[3.14] Ultra-Tanky Aura God, Zombie Summoner

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Janeie wrote:

I am currently testing your build, was able to snatch some nice items (some were crafted by myself).

So far it is doing fine, i was able to clear any maps with ease up to t16 vaal temple. Ultimatums on Tier 16 8 mod maps can be sometimes hard but doable. I did not yet test endgame bosses but will do it soon. Gameplay feels smooth and I was suprised with speed clear.

Also with this setup you presented reserving Aspect of Avian is impossible but it might work with +2 socketed gems / +2 aoe/aura gems corruption on armor.

Also i will test soon how this build will work with awakened multi, minion dmg and phys dmg, should be noticeable boost in damage.

Pushing this char to lvl 100 might be interesting since it will be enough pts to reach death attunenemt with loosing only Sanctum of tought or 6% hp (which can be covered by better aura levels from +2/2 armor and 3 mod watcher's eye eg with determination).

I'm glad the build is working well for you! The only thing that's given me any trouble was the Phoenix map because the boss has a ton of AoE damage. Otherwise I've had no issues so far (as long as I don't get a phys reflect map).

Since writing this guide I've tinkered with the build a ton, testing every variant that comes to mind (and probably spending too much on Orbs of Regret).

My current setup moves my auras off of my chestpiece and onto my gloves / boots. My chestpiece now has a 6L Vaal Summon Skeletons, along with Feeding Frenzy (buffs zombies too) and Maim instead of Empower and Minion Damage (unlike my weapon setup). I removed cyclone + cast on channeling to open some gem slots, though the downside is I have to stop a bit more often, but the Skeleton army is great for planting in one area while i walk over to defend somewhere else with the zombies.

Some interesting things I've been messing with include:

-lvl 1 clarity paired with watcher's eye bonus ES.

-glorious vanity splits up your ES and Life damage which helps with sustain. also glorious vanity keystone gives 15% bonus ES based on life total.

-mask of the tribunal on my animated golem gives defenses to all summons and nets me an extra +900 ES when it's nearby.

-large cluster jewels with Feasting Fiends + Rotten Claws + Vicious Bite are a colossal damage increase.

As of this writing I'm floating 6452 hp, 7987 ES, and 1507 strength at lvl 95.

Someone can help me? All my minions dies on bosses, conqueror maps and ultimatum.
I have 1500+ str.

https://www.pathofexile.com/account/view-profile/Tori16341/characters

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Tori16341 wrote:

Someone can help me? All my minions dies on bosses, conqueror maps and ultimatum.
I have 1500+ str.

https://www.pathofexile.com/account/view-profile/Tori16341/characters

Hey!

Even with armor, evasion, and resistance auras, and Spirit Offering, Zombies don't quite have the health they once did. There are many ways to increase their resiliency.

**) Stand closer to enemy packs. This is a weird one but if you aren't using Feasting Fiends to make your Zombies "Aggressive" then they will have a shorter aggro range. If you are too far from the fight your zombies actually won't engage, meaning no lifesteal since they aren't dealing damage, thus leading to a sad death. Some things just kill zombies no matter what. Phys reflect is the most obvious, but another is the massive lightning AoE damage from king harbingers as well as some T16 Ultimatums with very hard mods. If this happens, back out and resummon the zombies. It's very rare that my army gets wiped twice in the same fight.

1) I use an abyss jewel that grants 6% chance for minions to blind on hit. Blinded enemies have their chance to hit cut in half.

2) 0.6% minion life leech node next to the Sacrifice major passive (your skill tree is 3 points away from using it)

3) Grave Intentions node and its neighbors. In addition to lots of resists, this node makes all minions benefit from 10% of their HP as ES. When you activate Vaal Discipline to recharge your shield, it also gives that massive regen to your whole army.

4) Cluster Jewel with Feasting Fiends - gives 10% life, 10% damage, and 0.4% life leech. This would require changing up the build quite a bit of course,

Any PoB for version with skeletons? Im curious about the numbers, so I would be able to compare with min/maxed current version ( i think that with godlike corrupted +2/+2 saqwals will allow to use either aspect of spider/avian, which would contribute to more survival and dmg from auras). Suprisingly the hardest thing for me to deal with this build are t16 8 mod rituals, and t 16 8 mod ultimatums (starting like from 8th wave) > i guess this should be solved with awakened gems (prolly just the opness of awakened multistrike will be enough).

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Janeie wrote:

Any PoB for version with skeletons? Im curious about the numbers, so I would be able to compare with min/maxed current version ( i think that with godlike corrupted +2/+2 saqwals will allow to use either aspect of spider/avian, which would contribute to more survival and dmg from auras). Suprisingly the hardest thing for me to deal with this build are t16 8 mod rituals, and t 16 8 mod ultimatums (starting like from 8th wave) > i guess this should be solved with awakened gems (prolly just the opness of awakened multistrike will be enough).

Skeletons would require a 2nd 6l. Not worth. Use 'em as meat shields (in a 1l) if you have to.

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Janeie wrote:

Any PoB for version with skeletons? Im curious about the numbers, so I would be able to compare with min/maxed current version ( i think that with godlike corrupted +2/+2 saqwals will allow to use either aspect of spider/avian, which would contribute to more survival and dmg from auras). Suprisingly the hardest thing for me to deal with this build are t16 8 mod rituals, and t 16 8 mod ultimatums (starting like from 8th wave) > i guess this should be solved with awakened gems (prolly just the opness of awakened multistrike will be enough).

Here's the PoB: https://pastebin.com/JRZBmUmY

Currently at 1.15M DPS per Zombie. Zombies get Feeding Frenzy bonus from Skeletons, and skeletons Maim for more zombie damage. Completely offsets the removal of Flesh and Stone and doesn't require any reservation. Skeletons deal 370k DPS each as well.

The damage and ES doesn't include the bonuses from AG with Mask of the Tribunal which can boost ES further to around 8k, or around 14.5k total life + ES

Edit: Almost forgot, and you're probably gonna laugh :) The way I procc vulnerability is to basic attack the target, haha. Looking into a good Unset ring to socket cyclone for AoE Vulnerability b/c w/ these changes I do need another socket. That or 5L my chestpiece but I probably wont do that

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bvanharjr wrote:

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Janeie wrote:

Any PoB for version with skeletons? Im curious about the numbers, so I would be able to compare with min/maxed current version ( i think that with godlike corrupted +2/+2 saqwals will allow to use either aspect of spider/avian, which would contribute to more survival and dmg from auras). Suprisingly the hardest thing for me to deal with this build are t16 8 mod rituals, and t 16 8 mod ultimatums (starting like from 8th wave) > i guess this should be solved with awakened gems (prolly just the opness of awakened multistrike will be enough).

Skeletons would require a 2nd 6l. Not worth. Use 'em as meat shields (in a 1l) if you have to.

Check the PoB in the above post :)

Thank you for the build! Eager to give it a try. What are your thoughts on taking Utmost Might instead of the Brawn Jewel? At first glance, we get more Strength and save one passive point, which we can put e.g. into 6% Aura Effect for more DPS and +2% Phys Dmg Reduction.

Also, this way we have 1500 Str even with a Cane of Kulemak (so without +10% Strength on the weapon).

https://pastebin.com/rtPXvEBX

[EDIT] This is based on the PoB in your original post. I've now seen that you've changed it up a little later on, so this might be outdated.

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Dream_Fragments wrote:

Thank you for the build! Eager to give it a try. What are your thoughts on taking Utmost Might instead of the Brawn Jewel? At first glance, we get more Strength and save one passive point, which we can put e.g. into 6% Aura Effect for more DPS and +2% Phys Dmg Reduction.

Also, this way we have 1500 Str even with a Cane of Kulemak (so without +10% Strength on the weapon).

https://pastebin.com/rtPXvEBX

[EDIT] This is based on the PoB in your original post. I've now seen that you've changed it up a little later on, so this might be outdated.

Utmost Might wasn't taken? I would be surprised if it weren't...maybe you meant something else?

Yeah the new PoB is a big departure from the aura build, but don't let the other PoB give you the idea that I've given up on the phys reduction setup in any way. That other build has far less physical resistance, but has roughly 14.5k life+ES

Another way to boost strength is to use a Lethal Pride on the upper-left jewel socket instead of Efficient Training. This will stack bonus strength onto nodes in the area. In particular, you want a Lethal Pride that gives +4 strength to all adjacent nodes. Another method is to use 2x split personality jewels and socket them into a cluster jewel at the bottom left as this path is a LONG way from the start and will thus return a couple hundred extra strength.

The reason I use an Imperial Maul instead of a Cane of Kulemak is that the Imperial Maul gives an implicit +10% increased strength which is a multiplier to ALL strength, not just your weapon. I also got lucky and rolled +37 strength suffix on my Maul so I didn't need Aspect of the Avian.

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Xeratule wrote:

Utmost Might wasn't taken? I would be surprised if it weren't...maybe you meant something else?

Utmost Might isn't taken in the PoB's "Default" skill tree. It is taken in the "[3.9] Default" skill tree, though. Maybe it got lost when converting to a newer version…

It seems you have experience with / tried around with different setups. Have you found a "verdict" or a "best overall" build after trying different things? On that note, there's also this build. It's quite different though, e.g. Geofri's chest, not a lot of Armour, etc.

Oh yes, your Imperial Maul is definitely better than Kane of Kulemak. I looks like it's around 9-10% more damage. I was just thinking about using the cheaper Kane of Kulemak while farming the currency for the Imperial Maul.

Thank you for your time, and I appreciate any input 😊