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May 11 2007 08:30pm

Hardcore PvM Necro Summoner Hybrid Guide

First and foremost, use this Guide @ your own risk. biggrin.gif

This build is simple and highly successful—not to mention relatively inexpensive and fun biggrin.gif The emphases are on life, mobility, and insurmountable attacks. The point of this build is not to worry about mana or faster cast rates; you have more than enough of it even if devote all of your points to vitality. The key is to have fast, strong skeletons and an effective bone attack. This way, your necromancer can stay away from danger and still deliver fairly decent damage; moreover, he can blow up his enemies and curse monsters to weaken them dramatically. If your character dies in PvM games using this build, you probably fell asleep at the wheel rofl.gif

Gear:

*Helm: Shako
*Amulet: Mara’s or +2 necro amulet with strength and resists
*Rings: soj & soj or soj & bk or soj & strength glitch ring with resists/life/mana
*Switch: 6 BO CTA with Lidless (or a +1 skills Runeword shield) (you probably will not have enough strength for a Spirit monarch; if you have the strength with gear, get one)—remember to BO for your skeletons, etc.
*Shield : Spirit monarch (best choice), Homunculus (next best thing), Darkforce, Lidless (ideally, socketed for resistances); poor man’s choices: Boneflame, Splendor or Rhyme
*Armor: Enigma (for str) or COH (for res); poor man’s choices: Vipermagi (Up’d if possible) or Bone or Eth Skullder’s
*Gloves: Magefists, Trang Gloves, or Frostburns
*Weapon: Beast zerker (or lower str axe; a war axe is a good choice) (this gives your skeletons a tremendous speed and striking boost)


Inventory:

*Summoning skills GC’s with life/fhr mods—strength mod if you cannot afford the others
*High anni, high torch (needed for strength glitching)
*Small charms with life/resistances/faster hit recovery

Hireling/Mercenary:

*Act 2 Nightmares Defensive Auras Merc: Holy Freeze Aura will be very useful for slowing down opponents
*Give your mercenary an Eth Insight to help you with mana or give him a weapon that will cause damage in a hurry (Eth BOTD, Eth Doom)
*Give your mercenary a suitable Ethereal Helm: Andy’s Visage would be a good example; others include Eth Gaze, Eth Dream Bone Visage, etc.
*Give your mercenary a decent tanking armor: Eth Fortitude, Eth Duress, Eth Stone (affordable and sturdy), Eth Prudence (more affordable excellence), Eth COH

Skills:

*Max Raise Skeleton (not mages) and max Skeleton Mastery
*Max Bone Spear and Bone Spirit (these are your left side attacks—points here also give u Corpse Explosion, which can be very useful in crowds)
*1 pt in each: Golem Mastery, Summon Resist, each Golem (they synergize, use Clay Golem for meat), Bone Armor, Bone Wall (synergy for Bone Spear and Bone Spirit), Bone Prison (synergy for Bone Spear and Bone Spirit)
Later on: 1 pt in a curse (the two skills trees on the right provide multiple possibilities), 1 pt each in Raise Skeletal Mage and Revive

Stats:
*Vita



This post was edited by RewtheBrave on May 11 2007 08:42pm
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May 11 2007 09:35pm
Actually a nice guide and I have built a PvM summoner necro once, they are very fun to use and play on, this guide provides just about everything you need to know as Bp's are not important on a PnM character, great guide.
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May 12 2007 07:20am
Usually for hardcore summoners I prefer to put a lot of points into Dim Vision as a crowd control curse. Helpful as hell--really makes it near impossible to die. That being said, you have a few interesting choices. Holy Freeze merc? Usually I go for might and rely on Decrepify to slow any really fast monsters. Though it might do the job just as well. If people can't afford the maras/shako, remember that most +skill / stat items will work on a summon nec--it's kinda hard to bosh one.
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May 12 2007 07:44am
Quote
*Helm: Shako

maybe yes.. but it's much better to use a rare circlet like +2necr/20fcr/2sock/life/something..

Quote
*Shield : Spirit monarch (best choice)
and without block? on HC? blink.gif very dangerous..
Homu is the best choise.

Quote
*Act 2 Nightmares Defensive Auras Merc: Holy Freeze Aura will be very useful for slowing down opponents
rofl.gif biggrin.gif laugh.gif
Offensive with Might Aura ONLY. wihout might your skeletons will too poor.

Quote
*Give your mercenary an Eth Insight to help you with mana or give him a weapon that will cause damage in a hurry (Eth BOTD, Eth Doom)
rofl.gif laugh.gif biggrin.gif
u don't use IronGolem, so u need to give Pride to merc.

did u ever play Necros? unsure.gif

This post was edited by AjaxVS on May 12 2007 07:44am
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May 12 2007 10:25am
Sweet guide!

I have made pure summon before, but i think i am going to try this one. smile.gif
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May 12 2007 11:33am
Quote (AjaxVS @ Sat, May 12 2007, 09:44am)
Quote
*Helm: Shako

maybe yes.. but it's much better to use a rare circlet like +2necr/20fcr/2sock/life/something..

It's very hard to find a crclet that beat a shako. fcr means nothing for this build since it's not a mana build. A good circlet would be a good option, though--point taken.

Quote
*Shield : Spirit monarch (best choice)
and without block? on HC? blink.gif very dangerous..
Homu is the best choise.

The point is to avoid being hit. Spirit is meant for offensive capability and a slight mana boost. I made homunc the 2nd choice for that reason, but it's a difficult choice to make. If people can't afford the Spirit build homunc is the perfect option since it doesn't require nearly the same amount of strength. When I wrote the Guide I had to think twice before putting the Spirit as #1. Another reason was the boost to fcr--it's not a fcr but it gives an advantage when enemies are nearby.

Quote
*Act 2 Nightmares Defensive Auras Merc: Holy Freeze Aura will be very useful for slowing down opponents
rofl.gif biggrin.gif laugh.gif
Offensive with Might Aura ONLY. wihout might your skeletons will too poor.

I've tried both and I prefer the Holy Freeze. The HF helps the merc do his job of tanking at higher levels and it also slows down enemies who might approach. With my build, skeletons pick up on fanat from my Beast. Might adds dmg but HF slows things down. I've got nothing against Might mercs but I prefer HF--to an extent each guide is idiosyncratic and reflects some of the personal preferences of the writer. For me it helps my skels form their attacks around slowed enemies and it helps my merc stay safe from multiple attacks. The merc isn't the primary killer, but he is a kind of gang leader tongue.gif

Quote
*Give your mercenary an Eth Insight to help you with mana or give him a weapon that will cause damage in a hurry (Eth BOTD, Eth Doom)
rofl.gif laugh.gif biggrin.gif
u don't use IronGolem, so u need to give Pride to merc.


did u ever play Necros? unsure.gif


The point you make here is good, but it depends on the strategy. Pride is great for conc but if you don't use Amplify Damage as the curse I think it's less effective (amp dmg breaks up immunities). Insight is recommended as a selfish choice for the necro himself--he will not run out of mana. The other choices I made were for the selfishness of the merc. *note* there's no point in giving a HF merc Eth Doom, since it provides no contrast. I'm all for contrast, so leaving options open is a good idea as long as the strategy is clear. If Amp Damage is the primary curse then regardless of golem Pride is an excellent chioce; in other cases, I prefer Insight, at least for general builds that could take a few different directions. For particular strategies, Pride comes in as a clear choice. I like the BOTD/Doom options for speed of kill for the merc himself on the strategy lines I'm suggesting but I should have mentioned the Pride option, especially if Amp Dmg is used as the primary curse.

And of course I've played necros. I've played with different strategies and that's why I'm offering a general hybrid guide. One of the advanatges is elasticity of choice. For me, the Pride option constrains the build but is an effective possibility. Every Guide will be debated, none is perfect. I read a few Guides on different sites on the Insight/Pride debate before making my Guide, and I stand by my choice but I certainly think the point about going with Pride deserved to be mentioned as an option. Thanks for noting my oversight. biggrin.gif

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May 27 2007 08:14am
very nice rew smile.gif
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May 27 2007 08:38am
pride on merc
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Jun 8 2007 12:42pm
this may be a stoopid suggestion (don't shoot me), but why not make faith in low req bow, instead of giving him beast?

Beast
Level 9 Fanaticism Aura When Equipped
+40% Increased Attack Speed
+240-270% Enhanced Damage (varies)
20% Chance of Crushing Blow
25% Chance of Open Wounds
+3 To Werebear
+3 To Lycanthropy
Prevent Monster Heal
+25-40 To Strength (varies)
+10 To Energy
+2 To Mana After Each Kill
Level 13 Summon Grizzly (5 Charges)


Faith
Level 12-15 Fanaticism Aura When Equipped (varies)
+1-2 To All Skills (varies)
+330% Enhanced Damage
Ignore Target's Defense
300% Bonus To Attack Rating
+75% Damage To Undead
+50 To Attack Rating Against Undead
All Resistances +15
10% Reanimate As: Returned
75% Extra Gold From Monsters


i mean yes, Beast gives mass strength, and gives a nice grizzly, but you got summons enuff and enigma gives nice strength also.
BUT
faith gives: +2 skills//more fanaticism//more gold (gear repair, potion shop, gamble maybe).


for the rest i got nothing to say but 'well done' wink.gif
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Jun 8 2007 12:48pm
Quote (hATemOnkEy @ Fri, Jun 8 2007, 06:42pm)
this may be a stoopid suggestion (don't shoot me), but why not make faith in low req bow, instead of giving him beast?

Beast
Level 9 Fanaticism Aura When Equipped
+40% Increased Attack Speed
+240-270% Enhanced Damage (varies)
20% Chance of Crushing Blow
25% Chance of Open Wounds
+3 To Werebear
+3 To Lycanthropy
Prevent Monster Heal
+25-40 To Strength (varies)
+10 To Energy
+2 To Mana After Each Kill
Level 13 Summon Grizzly (5 Charges)


Faith
Level 12-15 Fanaticism Aura When Equipped (varies)
+1-2 To All Skills (varies)
+330% Enhanced Damage
Ignore Target's Defense
300% Bonus To Attack Rating
+75% Damage To Undead
+50 To Attack Rating Against Undead
All Resistances +15
10% Reanimate As: Returned
75% Extra Gold From Monsters


i mean yes, Beast gives mass strength, and gives a nice grizzly, but you got summons enuff and enigma gives nice strength also.
BUT
faith gives: +2 skills//more fanaticism//more gold (gear repair, potion shop, gamble maybe).


for the rest i got nothing to say but 'well done' wink.gif



one reason..hardcore

hardcore+no shield+pvm=low resists=dead wasted character

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