{3.10} Speaker for the Dead | The Mass Minion Summoner | League Starter, Leveling Guide 💀

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Uriacesjaces wrote:

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wingexe1995 wrote:

Hello in your youtube video your spectres are black color, how do you change it from blue? Thanks for the guide too!

This is a shop effect for raise spectres :)

oh thanks XD new to this game didn't know there's skill effecets XD

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Notelrac wrote:

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wingexe1995 wrote:

do I only raise 1 solar guard and the rest frost sentinels?

You should have at least two spectres: one from the gem, and one from the Death Attunement at the top of the skill tree. Both of these should be Frostbros.

If you get a third spectre, it should be a Solar Guard, because:
1. Three Frostbros don't chill/freeze any better than two
2. The fire damage from SGs has a chance to ignite, and every bit helps
3. The fire damage won't be mitigated by a mob's cold resist.

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is it just pure frost sentinels or some little boss frost sentinels

Frostbros come from Act 8, Lunaris Temple. SGs come from Act 8, Solaris Temple. Accept no substitutes! Be sure you don't raise Solar Champions or Rime Sentinels.

Read the section on the first page under "NEW PLAYERS GUIDES" -> "Minions Explained" -> SPECTRES 101" on how to go to the highest level area you can to replace those "starter" minions with buffed out ones.

ok got it now, thanks for the reply too !

Hey! Love this build and thank you for putting the time and effort into this post! I am new to this game so this has been super informative.

This may have been asked before, or I may just have missed it. But why don't we take "Grave Intentions" on the skill tree?

Thanks! :D

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Batmanzorz wrote:

why don't we take "Grave Intentions" on the skill tree?

Hercanic is looking into doing just that. From a post earlier in this thread:

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This league I'm trying out the Grave Intentions cluster for more phys reduction. 2% = 140 life @ 7k, which makes it comparable to a jewel vs. phys damage. +1 Skeleton makes its damage comparable to a jewel. Then the 17% minion life and 20% minion chaos resistance are bonuses.

Note: The closer you can push phys reduction to 50%, the closer you are to doubling its value. With a Chaos Golem, +1 minimum Endurance Charges amulet craft, and +1 Zombie crafts on helm/chest, you can get another 10%. A total of 20% phys reduction is worth 25% more life vs phys.

My input: the extra skeleton provides marginal boss-killing utility. Hercanic is investigating whether the two zombies, when combined with the Flesh Binder ascendancy passive, improves survivability enough to spend three points on it.

Can I get help with this?

I posted above but didn't get any replies so maybe this is a bad question. But does anyone sub out Spirit Offering for anything else? I just don't see it doing much but perhaps that is only because I am a noob and I don't get it. Can I get your guys/gals thoughts on Spirit Offering and why its worth it?

My basic issue is that it seems like I either don't need it because I clear everything so fast anyways, OR, I get destroyed in 1 or 2 shots and I am dead. I get that it is for the minions, I just don't see them being all that affected by it. I am new to the game and only doing T5-7's at this point so maybe this is why I don't get it yet... would love to hear your thoughts. All the other skills and supports I totally get what they are doing for me and can see it.

Thanks

@ Viktorious1:

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Viktorious1 wrote:

Hi again! I was just wondering if you happen to have a minute to suggest a few quick changes that could make Uber Elder easier? Like gem swaps, maybe gear, etc and such.
I've never beat him before solo and would really like to with this build!

Check out the Endgame Bosses section in More Guides, if you haven't already. Then there's also my previous reply on the subject, which could be found in the Reply Index section.

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@ startrails175:

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startrails175 wrote:

i was having so much fun! kitava was going great, i got cocky and boom one shot from something at his heart stage. pissed but oh well learned alot, going to try again. i felt really squishy not sure why, anyways thanks again for this awesome guide!

Playing Hardcore, I take it? Although you can certainly complete the campaign deathless with this build, it is not optimized for HC.

You can increase your effective life by taking the Mind Over Matter keystone and several mana nodes (Inspiration 3pts, Deep Thoughts 2pts, Arcane Will 2pts). Don't use Hatred. Don't use supports on Herald of Agony (Pierce Support should be fine, you just don't want to take up too much mana).

Prioritize life nodes while leveling. Use Fortify on Charged Dash instead of Greater Multiple Projectiles. Use a Stone Golem while leveling and a Chaos Golem for mapping (after you get Flesh Binder from Uber Lab to stack phys reduction) instead of Fortify on Shield Charge.

If you're inexperienced with Path of Exile, know that death can come about very unexpectedly. So many different modifiers can align that'll kill you in a heartbeat. Extreme caution and learning obvious dangers are a minimum for survival.

A couple things could have killed you during Kitava's Heart stage. The first is a Kitava's Herald leaping onto you. They can do a surprising amount of damage. More than likely, though, was you might have been standing in Kitava's Devouring Darkness, which sends out these undulating fleshy ghost blobs that leave a crazy-strong Physical Damage degen on the ground. The degen areas can be hard to see.

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@ Batmanzorz:

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Batmanzorz wrote:

Hey! Love this build and thank you for putting the time and effort into this post! I am new to this game so this has been super informative.

This may have been asked before, or I may just have missed it. But why don't we take "Grave Intentions" on the skill tree?

Thanks! :D

It's a solid alternative to a jewel socket, but a great jewel beats it. A few days ago I added an alternative passive tree to the build that takes less jewel sockets for more life nodes and Grave Intentions. This tree should be preferred when you do not have excellent jewels, but you will need 1-5 additional DEX from somewhere (tree has 154 DEX, while L20 Herald of Agony requires 155 and L21 requires 159).

You can also search for my previous answer in the Reply Index:

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Hercanic wrote:

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MathShiro22 wrote:

Great guide, i've been following it as my starter for betrayal league but i would like to know why didnt you take the grave intentions node? Its only 3 points for big damage increase and minion survivability.

A jewel slot was more valuable to me.

Grave Intentions is 17% minion life, 20% minion chaos resistance, +2 Zombies (+2% phys damage reduction & 79,704 DPS), and +1 Skeleton (260,311 DPS) = 340,015 DPS or 7.2% more damage.

This jewel & socket is worth +20 DEX or STR, 6.1% more Skeleton damage, and 156 life for me. 2% Physical Damage Reduction at 7k life is worth 140 life against physical hits, but not against elemental/chaos damage or degens.

So it's actually not too bad, and cheaper than a fancy jewel like that.

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@ wingexe1995 and Notelrac:

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wingexe1995 wrote:

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Notelrac wrote:

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wingexe1995 wrote:

do I only raise 1 solar guard and the rest frost sentinels?

You should have at least two spectres: one from the gem, and one from the Death Attunement at the top of the skill tree. Both of these should be Frostbros.

If you get a third spectre, it should be a Solar Guard, because:
1. Three Frostbros don't chill/freeze any better than two
2. The fire damage from SGs has a chance to ignite, and every bit helps
3. The fire damage won't be mitigated by a mob's cold resist.

"

is it just pure frost sentinels or some little boss frost sentinels

Frostbros come from Act 8, Lunaris Temple. SGs come from Act 8, Solaris Temple. Accept no substitutes! Be sure you don't raise Solar Champions or Rime Sentinels.

Read the section on the first page under "NEW PLAYERS GUIDES" -> "Minions Explained" -> SPECTRES 101" on how to go to the highest level area you can to replace those "starter" minions with buffed out ones.

ok got it now, thanks for the reply too !

In Overview and Playstyle I go over the purpose of the different Spectres.

#1. It's a diminishing return. Our Phantasms freeze, too, thanks to Hatred, so the Frost Sentinels serve as our first-contact freezers due to their huge range. Two is enough to get the job done reliably.

#2. A few kills from proliferated Ignites are what we hope for. Degen kills count as your own, so they'll trigger the Power Charge mod on Victario's Charity. If you get the amulet craft that spawns Spectral Wolves on kill, Ignite prolifs will allow that to work, too.

#3. Cold-resistant monsters aren't really a concern. We have EE and lots of sources of Physical Damage. One Phantasm deals as much damage as a Spectre in this build (not counting Unending Hunger). We only need our Spectres to be strong enough to maintain our Phantasms and reliably freeze.

#4. The Special Beam Cannon of the Solar Guard is nice for hitting around obstacles and into rooms, since the smallest line of sight means everything nearby the target location gets hit with splash damage (something normal projectiles can't do).

#5. Solar Guards are stronger than Frost Sentinels. We defer to Frost Sentinels for their freeze utility and double range, since damage is not a priority for our Spectres. Aside from a higher base damage, Solar Guards also deal AOE damage with their fireballs. Just like the Fireball skill for players, those AOEs can overlap to deal multiple hits from the same cast (w/ Greater Multiple Projectiles Support). If three monsters are packed close enough together and each is hit with a fireball, they'll take triple damage because not only do they take damage from the fireball that hits them, they are taking damage from the splash of the two neighboring fireballs as well. If a monster is near a wall, they can also take splash damage from all fireballs that detonate against the wall. Keep in mind, though, that fireballs that pierce do not explode and thus do not deal splash damage, so there's a balance between penetrating through an entire pack with pierce or devastating their frontline with AOE overlap. So while overlap damage sounds great on paper, it has limitations in clearing and will only play a part against bosses in very specific circumstances. But this is perfect for our build, because what matters for our Spectres is spawning Phantasms. If our Solar Guard only devastates their frontline with overlap damage, he'll spawn Phantasms, who have pierce by default and can help finish off the rest of the pack.

Ultimately, the point of the single Solar Guard is to add to our versatility.

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wingexe1995 wrote:

is it just pure frost sentinels or some little boss frost sentinels

Spectres are always the normal version of the monster, regardless whether the corpse is a magic or rare version.

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@ KeyserSoze15:

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KeyserSoze15 wrote:

First off let me say that I really like your build and your guide. I am brand new to POE and a good chunk of what I now understand about the game I have slowly picked up through your guide. I have spent MANY hours trying to figure out some little quirks about your build that I simply couldn't put together but that is OK, its all a part of the learning curve I guess.

Example: Took me forever to figure out that I couldn't shield charge while using a wand which still makes zero sense to me but little stuff like that got quite frustrating for a while because I completely solo play on Xbox so I don't know anyone to teach me the basics outside of this guide and youtube.

I have now played this character up into the 80's. I still have a TON to learn as I feel that I have only scratched the surface but after quite a few hours I do have some basic questions.

Spirit Offering... I really don't get how this is very useful. The "issue" as I see it is that when this is theoretically useful (because they bad guys just got real) the amount of time that I simply get one shotted, or maybe death in 2 shots, is crazy high. And this skill requires both the Cast on Damage Taken as well as the Spirit Offering, that is 2 slots for something that is hard to tell if it is useful. I was wondering if replacing that skill with Convocation wouldn't be better. You could keep it tied to the CoDT or replace that one as well with something useful.

Perhaps I am really missing the importance of Spirit Offering and just not seeing it, that would not surprise me.

Thanks again for taking the time for your guide. I am sure I will have more questions. Does anyone here play on Xbox?

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KeyserSoze15 wrote:

I posted above but didn't get any replies so maybe this is a bad question. But does anyone sub out Spirit Offering for anything else? I just don't see it doing much but perhaps that is only because I am a noob and I don't get it. Can I get your guys/gals thoughts on Spirit Offering and why its worth it?

My basic issue is that it seems like I either don't need it because I clear everything so fast anyways, OR, I get destroyed in 1 or 2 shots and I am dead. I get that it is for the minions, I just don't see them being all that affected by it. I am new to the game and only doing T5-7's at this point so maybe this is why I don't get it yet... would love to hear your thoughts. All the other skills and supports I totally get what they are doing for me and can see it.

Thanks

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KeyserSoze15 wrote:

Can I get help with this?

I posted above but didn't get any replies so maybe this is a bad question. But does anyone sub out Spirit Offering for anything else? I just don't see it doing much but perhaps that is only because I am a noob and I don't get it. Can I get your guys/gals thoughts on Spirit Offering and why its worth it?

My basic issue is that it seems like I either don't need it because I clear everything so fast anyways, OR, I get destroyed in 1 or 2 shots and I am dead. I get that it is for the minions, I just don't see them being all that affected by it. I am new to the game and only doing T5-7's at this point so maybe this is why I don't get it yet... would love to hear your thoughts. All the other skills and supports I totally get what they are doing for me and can see it.

Thanks

Spirit Offering is described in both the Defense and Gem Links and Gear sections:

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Hercanic wrote:

Automated Corpse Destruction, from CWDT + Spirit Offering

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Hercanic wrote:

Spirit Offering is our substitute for Immortal Call. If you destroy a corpse that an effect originates from, such as porcupines, the effect is also destroyed.

You can also find my previous answers to this question in the Reply Index.

Here:

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Hercanic wrote:

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Ammoconda wrote:

Also, why is spirit offering a replacement to immortal call when it doesn't affect us without mistress of sacrifice which we don't take.

On-death monster effects that originate from corpses are deleted if their corpse is destroyed. Porcupine quills will evaporate out of the air mid-flight. A pack of Unstable Weta's Cold Snaps, which are not Physical Damage for Immortal Call to block, can be prevented.

And here:

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Hercanic wrote:

@ Sfotzki:

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Sfotzki wrote:

Hi thanks for a awesome build!
Been trying to figure out why you use CWDT - Spirit offering without mistress of sacrifice?

Destroys corpses, which stops on-death monster effects and even deletes them mid-flight.

If you want to sub it out, I would recommend a Chaos Golem to further stack Physical Damage Reduction with the Flesh Binder ascendancy, and Dread Banner if Herald of Agony only has Maim and Empower linked to it (otherwise you won't have enough mana).

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@ Uriacesjaces:

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Uriacesjaces wrote:

made some upgrades:

In term of pure stuff , i think i can't have better gear for the moment (because out of $$ hehee ). Managed to have a new weapon, Helmet with+3gem/20 minion dmg/25% minion dmg.

a 21/5 vaal skeletons.

all my gems 20 qual ( need 21/20 elemental proliferation).

the biggest improvement is probably with the Jewelsn need to have better ones, but multy-moded are super expensive...

I followed your suggestions and changed my three, i have 6.5klife + 200 shield so, nice EHP, also full res caped.

I think it's prety great for now

Nice! It's possible to get 7.5-8k life on this build.

Fortify and 19% phys reduction (11 Zombies w/ Grave Intentions + helm craft, Chaos Golem, +1min Endurance Charge amulet craft) is worth 54% more life, so @8k we could achieve the equivalent of 12.3k vs. phys.

Shaper's Teleport Slam is the hardest hitting phys hit in the game, dealing 17k phys damage. With a Basalt Flask up, we jump up to 89% more life, or 15.1k. So still not enough to tank the slam, unfortunately. So, uh, dodge that.

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Uriacesjaces wrote:

On a side note about my feeling with the build.

- Great mapper, im using a realy aggressive playstyle, basicaly shield charge all the time, super fast, ball lighntning only on big mobs : shield charge + spectre + crawler are sufficient, even on t15 maps.

-Nice boss killer : did all the corrupted guardians + shaper + uber atziri.

- Good dps output BUT : I feel that the dps is realy fragile.On bosses like Phoenix for example, his first charge killed like 20 skelletons. So my dps went down quite fast, and it's the major problem with the build. If there is no AOE no Cleave, DPS is GREAT! But on Shaper etc...all my minions are dying realy fast.

And a last question : Yopu said that the shaper mod on my dagger can cause EE to be messed up. If i foudn another one, will my dps be higher ?

You can position your Skeletons in anticipation of where the boss will move or strike, such as summoning most of your Skeletons behind the boss to avoid their cleave.

The fact Skeletons die is part of what balances out our damage. We get up to 20 seconds of damage out of our Skeletons, where we can freely dodge boss mechanics without losing DPS like most builds. Skeletons dying is our version of losing DPS from moving.

I know it can feel worse, because humans are inherently loss-averse.

Keep in mind we do not rely solely on Skeletons. Gem-swapped Spectres and a Virulence-maxed Agony Crawler bring another 1.5M to our bossing DPS.

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Uriacesjaces wrote:

Changed my three a bit, and im now looking for a better weapon. The reason i Had +58 strenght is my mace had a 212 Str req wich is insane...i need another one with a lower Str requirement

Oh I see, I completely missed that. It doesn't even look like a very heavy hammer, does it? =oP

Very much a newbie with newbie questions...

For spectres, you mention Solar Guards and Frost Sentinels.
In reading the minions section, it seems Frost Sentinels are better, but elsewhere you mention using one of each. Is there a best choice or is it preference?

@ jdarkstone:

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jdarkstone wrote:

Very much a newbie with newbie questions...

For spectres, you mention Solar Guards and Frost Sentinels.
In reading the minions section, it seems Frost Sentinels are better, but elsewhere you mention using one of each. Is there a best choice or is it preference?

Read my reply right above your post. Specifically the fourth @, "@ wingexe1995 and Notelrac."

We use two Frost Sentinels. A third Spectre is optional. If you do get a third, then I recommend a Solar Guard for the reasons above.

Hey guys, I ran HoA as my league starter and it was a blast. Time to move to a new build now, so I'm selling a bunch of pretty gg gear for it (uber elder down in under 2 minutes deathless).

Hit me up in-game if interested: FrontPorchStep

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It's a solid alternative to a jewel socket, but a great jewel beats it. A few days ago I added an alternative passive tree to the build that takes less jewel sockets for more life nodes and Grave Intentions. This tree should be preferred when you do not have excellent jewels, but you will need 1-5 additional DEX from somewhere (tree has 154 DEX, while L20 Herald of Agony requires 155 and L21 requires 159).

I have looked but can't find this alternate tree, can you tell me where it is posted?