Intro & build description
Currently being one of the best builds in the game, Herald of Agony Guardian is something you should try if you want to do content you couldn’t do with other builds. The build is so strong, that it can do Sirius in less than 3 minutes, delve past 1000 and not worry about dying even in the maps with worst mods. While it’s not the cheapest starter build around, it’s manageable and you are more than capable of playing maps even with little investment.
A little more about the spectres the build uses: the best Spectre for this build is Stoneskin Flayer, which you can find in Delve around depth 100 and deeper. They are found in Primeval Fortress and Primeval Chamber delve zones. To get them, just use desecrate and raise them. The reason we use these specific spectres is that they’re insanely tanky and will act as frontline and taunt enemies making your build even safer. Until you can raise this specific spectre, just pick one that you like from this list.
Build Pros
- Has 80% Physical damage reduction thanks to more than 30000 armor
- High energy shield regeneration
- Chaos damage immunity
- Can delve very deep in the mine
- Can take out any boss game has to offer without much effort
- Can go as high as 20k energy shield
Build Cons
- Not as beginner-friendly as other starter builds to gear, however, is really easy to play
- Can cost you a bit to get going, due to the popularity of items the build uses
Passive tree(s) and Path of Building
[3.10] Skill TreeBandits
Bandits Quest Choice |
Kill all bandits |
Ascendancy skill points
Labyrinths | Skill point choice |
---|---|
Labyrinth 1 | Radiant Faith |
Labyrinth 2 | Radiant Crusade |
Labyrinth 3 | Unwavering Crusade |
Endgame Labyrinth | Time of Need |

Skill gem setup
Helm
Convocation
Vaal Molten Shell
Clarity (Use if you have Watcher's eye with extra ES from mana)
Increased Duration Support
Body Armor
Herald of Agony (Level 21 when currency allows it)
Minion Damage Support
Damage on Full Life Support
Empower Support (Level 4 when currency allows it)
Pierce Support
Vicious Projectiles Support
Gloves
Hatred
Generosity Support
Enlighten Support (Level 4 or Level 3 if gloves have +1 to socketed gems corruption)
Summon Skitterbots / Flesh and Stone
Boots
Ball Lightning (We use this as main skill for virulence stacks)
Poison Support
Greater Multiple Projectiles Support
Flame Dash
2h Weapon
None
1h Weapon
Poacher's Mark
Desecrate
Spirit Offering
Offhand weapon / shield
Raise Spectre
Meat Shield Support
Feeding Frenzy Support
Build uniques / Example rare gear
Tip: Click on the item to view it on PoE Wiki or to view similar rare items in poe.tradeHelmet
Memory VaultThis helmet is one of the core items in the build and one of the main reasons the build is so tanky.
Until you get it, use rare helmet with high energy shield and resistances.
Body Armour
Skin of The Loyal / Skin of The LordsThis body armour is excellent since increased global defences is a really valuable mod for this build.
This item comes with different socket colors, so getting one with perfect colors can be challenging.
But you could use other gems with minor damage loss if you don’t have the exact socket colors. Some of the other gems you can use:
1.) Maim Support
2.) Deathmark Support
3.) Hypothermia
Before you get this body armour, you could use Tabula Rasa for easy 6-link.
Gloves
Shaper's TouchShaper’s Touch is great pair of gloves which synergizes well with our build giving us good chunk of extra energy shield. If you have level 3 Empower, you should get these gloves with +1 To Level of Socketed Gems corruption, which can be expensive.
Before you can get these gloves, look for rare ones with high energy shield, mana and some resistances.
Boots
Rare Energy Shield bootsLook for rare energy shield boots with high ES and increased movement speed and intelligence.
Another good option for boots slot is Rainbowstride.
Left Ring
Rare RingLook for rare rings with + to maximum energy shield, intelligence, mana and some resistances. Rings like that will be quite cheap and you will be able to get really good ones for little currency.
Later on, you should be aiming for Circle of Nostalgia as one of your rings. The mod you want is “Herald of Agony has x% reduced mana reservation”.
Right Ring
Circle of NostalgiaCircle of Nostalgia is a must have ring for the build – it adds chaos damage to spells and attacks, which means we can poison enemies with any spell that we want. Look for one with “Herald of Agony has (40-30)% reduced Mana Reservation” and another option of your choice (I like the extra damage mod).
Amulet
AstramentisGreat amulet for attribute stacking builds, and this one is not an exception.
Can be quite expensive early on, but lower rolled ones should be affordable.
Belt
Rare Crystal BeltLook for rare Crystal Belt with +to maximum energy shields and as much elemental resistances as you can get. You can also craft mana on it through crafting bench.
Later on a great upgrade would be a well rolled Cyclopean coil, but make sure you can cap resistances elsewhere.
1Hand Weapon
Rare WandLook for rare wand with “+1 To Level of All Minion Skill Gems” and craft a “Trigger Socketed Spell When You Use a Skill” on it using crafting bench.
It might take a while to unlock that mod, so you can ask someone or run Syndicate until you unlock it yourself.
Having that mod crafted on wand, will make your life so much easier by automatically applying curse and casting offering.
Offhand
Whakatutuki o MatuaExcellent shield for the build – gives a lot of defense in Energy shield, damage in aura effect and also energy shield regen through Zealot’s Oath.
Jewel
Build JewelsBuild uses following unique jewels:
1.) The Golden Rule
This is a must-have jewel in order to make your virulence stacks consistent.
2.) Healthy Mind
Healthy mind is a great jewel for mana builds. Put it in the jewel slot just right of the Instability node.
3.) Watcher’s Eye (Really expensive)
This is a very endgame focused upgrade that will cost you a lot, but it will also give you tons of extra energy shield. Get one with “Gain x% of Maximum Mana as Extra Maximum Energy Shield while affected by Clarity” mod.
4.) On rare jewels look for attributes, increased maximum energy shield, any movement speed mod, minion damage mods.
Flask
Flasks1.) Rumi’s Concoction
2.) Sulphur Flask with curse removal (heals you if you stand still)
3.) Jade Flask with freeze removal
4.) Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline
5.) Silver Flask with bleed removal
How are you able to make ball lightning poison without it doing phys or chaos damage? I’m having to use lesser poison support instead.
Yes, there was a mistake in the build, thank you for pointing it out. Fixed.
i couldnt get ball lightning to activate crawler. i had to switch to ethereal knives
If you have Circle of Nostalgia, your Ball lightning should have no problems with keeping up 40 Virulence stacks easily.
Jewel’s from this guide were nefred, any idea/suggestion for replace? and how it will infuent skill pasives?
New cluster notables are good way to compensate. Some examples – Openness, Will Shaper, Genius, Energy From Naught, Stubborn Student.
still tempered spirit?
You are right, it doesn’t work anymore, fixed.
what kind of cluster would you look for ?
Hard to say, there are so many good ones. What I’d 100% get is Kitava’s Teachings jewel and socket Desecrate in the wand. That’s a free 5% ES and Mana regain per second with no downside, as long as you are casting your spells (Assuming recovery works with Zealot’s Oath).
grand spectrum should be changed aswell or not? 😀
Yep, removed those as well.
hi
instead feeeding frenzy, i use winthering touch, much more damage for the crawler and feeding frenzy don’t give anymore vantage for this build
Withering touch is not a good choice for spectres, since they serve as tanks, not damage. Also, Feeding Frenzy buffs your crawler with attack and movement speed, while Withering Touch doesn’t really do anything linked to spectres.
What is Flame Dash Support bruh?
A mistake on our part.