The Elder Shaman - Summon Barbarian Ft. Sinners [V2.4 UPDATED]

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The Elder Shaman - Summon Barbarian



Introduction
The Summon Barbarian is a self explanatory build. Its power lies in strengthening its minions and mercenary to do the killing for him. It can constantly jump from one enemy to another, bringing the entire party with him. This gives you control over where the damage spreads and allows for single target killing.

Note: this guide is heavily geared toward players with little to no prior experience playing MXL.
(For old players, long walls of text below)

Pros
• Newbie friendly
• Can be played untwinked [without prior TG or investment][SSF]
• Excellent farmer
• Can finish most ubers SSF [up to Uldyssian]
• Great starter character

Cons
• Damage falls off versus end-game bosses compared to other builds.


Showcase






General Info



Documentation
Before proceeding, be sure to read Median XL's documentation here for all the relevant item, quest, character and concept information contained in the game.


Terminologies
You will find several unfamiliar terms and abbreviations commonly used in here in Median XL forums. You can find a comprehensive list containing most, if not all, of them here.


Updates
This guide is updated for MEDIAN XL - Σ 2.4.0.



Utilized Skills



Shaman

Guardian Spirit
Summons ancient spirits with high physical DMG that use ranged axe skills. Main DPS minion.


Defender Spirit
Summons ancient spirits with high HP that use relaliate. Tank role minion.


Protector Spirit
Summons ancient spirits that cast Bloodlust to empower the party. Support minion - increases party DMG.


Spirit Walk
Warp skill that teleports the party over target monster. Cooldown decreases with points in Shaman tree, down to a minimum of 3 seconds.


Spirit Reave
Shaman tree main DPS skill. Melee skill. Deals magic DMG equivalent to 366% of total spirit DMG per second, for a set duration. Duration increases with maximum minion count.

Shamanic Trance
Passive. Increases spirit minion DMG and HP based on base STR(up to 600 points). Increases maximum minion count based on character level.


Ancestral Endurance
Passive. Grants melee devotion for 20 seconds after using Spirit Reave.


Spirit Bond
Passive. Increases Spirit Reave duration based on maximum spirit count.




Nomad

Wolf Companion
Summons untargetable wolves that mark targets to take more DMG.


Bear Stance
Stance that grants increased DEF and Phys DMG reduction{%] to you and your spirits.


Eagle Stance
Stance that increases HP and mana regeneration. Only affects your own character.


Wolf Stance
Stance that grants increased hit recovery, block rate, attack rating, movement speed, weapon DMG and crushing blow to you and your spirits.


Ancient Blood
Passive increase to maximum life[%] and attack rating.


Wolven Guide
Passive increase to cast rate, weapon DMG and DEF when near a wolf companion.


Mountain King
Passive increase to all attributes[%]. Higher increase with base points.




Mastery

Meditation
Passive increase to maximum mana[%] and mana regeneration.


Endurance
Passive increase maximum HP[%].


Specialization
Passive increase to maximum base level of active skills.




Uberskill

Nephalem Spirit
Passive skill that provides fire and lightning DMG to you and your spirits based on your base stats. Also provides [15%] Phys DMG reduction.


Runemaster
Passive that greatly increases DEF for every rune inserted in gear. Also provides [2%] max fire, cold and lightning resist.


Ennead Challenge Reward Skill

Immortal
Passive increase in hit recovery and grants chance to avoid while standing still.


Black Road Challenge Reward Skill

Thundergod
Buff that grants a stun effect on attacks and periodically unleashes a shockwave that stuns enemies.



Mercenary


While your spirits should be capable of carrying you through most of the content, a well-equipped mercenary will significantly increase efficiency. A summon build has the most potential to fully utilize a mercenary, greatly increasing your kill speed depending on which you hire. Here the basic uses and builds of commonly used mercenaries will be explained. There are currently 3 viable option:

Priestess
Act I: Sisters of the Sightless Eye
A weapon-based, ranged mercenary that uses Barrage, Arrowside and Homing Shot Nova. Casts Vindicate to buff the party.

Pros
• Vindicate provides constant HP regeneration.
• Tri-elemental DMG via Barrage skill.
• Fastest kill speed among suggested mercenaries.

Cons
• Lowest DEF and HP mercenary.

Gear
► Show Spoiler



Abjurer
Act III: Iron Wolves
A caster mercenary that uses lightning DMG based spells. Has great AoE DMG and improves the clear speed of any party.

Pros
• Highest DEF with Warp Armor passive.
• High lightning DPS, AoE and cast rate with Superbeast morph.

Cons
• Resists may scale lower compared to weapon DMG based mercenaries due to end game gear choices.

Gear
► Show Spoiler



Barbarian
Act V: Barbarians
A weapon-based, melee mercenary that uses Wraithsword, Thunderslam and Ancient's Hand.

Pros
• Great tank - highest HP regen with Mountain King passive.
• Can survive up to [125] uber quests.
• Crowd control - Thunderslam screen-wide stun.

Cons
• Lowest kill speed of all suggested mercenaries.

Gear
► Show Spoiler



Snapshotting



Snapshotting in this context refers to the act of summoning Spirits while using a particular stance whose effects you want to pass onto the spirits then changing to another stance for your own survival. For example, you can activate Wolf Stance, summon spirits then return to Bear Stance. Your spirits will have Wolf Stance bonuses while you have Bear Stance bonuses. Remember this when summoning or resummoning your spirits.


Sinners



Summon Sinner
Summons Sinners, spellcaster minions that cast Apocalypse - a screen wide fire spell.


This oSkill will be vital in creating our end game farming setup. It rolls on Barbarian Sword and Barbarian Shields at level 110 requirement. All of its spell damage stats scale off the stats that are already present in a summoner build, so it makes sense that we make use of it. (Short farming showcase included above)
Sinner stat scaling
► Show Spoiler


Credits to Splargh for this awesome idea!


Early Game



Early game refers to the very start up to the completion of Nightmare Act V. In this section the items, skills and general guidelines to be used as you play through Normal and Nightmare difficulties will be explained.

Stats and Skill Plan
► Show Spoiler


Gear, Mystic Orbs and Sockets
► Show Spoiler




Image


[Hatred] Begins

Act I
Use Bear Stance all the time, occasionally switching to Eagle for some regeneration. Just pick up any decent looking rare items to wear for now. Don't forget to pick up all unique items and Catalyst of Disenchantment from Andariel. It lets you turn any unique item into Arcane Shards/Crystals.

Act II
Continue progress and pick up waypoints.

Act III
If you have some extra gold, you can MO some resists onto your jewelry for some extra protection as the monsters will start to hurt more from here on out. Proceed normally and pick up the way points as you finish quests. Continue until you reach Mephisto. You should be capable of farming him as soon as you get there. You'll need to farm him for Arcane Crystals to uptier and create your gear. You can uptier existing Tiered Uniques using the recipe [Tiered Unique + Arcane Crystal]. This rerolls the base and unique item properties to the next tier. You can also make your own TUs with the recipe [2x Arcane Crystals + Oil of Enchantment + Base Item] with base item referring to an item of any rarity(i.e. magic, rare and unique). You'll be using this to create the rest of the gear listed above. Uptier your gear up to whatever tier your level allows. Be sure to check the docs for the appropriate levels so your gear doesn't end up unusable.

Act IV
Continue progress and pick up waypoints.

Act V
Continue progress and pick up waypoints. Try not exceed level 59. Once you're in Baal's throne room, do the Level Challenge just before fighting Baal. Once you're done, proceed to Baal. Put on Wolf Stance and jump on him. Resummon and repeat. This marks the end of Normal and the start of Nightmare.




Level Challenge

Find and kill Lister the Tormentor in Baal's throne room on Normal difficulty, and enter the portal to access Tran Athulua


By the time you reach Baal, you should be just a few levels below 60. It's time to head to the Level Challenge. Take note that although the level can be accessed at level 45, you cannot cube the shards together until at least level 50. If you are past level 59, you can still do the challenge, but with the added penalty of 2 Arcane Crystals per 10 levels.

The mechanics of the Level Challenge are simple. Fight through the Amazons until you find three amazon priestesses: Philios, Lycander and Skovos. Defeat the three Priestesses. Each will drop a shard of her respective element. Cube all three shards below level 60 to create the Sunstone of the Twin Seas.

Below is a map for Tran Athulua
► Show Spoiler

Note: The reward for the 3rd quest in Act 5 is a scroll that can be cubed with the Elemental Prism to increase its resistance bonuses.



Image


[Terror] Ensues

Upon reaching Nightmare, your first priority is to check and upgrade your resists until you hit cap again. You can do this by MO'ing resists onto your Honorifics or Jewelry. Everything in Nightmare normal areas should be the same as they were in Normal, but beware: the monsters here are significantly stronger than before. While the general layout and mob spawns will be the same, you'll need to be more careful jumping and engaging them as they will be more likely to kill you now. This becomes more noticeable upon reaching Act 3. From here you'll need to keep it slow and steady until the very end of Act 5. There isn't much to mention aside from a few notes:

    ° Once you kill reach level 80 and kill Mephisto, proceed to the Ennead Challenge in the section below
    ° Uptier all your gear to T4
    ° Don't forget to pick up Catalyst of Learning




Ennead Challenge

Access this challenge through killing Mephisto in Nightmare Difficulty


Right now you should be a little over level 80. This challenge can only be done with a character that is level 80 minimum. Your gear should mostly be Tier 3, if not all, by now. This challenge has been toned down and is generally easy for any build with proper early game TUs.

The challenge is simple - you need to run through Kurast 3000 BA in Nightmare difficulty and kill an Ennead Necromancer to get a Heroic Torch.
Place this torch in the Horadric Cube and transmute to receive your class charm.

For reference, you can check out the video in the Uberquest section for the K3KBA Uberlevel.



Mid Game



Mid game refers to start of Destruction up to Act V: Arreat Summit. It includes clearing most of Destruction, getting your Black Road skill, Mastery skills, completing early ubers and collecting signets.

Stats and Skill Plan
► Show Spoiler


Gear, Mystic Orbs and Sockets
► Show Spoiler




Image


[Destruction] of all

Like in Nightmare, the first thing you'll do is update your resists to hit cap. With your gear and level, transition from Nightmare to Hell shouldn't be as rough as Normal to Nightmare. Proceed as you normally would. Finish all Act quests and grab all the way points. This is in preparation to get your charms.



End Game



End game includes finishing Destruction Difficulty and farming to obtain your end gear. Once you reach this point of the game, your party is near peak strength and can farm most areas in a breeze.

Stats and Skill Plan
► Show Spoiler


Gear, Mystic Orbs and Sockets
► Show Spoiler
Edited by ScarletEdge 11 months.
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Uberquests



Uberquests or Ubers deemed possible with this build will be discussed in the order which I completed them. Each one will be given a rating of either Easy, Moderate or Difficult depending on gear and player skill requirement.

Easy
This level requires little to no prior experience with ubers. The fights are mostly straightforward and simple. It can be done with mostly early game gear.

Moderate
This level denotes less straightforward ubers with some mechanics that may prove difficult on your first attempt. These ubers can be done with a mix of early game and mid game gear. I also recommend farming your signets to increase your VIT/HP before attempting these.

Difficult
This level requires a certain extent of familiarity with ubers, practice and sometimes a little bit of luck. By the time you reach these ubers, you should already have a feel for the general gameplay and strategies often utilized to clear these quests. While end game gear is not a requirement, it is highly recommended to get at least improved mid game crafts to reduce the chances of mishaps and failed attempts. You can obtain these by crafting items with better stats and affixes.

Note: some of the videos below were taken several times before I finally succeeded in killing a boss or obtaining a charm. The purpose of these videos is to show that the following ubers are possible with this build.
I will try to remake the videos on version 2.4 as time permits.

(As I don't have a lot of time to reroll new character, I'll do the videos with my current Barb. I'll adjust my charms, stats and skill point distribution according to the proper progression level of each uber. I'll show them in the beginning of each video.)


MAPS


Here are the maps of Torajan Jungle and Caldeum for ease of locating ubers.

Torajan Jungles
► Show Spoiler


Caldeum
► Show Spoiler



LEVEL 105-115


Emulated level and stats for demo videos - Level 115.



Horror Under Tristam
► Show Spoiler


Infernal Machine
► Show Spoiler


Death Projector
► Show Spoiler


Island of the Sunless Sea
► Show Spoiler


The Binding of Baal
► Show Spoiler


Akarat
► Show Spoiler


Invasion
► Show Spoiler


Lord Aldric Jitan
► Show Spoiler


Inquisitor of the Triune
► Show Spoiler


Creature of Flame
► Show Spoiler


Assault on Mount Arreat
► Show Spoiler


Kurast 3000 BA
► Show Spoiler


Rathma Square
► Show Spoiler


High Heavens
► Show Spoiler


Tran Athulua
► Show Spoiler


Black Road
► Show Spoiler


Bull Prince Rodeo
► Show Spoiler


Legacy of Blood
► Show Spoiler


The Veiled Prothet
► Show Spoiler


Heart of Sin
► Show Spoiler


Invasion II
► Show Spoiler



LEVEL 120


Emulated level and stats for demo videos - Level 120.



Judgement Day
► Show Spoiler


Quov Tsin
► Show Spoiler





Mid Game Farming

Once you have all the charms above, you're safe to stop and farm for your mid game items and signets. Ideally you'll want to farm K3KBA with an A1 or A3 mercenary because you'll need shrines to craft your gear. You can get the most Signets by running through Torajan Jungles.

Alternatively, you have an option to farm Tran Athulua. You may want to respec to Runemaster and use an Abjurer with Ornate crafted gear to do this more efficiently. Spirit Guide will instantly cap his FCR so you can socket all his gear with Nef runes. Additionally you can buff him with Mark of the Wild.





Teganze
► Show Spoiler


Twin Seas
► Show Spoiler


Legion of the Damned
► Show Spoiler


Toraja
► Show Spoiler


Banisher of Light
► Show Spoiler


The Triune
► Show Spoiler


Duncraig
► Show Spoiler



LEVEL 125


Emulated level and stats for demo videos - Level 125.



Astrogha
► Show Spoiler


Xazax
► Show Spoiler


Viz-jun
► Show Spoiler


Lord of Lies
► Show Spoiler


Fauztinville
► Show Spoiler


Ghosts of Old Bremmtown
► Show Spoiler


Eve of Destruction
► Show Spoiler


Kingdom of Shadow
► Show Spoiler


Yshari Sanctum
► Show Spoiler


Nymyr's Light
► Show Spoiler


The Void
► Show Spoiler


Nephalem's Sacrifice
► Show Spoiler


Spirit World
► Show Spoiler


Invasion III
► Show Spoiler


Archbishop Lazarus
► Show Spoiler





End Game Farming



Soon



Credits


I honestly didn't think I'd ever find the time to try and get back to this community with everything going on in life. I'm glad I tried and I'm glad I did.

As usual I would like to thank everyone in the MXL Team for a job well done - to all the members who have come and gone during my absence of over 4 years from the community. To everyone who answered my questions and helped me catch up with all the new updates. I'm really glad to see that the community is still alive and well even after all these years. Thanks to everyone I stole borrowed map images from and to everyone who shared their input while writing this the original guide.

Special thanks to Grazitz for the most up to date Summon Barb guide available. It really helped me catch up with the current gameplay of this build when I first got back.

And thank you for taking the time to read all the way down here. I hope you found this helpful!
Edited by ScarletEdge 1 year.
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Look ma, new guide!

Thoughts on
Undead Crown
Undead Crown
Crown (Sacred)

Defense: 4437 to 4914
Required Level: 110
Required Strength: 675
Item Level: 120
12% of Minion Damage Increases Added as Deadly Strike
40% of Minion Life Increases Added as Bonus to Defense
Deal No Crushing Blows
Orb Effects Applied to this Item are Doubled
50% Attack Speed
+200% Enhanced Defense
Socketed (4)
+
Skeld's Battlesong
Skeld's Battlesong
Kriegsmesser (Sacred)

One-Hand Damage: 53 to 57
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 642
Item Level: 105
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.14 per Strength)%
Guardian Spirits Inherit 100% of Your Deadly Strike
+(3 to 5) to Barbarian Skill Levels
1% Base Block Chance
+(13 to 25)% to Summoned Minion Damage
+(25 to 75) to Vitality
Regenerate Mana +(10 to 30)%
Maximum Lightning Resist +(1 to 2)%
Socketed (6)
setup? Or is that in the 2nd part of the post?
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ScarletEdge
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Siosilvar wrote:Look ma, new guide!

Thoughts on
Undead Crown
Undead Crown
Crown (Sacred)

Defense: 4437 to 4914
Required Level: 110
Required Strength: 675
Item Level: 120
12% of Minion Damage Increases Added as Deadly Strike
40% of Minion Life Increases Added as Bonus to Defense
Deal No Crushing Blows
Orb Effects Applied to this Item are Doubled
50% Attack Speed
+200% Enhanced Defense
Socketed (4)
+
Skeld's Battlesong
Skeld's Battlesong
Kriegsmesser (Sacred)

One-Hand Damage: 53 to 57
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 642
Item Level: 105
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.14 per Strength)%
Guardian Spirits Inherit 100% of Your Deadly Strike
+(3 to 5) to Barbarian Skill Levels
1% Base Block Chance
+(13 to 25)% to Summoned Minion Damage
+(25 to 75) to Vitality
Regenerate Mana +(10 to 30)%
Maximum Lightning Resist +(1 to 2)%
Socketed (6)
setup? Or is that in the 2nd part of the post?

Honestly I would have loved to try this out, but most of the stuff I used were ssf. Except for the end game suggestions since
Gladiator's Rage
Gladiator's Rage
Spatha (Sacred)

One-Hand Damage: 46 to 48
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 500
Item Level: 120
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.14 per Strength)%
4% Chance to cast level 16 Bloodlust when Struck
+(2 to 4) to Barbarian Skill Levels
+(1 to 2) to Maximum Barbarian Minions
40% Cast Speed
+(50 to 75)% to Summoned Minion Life
+50% to Summoned Minion Damage
+50% to Summoned Minion Resistances
(10 to 30)% Gold Find
(10 to 30)% Magic Find
+(3 to 5) to Light Radius
Socketed (3)
is obviously good due to max minion count.

But there should be someone still selling them somewhere, I'll try to get both of them since I'm a bit curious as well. No harm in losing ssf since I've done all I can without already :D

On a side note, looks like my badge reset. Oomf.
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berry117
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Good guide, it's things like this that go a long way in helping the community.

Also not a big deal but an icebreaker runeword for a1 merc could be added in a1 merc suggestions.
Ideally in reflex bow w 55-60 ed and 5 ed mo added before rw. Unless I'm missing something w chillstring a icebreaker well rolled will be massively better for merc.
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ScarletEdge
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berry117 wrote:Good guide, it's things like this that go a long way in helping the community.

Also not a big deal but an icebreaker runeword for a1 merc could be added in a1 merc suggestions.
Ideally in reflex bow w 55-60 ed and 5 ed mo added before rw. Unless I'm missing something w chillstring a icebreaker well rolled will be massively better for merc.

Thanks!

About the merc, honestly it's because chillstring is easy to come by and it gives a lot of pierce with the gematria bonus. Just fill it with ele runes or taha for more overall pierce. Initially I had her with a crafted bow with high ED and max dmg, but that didn't cut it since barrage needed pierce to shine. But I'll be sure to run by teganze a bit and try that as well.
lonelycoconut
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Thanks for the guide. I have a question about Sinner. I have a summon Necro already with a +Sinner offhand on swap. If I cast him and then swap back to my main weps, he despawns the next time i cast anything and doesnt seem to do much dmg anyway. Am I doing something wrong? Do you use the sinner gear just for farming areas and the +max minions su's for bosses? Or do you summon your barb minions witht the SU's and then swap and summon sinners and stay on those crafted weps? Thanks
smartasss
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lonelycoconut wrote:Thanks for the guide. I have a question about Sinner. I have a summon Necro already with a +Sinner offhand on swap. If I cast him and then swap back to my main weps, he despawns the next time i cast anything and doesnt seem to do much dmg anyway. Am I doing something wrong? Do you use the sinner gear just for farming areas and the +max minions su's for bosses? Or do you summon your barb minions witht the SU's and then swap and summon sinners and stay on those crafted weps? Thanks


No u need Sinner relic so they dont die when swaping wep.
lonelycoconut
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smartasss wrote:
lonelycoconut wrote:Thanks for the guide. I have a question about Sinner. I have a summon Necro already with a +Sinner offhand on swap. If I cast him and then swap back to my main weps, he despawns the next time i cast anything and doesnt seem to do much dmg anyway. Am I doing something wrong? Do you use the sinner gear just for farming areas and the +max minions su's for bosses? Or do you summon your barb minions witht the SU's and then swap and summon sinners and stay on those crafted weps? Thanks


No u need Sinner relic so they dont die when swaping wep.


Ah, gotcha thanks. That'll be rough for me to find on my own haha.

How hard would you say rolling Sinner on the crafted weps is compared to Warcry which is really really rare?