Updated for Patch 3.13
The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo
Estimated budget: medium
Guide notes |
September 24, 2020 -Updated for Patch 3.12 Major changes -Patch 3.12 didn't change much, however, we have decided to add wider Support for Cluster Jewels and Unwavering Stance for Stun Immunity October 2, 2020 -Updated gameplay video January 19, 2021 -Updated for Patch 3.13 |
Summon Carrion Golem is the newest type of Golems in Path of Exile that was introduced in Patch 3.8. They generally don't offer any bonuses to the player, but boost other Minions. Carrion Golem uses Leaping Attack, Ground Slam, series of Slashes, and regular Melee Attacks doing mostly Physical Damage. They also gain very high bonus damage for each nearby Minion (up to 50% More damage) so using different Minion types in this build is mandatory. Also, since all your Minions will be doing Physical Damage, and you can get an additional Chance to Impale for your Minions from Cluster Jewels. In the end, this build offers the highest single-target DPS out of all Summoner builds we have played.
You can also check our other Path of Exile builds at Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List
This is a very swift Summoner build that offers amazing mobility and the highest single target DPS out of all Golem Minions. You don't have to do pretty much anything except for running around Maps and recalling your Minions with Convocation, which makes this build less fun and not for everyone. After you summon your Minions you won't have many things to do except to move around and avoid taking damage. Most of the skills will be triggered automatically or will be Passive. If you want, you can cast your Curse manually to have extra chores in your wicked band of Undead monsters.
This video was recorded on a level 91 Necromancer in Standard dual-wielding Cold Iron Points Daggers. A total of four Carrion Golems were summoned and the build felt extremely smooth and overpowering. You could use some extra defenses maybe, but with proper kiting/positioning you can easily take down any Boss in the game |
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PROS |
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CONS |
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Leveling up a summoner character is very easy, however, it may feel a bit slower than other classes. Minions offer slow but steady progress through the campaign and you can support them with Auras/Curses/debuffing enemies and pick up a damaging Spell to increase clear speed and Boss damage. Below you will find the basic Gem setups for leveling (just add extra Support Gens as you gain higher levels - don't strictly keep it at the number of Gems with have listed here) and several very useful Uniques for the lower level characters.
Suggested leveling Gem setups:
Raise Zombie setup | |
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Raise Zombie - mainly used to tank damage. They don't do much damage on their own, but they soak up damage like a sponge and save your life constantly |
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Minion Life Support - mandatory Support Gem for Zombies |
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Fortify Support - grants a solid defensive buff for your Zombies and increases their DPS slightly |
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Meat Shield Support - increases your Zombie's defensive capabilities, and make them stick to you to intercept enemies getting too close |
Raise Spectre setup | |
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Raise Spectre - Spectres become available at level 28 and you can pick up Carnage Chieftain from Act 2 to generate Frenzy Charges for all your other Minions and/or the Undying Evangelists from Act 3 to cast Proximity Shield |
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Minion Life Support |
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Minion Damage Support - increases your Spectres' DPS which is more useful on lower levels than more consistent Proximity Shield which you are going to aim for later on |
Summon Carrion Golem setup | |
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Summon Carrion Golem - obviously, you want to use Carrion Golems as soon as possible. They will still deal a ton of damage on lower levels, and buff your Zombies and Spectres too |
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Minion Damage Support |
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Melee Physical Damage Support - grants a high bonus to Melee Physical DPS |
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Multistrike Support - one of the best Support Gems for Carrion Golems |
Utility Gems | |
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Pride - grants your DPS output by increasing Physical Damage taken by enemies in Pride's radius |
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Punishment - recommended Curse for this build. It increases Melee Physical Damage and Attack Speed of anyone attacking the Cursed target |
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Convocation - allows you instantly recall all your Minions to your position greatly increasing your progression speed |
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Clarity - grants increased Mana Regeneration which is almost always useful on the low levels |
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Bandits:
You should kill all the Bandits for two extra Passive Skill Points. You could also consider helping Oak if you feel like you are missing Physical Damage Reduction
Leveling Skill Trees:
30 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Lord of the Dead 2) Spiritual Command 3) Discipline and Training 4) Gravepact
60 Points Skill Tree
Priorities 1) Death Attunement 2) Purity of Flesh 3) Golem Commander 4) Redemption 5) Large Cluster Socket
Recommended leveling items:
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(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 |
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+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 |
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15% reduced Enemy Stun Threshold Grants Level 12 Summon Stone Golem Skill Adds (24-30) to (34-40) Physical Damage (8-10)% increased Attack Speed Minions have (20-30)% increased maximum Life +1 to maximum number of Golems Minions deal (5-8) to (12-16) Added Attack Physical Damage |
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+(30-50) to Evasion Rating 10% increased Rarity of Items found +(30-40)% to all Elemental Resistances Reflects 4 Physical Damage to Melee Attackers |
Final Skill Tree:
114 Points Final Skill Tree (Cluster Jewels not included)
114 Points Path of Building(PoB) link
Ascendancy points:
Preferably in that order:
Pantheon:
Major God: Soul of Solaris 6% additional Physical Damage Reduction while there is only one nearby Enemy 20% chance to take 50% less Area Damage from Hits
Minor God: Soul of Gruthkul 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each Hit you've taken Recently up to a maximum of 5%
[DPS] Summon Carrion Golem | |
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Summon Carrion Golem - Carrion Golems are your main source of DPS. You should have at least 4 of them active if you follow this build. They will deal massive Physical Damage and amazing clear speed thanks to their Aggressive behavior |
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Minion Damage Support - greatly increases the damage of supported Minions |
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Melee Physical Damage Support |
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Multistrike Support - increases the damage of your Golems by making their Attacks repeat two additional times with greatly increased Speed |
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Brutality Support - greatly increases Carrion Golem's Physical DPS but makes then unable to deal other types of damage |
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Predator Support - increases the Damage of linked Minions, and allows you to mark a target, causing all your Carrion Golems to attack it with even further increased damage |
[UTILITY] Raise Zombie | |
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Raise Zombie - Zombies act as Meat Shields and tank the incoming damage. They also increase your Carrion Golem's DPS by being summoned |
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Minion Life Support |
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Fortify Support - grants high bonus Melee Damage and a strong defensive buff, which greatly increases the survivability of your Zombies |
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Feeding Frenzy Support - your Zombies will have a chance to grant you the Feeding Frenzy buff, which increases the speed of all your summoned Minions |
[UTILITY] Raise Spectre (in Helmet with Minion Life Support) |
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Raise Spectre - Spectres in this build are used solely as Support Minions. We recommend getting Carnages Chieftain from Old Fields in Act 2 which will generate Frenzy Charges for all your other Minions |
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Meat Shield Support - changes the Spectre's behavior to defensive and reduces all damage taken by them. Basically will help you keep them alive during all encounters, without having to run to Old Fields to resummon them |
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Blood Magic Support - makes your Spectres use their Life for Spells, which greatly increases their cast rate |
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Empower Support - increases the level of your Raise Spectre Gem, and possibly allows you to summon an extra one |
[UTILITY] Convocation/Aura | |
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Convocation - instantly recalls your Minions to your location and grants them high Life Regeneration per second |
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Pride - the best Aura for this build, since your Minions will deal only Physical Damage |
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Generosity - increases the effectiveness of your Pride Aura |
[UTILITY] Flesh Offering/Desecrate | |
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Cyclone - we recommend using Cyclone to apply Curse via Ring affix, and cast Desecrate and your Offering Spell via Cast while Channelling Support Gem. It just makes this entire setup so much smoother to play. You could also get a pair of Elder Boots with extra Fortify Support for additional defensive utility |
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Cast while Channelling Support - when you are spinning with your Cyclone, you will automatically trigger Desecrate and Flesh Offering |
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Desecrate - creates Corpses which can be sacrificed by Flesh Offering to grant your Minions powerful bonuses. You can also use it to create corpses for Raise Zombi and Raise Spectre Spells |
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Flesh Offering - the best DPS-wise Offering Spell you can use. It increases the speed of all your Minions |
[UTILITY] Dash/Steelskin | |
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Dash - the recommended movement Spell for this build |
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Second Wind Support - allows you to store an additional use of Dash and increases its Cooldown Recovery Speed |
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Steelskin - the recommended Guard Spell which grants a protective shield that absorbs some of the incoming damage. If you want to use it, you will need to cast it manually |
[UTILITY] Aspect of the Avian | |
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Aspect of the Avian - if you are using Saqawal's Nest, it's pretty much a must-have. You need to beast-craft it on one of your Rare Items |
[CURSE] Vulnerability | |
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Vulnerability - it's best to pick a Ring with Vulnerability on Hit, and you will be applying it via Cyclone |
Below you will find all the recommended gear for this build. Our setup consists mainly of Rare equipment except for the Weapons and Body Armour, with the latter being completely optional. However, you will also need several Primordial Jewels to add up one extra Golem, and it's recommended to at least one Large Cluster Jewel and multiple Medium Cluster Jewel to increase your Minions Life/Life Regen and give them a high chance to deal double damage when on Full Life. Either way, it should be rather easy to complete the build for low and mid-tier mapping with random Rare replacements.
Stat priorities on items:
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Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life Socketed Gems are Supported by level # Minion Life Optional affixes: Armour Rating Strength Elemental Resistances |
Helmet enchantment: Summoned Carrion Golems deal 40% increased Damage 150% increased Effect of the Buff granted by your Carrion Golems |
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Min. requirements: 100 maximum Life 25% Fire Resistance 25% Cold Resistance 25% Lightning Resistance Optional affixes: +1 level to socketed Support Gems Socketed Gems are Supported by level 1 Maim |
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+(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 |
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30% increased Global Critical Strike Chance +3 to Level of all Physical Spell Skill Gems Deal no Elemental Damage |
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15% reduced Enemy Stun Threshold Adds (24-30) to (34-40) Physical Damage (8-10)% increased Attack Speed Minions have (20-30)% increased maximum Life Minions' Attacks deal (5-8) to (12-16) additional Physical Damage Can Summon up to 1 additional Golem at a time Grants level 12 Summon Stone Golem |
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Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 80% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Minion Damage Armour Rating |
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Min. requirements: 90 maximum Life 90% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Armour Rating Chaos Resistance |
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Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 50 Dexterity 50 Strength Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances Non-channelling Skills have -# to Total Mana Cost |
Recommended Anointments: Ravenous Horde |
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Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 65% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Aspect of the Avian Skill Curse +1 to Minimum Endurance Charges |
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Min. requirements: 75 maximum Life 30% Movement Speed 60% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Cannot be Frozen Socketed Gems are Supported by level # Fortify |
Boot enchantment: Regenerate 2% of Life and Mana per second if you were Hit Recently |
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Can Summon up to 1 additional Golem at a time If you have 3 Primordial Jewels, can Summon up to 1 additional Golem at a time |
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(25-30)% increased Damage if you Summoned a Golem in the past 8 seconds Golems Summoned in the past 8 seconds deal (35-45)% increased Damage Golems have (18-22)% increased Maximum Life Your Golems are aggressive Primordial |
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Golem Skills have (20-30)% increased Cooldown Recovery Speed Golems have (10-15)% increased Cooldown Recovery Speed (16-20)% increased Golem Damage for each Type of Golem you have Summoned Golems regenerate 2% of their Maximum Life per second Primordial |
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Golems have (16-20)% increased Attack and Cast Speed 30% increased Effect of Buffs granted by your Golems Golems have +(800-1000) to Armour Primordial |
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Recommended affixes: maximum Life Minions deal added # Physical Damage Minions have increased Attack and Cast Speed if you or your Minions have killed recently |
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Minions deal (35-45)% increased Damage Minions have +(10-12)% Chance to Block Attack Damage Minions have +(10-12)% Chance to Block Spell Damage Notable Passive Skills in Radius are Transformed to instead grant: Minions take 20% increased Damage |
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Minions have (12-16)% increased Attack Speed Minions have (12-16)% increased Cast Speed Minions have (10-12)% chance to Dodge Attack Hits Minions have (10-12)% chance to Dodge Spell Hits Notable Passive Skills in Radius are Transformed to instead grant: Minions have 25% reduced Movement Speed |
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Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Feasting Fiends 1 Added Passive Skill is Renewal 2 Added Passives Skills are Jewel Sockets Optional affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Rotten Claws |
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Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Feasting Fiends 1 Added Passive Skill is Renewal Optional affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Dread March |
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Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Fettle |
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+3000 to Armour +(14-20)% Chance to Block Attack Damage during Flask effect +(6-10)% Chance to Block Spell Damage during Flask effect |
Other suggested Flasks:
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If you have tried our Carrion Golem Necromancer build, make sure to let us know how it worked out for you. We will also appreciate your feedback that can be posted in the comments below. With your help, we will be able to improve our content.
Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games.