Insumnia

- a guide to PvM necromancy

Table of Contents
Introduction
Stat Point Allocation
Skill Point Allocation
Bone Summonmancer
Equipment
Curse Management


Introduction

"Insomnia" is merely another word for sleeplessness. Hopefully, you can figure out how Insumnia derived from this, unlike that ass-hat on Battle.net I ran into the other day, who allegedly own the former name, and whose emotional tendencies I apparently triggered by choosing the latter. To him, I am now an illiterate. In short, my popularity is increasing ^__^
I am still a novice at playing Necromancers and as such, I require an easy-to-handle character. This is not a guide to a speedy Necromancer - and it was never meant to be. But I think I know enough to give out advice on a summoner using bone spells and handling curses properly. Our equipment will not be top-notch, in fact, we will not use a single HR or any other duplicate items. Insumnia has no need for fancy gear; instead he fights with his eyes in sleepless motion, profiting from cunning tactics, and tries to avoid getting himself into trouble. He is, if you like, a character that could be played from scratch, although equipment options include some popular set and unique items as well as feasible rune words. Just so that we have something to look forward to.

If you cannot resist the temptation to play with obvious dupes, then be my guest. Rock the game with your enigmatic gear. I admire you ... once you repeat from scratch.


Stat Point Allocation

• Strength: ~ 50-100
• Dexterity: ~ 25-100
• Vitality: remaining
• Energy: ~ 25-75

The above figures are estimated attributes before equipment and charm bonuses. Starting values and attribute point returns : http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/classes/necromancer.shtml . As usual, Strength to wear your equipment, Dexterity for reasonable blocking (keep Hardcore in mind) or none at all, and Energy for Mana hungry spells (mainly CE and skeletons/revives). Try to keep Energy as low as possible and rely on +Mana from items.


Skill Point Allocation

Summoning Spells

• 20 Skeleton Mastery
• 20 Raise Skeleton
• 1 Clay Golem
• 1 Golem Mastery
• 1 Raise Skeletal Mage
• 1 Blood Golem
• 1 Summon Resist
• 1 Iron Golem
• 1 Revive

This Necromancer Pet Calculator may be helpful : http://tph.tuwien.ac.at/~gottwald/necro_pet_calculator.html

Poison and Bone Spells

• 1 Teeth
• 1 Bone Armor
• 1+ Corpse Explosion *)
• 0+ Bone Wall *)
• 0+ Bone Spear *)
• 0+ Bone Spirit *)

*) See the Bone Summonmancer section.

Curses

• 1 Amplify Damage
• 1+ Dim Vision *)
• 1 Weaken
• 1 Iron Maiden
• 1 Terror
• 0-1 Confuse *)
• 1 Life Tap
• 0-1 Attract *)
• 1 Decrepify
• 0-1 Lower Resist *)

Total : 57+ points (110 points @ clvl 99). The optimum distribution of remaining skill points is somewhat debatable. Maybe we had better discuss this right away ...


Bone Summonmancer

Rather than telling you exactly what to do, I will leave several choices open. Viable decisions are rarely made empty-handedly though, so here are some thoughts on separate skills and possible ways to go.

Dim Vision
Question is, 1 or several points ? Hardcore players may want to invest several to increase the radius of effect and thus reduce danger, whereas 1 point usually suffices for Softcore PvM, in my experience.

Confuse, Attract
You like watching monsters fight it out amongst each other ? Mutually fighting each other or all surrounding one ? Then devote 1 point into each or either of these.

Lower Resist
Instead of playing the role of a lame-ass leecher in Chaos runs or Baal runs, how about aiding the Sorceresses and other elementally focused characters ? As well it adds somewhat to the damage potential of CE against those of the PIs (Immune to Physical) who are not simultaneously FI (Immune to Fire). How is that for 1 point ?

I CE dead people
Undoubtedly the most powerful of the Necromancer spells, dealing 60-100 % of corpse hp in damage, albeit with a fairly small range: (2 + 2/3 * slvl) yards. Depending on your equipment, you should probably invest at least 5-10 points here (some players prefer to max it). A max'ed CE has enough potential to blow away at least half a screen if accurately aimed and correctly timed.

Bone Summonmancer
The advantage of having dozens of spare points (~ 40-50) with the above distribution of skills is obvious; we can either max CE and still have points for Golem Mastery, Dim Vision, and the other curses, even Bone Wall should we choose to synergise Bone Armor. Or, we could power up CE somewhat and still be able to max Bone Spear and Bone Spirit, thus giving us another offensive edge in the form of magic damage. Although the damage will be inferior to that of a bonemancer's and none of the curses help magic damage, it is still something to consider. A max'ed level 35 Bone Spear / Spirit dishes out ~ 1.25k / 1.5k magic damage. As secondary skills, these are nothing to scoff at.

Choice is yours.


Equipment

Listing items in approximate order of rarity (descending). You should be able to figure out the reason(s) for each choice, otherwise look up the item stats.

• Helm
  Circlet (or higher): +2 to Necromancer Skill Levels +20 % FCR +Life +Mana etc., +3 to Summoning Spells / Poison and Bone Spells +20 % FCR, Harlequin Crest (Shako), Lore ('OrtSol')
• Amulet
  +2 to Necromancer Skill Levels +10 % FCR +Life +Mana etc., +3 to Summoning Spells / Poison and Bone Spells +10 % FCR, Mara's Kaleidoscope
• Weapon
  Arm of King Leoric (Tomb Wand), Carin Shard (Petrified Wand), Suicide Branch (Burnt Wand), Ume's Lament (Grim Wand) etc. (Normal unique Wands), White ('DolIo', wand), Spectral Shard (Blade)
• Body Armor
  Bone ('SolUmUm'), Trang-Oul's Scales (Chaos Armor), Skin of the Vipermagi (Serpentskin Armor), Stealth ('TalEth')
• Shield
  Darkforce Spawn (Bloodlord Skull), Boneflame (Succubus Skull), Homunculus (Hierophant Trophy), Trang-Oul's Wing (Cantor Trophy), Spirit ('TalThulOrtAmn'), Splendor ('EthLum'), Rhyme ('ShaelEth')
• Gloves
  Trang-Oul's Claws (Heavy Bracers), Magefist (Light Gauntlets)
• Rings
  +10 % FCR +Life +Mana +Str/Dex +Res, Bul Kathos' Wedding Band, Stone of Jordan, Raven Frost, Dwarf Star
• Belt
  Arachnid Mesh (Spiderweb Sash), Trang-Oul's Girth (Troll Belt), +24 % FHR +Str +Life +Res (rare or crafted Caster Belt with FCR), Tal Rasha's Fine-Spun Cloth (Mesh Belt), Nightsmoke (Belt)
• Boots
  Marrowwalk (Boneweave Boots), Silkweave (Mesh Boots), Aldur's Advance (Battle Boots)
• Inventory
  Annihilus, Hellfire Torch (+3 to Necromancer Skill Levels), Summoning / Poison and Bone GCs, various +Life/Mana/FHR/Res SCs

I would agree that HotO might be an option if you had 2 x Gul Rune or you got incredibly lucky and found a Vex Rune. I deliberately did not list it above, nor did I list a bunch of MF equipment (just look it up). The above equipment leaves plenty of options for reaching at least +75 % FCR (10-frame casting) or +125 % FCR (9-frame casting) as well as +16, 26, 39, 56, 86 % FHR (10-, 9-, 8-, 7-, 6-frame hit recovery).

Mercenary

• Town Guard, Act II Nightmare
  Offensive (native Might aura)
• Helm
  Andariel's Visage (Demonhead), Vampire Gaze (Grim Helm), Rockstopper (Sallet), Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest (Death Mask), Guillaume's Face (Winged Helm)
• Weapon
  Obedience ('HelKoThulEthFal', pole), Insight ('RalTirTalSol', pole)
• Body Armor
  Duriel's Shell (Cuirass), Treachery ('ShaelThulLem')

I would agree that Fortitude might be an option if you got incredibly lucky and found a Lo Rune. Odds are you won't and even if you did, Treachery still remains a superb choice for its comparatively low cost. Save that Lo Rune for another character.


Curse Management

The average cursing skills of people on Battle.net can be summarised quite easily ... supreme when typing their highly intricate insults, bloody awful as soon as we turn to the Necromancer Curses tree. I haven't dared counting how often they pick the wrong curses in a particular situation. Which is a pity, seeing as proper timing of curses is crucial, not only to the Necromancer, but to the party as a whole. Without further ado, here are the essentials,

Monsters that cannot be cursed

• Act I Foul Crow Nests; Gargoyle Traps
• Act II Mummy Sarcophagi; Black Raptor Nests; Sand Maggot and Rock Worm Eggs; Coldworm the Burrower; Fire Towers; Lightning Spires
• Act III Giant Lamprey Eggs; River, Water and Stygian Watchers
• Act IV Trapped Souls; Windows; Blood Maggot Eggs; Bone Prisons
• Act V Catapults; Evil Demon Huts; Barricades; Barricaded Towers and Doors; Prison Doors; Blood Maggot Eggs; Festering Appendages
• Possessed Champion

Ref : The Amazon Basin, "MRI Guide" : http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=76262

Easy to memorise as stationary targets save Possessed Champions.

AI affecting curses and their properties
Dim Vision, Terror, Confuse, and Attract are known as AI affecting curses. They modify monster behaviour, causing monsters to not attack, not move, not use their skills, attack other targets, become targets, or move in 'unusual patterns'. Aside from their immediate effects, the AI affecting curses have the following properties,

• Halved duration in Nightmare and quartered (25 %) duration in Hell
• Confuse cannot be overridden by another AI affecting curse
• Attract cannot be overridden by ANY other curse

In-game, Terror is listed as having full duration (skill button) in Nightmare and Hell. This is incorrect.

Monsters that are immune to AI affecting curses

• Champions: Berserker, Champion, Fanatic, Ghostly, Possessed
• Bosses: Uniques, Super Uniques, Act Bosses, and Übers
• Oblivion Knights

Contrary to what some of you may think, mercenaries are NOT immune to Dim Vision and Terror in PvP. Player characters are immune to all AI affecting curses. Leaving it for you to test how summoned creatures respond.

Curse Etiquette

1. In a party, use curses that actually benefit the party. Yes, I am talking to thee, thou self-centered idjetic arse !
2. Use Amplify Damage, Decrepify, or Lower Resist in conjunction with Corpse Explosion (50 % phys, 50 % fire)
3. Amplify Damage and Decrepify can break most PIs (1/5th effectiveness, breaks DR < 120 %, DR < 110 %).
4. Lower Resist can break some FI, CI, LI, and PsnI (1/5th effectiveness vs elemental and poison immunities)

Alright, that's it for now. Enjoy !

This post was edited by Faelwen on Mar 14 2009 08:39pm

Aww, no one likes sleepless necromancy ?

tl;dr
8D

This post was edited by tudey on Mar 15 2009 09:33am

I was hoping for you to drop by. I owed you a TL;DR

usualy I like your guides alot, but this one didn't impress me alot sorry

It's alright, I can take it ...

Np for dropping by :--))



omg you must be nooben irl loled
8D

This post was edited by tudey on Mar 15 2009 10:18am

I do agree.

pvm summoner without teleport.

fun....

What you didn't mention is Naj's Puzzler, makes bosses go by shittons faster, even if you don't use it for Teleporting places.