GhazzyTV's Zoomancer Necromancer Build Guide (PoE Necropolis 3.24)

April 16th, 2024, 16:52

Introduction

This is the closest to that Diablo 2 Necromancer minion playstyle you can get in Path of Exile. The build is not the fastest nor the best for clearing maps, instead this build provides an incredibly comfortable league-start experience combined with a very enjoyable playstyle. You will be able to reach well over 70 minions on the screen making enemies unlikely to ever attack you & still pack a ton of defensive layers. Best use the Zoomancer is to league-start & clear red tier maps as well as end-game pinnacle bosses, if you’d like you can invest a lot more currency to it and make it burn uber end-game bosses as well but this will require a lot of currency.

Below you can see the build guide from the YouTube Guide. Do note that the video might be outdated in terms of information, and you should always look at this guide to make sure you have the updated version. The video showcases the gameplay of the build so make sure you give it a look!

Build Overview

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

Pros

+ League Starter – Since the build can be used as early as from level 8 and is very easy to gear it excels as a league starter build. There are early & cheap available levelling unique options that carry the build well in to end-game content.

+ Bosser – Despite not being the best at killing bosses the build handles initial end-game pinnacle bosses with ease.

+ Unique Play Style – Unlike most summoner builds, this provides you with a different way of playing the game and in my opinion is more than welcome in order to avoid doing the same thing every league.

Cons

– Visual Clarity – When you bring 70+ minions to the screen, visual clarity is not something you should expect!

– Damage Halts – In super low budget, you might encounter bosses with heavy AoE damage, and this could cause problems with minion survivability. As long as you follow the PoB it should be more than fine though.

– AG Reliant – Zoomancer relies heavily on its explode AG for clear. Clearing with this build without an explode source on your AG will feel sluggish. This is not everyone’s cup of tea, and you should consider that when deciding wether the build is for you or not.

Playstyle

The build uses Zombies, Spectres, Golems & Skeletons as the main sources of damage output. The playstyle is rather straight forward; you’re a walking, talking minion overlord commanding an actual army, like, literally an army. To keep the low budget cheap there are very few sources of recovery so hugging enemies is not the play, instead you’ll want to keep distance to your enemies and let your army demolish everything in your way. You’ll be manually casting a curse & supply Bone Offering for further defensive scaling yourself.

Damage Scaling And Defensive Layers

Damage scaling is mainly handled via the sheer quantity of minions & level of our minion gems, which we achieve through our gear.

Defensively, the build uses so many minions that you should very rarely be the target of enemies as long as you’re not standing next to them.

End Game PoB & Passive Skill Tree

This build is extremely straightforward tree-wise. Unlike many other minion builds we are bringing in tons of defensive layers for our minions making it much safer for new(er) & casual players to use an Animate Guardian without the risk of him dying.

Zoomancer Low Budget PoB
This is the League Starter version of Zoomancer that you use for the campaign and early mapping. You can find the PoB here: https://pobb.in/jd4hsbiQXwS5

Zoomancer Medium Budget PoB
When you reach yellow maps and have gathered some currency you should slowly start transitioning into Medium Budget. You can find the PoB here https://pobb.in/LdbxXw4ySoVN

Zoomancer High Budget
The High Budget version of the Zoomancer is provided by HelmBreaker, a member of our community. You can find the PoB here: https://pobb.in/KagSKqYxFKOt

Zoomancer Extreme Budget
Helmbreaker also provided us with an Extreme Budget. You can find the PoB here: https://pobb.in/MlxZCAOBs8JG

New variation ZooDancer
The new Allflame spectres Moon Dancer low budget version of the ZooDancer can be found here: https://pobb.in/H1Owtbm1C34c

These spectres are found in the Arohongui Allflame encounters or you can swing by my global channel in-game by typing “/global 6666” and ask for them in there! PLEASE BE AWARE THESE SPECTRES ARE VERY GPU INTENSIVE!

You can find more information about the passive skill tree, as well as about the build’s gem links on our dedicated page.

PoB, Passive Skill Tree, and Gem Link 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 as needed, also include +1-2 lvl of all minion skills +extra Skeleton/Zombie	Rare
Amulet	Life, resistances but most importantly attributes OR The Jinxed Juju	Rare/Unique
Chest	Choice of Corrupted Rare chest or a Tabula Rasa	Unique or Rare
Gloves	4-green socket Triad Grip	Unique
Boots	Rare Boots	Rare
Belt	Darkness Enthroned	Unique
Rings	1x The Hungry Loop Only in medium budget	Unique
Rings	2X Unset Ring	Rare
Weapon	Convoking Wand	Rare
Shield	Minion shield	Rare

Ascendancy, Bandits & 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 PoB covers most of this in detail, below you’ll find a TLDR of how to get started early on.

Before You Enable Minions

Before you can utilize minions for your levelling experience, you will need to make sure they function for actual clearing: this means giving them tools to use for hitting multiple targets. 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 until 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 costs 1 Orb of Transmutation. This can then be combined with Summon Raging Spirit. First couple of acts you can use Infernal Legion Support instead of the Melee Splash, this is provided by the Tidal Island quest and will require 3 Blue sockets. The links are very straightforward:

Do keep in mind that you can continue using any skill you feel is comfortable up to level 12 and switch to Absolution which we’ll be using throughout the entire leveling of the campaign. Links for that would be:

The Aura decision comes in Act 2, which is when we enable Summon Skitterbots for optimal damage output.

For the remaining acts please follow the skills recommended in the PoB, as it has a detailed explanation of all the skills you can use per act of the campaign.

If you’re able to get yourself 1 or even 2 Bitterdream you can start using Zombies, Spectres & Golems in those weapons as you’re levelling for an absolutely insane levelling experience!

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.

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 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 if you’d posted it 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!