Getting summons started?

[TheMightyGoat]

My necromancer is my favorite character I've built so far. My only problem is that he has a difficult time getting summons started before he can go kill anything. He has all the cookie cutter gear (minus the coveted Arachnid Mesh) and standard skeleton/CE setup. The only way he can get summons (in Hell) started, though, is to go to a place like the Cold Plains and coax my mercenary into killing Fallen while casting blind/attract on everything else in hopes of evading them long enough to get a few skeletons.

Is there any better way to get started? Should I put any points in poison nova or bone spirit? Maybe use Iron Golem instead of Clay? I have 13 skills remaining right now at level 82.

[yuqing]

spend some time on your merc, its not very expensive, a nice bonehew or even a nice rare can make him really powerful. Your merc should easily be able to get the first kill even in late hell, i don't see why you have to take so much precautions in cold plains. If you're desperate spam teeth and you'll get a fallen kill eventually. Go to anya's portal for free corpses. It's not hard.

[TheMightyGoat]

spend some time on your merc, its not very expensive, a nice bonehew or even a nice rare can make him really powerful. Your merc should easily be able to get the first kill even in late hell, i don't see why you have to take so much precautions in cold plains. If you're desperate spam teeth and you'll get a fallen kill eventually. Go to anya's portal for free corpses. It's not hard.

My merc is using some crap unique partizan that I forget the name of. 225 max damage I believe. I had Reaper's Toll on him, but I hated having my Amp damage casted over. Can't use doom because holy freeze will shatter corpses. I s'pose I should put an Infinity or Phoenix on him but I haven't gotten around to trading for something that will primarily only help in the first minute of gameplay.

[AnimeCraze]

Your merc will do a lot of kills compared to your skeles even after you summon. Try getting at least something like obedience on him, or infinity if you can.

[batuchka]

Well yuqing is right : a bonehew is really cheap and for a cheap set up that, duriel's and tal's mask should be real easy for merc to create bodies for summoning your army. Another option is steping into that red portal beside Anya and summon the reanimated before they wake up ^^ If you can go hell cowing and try to look for 4 socketed elite polearms like Colo Voluges, Cryptic Axes, etc. CVs always get 4os from Larzuk if found in hell cows IIRC If cost is an issue then Insight is a great budget r/w while Obedience is mid end and Infinity top end gear.

[AzNxKrAzY]

get a strong weap and fort armor so that it has amplified damage... and the skill amplify makes a big diff

[Austere]

Wouldn't the curses attract and confuse be useful in gaining a few corpses?

[AnimeCraze]

Not if your merc can kill them in like 2 hits.

[Tankmobile]

attract and confuse/iron maiden dont kill things fast enough as monsters have too much hp compared to dmg output.
although, before i got a merc, back in the poor days, i used to use it in the blood moor and one in the gorup would eventually die, and then CE him and the rest would.

[Cope]

The quickest and easiest way to get summons is to enter Anya's portal and raise as many skeletons as you can before the corpses there revive themselves. This is the way to go regardless of how your mercenary is equipped.

[Eilo Rytyj]

...or step out the gate of Act 5, where there's 4-5 corpses laying there already. You only really need 1-2 skeletons to start your army, since 1 skelly+merc will create more bodies for you to raise quickly.

For those people who have finished the Nihlathak quest, meaning the portal is closed for them.

[Cope]

I agree that would be the best choice if you don't have the portal. If you do though, there's no question about it.

[Skelious]

After pindle, when you go into halls looking for nith don`t activate the wp on level 2. That way when you start new games the red anya portal will always be available. Great for summons!
Even if you kill nith the portal will always be there.

[yuqing]

After pindle, when you go into halls looking for nith don`t activate the wp on level 2. That way when you start new games the red anya portal will always be available. Great for summons!
Even if you kill nith the portal will always be there.

serious? that saves so much trouble.

[Tankmobile]

that is not true ^^ as soon as you kill nilathak, the portal goes....so no keyruns and no pindle either :smiley: silly

[Delreich]

Don't listen to Tank. The portal only closes if you a) activate the waypoint and b) kill Nihlalalawhatever.