Remember our gem allows up to 15 skelies to be transormed to mages.
Saqawal's Nest + Aspect of the Avian ring is a super expensive option too. Minion Movement Speed does little to nothing for the mages, so don't invest in this like you would on zombies. Will add an expensive gear section soon!

I don't like Arc

You are free to use whatever non-fire hitting spell you like.

Why not Vaal Arc?

You can use that for sure! But since I don't like swapping through skills when logging in I like to keep my skillsetup.

I don't like Desecrate

I prefer desecrate to resummon dead Spectres IF it should happen. You can use Vaal Grace for more survivability.

I don't like the defiler, it is too slow moving

You can use any other Spectre but keep in mind the Elemental Weakness is an extreme buff and all in all only meant for big bosses, as everything else dies too fast. You can also help yourself with a convocation to pull it near you whenever you want.

I have questions to stuff not listed here. What do I do?

Just post your question as a post here. I am mostly watching the boards each day. So answers should not take too long.

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Sonii89 wrote:

...

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puffysmashit wrote:

Sure, just a slightly different variant using zombies and winterorb to proc EE.


https://pastebin.com/TUPZGy7h

Took the "Whirling Barrier" keystone to add to more survability, works like a charm. Zombies would help to draw agro away from you via proccing meatshield taunt. Rarely die to metamorphs now, thanks for the build btw.

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Malik1412 wrote:

On the level 66 character, what should we focus on node allocation? Since we didnt get all the skill point right of the bat

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SupermanDan90 wrote:

Here's an update on my build so far:

I also adjusted my skill allocation a tad.

So far, so good. The end plan is to:

- 6 link my Vis Mortis
- Swap out Femurs for a +1 minion wand and high armor/life shield
- Find a better Bone Helmet
- quality the rest of my gems

Whats everyone else's take on the build so far?

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Lord_of_Gilwel wrote:

Thanks for this guide. This is my build right now:

While the damage is awesome i much too often die running Tier 8 and higher maps. So often that i cannot level with these maps. Is there anything i can do about this? Is there perhaps a way to use the 6L- Vis Mortis to give me some tankyness/survivability? Any tips are appreciated as i am still noobish in this game.
Ty in advance.