Skeletal “Roid” Mage Necromancer Guide
Arriving with the sound of rattling bones and a biting cold wind, this chilling Skeletal Mage Necromancer raises and commands a single Summon Skeletal Mage Archmage. This formidable Undead Spellcaster wields the power of Cold to unleash a flurry of jagged Ice Shards upon any foe that dares face them.
Infuse your Minion with additional power by casting Chaos Bolts to give it Revolution, leveraging the power of your own Maximum Mana to bolster your Minion's damage-dealing capabilities. Use Dread Shade and Infernal Shade to buff your Cryomancer's Cast Speed, Movement Speed and Damage tremendously while guaranteeing its Ice Shard always Crits. The build also has great mobility and utility with Transplant.
This setup doesn't require any Unique items to function. However Items like Death Rattle, Lich's Scorn, Ribbons of Blood, Exsanguinous, Last Steps of the Living, Inheritance of the Erased, and Apogee of Frozen Light take the build to the next level.
Overall, this frigid Necromancer is a fantastic build capable of crushing all the content in the game, even in Hardcore. If you are looking for a Cold-based summoner who wants to sit back and watch the destruction unfold as enemies are pelted with an icy hailstorm, this is the perfect build for you!
This build assumes the use of Snapshotting for Minions to maximize their Damage and Tankiness. While Snapshotting is not required to play the build, it greatly enhances their performance by using the Stats available at the time they are summoned. If you choose not to Snapshot, the build will still function, but your Minion's damage and your personal survivability will be below their full potential. Check out the FAQ section for more details about Snapshotting.
This build guide assumes you have a Level 70 Character.
Reach Level 70 with our Acolyte Leveling Guide.
Check our Tier Lists to know how this build performs in the current patch.
If you are looking for a different playstyle, check all our Build Guides!
Skills
Summon Skeletal Mage
Summon Skeletal Mage is the core of this build, all other Skills revolve around pumping up the damage of your Archmage. Take Cryomancers and Frost Lich early to ensure that a Cyromancer is always summoned. Archmage gives you a single Mage to stack with buffs. Grey Merchant combined with Egoism from Dread Shade sustains your Mage's HP. Increase your AoE with Splintered Dominion. Further increase your DPS with Gravetide and Forbidden Arcana which adds a Damage Multiplier based on your own Maximum Mana. Your extra Skill Points from Apogee of Frozen Light and Level of Summon Skeletal Mage go toward Ossein Frenzy, which gives your Mage Frenzy. 2 Points in Ossein Frenzy feels the most reliable, so aim to get the extra Skill Points you need to take them after filling out Gravetide and Forbidden Arcana.
- Use the Skill Levels you get from Level of Summon Skeletal Mage and Apogee of Frozen Light to max out Forbidden Arcana and Gravetide. You can then put 2 points into Ossein Frenzy for reliable Frenzy.
- The Blind from Blind Fury is insignificant since the Cryomancer is guaranteed to always Crit, thanks to Dread Shade's Egoism node.
- Use Sticky Blood in Transplant as an additional way to apply Slow to enemies.
Skills showcase extra Skill Points in case you find +Level of Skills that may not be included in the Planners.
Passives
- Take the Intelligence from Apocrypha in the Lich tree and Occultist's Mind in the Warlock tree to boost your Ward Retention and Mage's Cold Penetration with Lich's Scorn. The Maximum Mana also contributes more damage through the Mage's Forbidden Arcana.
- Get as many Points as you need in Rite of Undeath to cap your Resistances.
- River of Bones gives your Mage a nice source of extra sustain, in the moments when it's not directly healing from the on-hit effect of Grey Merchant.
- Mortal Tether is an inefficient source of Minion Health, since you trade 10 Passives for a T5 Minion Health Affix of value. If you need more survivability for your Summon Skeletal Mage, shuffle points from Heresy into Cling To Life for Minion All Resistance.
Make sure to complete the Campaign to get all your Passive Points.
Gameplay
This Summon Skeletal Mage Necromancer wants to stand behind their Cryomancer while it goes berserk against its enemies. Your Dread Shade and Infernal Shade with Soulfire last indefinitely, so after applying them once you only need to maintain the buff from Chaos Bolts. When you find yourself in a tight spot, Transplant can get you out of trouble and apply an extra layer of Defense through Bone Armor. You can consume Frozen Vengeance with Reaper of Mayhem in the Chaos Bolts tree to give your Cryomancer more Damage against Chilled enemies.
Skill Usage/Rotation
- Summon your Summon Skeletal Mage.
- Buff your Mage with Infernal Shade, then Dread Shade, and finally Chaos Bolts.
- Use Transplant to teleport out of danger or refresh the Bone Armor it provides.
- Command and direct your Summon Skeletal Mage into battle with the "A" key. If you're looking for speed, feel free to lead the charge as your Summon Skeletal Mage mows down any threats that come into view.
- Refresh Chaos Bolt's Revolution buffs when it expires. The Chaos Bolt's buff appears as a faint blue glow at the feet of your Mage, this helps with tracking whether it is applied or not.
Mapping
- Transplant on Cooldown towards the objective.
- Keep your Mage close, within running distance in case you get overwhelmed. Experimental Minions Transported with Traversal Skills helps keep your Mage next to you.
- Use the "A" key to redirect your Mage to prioritize key targets.
- Let the Summon Skeletal Mage kill enemies as you cruise through the Echoes.
- Don't stop to attack while the Haste provided by Transplant is active.
- When enemies are closing in on you, stand on or near your Summon Skeletal Mage while it clears out the packs of enemies.
Bossing
- Take advantage of all your buffs and keep them active as much as possible.
- Your main priority is dodging Boss attacks without straying too far from the Cryomancer and resetting its AI.
- Save Transplant for dangerous telegraphed Boss attacks.
- Transplant is a blink that can be used to go over certain gaps and terrain.
- Position yourself near your Summon Skeletal Mage so it can handle any enemies that get too close.
- If you anticipate the Mage dying, hold your Dread Shade to preserve the Cooldown until you resummon.
- If you are having a hard time keeping your Summon Skeletal Mage alive, focus on gaining Player Levels and prioritizing Intelligence and Minion Health on items. A single Tier 5 Minion Health can go a long way. Finally, be sure to keep moving - your Mage needs targets to hit to heal with Grey Merchant.
Gear, Idols & Blessings
- This setup assumes you are Snapshotting Summon Skeletal Mage. Between Death Rattle and Inheritance of the Erased, Death Rattle provides a higher out-of-the-box damage for your Mage, so use that until you have an Inheritance of the Erased with relevant stats to begin Snapshotting.
- Apogee of Frozen Light provides Skill Levels for your Summon Skeletal Mage. You want to get a Legendary version with Minion Melee and Spell Damage as soon as possible, since the Minion Spell Damage gives our Mage strong scaling. Also, aim to get one with +3 to Cold and Necrotic Minion Skills.
- Lich's Scorn gives our Summon Skeletal Mage a nice amount of + Cold Damage, as well as Cold Penetration per Intelligence. This item is relatively easy to farm, so find one with high + Cold Damage.
- Exsanguinous, Last Steps of the Living, and a high Tier Experimental Ward per Missing Health on Gloves is the core of our Low-Life set up. Single-Minion Necromancers can lack sustain, but this setup gives us a source of constant Ward. As soon as you get two of these items, you can swap comfortably. Adding the third piece as soon as possible is recommended.
- Ribbons of Blood gives our Summon Skeletal Mage immunity to Critical Strikes, as well as Leech Rate. These stats together greatly increase the survivability of your Summon Skeletal Mage. It is essential to make a Legendary version of this item as soon as possible with Minion Health, as this stat goes a long way toward keeping your Mage alive.
- On your Inheritance of the Erased you still want Mana, as Revolution from the Chaos Bolts Tree can't be Snaptshotted and still actively buffs your Summon Skeletal Mage as you use the Skill. Beyond that, you look for stats that your Summon Skeletal Mage can benefit from, since it has a chance to receive 200% value. Critical Strike Multiplier and Cold Penetration are both good Offensive options. Chance to apply Frailty on Hit is nice, since allowing your Summon Skeletal Mage to apply Frailty is more reliable than doing it yourself with Chaos Bolts. Having Frailty here also frees a Suffix on your Gloves. Health can give both you and your Summon Skeletal Mage a nice chunk of survivability.
Learn the basics for crafting gear with our Beginner Crafting Guide.
Make sure to complete the Campaign to get all your Idol Slots.
Build Scaling
Offensive Stats
- Flat Minion Spell Damage
- Mana
- Intelligence
- Minion Critical Strike Multiplier
- Armor Shred Chance
- % Increased Minion Cast Speed
- % Increased Minion Spell Damage
- % Increased Cast Speed
Defensive Stats
- Health
- Armor
- Ward
- Ward Retention
- Intelligence
- % Increased Minion Health
Scaling Tips
- Dread Shade, Infernal Shade, and Revolution from Chaos Bolts must be maintained on your Summon Skeletal Mage to achieve its highest DPS.
- Minion Power: Your minions gain Minion Power based on your Character Level. By level 100, they deal 45% More Damage and take 45% Less Damage (Multiplicative with other modifiers).
- Minion Flat Spell Damage: Minion Melee and Spell Damage, Minion Spell and Bow Damage, Lich's Scorn, and the Necromancer Passive Moonlight Pyre all work to increase the base damage your Mage does.
- Cold Penetration for Minions: This is a multiplicative damage source. You get it from Lich's Scorn and your Legendary Apogee of Frozen Light.
- Maximum Mana: This is the hardest scaling damage source in the build, other than Flat Spell Damage. The more Maximum Mana you have, the more damage your Summon Skeletal Mage does through Forbidden Arcana and Revolution. You take this on every Prefix we can and also get some from Intelligence via the Warlock Passive Occultist's Mind.
- Intelligence: Summon Skeletal Mage gains 4% Damage per point of Intelligence. This also scales the Cold Penetration you get from Lich's Scorn. Additionally, each point of Intelligence provides 2% Ward Retention.
- Minion % Spell Damage: Anything that increases Minion Spell Damage is welcomed.
- Minion Spell Critical Strike Chance: Dread Shade's Egoism Node grants 100% Crit Chance to your Mage while it's active.
- Minion Critical Strike Multiplier: Increases the Damage your Minion's Crits deal. Get as much as you can! Death Rattle provides tons on its own. Also, the Necromancer Passive Blades of the Forlorn
- Chance To Shred Armour on Hit: Each stack of this Ailment reduces enemy Armour by 100 for 4 seconds and stacks infinitely. Enemies have 0 Armour by default, and it can go into the negatives. At -1000 Armour, a target takes 23.7% increased Physical Damage, while at -4000 Armour, it takes 57.2%. This applies at 70% effective also for your Mage's Cold Damage. With the build's number of hits, the stacks ramp up quickly.
- Mark for Death: This Ailment reduces All Enemy Resistances by 25%, causing them to take extra Damage. Get it from a Large Immortal Idols with Minion Chance To Apply Mark For Death On Hit.
- Bone Armor: Transplant provides this buff. It grants Flat Armor and Damage Reduction.
- Armour Mitigation: This build can get decent Armour. Just with the implicit Armour from your gear, Transplant's Bone Armor.
- Ward: A shield above your Health that is generated by certain effects, rapidly decays over time and is protected by Armour Mitigation. Your Ward is generated thanks to the combination of your Experimental Ward per Missing Health on Gloves, Exsanguinous, and Last Steps of the Living.
- Ward Retention: Reduces the rate of Ward decay.
- Intelligence: Each point of Intelligence provides 2% Ward Retention.
- Vitality: Each point of Vitality grants 6 Flat Health, 1% Poison Resistance and 1% Necrotic Resistance.
- Health: This build can stack an insanely high Health pool that is very effective when combined with all the other defensive layers the build has. Acolytes have access to Large Immortal Idols with %Health; not all Classes have access to these amazing Idols! The more Health you have, the more Ward that can be generated through Ward per Missing Health.
- Chill and Slow: Ailments that greatly reduce your enemies' Action and Movement Speed. They are must-haves on most builds, especially once you reach hard content with insane speed modifiers.
- Frailty: This Ailment reduces the Damage dealt by enemies by 6% for 4 seconds. Stacks 3 times. Apply it with Chaos Bolts. If you get Frailty Chance on your Inheritance of the Erased, your Minions can apply the Frailty instead.
- Ward and Ailment Cleansing on Potion Use: Cleanse all Ailments on Potion use.
- Chance To Fear On Hit: The Fear provided by Scatter in the Chaos Bolts tree helps keep enemies far away.
Our Damage Explained Article covers all you need to know to scale Damage.
Learn all you need to know to scale Defense with our Defense Explained Article.
Loot Filter
Loot Filters are critical in Last Epoch. Making sure you highlight all the related valuable Item Bases, Affixes, Uniques and Idols is crucial to ensure your character's progression. Click on the Generate Loot Filter button down below then use the Paste Clipboard Contents button in-game to import it!
Here is the Endgame Loot Filter for this build:
Learn how to load and make Filters with our Loot Filter Guide.
FAQ & Mechanics
Once a guide is released, many players have questions on why and how we are approaching certain choices. In this section you can find the answers to the questions that have been asked the most.
Snapshotting refers to summoning a Minion while wearing Gear and Idols that boost its Stats, then swapping to different Gear without affecting that Minion’s performance. Minions retain the Stats they had at the moment they were summoned, including bonuses from Attributes, Minion Health, Minion Regen, etc.
This means you can gear purely for Minion defense or offense, summon the Minion, and then switch to gear that benefits your main skills or survivability.
When does Snapshotting reset?
Snapshotting lasts until the Minion dies or is automatically resummoned. This typically happens when entering a new zone. However, in Monoliths, all Echoes are considered a single zone, so you only need to Snapshot once as long as you stay in the Monolith.
Minions are also resummoned when you allocate points in their Skill Tree. Be mindful of this if you swap gear with + Levels of Skills.
Is it necessary?
No, but it can offer a noticeable power boost and survivability to your Summon Skeletal Mage.
Equip the Snapshot Gear Planner setup. Summon your Summon Skeletal Mage - this Snapshots it with Critical Strike Multiplier from the equipped Death Rattle. Lastly, swap back into the main variant of the Gear Planner. Since Inheritance of the Erased applies the buff after the Summon Skeletal Mage is already summoned, it can benefit from these stats in addition to the stats from the Snapshot.
Video Guide
Summary
- This Skeletal Mage Necromancer maintains Dread Shade, Infernal Shade, and Revolution from Chaos Bolts on a single Summon Skeletal Mage Archmage, to create a monstrous Damage Dealer. Thanks to its multiple defensive layers, it has good Survivability in addition to its strong AoE and amazing Single Target DPS.
- This is a single Summon Skeletal Mage Archmage build, using Cryomancers.
- Use Transplant to evade telegraphed attacks, move, or refresh the buffs it provides.
- This setup doesn't require any Unique items to function. However, Items like Death Rattle, Ribbons of Blood, Lich's Scorn, Inheritance of the Erased, and Apogee of Frozen Light take the build to the next level.
- Generate a steady amount of Ward sustain with this build's Low-Life setup, using Experimental Ward per Missing Health, Exsanguinous, and Last Steps of the Living.
Credits
Written by VisionGL.
Content Reviewed by Lizard_IRL.
Language Reviewed by Tenkiei.