Summon Raging Spirit of Enormity
Necromancer Build

Updated for Patch 3.25

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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. Minions will deal a third of their Maximum Life in Fire Damage.

Take Minion Instability Keystone - your Raging Spirits will explode dealing 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 another key component is 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. The build is pretty sturdy, it has a high Block Chance for Spells and Attacks, a lot of Armour, and Maximum Life.

For the 3.25 update, we've decided to make it an on-Hit Crit build since the Transfigured version of Raging Spirit has a fixed 100% Crit Chance, for Minion Instability too. It changes the build a bit, but not too much; you still want to prioritize Minions' Maximum Life.

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 going to use more than one type of Minion, Zombies will offer you protection by distracting enemies from you and acting as bodyguards. Animated Guardian and Specters for they offer a huge variety of great utility buffs. It's a common practice to pick one with a Proximity Shield and stay close to it 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 is an outdated video from Patch 3.18 - however the gameplay hasn't changed much since - it now deals significantly more damage with the new transfigured Gems and new equipment options

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 from the passives 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 a Skill Point

Leveling Skill Trees:

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

64 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:

Le Heup of All - one of the best leveling Rings due to the 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:

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

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

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

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of the Brine King: You cannot be Stunned if you've been Stunned or Blocked a Stunning Hit in the past 2 seconds

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

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Summon Raging Spirits setup
	Summon Raging Spirit of Enormity - This Minions has a lot of Maximum Life and always Strikes Critically with high Crit Damage.
	Fire Penetration Support - use it to deal more Fire Damage by penetrating Fire Resistance. Alternatively, you can use  Empower Support to increase Gem Level if it's too low.
	Infernal Legion Support - Minions lose Life faster to deliver damage in a reasonable time frame.
	Unleash Support - use it to spawn more minions in rapid succession. It's a mandatory Gem. It has the Awakened version.
	Minion Life Support - It increases the Maximum Life of your Minions and hence the explosion Damage from Minion Instability.
	Increased Critical Damage Support - Increases Critical Damage, which is all damage.

[UTILITY] Raise Zombie setup
	Raise Zombie - There are a lot of them to protect you from Minions and to explode themselves, be it rarely. They also buff you and debuff enemies.
	Minion Life Support
	Feeding Frenzy Support - makes your minions aggressive and provides you with a Feeding Frenzy buff
	Elemental Army Support - Zombies will apply exposure on hit, it also increases their defense against Elemental Damage. If you have Gloves with Fire Exposure on Hit, you can replace this Gem with something else.

[DPS] AG & Spectres setup
	Animate Guardian - AG grants you various offensive and defensive buffs. To check which items will look good on it, see our AG guide.
	Raise Spectre - You're able to Raise up to 4 Spectres. Check our Spectre guide to see which ones are good for this build.
	Combustion Support - Lowers the Fire Resistance of your opponents.
	Minion Life Support

[MOBILITY] Flame Dash
	Flame Dash - a mobility spell that allows you to quickly get out of sticky situations

[UTILITY] Flammability (Socketed in Profane Proxy)
	Flammability - Lowers Fire Resistance. Use the Skitterbots to have it up whenever it's needed without the need to cast it yourself.

[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 Mistress of Sacrifice. All Gems in this setup have to be triggered by your Crafted Wand
	Desecrate - creates Corpses for your Bone Offering.

[UTILITY] Auras setup
	Summon Skitterbots - Chills and Schock effect they provide is great for offense and defense
	Vitality - regenerates Life for you and your allies. You don't have to level it all the way up if you don't have enough Mana.
	Determination - used to gain more Armour which is one of the best defensive layers
	Enlighten Support - Linked Spells reserve less Mana

[UTILITY] Molten Shell setup
	Molten Shell - Forms a protective barrier that's able to absorb some of the incoming Hit Damage based on how much Armour you have.
	Cast when Damage Taken Support - Casts Molten Shell after taking enough damage.

[UTILITY] Tempest Shield
	Tempest Shield - used only for the additional Spell Block Chance and Shock immunity

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. Spell Damage will have no effect on your build. Remember to cap your Block Chance against Spells and Attacks, and get some Life Regeneration.

Our recommended items will:

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

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - Here, get Maximum Life, Resistances, and a Prefix that increases the Gem Level of all Minion Skills, preferably by two. For the Eldritch mods get increased Maximum Life for Minions and Reduced Life Regeneration for enemies you've Hit.

Min. requirements: +# to Level of Socketed Minion Gems +100 to maximum Life Resistances Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances Life Regeneration Armour and Energy Shield

(Weapon) Rare Wand - Convoking Wand is usually your go-to wand, for you can't roll its Minions mods. Get the required mods first, and then focus on the optional ones; you shall get all five eventually.

Min. requirements: +1 to Level of all Minion Skill Gems Minions deal 70% increased Damage Trigger a Socketed Spell when you Use a Skill, with a 8 second Cooldown (crafted) Optional affixes: +1 to Level of all Spell / Fire Skill Gems Minions have +#% to Critical Strike Multiplier

(Shield) Rare Shield - look for Maximum Life and Elemental Resistances, the more you can get the better. If you have the ES Shield, which we recommend, get Minion Gem Level and Minion Damage.

Min. requirements: +100 to maximum Life +1 to Level of all Minion / Fire Skill Gems Minions deal increased Damage Optional affixes: 50% increased Chance to Block (crafted) Elemental Resistances Resistances

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - Body Armour can offer you a lot of extra Life. Besides that, you can look for increased effect of Offerings. If you want Eldritch mods, go for Tempest Shield Buff Effect or Offering Buff Effect and a portion of Physical Damage taken as Elemental.

Min. requirements: +120 to Maximum Life #% increased effect of Offerings Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances increased maximum Life

(Body Armour) Skin of the Lords - This Body Armour is great - it can increase the level of all socketed Gems by two, and it additionally increases Armour as ES. You should find one that would suit the character, and put the main Raging Spirit Setup here.

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) 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. For the Eldritch mod, seek the Bone Offering Buff Effect.

Min. requirements: +90 to Maximum Life +80% to Elemental Resistances +30% increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: Cannot be Frozen Life Regeneration

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Again, look for Life and Elemental Resistances. If you can afford something more sophisticated, look for Life Regeneration, Armour, and ES. For the Eldritch mods get the increased Minion Damage and Spell Suppression Chance, even if you don't have a lot of it.

Min. requirements: +100 to Maximum Life +90% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Life Regeneration increased Life Regeneration Chaos Resistance

(Belt) Rare Belt - It's another source of Maximum Life, Elemental Resistances, and maybe Life Regeneration or Chaos Resistance. A well-rolled Darkness Enthroned can be used instead if you have good Abyss Jewels.

Min. requirements: +100 to Maximum Life +80% to Elemental Resistances Life Regeneration Optional affixes: increased maximum Life Flask Charges gained/used Chaos Resistance

(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 (25-40)% increased Damage Summoned Raging Spirits have (25-40)% increased maximum Life Summoned Raging Spirits take 20% of their Maximum Life per second as Chaos Damage

Recommended Anointments: Safeguard Prismatic Skin

(Ring) Rare Ring - Maximum Life, Minion Damage, and Minion Maximum Life can be found on Bone Rings. Some Life Regeneration or Resistances will suit the build well.

Min. requirements: +90 to Maximum Life Minions deal #% increased Damage Minions have #% increased Maximum Life Optional affixes: Resistances Life Regeneration

(Ring) Profane Proxy - Your Chilling Skitterbos will apply Flammability instead, and unless you don't mind casting it manually, go for a Rare Ring with a socket instead.

Has 1 Socket +3 to Level of Socketed Curse Gems +(20-30)% to Cold Resistance +(20-30)% to Lightning Resistance Left Ring Slot: Your Chilling Skitterbot's Aura applies Socketed Hex Curse instead Right Ring Slot: Your Shocking Skitterbot's Aura applies Socketed Hex Curse instead

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - They should provide extra Life for you and your Minions. If you need Elemental Resistances you can find it here too.

Min. requirements: 7% increased Maximum Life Minions Have 10% Increased Maximum Life Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances Reduced Effect of Curses on You

(Jewel) Abyss Jewels - Ghastly Abyss Jewel can roll some of the best mods for this build, the ones listed here is what we have in mind.

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: Resistances

(Jewel) Elegant Hubris - You want "Axiom Warden" notable from it - Minions have 80% increased Maximum Life. The notables you want to transform the most are Arcanist's Dominion and Fire Walker, if socketed near Mind over Matter, which, by the way, should be transformed into Supreme Ostentation so that you don't have to waste Suffixes on Attributes.

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 - One Minion Damage type Large Cluster Jewel with as few small nodes as possible is what you're looking for. Get at least two of the recommended affixes. They're not as good as Medium Cluster Jewels, so Voices are more than suitable too.

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 - Rumi's Concoction is used to cap your Block Cance, but you should not need it if built correctly.

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

(Flask) Progenesis - It is expensive, but it's also worth its price. It lowers the Hit Damage you receive, and makes it a Damage over Time, giving you time to recover.

+35% to Chaos Resistance (20-10)% reduced Charges per use (-35-35)% increased Duration When Hit during effect, 25% of Life loss from Damage taken occurs over 4 seconds instead

Other suggested Flasks: Life Flask with Bleed Immunity Granite Flask with increased Armour Quicksilver Flask with increased Movement Speed Basalt Flask with Reduced Effect of Curses on you Quartz Flask with crafted Life Regeneration

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.