Hi all, I’m back with another mirror-tier off-meta zoomancer build. Ever since the Champion rework added the fortify aura, I’ve wanted to make a Champion-based summoner work and I've also wanted to build around The Devourer of Minds. The result is a 15+ mirror build that began as my league starter and eventually scaled into a character that trivializes Uber content and finished 40/40 challenges.

Here is the showcase of the build in aspirational content:
AFK Maven Witnessed Uber Cortex: https://youtu.be/TjvQzPY4Nuk
No-Phase Uber Exarch: https://youtu.be/rEBDnBoX9sg
70%+ Quantity Feared Invitation: https://youtu.be/oZBhxFVBzKc
100% Delirious Full Map Modifier Effect T17 Boss Rush: https://youtu.be/Ym9K5UZCGnU

POE Ninja: https://poe.ninja/poe1/profile/Enzari-2462/mirage/character/TheMindDevourer

Overview

Defensively, this build has an exceptional elemental max hit with good recovery which makes you feel practically invincible almost all content. As a summary, this build has**:**

• 6k Life, 2.2k life regeneration (1.7K w/o consecrated ground)
• 90% Maximum Elemental Resistances
• 13 Endurance Charges
• 20 Permanent Fortify
• 100% Spell Suppression & 30% Less Melee Damage Taken
• Minion Taunt
• Ailment and Curse Immunity
• 6% Sapped Ground

Offensively, this build takes advantage of a key mechanic enabled by the Devourer of Minds helmet: charges. While modern minion builds conventionally scale poison in order to push DPS once the usual damage vectors start to cap out, our approach allows us to hyperscale this build's damage through charge stacking. By taking advantage of the Slayer’s Masterful Form notable, we can scale frenzy and endurance charges simultaneously. That gives us two extra independent multipliers: frenzy charge generic damage and, with the new league mechanic, imbued Endurance Charge on Melee Stun. This is especially strong since its damage boost doesn’t rely on gem level.

Charge generation mainly comes from spectres: 3x Aboriginal Chieftain and a Perfect Warlord. Endurance charges are effectively permanent thanks to the Searing Exarch body armour implicit, and frenzy charges have permanent uptime during mapping. For bosses, however, we need to manage frenzy charge duration to maintain uptime, by either using The Writhing Jar to trigger the ape warcry or Doedre's Elixir during longer phases.

Additionally, I want to highlight my Animate Guardian setup as it provides an massive amount of utility:

• 22% Increased Physical Damage Taken by Enemies (Elevated Elder & Infamous Fortify Helm)
• Lingering Consecrated Ground (Elevated Crusader Body Armour)
• Sapped Ground (Exceptional Eldritch Boots)
• Asenath's Explosions
• Dual Cursing (Temporal Chains & Vulnerability)
• Malediction (Dark Seer w/ blind from Asenath's)
• Frenzy & Power Charge Generation (Victario's Charity)
• Sufficient Recovery and PDR to sustain Level 21 Guardian's Blessing

Thoughts on the uniques

In my opinion The Devourer of Minds is a really interesting unique. In a vacuum with infinite budget, I genuinely think the strongest version of zoomancer probably uses this helmet since this enables hyperscaling for hit-based minion builds that otherwise lack good options. As mentioned previously, it opens up additional multipliers through charge stacking, and at the top end it's likely possible to start scaling crit via power charges. Importantly, charge stacking doesn't compete for critical affix slots in minion builds, for example the majority of additional charges are obtained via ring implicts (or prefixes in Standard), which have significant flex in minion gearing. I also really like how the item completely changes the way you approach gearing and item modifier selection compared to traditional summoner setups.

With Alberon's Warpath, I hoped fortify and endurance charge stacking would finally make skeletons tanky enough to never think about resummoning them, but nope. Even with ~200% increased minion life of a level 37 gem, 13 endurance charges, 5% regen, the phantasm recovery engine, and 20 fortify, they still occasionally die. It takes an absurd amount of a build’s power budget just to make skeletons reasonably durable. GGG please, I’m begging you, add literally anything to these boots for skeleton defenses. There are not enough numbers in this game to make skeletons tanky without unreasonable investment.

Conclusion

Despite the massive amount of currency sunk into this build, I’m still not convinced this is the optimal version of the character. Going ES and fitting in Supreme Ostentation is probably stronger, but would require rebuilding a lot of the character from the ground up; further, the life version still has some of its own advantages.

I also chose Alberon's Warpath mostly because I love the power fantasy of having a huge minion army, otherwise the frenzy version of Ralakesh's Impatience is objectively the best-in-slot option. It completely solves frenzy charge generation and sustain, therefore freeing up 3 support spectres and the AG shield slot--among other benefits. For the same reason, I run congregation support as a main link since it gives me substantially more minions, but something like minion damage or brutality support is simply higher DPS. Overall though, this build feels absurdly tanky, does insane damage, and clears surprisingly well thanks to the AG's Asenath explosions.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.