Newbie Necromancer question

<DeathlessEternity.RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1140226588.106579.114420@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
> wgemini.RemoveThis@gmail.com proclaimed:
>> Hi,
>>
>> My necromancer finally reached level 35, but I am not sure which
>> direction to go. He still got 12 skill points left and normal act 5
>> is
>> getting frustrating. My skeletons die constantly and my fire golem
>> also
>> doesn't last very long when surrounded. I don't have any good
>> equipment. +1 on all skills and +6 on golem mastery. Should I go with
>> skeletons (I heard they are quite powerful with 1.11b, but I worry
>> about hell) or should I stick with Golems? Any suggestions will be
>> appreciated. Here is his current stats (before equipments):
>>
>> Str: 60
>> Dex: 35
>> Vital: 72
>> Energy 72
>> Life: 313
>> Mana: 194
>>
>> Curses:
>> AD 1
>> IM 1
>> Life Tap 1
>> Summon:
>> SM 1
>> RS 5
>> RSM 2
>> Golem mastery 3
>> 1 for each golem
>> Summon Resist 1
>> Revival 1
>> Bone:
>> Teeth 1
>> CE 1
>> Bone spear 4
>
>
> Hello. It's been my experience that you can never go wrong with a pure
> Summoner. people will always complain about lag blah blah blah, but,
> when you solo hell, a well built Summoner is nearly unstoppable.
>
> So my advice is max the following skills:
>
> Skell mastery.
> Summon Resist.
> Raise Skells.
> Raise Mages.
>
> Also, this will help you.
>
> A few points in CLAY golem, thats the only golem I ever use.
> A few points in golem mastery.
> A few in revive.
> A few in Corpse Explosion (use AFTER you have your full army up)
> All extra points in amp damage.
>

Or for a more efficient combo:

max Raise Skellies (points here before Mastery)
max Skelly Mastery
one point each Golem and Mages
one point Summon Resist
one point Amp Damage through Decrep
max Corpse Explosion (20 if playing outdoors, 10 if playing indoors)

The necromancer is the master of the one-point skill. Adding more points
to these type of skills will have no effect at all on your play, and are
usually boosted to higher level anyway by the necro's copious collection
of plus-skill gear. Curses can be spammed, so there are very few that
gain anything from extra points (Dim Vision being a rare exception).

This skill allocation will take you all the way through Hell, but you
can buy all of them before leaving Nightmare. This means you will have
20+ points left over to do with what you will. Dim Vision is a common
choice for spending extra points, as are even more Revives if you have
the mana for it (not a problem with Insight mercs).
--
Zamboni
 >> Stay informed about: Newbie Necromancer question 

<DeathlessEternity DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1140226588.106579.114420@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
> wgemini DeleteThis @gmail.com proclaimed:
>> Hi,
>>
>> My necromancer finally reached level 35, but I am not sure which
>> direction to go. He still got 12 skill points left and normal act 5 is
>> getting frustrating. My skeletons die constantly and my fire golem also
>> doesn't last very long when surrounded. I don't have any good
>> equipment. +1 on all skills and +6 on golem mastery. Should I go with
>> skeletons (I heard they are quite powerful with 1.11b, but I worry
>> about hell) or should I stick with Golems? Any suggestions will be
>> appreciated. Here is his current stats (before equipments):
>>
>> Str: 60
>> Dex: 35
>> Vital: 72
>> Energy 72
>> Life: 313
>> Mana: 194
>>
>> Curses:
>> AD 1
>> IM 1
>> Life Tap 1
>> Summon:
>> SM 1
>> RS 5
>> RSM 2
>> Golem mastery 3
>> 1 for each golem
>> Summon Resist 1
>> Revival 1
>> Bone:
>> Teeth 1
>> CE 1
>> Bone spear 4
>
>
> Hello. It's been my experience that you can never go wrong with a pure
> Summoner. people will always complain about lag blah blah blah, but,
> when you solo hell, a well built Summoner is nearly unstoppable.
>
> So my advice is max the following skills:
>
> Skell mastery.
> Summon Resist.
> Raise Skells.
> Raise Mages.
>
> Also, this will help you.
>
> A few points in CLAY golem, thats the only golem I ever use.
> A few points in golem mastery.
> A few in revive.
> A few in Corpse Explosion (use AFTER you have your full army up)
> All extra points in amp damage.
>
> For stats use this:
>
> Str. Enough for gear.
> Dex. Only enough for a HOTO if you have one.
> Vit. All the rest.
> Energy: NONE.
>
> Best gear for a summoner:
>
> Shako
> Mara's amulet.
> 2 soj's
> HOTO
> UM'd Homunculus (Killer resists)
> Enigma
> Marrow walk boots
> Spider
> Either trang gloves or mage fists.
>
> Thats what I use on my summoner along with 4 skill gc's a torch and
> anni.
>
> At the moment, my lvl 82 summoner has 15 of each skeleton and 23
> revives, he is unstoppable. But I have the best equipment for him at
> the moment. what I do, raise all my skells, revive all I can, and when
> I get to a boss, I cast amp damage, then I teleport right onto the
> boss, ramming 30 skells and 23 revives down there throat, works wonders
> : )

It cracks me up to read build sheets that are like pick and choose from
anything you could ever want. Obviously, the OP doesn't have access to an
unlimited repository of Uber items, if he's level 35 and still using gear
that only gives +1 skills and +6 to Golem Mastery. Rich people think
everyone else is rich. Even in Diablo. LOL

I've been playing two years and I still have never found a Shako, Mara's,
even 1 SoJ, the Vex for a HOTO, neither an Um nor a Homunculus, neither the
Jah nor Ber runes for Enigma, or Marrowwalk boots. I found one Arachnid's
Mesh last ladder season, but not at all this season, as well as Trang's and
Magefists. I've found exactly 1 summoning skill GC, and this season, which
my new necro will use when he grows up.

Call us simple, noobs, or whatever you want, but I think most players of D2
probably live outside the "economy" of D2 as much as possible. I personally
stay away from it because the gold standards are fictitious dupes. The gold
in the D2 treasury is fool's gold, which makes everything based on it
suspect, in my opinion. I think it's obvious the OP also plays solo,
mostly, for whatever other reason. So your assumption that "people will
complain about lag" shows that you are missing the point early on, I think.

As for the OP, the best advice I can give is to get those skellies maxed
ASAP. Only 1 point in Skeleton Mastery is the reason why the skellies are
dying so easily. I'd take those 12 points and put 7 in SM and 5 in RS right
now and see an immediate difference. Take the next 2 points and put them
into RS, to add 1 more skelly. Try to keep RS and SM roughly equal, and
pump them early.

Oh, and any rich people wanting to make a charitable SoJ contribution for
tax write-off purposes should contact *DjinnMaker1 on USEast SCL.


 >> Stay informed about: Newbie Necromancer question 

"Brian Kastel" <be-ar-eye-ay-en-kay-ay-ess-tee-ee-ell DeleteThis @tampabay.rr.com>
wrote in message news:s8yJf.4175$_c.1680@tornado.tampabay.rr.com...
>
>
> It cracks me up to read build sheets that are like pick and choose
> from anything you could ever want. Obviously, the OP doesn't have
> access to an unlimited repository of Uber items, if he's level 35 and
> still using gear that only gives +1 skills and +6 to Golem Mastery.
> Rich people think everyone else is rich. Even in Diablo. LOL
>
This is why I also don't look at anyone's equipments choices. People
have forgotten how to play without their piggy bank of uniques. Necros
can plan on buying wand and amulets, but everything is dependant on luck
and should not be considered as part of a build guide. If you can't buy
it from the vendors, don't plan on having it available.
--
Zamboni
 >> Stay informed about: Newbie Necromancer question 

Jake_Mysterio wrote:
>
> And a hint for Merc. Act 2 Merc with Might Aura. That's the one you want.

To save you the trouble, it's the Act 2 Offensive Merc, bought only in
Nightmare difficulty. The might aura boosts your skeletons damage
significantly.
 >> Stay informed about: Newbie Necromancer question 

<wgemini.RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1140224324.339907.249690@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> Hi,
>
> My necromancer finally reached level 35, but I am not sure which
> direction to go. He still got 12 skill points left and normal act 5 is
> getting frustrating. My skeletons die constantly and my fire golem also
> doesn't last very long when surrounded. I don't have any good
> equipment. +1 on all skills and +6 on golem mastery. Should I go with
> skeletons (I heard they are quite powerful with 1.11b, but I worry
> about hell) or should I stick with Golems? Any suggestions will be
> appreciated. Here is his current stats (before equipments):
>
> Str: 60
> Dex: 35
> Vital: 72
> Energy 72
> Life: 313
> Mana: 194
>
> Curses:
> AD 1
> IM 1
> Life Tap 1
> Summon:
> SM 1
> RS 5
> RSM 2
> Golem mastery 3
> 1 for each golem
> Summon Resist 1
> Revival 1
> Bone:
> Teeth 1
> CE 1
> Bone spear 4

And a hint for Merc. Act 2 Merc with Might Aura. That's the one you want.

--
Jake Mysterio - The Mysterious One of Nothingness.
 >> Stay informed about: Newbie Necromancer question 

<marknewsgroups DeleteThis @yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1140258192.097322.143100@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Jake_Mysterio wrote:
>>
>> And a hint for Merc. Act 2 Merc with Might Aura. That's the one you
>> want.
>
> To save you the trouble, it's the Act 2 Offensive Merc, bought only in
> Nightmare difficulty. The might aura boosts your skeletons damage
> significantly.
>
One of the major changes in the last patch was the ability to hire a
merc of your level no matter which difficulty you are in. You can hire
Prayer merc in Act 1 Normal, then a Barb in Act 5, then a Thorns merc in
Nightmare, then Might, then back to Prayer. Since the new merc will be
within 5 levels of you, you can mix and match and experiment with all of
them without having to re-level. Choosing a merc is no longer a one-time
decision, since you can now replace them with ease (just remember to
take their gear off beforte switching). I've taken necros through Hell
using Edge Rogues, Prayer, Thorns, Might, Barbs and even an Act 3 Cold
merc.

The use of Insight mercs has had a drastic change in how I pick mercs.
With a never-ended supply of mana, most of my killing comes from blowing
up bodies, not from waiting for the skellies to chop things up. With
this tactic, the Might merc becomes far less important than before.
--
Zamboni
 >> Stay informed about: Newbie Necromancer question 

"Zamboni" <zamboni RemoveThis @nospam.com> wrote in message
news:x9OdnbcfjotuCWreRVn-uQ@comcast.com...
>
> <marknewsgroups RemoveThis @yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1140258192.097322.143100@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>> Jake_Mysterio wrote:
>>>
>>> And a hint for Merc. Act 2 Merc with Might Aura. That's the one you
>>> want.
>>
>> To save you the trouble, it's the Act 2 Offensive Merc, bought only in
>> Nightmare difficulty. The might aura boosts your skeletons damage
>> significantly.
>>
> One of the major changes in the last patch was the ability to hire a merc
> of your level no matter which difficulty you are in. You can hire Prayer
> merc in Act 1 Normal, then a Barb in Act 5, then a Thorns merc in
> Nightmare, then Might, then back to Prayer. Since the new merc will be
> within 5 levels of you, you can mix and match and experiment with all of
> them without having to re-level. Choosing a merc is no longer a one-time
> decision, since you can now replace them with ease (just remember to take
> their gear off beforte switching). I've taken necros through Hell using
> Edge Rogues, Prayer, Thorns, Might, Barbs and even an Act 3 Cold merc.
>
> The use of Insight mercs has had a drastic change in how I pick mercs.
> With a never-ended supply of mana, most of my killing comes from blowing
> up bodies, not from waiting for the skellies to chop things up. With this
> tactic, the Might merc becomes far less important than before.
> --
> Zamboni

Very true. But now that i have an Enigma i would be more likely to use the
Might Merc for a suprise visit ontop of the boss with the minion army. I
don't intend on handing over my Enigma for a while from my Trapper though.
She's my master key finder.

--
Jake Mysterio - The Mysterious One of Nothingness.
 >> Stay informed about: Newbie Necromancer question 

Zamboni wrote:
> "Brian Kastel" <be-ar-eye-ay-en-kay-ay-ess-tee-ee-ell.RemoveThis@tampabay.rr.com>
> wrote in message news:s8yJf.4175$_c.1680@tornado.tampabay.rr.com...
> >
> >
> > It cracks me up to read build sheets that are like pick and choose
> > from anything you could ever want. Obviously, the OP doesn't have
> > access to an unlimited repository of Uber items, if he's level 35 and
> > still using gear that only gives +1 skills and +6 to Golem Mastery.
> > Rich people think everyone else is rich. Even in Diablo. LOL
> >
> This is why I also don't look at anyone's equipments choices. People
> have forgotten how to play without their piggy bank of uniques. Necros
> can plan on buying wand and amulets, but everything is dependant on luck
> and should not be considered as part of a build guide. If you can't buy
> it from the vendors, don't plan on having it available.
> --
> Zamboni

Thanks for the suggestions.

Every guide on the internet seems to assume people have +5 gears or up.
I talk to the AI sellers all the time, but so far, I haven't found
anything better than +1. My luck in picking up stuff is not very good
either although I do have +50% MF (had to live with low resistance just
for that). My friend in single player game did manage to find all kinds
of good stuff though.

Yeah, I do play solo most of the time. I just started to play and I
would like to find stuff and read the descriptions. Playing in parties
is just too stressful as you have to pick up things as far as possible.
I sometimes play with my roommate and that's about it.

I am now level 39 and have 13 SM and 11 RS. I have little trouble
moving around in act 5 now, but Baal is another matter. All my
skeletons die very easily and then I have to fight it with my fire
golem. He is not dangerous, but regenerates everytime I go back to town
which is annoying. I can usually cut his life to half before all my guy
dies. Then I have to run after he creates a duplicate of himself.
urggggg... Oddly enough, my roommate, which has 15 SM and 14 RS had no
problem killing Baal. I am killing Baal minions over and over again,
trying to level up.
 >> Stay informed about: Newbie Necromancer question 

<wgemini RemoveThis @gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1140359405.862452.71920@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
>
> I am now level 39 and have 13 SM and 11 RS. I have little trouble
> moving around in act 5 now, but Baal is another matter. All my
> skeletons die very easily and then I have to fight it with my fire
> golem. He is not dangerous, but regenerates everytime I go back to
> town
> which is annoying. I can usually cut his life to half before all my
> guy
> dies. Then I have to run after he creates a duplicate of himself.
> urggggg... Oddly enough, my roommate, which has 15 SM and 14 RS had no
> problem killing Baal. I am killing Baal minions over and over again,
> trying to level up.
>
First, fill in the rest of the points in RS. More points means more
skellies. You don't need stronger skellies, you need more of them.

As for Baal: When he goes through the portal, open a TP and go get some
nice revives from somewhere. Return and go through the portal, then run
as fast as you can to get right next to him. Open a TP, go back to town
and return. This is the poor man's teleport, and gets your entire army
right in Baals face. Hit him with Decrepify, back yourself out of the
pile, and keep casting Decrepify every five seconds. Baal concentrates
on the Fire Golem, but Decrepify prevents him from doing much of
anything (like teleporting or casting clones), so all you need to do is
wait him out. No trips back to town, no regeneration, just ten minutes
of picking your nose while the minions whittle his life down.

While you're hitting the vendors, look for a staff with Teleport
charges. Having one of these as second weapon is handy for getting your
army through rough terrain or to attack single targets.
--
Zamboni
 >> Stay informed about: Newbie Necromancer question 

You really don't need "uber-gear" to take a Necro all the way through
the game. With all his minions, and a good merc, he's very powerful
even without a single +skill item. Somewhere on this NG is someone's
tale of playing a "naked" necro, which goes to show how strong they
truly are.

Having said that, I recommend doing some gambling. You can quite
easily gamble some +skills amulets and circlet-class items. +2 or +3
to summoning skills circlets can be gambled fairly often.

And as Zamboni says, Decrepify, Decrepify, Decrepify; and try to get a
wand/staff with teleport charges on weapon switch. That way you can
teleport right on top of Baal, so all your minions are right on his
ass, take two steps back, and keep casting Decrepify on him every few
seconds.

Thanks to Decrepify, I have NEVER had Baal spawn his clone on my Necros.
 >> Stay informed about: Newbie Necromancer question 

Flank Groinpull wrote:
> You really don't need "uber-gear" to take a Necro all the way through
> the game. With all his minions, and a good merc, he's very powerful
> even without a single +skill item. Somewhere on this NG is someone's
> tale of playing a "naked" necro, which goes to show how strong they
> truly are.
>
> Having said that, I recommend doing some gambling. You can quite
> easily gamble some +skills amulets and circlet-class items. +2 or +3
> to summoning skills circlets can be gambled fairly often.
>
> And as Zamboni says, Decrepify, Decrepify, Decrepify; and try to get a
> wand/staff with teleport charges on weapon switch. That way you can
> teleport right on top of Baal, so all your minions are right on his
> ass, take two steps back, and keep casting Decrepify on him every few
> seconds.
>
> Thanks to Decrepify, I have NEVER had Baal spawn his clone on my Necros.

Add a couple cold mages and a clay golem to the mix, and he'll never
move.

Sean
 >> Stay informed about: Newbie Necromancer question