BalorMage’s Raise Spectre Necromancer
Intro
This is a zero budget, league-start and hardcore viable build guide designed for all players veteran and new. If you’re a seasoned player and just want the POB link, you can find it below. If you require a more detailed guide then read on!
Videos
Videos of the build in action will be added here soon ™
Changelog
v1.0 – 15/04/2021
- Guide created
Overview
The written portion of this build guide is designed for new players who feel like they need some hand-holding. As such some things that veteran players and experienced racers might do in the early levels have been left out as to not over-complicate things. That being said, this should still be a smooth and quick levelling experience.
Passive Tree, Ascendancy & Pantheon
Level 90 Tree
Link to tree
Ascendancies
- Normal Lab: Mindless Aggression
- Cruel Lab: Unnatural Strength
- Merciless Lab: Commander of Darkness
- Eternal Lab: Mistress of Sacrifice
Pantheon
Major – Soul of the Brine King
Upgrading this will increase your survivability, but is not strictly needed.
Minor – Soul of Shakari
Upgrading this should be a medium priority as it will essentially stop you dying from poisons.
Gem Setup
Main Skill: Raise Spectre
Raise Spectre – { Feeding Frenzy Support OR Predator Support } – Greater Volley Support – Minion Damage Support – Vicious Projectiles Support – Elemental Damage With Attacks Support
4 Link: Animate Guardian / Raise Zombie
Animate Guardian – Raise Zombie – Meat Shield Support – Elemental Army Support/Feeding Frenzy Support
Movement Skill:
Dash – Second Wind
Mana Reservation Skills:
( Summon Skitterbots – Bonechill Support ) | ( Generosity Support – Hatred – Precision ) | Vaal Haste
Other skill gems:
Steel Skin – Frost Bomb – Convocation – Desecrate – Storm Brand – Stone Golem – Flesh/Bone Offering
Gear, Flasks and Jewels
Gear
The gear on a minion build is incredibly simple. On your weapon you want the best combination of +1 to all spell skills, +1 to all minion skills, and other minion stats, with a mandatory Trigger craft as a suffix.
All the rest of the items are either unique, or are rare with life and resistances.
A “+1 level of all spectre gems” roll on your boots will be mandatory. This will likely be Bones of Ullr to start with, but eventually should be replaced with well crafted Elder influenced boots with that mod.
Flasks
On these flasks, we will need to roll some affixes when we reach maps. It doesn’t matter which of the last three flasks has which affix, as long as all three affixes are covered.
-Staunching, for bleed
-Warding, for curses
-Heat, for freeze
This combination will mean you cannot bleed, be frozen, or be cursed while your flasks are active. This is very helpful and strong, especially with certain map modifiers.
*Note* The Quicksilver Flask could also have any of these suffixes initially if you are okay moving through maps a little more slowly. This is just the ideal setup; what’s really important is you have the Enduring mana, Staunching, Heat, and Warding on utility flasks by the time you enter maps – in that order
Jewels
Primary jewel stats:
Secondary jewel stats:
Levelling
*Please note that if you are not LEAGUE STARTING as this build, then you should pick up Syndicate Operative spectres from a friend or from global 6666 and put them into a Tabula Rasa from the EARLIEST that you can do so, as they will be far more powerful than any other minion we could be using. As this guide is based on a league start environment, however, we will work on the expectation that there will not be Syndicate Operatives available for you to get.
| Got | Gem | Source | Quest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freezing Pulse | Reward | Enemy at the Gate | |
| Infused Channeling Support | Reward | Mercy Mission | |
| Summon Phantasm on Kill Support | Nessa | Mercy mission | |
| Frost Blink | Reward | Breaking some Eggs | |
| Holy Flame Totem | Nessa | Breaking some Eggs | |
| Frost Bomb | Nessa | Breaking some Eggs | |
| Minion Damage Support | Reward | The Caged Brute (pre-Brutus) | |
| Melee Splash Support OR Infernal Legion Support | Nessa | The Caged Brute (pre-Brutus) | |
| Summon Skeletons | Reward | The Caged Brute (post-Brutus) | |
| Flame Dash | Nessa | The Caged Brute (post-Brutus) | |
| Flesh Offering | Reward | The Siren’s Cadence |
After killing Hillock, choose Freezing Pulse your quest reward.
Check Tarkleigh’s vendor window for movement speed boots. (You can use the search function at the bottom right of the trade window with Ctrl+F and type “nn” to search his inventory quickly. This will highlight anything with the “Runner’s” prefix, i.e. movement speed boots).
As we move through the first act, keep an eye out for 3-links dropped on the ground (or from the vendors in town) with the colours BBB and BBR. These links can be in any gear slot, though we try to avoid wearing body armor if possible for the first couple of acts (for speed), and we do prioritize having movement speed on boots ahead of sockets or links.
After completing the quest ‘Breaking Some Eggs’, return to town at the next waypoint and pick up Frostbomb and Frostblink as your quest rewards. (Even unlinked and without spell damage passives, Frost Bomb will one-shot most white packs untill around halfway through act 2, and can be used to speed up our progression quite a bit.) You can also buy Holy Flame Totem here, which is handy for extra single target damage throughout act 1.
This is now when you should go to Tidal Island and fetch Nessa’s Medicine Chest, receiving a Quicksilver Flask and Summon Phantasm on Kill Support as the quest rewards, and buying an Infused Channeling Support. You should also buy a Raise Zombie gem here if you can afford it. We will only be levelling this gem for now, as zombies die too easily in act 1, but we want the gem to gain some levels.
We will use Freezing Pulse, Frostbomb and Holy Flame Totem all the way to killing Brutus. The links in order of importance are as follows:
Holy Flame Totem – Infused Channeling Support – Summon Phantasm on Kill Support
Freezing Pulse – Arcane Surge Support
Frostbomb
Once you’ve killed Brutus, choose Summon Skeletons as your quest reward, and as soon as you can afford it also buy a Flame Dash. Don’t forget to left click Flame Dash on your bar and set it to ‘always attack without moving‘!
Links for the minion change are as follows:
Summon Skeletons – Minion Damage Support – Melee Splash Support OR Infernal Legion Support
Holy Flame Totem – Infused Channeling Support – Summon Phantasm on Kill Support
Complete the passive point quest ‘The Marooned Mariner’ (in the Ship Graveyard). Grab the waypoint in the Cavern of Wrath and return to town to pick up a Flesh Offering as the quest reward. This does not need any support gems linked at all.
Note that if we are still using Infernal Legion Support in our Summon Skeletons at this point, we should be continuing to look for a BBR item so that we can replace Infernal Legion Support with Melee Splash Support during act 2.
| Got | Gem | Source | Quest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summon Skitterbots | Yeena | Intruders in Black | |
| Minion Speed | Reward | Sharp and Cruel | |
| Minion Life | Yeena | Sharp and Cruel | |
| Desecrate | Reward | Intruders in Black |
In this build we Kill All Bandits for 2 skill points.
Once you’ve completed ‘Intruders in Black’ (in the Chamber of Sins), Gruest will reward you with Summon Skitterbots and we will link this with Infernal Legion Support. This is a somewhat unusual interaction, as skitterbots cannot be damaged. This results in the Skitterbots providing an AOE damage burning aura as they run around, while never taking damage themselves. This damage is fantastic at first, but becomes less relevant as time goes on. Any time from about mid act 3 onwards, if the links become hard to maintain, feel free to drop the Infernal Legion Support and just run the Skitterbots.
You should also buy a Desecrate gem here if you can afford it, as this will allow you to use Flesh Offering even during boss fights. It isn’t needed immediately, but it does speed things up if you have the sockets and currency to afford it.
Once you complete the quest ‘Sharp and Cruel’, choose Minion Speed Support and also buy Minion Life Support. Link both of these support gems to Raise Zombie and begin using them, as they should have enough survivability to stay alive at around this point.
Ideally by the end of this act we have links for our damage abilities, along with other things:
- Summon Skeletons – Minion Damage Support – Melee Splash Support
- Holy Flame Totem – Infused Channeling Support – Summon Phantasm on Kill Support
- Raise Zombie – Minion Speed Support – Minion Life Support
- Summon Skitterbots – Infernal Legion Support
- Desecrate | Flesh Offering | Flame Dash
(Note that Holy Flame Totem Starts to drop off in usefulness towards the end of this act. Feel free to stop using it any time from here onwards whenever you’re short of gem sockets.)
| Got | Gem | Source | Quest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raise Spectre | Reward | Sever the Right Hand | |
| Convocation | Vendor | Lost in Love | |
| Feeding Frenzy Support | Vendor | Fixture of Fate |
Once you complete the quest ‘Lost in Love’, select Convocation as your quest reward
Kill General Gravicius and complete ‘Sever the Right Hand’ to receive Raise Spectre. Be sure to put this in your gear somewhere to level, we will not start using it until the beginning of act 5.
In this build, it is worth doing the ‘Fixture of Fate’ quest at the Library in order to obtain Feeding Frenzy Support. If you have the currency, buy a second Feeding Frenzy Support. For now we will use it linked to Summon Skeletons, but we want to link it to Raise Spectre as well when we start using them (at the beginning of act 5). This will be the 4th link for both gems, as you get your 4-links.
NOTE: Is is very important to look for a 4-blue-linked helmet from here on out, or a 4-link helmet that is pure ES Based (such that it can be very easily recoloured into a 4-blue helmet). This will be for our Spectres that we start using in Act 5, and will be important as they do have trouble with staying alive at the begining. This isn’t an emergancy as we dont need it immediately, but we do want to be keeping an eye out from here onwards.
By the end of this act our links should be
- Summon Skeletons – Minion Damage Support – Melee Splash Support
- Raise Zombie – Feeding Frenzy Support – Minion Life Support
- Summon Skitterbots – Infernal Legion
- Desecrate | Flesh Offering | Flame Dash
| Got | Gem | Source | Quest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stone Golem | Reward | Breaking the Seal | |
| Spell Echo Support | Reward | The Eternal Nightmare | |
| Feeding Frenzy Support | Vendor | Fixture of Fate |
Not much happens in Act 4. We will pick up a Stone Golem from the quest “Breaking the Seal” and put that anywhere in our gear (no support gems needed), as well as choose the Spell Echo Support reward from the quest “The Eternal Nightmare”.
We will use this support gem in our Spectres, which we will start using at the beginning of Act 5.
Complete your Normal Labyrinth and ascend to Necromancer before moving on. Start with the “Mindless Aggression” ascendancy node.
The main thing to mention in this act is to be looking out for gear pieces that are 4-linked with the colors that we want. For now, those 4-links are:
In the first zone outside of town (the Control Blocks), we will find monsters called “Slave Drivers”. These will be our spectres until we can gain access to Syndicate Operatives. These should be raised as Spectres as soon as we have a 4-blue-link item to put them in (bonus if it’s a helm that can be crafted into a +1 minion helmet).
NOTE: From this stage onward, if you are in a trade league, keep a lookout for a pair of Bones of Ullr. These boots typically cost 1-2 chaos and should be your very first purchase as soon as you can afford them, as we will wear them all the way to end game. (They will eventually be replaced by a well crafted pair of elder boots in the distant future.)
VENDOR RECIPES
1x Any rarity Life Flask + 1x Orb of Transmutation + 1x Any rarity Bone Spirit Shield = 1x Flask of Animation
1x Flask of Animation + 1x Orb of Alteration + 1x Magic Helmet = The same base helmet (same sockets/links) with +1 to Level of Socketed Minion Skills
By the end of this act, we want our links to look like this.
Raise Spectre – Feeding Frenzy Support – Minion Damage Support – Spell Echo Support
Raise Zombie – Minion Damage Support – Minion Life Support– Melee Physical Damage Support
Summon Skeletons – Minion Damage Support – Melee Splash Support – Feeding Frenzy Support
Other non-linked Spells
Desecrate | Flesh Offering | Summon Skitterbots | Flame Dash
Convocation | Wrath | Elemental Weakness OR Conductivity
After you complete the quest ‘Fallen from Grace’ , Lily Roth sells all skill gems (apart from the few drop-only gems).
By now we likely already have all the gems we need, but if any are missing make sure to use this to fix any links quickly and all from the 1 place.
Do note that from this point onward, whenever it becomes inconvenient to have the Summon Skeleton links, we can completely drop this setup in favour of a Storm Brand + Hextouch + Elemental Weakness setup. We choose Elemental Weakness as it will work no matter what spectres we are using – this saves us having to switch curses any time we switch spectres, in exchange for only a slightly lower resistance penalty.
Nothing changes in act 7. Keep an eye out for linked gear with the right colours if you are missing any.
If / when you chose to change out Summon Skeletons for Stormbrand + Hextouch, you should also pick up Elemental Equilibrium and TEMPORARILY Avatar of Fire. (NOT taken in this picture).
“Why would we take Avatar of Fire?”
This keystone will never be a permenant part of the build, but (due to the way that the Elemental Equilibrium keystone works) we need to ensure that the primary damage type dealt by our spectres is not also dealt by our personal damage. At this point in time we are using Storm Brand, and our Spectres are Slave Drivers which primarily deal lightning damage. As a result, we take Avatar of Fire to convert our own personal damage done by Storm Brand into fire damage – so that Elemental Equilibrium makes enemies weak to lightning (and cold).
Later on we will change our Spectres to be Syndicate Operatives instead, making use of a 4-green socketed Triad’s Grip to convert their physical damage to cold damage. When we make this change, we can unspec the Avatar of Fire keystone after checking thoroughly to make sure that there is no accidental “Cold Damage to Spells” rolled on any of our gear. If this mod does appear, we will need to keep Avatar of Fire a little longer until we can replace the gear and lose the Cold Damage to Spells roll.
Nothing changes here – again, pick up any left over socket links that you’re missing and start looking out for decent life/resistance gear as we move closer to maps.
Do your Cruel Labyrinth at some point during this act, and choose the “Unnatural Strength” ascendancy nodes.
Again, no changes at this point. If you have managed to obtain a 5-link chest by this point, then add in Elemental Focus Support to your Spectres. If you have a Tabula Rasa or any other 6-link, also add in Controlled Destruction Support .
This is our last chance to fix up our resistances, so keep an eye out for more gear – particularly jewellery. Important stats are:
- Elemental resistances
- Life
Complete your Merciless Labyrinth and choose the “Commander of Darkness” nodes before killing Kitava.
Make sure to check and fix your resistances, this should be rather easy as our last ascendancy added 30 all res then proceed to maps and the end game story line! At this point we can run any map mods other than reflect. Once we make the change to Syndicate Operative spectres we will be able to run physical reflect, but not elemental.
Advanced
Once in maps, we continue to use these setups until we find our Syndicate Operative spectres and change into using them. At the point that we obtain Syndicate Operatives, we also want to change our gloves to a pair of Triad’s Grip with 4 green sockets . This is what the gear in Path of Building is actually setup for – it applies once you have Syndicate Operatives, which will be your forever spectres and require the gloves to have 4 green sockets to function in the desired way.
Syndicate Operatives are most easily found in the Syndicate Safehouse named Research, though Intervention encounters inside maps can also sometimes spawn them (this will require you to kite the encounter around and not kill the betrayal members until a Syndicate Operative spawns – and they’re not guaranteed to spawn). Do be quick, however, as their corpses despawn after a few seconds. Once you have raised the first one, they enter your desecrate pool and you can then freely desecrate them in any location (such as your hideout).
These can also be picked up from friends, or from /global 6666.