Totem Shaman Guide
The Totem Shaman shapeshifts into Spriggan Form, obliterating foes with Thorn Totems and electrifying the battlefield with Storm Totem. While this is a Totem setup, it plays more like a caster than a summoner.
This build's main focus is to spam Summon Healing Totem and proc Summon Storm Totem through Stormcarved Testament. The rest of the Skills focus on defense, utility, and sustain.
You need Stormcarved Testament to proc Summon Storm Totem while in Spriggan Form. Without it, you'll need to swap to Human Form to summon it.
In addition toStormcarved Testament, this build shines with Uniques. Items like Coral Aegis, Phantom Grip, and Julra's Obsession are amazing to increase the build's potential.
Overall, the Totem Shaman is a well-rounded build and shines in every aspect of the game. From early leveling up to End Game, Bossing, Arena, Monolith, and more. It does it all and packs a big punch. Welcome to the Totem Shaman!
You need Stormcarved Testament to proc Summon Storm Totem while in Spriggan Form. Without it, you need to swap to Human Form to summon it.
This build guide assumes you have a Level 70 Character.
Reach Level 70 with our Primalist 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
Spriggan Form
This is a permanent Spriggan Form build. You gain a new set of Skills, and Mana is replaced by Rage while Transformed. Summon Healing Totem is your main source of Health recovery, and also benefits from Summon Thorn Totem's Tree due to Spiked Totems. This is your main spammable Skill.
- Before you get your hands on Julra's Obsession with Chance to Shred Armor on Hit, invest 3 points into Shred Armor. If you do, remove a point from Impale, and 2 points from On Astral Winds.
- Summon Storm Totem: Stormrider provides an impressive amount of Movement Speed. Feel free to use it for fast mapping.
- Do not invest in extra Cast Speed for this setup. This allows you to summon Healing Totems at a slow pace, giving them time to heal before being unsummoned. This makes your recovery very reliable, even when you spam Healing Totems. Make sure to have all points in Ancient Power for the reduction in Cast Speed.
- Summon Spriggan can be Snapshotted, which is extremely powerful but not mandatory. Minions are summoned with your current stats from Gear and Idols. Maxing Attunement for Dodge from Aura of Evasion is a massive boost to your survivability. Minion Health, Minion Dodge Rating, and Minion Health Regen improve its survivability drastically. If you're okay with swapping Gear, check out the Snapshot Gear Variant for an optimized setup. Minions are resummoned when you move to another zone, but the Monolith is one big zone, so you only need to Snapshot once as long as you are running Echoes.
Skills showcase extra Skill Points in case you find +Level of Skills that may not be included in the Planners.
Passives
- Protective Circle and the Shaman Mastery Passive Bonuses cap your Physical & Elemental Resistances easily.
- Ancestral Speed along with your Idols grant Haste.
- Ursine Strength, Cornered Beast, and Boar Heart provide a lot of tankiness from Damage Reduction.
Make sure to complete the Campaign to get all your Passive Points.
Gameplay
Skill Usage/Rotation
- Summon the Summon Spriggan Companion.
- Shapeshift into Spriggan Form.
- Spam Summon Healing Totem to deal damage.
- With at least 5 Thorn Totems active, use Spirit Thorns to proc Summon Storm Totem via Stormcarved Testament for massive Damage.
- Maintain maximum Rage by spamming Summon Healing Totem to benefit from Excited Bolts.
Bossing
- Use Evade to dodge telegraphed Boss attacks.
- Command your Summon Spriggan by pressing the "A" key on your keyboard to ensure it's always properly positioned and out of danger.
- You can Summon Thorn Totems in Human Form before transforming into Spriggan Form and summoning your Summon Healing Totem. This enables you to preemptively cast more Totems at the beginning of Boss encounters for more DPS.
- The buffs provided by Summon Spriggan stay active even when it's downed. Make sure you fully resurrect it after all threats are neutralized.
Gear, Idols & Blessings
- Stormcarved Testament offers great stats for the build and is mandatory to Summon Storm Totem while in Spriggan Form. This is your number one priority.
- Storm Bolt's Flat damage scales with Attunement, while Mana boosts it through Excited Bolts. Stack both to maximize your damage.
- Coral Aegis not only provides denfense, but also a lot of Flat Damage thanks to Fulgurite Core. Use it even without Legendary Potential.
- Phantom Grips are amazing for Minion builds. Look for good rolls of Minion Skills, Minion Crit, and Mana.
- Julra's Obsession always drops with at least 1 LP. Slam Chance to Shred Armor on Hit on them for a massive damage boost.
- Tempest Maw is best thanks to Tempest Weapon.
- Death Rattle is a staple for Crit Minion builds. Look for a high roll of Minion Critical Strike Multiplier.
- Since this is a Transform build, Legacy of the Quiet Forest is a great base with lots of Armor on top of the Resistances it provides.
- Foot of the Mountain helps easily cap Endurance, and makes you really tanky when standing still thanks to the Dodge you get from Aura of Evasion, espcially if you use Snapshotting.
- Mantle of the Pale Ox is great defensively when you control a Minion, and this build has plenty.
- Seed of Ekkidrasil is great due to high Rage sustain, as damage dealt to Mana before Health works with Rage.
- Good rolls of Minion Critical Strike Chance on Idols are required to cap Crit for Summon Storm Totem. Be on the lookout for them.
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
- Mana
- Attunement
- Flat Minion Spell Lightning Damage
- Flat Melee Lightning Damage
- Increased Minion Spell Lightning Damage
- Increased Minion Critical Strike Chance
- Increased Minion Critical Strike Multiplier
- Lightning Penetration
- Minion Cast Speed
- Chance To Shock Attackers
Defensive Stats
- Health
- Armor
- Endurance
- Dodge
- Block Chance
- Block Effectiveness
Scaling Tips
- Mana: Provides a non convential damage multiplier thanks to Excited Bolts.
- Attunement: Not only does it provide 1 Flat Damage per point for Storm Bolt, it also increases your Mana. Additionally, it grants Lightning Penetration thanks to Avatar of Thunder.
- Chance to Shock Attackers: Scales Flat Damage thanks to Fulgurite Core.
- Ursine Strength: Grants 16% Damage Reduction against Nearby enemies.
- Mantle of the Pale Ox: Up to 24% of damage is redirected to your highest Health minion.
- Seed of Ekkidrasil: Up to 28% of damage is dealt to Mana before Health. This also works with Rage.
- Foot of the Mountain: Provides a massive amount of Endurance Threshold, thanks to the Dodge from Aura of Evasion. Especially if you Snapshot Summon Spriggan.
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 necessary 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, especially for fragile but valuable Companions like Summon Spriggan.
Equip the Snapshot Gear Planner setup. Use Evade, then a Potion, Summon Spriggan, and finally transform into Spriggan Form. This Snapshots both Spriggans Companions with buffs from Julra's Stardial and Communion of the Erased.
Excited Bolts provides a big damage multiplier, which we can benefit fully from thanks to our Rage sustain.
Video Guide
Summary
The Totem Shaman summons Thorn Totems and Storm Totems, automatically targeting enemies. Overall, this build performs well in the Endgame.
- Stormcarved Testament is mandatory to Summon Storm Totem while in Spriggan Form.
- This is a permanent Spriggan Form build. Thanks to the Spiked Totems Node your Summon Healing Totems benefit from the Summon Thorn Totem's Tree.
- Spam Summon Healing Totem to deal damage with their Piercing Projectiles.
- With at least 5 Thorn Totems active, use Spirit Thorns to proc Summon Storm Totem for massive Damage.
- Idols with Critical Strike Chance for Totems and Minion Critical Strike Chance are key to capping your Totems' Critical Strike Chance.
- Snapshotting greatly boosts both your and Summon Spriggan's survivability.
- While they are not mandatory, Uniques like Coral Aegis, Phantom Grip, and Julra's Obsession are amazing to increase the build's potential.
Credits
Written by BinaQc.
Content Reviewed by Lizard_IRL.