Welcome to another League Starter Build Guide for Path of Exile 3.22! In this guide, we are going to walk you through our minion instability Atomic Summon Raging Spirits (SRS) build. This build is designed to be powerful and tanky, allowing you to take on various end-game content while still being budget-friendly. With the recent rework to Zoff's Formless Inferno helmet, the build's damage potential has skyrocketed, making it a top contender for this league. 

• Overview
• Skill Tree
• Gems
• Gear
• Flasks
• Leveling Notes
• Trade Links
• Custom Leveling Loot Filter
• Final Thoughts

PoB Link: https://pobb.in/PCICBe9osOiP

↖ Overview

This build centers around Summon Raging Spirits, utilizing the minion instability mechanic for explosive damage. With a combination of Max block, spellblock, and high armor, you'll have excellent survivability. The Zoff's Formless Inferno helmet adds increased minion Life based on overcapped fire resistance, which results in massive damage boosts. Even without the helmet, the build boasts solid damage output and defenses.

↖ Skill Tree

• Ascendancy: The recommended ascendancy for this build is Necromancer. Here's the order to follow:
  • Commander of Darkness: This node provides a significant boost to all resistances for you and your minions, which is great for leveling.
  • Mistress of Sacrifice: This node grants you Flesh Offering, which increases your movement speed and improves clear speed during leveling.
  • Mindless Aggression: This node increases your minion damage and attack speed.
  • Bone Barrier: This is a crucial defensive node. It gives you physical damage resistance, an HP shield with immunity to bleed, and boosts minion maximum Life.
• Eldritch Battery: Acquire this node to convert the energy shield into mana. It helps manage the mana costs of skills like Summon Raging Spirits (SRS).
• Elemental Resistances Cannot Be Lowered by Curses: This node is essential for maintaining your damage output when your elemental resistances are lowered, as it also impacts your damage.
• Block Chance and Minion Defense Mastery: Prioritize nodes that enhance your block chance and minion defenses, as well as life nodes.
• Energy Shield and Minion Damage Shield: Later in the game, focus on minion damage shields with energy shield rolls for Eldritch Battery synergy.
• Large and Medium Clusters: Look for clusters that provide fire resistance and chaos resistance, as well as increased maximum Life for minions.

↖ Gems

Leveling Phase:

• Summon Raging Spirits (Melee Version): Spirit Unleash - Multi-Strike - Fire Penetration - Minion Damage - Ruthless
• Summon Stone Golem: Keep it alive for the Feeding Frenzy buff.
• Auras: Skitterbots - Tempest Shield - Determination
• Convocation: For summoning and positioning minions.
• Flame Dash: Movement skill.
• Flammability: Curse to increase fire damage taken by enemies.

Maps Phase (Atomic SRS Version):

• Summon Raging Spirits (Atomic Version): Minion Life - Combustion - Unleash - Concentrated Effect - Fire Penetration
• Summon Stone Golem: Same as before.
• Auras: Same as before.
• Convocation: Same as before.
• Lifetap Setup: Trigger socketed spell when you use a skill (for automated offerings): Desecrate - Bone Offering
• Raise Zombie: Elemental Army - Minion Life - Raise Spectre
• Spectres: Arena Master, Carnage Chieftain, Pale Seraphim
• Left Click: Attach Bone Barrier to automatically cast it.

Remember to adjust your gem links based on your current gear and playstyle. Make sure to level up and quality your gems for better performance.

↖ Gear

• Wand: Look for a wand with a +1 to all Minion Skill Gems affixes. If you have an open suffix, consider adding a crafted spell-triggered mod. Other useful affixes: Minion Damage, Minion Life, and Fire Resistance.
• Shield: Prioritize a shield with as much Minion Damage as possible. Look for additional Maximum Life for your minions. Aim for Energy Shield since you're using Eldritch Battery.
• Helmet: Until you obtain the Formless Inferno helmet, focus on a helmet with +2 to the Level of all Minion Skill Gems. Prioritize Life and Fire Resistance. After obtaining the Formless Inferno, switch to it for increased damage.
• Body Armor (Cloak of Flame): Obtain a super cheap Cloak of Flame body armor. Convert it to a 6-link and focus on adding Fire Resistance. The "40 Physical Damage taken as Fire Damage" affix is helpful for defense.
• Gloves: Look for gloves with Dexterity, Life, Fire Resistance, and Chaos Resistance. Seek an open suffix for crafting additional Fire and Chaos Resistance. Minion Damage and other relevant affixes are also beneficial.
• Boots: Prioritize Life, Movement Speed, Fire Resistance, and Chaos Resistance. Aim for an open suffix to add Fire and Chaos Resistance. Having an ample amount of Fire Resistance increases your minion's life.
• Amulet (Tavukai): Get a Tavukai amulet for the key mod: "Each Enemy's Action Slows Them by 20% and they take 20% of their Maximum Life per second as Chaos Damage." Anoint "Holy Dominion" on the amulet for additional resistances.
• Rings: Focus on Ruby Rings with high Fire Resistance and Elemental Resistance. Add Strength and Dexterity if needed. Open suffixes can be crafted with Fire and Chaos Resistance.
• Belt (Replica Siege Breaker): Obtain a Replica Siege Breaker belt for additional Fire Damage and Fire Resistance. Prioritize Life and other defensive affixes. The burning ground effect can help with damage over time.

↖ Flasks

• Use a Life Flask that cures Corrupting Blood.
• Have a Ruby Flask with Fire Resistance and possibly Curse Effect.
• Prioritize an Eternal Mana Flask for sustain, especially with Eldritch Battery.
• Obtain a Bottomless Bismuth Flask of the Rainbow for substantial Elemental Resistance.

↖ Leveling Notes

• The build focuses on a melee version of Summon Raging Spirits (SRS), which offers solid damage and tankiness.
• Most gems remain the same throughout leveling and into mapping, making it easy to respec later.
• A highly recommended leveling item is the "Sidhebreath" amulet, which grants substantial cold damage to minions. Acquire it between Acts 1 and 7 for around one Chaos Orb. This amulet can make boss fights a breeze.

↖ Trade Links

To streamline your item acquisitions, consider using the Better PoE Trading extension for browsers like Chrome, Firefox, or Opera GX. Follow these steps to set up your trade links:

• Download the extension and install it.
• On the PoE trade website, open the extension and go to the "Import Folder" section.
• Copy the code from the provided "hey spin" link and paste it into the extension.
• Save the code. It will generate a list of items and their order of purchase to maximize power spikes.

↖ Custom Leveling Loot Filter

We've prepared a custom leveling loot filter to help you quickly identify valuable items for your SRS build. Follow these steps:

• Click the Better PathOfExile Trading link and follow the instructions to "follow" the filter.
• This filter will highlight items with the specific colors needed for linking your gems. It helps optimize your leveling experience by highlighting potential upgrades.

↖ Final Thoughts

The build is designed to be powerful and tanky, especially with the introduction of a particular helmet (not mentioned in this guide). This helmet boosts damage significantly, making the build more appealing than previous versions. While the poison version of SRS has been popular in the past, the melee explosion version is expected to outshine this league.