Herald of Purity
Necromancer Build

Updated for Patch 3.19

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Herald of Purity is a Spell used for its two main purposes, granting more Physical Damage and summoning Minions on kill. These two rarely go together, as Minion Builds are very distinctive, different from any other ones in the game. Here, as a Necromancer, you'll pay more attention to the Minions - Sentinels of Purity. The base Damage of these summons grows drastically with the Gem Level, their damage can be increased by up to 200% just from two Circle of Guilt Rings, the Items that buffs the effect of this specific Herald Skill directly. These Sentinels are sourced from a Physical Spell Skill Gem, allowing you to equip two Cold Iron Point Daggers for 6 extra Gem Levels. You will also use a Specter and an Animated Guardian with Kingmaker as your secondary Minions to enhance the performance of the Sentinels. As a Necromancer, we recommend using Commander of Darkness, Mindless Aggression, Plaguebringer, and Mistress of Sacrifice Keystones. It will significantly improve Minions' DPS as well as Defences. Picking Guardian for an Ascendancy could work too, but it'd result in much less damage.

Patch 3.19 introduced some nerfs to all Minon builds, these require now a bit more expensive gear. This one uses a lot of Unique Items to increase Gem Level or improve Sentinels directly, so it might seem hard to cap Elemental Resistances, but in reality, it's not that big of a deal. Cluster Jewels can be very powerful, it's recommended to have some of them - this build is adjusted for one large and up to two medium ones. Herald of Purity Necromancer is not much different from a standard Minion build, if you've played one already you will feel right at home. Its defenses consist mostly of Armour with a bit of Evasion Rating or Spell Suppression on top of 3 to 5k of Maximum Life. You can also invest in the Block Chance with Bone Offering, but due to lack of a Shield it's not a great idea, Flesh offering is much better.

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1. Gameplay

If you're using Gravebind the build feels extremely smooth as you won't have to summon your Sentinels, they will summon themselves. But just in case keep The Writhing Jar to generate them back quickly. You will direct your Minions with Signal Prey. Use Animated Guardian with Spectre for various buffs and Feeding Frenzy. Flesh Offering combined with Desecrate should provide a consistent way to enhance your Minions' Damage. For a Curse use Assassin's Mark (Veulerabilty if you can have a second Curse), and for a Guard Spell - Molten Shell. For Auras we recommend Determination. The precision with Dread Banner Spells shall affect only your Minions via Generosity.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Start any Minion Skill and at level 12 switch to Absolution, it's a skill very similar to Herald of Purity, it's a Spell that creates Minions when you kill something with it or when you Hit a Rare or Unique enemy. Circle of Guilt Rings are available at level 52, Cold Iron Point Requires Level 62. It's about when you finish the 9th Act you'll be able to switch to the main Spell and fully rely on it, you can start using it sooner but it won't be efficient to reserve that much Mana for that little effect. Use other Minions, Zombies and Spectres are very valuable as these rarely die. You can increase your Spell and Lightning Damage, half of it is converted from Physical.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Absolution setup
	Absolution - deals Lighting Damage in an Area and then creates Sentinel Minions
	Onslaught Support - improves the Cast, Attack, and Movement Speed for you and the Sentinels
	Added Lightning Damage Support - adds Lightning Damage to Spells and Minions for more damage
	Controlled Destruction Support - available early on, grants much more Damage

Mana Reservation setup
	Wrath - improves your Minions' Attack with extra Lightning Damage and grants more Spell Lightning Damage to your character
	Purity of Elements - protects you from Elemental Ailments and grants tons of Resistances

various Gems
	Conductivity - a Curse that lowers Lightning Resistance
	Herald of Purity - use it alongside your Absolution if you have enough Mana to create even more Minions
	Summon Carrion Golem - Carrion Golem improves all your other Minions and grows stronger the more you have

Bandits:

you should kill all three Bandits for two additional Skill Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

37 Points Skill Tree
Start with Lightning Damage, Maximum Life, and Minion Damage

71 Points Skill Tree
Head for more Minion nodes, Maximum Life, Reservation Efficiency, ad after that pick Spiritual Command and Gravepact for Minion Damage

Recommended leveling items:

Le Heup of All - it's a good leveling Ring, 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

Sidhebreath - an Amulet to grant your Minions more Cold Damage, but be careful, they will be only able to deal Cold Damage

(20-30)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate +25% to Cold Resistance Minions have (10-15)% increased maximum Life Minions convert 50% of Physical Damage to Cold Damage Minions deal (25-35) to (60-65) additional Cold Damage Minions deal no Non-Cold Damage

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)

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:

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

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Commander of Darkenss
2. Mindless Aggression
3. Mistress of Sacrifice
4. Plaguebringer

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Lunaris: 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%; 1% increased Movement Speed for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%

Minor God: Soul of Shakari: You cannot be Poisoned while there are at least 3 Poisons on you; 50% less Duration of Poisons on You

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Herald of Purity setup
	Herald of Purity - The Main Damage source are Sentinels of Purity dealing Physical Damage, you will be able to have 4 or 5 of them at once.
	Minion Damage Support - More Minion Damage, less Minion Life. Use the Awakened version for the extra Gem Level for Herald.
	Multistrike Support - Increases the rate at which Minions Attack while lowering their damage. It's a great deal, especially with Impale.
	Impale Support - Minions have a much higher chance to Impale on Hit, and the effect of Impale is increased.
	Melee Physical Damage Support - Grants more Melee Physical Damage, but the Attack Speed is lowered.
	Predator Support - You're able to Mark an opponent causing Sentinels to focus on this enemy. They'll deal much more damage to the target, but if you want to avoid clicking or don't have the right socket colors just use  Ruthless Support or  Faster Attacks Support.

[UTILITY] other Minions
	Raise Spectre - Raises a Spectre that can serve many functions such as granting Charges or conjuring a Proximity Shield.
	Animate Guardian - Equip the Animate Guardian with Kingmaker to greatly improve your Sentinels' Damage and survivability.
	Feeding Frenzy Support - Feeding Frenzy grants all your other Minions Feeding Frenzy Buff for more Damage, Attack Speed, and Movement Speed.
	Minion Life Support - Minions have more Maximum Life and reduced Damage, but that's not an issue.

[MOBILITY] Flame Dahs and Molten Shell setup
	Flame Dash - A simple Dahs Spell you can use to relocate from place to place.
	Molten Shell - Creates a protective Shield that reduces incoming damage taken for some time, it's able to take more damage the more Armour you have.
	Lifetap Support - Linked Spells cost Life but no Mana.
	Cast when Damage Taken Support - It should automatically trigger Molten Shell when Damage is Taken. Keep it at level 19 with Molten Shell at 19 as well to not trigger Flame Dash, or alternatively, get level 21 Flame Dash.

[UTILITY] Generosity setup
	Dread Banner - Increases Accuracy, Chance to Impale, and the effect of Imaple for your allies
	Precision - Adds Accuracy and increases Critical Strike Chance.
	Generosity Support - War Banner and Generosity won't affect you but your Minions only, the effect of these Auras will be increased.
	Enlighten Support - Linked Auras reserve less Mana.

[UTILITY] Offering setup
	Flesh Offering - A big Bonus to Movement, Cast, and Attack Speed for you and your Minions.
	Desecrate - Creates Corpses that you can later consume to Cast Flesh Offering.
	Lifetap Support

[UTILITY] Determination
	Determination - grants extra Armour and increases Armour Rating.

[UTILITY] Assassin's Mark
	Assassin's Mark - Curse that makes the target take more Damage from Critical Strikes and increases the likelihood of being struck with a Critical Hit.

[UTILITY] Convocation
	Convocation - Recalls all Minions back to you and regenerates some of their Maximum Life.

6. Gear Setup

It's a Physical Minion Build. Your Priority is to increase the level of Herald of Purity Gem, to do so, it is recommended to use two Cold Iron Point Daggers, Skin of the Lords, and a Rare Amulet that can get you up to two extra Gem Levels. Gravebind Gloves are a big improvement, you won't have to use any other Skill to Kill or Damage enemies at all. The other Unique Items are Circle of Guilt Rings with an increased Damage for Sentinels and Mana Reservation Efficiency. Cluster Jewels are very important, Rotten Claws, Vicious Bite, Cult-Leader, and Disciples are powerful Notables found only there. Mana Reservation Efficiency might be a problem, to resolve it you can get a mod on a Helmet, Amulet, or Small Cluster Jewel. Look for some extra Dexterity, it will be needed for Precision. Maximum Life, Armour, and Resistances are the most important stats to gain more durability.

Our recommended items will:

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

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - A Helmet is a very important gear piece for such Minion Builds, you have up to two Levels for the Herald of Purity and extra mana Reservation Efficiency. Such a Helmet would be very expensive, so get one with at least half of these stats.

Min. requirements: +60 to Maximum Life +60% to Elemental Resistances increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills +1 to Level of all Minion Skill Gems Optional affixes: Attributes up to 14% increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills +2 to Level of all Minion Skill Gems

Helmet enchantments: +1 to maximum number of Sentinels of Purity

(Weapon) Cold Iron Point - It simply improves your Helrad of Purity in the most direct way, and the only downside won't even affect your Minions. Must-have Weapon.

30% increased Global Critical Strike Chance +3 to Level of all Physical Spell Skill Gems Deal no Elemental Damage

(Body Armour) Skin of the Lords - The best-in-slot Armour, try to get one with the right sockets, but the main setup allows for some re-adjustments if you can't get them. It grants +2 Levels to socketed setup.

Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Sockets cannot be modified +2 to Level of Socketed Gems 100% increased Global Defences You can only Socket Corrupted Gems in this item Item has 6 Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden) <Random Keystone>

(Boots) Rare Boots - From basic stats, there's only Movement Speed, Resistances, and Maximum Life to look for on your Boots.

Min. requirements: 30% increased Movement Speed +70 to maximum Life +70% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Dexterity Freeze Immunity

(Gloves) Gravebind - Your Sentinels can create a perpetual loop of summoning and healing themselves with these gloves, removing your involvement in their creation almost completely. If they all die at once use The Writhing Jar. It's also Chaos Resistance and Life on Kill.

(100-150)% increased Armour and Evasion +(19-29)% to Chaos Resistance +(15-25) Life gained on Kill Nearby Enemies Killed by anyone count as being Killed by you instead

(Belt) Rare Belt - Strength, Maximum Life, and Resistances can be sourced from a Belt in huge quantities.

Min. requirements: +90 to Maximum Life +90% to Elemental Resistances Strength Optional affixes: increased Maximum Life

(Amulet) Rare Amulet  - The most important are the modifiers for an increased Gem Level of Herald of Purity by one or even two Levels, it will be expensive, so before you can afford it just search for Life, Resistances, and Mana Reservation Efficiency.

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

Recommended Anointments: Ravenous Horde Prismatic Skin Whispers of Doom

(Ring) Circle of Guilt - A Ring directly upgrading your Herald of Purity, seek the modifiers for Sentinels' increased Damage and increased Mana Reservation Efficiency. Put on two.

<One to three random Synthesis implicit modifiers> +(10-20) to all Attributes Adds (8-10) to (13-15) Physical Damage +(350-400) to Armour <Two Random Herald of Purity modifiers>

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - Jewels can grant you some more Maximum Life, Attributes, Resistances, or Minion Damage.

Recommended affixes: increased maximum Life Attributes Elemental Resistances Minion's Damage modifiers

(Jewel) Quickening Covenant - This Jewel can be used to upgrade the offensive aspect of your Minions, socket it in one of Cluster Jewel Sockets.

Minions have (12-16)% increased Attack Speed Minions have (12-16)% increased Cast Speed Minions have +(20-24)% chance to Suppress Spell Damage Notable Passive Skills in Radius are Transformed to instead grant: Minions have 25% reduced Movement Speed

(Jewel) Forbidden Flame & Forbidden Flesh - With Gravebind all your Minions' Kills count as your own, because of that you can get Profane Bloom for clear speed, or Malediction to cast extra Curse, like Vulnerability.

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, such as extra Armour. There's not much else, you don't have any more Auras.

(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 - Rotten Claws and Vicious Bite are the most valuable Notables, these will significantly improve your Damage. Just these two are enough, you won't need any more Notables as acquiring a Jewel with them would be much more expensive.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Feasting Fiends 1 Added Passive Skill is Renewal 1 Added Passive Skill is Rotten Claws 1 Added Passive Skill is Vicious Bite

(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewel - Minion Damage with Herald base is great as there are two very good Notables: Cult-Leader and Disciples.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Cult-Leader 1 Added Passive Skill is Disciples

(Jewel) Small Cluster Jewel - Uncompromising grants 50% increased Mana Reservation Efficiency for Determination, you might want to have it.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Uncompromising

(Flask) The Writhing Jar - Recovers some Life and Mana on use, but what's important is the creation of two enemies that die instantly, creating two Sentinels. Use it at the start of a map.

Instant Recovery (75-65)% reduced Amount Recovered 2 Enemy Writhing Worms escape the Flask when used Writhing Worms are destroyed when Hit (20-10)% reduced Charges per use

Other suggested Flasks: Alchemist's Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline Granite Flask with Bleeding immunity/removal 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.

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