Elder Shaman - Summon Barbarian Guide [1.3]

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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 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.

Pros
-Newbie friendly
-Can be played untwinked
-Excellent farmer
-Can finish most ubers
-Great starter character

Cons
-Has a hard time in ubers you cannot use minions


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 to MXL2017[1.3].



Utilized Skills



Spirits

Guardian Spirit
Summons ancient spirits that use various ranged axe skills.


Defender Spirit
Summons ancient spirits that use relaliate and defend you from incoming enemies.


Protector Spirit
Summons ancient spirits that cast Bloodlust to empower the party.


Shamanic Trance
Buff that greatly increases minion damage, life and mana regeneration.


Spirit Walk
Warp skill that teleports the party over target monster. Passive increase to stance effect radius.




Special

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


Ancient Blood
Passive increase to maximum life, attack rate and maximum skill levels.


Fortress
Erects a ring of guard towers to attack enemies. Locks ranged skills for a short duration.


Spirit Guide
Passive increase to weapon damage and defense when near a spirit or wolf.


Mountain King
Passive % increase to all attributes. Has diminishing returns.




Stances

Lion Stance
Stance that increases weapon and magic damage of party members per point in STR at the cost of damage reduction.


Snake Stance
Stance that provides additional poison weapon damage to party members. More poison damage per hard point in Eagle Stance.

Bear Stance
Stance that increases defense and damage reduction of party members. Allows attack to ignore physical immunity of undead monsters.

Eagle Stance
Stance that increases health and mana regeneration of party members at the cost of attack rate. Increases Snake Stance damage per hard point.

Wolf Stance
Stance that increases hit recovery, block rate, attack rate, velocity, weapon damage and crushing blow of party members.



Melee

Earthquake
Melee attack that unleashes a forward shockwave. Damages everything in its path.


Iron Spiral
Melee attack that unleashes a spiraling wave of swords. Deals lightning and physical damage.


Stormblast
Melee attack that calls forth a rampaging lightning to run through enemies.


Windform
Spin into a whirlwind to increase defense and damage enemies as you pass by.


Daedalus
Passive that grants additional lightning damage, attack rating and life.




Uberskill

Nephalem Spirit
Summons an immortal spirit that increases party tri-elemental damage based on stats.


Runemaster
Passive that greatly increases defense for every rune inserted in gear.


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, increases lightning damage 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 barbarian has the most potential to fully utilize a mercenary, greatly increasing your kill speed depending on which you hire. Here the basic uses and itemization of commonly used mercenaries will be elaborated. There are currently 3 viable option:

Priestess
Act I: Sisters of the Sightless Eye
A weapon-based, ranged mercenary that uses Sporeshot, Deathstrike and Tremor. Casts Vindicate to buff the party. A general use mercenary good for clearing areas with varying elemental immunities.

Gear
► Show Spoiler



Abjurer
Act III: Iron Wolves
A caster mercenary that uses Lightning and Physical/Magic damage based spells. Has great AoE damage and improves the clear speed of any party.

Gear
► Show Spoiler



Barbarian
Act V: Barbarians
A weapon-based, melee mercenary that uses Shower of Rock and Thunderslam, great for crowd control. Casts Mark of the Wild to buff the party.

Gear
► Show Spoiler




Early Game



Early game refers to the very start up to the completion of Terror Act V. In this section the items, skills and general guidelines to be used as you play through Hatred and Terror will be discussed in detail.

Stats and Skill Plan
► Show Spoiler


Gear, Mystic Orbs and Sockets
► Show Spoiler




Image


Hatred Begins

Act I
Starting off, you'll have trouble keeping your spirits with you until you have access to Spirit Walk. Given the circumstances, you can either choose to: keep summoning spirits for every encounter or use Iron Spiral to progress in Act 1. You can max out spirits early on to quickly lower Spirit Walk cooldown since you'll have plenty of opportunities to respec later. Use Bear Stance all the time, occasionally switching to Eagle for some regeneration. Pick up all rings, amulets, apples and runes you come across. You can sell jewelry to build up on gold. You can sell apples too, but you should hold onto them til you reach Act 5. Once you have a fair amount, you can start running Griswold for giftboxes. Keep running it until you get
Spirit Teacher's Headdress
Spirit Teacher's Headdress
Avenger Guard (4)

Defense: (126 - 145) to (188 - 217)
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 10
Required Strength:
27 to 28
Item Level: 19
+(16 to 20)% to Summoned Minion Life
+(9 to 10)% to Summoned Minion Damage
+(24 to 43)% Enhanced Defense
Regenerate Mana +(21 to 25)%
Elemental Resists +(11 to 15)%
Requirements -(11 to 15)%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (441 - 492) to (618 - 689)
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 28
Required Strength:
47 to 49
Item Level: 40
+(26 to 30)% to Summoned Minion Life
+(14 to 15)% to Summoned Minion Damage
+(64 to 83)% Enhanced Defense
Regenerate Mana +(31 to 35)%
Elemental Resists +(21 to 25)%
Requirements -(21 to 25)%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (1122 - 1226) to (1548 - 1692)
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 46
Required Strength:
142 to 151
Item Level: 67
+(36 to 40)% to Summoned Minion Life
+(19 to 20)% to Summoned Minion Damage
+(104 to 123)% Enhanced Defense
Regenerate Mana +(41 to 45)%
Elemental Resists +(31 to 35)%
Requirements -(31 to 35)%
Socketed (3)
Defense: (1684 - 1827) to (2302 - 2498)
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 54
Required Strength:
262 to 280
Item Level: 85
+(41 to 45)% to Summoned Minion Life
+(21 to 23)% to Summoned Minion Damage
+(124 to 143)% Enhanced Defense
Regenerate Mana +(46 to 50)%
Elemental Resists +(36 to 40)%
Requirements -(36 to 40)%
Socketed (4)
and two
Uldyssian's Legion
Uldyssian's Legion
Bronze Sword (4)

One-Hand Damage: (11 - 12) to (12 - 14)
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 9
Required Strength: 82
Item Level: 19
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.14 per Strength)%
+1 to Barbarian Skill Levels
15% Attack Speed
15% Cast Speed
+(24 to 40)% Enhanced Damage
+(3 to 5)% to Summoned Minion Life
+(6 to 8)% to Summoned Minion Damage
Maximum Mana +(21 to 25)%
Elemental Resists +(5 to 7)%
Socketed (2)
One-Hand Damage: (28 - 31) to (33 - 36)
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 27
Required Strength: 124
Item Level: 40
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.14 per Strength)%
+2 to Barbarian Skill Levels
25% Attack Speed
25% Cast Speed
+(58 to 75)% Enhanced Damage
+(9 to 11)% to Summoned Minion Life
+(11 to 13)% to Summoned Minion Damage
Maximum Mana +(31 to 35)%
Elemental Resists +(8 to 10)%
Socketed (4)
One-Hand Damage: (59 - 64) to (71 - 77)
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 46
Required Strength: 244
Item Level: 59
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.14 per Strength)%
+3 to Barbarian Skill Levels
35% Attack Speed
35% Cast Speed
+(92 to 109)% Enhanced Damage
+(15 to 17)% to Summoned Minion Life
+(16 to 18)% to Summoned Minion Damage
Maximum Mana +(41 to 45)%
Elemental Resists +(11 to 12)%
Socketed (5)
One-Hand Damage: (77 - 83) to (94 - 101)
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 55
Required Strength: 482
Item Level: 85
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.14 per Strength)%
+(3 to 4) to Barbarian Skill Levels
40% Attack Speed
40% Cast Speed
+(109 to 126)% Enhanced Damage
+(18 to 20)% to Summoned Minion Life
+(19 to 20)% to Summoned Minion Damage
Maximum Mana +(46 to 50)%
Elemental Resists +(13 to 15)%
Socketed (6)
. Once you have those, you can go ahead and finish Act 1. For the rest of your item slots, you can just pick up whatever items you find and use the ones with the highest defense/stat bonuses/resists. Don't forget to pick up all unique items and Catalyst of Disenchantment from The Smith in Barracks. It lets you turn any unique item into Arcane Shards/Crystals.

Act II
Continue progressing in Act 2 as you did before. If you feel that your level is falling behind, you can run Sewers a few times til you're 24. Once you have Spirit Walk, you should have an easier time leading your minions. Although it has a long initial cooldown, it'll get smoother as you gain levels. You can use it in conjunction with
Pax Mystica
Pax Mystica
Staves

'Tir'
Runeword Level: 10
+1 to All Skills
+7% to Spell Damage
+(2 to 5) to Blink
Elemental Resists +(11 to 15)%
(11 to 13)% Magic Find
. Don't hesitate to use Blink to regroup your minions or go over unpassable terrain. Level 24 also means you get access to Wolf Stance. You can use it when you're up against bosses for the extra CB and attack speed. Don't forget to pick up Halls of the Dead way point. Finish all quests as you would normally then proceed to Act 3.

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 + any Rune]. 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. Do not exceed level 50. Once you're done, proceed to Level Challenge 1 that is discussed in the section below.

Act IV
Assuming you've upgraded your gear and finished Level Challenge 1, it's time to move onto Act 4. This act is fairly short compared to the rest. It also contains a fair amount of strong Elite Monsters so you need to be careful not to jump into big packs. Keep a steady pace and make your way to Diablo. Don't forget to pick up the Catalyst of Destruction from Hephasto in the River of Flame.

Act V
While the monsters here are considerably stronger than those in the previous Acts, they should be manageable since you're still in Hatred. Be careful where you jump and let your spirits lead the way. Proceed until you reach Baal. Once there, put on Wolf Stance and jump on him. Resummon and repeat. His death will mark the end of Hatred and the start of Terror.




Level Challenge 1

Location - Island of Skartara (Act 2: Halls of the Dead) in Hatred Difficulty


Now that you've finished upgrading your gear you should be a bit below level 50. It's time to head to Level Challange 1. Take note that this challenge can only be done with a character is that level 50 or below.

The mechanics of Level Challenge 1 are simple. Near the entrance of Tran Athulua you will find a Pirate of the Twin Seas. Killing him will drop a basic
Elemental Prism
. Pick it up and identify. Next you will need to fight through the Amazons until you find three amazon priestesses: Philios, Lycander and Skovos. Killing a priestess will give your character a red swirling overlay for 30 seconds. Each priestess will also drop a Sunstone of her own respective element. You need to cube these Sunstones with the Elemental Prism before the overlay disappears. Do this with all the priestesses. Once you cube the last Sunstone, your Elemental Prism will be complete and you will have completed the Level Challenge 1.

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 Terror, 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 rings and amulet. Everything in Terror normal areas should be the same as they were in Hatred, 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 in a few hits. 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're right below level 80, proceed to Ennead Challenge in the section below
    ° Uptier all your gear to T6
    ° Don't forget to pick up Catalyst of Learning from Izual in Act 4: Plains of Despair
    ° Once you're exactly level 90, proceed to Level Challange 2 in the section below
    ° Baal is significantly harder in Terror, you can try to gain more levels before fighting him




Ennead Challenge

Location - Act 3: Torajan Jungles in Hatred Difficulty


Right now you should be a little less than level 80. This challenge can only be done with a character that is level 80 or below. Your gear should mostly be Tier 6, if not all, by now. This means your party should be stronger in general. On top of that, Bear Stance makes this uber a piece of cake for barbarians. The challenge is simple - you need to run through Kurast 3000 BA in any difficulty and kill the Ennead Necromancers until you get your class charm: the Worldstone Orb.

How can I clear Kurast 3000 BA?

You will find the entrance as soon as you enter the Jungle. As you enter the red portal, you will appear in a random corner of the map. The level will be full of skeletons. You will find Ennead Necromancers in three corners of the map. Across the landscape will be a number of Shadowgate totems that grant all enemies a purple immunity shield. They also spawn more skeleton over time. But none of that matters because Bear Stance ignores the skeletons' physical immunity. Just jump onto them and your spirits will clear the area by themselves. Destroy the totems to remove the Necromancers' shields. Kill them until your class charm drops. If none of the Necromancers drop it, run it again. Once your class charm drops, cube it with any jewel. With that, your Ennead Challenge is done.

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




Level Challenge 2

Location - The Proving Grounds - Swampy Pit Level 3 (Act 3: Flayer Jungle) in Terror Difficulty


Now that you've hit level 90, you have access to your Ennead Reward Skill and Uberskill - Nephalem Spirit. This challenge can only be done with a character that is level 90 or below.

How do I complete this quest?

Enter the dungeon. Go up the long, narrow path due north. Once there, open a portal. Walk along the walls to the left until you reach an opening where the Death Projector and Mechanics stand. Continue walking and lure the Mechanics as you pass by. The Death Projector will fire a beam that starts from the right in a clockwise direction. Don't stop walking to avoid getting hit. Once they're following you, try to lure them onto the blocked pathway leading to the entrance due south. Teleport across to trap the Mechanics. Be sure to leave at least one Mechanic near the Death Projector to turn off its shield.

Walk back to your portal and summon all your spirits. Walk onto the Death Projector and let it run its beam. Kite around the remaining Mechanic until the beam stops. Once the Projector is idle, Spirit Walk your spirits onto it and kite around the Mechanic until its destroyed. If the Projector fires another beam before your spirits can destroy it, just resummon them. Once destroyed, you will gain a red swirling overlay for 30 seconds. Go back to town and cube your class charm with a perfect gem before the overlay disappears. With this, your Level Challenge 2 is done.

For reference, you can check out the video in the Uberquest section for the Death Projector Dungeon Uberquest.



Mid Game



Mid game refers to start of Destruction up to Act V: Arreat Summit. It includes clearing most of Destruction, finishing the Black Road Challenge, 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 Terror, the first thing you'll do is update your resists to hit cap. With your gear and level, transition from Terror to Destruction shouldn't be as rough as Hatred to Terror. Proceed as you normally would. Finish all Act quests and grab all the way points. This is in preparation to get your charms. Don't forget to pick up the Dark Tome from the Summoner in Act II: Arcane Sanctuary for the Dark Portal oskill. It's necessary in order to access several ubers including one in Black Road Challenge.





Dark Portal


Dark Portal is a recently added feature that acts as a replacement for Dark Summoning. It opens a red portal to a specific Uber if you cast it after killing designated superuniques and obtaining a red overlay.





Black Road Challenge


The Black Road Challenge unlocks Thundergod as a reward skill. This is a very useful utility skill that provides stun support in ubers. The challenge itself consists of five trials. Completing a trial with allow you to cube your class charm and a note will appear confirming the completion of each trial.

Note: You can only finish this challenge after obtaining the Dark Portal oskill from The Summoner in Arcane Sanctuary, Destruction difficulty.

Trial of Fear
► Show Spoiler


Trial of Greed
► Show Spoiler


Trial of Contrition
► Show Spoiler


Trial of Knowledge
► Show Spoiler


Trial of Blood
► Show Spoiler






Monster Tokens


You can find Veteran Monsters in certain locations for all Acts in Terror and Destruction difficulty. Each one will drop a corresponding Evil Eye. Cubing all 5 Evil Eyes with your Class Charm will give additional bonuses. They can be found in the following locations:

Act 1 : Clawstorm Terror: starting from The Barracks and till Catacombs Level 3
Act 2 : Fairy Witch: Canyon of the Magi
Act 3 : Glowing Blob: starting from Travincal and till Durance of Hate Level 2
Act 4 : Landmass: City of the Damned, River of Flame
Act 5 : Bane Hunter: Worldstone Keep Level 1-3





Signet of Skill


Signets of Skill can be found throughout Torajan Jungles in Destruction Difficulty. You can use up to 3 signets.



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 5 years.
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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 Normal, Moderate or Difficult depending on gear and player skill requirement.

Normal
This level only requires the experience you've gained over the course of early to mid game. It can be done with your with early game gear.

Moderate
This level denotes less straightforward ubers with some mechanics that can prove fatal if you find them unfamiliar. These ubers can be done with improved versions of your mid game gear. You can obtain these by crafting items with better stats and affixes.

Difficult
This level requires an extensive level of player experience. By the time you reach these ubers, you should already be somewhat knowledgeable of the mechanics and strategies often used to complete ubers. At the same time you should also have developed good reflexes in critical situations where you need to dodge and/or teleport out of danger. These ubers can only be done with your end game and/or uber specific gear.

Note: 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.




Note: Two new areas have been added in Act III starting in MXL2017 1.1. They now house majority of the uberquests that were previously spread across the normal areas. These are: Torajan Jungles which can be accessed from the southeastern corner of Act III town and Caldeum which lies just beyond Trancival.





Horror Under Tristam
► Show Spoiler


Infernal Machine
► Show Spoiler


The Binding of Baal
► Show Spoiler


Akarat
► Show Spoiler


Lord Aldric Jitan
► Show Spoiler


Legacy of Blood
► Show Spoiler


Kurast 3000 BA
► Show Spoiler


Death Projector
► Show Spoiler


Creature of Flame
► Show Spoiler


Rathma Square
► Show Spoiler


Khalimgrad
► Show Spoiler


Assault on Mount Arreat
► Show Spoiler


Judgement Day
► Show Spoiler


Tran Athulua
► Show Spoiler


Island of the Sunless Sea
► Show Spoiler


Heart of Sin
► Show Spoiler


Cathedral of Light
► 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 A5 mercenary because you have bear stance and you'll need shrines to craft your gear. You can get additional Signets by running through Torajan Jungles as well. The video below shows the character and mercenary gear before and after farming phase. The following video shows an Act 1 - Priestess in K3KBA.







Alternatively, you have an option to farm Tran Athulua once you have enough materials to craft your gear. You'll need to respec to Runemaster and use an Abjurer with Ornate crafted gear in order to do this effectively. Spirit Guide will instantly cap his FCR so you can socket all his gear with Ort/Lum runes. Additionally you can buff him with Mark of the Wild and put more points into Protector Spirit to give him more spell damage.







Teganze
► Show Spoiler


Toraja
► Show Spoiler


Quov Tsin
► Show Spoiler


Astrogha
► Show Spoiler


Xazax
► Show Spoiler


Duncraig
► Show Spoiler


Viz-jun
► Show Spoiler


Kingdom of Shadow
► Show Spoiler


Fauztinville
► Show Spoiler


Ghosts of Old Bremmtown
► Show Spoiler


Lord of Lies
► Show Spoiler


Eve of Destruction
► Show Spoiler


Bull Prince Rodeo
► Show Spoiler





End Game Farming


















Credits



I would like to thank everyone in the MXL Team for a job well done. Special thanks to everyone I stole borrowed map images from and to everyone who shared their input while writing this guide. And thank you for taking the time to read all the way down here. I hope you found this helpful!
Edited by ScarletEdge 5 years.
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Awesome Scarlet. I've been using a different summoner guide for the challenge the last couple days so this is quite a sight. Holy shit does
Morthwyrtha
Morthwyrtha
Barbarian Helms

'IoSur'
Runeword Level: 75
+(3 to 4) to Barbarian Skill Levels
+1 to Maximum Barbarian Minions
+3 to Banish
+(16 to 20)% to Summoned Minion Damage
+(50 to 75)% to Summoned Minion Attack Rating
Regenerate Mana +(6 to 10)%
look amazing. What is the added damage from the totems? I only skimmed for a few minutes but I'll definitely be reading this later. Its nice to have a different perspective on a build from someone who spent more than 10 minutes putting it together, thank you!
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Fumbles wrote:Awesome Scarlet. I've been using a different summoner guide for the challenge the last couple days so this is quite a sight. Holy shit does
Morthwyrtha
Morthwyrtha
Barbarian Helms

'IoSur'
Runeword Level: 75
+(3 to 4) to Barbarian Skill Levels
+1 to Maximum Barbarian Minions
+3 to Banish
+(16 to 20)% to Summoned Minion Damage
+(50 to 75)% to Summoned Minion Attack Rating
Regenerate Mana +(6 to 10)%
look amazing. What is the added damage from the totems? I only skimmed for a few minutes but I'll definitely be reading this later. Its nice to have a different perspective on a build from someone who spent more than 10 minutes putting it together, thank you!


Death Fury Totem is useless as an oSkill. Btw, I was about to make a miniguide, but its already been done.
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Several typos fixed, thanks all.
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Really nice guide, but I would disagree with
Wizard's Path
boots. FCR and NRG not needed. + 1 all skill is something , but this boots is expensive. Craft with minion life is the only valid option here. Pref. with barb skill , minion life , and strenght.
It is awesome if you go with the ele totem and abjurer, + Yul shield and
Blade of the Jitan
.
Earthbender
could be good , if you found it and out of options.
Decent crafted gloves would be better than
Kali
Kali
Gloves

'LumKo'
Runeword Level: 48
15% Chance to cast level 13 Seal of Fire on Kill
+2 to All Skills
+15% to Summoned Minion Resistances
-214 Defense
5% to Strength
Maximum Fire Resist +4%
Fire Resist +25%
, go for more Minion Life and Strenght or minion resist if needed.

Interested to try out my summoner with act 1 & act 5 merc.
<3 to kinda one shot Forest Keepers with summoner barb :)
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Kylrath wrote:Really nice guide, but I would disagree with
Wizard's Path
boots. FCR and NRG not needed. + 1 all skill is something , but this boots is expensive. Craft with minion life is the only valid option here. Pref. with barb skill , minion life , and strenght.
It is awesome if you go with the ele totem and abjurer, + Yul shield and
Blade of the Jitan
.
Earthbender
could be good , if you found it and out of options.
Decent crafted gloves would be better than
Kali
Kali
Gloves

'LumKo'
Runeword Level: 48
15% Chance to cast level 13 Seal of Fire on Kill
+2 to All Skills
+15% to Summoned Minion Resistances
-214 Defense
5% to Strength
Maximum Fire Resist +4%
Fire Resist +25%
, go for more Minion Life and Strenght or minion resist if needed.

Interested to try out my summoner with act 1 & act 5 merc.
<3 to kinda one shot Forest Keepers with summoner barb :)


Thanks for the response :D

To elaborate the reasoning behind my gear choices,
Wizard's Path
is mostly meant for active Elemental Totem oSkill. Since you have
Blade of the Jitan
and
Huracan
on switch, it means your totems will die out every time you switch back to your main weapons. The purpose of the boots is to keep the totems alive even if you switch in and out.

As for
Kali
Kali
Gloves

'LumKo'
Runeword Level: 48
15% Chance to cast level 13 Seal of Fire on Kill
+2 to All Skills
+15% to Summoned Minion Resistances
-214 Defense
5% to Strength
Maximum Fire Resist +4%
Fire Resist +25%
, while I admit that it's mostly meant as a placeholder, it also stands as a reasonable end game equipment. It give a cheap +2 to all skills which is a very important stat since it not only boosts the minions but also the passives and synergies. The low level requirement leaves you with a fair amount of MO space as well.

To give you a clearer image, my order of priority for minion stats are as follows: +Skills > Minion HP > Minion Damage > Minion Resists > Minion AR
Kylrath
Bone Archer
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ScarletEdge wrote:
Kylrath wrote:Really nice guide, but I would disagree with
Wizard's Path
boots. FCR and NRG not needed. + 1 all skill is something , but this boots is expensive. Craft with minion life is the only valid option here. Pref. with barb skill , minion life , and strenght.
It is awesome if you go with the ele totem and abjurer, + Yul shield and
Blade of the Jitan
.
Earthbender
could be good , if you found it and out of options.
Decent crafted gloves would be better than
Kali
Kali
Gloves

'LumKo'
Runeword Level: 48
15% Chance to cast level 13 Seal of Fire on Kill
+2 to All Skills
+15% to Summoned Minion Resistances
-214 Defense
5% to Strength
Maximum Fire Resist +4%
Fire Resist +25%
, go for more Minion Life and Strenght or minion resist if needed.

Interested to try out my summoner with act 1 & act 5 merc.
<3 to kinda one shot Forest Keepers with summoner barb :)


Thanks for the response :D

To elaborate the reasoning behind my gear choices,
Wizard's Path
is mostly meant for active Elemental Totem oSkill. Since you have
Blade of the Jitan
and
Huracan
on switch, it means your totems will die out every time you switch back to your main weapons. The purpose of the boots is to keep the totems alive even if you switch in and out.

As for
Kali
Kali
Gloves

'LumKo'
Runeword Level: 48
15% Chance to cast level 13 Seal of Fire on Kill
+2 to All Skills
+15% to Summoned Minion Resistances
-214 Defense
5% to Strength
Maximum Fire Resist +4%
Fire Resist +25%
, while I admit that it's mostly meant as a placeholder, it also stands as a reasonable end game equipment. It give a cheap +2 to all skills which is a very important stat since it not only boosts the minions but also the passives and synergies. The low level requirement leaves you with a fair amount of MO space as well.

To give you a clearer image, my order of priority for minion stats are as follows: +Skills > Minion HP > Minion Damage > Minion Resists > Minion AR


Oh, I know that totem disapper when i swap weapons back. I only wanted to mention Wizards's Paths boots is a good choice on my summoner , but I use the totems to boost my merc, PoS and Hive.(with
Lamha Na Draoithe
Lamha Na Draoithe
Gauntlets (Sacred)

Defense: (1339 - 1506) to (1567 - 1763)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 625
Item Level: 120
+2 to All Skills
+150 Spell Focus
30% Cast Speed
+(16 to 20)% to Spell Damage
+(140 to 170)% Enhanced Defense
+75 to Strength
-100 to Life
Elemental Resists +15%
Socketed (4)
) In that case me and my merc kill the mobs and summons just tank for me (merc got -135 lighning , and im running around with -120 fire/poison).
If i rely on my summons to deal dmg, that boots not doing much. + you suggested the option to use Pristess and a5 merc.If you do use them , wizards path is no use.

BUT it doesnt matter at all, even cheap crafted summoners can farm really fast.
Goetia Plate
Goetia Plate
Full Plate Mail (Sacred)

Defense: (8467 - 9339) to (10376 - 11445)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 700
Item Level: 120
+3 to All Skills
+1 to Maximum Necromancer Minions
+(151 to 200)% to Summoned Minion Life
+(51 to 75)% to Summoned Minion Damage
+(172 to 200)% Enhanced Defense
+150 Life Regenerated per Second
+750 to Life
+375 to Mana
-4 to Light Radius
Socketed (6)
is all you need :)

Have you tried out a5 merc before ? I think mahitovec suggested it before, but i dont think any merc can outscale abjurer in dmg/survivabilty.
HohoHaha
Pit Knight
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ScarletEdge wrote:
Kylrath wrote:...

...


IMO +skills is the most important because you already got a ton of free minion stats from Shamanic Trance (100% base points in strength as minion damage, 50% of that as minion life + bonus synergies to individual spirits - which doesn't say "base level", does this mean it works even with soft points?). This makes minion stats on gear less effective than on summon necro, for example. That, and also boots cannot spawn with +2 barb skills.

Overall nice guide, although you should really do some proofreading :D