POENinja: https://poe.ninja/builds/affliction/character/space_titan/Aff_MinionArmy # Build Concept The core idea around the build is to scale the auras from the new spectres by efficiently scaling the level of Raise Spectre as high as possible. We do this efficiently by socketing Raise Spectre + Empower 4 in one of these shields with a +2 minion and/or +1 all corruption: * Matua Tupuna * Invictus Solaris * Vix Lunaris * Magna Eclipsis These shields are quite cheap and it shouldn't be too hard to get at least one of the desired corruptions. # Spectres By scaling a single gem level, we are scaling the following auras from these spectres: * [Perfect Spirit of Fortune](https://poedb.tw/us/Perfect_Spirit_of_Fortune#PerfectSpiritofFortuneKudukuHighMonster) - Wrath, lucky lightning * [Perfect Blasphemer](https://poedb.tw/us/Perfect_Blasphemer#PerfectBlasphemerGeofriHighMonster) - Smite * [Perfect Naval Officer](https://poedb.tw/us/Perfect_Naval_Officer#PerfectNavalOfficerAdmiralHigh_) - Precision (accuracy and crit chance), Fortification * [Perfect Primal Thunderbird](https://poedb.tw/us/Perfect_Primal_Thunderbird#PerfectPrimalThunderbirdHarvestBirdHighMonster) - Grace, exposure * [Perfect Hulking Miscreation](https://poedb.tw/us/Perfect_Hulking_Miscreation#PerfectHulkingMiscreationRobotArgusHigh__) - 100% inc. damage, 30% AS (not scaled by level) Not only are these auras significantly stronger than their gem counterparts, but they also scale just as effectively past gem level 30, unlike most skills which have diminishing returns over level 30. Wrath + Smite gives a lot of flat lightning damage, which is further scaled Volatility support and lucky lightning damage. With my current setup, I have a level 35 Raise Spectre (which is spectre level 86). +5 levels are global minion levels, +9 are from the Empower + Shield. For a simple comparison, I go from 71 mil DPS to 51 mil DPS by setting the Raise Spectre config from level 86 to level 76 (which is gem level 25, the breakpoint for +1 spectres). We gain 5 spectres from the following sources: * +3 from gem * +1 from Death Attunement annoint * +1 from Delve chest mod The perfect version of Naval Officer gives fortification, but the radius seems quite small making it a bit inconsistent (especially without Meat Shield). The regular version works just fine at a budget considering the perfect ones are a bit pricey. # Animate Guardian * Kingmaker (Dying Breath for budget) * Crown of Tyrant (Leer Cast for budget) * Garb of the Ephemeral * Gravebind * Legacy of Fury Pretty standard high budget AG setup. # Defenses * Around 160k EHP with no guard/flasks, 280k with guard/flasks * 5k life * 70/75 attack/spell block * 18k armor with no flasks, 36k with flasks * 14.6k evasion with no flasks, 19.5k with flasks * 83% lucky suppression, 90% with flask * 20 Fortification (10 from Kingmaker AG, 10 from Perfect Naval Officer) (but not very reliable as they have small AoE) * Crit immune * Slow immune * Ailment immune * Stun immune (but conditional on unreliable fortify) * Stone Golem life regen Spectres and AG are also ailment immune and have high life recovery from minion death mastery. In addition, spectre level greatly increases their base HP. For example, our squishiest spectre (Naval Officer) goes from 5.1k to 13.5k base HP from level 76 to 86 (gem lvl 25 to 35). Our AG is also socketed in the same shield, making it quite tanky at gem level 35. # Offense * 71 million POB DPS - likely a bit overestimated, since not all buffs have 100% uptime * Not accounting for spectres damage, which feels decent even with no damage links * Two sources of explode, with Legacy of Fury + Gravebind AG and cursed explode mod on charm As I mentioned earlier, we scale the monstrous amount of flat lightning from Wrath + Smite spectres with Volatility + lucky lightning, which is very efficient. In addition, we are running triple offering with Leash of Oblation + Corpsewalker + trigger wand. This helps cap our block, and gives some nice movespeed for QoL. It gives a lot of crit chance and multi for our minions, which is excellent with the giga Precision aura from the Naval Officer. We run Conduction on Profane Proxy so we only need to hard cast Assassin's Mark for extra single target damage. # Other Notes * We run a Militant Faith with Power of Purpose, Minion Accuracy and Minion Attack Speed * Power of Purpose converts our mana to armor, reducing our max mana which in turn reduces the mana (ES) cost of our Divine Blessing + Haste * This lets us run Divine Blessing comfortably with a low ES pool * We don't need to worry about the lost mana since we are not reserving any auras with a flat reservation * Minions blind/taunt on hit is very nice if you can get it on a jewel * Raise Spectre Dragonfang is a decent alternative to Ashes, if you struggle to fit reservation, but you lose some damage and QoL * Either +1 all or +2 minion corrupt on the other recommended shields will get you the same spectre level as a +1 all/+2 minion Matua Tupuna. They give a bit less damage but more EHP so they're perfectly fine alternatives * Melee Splash can be used for mapping, but I find clear to be fine with just the explosions and the extra damage from Multistrike is nice for wisped up mobs # Charm mods Decent mods to look out for, not all are necessary: * Banner reservation (needed to fit Defiance Banner) * Generic mana reservation (need at least 6% to fit all auras in my setup) * Onslaught while near allies (basically always) * Suppress * Cursed Enemy explode * All resistances * Offering effect # Budget/Crafting breakdown Disclaimer, I purchased most of the items I'm using and there will likely be a high price variation when you purchase them too. I'm not sure if some of the uniques have changed in price too since I bought them. * AG - Kingmaker - 7 divs * AG - Crown of the Tyrant - 6 divs * AG - Garb of the Ephemeral - 1 div * AG - Other - 0.5 div * Perfect Naval Officer - 8 divs (regular is fine too) * Others - 1 div * 12p cluster - 10 divs * Medium cluster - 1 div * +1 Spectre Chest - 12 divs * Gloves - 3 divs * Boots - 2 divs (corruption is not necessary, 1c otherwise) * Belt - 50c * +2 minion helm - 5 divs * +2 minion wand - 10 divs ([crafting guide by sirgog](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGYbHk-O_lg)) * Ashes - 2 divs * Shield - 5 divs (but there are no others on the market, so you'll have to corrupt them yourselves) * Gems - 20 divs * That Which Was Taken - 12 divs * Charms - 4 divs * Other Jewels - 1 div Total: Around 120-130 divs # Other ascendancy options * PhazePlays has an [excellent build guide](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu0XeeBt6Ys) for a lightning SRS champion, it shares a lot of similarities but scales a bit differently. Highly recommend checking it out, my build also borrows some ideas from this. * Compared to champion, we have a much better upkeep of spectres and AG thanks to being Necro. * Don't run this build on Guardian, Guardian offers nothing for this build. The Wrath aura from relics is weaker than the spectre version and gets overwritten, and the other elements don't really work with what we're trying to do. I mean you can run it and it'll still be fine because the base package is so strong, but it'll be suboptimal.