{
"post": {
"title": "Summons and support gems mechanics (and some questions on zombies)",
"selftext": "I started playing PoE after it went online on steam, and I'm loving it; specially for its complexity and range of possible builds.\n\n\nAlthough the wiki really helps, I'm still confused about interactions on summons, so here's a bunch of questions:\n\n|\n\n* What are zombies base damage (on a Lvl 1 gem with 0% quality)?\n\n|\n\n* Are zombies affected in any way by the mob corpse I use to raise them?\n\n|\n\n* Are zombies affected in any way by the area Lvl on which I raise them or to which I travel with them? \n\n|\n\n* Is summon physical damage affected by my global critical chance / multiplier (the ones given by passives, for example)? What about spell critical strike for minion's spells?\n\n|\n\n* Which non minion-specific passives (aside from crit chance/multiplier) affect summons?\n\n|\n\n* Do minions benefit from [Conduit](http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Conduit)?\n\n|\n\n***\n\n|\n\nAnd now a big list with all the support gems and how I think they interact when linked to summon/minion skills (i.e. raise zombies, skeletons, spectre, dominating blow, animate guardian, animate weapon and conversion trap). Please correct them or point out anything wrong if you can:\n\n* **Added Chaos/Lightning/Cold/Fire Damage**: minion will deal that type of damage on his attacks and spells;\n\n|\n\n* **Cast on Melee Kill / When Damage Taken / On Crit / On Death / When Stunned**: Minions are not affected. The linked spell will be cast on the conditions determined by the support gem. More than one condition can be active at the same time;\n\n|\n\n* **Chance to ignite**: Fire based damage (both by attacks and spells) done by the minions will have a chance to ignite their target;\n\n|\n\n* **Concentrated Effect**: AoE damage done by the minions will have their radius reduced and damage increased. When paired with Melee Splash your minion's melee attacks will have an Area of Effect which will be reduced by Concentrated Effect, but also have its damage increased by it;\n\n|\n\n* **Elemental Proliferation**: Elemental Status Effects caused by minions spread to other enemies. Can be paired with Added Chaos/Lightning/Cold/Fire Damage and Chance to ignite;\n\n|\n\n* **Faster Casting**: Minions will have increased cast speed;\n\n|\n\n* **Increased Area of Effect**: Any minion attack or spell that has an AoE will have it's area increased. Can be paired with concentrated effect and Melee Splash;\n\n|\n\n* **Increased Critical Damage**: Minion's attacks and spells will deal more damage when critical striking;\n\n|\n\n* **Increased Critical Strikes**: Minion's attacks and spells will be more likely to critical strike. Can be paired with Power Charge On Critical. No special interaction with Cast On Crit;\n\n|\n\n* **Item Rarity**: Enemies slain by minions will have an increased rarity drop factor. This stacks additively with the character's current rarity drop factor (the one that is applied if the character kills a monster by himself);\n\n|\n\n* **Fire/Cold/Lightning penetration**: Minions attacks and spells will penetrate a certain amount of it's target's fire/cold/lightning resistance. Can be paired with Added Lightning/Cold/Fire Damage;\n\n|\n\n* **Minion Damage**: Minion's attacks and spells will deal additional damage. The added damage will stack additively with other support gems that increase or decrease minion's damage (remote mine, trap, Melee Physical Damage, Spell Totem, etc.);\n\n|\n\n* **Minion Life**: Minions will have more life;\n\n|\n\n* **Minion Speed**: Minions will move faster. This increased move speed stacks additively with the \"55% more Minion Movement Speed\" from Raise Spectre;\n\n|\n\n* **Power Charge On Critical**: minions will be granted a Power Charge when their attacks or spells critical strike. Can be paired with Increased Critical Strikes, Faster Casting and Faster Attacks;\n\n|\n\n* **Remote Mine**: minions created by a skill that is linked to Remote Mine will have its attacks and spells deal more damage. This damage increase for minions can be incremented additively by passives that raise Mine damage (i.e. [Saboteur](http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Saboteur)). The added damage will stack additively with other support gems that increase or decrease minion's damage (minion damage, trap, Melee Physical Damage, Spell Totem, etc.);\n\n|\n\n* **Additional Accuracy**: Minion's attacks will be more accurate;\n\n|\n\n* **Blind**: minion's attacks and spells will have a chance to [blind](http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Blind) their targets;\n\n|\n\n* **Chain**: minion's projectile attacks (ranged attacks and spells) will hit additional targets;\n\n|\n\n* **Chance to Flee**: minion's attacks and spells will have a chance to cause monsters to flee when hit (doesn't work with curses);\n\n|\n\n* **Culling Strike**: minion's attacks and spells will have increased damage, Reduced Attack & Cast Speed and will instantly kill if the monster that was hit has 10% of life or less after the hit;\n\n|\n\n* **Faster Attacks**: minions will attack faster;\n\n|\n\n* **Faster Projectiles**: minion's projectile attacks and spells will have increased speed and damage;\n\n|\n\n* **Fork**: minion's projectile attacks and spells will split into two identical projectiles that continue on and can hit additional enemies;\n\n|\n\n* **Greater Multiple Projectiles**: minion's projectile attacks and spells will fire four more projectiles than they otherwise would;\n\n|\n\n* **Lesser Multiple Projectiles**: minion's projectile attacks and spells will fire two more projectiles than they otherwise would;\n\n|\n\n* **Mana Leech**: minion's attacks and spell will leech mana TO THEM, not to you (I don't know if monsters can actually use mana);\n\n|\n\n* **Pierce**: minion's projectile attacks and spells will [pierce](http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Piercing#Piercing.2C_Forking.2C_and_Chaining);\n\n|\n\n* **Point Blank**: minion's projectile attacks and spells will deal more damage to closer targets and less to farther away targets (see [Point Blank keystone passive](http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Point_Blank));\n\n|\n\n* **Trap**: minion's attacks and spells will deal additional damage. Like Remote Mine, this damage increase for minions can be incremented additively by passives that raise trap damage (i.e. [Saboteur](http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Saboteur)). The added damage will stack additively with other support gems that increase or decrease minion's damage (minion damage, Remote Mine, Melee Physical Damage, Spell Totem, etc.);\n\n|\n\n* **Blood Magic**: Minions are not affected. The character will lose life instead of mana when using the summoning skill;\n\n|\n\n* **Cold to Fire**: minion's attacks and spells that deal cold damage will deal a percentage of that damage as fire damage. Can be paired with added Cold/Fire Damage and Cold/Fire penetration;\n\n|\n\n* **Increased Duration**: will increase not only the duration of the minion itself (if it has one), but also the duration of the effects produced by minion's skills;\n\n|\n\n* **Iron Grip**: wild guess on this one, but I think the minion's projectile attacks will have the main character's strength damage bonus applied to them. The added damage will stack additively with other support gems that increase or decrease minion's damage (minion damage, trap, Melee Physical Damage, Spell Totem, etc.);;\n\n|\n\n* **Iron Will**: same as above, but for minion's spells instead of projectile attacks;\n\n|\n\n* **Item Quantity**: same mechanics as Item Rarity;\n\n|\n\n* **Knockback**: minion's attacks and spells will have a chance to [knockback](http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Knockback). When paired with support gems that \"add targets\" to the hit (i.e. Melee Splash damage, Chain, Fork, etc.) will have a chance to knockback every enemy that was hit (the chance is calculated separately for each enemy);\n\n|\n\n* **Life Gain on Hit**: minion's attacks and spells will add life to them, not to you;\n\n|\n\n* **Life Leech**: minion's attacks and spells will leech life to them, not to you;\n\n|\n\n* **Melee Damage on Full Life**: minion's melee physical attacks and skills will deal additional damage if they have full life. The added damage will stack additively with other support gems that increase or decrease minion's damage (minion damage, trap, Melee Physical Damage, Spell Totem, etc.);\n\n|\n\n* **Melee Physical Damage**: minion's melee physical attacks and skills will deal additional damage. The added damage will stack additively with other support gems that increase or decrease minion's damage (minion damage, trap, Melee Physical Damage, Spell Totem, etc.);\n\n|\n\n* **Melee Splash**: minion's single target melee physical attacks and skills will deal damage in an AoE. Can be paired with concentrated effect and Increased Area of Effect;\n\n|\n\n* **Multistrike**: minion's attacks and spells will repeat themselves twice after the initial attack while automatically selecting any valid targets within range for the successive attacks;\n\n|\n\n* **Ranged Attack Totem**: not sure, but I don't think it works at all with skills that summon minions;\n\n|\n\n* **Reduced Mana**: the linked summoning skill will cost less to cast. No affect on minions.\n\n|\n\n* **Spell Totem**: minions created by the spell totem will have reduced damage and cast speed. The reduced damage will stack additively with other support gems that increase or decrease minion's damage (remote mine, trap, Melee Physical Damage, etc.);\n\n|\n\n* **Stun**: minion's attacks and spells will get a reduced [stun threshold modifier](http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Stun), increasing the chance that they will stun the enemy;\n\n|\n\n* **Weapon Elemental Damage**: minion's ARMED attacks and skills that deal elemental damage will have that damage increased. Zombies and other \"unarmed\" spectres and converted monsters (like blood monkeys) will not benefit from this (amazing attention to detail in mechanics IMO).\n\n|\n\n***\n\n|\n\nPhew...that's it. Hopefully I didn't get most of it wrong. Thanks in advance for any contribution.\n\n",
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/1phvfg/summons_and_support_gems_mechanics_and_some/"
},
"comments": [
{
"body": "Most of your listed interactions for support gems are correct. Clarifications on some:\n\n* **Concentrated Effect**: Just a small note: Melee Splash deals regular melee damage to the initial target (which is *not* increased by Conc. Effect), but area damage to the surrounding targets (which *is* increased by Conc. Effect).\n\n* **Faster Casting**: Also increases the speed at which you summon the minion.\n\n* **Minion Life**: This is also additive with other sources, such as Increased Minion Life on the passive tree.\n\n* **Minion Speed**: The multiplier on Raise Spectre is a \"More\" multiplier. That means that it stacks multiplicatively with \"Increased\" sources, such as Minion Speed.\n\n* **Remote Mine**: Also a \"More\" multiplier, so multiplicative with other sources.\n\n* **Point Blank**: Only applies to attacks, not spells.\n\n* **Trap**: Also a \"More\" multiplier.\n\n* **Blood Magic**: Actually there's some evidence that this affects minions. In [Kripparian's video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=baqnjd4tHEI#t=425) of his summoner, he uses Blood Magic with an ape, which allows it to nearly continuously cast its spell which grants Frenzy charges.\n\n* **Life Gain on Hit**: Only works with attacks, not spells.\n\n* **Melee Damage on Full Life**: A \"More\" multiplier, once again.\n\n* **Melee Physical Damage**: Another \"More\" multiplier.\n\n* **Multistrike**: Only works on melee attacks, not spells or ranged attacks.\n\nGood luck with your summoner!"
},
{
"body": "I'm a more experienced player, but I'd like feedback about an idea for an unusual summoner build. I build minion damage and speed but not so much minion life. Then I use lightning strike linked with culling strike, cast on melee kill, raise zombie and raise skeleton. I take minion instability and avatar of fire keystone passives and then build lots of fire and burning damage. The idea is to summon zombies and skeletons in their face while I kill them, then these zombies and skeletons explode and burn the rest. I can steal the kill from the burning effect using culling strike so that I get more zombies and skeletons.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Very interesting - I'd like to see it in action, as that would be a difficult build to evaluate on paper.\n\nYou would have to make sure to balance your summoning/culling with the explosions, so that you're not resummoning existing minions before they have a chance to explode.\n\nMinion Life might still be worthwhile, as Minion Instability deals a percentage of minion life as fire damage, so you'd want a big explosion to get a high DPS burn going.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Minion damage nodes affect Minion Instability explosions. Hatred also adds 15% of your physical as fire (Avatar of Fire) and 30% of minion damage as cold. I'd rather go Lightning Strike + CoMK Raise Skeletons + Minion Speed, then Infernal Blow CoMK Raise Zombies Minion Damage Minion Speed, then another Infernal Blow Added Fire CoMK Raise Spectre. \n\nInfernal Blow first few mobs for zombies. Once you get zombie summon cap, switch to lightning strike for general usage, then Infernal blow interesting mobs to raise them as spectres with added fire. ",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Surely I don't need to link raise spectre with cast on melee kill? As it's something that I'm not doing regularly I can just cast it myself. The cast on melee kill is so that I don't have to stop attacking to summon minions."
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "Keep in mind, your fire damage does NOT increase Instability. It is only affected by : Minion HP, Minion Life and I think added fire (Chris explained this in a thread in the forums)",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Ok. That's a shame. I probably won't use avatar of fire then."
},
{
"body": "Increased AoE, Conc effect."
}
]
},
{
"body": "kamikaze summoner?\n\nsounds beautiful, i'd love to see it in video"
}
]
},
{
"body": "Here is a helpful spot to look for detailed questions such as these.\n\nhttp://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-forum/201\n\nEach and every skill gem in the game is in that forum its sorted alphabetically most questions will already be answered there."
},
{
"body": "Is it possible to raise a freeze killed mob? IN our team we got a freeze witch, and the mobs seem to shatter into tiny ice bits. Are those impossible to raise?",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Yep. No corpse, no summon.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "thanks, we need to rework our team strategy then :)"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "minion ranged attack does work! it works for summon spectre with ranged minions\n"
},
{
"body": "I'm just heading to bed, so couldn't be arsed to read the whole support gem section, but I'll quickly answer the questions (or most of them):\n\n\nWhat are zombies base damage (on a Lvl 1 gem with 0% quality)? - Not much but enough to kill the first mobs.\n\nAre zombies affected in any way by the mob corpse I use to raise them? - No\n\nAre zombies affected in any way by the area Lvl on which I raise them or to which I travel with them? - No\n\nIs summon physical damage affected by my global critical chance / multiplier (the ones given by passives, for example)? What about spell critical strike for minion's spells? - No and No\n\nWhich non minion-specific passives (aside from crit chance/multiplier) affect summons? - None\n\nDo minions benefit from Conduit? - No\n"
}
]
}