Here’s a gist of the build I’m currently leveling:
A 2-minute highlight of current state of the build (Arena waves 130-135, it’s nothing, I know)
(I hope links to twitch are not forbidden here)
Pros: a blob of Wraiths (with help of AoD) makes bosses/rares drip five digit numbers in seconds.
Cons: no true AoE capability, except Aura of Decay and Golem’s slams.
Soo… endless Monolith? take all +health/protection mods, avoid dodge and damage mods.
Arena: So far managed to get to Wave 138, but lost focus and died in a void pool.
unique gear: None. I tried to play around with Exsanguinous, but it turned out that Aura of Decay hinders ward sustain significantly, both by doing damage to ward and by healing us for 6% of missing life per second (we have to take these nodes), thus reducing amount of missing life (which Exsanguinous’ effect is based on).
At least now we can use crafted chest piece, with 1.5 multiplier to the mods.
Passives (at level 82):
Acolyte (20):
5/8 int
10/10 ward generation
5/5 cast/attack speed for us/minions
Necro (59):
8 minion damage/attack speed
2 life drinker
5 minion health
3 soul drinker / (or more minion health)
2 wisp whatever
5 putrid retribution
1 (ascension to Necromancer)
5 ward retention
3 attack speed
5 crits & leech for minions
10 tyrant
10 rotting army
Lich (15 points minimum needed to open Aura of Decay):
8 int
2 bleed chance for minions
5 increased DoT for minions
after this, max minions’ attack speed & dot, then go for Int.
Skills:
Q: Wraiths, specced for poison on hit, attack speed, mana efficiency and number of wraiths per cast;
2 leftover points into cooldown reduction
W: Summon Skeleton - 10 points to get 6 Archers; then go for poison arrow, 2/3 extra arrows and 6/8 cooldown reduction. This gives best poison dps, acording to my calculations (though 3/3-5/8 split falls short by less than 2%).
(TODO: try some experimental testing on training dummy or smth, maybe 4 arrow volleys allow for more regular arrows shot in between, who knows)
E: Aura of Decay: Infectious Bones, Chill to the Bone, Plague Rat; apply ailments more frequently, Bubonic Plague
R: Bone Golem - 5/5 melee attack speed, twins, movement speed aura 2/4, health gain 5/5, blood golem, aggro +100%.
Just some HP bags to keep around. They do some AoE damage and help us sustain AoD.
(TODO: It’s possible to max both HP gain and poison, at the expense of aggro bonus; 8 points for blood golem & life gain, 5 points for twin golems, 7 points for poison)
RMB: Mark for Death 5 area, chill, fear, 3+5 extra damage taken by enemies;
Remaining 5 points should go to mana efficiency, chill/fear duration and/or curse duration, as you see fit.
Gear:
amulet: 35 minion damage/crit base
rings: 35 minion damage/health base
prefixes:
(6+)x minion health/dodge rating (3xT5 health + 3xT5 dodge, for best results)
(7-8)x Glancing Blow (need lucky rolls to get up to 100% with 7 affixes, 8 more realistic, assuming 15% is the max roll. Technically you can go away with 6 affixes, if 2 of them are on armor (22%max each)).
(offhand, helm, boots, belt, glove, rings - can have 2 different GB affixes with armor and/or health)
(6-7)x INT T5 - very important to up that ward retention. also improves minions health/damage. (helm, body, rings, gloves, boots, relic - 7 slots max, but we also need to fit Glancing Blow and minion health/dodge)
suffixes:
health flat - every item
5x health percentage (body, helm, offhand, gloves, belt)
boots: movement speed (duh)
amulet: mana efficiency
ring, relic: minion damage
I have a feeling that Tyrant node pushes us towards max health at the expense of resists;
Though if you happen to find a good piece that has protections instead of health, it might be fine too.
Weapon: Golem Eye Wand
base: cast speed 5-10%
prefixes: Minion Physical Damage, Spell Damage & Mana Cost (-3)
suffixes: Minion damage, Mana Regen (wand only)
can’t craft mana regen on sceptres afaik, so use a wand with creafed -3 manacost affix