Dark Pact Necromancer Necropolis 3.24 Guide

Build Overview

The Dark Pact Necromancer build for the Necropolis 3.24 update in Path of Exile (PoE) offers a distinctive and engaging playstyle that stands out from the majority of league-starter builds. Crafted for those who seek a bit more complexity and depth in their gameplay, this build revolves around an innovative strategy of summoning skeletons to the battlefield. Once these skeletal minions are in place, the core tactic involves casting Dark Pact, a spell that connects and chains between the summoned skeletons, unleashing devastating amounts of damage. This approach not only requires a keen understanding of the game's mechanics but also provides a uniquely satisfying experience as you watch the dark energy ripple through your undead army, decimating foes with power and precision. Designed by WowCarry, this guide aims to equip you with everything you need to master the Dark Pact Necromancer build in PoE's latest expansion, Necropolis.

Pros and Cons

Build Main Mechanics

The Dark Pact Necromancer build within the Necropolis 3.24 expansion for Path of Exile (PoE) intricately weaves damage scaling and defensive layers to create a resilient and powerful character. Central to its strategy is a novel mechanic that recoups 50% of damage taken from hits as life, spread over a 4-second duration. This mechanism is synergistically combined with Petrified Blood, enhancing our survivability by managing how damage affects our life pool. Furthermore, we implement a strategy to leech a portion of the damage dealt back to our Energy Shield, ensuring both Life and Energy Shield pools are optimally sustained.

Defensively, the build boasts several layers of protection. Firstly, a phalanx of skeletons acts as a frontline, absorbing enemy aggression and reducing direct threats to the player. Offensively, these skeletons are not merely shields but serve as conduits for the Dark Pact spell, which chains between them, dealing colossal chaos damage based on their maximum life. Consequently, increasing minion life through the skill tree, support gems, and gear is pivotal for maximizing damage output.

Understanding the defensive intricacies requires some attention. Building a high block chance for both attacks and spells provides a foundational layer of defense. Additionally, maintaining adequate chaos resistance is crucial, especially to mitigate chaos damage over time effects. Utilizing Petrified Blood cuts our Life in half, categorizing us as being on “Low Life” which, paradoxically, unlocks the potential for increased damage through Pain Attunement. The peculiar mechanics of Petrified Blood mean that exceeding 50% of our maximum Life is only possible with Life flasks, which introduces a Life cost to spell casting beyond mana requirements. This dynamic is mitigated once our Life drops below the 50% threshold.

This build's approach to maintaining "Low Life" status with Petrified Blood allows for a significant damage boost while preserving an effective health pool against direct hits, transitioning a portion of hit damage into a more manageable damage over time effect. Coupled with our build’s capability to recoup substantial amounts of damage taken as life and the sustain provided by Energy Shield Leech, we achieve a robust defense that belies our apparent vulnerability on "Low Life," establishing a high effective health pool.

PoB, Passives and Gem Links

Embarking on the Dark Pact Necromancer journey in Path of Exile's Necropolis expansion begins with understanding your Path of Building (PoB) setup. We at WowCarry highly recommend starting with the low budget PoB for a smooth leveling experience and skill-point progression. 

For those ready to ascend to greater heights with a more substantial investment, the high-budget PoB offers the most optimal and well-rounded enhancements.

Masteries: Selections here largely depend on personal preference, with certain choices being indispensable. Key masteries include:

• Minion Offence Mastery for a significant increase in the effect of Offerings, courtesy of Mistress of Sacrifice.
• Leech Mastery ensures instant life leech, crucial for survivability.
• Critical Mastery and Caster Mastery, providing bonuses to critical strikes and spell intensity, respectively.
• Minion Defence and Life Mastery are essential for maximizing minion life and your own, respectively.
• Mana Mastery and another Life Mastery for reduced skill costs and shifting some mana costs to life, enhancing playability.

Amulet Anointment: Retribution is the recommended anointment, requiring Clear, Crimson, and Opalescent Oils. Prioritize obtaining a Hunter Influenced amulet with chaos damage leeched as life before anointing to avoid unnecessary expenses.

End Game Gem Links:

• 6-Link Dark Pact with Dark Pact, Spell Echo, Chain, Intensify, Void Manipulation, and Arcane Surge Support for maximized damage.
• 3-Link Trigger for automating Bone Offering and Convocation, enhancing block cap and minion safety.
• 3-Link Arrogance Auras for life and mana regeneration via Arrogance Support, Vitality, and Clarity.
• 4-Link Skeletons focused on enhancing minion life and mobility, including Summon Skeletons, Minion Life, Feeding Frenzy, and Withering Touch Support.
• 2-Link PCoC with Orb of Storms and Power Charge On Critical Support for charge generation.
• 2-Link Utility Minions for charge generation with Raise Spectre and Minion Life Support, using Carnage and Host Chieftains.

Single Sockets for Petrified Blood, Discipline, Flame Dash, and Despair round out the setup, each fulfilling critical roles in maintaining health, energy shield, mobility, and debuffing enemies, respectively.

This comprehensive guide to gem links and passives ensures your Dark Pact Necromancer build is equipped for the rigors of Necropolis, balancing formidable offensive capabilities with nuanced defensive strategies for survival and dominance in PoE.

Ascendancy, Pantheons and Deal with the Bandits

Ascendancy: For the Dark Pact Necromancer build in the Path of Exile Necropolis expansion, the path to optimal performance is relatively straightforward, with specific ascendancy nodes being crucial to unlocking the build's full potential. The recommended ascendancy path, detailed for efficiency and effectiveness, includes:

• Mindless Aggression: Selected not only for its damage increase but as a stepping stone to the pivotal Bone Barrier node.
• Bone Barrier: Offers significant health scaling and defensive layers, crucial for both survivability and enhanced life sustain.
• Mistress of Sacrifice: Enables the beneficial effects of Bone Offering, including reaching maximum block cap, which is essential for withstanding the toughest challenges in the game.
• Commander of Darkness: A damage amplification node that additionally aids in managing resistances, easing the requirements on gear.

Deal with the Bandits: In this build, the choice is to eliminate all bandits, favoring the skill points over the marginal benefits any single bandit could offer.

Pantheons: While Pantheon choices often come down to personal preference, certain selections are recommended for this build to complement its mechanics and defensive strategies. For the Major God, the fully upgraded Brine King is indispensable for its freeze immunity and additional block effectiveness, offering significant utility and freeing up a flask suffix. On the minor side, Shakari provides a strategic advantage against chaos damage, a common oversight in many builds but particularly valuable here due to our reliance on Petrified Blood and the inherent chaos damage mitigation it brings.

Gear

Choosing the right gear is pivotal for the success of the Dark Pact Necromancer build in Path of Exile's Necropolis expansion. Below is a summary table outlining the optimal gear choices across various slots, tailored to synergize with the build's mechanics and maximize its potential. Whether you're starting with a modest budget or aiming for high-end equipment, these recommendations will guide your selection to enhance both survivability and damage output.

This gear setup provides a solid foundation for the Dark Pact Necromancer, balancing essential life and resistance stats with specific unique items that enhance the build's unique mechanics. For those embarking on their journey in Necropolis, securing these items will be a significant step towards mastering this powerful and intricate build.

Summary

And there you have it, folks – the Dark Pact Necromancer guide for PoE Necropolis expansion, laid out with all the juicy details you need to get started and dominate. From the core mechanics, gearing up, to tweaking those passive skills for maximum power, we've covered the essentials to ensure you're well-equipped for the challenge ahead. Remember, this build is all about synergy between your minions and your spells, balancing your offense with solid defense to take on whatever the game throws at you.

We know this might seem like a lot to take in, especially if you're juggling with the intricacies of PoE's vast world. If you're feeling overwhelmed or just need a helping hand to get things rolling, don't sweat it! Here at WowCarry, we've got a service tailor-made for this build. Whether you need a bit of advice on fine-tuning your setup or want someone to take the reins and get your Necromancer battlefield-ready, we're here to help. Our team's ready to make your PoE experience smoother and more enjoyable, so you can focus on the fun part – playing the game.