Shane

OK, I've finally bit the bullet after all these years and managed to build
a HC nec who's now level 55ish or so and about to descend into the NM
Durance. He has about 160 unused stat points and 15 or so skill points in
the bank. So far I've invested the lion's share of his stats into vit and
skills into golem/golem mastery. I've put no points at all into energy. I
don't have any points into revives either, and don't plan on it unless
someone changes my mind.

So, what would be a reasonable getup gear-, skill, and stat-wise for a
hardcore Necro MFer? I'm talking about reasonably attainable stuff, no
dupe-words, since I absolutely refuse to trade for any of that stuff unless
I happen to find the runes me own self. I'd appreciate any suggestions,
since the only other nec I've ever managed to stomach past level 30 or so
was a 1.09 sorta melee nec who, having seen enough of life, gleefully
impaled himself on the swords of the Hell Ancients at around level 75.
--
chainbreaker

Mark (UK)

chainbreaker wrote:

Ok, first of all, what build are you going for here? A Skelemancer? Are
you sure you meant golem/golem mastery? I have to ask why you did that
when golems are recastable and only provide moderate firepower and some
extra distraction at best. If you meant Raise Skeleton and Skeleton
Mastery then no problem. Since this is Hardcore I assume you're going
to go for a high level Dim Vision? Invaluable for casting up ahead all
the time in areas known to have dangerous ranged attacker, especially
piercing ones light Souls, Gloams and Slingers. Since a summoning Necro
has some leeway with skill points, I'd recommend getting 1 hard point
in Revive and definately 1 to start with in Summon Resist. With +skills
these both become quite useful. More Revives = more targets other than
yourself for bad guys to focus on.

Equipment wise I assume Shako will be the best for hardcore (as it is
for softcore) with the nice life, mana, 2 skills and MF. Anything with
+skills will be good, but although some people like to get the strength
for Marrowalks, since this is hardcore I would rather save that and use
some rares with FRW and resists and put the points into vitality
instead. Obviously as much life as you can, but about the only real
danger for a decently and cautiously played Skelemancer is a stair trap
or a some piercing ranged attacker (eg Burning Soul) boss pack with
nasty mods (the other day my max block, 1800 life Paladin was killed in
about 0.2 seconds by a pack such as that while making his way through
WSK). As such, I'm sure you'll have maxed resists anyway but I
definately suggest maxing LR.

I'll list the gear I played most of my Skelemancers life with and he
seldom died (in SC) and when he did it was because I was reckless.

Hat: Shako
Amulet: +3 summoning with MF later changed to +2 necro with resists
Armour: Vipermagi with ptopaz, before that a 4 socket P-Topaz armour of
some sort
Weapon: Was a decent rare wand for a long time until Patrick gave me a
Arm of Leoric
Shield: Traded my NM forge drop (Pul) for a Homunculus
Belt: Rare with FHR and resists, later Goldwarp and finally Arachnids
Gloves: Rares with resists and MF
Rings: Resists, MF and life
Boots: Rares with FRW, resists and MF. I think I'll try crafting some
better ones sometime.

Charms:
Started with one Summoning charm I found while questing in NM Flayer
Jungle.
The rest were resist and life/mana charms.
I now however have acquired a Torch and a few more Summoning charms

Hope some of that helps.

Shane

Mark (newsgroups) wrote:

Heh, beats me. :-) I have some skeletons, but they're more of a sidelight
than what I'd figured for the main attraction.


Well, I sort of had a vaguely formed notion of primarily using Golems,
mostly since it seems as though they'd require the least amount of
management. So you think maxing golem mastery and concentrating on
fire/iron golems would be setting up for a fall, then, I assume?


Certainly sounds like a consideration, although so far I don't use Dim
Vision at all. I've been handling most of the ranged stuff with attract,
but that's apt to change since so far I'm only at the Damned wp in NM.


Certainly a consideration, and I'll most likely do that before taking on NM
D.


That was almost exactly the way I was thinking, especially about the
Marrowalks. So far I haven't come by a Shako, but getting one shouldn't be
that difficult.


Heh, maxing resists in HC is foremost for me--I even max poison resist.


For sure, and many thanks.

For grins and giggles, right now my half-assed Nec is using

Wormskull
Frosties
Spirit Shroud
Homunculus
Blackhand Key
Waterwalks
Tal's Belt
SoJ, Raven Frost, and a +skills rare ammy,

All of which was found by my barb, bless his soul.

I suppose making this nec a mf'er may be a bit presumptious at this point,
since the only mf he has comes from the belt, a 5%mf sc he just found, and
the Stealskull on his A2 Might merc, which I presume is the merc of choice
for what I'm doing. Again, thanks.
--
chainbreaker

Bingain

chainbreaker wrote:

At the end of the day, you will have too many spare skill points
you don't know what to do with (can't use 'em to buy
lotteries). So you will likely end up with one point in Revive.
I don't normally raise Reviveds unless I see some corpses too
good to pass (like frenzy lords, Urdars, or minions of Infector
of Souls when I'm dealing with Diablo, etc.)




Since you already have Trang's belt, it is reasonable to use a
3-piece trang set up, at least for leveling/combat. Nothing
beats Trang gloves except for MF. And before you put a Skullders
on him, Trang armor is a sound choice. If you happen to have
Marrowwalks for him, fine. Otherwise no biggie.

Unless you have a godly 2 socket +3skelli/+3SM/+3StripDancer
wand, you will certainly like a Carin Shard (I never like Arm of
King Leoric, even in SC, because I had very bad experience with
Queen Leoric).

Handbags can be a bit tough to choose from. The natural first
choice is of course Homunculus, but if you end up having the
Trang teapot and would want skullders on him eventually, that
would also be a nice combo. I always go 50%+ block for my (main
char) necros, but I will not do so until I have either
Homunculus or Trang Wing. No-block necros are feasible in HC and
I have tried them many times. I just like block because it's
more beneficial point-wise with the right equipment (choice
between 150 stat points for 300 life, or 50% DR.)

You like no-management. Go for skellies. Forget about high level
Golem. You have to re-cast a fire golem every 3.61757 seconds
because it's always engaging 361757 monsters. You have to
identify every piece of metallic item on ground to raise the
poof'ing iron golem if it doesn't have skelli-support.

You used to hate the moronic act 2 merc for always at the wrong
direction when you're struggling for your life, or so obsessed
with watching sceneries. You'll be glad he is like this when you
have a dozen skellies. You almost never have to pay to resurrect
the merc (except in Chaos.) In case you don't know yet, skelli
will open doors and engage anything inside the room while you're
counting cold coins on the ground.

There are many ways to play a summoning necro. I have most
curses hotkeyed and I'm usually rather busy casting different
curses on different monsters. My wife only uses one finger to
play the game and she only uses one and only one curse. Works
for her.

Bing

Guest

On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 12:06:24 -0400, "chainbreaker" <noone@nowhere.com>
wrote:


Well, I have built several guardian necros, so maybe I can give you a
bit of useful advice. You don't mention if you are playing realm or
SP, but I'll assume realm.


Vit. All of them. You will need them in Hell, and in fact I am a
little surprised that you are still alive in A4 NM with so little vit.


MFer? CE.


?? Um, why? MFers have to kill fast, and golems can't kill at all
past NM.


Good. Much more important to stay alive. Get your mana from items.


You must put at least one hard point in Revive. Some monsters just
make superb revives, and it is ludicrous to do without them for the
sake of one skill point -- especially one that you have chosen to
"invest" in golem/GM.


Well, I have to say that IMO you have already missed the boat on
making an effective HC MF necro, which requires maxed skels, skel
mastery, CE, and a healthy investment in Revive. Add one in each
curse and all the pre-requisites, and there are not a lot of spare
points there to be putting into golems. All the points you have put
in Golem and GM beyond the first are effectively wasted, IMO. If you
intend to spend a lot of time MFing with this char, I would advise a
rebuild. If you can get chants, rebuilding a necro to level 70 or
even higher is duck soup.

As to cheap MF gear, you will need to stuff ptopazes into your hat and
armor, so unless you can get a jeweler's armor or artisan's hat with
something else useful on it, that's all you will have. A two-hole
head with pdiamonds is likewise a necessity; look for one with skills
and/or resists. Weapon? Spirit is cheap but effective. A +2 necro
skills ammy with good resists should not be hard to find. Because you
will only have two pdiamonds in your head and only ptopazes in your
hat and armor, resists will be an issue in Hell. So focus your hunt
for rings, gloves, belt and boots (and charms) on maxing resistances,
especially FR and LR. Getting a CBF item should also be a high
priority.

-- Roy L

Shadowalk

> My wife only uses one finger to play the game and she only uses one and

LOL no really, I was expecting you to write it once i read the rest. But it
was still the funniest thing i read in a while.... hats off to bingain
One finger curse is the way to go.

Shane

Bingain wrote:

Sounds like a plan to me. I was initially considering something a bit less
run-of-the mill than a skellimancer, but laziness carries the day.

Oh, and I did put a point in Revives--way too much distraction for me on a
regular basis, but I presume they're practically a must when dealing with
Diablo, Ancients, etc., so I guess the nine I get from the point I put in it
(lots of +skills gear) will be plenty, at least I hope so.

I'm determined to get this guy through, but I just don't think I could
regularly mf with him, despite my initial inclination, just way too much
management for me.

--
chainbreaker

Bingain

chainbreaker wrote:


Not a must. I hardly ever use Reviveds for Ancients unless I see
some nice folks on the way. I always use Venom Lords for Diablo
because I run the seals in clockwise direction thus Infector is
always my last seal boss, and it looks like a pity not to raise
them against their master -- they help, but is not a must.

It's supposedly nice to have some of Ventar's brothers to help
against Baal. However I usually spend quite some time counting
gold coins on ground after Lister falls, picking up blue items
and put them in cube to see if I can transmute them into gold
items... I spend so much time the Venom Lords all become black
sheets in town.

Bing

Justin Mahn

Bingain wrote:
never heard of blue to gold. is that with 3 pgems?

--
Justin Mahn