Critique and Tips for my build

[El Malo]

Hello my fellow Necros. I would like to know if anyone has ever tried having a Skeleton/ Poison Nova build before in v1.10 before?
Right now my guy has:

Summoning Tree
20 points into Skeleton Mastery
20 to Raise Skeleton
1 point to Clay Golem
1 into Golem Mastery
2 into Summon Resist

P/B Skills
1 Teeth
1 Corpse Explosion

Curses
1 Amplify Damage
1 Weaken
1 Terror
1 Decrepify

I'm lvl 53 and I have 10 free skill points. I really don't like Mages too much. I wanted to try something different maybe with Poison Nova or with maybe with Bone Spear. Which do you guys think would be more help in Hell Mode. And what you guys think I should put more points into my Clay Golem, Golem Mastery and/or Summon Resist. And if I go with the Poison Nova should I put a point into Lower Resist. I'm in NM Act 4 with my Might merc. and my army have no problem dealing with the monsters and bosses so far. I would like to make sure that he would be able to live in hell. So any tips are very welcome. Thanks for you time.

-El Malo :scratch:

[Sammyboyz2]

as for your summon/psn hybrid question, yes, there are many poison nova/summoner hybrids around. they are quite common. i find that using psn nova with skellies in hell is a waste of time and skill points. u have to put a lot of points to get any huge damage. but, it is miles better than bone spear or any of the bone skills. these are useless, unless u max the synergies, and even then they suck pretty bad imo. others love them. if uve put stuf into skellies, i luv the fishymancer, so i recommend points in corpse explosion, cause this rocks taking down big groups of monsters, even in hell (especially in hell). also, get some revives. one point, and with some decent +skills, which u need for your skellies to do anythin in hell, and u can have up to 12 revives. ive never used that many, cause the mana is a pain, 45 a pop, but they are still helpful to get ranged attackers if u arent using mages. but if u want to use the bone/poison tree, nova is ur best shot, really, the rest of the skills suck. nova still does some damage to monsters in hell. and as ur only lvl 53, u should be able to max that and get some decent stuf elsewhere. i had an 81 fishymancer in last season, and in hell, everything dies. everything. its wicked.

[muckus]

I agree with Sammyboy. I probably wouldn't bother with Bone or Poison because they are weak without many synergies. But putting 10+ points in CE is awesome, and 10+ points in Amp Damage makes it very convenient. A point in Revives is useful, as is 1 point in the curses on the left side of the tree.

[JoJeck]

Hello my fellow Necros. I would like to know if anyone has ever tried having a Skeleton/ Poison Nova build before in v1.10 before?
Right now my guy has:

Summoning Tree
20 points into Skeleton Mastery
20 to Raise Skeleton
1 point to Clay Golem
1 into Golem Mastery
2 into Summon Resist

P/B Skills
1 Teeth
1 Corpse Explosion

Curses
1 Amplify Damage
1 Weaken
1 Terror
1 Decrepify

I'm lvl 53 and I have 10 free skill points. I really don't like Mages too much. I wanted to try something different maybe with Poison Nova or with maybe with Bone Spear. Which do you guys think would be more help in Hell Mode. And what you guys think I should put more points into my Clay Golem, Golem Mastery and/or Summon Resist. And if I go with the Poison Nova should I put a point into Lower Resist. I'm in NM Act 4 with my Might merc. and my army have no problem dealing with the monsters and bosses so far. I would like to make sure that he would be able to live in hell. So any tips are very welcome. Thanks for you time.

-El Malo :scratch:
Sorry to say but I think you will be dissapointed in PN Summon Hybrid unless you build it right from the start. Unless, that is, you have very good poison equipment (e.g. Trangs Set, Death Web or 4 socket Facet Armour). I have built a poison Necro (last ladder season) and it was great fun and killed very fast. But because you have to get up close to the nasty monsters to deliver the PN effectively you do need good resists and my bone armour (Marrowalk bonus synergy) and max block ( Trang Oul Wing) saved me many times. So a poison summon hybrid is fun and can kill fast but needs good equipment and can't carry as much mf as a pure summoner (who can loiter at the back behind a wall of minions).

It is possible to build an poor man's hybrid (without very good equipment) but you need to plan it carefully from the start. And a point at least in Lower Resist is essential for a poison Necro. But with your build above you have put too many points into SM for the poison part to be effective in Hell. Skill points are very tight with an effective Poison Summon hybrid and you need to find a balance between the points in summon tree, PN and its synergies and curses + CE.

I'd advise you finish this Necro as a summoner ... there are many good options open to you for a summoner... Max CE, get Revives, get Mages (you don't like them but they are an option :) ), points in AI curses and pump more into Dim Vision. Perhaps use this Necro to find some good poison gear for your next one and make that a Hybrid... that's what I did last ladder and had great fun.

[Myrakh-2]

But putting 10+ points in CE is awesome

Just 10? :-)

Frankly, if one doesn't try the hybrid route (I never did), then there are enough skillpoints to max magi and CE, and put the rest in dim vision. If you don't want magi then you can max CE, and still use the other 20 points elsewhere...

But, as everybody says: CE rocks big time. I think no necromancer should be without it :-) And there is simply no limit as for how many skillpoints one should spend there...

I always like to have magi around, not just for the added protection and the fun (they make up about half my army, after all), but also because they are the only way to take down "hard PIs" that can't be broken with amp damage. If you have TO fireskills that can be used, of course, unless the critter is FI as well...

One might me lucky with CE, though --- but I don't like to depend on luck. Using magi is slow, of course --- I can throw lower resist on the critter, but that's all I can do to help them.

As for the hybrids: while it is correct that bonespears/spirits suck without a ton of synergies and +skills, one has to add that abusing th e synergy bug *might* enable one to make a somewhat viable spear: 20 in spear, 20 in bonewall, 1 in armor, and 33 from bug. I don't like this, but it still deserves to be mentioned.

[RealityThreek]

Doing a poison/skele hybrid is certainly more expensive, but in my opinion is a more powerful character than a fishymancer alone. If you're stingy on skill points, you could max PN and PE by lvl 80, depending on quests. With full trangs and 2 soj you do 4k-ish over 2 seconds, if i do my math right. If nothing else, it's a good way to stop monster regen and even get those first corpses for your CE chain. (Not to mention weakening any that don't die)

I'd also point out that you could be nearly as good as a fishymancer if you don't put that much more in skills than your summoning (RS/SM, clay, GM, and SR -only-), 1 in the important curses (amp, decrep), and 1 in CE. Meaning you aren't giving up too much if you hold some points while looking for good items to boost P&B.

Anyway, this is long-winded. El Malo, read the freaking stickies. There's like 3 different guides on poison/skeleton hybrids.

[muckus]

Just 10? :-)


:) So true. I love a maximized Corpse Explosion! But if one is stingy with the skill points, 10 is waaay better than 1.

Edit: crud, my 100th post came and went! And here I was going to throw a little party for myself! :thanks:

[El Malo]

Thanks for your input, it is really appreciated. I've gone through the stickies but couldn't get a great answers to my questions. I've tried to make a good Necro time and time again. But I've never but able to make one that could hang in Hell mode. I think that I'll stick with the Summoning tree and get the mages, and pump up my CE. I'll also go with the attract curse. As for the Golem and Golem Mastery and S/R I'll keep them the way they are. Once more thanks for everything. I'll let you all know how it works out. Wish me luck!

-El Malo :thumbsup:

[Dirkjan]

I've tried to make a good Necro time and time again. But I've never but able to make one that could hang in Hell mode.

I hate to just repeat what the others said, but since you said you read the stickies you probably know already what we are gonna say. skellies dont really kill. everybody loves them but they dont really kill. you need god items, or you need corpse explosion at max. corpse explosion kills baals minions in hell 8 player games. if you want to kill fast in hell, get CE max. even naked you could be a fast deadly killer. especially if you get the speed to run as a skelli, cast amplify damage or decrepify and ce in a nice motion. I always feel like a true hero necro doing that.

PS: you really read the stickies? as they say multiple times that max skellies and max poison damage is quite tough. same goes for bone damage.