Bombarding Minions Infernalist Build Guide
The Bombarding Minions Infernalist Build Guide mainly uses Skeletal Arsonists or Bind Spectre (Vaal Guard) for both AoE and single target damage.
Cast Flame Wall and Ember Fusillade to Summon Raging Spirits to add even more single target damage or clear speed. Then, use the Minion command skill provided by Skeletal Sniper to deal damage in a wide area and inflict poison to corrode the armour of your enemies. Debuff enemies with Flammability and buff your minions with Pain Offering.
For defenses, the build relies on stacking energy shield, energy shield recovery and block chance. You also have Summon Infernal Hound, which is supported by Loyalty which makes you take 10% less damage as long as it is alive.
You do not need specific resistances and attributes on any item, just get the required total resistances and attributes amongst all gear combined. You need to cap your Resistances at 75% unless otherwise specified in the guide!
Path of Exile 2 is currently in early access, this means rapid development including frequent changes to builds as there are balance fixes and we learn more. Pin this page to be notified of any updates.
This guide assumes you are at least level 68 and have completed Act 3 Cruel, to learn more about the leveling process check out our Witch Leveling Guide.
Skills
Setup 1
Pros
- Higher damage
Cons
- Lower visual clarity
- Very FPS heavy
- You have the option to replace your Skeletal Arsonist with Spectres. Use the Bind Spectre gem to get Vaal Guard (Bombers). You can find them in Act 3 in the "Utzaal" area. Make sure you bind the one that casts bombs, there are three different type of monsters with the exact same name "Vaal Guard". One of them is melee (60 Spirit cost), one is ranged (60 Spirit cost), one casts bombs (50 Spirit cost).
Note: Be warned this Spectre can cause performance issues but it is very powerful, if your computer is unable to handle these Spectres or if you find them unbearable swap to Skeletal Arsonist instead.
Use the <Prev and Next> arrows to navigate.
Setup 2
Pros
- Improved visual clarity
- Improved FPS
Cons
- Lower damage
- Skeletal Arsonist are used as the main damage dealers against enemies. Scattershot is used to support this Minion to increase the amount of bombs being thrown by 2, which in turn increases the damage done since the two extra bombs splashes their damage to the same target. A mechanic which is usually referred to as "shotgunning".
Use the <Prev and Next> arrows to navigate.
- Raging Spirits are used to deal damage against enemies and are summoned when casting Flame Wall and Ember Fusillade.
Support Minions
- Skeletal Storm Mage is used to debuff rares and bosses with the Shock elemental Ailment. This increases the damage enemies take with 20-35% depending on if you have them supported by Overcharge. With Stormfire the enemy is permanently Shocked as long as there is an active ignite on them. You only need one or two of these support skeletons.
- Summon Infernal Hound is your best friend that protects you and reduces the damage you take from hits by 10% when combined with Loyalty. The Infernal Hound also applies ignite to nearby enemies which is why it is supported by Fire Exposure to apply the exposure to all nearby enemies.
- Skeletal Cleric heals all your other Minions and resurrects your other Skeletons. You only need one or two of these support Skeletons, use the rest of your Spirit on Skeletal Arsonist.
- Skeletal Snipers are used for their command skill which creates a gas cloud that explodes when it hits ignited enemies. It also applies a poison on enemies that is combined with Corrosion to break enemies armour. You only need one or two of these support skeletons.
- Optional if you have Skeletal Warriors on your Sceptre. They are mainly used to tank, apply debuffs and cull enemies at low life.
Debuffs & Utillity
- Flammability primary function is to reduce enemies Fire resistance which causes them to take more damage from your minions. Keep this skill at level 10 to reduce mana cost.
- Pain Offering is used to impale one of your Minions, which in turn buffs all your other Minions with more damage, increased attack and cast speed. The Pain Offering itself is a Minion that can be killed, which interrupts the buff.
- Flame Wall is used to summon Raging Spirits and increase the damage of all projectiles that travel through the flames. Keep this at level 5 to reduce mana cost.
- Ember Fusillade is used to summon Raging Spirits and to apply Blind on enemies. Keep this at level 3 to reduce mana cost.
Skill Rotation
- Cast Flame Wall and Ember Fusillade to summon Raging Spirits
- Then use the Skeletal Sniper command skill summon a gas gloud that explodes for area damage and that poison enemies to break their armour.
- On rares and bosses cast Pain Offering to buff your Minions for a massive damage increase. Then cast Flammability to debuff your enemies.
Skill Leveling Priority
Passives
Click the arrows to open the full tree in a new tab.
For the attribute nodes, take enough Intelligence and Dexterity to meet gear, skill gem and support gem requirements, then use the rest on Strength for more life. You can respec your attributes for gold if the requirements on your gear suddenly changes instead of waiting to level up.
There are many valuable nodes on the passive tree; but the most important stats to acquire are:
- Minions have #% reduced Reservation.
- #% Increased Maximum Energy Shield
- Minions deal #% Increased damage.
- #% increased Spirit
- Minions have #% Increased Critical Damage Bonus
- Minions have #% Increased Critical Hit Chance
- Minions Revive #% Faster.
- Minions have +#% to all Elemental Resistances.
- #% increased Presence Area of Effect
- #% Faster start of Energy Shield Recharge.
- #% Increased Energy Shield Recharge Rate.
- #% increased Minion Accuracy Rating
It's worth noting that nodes such as Ancient Aegis, encourage equipping a Body Armour with high Energy Shield. Check the Gearing section for more information.
There are a few different options to instill on your amulet, but the recommended ones are:
- Essence Infusion (Cheap notable that gives +10 Int & 40% Recharge rate)
- Defensive Reflexes (Cheap notable with 12% block chance)
- Relentless Fallen (Expensive and only used later on)
Ascendancy
Learn how to complete the Trial of the Sekhemas and Trial of Chaos to earn your first 2 Ascensions with our Ascension Guide!
- 1st Ascension : Loyal Hellhound.
- To ignite enemies and apply fire exposure when supported by Fire Exposure and for 10% damage reduction when supported by Loyalty.
- 2nd Ascension: Altered Flesh.
- This helps deal with Phyiscal damage if you have Chaos Resistance. When you start stacking Maximum Fire resistances, you take less Cold and Lightning damge.
- 3rd Ascension: Beidat's Will
- For more maximum Spirit at the cost of 25% life reservation.
- 4th Ascension: Beidat's Hand or two Life.
- The default choice is Beidat's Hand.
- However, if you have less than 1800 life and Low Chaos resistance, take two Life nodes instead.
Stat Priorities
Offensive Scaling
- The by far best modifier to scale this build is Level of all Minion skills
- +# to Spirit and Increased Spirit
- Minions and Allies have #% Increased Damage
- Minions and Allies have +# to +# Additional Attack Lightning Damage. (For Vaal Guards)
- Minions and Allies have #% Increased Crit Damage and Crit Chance.
- Minions and Allies have #% Increased Attack Speed
Defensive Scaling
- Sufficient +#% to Fire, Cold, Lightning and Chaos Resistance to cap your Resistances.
- Sources of +#% to Maximum Fire Resistances to scale your elemental defenses into the endgame.
- #% Increased Energy Shield.
- +# To Maximum Energy Shield.
- +# to Maximum Life.
- A shield with a high % Block Chance.
- If you are still struggling check out our Survival Guide for additional useful information!
Gearing
- As you enter the Atlas of Worlds and begin mapping, your first goal is to cap your resistances and meet Attribute requirements.
- You want a sceptre, helmet and amulet with the modifier +# Level of all Minion Skills to increase your Minions damage.
- Your Vaal Guard (Bomber type) Bind Spectre Minion scales very well from added flat damage modifiers from your Sceptre. The best one being Minions and Allies have +# to +# Additional Attack Lightning Damage since it gives them a chance to shock enemies for even more damage.
- You also want a body armour, amulet and sceptre with % Increased Spirit and +# to Spirit to be able to summon more Minions.
- You want as much energy shield as possible on your body armour, boots, helmet, gloves and amulet to make yourself tankier.
- You want a shield with as high block chance as possible (40%+).
- In the late Endgame, you want to transition into using two Ventor's Gamble to gain Spirit from your rings.
Use the buttons to navigate between gear sets.
Other Modifiers to Consider
- Specific reduced duration or effect of ailments, such as Reduced Poison or Bleeding Duration on your Body Armour are desirable.
- Rarity is desirable to improve loot drops while mapping.
Runes, Soul Cores & Sockets
- During early item progression, most gear is socketed with Resist Runes (Desert Rune, Glacial Rune or Storm Rune).
- Once elemental and Chaos resists have been capped and resistance runes are no longer necessary, players can opt to increase their Maximum Energy Shield with Iron Rune or consider socketing Soul Cores. The Soul Core of Puhuarte for +1% To Maximum Fire resistance is of particular interest because of Altered Flesh.
General Note: During the early stages of a character, it’s worth it to equip items on proper Energy Shield bases without Life. This means prioritizing 75% Elemental Resistance or more and as much Chaos Resistance as possible.
FAQ
Make sure your Elemental Resists are at 76% and around 60%+ Chaos resistance. Furthermore, make sure you have the appropriate bases equipped to gain as much Energy Shield as possible.
- Make sure you support Flammability with Inspiration and keep it at gem level 10.
- Support Flame Wall with Arcane Surge.
- Make sure to keep Flame Wall and Ember Fusillade at gem level 5 and 3.
I have considered it and personally I do not think it is worth using a Focus at the cost of loosing +40% chance to block attack and spell damage.
Note: These bonuses are minor. If you picked something different for the Venom Draught, don't worry too much!
If you have Skeletal Warriors from a Sceptre, then the amount of gem sockets depends on the skill level from the Sceptre you are using.
The gem sockets for your Infernal Hound depend on your own level, at level 90 you get the last socket slot for it.
How many Minions you summon of each type very much depends on how much Spirit your character has.
As an example, you should use:
- 1-2 Skeletal Clerics.
- 1-2 Skeletal Snipers.
- 1 Skeletal Storm Mage.
- 2 Skeletal Warrior from your Rattling Sceptre (The first two are free, don't use more)
Use the rest of your Spirit on the main damage Minion:
+4 Vaal Guard Spectres: {0} or 5+ Skeletal Arsonist.
Video
Summary
- The Bombarding Minions Infernalist Build Guide uses a large variety of Minions such as Skeletal Arsonist or Bind Spectre together with Raging Spirits for single target and AoE damage.
- Flammability is used to scale all fire damage.
- Summon Infernal Hound applies Fire Exposure.
- Skeletal Storm Mages applies the shock debuff on enemies.
- Skeletal Warrior applies Culling Strike and Maim.
Credits
Written by: Helm Breaker
Content Reviewed by: Tenkiei
Language Reviewed by: Tenkiei