Elemental SRS Guardian Build Guide - Path of Exile 3.24

When you talk about Summon Raging Spirit (SRS) in Path of Exile, most people would refer to the Poison Necromancer variant. Sure, it does good damage and it's a bit tanky, but it has gotten to the point that most players would default to that and nothing else.

If you are tired of using the Necromancer class and would like to try out something new that still includes Summon Raging Spirit as the main skill, then you should definitely go for the Elemental SRS Guardian.

Despite the recent changes that Grinding Gear Games has made, this build is still viable, albeit at a slightly reduced effectiveness compared to previous leagues.

Anyway, in this guide, you will know what makes this build tick, as well as the things that you will need in order to create this character for yourself. So, without further ado, this is our ultimate build guide for the Elemental SRS Guardian in Path of Exile 3.24 Necropolis League!

Basics

Summon Raging Spirit is a spell skill gem in Path of Exile where you summon flaming skulls that attack your foes. What's interesting here is that SRS does not operate like the other minions in the game. Instead, you summon them, move your cursor to where your enemies are, and they will attack anything and everything that comes their way.

In addition, the SRS minions that you call out act like heat-seeking missiles where they will always search for potential targets nearby. Because of this, you just summon them with a right click and venture across the map until you reach the boss!

The gem itself converts all of your physical damage to fire damage, which is why you'll use support gems like Elemental Focus to make your raging spirits hit harder than ever. Interestingly, you can even use Melee Splash Support and Multristrike to aid in giving your minions the ability to clear packs with ease.

Now, the raging spirits have a base duration of five seconds but you can increase that by using Unleash Support, as well as some nodes on the passive tree. If you manage to get enough increased skill duration, you can potentially have at least 20 raging spirits up at all times, provided that you cast the spell every so often.

In Path of Exile 3.24 Necropolis League, the skill gem itself has been nerfed again. This time, it is a pretty big one in that Summon Raging Spirit no longer has an inherent 38% “more damage” multiplier at gem level 20.

So, what does this nerf mean? Well, it means that the skill won’t be as damaging as it was in the previous leagues. However, this is not to say that it is no longer viable; you just have to address it by increasing minion damage and cast speed in your gear wherever possible.

If there’s any consolation, it would be that the said skill gem still has a 30% chance to summon an extra minion at maximum quality. Therefore, it would be wise to increase the gem’s quality to 20% as soon as you can.

You can scale SRS damage by looking for the following modifiers:

• Increased Minion Damage
• Increased Minion Attack/Cast Speed
• Increased Minion Critical Strike Chance
• Increased Elemental Damage
• Added Physical Damage

In terms of defenses, you’ll also be using Tempest Shield on this build, which is a buff that grants an additional chance to block spell damage. Not only that but you’re immune to Shock when the buff is active as well. This saves you from damaging hits, especially when you’re fighting against monsters that can inflict the said status ailment.

Additionally, you have the option of utilizing Molten Shell linked to Cast When Damage Taken Support. With this setup, you gain some damage mitigation, making you less likely to die from one-shots or highly damaging hits.

In the endgame, the Elemental SRS Guardian will use two Keystone passives: Eldritch Battery and Mind Over Matter. Eldritch Battery puts all of your energy shield on your mana instead of life. This allows you to cast spells without worrying about your unreserved mana. The downside to this is that, when combined with Mind Over Matter, you could put yourself in a position where you don't have any mana to work with. That's because when you take damage with MoM allocated, your energy shield will be taken before your health. For this reason, you'd want to evade attacks as much as possible. Raising your armor and energy shield values on your gear also helps to mitigate incoming damage.

When you have access to better gear, you have the option of removing Mind Over Matter, especially if you are experiencing mana issues. With the removal of mods that provide mana cost reduction of skills in Patch 3.24, MoM has become less appealing to use in this league.

This build also involves some crafting. For example, you'll be using a Convoking Wand with +2 Level of Skill Gems and a Bone Helmet with Hypothermia mod on it. Don't worry, you will learn how to craft these things and more in this build guide!

Playstyle

The Elemental SRS Guardian is very easy to play. You use Shield Charge to move around the map and use your Summon Raging Spirits whenever you come across packs of monsters.

You can potentially summon at least 20 raging spirits at a time, so all you really have to do is cast the spell whenever there is an enemy and they will do the rest.

If you use golems like Carrion Golem or Stone Golem, summon them as soon as you enter a map. Be sure to call them back again when they die in combat.

While you can certainly have Summon Raging Spirits as the only minion skill in your build, you could add Spectres and Animate Guardians if you want to bring the whole party.

Speaking of Spectres, you can purchase corpses from the new Breaker of Oaths NPC in the Viridian Wildwood using Wild (Purple) wisps. Some of the corpses he offers are pretty good and can take the Elemental SRS Guardian to the top! This will be discussed in greater detail later in the guide.

Ascendancy

People who use SRS as their main skill usually gravitate toward the Necromancer class, but that is mostly because they're choosing the poison variant. Sure, it deals more damage but the thing is the Necromancer is not as tanky as the Guardian.

Since you're playing a minion build, you want to be able to take the hits without dying while your minions do the rest. That is precisely the reason why Guardian is a viable alternative to the Necromancer Summon Raging Spirit build. The Guardian has access to a lot of defensive nodes and auras that affect not only himself but also the minions around him.

When you finish your very first labyrinth, you're going to get Radiant Crusade. This is actually part of the recent rework made to the Guardian ascendancy class. Radiant Crusade gives the Guardian the ability to summon a Sentinel of Radiance - a minion that deals fire damage over time to its opponents. Moreover, the Sentinel of Radiance can taunt enemies so that you don't take damage. In the event that you do take a hit, 20% of the damage you receive will be taken from the Sentinel of Radiance's life before yours.

For your second notable ascendancy passive, you will take Unwavering Crusade. When you or your minions kill an enemy, you have a chance of summoning an Elemental Relic that provides you with a random buff, such as Anger (Fire), Hatred (Cold), or Wrath (Lightning). Although the Elemental Relic does not attack on its own, it does explode upon death, dealing 100% of its max HP as damage based on its respective element. The buff granted by the Elemental Relic is similar to a level 27 Anger/Hatred/Wrath gem, which means that your raging spirits' elemental damage is increased dramatically when it is active. The relic's full effect is unlocked once you reach level 85.

As you get into mapping, you will start to come across enemies that hit hard. For this reason, you will get Radiant Faith after completing the third labyrinth. This grants you and your allies some armor and energy shield based on 25% and 10% of your reserved mana, respectively. If you can manage to fit multiple auras in this build, you'll gain even more benefit from this notable ascendancy passive.

For your last ascendancy notable, you have a couple of options to choose from. Bastion of Hope gives you a huge boost to your attack/spell block chance. This is further improved by some pieces of gear that provide an additional chance to block.

If you prefer having better life regeneration, you can opt for Time of Need. When you have this, you regenerate 100% of your HP over a 1-second span. This happens every four seconds, so if you do take a critical hit, you can just walk away for a brief period and then get back into the action. What's more, all of the curses and elemental ailments that are applied to you will be removed every several seconds. This enables you to replace Purity of Elements with another defensive aura of your choosing.

In Path of Exile 3.24 Necropolis League, the Sentinels of Radiance created by the Radiant Crusader notable ascendancy passive has been nerfed. Instead of dealing fire damage based on 30% of their max life, that has now been reduced to 20%. Furthermore, the base radius of that fire attack is now set at 4 meters rather than 4.5 meters. These are pretty sizable nerfs, which means that the Elemental SRS Guardian may not be as potent as it was in the previous leagues. However, we would say that it is still a viable choice when it comes to a league starter, provided that you get your hands on better gear.

If you want to take things a step further, you could invest in the Forbidden Flame and Forbidden Flesh jewels with “Augury of Penitence” as the matching modifier. This node from the Inquisitor’s ascendancy tree increases the elemental damage nearby monsters take from you and your minions. Additionally, you take reduced elemental damage from their attacks, so you could say that this is a defensive node as well.

Gear

One of the things that make the Elemental SRS Guardian appealing is that you have several options to choose from in terms of your gear. You could opt for unique items that buff the critical strike chance of your raging spirits or you can craft certain pieces of gear for additional skill levels.

Weapon

Your main weapon for this build is a self-crafted Convoking Wand with mods that increase minion damage and those that raise the level of your spell/minion skill gems. It can be quite expensive to get all of these mods, but they're definitely worth it!

The easiest way to craft the wand is to use specific fossils, these being Corroded, Jagged, Metallic, and Shuddering. By utilizing these four fossils, you block almost all of the unnecessary mods that may pop up during the crafting process. However, it is important to note that because you'll be needing several fossils, as well as a Prime Chaotic Resonator to fit all of them, crafting the wand can drain you of your currency.

With that out of the way, here are the steps that you can follow to craft the wand:

1. Get an ilvl 84 Convoking Wand. You can either purchase one from the trade website or farm them in T14/T15 red maps
2. Then, you'd want to use Perfect Fossils until the quality of the item is increased to at least 28%. This is to help improve your chances of getting the desired affixes
3. After that, insert the above-mentioned fossils into Prime Chaotic Resonators and spam them on the wand to obtain the following mods:
   1. +1 to Level of All Minion Skill Gems
   2. +1 to Level of All Spell Skill Gems
   3. Minions Deal % Increased Damage
   4. Minions Have % Increased Critical Strike Chance
   5. Minions Have % Increased Attack Speed
4. To finish the craft, head to your Crafting Bench and put "Trigger a Socketed Spell When You Use a Skill with an 8-second Cooldown, Spells Triggered This Way Have 150% More Cost"

Fossil crafting is heavily based on RNG. This means that you can either spend only a small amount of currency to get the above-mentioned affixes, or it will take you a lot of time and resources to acquire everything that you need.

It also helps to get a Convoking Wand with a fractured minion damage mod, though they are quite expensive, especially if you are gunning for a Tier 1 or Tier 2.

If you do not want to spend a lot of currency doing fossil crafting, you can stop until you get minion damage, +1 to level of spell skill gems, and +1 to level of minion skill gems. Once you have these three, put "Can Have up to 3 Crafted Modifiers" on the wand from the Crafting Bench and then put "Trigger a Socketed Spell When You Use a Skill with an 8-second Cooldown, Spells Triggered This Way Have 150% More Cost" and "Minions Have 15% Increased Attack/Cast Speed."

Now, if you don't want to muddy your hands into crafting your own minion wand, there is a good alternative in the form of Maata's Teaching. This unique Karui Sceptre was introduced in Patch 3.22 Trial of the Ancestors but it's now included in the base loot pool.

What makes Maata's Teaching a viable alternative to a self-crafted minion wand is its unique effect, where the base critical strike chance of your minions is equal to that of your main hand weapon. This unique Karui Sceptre itself can reach up to 9% base critical strike chance, which is actually pretty huge!

In addition, Maata's Teaching raises the level of all your minion skill gems by two. This is a global modifier, meaning, this effect applies to all of your minion gems no matter where they are socketed into.

Shield

The Elemental SRS Guardian is a versatile build in that you have plenty of choices when it comes to certain pieces of gear. That is evident in the shield slot because you can choose between a unique shield or a crafted one.

If you just want something that you can rely on without the hassle of crafting, then look no further than the Aegis Aurora. This shield doesn't have anything that can benefit your raging spirits, but what it does have are defensive mods that can improve your survivability immensely.

The Aegis Aurora gives the following:

• (300-400)% Increased Armor and Energy Shield
• +10% to All Elemental Resistances
• +5 to Maximum Cold Resistance
• 6% Chance to Block
• Recovery Energy Shield Equal to 2% of Armor When You Block
• (10-20) Increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills

If you are going to use the Aegis Aurora, make it a point to equip gear that contains armor or armor/energy shield. This is so that you can take advantage of the shield's unique effect where you recover energy shield equal to 2% of your total armor when you block.

Even though the Aegis Aurora is perfect when it comes to defensive mods, you may want to use a crafted rare Fossilised Spirit Shield with +1 to minion skills, minion damage, and minion critical strike chance for more damage.

The most cost-effective way to craft this is to get a Fossilised Spirit Shield with a fractured mod from the pool that was just mentioned. The most expensive is the one with the +1 to minion skills but just about any of those mods will do.

Getting a fractured shield makes it easier for you to obtain the desired affixes. That said, you will do some fossil crafting again using Bound, Dense, and Pristine Fossils. If currency is not an issue, you can add the Sanctified Fossil for a higher chance of getting Tier 1 or Tier 2 mods.

Just spam the spirit shield using the fossils above to get these mods:

• +1 to Level of All Minion Skill Gems
• Minions deal % Increased Damage
• + to Maximum Life
• Minions Have % Increased Critical Strike Chance
• Chance to Block [Attacks]
• Chance to Block Spell Damage (Bench Craft)

If you are going to use other minion skills like Carrion Golem or Stone Golem, you can replace chance to block damage with either "Minions Have % to All Elemental Resistances" or "Minions Have % Additional Physical Damage Reduction" or both.

Body Armor

The body armor you're going to use for this build is a unique one called the Fleshcrafter. When you have this equipped, your minions will totally ignore the elemental resistances of your enemies so long as they have some energy shield. This is aided by the armor's other unique effect where your minions convert 2% of their max HP to energy shield per 1% of chaos resistance. Not only that but the energy shield of your minions will recharge faster after taking damage.

Because the Fleshcrafter is quite inexpensive, you can purchase a bunch of them from the trade website and corrupt them using Vaal Orbs for a chance to obtain the following implicit modifiers:

• +2 to Socketed Minion Gems
• +2 to Socketed Duration Gems
• +1 to Level of Socketed Gems
• % Increased Maximum Life
• % Additional Physical Damage Reduction While Stationary
• % Reduced Chaos Damage Taken
• You Take 50% Reduced Extra Damage from Critical Strikes
• +1 to All Maximum Resistances
• % Reduced Fire/Cold/Lightning Damage Taken

Another popular body armor you can use for the Elemental SRS Guardian is the Saqawal's Nest. This unique Blood Raiment is pretty good because the effects of Aspect of the Avian apply to you and your minions when you have it equipped.

If you don't know, Aspect of the Avian grants two alternating buffs that last for several seconds each. The first buff is called Avian's Might, which provides you and your minions a 10% chance to deal double damage. The second buff, Avian's Flight, gives a 10% increased movement speed boost to you and your minions.

Other notable things that the Saqawal's Nest provides are:

• +25-75 to All Attributes
• +30-40% Lightning Resistance
• 12-20% Increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills
• +120-150 to Evasion Rating and Energy Shield

While not as popular as the first two choices, there is another body armor that you might want to try for the SRS Elemental Guardian, The Queen's Hunger. This unique Vaal Regalia triggers the skills, Bone Offering, Flesh Offering, and Spirit Offering, at random. Every five seconds, a nearby corpse will be consumed to give your minions increased attack speed, increased movement speed, increased critical strike chance, or increased chance to block attacks/spells depending on the particular Offering skill that was active at the time. You have a chance of obtaining this body armor by defeating Catarina, Master of the Undeath.

With the nerfs implemented to Summon Raging Spirit and the Guardian’s Radiant Crusade in the 3.24 Necropolis League, using a self-crafted body armor that has the mod, +1 to Maximum Number of Spectres” has become even more appealing. The reason for this is that it allows them to summon an extra spectre that can provide some buffs to improve the build. This is more important nowadays, especially with the emergence of new spectres that deal a ton of damage.

The said mod can only be acquired from the Delve mechanic in Path of Exile. If you are interested in farming this yourself, you have a chance of obtaining body armor with this mod in the Abyssal Depths or Fungal Caverns. Look for nodes in the Subterranean chart that reads, "Contains Minion or Aura Items."

Make sure that the body armor you are going to craft on has evasion or evasion/energy shield on it so that it can roll spell suppression. Some good choices are Crypt Armour, Varnished Coat, or Carnal Armour, to name a few.

To give you an easier time to craft the endgame armor, you should fracture the spectre mod so that you can just use essences. Take note that this process can be quite expensive, but it will all be worth it in the end!

You can fracture the mod by using a Fracturing Orb. This can only be used if the item in question has at least four mods on it. If it only has three, you can use an Exalted Orb to satisfy the requirement.

When you've fractured the spectre mod successfully, you can now proceed with the next steps:

1. Use Deafening Essence of Envy (Chaos Resistance) or Deafening Essence of Loathing (Mana Reservation), whichever you need for the build
2. Spam the armor with essences until you get T1 "Chance to Suppress Spell Damage"
3. Leave a prefix slot open so that you can put "6% of Physical Damage from Hits Taken as Fire/Lightning Damage" from the Crafting Bench
4. Make sure that the armor does not have any life modifiers on it. This is because you want to take the Life Mastery that says: "15% increased maximum Life if there are no Life Modifiers on Equipped Body Armour"
5. When you are happy with the explicit modifiers, it is now time to obtain some good implicits. Spam the armor with Grand Eldritch Ichors until you get "Haste Has 27% Increased Aura Effect" and Grand Eldritch Embers for "14% Increased Effect of Non-Curse Auras from Your Skills"

Helmet

So, what is the best helmet for the Elemental SRS Guardian? Well, it is none other than a self-crafted Shaper-influenced Bone Helmet with the Hypothermia and minion damage mods on it. The Bone Helmet is the preferred crafting base due to its implicit modifier, "Minions Deal (15-20)% Increased Damage."

The Hypothermia mod, in particular, grants a huge damage boost to your raging spirits, specifically because of the Guardian ascendancy notable passive, Unwavering Crusade.

Anyway, to craft the helmet, follow these steps:

1. Get a Shaper- and Elder-influenced Bone Helmet with an item level of 84. You can purchase the base from the trade website or you can merge one Shaper- and one Elder-influenced Bone Helmet using an Awakener's Orb
2. Increase the quality of the helmet to 20% by using Armourer's Scraps. For better results, use Perfect Fossils to achieve 30%
3. You will do fossil crafting again for this helmet. Obtain a good amount of Bound, Frigid, and Deft fossils and insert them into Powerful Chaotic Resonators. Spam the Bone Helmet with these fossils until you get the following affixes:
   1. Socketed Gems Are Supported by Level 16/18/20 Hypothermia, (13-16)% Increased Effect of Cold Ailments
   2. Socketed Gems Are Supported by Level 16/18/20 Minion Damage, Minions Deal (19-22)% Increased Damage
   3. +2 to Level of All Minion Skill Gems
   4. Socketed Spells Have +% to Critical Strike Chance
4. The other two mods can be anything that you still need for the build, including life, elemental resistances, and chaos resistance. Use the Crafting Bench to add the mod that you still need and an Exalted Orb to fill the other open slot

Now, you do have the option of using Essence of Horror to craft the helmet for that guaranteed "Socketed Gems Deal 30% More Elemental Damage" mod. However, be prepared to spend a lot of currency because you will need a ton of essences to get the important mods mentioned earlier.

If you want to maximize spell suppression, you can opt for a non-influenced ilvl 85+ Vaal Mask or Deicide Mask, preferably with a fractured "+2 to Level of All Minion Skill Gems." Then, follow these crafting steps:

1. Increase the helmet's quality to 28-30% by using Perfect Fossils
2. Next, spam the helm with any essences of your choosing. We recommend either Essence of Envy (Chaos Resistance) or Essence of Loathing (Mana Reservation), though the choice is entirely up to you. Do this until you get T1 or T2 spell suppression
3. Leave a prefix slot open so that you can put "8% of Physical Damage from Hits Taken as Fire Damage" from the Crafting Bench
4. For the implicit modifiers, use Eldritch Ichors to obtain "% of Physical Damage from Hits Taken as Fire Damage" and Eldritch Embers for "Minions Have % Increased Maximum Life"
5. If you're going for the min-max version, spam the helmet with essences leaving one prefix and one suffix open. Get Fenumus, First of the Night beastcrafting recipe from the trade website and right-click it to learn it. Then, go to your Menagerie, place the helmet in the big circle at the center of the arena, and beat the monsters that come your way. Eliminating them successfully will put the Level 20 Aspect of the Spider Skill on the helmet. Then put the "8% of Physical Damage from Hits Taken as Fire Damage" from the Crafting Bench and that's it!

While not really mandatory, adding the Aspect of the Spider on the helmet can enhance your raging spirits' damage output. That is because this skill spews spider webs to nearby enemies, putting a debuff on them that increases the damage they take by 5% per web (up to three webs can be inflicted on an enemy). The web also hinders your foes, making them easy pickings for your flaming skulls.

Gloves

You're probably tired of hearing about crafted gear, but the reality is that if you want to have the best possible experience playing an Elemental SRS Guardian, you will have to craft stuff yourself. Unless, of course, you have the currency to just buy it from someone on the trade website.

Don't worry, crafting the gloves is one of the easiest things you can do for this build. Get yourself an ilvl 85 Crusader Gloves because this is a pretty good armor/energy shield base. The Sorcerer Gloves are a good alternative if you want more energy shield at the cost of not having armor. Then, grab a ton of Deafening Essence of Fear to guarantee the mod, "Minions Deal (28-30)% Increased Damage." Use as many as needed until you get these affixes:

• Minions Deal (28-30)% Increased Damage (from Essence)
• + to Maximum Life
• % Increased Armor and Energy Shield (% Energy Shield only if using Sorcerer Gloves)
• Elemental Resistances (Whichever you need)
• Attributes (Depending on your needs, mostly STR or DEX)
• Chaos Resistance (If not capped yet)

Another reason why you'd want a self-crafted pair of gloves for this build is so that you can use Eldritch Currencies. Use Eldritch Ichors to obtain the "% Increased Effect of Your Marks" implicit. Furthermore, spam the gloves with Eldritch Embers for that "Minions Deal % Increased Damage" modifier.

If you're mainly using Summon Raging Spirits and nothing else (apart from the Sentinel of Radiance), you can opt for the unique Arcanist Gloves, Replica Grip of the Council. Unlike its normal counterpart, the replica version of Grip of the Council reduces your minion's maximum life instead of its movement speed by 10%. However, that is compensated by the 20% physical damage as extra fire damage, which is the gloves' unique effect.

Boots

A good self-crafted pair of boots for this build can go a really long way. Now, there are two routes you can take when it comes to crafting the boots. The first is by using Deafening Essence of Greed (HP) or Deafening Essence of Envy (Chaos Resistance) until you get "% Increased Energy Shield" or "% Increased Armor/Energy Shield," depending on the crafting base you've chosen.

The second route is using Dense Fossils inserted into Primitive Chaotic Resonators until you get the same mods just mentioned.

As to what crafting base you should use, you can opt for Crusader Boots if you equip the Aegis Aurora. Alternatively, the Sorcerer Boots is a good choice if you want more energy shield (useful when you allocate a passive point on Mind Over Matter). Using Shagreen Boots or Dragonscale Boots is a viable option now if you want to roll spell suppression.

Here are the full instructions:

1. Get an ilvl 86 Sorcerer Boots or ilvl 84 Crusader Boots or ilvl 85 Shagreen/Dragonscale Boots. Increase their quality by using Armourer's Scraps or Perfect Fossils
2. Use essences or Dense Fossils until you get the suffixes that you need.
3. Make sure that you have an open prefix so that you can put "Suffixes Cannot Be Changed" from the Crafting Bench. If you don't have one, you can use an Eldritch Ember and an Eldritch Orb of Annulment to remove a prefix modifier. Just hope that the "% Increased Armor/Energy Shield" or "% Increased Energy Shield" mods don't get removed. Otherwise, use essences or Dense Fossils again
4. Once that's done, use a Veiled Chaos Orb to get a veiled prefix. This can only be guaranteed when all of your suffixes are filled
5. Then, go to Jun and unveil the mod. You're looking for "(25-30)% Increased movement Speed, (10-12)% Increased Movement Speed if You Haven't Been Hit Recently." If this particular mod does not appear, the prefix, "100% Chance to Avoid Being Chilled/(25-30)% Increased Movement Speed," is a good alternative
6. If you have an open prefix, you can go back to the Crafting Bench and add any mod that you want. The "% Increased Armor/Energy Shield" is very appealing, though (only if using Crusader Boots)
7. Now, you will be using Eldritch Currencies on the boots. Spam them with Eldritch Ichors until you get "% Increased Life Regeneration Rate." For the Searing Exarch implicit, use Eldritch Embers to acquire "Spirit Offering Has % Increased Effect"

Amulet

The Elemental SRS Guardian used to rely on Ashes of the Stars due to its mana reservation efficiency. However, this particular unique amulet got heavily nerfed in Patch 3.23, so it is no longer viable to use for the build. Don't worry, there are two great options that you can use to replace Ashes of the Stars.

With Ashes of the Stars being gutted in the recent PoE expansion, the Replica Dragonfang's Flight definitely takes its place. Get one that has the mod, "+3 to Level of All Summon Raging Spirit Gems." Although the mana reservation efficiency this amulet provides has been reduced to just 10% (from 15% previously), it is still worth it.

Aside from Replica Dragonfang's Flight, you can opt for a self-crafted amulet that increases the level of all skill and fire skill gems by one. If you are interested in crafting this amulet, then here are the steps:

1. There are a wide variety of amulets you can use as a crafting base. You can opt for an ilvl 85+ Jade Amulet (DEX), Amber Amulet (STR), Citrine Amulet (STR/DEX), Onyx Amulet (All Attributes)
2. Once you've chosen an amulet to craft on, use an Orb of Scouring followed by an Orb of Transmutation to turn it into a magic (blue) item
3. Spam it with Orb of Alteration until you obtain the mod, "+1 to Level of All Skill Gems." This is a pretty rare mod and you can spend upwards of 2000 Orb of Alteration. Just be patient because it will all be worth it
4. Once you have the mod, use a Regal Orb to turn the amulet into a rare (yellow) item. Now, this process might put a suffix instead of a prefix. If that is the case, use an Orb of Annulment and hope that you do not remove the +1 mod. Otherwise, go back to step 2
5. When you have a rare amulet that does not contain any suffixes, go to your Crafting Bench and put these mods in the specific order:
   1. Can Have up to 3 Crafted Modifiers
   2. Prefixes Cannot be Changed
   3. Cannot Roll Attack Modifiers
6. After putting all of the mods from the Crafting Bench, go to your Harvest Bench and select "Add a Fire Modifier and Remove One Random Modifier from a Non-Influenced Item." Doing this guarantees the mod, "+1 to Level of All Fire Skill Gems"
7. When you have the desired prefixes, go to your Crafting Bench again and select "Remove All Crafted Modifiers"
8. Put "Can Have up to 3 Crafted Modifiers" again and add any two mods that you want. Here are the ones we recommend:
   1. +% to All Elemental Resistances, Minions Have +% to All Elemental Resistances
   2. +% to Fire/Cold/Lightning and Chaos Resistances
   3. % Increased Effect of Non-Damaging Ailments
   4. % Increased Fire Damage
   5. Minions Have % Increased Movement Speed

9. For the cherry on top, you can use Intrinsic Catalyst to further enhance the attribute implicit modifier on the amulet

No matter which of these amulets you end up choosing for this build, you must anoint it with Charisma (Opalescent Oil, Golden Oil, Golden Oil) for that 16% Increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills. This lets you fit more auras into the build, such as Summon Skitterbots, Precision, and Tempest Shield.

If you do not have problems activating all of your auras, you can anoint the amulet with Death Attunement (Clear Oil, Crimson Oil, Silver Oil) so that you can summon one additional spectre.

Because spectres now play a huge role in boosting the Elemental SRS Guardian, The Jinxed Juju has become a viable option for the amulet slot as well. This particular item provides the following:

• +(30-40) to Intelligence
• +(23-31)% to Chaos Resistance
• (10-15)% Increased Effect of Non-Curse Auras from Your Skills
• 10% of Damage from Hits Taken from Your Spectres' Life Before You

The Jinxed Juju is more of a defensive option because of the amulet's unique effect. To maximize the defense it provides, anoint it with Grave Intentions (Sepia Oil, 2x Violet Oils) for "Minions Have +27% to Chaos Resistance" and "Minions Gain 20% of Maximum Life as Extra Maximum Energy Shield."

Rings

You're going to do some crafting again. This time, you will be using the Bone Ring as a crafting base. The reason why you should go for this specific ring is that it grants your minions +15% to all elemental resistances thanks to its implicit modifier. Additionally, you can roll some amazing minion mods, including "Minions Have % Increased Attack Speed" and "Minions Have % Increased Movement Speed."

That being said, acquire an ilvl 85 Bone Rong, preferably one with a fractured "Minions Deal % Increased Damage" mod. This makes crafting the rings so much easier. Then, get as many Deafening Essence of Rage as you can. This specific essence guarantees the STR roll on your rings. You can replace that with Deafening Essence of Sorrow or Deafening Essence of Spite if you need more DEX or INT on your character, respectively. Next, start spamming these essences on the ring until you get the minion attack speed mod mentioned earlier. Make sure that you have an open suffix to insert the Aspect of the Avian skill through beastcrafting.

To do that, purchase Saqawal, First of the Sky from the trade website. They're usually pretty cheap because it is not an Aspect Skill that many people use in Path of Exile. Right-click on the itemized creature to add it as a beastcrafting option. After that, head to the Menagerie from your hideout and go to the center of the map with the huge circle. Put one of your Bone Rings there (make sure that you have an open suffix) and select Saqawal, First of the Sky from the list. Then, just defeat the boss and its minions and the Aspect of the Avian Skill should now be present on the ring. For the other Bone Ring, you can fill it with another suffix of your choosing.

Anyway, here is a rundown of the mods that you should aim for when crafting the rings:

• Minions Deal % Increased Damage
• Minions Have % Increased Attack/Cast Speed
• Minions Have % Increased Movement Speed
• Gain Level 20 Aspect of the Avian Skill (only on one of your rings)
• Elemental Resistances (that need to be capped)
• Chaos Resistance (if all elemental resistances are capped)
• Attributes (if you need more to equip items and gems)
• + to Maximum Life
• Non-channeling Skills Have -7 to Total Mana Cost (Bench Craft)

It is worth noting that if you're already using the Saqawal's Nest Blood Raiment, you can swap the ring with the Aspect of the Avian Skill on it for another suffix mod instead.

Although you can use any catalysts you want on the rings, the Fertile Catalyst is recommended to improve their life/mana modifiers.

Another option that is gaining in popularity in the 3.23 Affliction League is the Unset Ring with the Determination skill gem slotted inside. The reason why many people use this ring, in particular, is that it's the only one that can roll "+3 to Level of Socketed Gems."

Crafting the ring is relatively easy. All you have to do is get an ilvl 85+ Unset Ring and use the "Reforge Chaos" option from your Harvest Bench (or Hortifcrafting Station) until you get the +3 level mod. When you have it, just use an Exalted Orb to fill the rest of the affixes. Here is a brief list of the desired mods you can roll on the Unset Ring:

• + to Maximum Life
• + to Maximum Mana
• % Increased Fire Damage
• + to Strength or Dexterity
• +% to Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistance
• +% to All Elemental Resistances
• % of Damage Taken Recouped as Life
• Non-Channeling Skills Have -7 to Total Mana Cost (Bench Craft)

Belt

The Elemental SRS Guardian can utilize the Darkness Enthroned Stygian Vise to great effect. That's because you'll be using a lot of Ghastly Eye Jewels on this build. Insert two of the best jewels you have on this unique Stygian Vise so that their effects are increased by 100%! Get a Darkness Enthroned belt with the corrupted implicit modifier, "% Increased Strength/% Increased Intelligence" to give you a small boost in attributes.

Once you have enough currency, you can transition to using the Mageblood. This rather expensive unique Heavy Belt can solve all of your survivability issues due to permanent uptime of your flasks.

Flasks

Speaking of flasks, you should use those that help make you tanky. Here are the recommended ones:

• Divine Life Flask
• Quicksilver Flask
• Basalt Flask
• Granite Flask
• Jade Flask

If you don't have a lot of evasion rating on your character, you can swap the Jade Flask for an Amethyst Flask for chaos resistance or Bismuth Flask if you still have problems capping your elemental resistances. The Quartz Flask is also a good choice as it grants you the ability to phase through enemies, allowing you to move unhindered. The added 10% spell suppression is a great addition as well, especially if you're using some evasion-based gear.

Now, if you're comfortable with your defenses already, you can use the Bottled Faith unique Sulphur Flask for more damage.

Flask Mods

• Grants Immunity to Bleeding and Corrupted Blood
• 14% Increased Movement Speed During Effect
• 60% Increased Armor During Effect
• 65% Reduced Effect of Curses on You During Effect
• 60% Increased Evasion Rating During Effect (if you have high evasion)

Jewels

You are going to use an awful lot of Ghastly Eye Jewels on the Elemental SRS Guardian. The reason why this jewel is great for the build is due to the fact that it can roll mods that affect your minions. You can use chaos orbs on a rare (yellow) Ghastly Eye Jewel to obtain any of the following:

• Minions Deal % Increased Damage if You've Used a Minion Skill Recently
• Minions Deal # to # Additional Physical Damage
• Minions Deal # to # Additional Fire Damage
• Minions Have % Increased Attack/Cast Speed
• Minions Have +% to All Elemental Resistances
• Minions Have % Chance to Blind on Hit with Attacks
• + to Maximum Life
• + to Armor
• % Chance to Avoid Being Frozen
• % Chance to Avoid Being Stunned

Aside from Ghastly Eye Jewels, you can fit a Large Cluster Jewel in the build as well. For the mid-game version of the build, you can go for an 8-passive Large Cluster Jewel with any of these notable passives:

• Call to the Slaughter
  • Minions Deal 15% Increased Damage
  • Minions Created Recently Have 30% Increased Movement Speed
  • Minions Created Recently Have 10% Increased Attack/Cast Speed
• Renewal
  • Minions Have a 5% Chance to Deal Double Damage While They Are on Full Life
  • Minions Regenerate 1% of Life per Second
• Vicious Bite
  • Minions Have +15% to Critical Strike Multiplier
  • Minions Have 30% Increased Critical Strike Chance
• Rotten Claws
  • Minions Have a 12% Chance to Imaple on Hit with Attacks
• Feasting Fiends
  • Minions Have 10% Increased Maximum Life
  • Minions Deal 10% Increased Damage
  • Minions Leech 0.4% of Damage as Life
• Raze and Pillage
  • Minions Gain 6% of Physical Damage as Extra Fire Damage
  • Minions Have 20% Chance to Ignite
  • Minions Deal 20% Increased Damage with Hits and Ailments Against Ignited Enemies

In the endgame version of the build, you have the option of swapping an 8-passive Large Cluster Jewel with one that has 12 passive skills. The mods you are looking for in a 12-passive Large Cluster Jewel are:

• Minions Have % Increased Attack/Cast Speed
• Small Passive Skills Have 35% Increased Effect
• Small Passive Skills Also Grant + to Maximum Life
• Added 1 Passive Skill (Vicious Bite or Call to the Slaughter)

The above Large Cluster Jewel is easy to obtain. Get one with "Minions Deal 10% Increased Damage" as a base. Next, head to your Harvest Bench and use the "Reforge Critical" option for a high chance of obtaining Vicious Bite or "Reforge Attack"for Call to the Slaughter.

Well, the jewels that you're going to use on this build don't stop there. You will also equip a 4-passive Medium Cluster Jewel with Renewal and Blessed Rebirth as notable passives.

Then, get yourself a good Watcher's Eye unique Prismatic Jewel. The mods that are on it should be those that correspond to the auras you're using. Here are some suggestions:

• You Take % Reduced Extra Damage from Critical Strikes While Affected by Determination
• % Chance to Block Attack Damage While Affected by Determination
• + to Armor While Affected by Determination
• % of Physical Damage from Hits Taken as Cold Damage While Affected by Purity of Elements
• +% to Chaos Resistance While Affected by Purity of Elements
• +% to All Maximum Elemental Resistances While Affected by Purity of Elements

If you want to improve your spectres' survivability, you can add a medium cluster jewel with Dread March as one of the notable passive skills. Crafting this is very easy! All you have to do is use Bound and Pristine Fossils until you get Dread March and another notable passive skill of your choosing.

The notable passives in the Guardian ascendancy tree are already pretty good for this build. However, you can min-max the Elemental SRS Guardian by purchasing the Forbidden Jewel Set with "Augury of Penitence" as the matching modifier. This comes from the Inquisitor ascendancy tree and it is great for offense and defense. That is because nearby enemies take 16% increased elemental damage, while they deal 8% less elemental damage to you.

When you have some currency to spare, you can purchase the Grand Spectrum Cobalt Jewel, specifically one that says "Minions Have +10% to Critical Strike Multiplier per Grand Spectrum." If you can buy three of them, that will be even better!

Gems

The Elemental SRS Guardian is pretty flexible when it comes to the gem setup. The gems outlined in this section act merely as a guide. You have the freedom to swap some gems if you feel that you'll get better results with other options.

Body Armor

• Summon Raging Spirit
• Awakened Unleash Support
• Awakened Melee Splash Support
• Awakened Elemental Focus Support
• Awakened Elemental Damage with Attacks Support
• Awakened Minion Damage Support

This is your main skill setup. Summon Raging Spirit lets you call upon a bunch of flaming skulls that seek nearby targets, dealing fire damage to those that are hit.

Awakened Unleash Support is an interesting support gem for this build. This gem makes SRS generate seals every 0.66 seconds at level 5, up to a maximum of four seals. When you use SRS, Unleash Support basically casts Summon Raging Spirits in rapid succession based on the number of seals you had before casting. The disadvantage here is that the raging spirits summoned this way deal less damage than the main ones. Still, being able to call forth plenty of minions in one click is really helpful, especially when fighting against juicy packs of monsters. You can replace this with Ruthless Support if you're into bossing.

Awakened Elemental Focus and Awakened Elemental Damage with Attacks are both support gems that further improve the damage of your raging spirits. Because the SRS gem has the "fire" tag on it, it can benefit from Awakened Elemental Focus' "+1 to Level of Supported Elemental Skill Gems."

Awakened Minion Damage Support allows your raging spirits to deal considerable amounts of damage. What's more, the "+1 to level of Supported Minion Skill Gems" is definitely nice to have.

Awakened Melee Splash Support enables your SRS minions to deal damage to nearby targets, making clearing maps a breeze. If you have the currency, you can switch this with Awakened Multistrike Support so that SRS is cast a few times with just one click.

Helm

• Raise Spectre
• Meat Shield
• Animate Guardian
• Elemental Army

Raise Spectre has become one of the most important gems in the Elemental SRS Guardian’s arsenal, particularly because of the addition of awesome spectres in Path of Exile 3.24 Necropolis League.

There are actually three amazing spectres that you can raise to fight for you. They are the Wretched Defiler, Flame Creator, and Necrotic Bones. They are found in the new Tier 17 maps, namely the Fortress, Ziggurat, Citadel, Abomination, and Sanctuary.

In order to add them to your corpse pool, all you have to do is enter any of the above-mentioned maps and use Desecrate. After that, simply look for the three monsters and use Raise Spectre to summon them.

What makes the Wretched Defiler, Flame Creator, and Necrotic Bones great is that they deal a ton of damage by populating the screen with devastating projectiles. The Necrotic Bones, for example, can bombard enemies with projectiles that deal chaos damage upon impact.

It is important to note that you do not actually have to complete the Tier 17 maps; you just have to enter the area and use Desecrate to conjure the corpses that you need.

Animate Guardian can be utilized to equip certain pieces of gear to make it shine. Some of these items include:

• Legacy of Fury

  • Nearby enemies are Scorched

• Gravebind

  • Nearby enemies killed by anyone count as being killed by you instead

• Garb of the Ephemeral

  • Allies action speed cannot be modified to below base value
  • Nearby enemies cannot deal critical strikes

• Leer Cast

  • You and nearby allies gain 50% increased damage

• Dying Breath

  • Nearby allies again 18% increased damage
  • Nearby enemies have 18% increased effect of curses on them

• Kingmaker

  • Nearby allies have +50% to critical strike multiplier
  • Nearby allies have +10 Fortification

Now, the above gem setup presupposes that you're using a helmet that does not have the Hypothermia mod on it. If you ARE using the Hypothermia helmet, the gems that you put on this piece of gear change dramatically. In this case, you put your Summon Raging Spirit setup on the helmet, albeit with one different support gem. They are:

• Summon Raging Spirit
• Awakened Multistrike Support
• Awakened Unleash Support
• Awakened Melee Splash Support

The Awakened Multistrike Support is to help improve your single-target damage. You can replace Awakened Melee Splash Support with Awakened Melee Physical Support for bossing as well. Divergent Predator Support is also a great alternative as it aids in increasing your raging spirits' critical strike chance against their prey. Signal Prey is not bad at all and can be chosen over Divergent Predator Support if you desire.

Weapon

• Desecrate
• Flesh Offering
• Punishment

Desecrate works really well with Flesh Offering. That's because this spell skill gem spawns five to 10 corpses when cast. This spell also deals chaos damage to nearby enemies.

Flesh Offering is a great way to boost your minions' attack speed. This is done by consuming a nearby corpse. The effect lasts for five seconds, which is more than enough considering how fast your raging spirits can kill your foes. Alternatively, you can go for Spirit Offering if you are focusing on critical strike damage.

Punishment is a great curse spell to use, particularly with the nerfs implemented by GGG in Patch 3.24. This makes cursed enemies take increased damage while they are below 50% of their maximum life. It is imperative that you have the “Whispers of Doom” notable skill allocated so that you can use another curse spell as well. More on this in a bit.

The above gem setup works best if you equip a self-crafted Convoking Wand with the suffix, "Trigger a Socketed Spell When You Use a Skill with an 8-second Cooldown, Spells Triggered This Way Have 150% More Cost." If you don't have this mod, you can just cast the spells yourself.

Shield

• Shield Charge
• Faster Attacks Support
• Tempest Shield

Shield Charge is the skill that you should use often when mapping. This is linked to Faster Attacks Support so that charging forward feels smooth thanks to the support gem's huge attack speed boost.

Tempest Shield is a buff that grants you immunity to Shock, making you less susceptible to one-shots or very damaging hits.

Gloves

• Summon Carrion Golem
• Feeding Frenzy Support
• Meat Shield Support
• Elemental Weakness

Although you can opt not to use any other minion skill on this build, Summon Carrion Golem linked with Feeding Frenzy Support just provides a ton of value that is too hard to pass up. The Carrion Golem itself increases minion damage by 20% and minion max HP by 38% at level 20. Feeding Frenzy is included mainly to take advantage of the buff of the same name. Feeding Frenzy grants 10% more minion damage, increased minion movement speed, and increased minion attack/cast speed.

Meat Shield Support enables your Carrion Golem to taunt enemies. Besides that, they deal increased damage when attacking foes that are near you. This support gem is a great way to increase survivability.

Speaking of survivability, you can actually replace Carrion Golem with Stone Golem for more life regeneration.

Elemental Weakness is the other curse spell you will utilize on this build. This curse reduces the elemental resistance of your enemies, making them easier to defeat. Since you do not have Hextouch Support, you’ll have to cast Elemental Weakness manually.

Boots

• Purity of Elements
• Defiance Banner
• Vaal Haste
• Enlighten Support

Purity of Elements provides you with an easy way to cap your elemental resistances. What's more, you are immune to elemental ailments, such as chill, freeze, shock, and ignite, if the said aura is active. For a more offensive approach, you can swap Purity of Elements with Precision for more accuracy and critical strike chance. Remember that these auras affect you and your minions, so they give a ton of value whichever you choose among the two.

Defiance Banner improves your survivability by increasing your armor and evasion rating. Enemies that are near you have their critical strike chance reduced by 40% at max level as well. You can certainly fit this aura in your build since it only reserves 10% of your total mana.

If you want a better defensive aura, you can swap Defiance Banner for Determination. This particular buff gives you a significant amount of armor, which amplifies the armor value of your gear immensely.

Vaal Haste is there only to activate the "Vaal" portion of the gem. Use it whenever you need to burst enemies down. You could replace this with Awakened Generosity Support to increase the effects of Purity of Elements, Precision, and Defiance Banner. Take note, however, that you won't get the effects of these auras if you use this support gem. So, unless you have your defenses sorted out, stick to Vaal Haste.

Enlighten Support ensures that you have enough mana to activate your auras. This works really well along with Ashes of the Stars/Replica Dragonflight's Fang and the Charisma notable passive.

If you have enough mana reservation efficiency, you can replace Defiance Banner with Summon Skitterbots for even more damage.

Ring

• Determination

Tattoos

The removal of the secondary ascendancy classes in Path of Exile 3.24 Necropolis League is a huge blow to the Elemental SRS Guardian. Fortunately, you can recoup some of the build’s power back by using the appropriate Tattoos. Having said that, here are the Tattoos that we recommend:

• Tattoo of the Hinekora Warmonger

  • Minions Have 5% Increased Maximum Life

• Tattoo of the Kitava Heart Eater

  • Killing Blows Have a 4% Chance to Consume Corpses to Recover 10% of Maximum Life

• Tattoo of the Ngamahu Warrior

  • 5% Increased Fire Damage

• Tattoo of the Hinekora Deathwarden

  • 6% Reduced Effect of Curses on You

• Tattoo of the Hinekora Storyteller

  • +3% to Chaos Resistance

• Tattoo of the Valako Scout

  • 10% Reduced Effect of Shock on You

• Tattoo of the Valako Shieldbearer

  • +1% Chance to Block Attack Damage

Passive Tree

POB

Main Setup

Alternative Setup

Final Thoughts

The Elemental SRS Guardian is a great alternative to the Poison Summon Raging Spirits Necromancer. The Guardian ascendancy class has plenty to offer, including increased tankiness and a couple of minions that provide a ton of value to the build.

You can use the build as a league starter. For best results, you can use essences to get your starter equipment until you have enough currency to engage in fossil crafting.

This build is flexible enough in that you can swap gems as you see fit. When you have the Hypothermia helmet on, you can put your main SRS setup on there and use your body armor for other gems.

Playing the Elemental SRS Guardian is quite easy to do. You start the map by summoning your Carrion/Stone Golem and then you move around using Shield Charge or Flame Dash. When you come across some juicy packs of monsters, unleash your raging spirits and watch all of your foes get burned to death! The special self-crafted wand can trigger Desecrate and Spirit Offering automatically for more damage.

As you gain more currency, you can start adding the mandatory pieces of gear. Begin by using a 6-linked Fleshcrafter since you'll be inserting your SRS setup in there. Then, invest some currency to craft the wand as it can really help you immensely, especially due to its trigger mechanic.

The Aegis Aurora is quite useful for the most part until you have your defenses sorted out. Then, you can transition to the self-crafting Fossilised Spirit Shield for that higher damage potential.

Then, invest in jewels, starting with an 8-passive Large Cluster Jewel with three notable passive skills and a 4-passive medium cluster jewel with Renewal and Blessed Rebirth. The Darkness Enthroned unique Stygian Vise is a great way to improve the effects of two of your best Ghastly Eye Jewels.

Remember, use this only as a guide to help you get started. Don't be afraid to experiment with different gems and items that you think can work best with your style of play.

Although heavy nerfs have been implemented in Path of Exile 3.24 Necropolis League, there are many ways to bring some of the build’s power back. For example, you can summon the new spectres from Tier 17 maps mentioned earlier. Besides that, you can add any of the Tattoos highlighted above to give more oomph to your character.

So, there you have it! Be sure to bookmark this Elemental SRS Guardian build guide to make your journey to creating this character a cinch!

With all of that said, good luck on your adventures in Wraeclast, Exile!

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PROS

+Good league starter

+Can utilize self-crafted gear to great effect

+Very tanky due to Guardian ascendancy class

+Easy to scale damage compared to poison variant due to the many elemental support gems available in the game

+Has high HP Pool

+Flexible when it comes to adding other minion skills

+Still a good build despite the nerfs in Patch 3.24

CONS

-Minion playstyle might not be to everyone's liking

-Uses expensive crafted gear in the endgame

-Must summon the new spectres to make the build incredibly powerful in the endgame