Summon Reaper
Juggernaut Build

Updated for Patch 3.19

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

Summon Reaper is one of the most unique Minion Skill Gems, it conjures a very powerful Reaper that uses multiple different Attacks, all of them dealing Physical Damage. The Minion has a 50% base chance to cause Bleeding, and as the damage of this Ailment has been substantially buffed for Minions in patch 3.19, it will be the primary damage type used. Reaper is a Skill designed to be the main damage dealer in any Minion build as it significantly cripples and consumes your other Minions. We will include Skeletons, not to cause any real damage, but to boost Reaper by granting him Feeding Frenzy and Maiming his enemies, which will make them take more Physical Damage. These skeletons will have to be summoned regularly to feed the Reaper, their damage is also good enough to deal with multiple smaller enemies - a quality that one big minion does not possess. Clear Speed problem can be further soothed by equipping Asenath's Gentle Touch Gloves to cause an on-death explosion.

When picking Juggernaut over other classes you're granted an advantage of playing as one of the most durable ascendancies in the game. All the damage here comes from skill gems and gear, especially the Bow/Quiver setup. Picking up a Rare Bow allows your main damage setup to be supported by local modifiers to increase the Gem Level of Summon Reaper, which is by far the most efficient way to gain more DPS. For defenses, the build utilizes very high Maximum Life, over 100k Armour, Elemental Resistances at over 80%, Untiring, Unbreakable, Unflinching, and Unstoppable. You're able to reach an insane amount of Life Regeneration, 7 Endurance Charges, capped Chaos Resistance, and Immunity to all Elemental Ailments. If you want to be extra stout, allocate Indominable Resolve via Forbidden Jewels to take 25% less damage on top of all previously-mentioned virtues. This absurd sturdiness completely justifies relatively low damage and not-so-optimal clear speed.

You can also check our other Path of Exile builds right over here Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List

1. Gameplay

Summon Skeleton as you go, these will deal with most of the obstacles presented to you. Reaper has some AoE Attacks, and you can also control him which is certainly helpful. For boss fights, you can deploy Vaal Summon Skeletons for more damage and to protect yourself. Replica Maloney's Mechanism is used to automatically cast Ensnaring Arrow, enemies affected by it take more damage. It will always Hit due to Resolute Technique. For Curses use Temporal Chains from Asenath's Gentle Touch or Vulnerability. It's possible to have both via anointing the Amulet or by equipping a specific Rare Body Armour. For a Guard Spell use Molten Shell. Flame Dahs is good as a movement ability. For Auras, we've used Pride, Determination, Purity of Elements, Skitterbots, Flesh and Stone, and Malevolence. You're only able to fit all of them if you have Aul's Uprising (Pride/Determination variant), Enlighten Support, and Malevolence linked with Divine Blessing while also using The Devouring Diadem for Eldritch Battery.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Leveling might be difficult, there are no Minion-related nodes nowhere nearby your starting location. Even later on, most of your damage comes from high-level Skill Gems rather than passives or items. There are a few Skills that connect the Minion and Strength-based character archetypes, these are Absolution, Domination Blow, or Herald of Purity. Start with a Ground Slam, and play as a regular Attack Build. You can carry on like this until maps, but to transition into a proper Minion build as early as it's possible, start using Domination Blow at level 28. You can then allocate Gravepact, Retribution, and other such notables for more Minion Damage. Start using Pride and Herald of Purity for more Physical Damage and Minions. These minions are short-lived and depend on you starting the chain reaction to set them all up, so investing in your own Attack Damage is also something to keep an eye on. Reaper requires level 28 and you can start using it alongside your other minions as soon it's possible. Minions Damage over Time should grow over time as you progress through maps.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Ground Slam setup
	Ground Slam - A simple AoE Attack that you can use since level 1.
	Ruthless Support - Increases Damage of every third Attack.
	Added Fire Damage Support - Adds Fire Damage sourced from Physical Damage.

Dominating Blow setup
	Dominating Blow - A Strike Attack that summons a Minion after Killing an opponent or Hitting a unique enemy. These benefit from the same Attack modifiers as you do.
	Ruthless Support
	Multistrike Support - The Attack is being repeated resulting in more DPS, even if it deals less damage.
	Minion Damage Support - Minions deal more Damage and have less Maximum Life.
	Bloodlust Support - Minions deal more Damage against Bleeding opponents, but cannot inflict Bleeding themselves. Use with Reaper only.
	Maim Support - Maims on Hit to reduce movement speed and increase Physical Damage received.

Summon Reaper setup
	Summon Reaper - Reaper can be used to cause Bleeding and deal a formidable Bleeding Damage, use it much later in the game, it will weaken all your other Minions.
	Brutality Support - Minion deals more Physical Damage, but can only deal Damage of this type.
	Chance to Bleed Support - The Chance to cause Bleeding is increased, as is Bleeding Damage itself.
	Minion Damage Support

Mana Reservation setup
	Pride - Nearby enemies take more physical Damage, the effect is doubled after four seconds.
	Herald of Purity - Grants you more Physical Damage and summons Minions after you Kill or Hit an enemy.

various Gems
	Vulnerability - A Curse that makes enemies more vulnerable to Physical Damage and Bleeding.
	Summon Holy Relic - Use it to regenerate Life for you and your Minions, you can even link it with  Minion Life Support to make them more durable.

Bandits:

you should kill all three Bandits for two additional Skill Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

31 Points Skill Tree
Start with Maximum Life, Minions' Damage, and Resolute Technique Keystone.

68 Points Skill Tree
Head for more Minion Damage nodes, more Maximum Life, and Maximum Endurance Charges

Recommended leveling items:

Le Heup of All - it's one of the best leveling Rings, it grants a lot of Attributes, Damage, and Resistances

Adds 1 to 4 Physical Damage to Attacks +(10-30) to all Attributes (10-30)% increased Damage (10-30)% increased Rarity of Items found +(10-30)% to all Elemental Resistances

Goldrim - this Helmet offers a lot of Elemental Resistances

+(30-50) to Evasion Rating 10% increased Rarity of Items found +(30-40)% to all Elemental Resistances Reflects 4 Physical Damage to Melee Attackers Level Requirement reduced by 100 (Hidden)

Chober Chaber - It's a very good weapon to put your main damage setup in. It grants damage to you and your Minions. Available at level 40.

+1 to Level of Socketed Melee Gems +1 to Level of Socketed Minion Gems 20% reduced Strength Requirement (200-220)% increased Physical Damage 25% increased maximum Mana Minions have (20-40)% increased maximum Life 15% increased Skill Effect Duration

Tabula Rasa - use Tabula for the six, white, linked sockets

Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Item has 6 White Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden)

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

114 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Cluster or Unique Jewels)
121 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Unflinching
2. Untiring
3. Unbreakable
4. Unstoppable

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Arakaali: 10% reduced Damage taken from Damage Over Time

Minor God: Soul of Gruthkul: 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each Hit you've taken Recently up to a maximum of 5%

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Summon Reaper setup socketed in a Rare Bow
	Summon Reaper - The single most important Minion, it uses a variety of Attacks to cause Bleeding, which is significantly improved. Use a high-level Divergent version if you can.
	Minion Damage Support - It increases Minions' Damage but lowers its Maximum Life.
	Brutality Support - Linked Skills are restricted to dealing only Physical Damage, which is vastly improved.
	Empower Support - Increases Gem Level of Summon Reaper resulting in more damage.
	Melee Physical Damage Support - Use it for more Melee Physical and Bleeding Damage, but lower Attack Speed.
	Swift Affliction Support - Swift Affliction grants More Damage over Time and less Bleeding Duration.

[UTILITY] Summon Skeletons Setup
	Vaal Summon Skeletons - Skeletons are a secondary, more reliable damage source that improves Repaer's performance. We heavily recommend the Vaal version.
	Maim Support - Maimed enemies receive more Physical Damage and move slower.
	Feeding Frenzy Support - Minions grant Feeding Frenzy on Hit for 10% more Damage and Attack Speed for all other Minions.
	Culling Strike Support - Enemies Hit by Skeletons that are below 10% of their Maximum Life die instantly.

[UTILITY] Aura setup socketed in The Devouring Diadem
	Determination - Grants an additional and increased Armour. If you can cast it for free via Aul's Uprising, replace it with  Pride in this setup.
	Purity of Elements - Use it for extra Elemental Resistances and immunity to all Elemental Ailments. If you don't have Aul's Uprising to cast  Pride off charge, replace it with Pride here.
	Summon Skitterbots - Skitterbots Chill and Shock nearby opponents increasing your Damage.
	Enlighten Support - linked Aura Skills have an increased Mana Reservation Efficiency.

[UTILITY] Malevolence setup
	Malevolence - Malevelence creates an Aura, allies within its range deal more Damage over Time and have increased Skill Effect Duration.
	Divine Blessing Support - Malevolence becomes a temporary aura to activate once in a while.
	Inspiration Support - Lowers the Mana Cost of Malevolence, you can use the Divergent version to make it even cheaper.
	Generosity Support - It's an optional Support Gem that makes Malevolence affect only your Minions with increased effectiveness and range.

[UTILITY] Ensnaring Arrow setup socketed in Replica Maloney's Mechanism
	Ensnaring Arrow - Ensnaring Arrow applies a stackable debuff that reduces Movement Speed, you can apply up to three of these on a single enemy.
	Mirage Archer Support - Creates a copy of you that also fires Ensnaring Arrows at the enemies.
	Greater Multiple Projectiles Support - Fires more projectiles to Ensnare more enemies and to lower the chance of missing.

[UTILITY] Pride setup
	Pride - Enemies within the range of Pride receive more Physical Damage, this effect is doubled after 4 seconds of exposure.
	Arrogance Support - If you have Aul's Uprising you can link Pride with Arrogance, it will only increase Aura's effect. If you have the Determination variant, swap their places in these setups.

[UTILITY] Flesh and Stone
	Flesh and Stone - While in Blood Stance - nearby enemies are Maimed and receive increased Physical Damage. Sand Stance protects you from enemies far away. You can use the Anomalous version for more Armour.

[UTILITY] War Banner
	War Banner - Your Minions have increased Accuracy Rating, and nearby enemies take increased Physical Damage.

[MOBILITY] Flame Dash
	Flame Dash - A simple movement ability you can use to teleport.

[UTILITY] Molten Shell
	Molten Shell - Guard Spell that prevents a portion of incoming damage, it's able to stop more damage the more Armour you have.

[UTILITY] Vulnerability
	Vulnerability - This Curse should be cast automatically via Ring Affix for convenience. If you're also using Asenath's Gentle Touch, be sure that you can apply two Curses, or give up one of them.

6. Gear Setup

The build does require some more or less expensive unique and rare items. Replica Maloney's Mechanism and the Devouring Diadem will be necessary. You could also equip two Cold Iron Point Daggers, but it would leave you with fewer sockets, links, and more clunky gameplay for slightly more damage. To gain more Damage you will need to increase the Gem Level of Summon Reaper, and gain some Minion DOT modifiers from Jewelry and Jewels. You should be able to apply two Curses by anointing Whisper of Doom or a specific Hunter's Prefix on a Body Armour. Aul's Uprising can be used to cast Pride or Determination for free (it can also be used for Purity of Elements or Malevolence, but that's inefficient). Gather Armour, Maximum Life, Chaos Resistance, and Elemental Resistances - these are the most basic and common defensive layers, a foundation of your survivability. Rare items are generally cheap, but you can spend a lot on a good Bow or multiple Ghastly Abyss Jewels.

Our recommended items will:

1. Cap your resistances at 75%
2. Provide you with enough DPS and Life to start mapping

(Helmet) The Devouring Diadem - Put your three most expensive Mana-reserving Skills here linked with Enlighten, or if your Efficiency is high enough - four. It also switches your Energy Shield to apply to Mana, which is undoubtedly essential to cast any Skills.

+1 to Level of Socketed Gems Socketed Gems have 25% increased Reservation Efficiency Trigger Level 15 Feast of Flesh every 5 seconds (180-220)% increased Energy Shield 10% chance for Energy Shield Recharge to start when you use a Skill Eldritch Battery Veiled Suffix

Helmet enchantments: Summoned Reaper has +20% to Physical Damage over Time Multiplier

(Weapon) Rare Bow - The only important mods on a Bow are improvements to Minions' Damage and the Gem Level of Summon Reaper and socketed Support Gems. Some of them can be crafted.

Min. requirements: +1 to Level of Socketed Gems Minions deal 70% increased Damage +2 to Level of Socketed Support Gems Optional affixes: Dexterity +1 to Level of Socketed Intelligence Gems

(Off-hand) Replica Maloney's Mechanism - Use the Replica version of this Quiver, it guarantees a permanent Mirage Archer that shoots Ensnaring Arrows.

Has 3 Sockets Trigger a Socketed Bow Skill when you Cast a Spell while wielding a Bow, with a 1 second Cooldown (7-12)% increased Attack Speed +(50-70) to maximum Life 5% chance to Blind Enemies on Hit with Attacks

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - Use Rare Body Armour for more Maximum Life, Resistances, and Armour. Remember that there are two very useful Hunter Prefixes, one for increased Maximum Life, and the other one that allows you to apply an extra Curse.

Min. requirements: +100 to maximum Life +100% to Elemental Resistances 1000 or more Armour Optional affixes: Attributes increased maximum Life You can apply an additional Curse Chaos Resistance increased effect of Non-Curse Auras from your Skills

(Body Armour) The Brass Dome - This Armour grants an enormous amount of Armour which is great with the Unbreakable Keystone, and also improves your Maximum Elemental Resistance by up to 5% which is a lot. It slightly lowers your Maximum Life.

Armour: (3321-4240) (350-400)% increased Armour +(1-5)% to all maximum Elemental Resistances Strength provides no bonus to Maximum Life Take no Extra Damage from Critical Strikes

(Boots) Rare Boots - There are Movement Speed, Resistances, Attributes, Armour, and Maximum Life to look for on your Boots. It's also a great place to obtain more Dexterity.

Min. requirements: 30% increased Movement Speed +70 to maximum Life +70% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Dexterity Chaos Resistance Armour

(Gloves) Asenath's Gentle Touch - Use these Gloves to Curse opponents with Temporal Chains and to make them explode on death. Remember to extend your Curse limit or give up Vulnerability Curse if you want to use them.

+(20-30) to Intelligence +(60-80) to maximum Life +(60-80) to maximum Mana Curse Enemies with Temporal Chains on Hit, with 40% increased Effect Non-Aura Curses you inflict are not removed from Dying Enemies Enemies near corpses affected by your Curses are Blinded Enemies Killed near corpses affected by your Curses explode, dealing 3% of their Life as Physical Damage

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Gloves are used only for the most basic defenses like Maximum Life and Resistances, but you can also get some Attributes here - Dexterity and Intelligence will be important.

Min. requirements: +60 to Maximum Life +60% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Chaos Resistance Dexterity and Intelligence increased Duration of Ailments on Enemies

(Belt) Darkness Enthroned - The build needs at least five Ghastly Abyss Jewels, equip this Belt for more Abyss Sockets. Ghastly Jewels can be extremely powerful, especially the ones socketed here.

Has 2 Abyssal Socket 75% increased Effect of Socketed Abyss Jewels

(Amulet) Rare Amulet  - You can use a Rare Amulet mainly to increase the Gem Level of Summon Reaper and gain Attributes. Maximum Life and Resistances are also easily obtainable.

Min. requirements: +40 Maximum Life +50% to Elemental Resistances +1 to Level of all Skill/Physical Skill Gems Dexterity and Intelligence Optional affixes: Attributes +1 to Level of all Skill/Physical Skill Gems Mana Reservation Efficiency Chaos Resistance

(Amulet) Aul's Uprising (Pride or Determination)  - This is the Amulet we'd recommend the most, it allows you to Cast Pride or Determination with no cost whatsoever. The other stats are mostly quite useful too.

+(10-16) to all Attributes +(20-30) to Strength (15-20)% increased Armour +(100-120) to maximum Life 10% reduced Stun and Block Recovery Nearby Enemies have 10% reduced Stun and Block Recovery Pride/Determination has no Reservation

Recommended Anointments: Charisma Whispers of Doom

(Ring) Rare Rings - Some of the Rings introduced in patch 3.19 can offer very powerful improvements to boost your Minion's survivability. Besides these mods, seek the ones for increased Minions' Damage, and of course, Attributes.

Min. requirements: +40 Maximum Life +50% to Resistances Dexterity and Intelligence Optional affixes: Minions deal increased Damage Minions have increased Maximum Life, movement Speed, or Attacks Speed Curse Enemies with Vulnerability on Hit

(Jewel) Rare Ghastly Abyss Jewels - You will need at least five Ghastly Jewels, these are abundant in Minion modifiers which you should obviously strive for, but if you're missing Attributes or Resistances, you can get them here too.

Recommended affixes: maximum Life Attributes Resistances Minions deal # increased Damage if you've used a Minion Skill Recently Minions have # chance to cause Bleeding with Attacks Minions Regenerate # Life per second Enemies Maimed by you take 5% increased Damage Over Time

(Jewel) Amanamu's Gaze - Four Rare Jewels plus this one will grant you +30% Damage over Time Multiplier. Definitely worth acquiring

+(5-10) to all Attributes Minions have +6% to Damage over Time Multiplier per Ghastly Eye Jewel affecting you, up to a maximum of +30%

(Jewel) Forbidden Flame & Forbidden Flesh - The most valuable Keystone you can Allocate via a pair of Forbidden Jewels is Indominable Resolve for reduced damage taken with no downside. Valako is very good, Unrelenting is fine, and Defy Pain might be useful under specific circumstances

Allocates <<Random Ascendancy Notable>> if you have the matching modifiers on Forbidden Flesh Allocates <<Random Ascendancy Notable>> if you have the matching modifiers on Forbidden Flame

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - Look for Determination modifiers for extra durability, Malevolence modifiers for more Damage, or Purity of Elements' Chaos Resistance.

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers>

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - Large Cluster Jewel can be used to gain more Jewel Sockets and for minor bonuses to Minions' Damage via small nodes or a selected few Notables.

Recommended affixes: Added Small Passive Skills also grant: +#% to Chaos Resistance Added Small Passive Skills also grant: +# to Dexterity Added Small Passive Skills also grant: +# to Maximum Life 1 Added Passive Skill is Feasting Fiends

Other suggested Flasks: Alchemist's Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline Granite Flask with Bleeding immunity/removal Basalt Flask with increased Armour Quartz Flask with random ailment removal Life Flask with random ailment removal

If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below. We are always open to suggestions and constructive feedback.

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