The Spectre Summoner Build Guide (PoE Sentinel 3.18)

INTRODUCTION

Due to the latest balancing changes in Lake of Kalandra 3.19, we do not recommend to play this build anymore, as it does not meet the high standards we apply to our guides in terms of fun and performance. We are leaving it up as a reference and are working hard to make it viable again.

In my opinion the strongest summoner build in the game. It has great clearing with absolutely insane single target damage output. This build guide will always be updated to be using the best spectres in the game for optimal performance. Due to how straight forward the design is with the use of 0 cluster jewels still beating all end-game content I would argue for this to be one of the smoothest league starter summoner builds available as well!

Spectres in general can be a bit tricky. One should not forget that minion builds are the most complex genre of builds in Path of Exile. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know and then some.

Below you can see the latest update video I made on this build from YouTube. Do note that the video might be outdated in terms of information, and you should always look at this guide to make sure you have the updated version. In this case the previous videos on this build showcases the incorrect spectre and we are now using the Slave Drivers hence the decision to remove the gameplay showcase video.

BUILD OVERVIEW

In this section I will outline the pros, cons, & the general playstyle. This will allow you to determine if the build is for you or not!

PROS

+ League Starter – There are no direct mandatory uniques but getting your hands on a pair of Algor Mortis is a significant damage increase for the build, this is a rather common and very cheap unique item. Does bring some minor problems for SSF oriented players.

+ Bosser – Minion builds are in a current state of bliss where bosses simply just melt with the damage output available.

+ A Lot Of Variety Options – The build is showing the play style that I personally prefer. You can always opt out of Necromantic Aegis, change cursing or even utility skills to better fit your personal play style when you’re more experienced with the build and/or game.

+ Insanely High Roof For High Budget Options – Upgrading this build is very easy, straight forward and offers a lot of options ranging from lower budget investment to make the build better all the way to mirror tier gear if you so wish and can afford.

CONS

– Minion Build – Since your minions are doing the heavy lifting, defensive layers such as leeching are not possible in this build; this means you don’t want to be having any kissing sessions with packs of enemies or bosses.

– Socket Starved – To be optimal with this build you’re going to be extremely socket starved.

– Act Leveling – Using Spectres to level with during the campaign acts requires twink gear to function. This means we will be using other methods to level with til level 65-70.

PLAYSTYLE

It’s rather normal that you’ll be re-summoning your zombies before your gear & gem levels gets better which can be a bit annoying in the early stage map progression. Once you’ve grabbed yourself a trigger crafted weapon a lot of nuisances this build brings to the table is pretty much non-existing after that point.

Normally you don’t want to face-tank bosses but instead let your minions do the tanking as they melt super fast.

DAMAGE SCALING AND DEFENSIVE LAYERS

Depending on how you wish to play this build you can be very defensive or offensive based of your choices. Specifically this comes down to 2 different choices:

1. Offering Choice – Flesh Offering increases your clear speed as well as damage output significantly whilst Bone Offering allows you to very easily reach the attack & spell block cap if you include Mystic Bulwark node on the tree. I personally prefer the Flesh Offering strategy myself here.
2. NA or na? – Necromantic Aegis makes so all modifiers from your shield is applied to all your minions instead of you. This is equivalent to ~35-45% of your spectres damage with the lowest budget option shield. Due to this fact I personally prefer to use the NA node. However, this is since 3.15 Expedition League only something you’ll consider if you go with the high budget version of this build.

Offensively this build is entirely focusing on your spectres, so all other additions to the build is designed to increase their efficiency.

PoB AND PASSIVE SKILL TREE

The PoB community fork created by Localidentity is the only version being kept up to date, so make sure you have the correct version: PoB Community Fork.

Here is the The Spectre Summoner Low Budget PoB, and for a quick glance over the finished skill tree for this version, check out this link.

For the medium budget version still being life based you can check this one out: https://pastebin.com/8DmJSfGY

You can find more information on our dedicated page.

PoB & Passive Skill Tree Page

GEARING

A lot of the end-game gear can easily be crafted, to learn how to craft as well as learn how to craft specific items check out my crafting guides here.

You can read more details about our gearing recommendations on the dedicated page, but for now you can see a summarized version below.

Gear, Jewel & Flask Page

Item Slot	Item Name	Rarity
Head	Life then res/attributes (High budget wants The Devouring Diadem)	Rare
Amulet	Life then Res/Attributes as needed or The Jinxed Juju	Rare or Unique
Chest	Life then Res/Attributes as needed (Higher budget can get a Delve dropped chest with “+1 to maximum spectres”	Rare
Gloves	Algor Mortis	Unique
Boots	Bones of Ullr If a Rare then go life then Res/Attributes as needed with +1 level of spectre gems	Unique or Rare
Belt	Darkness Enthroned	Unique
Rings	Life then Res/Attributes as needed	Rare
Weapon	Minion DMG with +1 level of spells and/or minion gems Wand or ###item:amplification-rod###	Rare or Unique
Shield	Victario's Charity	Unique

ASCENDANCY, BANDIT & PANTHEON RECOMMENDATIONS

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

Ascendancy, Bandit & Pantheon Power Page

LEVELING

The current meta of leveling through the Campaign Acts 1-10 is to simply never use minions. However, this guide is not designed to guide you to finish Kitava in 2 hours, It is a build guide. With that said the following suggestions for leveling makes sure you don’t have to use any Orb of Regret to change your build when you are ready to enable the spectres.

BEFORE YOU ENABLE MINIONS

Before you are able to utilize minions for your leveling experience you will need to make sure they function for actual clearing this means giving them tools to use for hitting multiple targets. This means you are able to level with minions as early as level 8 as that’s the restriction before you can get Melee Splash Support. The skills listed below are the ones I prefer to use till I hit level 8:

• Stormblast Mine for single target
• Freezing Pulse for clearing
• Frost Bomb for clearing when you get it instead of the Freezing Pulse

Once you reach level 8 you are able to purchase Melee Splash Support which cost 1 t Orb of Transmutation. This can then be combined with either Summon Skeletons or Summon Raging Spirit, whichever you prefer. The links are slightly different depending on which one you decide to go for. Starting with the Skeleton approach the links should look like this:

• Summon Skeletons
• Melee Splash Support
• Minion Damage Support

If you go for the Raging Spirits (SRS) the links are similar, however, as soon as you get to Act 4-5 level 38 you will be able to get Unleash Support which I prefer or Spell Echo Support which makes this type of leveling very smooth.

• Summon Raging Spirit
• Melee Splash Support
• Minion Damage Support

Do keep in mind that if you feel like you’re lacking single target damage vs any boss during the acts, you can always change your Melee Splash a red damage support gem such as Added Fire Damage Support or Melee Physical Damage Support. Once you get 4-Link I would go for the melee physical and later you can change the Splash for Multistrike Support instead for single target.
Aura decision comes in Act 3 which is when we enable the Hatred for optimal damage output.

For more general leveling advice, we recommend the following guides.

• Our step-by-step leveling walkthrough, which allows even more experienced players to save time and speed through the leveling process.
• Our guide to Unique Items for leveling, which helps you gear up your characters for the leveling process.
• Our beginner leveling guide, which answers many of the questions new players might have and will set you on the right path.

QUESTIONS?

To guarantee that my guides are tools you can utilize to enhance your experience in Path of Exile, all you need to do is post your question in the comments and I will personally 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 if you’d posted it in the comments! 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 Exalted Orb drops!