First Multiplayer Character PvM SkellieNecro Help

[nandazzar]

So yeah, first multiplayer character in about 4 years. He's obviously untwinked, and I've managed to get him to LV56 and I can handle Act 2 NM just fine.

The gear is crap. Nothing worth mentioning save Skin of the Vipermagi and even that's pretty bad.

I've got 20 in both Raise Skellies and Mastery, and I was surprised by how comparatively weak they are to magic damage, discovered when I tried to do a Nightmare Mephis run in which all my Skellies die to Council Members and Meteor and such.

I also use CE, Amp and Decrep for the most part, but nothing else much. The entire build is obviously based upon the Fishymancer guide (http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=349093). I was first attracted to the thread maker saying that you could potentially run through Hell naked, but I honestly cannot see how.

Please help. If you guys need more information, I am more than willing to provide it.

PS: Does the /players option work in Multiplayer?

[birthdaycake]

Have you got Summon Resist for your skellies? It's unbelievably helpful

[DECOYBOY]

yea make sure you've got at least a point into summon resist...also have you hired a might merc yet? (act 2 nm offensive) that'll help a lot if killing speed is also an issue.

no the /players option does not work on bnet.

[nandazzar]

Thanks for the answers.

Yes, I have about 4 points in Summon Resist. Funnily enough I find that doing NM Mephis runs are easy now. Maybe it was because I got better gear. The drops were pretty bad though, bar a few.

The offensive NM act 2 merc? Yes. Same level as me (60) now.

Would anyone tell me what I'll have to do to get to Hell Mephis runs?

[Mad Mantis]

Would anyone tell me what I'll have to do to get to Hell Mephis runs?

Level a bit. Your level is way too low for Hell. The skellies effectiveness suffers because of it.

[nandazzar]

Are you saying that the Skellies' HP and Damage are related to my level? I'm really clueless about this.

Anyway, I can handle Baal NM with relative ease now. The drops still aren't good though.

I have about 130-140 MF (including my merc's gear).

[Nimbostratus]

It's not so much the damage/HP they have, it's that the Chance To Hit formula is highly dependent on the level difference.

[nandazzar]

It's not so much the damage/HP they have, it's that the Chance To Hit formula is highly dependent on the level difference.

Ah. I see. Thanks for the clarification.

Anyway, I have about 183MF plus 75 Resist in everything due to Wizardspike. My defense is less than 1000 though and my shield only has 50% block and isn't a good one anyway.

When should I stop farming Baal and go to Hell?

[Nimbostratus]

My characters usually go to Hell difficulty at level 70-75. Oh, and you can pretty much ignore defense and blocking when playing a summoner- that's what the huge wall of minions in front of you is for, after all.

[nandazzar]

Heh. I see. Thanks.

I'm level 70 now and it feels as though Baal's dead corpse hates me by dropping, well, droppings. I'll give Hell a go.

[nandazzar]

I can't beat Andy. The Skellies die in 30 seconds and her health doesn't go anywhere lower than 3/4. My merc was also surprisingly bad against her.

[Rabisu]

What level are you? and which Andy? Also, feeding your merc antidote pots before hand is very helpful (boosts his poison resists) the time stacks, so consider feeding him a few (When I hit hell Andy, I fed him like 12).

[nandazzar]

Was talking about hell Andy of course. I'm level 75 now and so is my merc. Just killed Andy but was kind of hard.

[Nimbostratus]

What gear are you using? My guess would be that you just don't have many +skills. Also, you should definitely get some Crushing Blow on your mercenary to help take down bosses faster.

[nandazzar]

My Merc has CB:

Stealskull Casque
Rattlecage Gothic Plate
Pierre Tombale Couant Partizan

Me:
Topaz'ed Death Mask 80 Defense for 74% MF
Skin of the Vipermagi
Wizardspike
Grim Shield 50% Block 247 Def
Heavy Bracers 47 Def 23% MF
Hwanin's Blessing
Greaves 31 Def 23% MF
Rings and Amulet are all for MF only. Adds to about 57% MF.

I really want +Skills but I really can't find any.

[Nimbostratus]

Okay, some quick fixes:

-A "Lore" (Ort + Sol) runeword helmet for +1 all skills
-Shop in Act 1 normal to find a wand with +2 or 3 RS/SM. You might need a low level character for them to appear, I'm not sure.

-Realize that summons retain the strength they were summoned at. You can have resists and MF on your primary weapon set, and +skills on your secondary for summoning.

-MF is of low priority. Killing things faster gets you more good items than killing things slowly with lots of MF.
-Defense is practically irrelevant on a necromancer, especially summoners. Same goes for blocking.

[nandazzar]

Thaks for the fixes. I'll try to shop around.

Oh, and the defense was primarily for me not to die in one hit, since obviously that kind of stuff happens. Is my playstyle wrong?

EDIT: Found one with +3 to SM.

[Rabisu]

Hrmm... you seem to have more wealth than me (I play self-found SP) and yet you're having more trouble then I did (I only had to go resummon skellies once, and my merc never died)

Same Level.

Are you using Clay Golem and decrepify?

[Nimbostratus]

Aha, common newbie mistake- Defense in D2 simply reduces the chance you'll be hit. It does nothing to reduce the damage taken. What are your stats like, by the way?

As for playstyle, the usual for a summoner is "stand back and start casting curses and Corpse Explosion."


Oh, and about +skills: Raise Skeleton is more helpful than Skeleton Mastery.

[nandazzar]

Heh. Never actually knew that. Thanks for the info. That's what I do basically. But sometimes I still get hit. What do you suggest I do with the Shield?

Strength: 133
Dex: 112
Vital: 123
Energy: 43

Rabisu: Yep, I do use Clay and Decrep on bosses. Always.

[nandazzar]

And okay, changed the items a bit. The stats should look different too. I'll copy stuff down and report back. Thanks for all this help.

Edit: Stupid temporary restriction.

[nandazzar]

Alright. Got the stuff working. Act 2 Hell is still really, really difficult for me since I and my merc are so fragile.

I've decided to farm Baal more. Just got an Immortal King's Avenger Guard.

Anyway, I need you guys to decide on something. Which one is better for my merc?

Take note that he has 25% chance for crushing blow due to his armor.

Pierre Tombale?

Or this:

Eagle stake Partizan: 34-119 Damage

96 to maximum damage (based on character level)
20 to maximum damage
147 to attack rating
1254 to attack rating (based on character level)

I'm LV76.

[nandazzar]

Shameless triple post bump. Sorry for that link mods.

[Rabisu]

Rabisu: Yep, I do use Clay and Decrep on bosses. Always.

Good Answer.

I'd shop for a wand with +2/3 all or +3 summon tree and other good mods (Mana, or good staffmods like Raise Skelly and/or skelly mastery) if you don't have anything better already. If you can't lose mods from wiz spike, use this wand on switch for raising. (I found mine in A5 NM shop)

also, keep in mind that circlets can spawn with +skills to skill tabs or +skills to a class and you can find these gambling. (+2 all on magic or rare, +2 to skill tab on magic or rares, or +3 to skill tab on magic)

The circlets may not be the best options (unless rare with good other mods) but they're certainly helpful

[nandazzar]

Thanks. Act 5 NM. Got it.

I'll update my equipment listing later. I'm currently using a Lore Shako already.

[Rabisu]

Thanks. Act 5 NM. Got it.

I'll update my equipment listing later. I'm currently using a Lore Shako already.

Thats certainly not the only place they're available, but that's where I nabbed mine. 'Golemlord's' suffix is +3 to summon skills. Oh, and +2 is the highest available for all, So don't plan on +3 all (just remembered that). go with Golemlord's if you want the strongest summons possible or +2 all if you're fine losing a little for extra curse length/area and CE area (and whatever else you're using on the other trees).

[nandazzar]

Thanks for all the help.

Heh, that was easy. Just found a Golemlord for the first NM game I created.

Gear for Merc:

Eagle stake Partizan: 34-119 Damage
96 to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
20 to Maximum Damage
147 to Attack Rating
1254 to Attack Rating (Based on Character Level)

StealSkull
Rattlecage

Me:

Lore Shako 161 def
Vipermagi
M'avina's Icy Clutch
Hwanin's Blessing

Demon Shank Sharkskin Boots 50 Def
20% Faster Run/Walk
10% FHR
Cold Resist 14%
Poison Resist 39%
9% MF

Ring 1 +14 to Dex
Ring 2 17% MF

Ammy
1 to Curses
1 to Strength
13 to Energy
Lightning Resist 13%
Reduced Magic Damage 1-2

Wizardspike
Steelclash
Golemlord's

This is my current setup.

[Rabisu]

When you take that out for a spin, let us know how it feels now (skellies should be a little better with the additional +skills).

Hopefully you feel safer :p.

Also, Fire Golems may be helpful in general questing (when you're not against a boss) because they attract monsters to them and keep them off you and your merc.

[nandazzar]

Thanks for the tips.

Anyway, just killed Hell Andy with a bit of trouble. Skellies still die kind of fast. Went to kill Radament next and they still die a little to Burning Archers.

I guess the biggest problem for me right now is to get good gear. I don't really know where to farm them. I've been farming Baal quite a lot since it's really, really easy, but that's about it.

[Rabisu]

I found String of Ears out of a chest in the Sewers in Act 2, so all I can say is wear some MF :p I have a 4 socket Gothic Plate with 3 Ptopaz in it (havent cubed up a fourth yet) and a 29 MF Nagel (lucky find early on) and that's the extent of my MF, but it definitely helps.

[birthdaycake]

Are you using corpse explosion btw? It makes killing much much faster and easier, just not against bosses. But it'll mean you can clear out Hell Pits quickly, and hopefully stumble on some high end gear.

Also, I'm not sure of your rune situation, but you can aim for this for your merc (http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Obedience_Rune_Word). It's relatively cheap aside from the Fal, and maybe the Ko depending on rarity, but it's extremely strong and handy to have.

Edit; Also, have you tried Nightmare Cows? You may be able to get quite a few socketable items, and things like 5os phase blades or 4os polearms can get you a fair bit of wealth. I don't remember exactly, but I think NM cows are high enough level (over 42ish) to drop Grand Charms with +skills. Just remember don't kill the King, and with Corpse explosion you can waltz through the level with as much MF as you can fit on.