Updated for Patch 3.23
The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo
Guide notes |
February 25, 2024 -Build updated |
Build overview | |||
Tags: [MINION] [CHAOS] [LIFE] [POISON] | |||
Budget: Defenses: |
|
Boss DPS: AoE: |
|
The Transfigured versions of the Blink and Mirror Arrow change those utility Skills into very competitive Minions Skills. By default, those Skills create a copy of yourself that automatically attacks nearby Enemies. There are two types: Bombarding Clones that shoot arrows into the sky, and Prismatic Clones that use an empowered version of Elemental Hit. Each type has a limit of 3 Clones, but you can mix different types for a total of 6 powerful Minions.
One of the things that distinguish Mirror Arrow from other Minion Skills is its ranged attack capability. Most other Minion Skills summon Melee Minions that have to get up close and personal with enemies to deal Damage, but here the summoned Minions are able to attack from a distance, which greatly improves their Clear capability. Another key feature is that Minions use your own Bow, which allows many different approaches to scale the Damage. In this variant, we decided to use the Darkscorn Bow which is one of the best Weapons for Poison Builds, supplemented by the Covenant to give your Minions a massive amount of Chaos Damage.
The Elemental Hit used by Prismatic Clones is vastly different than the well-known Player's version. It has insanely high effectiveness of Added Damage and doesn't exclude other Damage types. The Bombarding Clone deals less Damage, but Rain of Arrows tends to Hit the same enemy many times. The Cooldown might be a bit annoying at first, but the Clones last for almost 40 seconds, so you don't need to constantly resummon them.
The Occultist Ascendency provides reliable Wither Debuff, additional Curse, and lowers Chaos Resistances and Life Regeneration of nearby foes. You can get extra explosions from the Profane Bloom, but it requires a way to automate Curses, which can be quite problematic. It is also possible to opt for the Stun Immunity and better ES sustain from the Vile Bastion, which opens the possibility to use the Mind over Matter Keystone for better survivability. You can also choose the Necromancer Ascendency for generic Damage and Resistance bonuses.
You can also check our other Path of Exile builds right over here Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List
With only 1 second Cooldown on each Skill, You will constantly alternate between teleporting with the Blink Arrow and creating your clones with Mirror Arrow, which results in very dynamic gameplay. To deal with Bosses, use Withering Steps, Despair Curse, and Malevolence Blessing to improve your Minion's single target Damage significantly. They will also be empowered by your Carrion Golem and its Feeding Frenzy Buff.
|
PROS |
|
CONS |
|
The Bombarding and Prismatic Clones are very powerful right from the start, but if you don't have access to the Transfigured Gems, you should use the usual Summon Raging Spirits. At first, you should focus on Hit Damage, and transition to Poison once you acquire the Covenant Armour. You can check out our Leveling Guide using Minions for more tips.
Bandits:
Kill all three bandits to get two additional Passive Skill Points
Leveling Skill Trees:
32 Points Passive Tree
Head towards Minion Damage Notables, as well as some maximum Life.
61 Points Passive Tree
Pick up even more Minion Damage and maximum Life. You will also get a bit of Strength and Mana Reservation Efficiency.
Final Skill Tree:
107 Points Final Passive Tree (doesn't include Cluster or Unique Jewels)
119 Points Path of Building (PoB) link
Ascendancy points:
Preferably in that order:
Pantheon:
Major God: Soul of Arakaali: 10% reduced Damage taken from Damage Over Time; +40% Chaos Resistance against Damage Over Time
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
[DPS] Mirror and Blink Arrow Setup socket in The Covenant |
|
Blink Arrow of Bombarding Clones - shots an arrow that teleports you to the targeted location and leaves your Clone in the original position. The Clone uses your Bow and Quiver to attack nearby enemies. | |
Mirror Arrow of Prismatic Clones - a very similar Skill to the previous one, but this one doesn't teleport you. Use different types to avoid sharing Cooldown and Summon limit. | |
Chance to Poison Support - grants very much needed Chance to Poison for your Minions. Also adds plenty of Chaos Damage to their Attacks. Swap it to the Vicious Projectiles Support if you have a high enough Chance to Poison from your Jewels. | |
Unbound Ailments Support - makes Poisons of your Minions last significantly longer. | |
Minion Damage Support - improves all Damage dealt by your Minions, but slightly lowers their maximum Life. | |
Deadly Ailments Support - greatly boosts the Damage of your Poisons, but reduces the Hit portion. |
[UTILITY] Aura Setup | |
Grace - it's a defensive Aura that grants you a lot of Evasion Rating and raises it even higher. | |
Determination - just like the previous one, but for Armour Rating. | |
Purity of Elements - grants Immunity to all Elemental Ailments, and plenty of Elemental Resistances to you and your Minions. | |
Vitality - grants you a lot of Life Regeneration. You can also use the Precision Aura to grant more Accuracy Rating to your Minions. |
[UTILITY] Divine Blessing Setup | |
Malevolence - this Aura improves the Damage over Time dealt by your Minions but also increases the Duration of various effects, such as Clones themselves. | |
Divine Blessing Support - thanks to the Blessings you will be able to use this Aura as a temporary Buff that doesn't Reserve any Mana |
[UTILITY] Arcanist Brand Setup | |
Arcanist Brand - this Brand will Cast all your utility Skills with just one button press. The order of your Links dictates the order of which Skills are being used. | |
Desecrate - creates Corpses that you can consume via other Skills to gain various buffs. | |
Flesh Offering - consumes Corpses to grant your Minions a significant Attack Speed bonus for a certain duration. | |
Despair - lowers Chaos Resistances of your enemies, improving the Damage dealt by the Poison. | |
Temporal Chains - slows the Action Speed of cursed enemies and makes Poisons last longer, thus dealing more Damage. You can also automate it via your Animate Guardian Setup. |
[UTILITY] Golem and AG Setup | |
Carrion Golem - a Golem that adds a lot of Physical Damage to all nearby Minions. | |
Animate Guardian - this Minion wears the Items of your choosing, consuming them in the process. It can be used to grant many useful bonuses to your Minions. | |
Feeding Frenzy Support - linked Minions will occasionally grant you a Buff which improves the Damage of all your Minions. | |
Minion Life Support - linked Minions will occasionally grant you a Buff which improves the Damage of all your Minions. |
[UTILITY] Guard Setup | |
Molten Shell - this Skill improves your Armour temporarily and absorbs a big part of incoming Damage. | |
Stone Golem - if you anoint the Golem Commander Notable you can use a second Golem to improve your Life Regeneration. | |
Withering Step - activating this skill grants you the elusive buff, and inflicts 8 stacks of the withered debuff on nearby enemies. the remaining withered stacks shall be inflicted by your ascendency, but it provides a decent burst of damage at the beginning of the fight. |
|
Your Bow and Quiver are what stand the most out of all Minions Builds, as your Clones will use direct copies of your Equipment. Usually, there is only one way to give a very valuable Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier for your Minions - via the Anamanu Gaze Unique Jewel. But your Clones use your Quiver, so they can benefit from that modifier there. Your Bow is also important - the Darkscorn is one of the most powerful Weapons for Poison due to its Unique modifier - attacks with that Weapon have a 20% Chance to deal 300% More Damage with Poisons! However, its DPS is quite low, so it's best to use the Covenant Armour for the insane amount of Chaos Damage it can provide. You will need plenty of Life Regeneration on your remaining Gear to make up for the additional Life Cost it causes. A lot of Damage comes from your Abyss Jewels, so the remaining Rare Gear can be focused on your own Defense, so stack as much maximum Life and Resistances there. You will also need plenty of Attributes for your Gem Requirements.
You can use the Animate Guardian to get various benefits. The most popular choice is to use Asenath's Gentle Touch and Windscream to have a source of automated Curse. You can find more useful Setups in our Animate Guardian Setup Guide.
Stat priorities on items:
|
(Helmet) The Devouring Diadem - grants you the Eldritch Battery Keystone, allowing you to freely Reserve all your Mana and use Blessing. It also lowers the Reservation of socketed Auras. | |
+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 +(31-35) to Strength and Dexterity |
|
(Boots) The Stampede - it's a necessary Item for this Build as it provides a lot of Cooldown Recovery for your main Skills. You can apply additional Anoint on them. | |
(100-150)% increased Evasion and Energy Shield (30-40)% increased Stun and Block Recovery (50-80)% increased Cooldown Recovery Rate of Travel Skills (30-40)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate while moving Your Movement Speed is 150% of its base value Recommended Anointment: Corruption |
|
(Weapon) Darkscorn - your Minions will use your Bow, thus gaining the 20% Chance to inflict very powerful Poisons. It also boosts their Accuracy rating. | |
(60-80)% increased Physical Damage Adds (15-20) to (25-30) Physical Damage 20% increased Attack Speed (15-30)% increased Global Accuracy Rating 25% of Physical Damage Converted to Chaos Damage 25% of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Chaos Damage 20% chance for Poisons inflicted with this Weapon to deal 300% more Damage |
|
(Off-hand) Rare Quiver - your Quiver is the most impactful Item for your Minions' Damage. You can grant them a lot of DoT Multiplier and other Damage modifiers usually unobtainable for Minions this way. | |
Min. requirements: Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier with Attack Skills Optional affixes: Damage over Time Multiplier with Attack Skills increased Damage with Bow Skills increased Attack Speed Adds Chaos Damage to Attacks Chance to Poison on Hit&Poison Damage |
|
(Body Armour) The Covenant - this Armour provides insane amounts of Chaos Damage but your Skills will additionally cost your Life. | |
Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 29 Added Chaos Damage Skills gain a Base Life Cost equal to 100% of Base Mana Cost +(20-30) to Intelligence (210-250)% increased Energy Shield 10% increased maximum Life |
|
(Belt) Darkness Enthroned - this Belt greatly enhances any 2 Abyss Jewels Socketed in it, so put your best ones here. | |
Has 2 Abyssal Sockets (50-100)% increased Effect of Socketed Abyss Jewels |
|
(Belt) Rare Abyss Jewels - you can get a 100% chance to Poison for your Minion just from your Jewels. Try to pair it with other valuable modifiers such as maximum Life or flat Damage for your Minions. | |
Min. requirements: +20 maximum Life Minions have 14% chance to Poison Enemies on Hit Optional affixes: Minions deal # additional Chaos/Physical Damage Minions have #% chance to Taunt on Hit with Attacks Minions deal #% increased Damage if you've used a Minion Skill Recently |
|
(Gloves) Rare Gloves - use Eldritch Implicits and Crafting Bench to get plenty of Minion Damage here. The remaining modifiers should be focused on maximum Life and Resistances. | |
Min. requirements: +70% to Elemental Resistances +60 to Maximum Life Optional affixes: Minions deal (10-20)% increased Damage (Crafting Bench) Minions deal (20-22)% increased Damage (Eldritch Implicit) Life Regeneration |
|
(Boots) Rare Boots - if you don't mind slightly longer Cooldowns on your Skills, you can opt for the Rare pair of Boots that would grant you a lot of more useful defensive modifiers, such as maximum Life, Resistances, Movement Speed, or Spell Suppression. | |
Min. requirements: +40% to Elemental Resistances +60 to Maximum Life +30% Movement Speed Optional affixes: Attributes Chaos Resistance Spell Suppression |
|
(Amulet) Rare Amulet - this slot should be used to cover your Attributes and Resistances the most. It should also grant maximum Life. You can craft a Projectile Speed modifier here, to make your Arrows fall quicker. | |
Min. requirements: +70% to Elemental Resistances +60 to Maximum Life Optional affixes: Attributes Projectile Speed increased Armour/Evasion |
|
(Amulet) Aul's Uprising - it is the only source of the Envy Aura for this Build. It is an Aura that adds flat Chaos Damage. It also grants decent bonuses to your maximum Life, Attributes, and all Defences. | |
+(10-16) to all Attributes Grants Level 15 Envy Skill +(15-20) to all Attributes +(50-70) to maximum Life (15-20)% increased Global Defences Envy has no Reservation |
|
(Ring) Rare Ring - Bone Rings have an exclusive pool of modifiers that affect Minions, so try to catch at least one of such modifiers here. Aside from that, get your regular maximum Life, Attributes, and Resistances here. | |
Min. requirements: +60% to Elemental Resistances +60 to Maximum Life Minions deal 35% increased Damage Optional affixes: Attributes Minions deal #% maximum Life Minions have #% increased Attack and Cast Speed |
|
(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewels - unfortunately, all Notables here are quite inefficient. The best option is to get an increased Effect of Small Passives along with some Attack Speed and defensive bonuses like maximum Life or Resistance. | |
Recommended affixes: Added Small Passive Skills also grant: Minions have 3% increased Attack and Cast Speed Added Small Passive Skills have 25/35% increased Effect Added Small Passive Skills also grant: +3% to all Elemental Resistances Added Small Passive Skills also grant: +10 to maximum Life |
|
(Jewel) Amanamu's Gaze - it is a very powerful Jewel for this Build, it grants 30% Damage over Time Multiplier for Poisons applied by your Minions. | |
+(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) Brutal Restraint - The Traitor Keystone provided by this Jewel will greatly help you with the Flask sustain. It can also grant a lot of Dexterity and Minion Damage with the right modifiers. It is not required, but very useful. | |
Denoted service of # dekhara in the akhara of Balbala Passives in radius are Conquered by the Maraketh Historic |
|
(Flask) Taste of Hate - a very strong defensive Flask that increases your Damage mitigation against Physical and Cold Damage. You probably won't have perfect uptime on it, so don't rely on it to cap your Cold Resistance. | |
(10-15)% of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Cold Damage during Effect Gain (10-15)% of Physical Damage as Extra Cold Damage during effect 30% chance to Avoid being Chilled during Effect 30% chance to Avoid being Frozen during Effect |
|
(Flask) Witchfire Brew - optionally, you can use this Flask to automatically apply Despair Curse to nearby Enemies. It works very well with the Profane Proxy Notable, which explodes Cursed Enemies your Minions Kill. | |
Creates a Smoke Cloud on Use (-10-10)% increased Charges per use Grants Level 21 Despair Curse Aura during Effect |
|
Suggested Flasks:
|
|
|
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.