skelemancer viable in hell? (max block)

[Jeepers]

hey im totally new to hc and Im starting from scratch. I was seeing if this necro build is viable in hell?

Stats:
str = enough for gear
dex = around 200
life = rest
energy = none

gear:
no idea... I have nothing and I was seeing if you guys could suggest some really cheap and easy to get gear i could use... Was thinking about whistens for max block... and maybe even a homuculous if I can ever get my hands on one.

Skill points:
20 RS
20 SM
20 revive
1 amp dmg
1 CE
1 bone armor
10+ summon resist

And the rest of the skill points I have no idea what to put in... what would be the best choice if I purely want survivablity? Does summon resists do anything in hell?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

[5zigen]

20 revive is probably excessive, think about investing in dim vision (more than 10 hardpoints) and CE also.

Max block is probably viable, the question you want to ask yourself is is it worthwhile. How are you going to get max block? With what shield etc etc.

[Jeepers]

whistens for max block... homu is also good for max block. I figured i might as well since necros only get 2 life for every point into vit. If anything I can get close to max block and pump some into life just in case.

I might not get 20 revives... but what about summon resist? Is that skill worth putting more into? I dont think I really need to put any into dim vision because Im going for good block.I also dont think ce is a skill worth investing into and amp can be effective with just a few + skills. I just want to make sure my army is super beefed and strong. How about the golems? Is it worth putting skills into any of those?

[Menzer]

CE is your damage output, even with all the skellies. With decent + skills only like 5-10 revive is needed. I'd suggest maxing CE because in hell it takes a while for skellies to work down the monsters but the CE just sweeps rooms once they do.

Personally:
20 RS
20 SM
20 CE
1 All curses (for me, minus the left branch)
5-10 Revive
1 Bone Armor

At this point it'll put you at around 70 where you could either work on a golem, work on mages, or work on revives. Personally I went with mages because I hate dealing with casting revive all the time, and the mage damage was already beefed up from SM.

[waflob]

If you can get your hands on a homunculus, they have good block (I think).

From a personal perspective, I find that lots of vitality doesn't survive as well as max block. When you get to hell, it's nice to hear the spear cats weapons making that 'dink' noise as they're blocked.

Actually, spear cats are a good reason to go max block. They have an annoying piercing attack, so no matter how many skellies and revives are in front of you, you're going to get skewered.

Attract works wonders with ranged attackers. Also, as mentioned, dim vision does as well.

DelBoy

[malakhai]

Just check out the fishymancer guide. If you follow the advice there you can't really go wrong. I did it for my first char and he is a successful 89 right now. I would push him higher but have no need. he can run what I need him to with little risk.

http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=349093

[Jeepers]

thanks for all the suggestions but what about my question?

how effect is summon resists?

[YogiRat]

It works, but it isn't worth a big investment of points due to the huge diminishing returns starting at about level 7.

[Jarath]

thanks for all the suggestions but what about my question?

how effect is summon resists?

Just put 1 point in it and leave the rest for +skills.

Since necros only get 2 life per vitality it does seem logical to focus on maximum block over maximum vitality however AFAIK all the most dangerous sources of damage cannot be blocked EG. Doll explosions and fire enchanted explosions.

1 All curses (for me, minus the left branch)

The left branch is probably the most useful curse branch in hardcore.

[Jeepers]

It works, but it isn't worth a big investment of points due to the huge diminishing returns starting at about level 7.

Thanks :D, exact answer I was looking for

[hestah]

I use this setup for my necro, my first ever so its not optimal but I think it works really good.
20 SK
20 SM
20 CE
1 Revive
1 Summon Resist
1 Amplify dmg
1 decrepefy
1 lower resist (good for your party)
10+ Dim Vision (really useful and very safe with some + skills)
1 all prereqs
about 5 in bone armor
1 bone wall

the last two skills is where I did wrong, bone wall acutally makes bone armor better then bone armor itself.
I do think now that one point bone armor and one point bone wall should be enough tho now that I played this build.