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Skeleton Mages Necromancer

SentinelArchived

Last Updated:May 18, 2023|Change Log

WARNING: THIS GUIDE IS OUTDATED. WE DO NOT RECOMEND PLAYING THIS BUILD.

Introduction

The Summon Skeletons Mages Necromancer is a league start bossing specialist that excels at clearing non-Uber bosses on a low budget, and Uber bosses with a high budget. You are a summoner with a totem playstyle. Cast your Skeleton Mages, Curse the boss, and watch your Minions do all the heavy lifting. Equipping the Fleshcrafter lets your minion’s bypass monster’s resistances, giving us a ton of free damage and making short work of tanky monsters.

Mid Game Gear Overview

Strengths and Weaknesses

DifficultyModerate
BudgetLow
MappingLow
BossingAmazing
DefenceGreat

Skills Breakdown

Call forward your Summon Skeletons Mages that fire piercing elemental projectiles to tear through packs of monsters. Fill your Vaal Summon Skeletons with the souls of fallen enemies to unleash a Skeletal army led by a powerful general that heeds your call.

Ascendancy Breakdown

The Necromancer is the choice as it offers many speed mapping enhancements as well as modest defensive bonuses

  • Mindless Aggression gives minions increased Damage, Attack, Cast and Movement speed.
  • Unnatural Strength adds 2 levels to all Minion Skill Gems, granting additional damage and survivability.
  • Commander of Darkness gives additional damage, Attack/Cast Speed and an Elemental Resistance aura to you and your Minions.
  • Mistress of Sacrifice allows your Offerings to also affect you. It also gives extra Skill Effect Duration for your buffs and Minions.

To learn how the Labyrinth works, feel free to consult our Labyrinth Guide!

Playstyle

When playing as the Summon Skeletons Mages Necromancer your primary focus is to summon your Skeletons every 4-5 seconds to keep up the Rebirth Cluster node making your skeletons immune to damage. Activating Vaal Summon Skeletons costs Vaal Souls which are obtained by killing monsters, or dealing damage to Unique Bosses. Use Vaal Summon Skeletons when mapping on big juicy packs early, but make sure you save a use for the Map Boss to quickly delete it.

Level and play as Absolution until you obtain the "3 key items" . The Absolution playstyle relies on the damage of the Gem killing a target until the Absolution sentinels are summoned. They continue to use this ability, but not apply the debuff themselves, for a set duration. Activate your temporary aura and curse the boss to give a boost in damage. Once you get your trigger wand (1st step in "Milestones") you only have to activate your Aura, Curse the enemies and  your Absolution Sentinels take care of the monsters for you.

Mapping

When mapping, summon your Summon Skeletons Mages and Shield Charge to the next pack of monsters re-summoning them as you go. Whenever taking on strong monsters, cast your Sniper's Mark before laying into them. Make sure to have a use of Vaal Summon Skeletons ready for the map boss to nuke it down.

Bossing

When dealing with tougher enemies, make sure to cast your Sniper's Mark and walk over the boss with your Brittle Boots. If you have the higher budget variant of this build, your Animate Guardian handles the Brittle Boots debuffing for you. Your goal is to keep your skeletons as summoned recently which means in the last 4-5 seconds so that they are always immune to damage.

Build Scaling

Offence
Defence

Summon Skeletons Mages are Minions, Spells and Casters. Because of these tags, focus on the following modifiers to improve your damage:

  • Increased Minion Damage
  • + Levels of Spells and Minion Skill Gems
  • Increased Minion Cast Speed
  • Zealotry Aura
  • Sniper's Mark Enemies take increased Projectile Damage
  • Charges and buffs from our Raise Spectre summons.
  • Sources of additional maximum skeletons from our Helmet Craft and our Anointment.

Scaling Minion Damage is unique compared to other builds. Only mods that specify Minion will apply to your Minions. Getting 8% increased Cast Speed does not apply to Minions, but getting Minions have 8% increased Cast Speed applies to them now that it specifies.

Necromancer's have good access to a wide variety of defences from gear and passive Skill tree.

  • Armour from Determination combined with Molten Shell and hybrid Armour /Evasion pieces
  • 50%+ Attack Block and 75% Spell Block
  • 100% Spell Suppression
  • Freeze, and Shock Immunity
  • 10 Fortification stacks
  • 5% Life or 2% of Armour as Energy Shield on Block from your Shield
  • 90% Maximum Elemental Resistances
  • Critical Strike Immunity

The above defenses grant the build really solid mitigation against bosses since most boss abilities are spells and amazing recovery against rapid hits you'd encounter in maps from your recovery on block shield.

Leveling Section by tytykiller

Key Leveling Notes

Absolution is currently the best way to level minions. Despite being a minion gem, Absolution has a 200% Effectiveness of Added Damage. This means that the wand craft and Added Lightning Damage Support add a substantial increase to the initial hit of Absolution. If the initial hit kills a target, it will activate Onslaught Support, provided they are linked together. While the summoned minions are important, they only help on longer fights.

This build will do Library in Act 3 to gain access to Shield Charge and Physical to Lightning Support. Onslaught makes Shield Charge one of the best movement abilities in the game, even early on.

The "Wand Craft" is the easiest way to make any caster leveling better. Selling a magic wand, an Orb of Alteration, and a normal Topaz Ring produces a wand like this: Snapping Driftwood Wand.

If you need a magic wand, purchase a 3-linked wand from Nessa with favorable colors, those being Blue-Blue-Green, Blue-Blue-Blue, or Blue-Green-Red. Then use an Orb of Transmutation on it. If you need a Topaz Ring, you can sell an Iron Ring with any Skill Gem that is colored Green.

Note: Selling rare items identified they will give you Alteration Shards, while selling them unidentified gives Transmutation Shards.

Campaign Step By Step

Beginner players should follow Enki's Campaign Progression guide.

The levels listed below are based on speedrunning. Always be greater or equal to the levels listed.

Step-By-Step Absolution Skill Gems
Open leveling skill tree in new tab
Act 2
Step 1: Level 12
  • After killing Merveil, walk north into The Forest Encampment (Town).
  • Talk to Greust, click Sell Items, and sell all items you acquired from Merveil.
  • Go to the right of town into The Old Fields and complete The Great White Beast.
Step 2: Level 13
  • After completing The Great White Beast, go to the Waypoint at The Crossroads and return to town.
  • Talk to Yeena and select the magic Quicksilver Flask reward.
    • At this point, use two Life flasks, one Mana flask, and two Quicksilver Flasks.
  • Waypoint back to The Crossroads, and finish the quest Intruders in Black in the Chambers of Sin 2.
    • Make sure to complete the Trial of Ascendancy in the Chambers of Sin 2.
Step 3: Level 16
  • After killing Fidelitas and getting the Baleful Gem, return to town.
  • Talk to Greust and select the gem Herald of Thunder.
  • Talk to Yeena and purchase the gems Summon Skitterbots and Desecrate.
    • Summon Skitterbots summons two small little minions. They run around and apply Shock and Chill to monsters. Shock increases damage taken, and Chill slows down enemies.
    • Desecrate summons corpses, which can be consumed by your Spirit Offering spell to buff your minions.
  • Go left from the Town to complete the quest Sharp and Cruel in The Weaver's Chambers.
Step 4: Level 18
  • Kill The Weaver, pick up Maligaro's Spike, and return to town.
  • Talk to Silk and get the gem Controlled Destruction Support.
  • Complete the quest Deal with the Bandits.
    • Waypoint to the Crossroads, go right to the Broken Bridge, kill Kraityn, and return to town.
    • Waypoint to the Riverways, go north to The Wetlands, and kill Oak.
    • While in the Western Forest, kill Alira and complete the quest The Way Forward.
    • Note that The Way Forward is an Act 1 quest that is only completable in Act 2.

Step 5: Level 18

  • Talk to Eramir for two Passive Skillpoints.
  • Take the Waypoint back to the Act 1 town Lioneye's Watch. Talk to Bestel for an additional Passive Skillpoint for completing The Way Forward.
  • Use the Waypoint to travel to The Wetlands in Act 2. Click the Vaal Ruins to open it if you have not already done so.
    • Use a Ruby Ring for this zone, as the monsters casting Explosive Arrow are scary.
  • At level 20, portal to town and sell your other wand as a magic wand, in addition to an Orb of Alteration, and a rare Topaz Ring.
  • Complete the quest Shadow of the Vaal by killing the Act 2 boss, Vaal Oversoul. After this, return to town and complete the Trial of Ascendancy in The Crypt. Once these are done, move onto Act 3!

Mapping Preparation

You're done with the Campaign and are ready to take on the Path of Exile Endgame. Priority 1 is to ensure your Elemental Resistances are capped (75%) and have sufficient Attributes to continue leveling your Skill Gems. Use Essences you have gathered on any item that is not Magic or Rare already. Items with an open modifier slot can be crafted on. Head to the Crafting Bench and craft Resistances wherever possible according to what you need, and Life wherever else possible.

From this point, you can grind your Atlas out by progressing Maps until you've obtained enough money to buy the "3 key items". On the first day of the league these are expensive, but by day 3 they are easily obtainable. If you wish to purchase them as soon as possible on league start, Heisting and doing the Chaos Orb recipe is a great and easy way to obtain currency.

Map Modifiers

Take note of the below modifiers as they should be avoided or run with caution when they appear on your maps:

  • Avoid Elemental Reflect because Absolution deals Lighting Damage (This can be ignored once you swap to Skeleton Mages)
  • Watch out for Beyond because the monsters can easily kill your character until you get a Life on Block Shield.
  • Less Armour and Block Chance reduces your main defence, so it should be avoided at all costs.
  • Reduced Effect Of Auras eliminates your defences.

Recommended Farming Content

First step is to progress through the Atlas following our Atlas Progression Guide. As a bossing focused character, you should focus on gearing your character with strong pieces to prepare yourself to tackle the non-Uber bosses once the low budget gear is acquired. If you're struggling in higher tier content, go a step back and farm up more Currency and Gear. Clicking the League Mechanics below takes you to either a full Explanation Guide or a detailed Currency Farming Guide based around maximising your profits from that mechanic or content.

Early Game

  • Essence
  • Harvest
  • Heist

Mid Game

Endgame

  • Maven Invitation farming
  • Uber and non-Uber Bosses
  • Heist
  • Blight
  • Expedition
  • Eldritch Altars

Pantheon

For information about the Pantheon and how it works, consult our Pantheon Guide!

For Major Pantheon, select Brine King to gain Immunity to Freeze and Reduction of Chill Effect. This bonus is not available at first. It’s acquired with Divine Vessel.

For Minor Pantheon, select Shakari and upgrade it. This grants less duration of Poisons and reduced Chaos damage taken.

Skill Gems

Gems are a fundamental part of your build. Getting the correct link setups before entering Maps and leveling those Gems as you progress through the Atlas is one of your main goal. The Socket pressure on Minion builds is extreme. You need every single Socket on your gear, and an Unset Ring as well.

Use Slider to see Skill Progression

Main Damage Setups

Use Absolution until you purchase the "3 key items". Link Physical to Lightning Support to convert Physical to Lightning damage to take full use of -resistances. Summon Phantasm Support summons small minions that deal extra damage. Spell Echo Support provides a Cast Speed bonus to Minions and players. Increased Critical Damage Support gives all the Critical Strike Multiplier needed.

Once you obtain your "3 key items" swap to Skeleton Mages. There is 1 important Skill Gem swap to do for Skeleton Mages on pinnacle bosses. Swap Greater Multiple Projectiles Support for Hypothermia Support since an enemy can only be hit by 1 projectile per cast.

Raise Spectres and Zombies

Use Raise Spectre to summon the Carnage, and Host Chieftains to give Frenzy and Power Charges to our Minions. Use Raise Zombie for extra muscle to get that initial kill for our Absolution Minions to spawn. Link Feeding Frenzy Support to give ALL Minions a damage and Cast Speed buff. Elemental Army Support gives Minions extra Maximum Resistances and allows them to inflict Exposure, taking away a portion of monster Resistance.

When you swap to Summon Skeletons Mages exchange Raise Zombie for Summon Stone Golem to get a Life Regen buff. Swap Elemental Army Support for Minion Life Support because you don't need exposure anymore.

Trigger Wand

The wand setup is VERY important. Obtain Trigger a Socketed Spell when you Use a Skill from Unveiling Wands so Desecrate and Bone Offering are automated. Desecrate spawns corpses on the ground, which are consumed by Bone Offering to give Attack and Spell Block once you do Uber lab.

Once you swap to Summon Skeletons Mages use Lifetap Support in the Wand your Mana is not stressed. This makes our Bone Offering and Desecrate cost Life instead of Mana.

Utility and Auras

Put Molten Shell on left mouse button to proc a shell to absorb damage. Use Determination and Defiance Banner to mitigate Physical Damage. Conductivity is a Curse that lowers the enemy Lightning Resistances. Tempest Shield gives Spell Block and Immunity to Shock.

For Summon Skeletons mages swap Conductivity for Punishment to give our Minions extra damage against enemies when they're less than 50% Life.

Movement

Use Shield Charge and Flame Dash as movement abilities for all versions. Convocation calls your to Minions to you, keeping them safe and increasing clear speed.

Additional Utility

Absolution uses Eldritch Battery combined with with Life as Extra Maximum Energy Shield obtained by Unveiling Gravicius Body Armors from Syndicate Missions to spend Energy Shield before Mana for Skill costs. Link Divine Blessing Support with Wrath to create a temporary Aura. Normally you reserve all Mana and don't have enough use, Divine Blessing Support, but since Energy Shield is now a huge Mana pool you get a free Aura. Link Generosity Support to Wrath to boost our Minions Lightning Spell Damage.

After swapping to Summon Skeletons Mages, replace Wrath with Zealotry still keeping Generosity Support linked to only this Aura.

Unset Ring 1

Obtain an Unset Ring as soon as possible to fit in Assassin's Mark for extra Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier with Vixen's Entrapment to allow an automatic additional cursing of enemies when you curse with Conductivity.

Once you swap to Summon Skeletons Mages swap Conductivity for Punishment and Assassin's Mark for Sniper's Mark

Unset Ring 2

Once you hit the "endgame" gear setup you'll need two Unset Rings. This is because you need to fit in an Animate Guardian in your Helmet.

Skill Tree Progression

Skeleton Mages

3 Key Items

Summon Skeletons Mages requires 3 key items to function. You must start the with a different ability until you obtain the "3 key items." Level as Absolution which can carry you all the way through Red Maps and can even complete your early Bossing Invitations on a budget. There is no worry if your build is lacking before being able to swap. Absolution can even be played on its own as a full build but it doesn't have as good a playstyle, coverage and clear, or ease of damage as Skeleton Mages.

The "3 key items" are as follows

  • Dead Reckoning jewel allows you to summon Summon Skeletons Mages instead of Warriors with Summon Skeletons.
  • Fleshcrafter causes your Skeleton Mages completely ignore Elemental Resistances while your Summon Skeletons have Energy Shield. This is what gives our Skeleton Mages easy damage. It lets the tri-elemental damage of the Mage’s projectiles work at maximum efficiency.
    • The downside is that our Minions Life is converted to Energy Shield and they need to maintain their Energy Shield to ignore the monster’s Elemental Resistances:
  • Here's where Rebirth Cluster comes in! Now minions can't be damaged if they were summoned recently. This grants minions a 4-second window where they’re invincible AND they’re guaranteed to ignore monster Elemental Resistance

IMPORTANT! Once you swap to Fleshcrafter DO NOT give any Chaos Resistance to your Minions. Extra Chaos Resistance causes them to convert too much of their Life. Without an easy source of Energy Shield Leech or Regen your Raise Spectre and Animate Guardian dies much quicker, or even as soon as you summon them if you've converted all of their Life to Energy Shield.

AND ONE MORE THING When summoning your Spectres, take out Bone Offering and Desecrate from your trigger Wand. Put Desecrate in a different socket (temporarily) so you can freely cast it and so that Bone Offering doesn't consume the corpses you're spawning.

Spectres

Wait until you're level 60 and have a level 14 Raise Spectre Gem before using this Skill.

The Spectres you use for Absolution and Summon Skeletons are the Carnage and Host Chieftains. These are obtained in the Ashen Fields zone from Act 7.

Raised Spectre - Carnage and Host Chieftains

Use Desecrate on the ground and use the corpse targeting hot key (default "A"). Move your cursor until you see the correct name plates pop up. Then use Raise Spectre on the corpse to summon a copy of that monster.

Double up on the Carnage Chieftains when your max Spectre limit is 3, then double up both once you obtain a max limit of 4. These are an amazing choice because they give Frenzy and Power charges to allies.

Charges are 10 second buffs that stack up to (default max) 3 times for each Charge type, and are so much more powerful for Minions compared to players. Frenzy Charges give Minions 5% More Damage, 15% Attack/Cast and Movement Speed per charge! Power Charges give Minions 200% increased Critical Strike Chance per charge!

With 3 Power Charges our Minions have 600% increased Critical Strike Chance, which combined with the extra base Critical Strike Chance from Brittle Boots gets our Minions close to the Critical Strike Chance of 100%.

Animate Guardian

Animate Guardian is only used when you have the upgrades in the “Skeleton Mage Swap” section. Equip your Animate Guardian with Kingmaker, Garb of the Ephemeral, a pair of Brittle Boots and Unnerve Gloves with NO CHAOS RESISTANCE but at least 30% Elemental Resistance for each Element between the Boots and Gloves.

  • Kingmaker gives 10 Fortification Stacks which means you take 10% Less Damage from Hits. Minions also gain 50% Critical Strike Multiplier and Culling Strike Support which automatically kills enemies that are <=10% Life.
  • Garb of the Ephemeral provides Action Speed cannot be modified below Base Value letting you ignore slows and Nearby Enemies Cannot deal Critical Strikes to help prevent one-shots.
  • Equip Animate Guardian with Unnerve Gloves chance against unique enemy gloves by grabbing a pair off the trade site.
    • Unnerve makes enemies take 10% increased spell damage from our Skeletons.
  • Mask of the Stitched Demon is a bit confusing but the TLDR is; Animate Guardian 's Energy Shield is not usable, but it instead regenerate 1% Life for every 500 maximum Energy Shield it had. With Fleshcrafter 40% of it's maximum Life is converted to Energy Shield because it has a base Chaos Resistance of 20%.
    • This gives Animate Guardian >30% Life regenerated each second!
  • Use Brittle Boots. Get at least 4 seconds of Brittle Ground.
    • Brittle Ground causes Enemies to have +5% Base Critical Strike Chance against them

Character Progression

Early Game
Gear Overview
Milestones

Early Game Goal
Your first goal will be capping Elemental Resistances and obtaining enough Dexterity/Strength to level Gems and equip all gear, taking [practical application] if needed for Resistance and Stats.

Don't spend too much on Boots, Shield and Body Armor, as they will be replaced when swapping to Summon Skeletons Mages later on.

Early Game Absolution Gear

Milestone 1 - Syndicate unveils

While doing Syndicate Missions, get Gravicius on your board by removing anyone except Aisling and Leo. When a Syndicate Member is removed, they are randomly replaced with one of three characters not a part of your board. Gravicius always begins as one of the three not apart of your board. Once he's on your Syndicate Board, get him to have friendships with all the members, making him show up more often.

  • Unveil Wands for Trigger a Socketed Spell when you Use a Skill, with a 8 second Cooldown giving massive quality of life by automating your Bone Offering and Desecrate.
  • Unveil Boots for the 20% increased Movement Speed Cannot be Chilled Boot modifier
  • Unveil Gravicius Body Armours for the Life as Extra Maximum Energy Shield.
    • Purchase a 5-linked Armour + Energy Shield hybrid Body Armour off the trade site. Use a Screaming Essence of Greed and then craft the Gravicius body armour "Life as Extra Maximum Energy Shield" mod.

Sell any extra Unveiled Body Armours he drops for ~20 Chaos Orb on league start for others to Unveil too.

IMPORTANT! If you don't obtain the Body Armour Craft, you will need to use a Mana Flask as you won't have enough Energy Shield to properly use Eldritch Battery.

Milestone 2 - Flasks

Flasks are significant defensive upgrades and are your next pickup. The Flask bases are:

  • Silver Flask
  • Quicksilver Flask
  • Granite Flask
  • Basalt Flask
  • Divine Life Flask

To craft your Flasks, use an Orb of Transmutation on White Flasks and then alternating between using Orb of Alteration and Orb of Augmentation until you hit the following mods on your Silver Flask, Granite Flask and Basalt Flask

  • Increased Cast Speed during Flask effect.
  • Increased Armour during Flask effect.
  • Reduced Effect of Curses on you during Flask effect.


Roll for the following modifiers on your Divine Life Flask. Once you have this modifier, make sure to have captured at least 4 Yellow Beasts. Visit the Menagerie and craft the Sealing mod to give Corrupted Blood and Bleed Removal to your Life Flask.

  • 50% of Recovery is Applied Instantly.
  • Instant Recovery
  • Instant Recovery while on Low Life


Use any Glassblower's Baubles you pick up on your Flasks until they reach 20% Quality. After picking up enough Instilling Orbs check the Crafting Bench and Craft the Enchant Used when Charges Reach Full on each of your Utility Flasks.

Milestone 3 - Wand upgrade

Upgrade your damage by acquiring a Wand with +1 to Level of all Spell Skill Gems that match Absolution's tags. Good extra pickups here are increased Cast Speed on the implicit Wand base, or as a mod on the Wand. Make sure it has an open Suffix for your trigger craft. Search for Wands to purchase using the following trade link

  • +1 to Level of all Spell Skill Gems.
  • +1 to Level of all Physical Spell Skill Gems.
  • +1 to Level of all Lightning Spell Skill Gems

If these are too expensive, you can use the following Vendor recipe to create a Wand:

  • A Carved Wand (Can be purchased from act 1 or 2 wand vendor).
  • Skill gems with the "Physical" or "Lightning" tag, with Quality totaling 40% or higher.

Sell these components to the Vendor and then with your resulting Wand use an Orb of Augmentation and then a Regal Orb. Finish your Wand off by crafting the "trigger" mod.

Milestone 4 - Boots, Helmet, Ring, and Belt

Work on your Boots, Helmet, Belt and non-Unset Ring trying to get Armor/Energy Shield hybrid bases to make coloring Sockets much easier. Obtain or purchase a Stygian Vise Belt to craft on or use. This allows for an extra Abyss Jewel for damage/Stats/Resistance.

Make sure there is an open prefix to craft the "Cannot be Chilled" and "Movement Speed" Unveiled mod on your Boots AND +1 to maximum number of Skeletons on your Helmet. Get the following mods to fill your build out with as much Life and Resistances as possible through Harvest Reforging, Essence spamming, or through the trades links provided:

  • 50+ to Maximum Life
  • 30+ Dexterity/Strength
  • 35%+ to Fire/Lightning/Cold Resistance.
  • 20%+ to Chaos Resistance

IMPORTANT - Get enough Resistances and stats on these few pieces so that you don't have to rely on your Shield. You will be crafting a Life on Block Shield later, and you need to plan to get 0% Resistance from this slot after crafting. NOTE: You need 155 Strength, and at least 111 Dexterity for the Summon Skeletons Mage swap.

Complete this Milestone at the same time as "Milestone 6 Vixen's Entrapment". Get an Unset Ring base and Harvest Reforge Elemental and Life crafts until you hit at least 2, preferably 3 of the following modifiers:

  • 30+ Dexterity
  • 30+ Strength
  • 35%+ Elemental Resistance
  • 20%+ Chaos Resistance

Use the following trade link to find an Unset Ring if you cannot Harvest Reforge one. Take the "count" down from 3 -> 2 if there are no cheap ones available with 3 of the good mods.

Milestone 6 - Vixen's Entrapment

Vixen's Entrapment are a pair of Gloves that give an additional Curse and automate that extra Curse without adding an extra button. These need to be purchased only when your Unset Ring is equipped because that is where Assassin's Mark goes.

Milestone 7 - Skill gem amulet

Look for Amulets on Citrine Amulet bases or bases that have enough stats for your needs. If you don't have 155 Strength and 111 Dexterity to level all your Gems, this is the last place to get it. Get the following:

  • +1 Level of all Spell/Physical/Lightning Skill Gems
  • 50+ Maximum Life
  • Strength/Dexterity (depending on how much you have on other gear)
  • Resistance (over cap enough to skip resistance on your shield)

Keep an eye out for Amulets that are close to useable but have an open modifier on them for you to craft on stats or Resistance that you're missing. Anoint Testudo on your Amulet using the following Oils at Cassia:

  • Clear Oil
  • Sepia Oil
  • Black Oil

Milestone 8 - Life on block shield

This upgrade is HUGE for survival, and INSTANTLY makes the build feel comfortable.

Grab an item level 68+ Shaper Influenced Shield with a base that has max Life Implicit, or "to all elemental Resistance".

  • Grab ~10 Pristine Fossil and 10 privative resonators. Use them on your Shield Base until you hit the "Recover (3-5)% of Life when you Block" modifier.
  • If you also hit a high Life mod with this then GG! Otherwise craft Life even if you need to Orb of Annulment a prefix off.
    • If you lack the currency to afford rolling another shield, then save the Orb of Annulment for later when you can afford to roll another.

Milestone 9 - 6-link body armor

Check the prices of the "3 key items" in milestone 10. If you can afford them, skip this milestone. Otherwise purchase a 6-linked Body Armor, use an Screaming Essence of Greed until you hit a 35%+ Resistance roll, and and open Prefix to craft the Gravicius mod on it.

Milestone 10 - "3 Key Items"

It's time to start preparing for the Summon Skeletons swap. As mentioned earlier, you need the "3 key items" to swap.

  1. Dead Reckoning unique jewel allows Summon Skeletons to summon Mage Skeletons instead of Warrior Skeletons
  2. Fleshcrafter Unique Chest piece 5-Linked (harvest 5-Link craft, or 150 fusing with the crafting benc). This allows your Minions to ignore Elemental Resistances while they have Energy Shield.
    1. IMPORTANT: Fleshcrafter converts 2% of your minions Life to Energy Shield PER 1% Chaos Resistance they have. Minions start with 20% Chaos Resistance, so they already convert 40% of their Life to Energy Shield. Anymore Chaos Resistance and your minions will die all the time. DO NOT GIVE MINIONS CHAOS RESISTANCE!
  3. Rebirth Cluster. Minions created Recently (last 4 secconds) cannot be Damaged. This is how Skeleton Mages retain their Energy Shield at all times. You can buy a base with this link and use 70 alterations on average to hit the mod, or your can just buy one pre rolled with this link.

After obtaining the "3 Key Items" move onto the Skeleton Mage swap. Change your Passive Tree, Skill Gems, and Gear to fully swap to Summon Skeletons. If you need more money to swap Heist some Lockpick Contracts and complete the Chaos Orb recipe, interact with the new League mechanic, or follow our many different money making guides.

Don't feel pressured to swap before you're ready. Once you've completed all the milestones you should be able to complete Red Maps, take on the Shaper/Elder Guardian Invitations and complete your Quest Bosses.

Video Guide

Video coming after patch notes.

Summary

When you start this build you must play Absolution until getting the "3 key items", but after completing this guide you will be ready to slay all the Uber bosses in the game and farm any bossing content with Summon Skeletons Mages. You can take this completed build into nearly all the content in the game, letting your Summon Skeletons do all the work while you easily relax and pick up the loot afterwards.

If you have any questions, come ask them on my livestream Twitch.tv/TriPolarBear

If you're looking for what bosses to farm, and how to make currency check out our invitation or boss farming guides

Credits

Written by Tripolarbear.
Reviewed by MacroBioBoi.

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