Br_'s Poison Necro Guide

[Br_]

A Simple Poison Necro

1)Introduction

One of the quickest builds in the game, the Psn Nec can be complete at lvl 60 with plenty of room for customization. With the small amount of skill points, new and old players can enjoy this build for it simplicity and power. If you are interested in hacking and slashing this is not the build for you. Like most nec builds you never need to swing your weapon, in fact you spend most of your time dodging the enemy.

This was my first true char build and my only 80+ Character I use. I do all of my MF with this character. It is not the best MF er, but if you are good it gets the job done.

2) Skill Points and Stat distribution

Poison skills should be obvious.

Poison and Bone

1) Poison Dagger - Max (My setup 15k Damage over 1 year)

2) Poison Explosion - Max (My setup 20k to 25k Damage over 10 years)

3) Poison Nova - Max (My setup 4k to 4.5k Damage over 2 seconds)



Curses

1) Lower Resist - 1point

2) Amplify Damage - 1 point

3) Decrepify - 1 point

(PREREQ Weaken 1, Terror - 1, Iron Maiden - 1, Life Tap - 1)

Summons


1) Clay Golem - 1 point

2) Golem Mastery - 1 point

3) Summon Resist - 1point

Why only 1 point in additional tree skills?

Collecting gear with + to skills answer this question. My gear gives me an all around +6 to all skills. Golem for example at lvl 7 and Mastery at 7 gives him over a 1000 HP making him do well as a tank. Also with all the leftover points feel free to add points where you need.



60 for max Poison Skills

10 for recommended additional Skills

70 Total

Stats

Here we go I should just copy and paste from other builds


Strength - enough for desired equ.

Dexterity - Base or enough for max block

Vitality - As much as possible (you will need it in Hell)

Mana - Base

3) Equipment

Go here and choose for yourself


Uniques

( http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/uniques.shtml)


Set

Trang-ouls Avatar ( http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/sets/sets7.shtml#trangouls )

What do I use?


Trang Gloves, Armor (PTopaz) and Shield

Rare Wand (plus 2 to nec skills and +3 to Psn Nova)

Nat Boots (Speedy) ( http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/sets/sets6.shtml#natalyasodium )

Peasant Crown(PTopaz) ( http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/exceptional/uhelms.shtml ) (Poor Mans Shako)

Rare Ammy with Nec skills or 31% MF

Dual Nagelring Rings


4) Mercenaries

Think ahead when selecting your mer. Poison takes time so you need a merc that tanks(Act 5 Barb), slows (NM Act 2 Merc), or stops(Act 3 Ice) enemies.

I suggest Act 5 Barb, over the others. Sure your golem tanks for you already, 2 are better then one. The golem may tank, but has no damage whats so ever. Slap on some heavy duty equ. on your merc and let him take out those pesky Psn immune in Hell.

My barb has

Corpse Mourn Armor ( http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/exceptional/uarmor.shtml )

Guillaume's Face Helm ( http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/sets/sets6.shtml#orphanscall )

Flame bellow sword ( http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/elite/uswords.shtml )

I suggest useing a weapon with high elemental damage so that when you cast LR it increases everyones damage.

5)Leveling up and PvM.

Psn Nova will be your main attack, which means pre lvl 30 may be a challenge. Cast your Clay Golem and let him tank and slow everyone down. Your merc should be up with your golem dealing serious damage, keep his lvl within 1 level of your own to max their use. Don't forget to feed your merc a constant diet of health potions to keep him alive, and keep your money in your pocket. Psn nova should kill the majority of your enemies, its the time delay of psn that will get you killed.

Learn to dodge

Don't stop moving more then you have to and keep in the open, Corners kill.

Psn Immune?, you say. Well keep Lower Resist handy because it will break most of the PSn Immune. Again your Merc may be your only Offense.

6)PVP

Someone can fill this area in

7)Conclusion


Well this is a simple guide for a simple character that is fun to play. If you are thinking of what build to go for next think about the Poison Nec. The Psn Damage is unbelievable and their is enough room after completion to add skills to customize. High lvl Psn Nec with mid lvl gear own Normal and NM. Hell is a little more challenging, but that is what make the game interesting. Have fun!

Br_

[Mad Mantis]

Nice. We didn’t have a pure poison PvM guide. Some questions and/or points of critique, if you don't mind.

- Could you expand more on the paying strategy? That should help players new to the build.
- Is this a viable route to go untwinked?
- Why did you go with an Act V Barb instead of an Act II Merc? I'm not saying that it is wrong, I'm curious as to why you didn't use a HF of Defiance Merc.
- No AI curses?
- Lay out could be better. It's a bit "messy".

[Glenn Cain]

can we go naked or untwinked?

[HarbingersOfSkulls]

"over one year" I like that :thumbsup:

You might want to add the actual Stats for str/dex/vit because anyone that has not played before will be better suited to have those numbers as a guide-line to use.

Also,instead of giving them a link and saying go choose yourself...give them a few options that in your opinion would be best for them.

Though I have "been there and done that" with the Venomancer...alot of people are either too lazy to find the correct equipment...or just don't know what would be the best over-all equipment to use.

Alot of guides already assume that you have the equipment needed for the build...not many start out as someone that has just got the game...or even just started the ladder.

Toughest part of the Venomancer without Summons...is the leveling part. It's the one build that does take forever to get to 24 for ancients.

Otherwise...it's a good read.

HoS

[risendemon]

A Simple Poison Necro

1)Introduction

One of the quickest builds in the game, the Psn Nec can be complete at lvl 60 with plenty of room for customization. With the small amount of skill points, new and old players can enjoy this build for it simplicity and power. If you are interested in hacking and slashing this is not the build for you. Like most nec builds you never need to swing your weapon, in fact you spend most of your time dodging the enemy.

This was my first true char build and my only 80+ Character I use. I do all of my MF with this character. It is not the best MF er, but if you are good it gets the job done.

2) Skill Points and Stat distribution

Poison skills should be obvious.

Poison and Bone

1) Poison Dagger - Max (My setup 15k Damage over 1 year)

2) Poison Explosion - Max (My setup 20k to 25k Damage over 10 years)

3) Poison Nova - Max (My setup 4k to 4.5k Damage over 2 seconds)



Curses

1) Lower Resist - 1point

2) Amplify Damage - 1 point

3) Decrepify - 1 point

(PREREQ Weaken 1, Terror - 1, Iron Maiden - 1, Life Tap - 1)

Summons


1) Clay Golem - 1 point

2) Golem Mastery - 1 point

3) Summon Resist - 1point

Why only 1 point in additional tree skills?

Collecting gear with + to skills answer this question. My gear gives me an all around +6 to all skills. Golem for example at lvl 7 and Mastery at 7 gives him over a 1000 HP making him do well as a tank. Also with all the leftover points feel free to add points where you need.



60 for max Poison Skills

10 for recommended additional Skills

70 Total

Stats

Here we go I should just copy and paste from other builds


Strength - enough for desired equ.

Dexterity - Base or enough for max block

Vitality - As much as possible (you will need it in Hell)

Mana - Base

3) Equipment

Go here and choose for yourself


Uniques

( http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/uniques.shtml)


Set

Trang-ouls Avatar ( http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/sets/sets7.shtml#trangouls )

What do I use?


Trang Gloves, Armor (PTopaz) and Shield

Rare Wand (plus 2 to nec skills and +3 to Psn Nova)

Nat Boots (Speedy) ( http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/sets/sets6.shtml#natalyasodium )

Peasant Crown(PTopaz) ( http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/exceptional/uhelms.shtml ) (Poor Mans Shako)

Rare Ammy with Nec skills or 31% MF

Dual Nagelring Rings


4) Mercenaries

Think ahead when selecting your mer. Poison takes time so you need a merc that tanks(Act 5 Barb), slows (NM Act 2 Merc), or stops(Act 3 Ice) enemies.

I suggest Act 5 Barb, over the others. Sure your golem tanks for you already, 2 are better then one. The golem may tank, but has no damage whats so ever. Slap on some heavy duty equ. on your merc and let him take out those pesky Psn immune in Hell.

My barb has

Corpse Mourn Armor ( http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/exceptional/uarmor.shtml )

Guillaume's Face Helm ( http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/sets/sets6.shtml#orphanscall )

Flame bellow sword ( http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/elite/uswords.shtml )

I suggest useing a weapon with high elemental damage so that when you cast LR it increases everyones damage.

5)Leveling up and PvM.

Psn Nova will be your main attack, which means pre lvl 30 may be a challenge. Cast your Clay Golem and let him tank and slow everyone down. Your merc should be up with your golem dealing serious damage, keep his lvl within 1 level of your own to max their use. Don't forget to feed your merc a constant diet of health potions to keep him alive, and keep your money in your pocket. Psn nova should kill the majority of your enemies, its the time delay of psn that will get you killed.

Learn to dodge

Don't stop moving more then you have to and keep in the open, Corners kill.

Psn Immune?, you say. Well keep Lower Resist handy because it will break most of the PSn Immune. Again your Merc may be your only Offense.

6)PVP

Someone can fill this area in

7)Conclusion


Well this is a simple guide for a simple character that is fun to play. If you are thinking of what build to go for next think about the Poison Nec. The Psn Damage is unbelievable and their is enough room after completion to add skills to customize. High lvl Psn Nec with mid lvl gear own Normal and NM. Hell is a little more challenging, but that is what make the game interesting. Have fun!

Br_

DUDE thats a bad posion nerco u needa learn something you need to max you posion skills and then try to max Lower Resist not just one OMG most people whould own u btw you whould need valor or enigma and you will need alot of charms i know theses things i had a lvl 94 psn nerco :grrr:

[Mad Mantis]

DUDE thats a bad posion nerco u needa learn something you need to max you posion skills and then try to max Lower Resist not just one OMG most people whould own u btw you whould need valor or enigma and you will need alot of charms i know theses things i had a lvl 94 psn nerco :grrr:


Two things.

One: do not quote an entire guide! It makes for extremely annoying reading. Just edit it.

Two: either you are making a joke or you are being dumb. Maxing LR is not necessary. If you put in 1 point you can easily get to 7 with +skills. The difference between level 7 and level 20 is just 11%. That is not worth the 13 points investment.

[HarbingersOfSkulls]

Like MadMantis said...only 1 point is needed in most curse.

And with LR...it's not that important to get to -60 mark for it anyway...because even with your + items...you will still get to 52-55 easy enough...and any points into LR only gives you a whole 1 point better.

The thread starter never said anythin about doing pvp with this build...but has stated that he uses it to mf.

HoS

[Mad Mantis]

The thread starter never said anythin about doing pvp with this build...but has stated that he uses it to mf.

Even the PvP Poisonmancer guide advocates only one point in LR.

[HarbingersOfSkulls]

Even the PvP Poisonmancer guide advocates only one point in LR.

I've never followed any guide based on a Venomancer...just used common sense and used what I liked about the Venomancer/Summoner.

Common knowledge is the most Curses are only deserving of 1 point anyway...as you and I both know and every vet here in the Necro Forum.

I never found it important to reach the-60 mark with LR.

But like I said before...the build has become so cookie-cutter now that I even got rid of all the equipment for it...and deleted it.

I've had to move on to the Kbob Commando...and even try a few other builds.

HoS

[fishjie]

okay, you mentioned flexibility, can you talk about where you put the remainder of the points?

my worry is poison immunes. now, with just 1 point in lower resist, is that enough to remove poison immunes from monsters? what is the highest poison resist that a poison immune monster can have?

how would you handle poison immunes that can't be dealt with using LR curse? This is where the rest of the skill points are important, and I wasn't really sure where to put em.

right now my guy has HF merc + clay golem + revives as protection against mobs.

so yeah, where to put the rest of the points?

[HarbingersOfSkulls]

okay, you mentioned flexibility, can you talk about where you put the remainder of the points?

my worry is poison immunes. now, with just 1 point in lower resist, is that enough to remove poison immunes from monsters? what is the highest poison resist that a poison immune monster can have?

how would you handle poison immunes that can't be dealt with using LR curse? This is where the rest of the skill points are important, and I wasn't really sure where to put em.

right now my guy has HF merc + clay golem + revives as protection against mobs.

so yeah, where to put the rest of the points?

Well, since this guide is about not having summons involved...Bone Wall or CE would be good choices...as would getting a higher DV or Decrep.

HoS

[Necrochild313]

DUDE thats a bad posion nerco u needa learn something you need to max you posion skills and then try to max Lower Resist not just one OMG most people whould own u btw you whould need valor or enigma and you will need alot of charms i know theses things i had a lvl 94 psn nerco :grrr:

Let me keep this clear and concise.

If you don't know what your talking about and have nothing constructive to say,

please STFU

thank you


so yeah, where to put the rest of the points?


As HoS said, bonewall is good.

I'd like bonewall because it beefs up your bone armor, which comes quite in handy :thumbsup:

[gvandale]

Let me keep this clear and concise.

If you don't know what your talking about and have nothing constructive to say,

please STFU

thank you

let me add my 2 cents.

Dear jackass (read...YOU). Your innane posting is making my eyes bleed and my mouth go dry. i hope your mom contracts herpes, and your dog gets run over. die slow, or fast, so long as you put us out of our misery in dealing with your pathetic existance. move a long now, and return to the rotting pits of b.net.

whew! Gvandale sure is smart!

g

[Necrochild313]

Dear jackass (read...YOU). You innane posting is making my eyes bleed and my mouth go dry. i hope your mom contracts herpes, and your dog gets run over. die slow, or fast, so long as you put us out of our misery in dealing with your pathetic existance. move a long now, and return to the rotting pits of b.net.

your flame pwned mine :cheesy:

[gvandale]

thanks

:)

g

[HarbingersOfSkulls]

let me add my 2 cents.



whew! Gvandale sure is smart!

g

Too bad you wasn't known as TheAntiSocial1 instead of Gvandale...it does fit you much better :thumbsup:

It's like watching Archie Bunker in action here on the boards :worship:

Though...some of the people do deserve/need it.

HoS

[gvandale]

Too bad you wasn't known as TheAntiSocial1 instead of Gvandale...it does fit you much better :thumbsup:

It's like watching Archie Bunker in action here on the boards :worship:

Though...some of the people do deserve/need it.

HoS
antisocial? im very social. i just hate people. ;)

most people deserve it.

g

[HarbingersOfSkulls]

antisocial? im very social. i just hate people. ;)

most people deserve it.

g

:lol:
:drink: :buddies:

HoS

[Br_]

(A)- Could you expand more on the paying strategy? That should help players new to the build.
(B)- Is this a viable route to go untwinked?
(C)- Why did you go with an Act V Barb instead of an Act II Merc? I'm not saying that it is wrong, I'm curious as to why you didn't use a HF of Defiance Merc.
(D)- No AI curses?
(E)- Lay out could be better. It's a bit "messy".

Well first sorry about the delay on the response, its been a long weekend/week. I would like to thank everyone, well most everyone, for giving this guide constructive critisim and questions, because this is my first guide.

Now to attempt to answer these questions from Mantis, which I believe are the general ones.

A) Playing Startegy - In Norm and NM all I do is run around Psn Novaing everything. Hell is a different story, basicall I do the same as Norm/Nm but I cast LR much more frequently and let my barb do most of the killing. With my current setup it is almost impossible to kill without my Barb.

B) By untwinked I assume you mean less then godly equiptment, as you can see what I use is not very godly, but I manage. It is viable to go untwinked, but can become difficult.

Note : I believe someone asked if you could play naked as a psn nec. I would not recomend this. with out my plus to skills items my psn damage is cut in half. I would not recomend playing naked past mid-NM, unless you like dieing.

C) Why a barb? To tell you the truth I didnt really read awhole lot about Act2 mercs untill my psn nec was well on his way. I am glad I choose a barb because of his quick hits and quick health regain. Plus as I said in the guide the more tanks the merrier. I would recommend both Barb and Act2 Merc's players choice.

D) Curses, well it is up to the player. I only use lower resist and Decrepify. LR assist me (Psn Damage) and my barb (Fire damage from Flamebellow). Decrepify for bosses and for the damn speedy packs in Hell. Man they are quick.

E) I agree it does look messy. I believe that the psn necro is one of the easiest and most powerful builds in the game. If some one would like to add to my guide please do. Any organization, additional color scheme, or info that would be helpful is greatly appreciated.


_________________________________

Godly setup for a PvM Psn Nec in my opinion

Trang Gloves, shield, helm (resist Psn and Enemy Reduction in Psn Resist)
Enigma Rune word Armor/Bramble Runeword Armor
Dual SoJ
+3 Psn Bone or +2 Nec Skills Ammy with a nice Mod like FCR or Resist All
Thundergods or String of Ears belt (both upgraded)
And I am going to stick with Natalya's Set Boots ( I love the quickness )


The I only own Nat boots, trang gloves, and shield out of the above and do fine. With my mid lvl equiptment I can rotate between my serious PVM equiptment and my MF equiptment and do fine. I dont know if that is good or bad, but I enjoy it.

Well I dont know if this helps anyone, but keep the discussion of the PSN Nec alive. The Psn Necro is worth it.

Br_

[fishjie]

does maxing corpse explosion sound like a good idea?

anyway the reason i have a HF merc and a clay golem was i figured their combined abilities to slow monsters would come in handy since the venomancer doesn't have a lot of protection against monsters, and it takes time for the poison to kick in, so he'd need to do a lot of running away.

anyway so what is the maximum poison resist a poison immune can have, so i can figure out what my lower resist should be at. is it possible to have lower resist take care of all poison immunes? if so then i would have nothing left to worry about.

[Mad Mantis]

does maxing corpse explosion sound like a good idea?

It could help with some immunes, but overall I would say that the points are better spent else where. Like curses or minions.



anyway so what is the maximum poison resist a poison immune can have, so i can figure out what my lower resist should be at. is it possible to have lower resist take care of all poison immunes? if so then i would have nothing left to worry about.

Lower Resist can't take care of all immunities. It works at one fifth efficiency if you use it to remove an immunity. So anything above 112% poison resist. Stays immune. A lot of monsters go above that number.

[Br_]

Well I forgot to add an important item to the equiptment list in my previous post.

Deaths Web

One-Hand Damage: 22 To 28 (25 Avg)
Required Level: 66
Required Strength: 25
Durability: 18
Base Weapon Speed: [0]
+50% Damage To Undead
-40-50% To Enemy Poison Resistance (varies)
+7-12 To Mana After Each Kill (varies)
+7-12 Life After Each Kill (varies)
+2 To All Skills
+1-2 To Poison And Bone Skills (Necromancer Only) (varies)

Extremely Godly for Psn Nec.

Reading other posts here I also noticed people want to know where to add the rest of the points. Well I am not going to tell you directly where to put them, but here are a few ideas

Corpse Explosion always deserves a pont or two point ponts :thumbsup:

Possibly try to come close to Maxing Raise Skeleton and Skeleton Mastery

Bone Prison in PVP to trap them

Bone armor for more protection

Basically I didnt think this out when building mying and I kind of spread them out, probably a bad idea.

What I did with extra points.

I put 1 into each curse, 1 into each of the golems, 1 in bone armor, 1 in spear, a couple in bone spirit, a couple in bone prison and 1 in bone wall.

I am currently devoting all my points to CE because I find it benifits me the most.

Remeber one of the best things about this build is that you can add points wherever you need. I mean you are going 40+ points to work with.

Br_

[xFullenex]

IMO Godly Necro gear is the following:
Perf Deaths w/ 5/5 facet
Perf Bramble
trang/ glove,belt,shield (for +25 & -25 poison)
+3 BnP w/ 2 5/5 facets Circlet
+2 30% maras or +3 BnP ammy w/ other stat
Marrowalks (for added to bone armor n wall)
last but not least 2 SoJs!

Anyways if you have a friend that has a Conviction paladin.. IE lvl 25+ conviction + LR = NO PI'S cept on unique monsters! Plus to non PI's its gonna hurt REALLY badly! :yep:

Nice guide! Btw my bro's venomancer does like 6-7k PN, 51k PE and 27k PD :lol:

[Br_]

IMO Godly Necro gear is the following:
Perf Deaths w/ 5/5 facet
Perf Bramble
trang/ glove,belt,shield (for +25 & -25 poison)
+3 BnP w/ 2 5/5 facets Circlet
+2 30% maras or +3 BnP ammy w/ other stat
Marrowalks (for added to bone armor n wall)
last but not least 2 SoJs!

Anyways if you have a friend that has a Conviction paladin.. IE lvl 25+ conviction + LR = NO PI'S cept on unique monsters! Plus to non PI's its gonna hurt REALLY badly! :yep:

Nice guide! Btw my bro's venomancer does like 6-7k PN, 51k PE and 27k PD :lol:

I totally forgot about facets, probably since I have never found them in a game :rant:
I also like the ciclet idea, and Marrowalks are a good addition. I didnt list them because of the bug, but more power to you if you use it.

With that setup you are looking at -90% (add -50% from LR -140% )
and +90% Psn skill Damage. Very, Very Nice :clap:

And may I add your bro has one hell of a necro there, I can only hope to achieve that one day.

Br_

[Hybrid_Blader]

Hey how about taking this build.. but tweaking it to make a hybrid bone/psn nec?

[Br_]

Hey how about taking this build.. but tweaking it to make a hybrid bone/psn nec?

Sure nearly anything can be done.

Bone Spirit @ lvl 20 809-878 Damage
Synergized with 1 of the following, BW,BP,BSpear, or teeth @ lvl 20 the damage raises to 1780 - 1932.

Total skill points spent 45

So yes it is possible to make a psn/bone nec.

br_


Note: Bone Spirit @ lvl 30 does 1261 - 1354 Damage
1 maxed synergy does 2775 - 2979

[Aerath]

I like the build.

I especially like the fact that it is aimed towards a 'newer' player, rather than the veterans with 5 Enigmas lying about.

If possible, try to capitalize on this and work it a bit more in this direction, e.g.
1) Some basic items to look for, as well as basic mods. (Ignore the top end gear. Newbies won't get that anyway, and by the time they -do- get an Enigma, CtA and all that other stuff they might as well read a more 'advanced' guide.) Feel free to mention it, but don't just go bananas over it.

Might want to mention the opportunity to gamble a breastplate @ lvl 14 from Gheed. It'll help.

2) Some general pointers regarding Stat placement (e.g. 2 str/2dex/1 vit per level up, or fast going for strength and dex to use a 3 socket polearm w/ chippeds for meleemancing your way through till you get the better spells) as well as a general end indication would be nice too.

3) A bit of a leveling guide probably would be nice for newer players. Don't list them lvl by lvl if you can avoid (I do dislike those guides... take away all the fun of exploring a build), but you might be able to prevent common mistakes (e.g. of such a mistake... starting to max bone spear or spirit rather than its synergies, as early on you'll run out of mana with the increased spell cost).
Another example is waiting till lvl 24 to tackle Duriel so you can use Decrepify.

4) Some indication of good places to repeat a few times (Countess for decent runes + lvls, or Fake Tombs for Gold Chests + lvls).

5) Some idea of a concentrated attempt with the remaining (say... 20-25) skill points. Summons ? Bonewall/prison as mentioned before ? Start on a bone skill ?

6) Avoid the lengthy FCR/FHR etc etc descriptions (like I think you did). Just point out its importance and link them to a spot where they can find it if they want. I found it just largely confuses most new players if you provide them with endless lists of detailed calculations.
__

If you wish to, I would be willing to take an updated and edited version of your guide and give it some formatting. Just drop me a PM in case I forget to check back to this thread any time soon.

[Aerath]

I've been asked to format it a bit... am roughly half way now... Hope to be able to post the completed version tomorrow =]

[Aerath]

Br_ asked me to give his Guide something of a formatting, and to add to it if I could. So, without further ado -

Br_'s Simple Poison Necro Guide

Index

1) List of Abbreviations
2) Introduction
3) Skill and Stat Distribution
...Poison and Bone
...Curses
...Summons
4) Equipment
5) Mercenary
6) Leveling up and PvM
7) What Next ?
8) Conclusion


1) Abbreviations

BW : Bone Wall
BP : Bone Prison
Dex : Dexterity
LR : Lower Resistance
Lvl : Level
MF : MagicFind
Nrg : Energy
PvM : Player vs Monster
Psn : Poison
PTopaz : Perfect Topaz (similar for PDiamond etc.)
Str : Strength
Vit : Vitality


2) Introduction

One of the quickest builds in the game, the Poison Necro can be complete at lvl 60 with plenty of room for customization. With the small amount of skill points, new and old players can enjoy this build for its simplicity and power. If you are interested in hacking and slashing, this is not the build for you. Like most Necromancer builds you never need to swing your weapon, in fact you spend most of your time dodging the enemy.

This was my first true char build and my only 80+ Character I use. I do all of my MF with this character. It is not the best MFer, but if you are good it gets the job done.

This guide is geared specifically towards the newer players, so some of the more detailed formulas have been left out. It might also point out seemingly obvious things to the more advanced players.
It also impacts some of the other areas this guide, so bear it in mind as you go.

3) Skill Points and Stat distribution

In the leveling portion there will be a quick guide to which order one could max these skills in.
Poison skills should be obvious.

Poison and Bone

Poison Dagger - Max (My setup 15k Damage over 1 year)
Poison Explosion - Max (My setup 20k to 25k Damage over 10 years)
Poison Nova - Max (My setup 4k to 4.5k Damage over 2 seconds)


These form the backbone of your build. Each of these should be maxed for the most possible damage in the end.

Curses


Lower Resist - 1 point
Amplify Damage - 1 point
Decrepify - 1 point


(PREREQ Weaken - 1, Terror - 1, Iron Maiden - 1, Life Tap - 1)

Summons


Clay Golem - 1 point
Golem Mastery - 1 point
Summon Resist - 1 point


Why only 1 point in additional tree skills?

Collecting gear with + to skills answers this question. My gear gives me an all around +6 to all skills. Golem for example at lvl 7 and Mastery at 7 gives him over a 1000 HP making him do well as a tank. Also with all the leftover points feel free to add points where you need.

60 for max Poison Skills
10 for recommended additional Skills
70 Total

Stats

Here we go I should just copy and paste from other builds.
I move in 5's, I add a straight 5 skill points to one attribute per lvl up.

Str - Enough for desired equipment. (If you can't plan your equipment ahead of time, 77 will allow you to wear a Duskshroud armour)
Dex - Base or enough for max block
Vit - As much as possible (you will need it in Hell)
Nrg - Base

You can leave 10-15 stat points unplaced later on, if you wish. This will allow you some leeway when you find a new great item and are just a few points shy of using it.

You will need roughly 2 points of Dex * your level to achieve max block. So, by the time this build is finished, you'd need to have gotten around 120 Dex. This is a lot of points if you are using a shield with a low block rate. There are a few shields a Necro can make good use of with a great block rate, but they are pretty scarce.

Base Energy might be a problem in the beginning, when you will run out of Mana fast. Options are to use +Mana items, put Sapphires into armour/helm sockets or just drink Mana potions.

4) Equipment

Take a look at some of the fancier (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/uniques.shtml) equipment.

When starting out just new, you won't have a lot to trade for, nor to will you be able to make sure you will get certain items. Look for + to Necro Skills/Psn and Bone/Psn Nova ---> These can be found in Wands, Heads, Circlets, and Amulets. Don't forget to check the Town Merchants. They can have some nice gear to help you along. You should be able to buy a +2 Necroskills wand soon.
Try not to ignore your resistances, as elemental attacks can seriously start to hurt later in the game (Shields, Rings and Amulets in particular can help with these).
You can gamble a Breastplate as soon as lvl 14 from Gheed, which will give you decent defense without affecting your run speed.

Uniques

Nearly all Wands will do for this build, upgrade your wand as you lvl up. Most are easy to find or trade.

I strongly suggest getting Blackbogs Dagger (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/exceptional/udaggers.shtml)
It is a great mid lvl weapon for a poison necro +5 to Poison Dagger, +4 to Poison Explosion, +4 to poison Nova and a good deal of additional poison damage.
Note that it'll require a hefty investment of Dexterity.

Set Items

Trang-ouls Avatar (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/sets/sets7.shtml#trangouls)

What do I use?

Trang Gloves, Armor (Socketed with a PTopaz) and Shield
Rare Wand (plus 2 to nec skills and +3 to Psn Nova)
Nat Boots (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/sets/sets6.shtml#natalyasodium) (Speedy)
Peasant Crown (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/exceptional/uhelms.shtml)(PTopaz) (Poor Man's Shako (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/elite/uhelms.shtml))
Rare Amulet with Nec skills or 31% MF
Dual Nagelring Rings (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/normal/urings.shtml)

5) Mercenaries

Think ahead when selecting your Merc. Poison takes time so you need a merc that tanks (Act 5 Barbarian), slows (NM Act 2 Merc), or stops (Act 3 Ice) enemies.

I suggest Act 5 Barb, over the others. Sure your golem tanks for you already, 2 are better than one. The golem may tank, but has no damage whatsoever. Slap on some heavy duty equipment on your merc and let him take out those pesky Psn immune in Hell.

My barb has

Corpsemourn Armor (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/exceptional/uarmor.shtml)

Guillaume's Face Helm (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/sets/sets6.shtml#orphanscall)

Flamebellow sword (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/normal/urings.shtml)

I suggest using a weapon with high elemental damage so that when you cast LR it increases everyones damage.

6) Leveling up and PvM.


Join games with 5-7 players. Early on you don't have to actually kill tough bad guys, just cast Amplify Damage or Decrepify and let others do the killing. (Easy Lvling.)
If that fails, try buying a 3 socket spear, and putting in some chipped gems (emerald, topaz and sapphire are particularly good. Chipped Rubies in a helm or armour will give you 10 life).

Psn Nova will be your main attack, which means pre lvl 30 may be a challenge. Cast your Clay Golem and let him tank and slow everyone down. Your merc should be up with your golem dealing serious damage, keep his lvl within 1 level of your own to max their use. Don't forget to feed your merc a constant diet of health potions to keep him alive, and keep your money in your pocket. Psn nova should kill the majority of your enemies, its the time delay of psn that will get you killed.

Learn to dodge, don't stop moving more then you have to and keep in the open. Corners kill. Remember you can't lvl if you die.

Psn Immune?, you say. Well keep Lower Resist handy because it will break most of the Psn Immune. Again your Merc may be your only Offense.

Gambling can bring you some nifty rings and amulets. Just give it a shot.

Poison Dagger (the skill) will give you an AR bonus regardless of what weapon you use, as long as you have it selected as your main attack. Since you have to pump it anyway for your main poison attacks, feel free to use it through the melee combat levels.


7) Extra skill points?
Do what you want and be creative. I suggest picking one skill and max it out then pick out 1 synergy that supports the maxed out skill to increase its usefulness.
i.e. Bone Spirit @ lvl 20 809-878 Damage
Synergized with 1 of the following, BW, BP, BSpear, or teeth @ lvl 20 the damage is raised to 1780 - 1932. One point in Bone Armour will give you some extra defense as well.

Another option is to get some more Tanks in the form of Skeletons and Skeleton Mastery. In this case, you would want an Act II Might merc (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/basics/hirelings.shtml) for extra damage.

8) Conclusion

Well, this is a simple guide for a simple character that is fun to play. If you are thinking of what build to go for next think about the Poison Nec. The Psn Damage is unbelievable and there is enough room after completion to add skills to customize. High lvl Psn Nec with mid lvl gear owns Normal and NM. Hell is a little more challenging, but that is what makes the game interesting. Have fun!

Br_

[Starcrunch]

PD works really well at low levels (especially if you can find the Jade Tan Do). You can contribute to the killing...

-Starcrunch

[AdunaCCDanimoth]

Sudden Urge to make a Daggermancer MFer....

[JihadJesus]

But like I said before...the build has become so cookie-cutter now that I even got rid of all the equipment for it...and deleted it.

I've had to move on to the Kbob Commando...and even try a few other builds.

HoS

I don't know if this would interest you, but I've been thinking of creating a variant of the venomancer I call the Ghost. The skill set up is very similiar, but with a more restricted play style that relies heavily on AI curses and solely on poison dagger for damage (although you would want to max the synergies of course, just not use them in combat), and without minions. The idea is based on something I've wanted to do for a long time: make a character that sneaks up on a group of monsters, kills a few very quickly, and slips aways again. You know, like a real assasin:lol: I've never used the AI curses heavily before, but I thought I'd put the idea out there and see if it sounds reasonable and fun to anyone else - I think it'd be cool, and pretty damn tough too.

[Br_]

Thanks Aerath, :clap:

The face lift looks great :winner: , and I hope this becomes a useful tool for those making a simple or first character.

Br_

[Starcrunch]

I don't know if this would interest you, but I've been thinking of creating a variant of the venomancer I call the Ghost. The skill set up is very similiar, but with a more restricted play style that relies heavily on AI curses and solely on poison dagger for damage (although you would want to max the synergies of course, just not use them in combat), and without minions. The idea is based on something I've wanted to do for a long time: make a character that sneaks up on a group of monsters, kills a few very quickly, and slips aways again. You know, like a real assasin:lol: I've never used the AI curses heavily before, but I thought I'd put the idea out there and see if it sounds reasonable and fun to anyone else - I think it'd be cool, and pretty damn tough too.
I am building basicly this right now...only in Act III normal and actually cheating a bit on curses because I am using the Umbral Disk Shield which has hit blinds target (the curse I would certainly use until I reach level 30 any way). I like the Jade Tan Do for a low level dagger socketed with a P. Emerald (great Poison Damage, 95% poison resistance, 20% max poison resist). Oh and he is HC. Duriel was a a breeze which surprised me greatly...

-Starcrunch

-Starcrunch