I)0C
09-05-2004, 23:56
Sup all. My name is I)0C. First of all, I would like to thank anyone who is reading this guide. Second, I would like to note that this is not a PvP Guide. A Zookeeper is a special type of necromancer that has kept my eye on it ever since I started to play. Here is the guide...
Table of Contents
Introduction
Skills
-Iron or Fire?
Stats
Equipment
-Belt
-Inventory
Mercenary
-Mercenary Equipment
Ways to Play
Conclusion
Specials
Introduction
A Zookeeper is a necromancer that uses ALL of his summoning abilities. In other words, he is the master of minions. In this guide, I will be mentioning many different aspects of his summons, the equipment range, the Ways to Play, and try to help you understand/play the Zookeeper.
Skills
Summoning
Obviously, about 94% of his skills used are from the Summoning Tree. The only skills you should be using are Skeleton Mastery, Raise Skeleton, Skeletal Mage, Revives, and a Golem of your choice (I will explain later).
-Iron or Fire?
This is a tough question, as people would say to go towards the Iron Golem due to his great statistics on which item he is summoned out of. Well, the choice is yours. If you can find a good item to make an Iron Golem out of, then head towards the Iron Golem. If you have a hefty amount of Mana, then go towards the Fire Golem, as his Mana cost will go over 250 in time.
Curses
Half of the remaining 6% will be Curses. If you haven't noticed, most of your Revives will be melee attackers. Combined with Skeletal Warriors, Revives can mass up exceptional damage with the enemy was cursed with Amplify Damage. Place at least one point in Amplify Damage. About the Mages... when against the Physical Immunes in hell mode, the Mages start to kick in here. With Lower Resist, their damage practically doubles, depending on how high the Lower Resist level is. In shorter terms, try getting both Amplify Damage and Lower Resist.
Poison and Bone
The only skill I recommend using from the Poison and Bone skill tree for the Zookeeper build is Bone Armor. It saved my butt quite a bit of times. Don't get too carried away though, only add at least one point in Bone Armor. If you feel the need that your defensive stats are low, then feel free to add more.
Stats
Your stats are very simple. The only problem is that a the Zookeeper's strength is over 100, which is a bit overwhelming for a spellcaster. But this is due to the equipment used. Here is a list of what my Zookeeper has for final stats...
|118| Strength
|Non| *No dexterity should be added*
|114| Vitality
|230| Energy
For a few notes on the stats: No dexterity was added since the weapon the Zookeeper shall be using is a spellcaster item. Energy is very high because summoning many minions at one time takes alot of Mana. Lets take out the old calculator... The mana cost of the final Skeletal Warrior is about 45 mana each, same with the Revives and Mages. My Zookeeper has 17 Warriors, 17 Mages, and 47 Revives. 17+17+47=81 81x45=3645. Don't forget to add the golem's average mana cost, which is about... 140... somewhat... anyway... 3645+140=3785 minus the amount regained per second is... 3785-14=3771. Phew... too much math... :rant: anyway, the amount of mana used to summon all minions in a 20 second period is about 3771 or more.
Equipment
Your equipment should be pretty strait foward, but some of the final items may be too expensive. I have compiled a number of items to help show which items are recommended, and items that can be used for substitutes if the final item is not available. Here is the list...
Helm: Harlequin Crest (Shako) // This is a great helm for any character. With +2 to all skills, damage reduced from enemies, stats added, and its cool mint green color :drool: , its hard to pass by. Substitute: I would say to use Peasant Crown, it is like a baby Shako :D.
Armor: Enigma // Great armor for anyone as well, but the main problem is that it is very very expensive. +2 to all skills, resistances, high def, and the popular Teleporting skill, its also hard to not notice. Substitute: Trang-Oul's Armor would do the job nicely with +2 to summoning and faster run/walk.
Weapon: Arm of King Leoric // Ah, my favorite item in the game. It is the absolute best weapon for a Zookeeper, or any type of Summoner Necromancer. With skills ranging from +1-5, its a natural good. Substitute: Cairn Shard would go okay. Only thing special about this wand is the +3 to summoning skills.
Shield: Homunculus // One of the greatest Necromancer shields in the game, it is packed with Major Resists, and even +2 to Summoning and +4 to Curses. Substitute: I cannot say anything here, as Homunculus is very easy to obtain.
Belt: Aracnid Mesh // Nothing special but the +1 to skills addition. Substitute: Gloomstrap is probably the 2nd best spellcaster belt in the game.
Gloves: Trang-Oul's Gloves // This has one of the best stats I have ever seen on gloves. It has +2 to Curses and faster cast rate, amazing. Substitute: Frostburns, only because it adds major mana.
Boots: Marrowwalk // I would say the best boots for a Necromancer, since it adds +1-2 to Skeleton Mastery. Substitute: Silkweaves, only because its a great spellcaster item.
Rings: Stone of Jordan x2 // duh... Substitute: Find any rings with mana additions, since you will need it.
Amulet: +3 to Summoning Skills with +90 life // Nothing is better than this kind of amulet for a Zookeper in my opinion, although it is hard to find. Substitute: Mara's Kaleidoscope will do quite nicely with +2 to all skills and +20 to resistances.
Belt
The belt is like a mini Inventory. The far right side column of your belt should have 4 Town Portal Scrolls, and the rest of the spots are either Full Rejuvenation Potions or Healing Potions.
Inventory
My inventory is quite simple, but you can change it anyway you want. My inventory is nothing but 10 +1 to Summoning Skills Grand Charms, Annihilus charm, 2 faster hit recovery small charms, and 2 Super Mana Potions. With this kind off inventory set up, your Summoning skills will be boosted up by alot.
Mercenary
*Note: this mercenary is from Act2* Your mercenary will be the heart of the minion group. On discussing which aura he should be using, people would say either Might, Prayer, Holy Freeze, or Defiance. Lets look at all of them... Might adds damage only to melee attackers, but Amplify Damage should fill in for this. Prayer, the healing aura, is not needed, since your summons can be easily replaced. Holy Freeze... there is no use for Holy Freeze here, since some of your Skeletal Mages should be using Ice Bolt. So I would go with Defiance, since your summons have no defensive stats.
Mercenary Equipment
Your mercenary's equipment are pretty easy to get, except the weapon, because his weapon will vary...
Helm: Crown of Thieves // Great mainly for its 12 life leech. But it also has +50 life, fire resists, and more gold found. Substitute: Stealskull. Only reason is for life leech and faster hit recovery.
Armor: Shaftstop // Good for any type of mercenary. With major defense, it is hard to ignore. Substitute: Duriel's Shell. Really good stats, but the only problem is that it has no life leech.
Weapon: Bonehew // Greatest weapon for a Act2 mercenary due to its extremely high damage, and its dual sock. Substitute: Spire of Honor. Just because it does average damage. If you have anything else to put here, then feel free to do so.
Ways to Play
There is not much to say here. All the Zookeeper does is sit back and relax while about 70 of his minions pelt the enemies with attacks of melee and magic. Lol, that was a little to descriptive :lol: . Anyway, I have come up with some suggestions when battling certain types of monsters.
When fighting Phyical Immunes, your Warriors and maybe Revives will not be effective. So let your Mages do the job. But the Mages' damage combined may not be enough, so quickly switch to Lower Resist and cast it over the enemy. Their health should be leveling down faster.
When fighting Magic Immunes, same thing, but Mages this time have the low. All you have to do is watch your Warriors and maybe Revives attack. But against bosses and unique monsters, their damage may not be enough, so quickly switch to Amplify Damage and cast it over the enemy. Their heatlth should be leveling down two times faster.
But before heading out into the area, summon the minions that dont need a corpse to be summoned. Summon your golem, and set your Bone Armor ready. Then start heading out. Your Golem and Mercenary should take out at least one enemy. Then summon one Warrior. Afterwards, your army should increase in size in no time.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Zookeeper is a very viable character to play, in my opinion that is... Here are the skills I have promised you...
|20| Skeleton Mastery
|20| Raise Skeleton
|15+| Skeletal Mage
|10+| Revive
|1| Stone Golem (prerequisite)
|1| Blood Golem (prerequisite)
|1| Golem Mastery (prerequisite)
|1+| Summon Resist
|1+| Your Golem Choice
With all the equipment and items, my skill levels are...
Level 50 Skeleton Mastery
Level 48 Raise Skeleton
Level 47 Skeletal Mage
Level 45 Revive
Level 8-12 for anything else
*Note that I maxed Mastery, Skeleton, Mage, and Revives*
Specials
This section of the guide is dedicated to any people or places that helped me with my character or this guide.
Special Thanks to: PathfinderMhk and Black Hades
More Thanks to: rpgforums.netfor letting me post guides
Even More Thanks to:Dark Knightfor accepting this guide (if he does).
Well, thats my guide for the Zookeeper. I hope this guide helped you to understand/play the Zookeeper. Thanks for your time.
-I)0C
Table of Contents
Introduction
Skills
-Iron or Fire?
Stats
Equipment
-Belt
-Inventory
Mercenary
-Mercenary Equipment
Ways to Play
Conclusion
Specials
Introduction
A Zookeeper is a necromancer that uses ALL of his summoning abilities. In other words, he is the master of minions. In this guide, I will be mentioning many different aspects of his summons, the equipment range, the Ways to Play, and try to help you understand/play the Zookeeper.
Skills
Summoning
Obviously, about 94% of his skills used are from the Summoning Tree. The only skills you should be using are Skeleton Mastery, Raise Skeleton, Skeletal Mage, Revives, and a Golem of your choice (I will explain later).
-Iron or Fire?
This is a tough question, as people would say to go towards the Iron Golem due to his great statistics on which item he is summoned out of. Well, the choice is yours. If you can find a good item to make an Iron Golem out of, then head towards the Iron Golem. If you have a hefty amount of Mana, then go towards the Fire Golem, as his Mana cost will go over 250 in time.
Curses
Half of the remaining 6% will be Curses. If you haven't noticed, most of your Revives will be melee attackers. Combined with Skeletal Warriors, Revives can mass up exceptional damage with the enemy was cursed with Amplify Damage. Place at least one point in Amplify Damage. About the Mages... when against the Physical Immunes in hell mode, the Mages start to kick in here. With Lower Resist, their damage practically doubles, depending on how high the Lower Resist level is. In shorter terms, try getting both Amplify Damage and Lower Resist.
Poison and Bone
The only skill I recommend using from the Poison and Bone skill tree for the Zookeeper build is Bone Armor. It saved my butt quite a bit of times. Don't get too carried away though, only add at least one point in Bone Armor. If you feel the need that your defensive stats are low, then feel free to add more.
Stats
Your stats are very simple. The only problem is that a the Zookeeper's strength is over 100, which is a bit overwhelming for a spellcaster. But this is due to the equipment used. Here is a list of what my Zookeeper has for final stats...
|118| Strength
|Non| *No dexterity should be added*
|114| Vitality
|230| Energy
For a few notes on the stats: No dexterity was added since the weapon the Zookeeper shall be using is a spellcaster item. Energy is very high because summoning many minions at one time takes alot of Mana. Lets take out the old calculator... The mana cost of the final Skeletal Warrior is about 45 mana each, same with the Revives and Mages. My Zookeeper has 17 Warriors, 17 Mages, and 47 Revives. 17+17+47=81 81x45=3645. Don't forget to add the golem's average mana cost, which is about... 140... somewhat... anyway... 3645+140=3785 minus the amount regained per second is... 3785-14=3771. Phew... too much math... :rant: anyway, the amount of mana used to summon all minions in a 20 second period is about 3771 or more.
Equipment
Your equipment should be pretty strait foward, but some of the final items may be too expensive. I have compiled a number of items to help show which items are recommended, and items that can be used for substitutes if the final item is not available. Here is the list...
Helm: Harlequin Crest (Shako) // This is a great helm for any character. With +2 to all skills, damage reduced from enemies, stats added, and its cool mint green color :drool: , its hard to pass by. Substitute: I would say to use Peasant Crown, it is like a baby Shako :D.
Armor: Enigma // Great armor for anyone as well, but the main problem is that it is very very expensive. +2 to all skills, resistances, high def, and the popular Teleporting skill, its also hard to not notice. Substitute: Trang-Oul's Armor would do the job nicely with +2 to summoning and faster run/walk.
Weapon: Arm of King Leoric // Ah, my favorite item in the game. It is the absolute best weapon for a Zookeeper, or any type of Summoner Necromancer. With skills ranging from +1-5, its a natural good. Substitute: Cairn Shard would go okay. Only thing special about this wand is the +3 to summoning skills.
Shield: Homunculus // One of the greatest Necromancer shields in the game, it is packed with Major Resists, and even +2 to Summoning and +4 to Curses. Substitute: I cannot say anything here, as Homunculus is very easy to obtain.
Belt: Aracnid Mesh // Nothing special but the +1 to skills addition. Substitute: Gloomstrap is probably the 2nd best spellcaster belt in the game.
Gloves: Trang-Oul's Gloves // This has one of the best stats I have ever seen on gloves. It has +2 to Curses and faster cast rate, amazing. Substitute: Frostburns, only because it adds major mana.
Boots: Marrowwalk // I would say the best boots for a Necromancer, since it adds +1-2 to Skeleton Mastery. Substitute: Silkweaves, only because its a great spellcaster item.
Rings: Stone of Jordan x2 // duh... Substitute: Find any rings with mana additions, since you will need it.
Amulet: +3 to Summoning Skills with +90 life // Nothing is better than this kind of amulet for a Zookeper in my opinion, although it is hard to find. Substitute: Mara's Kaleidoscope will do quite nicely with +2 to all skills and +20 to resistances.
Belt
The belt is like a mini Inventory. The far right side column of your belt should have 4 Town Portal Scrolls, and the rest of the spots are either Full Rejuvenation Potions or Healing Potions.
Inventory
My inventory is quite simple, but you can change it anyway you want. My inventory is nothing but 10 +1 to Summoning Skills Grand Charms, Annihilus charm, 2 faster hit recovery small charms, and 2 Super Mana Potions. With this kind off inventory set up, your Summoning skills will be boosted up by alot.
Mercenary
*Note: this mercenary is from Act2* Your mercenary will be the heart of the minion group. On discussing which aura he should be using, people would say either Might, Prayer, Holy Freeze, or Defiance. Lets look at all of them... Might adds damage only to melee attackers, but Amplify Damage should fill in for this. Prayer, the healing aura, is not needed, since your summons can be easily replaced. Holy Freeze... there is no use for Holy Freeze here, since some of your Skeletal Mages should be using Ice Bolt. So I would go with Defiance, since your summons have no defensive stats.
Mercenary Equipment
Your mercenary's equipment are pretty easy to get, except the weapon, because his weapon will vary...
Helm: Crown of Thieves // Great mainly for its 12 life leech. But it also has +50 life, fire resists, and more gold found. Substitute: Stealskull. Only reason is for life leech and faster hit recovery.
Armor: Shaftstop // Good for any type of mercenary. With major defense, it is hard to ignore. Substitute: Duriel's Shell. Really good stats, but the only problem is that it has no life leech.
Weapon: Bonehew // Greatest weapon for a Act2 mercenary due to its extremely high damage, and its dual sock. Substitute: Spire of Honor. Just because it does average damage. If you have anything else to put here, then feel free to do so.
Ways to Play
There is not much to say here. All the Zookeeper does is sit back and relax while about 70 of his minions pelt the enemies with attacks of melee and magic. Lol, that was a little to descriptive :lol: . Anyway, I have come up with some suggestions when battling certain types of monsters.
When fighting Phyical Immunes, your Warriors and maybe Revives will not be effective. So let your Mages do the job. But the Mages' damage combined may not be enough, so quickly switch to Lower Resist and cast it over the enemy. Their health should be leveling down faster.
When fighting Magic Immunes, same thing, but Mages this time have the low. All you have to do is watch your Warriors and maybe Revives attack. But against bosses and unique monsters, their damage may not be enough, so quickly switch to Amplify Damage and cast it over the enemy. Their heatlth should be leveling down two times faster.
But before heading out into the area, summon the minions that dont need a corpse to be summoned. Summon your golem, and set your Bone Armor ready. Then start heading out. Your Golem and Mercenary should take out at least one enemy. Then summon one Warrior. Afterwards, your army should increase in size in no time.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Zookeeper is a very viable character to play, in my opinion that is... Here are the skills I have promised you...
|20| Skeleton Mastery
|20| Raise Skeleton
|15+| Skeletal Mage
|10+| Revive
|1| Stone Golem (prerequisite)
|1| Blood Golem (prerequisite)
|1| Golem Mastery (prerequisite)
|1+| Summon Resist
|1+| Your Golem Choice
With all the equipment and items, my skill levels are...
Level 50 Skeleton Mastery
Level 48 Raise Skeleton
Level 47 Skeletal Mage
Level 45 Revive
Level 8-12 for anything else
*Note that I maxed Mastery, Skeleton, Mage, and Revives*
Specials
This section of the guide is dedicated to any people or places that helped me with my character or this guide.
Special Thanks to: PathfinderMhk and Black Hades
More Thanks to: rpgforums.netfor letting me post guides
Even More Thanks to:Dark Knightfor accepting this guide (if he does).
Well, thats my guide for the Zookeeper. I hope this guide helped you to understand/play the Zookeeper. Thanks for your time.
-I)0C