Anyone have any experience with this build? Just have a few end-game questions. I have a level 93 Necro.

1. I'm already using HOTO, and it has been working out great. I use him mainly for MFing but he can run anything. P1-3 is easy to solo, including Chaos and Baal. Would it be considered an upgrade if I swapped my HOTO for a Beast axe? I can compensate for the resistances elsewhere, but I'd lose the +3 skills.

2. Max Block homunculus or Max Vit?

3. Is Bramble on a merc worth it? That would be late, late end game. Right now my A2 Might Merc is using Guillame and Treachery.

This post was edited by D2SinceClassic87 on Nov 17 2021 03:01pm

https://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=48460552

All you need to know about summoner.

In short hoto vs beast for regular pvm almost no difference I will stick with hoto a either 75fcr or 125 fcr.

Full vita.

And not really, either treachery for more CB from enigma or forty for hard hitting merc that will get you the first body faster.

max vita with spirit. trang gloves + arach + spirit = 75% FCR, leaves you the option to go with beast

if you have good gear and some skillers the difference between beast and hoto is pretty huge, and dont forget your merc gets a big buff with beast as well. thing is, in players1, shit dies so fast already with CE that the damage boost from beast is just not necessary... it's all about getting that first corpse.
if you are doing players8 or ubers, where you are more reliant on summon/merc damage and less on CE, you will really notice the difference between hoto and beast

well back in the day I had a bramble merc for the aura madness and honestly... it does nothing just go with treachery or fort

This post was edited by Morbid-EW on Nov 18 2021 02:26am

Thank you! I think I will give the Beast + 35 Spirit combo a try. Players1-3 is pretty easy right now but I do want to get into higher Players count and do ubers.

I'm playing only necro.
1. I use beast. Damage output us huge, esp on bosses. Yeah, you lose fcr, but for summoner necro it's not that important. I just swap for secondary spirit+CtA, when i need teleport faster, then switch to beast+homu, when its fight time. Also i use leoric to summon skeletons
2. Max vit ofc
3. I think the most perf gear for merc is infinity \ fortitide \ andariel . This set up provides huge dps for killing first mob and bosses. Also i put 15ias/40%dmg gem in andariel. With all that auras merc is just immortal killing machine

And Infinity is a must for necro : it lowers defence, so your minions hits more often, also it lowers fire res, which increase your CE damage. I think infinity is the first thing, you should get

This post was edited by HerGhost on Nov 18 2021 11:59pm

Thanks! Great input. My next purchase will be a Beast axe so I can test it out first hand. Already got an Infinity thresher and it's made a HUGE difference.