I tried making Poison Necro a couple times (hardcore, unmodded single player). The first time I died, I chalked it up to general laziness and inexperience. But the 2nd char died in basically the same way, even though I was ready for it. So I am posting to ask if this is a general weakness in the class or if there is something I can do differently in the future to learn from my mistakes.

The problem with the build, in my experience, is that if I have a curse on me I can't afford to walk forward. If there is a pack of archers through the next doorway, being cursed means they can kill me before I see them. I either have to retreat to town or remove my curse OR repeatedly cast my golem ahead of me. Both of those tactics are tedious and if I have to do that every time I'm cursed, the build just sucks.

So, am I alone in thinking that this is just a glaring weakness in the build? Or is there something I need to learn to do about it?

Hardcore is hardcore. Gotta do what you gotta do!
Maybe try and stack res and defence before entering hell
I wouldn’t walk around a blind corner cursed

Go Max Block and use dim vision.

Which part in the game do you get to? Early game? Or late game?

Early game: rely heavily on bone armor and poison explosion with packs while poison dagger bosses. Against bosses use decrep if you have it and cast your golem away from the boss. If you cast it on it, it’ll still agro you. The former makes the golem run closest to the boss and boss agros the golem.

Late game: once you have nova going with lr you can use that instead of decrep on bosses since you’ll do more damage than your team. For packs, your bone wall should be very strong (as it’s a good synergy to bone armor) and cast that in front of you. Arrows don’t go through it and it’ll keep you safe. However, be cautious with it. It can trap you; in addition, it agros minions from a screen or two away.

Let me know if this helps

the first death was in the NM Glacial Trail, walked around the corner cursed and got killed by a charge from the zombies. Dying in nightmare is pretty embarrassing, but I figured I'd cut myself some slack since it was my first time playing poison. The second time, I was farming the hell tower at level 76 to get my merc a treachery. This time, I was fully aware that the archers were dangerous. But I can't take the time to cast my golem in every doorway ahead of me. Learning to farm efficiently means finding a way to keep moving ahead.



max block is a valid idea, i was full vita. I'm guessing I would expect to be using a Rhyme Bone Shield when entering hell? Does mblock build essentially take Trang Oul's shield off the table as an option?

This post was edited by Kayeto on Dec 6 2019 06:16pm

IMO, I wouldn’t do max block. So much dex is req for that build.

With decent gear you need about 100 hard points into dex at lvl 90. So you lose 200 hp (300 with bo) and gain the ability to negate 75% of any dmg caused by archers.

I did a lot of pit running with my poison necro. Amped/mighted/fana archers will buttf*ck you no matter if you have 1900 hp or 2200 hp.

With max block you usually get that extra 2 seconds to rejuv, reposition and recast bone armor etc.

Maxblock is not needed in PvM as a necro, golem and merc will tank for u. I have 2600 hp with full vita build which is better than mb imo. If u play correctly u won't take any dmg as a necro, I've dropped to about 50 hp like 3 times with a bad tele, I would probably be dead with mb build.

This post was edited by Dorislol on Dec 7 2019 02:16am

No mb
Utilize summons

I insist on this: use attract. its an underrated curse. against archers you will become immune. try it.