GhazzyTV's Mage Skeleton Necromancer Build Guide (PoE Secrets of the Atlas 3.26)

Introduction

This build uses the Summon Skeletons of Mages gem in order to summon skeleton mages. It absolutely does not in any way, shape or form function without this item. While the build delivers a very reasonable effect for investment, and a fun playstyle, it does not work in low budget.
You will, as a result, have to play something else at the start of the league and transition into this as you acquire the necessary gear to do so. More on this later, but I feel this needs to be mentioned as early as possible to respect your time.

Since this build has a very niche playstyle, I would strongly recommend watching the video linked below to see if it’s something you’d find enjoyable to play.

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 is for you!

Pro’s

+ Relaxed Playstyle – This is essentially projectile overloading totem-minions. All you really have to do is resummon them, and they do the work.

+ Bosser – The damage output of the build is rather high and it scales decently

+ Unique Play Style – You will summon skeletons that will cast a fire, cold or lightning projectile spell which is a very unique play-style in Path of Exile.

Con’s

– Unique Play Style – Due to this build’s playstyle, it is a build that not everyone will find enjoyable. I strongly recommend watching the gameplay video before starting this build.

– Cluster – Since it is essential to keep our skeletons alive to let them deal their damage we are going to want to use a VERY cheap & easily accessible cluster jewel which is only really needed against the highest end-game content.

– Needs specific things to function You cannot league start this, you transition into it once you have acquired its pieces.

The things required to get started:

1: The gem Itself Summon Skeletons of Mages
2: Medium Cluster with the Blessed Rebirth notable
3: Perfect Guardian Turtle Spectre
4: Fleshcrafter
5: Level modifiers on gear, such as Wand/Helmet/Shield. Ideally +2 on helmet and wand, but wand is likely to be expensive, so go with 1 if that’s your budget limit and upgrade later.

The Watchers eye is great quality of life, but it is not mandatory.

Damage scaling and defensive layers

Minion damage is the bread & butter for our damage output since it all comes from our skeletons destroying our enemies. Defensive layers come in the form of life, high block & recovery of life when you block. You can invest more in defence at the cost of offence if you feel the need for it.

PoB and passive skill tree

All my guides use Path of Building. We have a simple guide for you that shows how to import my build into Path of Building, you can find the guide here

Here is the Mage Skeleton Necromancer PoB: https://pobb.in/V9iG93xcrAeB

Here is a Skeleton Archer PoB for leaguestart: https://pobb.in/4bz9bhuqLJMM

You can find more information on our dedicated page, along with all the recommended gem links.

Mage Skeleton Necromancer PoB, Passive Skill Tree & Gem Links

Gearing

A lot of the endgame gear can easily be crafted. For a general overview of crafting and to learn how to craft specific items, check out my crafting guides
You can read more details about our gearing recommendations on the dedicated page. You’ll find a summarised version below.

Mage Skeleton Necromancer Gear, Jewels & Flasks

Item Slot	Item Name	Rarity
Head	Life then Res/Attributes as needed in addition to level modifiers	Rare
Amulet	Life then Res/Attributes as needed	Rare
Chest	Fleshcrafter	Unique
Gloves	Life then Res/Attributes as needed	Rare
Boots	Life & movement speed then Res/Attributes	Rare
Belt	Darkness Enthroned	Unique
Rings	Life then Res/Attributes as needed. Ideally these are Bone Ring in order to get minion modifiers	Rare
Weapon	Rare with + level of minion and/or spell skills	Rare
Shield	Minion level mod prio 1, then life and crafted block	Rare

Ascendancy, bandit & pantheon reccomendations

You can read about the Ascendancy, Bandit choice, and Pantheon Power recommendations for this build on our dedicated page.

Mage Skeleton Necromancer Ascendancy, Bandits & Pantheon Powers

Leveling

As this build is intended to be picked up in Medium budget, and not be leveled as, it will not have a fleshed out leveling section. You level as whichever minion build league starter you prefer. I suggest Skeleton Archers or Absolution, but you do what you like.

Questions?

To guarantee that my guides are tools you can utilize to enhance your experience in Path of Exile, you may have questions. Please join the “PoE Vault discord(PoE Vault Discord)”: https://discord.gg/arpg-vault and they will attend to them as soon as they are able.

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 share 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!