Slow Mo Zombies! (No Uniques Needed|Relaxed Playstyle|Easy to Gear|Anyone Can Play|All Content)[3.5]

The 3.6 guide is now live. Find it https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2451975. Thanks everyone for such a fantastic expansion! You were all so kind, encouraging, and thoughtful. I hope you all enjoyed the build. Thanks to all who tried the build (those who posted and those who didn't). See you on the other side! :-)

WELCOME!

Do you like to laugh at enemies? Do you like to laugh at them because they are going so slow that you have the time to laugh at them? Do you like to make enemies so slow that you can run beside them and whisper mean things to them as they run towards your old position at an embarrassing slow speed? THEN THIS IS THE BUILD FOR YOU! If you don't like to make enemies feel poorly before you kill them then you should try this build so you learn to like to make enemies feel poorly before you kill them.

This guide is written for those new to Path of Exile but layed out so the experienced players can skip to the good stuff.

(Feel free to respond to other players' posts. I'll respond anyway, but the more that's out there, the more we learn.)



Videos, Path of Building, URLs
- Software: Path of Building - The character planner I use.

- Pastebin ((1 handed) via Path of Building)
- Pastebin ((2 handed) via Path of Building)

- Passive Tree

- Video: Shaper
- Video: Example - My favourite map: Racecourse (T13) :).

Loot Filter
For the 1 handed weapon filter, click here..
For the 2 handed weapon filter, click here..

It won't look legit but it is. It's just my Google Drive. Click the blue "download" button. Once downloaded, rename the file to whatever you like. Put the file in: Documents\My Games\Path of Exile. Once POE is loaded, hit "O" for Options, go to the "UI" tab, scroll to the bottom, and select your new filter from the drop down list beside "List of Item Filters". If it doesn't work, let me know.

This is a SSF filter, not a "get rich" filter (though I get rich enough by selling what drops anyway).

Click Here for the filters' details.
About the 'Author' / Why My Builds are the Way they Are
I deal with post concussion syndrome. Without getting all "doctor" on you, if I want to play a game for a good while and be able to function when I'm finished playing, I have to avoid many things in video games. Things that I try to avoid in POE builds are:

- Lots/crazy movement on screen
- Specific button presses at specific times (like flasks)
- Specific aiming with the mouse
- Blah blah blah

The reason that I write this part isn't so that you feel sorry for me. It's to explain why there are certain elements of my builds that are not maximized in a way that the general community would typically maximize their builds.

As limiting as that seems, this game provides endless character building options.

So my build ideas (if you like them) are great for:
- New players.
- Players that don't like button mashing.
- Players that like attacking/casting with only one or two skills.
- Players that like a more laid back POE experience.
- Players with medical conditions (like epilepsy or those with with physical limitations that are restricted in how they use keyboards or mice (to name a couple)).
- Players that like the best builds ever made in the history of Path of Exile.

***I won't post builds that can't clear the Atlas of course :)***
No Uniques?
I love unique items! I just don't like needing them. So I plan my builds to be able to function completely and clear the Atlas, no matter what items drop. If a unique that's perfect for the build drops, fantastic! Incorporate it anyway you like.
Build Explanation
How Minions Work
Raise Zombie is our main skill and it is a minion skill. Any minion's damage only increases with items or passive tree nodes that specifically increase "minion damage". If a node on the tree or mod on an item doesn't specify minion damage, it won't be useful at all. So something that says, "Increases your damage by 30%" won't improve the damage your minions make. In this build your character will do almost no damage, only your minions will. We will also be using skeletons and a golem.

Minions ARE considered Allies. So auras, nodes, or items that improve allies will benefit your minions. (Not every skill that reserves mana is an aura.)

Minions are NOT considered Party Members and will not gain any benefit from Party Member benefits.

Our minions Attack enemies, they don't Cast spells. So anything that improves minion/ally Attack Speed will help our build out, but not Cast Speed (that's for spells).

Lastly, minions are their own entity. Once you bring them into the world, they attack who they want. Some minions are summoned, others are raised. Summoned minions (like the Skeletons we'll be using) don't follow you, but will keep attacking and chasing enemies within their attack radius. These minions have a duration. Other minions are raised, such as our Zombies. They do not have a duration and will stay raised until dead. These types of minions will follow us wherever we go. But they're dumb...they are zombies...so to help guide them, try the following: Any enemy you hit, they will attempt to hit as well (you hit with Charged Dash). They will also follow the lead of summoned minions as well. You may also use Convocation which will teleport them to your side.

Lastly lastly, minions don't care about you. So if you're taking damage, they aren't going to run back and help you. You have to help yourself. (Convocation or panicking ;) .)
Slow Focus
I. LOVE. SLOWING. ENEMIES. So in this build, we're going to slow enemies. Why? Lots of good reasons...but the most important reason is: Because.

Path of Exile has multiple methods that can slow a character/enemy in two ways: 1-Slowing Movement Speed only, and 2-Slowing all actions (including movement speed). This build will focus on the two methods in the game that slow ALL actions of an enemy: Temporal Chains and Chill. These two methods of slowing can stack.

Chill - An elemental effect from Cold damage that slows all actions (movement, cast/attack speed) up to 30%. The % of slow (chill) imposed on an enemy is based on the total Cold Damage done to the enemy in one hit. So the higher the cold damage of an initial hit (not cumulative) the greater the "chill effect"...the slower the enemy is.

Temporal Chains - A curse that slows all actions (movement, cast/attack speed) up to a base value of 29% but with investment can be capped at 75%. This build will have Temporal Chains slowing enemies at 59%, 65%, or 71%, depending on the level of our Enhance Support Gem.
Curses
I. LOVE. CURSES. TOO.

Curses are debuffs that you can put on an enemy. There are quite a few curses in the game, not all of them are beneficial to every build. I have chosen two curses for this build: Temporal Chains which slows every action of the enemy; and Enfeeble which makes the enemy deal less damage and hit less often.

By default in POE, every character can only apply one curse per enemy. There is a node on the passive tree that increases this limit by one. We'll be getting it and increasing the effectiveness of these curses as well.

Unless an enemy is "Hexproof" (curse proof), our curses will have full effect on all enemies that aren't bosses. Bosses are naturally 60% less affected by curses and the Shaper and his Guardians are 80% less affected.

There is a node on the tree that acts like a curse but isn't. It's called Elemental Equilibrium. It acts as a curse that lowers enemy resists. We'll be getting that too. It can be applied on every enemy.

A big part of this build are the two curses I have chosen. Curses can be cast manually as a spell that applies the selected curse to an area for a duration, or you can link a support skill called Blasphemy which will make the linked curses Auras that are always around you. Curses turned to Auras each reserve 35% of our mana (linking Enhance Support will increase that reservation %, which we'll be doing). We are going to attempt to have our curses as strong as possible. That'll take some gem and passive tree investment. Temporal Chains at its maximum level slows all enemy actions by 29%. With the appropriate investment we can make enemies close to 75% slower with Temporal Chains (this skill cannot slow enemies beyond 75%). Enfeeble, our other curse, does not have a cap. Enfeeble has a lot of great defense, it makes us harder to be hit by Attacks (not spells), we take less critical damage, and we'll take less overall damage too. Focusing specifically on the general damage mitigation of the skill, we'll be improving Enfeeble's base damage mitigation from 30% to 45%.

(Curses are 60% less effective against Area/Map bosses and 80% less effective against the Shaper and his Guardians. That's OK though. The rest of the build is good enough. :) )

Here is the curse math for those that care
Vaal Skills
Vaal skills are super versions of normal skills that have a duration and cooldown given to them. We're hoping to use Vaal Summon Skeletons. Early on in the game Vaal skills typically only drop in Corrupted areas (though as the game progresses you'll find them a little more often.) Corrupted areas can be randomly found attached to maps as a side area. Kill the boss inside these areas, loot their "stash", and hope you get the vaal skill you want.

Vaal Summon Skeletons give you both the Summon Skeleton skill and Vaal Summon Skeletons in one gem. Both skills require their own key bind/button. You can use Summon Skeletons like usual but the Vaal skill requires you to kill enemies, or damage Rare or Unique enemies. Once the skill is ready to use, you can use the skill anytime. But remember, any loading screen in the game automatically resets the vaal skill and it needs to be refilled. So don't save it too long (boss arena doors don't have load screens (except for the The Lord's Labyrinth). Once the skill has been used it'll have a short duration where the skill can't refill.

Vaal Summon Skeletons instantly gives you an extra 30-ish skeletons with one button press :).
Pros and Cons
Pro - As cheap as you want it to be! No uniques required!

Pro - Perfect for new players. Easy to level, easy to survive, easy to kill, easy endgame, easy solo self found.

Pro - It clears maps quickly.

Pro - Chills and slows every enemy and boss to their max (unless immune). Great for survivability.

Pro - Has great DPS. With two 5 links, against the Shaper, our Skeletons will do 64'000 each (we'll have 11) and our Zombies will do 24'000 each (we'll have 10). With two 6 links against the Shaper, the Skeletons will do 88'000 each and the Zombies will do 35'000 each (and that's with very defensive support gems for Zombies). That's a total of over 900'000 DPS for 2 5 links, and over 1'300'000 for 2 6 links...Without any items equipped.

Con - It takes time to get your Zombie fleet back in mid-combat if they all died (will rarely happen). But your Skeletons will do more than enough damage on their own anyway...so it's barely a con.
How I Play This Build/How it Functions in Gameplay
This build is really easy to play. Sooooo easy.

Quick Version: Charged Dash into a group of enemies, zombies kill everything, move on. (Use skeletons for fun.)

Detailed Version:
- Raise your Zombies (And also Golem and Holy Relic if you're going 2 handed).
- Charged Dash into an enemy which will activate both the Fortify buff on yourself, applies Elemental Equilibrium on the enemy, curses the enemies with Enfeeble, and initiates the Holy Relic's perks. (Charged Dash does Lightning Damage so it'll initiate Elemental Equilibrium and will make the cold damage the zombies do even greater. (See the Passive Tree section for more on EE.)
- Charged Dash is a channelling skill. It can be held down.
- When you are around enemies, your Temporal Chains will immediately be applied to them. With Blasphemy at full strength, your curse aura will cover almost a standard size monitor screen. The Hatred aura that we'll have active, that gives our zombies bonus cold damage, will have roughly the same diameter.
- Unless the enemy is hexproof, your enemies will deal a lot less damage, have weaker critical hits, are a lot less likely to hit you with attacks (not spells), and are slowed substantially.
- Your zombies will destroy things quickly.
- In longer fights you will want to pay attention to the Fortify icon around your character (it looks like a star around you when activated). Fortify lasts 5 seconds, so does the Elemental Equilibrium debuff. So for your own survivability, try to keep fortify up at all times during battle.

Hit the Skeleton button anytime you want. I save Vaal Skeletons for bosses, unless the boss is already dead.

So lots happens but all you're doing is using Charged Dash. ONE BUTTON FUN!

A couple tips on "controlling" your brainless tanks:
- If you want your Zombies to attack a specific enemy, hit that enemy with Charged Dash or summon your skeletons to hit that enemy (hopefully). They'll get there as soon as they can.
- If you want your enemies close because they are going to stand in really heavy "one shot kill" damage (very end game) or they just aren't coming over a ledge to do their job, cast Convocation. It'll teleport your zombies to your side.
Tips for New Players
Passive Tree
(Passive tree link, a picture of the passive tree, and Pastebin (1 handed), Pastebin (2 handed))
Passive Tree Explained
The skill tree is easy to understand:
You'll start as a Witch. We start as a witch because there is only one subclass in the game that greatly benefits minions (Zombies and Skeletons specifically) and to reach that subclass (ascendancy) you must start as a witch.

Just follow the tree and take the nodes as they come. You'll find it quite naturally balanced. Save the far West Side of the tree for last.

Tree Focuses:
- Minions - We have every minion node selected which includes minion damage, speed, survivability, and maximizing our zombie and skeleton quantity limit.
- Curses - This build focuses on curse efficiency which means we needed the nodes that improve curse efficiency.
- Jewels - Jewel slots are amazing. Jewels are items you can find that you can actually allocate on your tree. They can give almost anything from health, damage, resists...anything. We will only have three jewel slot selected :(. One of them is reserved for Violent Dead. Equip a second one if it drops! What's really neat is you can swap jewels in and out of your passive tree anytime. All three jewel slots have the proper requirements for Violent Dead so you can place them anywhere.
- Health. You need it to live. :)

Don't forget about attributes. You'll pass some nodes on the tree that give +30 to Strength or Dexterity. If you don't have items to cover what you're short in, feel free to select some of these as you pass them. You'll get respec points that will let you remove them later once you have better gear
Elemental Equilibrium
Elemental Equilibrium (EE) is a node on the passive tree. It gives enemies negative resists to elements you don't hit enemies with...if you've hit them with an element.
So if I hit an enemy with lightning, the enemy now has 25% extra lightning resistance and -50% to both fire and cold resists. If my spell or attack hits and enemy with lightning and fire, the enemy is only now susceptible to cold damage.

**A big part of the Zombie damage in this build comes from our Hatred aura. It gives cold damage to the Zombies. So make sure that ANY item, jewel, or implicit mod from the ascendancies does not have Added Cold Damage in any way. Charged Dash already has lightning as a part of the skill. So every enemy touched by CD will get the EE debuff put on them. (If you have any skills attached to Cast when Damage Taken, make sure they don't do cold damage.)

A neat thing about EE is that it is only applied to enemies by us, not our minions. So, even though our minions are hitting the enemies over and over with cold damage, they aren't giving the enemies extra cold resists.

Questions? Let me know.
Now, feel free to modify this is anyway. This is just my preference for easy Solo Self Found.

Take your time to look at each skill as they come along. Some of the nodes are pretty dramatic.

Some quests earn you respec points in case you regret any decisions you made on the tree. You can also use Orbs of Regret for the same thing.
Ascendancy
As you go through the game you'll come across Trials of Ascendancy. Starting in Act 3 you'll see their value. Once you have completed all 6 of the first set of trails, you'll get to attempt your first Labyrinth (lab). Good luck! Upon completion Choose Necromancy. You get two ascendancy points per lab. There are four labs for a total of 8 points. (Redoing the same lab difficulty will not reward you with more ascendancy points if you've already completed it.)

You can spend your points in any order you like. My preference is as follows:
- 1st Two Points - Invoker. It's the weakest node out of the four big choices, but it leads to the core nodes for our build.
- 2nd Two Points - Flesh Binder. It's pretty self explanatory. It's like a permanent supercharger button for your zombies. You get a higher zombie cap and they hit harder. They also make enemies pay for killing them.
- 3rd Two Points - Bone Sculptor. Also self explanatory. Increases the skeleton cap, makes them faster, makes them have 100% accuracy, and now when you summon a skeleton you raise 3 at a time instead of 1:).
- 4th Two Points - Commander of Darkness. The aura benefits of this build are only for Hatred. Curses turned into auras do not apply to these bonuses. Hatred will therefore be the only aura that affects our minions so they'll get 3% increased attack speed. The 30% increase in damage is only applied once, no matter how many auras your minions have benefiting them. The 20% to resists will also cap our zombies with 75% elemental resists, which is huge. Hatred doesn't apply to us because we linked it with Generosity. This node doesn't affect us at all, only our minions.
Pantheon
Choose any you like as they come across. I personally like physical damage reduction and movement speed (movement speed applies to Charged Dash). But there are no make or break options here. Just preferences.
Gem Links
I'll be giving you the option between a two handed setup or a one handed setup:

- The 1 handed setup will be able to give you more health, make it easier to cap resists, it will "auto cast" more skills for you, and you'll only have to concern yourself with 1 5/6 link item.

- The 2 handed setup will provide lots more damage but have less life, be a little tighter on capping resists (it'll still be easy), you'll have to self cast your golem and relic, and you'll have to concern yourself with getting 2 5/6 links.

PoE restricts which gems are available to each class until Act 3. Until then you can get some gems for free from quest rewards, purchase some from specific NPCs in each town, or find them as loot.

There are two NPC's that sell all purchasable gems: the first one is Siosa in the Library in Act 3 (you have to do his quest first (the Library is connected to The Imperial Gardens)), the second NPC is Lilly Roth is Act 6.

There are a couple gems that will "need" to be at full quality. So be sure to use your Gemcutter's Prisms on these gems first if you are following this build closely. Then you can improve the quality of any other gems you see fit. I'll have a "20%" beside the gem name to indicate it's priority to be quality first. For Example: "Temporal Chains (20%)"

My gem setup is very defensive. Zombies can do way more damage and survive in almost any circumstance. I don't like to swap gems based on circumstances though, so this is the setup I use all game even though it's designed for taking the occasional crazy heavy damage late end-game.

1 Handed Setup
5/6 Link - Main Skill (Socket in your chest)
-Raise Zombie - Our main skill, a minion skill. They do the damage. Not you.
-Minion Damage Support - Improves minion damage.
-Minion Speed Support - Very important for YOUR survival. Without this, you'll find you'll be standing alone, without the ability to do damage yourself, while your zombies are all alive. This keeps your zombies caught up at all times without needing to hit Convocation every 5 seconds.
-Minion Life Support - Gives extra life to your zombies.
-Fortify Support - Grants your zombies the Fortify buff for 5 seconds. This gives them 20% reduced damage from hits (not damage over time). It also raises their damage a little.
-(If you get a six link: Melee Physical Damage Support - Improves melee damage (which is the only damage our zombies do).

4 Link - Extra Damage (Socket in helmet)
-Vaal Summon Skeletons Your normal Skeletons skill and the vaal one packed in one gem. Don't worry about not getting it right away. Just start leveling it when you get it. It'll level up quickly. (See the Vaal section above.)
-Minion Speed Support - Faster the better.
-Minion Damage Support - Improves minion damage.
-Melee Physical Damage Support - Improves melee damage (which our skeletons do).

4 Link - Movement, Defense, Elemental Equilibrium (Socket in gloves or boots)
-Charged Dash (Level 6) - *Don't level past gem level 6. You won't have the Dex to use it otherwise.* Your movement skill that does "everything". When you hit an enemy with CD, you: trigger Holy Relic, apply Fortify to yourself, apply Enfeeble & Elemental Equilibrium (EE) on enemies. This skill is a channelling skill. You can hold the button down or use it quickly. This skill does Lightning Damage so it automatically will initiate (EE) no matter your weapon. (Just be sure not to have any added cold damage to your build in any way...for the sake of EE.)
-Fortify Support - Increases our melee damage, which we don't care about at all, but gives us the Fortify buff for 5 seconds. Fortify decreases our damage taken from hits (both spell and attacks) by 20%. This does not work against damage over time.
-Curse on Hit Support - This is needed to be able to apply Enfeeble with Charged Dash. Improving the quality of this gem improves Enfeeble.
-Enfeeble - Our curse that makes us harder to be hit by Attacks (not spells), take less critical damage, and take less overall damage too. Focusing specifically on the general damage mitigation of the skill, we'll inadvertently be improving Enfeeble's base damage mitigation from 30% to 45% (since we'll be improving curses in the passive tree for Temporal Chains).

4 Link - Defense (for us and allies) (Socket in gloves or boots)
-Cast When Damage Taken - Automatically casts linked spells. Linked spells can't be self casted.
-Summon Stone Golem - An extra minion for aggro and provides life regen for us, not allies.
-Molten Shell - When activated provides damage absorption and armour for us. It does explode if the maximum amount of damage absorption is exceeded. Because it's fire damage, it works well with EE.
-Summon Holy Relic - Linking this to CwDT just makes sure that it's up and running. Its perks don't get applied until we hit an enemy with an Attack (Charged Dash), not a spell. This will do some damage on its own, but we care more about the life regen to us and allies...this skill gives bonus life regen to Minions.

3 Link - SLOOOOOW - (Socket in any 3 link)
-Blasphemy Support (20%) - Turns Temporal Chains into an aura.
-Temporal Chains (20%) - Our curse that slows the enemy. With the improvements discussed above, this will slow all enemy actions from 29% to +70%.
-Enhance Support - Enhance is a DROP ONLY gem. It greatly impacts the value of Temporal Chains' slow, so as soon as it drops, start leveling it. It only has three levels and each level takes a LONG time to level up. It's first level gives no benefit, second level gives +8% to linked gem quality, third level gives 16%. It takes so long to level that you will only earn level 3 by yourself if this is the only build you play all league ;)...if you play lots. If you find an Enhance with quality, lucky you...it'll level faster.

3 Link - Ally Damage and Chill, and Minion Babysitting (Socket in any 3 link)
-Hatred - Adds cold damage to our allies, as a result increasing the chill effect on enemies.
-Generosity Support - Greatly improves Hatred. Typically, auras affect both the caster and their allies. When you attach Generosity to an aura, it improves the aura substantially for your allies, but removes the entire affect on yourself. Perfect.
-Convocation - This skill teleports your minions that follow you, like zombies, to your side. It also gives a little bit of life regen to the teleported minions. I use this typically in two situations: 1) To get the zombies out of harm's way when a boss is going to do one of their "instant kill" mechanics. Zombies don't get out of the way of anything. 2) If the zombies are having a hard time getting to you. They may be caught up somewhere (like a ledge that's close to you...but not close enough) and not able to protect you.

Corpses for Zombies - (Socket in 2nd Weapon Set (hit X on PC or LT+RS on Xbox (without any screens open)))
-Desecrate - Corpses to raise Zombies from before a map.
2 Handed Setup
5/6 Link
-Raise Zombie - Our main skill, a minion skill. They do the damage. Not you.
-Minion Damage Support - Improves minion damage.
-Minion Speed Support - Very important for YOUR survival. Without this, you'll find you'll be standing alone, without the ability to do damage yourself, while your zombies are all alive. This keeps your zombies caught up at all times without needing to hit Convocation every 5 seconds.
-Minion Life Support - Gives extra life to your zombies.
-Fortify Support - Grants your zombies the Fortify buff for 5 seconds. This gives them 20% reduced damage from hits (not damage over time). It also raises their damage a little.
-(If you get a six link: Melee Physical Damage Support - Improves melee damage (which is the only damage our zombies do).

5/6 Link
-Vaal Summon Skeletons Your normal Skeletons skill and the vaal one packed in one gem. Don't worry about not getting it right away. Just start leveling it when you get it. It'll level up quickly. (See the Vaal section above.)
-Minion Damage Support - Improves minion damage.
-Minion Speed Support - Faster the better.
-Melee Physical Damage Support - Improves melee damage (which our skeletons do).
-Maim Support - Reduces enemy movement speed by 30% and gives extra damage.
-(If you get a six link: Ruthless Support - Deals substantial extra damage every 3rd hit (for each individual skeleton.)

4 Link
-Charged Dash (Level 6) - *Don't level past gem level 6. You won't have the Dex to use it otherwise.* Your movement skill that does "everything". When you hit an enemy with CD, you: trigger Holy Relic, apply Fortify to yourself, apply Enfeeble & Elemental Equilibrium (EE) on enemies. This skill is a channelling skill. You can hold the button down or use it quickly. This skill does Lightning Damage so it automatically will initiate (EE) no matter your weapon. (Just be sure not to have any added cold damage to your build in any way...for the sake of EE.)
-Fortify Support - Increases our melee damage, which we don't care about at all, but gives us the Fortify buff for 5 seconds. Fortify decreases our damage taken from hits (both spell and attacks) by 20%. This does not work against damage over time.
-Curse on Hit Support - This is needed to be able to apply Enfeeble with Charged Dash. Improving the quality of this gem improves Enfeeble.
-Enfeeble - Our curse that makes us harder to be hit by Attacks (not spells), take less critical damage, and take less overall damage too. Focusing specifically on the general damage mitigation of the skill, we'll inadvertently be improving Enfeeble's base damage mitigation from 30% to 45% (since we'll be improving curses in the passive tree for Temporal Chains).

4 Link
-Blasphemy Support (20%) - Turns Temporal Chains into an aura.
-Temporal Chains (20%) - Our curse that slows the enemy. With the improvements discussed above, this will slow all enemy actions from 29% to +70%.
-Enhance Support - Enhance is a DROP ONLY gem. It greatly impacts the value of Temporal Chains' slow, so as soon as it drops, start leveling it. It only has three levels and each level takes a LONG time to level up. It's first level gives no benefit, second level gives +8% to linked gem quality, third level gives 16%. It takes so long to level that you will only earn level 3 by yourself if this is the only build you play all league ;)...if you play lots. If you find an Enhance with quality, lucky you...it'll level faster.
-Summon Stone Golem - An extra minion for aggro and provides life regen for us, not allies.

4 Link
-Hatred - Adds cold damage to our allies, as a result increasing the chill effect on enemies.
-Generosity Support - Greatly improves Hatred. Typically, auras affect both the caster and their allies. When you attach Generosity to an aura, it improves the aura substantially for your allies, but removes the entire affect on yourself. Perfect.
-Convocation - This skill teleports your minions that follow you, like zombies, to your side. It also gives a little bit of life regen to the teleported minions. I use this typically in two situations: 1) To get the zombies out of harm's way when a boss is going to do one of their "instant kill" mechanics. Zombies don't get out of the way of anything. 2) If the zombies are having a hard time getting to you. They may be caught up somewhere (like a ledge that's close to you...but not close enough) and not able to protect you.
-Summon Holy Relic - Its perks don't get applied until we hit an enemy with an Attack (Charged Dash), not a spell. This will do some damage on its own, but we care more about the life regen to us and allies...this skill gives bonus life regen to Minions.

Corpses for Zombies - (Socket in 2nd Weapon Set (hit X on PC or LT+RS on Xbox (without any screens open)))
-Desecrate - Corpses to raise Zombies from before a map.
Gear
*3.5 is changing how masters, crafting, and modifying items works substantially. So we'll all be learning what's best and available together.*

Short Version - All Rares! You'll want a Bone Helmet for bonus Minion Damage. Then just get lots of life and resists on all your items.
- Also, in Act 5 there is a quest called Death to Purity. Select the Violent Dead Jewel as a quest reward.
More Helpful Version
Mods
When an item drops in POE, it is completely random to what it is. It has the chance to be a: Normal, Magic, Rare, or Unique item. Each more rare than the previous. On magic and rare items different modifiers (mods) are randomly assigned as well. There are hundreds of modifiers in the game, not all can roll on all items. Examples of a mod are: "+30 to Maximum health" or "Adds 1-3 damage as lightning". Sometimes the mods work well together. Sometimes they contradict each other. If you're using a spell, you won't benefit from an increase in Attack Damage and Attack Speed, but you would from Spell Damage and Casting Speed increases. Rarely, you'll find a Rare item where all or most of the mods work perfectly for your build.

- Normal item: are white and have no mods.
- Magic item: are blue and have up to 3 mods.
- Rare item: are yellow and have 4+ mods on them.
- Unique Item: predetermined mods.
Implicits
An implicit is a guaranteed mod. It will show up on ALL rarities of a base item except the unique. So for example, the Bone Helmet gives 30%-40% extra Minion Damage. All helmets do not give this bonus to minion damage, only the Bone Helmet. The Normal, Magic, and Rare versions all have this implicit mod. If you use an Orb of Alchemy on a normal Bone Helmet, the implicit mod stays, and the item gets the amount of extra mods a rare item gets. If you use an Orb of Scouring on a rare Bone Helmet, it'll change the helmet into a normal Bone Helmet but keep the implicit.

So mods don't replace implicit mods. But implicits replace implicits. When you are doing your Labs (where you get your ascendancy points), you'll get the option to add random implicits mods to an item. That can be good or bad, just be sure not to do it to an item that already has an implicit that works well for you. (You cannot reverse any crafting actions in this game.)
Essences
On occasion in maps, you'll come across a bunch of enemies that are frozen in place in kind of a circle...and you didn't do it. These are Essence Circles. You have to click on the enemy in the middle 3 times to release the trapped enemies so you can kill them. Killing them results in the middle enemy dropping the essences that they held.

Essences are like an Orb of Alchemy. An alchemy changes a normal (white) item to a rare (yellow) item. All the mods are randomized in the process of course. An Essence is just like using an Alch but give you a guaranteed mod.

So for our build we're looking at essences of Fear which add Minion modifiers to our items. Once you have three of one type of essence, they can be upgraded to the next more powerful version of the essence.

There are multiple levels to each type of essence that give it greater impact the higher you get. So a Weeping Essence of Wrath gives your weapon 58-61 lightning damage. A Deafening Essence of Wrath gives 162-172 lightning damage.

And now you know.
- Weapon - Anything you like (not a Wand or Bow). Make sure your weapon doesn't have any cold damage on it or we get the negative effect of EE, not the positive part.
- Shield - Anything you like.
- Head - A Bone Helmet. They are the only rare in the game that carries a natural Minion Damage implicit. Be sure not to replace it at the end of a Lab. They start dropping around character level 73.
- Chest - Anything you like.
- Hands - Anything you like.
- Feet - Anything you like.
- Amulet - Anything you like.
- Ring - Anything you like.
- Ring - Anything you like.
- Belt - Anything you like.
- Jewel - Violent Dead. An Act 5 quest reward for Death to Purity.
- Jewel - Anything you like. A second Violent Dead jewel is nice if it drops. We can have a maximum of 2 of them.
- Jewel - Anything you like.
- Flasks - Anything you like. I simply use 4 health flasks (all modified to remove bleeding) and Quicksilver Flask.
*The beginning of your first playthrough, or with SSF, can be hard gear wise. Hang in there, the good gear with the links you want will come. Don't waste your currency (orbs and fusings) on your items until you reach endgame. It might seem like you have a lot, but soon you'll see that it takes a lot of currency to get what you want on an item.*
Socket Colours and Link
To save some Chromatics (orbs that change socket colours), here's some basic info:
- Items that have Strength requirements are more likely to roll red sockets, Dexterity-green, and Intelligence-blue. If an item has a base requirement of Strength and Intelligence (Bone Helmet) it is more likely to roll red and blue sockets.
- 4 linking an item is easy-ish (25 or less fusings at worst)
- 5 linking an item will take a couple hundred Fusings
- 6 linking an item is not for the faint of heart. In a recent league I spent over 3200 fusings trying to 6 link an item by chance...I didn't get it.
Your goal on every single piece of gear is to get:

- Increases to Maximum life
- Increases to Resists
- Increases to Movement Speed
- Anything Minion

Some people say to ignore chaos resists. This is not bad advice but you'll have all rare items to get 135% resistance on all three elements and chaos. It's doable...and so relaxing when accomplished. I say 135% resists because by the time you finish the story and get to endgame, POE hits you with a -60% to your fire, cold, lightning, and chaos resists. It is very important to have those capped at the +75% or more. It's not a waste to go over the 135% as some endgame map mods will lower your resists by another 60%.

I have included an item filter (in the URL section) that will ease the looting pain for those that do SSF.
Endgame Mods to Avoid
At the end of the game, the levels (maps) you try and clear will have random modifiers (mods) allocated to them. There are A LOT of mods that can go on a map.

There are only a couple mods that we can't run:
-No Mana Regen (our movement skill keeps us alive)
-Reflect Elemental or Physical damage (our minions won't stay alive too long).

Some mods will be inconvenient, but they won't be impossible to run.
Hexproof maps (curse immune enemies) would suck, but it's not the end of the world. You just have to be a little more careful.

You'll learn your personal preferences over time as well.
Quests and Gem Locations - Quick Reference
- I suggest doing every quest in the game. It doesn't take long. If you're too eager to get to mapping in the endgame, here is a link to all the quests that give Skill Points as a reward.

Bandits - With the Bandits in Act 2, I kill them all for the extra 2 skill points. You, of course, do what you like.

**Remember to prioritize. You may not be lucky enough to get the gear that'll let you play with all your gems as soon as they are available. So do what works best for you until the gear comes (don't be quick to sell your old gear in case something doesn't work out).
This is the order for those that go Solo Self Found (in order by unlocking via story):
Drop Only - Level 1 - Enhance Support
Drop Only - Level 10 - Vaal Summon Skeletons (Replaces Summon Skeleton Gem)
Act 1 - Enemy at the Gate - Reward - Level 1 - Raise Zombie
Act 1 - Breaking Some Eggs - Purchase - Level 4 - Summon Holy Relic
Act 1 - The Caged Brute - Reward - Level 8 - Minion Damage Support x2
Act 1 - The Caged Brute - Purchase - Level 10 - Summon Skeleton (Until you get the Vaal version.)
Act 2 - Deal with the Bandits - Reward - Level 15 - Kill Everyone - 2 Skill Points
Act 2 - Intruders in Black - Reward - Level 16 - Desecrate
Act 2 - Sharp and Cruel - Reward - Level 18 - Minion Speed Support x2
Act 2 - Sharp and Cruel - Purchase - Level 18 - Minion Life Support
Act 2 - Sharp and Cruel - Purchase - Level 18 - Melee Physical Damage Support x2
Act 3 - Lost in Love - Reward - Level 24 - Convocation
Act 3 - Lost in Love - Purchase - Level 24 - Hatred
Act 3 - A Fixture of Fate - Purchase - Level 1 - Ruthless Support (2 handed build only)
Act 3 - A Fixture of Fate - Purchase - Level 4 - Molten Shell (1 handed build only)
Act 3 - A Fixture of Fate - Purchase - Level 8 - Maim Support (2 handed build only)
Act 3 - A Fixture of Fate - Purchase - Level 24 - Enfeeble
Act 3 - A Fixture of Fate - Purchase - Level 24 - Temporal Chains
Act 3 - A Fixture of Fate - Purchase - Level 28 - Charged Dash
Act 3 - A Fixture of Fate - Reward - Level 31 - Blasphemy Support
Act 3 - A Fixture of Fate - Purchase - Level 31 - Generosity Support
Act 4 - Breaking the Seal - Reward - Level 34 - Summon Stone Golem
Act 4 - The Eternal Nightmare - Purchase - Level 38 - Cast when Damage Taken (1 handed build only)
Act 4 - The Eternal Nightmare - Purchase - Level 38 - Curse on Hit
Act 5 - Death to Purity - Reward - Level 1 - Jewel - Violent Dead
Act 6 - Fallen from Grace - Purchase - Level 31 - Fortify Support x2
This is the order for those that buy gems ahead of time (in order of gems starting level):
Level 1 - Enhance Support
Level 1 - Raise Zombie
Level 1 - Ruthless Support (2 handed build only)
Level 1 - Jewel - Violent Dead
Level 4 - Summon Holy Relic
Level 4 - Molten Shell (1 handed build only)
Level 8 - Minion Damage Support x2
Level 8 - Maim Support (2 handed build only)
Level 10 - Summon Skeleton (Until you get the Vaal version)
Level 10 - Vaal Summon Skeletons (Replaces Summon Skeleton)
Level 15 - Kill Everyone - 2 Skill Points
Level 16 - Desecrate
Level 18 - Minion Speed Support x2
Level 18 - Minion Life Support
Level 18 - Melee Physical Damage Support x2
Level 24 - Convocation
Level 24 - Hatred
Level 24 - Enfeeble
Level 24 - Temporal Chains
Level 28 - Charged Dash
Level 31 - Blasphemy Support
Level 31 - Generosity Support
Level 31 - Fortify Support x2
Level 34 - Summon Stone Golem
Level 38 - Cast when Damage Taken (1 handed build only)
Level 38 - Curse on Hit
- There are two NPCs that sell all purchasable gems: the first one is Siosa in the Library in Act 3 (you have to do his quest first (the Library is connected to The Imperial Gardens)), the second NPC is Lilly Roth in Act 6 (Do her quest in Act 6).
Awesome. So if you have any questions let me know and I'll respond the best I can. If you don't like my build, I hope your build ideas lack success and then you come back to mine and go, "huh. I like this...a lot."

OH! Don't forget, to support GGG by buying a skin for all your favourite skills you use. They last forever, you look rad, and it keeps POE going too :).



https://www.ForeverExiled.com/: Forever Exiled, A Path of Exile Podcast
Last edited by Wrecker_of_Days#7691 on Mar 7, 2019, 11:52:27 PM
Last bumped on Aug 22, 2019, 1:37:01 AM
I'll update the guide with the last minute changes as soon as our hard working third party volunteers have updated their tools. I hope you like the build.
https://www.ForeverExiled.com/: Forever Exiled, A Path of Exile Podcast
First of all, I really dig what you've done with this build. Making the game more accessible to people who can't handle some of the hectic action is an awesome contribution to the gaming community as a whole.

I myself prefer a more laid back style of play and I adore summoners in general. My first character ever in PoE was a summoner. When I got into the first town I was over the moon when I discovered "raise zombie" as a skill, and I've been hooked ever since ( I even beat A4 Merciless Malachai with her).

I thought I would share some thoughts I had regarding your build since I almost always play alongside my wife. She is playing a Molten Strike Jugg for Betrayal so EE is not really an option with her running Anger, so I am switching Charged Dash to leap slam ( I like sceptres too ), and I added in 80 points of ST and Dex ) I can't seem to ever get resists AND stats on gear, even after 3 years I have trouble getting RNGeebus to bless me.

Other than those small tweaks (so far), I like the concept and look forward to seeing more.

See you out there Exile :)
Going to try out your build - thanks for writing it.
Wish you had a tree that was for level 80 or so, since I'm not going to get anywhere near level 100.

A couple ideas for people leveling through the story line:

First, consider adding in Summon Raging Spirits.

- As you level, if any wands (or maybe scepters) with linked blue-blue-red sockets drop or are for sale at a vendor, save one or two.
- If any iron rings drop, save them
- If any red gems drop, save them (or else buy a flame totem gem from Nessa for a wisdom scroll)
- When you have a red gem and an iron ring, sell to a vendor to get a ruby ring.
- If your BBR wand is normal rarity, use an Orb of Transmutation to make it magic/blue.
- When you have a ruby ring and a magic BBR wand, sell to a vendor with an Orb of Alteration to change the wand into +1 fire gems.

Socket the wand with Summon Raging Spirit, Minion Damage Support, and either Spell Totem Support or Melee Splash Support.

The totem version is a nice fire and forget for early fights.
The melee splash version does more damage, but is more work.

I make two wands, and have one with totems and one with splash.

Later, you can change the SRS gem to a Summon Skeletons gem and have a skeleton totem.

Second, make a +1 to minion skills hat.

- If a hat drops or is for sale with 3 or 4 linked blue sockets, save it. (I do 3 at first and then upgrade to 4 sockets after I get to Act 3.)
- In Act 2, Bone Spirit Shields start to drop. Save a few.
- Vendoring a Bone Spirit Shield plus a life flask plus an Orb of Transmutation gives a life flask of Animation (which could be useful for healing your zombies early on).
- Vendoring a flask of animation, an Orb of Alteration and a magic/blue hat turns the hat into a +1 to minion gems hat.

Socket your Raise Zombie, Minion Damage Support, Minion Speed Support (and Minion Life Support, if a 4-link) into the hat - all the gems get a free +1 level.

Running heists fully zoomed in... because
Last edited by CelticHound#7630 on Dec 9, 2018, 12:43:05 PM
Hey dracoselene!

"
dracoselene wrote:
First of all, I really dig what you've done with this build. Making the game more accessible to people who can't handle some of the hectic action is an awesome contribution to the gaming community as a whole.
Thank you very much. I was surprised how many people were in my shoes when I started attempting guides (my first builds were horrible!).

"
I myself prefer a more laid back style of play and I adore summoners in general. My first character ever in PoE was a summoner. When I got into the first town I was over the moon when I discovered "raise zombie" as a skill, and I've been hooked ever since ( I even beat A4 Merciless Malachai with her).
Amen. Preach!

"
I thought I would share some thoughts I had regarding your build since I almost always play alongside my wife. She is playing a Molten Strike Jugg for Betrayal so EE is not really an option with her running Anger, so I am switching Charged Dash to leap slam ( I like sceptres too )...
Would you prefer to be purely physical? You could always equip Haste, an Enfeeble with Blasphemy, or any other aura really. If you're going all physical make sure to add Brutality instead of Melee Physical. It adds a lot more damage for non-elemental damage hits.

"
...and I added in 80 points of ST and Dex ) I can't seem to ever get resists AND stats on gear, even after 3 years I have trouble getting RNGeebus to bless me.
Squint harder when you pray. That works for me! Oh, and thank Him for every cup of coffee.

"
Other than those small tweaks (so far), I like the concept and look forward to seeing more.
Thanks! GGG changed a bunch, but none of it impacts this build. So once everyone is finished their hard work on their 3rd party tools, the build's tree and such will be good to go.

"
See you out there Exile :)
Thanks for the kind message! I look forward to you feedback.
https://www.ForeverExiled.com/: Forever Exiled, A Path of Exile Podcast
Last edited by Wrecker_of_Days#7691 on Dec 4, 2018, 10:49:39 PM
Hey CelticHound!

Thanks for writing! You reminded me that I forgot a Tips for Newbies section! Thanks! Your tips are fantastic and everyone should read them! I won't cut them out to save space to make sure they get a chance at being read.

Regarding the tree, don't worry about how far it goes. If you simply follow the tree in the order that the nodes come in you'll be fine. (I covered the East side first, then the North side, then after I got the extra curse node I went South. I guess I should say, I saved the far west of my tree for last.) I didn't get past 91 in the last league, but it was the exact build you have here and it killed everything easily, including the Shaper. The build will do it's work. I added the skeletons this league so I don't have to think and react as much in boss battles :).

I hope you like the build! But let me know what you think whether you like it or not. :) Happy 3.5!


"
CelticHound wrote:
Going to try out your build - thanks for writing it.
Wish you had a tree that was for level 80 or so, since I'm not going to get anywhere near level 100.

A couple ideas for people leveling through the story line:

First, consider adding in Summon Raging Spirits.

- As you level, if any wands (or maybe scepters) with linked blue-blue-red sockets drop or are for sale at a vendor, save one or two.
- If any iron rings drop, save them
- If any red gems drop, save them (or else buy a flame totem gem from Nessa for a wisdom scroll)
- When you have a red gem and an iron ring, sell to a vendor to get a ruby ring.
- If your BBR wand is normal rarity, use an Orb of Transmutation to make it magic/blue.
- When you have a ruby ring and a magic BBR wand, sell to a vendor with an Orb of Alteration to change the wand into +1 fire gems.

Socket the wand with Summon Raging Spirit, Minion Damage Support, and either Spell Totem Support or Melee Splash Support.

The totem version is a nice fire and forget for early fights.
The melee splash version does more damage, but is more work.

I make two wands, and have one with totems and one with splash.

Later, you can change the SRS gem to a Summon Skeletons gem and have a skeleton totem.

Second, make a +1 to minion skills hat.

- If a hat drops or is for sale with 3 or 4 linked blue sockets, save it. (I do 3 at first and then upgrade to 4 sockets after I get to Act 3.)
- In Act 2, Bone Spirit Shields start to drop. Save a few.
- Vendoring a Bone Spirit Shield plus a life flask gives a life flask of Animation (which could be useful for healing your zombies early on).
- Vendoring a flask of animation, an Orb of Alteration and a magic/blue hat turns the hat into a +1 to minion gems hat.

Socket your Raise Zombie, Minion Damage Support, Minion Speed Support (and Minion Life Support, if a 4-link) into the hat - all the gems get a free +1 level.

https://www.ForeverExiled.com/: Forever Exiled, A Path of Exile Podcast
"
Would you prefer to be purely physical? You could always equip Haste, an Enfeeble with Blasphemy, or any other aura really. If you're going all physical make sure to add Brutality instead of Melee Physical. It adds a lot more damage for non-elemental damage hits.


Actually I like to mix it up a bit and hit enemies with more than one damage type when possible. I learned the hard way that you can die very quickly if you do only one type (resists go both ways after all). I'll be keep doing everything mostly the same but I might switch some of the curse effectiveness nodes for more resists since slowing is capped for all sources.

"
Thanks! GGG changed a bunch, but none of it impacts this build. So once everyone is finished their hard work on their 3rd party tools, the build's tree and such will be good to go.


I agree, they didn't do much to this necro build, unlike the massive necro nerf a few leagues back. So it should be good to go as is.
I really want to give this build a try as my SSF starter. However, the need for two threshold jewels is a concern, especially as I don't want to mule another character to act V just to grab the second Violent Dead. Going to have to give it some thought.

Brilliant build and great guide. Thank you for putting it together.
As you may know, I've played that Slow Mo Witch in Delve and I've made it pretty far, I think. Brought it on lvl 91 with less than 100 Deaths (in like six or seven weeks) and I loved the playstyle. Not sure about playing her in Betrayal again, but if there is no other option (like an easy-as-this-one-here) maybe I will. Hope you will update your Lootfilter for 3.5!
Last edited by Alayron#6054 on Dec 5, 2018, 8:03:18 AM
"
Wozmon wrote:
I really want to give this build a try as my SSF starter. However, the need for two threshold jewels is a concern, especially as I don't want to mule another character to act V just to grab the second Violent Dead.


Don't let the mention of two Violent Deads put you off from the build! It's a "nice to have" thing, not a "MUST HAVE" thing for sure.

I tried this build for the first time for the final three weeks of Delve (after a 3+ year hiatus from the game) and only had one jewel. I had zero issues, but only made it as far as low tier maps before the league ended. I bet I died less than 5 times from level 1-78. You can see my character on my profile if you like, as a reference.

I'll be sticking with this build as my Betrayal opener for sure, and if I get to the point of feeling any kind of pinch due to missing a second jewel, getting a second character to Act 5 is still more efficient than waiting on RNG to drop one. (Or if you prefer to trade, I can't imagine it would be that hard to get your hands on a second jewel. I just prefer not to trade.)

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