Making new Skelemancer: need suggestions

[Jackson]

Hi guys, please try to read through this entire post and answer as many questions as you can.

I've finished making my pallys, and want to make a necromancer (skeleton summoner) for PvM and MFing :clap:

SKILLS:
Max Raise Skeleton
Max Skeleton Mastery
About 20 Corpse Explosion after +skill gear
1 Raise Mage
1 Clay Golem
About 10+ skills into Revive after gear
1 Amp
1 Dim Vision
*Any into Golem Mastery?
*Do I need Clay Golem?
*Any other skills I missed?

GEAR:
(My PvM setup)
JAH Harlequin Crest

"Enigma" Runeword in a Superior (14%ED) Mage Plate

Perfect Mara's Amulet

2 SOJ rings

Arachnid's Mesh Belt

"Beast" Runeword Weapon with Homunculus Shield (Will have an Leoric Wand in cube when Summoning)

Perfect Battle Orders "Call to Arms" Runeword with Lidless Wall Shield for skills

Probably Magefists or Trang Gloves

Perfect Stats and skills Marrowalk Boots

**Any comments on gear?

Also going to get a Might Mercenary.


Comments and suggestions for improvements please.

[disci]

Yeah Clay golem is handy vs boss like baal to slow him down and you should invest one point into golem mastery and summon resists. thats all you need into these. More is waste of points.
You should really get more curses. Attract is handy to get monsters concentrate their hits to cursed one.
Decrep helps boss fights alot. clay+decrep = statue boss :)

[Jackson]

Another question: Does clay golem have to hith the monster in order to slow it? Because I'm not sure if my slow-moving golem can reach Baal while a big bunch of minions are attacking him.

[nc-hikaru]

where are you suppose to put the excess skill pts?

[disci]

Another question: Does clay golem have to hith the monster in order to slow it? Because I'm not sure if my slow-moving golem can reach Baal while a big bunch of minions are attacking him.

Yes clay actually has to hit to slow down monsters. And easy solution to this other problem is that when you are running to baal, cast clay near him. That way he is already hitting him bfor rest of your minion reach baal.

Little hint, cast clay at opposite side of you and boss. Boss will direct hes attacks magical/physical to golem instead of you.

[deathslayer007]

The clay golem also has another strange thing on it. If the golem Hits or Gets Hit by a monster, that monster is slowed (i use a psn nec with a high clay in hell, always works when its hit) very fun and very useful.

I really like the name *Statue Baal*

[disci]

Yes or favorite minion Clay golem only needs 1 point invest. Mine doesnt die at all. In fact my skels and merc dies more often than this muddy fellow. I dont even have alot +skills from equipment. Only 10 :)

[Jackson]

Any comments on gear?

Thanks to those who have replied.

[Muffassa]

I wouldn't bother with more than 1 pt in revives - this build is so easy anyway

Right now Im in act 5 hell (solo all the way) and I have max skelies, max mastery, 1 in each curse, might merc wearing bramble (thorns aura), beast runeword(fanat aura) and Heart of the Oak on switch for buffing summons. I never summon mages or revives - except v. bosses (I just don't need them).

enigma rules, because wehn u teleport, the minions come out swinging, so you can amp damage a guy, then tp in and get ~15 hits on him all at once.

clay golum rules - but only 1 pt is necessary there.

Right now I have ~800 life, about 50 stat points saved up, and 25 skill points, and I have no need for them. I'm thinking aobut maxing bone spirit or something.

Make sure you take adavantage of the marrowwalk bug too :)

[Jackson]

Against Souls, which aura is better? Dim Vision? Or Attract?

Also, I'll probably not need Decrep.

[TPMdm]

Any comments on gear?

Thanks to those who have replied.

1 comment: Stop MFing, you are done... great gear

[pliu]

1 comment: Stop MFing, you are done... great gear
Use skellimancer MFing is super fun :). just put all the mf items on the necro :D

[Jackson]

"1 comment: Stop MFing, you are done... great gear"

What if I was to say that I donate the gear that i don't need to people who need it more than I do?

Anyways, back on track. Comments on my build will be much appreciated. :)

[TPMdm]

:D
Just poking at ya a little... Seriously though you have the gear and the layout, except for suggesting you play a lot to get your technique down solid I don't think there is much to offer you advice-wise. I hope you come to enjoy the necromancer as much as I do.

[disci]

Against Souls, which aura is better? Dim Vision? Or Attract?

Also, I'll probably not need Decrep.

Well you will have alot skillpoints left over whit this build, so why not get some curses and fool around :P
Seriously, decrep is much needed vs a boss.
And yeah, Dim works best vs souls.

Lower resist is good killing speed improver(theres sorcs everywhere). I didnt bother spend my skillpoints into IM, LT and LW, cos really didnt need those. Playing mostly alone.

[Indemaijinj]

Another question: Does clay golem have to hith the monster in order to slow it? Because I'm not sure if my slow-moving golem can reach Baal while a big bunch of minions are attacking him.

Clay Golem can be recast for a song. If the CG is somewhere where he is useless simply recast him in a better position.

[disci]

"1 comment: Stop MFing, you are done... great gear"

What if I was to say that I donate the gear that i don't need to people who need it more than I do?


"thumbsup" :)

[Zazu]

1.Why dont you max clay golem? Isn't it worth it? Lots of life, no?
2. What about attract/dim vision? Before 1.10 these were kinda useless curses, now I hear they come in handy. And how do you use them and when?
Actually I use amp+decrepify altogether, do I need more curses if I can save points from clay golem (not maxing)
3. Do u use bone wall and/or bone prison?
4. How much CE to soften up the crowd? (I dont play cows, just need to use it a little and let the skellies job done)

[mes_uno]

1.Why dont you max clay golem? Isn't it worth it? Lots of life, no?

4. How much CE to soften up the crowd? (I dont play cows, just need to use it a little and let the skellies job done)

1:- The beauty of clay golem is how easy it is to cast it where needed, none of your other minions have that. I find that i just sling him in front of me to break charges while my skeles catch up. Maxing is a waste of time i think as the dmg the golem can do is negilgible when compared to that of your skeles or even a revived.

4:- I have gone for maxed CE. Sounds like a lot but it is really useful to have the large area. Radius increases at a fixed rate per skill point/mana cost, so the area of effect increases more with each point ( area of a circle is proportional to the radius squared). High levels of CE cover whole passage ways in the worldstone keep for example, and can take down those pesky mobs of tight packed flayers that swarm in seconds.

[chovenga2]

What about the AR for my minions in late acts of Hell. Has anyone regarded a act2 Blessed Aim merc as an alternative? More hitting -> more damage?

[Dark Tyrant]

What about the AR for my minions in late acts of Hell. Has anyone regarded a act2 Blessed Aim merc as an alternative? More hitting -> more damage?


Decrepify allows your minions to have more chances of hitting their target. While the slowed targets tries to swing at your skeleton, the skeleton will have the chance to hit him up to 3 times or more!

Also, more likely than not there will be 2 or more skeletons fighting one monster at once. That triples the chance of hitting that target up to 9 or more times.

And you want each hit to do damage so Might Merc is the best.

[Dausuul]

Decrepify allows your minions to have more chances of hitting their target. While the slowed targets tries to swing at your skeleton, the skeleton will have the chance to hit him up to 3 times or more!

Also, more likely than not there will be 2 or more skeletons fighting one monster at once. That triples the chance of hitting that target up to 9 or more times.

And you want each hit to do damage so Might Merc is the best.

Except that each individual attack still has the same chance to hit--so if you had a Blessed Aim merc, you'd get even more hits.

I gather that Blessed Aim is a good second choice, but most people prefer Might. You might get Aim if you played regularly in a party with someone who already had a Might merc, but otherwise Might yields better results--the damage boost outweighs the fewer hits.

[chovenga2]

Thanks, that's all I wanted to hear

[Jackson]

I've got Beast Runeword for the AR and Damage, and I plan on hiring a Might mercenary also.

*Which curses can stack? I know that there are some that can't be overridden.

[corndog420]

I think that attract is the only curse that can't be overridden. I could be wrong, but I think that's it. I don't use it much, now that I have decent gear, but if I remember correctly, I used to use it successfully in combo with decrip. I really only find myself using decripify, anymore (I love that it cancels a monster's physical immunity).

[TPMdm]

Attract won't be overidden, but you can get the benefits of 2 curses at once in a few cases. If you use LR and poison a bunch of monsters, then use one of the AI curses they will receive the full poison damage even though the LR is no longer on them. The damage/time formula is set even if they are then forced to flee, attack each other, or an attracted target.

@corndog Amp Damage will also break physical immunity, and it will also do in in cases where decrep might not.

@Dark Tyrant, I haven't done the math, but I've seen it. From a pure damage/time standpoint blessed aim is better than might. I prefer might because of the ability to get the monsters into hit recovery animation, overall I think my skellies are safer when I pit run with might instead of BA.

[mes_uno]

@corndog Amp Damage will also break physical immunity, and it will also do in in cases where decrep might not.


Also even if decrepify does break the immunity they may still have stupidly high physical resistance (like 90%) using amp in this case give a physical resistance of only 40% so doing six times the damage as the decipify case

[Zazu]

Ok, fine, I dont want to make a new thead and be annoying, so I' ll just put some thoughts here:

I have necro lvl 71, 12 skills left free. I have maxed skellies+ SM (lvl 32 with gear) all curses 1 point (9 lvl with items), lvl 10 CE (lvl 17 w/ items), 1 pt in all golems (no fire), 1 revive. No poison at all. So what do u recomend now? I have 12 skelets on lvl 32, 6 mages, 10 revives, I use Amp+CE & Decrepify in need, some Attract. I dont really see what skills I should pump up now. More mages? They kinda suck and their damage is pathetic. Revives? Bah, nice meatshield but they dissapear after 15 seconds when running faster :( More CE? Darn, 17 lvl is kinda cool, not so much mana to cast and nice radius 8 meters.

Hmmm?

[Jackson]

When you say that Attract can't be overridden, does that mean I can cast Attract on a monster, adn then cast AMP, and both curses will be in effect at the same time?

Because I always cast Attract first, and then AMP, but there's no difference in animation, and I sometimes can't tell if there's a difference in the damage that the monsters are taking.

*Attract+ Decrep works also, right?

[Necrochild313]

no...attract just stays there. Amp does not set in.

And as far as the old Blessed Aim/Might merc debate goes Might has already been declared better, for reasons:

1. Minions gain your Clvl, and their % chance to hit is taken alot from that. Don't let the listed AR fool you.

2. Might allows the skellies to stun the enemy. Since whether or not an enemy will be stunned from a damage source is dependant on what % of their life is taken by any ONE attack, a bunch of huge attacks with just a few misses will actually be more DEFENSIVE than alot of accurate smaller attacks. Don't forget that there are multiple skeletons attacking here.