PoE 3.25 Minion Instability Build

Path of Exile is a really interesting ARPG because there are a lot of build combinations that you can tweak and try out depending on your playstyle.

The Minion Instability Elementalist may not be as popular as the other minion builds in PoE, but it certainly deserves your attention! It is a fun build to use because you simply act as a commander, summoning minions and having them explode near monsters to blast them to oblivion.

If you are interested, then read further. This is our comprehensive build guide for the Minion Instability Elementalist in Patch 3.23!

Basics

Being an unorthodox build, you are probably wondering how the Minion Instability Elementalist works. As you can already tell by the name, this build utilizes the Minion Instability keystone passive. Whenever your minions go below 50% HP, they will explode, dealing 1/3 of their max life as fire damage.

This is complemented by the unique helmet, Maw of Mischief. This unique Bone Helmet grants you the power to use Death Wish - a channeled spell that makes your minions explode as well. Upon channeling, you will affect nearby minions, up to a maximum of 13. When you stop channeling, they will go boom, dealing 10% more damage per affected minion. The explosion damage is also based on the minion's max life at 19% base damage.

So in essence, Minion Instability works passively, allowing your minions to obliterate enemies if they go below a certain HP threshold. Maw of Mischief's Death Wish, on the other hand, is more of an active approach to playing this build.

Now, this build only utilizes Summon Stone Golem and nothing else. The reason why is that this particular minion has the highest HP compared to its counterparts. Remember that the explosion damage of Minion Instability and Death Wish is based on the affected minion's max life. Therefore, the Stone Golem is the perfect one to use for this build.

Of course, you can add Summon Skeletons into the build if you want to take advantage of Death Wish's "more damage" multiplier, but we've kept it simple by only focusing on one type of minion.

In addition, you will wear Dialla's Malefaction for this build. Why, you ask? Well, you want this unique Sage's Robe to have all green sockets to increase the max quality of each gem socketed into it to 30%.

Speaking of gems, the Minion Instability Elementalist utilizes the new Transfigured Gem, Summon Stone Golem of the Hordes. This version is great because it allows you to summon two additional Stone Golems and has a faster cooldown compared to the original. You will also put the cooldown recovery mod on your belt to enable you to summon golems without long downtime.

You can scale the damage of the Minion Instability Elementalist by looking for "Minions Have Increased Maximum Life" and "Increased Minion Damage" mods on your gear.

There is a considerable change in the way damage is dealt on this build in the 3.24 Necropolis League. Instead of having “Damage Over Time Multipliers” you will replace it with direct damage. The POB (linked below) has been updated to reflect this.

Playstyle

The playstyle for the Minion Instability Elementalist requires some time to get used to. As soon as you load into a map, summon your Stone Golems and then use Shield Charge to look for juicy packs of monsters.

Once you encounter a huge mob, use Shield Charge to apply fire exposure and Flame Surge for Flammability. Then, use Convocation to have your golems teleport to your location instantly. Once everything is set, channel the Death Wish spell until all of your golems are affected by it (this shouldn't take long). After that, release the hotkey to cause your golems to explode, and watch as your enemies blow up to pieces!

In Patch 3.24, Convocation actually got a good buff in that it now grants 2% life regeneration per second and has an increased recovery rate, allowing you to cast it again without waiting that long! Plus, the gem level is now at level 1, so you don’t even have to worry about leveling it up. In other words, you are getting the most out of the gem right off the bat!

Ascendancy

Normally, those who play minion builds in Path of Exile choose the Necromancer as the ascendancy class of choice. However, this build is perfectly suited for the Elementalist, mainly because we are focusing on golems.

Having said that, take Liege of the Primordial as the first notable ascendancy passive for the Minion Instability Elementalist. This node increases the maximum number of golems you can summon by one.

Now, golems are not tanky early on, which is why you should take Elemancer as the next notable passive. This makes your golems pretty much immune to elemental damage. If you have been playing PoE for a while, you know that the majority of the monsters you face deal elemental damage, so Elemancer is huge for this build! And oh, you can summon an additional golem thanks to this node too!

Shaper of Flames is important for the Minion Instability Elementalist as well. This essentially gives you and your golems the power to ignite enemies on hit. Because you are wearing a special unique ring on this build, ignited enemies will spread the said elemental ailment to nearby monsters upon death!

The last node you should take is Bastion of Elements. This increases your survivability by granting you a protective barrier called "Primal Aegis." The barrier can absorb elemental damage, making you last longer on the battlefield. What's more, the amount of elemental damage the Primal Aegis can absorb is enhanced depending on how many notable skills you have allocated on the passive tree.

If you have some PoE currency, you can elevate the damage of this build even further by investing in Forbidden Flame and Forbidden Flesh jewels with "Bone Barrier" as the matching modifier. This particular node is from the Necromancer ascendancy and it boosts the maximum HP of your golems by 20%, which translates into more explosion damage!

Gear

The Minion Instability Elementalist requires some unique items to work. Do not worry, they are not too expensive, except for the Forbidden Jewels mentioned earlier. Apart from that, you should be able to gather all of the necessary pieces without breaking the bank.

Weapon

In the early game, get your hands on the Clayshaper. This unique one-handed mace allows you to summon an additional golem, which can help with your clearing speeds immensely.

After you are able to save up some currency, you can craft your endgame wand. You will do fossil crafting using Corroded, Metallic, Shuddering, and Jagged fossils. That said, spam an ilvl 84+ Convoking Wand until you get the following:

• +1 to Level of All Minion Skill Gems
• +1 to Level of All Spell Skill Gems
• Minions Deal % Increased Damage (preferably Tier 1)

Once you have the prefixes sorted out, put "Prefixes Cannot Be Changed" from the Crafting Bench and use a Veiled Chaos Orb. Interact with the Crafting Bench again and add the suffix, "Trigger a Socketed Spell..." This should block the highest weighted veiled modifier. Then, go to Jun and unveil. Look for the mod, "Minions Have % Increased Attack/Cast Speed."

To finish the craft, put "+20% to Fire Damage Over Time Multiplier" from the Crafting Bench and just use an Exalted Orb to fill the remaining suffix (if there's any).

Shield

There are viable shields you can use for the Minion Instability Elementalist. The first is a self-crafted Fossilised Spirit Shield, which you can craft using Essence of Greed for that guaranteed life roll. Spam the shield with essences until you get some useful modifiers, including:

• +1 to Level of All Minion Skill Gems
• Minions Have % Increased Maximum Life
• Resistances
• Energy Shield

If you just want a shield that you can rely on without doing any crafting, then you can get your hands on the Aegis Aurora. This unique Champion Kite Shield greatly improves your survivability, which is why it is a great choice for this build.

Body Armor

The best body armor for this build is Dialla's Malefaction, specifically one that comes with all green sockets. The reason why you should use this over other options is due to its unique effect, where gems inserted into green sockets have their maximum quality increased to 30%.

You're probably wondering why gem quality is quite important here. Well, that is because Summon Stone Golem of the Hordes comes with increased cooldown recovery rate based on its gem quality. So, if it is set to 30%, the cooldown of the said spell is even faster, allowing you to re-summon golems without having to wait long.

Helmet

Another mandatory piece of gear for the Minion Instability Elementalist is the Maw of Mischief. This unique Bone Helmet gives you the ability to cast Death Wish - a spell that causes affected minions to explode after channeling. This is an enabler. If you don't have this, the build won't work!

Gloves

For the gloves, you will craft them using an item level 85+ Murder Mitts. Spam Deafening Essence of Greed until you get T1 spell suppression, some resistances, and dexterity for good measure. Just leave a prefix slot open so that you can add "Minions Deal (10-20)% Increased Damage" from the Crafting Bench.

The beauty of self-crafted equipment is that you can use Eldritch Currencies to gain some useful implicit modifiers. That said, spam the gloves with Grand Eldritch Ichors to obtain "Inflict Fire Exposure on Hit, Applying -13% to Fire Resistance" and Grand Eldritch Embers to get "Minions Deal (20-22)% Increased Damage."

The Crusader Gloves or any armor/energy shield-based gloves are not bad at all. You lose out on spell suppression, but you can gain defenses via armor and energy shield instead. You can use the Crusader Gloves as a crafting base and spam it with Essence of Greed during league start until you get elemental resistances, attributes, and other mods that you need for the build.

Boots

The boots for this build are a self-crafted pair with a veiled movement speed modifier similar to the Onslaught boots from our dedicated crafting guide.

Basically, spam an ilvl 85+ Murder Boots with Deafening Essence of Fear to guarantee the mod, "Minions Have (28-30)% Increased Maximum Life." Do this until you get spell suppression and another useful suffix.

After that, lock suffixes, use a Veiled Chaos Orb, and then unveil. Choose any veiled movement speed modifier that pops up, though we recommend the one with additional move speed if you haven't been hit recently.

For the Eldritch implicits, you can choose anything that you want. We just went with shock and elemental ailment avoidance for survivability. You can go for Scorched Ground and "Ignites Deal Damage Faster" if you want more offense.

Amulet

Mana is pretty tight on this build, primarily because you will use several auras. To ensure that you have enough mana to activate them all, you can equip Replica Dragonfang's Flight, specifically one that has the mod, "+3 to Level of All Summon Stone Golem Gems."

If the specific Replica Dragonfang's Flight is not available, you can opt for a +2 amulet instead. Refer to our crafting guide to learn how to craft this particular amulet.

Due to the mana changes implemented in Patch 3.24, you can finish the self-crafted amulet with a Redeemer's Exalted Orb for a chance to obtain the mana reservation efficiency suffix.

Be sure to anoint the amulet with Charisma (Opalescent Oil, 2x Golden Oils) for that increased mana reservation efficiency of skills.

Rings

You can equip one unique ring and another self-crafted ring for the Minion Instability Elementalist. For the unique ring, you have a couple of options to choose from. Berek's Respite is a ring that spreads Ignite to nearby enemies if you kill an ignited monster.

A good alternative to Berek's Respite is Polaric Devastation. When you put this on the left ring slot, you can cover enemies in Ash, making them take increased fire damage as a result.

The second ring slot should be reserved for a self-crafted Bone Ring. Spam an ilvl 84+ Bone Ring with Deafening Essence of Sorrow (Dexterity) until you get the mod, "Minions Have (28-32)% Increased Maximum Life," along with other useful modifiers, such as life, chaos resistance, and attributes.

Belt

A well-crafted Stygian Vise can go a long way. To craft the belt, get an ilvl 84+ Stygian Vise and spam it with Deafening Essence of Sorrow until you get any of the following:

• + to Maximum Life
• Chaos Resistance
• Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistance
• + to Maximum Energy Shield

Be sure to leave one prefix and one suffix open. For the suffix, put "(9-12)% Increased Cooldown Recovery Rate" from the Crafting Bench. Then, use a Hunter's Exalted Orb to fill the remaining prefix. The mod you are looking for is a T1 "% Increased Maximum Life."

Don't forget to use Fertile Catalysts to maximize the life modifiers on the Stygian Vise.

Flasks

• Granite Flask
• Jade Flask
• Quicksilver Flask
• Amethyst Flask
• 5th slot: Bottled Faith (offense) or Progenesis (defense)

Flask Mods

• 20% Additional Elemental Resistances (of the Rainbow)
• 60% Increased Armor (of the Armadillo)
• 14% Increased Movement Speed (of the Cheetah)
• 65% Reduced Effect of Curses on You (of the Owl)

Jewels

The Minion Instability Elementalist does not require any unique jewels. However, you can improve various aspects of the build by adding some really nice jewels into the mix.

First and foremost, Primordial Might is a unique Crimson Jewel that increases the damage and maximum life of your summoned Stone Golems, so definitely include at least one of these into the build!

Watcher's Eye is always a great addition to any build in Path of Exile. Aim to get any of these modifiers if you are going to purchase one off the trade website:

• Grace
  • +% Chance to Evade Attack Hits
  • +% Chance to Suppress Spell Damage
  • % Increased Movement Speed
• Purity of Elements
  • % of Physical Damage Taken as Fire/Cold/Lightning Damage
  • +% to Chaos Resistance
  • +% to All Elemental Resistances
• Determination
  • % Additional Physical Damage Reduction
  • % Chance to Block Attack Damage
  • You Take % Reduced Extra Damage from Critical Strikes

You can also put a Large Cluster Jewel (Minion Damage) on the passive tree, specifically one that comes with these notable passives:

• Feasting Fiends
  • Minions Have 10% Increased Maximum Life
  • Minions Deal 10% Increased Damage
  • Minions Leech 0.4% of Damage as Life
• Primordial Bond
  • 10% Increased Damage per Summoned Golem
  • 40% Increased Effect of Buffs Granted by Your Golems
  • Golems Have 25% Increased Maximum Life
• Raze and Pillage
  • Minions Have 20% Chance to Ignite
  • Minions Deal 20% Increased Damage with Hits and Ailments Against Ignited Enemies
  • Minions Gain 6% of Physical Damage as Extra Fire Damage

If you want to craft the Large Cluster Jewel yourself, get a minion damage cluster jewel and use Harvest Reforge Life.

When you have enough currency, purchase an Impossible Escape unique Viridian Jewel which allows you to allocate passives in the radius of "Hex Master" without being connected to the tree. This is so that you can take the notables "Malicious Intent" and "Golem Commander." If you want, you can even allocate a point to Ravenous Horde, giving your golems a chance to gain Onslaught on kill.

Now, if you want to increase the damage of the build even further, you can also add the Fortress Covenant. This increases minion damage by 40%, as well as providing them with an increased chance of blocking attacks and spells.

The rest of your jewel slots can be populated with Ghastly Eye Jewels. Aim to get any of the following modifiers:

• Minions Have % Increased Maximum Life
• Minions Deal % Increased Damage if You've Used a Minion Skill Recently
• Minions Deal Additional Fire Damage
• + to Maximum Life
• Regenerate Energy Shield per Second

Gems

The gem setups for the Minion Instability Elementalist leave some room for flexibility. This means that you can freely swap some of the gems for anything that you want. However, the support gems for Summon Stone Golem are pretty much set in stone (no pun intended).

Body Armor

• Summon Stone Golem of Hordes
• Minion Life
• Minion Speed
• Combustion
• Empower
• Awakened Added Fire Damage

For this build, you are going to use the transfigured version of Summon Stone Golem. This is because Summon Stone Golem of Hordes lets you summon three golems at once. Furthermore, increasing the gem's quality hastens its cooldown, so you can re-summon your golems without long downtime.

Minion Life basically increases the damage potential of your Stone Golems, primarily thanks to the various mechanics that are at play. Minion Speed gives your golems a considerable movement speed and attack speed boost so that they will follow you wherever you go without relying on Convocation too much.

With the reliance on direct hits rather than damage over time in the Patch 3.24 iteration of this build, you can replace the Minion Speed support gem with Increased Critical Damage Support if you want.

Combustion increases the explosion damage of your golems, so it is included in the setup. Awakened Added Fire Damage boosts that damage even further.

Since Summon Stone Golem of Hordes is a spell skill gem, it scales better the higher its level is. That is why Empower Support is added to this setup as it increases the gem's level by three.

Helmet

• Awakened Increased Area of Effect
• Awakened Swift Affliction
• Awakened Burning Damage
• Cruelty

The gems socketed into the Maw of Mischief directly affect the explosion aspect of Death Wish. That is why Awakened Increased Area of Effect, Awakened Swift Affliction, Awakened Burning Damage, and Cruelty Support are used primarily to enhance the damage of Ignite, so enemies that are not killed immediately from the explosion will die a fiery death instead.

Gloves

• Vaal Grace
• Herald of Purity
• Purity of Elements
• Enlighten Support (Lvl 4)

Your main defensive aura for the Minion Instability Elementalist is Vaal Grace. This greatly increases your evasion rating, allowing you to dodge hits from enemy attacks more effectively. The "Vaal" portion of the skill acts as your panic button, which you should activate if you are in a tough situation.

If you do not want evasion as a defensive layer, you can replace Vaal Grace with Determination to boost your armor instead.

Herald of Purity significantly increases the maximum life of your Stone Golems. This translates to more damage from Minion Instability and Death Wish, so the gem's inclusion in the build is a no-brainer.

Purity of Elements helps you cap your elemental resistances. It also makes you immune to elemental ailments if the aura is active!

Because mana is so tight on this build, you should insert a level 4 Enlighten Support gem so that you can activate the above-mentioned auras with some mana left in the tank.

Boots

• Flammability
• Awakened Hextouch Support
• Flame Surge
• Defiance Banner

Flammability is your curse gem for the Minion Instability Elementalist. Thanks to Awakened Hextouch Support, the curse is automatically applied whenever you hit enemies with Flame Surge.

Aside from that, Flame Surge causes ignited enemies to create a burning ground that deals fire damage over time to nearby monsters, which helps improve your map-clearing speed.

Defiance Banner is there to improve you and your golems' defenses. You can only activate this if you have the Charm modifier that says, "Banner Skills Have No Reservation." Otherwise, swap this gem for something else like Immortal Call or Steelskin.

Hence, you can swap Defiance Banner for Immortal Call or Steel Skin depending on which guard skill you want to use. It is also worth pointing out that you can no longer bind these skills on the left click, so you will have to activate it manually now.

Weapon

• Shield Charge
• Faster Attacks
• Convocation

Shield Charge is your main movement skill for this build. It is linked to Faster Attacks Support so that the ability does not look and feel clunky each time you use it.

Convocation is another important spell for the Minion Instability Elementalist. That is because it is an integral part of your attack rotation. After applying fire exposure and Flammability on the enemy, use Convocation to call your Stone Golems to set them up for success. Use Death Wish to affect the golems and then release the hotkey for this spell to cause your minions to explode, dealing massive amounts of fire damage in the process!

Shield

• Tempest Shield
• Frostblink (or Flame Dash)
• Enlighten Support (Lvl 3)

As is typical with minion builds in Path of Exile, your main goal is to just survive the enemy's onslaught and let your Stone Golems take care of the rest. For this reason, activating Tempest Shield is a must because it not only boosts your chance to block spell damage, but also gives you a considerable chance to inflict Shock on enemies that attack you.

Shock is an elemental ailment in PoE that causes affected enemies to take increased damage from all sources. As you can see, with the gems and items that you use for the Minion Instability Elementalist, your stone golems will deal maximum damage at all times!

A level 3 Enlighten Support is included in this particular setup just as a means of reducing the mana required to activate Tempest Shield.

Tattoos

Out with the new, in with the old. That's right, the Tattoos have returned in Path of Exile 3.24 Necropolis League! Even though some of the most overpowered ones have been readjusted, there are some that are still worth using on this build. That said, here are the Tattoos that we recommend for the Minion Instability Elementalist:

• Tattoo of the Hinekora Warmonger

  • Minions Have 5% Increased Maximum Life

• Tattoo of the Ngamahu Warrior

  • 5% Increased Fire Damage

• Tattoo of the Rongokurai Turtle

  • 5% Reduced Extra Damage from Critical Strikes

• Tattoo of the Valako Shieldbearer

  • +1% Chance to Block Attack Damage

Passive Tree

POB

Main Build

Alternate Version (more DoT)

Final Thoughts

The Minion Instability Elementalist is one of the best builds in Path of Exile for those who want to see enemies explode! While you can certainly go for the Necromancer, you will choose the Elementalist for this build. That is because this ascendancy class allows you to summon more golems, which you can detonate using Death Wish provided by the Maw of Mischief unique helmet.

Although its playstyle requires some time to get used to, it is still rather simple and easy to play. Additionally, the build does require some unique pieces of gear to work; chief among them is the previously mentioned Maw of Mischief. Other supplementary pieces include Dialla's Malefaction, Replica Dragonfang's Flight, and the Primordial Might unique Crimson Jewel.

The Minion Instability Elementalist uses some crafted equipment as well. Luckily for you, we have a comprehensive crafting guide that will hold your hand every step of the way.

Another thing to note here is that the build leaves some room for flexibility. For instance, if you want to summon more minions, you could add Raise Spectre or Summon Skeletons into the mix.

Even though there are some changes that have been implemented in Path of Exile 3.24 Necropolis League, this build has survived regardless.

All in all, the Minion Instability Elementalist is one of the builds that you should definitely try. With that said, good luck on your adventures in Wraeclast, Exile!

PROS

+If you want to see enemies explode or suffer a fiery death, then this build is for you

+Gem setups leave room for flexibility, allowing you to swap some in favor of those that you want to use

+A great minion build that is capable of breezing through maps and taking on the pinnacle content that Path of Exile has to offer

+Still amazing in Patch 3.24

CONS

-Requires some mandatory equipment to work

-Playstyle needs some time to get used to

-Not meant for those who want to attack enemies themselves