Path of Exile Necromancer build

Skeleton builds have been a thing for a while now. Thanks to the steady damage output and survivability and cheap items this setup is often suggested for new players. Skeletonmancer also has lots of room for modification in it’s gem and passive tree setup so you can tailor the experience in your own play while the core gameplay remains pretty much the same.

Core Items/Gems

This build became viable with addition of Minion Speed Support, when combined with Queen’s Escape sword our melee minions become fast enough to grant you a smooth gameplay. Making Skeletons your pet-of-choice has its limit when it comes to the numbers, since they are pretty fragile you want as many of them as possible, you can fix that problem by using Army of Bones jewels (3 or even 4), each jewel will increase your skeleton cap by 2.

Leveling up

Playing as summoner really begins at level 38 when you can equip Queens Escape before that basically anything goes, starting off with Freezing Pulse and Fire Trap and switching to Firestorm and Flame Totem. On level 27 you can equip Queen's Decree lower-grade of Queens Escape but using this version will require you to use Minion Speed Support to make it at least slightly less annoying. When it comes to bandits - spare Oak.

Ascendancy Points

To provide yourself with instant buff when it comes to clearspeed put two first points in Mistress of Sacrifice. Second on the list should be Commander of Darkness which will increase our Cast Speed and provide extra survivability. Spirit Eater should be our next pick, since in our tree we won't be focusing on cast speed we are compensating this fact with Spirit Eater passive.

Gearing

Grip of the Council (gloves) - minion movement speed decrease is not noticable with Minion Speed Support and Queen’s Escape but minion damage bonus + cold resistances makes this an obvious top pick for any melee minion build.

This build does not have to be focused on legendaries. When gearing up follow basic rules - pick items with high life and energy shield. Since we’ll be getting lots of resistances from our passive tree you don’t have to focus your gear on it.

Only decent glove enchant for this build is Of the Grave which procs off your minion kills. For boot enchant pick life and mana regen.

Only mandatory enchantment is the helmet one. Look for one that has effect summoning 2 additional Skeleton Warriors per cast.

Linking

This setup really needs a single 6L items, preferably Queen’s Escape. Most popular linking being Summon Skeleton linked with Minion Damage, Melee Splash, Minion Speed, Melee Physical Damage, Multistrike.

Rest of the build requires 3L at maximum, with Ball Lightning being linked with GMP. Discipline and Clarity unlinked. Secondly you want to link your Hatred aura with Generosity and Flame Dash with Faster Casting.

For Raise Spectre you want a 3L with Increased AoE and Increased Duration.

With that covered you have some wiggle-room left for Vaal skills of your choosing. Don’t forget to put a Desecrate and Flesh Offering somewhere (no need to link them tho).

Skill Tree

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.0.0/AAAABAMDABzca9uvp025FE0I9LzqDc1Z848aakP8S5RvWpEYkWhlRnGiACtQm4quPr5P_o_quvfXxq59GCyckDMUIMBmKPqmVzrhPfxVxjpStz5mVNP7uJOCB4LH7Irz3QSzjM_v61fJvJ9qrJLB7w48LcT2fIP2SNle2L1Ms1BHZ5v6gJrgFHFyqQ48U1KIQDpYQYdYY6rErJj-CoVgFSeOvho46hjPfoPbsHffsPAfKpgNfPnog1-mrBEtcg8y0ZBV_lSofUQEzLxHhQQH-OvkUUWdg8wczrQMJy_QH3asNZKsqoyx8kFFR62NOQtN418__oHyRfcy6-7ZfA==