Minion Army Infernalist Leveling Guide

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Act 1

• The first gem you find is Unearth it is used to deal AoE damage and to spawn more Minions from dead enemy corpses.
  Cut Minion Instability as your first support gem for this skill, you find this support gem by clicking the tab "All Gems".
  

• With your first Uncut Skill Gem cut Skeletal Sniper, it is used to deal damage to your enemies and to gain access to a command skill that allows you to send a Gas Arrow. (If you have enough Spirit you can enable the minion by clicking on the "+" sign in the skills menu)
  Cut Martial Tempo as your first support gem for this skill.
  

• The second Skill Gem you cut is Contagion it is used to debuff and deal chaos damage to your enemies and to spread a damage buff to your Unearth minions.
  

• The third Skill Gem you cut is Flame Wall it is used to buff ranged projectiles with fire damage and to deal more AoE damage to enemies. Flame Wall ignites enemies which causes the Gas Arrow command from Skeletal Snipers to explode for more damage.
  Make sure to update your support gems as they are in the skills display!
  

• Using a level 3 Uncut Skill Gem you get Essence Drain for improved single target damage.
  Cut Arcane Tempo as your first support gem for this skill.
  Optional if you have enough attributes: Cut Controlled Destruction for more damage as your second support.
  

• Next up replace your Skeletal Sniper with two Skeletal Arsonists. You can detonate your Unearth minions with the command skill Detonate Minion.
  Cut Scattershot as soon as possible to support this Minion.
  

• Cut Enfeeble for a curse to reduce enemy damage.
  Make sure to update your support gems as they are in the skills display!
  

• After defeating The King in the Mists around level 10-13 you get a Uncut Spirit Gem, with this you must get Raging Spirits, you need to change from the Occult skill tab to the Elemental tab to find it. Raging Spirits are summoned by casting Flame Wall and they provide a massive increase in damage against enemies. You rarely cast Essence Drain now since you need to use Flame Wall to keep 10 raging spirits up at all times.
  Move Martial Tempo into your Raging Spirits and cut Concentrated Effect for your Skeletal Arsonist.
  Make sure to update your support gems as they are in the skills display!

Note: You need to activate the Raging Spirits buff for them to be summoned when you cast Flame Wall. To do this go to the Skills Panel and right click the Raging Spirits icon.

• Using a level 5 cut Pain Offering to boost the damage of all your Minions by offering one of your skeletons on a bone spike.
  Make sure to update your support gems as they are in the skills display!

Act 2

• Using a level 7 Uncut Skill Gem replace Enfeeble with Flammability, this curse massively increases your damage against the cursed target. Remove Essence Drain, since keeping this curse and Raging Spirits up is much more important.
  If you have Mana issues using Flammability replace Heightened Curse with Inspiration.

Note: Save one level 7 Uncut Skill Gem to cut a Detonate Dead gem for the End Game version of this build. The level 7 gem has a lot lower mana cost compared to a higher level one.

If you find a higher level Uncut Spirit Gem use it to level up your Raging Spirits.

• Finish Trial of the Sekhemas when you feel confident enough to gain access to your Loyal Hellhound.
  Make sure to update your support gems as they are in the skills display!

Act 3

Note: Level 2 Supports begin to drop.

• The first Lesser Jeweller's Orb you find is used on Raging Spirits, Cut Feeding Frenzy to place in the new third support gem slot.
  
• The second Lesser Jeweller's Orb you find is used on Skeletal Arsonist. Cut Fire Penetration and place in the third slot for Skeletal Arsonist.
  
• You use no new gems at level 9 Uncut Skill Gem. Upgrade your Skeletal Arsonist first.
  
  Update your links with level 2 Uncut Support Gems.
  Make sure to update your support gems as they are in the skills display!

• You use no new gems at level 11 Uncut Skill Gem.
  Make sure to update your support gems as they are in the skills display!

Cruel

• Using a level 13 Uncut Skill Gem cut Skeletal Cleric, they heal all your other Minions and revive your other Skeletons. You only need one or two of these support Minions. If you have no issues with your Skeletal Arsonists dying in the campaign then you can skip this gem.
  Cut Ingenuity as the first support gem for this skill.

Note: When you have a Skeletal Cleric your Unearth Minions rarely reaches low life to explode, this is a good time to replace the skill with Detonate Dead. Support it with Brutality and Spell Echo.

• Get Grim Feast around the start or middle of Act 2 Cruel for a defensive aura that grants you Energy Shield from dead enemies and minions. You want around 400+ Energy Shield before using this gem.
  You can support this aura with Clarity for 10 Spirit, this increases your Mana regeneration.
  

• Update your links with level 3 Uncut Support Gems when possible.
  The three first ones you should cut are:
  1. Cut Fire Exposure first for your Summon Infernal Hound and remove Elemental Army.
  2. Next cut Heft for your Skeletal Arsonist and remove Concentrated Effect.
  3. Last cut Elemental Focus and remove Fire Penetration from your Skeletal Arsonist.
     Move Fire Infusion from your Raging Spirits to Skeletal Arsonists and then place the new Elemental Focus into Raging Spirits.
• Make sure to update your support gems as they are in the skills display with the rest of the level 3 supports!

For the attribute nodes take enough Strength and Dexterity to meet gear and support gem requirements, then use the rest on Intelligence. You can respec your attributes for gold if the requirements on your gear suddenly changes instead of waiting to level up.

• By far the best way to get passable gear in the campaign is to check the Vendor in Town each time you level up! As vendors change their offerings based on your level this is an excellent way to find extra upgrades.
• Most of the damage you take during the campaign outside of Boss/Rare encounters is Physical Damage. Armour massively reduces the damage you take from Physical Damage, so look out for hybrid Armour & Energy Shield rolls on your gear. Chaos resistance helps to deal with Physical mitigation when you have your second Ascendancy Altered Flesh.
• Prioritize +#% to Fire, Cold and Lightning Resistance as well as +# to Maximum Life on your gear.
• A great source is checking vendors occasionally for promising bases to craft on with Orbs of Transmutation, Orbs of Augmentation, Regal Orbs, Exalted Orbs, Chaos Orbs and Essences.
• Use a Shield over a wand or a Focus!
  A Shield provides passive block chance against attack and spell damage which is a very strong defensive layer.
• Looks for Sceptres with the following modifiers:
  Grants skill: Skeletal Warrior.
  • 1-5 Level of all Minion Skills
  • % Increased Spirit
  • Allies in your presence deal #% Increased Damage
  • Allies in your presence have #% Increased Attack Speed
  • Allies in your presence deal # to # Additional Attack Fire Damage
  • Allies in your presence deal # to # Additional Attack Physical Damage
    If you find a very good Sceptre with multiple of the above mods, but without the Skeletal Warrior skill you should still use it.
• Use resistance runes on your equipment! (It is not possible to add a rune socket to a Sceptre)
• Make sure to check out where you can find all permanent character stat bonuses here!
• If you are still struggling check out our Survival Guide for additional useful information!

I don't have enough attributes to use all support gems, which ones should I not use meanwhile?

Low priority support gems are:

• Fortress
• Magnified Effect
• Spell Cascade
• Expanse
• Persistence
• Maim
• All support gems on your Skeletal Warrior

How do I get more damage?

Make sure to use a good Sceptre with correct stats to support your Minions damage!

Get more Spirit on your Body Armour and Amulet to summon more Skeletal Arsonists.
Use an Amulet with +1 Minion Skill levels.

Why is my single target damage low in the areas of Act 1?

Until you get Essence Drain or Raging Spirits the build does suffer from a lack of single target damage.

What bonuses should I choose from relics in Act 2 and venom drought in Act 3?

• Relic: 15% increased Mana Recovery from Flasks
• Venom Drought: 25% increased Mana Regeneration Rate
• Cruel Relic: 15% increased Life Recovery from Flasks
• Cruel Venom Drought: +10% to Chaos Resistance

NOTE: These bonuses are minor, if you picked something different for the Venom Draught, don't worry too much!

How do I get extra sockets for Skeletal Warriors and Infernal Hound?

If you have Skeletal Warrior from a Sceptre then the amount of gem sockets depend on the skill level from the Sceptre you are using.
The gem sockets for your Loyal Hellhound depend on your own level, at level 90 you get the last socket slot for it.

• Congratulations on finishing the Minion Army Infernalist Leveling Guide! You beat the campaign and want to know how to further upgrade this build?
• The Endgame Guide for Skeletal Arsonist can be found here!
• The Endgame Guide for Skeletal Frost Mage can be found here!
• The Endgame Guide for Skeletal Storm Mage can be found here!
• The Endgame Guide for Skeletal Sniper can be found here!