Phantasmal Might Volatile Dead
Reliquarian Build

Updated for Patch 3.29

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Phantasmal Might is a buff found only on The Black Cane and Reliquarian's Ascendancy Tree (as of 3.29). It grants flat Physical Spell Damage per Phantasm, which is a Minion you can summon via Summon Phantasm Support. The Support Gem introduces a limit of eleven Phantasms (at Gem Level 21), but with the addition of Soulwrest Staff, which has a built-in Summon Phantasm Skill, this limit goes up to 22. The weapon also allows you to Summon them by consuming a Corpse, while the Support Gem does so only on Kill with a linked Skill. Add level 4 Congregation Support for 42% more Minions, and double the final number by equipping The Dark Monarch. That's 62 Phantasms, adding 2976-4588 Physical Damage to Spells, which is a lot. Importantly, you don't want these Minions to die or deal any real damage, so the only Minion-related stat to aim for is a short-lasting damage-immunity from a Blessed Rebirth Cluster notable. The build has to consume over 4 Corpses a second to benefit from the buff fully, and the easiest way to do it is to spawn them with Desecrate and then consume with Volatile Dead, both linked to CwC & Cyclone, is the same setup.

On top of the already-mentioned The Black Cane, Reliquarian must pick another passive first. Dawnbreaker seems like the best option for a late-game build; it shifts 25% of Cold, Lightning, and Physical Damage to be taken as Fire. Kaom's Roots is a good alternative. The last passive point should be spent on Umbral Army of Catarina Bloodline for 2% increased Movement Speed per Phantasm. Defensively, the build is reliant on Energy Shield and Block Chance. It deals quite well with Physical Damage. A sizeable portion of our damage still comes from the Volatile Dead, which is Fire Damage, so we don't recommend keeping the Physical Damage from Phantasms. We can Convert it with a combination of Rare Gloves and Avatar of Fire Keystone, but there are a few other options.

1. Gameplay

Cyclone Triggers all your important stuff: Desecrate and Volatile Dead. With high Movement Speed, it won't slow you down much. Your other active Skills are Frostblink to blink and RF to be activated at the start of a map. Assassin's Mark is Triggered on hit and Steelskin is Automated. Your passive skills to choose from are Herald of Purity, Herald of Ash, Zealotry, Hatred, Purity of Fire, Mana-Infused Staff, Petrified Blood, and Flesh and Stone. Some of them can be linked with Arrogance.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

The levelling is tough: you unlock the defining feature of this build, which is lots of flat damage, only after the third lab, so right before you start mapping. Before that, you have to make something out of your first Ascendancy that will help you get through the campaign faster. We recommend starting as a Luminary and hoping to find a strong Merc somewhat soon, but if that seems too risky, try The Apostate and the currently most popular leveling skill. In such a case, starting with Absolution of Inspiring could be the right move: it's a great Minion Spell. Very strong early on. You can even begin with The Black Cane and Phantasms right from the start. Check our guide on it by clicking here.

Bandits:

An additional Passive Skill Point seems like the best option.

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

110 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Cluster or Unique Jewels)
123 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Dawnbreaker
2. The Black Cane
3. Umbral Army

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of the Brine King: You cannot be Stunned if you've been Stunned or Blocked a Stunning Hit in the past 2 seconds; 100% chance to Avoid being Frozen; 50% reduced Effect of Chill on you

Minor God: Soul of Garukhan: 60% reduced Effect of Shock on you

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Cyclone setup
	Cyclone - A Channelling Skill that lets you move; it won't deal any significant damage, but it is used to inflict Mark on Hit.
	Cast while Channelling Support - Used to Trigger Linked Spells while Channelling.
	Volatile Dead - The main damage-dealing Spell. It launches a homing orb from a Corpse it consumes.
	Desecrate - Creates Corpses to be consumed by Volatile Dead.
	Greater Spell Cascade Support - Spells repeat additional times, resulting in more Corpses and more Orbs to summon Phantasms fast enough.
	Invert the Rules Support - It improves damage by inverting enemies' Resistances. You can even pair it up with Purity of Fire and Runegraft of Treachery. It can be replaced with Inspiration to save mana and currency.

[UTILITY] Soulwrest Support setup
	Summon Phantasms Support - By simply socketing it in Soulwrest, it will add to the max Phantasm limit.
	Congregation Support - Increases the Minion Limit of Phantasms. Having it at level 4 is preferred, but don't rush it; it's a luxury.
	Culling Strike Support - Phantasms Cull bosses and what have you.
	Elemental Army Support - Phantasms inflict Elemental Exposure on Hit. Use only if you don't have Invert the Rules in your main setup.

[UTILITY] Reservation setup
	Herald of Ash - Adds Fire Damage sourced from your base Physical Damage and Burns surrounding enemies on kill.
	Hatred - Adds Cold Damage sourced from base Physical Damage. It's rather inefficient with Avatar of Fire, so if you have that, replace Hatred with Zealotry or something else entirely.
	Herald of Purity - More Physical Damage. The Minion part of it is of no use.
	Enlighten Support - Linked Spells Reserve less Mana.

[UTILITY] Mark setup
	Assassin's Mark - Cursed enemies are more likely to receive a Critical Strike; Crit Multiplier against them is increased.
	Mark on Hit Support - Mark is applied against Unique and Rare enemies on Attack, Cyclone in our case.

[UTILITY] Automation setup
	Automation - Linked Instant Cooldown Spell is Triggered automatically for you.
	Steelskin - A Guard Spell to absorb some of the incoming damage and stop Bleeding.

[UTILITY] Other skills
	Mana-Infused Staff - Reduced Mana Cost of Skills, some extra Lightning Damage, and more Chance to Block Spell and Attack Damage.
	Frostblink - A movement ability to move faster and dodge attacks.
	Petrified Blood - A portion of incoming damage is taken as DoT to prevent getting one-shotted. Affects only your lower half of Life Pool, so we recommend using it with the upper part Reserved, and also benefiting from Pain Attunement.
	Flesh and Stone - Stay in Sand Stance to take 20% less damage from Hits.
	Purity of Fire - Fire Resistance and max Fire Resistance. You can combine it with Tempered by War, Dawnbreaker ascendancy passive, Watcher's Eye mod, and Bound by Destiny mod to take only Physical, Chaos, and Fire Damage, so that Cold and Lightning Resistances can be ignored.
	Righteous Fire - More Spell Damage. It's very easy to sustain it with 90% Fire Resistance, but unfortunately it disables ES Recharge.

5. Gear Setup

There are many ways to approach assembling the build. The most essential parts are Soulwrest and The Dark Monarch; other pieces are more nuanced. We've taken the approach of converting all incoming Cold and Lightning Damage to be taken as Fire (which requires correct Lethal Pride, Watcher's Eye, and Bound by Destiny). Such a setup is great if you plan to allocate Chaos Inoculation and wear Bonemeld, because then you can simply focus on Fire Resistance and Physical Damage Reduction. The build can be played either as ES or Hybrid, but if you want to run Righteous Fire, remember to have a source of ES Leech or ES Regeneration from Zealot's Oath and items. Your other defensive layers consist of shifting Physical Damage to be taken as something else. As for your damage output, you can go with anything: Fire, Cold, or Lightning. You may even mix them together if you have Invert the Rules Support. 40% of Conversion is always found on corresponding Skill Tree Masteries. The remaining numbers are on Rare Gloves, Watcher's Eye, Avatar of Fire Keystone, or Physical to Lightning Support. As for Critical Strikes, you can either allocate Elemental Overload if it's low, or don't if you want to reach higher DPS. We recommend starting with this Keystone since getting enough Crit Chance is tough and requires high character level or good items. Block Chance should be sourced entirely from Skill Tree and Mana-Infused Staff.

(Helmet) The Dark Monarch - Look for the variant with Phantasms. It doubles the added Physical Damage bonus.

+(50-100) to maximum Energy Shield +1 to Level of all Minion Skill Gems +(27-37)% to Chaos Resistance 50% reduced Light Radius Maximum number of <random minion type> is Doubled Cannot have Minions other than <random minion type>

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - Pure ES chest with little else is probably the best choice. It lets you then allocate a Life Mastery for 15% increased Life if you don't have CI. For the Eldritch mods, Max Fire Resistance or Crit Multiplier for Spells with Physical Damage taken as something else.

Min. requirements: high Maximum Energy Shield Resistances Optional affixes: Life Regeneration Attributes Spell Critical Strike Chance (Hunter's Suffix) You can apply an additional Curse (Hunter's Prefix)

(Body Armour) Cloak of Flame - It has lots of Fire Resistance and a Physical-to-Fire shift that your character will surely appreciate, especially if you have little or no Armour or Endurance Charges.

+(50-75)% to Fire Resistance (40-75)% increased Ignite Duration on Enemies Reflects 100 Fire Damage to Melee Attackers 40% of Physical Damage taken as Fire Damage

(Body Armour) Doryani's Prototype - In a case in which you take no Lightning Damage, you deal mostly Lightning Damage, and your own Lightning Resistance is low (presumably due to Bonemeld), it's the best choice.

(150-200)% increased Armour and Energy Shield +(60-90) to maximum Life Deal no Non-Lightning Damage Armour also applies to Lightning Damage taken from Hits Lightning Resistance does not affect Lightning Damage taken Nearby Enemies have Lightning Resistance equal to yours

(Weapon) Soulwrest - Its greatest feature is the Level 25 Summon Phantasm Skill on Corpse consumption. It has some other stuff attached, but Phantasms make it a core element of the build.

+25% Chance to Block Attack Damage Trigger Level 25 Summon Phantasm Skill when you Consume a corpse (100-140)% increased Spell Damage (25-30)% increased Cast Speed (80-100)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate Minions deal (90-102) to (132-156) additional Physical Damage If you Consumed a corpse Recently, you and nearby Allies Regenerate 5% of Life per second

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Gloves are crucial. They can Convert up to 55% of Physical Damage to any Element, but often just 10% will be enough due to other sources of Conversion. Other than that, get Resistances, and for Eldritch mods, Herald buff Effect or Unnerve on Hit.

Min. requirements: high Maximum Energy Shield +80 to Maximum Life 40% total Resistances up to 50% Physical-to-Elemental Conversion (crafted Suffix and Eater's Implicit) Optional affixes: increased Damage while Leeching (crafted) Attributes

(Gloves) Abhorrent Interrogation - If you Convert damage some other way, you don't have a source of Penetration or a way to ignore foes' Resistances, try Abhorrent Interrogation.

(100-150)% increased Evasion and Energy Shield (5-7)% increased Attack and Cast Speed (20-25)% chance to inflict Withered for 2 seconds on Hit Enemies take 4% increased Elemental Damage from your Hits for each Withered you have inflicted on them Your Hits cannot Penetrate or ignore Elemental Resistances

(Boots) Rare Boots - We recommend Hunter's Boots with Tailwind on them. Redeemer's Onslaught and Elusive would be very good in addition to that, but such Boost are expensive. Look for Life, ES, and Resistances. Movement Speed is okay, but remember you already have a 124% increase from the Umbral Army.

Min. requirements: 20% increased Movement Speed +80 to Maximum Life 40% total Resistances Optional affixes: You have Tailwind if you have dealt a Critical Strike Recently (Hunter's Suffix) chance to gain Elusive on Critical Strike (Redeemer Prefix) chance to gain Onslaught for 4 seconds on Kill (Redeemer Suffix)

(Belt) Rare Belt - Belt is a rather simple case: Maximum Life, Attributes, and Resistances. A Hunter's Belt with increased Maximum Life would be the best.

Min. requirements: Attributes +90 to Maximum Life 80% total Resistances Life Regeneration Optional affixes: increased Maximum Life (Hunter's Prefix)

(Amulet) Bonemeld - Lots of increases to Defences (Energy Shield), but drastically less Resistances. It's great with CI, where you only need to take care of your Fire Resistance, because it's hard to negate the downside otherwise.

Regenerate (1.2-1.6)% of Life per second +(10-20) to all Attributes +(1-2) to Level of all Minion Skill Gems -2% to all Resistances per Minion from your Non-Vaal Skills (3-4)% increased Defences per Minion from your Non-Vaal Skills Minions gain added Resistances equal to 50% of your Resistances

(Amulet) Foulborn Xoph's Heart - The Foulborn variant that shifts 15% of Physical Damage to be taken as Fire is a huge defensive boost. Enemies Covered in Ash take increased Fire Damage. Foulborn Xoph's Blood is worth looking into as well.

+(20-30) to Strength +(20-30) to Strength 25% increased Fire Damage +(25-35) to maximum Life (5-15)% of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Fire Damage Nearby Enemies are Covered in Ash

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - Rare Amulet may offer Critical Strike mods with extra damage, so they're definitely better than most uniques if you struggle with DPS. Try Flame Hellion Talisman for Maximum Fire Resistance.

Min. requirements: +90 to Maximum Life 40% total Resistances Critical Strike Chance Critical Strike Multiplier Optional affixes: Gain #% of Physical Damage as Extra Fire/Cold/Lightning Damage Attributes

(Amulet) Uul-Netol's Vow - You're using pretty much only one Support Gem that directly increases your damage, so having a space for one more is a big advantage.

Has 1 Socket Socketed Support Gems can also Support Skills from Equipped Body Armour +(-30-30)% to Fire Resistance +(-30-30)% to Cold Resistance +(-30-30)% to Lightning Resistance +(-23-23)% to Chaos Resistance

Recommended Anointments: Undertaker Discord Artisan

(Ring) Polaric Devastation - Use to cover enemies in Frost or Ash and cause them to take increased damage. It's not good with Foulborn Xoph's Heart because it already covers enemies in Ash.

(15-25)% increased Elemental Damage (15-25)% increased Global Critical Strike Chance +(20-40)% to Fire Resistance +(20-40)% to Cold Resistance (10-20)% increased Duration of Ailments on Enemies Left Ring slot: Cover Enemies in Ash for 5 seconds when you Ignite them Right Ring slot: Cover Enemies in Frost for 5 seconds when you Freeze them

(Ring) Enmity's Embrace - This Ring requires a very peculiar approach that would alter all your other items and skill setups in a major way, but it is possible to benefit from it if you have some unconventional source of Fire Res, such as Foulborn Skin of the Lords.

(5-7)% increased maximum Life +(30-50) to Strength (10-20)% increased Fire Damage (75-65)% reduced Fire Resistance Take (300-500) Fire Damage when you Use a Skill Damage Penetrates Fire Resistance equal to your Overcapped Fire Resistance, up to a maximum of 200%

(Ring) Rare Ring - A Ring must provide Maximum Life, Resistances, Attributes, and reduce the Cost of Skills by 7.

Min. requirements: +90 to Maximum Life 40% total Resistances Non-Channelling Skills have -7 to Total Mana Cost (Crafted Prefix) Optional affixes: Attributes

(Jewel) Lethal Pride - The Rakiata variant of Lethal Pride grants Tempered by War that shifts half of Cold and Lightning Damage to be taken as Fire, which may be useful. It also grants Strength.

Denoted service of (500-8000) dekhara in the akhara of <Asenath • Balbala • Nasima> Passives in radius are Conquered by the Maraketh Historic

(Jewel) Bound By Destiny - If you plan to shift damage taken from Cold and Lightning, you can get a variant of this Jewel that shifts them to Chaos if you have 4 Hunter Items on. That's why we pointed out some good Hunter mods on Rares. 2 Shaper Items can get you ES Leech, or 2 Crusader Items can cause you to be Shock-immune.

(5–10)% of Elemental Damage taken as Chaos Damage if 4 Hunter Items are Equipped

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - To complete the Elemental-to-Fire shift, you will need (10-20)% of Cold and Lightning Damage taken as Fire Damage while affected by Purity of Fire. You're looking for 25% combined from this Jewel and from Bound By Destiny; the remaining 75% is gained from the Dawnbreaker passive and Tempered by War Keystone.

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers>

(Jewel) The Light of Meaning - Increased Fire or Physical Damage, or maybe Maximum Life from this Jewel is a nice addition that a Scion has easy access to because of its starting location. Combine it with Unnatural Instinct.

Passive Skills in Radius also grant 7% increased Fire Damage

(Jewel) Unnatural Instinct - You may socket it near Sentinel with The Light of Meaning to "allocate" unallocated passives with Fire Damage on them. You can even overlap it with Lethal Pride if it's also nearby for more Strength.

Allocated Small Passive Skills in Radius grant nothing Grants all bonuses of Unallocated Small Passive Skills in Radius

(Jewel) Forbidden Flame & Flesh - Scion may roll miniature versions of other class' ascendancies on its Forbidden Jewels. Trickster, Assassin, or Inquisitor would be the best.

Allocates <random Ascendancy Notable> if you have the matching modifier on Forbidden Flesh Allocates <random Ascendancy Notable> if you have the matching modifier on Forbidden Flame

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - Get some Maximum Life, and preferably Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier for Fire Spells. Block Chance or Attributes can be found here if need be.

Recommended affixes: increased Maximum Energy Shield Spell Block Chance Attack Block Chance increased Maximum Life Critical Strike Chance (various options) Critical Strike Multiplier (various options) Attributes

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - Fire Damage Large Cluster Jewel can be good, but we recommend Spell-themed Jewel for Conjured Wall and Mage Hunter, both of which grant Spell Block Chance.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Conjured Wall 1 Added Passive Skill is Mage Hunter 1 Added Passive Skill is Thaumophage 1 Added Passive Skill is Corrosive elements 1 Added Passive Skill is Master of Fire 1 Added Passive Skill is Doryani's Lesson

(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewel - Blessed Rebirth is a mandatory notable to run this build comfortably; you Minions will die too quickly otherwise. Other notables are quite bad, so just aim for small passive enhancements.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Blessed Rebirth 1 Added Passive Skill is Bodyguards 1 Added Passive Skill is Life from Death

(Flask) Bottled Faith - Bottled Faith gets you some Crit Chance and Damage. Use against bosses.

40% increased Damage Creates Consecrated Ground on Use (30-15)% reduced Duration Consecrated Ground created by this Flask has Tripled Radius Consecrated Ground created during Effect applies (7-10)% increased Damage taken to Enemies (100-150)% increased Critical Strike Chance against Enemies on Consecrated Ground during Effect

(Flask) Stormblood (Lightning) - Shock increases damage taken, and it's usually a domain of Lightning Damage, which you may not deal at all.

+40% to Lightning Resistance +5% to maximum Lightning Resistance (20-40)% chance to gain a Flask Charge when you deal a Critical Strike 50% reduced Duration All Damage from Critical Strikes can apply Lightning Ailments during effect

(Flask) Cinderswallow Urn - It recovers 5 Charges on each Corpse Consumption, so it'll be active constantly. It causes Ignited enemies to take increased damage and recovers up to 3% of any resource you with for a second: Life or Energy Shield, preferably.

+(10-20) to Maximum Charges Recharges 5 Charges when you Consume an Ignited corpse Enemies Ignited by you during Effect take (7-10)% increased Damage Catarina's Veiled (prefix) <Random recovery on kill modifier>

Other suggested Flasks and Tinctures: Quicksilver Flask with ES Leech or Life Leech Silver Flask with reduced effect of Shock or Curses on you Diamond Flask with increased Crit Chance Granite Flask with increased Armour or crafted Life Regeneration Life Flask with Bleed removal

If you have any other build requests, please leave that in the comments below.

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games.