Using this skill on an identified item on the ground creates an Animated Guardian that moves and attacks similar to a zombie. Similar to Spectres and unlike other minions, a Guardian stays with you even after logging off and on. If you unequip the skill gem, the Guardian disappears until you equip the gem again, at which point the same Guardian (retaining all its equipment) reappears after casting the spell again. Socketing the gem in a weapon or shield slot allows you to recall the Guardian at will by switching weapon sets (default hotkey: X).
You can only have one Guardian at a time. It can be equipped with a helmet, body armour, pair of gloves, pair of boots, a shield, and melee weapons. Ranged weapons cannot be animated, similar to Animate WeaponAnimate WeaponDuration, Minion, Spell, Physical Level: (1-20) Cost: (4-16) Mana Cast Time: 0.60 secRequires Level 4Animates a Melee Weapon Item or Lingering Blade to fight by your side. You cannot animate unidentified Weapons. Will not animate weapons with 6 sockets. Cannot be used by Traps or Mines.Base duration is 40.00 seconds Can use Items requiring up to Level (9-100) Minions' Attacks deal (5-126) to (8-184) additional Physical Damage Animated Lingering Blades deal (1-17) to (2-80) Added Attack Physical Damage Minions deal (0-38)% more Damage Maximum (5-14) Animated Weapons Minions have (0-38)% more Attack Speed
Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality: +(0.1-2) to maximum number of Animated WeaponsPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.. Items can be of any rarity, but must be identified and on the ground to be used. Animated items are consumed by the spell and cannot be recovered. Items containing skill gems cannot be animated, so the Guardian cannot use trigger gems.
Items that have modifiers like +x to Maximum life or +x% increased Attack Speed, and even corrupted implicits, apply to the Guardian the same way they apply to player characters; so animating magic or rare equipment can potentially give you a very powerful minion. Unique items can also be used, giving guardians powerful abilities not found elsewhere in the game. Be careful when using valuable items -- anything you give to your guardian is gone forever.
The Guardian uses weapons and shields in the same way as player characters, and can dual wield if two one-handed weapons are animated. If you animate an item type that the Guardian is already using (such as a helmet), the new item will overwrite the old one. Equipping an armour piece restores 25% of its life; equipping one-handed weapons or shields will alternate between left and right hand. You cannot equip two shields.
The Guardian does not share your max amount of curses you can apply to enemies, and therefore functions as a player with the default curse limit when applying curses (through corrupted gloves, for example).
Items deleted on Death: When a Guardian dies, all its equipment is deleted and cannot be recovered. This makes very risky to use powerful or valuable items on an Animated Guardian. It is possible to prevent a body armour worn by a Guardian from being deleted upon Guardian death by crafting Equipped Animated Guardian drops item on death on the Armourer's Workbench.
Necromantic Aegis: While using Necromantic Aegis your Guardian benefits from its own shield as well as the one you have equipped, allowing it to gain the benefit of two shields at once. Some unique shields can be quite powerful when doubled up this way.[1]
Player versus Player: Animated Guardians killed in PvP areas will not lose their items.
Item-Granted Skills: Animated guardians cannot use skills granted by items. Equipping items like Death's Oath, The Rippling Thoughts, or Bubonic Trail will not allow the Guardian to use their associated triggered skills. The Guardian is not your party member, and will not be able to use abilities like the one found on Ambu's Charge. Effects that apply to nearby allies or enemies, like Leer Cast, Victario's Flight, or Dying Breath, will apply as normal.
Gem level progression
Level
Mana Cost
max. Req. Level
increased maximum Life
increased Physical Damage
additional Physical Damage
Exp.
Total Exp.
1
28
42
29
11
33
N/A
N/A
N/A
0
0
2
31
46
32
11
36
N/A
N/A
N/A
199345
199345
3
34
50
35
12
39
N/A
N/A
N/A
285815
485160
4
37
54
37
13
43
N/A
N/A
N/A
401344
886504
5
40
58
40
13
46
N/A
N/A
N/A
554379
1440883
6
42
60
42
14
48
N/A
N/A
N/A
477437
1918320
7
44
63
44
14
51
N/A
N/A
N/A
583786
2502106
8
46
66
46
15
53
N/A
N/A
N/A
710359
3212465
9
48
68
48
15
56
N/A
N/A
N/A
1355511
4567976
10
50
71
49
15
58
N/A
N/A
N/A
1138877
5706853
11
52
74
51
16
61
N/A
N/A
N/A
1368233
7075086
12
54
76
53
16
63
N/A
N/A
N/A
1638338
8713424
13
56
79
55
17
66
N/A
N/A
N/A
1956648
10670072
14
58
82
57
17
68
N/A
N/A
N/A
3655184
14325256
15
60
84
59
18
71
N/A
N/A
N/A
3017327
17342583
16
62
87
60
18
73
N/A
N/A
N/A
7759995
25102578
17
64
90
62
18
76
N/A
N/A
N/A
15138193
40240771
18
66
92
64
19
79
N/A
N/A
N/A
26083825
66324596
19
68
95
66
19
82
N/A
N/A
N/A
62620247
128944843
20
70
98
68
20
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
211708088
340652931
21
72
100
70
20
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
22
74
N/A
N/A
21
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
23
76
N/A
N/A
21
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
24
78
N/A
N/A
21
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
25
80
N/A
N/A
22
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
26
82
N/A
N/A
22
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
27
84
N/A
N/A
23
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
28
86
N/A
N/A
23
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
29
88
N/A
N/A
24
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
30
90
N/A
N/A
24
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
31
91
N/A
N/A
24
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
32
92
N/A
N/A
25
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
33
93
N/A
N/A
25
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
34
94
N/A
N/A
25
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
35
95
N/A
N/A
25
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
36
96
N/A
N/A
25
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
37
97
N/A
N/A
26
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
38
98
N/A
N/A
26
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
39
99
N/A
N/A
26
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
40
100
N/A
N/A
26
100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Item acquisition
Animate Guardian can drop anywhere.
Recipes
Animate Guardian can be created from the following recipes:
Amount
Part
Description
Meta
6
The SummonerThe Summoner6Minion Gem Quality:+20%To own a piece of the Nightmare, you must first belong to the Nightmare.
Random Minion gem with 20% quality
A
13
The CataclysmThe Cataclysm13Level 21 Spell Gem CorruptedThe mighty warriors traded in blows, the nimble archers in arrows, yet it was the brazen thaumaturgists who would bring catastrophe to all.
Random corruptedlevel 21 Spell gem
A
6
The FoxThe Fox6Level 20 Gem"Masters of wit, strength and cunning. To survive the harsh winters, you must be like the fox." - Ezomyte Proverb
Random level 20 gem
A
3
Gemcutter's PromiseGemcutter's Promise3Gem Quality:+20%"I swore to use my position to help the people. What good is power when it just accumulates on the already-powerful?" - Erasmus, Imperial Gemcutter
Random gem with 20% quality
A
1
Gemcutter's IncubatorGemcutter's IncubatorStack Size: 10Adds an incubated Quality Gem item to an equippable item Item drops after killing {0} monstersRight click this item then left click an item to apply it. The Incubated item drops after killing a specific number of monsters.
Random gem with 1–20% quality
A
1
The VoidThe Void1Reach into the Void and claim your prize.
Random divination card set exchange
A
Vendor reward
This item can be bought at the listed NPC vendors, after completing the following quests:
Note that helmet enchantments are no longer obtainable since version 3.23.0 and can only be obtained in permanent leagues as already enchanted items from before this patch.
Animate WeaponAnimate WeaponDuration, Minion, Spell, Physical Level: (1-20) Cost: (4-16) Mana Cast Time: 0.60 secRequires Level 4Animates a Melee Weapon Item or Lingering Blade to fight by your side. You cannot animate unidentified Weapons. Will not animate weapons with 6 sockets. Cannot be used by Traps or Mines.Base duration is 40.00 seconds Can use Items requiring up to Level (9-100) Minions' Attacks deal (5-126) to (8-184) additional Physical Damage Animated Lingering Blades deal (1-17) to (2-80) Added Attack Physical Damage Minions deal (0-38)% more Damage Maximum (5-14) Animated Weapons Minions have (0-38)% more Attack Speed
Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality: +(0.1-2) to maximum number of Animated WeaponsPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. and Animate Guardian have had their range modified. Previously there was a bug where you could bypass the range. Now that this is fixed, the range has been tripled from 25 to 75 units.
Fixed a bug where the life bar of an Animate Guardian (and curses on it) would display too low on him.
When an Animated Guardian is dispelled due to its gem being unavailable, its life value is now temporarily saved so that it applies if the Guardian is restored in that area.