Summoner Guide
There are a couple different ways and opinions on Summoners and how to make them. I think that the Necromancer himself does not get enough power with most builds. Obviously, you don’t want to be a meleemancer with summons, but a good summoner needs to be offensive.
STATS
Str: Basically enough to hold your gear, the most intensive piece should be a nigma. Since you don’t need a large amount of defense (if you are good) then you shouldn’t really need that much.
Dex: The question is, do you need max block or not? If you feel that you do, then put as much in this that you can. If not, then don’t put any in it. You won’t really ever need extra dexterity, you should be getting at least some form your items, and your skellies should be a good shield for you.
Vita: Put everything that isn’t used in Str and Dex in here, which should be a fuckton.
Energy: Energy is a stat that few people put points in, mainly because you don’t really need to. 5 points is usually what I put in the first couple levels because it gives me enough mana to keep my summons going and to keep cursing. Again, you don’t really need 5, but if you need mana early in the game, then do it.
SKILLS
This is the most important, and most controversial part of the build. Since I am no expert, not everything I say is right. Also, everyone has their own opinion of this. Don’t bitch about my skill choices just because I don’t use decrep or revives or whatever. It’s asinine.
Summoning Skills
Raise Skeleton
Best skill you have in this tree obviously. And theres no point in not maxing this, because then you are completely open to attack. Really. Max this.
Skeleton Mastery
Your first skill max. It pumps up your skellies in all needed ways, and doesn’t add mana cost to them. A wonderful skill.
Raise Skeleton Mage
This is iffy. I would max this skill near the end if you are going to max it. It depends on what kind of summoner you want. I’ll go over this later. Basically, if you use a might merc, then don’t use these. If you use a prayer merc, then use these.
Revive
If you want to have skeleton mages, don’t even think about putting points in this. Revives are only there for a minute and a half, which is not nearly enough to utilize some monsters completely. Although, on my current summoner, I put a couple points in and because of my + to summon skill and + to all skill gear I get enough revives to safely own the Chaos Sanctuary. I don’t recommend them for Baal though, because all the useful monsters are hard to revive in time. Again, if you want mages (which I recommend) then don’t put anything more than a point in here. If you don’t max this near the end.
Summon Resist
This is a useful-ish skill. In Hell, you and your summons need resists in order to do well. I recommend anywhere from 5-10 points in this. With all the + to skill stuff you get, it should be high enough.
Golems
Golems are an important part of the Necro Arsenal. I have heard theories for all the different golems, but I have found an affinity for the Iron Golem. If you find good defense items or very good uniques that you can’t equip, then use them for IGs. I find them all the time. If you aren’t going to use IG then use the Clay Golem. It has it’s advantages, and you get it from the start. It’s your decision, but you really do need a golem, especially in Hell, where it is difficult to get your first couple summons. Don’t use Fire or Blood golems. They have their disadvantages and I shouldn’t need to list them.
Curse Tree
There are three main curses which people should use for this breed. I recommend AD as your main curse with LR as your secondary one. Many people use decrep, but I find that the slowing isn’t as helpful as the increased damage of AD and LR. LR decreases ALL resists, including physical and magic. It’s a wonderful immunity breaker coupled with your merc gear. I wouldn’t say max out any curse, but you do want to put a god amount of points into LR or decrep, whichever you choose. AD will be fine if you only put one point in it, as all that matters in it are range and length, and those are taken care of with + skills gear.
PSN/Bone Tree
It depends what kind of gear you want on your necro. If you don’t want to have two trang items (belt and gloves) then read on. Otherwise, just skip to the next section except read about bone armor, which I strategically placed first.
Bone Armor
This is a quality skill, and I’ve never truly been unhappy with it, except in the lower levels. The best part is, you don’t really need to put that many points in it, unless you never want to get hit by physical attacks.
Psn Dagger
Don’t put anymore than 1 point in it. It’s not useful unless you have a wiz spike, and you really won’t be doing much melee.
Psn Explosion
I think that in the Norm, it’s a decent skill and is quite helpful, but after that, it’s almost useless. At most 2 points.
Psn Nova
This is the best offensive skill that a Non-Trang Necro can use. This skill is better than Bone Spear for several reasons. A: like BS it goes through enemies, but unlike BS it deals poison damage. B: unlike BS, it goes all around you, so it is very helpful to summoners that are getting surrounded.
MAXING ORDER
I think this is important because if you fuck this up, then you are fucked when chaosing and such. NOTE Aside from the first Den, I don’t take account of skill points from quest except every 30 levels. So, by level 30, you will have 33 skill points to spend. By 60 you will have 67 and by 90 you will have 101 skill points.
Level 6. You should have spent 6 points by now. (Obviously)
2 in Skelly
1 in Skele Mast
1 in Clay Golem
1 in AD
1 Weaken
Level 12. With 12 skill points by now, you should have spent points thusly:
1 in IM
1 in Terror
1 in Golem Mast
1 in skelemage
1 in Skelly
1 in Bone Armor
Level 18. 18 skill points New ones go here:
1 in Blood Golem (If using Iron golem/revives if not, put in Skelly mast)
1 in life tap
3 in Skelly
1 in Skelly Mastery
Level 24. 24 skill points you know the drill
1 in decrep
1 in IG (see blood golem sidenote)
1 in summon resist
3 in skelly mast
Level 30. 33 skillpoints!
1 in LR/Decrep
1 in psn dagger
1 in teeth
1 in corpse explo
1 in psn explo
1 in psn nova
3 in Skelly mast
At this time you should basically be finished with norm and be Soloing baal every time you try.
Level 40. 43 skillpoints
9 in Skelly Mast
1 in Skelly
Level 50. 53 skillpoints
3 in Skelly mast
5 in Skelly
2 in Skelly mage/revive
Level 60. 67 Skill points
8 in skelly
4 in Summon Resist
1 in LR/Decrep
1 in Psn Nova
Level 70 77 skill points
5 in skelly mage/revive
2 in Golem Mast
3 in golem of choice
At this point, you can do what ever you want. I would suggest putting points into bone armor, psn nova, and your choice curse. That’s pretty much it on skills.
NOTE More information about skill distribution in the merc section. Your merc determines your build in some ways, as their aura largely affects your gameplay.
MERCENARIES
The main merc stuff is covered in the gear section, but I will go over the basics here.
Your Merc needs to have offensive and defensive qualities in order to function well. If you are using decrepify as your curse, then I recommend using the Might merc from A2 NM. If you are using LR as your main curse, use a prayer merc from A2. All there really is to say.
GEAR
Gear is quite argued about. There are a couple ways to make your necro, and each one is dependent on your strategy. For this build I recommend:
EXSPENSIVE GEAR
Weapon#1
LW is good in a PB if you are using the prayer merc. If you want + to Skills then go for a Doom War Axe b/c of low str req.
Weapon#2 for switch
Hoto all the way. No doubt in my mind.
Shield#1
A homo, or if you find a really helpful necro shield (+2/3 to skelly mast, skelly and your curse/psn nova) with two sockets, there is a wonderful runeword that is underrated. Splendor (Eth Lum) + to skills, increased FCR, Mana, Mana regen, and MF
Shield#2 for switch
Good Spirit. You don’t need FCR that much, but a 30+ is good. It just needs good mana and good Magic Absorb.
Armor
Unless you are retarded, use Enigma. No explanations needed
Boots
Marrowwalks. Gives good +’s. Nuff Said.
Gloves
Magefists or Trang Gloves. Give good bonuses and boost curses. Depends on what you want
Belt
Arach’s or, if you want Trang attacks, Trang Belt. They both have good effects. It’s all about preference.
Helm
Shako with Ums or Ists. Whatever floats your boat. I think Andy’s works well too.
Jewlery
Mara’s Ammy with max resists. The Attribute bonus is whatever you can afford.
For rings, either two BK’s, two SoJ’s, or one of each. It depends on what you need for your character. Life or mana?
Charms
High resist Anni and Ntorch with a couple Summon GC’s. If you need Lifers or other charms, do whatever. You don’t really need that much on this guy, to be serious.
Cheap Gear
Weap: Leoric arm. Wonderful bonuses. One of the best Non-RW necro items.
Shield: Splendor or Spirit. Whichever you can get your hands on. Like I said, the FCR doesn’t matter much, but it is useful.
Rest: Trangs Gear. It gives good +’s and can get you through NM and Hell in good shape.
Ammys and rings: whatever good rares you can afford/find.
I'm using cheap gear right now, and I can solo NM and some parts of hell. It’s not that hard, so you can use this gear if you just don’t have any other things.
MERC GEAR
This is important. Depending on what curse you use, your merc choice is affected, and therefore, the gear on him is too.
Weap: If you use the might merc, you need some regeneration in order to keep summoning and casting. Give him an insight. If you use the Prayer merc, then you should use an Infinity because of the lowered resists. This gives your Mages extra power as well.
Armor
I Find that out of non-uniques, Bramble and Duress are good Armor RWs. They are both reasonably cheap and make your merc much more powerful. Bramble is also great because of the Thorns aura for your skellies.
Helm
Whatever you want. I say give them an Andy’s or whatever decent rare you want. It’s up to you. With the right weap and armor, you won’t really need one.
Thanks for reading my SummoNecro Guide. I spent a lot of time deciding on the best skill allocations, and the best order to do it in. If you have any suggestions (especially in relation to gear) then please tell me.
This post was edited by godlessdesi on Apr 28 2007 01:32pm