Check my hc solo LoM setup, need input..

[MrGoth]

Assuming i get him up to his gear, i plan on him using the following;

~Trang set {helm/armor/shield with 'um' runes}
~marrow's
~rare summon amulet {+2}
~raven frost
~1x soj
~arm of king leoric
~as many summon gc's i can get my hands on

For my skills;
~1 pt wonders {all curses, bone armor/wall, summon tree}
~Max skele mastery & mage first
~split between lower res & corpse explode
~finish with points in bone wall

Merc would be a prayer merc with insight polearm for double healing effect & to help with chain corpse exploding.

Few questions;
~Would this be able to solo untwinked while i level up to my gear with this skill set up?

~Is that the ideal merc? I remember using prayer on my last LoM, and the idea of double his healing power and more mana regen is appealing, along with the super low cost of making it. But i could swap for an Infinity for its conviction maybe later? What merc would be ideal to put that on?

~Is this build able to solo threw hell even if i do get all of that gear on hardcore? If so, or even if not, who / what will give me the most problems? {other than the obvious act bosses*}

Thanks all in advance.

[Myrakh-2]

If you want to use that conviction runeword things you are probably stuck with a polearm-using merc; so I won't recommend to at least consider a rogue merc.

However, I *think* Prayer is a bad idea. LoMs don't have a lot of tanks like full skelemancers; your merc and golem need to take all the heat. Or the bonewalls. To me it would seem more useful to use a Defiance or Holy Freeze merc for their defensive auras.

Mages can tank monsters for a short time only; I don't think Prayer does a big difference here. Similar for the merc --- if his life leech doesn't save him, then Prayer most likely won't either. The thing with prayer is that it works over time, and if something can kill your merc then time is something you don't usually have.

Holy Freeze might interfere with corpse explosion, since it pretty much guarantees that everything is chilled when it dies. I do believe it provides more defensive value than Defiance, though...

[Mad Mantis]

~split between lower res & corpse explode

You may want to put just 1 point in LR. LR suffers from badly diminishing returns. After level 7 they kick in real hard. If you can get enough +skills you may be able to reach level 7 LR with just 1 point. If you are going untwinked it may be wise to put in a point or 5.

Since you can also use Infinity (which grants a level 12 Conviction aura), having a high level LR isn't that needed. If you can't get Infinity and you are light on +skills then pumping LR is a good idea.




~Is this build able to solo threw hell even if i do get all of that gear on hardcore?

There is a thread out on the board by rickcarson. He describes how his LoM made it to Act I Hell. After that he stopped playing. So you should be able to reach Hell and do the first Act. If you proceed to play carefully you should be able to finish the game.




I do believe it provides more defensive value than Defiance, though...

Defiance is not something I would recommend on a Necro. Your Minions do not have a high enough defense rating to make it worthwhile in Hell. The only one who will profit from it is your Merc. The Necro himself can get a decent defense rating, but it means that you will need to invest heavily in Strength to be able to equip a good armor.

HF does provide protection for your minions and yourself. If you use BW or BP to keep the monsters from reaching your Mages then HF will also protect them.

[MrGoth]

Thank you both for your input. Ive read threw rick carson's threads a few times, they are the main reason why i'm still tempting myself with this build.

I'm assuming the part where he quits is about where the magi's damage seems to just phase everything instead of actualy hurting them?

So the favor for the merc is leaning more towards the holy freeze side?

[Mad Mantis]

I'm assuming the part where he quits is about where the magi's damage seems to just phase everything instead of actualy hurting them?

He said he quit because he reached The Pit. His theory is that with enough MF-ing in The Pit you can get enough good gear to clear the rest of Hell.




So the favor for the merc is leaning more towards the holy freeze side?

At this point it is. You should do some testing to see if you find the chance to shatter a corpse annoying.