Oath runeword

[Monetoso]

Hi guys,

I have seen guides suggesting the use of Beast runeword for the fanaticism it grants, but I am a poor man and can not afford that.
I was wondering if the heart of wolverine lvl 16 granted by Oath would be any good for the necros summoned army.
On paper it is a nice +125% to damage for a few not-so-rare runes (Mal, Pul, Shael, Lum)

Anybody has experience with it?

Thanks!!

[Azaar]

Don't forget the +130% to attack rating as well. I personally don't -- sadly, I'm having to rebuild everything from scratch after my last computer lost its power supply (and more). Oath might be a decent go-between while you save up to make Beast -- I'm planning a Commandimancer of my own, and Beast's boosts to AR, damage and attack speed will be really nice to see, especially in Hell difficulty. But I may try testing Oath out in the meantime, once I get a necromancer started with that -- might be a while, though, because I'm planning a Poison/Bone hybrid right now, using Brand as a ranged secondary weapon.

[HuggaBear]

With most summonmancers the damage comes from CE. The skellies are there for protection and to help the merc drop a corpse (with telestomping they definitely contribute) as well as bosses.
Beast is, in my opinion, secondary to +skillers. Skillers give the boost to CE, curses and the summons. Beast gives a slight damage increase/ar boost/speed increase. Just not worth it from my own testing.

If you wish to avoid CE then hells yeah, it's awesome.

I'd say HoW is even worse with the added annoyance of it being a sage and thus having an unholy love of drifting into the path of enemies (though it fares better than oak at least...).
I'd go with skillers over Oath, my own experience suggests the skillers are just tops unless you don't use CE.

[zaphodbrx]

Oh yeah it's very nice.
Make it in a scourge or phase blade so that you can do some hittin' as well. Non eth base, you want to be able to repair charges.
You can also get a large number of points in bone wall, and 'Bone' runeword armor, and get some synergized bone spear/spirit procs, plus bone armor.

[Monetoso]

With most summonmancers the damage comes from CE. The skellies are there for protection and to help the merc drop a corpse (with telestomping they definitely contribute) as well as bosses.
Beast is, in my opinion, secondary to +skillers. Skillers give the boost to CE, curses and the summons. Beast gives a slight damage increase/ar boost/speed increase. Just not worth it from my own testing.

If you wish to avoid CE then hells yeah, it's awesome.

I'd say HoW is even worse with the added annoyance of it being a sage and thus having an unholy love of drifting into the path of enemies (though it fares better than oak at least...).
I'd go with skillers over Oath, my own experience suggests the skillers are just tops unless you don't use CE.

Actually I love CE, so I guess skillers are best. Especially because I got a wisp projector and can give a try to its Heart of Wolverine.
What weapon would you suggest for the necro then? Heart of the Oak or Arm of King Leoric?

[Pyrotechnician]

You can't really go wrong with either, but i would have to say Hoto outweighs the benefits of Arm of King Leoric, AoKL will provide stronger skelentons, but the faster cast rate and resistance boost of hoto is nice to have.

[zaphodbrx]

Aokl has the super annoying bone prison. Use it on switch for raising skeletons alongside +2 or +3 head.

[HuggaBear]

You can't really go wrong with either, but i would have to say Hoto outweighs the benefits of Arm of King Leoric, AoKL will provide stronger skelentons, but the faster cast rate and resistance boost of hoto is nice to have.

Agreed, I prefer Hoto personally. As zaphodbrx points out Aokl has bone prison which can get you killed quite easily or just slow you down. I much prefer Hoto.

[Black Lotus]

Anybody has experience with it?

It dies too often, you will find yourself constantly repairing it, or not having aura at all.
And you dont get fanaticism for skellies, you get it for merc. Thus, the best thing fana grants is IAS which helps... well, to increase speed at which you get the first corpse and kill booses. Another thing fana grants is AR and damage boost, but skellies never miss anyway and dmg increase is rather small on them because of how %ed is handled on skeletons. I havent found HoW being of any use for me.

What weapon would you suggest for the necro then? Heart of the Oak or Arm of King Leoric?

Arm of Leorik is prebuff weapon, you only need it once per game. Pick HoTo and leorik on switch, you dont have to choose between two. Basically, watch you fcr, hp, mp and resistances when playing this build, you dont need anything else (or merc does, however).