d2jsp
Log InRegister
d2jsp Forums > Diablo II > Diablo 2 Discussion > Strategy & Guides > Bui's Poison And Bone Necromancer Guide > East Nonladder Pnb Necromancer
12352Next
Add Reply New Topic New Poll
Member
Posts: 49,743
Joined: Apr 30 2004
Gold: 14,760.00
Jul 11 2010 09:45pm
Bui’s Poison and Bone Necromancer Guide



Table of Contents (Clickable)

Page 1
• Introduction
• Character Stats
• Character Screen
• FAQs

Page 2
• Gear
• Stashed Gear
• Recommended Gear

Page 3
• Inventory
• Stat Distributions
• Skill Distributions
• Recommended Hotkeys
• FCR/FHR/Block Tables

Page 4
• Dueling Strategies
• Conclusion

This post was edited by Azn Masta on Jul 11 2010 09:49pm
Member
Posts: 49,743
Joined: Apr 30 2004
Gold: 14,760.00
Jul 11 2010 09:45pm
Introduction:

Hello, my name is Bui and I specialize in the USEAST Non-ladder Realm Poison and Bone (PNB) Necromancer. By modifying numerous builds and setups, I have finally come up with a good combination that is still serving me to this day. In this guide, I will include not only multiple setups for all sorts of occasions and encounters, but also dueling strategies as well. This guide will allow you to make PNB Max Block Necromancer like mine for Player vs. Player (PVP).

PNB necromancers usually branch into 2 types: max block and pure vita builds. While both builds possess advantages and disadvantages, the max block build will be more flexible in terms of offense, defense, and usability. The common view is that vita builds are better for “experienced players” because they allow you to easily reach all break points, while possessing high life and damage. However, what many people do not understand is when one can stay alive longer to deal damage, more damage over time can be done and everyone, including those “experienced players” will make mistakes once in a while. Balance is the key to successful PVP and the max block necromancer provides just that. It gives you a decent amount of damage (~5000 Bonespear), max resistance in hell, a possible 40life rep switch (CTA + DolDolDolDol Shield), and most importantly, 50% Damage Reduction (DR) and 75% Blocking. The trade off is only ~500 loss in life. Having max block allows the necromancer to more easily tackle heavy physical opponents like BVCs, WW Assassins, chargers, tele-zealers, etc… because you can afford a few mistakes and still be ok. On the flip side, facing a sorceress or a wind druid with an additional ~500 life will most likely not change the results of the duel. Thus, this shows that the ability to survive and escape more than 1-2 Tri-WWs or a barrage of quick attacks will prove more useful in both teams and 1v1 dueling.

What makes any character good is balance. The same applies in our situation as well. Trying to max out the amount of life (pure vita) will mean you lose something (max block). Another common concern is that in Necromancer vs. Necromancer match ups, the max block necromancer will face an uphill battle vs. the pure vita build. While this may be true, but the small increase in life is usually not enough to let you survive more than 1 extra spear (if even). Most of the time, if built correctly, both builds will tank the same amount of spears and the vita build will only be able to take a few additional Teeths. This trade off is not worth the huge benefit of having max block in overall PVP.

With that in mind, let’s get going with the actual guide:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Statistics:

• 3200+ life (Standard Gear)
• ~5000 Spear Damage
• ~5000 Spirit Damage
• ~1300 Teeth Damage
• 50% Damage reduction
• 75% Block
• 125% FCR Breakpoint
• 86% FHR Breakpoint
• Max Resists in Hell (This is easily stackable vs. cold sorceresses)
• NvN Switch Setup (with ~6200 spear and ~3800 life)


Here is a Screenshot of the Character Screen

Max Block Setup


Necromancer vs. Necromancer Setup


FAQs:

What is Golem Stacking? How do you do it?
• Golem stacking is when you tele stomp on top of another character and the golem will take the initial hits for you until it dies (if there is no splash damage).
• This is extremely useful in NVN match ups as it allows you to safely stomp your opponent.
• In NVN match ups, a common counter is to re-tele on your opponent after they have done the initial stomp on you. This causes you to restack your golem on top of theirs and easily spear them down.

Golem-Ignore Spear Method
• As explained above, a common method of defeat your opponent in NVN is to stomp on them to kill. This will allow you to counter that WITHOUT needing to re-tele.
• While golem stacking is effective, it is not 100% perfect. There is still a very small blind spot where the golem does not protect you.
• When your opponent stomps on you, instead of trying to spear directly through them and hitting their golem, aim your spears at a 45 degree angle. This lets you still hit your opponent while ignoring the golem that stacks them.

Bone Spirit Training (Spirit Trains)
• This is a common technique that gives the necromancer a “damage dealing” protective shield allowing them to maneuver and chase down and opponent without the fear of easily dying.
• It is done by shooting 2-3 spirits, teleporting on them, shooting 2-3 more, and repeating until you have a huge mass of spirits on top of you as you move around the map. As soon as you opponent tries to stomp on you, they will be bombarded by the huge mass of spirits allowing you to repeat this method again or simply finish them off with spear.
• This technique can also be done by shooting a line of spirits and then teleporting in front of it. When facing opponents that try to telestomp you, you can u trick them into thinking they can get an easy kill, however, as soon as they stomp on you, the trail of spirits will hit them. It is extremely useful vs. characters like WW Assassin or BVCs who need to get up close and personal to deal damage.

Invisible Bone Spirit (IBS)
• Bone Spirit, like many other projectiles, will become “invisible” after it reaches a certain point on the map.
• This can be used to your advantage if you have the ability to predict approximately where your opponent currently is or will be at.
• It is done by shooting spirits in a line while being a few screens back. If done properly, your spirits will still be there, but will appear invisible to your opponent. As they move around, they will inevitably fall into your trail of invisible death.

Chain-locking Tele Stomp
• One extremely successful method of defeat your caster opponents is by constantly teleporting on top of them and spearing them down.
• Using any skill (usually spear is preferred) you can name lock on your opponent with the right click and quickly switch to teleport (using a hotkey). This will cause your necromancer to stomp on top of your opponent. Then as soon as you make the teleport, lock them down again with spear. If they escape, you already have the spear lock again, just repeat.

What is WSG?
• Weapon Switch Glitch (WSG). The default key for this technique is W.
• When you are in the middle of a continuous attack (Ex: locked by traps), If you switch to your other weapons by pressing W it resets the lock giving you time to escape
• By rapidly pressing W and running south, you can escape locks
Member
Posts: 49,743
Joined: Apr 30 2004
Gold: 14,760.00
Jul 11 2010 09:46pm
Gear:

Helms:
2 Necromancer/20FCR/30FRW/Life/Resist/2Socs Circlet(2x 7FHR/Res jewels)
The best helm overall for your necromancer when you do not need something specific such extra damage or life for NVN situations. The jewels I use in mine are duped USEAST jewels that offer 7fhr/9dex/20fire res/20poison res/20 lightning resist/ 37 cold res

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b142/AznMastaBui/Diablo/HavocRakeNecromancerHelm.jpg

2 Necromancer/20FCR/30FRW/Life/2socs Circlet(Jah/Jah)
This will give you the most possible life while still maintaining 125% FCR and the 86FHR BP for NVN

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b142/AznMastaBui/Diablo/HavocRakeNecromancerHelm.jpg



Armors:
Enigma(Mage Plate or Breast Plate)
This armor is the main part of your build. It gives you the STR needed to wear. Try to aim for a “Light” Armor because while armors like Gothic Plate or FPM may look good to some people, it will slow down your walk speed and that is vital when you are trying to run/walk to avoid attacks

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b142/AznMastaBui/Diablo/BPEnigma.jpg



Shields:
Stormshield
Simply the best shield overall for your Necromancer. Offers high block rate, DR, and some resist. I carry 2 of these – one Um’d for more res, and one Ber’d for Max DR. (Personally, I use the Um’d one most of the time)

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b142/AznMastaBui/Diablo/BerStormshield.jpg

Spirit Monarch Shield
This is one of the best shields available with the exception of DR and Max Block. It gives 35% FCR and 55% FHR on top of resistance. This shield is a must for NVN.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b142/AznMastaBui/Diablo/SpiritMonarch.jpg

Homunculus Necromancer Head
If DR was not so important in PVP, this would be the shield of choice for your max block necromancer with 2skills, high resist, mana, 1 open socket, etc... Fortunately, the shield is not obsolete. It is still the top choice for your necromancer, when you are facing an opponent that requires max block, but not max DR.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b142/AznMastaBui/Diablo/Homunculus.jpg



Arachnid’s Mesh
The 20% FCR helps you achieve the 125% FCR breakpoint needed. The 1 to all Skill will boost damage and life, and the mana will allow you to have more mana to chase down your opponents.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b142/AznMastaBui/Diablo/ArachBelt-1.jpg



Rings:
10fcr/15DEX/40 life/90 mana/15 res all Ring
The best all around FCR ring for this build. It is used to get that 125% FCR breakpoint. The 15DEX helps getting max block.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b142/AznMastaBui/Diablo/StoneHarmRing.jpg

10fcr/15DEX/20STR/15 res all Ring
This FCR ring will allow you to keep max block for this build while gaining enough STR to wear Stormshield in conjuncture with using Hotspurs.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b142/AznMastaBui/Diablo/SkullFangRing-1.jpg

Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band and/or Stone of Jordan (BK/SOJ)
1 to all skills and a nice life or mana boost on top of that makes this the #1 ring of choice for your standard setup behind the FCR ring (which is required). Whether you want more life or mana in certain situations is up to you.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b142/AznMastaBui/Diablo/BKRing-1.jpg




Gloves:
Trang-Oul’s Claw Gloves
These are the best gloves possible for your necromancer’s standard max block setup. It gives the must have 20% FCR and 2 to curses, in additional to a nice stack on cold resist.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b142/AznMastaBui/Diablo/Trang-OulsClaws-2.jpg

Bloodfist Gloves
These are the best gloves possible for your necromancer’s NVN setup. It gives FHR to replace that of your boots and Life.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b142/AznMastaBui/Diablo/Bloodfists.jpg



Boots:
Grim Spurs (or boots with Str/20FHR/Res)
These are simply the best overall boots for your character. It gives you STR to wear your equipment, 20FHR to reach the 86FHR BP and tri-resist.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b142/AznMastaBui/Diablo/GrimSpurBoots.jpg

Aldur’s Advance Boots
These boots will give you a huge boost to life as well as some 40% FRW. These will be the boots of choice for NVN. The reason these are better than waterwalks is because the difference in life is extremely minor and the extra FRW will allow you to walk/spear more effectively.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b142/AznMastaBui/Diablo/AldursBoots.jpg



Amulet:
Storm Circlet Amulet
This amulet provides a huge boost to 2 necromancer skills/20FCR/STR/Life/Res. It is the best amulet for this build. Unfortunately, this is an old duped item. If you cannot get your hands on these, you can still settle for a crafted 2nec/20fcr amulet.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b142/AznMastaBui/Diablo/StormCircletAmulet.jpg



Weapons:
Spirit Sword
This is the best weapon for your character. It gives you 2skills/life/mana and an amazing 55FHR.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b142/AznMastaBui/Diablo/SpiritSword.jpg

3 Bone Spear/3 Bone Spirit/3 Lower Res Base or Revive White Wand
This will allow you to get the extremely useful 8 bone spear for NVN as well as high spirit damage for dueling vs. opponents where max block is not needed and you can replace stormshield with sprit to keep 125%FCR. The lower rest is useful in team duels.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b142/AznMastaBui/Diablo/WhiteWand.jpg

Wizardspike(20Life/15Res Jewel)
This is the weapon of choice for stacking resist vs. opponents. Remember, according to USEAST Rules, as long as a single piece of equipment does not exceed 100% Resistance to any element, it is GM to use. Try to make sure you come as close as possible without breaking the 100% Resist “GM” Cap. Otherwise, you cannot use an absorb ring in conjunction with this.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b142/AznMastaBui/Diablo/Wizardspike.jpg



Stashed-Gear
• Kira’s Guardian (Resist All Jewel)
• Absorb Rings (Wisp/Dwarf/Raven)
• Thundergods/Snowclash/Hotspurs
• 15/15/70 Poison Resist Sandstorm Treks
• “Treachery” Rune word (for fading to get res and DR to BM)
_____________________________________________

Recommended Gear

Standard Setup Max Block Setup
• Helm - 2 Necromancer/20FCR/30FRW/Life/Resist/2Socs Circlet (2x 7FHR/Res jewels)
• Armor - Enigma
• Amulet – Storm Circlet
• Boots – Grim spurs
• Rings – 1x x BK Rings (Swap on Res Rings as needed)
• Gloves – Trang-Oul Gloves
• Belt – Arachnid’s Mesh
• Weapon – Spirit Sword
• Shield – Stormshield (Ber/Um)

NVN Setup
• Helm - 2 Necromancer/20FCR/30FRW/Life/Resist/2Socs Circlet (Jah/Jah)
• Armor - Enigma
• Amulet – Storm Circlet
• Boots – Aldur’s Boots
• Rings – 1x 10fcr/40 life/90 mana Ring + BK
• Gloves – Bloodfists
• Belt - Arachnid’s Mesh
• Weapon – 8 Bone Spear White
• Shield – Spirit Monarch Shield

This post was edited by Azn Masta on Jul 11 2010 09:51pm
Member
Posts: 49,743
Joined: Apr 30 2004
Gold: 14,760.00
Jul 11 2010 09:46pm
Inventory:

9x Poison and Bone Grand Charms
10x 20Life/5 Resist All SCs
1x 20/20 Torch
1x 20/20/10 Anni

**NOTE**
You may need to use a few 15life/70mana SCs vs. some opponents to increase mana.
For the NVN Setup you will need 1x 5fhr SC


Stat Distribution:

Strength - Base
Dexterity - Enough for Max Block
Vitality - All
Energy - Base

**NOTE**
You MIGHT need to add a little bit of STR depending on your setup and gear


Skill Distribution:

Required:
• Bone Spear - 20
• Bone Spirit - 20
• Teeth - 20
• Bone Wall - 20
• Bone Prison - 20
• Clay Golem - 1
• Golem Mastery - 1
• Amplify Damage - 1

Optional:
• Summon Resist - 1
• Decrepify - 1
• Iron Maiden - 1



Recommended Hotkeys

Q=Weapon Switch
W=Weapon Switch
E=Battle Command
R=Battle Order
T=Iron Maiden
A=Teleport
S=Bone Spirit
D=Teeth
F=Bone Armor
G=Lower Resist
Z=Amplify Damage
X= Decrepify
C=Bone Prison
V=Clay Golem
B=Bone Wall
_____________________________________________

FCR/FHR/Block Tables



FCR
125% FCR is the recommend break point

FHR
86% FHR is the recommend break point
Member
Posts: 49,743
Joined: Apr 30 2004
Gold: 14,760.00
Jul 11 2010 09:47pm
Dueling Strategies

Amazon:
• Bow: Stay on them constantly to prevent them from shooting you. Your golem will slow them when you stomp on them and your 125FCR spear/spirit will cause them to lock up leaving them with only 1 option to WSG and run away. If your golem dies, you can tele away and recast it along with bone armor and come back to deal some more damage.
• Charged Strike: Wear a T-God and you have officially ended any hopes they had of beating you. You can spam spirit trains and spear them down at multiple angles. If they have enigma, send them a trail of spirits and spam a few prisons, the second they stop moving, all the sprits will hit them. Shoot a few spears into the trapped Amazon and it is game over.
• Poison/Hybrid Poison: These guys may be tricky if you are not careful. Their poison will most likely finish you off quickly if you are not careful. Try to keep a medium range and spam a combination of spirits and spears at them. The second you get poisoned by them, you no longer have anything to lose. Stomp on them and try to get the kill ASAP because within a few seconds, if you do not kill them, they will kill you.

Barbarians:
• BvC: These guys can be tricky if you do not know how to duel them. Against the bad ones you can just spirit train/tank them/prison/etc… and they will die. However, the better ones will try to lure you in by running around and use a combination of Berserk (2 hits will kill you) and short tri-wws. You have the upper hand in this duel but do not let that get to your head because all it takes is a few hits and you will go down. You can use the spirit train method as well as IBS in this match up. Bone prison will allow you to tank their WWs and mess them up here and there causing them to get hit by spirits.

• Pure Conc/Zerk/Melee Barbs: Just send a trail of spirit their way and tele back to spear them down as they run to you. By the time they get to you, your spears would have reduced them to ~50% life and the spirits will do the rest.


Necromancer:
• PNB: In GM NVN, the use of spirits is banned. This mirror match up means that who ever is the better necromancer will win. This duel will involve either a lot of stomping, chasing, running, or all of the above, depending on your opponent. Chain-locking for golem stack stomps and effective use of golem ignore spearing will work wonders for you here.

• Poison Nova: Treat these guys similarly to PNB necromancers. While they have a powerful nova attack that can kill you in a few hits if you get caught, you are now allowed to use bone spirits. Wear treks and try to stack as much Poison resist as possible while still maintaining 125%FCR. Remember, they need to be at a medium range to hit you, you can be far away to hit them. Keep your safe range and effectively spear/spirit them down as they try to catch you. If you are at 1 life from the poison, start running in a line and spearing/spiriting back in a line and pray that they will try to chase you down and let fire golem finish you off. If they make a mistake and run into your attacks, the duel can still be yours.

Sorceress:
• Cold: With the way this necromancer is setup your standard helm/gloves/boots/amulet/shield should provide you with a good amount of cold resists. The only change really needed is to replace Spirit Sword with Wizspike and add in a Raven Frost. With that much stack, you can practically just dance around them and spam spirits until they die. If you are facing an especially offensive sorceress, make sure you have a nice trail of spirits following them and let them stomp you. As soon as this happens, spear them down as the trail of spirits cuts down their mana. The moment they are out of mana, would be unable to attack you nor escape. They are dead.

• Fire: These guys are one of your most difficult match ups. They shoot faster than you, harder than you, and have ES that tanks your hits. You will NOT beat good ES fireball sorceress who knows how to duel against necromancers. Even if you run around all day, they will have more mana than you. However, against the mediocre ones, you can spirit spirits and use a combination of that in addition with spears to chip away at their life. Wear hotspurs and avoid their fireballs if you can. If you want, you can get a white wand with fire golem on it.

• Lightning: Avoid their powerful lightning. Read how to duel Fireball Sorceresses and apply the same concept. These guys should be easier to duel against because they are not quite as fast.


Paladins:
• Hammerdin: These are annoying if they synch all day. Basically predict where they are and shoot spirits/spears where you think they will be. If they stomp you, simply walk down and spear upwards. Normally 2-3 Hammers will kill you, but if you play smart, you should not get hit more than 1 time at max. You have the upward hand in this matchup.

• Smiters/VT: These guys are a joke. Just wear a wisp and use the IBS and spirit train method. They cannot get close to you without eating a bunch of spirits. If they charge you walk south and shoot a spirit/spear upwards. Bone prison will work wonders here. Eventually they will make a mistake/get bone prisoned and die.

• Zealot: Treat them as a Conc./Melee Barb. If they are a tele-zealer treat them as a smiter that you can block.

Druids:
• Elemental: These guys can be tricky if you are not careful. Remember, 50% DR is vital here. You must use a combination of spears/teeth/spirit to win this match up. If they use bears, use spirit trains, if you use wolves, sprit train and teeth away their minions them spear them when they are open. If they run out of minions, you can chase them down and spear them. Do not stomp on a wind druid. Practice will make this match up easier as you learn how to read their movement and think fast accordingly.

• Rabies or Rabies/Fury/Hybrids: Be careful so you do not get bitten. Other than that, treat them as a Conc./Melee barb. They have no chance.


Assassins:
• Trapper: A good trapper is very hard. If you fight a good trapper who knows how to avoid getting hit and has a good name lock you are in trouble. 15/70s if you have them on your realm are extremely useful in this matchup. Remember to use T-Gods and a dwarf ring. 86FHR is required for this match up and high FRW is great for WSG’ing out of traps. Average trappers are a joke, but good ones are difficult – even worst if they use corners or box you. IBS is your friend here and spirit trains can also be used to prevent them from chainlock/fireblast stomping you to death. Keep your safe range and spear when you can. Spirits should always be flying around as they may get unlucky and run into a few here and there. Teething their shadow is also a great strategy because if they no longer have a tank to attract your spirits, you can WSG/Spirit/WSG/Spirit etc if they try to lock you. This match up will take practice.

• Ghost: You should not lose to a ghost sin on a max block PNB necromancer. They only have one ranged attack (Mind blast) and level 1 traps for stunning. If they WW you, spam bone prison and spear them. If they try to dragon claw, you can use decrepify to slow them down and practically tank them. The only time you need to be carefully is when they have traps around you. If you try to tank them when traps are hitting you, you will get FHR’d. Spirit Trains works wonders here. Teething their shadow is also a great strategy because if they no longer have a tank to attract your spirits.

• Bramble/Fort: These guys are a joke. They cannot do crap to you if you simply have a trail of spirits following them. With max block, you can even tank them and spear them down after the spirits have done a good chunk to them. You should NEVER lose to one of these.

• Hybrids: These guys are easier than Ghost sins and Trappers. They do not have max mind blast so they will not be able to stun you as badly as ghosts, and their traps are weak so they cannot duel you like a trapper. Most of them will try to set 1-2 traps out, have it hit u and try to stomp tri-ww. If they have traps you, you should be wary, but if they do not and try to ww you. Just prison them and spear away. As a sin player myself, I personally would say their worst possible match up is vs. an experienced necromancer.



Conclusion

The PNB Necromancer is one of the top classes for 1v1 GM. They have good source of offense and defense. They can play aggressive or safety according to which opponent they are facing. Their only weaknesses are Good ES Sorceresses and Exceptional Wind Druids. Other than that, they can hold their ground vs. anything else. Also, unlike many builds that require expensive gear to be truly effective, one can make a necromancer with a small budget and still wreck dueling games. In the hands of a new player, necromancers can already be a threat, in the hands of an experienced player, they can be almost unstoppable.

If you have any questions or feedback, please post them in this thread. Do not PM me as I will only tell you to repost your message in here.

This post was edited by Azn Masta on Jul 11 2010 09:55pm
Member
Posts: 11,221
Joined: Feb 22 2008
Gold: 0.00
Jul 11 2010 10:05pm
Tl;dr
Member
Posts: 2,660
Joined: May 16 2010
Gold: 71.00
Jul 11 2010 10:15pm
Crap
Member
Posts: 49,746
Joined: Feb 20 2007
Gold: 30.02
Trader: Trusted
Jul 11 2010 10:16pm
Hey look at that you got it posted without anyone interrupting. ^_^
Member
Posts: 7,825
Joined: Aug 5 2003
Gold: 5,362.00
Jul 11 2010 10:18pm
nice
Member
Posts: 16,958
Joined: Aug 8 2003
Gold: 0.00
Jul 11 2010 10:18pm
Nice build.

7/10
Go Back To Strategy & Guides Topic List
12352Next
Add Reply New Topic New Poll