Summon Raging Spirit
Necromancer Build

Updated for Patch 3.17

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

Summon Raging Spirits is often an overlooked Skill Gem, Necromancers usually go for Zombies or Skeletons as their main source of damage, for they offer better protection and don't die so easily. Raging Spirit Necromancer plays more like a caster than a summoner, your minions are short-lived floating skulls that enemies can pass through, however, there are some key advantages that make this build stand out. Raging Spirits have more Maximum Life than Skeletons and do not require corpses as Zombies do, so it's a great balance between damage and reliability. There are a few Unique Items you could use and some other mechanics making this particular option a valid choice.

Take Minion Instability Keystone - your Raging Spirits will explode dealing a third of their maximum Life as Fire Damage to surrounding enemies when they reach low life - which is half of their health bar. Relying on your opponents to deal damage to them is a horrible idea for a build, so other key components are Infernal Legion Support Gem - your Minions Will deal Fire Damage over time to surrounding enemies while draining their own life - similar to Righteous Fire, and you have to wear Tavukai Unique Amulet, it makes your Raging Spirits significantly more powerful, and the only downside - them losing their Health at a rate of 20% of Maximum Life per second in form of Chaos Damage - is actually something very useful. Another Unique that's great with this build is a Replica Shiegebreaker - your minions will deal additional damage based on their Maximum Life on death.

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

1. Gameplay

As it is with Necromancers - you're gonna use more than one type of Minion, Zombies will offer you protection by distracting enemies from you and acting as bodyguards. Stone Golem gives you Life Regeneration and Taunts enemies, you can even use specters for they offer a huge variety of great utility buffs. It's a common practice to pick one with Proximity Shield and stay close to them for better protection against projectiles. You'll be Summoning Raging spirits, they'll rapidly approach enemies, hit them a few times, and then explode. The explosion Hit is the main source of damage - you'll heavily invest in their Maximum Life and damage, so the more damage enemies will deal - the more damage they will receive.

This video was recorded on a level 94 Necromancer on Standard League. We had the required Tavukai and Replica Siegebreaker Belt, but other than that it was just random Rare gear. We barely had two Jewels with increased Minion Life, and we didn't have the proper Elegant Hubris Timeless Jewel either - DPS can surely by increasing by obtaining those

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Pick the Summon Ragins Spirit Skill Gem at the start of the first act and use it throughout the rest of the game. You can Pick Minion Instability Keystone as soon as you're able to and then focus on your own Maximum Life, your damage will be good enough with just a few nodes increasing your Minion's life and damage and from the Notables in after your first ascension. 

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Summon Raging Spirit setup
	Summon Raging Spirit - besides being your main DPS skill in this build, it's also great for leveling
	Minion Life Support - gives your minion more life, which makes it deal more damage
	Infernal Legion Support - having your minion deal more damage and explode faster is necessary
	Minion Damage Support - your Raging Spirits will deal more damage

Storm Brand setup
	Storm Brand - use Storm Brand instead of directly casting the Curse, it will help you activate Elemental Equilibrium
	Hextouch - link it with Flammability and Storm Brand
	Flammability - it will lower enemies fire resistance, the type of damage your Ragins Spirits are mostly dealing

Aura setup
	Vitality - defensive aura for health regeneration
	Flesh and Stone - use sand stance for defense

Bandits:

KIll all three Bandits for two additional Skill Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

32 Points Skill Tree
First, go for Minion Instability, Indomitable Army, Enduring Bond, and get yourself some Maximum Life

66 Points Skill Tree
Allocate Glancing Blows and take Mystic Bulwark, get more maximum Life, and go for the outer Jewels Socket so that you can start allocating Cluster Jewels

Recommended leveling items:

Sidhebreath - a cheap and common Amulet you can get yourself before you're able to wear Tavuaki

(20-30)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate +25% to Cold Resistance Minions have (10-15)% increased maximum Life Minions have (10-15)% increased Movement Speed Minions deal (5-9) to (11-15) additional Cold Damage (15-10)% reduced Mana Cost of Minion Skills

Le Heup of All - one of the best leveling Rings due to overall good stats it provides

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

Skullhead - maximum Life, Mana, Armour, Evasion, and Elemental Resistances make this Helmet a great option in most cases, additional Minion mods are actually not that great for this build, but it still can be somewhat useful.

(60-80)% increased Armour and Evasion +(50-70) to maximum Life +(50-70) to maximum Mana +(10-20)% to all Elemental Resistances Minions have +10% Chance to Block Attack Damage Minions have +(300-350) to Armour Minions Regenerate 2% of Life per second

Replica Midnight Bargain - if you value your Minions Speed and Damage over your Maximum Life, then it is a great situational item.

(22-26)% increased Spell Damage +(10-20) to Intelligence Minions have (40-50)% increased Movement Speed Minions deal (50-70)% increased Damage +6 to maximum number of Raging Spirits +3 to maximum number of Summoned Phantasms Reserves 30% of Life Cannot be used with Chaos Inoculation

Goldrim - Goldrim is a golden standard for leveling Helmets, the most optimal choice
+(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 - no leveling gear is completed without Tabula, it's cheap and extremely useful

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:

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

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Mindless Aggression
2. Bone Barrier
3. Mistress of Sacrifice
4. Unnatural Strenght

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 Garukhan: 60% reduced Effect of Shock on you; Cannot be Blinded, You cannot be Maimed

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Summon Raging Spirits setup (Socketed in Rare Helmet)
	Summon Raging Spirit - with two modifiers that grant additional Gem links from your Helmet, you can put your Main DPS Skill Gem in there. If you don't have such a Helmet, put it in your six-linked Body Armour.
	Elemental Focus Support - You can no longer Ignite, but all your damage comes from Hits so it's not a huge loss
	Fire Penetration Support - use it to deal more Fire Damage by penetrating Fire Resistance
	Unleash Support - use it to spawn more minions in a rapid succession
Support Gems granted by your Rare Helmet:
	Minion Life Support - increases the Life of your Minions and hence the explosion Damage from Minion Instability, but you can also replace it with another Affix,  Concentrated Effect Support for a comparable damage increase
	Minion Damage Support - one of the most important Support Gems in this setup

[DPS] Raise Zombie setup
	Raise Zombie - they offer a huge damage boost during Boss fights by applying a number of debuffs
	Minion Life Support - Increases damage from Minion Instability and keeps them alive for longer
	Feeding Frenzy Support - makes your minions aggressive, which is good
	Elemental Army Support - zombies will apply exposure on hit, it also increases their defense against Elemental Damage
	Combustion Support - increases Minion's Fire Damage and Lowers Fire Resistance of your opponents
	Meat Shield Support - Zombies are defensive and Taunt enemies on Hit increasing your survivability

[UTILITY] Storm Brand setup
	Storm Brand - used to apply curses on enemies and trigger Elemental Equilibrium
	Hextouch Support - Brand will constantly apply Flammability Curse
	Flammability - offensive Curse, increases the Fire Damage dealt to affected enemies

[MOBILITY] Flame Dash setup
	Flame Dash - a mobility spell that allows you to quickly get out of sticky situations
	Arcane Surge Support - increases your damage upon spending a certain amount of mana, keep it at a low enough level so that a single Flame Dash can activate it. Keep this Gem at level 7 so that you gain the buff which each cast

[UTILITY] Summon Stone Golem
	Summon Stone Golem - Stone Golem is a preferred Golem for this build which boosts your survivability by increasing your Life Regeneration

[UTILITY] Bone Offering/Desecrate setup (Socketed in Trigger Wand)
	Bone Offering - your minions become more defensive, with an increased chance to Block, and Life Recovery on Block. It will also affect you after you allocate Misstress of Sacrifice. All Gems in this setup have to be triggered by your Crafted Wand
	Desecrate - creates Corpses for your Bone Offering and other bonuses from the Necromancer Class
	Convocation - recalls your Minions back to you, it's optional

[UTILITY] Auras setup
	Summon Skitterbots - Chill and Schock effect they provide is great for offense and defense
	Vitality - regenerates Life for you and your allies
	Determination - use to gain more Armour which is one of the best defensive layers
	Enlighten Support - Linked Spells reserve less Mana

[UTILITY] Dread Banner
	Defiance Banner - use it for more Armour, Evasion Rating, and to reduce Critical Strike Chance of nearby enemies

6. Gear Setup

Gather as much Life as you can, this is your priority. All the necessary gear you should get is cheap, the usual Life and Resistances are enough. Your most important pieces of equipment are Helmet and Wand, prepare to spend most of your budget on those. After you're done with that, get the recommended Cluster Jewels, they shouldn't be expensive. You won't need Watcher's Eye - the mods for them are not worth your investment initially. The final touch is Elegant Hubris. You can use Deafening Essence of Fear on your Helmet, Body Armour, Boots, Gloves, Belt, and Shield for additional Minion Life.

Our recommended items will:

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

(Helmet) Rare Bone Helmet - All the required mods are on Prefixes slots, leaving Suffixes open - this is where you can usually get Elemental Resistances. There is a huge price gap between +2 and +3 to Level of Socketed Minion Gem, so if you don't have enough currency, quickly grab the +2 version and do an upgrade later

Min. requirements: +# to Level of Socketed Minion Gems Socketed Gems are Supported by Level # Minion Life Socketed Gems are Supported by Level # Minion Damage 50 Maximum Life Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances Socketed Gems are Supported by Level # Concentrated Effect

Helmet enchantments: Summon Raging Spirit has 18% chance to summon an extra Minion 150% increased Effect of the Buff granted by your Stone Golems

(Weapon) Rare Wand - Convoking Wand is usually your go-to wand, for you can't roll its Minions mods. A wand with just two required mods is cheap, and of course, having 3 or 4 desirable mods is good, but don't focus on it too much - invest in Cluster Jewels before such upgrade.

Min. requirements: +1 to Level of all Minion Skill Gems Minions have 35% increased maximum Life Optional affixes: +1 to Level of all Spell Skill Gems Minions have 15% increased Attack Speed Minions have 15% increased Cast Speed Trigger a Socketed Spell when you Use a Skill, with a 8 second Cooldown (crafted)

(Shield) Rare Shield - look for Maximum Life and Elemental Resistances, the more you can get the better, for there are no especially beneficial mods you can find on a Shield

Min. requirements: +120 to maximum Life +100% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Chance to Block #% increased maximum Life increased Effect of your Curses additional Physical Damage Reduction

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - Body Armours can offer you a lot of extra Life. Besides that, look for increased effect of Offerings and additional Curse - it should not cost too much.

Min. requirements: +80 to Maximum Life #% increased effect of Offerings Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances You can apply additional Curse #% increased maximum Life

(Boots) Rara Boots - It is obligatory to have a somewhat decent movement speed bonus on your Boots, around 30%. Look for Maximum Life and Resistances as well

Min. requirements: +70 to Maximum Life +70% to Elemental Resistances +25% increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: % chance to gain Onslaught for 4 seconds on Kill Cannot be Frozen % chance to avoid Projectiles

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Again, look for Life and Elemental Resistances. There are close to no good mods you can find on Gloves, so it is recommended to have at least Redeemer's Minion Damage or Essence-crafted Minion Life.

Min. requirements: +80 to Maximum Life +60% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Minions deal #% increased Damage Minions have #% increased maximum Life

(Belt) Replica Siegebreaker - The only Belt that's better here would be a Headhunter. The Burning Damage that is spread on Minon Death is equal to 20% of your Minion Maximum Health per second, which is a lot. The replica version is better than the original since it deals Fire Damage.

+(25-35) to Strength (6-10)% increased maximum Energy Shield (6-10)% increased maximum Life +(15-25)% to Fire Resistance Your Minions spread Burning Ground on Death, dealing 20% of their maximum Life as Fire Damage per second Minions have 5% chance to Maim Enemies on Hit with Attacks

(Amulet) Tavukai - Unquestionably the most important gear piece in this build. A huge increase in Life and damage for your Raging Spirits. Chaos Damage per second that is being dealt to them is a good thing, they'll reach the explosion threshold quicker.

Regenerate (2-4) Life per second +(30-40) to Intelligence Minions have +(-17-17)% to Chaos Resistance Summon Raging Spirit has (20-30)% increased Duration Summoned Raging Spirits deal (60-80)% increased Damage Summoned Raging Spirits have (80-100)% increased maximum Life Summoned Raging Spirits take 20% of their Maximum Life per second as Chaos Damage

Recommended Anointments: Righteous Army Ravenous Horde

(Ring) Rare Ring - If you can inflict more than one Curse upon the enemy, look for Flammability or Elemental Weakness Curse on Hit

Min. requirements: +70 to Maximum Life +50% to Total Elemental Resistances Curse Enemies with Flammability on Hit Optional affixes: Minions deal #% increased Damage Minions have #% increased Movement Speed (can be crafted)

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - They should provide extra Life for you and your Minions. If you need Elemental Resistances you can find it here, but your rare armor parts are more recommended.

Min. requirements: 7% increased Maximum Life Minions Have 10% Increased Maximum Life Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances Minion's Attack and Cast Speed

(Jewel) Abyss Jewels - exact same case as with other Rare Jewels, focus on Life for you and your Minions

Min. requirements: +30 to Maximum Life Minions Have 10% Increased Maximum Life Minions deal #% increased Damage if you've used a Minion Skill Recently Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances

(Jewel) Elegant Hubris - You're not interested in any Keystone from that Timeless Jewel, you want a good roll on it - one that gives you "Axiom Warden" notable - Minions have 80% increased Maximum Life. You can get more than one of them so try different jewel sockets. To find one is a hard task - you can't exactly look at a seed of an Elegant Hubris and tell which notables are changed to Axiom Warden, moreover, there are no tools for it so far. You can buy them in bulk or find a community-based initiative specialized in such trades.

Commissioned (2000-160000) coins to commemorate (Cadiro-Caspiro-Victario) Passives in radius are Conquered by the Eternal Empire Historic

(Jewel) Fortress Covenant - Noticeable damage bonus for your Minions. An additional increase in the damage they take works in your favor as well.

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) Large Cluster Jewels - Minion Damage type Large Jewels witch as little small nodes are what you're looking for. Get at least two of the recommended affixes.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Feasting Fiends 1 Added Passive Skill is Call to the Slaughter 1 Added Passive Skill is Raze and Pillage

(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewels - Medium Cluster Jewels are more important than Large ones - small nodes increase your Minion's Life by 12%, if you have enough Life, get Jewels with more small nodes and put your Skill Point there. Hulking Corpses is an important notable you should strive for.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Feasting Fiends 1 Added Passive Skill is Hulking Corpses

(Flask) Rumi's Concoction - one of the best defensive flasks in the game, it protects you from hits and increases your Armour Rating

+1500 to Armour +(8-12)% Chance to Block Attack Damage during Flask effect +(4-6)% Chance to Block Spell Damage during Flask effect

Other suggested Flasks: Alchemist's Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline Quartz Flask with Bleeding immunity/removal Life Flask with random ailment removal Basalt 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.