Summon Stone Golem of Hordes
Necromancer Build

Updated for Patch 3.23

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The new Stone Golem of Hordes is an alternate version of the regular Stone Golem. It no longer grants you Life Regeneration, but instead, you can have two additional Golems Summoned. With Golem Commander, The Anima Stone, and an Elementalist's passive from Forbidden Flash and Flame, you will be able to have 6 of them at any given time. With this many Golems, you can start dealing serious damage. Stone Golems are equipped with a basic Slam Attack that Taunts and deals Physical AoE Damage. This Attack is so good that it has a Cooldown, which you should aim to reduce via Gem's Quality and multiple Primordial Harmony Jewels. A single such Hit can deal over a million Damage, which should be more than enough for most content in the game. You can then improve it with Impale, high Critical Strike Chance, Vulnerability Curse, Pride, War Banner, and Minion Mastery to Overhelm Physical Damage reduction. As most Minion builds, employ Animated Guardian and Spectres for various offensive and defensive bonuses such as Feeding Frenzy, Charges, or Fortify buff.

The build is very durable. With Chaos Inoculation you're completely immune to Chaos Damage, but will rely on ES instead of Life. You can reach around 5 or even 6k of ES on a regular budget. Supplement it with high Armour, Spell Suppression Chance, and Spell Block Chance. You can even add a single Jade Flask with increased Evasion to simply evade every fourth attack. With capped Attack and Spell Block Chance and high Armour Rating, you will aim for Aegis Aurora to instantly recover a big portion of Energy Shield each time you Block. To further reduce damage taken, shift incoming damage to be taken as Chaos Damage (that you're immune to), which can be done via the Incandescent Heart Body Armour, Shield Corrupted Implicit, Helmet Eldritch Implicit, and Armour & ES Mastery. This superb Damage Reduction, Suppression, Evasion, and Block Chance combined with instantaneous Recovery creates a nearly impenetrable barrier. You're only vulnerable to really big Physical Spell Hits and DoTs.

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

1. Gameplay

Stone Golems should stay up permanently. the same goes for Animated Guardian and Raised Spectres. You will occasionally cast Vaal Haste and place War Banner, but all the other passive skills - Determination, Discipline, Precision, Tempest Shield, and Pride will stay on permanently. Have your Bone Offering on at all times as well for a major Block Chance bonus. You can summon Corpses with Desecrate to cast it if there are no Corpses nearby. For a Guard Spell use Molten Shell, for mobility Skill - Flame Dash, and Curse - Vulnerability.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Follow our Witch Leveling Guide using Minions. All Minion builds are very similar at the start and during the first few acts.
 

Bandits:

When dealing with the bandits, kill all of them for two extra Passive Skill Points.

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

109 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Unique nor Cluster Jewels)
123 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

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

Pantheon:

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

Minor God: Soul of Abberath: 60% less Duration of Ignite on You

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Summon Stone Golem of Hordes setup
	Summon Stone Golem of Hordes - A Minion that uses Physical Skills like Slam or Roll, which on account of their low Cooldown, will be the main damage sources in this build.
	Multistrike Support - Golems' Attacks are repeated additional times but with lower damage.
	Melee Physical Damage Support - More Melee Physical Damage, which is the only type of damage Golems deal.
	Minion Damage Support - More Minion Damage, but reduced Maximum Life.
	Brutality Support - More Physical Damage, it's the only type of damage Golems will deal.
	Impale Support - Use it for a 60% Chance of Impaling for your Golems, more can be gathered from Rotten Claws passives.

[UTILITY] Utility Minions
	Animate Guardian - Use a default Animated Guardian setup, which can be found here. You can even set it up to apply Vulnerability Curse on Hit, but its best utilities are gained from the Kingmaker weapon. Make sure its Resistances are capped.
	Raise Spectre - Spectres offer various bonuses. We recommend Chieftain Monkeys for Power and Frenzy Charges.
	Minion Life Support - Linked Minions have more Maximum Life but deal less damage.
	Feeding Frenzy Support - Feeding Frenzy, which will affect all your Minions, increases their DPS and mobility.

[UTILITY] Aura setup
	Pride - Enemies in Pride's AoE will receive increased Physical Damage.
	Discipline - More Energy Shield and increased ES Recovery Rate.
	Determination - More and increased Armour to take less Physical Damage from Hits.
	Enlighten Support - Linked Spells Reserve much less Mana.

[UTILITY] Generous Auras setup
	Generosity Support - Linked Aura Spells won't affect your character. Their effects are increased.
	Vaal Haste - Vaal Haste can be your temporary Aura to boost Minions' Attack and Movement Speed.
	War Banner - War Banner increases Accuracy Rating and causes nearby enemies to take increased Physical Damage. When placed, it grants Adrenaline.
	Precision - Adds Accuracy and increases Critical Strike Chance. You don't have to level it all the way up.

[UTILITY] Various Gems
	Tempest Shield - Grants a lot of Spell Block Chance, and with it, you will be able to reach the 75% cap easily. Extremely good with Aegis Aurora.
	Vulnerability - Cursed enemies take increased Physical Damage, and Hits against them will cause Bleeding.
	Flame Dash - Your sole movement ability, to move faster.
	Desecrate - Conjures Corpses that will be sacrificed with Bone Offering. Use it in boss arenas where there are no Corpses.
	Bone Offering - Grants Attack and Spell Block Chance for your Minions and your character after allocating Mistress of Sacrifice.
	Molten Shell - Set it up as your movement key. It's a protective barrier that absorbs a portion of incoming Hit Damage.

6. Gear Setup

It's a Chaos Inoculation build so look mostly for Energy Shield as it is your main defensive layer. Cap your Resistances, Block Chance, and try to gain as much Spell Suppression and Armour as you can. For more durability, look for modifiers that would shift incoming damage to be taken as Chaos Damage, because you're immune to that. With Zealot's Oath, you can seek Life Regeneration too, but the most ES Recovery comes from Aegis Aurora and Divine Shield already. Mana Reservation Efficiency should not be a major issue if you have a good Enlighten Gem, but you can get some more of it on a Helmet. You will definitely need Dextreiry and Strength from the gear. Your Minions deal only Physical Attack Hit Damage with a somewhat high Critical Strike Chance. Improve their DPS by increasing the Gem Level of Summon Stone Golem. Take care of their Resistances and get them more Maximum Life, as re-summoning Golems after death is something that should be avoided. You will also need these for your Spectres and Animated Guardian.

Our recommended items will:

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

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - A Helmet with Intelligence can increase all your Minion Skill Gems Level by 2, so definitely go for it. Dexterity Helmet can roll Spell Suppression which is also good. For other mods, seek mostly Resistances, Reservation Efficiency, and Energy Shield. For an Eldritch Implicit, you can get the Physical Damage taken as Chaos.

Min. requirements: 150 Energy Shield +40% Total Elemental Resistances +2 to Level of all Minion Skill Gems Optional affixes: Attributes increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills (Essence or Eldritch Implicit) Spell Suppression Chance Energy Shield Armour

(Weapon) Rare Convoking Wand - Use a Convoking Wand with basic Minion Damage mods of various types.

Min. requirements: +1 to Level of all Minion Minions deal 50% increased Damage Optional affixes: +1 to Level of all Spell Skill Gems Minions have #% increased Attack Speed Critical Strike mods for Minions

(Weapon) Maata's Teaching - It's a starter option for a weapon. Still good if rolled with +2 Level mod, but replace it later with something better.

26% increased Elemental Damage +(30-40) to Intelligence (25-50)% increased Critical Strike Chance +(1-2) to Level of all Minion Skill Gems Minions' Base Attack Critical Strike Chance is equal to the Critical Strike Chance of your Main Hand Weapon

(Off-hand) Aegis Aurora - Basically irreplaceable. The best source of ES Recovery with high Block Chance and Armour. You should get one with a Corrupted Implicit for 8% of Physical Damage taken as Chaos.

(300-400)% increased Armour and Energy Shield +10% to all Elemental Resistances +5% to maximum Cold Resistance +6% Chance to Block Recover Energy Shield equal to 2% of Armour when you Block (10-20)% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills

(Body Armour) Incandescent Heart - It has Armour, Energy Shield, and it reduces all Elemental Damage taken by 25% after allocating Chaos Inoculation. It's the best Armour in our opinion. You can Corrupt it for interesting Implicit mods.

(220-240)% increased Armour and Energy Shield +(80-90) to maximum Life (0.8-1)% of Attack Damage Leeched as Life Gain (10-20)% of Elemental Damage as Extra Chaos Damage 25% of Elemental Damage from Hits taken as Chaos Damage (20-30)% increased Light Radius Light Radius is based on Energy Shield instead of Life

(Boots) Rare Boots - Look for the basic Resistances with ES and Movement Speed. Spell Suppression can be crafted, or found on Boots with Evasion.

Min. requirements: +40% Total Elemental Resistances 100 Energy Shield 30% Increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: Life Regeneration Dexterity Spell Suppression Chance

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Once again, seek Maximum ES, Resistances, Spell Suppression, and Attributes. For the Eldritch Implicit mod, get more Spell Suppression Chance.

Min. requirements: 150 Energy Shield 80% Total Elemental Resistances Spell Suppression Chance Optional affixes: Dexterity Minions deal increased damage

(Belt) Rare Belt - The Belt should grant you Strength, Elemental Resistances, Energy Shield, and Armour or Life Regeneration.

Min. requirements: +40 to Strength +40 to maximum Energy Shield +80% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Life Regeneration Armour Flask affixes

(Belt) Darkness Enthroned - A common choice for most Minion builds - you can socket your best Ghastly Abyss Jewels here, improving their effect by up to 100%.

Has 1 Abyssal Socket Has 1 Abyssal Socket (50-100)% increased Effect of Socketed Abyss Jewels

(Amulet) Ashes of the Stars - Ashes of the Stars is the best choice as the Quality for all your Active Skill Gems is a major upside. Bone Offering, Flame Dash, War Banner, and your Stone Golem Gems will benefit from it a lot.

+(10-16) to all Attributes (5-10)% increased Experience Gain of Gems +1 to Level of all Skill Gems +(20-30)% to Quality of all Skill Gems

Recommended Anointments: Charisma

(Ring) Rare Ring - Bone Ring is the best choice, it increases your Minions' Resistances and has a separate mod pool that can improve your Minions' Attack Speed, Damage, Maximum ife, Resistances, or Movement Speed. You should get some Dexterity from it as well.

Min. requirements: +40% Total Elemental Resistances Missing Attributes, mostly Dexterity Minions deal increased Damage Optional affixes: Minions have increased Maximum Life, movement Speed, or Attacks Speed Energy Shield

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - Use Ghastly Abyss Jewels for your Darkness Enthroned Belt to fix missing Attributes/Resistances. Primordial Harmony Jewels are better in terms of DPS.

Recommended affixes: Attributes Maximum Energy Shield Resistances Minions deal # additional Physical Damage Minions have #% increased Attack Speed Minions have +#% to Chaos Resistance

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - Renewal, Vicious Bite, and Rotten Claws are the three notables to look for. You should be able to fit two Large Cluster Jewels.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Renewal 1 Added Passive Skill is Rotten Claws 1 Added Passive Skill is Vicious Bite Added Small Passive Skills also grant: Minions have 3% increased Attack and Cast Speed Attributes Resistances

(Jewel) Fortress Covenant - A lot of Damage, Attack, and Spell Block Chance for your Minions. Socket it in the Cluster Jewel to disable its radius.

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

(Jewel) Quickening Covenant - A lot of Spell Suppression, Attack, and Spell Block Chance for your Minions. Socket it in the Cluster Jewel to disable its radius.

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) The Anima Stone - An additional Maximum Golem is surely worth a Jewel Socket.

+1 to maximum number of Summoned Golems if you have 3 Primordial Items Socketed or Equipped

(Jewel) Primordial Harmony - Increases Cooldown recovery Rate for your Golems' Slam, and their Life Regeneration Rate. Get as many of these as you can fit in your Skill Tree, at least three.

Golem Skills have (20-30)% increased Cooldown Recovery Rate Summoned Golems have (30-45)% increased Cooldown Recovery Rate (16-20)% increased Golem Damage for each Type of Golem you have Summoned Summoned Golems Regenerate 2% of their Life per second Primordial

(Jewel) Thread of Hope - Thread of Hope with Medium Ring, socketed near Instability, will let you allocate Lord of the Dead, Arcane Will, and Golem Commander.

Only affects Passives in (Small-Very Large) Ring Passives in Radius can be Allocated without being connected to your tree -(20-10)% to all Elemental Resistances

(Jewel) Forbidden Flesh & Flame - Liege of the Primordial or Elemancer will extend your Maximum Golem Limit by one. Elemenacer makes your Golems immune to Elemental Damage, while Liege of the Primordial re-summons them on death automatically. Vile Bastion and Bastion of Elements are good defensive options.

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

Other suggested Flasks: Granite Flask with increased Armour Quartz Flask with reduced Mana Cost of Skills Quicksilver Flask with increased Movement Speed Jade Flask with increased Evasion Rating Basalt Flask with reduced Curse/Shock Effect

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.