[0.4] Commander of the Sands (DoV Build) [BotW Submission]

a Disciple of Varashta minion build with APM

PoB Share code: https://maxroll.gg/poe2/pob/xa4b80or

Build in Map showcase and overview: https://youtu.be/8-GFoZes1tU

The Setup
The core premise of this build is maximising dps using a combination of Varashta's Blessing on Kelari skills and the passive At your Command, as well as minion crit chance, stacking command skills culminating in massive physical damage.

By using various skeletal minion command skills and the Disciple of Varashta ascendancy we can easily reach up to 13 different command skills and over 8 persistent minions to enhance Kelari's damage.

To sweeten our damage output we use the Sacrifice spirit gem, slotting in Upwelling II for a further increase to minion damage, while also turning our skeletal minions into corpses for Kelari's Malediction providing an endless stream of scarabs.

For our survivability we are maximising our energy shield by anointing Patient Barrier on our amulet, as well as using the Amanamu's Gaze helmet socket for cleansing of damaging ailments every time we use a command skill, which is always.
We are also using Navira's Well with Bidding III giving us on demand shield regen along with the notable passive Reformed Barrier triggering shield regen whenever our minions revive naturally.

The Spice
As some flavour and utility i dropped two potential command skills for Elemental Weakness and Tornado, using the Burning Inscription support gem to give access to ignited ground, that with the Skeletal Storm Mage and Navira's Embrace gives us access to all three ground ailments to empower Tornado. it doesn't do much currently, but it's for style points and that's what counts!

Gear
Though Varashta's Blessing does a lot for this build, there are no uniques required for it to function, just spirit stacking to reach those higher persistant minion counts. but as always there are the two uniques that always make the cut for minion builds;

Bones of Ullr, for that sweet reservation cost reduction of our minions
and Prism Guardian, updated in 0.4.0 with +50 to Spirit and 1% increased Spirit Reservation Efficiency of Buff Skills per 100 Maximum Life, giving us more minions and reducing the cost of our Sacrifice

honourable mention to Umbilicus Immortalis, one day you will do something truly useful.

Abyssal loop
one additional cute tech loop i like is taking a handful of Skeletal Warriors with infernal legion III and Amanamu's Tithe plus two Skeletal Clerics with Brutus' Brain to consistently provide you with 3 cycling abyssal modifiers,
cannot recommend for the visual noise but if you can manage it's a nice extra.

The Clear
Frost Mages and Brutes make a a great double-team, giving all our minions frost armour and then detonating it for some good AOE damage, mixing in Kelari's Brutality and Deception as well as Ruzhan's Trap to round out our clear,
then spending scarabs from Malediction to clean up rares efficiently.

The Boss
this is honestly just a whole lot of intentional button mashing, notable skill synergies are;
- Elemental Weakness, Navaries Embrace and Death Storm for ground types to infuse Tornado, this can help reset durations on chills, ignites and shocks
- Elemental Weakness and Gas Arrow, burning inscription instantly detonating gas clouds for a bit of chunking
- Frost Mages and Brutes, intentional game design, Ice armour counting as frozen for Shattering Roar is great damage
- Kelari, using Sandblast for a quick stun, armour break and 10 critical weakness, with a follow up of alternating Brutality and Deception for some melting physical damage
- sprinkle in some Ruzhan skills to taste

Summary
this is a great full league build with very low investment start with plenty of space grow, even further beyond what i have here.

also this is my formal request for a Vastiri sands occult skill pack :3
<3<3

Nice work!

You might want to add Kalisa's Crescendo to your curse.

Too bad command skills (and minions in general) are in such a bad place.


If you just ran Infernal Legion on Bogfelled Commoner, your clear speed would be higher without using a single unique or ascendacy point. (see: https://mobalytics.gg/poe-2/builds/kripp-infernal-legion-infernalist ).

Let's hope GGG completely rebalance minions to scale damage properly by eg.:
- using charges (since the keystone for giving them to allies does nothing for them) or
- lowering command skill cooldowns and letting them scale with cast speed
- just giving them a lot of debuff magnitude like stun buildup that can be used with payoff skills

Forgot about Crescendo, that is a really good call!

The issue i keep finding with minion scaling is that on their own their damage is just okay, so you'd want to build either quantity or crit to solve that but there are very few options for either on the skill tree.
-with only 120% increased minion crit chance across the tree (only 100% on druid)
-and just 12% reservation efficiency (with a further 20% on oracle)

Its very hard to scale properly outside of life stacking a tanky minion and throwing on infernal legion, that i was trying to avoid that with this build in particular with little to no minion life nodes being taken. luckily Kelari has a very high base crit chance of around 18% and with critical weakness its easy for at least him to crit consistently.

I do have a minion trainer oracle build put together so i will be stealing those commoners to alternate between them and burning elephant tortoises over there.

However i feel that those commoners in particular with find the same fate at the end of this league as the shieldless terracotta soldiers had before