What to do with an eth CV if you're a Necro?

[franzjosef]

Well, today my big MF Necro's latest Insight golem "went into the shop for repairs" :rolleyes: Man I hate Iron Maiden! So I began rolling around with my Bonemancer through Hell Kurast (he's only 78th level, with almost no MF except for a crap Gheeds).

Leave it to HIM to find something halfway valuable: an ethereal Colossus Voulge. :thumbsup:

So now the question arises: what should I, a necro, do with this item?

1) Socket it with Larzuk? Guaranteed 4 sockets. It would make a groovy Insight for my big guy's merc. :prop: I'm only half-joking. He uses an Insight Thresher (non-eth) most of the time, and a 317ed AmnAmn 'Hew when I use an Insight Golem. I've been kinda sorta wanting a bigger stick. But I don't have the runes now for Infinity or Pride (and what IS the consensus now for fishymancers on that? Is it the one with Concentration?)

2) Socket it with Cube? This has the possibility of making a GODLY weapon, but only if it pops four sockets. I'm not sure what I'd do if it came out three or two, or Trang'Oul forbid, one!

3) Trade it? I'm not sure what the going rate is for unsocketed. I'm guessing one HR in today's market. Bugged 4s would be several, I'm sure. But what about unbugged 4s? Or may I could just trade it now for a bigger stick or other such groovy toy?

I want a Necro perspective on this one. My gut says to go for it and use the Cube, but is it worth the risk?

[Arkardo]

1) Socket it with Larzuk? I'd choose this. Then, make an Infinity in it when you've gathered the necessary runes.

I'd advice against making Pride in it by the way; it freezes and possibly shatters your victims, leaving you with no corpse to use for CE and thus slowing the hunt down.

2) Socket it with Cube? Well, the socketing bug won't work for weapons, so this option is out. :azn:

3) Trade it? I'd use it to help your Necro. He's your source of wealth, so why trade it and get a few hr's for it, while you could use it to improve your money maker?

[batuchka]

Which realm u playing at? Hrs on West are dirt cheap (10pgs nets u one) so when i found me first eth CV i held out and traded for Infinity runes and never looked back since :P Ya i understand the frustration at losing Insight spiky and so i make it a point to save 2-3 4os polearms but all normal class like halberd, polearm, etc. Even exceptional Insights like Bill, Battle Scythe does enough damage to kill themselves vs IM :cry: So far my halberd Insight spiky has survived an IM episode or two but i'd still tele away to play safe :tongue:

[franzjosef]

Oh, it doesn't work on weapons? Well well well well well! That makes my choice much more clear. I'm going to socket it via Larzuk. I choose to have faith in my ability to collect the wealth necessary to gain the requisite runes. Or I may just trade it for another pokeystick that's already made.

(Pity about the bug, though. I found a ethereal superior chaos armor the other day and cubed it to 3 sockets. Went from 500-something to 780 base def. It's now a 2K+ Duress on my strafazon's merc)

[franzjosef]

An update: I tried trading it tonight and got called a major noob and other nomenclature. I was being offered 2-3 HR but I declined because I don't have any other high socketables ready to go and I'm paranoid about rune-poofing. I did offer to throw in 1-2 HR with the CV for an already-made big runeword pokeystick but got turned down.

I hate trading. I think I'm going to just Insight it and clean it out later if I get some good runes (I have a Hel or two at my disposal).

[Arkardo]

2-3 hr for it would have been a good deal, but like you said, you need to watch those little bastards or they'll go poof. :azn:

[franzjosef]

A further update: the still-warped market price of HR finally worked in my favor. I traded an AOKL for a Cham -- still a coup considering I paid Pul for it not that long ago. I then traded a Homonculus (unsocketed) for a Ohm, which I then traded for a Sur. So now I have a Pride --and I'm thinking I should've held out longer and gotten the Bers to make Infinity. I'm trading out the merc's weapons on the first two-three kills to get the army started. But I suppose the Concentration aura will make kills go more quickly. We'll see. If I really don't like it, I may try to trade it for an Infinity (prolly throw in an extra HR or two to sweeten the deal).

[KavikKang]

A further update: the still-warped market price of HR finally worked in my favor. I traded an AOKL for a Cham -- still a coup considering I paid Pul for it not that long ago. I then traded a Homonculus (unsocketed) for a Ohm, which I then traded for a Sur. So now I have a Pride --and I'm thinking I should've held out longer and gotten the Bers to make Infinity. I'm trading out the merc's weapons on the first two-three kills to get the army started. But I suppose the Concentration aura will make kills go more quickly. We'll see. If I really don't like it, I may try to trade it for an Infinity (prolly throw in an extra HR or two to sweeten the deal).

I have a lot of experience using Pride with summon nec. The only real disadvantage is in raising the initial army. People make way too big a deal out of Pride shattering corpses. If you have a good Iron Golem he will kill all the corpses you need to raise an army. If not, you can do it with an attack skill like Bone Spear if you have one. Getting the first 3 or 4 skeletons can be a pain sometimes, but once you have those the rest of the army raises quickly. As soon as the army is raised the fact that Pride shatters corpses is totally irrelivant. The ground will always be littered with corpses once your army is raised.

[sirwhere]

My merc is using an infinity thresher and I like it. Skellies don't miss, etc..

[PlayWithHonor]

A matter of opinion for sure, but Infinity would be my choice (and is in fact my choice). If you use CE regularly then its a no brainer really.

As for getting that first corpse, not really a problem. You can do 1 of two things:

1 - If you have access to A5 Harrogath and Pindles portal is still there just go through and summon your army quickly before all those dead dudes wake up.

2 - Go into Blood Moor and cast Attract on the first baddy in a pack of monsters. Then cast Amp. When first body drops CE it. Then make first few skellies out of whatever bodies are laying around from your CE.

[Kirah]

An alternative to excellent suggestions by PWH is simply to walk out of Harroth and make skellies out of the corpses just outside the main gate. If I recall correctly there are like four or five of them 'lying around' just begging to be made into skellies. Once you've got several skellies up and running, you should have no problems with getting that army up and rolling.

Good luck and good hunting!
Kirah