Raise Spectre Miner
Trickster Build

Updated for Patch 3.24

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One of the defining features of Mines is their Auras - each mine Reserves Mana to provide some sort of Aura that affects not your character, but the enemies nearby. It will last until the Mine is detonated, so not a lot of players pay much attention to it. In this build, Auras from various Mines are its most important damage source, because as it turns out these can be immensely powerful. You can extend the limit of Mines you have at once to 20, and their duration to just short of 10 seconds. Their Auras have a good range, but you still have to place them underneath enemies which can be clunky. Fortunately, you don't have to use a whole set of different Mines to clear a map - Pyroclast Mine linked to a Minefield Support is enough. This Mine-throwing gameplay is still intrusive and constricting, and you're forced to rely on a damage source that won't interrupt it. We have chosen Minions - Spectres specifically, they don't need to be summoned often if at all.

Pyroclast Mine of Sabotage Reserves more Mana but grants a more powerful buff than its default version - that is Added Fire Damage against nearby enemies. There is a cap on Maximum Damage that can be added, but you can extend it greatly if you manage to increase this Mine's Skill Gem Level, which might be easily done with corrupted March of the Legion Boots and other such items. This Mine is the most important one of the whole set and causes your Minions to deal mostly Fire Damage, no matter their original damage type. Your other Mine is the Icicle Mine of Sabotage, which causes nearby enemies to be more likely to receive a Critical Strike, and this limit is always capped at 500%. It can almost be reached with 3 Mines which is good enough, because the remaining Mines that you can place, which is 7, are Stormblast Mines. They cause nearby enemies to take increased damage by nearly 150%.

These numbers grow so high because we've invested a lot into increased Aura Effect. The easiest way to do it is to look for "Increased Effect of Auras from Mines" from Demolition Specialist and Mine Mastery. After some further investment into the generic Aura Effect, your Mines are nearly 250% more effective. The Demolition Specialist passive belongs to a Saboteur, but that's the only good passive this ascendancy has, so we'll borrow it with a pair of Forbidden Jewels and go for Trickster with some generic defensive passives such as Escape Artist, Spellbreaker, Heartstopper, and One Step Ahead. You will also stick to the upper part of the passive skill tree for Mine and Minion nodes, and it cultivated a perfect condition for an Energy Shield build with Chaos Inoculation. The build relies on Ghost Dance, Heartstopper, Evasion, and of course Suppression. It lacks any Physical Damage reduction and has just the basic Elemental Resistances, so it's a softcore build.

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1. Gameplay

Use Spectres as your main damage source. We will go over which ones to look for in the Skill Gems section. Your Auras are Zealotry and Grace, and your Aura Mines are Pyroclast Mine of Sabotage, Icicle Mine of Sabotage, and Stormblase Mine. Throw Pyroclast Mines ahead of you as you go, your Minions will do the rest. During Boss fights, deploy 10 Pyroclast Mines, 3 Icicle Mines, and 7 Storblast Mines. This should reserve all of your Life. Your Curses are Flammability and Sniper's Mark. Upgrade your Minions with Spirit Offering.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Follow our Cold Exsanguinate Miner Trickster guide first. It's the fastest way to level up such a character - a well-established Trickster build that uses Mines. It's one of the best starter builds as of 3.24.
 

Bandits:

When dealing with the bandits, kill all of them for two extra Passive Skill Points.

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

123 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Unique nor Cluster Jewels)
123 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. One Step Ahead
2. Escape Artist
3. Spellbreaker
4. Heartstopper

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Lunaris: 1% increased Movement Speed for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%; 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%

Minor God: Soul of Abberath: 60% less Duration of Ignite on You

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Raise Spectre setup
	Raise Spectre - We recommend a Spell-based Projectile-firing responsive Spectre. One with many Projectiles or a rapid cast rate. Its base damage type is not important, all the necessary damage is gained from Mines. What's more important is to pick a Spectre with a base Spell Crit Chance at 5% or higher. Molten Soul seems like one of the best choices.
	Fire Penetration Support - Your main type of Damage is Fire, so investing in Fire Penetration is important. Get the Awakened version for Fire Exposure.
	Elemental Focus Support - Minions are unable to Ignite but deal more Elemental Damage.
	Minion Damage Support - More Minion Damage, less Minion Life.
	Spell Echo Support - Minions' Spells repeat an additional time with a higher cast rate, but lower damage.
	Increased Critical Damage Support - If their Crit Chance is high use Increased Critical Damage, if it isn't -  Faster Casting Support.

[UTILITY] Pyroclast Mine of Sabotage setup socketed in March of the Legion
	Pyroclast Mine of Sabotage - An Aura that causes nearby Enemies to receive additional Fire Damage with each Hit. The limit on how much Fire Damage is being added scales up with the Gem Level. You should reach this limit with 10 Mines in this build.
	Minefield Support - You now Throw 5 mines at once, but your Throwing Speed is much lower.
	Empower Support - Increases the Gem Level of Pyrocalst Mine.
	Spirit Offering - Improves Minions' Crit Chance and Crit Damage. It doesn't need to be socketed here, but it's the only viable place left for it.

[UTILITY] Other Mines
	Stormblast Mine - Each Mine creates an Auara that causes nearby enemies to receive increased Damage, up to 150%. Place 7 of these Mines for the best result.
	Icicle Mine of Sabotage - Each Mine creates an Auara that causes nearby enemies to be more likely to receive a Critical Strike. The hard cap is 500%. You will only need 3 of these Mines to nearly reach this cap.
	Enhance Support - The Quality of these two Mines is important. Enhance will increase the effect of their Auras.

[UTILITY] Aura setup
	Zealotry - Nearby Allies have increased Spell Crit Chance and Spell Damage. You could replace it with  Discipline if you feel like your damage is already good.
	Grace - More and increased Evasion Rating. It is one of the fundamental defensive layers.

[UTILITY] Shield Charge setup
	Shield Charge - Used to move around faster and apply Combustion with Ignite on Hit.
	Combustion Support - Ignited enemies have -10% to Fire Resistance. Try to keep bosses burning.

[UTILITY] Curse setup
	Arcanist Brand - Triggers both Curses with just one button. If this configuration drains too much Mana, you can cast them manually and use the salvaged gem slot to link Zealotry with Generosity.
	Sniper's Mark - Enemies take increased Projectile Damage, which then Split on Impact.
	Flammability - Enemies have their Fire Resistance lowered.

6. Gear Setup

It's a Minion build, so Minion Gem Level is important as per usual. Keep in mind that you will use Wraithlord and Unique weapon, which makes it much cheaper as Helemt and a Weapon are usually expensive there. For a weapon, we recommend The Dark Seer as the Gem Level of Pyroclast Mine is also extremely important, even more so than the Raise Spectre Gem Level. These Minions should have increased Crit Chance, Crit Damage, Cast Speed, and Maximum Life with high Resistances to keep them alive. For the character, seek Maximum Energy Shield, Evasion, and Spell Suppression Chance. Strength and Dexterity will be needed. You won't need any Reservation Efficiency, but depending on your Items, you may need a bit of Maximum Mana for all the Mines.

Our recommended items will:

1. Cap your resistances 
2. Give you enough DPS/Life to start mapping successfully

(Helmet) Wraithlord - It's a Spectre build so you need a Wraitholrd. It extends the Spectre cap by 4 and increases all Minion Gems Levels by 2.

Has 4 Abyssal Sockets (120-150)% increased Energy Shield +(1-2) to Level of all Minion Skill Gems +1 to maximum number of Spectres per Socketed Ghastly Eye Jewel You cannot have Non-Spectre Minions

(Weapon) The Dark Seer (Mana ES) - Dark Seer is excellent as it increases the Gem Level of all your Spell Skill Gems and applies Malediction if you can Blind them. The Mana/ES variant would be the best.

22% increased Elemental Damage +2 to Level of all Spell Skill Gems 10% Global chance to Blind Enemies on hit Unaffected by Blind Enemies Blinded by you have Malediction +(1-2) Maximum Energy Shield per Level +(1-2) Maximum Mana per Level

(Weapon) Maata's Teaching - It won't increase the Gem Level of Pyroclast Mine but will improve your Minions' Damage and nearly double their base Crit Chance, which is also good. You can wield this one in the Main Hand with The Dark Seer in the other.

26% increased Elemental Damage +(30-40) to Intelligence (25-50)% increased Critical Strike Chance +(1-2) to Level of all Minion Skill Gems Minions' Base Attack Critical Strike Chance is equal to the Critical Strike Chance of your Main Hand Weapon

(Off-hand) Matua Tupuna - Used only to improve the effect of your Mines' Auras by 20% and other Auras that affect your Minions by an additional 20%. The Effect of Auras (on enemies) is highly valuable in this build, so even as your Mines' Aura Effect is already increased by around 250%, it is still one of the best options.

(5-10)% increased Spell Damage +2 to Level of Socketed Minion Gems (40-80)% increased Energy Shield +(15-25) to maximum Mana 20% increased effect of Non-Curse Auras from your Skills on your Minions 20% increased effect of Non-Curse Auras from your Skills Spreads Tar when you Block

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - It's supposed to take advantage of the Escape Artist Keystone, so you will need a lot of ES here. Go for the Sadist Garb with mixed ES and Evasion. You will also need Suppression and maybe some Resistances. For the Eldritch mods, get increased effect of Auras from your Skills and extra Elemental Resistances or increased Evasion.

Min. requirements: 300 Energy Shield 1700 Evasion Rating Optional affixes: Spell Suppression Chance Resistances

(Boots) March of the Legion - March of the Legion are what you're looking for. These Boots increase the Gem Level of your Mines by up to 5 (Divine Blessing does not affect them). Corrupt them for an additional +2, or double-corrupt them for up to +4 additional Gem Levels for the socketed here Pyroclast Mine.

+(3-5) to Level of Socketed Aura Gems Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 25 Divine Blessing (250-300)% increased Armour and Energy Shield +(12-18)% to all Elemental Resistances (20-30)% increased Movement Speed

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Energy Shield, Resistances, Suppression Chance, and Dexterity shall be present here. For the Eldritch mods, get increased Minions' Damage and Spell Suppression Chance or increased Effect of Marks.

Min. requirements: 150 Energy Shield 80% Total Elemental Resistances Spell Suppression Chance Optional affixes: Dexterity Minions deal increased damage

(Belt) Rare Belt - The Belt should grant you Strength, Elemental Resistances, and Energy Shield. Some useful Flask modifiers can be found here too.

Min. requirements: +40 to Strength +40 to maximum Energy Shield +80% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Flask affixes Maximum Mana increased Maximum Energy Shield (Crusader's Prefix)

(Belt) Darkness Enthroned - Great for Minion builds, you can socket your best Ghastly Abyss Jewels here and double their effect.

Has 1 Abyssal Socket Has 1 Abyssal Socket (50-100)% increased Effect of Socketed Abyss Jewels

(Amulet) Replica Dragonfang's Flight - It shall increase the Gem Level of Pyroclast Mine. It offers Reservation Efficiency, Resistances, and reduces Attribute Requirements. It's all very desirable.

+(10-16) to all Attributes +3 to Level of all <Random Skill> Gems +(5-10)% to all Elemental Resistances (5-10)% increased Reservation Efficiency of Skills Items and Gems have (10-5)% reduced Attribute Requirements

Recommended Anointments: Bannerman Champion of the Cause Whispers of Doom

(Ring) Rare Ring - Bone Rings are the best choice for a Minion build - their mod pool includes a lot of great Minion-related upgrades. Attributes and Resistances are also important.

Min. requirements: +40% Total Elemental Resistances Strength Dexterity Minions deal increased Damage Optional affixes: Minions have increased Maximum Life, movement Speed, or Cast Speed Energy Shield

(Ring) Anathema - You may use Anathema to save some points by not pathing to Whispers of Doom, and by implementing one additional Curse - Elemental Weakness. It requires some adjustments to the Gems setup.

+(15-25) to maximum Energy Shield +(30-40) to Intelligence (10-15)% increased Cast Speed (10-20)% chance to gain a Power Charge when you Cast a Curse Spell Your Curse Limit is equal to your maximum Power Charges

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - These will be very important. For Prefixes seek Maximum Energy Shield. For Suffixes look for Minions' Cast Speed and Minion Damage or Minion Maximum Life. You will use around 7 of these.

Recommended affixes: Attributes Maximum Energy Shield Resistances Minions have #% increased Cast Speed Minions have +#% to Resistances

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - You don't have many Skill Points to spare, but the two additional Sockets would be great to have. Get the 8-passive Cluster Jewel with 3 Notables listed here, or the 12-passive one with increased effect of mall nodes.

Recommended affixes: Added Small Passive Skills have increased Effect Added Small Passive Skills also grant: Minions have 3% increased Attack and Cast Speed 1 Added Small Passive Skill is Feasting Fiends 1 Added Small Passive Skill is Renewal 1 Added Small Passive Skill is Vicious Bite Attributes Resistances

(Jewel) Grand Spectrum (Cobalt, Minion Crit) - You may use three of these if you don't have good Rare Ghastly Abyss Jewels yet.

Minions have +10% to Critical Strike Multiplier per Grand Spectrum

(Jewel) Forbidden Flesh & Flame - You absolutely need the Demolitions Specialist. If you don't have a pair of Forbidden Jewels with it, play as a Saboteur.

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

Other suggested Flasks: Silver Flask with increased Attack Speed (for Shield Charge) Quartz Flask with reduced Shock Effect Quicksilver Flask with increased Movement Speed Jade Flask with increased Evasion Rating Stibnite Flask with reduced Curse Effect

If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below. We are always open to suggestions and constructive feedback.

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