GhazzyTV's Physical Golem Necromancer Build Guide (PoE Crucible 3.21)

Introduction

Due to the latest balancing changes, we do not recommend playing this build anymore, as it does not meet the high standards we apply to our guides in terms of fun and performance. We are leaving it up as a reference and it might be revived in a later patch.

Golem builds in general serve as insanely strong league starters which also offer many options at endgame play.

Below, you can see the build in action from my YouTube guide. Do note that the video might be outdated in terms of information, you should always look at this guide to make sure you have the updated information.

Build Overview

In this section, I will outline the pros, cons, and general playstyle. This will allow you to determine if this is the right build is for you!

Pros

+ Beefy – Despite being a minion build, it packs a very comfortable eHP #, as well as mitigation, allowing it to function in Hardcore very well.

+ League Starter – The only mandatory item(s) for this build is super cheap even during the first few days of a league release.

+ Bosser – Minion builds are in a current state of bliss, where bosses simply just melt from the damage output available.

Cons

– Upgrades – The build eventually requires you to purchase Primordial jewels which can, in the first couple of days of a league, be rather expensive. However, they quickly go down in price within that first week.

– Clearing – Since we are using melee minions, the clear speed is somewhat limited compared to other minion builds such as the Spectre build among others.

Playstyle

The playstyle is very generic; we’ll use 1x Summon Stone Golem for the life regen and how it buffs the rest of our army with primordial jewels. We also use a handful of Zombies that will apply both Maim and Feeding Frenzy this is required for the build. In the low budget build, the remaining golems should be Summon Carrion Golem.

Damage Scaling and Defensive Layers

Thanks to the massive scaling of buffs provided by golems we will, with the help of flasks, reach 90% physical damage mitigation on about 6000 HP and capped elemental resistances, which is great for a super low budget build.

PoB, Passive Skill Tree, Gem Links

All my guides use Path of Building. We have a simple guide for you that shows how to import my build into Path of Building, you can find the guide here

Here is the low budget PoB: https://pobb.in/Pvnd-cJ9XqOU

Both medium & high budget PoB can be found here: https://pobb.in/ZCsa7b8irDbI

You can find more information on our dedicated page, along with all the recommended gem links.

PoB, Passive Skill Tree & Gem Link Page

Gearing

A lot of the end-game gear can easily be crafted. For a general overview of crafting and to learn how to craft specific items, check out my crafting guides here.

You can read more details about our gearing recommendations on the dedicated page. You’ll find a summarized version below.

Gear Page

Item Slot	Item Name/Mods	Rarity
Head	Life then Res/Attributes as needed	Rare
Amulet	Life then Res/Attributes as needed	Rare
Chest	Life then Res/Attributes as needed	Rare
Gloves	Life then Res/Attributes as needed	Rare
Boots	Life then Res/Attributes as needed	Rare
Belt	Darkness Enthroned	Unique
Rings	Life then Res/Attributes as needed	Rare
Weapon	1x Clayshaper if it’s too expensive you can run with 1x Cold Iron Point (+1 or +2 Wands for higher budget)	Unique/Rare
Shield	The Surrender if it’s too expensive any rare with high life & preferably %life recovered on block will suffice	Unique/Rare

Important Notes

In the early end-game it would be wise to run both Zombies & Carrion Golem in your 6-Link by switching out Predator up until you get yourself an The Anima Stone. It is also important to point out that having both an Anima Stone & a Primordial Might would be highly recommended for red-tier maps. Besides this it is crucial that you keep track of your minions accuracy as they are dealing damage with actual attacks and having them miss is a big damage loss. You can check this by using PoB: Go to the “Calcs” tab, chose your golems & check the box “Show Minion Stats” then you’ll see their accuracy in the windows below. You can help your minion gain more accuracy via Ghastly Eye Jewel modifier and/or “Minion Offense Mastery” which grants +250 accuracy to minions.

Minion survivability is important to not neglect as of 3.19 Lake of Kalandra, biggest issue is elemental damage. Golems as well as most minions have a baseline resistance of 40% elemental resistance & 20% chaos resistance. Together with our ascendancy they’ll have a total of 70% elemental resistance whilst their cap is the same as players, 75%. The “Minion Defense Mastery” that grants minions an additional 8% to this cap makes them lack 13% elemental resistance to be capped and this can easily be solved with just 1x Bone Ring.

Ascendancy, Bandit, and Pantheon Power Page

You can read about the Ascendancy, Bandit choice, and Pantheon Power recommendations for this build on our dedicated page.

Ascendancy & Bandits Page

Leveling

You can level with your Carrion Golems once you obtain 2x Clayshaper, which requires level 41. Before then, or if the Clayshapers turn out to be too expensive it is recommended to level with Absolution which will work all the way into maps. Once at maps you can equip the shield/1h combo with either Clayshaper or the Cold Iron Point and start using your Golems as planned.

For more detailed leveling advice, I recommend checking out the leveling section in the passive skill-tree page.

You’ll start of with utilizing Freezing Pulse and Stormblast Mine as well as Frost Bomb until you reach level 12. You can also assist your damage output throughout Act 1 with the help of Holy Flame Totem linked with Summon Phantasm Support. After level 12 you’ll want to run:

1. Absolution
2. Minion Damage Support
3. Added Cold Damage Support or Added Lightning Damage Support

Later you’ll be able to slot in Physical to Lightning Support with a 4-Link by purchasing the gem from Siosa (Library – Act 3 quest), in Act 4 you’ll be replacing the Added Cold or Lightning support for Spell Echo Support.

For more general leveling advice, we recommend the following guides:

• Our step-by-step leveling walkthrough, which allows even more experienced players to save time and speed through the leveling process.
• Our guide to Unique Items for leveling, which helps you gear up your characters for the leveling process.
• Our beginner leveling guide, which answers many of the questions new players might have and will set you on the right path.

Questions?

To guarantee that my guides are tools you can utilize to enhance your experience in Path of Exile, you may have questions. Please join the PoE Vault discord and they will attend to them as soon as possible.

Final Notes

As much as I love making build guides, it is very crucial in a game like Path of Exile that you play the game the way you enjoy playing it. With that said, if you’ve made any tweaks to the build compared to what I’m showing in this guide I would love it if you share in my discord! It’s an effective way to show other approaches and it helps me grow as a build guide creator!

I hope you found the build guide useful and I wish you all many Divine Orb drops!