Zombies/Skeletons
Necromancer
Summoner build

Updated for Patch 3.10

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

Estimated budget: medium

Patch 3.8 introduces major changes to Minion-related Skill Gems, Necromancer's Ascendancy class, and the entire Summoner build archetype gets a major rework. The major flaw of all Zombie/Skeleton builds lied in the Minions clunky behavior and how inconsistent their DPS is, lowering your clear speed and Boss farming potential. Removing those downsides were one of the main parts of Patch 3.8, putting this build in the highest Tier of builds. At the same time, this build requires no specific Uniques, making it a perfect pick for a Starter build as well. 

You can also check our other Path of Exile builds in this article: Best PoE Builds by Odealo

1. Gameplay

This is a typical Summoner type of build that relies on your Minions to deal insane amounts of damage and protect you from threats. Summon Skeleton Spell is used to summon Skeleton Warriors which deal massive Melee Damage, and by using Feeding Frenzy Support Gem, we make them more aggressive, which increased the radius at which they detect enemies and your overall clear speed. On the other hand, Zombies are used as Meat Shields, which linked to a Support Gem that shares the same name, makes their behavior Defensive and causes them to prioritize enemies near you, with a chance to Taun them on Hit. To further increase our defenses we rely on high Life pool, Mind over Matter Passive, and Plaguebringer Passive. This build also offers quite high Physical Damage mitigation for a Witch character

0:07 Tier 16 Maze of the Minotaur 0:51 Tier 16 Lair of the Hydra 1:17 Tier 15 Sepulchre 2:01 Tier 15 Coves 2:35 Tier 15 Estuary This video was recorded on a level 92 Necromancer on Standard Softcore in Patch 3.9

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

The entire leveling as a Summoner is a piece of cake. This build relies on Skill Gems and Passives for the damage, so you shouldn't have any problems progressing through the campaign regardless of your equipment. Initially, this build may feel slow, so we suggest using Summon Raging Spirit initially, and switch to Summon Skeletons when you start mapping. Below you will find the recommended Gem setups for the leveling phase, and low-level Unique Items that are cheap and extremely useful on lower levels. 

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Raise Zombie
	Raise Zombie - you will get this Gem right after you finish the first Quest and enter Lioneye's Watch. Zombies are used to tank monsters right from the start and deal a moderate amount of damage
	Minion Life Support - core Support Gem for Zombie Minions
	Fortify Support - increases your Zombie's defenses, as well as grants them a powerful defensive buff

Summon Raging Spirit setup
	Summon Raging Spirit - your primary DPS during the leveling phase. They seem to do better at lower levels in terms of clear speed when compared to Summon Skeletons
	Melee Splash Support - a mandatory Gem for leveling fast when using Raging Spirits
	Minion Damage Support - grants more Minion Damage to your Raging Spirits

Bandits:

We recommend killing all the Bandits for two additional Passive Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

37 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Lord of the Dead 2) Enduring Bond 3) Quick Recovery 4) Spiritual Command 5) Death Attunement

61 Points Passive Tree
Priorities: 1) Redemption - Spiritual Aid - Righteous Army 2) Gravepact 3) Purity of Flesh

Recommended leveling items:

Sidhebreath - the single best leveling Item for this Summoner build. It grants very high Minion Damage and Movement Speed bonuses and helps you greatly with Mana Management on lower levels
(20-30)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate +25% to Cold Resistance 0.2% of Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Mana Minions have (10-15)% increased maximum Life Minions have (10-15)% increased Movement Speed (15-10)% reduced Mana Cost of Minion Skills Minions deal (10-15)% increased Damage

Praxis - if you are having problems with your Mana when spamming SRS you should consider getting this Ring. It greatly reduces Mana Cost of Spells and increases your Mana and Mana Regeneration Rate
+(20-25) to maximum Mana +(30-60) to maximum Mana (3-6) Mana Regenerated per second -(8-4) to Mana Cost of Skills 8% of Damage taken gained as Mana over 4 seconds when Hit

Reverberation Rod - a very decent low-level pick for the weapon slot. It gives your SRS setup a level 1 Spell Echo which causes more Spirits to be summoned with each cast
(15-19)% increased Spell Damage +1 to Level of Socketed Gems Socketed Gems are Supported by level 1 Spell Echo +(10-30) to Intelligence

Victario's Flight - grants very high Movement Speed bonus both to you and your Minions
+15 to Dexterity +15 to Intelligence (100-150)% increased Evasion Rating 5% increased Movement Speed (5-10)% of Damage taken gained as Mana over 4 seconds when Hit 10% increased Movement Speed 10% increased Movement Speed for you and nearby Allies

4. Final Skill tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

116 Points Final Skill Tree
116 Points Path of Building(PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Mindless Aggression
2. Unnatural Strength
3. Plaguebringer
4. Bone Barrier

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of the Brine King You cannot be Stunned if you've been Stunned or Blocked a Stunning Hit in the past 2 seconds

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] Vaal Summon Skeletons
	Vaal Summon Skeletons - allows you to summon Skeletal Warriors for a duration which are your primary source of DPS. The Vaal part of the skill should be used for extra burst against Bosses
	Minion Damage Support - increases your Minions DPS greatly
	Feeding Frenzy Support - increases your Minions DPS and makes them more aggressive which increases your clear speed even further
	Fortify Support -  grants a high DPS bonus to your Skeletons. In our setup, this Gem appeared to give the best results, though you may do better with Maim or Awakened Multistrike
	Melee Splash Support - grants a splash effect to your Skeleton's Melee Attacks
	Melee Physical Damage Support - increases your Skeleton's Melee DPS

[UTILITY] Raise Zombie
	Raise Zombie - used as Meat Shields to soak up damage and taunt enemies that get close to you
	Minion Life Support - increases your Zombie's Life
	Fortify Support - increases your Zombie's damage and grants them a powerful defensive buff
	Meat Shield Support - makes your Zombies defensive and reduces their damage taken
Optional Gems:
	Feeding Frenzy Support - you can replace Meat Shield if you have over 1,000 Strength so that your Zombies are more "active" in fights and Leech more Life for your character

[UTILITY] Flesh Offering and Flame Dash
	Flesh Offering - increases your Minions Attack, Movement, and Cast Speed
	Flame Dash - recommended Movement Spell which increases your mobility
	Faster Casting Support

[UTILITY] Convocation and Desecrate
	Convocation - recommended Mobility Spell used in this build. Each cast will also trigger Arcane Surge
	Desecrate - creates a pile of Corpses which you can use for Flesh Offering and to summon Zombies
	Faster Casting Support

[CURSE] Punishment
	Cast when Damage Taken - used to automatically cast the linked Curse whenever you take a certain amount of damage. Use a level 10 CwDT Gem
	Punishment - the recommended Curse for this build which grants your Minions greatly increased Physical Melee Damage and Attack Speed

[UTILTY] Immortal Call/Carrion Golem
	Cast when Damage Taken Support - will cast supported Spells when a certain amount of damage is taken by your character
	Immortal Call - reduces your Physical and Elemental Damage taken for a short duration
	Increased Duration Support
	Summon Carrion Golem - grants your Minions added flat Physical Damage making it the best Golem for a Summoner character

[UTILITY] Hatred
	Hatred - the recommended Aura for this build which grants additional Cold Damage to all your Minions. You should Support it with Generosity for increased effect
	Generosity Support - increases the effect of supported Auras, but makes it apply only to your Allies/Minions and not your character

[UTILITY] Aspect of the Avian
	Aspect of the Avian - grants very high Movement Speed and DPS bonuses to your Minions. You need to have it beastcrafted on one part of your rare equipment and it requires you to wear the Saqawal's Nest Unique Body Armour

5. Gear Setup

Below you will find the recommended gear for this Zombie/Skeleton Summon build. As mentioned earlier, it can be played with any rare gear, so you can replace any Unique item listed with pretty much anything you want. 

We would also like to take this opportunity to invite you to visit our PoE Marketplace where you can buy and sell Path of Exile Currency with the use of real cash. Link to the Marketplace can be found on top of the page

Our recommended items will:

1. Cap your resistances 
2. Give you enough DPS/Life/Mana to start mapping successfully

(Helmet) The Baron - mandatory Helmet for this setup. This build will work without it, though our Skill Tree is heavily oriented on using Baron to maximize your Minions' DPS and grant us extra Leech from Zombies

+2 to Level of Socketed Minion Gems +(20-40) to Strength Minions have 20% increased maximum Life Half of your Strength is added to your Minions +1 to maximum number of Raised Zombies per 300 Strength With at least 1000 Strength, 2% of Damage dealt by your Raised Zombies is Leeched to you as Life

Helmet enchantments: Flesh Offering grants an additional 21% increased Attack Speed Skeletons deal 40% increased Damage

(Body Armour) Saqawal's Nest - works great with the Baron as it grants the highest possible Strenght on the Body Armour slot. It also allows us to use Aspect of the Avian for various bonuses to our Minions

+(25-75) to all Attributes +(30-40)% to Lightning Resistance (10-6)% reduced Mana Reserved 100% increased Aspect of the Avian Buff Effect Aspect of the Avian also grants Avian's Might and Avian's Flight to nearby Allies +(120-150) to Evasion Rating and Energy Shield

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - preferably an Elder base with level #1 Maim Support and increase to the level of Support Gems. This can be the BiS item for your Summon Skeletons, but at the same time, it can cost quite a bit

Min. requirements: 85 maximum Life 40 Strength Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances +1 to Level of Socketed Support Gems

(Weapon) Convoking Wand - the new Wand type introduced in the Blight League which can have new Minion-related modifiers. Should be dual-wielded for the best performance

Min. requirements: Cast Speed +1 to Level of All Minion Skill Gems Minions deal increased damage Optional affixes: Minions have #% increased Movement Speed Strength

(Boots) Alberon's Warpath - grants the highest possible Strenght bonus, making it much easier to reach 1000 Strength for extra Leech (and 1200 for the extra Zombie)

Adds 1 to 80 Chaos Damage to Attacks +(180-220) to Armour +(9-12)% to Chaos Resistance 20% increased Movement Speed +1 to maximum number of Skeletons (15-18)% increased Strength

(Boots) Rare Boots - preferably Elder base with the extra Fortify Support for your Raise Zombie setup

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 25% increased Movement Speed 35 Strength 70% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Socketed Gems are supported by level # Fortify

Boot enchantment: Regenerate 2% of Life and Mana per second if you were Hit Recently 18% reduced Mana Cost of Skills if you've been Hit Recently

(Belt) Rare Belt - preferably Stygian Vise for the extra Abyssal Socket. You can also use Studded Belt for maximum Strenght bonus

Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 70% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Strength Armour Rating Chaos Resistance

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - with the highest possible Strenght bonus

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 60 Strength Allocates Ravenous Horde/Death Attunement Optional affixes: Attributes Elemental Resistances Mana/Mana Regeneration Rate

(Rings) Rare Rings - with high Life, Strength, and Elemental Resistances bonus.

Min. requirements: 65 maximum Life 45 Strength 85% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Grants Level 20 Aspect of the Avian Skill

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - mainly for defensive stats

Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 40 Strength 80% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Grants Level 20 Aspect of the Avian Skill

Glove enchantment: Commandment of Frost

Efficient Training - socketed right above Witch's Starting point, it will grant over 110 Strength bonus

+(16-24) to Strength Intelligence from Passives in Radius is Transformed to Strength

(Jewels) Rare Abyss Jewels - since Skeletons gain 50% more added Damage, I would recommend getting Abyssal Jewels over the regular ones

Recommended affixes: maximum Life Minions deal additional Physical Damage Optional affixes: increased Minion Damage if you have used a Minion Skill recently

(Flask) Rumi's Concoction - grants bonus Armour Rating and Block/Spell Block chance, giving you extra defenses and Mana Regeneration Rate thanks to the Mystic Bulwark Passive

+3000 to Armour +(14-20)% Chance to Block Attack Damage during Flask effect +(6-10)% Chance to Block Spell Damage during Flask effect

Suggested Flasks: Bubbling Divine Life Flask of Staunching (Bleeding immunity) Experimenter's Silver of Heat (Freeze and Chill immunity) Experimenter's Basalt Flask of Warding (Curse immunity) Ample Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline (increased Movement Speed)

If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below.

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games.