[3.8] The BUGG JUGG - Melee Summoner TANK - Versatile & Customizable!

https://pastebin.com/jCw2BRXy

-Carrion Golem: Don't need, It would just be annoying trying to spawn and kill worms without him smacking them before we can.

Withering Step: A little dodge and Phasing to add to our defenses could be really good, hard to choose what to drop to use it so might be best used in an Unset Ring.


**Remember** This is only a guide, and these are my suggestions. I encourage people to always test different things and stick with the things you like best!

Don't be concerned if some skills/gems setup you see recommended in the guide will be different than what you see in the videos and linked gear.

Path of Building link, skill trees and skill gems setup will always be updated.

This build was first played in 3.6, which is when the gear and videos came from. With every new league there are changes, and recommendations may also change.

I like to try different builds every league, so I probably won't be playing this build but I will continue to update it with recommended changes for players that do. hope you all enjoy!

T16 Maze of the Minotaur - Double Reflect! EASY
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/430451361

T15 Defiled Cathedral
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/430427485

T14 Plaza
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/430427484

•Spiders and the Scorpion deal all our damage and hardly need any investment
•40k DPS per spider x 20 Spiders = 900k DPS. Great for single target.
•400k DPS from Scorpion Tail Spike. 100k+ per Mortar, 6 Morters that can shotgun. Great for map clear.
•Everything that deals damage, except the Agony Crawler will have 90-100% chance to poison. If a poison tick deals the killing blow, we are credited with the kill. This procs the Arakaali's Fang and instantly gives us 20 spiders very reliably.
•Only take defensive Juggernaut ascendency nodes
•Only use defensive flask
•Only spend 15 skill points on offense, the rest is ALL DEFENSE
•Only need defensive stats on jewels, except one with 5% poison.
•78% chance to block attacks, 20% spell block, we gain almost 200 life and plenty mana on block to sustain everything we do.


Pros:
•Easy/fast leveling cause you NEVER DIE.
•Can do any map mod - saves currency!
•Can face tank almost anything, if you dodge the very obvious stuff you never die.

Cons:
•Must get INT and DEX on gear, or spend passive points on the +30 nodes.
•Not the fastest map clear, limited by minion move speed but well managed convocation can make it pretty fast.
•Decent league starter, the shield and dagger will be expensive, but you can use a Budget Shield.
•If used as a league starter, you may have to spend all currency early to buy the dagger. This may limit you being able to buy maps for completion and push your atlas quickly.
•No regen maps are hard, but doable with mana flask and good life flask management.

To start each map/zone you will have to use the Desecrate + Writhing Jar flask trick to generate your Spiders. Here's how it works:
1. Cast Desecrate 3 times, use Writhing Jar flask.
2. Two worms will pop out, kill them and Spiders will appear!

You will also have to do this when entering a boss area or if a boss has a long phase and your Spiders all expire. So conserve that flask! Only use it when you need it for Spiders!

1. Shield charge into mobs to proc Fortify
2. Chug your defensive flask
3. Hold Cyclone - it will apply poisons & Wither and also CwC BV will stack and also apply poisons.
4. Watch Bugs maul everything
5. Cast Immortal Call when things get a little too nasty

•Class: Maurauder
•Ascendency: Juggernaut
1st: Unflinching
2nd: Unbreakable
3rd: Unrelenting
4th: Unstoppable

Starting Tree - -kill all bandits

Getting enough INT and DEX is a challenge for this build. Always make sure you have enough so that you can level your gems as much as possible, so you probably will have to grab those +30 nodes. Unspec them later once you have enough on gear.

The tree is foolproof, just rush to Resolute Technique then take Spiritual Aid then Spiritual Command and finally Gravepact. After these main nodes, you can literally take anything in any order and you will be fine.

https://poeplanner.com/ABIAAP0AEhEAAHvG2FhjPfyMz_ZIXz8UIO8OUEcaPunVeTl-4tIh8kGCB1cN85toZZZskc6ezacwAec26BpVFE38S7yfGJFhIYTvouoS4drBLlPTb3TtBS1672LsTUbBgrvt-OvPfuoYdqz3MnzZcqnE9n31xBXGrjwtg8y3PoNf_grYvTWS_o9N46ZXOuHyRa-nPQ_7qgY58wZRYAthr2xo8vAfogAEs8BmYPglIaqppqysqlnzGjiQVZ8-LdJyD5RvZlRmnkqfibwQUZhNOsZxsmL0-tIWb-NqJKo26Rv6Jd-kGScvGmzT-1qRqH1qrMABBsZdpN3Vyx7SOPe5FrsAAAAAAA==

•Arakaali's Fang is the only required item
•Rare Gloves with - Supported by Poison and Faster Attacks help a lot, but not required.
•The Surrender is nice for the life on block, but almost any shield will work.
•The Anvil Amulet is nice for the extra block/max block and life/mana on block but any good amulet will work.
•A 6 Link Coming Calamity to put our Herald in could be nice cause it would allow us to use Hatred+Generosity, but We'd have to drop some defensive gems to make it fit. I'd rather feel immortal than kill things a little faster.
•All other slots can be rares to stack life and resist!


If the dagger is simply too expensive
Especially if using this as a league starter, you can simply spec into the Death Attunement node for +1 Specter node and run 3 Solar Guard Specters.

Just take this node instead of the Sanctity-Retribution path near Templar start.

Their projectiles are great to clear maps and having them with the Herald will still make boss fights simple. Just use any weapon with minion damage in it's place.

gem setup: Raise Spectre - Minion Damage - Spell Echo - Greater multiple Projectiles.

You should also look for a helm that boost socket minion gems, has "socketed gems Supported by Minion Damage" and/or Socketed gems Supported Immolate" that would boost their damage by a lot. So that it would be like having them in a 6 link or better.





Other Possible Uniques to Use:
•Victarios Charity Shield - Give our bugs Frenzies, lots of damage! We won't be attack block capped, and lose 250 life gained on block + armour.

•Daresso's Courage shield: Gives us 20% spell block when we block an attack! Could easily keep us at 78%/40% block.

•Lioneye's Remorse shield: Offers a TON of life and 35% block chance.

•Kaom's Way - +1 Endurance Charge and tons of life regen, If your other gear easily caps your resist this can be great as a defensive option instead of a Circle of Nostalgia.

•Circle of Nostalgia - Nice buff for our HoA and QoL to save us some mana or get easy poisons. If your res are easily capped this is worth a ring slot.

•Eber's Unification - The free cast Void Gaze is a nice damage increase, but we get basically no defensive stats from this helm.

•Speaker's Wreath - We get no defensive stats but would give us 100% uptime on Spiders since we'd ALWAYS get the kills.. but I never have an issue so I think it's pointless. Desecrate + Worm Flask does the job and I'd rather use a flask + gem than lose a helm slot. I also find it slows your clear speed since you have to hunt down every mob, instead of just letting Spiders chase them down and Scorpion 1-shot them from off screen.

*You will want to get gloves that have: "Socketed Gems are Supported by Level __ Poison" and if you can afford it, "Socketed Gems Supported by level __ Faster Attacks"
*This will allow you to run Wither, which Cyclone will stack very quickly. Faster Attacks is also very nice to stack poisons faster, but not absolutely necessary.

•Body Armour: Herald of Agony - Minion Damage - Damage on Full Life - Pierce - Vicious Projectiles - Maim

•In 4 link: Summon Holy Relic - Immortal Call - Increased Duration - Desecrate
-You can also use Molten Shell instead of Imm Call for better defenses against physical dmg, but you lose a little defenses against elemental dmg.

•In 4 link: CWDT(lvl 20) - Spirit Offering(lvl 20) - Enfeeble(lvl 20) - Tempest Shield (lvl 20)

•In Gloves: Cyclone - Cast While Channeling - Blade Vortex - Withering Touch -(If you have free Poison support)
•In Gloves: Cyclone - Poison - Cast While Channeling - Blade Vortex-(If you don't have free Poison support)

•In Shield: Shield Charge - Fortify - Faster Attacks

•In Arakaali's Fang: Damage on Full Life - Melee Physical - Minion Damage Support
--For best clear speed, use Melee Splash instead of Dmg on Full Life but make sure to swap back for bosses! The 2 seconds it takes to gem swap are well worth it!


•If you get an Unset Ring, you can put in Flesh and Stone.

Major: Lunaris
-Physical reduction is great, and we want to avoid chained projectiles since we always have a bunch of minions in front of us
•Capture Stone of the Currents in Wharf Map
•Capture Sebbert, Crescent's Point in Moon Temple Map
•Capture Ambrius, Legion Slayer in Colosseum Map


Minor: Ralakesh, Ryslatha or Shakari are all good options.

This should really help new players, but there are some good tips even for experienced players if you scan through it.

If any new players would like a more some help, just PM me! I can import your current character into Path of Building and give you some more detailed advice.

1. Start game with Molten Strike. Have someone or an alt character buy you all the Minion gems for your final build so that you can have them leveling up until you are ready to use them! Minions scale massively with levels, you DO NOT want to wait until Act 6 to buy and possibly begin using under-leveled Herald of Agony and your Offering, Enfeeble, and your other support gems.

Always be on the lookout for any other gems that are required, choose them as quest reward or buy them from the vendors!

Remember, you can put 2 weapons/shield in your weapon swap and even though you are not using these weapons, the gems inside them will still level. So, go buy 2 cheap things with 3 sockets each.

3. Get Added Fire Support and Shield Charge after killing Brutus.

4. Get Sunder as your attack skill after Killing Merveil you can use it at lvl 12. You will use this for a looong time!

Link Sunder with Melee Phys- Added Fire - Ruthless

5. Act 2: Kill all Bandits. Kill the Weaver then go to Yeena, get Faster Attacks and Elemental Damage with Attacks from Yeena.

6. Any Unique/rare axe or mace until lvl 32, then look to get a Flesheaters or The Gryphon. Moonbender's Wing is also really good at lvl 39.

If you have Moonbender's Wing, your Sunder will be dealing a lot of elemental damage, so link it with Ele dmg with Attacks - Conc Effect - Ele Focus - Melee Phys - Ruthless.

If you are using a different weapon, link it with Melee Phys - Added Fire - Elemental Damage with Attacks - Conc Effect - Ruthless

7. You can get The Anvil amulet at lvl 45.

8. At lvl 53 you can go full summoner and get an Arakaali's Fang. Victario's Charity shield is also a really good shield to give your minions Frenzies. Get rid of Sunder and switch to Blade Flurry - Poison - CwC - Blade Vortex. At this low level I wouldn't try to get gloves with built in Poison/Faster Attacks until later when you can look for some with a little life/resist.

9. At lvl 64 you can use The Surrender shield. Lvl 68 get a Rumi's Concoction flask.

If this isn't your first character and you have currency, you can absolutely FLY through the story mode with 2x Poet's Pens and a Tabula.

•In Tabula: Herald of Agony - Maim - Damage on Full Life - Pierce - Minion Damage - Vicious Projectiles

•In a 4 link - Barrage - Faster Attacks - Poison - Greater Multiple Proj
-This will only give us 80% poison, so I recommend getting 4 very cheap jewels with 5% poison. Taking jewel slots early won't set us back at all, this build will still be stupid tanky and have tons of damage.

•Poet's Pen #1: Unearth - Greater Multiple Proj - Projectile Weakness (this requires 3 off colors, see below)

•Poet's Pen #2: Volatile Dead - Conc Effect - Controlled Destruction

Get a Volley Fire jewel and stick in the slot below Duelist start.

Poet's Pen #1 setup requires 3 off colors, which will be really hard to get if you just spam chromes.

If you don't wanna gamble away all your currency trying to GGG one of the Pens, You can use Flammability or Enfeeble instead of Projectile Weakness.

You can force 2 green sockets and add a 3rd that will most likely be blue.

You will have to Delve to find the recipes, go here and scroll to the bottom to see where they are located in the mines

https://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Crafting_Bench)

Take your Poet's Pen to the crafting bench and do this:
1. Craft: 2 Sockets
2. Craft: At Least 2 Green Sockets
3. Craft: 3 Sockets

The way socket crafting works, the odds are you'll get a blue as the 3rd socket. If you get a red as the 3rd socket,

4. Craft: 2 sockets (you will still have your 2 greens)
5. Craft: 3 sockets

Keep doing this until you get GGB or if you want to gamble and try to get GGG, continue steps 4 and 5 until you get em!

DON'T FORGET TO 3 LINK EACH POET'S PEN :)))))

I ran two other versions of this build, one with Vicatario's Influence body armour and one with Doedre's Skin body armour. Since the original version goes all out on defenses and this versions goes *almost* all out on getting as much damage as possible. You can actually take aspects of both versions and combine them to create your own BUGG JUGG that suits your playstyle!



Path of Building for Crit Spiders Victario's Charity version



Path of Building for 6 Curse Doedre's Skin version



Playstyle - Couple Important Things to Manage


3.7 Gear


Gem Setup


Skill Tree