GhazzyTV's Chains of Command Necromancer Build Guide (PoE Keepers of the Flame 3.27)

Introduction

The Chains of Command Animate Weapon Build has been one that many of us have wanted to make work since the introduction of Chains of Command. Having been introduced alongside the Bestiary League, this playstyle was truly out there, and the concept of buffing up your Animate Guardian, putting insane weapons on the line to make him and the Animate Weapons deal huge damage gave us a truly unique way to play the game. The build, in its initial form, felt rather clunky and was too difficult to really make work. All of this changed with the introduction of Gravebind in 3.16. Having played and heavily tested the build myself, I am more than happy to say that I can finally bring this concept to life.
Some people view Chains of Command entirely as an afk Blight mapping build. This guide will not cover that, as it aims to be pretty generalist and simply play the game normally. Some creators focus on that content, however.

Disclaimers

Disclaimer 1: The build requires the Replenishing Remedies Amulet anointment and your Animate Guardian to be level 20 at least, before starting the build. In addition, it requires certain specific, unique pieces to function properly.
Player Uniques: Chains of Command, The Writhing Jar x2
AG Uniques: Terminus Est, Gravebind, Zahndethus' Cassock. Other defensive chests are better, but this one is usually the cheapest.

Disclaimer 2: Due to the above-mentioned, this build cannot be played until those things are acquired. You will have to level up as something else and transition over. Whether that something be Absolution, Summon Raging Spirit, Animate Weapon or something else is entirely up to you.

Disclaimer 3: This guide was designed to be very laidback. As such, you can, and should, think of it as Chains of Command with training wheels. It was designed to let players comfortably farm. If you are specifically looking to AFK and only that, I’d recommend Rusei’s content.

3.26 brought about some very exciting changes for Chains. The main downside of the build was that BoB could die. And when he died, he took all our currency with him. This no longer happens, as AG (BoB) no longer loses items on death.

Build Overview

In this section, I will outline the pros, cons, and general playstyle. This will allow you to determine if this is the right build for you!

Pros

+ Mapping – Very comfortably and highly automated mapping, for a minion build.

+ Fresh Meat – While most other minion builds wanted to, and couldn’t, run Fresh Meat, we get to keep it up permanently while mapping.

+ Clear Speed – We get to utilise all six of our links and have melee splash at the same time, as it’s built into our armour and we can therefore run dedicated single target supports all around and mow down our enemies.

+ Unique Playstyle – Putting fun-looking uniques on BoB is always a good time. Giant hovering swords are pretty funny to look at.

Cons

– Unique Playstyle – Due to the nature of this build’s play style, it is a build that not everyone will find enjoyable.

– Gem Levels are necessary – While BoB no longer takes items with him on death, the build stops functioning if he goes down. So, ideally, you want a reasonably levelled AG before starting out (18 +).

– Bossing can be difficult – This build is not suited for big bossing. If that is your goal, I would recommend that you not play chains.

– Not a League Starter – As the build requires you to swap into it at some cost, it’s not a league starter for most people.

Playstyle

The unique components of Chains of Command make an Animated Weapon summon of the weapon that your Animate Guardian holds on kill. We equip our Animate Guardian with an Rebuke of the Vaal or high PDPS weapon, alongside the aforementioned Gravebind to ensure that each kill happening around your Guardian is considered to be his. To get the ball rolling, one The Writhing Jar is mandatory, while two can help make it feel smoother.

Once the initial summons have been created, you are free to run through the map casting your movement skill of choice and convocation as everything around you blows up spectacularly.

You can sustain your The Writhing Jar with flask nodes on the tree.

Damage Scaling and Defensive Layers

Scaling the damage with Chains of Command relies heavily on the weapon used by the Animate Guardian. In the low-budget version that is the Terminus Est, as we are looking to hit hard for a low price. We get to benefit fully from Fresh Meat Support due to Gravebind and the built-in weapon resummoning chance on kill. As swords are replaced frequently, the buff is always active while we are mapping. It does not work for bosses, however.

The defences of this build are pretty generic. Ailment immunity, block, recovery on block and resistance. We are by no means a very tanky girl.

PoB

See the dedicated page for details PoB Page:

Path of Building, Progression, Skill Gems & Tree Page

Gearing

The gear for Chains of Command is rather self-explanatory. Chains of Command is mandatory for the build, and it does not need to be 6-linked as the sockets will all apply to the skills provided in the body armour in the same way that the Whispering Ice staff works. Also, make sure you get The Writhing Jar and flask recovery nodes on the tree, which makes the build function smoothly.

See dedicated page for details:

Gear, Jewels & Flasks

Levelling

You level whichever witch build you prefer, and then respec once you’re in maps and have the gear.

The build will not function without the setup mentioned in the disclaimer at the top of the guide.

Questions?

To guarantee that my guides are tools you can utilise to enhance your experience in Path of Exile, you may have questions. Please join the PoE Vault discord, and they will attend to them as soon as possible.

Final Notes

As much as I love making build guides, it is very crucial in a game like Path of Exile that you play the game the way you enjoy playing it. With that said, if you’ve made any tweaks to the build compared to what I’m showing in this guide, I would love it if you shared this in my Discord. It’s an effective way to show other approaches, and it helps me grow as a build guide creator!

I hope you found the build guide useful, and I wish you all many Divine Orb drops!