New Meleemancer

[DarkSeid]

I know this topic has been done to death BUT hear me out. I am gonna be starting a Meleemancer in a day or so and here are my ideas. For equipment I will use the following.

Crown of Ages or Rockstopper (For Res.)
Corpsemourn (upg AND for Res.) Besides black armor looks cool! Style Pts?
Grim Scythe (Upg and +3 Necro Skills) Secondary Weapon Pus Spitter (upg)
Draculs Grasp or Soul Drainers (leech)
Sandstorm Treks (Res and asst. bonuses)
Saracens, Maras or Metalgrid (really doesn't matter which)
RF and Manald
Nightsmoke (again Res)

Now I should have the res nailed dead after the anya quests even in Hell. So that isn't a concern. What is is that I allocate points correctly. That being said BA and BW MAX BUT this is where I have my dilemna. If I go w/ the Treks for boots I am good on Res. BUT do you think marrows for the bug not a feature would be better for the whole Bone Armor build? As far curses I was thinking Lifetap as main curse. Reason being is that IM would be nice early on but in hell I would get smacked to death before IM had any appreciable effect. With lifetap I would at least get something back from getting my arse kicked. Anyway those are my thoughts any comments / suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

DarkSeid

[psych]

upgrading Corpsemourn would require 232 str to wear it, are you ready for that?

[Mad Mantis]

You could try IM, but that would result only in your unfortunate demise.

[DarkSeid]

upgrading Corpsemourn would require 232 str to wear it, are you ready for that?


hrmph... 232 str huh? Would I be asking to much for the rest of the stats after upg. to see is worth it? I have no problem pumping Str a bit and with charms get it high enough. Shouldn't that much of an issue. 40 lvs = 200 str. Not that bad. So I wouldn't upg it until late game IE lvl 75-80 but still doable. Dex will be near 150-160 and vit the same or higher. Should be a good build and with item bonuses very viable.

DarkSeid

[Mad Mantis]

Should be a good build and with item bonuses very viable.

But what is the exact build? How are you going to do damage, control groups, deal with archers etc.?

[Slipin]

That up'd grim just wont do, meleemancer are very hard without max block.
i advise the following...

2 x ber'd or um'd COA
G bane or hel'd valor
Fleshripper(ghostflame on switch)
Homo(SS on switch)
verdigos
drac's
eth sandstorms

I'm am not sure if the P dagger AR trick still works(using PD on right click results in no psn dmg but u still get huge AR bonus).im a big fan of the underrated fleshripper's, good dmg and great mods. get to know terror/IM/AMP/DV because there gonna be your best friend.


GL,
~Slipin

[Hozze]

get to know terror/IM/AMP/DV because there gonna be your best friend.


GL,
~Slipin

I'd suggest you make Terror/DV/Attract/Decrepify your best friends instead, their social skills are just alot better... :uhhuh:

[Slipin]

ah yes, how could i have forgotten attract? thank you hozze


~Slipin

[Mad Mantis]

Actually the Scythe will do. As long as he can get a source of OW and CB.

Drop IM. Even maxed it is of no real use. DV and Decrep will vie for your main curse. With Attract and Terror a close second. LT will save your azz more than once.

[Slipin]

although the DS on the sythe is very nice, the fleshripper has 33% DS, 50% OW, 25% CB are all great, and the PMH, 20% slow, and -50 def are all bonuses. i have a lvl 83 meleemancer, and i find that although the bone armor is does a very good good at absorbing dmg, max block is undeniably very help, i some what consider it essential.

btw MM, can i get a link to your almost finished meleemancer guide?
im very intrested in what u have to say.

~Slipin

[DarkSeid]

You see I plan the Scythe for 2 handed Melee. My meat will be a Clay golem w/ 1-3 points in Summon Resist and 1-3 in Golem mastery. Skill items will boost to n acceptable level. As for Fleshripper I may use that as well, don't know. I was thinking more of a shieldless build relying strictly on curses, golem if necessary. If I don't wanna get TOO close too soo I can BW and pick away w/ Pus Spitter. The method to my madness is if I can kill it/them quick hack away. If I think there will be SOME problems cast a clay. If there is too much of a problem BW and just plug away w/ Pus Spitter until one of the first two scenarios becomes viable. I know it won't be easy, hell my Golemmancer took forever to finish Hell bit he did it. Oooh and by the by the Marrow walk thing. Does the bug not a feature get nerfed if you have a PLUS to all necro skills/skills in general or just a PLUS to Bone Prison specifically?

DarkSeid

[Mad Mantis]

btw MM, can i get a link to your almost finished meleemancer guide?
im very intrested in what u have to say.

My guide is on my hard drive. Most of it is finished by now. A few sections are unfinished. I'll step up the writing and playing. I can't release the guide until I have beat Hell Baal.

I use a 2-handed Meleemancer. He has no Minions, goes untwinked and doesn't use the PDagger bug. The problem is that I can't play an awful lot and progress is relatively slow. I could test some things with those level 99 characters that were released by Blizz. That would speed up the progress. Or if you could test a few things. The fact that I have a lot of finals doesn't help either. I can browse the forum a lot because I am stuck behind my desk learning anyway, but two hours of play is the maximum I can get a day.

[Slipin]

sure i can test a few things, my melee'er has got much action of the late,
what do ya need? the lvl 99 files are ok but you dont get the really experiance, cant wait for the guide to finish, its sure to be good. :drink:

again, sry for the OT.

GL,
~Slipin

[DarkSeid]

Well I made it through Norm and NM solo. All I can say is forget Hell. As in NO WAY. I have tried multiple armor/weapon combos including fleshripper/tiamats/Corpsemourn/rosckstopper/dracs grasp same w/ Chains of Honor for armor. I also tried using scythe, etc... Hell I even tried BW and sending the Golem in to tie them up while I used Hellrack. I even borrowed a passion blade off of a friend and used w/ tiamats combo. NOPE. The Meleemancer in Hell is impossible. I admit I am using the Marrow bug for stronger BA and even w/ that it isn't feasible. Currently lvl 78 and about to get stripped of goods and deleted. The Marrows go back in my golemmancer and I am going to make a Skelemancer. At least this way I know I have a fighting chance. Thanks for all the input fellas I appreciate it. By the way in case anyone asks. BA, BW are at 27 when I cast BA and BP using marrow bug. PDagger (for fleshripper) is at 24 when using. Decrep, Life Tap, DV are at 10 each. The remaining 8 points I put into CG and GM. Well at least I made it to Hell. Again thanks for the help folks. I will be reading up on a skelemancer guide shortly to start anew.

DarkSeid

[Mad Mantis]

Why do you say no way? Lack of damage? Get killed too often? What?

EDIT: What Merc did you use?

[Dazuni]

my melee / poison / summoner lived through hell. what is the problem?

[Mad Mantis]

That is what we are trying to discern.

[Hozze]

Well, the equipment can't be the problem (CoH? Yes please... :uhhuh: ) and his BA should certainly hold up for a few hits, so my guess is lack of crowd control. Are you using your curses too full effect? From personal experience, although I haven't reached hell yet, Dim Vision is cruical for survival. It enables you to pick when, where and how to engage the enemy like no other skill and I'm most likely going to max it myself. You don't mention Terror or Attract? Great skills for diverting the enemies attention elsewhere. I say it's too early to give up yet, let us know what the problem is and I'm sure it'll work out! :thumbsup:

[DarkSeid]

Why do you say no way? Lack of damage? Get killed too often? What?

EDIT: What Merc did you use?

Merc Act 2 Norm Defiance leveling along w/ me. His equipment was a Smoke, Tomb Reaver w/ 2 Shaels and a Gaze. That wasn't the problem. As I wanted to make this a near STRICTLY meleemancer only summon being a clay golem. As for curses Dim Vision, attract and confuse were around 7-9. It was the lack of damage I myself could give to an opponent. The BA did hold up for a few hits but NOT enough. The whole time trying to manage my merc and keep him safe from himself as well as keeping him alive doesnt help. To top it off dropping curses in the right spot and bonewalling choke points, etc.... too much of a hassle. Basically to much work and too little pay off. So a new skelemancer has been started and will have the best of the best for equipment as do all my chars. Right now I am loving life w/ my Golemmancer as I have acquired a 3/5/3 CTA. Hehehe you wanna talk super gumby? LOL! He rarely if EVER dies. So he tanks while I spear one or 2 then amp and CE to my hearts content. The skelemancer will just be the perfect compliment to my playstyle. Some of the meleemancers equipment will be used. Marrows and CoH. The helm is being traded off with some other items for a crown and I have a Homunc and leo coming as well. So when he gets to high enough level his skeles and revives will rock. Again thanks folks for everything. But a meleemancer isn't for everyone that I can say in all confidence.

Darkseid

[Mad Mantis]

But a meleemancer isn't for everyone that I can say in all confidence.

That is absolutely true. Without godly equipment you can't expect to see the hoards of Hell fall down before you.

I used a HF Merc. That combined with Decrep and DV gave excellent crowd control. My damage is a meagre 1k. I can get it higher though. It does take some patience and your Merc can kill faster than you. But this is a deliberately underpowered build. It takes some getting used to.

[DarkSeid]

The Skelemancer is now progressing at a phenominal rate. Currently level 66 w/ 2 sets of equip. One for leveling and when High enough one for MF. Basically maxed RS, SM, Mages. Popped a few points into the Golem tree (prereqs except for 3 in both CG and GM for Revives. Curses are all around 9-12 (due to + skill items). His leveling loadout is a skullders, shako, homunculus, Leo, marrows, nightsmoke, maras, frostburns (gotta love amp + CE), a manald and ravenfrost. For MF he gets chancies, two 34 MF rings, baba, 4 isted shield, goldwrap, war travs, gheeds and asst'd small MF charms. Life is good. I am hoping to make this the ultimate Skele/MF necro there is. So far solo'ed through NM to do my own Baal runs. No I am baaling on US East in groups racking in the XP. Any other tips or hints would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

DarkSeid