Fishymancer Questions

[Isshy]

This is my first necro. I have a lvl 74 with 258 saved stat points and 8 saved skills. I would like to focus on Hell wsk/Baal runs with a nice MF% (400 would be very nice). So I am assuming hoto, enigma, chancies, goldwrap, shako, war travs, nagels and charms. Don't have homunculus or the enigma yet...

Current Build
20RS
20 SM
1 in all other Summoning skills
20CE
1 in all curses except LT and SR

1)Where should I put the 27 or so kill points ill have left over (at lvl90ish)?
a- I like the idea of an iron golum from an aura runeword (insight prolly). Is an Iron golum that survives days or weeks of playing a possibility? If so how do you make him? but if it's not gonna help me run baal faster i'll abandon the idea.
b- Bone armor looks like it might be worth a point.
c- What I really want is to kill as fast as possible with the most MF possible...bone spear? poison? Mages/LR which would also help with unbreakeable PR's?

2)Think this would be a good setup as far as equipment goes? I understand that MFing is a balance between MF% and killing speed. So if i need to put on spider/soj's or whatever to increase my killing speed I'll do that.

3)How important is max block really in sc? With no points in dex i will have approx. 400 more base hitpoints making elemental ranged attacks less worrisome (gloams anyone?) and more life will also help for stunning type blows correct? On the down side I imagine ranged phys attacks (like archers) would be harder to handle without block but remember we are talking baal walks. It seems to me this build is like a sorc in that he sould not be getting hit up close too much.

[Mildayvin]

First question: 1 in all curses except LT and SR. LT im guessing is Lower Resist, but you hit the wrong key. What on earth is SR?

Answers:
1a) Yes iron golem is the one that can survive for weeks (if lucky) most people i've seen go with 1pt in Iron golem, max Golem Mastery and max Blood Golem (for hitpoints). To make your golem, simple toss your weapon on the floor and cast the spell at it (sorry if this is obvious, wasnt sure from your question) The auras would help strengthen skellies or yourself, so they would likely speed up your runs. having said that, im doing just fine without any auras other than my mercs. Nice, but not needed.

My personal choice: Clay Golem. 2 points and its effective in hell. It slows monsters when it is hit. Get baal to hit gumby, cast decrepify on him and have a few cold mages and he'll be slower than your tax return!

1b) Bone armor is nice, but again, not needed. i have 0 points in it and have yet to die once (seriously, i only just got to hell though) It would help with archers, but im not sure about gloams. With enigma you shouldnt be getting hit in melee at all. ever.

1c) Ive not used any of those except the mages, however the general opinion around here seems to be that bone spear/poison nova are not much good without the synergies. That leaves the mages. There seems to be no consensus about mages, some people love em, others hate em. With enigma you should be using them in "blob mode" (see the lich lord guide). Even without it (read: me) they are useful, Both as extra meat shields, and as minor damage. Also im a big fan of raising poison and cold mages. Combined with gumby and decrepify you can slow monsters to... pretty well stopped.

2) i dont play on Battle.Net, so i dont have most of the ubah leet gear. Probably best to ask someone else here.

3) Block seems to be a choice thing. I ignore it and go for HP. I'm pretty sure that you cant block the gloam lightning attack, and your skellies should be numerous enough to block arrows.

[FrostBurn]

1a. Insight IG is fine, but you'll probably need to max Golem Mastery, with 1 point in IG, to keep it alive. But if you can afford Enigma, and don't mind going to the trouble of using up multiple Insight weapons, then you could always re-summon when it pops or dies. Still, I prefer my Gumby for keeping Baal fixed to the spot. Once Baal is slowed, you can switch the curse over his head to Amp.

1b. BA is worth 1 hard point and no more. Synergise it with Bone Wall or BPrison for a stronger BA. You won't need it, but it is a nice extra layer of protection against physical attacks.

1c. CE is what helps you kill as fast as possible. The other skills are just adjuncts. With Enigma, go for max skelly Magi. Without, consider your IG or BA. Mages are useful for unbreakable PIs, but since they are so rare, I could not find the justification to spend 3 skill points to get LR. Do not bother with Spear or Nova; they are too weak unsynergised.

2. I have ~300% MF with 15 skellies (I play SP so I do not use those silly Anni's and Torches). My necro is geared towards +skills, hence the high number of skellies. But the key is CE. So your setup is excellent for extra MF yet maintaining killing speed via CE.

3. In SC, max block is unnecessary for a summoner. You have swarms of meatshields, and if you're getting to the frontlines, you're doing something wrong. Even with 72% CtB on Homunculus, I personally maxed vita. I have skellies to the front, magi to the rear, and a strong bone armour for piercing physical attacks. And that extra life is well handy for Souls.

[Isshy]

First question: 1 in all curses except LT and SR. LT im guessing is Lower Resist, but you hit the wrong key. What on earth is SR?


Sorry I Meant LT and LR. Also I dont have Iron Maiden.

I guess it's a choice between Iron Golum and mages. Maybe I could max golum mastery, put one in BA and the rest into mages? I will definitely have enigma (gonna go make it right now :grin: ). I

PS-Can you make insight from a spear such as a stygian pike?

[FrostBurn]

PS-Can you make insight from a spear such as a stygian pike?
No.
+10 chars

[Hipknowsis]

I suggest spending the rest of your points maxing out Amplify Damage and Golem Mastery. After you've maxed RS, SM, and CE, nothing really does you much good after that. So might as well get amazing Amplify Damage range and better Golems.

*Hipknowsis

[garion]

eh..id say golem mastery if you're wanting a beefy IG...pass on the amp dmg...with 1 sk pt and +1 skill gear...its plenty...i mean you can get a full screen covered...i doubt you'll need to max it.....

you can max mages too for the hell of it..jsut to have more bodies around....they aren't solid in my opinion...but extra bodies are nice

[Isshy]

Now im thinking forget the IG cuz I think I do want gumby against baal and go for mages with infinity merc. The thought of having a meditation aura golum is very kewl but I think ill have more killing power with the mages and I'll be able to blob 'em too. So what if I have to suck a blue now and then right?

[FrostBurn]

You're getting there, keep plugging...:thumbsup:

[Socialism]

Putting points into skeleton magi do not increase their durability or damage, as far as I know (not far at all). If you have a *reasonable* endgame equipment setup of ~10 skills, putting 19 points into skeleton magi will net you 6 more magi. That's right; you go from 5 magi to 11 magi (who aren't any stronger) for 19 skillpoints.

Even at a ~20 skill point uber1337 setup, you go from 9 magi to 15 magi.

Personally, I'd jam points into Amplify Damage (~10-15ish), Dim Vision (~10-15ish), and Bone Armor (eh, whatever, max it) - in that order.

[FrostBurn]

*sigh*

I trust that this calculator (http://tph.tuwien.ac.at/~gottwald/necro_pet_calculator.html) will clear things up.

Bottom line is that a skelliemancer's build is centred around 20 SM, 20 RS and (some may argue) 20 CE. Do what you will with the remaining points. They will not dramatically alter your efficiency, viability or survivability.

Over and out.

[McCain123]

After the base build ( RS, SM, CE ) there are some ways to invest your points:

Mages: Some hate them, I like them. They add cold damage for slowing, poison to counter regeneration and some real damage with fire and lightning. Apart from that, mages hang back in fights and if your skellies are involved in a fight and some other monsters approach from a different direction, they are a meat shield.

Amp: Increases the range of it, but since amp increases in range fast I don´t feel the need for it.

DV: Great for HC players. Nothing is better than blind enemies, no matter if they are souls, archers, dolls or hard hitting folks. Maxing this makes gameplay very safe as whole screens of monsters are blind, before you enter them.

BA: I usually sink one point here, for arround 100 points of life protection arround me. Additional points are better placed in the synergies as they are more effective there.

Golem Mastery: As great as it is to have an "Insight" IG, as likely is it, that he will get lost, if your Necro can´t tele. They get stuck and most of the time tele next to you, sometimes they just get lost and I hate wasting stuff. Apart from that a really slow boss ( thanks to Gumby ) is a nice thing, no matter if you play SC or HC.

[Isshy]

DV: Great for HC players. Nothing is better than blind enemies, no matter if they are souls, archers, dolls or hard hitting folks. Maxing this makes gameplay very safe as whole screens of monsters are blind, before you enter them.


How many total skill points (or yards) would be needed to blind 'whole screens of monsters...before you enter them'?

[McCain123]

At level 20 casting DV in the center of your current screen turns off almost all monsters on your screen ( not being bosses and that types ).

[Inokis]

The mages damage is a combination of both skeletal mage and mastery skill levels.

The formula for skeletal mages is outlined in the arreat summit:
http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/skills/necromancer-summoning.shtml#skeletalmage

The damage difference between maxing mages and mastery vs just mastery isn't that much when you look at it on a per skeleton basis; however when you look at the fact you'll have 8+ mages doing that damage vs just one mage the usability of mages can't be ignored.

Putting points into skeleton magi do not increase their durability or damage, as far as I know (not far at all). If you have a *reasonable* endgame equipment setup of ~10 skills, putting 19 points into skeleton magi will net you 6 more magi. That's right; you go from 5 magi to 11 magi (who aren't any stronger) for 19 skillpoints.

Even at a ~20 skill point uber1337 setup, you go from 9 magi to 15 magi.

Personally, I'd jam points into Amplify Damage (~10-15ish), Dim Vision (~10-15ish), and Bone Armor (eh, whatever, max it) - in that order.