Lich Queen Skeleton Summoner Gear, Jewels & Flasks
SUMMARY – TL;DR
Cap your Elemental Resistances and get the attributes your gems require in order to equip them. The pieces should be Rare with Life and of course any lacking attributes/resistances. If you are able to get minion damage on any of the Rare slots (such as Delve-dropped Rings or Redeemer Rings or Gloves), this can be a great addition.
My quick list recommended approach for this build would then be:
Item Slot | Item Name | Rarity |
Head | Life then Res/Attributes (High budget wants Shaper/Elder with Socketed gems are supported by: Minion damage, Hypothermia as well as +# level of socketed minion gems modifiers.) | Rare |
Amulet | Life then Res/Attributes as needed | Rare |
Chest | Life then Res/Attributes as needed (High budget can get a Delve dropped chest with “+1 to maximum spectres” | Rare |
Gloves | Life then Res/Attributes as needed | Rare |
Boots | Bones of Ullr or rare with: Life then Res/Attributes as needed | Unique/Rare |
Belt | Darkness Enthroned | Unique |
Rings | Life then Res/Attributes as needed | Rare |
Weapon | Trigger Weapon with Minion damage and/or + level of all spell and/or minion gems | Rare |
Shield | Victario's Charity | Unique |
ARMOUR PIECES
Many of the higher budget examples can either be purchased or crafted. When crafting, I strongly suggest utilizing Craft of Exile to determine the cheapest approach to crafting the desired items.
Since most items in this build are Rare, the main focus will be to have as much Life as possible and sort any attributes and resistances so we can reach the desired caps. However, there are some juicy choices one can take to increase the build’s efficiency, although they will come with a higher price tag.
HELMET
For low budget, you’ll mainly be looking for high Life, resistances and attributes as needed. You can always look for a “+# level of socketed minion gems” and put your Spectres in there for increased efficiency. For higher budget, the first big upgrade you’ll want to make is to craft or purchase a Shaper/Elder helmet to get pseudo links and then move your skeletons from your chest into the helmet.
For the high-budget helmet, you want these 3 modifiers to begin with:
- “+2 or +3 Level of Socketed minion gems”
- “Socketed gems are supported by Level 16-20 minion damage”
- “Socketed gems are supported by Level 16-20 Hypothermia”
For an even higher budget version, you’ll want to look for an Essence-crafted Helmet from Essence of Horror, which grants “Socketed gems deal 30% more elemental damage”, and the Shaper modifier “Socketed gems have +1-3% to critical strike chance”.
Low Budget
High Budget
BODY ARMOUR
Similar to the helmet, we go for high Life with whatever attributes or resistance you might need. For a higher budget version, you’ll want armor with the Delve-gated modifier “+1 to maximum spectres”, to which you can also apply a Hunter's Exalted Orb granting increased effectiveness of your Offerings for that super juicy end-game chest.
GLOVES
Generic life gloves with resistances and/or attributes as needed. You can also look to get “minions deal #% increased damage” here:
BOOTS
Look for high Movement Speed, Life, attributes, and resistances as needed. Higher budget options are rather limited in this slot, but getting “+ level of Spectre gems” from an Elder pair of boots is very helpful toward getting your Raise Spectre gem to level 25 for more spectres.
BELT
The belt slot offers a variety of options. For a lower budget version, you can use any belt, preferably a Stygian Vise due to the jewel slot, with high Life and attributes and resistances as needed. I personally use a Darkness Enthroned and slap in properly rolled Ghastly Eye Jewels with high Life and the modifier “#% increased Minion Damage if you’ve used a Minion skill recently.”
Cheap Jewel:
Optimal Jewel:
ACCESSORIES
AMULET
The modifiers you want on the amulet is very straightforward: Life, resistances & attributes, based of your needs. For higher budget, you’ll want to look for a Hunter-influenced amulet granting you “1 level of Intelligence gems” to further increase your Raise Spectre gem to level 25. Another cheap option here is the Unique The Jinxed Juju, which can be preferable over a Rare in many cases.
The anoint you want is Death Attunement.
RINGS
Important to note that if one of the rings is an Unset Ring you can enable Fortify in your Shield Charge setup. As usual, you will want high Life, attributes and resistances. For higher budgets, you can look for Delve-dropped Rings or Redeemer-influenced Rings which have the “Minions Deal #% increased Damage” modifier on them.
WEAPON
Increasing the level of your spectre gem should be your top priority along with increasing your minion damage via modifiers. For the smoothest gameplay experience, you’ll want to make sure you get the bench craft “Trigger Socketed Spell When You Use A Skill” on it to automate the Desecrate, Frost Bomb, and Offering skills.
Shield
The Victario's Charity will vastly increase our offensive output by giving charges to our minions making it the top choice in this slot.
FLASKS
Flask setups are almost always a matter of personal taste when it comes to the number of Life flasks you want to use. Here’s the setup I’ve been using for a smooth play experience:
Slot | Flask | Description |
1 | Seething Divine Life Flask of Staunching | This removes bleeding effects from you & instantly heals you |
2 | Eternal Life Flask | This helps you regenerate health and a great place to have removal of Freeze & Chill effects |
3 | Rumi's Concoction | This helps increase your block chance and provide armour that we will scale with the “of Iron Skin” modifier on another flasks |
4 | Basalt Flask | This is the main solution to increasing your armour to mitigate Physical Damage taken in combination of our Rumi’s |
5 | Quicksilver Flask | Just a movement speed flask |
JEWELS
Minions builds almost always use the same type of jewel; we want to have eHP increasers, which for this build means a Life roll. The main damage modifier we are looking for is only available from Ghastly Eye Jewel and is the “#% Increased Minion Damage when you’ve used a Minion skill recently”. Aside from these two modifiers, you can socket either attack speed increase for your minions or increase physical damage for your minions. If you’re able to afford the unique jewel Unending Hunger, it’s a wonderful addition to increase clear speed.
Other desirable modifiers are either Taunt or Blind on hit for your minions; these modifiers are exclusive to the Ghastly Eye Jewels.