S-TIER | MERCENARY ARMY TACTICIAN BUILD (@Oscrix) | SEASON 4

Article de Kami

Build Overview

This Tactician Mercenary build by Oscrix is entirely built around the ascendancy skill Supporting Fire. We’re talking about a full-screen Rain of Arrows that scales with your attributes: 1% extra damage per point of Strength and 1% AoE per 3 points of Dexterity. The result? Ultra-comfortable mapping where you only need to press a single button every 5 seconds.

The creator tested several versions before landing on this one: first a Wolf build with Talisman, then a two-handed Giant Blood version. This final iteration focuses exclusively on Supporting Fire with an army of minions backed by Muster. The build uses Chaos Inoculation for survivability and scales chaos damage through Uul-Netol’s Embrace, Kurgal’s Leash, and Withering Presence.

Build Strengths

• Full-screen AoE: Supporting Fire literally covers the entire screen, even in ultrawide
• Ultra-comfortable gameplay: A single button press every 5 seconds for mapping
• Dual scaling: Strength = damage, Dexterity = area of effect. We optimize both
• CI/ES tanky: Chaos Inoculation with Verona’s Timeless Jewel for a massive ES pool
• Built-in Armor Break: Uul-Netol’s Embrace instantly breaks armor, no need to run it on the minions

Build Weaknesses

• Average single target: Supporting Fire is not optimized for boss DPS – this is a mapping build first and foremost
• Specific uniques required: Verona’s Timeless Jewel and Uul-Netol’s Embrace are near-mandatory
• Spirit management: Lots of reservations between Blasphemy, Withering Presence, and minions

Gem Setup by Stage

This build offers 1 progression stage from leveling through to the final endgame setup. Select a stage to view the corresponding gem setup.

🎮 Leveling 1

Default

Default

14 skills • 59 gemmes

Supporting Fire

Wolf Pack

Pounce

Bind Spectre

Punch Through

Skeletal Warrior

Blasphemy

Skeletal Reaver

Skeletal Cleric

Skeletal Brute

Withering Presence

Skeletal Sniper

Supporting Fire

Skeletal Warrior

Recommended Equipment

• Sceptre: Rattling Scepter base with +4 minion skills, Spirit and Strength as suffixes. The Rattling property increases the number of minions for Muster
• Helmet: +2 minion skills and maximum Energy Shield
• Amulet: +3 minion skills, Strength and % increased Strength. Energy Shield as a bonus would be ideal
• Focus: Energy Shield and +2 minion skills (hard to craft, roughly 1/20 to hit the desecrate suffix)
• Rings: Strength + Intelligence + All Attributes. Int is needed to meet gem requirements. Omen Amanamu to guarantee « minions deal increased damage if you’ve hit recently »
• Gloves: ES and resistances with Dexterity
• Belt: Strength and resistances, or a corrupted enchanted version
• Boots: Energy Shield and resistances, movement speed if possible
• Jewel: Verona’s Timeless Jewel with Heroic Tragedy Timeless Jewel for Black Scythe Training (ES based on Strength) – This is THE core piece of the build
• Flasks: Lavanga’s for mana regen, charms with ignite/slow/stun or Fall of the Axe and Right of Passage

Gameplay Tips

• Mapping: Press Supporting Fire every 5 seconds and let your minions do the work. This is truly a one-button build
• Bossing: Use Pounce to apply Predator’s Mark (+60% damage taken on the boss). Weapon swap to a talisman with high attack speed to make Pounce feel smoother
• Skeletal Brutes: Use their command to Intimidate bosses (+10% more damage taken). They’re also your best minion for stunning enemies
• Kurgal’s Leash trick: Activate Supporting Fire with Kurgal’s Leash equipped, then swap to Concentrated Area while Unholy Might is active. You keep the buff for 15 seconds without the support gem
• Passive Tree: Prioritize Cooldown Recovery nodes (40% + 20%), Command Skill nodes, and work toward the minion zone with Gigantic Following

The Tactician Ascendancy in Detail

The Tactician offers several interesting options, but this build focuses on two key points. Unleash Hell unlocks access to Supporting Fire – this is non-negotiable. Solid Plan reduces the reservation of your persistent buffs, which helps enormously for Withering Presence and Blasphemy Despair.

The other ascendancy options aren’t useful here. Watch How I Do It scales minions through a two-handed weapon, but it does not affect Supporting Fire. Whoever Pays Best generates Glory for banners and also scales minions, but again, it has no impact on our main skill. If you want an alternative version using those nodes, the creator linked his older Giant Blood and Wolf versions in his video description.

Chaos Scaling: The Key to DPS

The build stacks multiple sources of chaos damage. Supporting Fire is fully physical at its base, but we convert a large portion to chaos through Uul-Netol’s Embrace (40% physical as extra chaos) and the passive node that grants 10% physical as extra chaos.

Kurgal’s Leash adds 15 seconds of Unholy Might after commanding a minion, further boosting chaos damage. Blasphemy Despair reduces enemy chaos resistance, and Withering Presence applies Wither to amplify all chaos damage. The idea is that since we break armor instantly with Uul-Netol’s, we no longer need Vulnerability – so we might as well go all-in on chaos scaling.

Boss Rotation with Pounce and Predator’s Mark

For bossing, Pounce is your second and last active button. With Predator’s Mark, you apply up to 60% increased damage taken on the boss depending on how many nearby enemies there are (and your minions count). The Prolonged Duration I support makes the mark last longer.

The weapon swap trick: equip a talisman in your secondary set with high attack speed. When you want to Pounce on a boss, do it from that set so the animation is smoother, then swap back immediately. You only need to reapply Pounce roughly every 10 seconds. In between, keep spamming Supporting Fire and moving.

Minion Army Configuration

Every minion runs Muster as their primary support. This support gem grants 7% more damage per minion you control – with a full army, that’s easily 50%+ more damage. The Rattling Scepter base increases the number of summoned minions, which stacks even more value onto Muster.

Your minions each serve a different role. Skeletal Brutes stun enemies and Intimidate bosses. Skeletal Warrior and Skeletal Reavers deal DPS with Last Gasp and Heavy Swing. Wolf Pack absorbs 10% of incoming damage via Ravenous Revival. The Spectre (Blood Thief Wasp) is simply the cheapest in Spirit that still fits. And Skeletal Clerics heal and buff with Brutus’ Brain.