[3.5] Rasgeroth's Soulblast: Uber Elder Viable Soulwrest Necromancer. (Detonate Dead/Spectres)
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INTRODUCTION:
Warm greetings from the demon pit, exiles. After being forced to change my internet service provider, I'm back to coming up with crazy builds and lose my sanity trying to make them work. This time, I'm playing an old favorite of mine, going back to Diablo 2 days. "Finding Fantastic Corpses and How to Blow the Crap Out'ta Them!" would have been a great title for this build, but a few very angry lawyers talked me out of it. To be honest, after playing Path of Exile version, I'm kind of sad because D2 Necros never got to keep the ghosts from whatever remained after you blow up the corpses. Soulwrest on the other hand, allows you to do just that. Since I once again have a somewhat stable internet, you can find me streaming here: https://www.twitch.tv/rasgeroth 3.5 CHANGES: No changes for this one. We got buffed even, through the increased Energy Shield recovery that was added to a few of our passives in this patch. BLOW'EM UP EXILES! ABOUT THE BUILD:
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For this build, the first thing you have to do is to go watch too many Michael Bay movies, so you start thinking explosions are the coolest thing in the world. (For those who can't do without math, that's 1 movie.)
Second, and let me save you from the legal shenanigans, find out that explosions are somewhat illegal in mostly pretty much everywhere. Third, log on to Path of Exile, create a Witch, follow this guide, and have your very own Detonate Dead build. The build focuses on turning corpses into explosions, which then turns them into ghosts that follow you around and further kill things for you. You also have 3 Tukohama's Vanguards, because that many explosions isn't enough to keep things properly engulfed in flames. (You done watching that movie yet?) You also have Herald of Ash because special effects like in the movies are expensive, and if you feel lazy, you can press Vaal Detonate Dead so corpses around you explode themselves. (Ka-Bloooey, very boom boom.) Here's how it looks:   BUILD MECHANICS:
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The build focuses on making the best use of one of most dangerous and often overlooked threats in Path of Exile, corpses. It also makes Bameth cry everytime he shows up, and ever saw a green strongbox? Vaal Detonate corpses before it can, and you will see.
Thanks to Soulwrest, consuming any and all corpses is now an advantage for you. It turns each corpse into a Phantasm that has a physical spell that pierces, and you have two skills that can consume corpses. (Vaal Detonate Dead and Flesh Offering) This gives you a lot of life regen, which stacks on top of your life leech, which means you can play a bit carelessly as long as you can hit something. Add in Stone Golem for more regen, and three Spectres (Tukohama's Vanguards) to increase your single target damage. While Phantasms are deceptively strong on single target even without arranging your support gems for it, I like to keep them on area clear duty along with Detonate Dead, and watch my Boy Band Backup Dancers (TV's) to melt anything else that is still left standing. You need this: and one these: for your vaal detonate dead. The best sixth link for the spell is Spell Echo, and Vaal version ignores it, so you can too. DD is there for area damage, and proc the leech, though thanks to Desecrate it can do respectable amount of single target damage as well. (The main problem for it there is the desecrate cooldown, not detonate dead or its links.) Soulwrest creates one phantasm per corpse you consume, so Flesh Offering can yield them in batches of nine per cast. Vaal Detonate Dead keeps them at cap. (20 or 21, Depending on Gem Level.) Supporting Cast Member: Watcher's Eye, Prismatic Jewel You have two options here: Anger, % Fire Damage Leeched as Life: The main choice, as anger adds both to our damage and to the damage of the phantasms. Vitality, % Damage Leeched as Life: The secondary option, you will need a LVL 1 Blood Magic to get the Low Life for Pain Attunement. This'll get you some more regen, but a bit less damage. Option 3: Don't get the jewel. In that case, you will still go Vitality route, as regen is your only defense. Don't go for the Ghost Reaver, and save those 2 points. Then, delay the 7% Minion Life, 1% Minion Regen talent next to Death Attunement and get Growth and Decay near the Shadow area of the tree. (Vitality will provide more than 1% life regen to your minions anyway.) The build here will be focused on the Energy Shield/Low Life version, with the Watcher's Eye, but there is a Life version at the Variations section. (That part is theorycrafted on Path of Building, items are cheap and should be accessible. I designed it to be a decent league starter build for the next season. Because I've lost about 6 weeks in this league thanks to my glorious ISP, I didn't had time to level that version in this season.) PRO & CON:
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Pro's:
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Cons:
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PASSIVES AND ASCENDANCY:
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Passives:
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Current Version, Path of Building: https://pastebin.com/WyU3mq2b Passives for non-PoB users is down below at leveling section. Bandits:
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You need corpses for your build to work, so those are 3 more corpses waiting to be consumed.
Pantheon:
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Major God: Soul of Lunaris. This build is still a necromancer with about 24 minions running around, so chained projectile immunity prevents you from getting shotgunned to death.
Minor God: Soul of Shakari. Helps keep your regen high, poison immunity is always welcome. If you wish, Soul of Gruthkul may help your physical damage mitigation. Soul of Tukohama is the last option, you don't necessarily need to stand still in this build, so it is not very effective but can increase your regen if you prefer it. Ascendancy:
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In order of importance:
Invoker: Keeps your minions alive, helps speed up the leveling process. Soul Weaver: Makes your spectres go berserk, further makes leveling a walk in the park. Commander of Darkness: Tops off your resists, helps you get started on mapping. Mistress of Sacrifice: Increases your movement and cast speed through Flesh Offering. GEAR & ENCHANTMENTS:
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Current Gear:
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Pretty basic Low Life setup with Shav's, Presence and Vertex. + 1 to gems is quite useful to place your Blasphemy or Auras in it. Soul Wrest does not need any linking, it will be filled with only support gems. You can also use an Atziri's Promise. As for the boots, Delve goes CORE baby! I used a Dense+Bound on mine until I got a decent roll + free prefix. Since we can also get more movement speed through crafting next season, and we also get more speed from Flesh Offering, just exactly how fast do you need to run around, exile? Jewels:
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A Watcher's Eye. The main source for your life leech, (Barring corrupted amulets) and either the Anger or the Vitality way is fine. (Anger being the more damage focused version.) Second roll should be life or Energy Shield recovery rate to further increase your regen capabilities. I used an Energy From Within in my ES version, though it is not mandatory. Rest of the Jewels are rares, so go for % life or ES depending on your variation, and %increased minion damage if you used a minion skill if you prefer Abyssal Jewels. (Flesh Offering counts to proc them, so they will both increase your own damage and your minions' damage.) Souls are stored for our VDD, so there will be no Unending Hunger here.
Enchantments:
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Boots: % of damage leeched as life and mana if you've killed recently. This is your main source for mana leech, % regen enchant does not cut it for that purpose. VDD can easily force this to proc, making those troublesome no regen maps rather easy.
Gloves: You can go for a Fingerless Silk if you are going ES route, but other than that, Commandment of Light or Grave should fit perfectly here. Helmet: This one you have a lot of options. Desecrate Cooldown Recovery or Additional Corpses can increase your single target damage, and makes getting Phantasms easier on boss fights. Either will work as best in slot. Detonate Damage or Spectre Damage are second best choices here. If you also wish, you can use Stone Golem Buff Effectiveness to further increase your regen. GEMS & LINKS:
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Soulwrest:
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In order of importance: Summon Phantasm on Kill, Lesser Multiple Projectiles,
Minion Damage, Faster Projectiles, Controlled Destruction, Added Fire Damage. Think of Phantasm on Kill as your main skill in this item, as it will increase the amount of ghost-bro's you can have around. Lesser Multiple Projectiles can be swapped with Greater Multiple Projectiles, but I find Lesser to be better as we do have a lot of ghosts following us around, so no need to clutter the screen with too many darts. They will clear just fine with either. Faster Projectiles is a must to clear faster in maps, you might swap it out to Slower Projectiles on boss fights, but it is not absolutely necessary. (So you can stay lazy like me and not touch the setup at all. Besides, base range for the projectiles is quite low, so with slower projectiles they might spend too much time trying to move towards their target, losing damage.) Rest is because these ghosties spam a physical spell so they are more damage for it. Vaal Detonate Dead:
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Making use of the Hungry Loop, you will need Controlled Destruction, Elemental Focus, Fire Penetration, Concentrated Effect gobbled up in it. This setup will keep your single target damage relevant, though you can swap CE with Increased Area of Effect if you prefer.
Raise Spectre: Tukohama's Vanguards. (Act 6)
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In order of importance: Minion Damage, Elemental Focus, Efficacy, Increased Burning Damage, Swift Affliction.
You are trying to scale the damage of the Tukohama Vanguard's Scorching Ray Totem here, hence the focus on damage over time. Those things have crazy high single target damage, shortening any boss fights you encounter. Though if you have a Spectre Preference, you can go for it here. Orb of Storms:
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Increased Critical Strikes, Arcane Surge.
To keep Elemental Overload active at all times, and increase our damage and regen through the Surge. Mistress of Sacrifice Ascendancy gives us increased duration which is also helpful here. Mana Reserve:
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Blasphemy, Elemental Weakness, Discipline, Herald of Ash. (Flammability is also fine, use whichever you want.)
For the Vertex, making use of the +1 mod. Life Reserve:
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Blood Magic, Anger:
To keep us below 35% to activate Pain Attunement for more damage. Golems, Movement, Utility:
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Stone Golem, Desecrate, Flesh Offering, Flame Dash.
Here, Flame Dash can be linked to the Orb of Storms so it can proc the Arcane Surge as well. Rest of these gems require no links, so place them around your gear, no priorities. As you might have noticed, there is no Convocation here. As the Soulwrest regen is shared for allies, as in, everything in your party, you don't really need to worry about placing your spectres in harm's way. With just 2 extra passives on minion regen, they'll survive anything. HOW TO DEAL WITH:
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LEVELING:
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From the start, your main goal is to reach Spiritual Aid notable through Righteous Army notable. These two will increase your damage, your minions' damage, and give you and your minions some base regen so the leveling process becomes smoother. As Soulwrest is a LVL 64 item, and Detonate Dead is pretty useless without Desecrate to back it up, you can focus leveling using Skeletons, Zombies, Firestorm or Arc.
Here's how your LVL 20 should look like: https://poeplanner.com/AA8AADkADzMAABnfiukCS64bJdlbbRkRUKcrNbl9GGvbIvRsC5MnvorK07QMoS_qug18V8ko-riTHNyPGgAAAAAA Then, your main focus is to increase your minions' and your own survivability through regen, so you can grab all the minion utility passives you can. Level 40: https://poeplanner.com/AA8AAGsADzMAADLfiukCS64bJdlbbRkRUKcrNbl9GGvbIvRsC5MnvorK07QMoS_qug18V8ko-riTHNyPGuvuMtFFR8BmYPimrKqpKpiQM6cIj0YdFPrSZp6g5mdxSp-JvBBRtzGMdpuh99fsg9OPAAAAAAA= After this point, you need to grab some more hit points for yourself, as you are in A5 Kitava + Cruel Affliction territory. Level 60: https://poeplanner.com/AA8AALEADzMAAFXfiukCS64bJdlbbRkRUKcrNbl9GGvbIvRsC5MnvorK07QMoS_qug18V8ko-riTHNyPGuvuMtFFR8BmYPimrKqpKpiQM6cIj0YdFPrSZp6g5mdxSp-JvBBRtzGMdpuh99fMvKrEhWBNuYRIXGvDbe-I-TfXz0mxf8YRlgcelS7w1UlRDkgrChEvXfKCx9P7qH1akWqsFy9k51XWgKTYJFZI-ejsg9OP2V7-gQAAAAAA Since now you are pretty close to using Soulwrest, you can grab remaining minion talents, and try to get some jewel sockets as well. Get Zealot's Oath as soon as you got a Shavronne's. Fire Damage nodes will be your last pick-ups as you can scale through minion damage as well. Level 80: https://poeplanner.com/AA8AAOEADzMAAG3fiukCS64bJdlbbRkRUKcrNbl9GGvbIvRsC5MnvorK07QMoS_qug18V8ko-riTHNyPGuvuMtFFR8BmYPimrKqpKpiQM6cIj0YdFPrSZp6g5mdxSp-JvBBRtzGMdpuh99fMvKrEhWBNuYRIXGvDbe-I-TfXz0mxf8YRlgcelS7w1UlRDkgrChEvXfKCx9P7qH1akWqs-egXL2TnVdaApGh02mIYVo_60NBfanvXXIqt8RhdPO9o8uwYcLvZEy9vNAo3ZiymkNb3wdgkVkhEBOyD04_ZXv6BFSeMsQAAAAAA Level 90: (Basicly completed here.From here you take all fire damage, all the way.) https://poeplanner.com/AA8AAPUADzMAAHffiukCS64bJdlbbRkRUKcrNbl9GGvbIvRsC5MnvorK07QMoS_qug18V8ko-riTHNyPGuvuMtFFR8BmYPimrKqpKpiQM6cIj0YdFPrSZp6g5mdxSp-JvBBRtzGMdpuh99fMvKrEhWBNuYRIXGvDbe-I-TfXz0mxf8YRlgcelS7w1UlRDkgrChEvXfKCx9P7qH1akWqs-egXL2TnVdaApGh02mIYVo_60NBfanvXXIqt8RhdPO9o8uwYcLvZEy9vNAo3ZiymkNaIQKyYdFVfKnIPlG9mVEQEEQ87De_r98HYJFZI7IPTj9le_oEVJ4yxAAAAAAA= Level 95: https://poeplanner.com/AA8AAP8ADzMAAHzfiukCS64bJdlbbRkRUKcrNbl9GGvbIvRsC5MnvorK07QMoS_qug18V8ko-riTHNyPGuvuMtFFR8BmYPimrKqpKpiQM6cIj0YdFPrSZp6g5mdxSp-JvBBRtzGMdpuh99fMvKrEhWBNuYRIXGvDbe-I-TfXz0mxf8YRlgcelS7w1UlRDkgrChEvXfKCx9P7qH1akWqs-egXL2TnVdaApGh02mIYVo_60NBfanvXXIqt8RhdPO9o8uwYcLvZEy9vNAo3ZiymkNaIQKyYdFVfKnIPlG9mVEQEEQ87De_r98HYJFZI8Ww22EkbKo3sVeyD04_ZXv6BFSeMsQAAAAAA Level 100: https://poeplanner.com/AA8AAQkADzMAAIHfiukCS64bJdlbbRkRUKcrNbl9GGvbIvRsC5MnvorK07QMoS_qug18V8ko-riTHNyPGuvuMtFFR8BmYPimrKqpKpiQM6cIj0YdFPrSZp6g5mdxSp-JvBBRtzGMdpuh99fMvKrEhWBNuYRIXGvDbe-I-TfXz0mxf8YRlgcelS7w1UlRDkgrChEvXfKCx9P7qH1akWqs-egXL2TnVdaApGh02mIYVo_60NBfanvXXIqt8RhdPO9o8uwYcLvZEy9vNAo3ZiymkNaIQKyYdFVfKnIPlG9mVEQEEQ87De_r98HYJFZI8Ww22EkbKo3sVeyKmE06xjwF73zsg9OP2V7-gRUnjLEAAAAAAA== VARIATIONS:
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Life/League Starter:
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Path of Building: https://pastebin.com/3jcvFR7b
PoE Planner:https://poeplanner.com/AA8AAP0ADzMAAHttGWvbIvRsC5MnvoqhLyj6gsf56LiTHNyPGuvuMtFFR2D4pqyqqSqYkDOIQKcIj0YdFPrSZp6g5mdxSp-JvBBRm6H318y8RASqxIVgTbnAZmjy2CRWSKyYdFVfKu-I-TfXz0mxf8YRlgcelS7w1UlRDkhd8tP7qH1akWqsEQ87De_rcg-Ub2ZUaHTaYhhW8Ww22EkbKo3sVXGFeuZj_UbXnsSmvlRHjDZVS2HiJpUWv-OEG8g2Pc_d8YqdqmyMYqwI9GpDvOrsiiyc37ARLY6-ksF8gwSzogDwH1nzGjiQVScvFm_jaiSqNumD21XGOlia4EWdU1IAAAAAAA== Here, the items are non-existant, as I did not had any decent internet for 6 weeks so I could level this one up myself. I've tried squeeze out as much HP as I could while trying to keep the gear somewhat cheap and accessible at the league start. There are some rares with high rolls, a Command of the Pit and an Impresence in it but those are just to pump more Life Regen and free Surge, nothing that can't be replaced by a semi-decent rare at the start of the league. Pit is absolutely luxury, though I can see the value in keeping Surge up at all times so I've added it. If you do not want to craft your sockets on the Belly of the Beast, Bloodbond is an even cheaper alternative. (Which also lets you squeeze in Convocation instead of Flesh Offering.) Point is, there are waaaaaaaaay too many slots for rares, and waaaaaaaay too many open suffixes for you to manage your resists. As for leveling, the suggestions listed in ES section hold true for both versions, so go for the same notables for utility, and pick up life when you feel like you need it. All you need is a Soulwrest and a Hungry Loop to make this build work. And the ability to use a Bone Helmet is a clear better option compared to ES version as it can now increase both your and your minions' damage thanks to Spiritual Aid passive. Path of Building says the damage numbers on minions and Detonate Dead are almost the same, so Low Life is for more effective HP through Presence of Chayula, not more damage through Pain Attunement. I would even recommend swapping Anger leech to Vitality one so you can gain even more regen in the life version. Last edited by Scorage#7411 on Dec 11, 2018, 11:08:26 AM Last bumped on Mar 25, 2019, 12:31:59 AM
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Updated the trees for 3.5. No nerfs for this one, even buffed thanks to new energy shield recharge added to some of our nodes.
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Oh snap, was thinking about either going soulwrest with lots of auras through vics influence or try a fishymancer variation but I struggled to come up with something.
Looks like somebody has put good effort into it already :) Totally need to play that. Does DD bang everything like in D2? |
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" Vaal Detonate Dead used to, but you're about 2 updates late for that. (I believe it was changed at the start of Delve season, and even that has ended already.) Currently, Vaal Detonate Dead blows up to 26 corpses, about 10-12 of them will be almost instant, then the speed of explosions drop up until the last corpse it can blow up. This means your ghost count stay at the max as long as you have it active. Main issue is, DD has too high of a mana cost. We can spam some, especially with a Mana Leech enchant on the boots. Since the DD is on the ring and has no Spell Echo (Because Vaal Detonate Dead doesn't care for it) we can't constantly blow up corpses. Then again, with Herald of Ash, each detonation will have a good splash of damage over time that insta-kills regular monsters as well. (Because base HP of monster + spell fire damage means a lot of overkill damage.) So as long as you are placing a corpse with Desecrate right at the middle, and blow just one up, things will clear out just fine. If you get surrounded, (Delve, a good example for that) just use Vaal Detonate Dead, and keep casting your own DD as well. That should about cover your needs for more explosions. |
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I see, so DD doesn't have that ridiculous range like in D2 :/
Then again, everything other than bosses died really quick last season when I played a Soulwrest build in Delve. Never played DD in PoE so I won't miss any benefits it might have had some patches earlier. Totally gonna play with DD though, alone for the fishymancer nostalgia |
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I'm a little confused.
Where does the Leech come from in this build to use Ghost Reaver? |
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" Oh that one is definitly my bad. I did prepare a section about how to play with or without the leech, as it is mainly provided through a Watcher's Eye, but must have skipped it by accident. Leech is not mandatory but immensely helpful in fights like Uber Elder or deep in mines. Either Vitality or Anger version is fine, and it'll get you to the LL threshold just fine. (In case of Vitality, all you need to do is to NOT level up Blood Magic, keep it at LVL 1.) Otherwise, before Watcher's eye, you can put some points towards Growth and Decay near the Shadow area, instead of the Ghost Reaver. Yes it is not a perfect fit, but there are a few minion regen talents you can move around as well. You need that extra minion regen for Uber Elder fight only since we don't run Convocation. I apoligize for the mistake, I'll make another pass at my builds tomorrow morning, (Off stream day) so it'll be fixed in the future. The build can work with or without the leech, though adding the leech improves your survivability that much better. In summary, how to leech: Watcher's Eye, get one with either Vit or Anger life leech. Up until then, get Growth and Decay instead of Ghost Reaver, and use Vitality instead of Anger for the Low Life. This'll give you about 4% more life regen, which is plenty on top of your already present regen. Last edited by Scorage#7411 on Dec 10, 2018, 11:58:53 AM
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" Ok that makes more sense now. Now my only problem is getting a Soulwrest in League since people are currently overpricing it to hell and back. (prices are 200+ chaos as of writing this post. For a single socket version...) |
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Can't 6l my shavs. Might just have to try life version with a friggin tabula until I 6l it. Are you still currently playing this build? Switch to brand?
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" I've started a Winter Orb in this season, then moved on adding the Armageddon Brand to my ignite build. So far, I'm back collecting currency, but if I am to play a summoner this season, it'll be this one. Still early in the season, plenty of time to do at least 3 more characters. (I'm saving a slot for an impaler champion for example.) |
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