kwittstruck
03-14-2008, 02:55 AM
Poison Skele Necro.
Currently for classic play.
(I don't have the expansion)
1. Intro
2. Stat Points
3. Skill Points
4. Equipment
5. PvM Strategies
6. Mercenary
7. Closing
1.Intro
Out of the swampy woods a middle age male appears. Pale in the face as if life itself has left him. Boots pitch black from the marshy pits. Coat all green from meddling with potions, poisons, and toxins. Followed by his army of undead flesh and bone. Many of the townsfolk flee to their homes, while just a few others approach the figure of what seemed to be death itself. Asking many questions like people do the only one answered was from a young boy. “Why do you chose this way of life?” the boy asked. The ghostly figure stops. Silence fills the air as if something horrid was about to happen. The nameless man turns around and walks up to the child. As he kneeled down, the boy steps back in fear. The man quietly replies, “Death comes to us all, fear me not for I am not here for you.” He then gets up, turns around, and continued on his path into the distant hills and mountains. Never to be seen by those townsfolk again...
2. Stat PointsThere really isn’t anything out of the normal here.
Strength, enough for your gear. With the proper +to str you can get by with 70, Total of 100 would be the most you need.
Dex, again enough for your gear. However with proper +to dex you wont need to add a thing here. I did set it at 30 myself.
Vitality, Everything else. Necromancers only get 2 pts life for each point spent.
Energy, leave at base. there is no need to put points here. Use those potions ;)
A little note, I tried something different here then normal. and I don’t know if it is a normal practice or not. but my first 5 LvL’s I didn’t use any stat points at all. Once I had 25 points. Anything above 25 that didn’t go for strength or dex, I put in vitality. Making sure I had 25 points to fall back on incase of a really good shield or armor of some sort that required more str/dex then what I already had. When I went below that 25 I just saved the rest as I leveled until I had at least 25. Then started packing in the vitality again.
3. Skill Points
I am not one to follow a guide point for point so I will say what points I have placed and where. But fell free to do your own thing.
Summon Tree
46 pts
20 Skeleton-
These bony figures will be your main attack, take care of them. I had these guys at max before I battled Diablo normal.
20 Skeleton Mastery-
This I max with skeletons, Between the 2 of them I pretty much solo NM with players = 8. That and they really give Diablo something to be mad about.
1 Mage-
Just 1 point here mainly for a pre req. However you may as well use them if you have them.
1 Revive-
This is a really nice skill Especially when you reach Hell, if you come across something that is Physical Immune (pi) Try to revive a critter or 2 that uses some magic.
1 Clay Golem-
You guessed it, meat shield. However he is not too effective in later game
1 Iron Golem-
Another somewhat more durable metal shield, Also can use to assist with PI critters, with the loss of a metallic magical item unfortunately.
1 Golem Mastery-
Pre Req. and a little synergy for your golems.
1 Summon Resist-
Makes all your minions quite effective when facing heavy magic users. Something like oh I don’t know. High Council, (they make a great revive!)
Poison and Bone Tree
27pts +poison explosion
1 Teeth-
eh, never used them but it is a pre req..
5 Corpse Explosion-
I found just 5 points to be effective enough. because the +skills you will find will give it more range. You may add more points but it will only take from your poison explosion. This skill also takes out anything that can be revived such as Zombies and those skeletons and such.
1 Poison Dagger-
Again just a pre req. but also nice synergy, and nice attack for normal act 1 to help your (atm) weak skeletons.
20 Poison Nova-
Max it. this will be one of your main secondary attacks. Not only will it help your skeletons, but as you just start a game in classic, you have no army, what you going to do? rod them do death.... I don’t think so. Also its really the only group magical attack a necro has. (I don’t consider curses an attack.) Also prevents monster heal!
Poison Explosion-
Only used to synergies to the Nova, What ever you may have left.
Curses Tree
5 pts
1 Amplify-
Does great to deal more physical damage to any enemy. With a minimal of 8 skeletons out, (when max) this is my first curse of choice. At least until you get to Decrypt. This also takes care of Physical Immunities as well.
1 Iron Maiden-
This spell comes in handy at times. Especially for those BM jumpers that hostile you thinking they’re all that. Your not a PvP don’t try to be. Someone coming at you usually has to get by your minions first. 2 things, If he does go threw there’s a good chance he only kills himself. However, he or she is already BM so probably potting as well. and 2 your summons give enough time to portal out. In PvM this skill can be useful at times when your skeletons start dropping. Think of it as a last resort. You do have other skills that may be a better choice depending on the situation.
1 Weaken-
another one of those wasted points for a pre req. imo. Never used this one but have to drop a point to get to Decrypt.
1 Terror-
This skill isn’t a total waste. While your army is out fighting and your spitting poison and blowing up corps’s. All of a sudden you get ambushed from behind. Again you can’t just sit there beating the enemy with a stick. If you try, you WILL be yelling AAAAHHHHHHHH while coughing up blood in no time. So just give them your evil little necro looks and strike Terror into their heartless souls. Then RUN LIKE HELL screaming AHHHH like a little girl. (every time you run its required to do this)
1 Decrypt-
I like this spell cause it slows like the cold spells, weakens the enemies so your skeletons take less damage, and best of all Amplifies damage so your skeletons can deal more damage. I usually alternate this with nova, unless of course some other situation arises.
General Recap
78 skill pts Before poison explosion and additional to CE
20 Skeleton
20 Skeleton Mastery
20 Poison Nova
5 (or more) Corpse Explosion
1 Mage
1 Clay Golem
1 Iron Golem
1 Golem Mastery
1 Summon Resist
1 Revive
1 Teeth
1 Amplify Damage
1 Iron Maiden
1 Weaken
1 Terror
1 Decrypt
1 Poison Dagger
X(rest) Poison Explosion
Also not mentioned above is the commonly used bone armor. Personally I didn’t get hit that much. If something or someone came at me terror works wonders. Those little archers have to get threw your summons first. but it still is a point to consider.
One thing I thought that you could do with extra points is add on to the resistances to make your minions survive longer easier. Also wouldn't hurt to tack on a few more points to revive as well. Careful though as they only last 3 minuts. But after all, the more minions you have the bigger your block party Is going to be. (no spiking the punch.)
As I mentioned before It may be a noob thing but I maxed my skeletons before I reached normal Diablo. (reminder this is classic build.) other skills I placed in normal mode was the clay golem, golem mastery, mage, teeth, amplify, poison dagger, 5 in skeleton mastery, and 1 on corps explosion. I was LvL 30 starting NM, the rest I leave up to you.
4. Equipment
The hardest part of this guide for me is equipment. For a few reasons.
1. I’ve only been playing Diablo for a few months so advanced equipment is really new to me as well.
2. Classic play, no runes, no jewels, no ACT V, and there are quite a few items out there that only come out in LOD. You can go with something in the way of Faster Cast Rate. However only thing you are casting that would possibly need to be really fast is a quick emergency Terror. Yes it would speed up your CE and Poison Nova too. Faster Hit Recovery is really nice to use as well. Because if you get hit, you want to recover quickly enough to either run or cast a terror. But mods I will defiantly leave up to you.
Being that This is a necromancer build, Increase Attack Speed isn’t worth a whole lot. and as such nor is crushing blow, knock back, or any other attack based mod you may have. Also NO RUNES AVAILABLE. so enigma is out :p
Weapon
Mainly I looked for at least a +2 to all Necromancer skills (found quite easily after LvL 42), with other mods such as High resistance, and + to other skills that you can use. Such as Skeleton or Skeleton mastery, Corps Explosion or any others to your liking. I’m Currently using a rare
-Blood Bane, Burnt Wand.
+2 to necromancer skills, 1 to Iron Maiden 1 to Life Tap, 3 to Weaken. 150% damage to undead and here’s the only reason why I have kept this wand threw NM. +17 energy and +21 to mana, also had Cold resist 21% but I didn’t need that. Mainly kept for the mana and energy.
Desired Wands include
-Ume’s Lament
+40 to mana and +2 to necro skills along wiht 20% FCR This wand is a great one to have.
-Gravespine +10 to dex and str, again only to reduce the points needed for other gear. adds cold damage and mana leach, both nearly useless. Best thing about this wand is it comes with +25-50 to mana and + 2 to necro skills.
Shields
-Sigon’s Ward
A nice +1 to all skills. Defense isn’t that high at 23, but a nice 64% chance to block. Your not supposed to be getting hit anyway ;) If you do it should only be by arrows or magic attacks.
-The Ward
If you want a higher defense, this shield offers a decent 112 with 30-50 in resist all. Chance to block however is somewhat low at only 46% for necros.
-Tower Shield with 3 sockets (3 Perfect Diamond Shield)
Brings your resistance to all at 57% And has a decent blocking rate. but you do miss out on the + to all skills.
Armor
-Silks of the Victor
Defense 468-514 (varies)
Required lvl is 28
The real nice thing about this armor is the +1 to all skills. It also has a 5% mana leach but you probably wont be hitting too many monsters anyway.
I couldn’t think of other armor that would be better. Anything with a good mod would be ok such as a FHR
Belt
-Bladebuckle
With 51-54 defense and 30% FHR this is a Great belt. Also has other mods not so useful like the +5 to dex and +10 to str. Neither of which you should be using much of. but can help minimize the str required for your other gear.
-Deaths Guard
Another ok choice just because of the mod Cannot be Frozen.
-Nightsmoke
If you find yourself taking a lot of hits for some reason(you shouldn’t be) You can have 50% damage go to mana with this belt +20 to mana and a great 10% resist all. Not too bad of a choice.
Gloves
-FrostBurn
with 47-49 defence and Increase to max mana 40% gives you some extra CE power as you just simply wont have to use potions as much. also comes with 1-6 cold damage incase you get surrounded could come in handy. (again should never happen)
-Magefist
Is another great choice for this build. Mainly for the 20% FCR that helps with CE
Helmet
-Wormskull
33-36 to defense is a bit low but the bonuses are decent with +1 to necro skills. and +10 to mana. 25% poison resistance. againthe adding of 79 poison damage over 8 seconds should hardly ever happen, your not going to be that close to battle. (hopefully)
-Undead Crown
Because it is your minions dealing most all the damage I like this helmet also. Simply for the +3 to Skeleton Mastery it offers. Also holds half freeze duration, +50-100 attack rating vs undead, +50% damage to undead, and 50% poison resist. Not only control the undead... make them fear you with this helm.
Boots
Little Note, In order to keep your minions, especially the mages if you use them, and the Revives, you need to watch your speed. Go to fast and you can lose them.
-Treads of Cthon
25-26 defense is kind of low. But if you can control your minions the 30% increased run/walk with 50% less drain on your stamina is good. +50 defense to Missiles is great because missiles is the only thing that should really be hitting you. (not that you want to be hit at all)
-Tearhaunch
For boots this one is high in defense setting at 60-63 def. +5 to str and dex again isn’t really needed except for possibly using stat points in vitality. You do get 20% faster run/walk and all resistances +10
Amulet
+2 to necro skills, Can spawn with some other useful mods as well.
Rings
The Stone of Jordan and Manald Heal.
-Manald Head
With 20% mana regeneration and the added +20 to life and life replenish. This is a nice ring to be wearing.
-SoJ
This also gives you another +20 to mana +25% mana. Who cares about the lightning damage it deals cause you shouldn’t be that close. The +1 to all skills is well desired.
note:
If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to let me know along with why you would chose the item. Remember this is CLASSIC build however I may extend the gear to fit LOD which would make it a little different. I don’t know much about charms and runes and gems and such. So if I extend this to work with LOD I will need help in that area.
5. PvM Strategies
General (for all monsters of all kinds includign act bosses.)
Primarily you need to move a little slower then your typical fighter or your summons just wont keep up. Especially any revives, they are horrible in the speed area as they wonder like they do. Let your minions deal your physical damage, in bigger groups you can alternate amplify/decrypt (decrypt if available) and poison nova. Once something is killed Use the Corps Explosion to do some room clearing.
If the critters are a little more spread apart, amp/decrypt and nova alternating. Also if the critters are further apart chances are your army gets a little thin and spread apart. It’s almost always not a good thing. Strength in numbers, Town portal to regroup if needed.
PvP Umm I wouldn’t even attempt to... but in the case of someone BM and coming at you, you’ve got a few options. 1. outrun them to town. 2 teleport to town. or 3 decrypt/poison/iron maiden let your minions that (I hope) you have already, do some stalling. Then run like the wind. Because chances are, when your army gets killed, so do you if you don’t get out of the area.
Advanced
VS Andariel
She was pretty much one of the harder ones for me to take down in hell. Nightmare and normal were fairly easy without the use of this stratigy. Summon Resist doesn't cover poison and her poison eats threw those bones in no time. I found myself often using a portal to town just to rebild the army. Then I thought what if I can group a whole lot of monsters in 1 general area and somehow lure andy to them. Tried it and it took a little practice but it worked. First of all you need to draw the monsters into 1 area, somewhat difficult with 15 mindless minions doing your work. Once that is done, step 2 is to draw the venomous boss to the "circle of death." (your dead foes) That can be easily accomplished even with your minions running about, just takes a few portals behind the circle. Once she is in range, Blast the hell out of her with CE while your minions keep her busy.
VS Duriel
Normal was easy enough so long as your prayer merc doesnt get killed first. He keeps your skeletons healed while the big bug randomly hits each one at different times. Thus giving them a good amount of time to heal.
Nightmare was even a quicker kill. Using the might merc your skeletons are doing massive damage and again he still hits randomly on each one. you may lose 1 or 2 in this battle but i never lost more then 3 myself.
Hell.. Well I havn't made it that far as of yet but I did the same thing I used for normal... What else is there to try.
VS Mephesto
Easiest fight in the game imo of all the bosses. Other then the countess of course but shes not really that hard for any build. Anyway, First things first, getting threw that council in EoH lvl 3 Take them out first as always. then procede to the left pathway and kill anything along the way. Once you get to Meph you should have decrypt if in NM and Hell, but Amplify will work in normal too. Just let the skeletons do the work, sometimes you may need to go back to collect some more dead souls, however I never needed too.
VS Diablo
Kill everything in the Sanctuary. Before you get to opening the seals, try to figure out which one is closest to the center of his circle. Open up a town portal in the center and be sure when you open that last (closest) seal to run towards that portal. Portal out do what you need in town real quick and go back. Decrypt as soon as you possibly can and let the skeletons do the work. NM they can take an elemental beating as mine took 3 nova and a few of them even took a full blast or 2 of his massive lightning spell. Just let them do the work and you should be fine. Also while your skeletons give the beat down, it wouldnt hurt to use a mage or 2 or 3 of poison and cold (they may not last long.) Poison to prevent heal, although you have your poison nova going too. Cold because the slow effect of cold damage and decrypt together make for a super slow boss. Of course heal when needed from his fire nova hitting you too. If you need to revive some skeletons or revives, you can go where you killed the bosspack of ghosts from the left side seal for some quick reinforcements. otherwise you may need to portal out to regroup elsewhere.
6. Mercenary
As all classic players know, Without the expansion LOD, Your mercenary just doesn't travel with you. So you get stuck using the mercenary of the act you are in. Furthermore, you cannot equip a mercenary at all in classic. That being said,
Act I
Fire arrow or Cold are your only choices. Either of the 2 are ok. Cold arrow isn’t your best option cause if everything is shattering in little icy pieces, what do you have to summon? Absolutely nothing.
Act II
Normal Mode- I like to run with a prayer spearman. He seriously helps in the Duriel fight. And when your army is consistently getting healed 24/7. They almost never die.
Nightmare- Always always always, Offensive for the might aura. It makes your skeletons SUPER skeletons in the way of str. Deals some awesome damage. your only other option here is Holy Freeze, but why use that cause by now you should be utilizing decrypt. and the Freeze damage really isn’t all that great either. You just get a lot more out of Might. This is also the best choice for LOD. (explained below.)
Hell- again with the prayer, cause lord knows you going to need it :) Refer to normal mode reasoning.
Act III
I have always ran threw this act with the lightning mercenary. Main reason are as follows
1 You get a good wide spread Charged Bolt,
2 Fire doesn’t have range that I like
3. You just can’t build an army with shattered bodies. so the cold guys out of the picture. Besides, for that slowing effect, you should have decrypt by now.
ACT IV
Unfortunately, you get to solo ACT IV because there’s no mercenary for hire. How about that?
For those that do want to use this for LOD should be looking at an ACT II NM Might mercenary. The might aura allows your minions to do much more damage. When you have a full 12+ skeletons and 5 good revives out all hitting someone like Baal, they can make short work most of the time. At least in Normal/NM runs. Hell is a little more testy, but is quite easy if done correctly from what I understand...
7. Closing
This is my first guide, and I hope you all would enjoy it. I do welcome constructive criticism. So for those “this guide sucks.” people. Just give a reason as to why it sucks. please if you like the guide and to you its real great please explain why. Furthermore, I hope those of you that do try this, be it classic or LOD, I would hope that you have fun with it. Keep in mind that this guide is meant for classic play. Only because the equipment and such just isn’t available. Feel free to post any LOD equipment options if you wish. and with proper accreditations and permission I may use them for LOD and Classic giving 2 separate equipment sections, one for each.
THANKS AGAIN AND GOOD LUCK
Kwittstruck
I want to give thanks to DarkPrinceLoki and PerfictEnigma for a few equipment ideas for this type of necro. Diablo stratigy I did read off of a few other guides too, locally on this forum off of DarkPrinceLoki, Thanks again.
Currently for classic play.
(I don't have the expansion)
1. Intro
2. Stat Points
3. Skill Points
4. Equipment
5. PvM Strategies
6. Mercenary
7. Closing
1.Intro
Out of the swampy woods a middle age male appears. Pale in the face as if life itself has left him. Boots pitch black from the marshy pits. Coat all green from meddling with potions, poisons, and toxins. Followed by his army of undead flesh and bone. Many of the townsfolk flee to their homes, while just a few others approach the figure of what seemed to be death itself. Asking many questions like people do the only one answered was from a young boy. “Why do you chose this way of life?” the boy asked. The ghostly figure stops. Silence fills the air as if something horrid was about to happen. The nameless man turns around and walks up to the child. As he kneeled down, the boy steps back in fear. The man quietly replies, “Death comes to us all, fear me not for I am not here for you.” He then gets up, turns around, and continued on his path into the distant hills and mountains. Never to be seen by those townsfolk again...
2. Stat PointsThere really isn’t anything out of the normal here.
Strength, enough for your gear. With the proper +to str you can get by with 70, Total of 100 would be the most you need.
Dex, again enough for your gear. However with proper +to dex you wont need to add a thing here. I did set it at 30 myself.
Vitality, Everything else. Necromancers only get 2 pts life for each point spent.
Energy, leave at base. there is no need to put points here. Use those potions ;)
A little note, I tried something different here then normal. and I don’t know if it is a normal practice or not. but my first 5 LvL’s I didn’t use any stat points at all. Once I had 25 points. Anything above 25 that didn’t go for strength or dex, I put in vitality. Making sure I had 25 points to fall back on incase of a really good shield or armor of some sort that required more str/dex then what I already had. When I went below that 25 I just saved the rest as I leveled until I had at least 25. Then started packing in the vitality again.
3. Skill Points
I am not one to follow a guide point for point so I will say what points I have placed and where. But fell free to do your own thing.
Summon Tree
46 pts
20 Skeleton-
These bony figures will be your main attack, take care of them. I had these guys at max before I battled Diablo normal.
20 Skeleton Mastery-
This I max with skeletons, Between the 2 of them I pretty much solo NM with players = 8. That and they really give Diablo something to be mad about.
1 Mage-
Just 1 point here mainly for a pre req. However you may as well use them if you have them.
1 Revive-
This is a really nice skill Especially when you reach Hell, if you come across something that is Physical Immune (pi) Try to revive a critter or 2 that uses some magic.
1 Clay Golem-
You guessed it, meat shield. However he is not too effective in later game
1 Iron Golem-
Another somewhat more durable metal shield, Also can use to assist with PI critters, with the loss of a metallic magical item unfortunately.
1 Golem Mastery-
Pre Req. and a little synergy for your golems.
1 Summon Resist-
Makes all your minions quite effective when facing heavy magic users. Something like oh I don’t know. High Council, (they make a great revive!)
Poison and Bone Tree
27pts +poison explosion
1 Teeth-
eh, never used them but it is a pre req..
5 Corpse Explosion-
I found just 5 points to be effective enough. because the +skills you will find will give it more range. You may add more points but it will only take from your poison explosion. This skill also takes out anything that can be revived such as Zombies and those skeletons and such.
1 Poison Dagger-
Again just a pre req. but also nice synergy, and nice attack for normal act 1 to help your (atm) weak skeletons.
20 Poison Nova-
Max it. this will be one of your main secondary attacks. Not only will it help your skeletons, but as you just start a game in classic, you have no army, what you going to do? rod them do death.... I don’t think so. Also its really the only group magical attack a necro has. (I don’t consider curses an attack.) Also prevents monster heal!
Poison Explosion-
Only used to synergies to the Nova, What ever you may have left.
Curses Tree
5 pts
1 Amplify-
Does great to deal more physical damage to any enemy. With a minimal of 8 skeletons out, (when max) this is my first curse of choice. At least until you get to Decrypt. This also takes care of Physical Immunities as well.
1 Iron Maiden-
This spell comes in handy at times. Especially for those BM jumpers that hostile you thinking they’re all that. Your not a PvP don’t try to be. Someone coming at you usually has to get by your minions first. 2 things, If he does go threw there’s a good chance he only kills himself. However, he or she is already BM so probably potting as well. and 2 your summons give enough time to portal out. In PvM this skill can be useful at times when your skeletons start dropping. Think of it as a last resort. You do have other skills that may be a better choice depending on the situation.
1 Weaken-
another one of those wasted points for a pre req. imo. Never used this one but have to drop a point to get to Decrypt.
1 Terror-
This skill isn’t a total waste. While your army is out fighting and your spitting poison and blowing up corps’s. All of a sudden you get ambushed from behind. Again you can’t just sit there beating the enemy with a stick. If you try, you WILL be yelling AAAAHHHHHHHH while coughing up blood in no time. So just give them your evil little necro looks and strike Terror into their heartless souls. Then RUN LIKE HELL screaming AHHHH like a little girl. (every time you run its required to do this)
1 Decrypt-
I like this spell cause it slows like the cold spells, weakens the enemies so your skeletons take less damage, and best of all Amplifies damage so your skeletons can deal more damage. I usually alternate this with nova, unless of course some other situation arises.
General Recap
78 skill pts Before poison explosion and additional to CE
20 Skeleton
20 Skeleton Mastery
20 Poison Nova
5 (or more) Corpse Explosion
1 Mage
1 Clay Golem
1 Iron Golem
1 Golem Mastery
1 Summon Resist
1 Revive
1 Teeth
1 Amplify Damage
1 Iron Maiden
1 Weaken
1 Terror
1 Decrypt
1 Poison Dagger
X(rest) Poison Explosion
Also not mentioned above is the commonly used bone armor. Personally I didn’t get hit that much. If something or someone came at me terror works wonders. Those little archers have to get threw your summons first. but it still is a point to consider.
One thing I thought that you could do with extra points is add on to the resistances to make your minions survive longer easier. Also wouldn't hurt to tack on a few more points to revive as well. Careful though as they only last 3 minuts. But after all, the more minions you have the bigger your block party Is going to be. (no spiking the punch.)
As I mentioned before It may be a noob thing but I maxed my skeletons before I reached normal Diablo. (reminder this is classic build.) other skills I placed in normal mode was the clay golem, golem mastery, mage, teeth, amplify, poison dagger, 5 in skeleton mastery, and 1 on corps explosion. I was LvL 30 starting NM, the rest I leave up to you.
4. Equipment
The hardest part of this guide for me is equipment. For a few reasons.
1. I’ve only been playing Diablo for a few months so advanced equipment is really new to me as well.
2. Classic play, no runes, no jewels, no ACT V, and there are quite a few items out there that only come out in LOD. You can go with something in the way of Faster Cast Rate. However only thing you are casting that would possibly need to be really fast is a quick emergency Terror. Yes it would speed up your CE and Poison Nova too. Faster Hit Recovery is really nice to use as well. Because if you get hit, you want to recover quickly enough to either run or cast a terror. But mods I will defiantly leave up to you.
Being that This is a necromancer build, Increase Attack Speed isn’t worth a whole lot. and as such nor is crushing blow, knock back, or any other attack based mod you may have. Also NO RUNES AVAILABLE. so enigma is out :p
Weapon
Mainly I looked for at least a +2 to all Necromancer skills (found quite easily after LvL 42), with other mods such as High resistance, and + to other skills that you can use. Such as Skeleton or Skeleton mastery, Corps Explosion or any others to your liking. I’m Currently using a rare
-Blood Bane, Burnt Wand.
+2 to necromancer skills, 1 to Iron Maiden 1 to Life Tap, 3 to Weaken. 150% damage to undead and here’s the only reason why I have kept this wand threw NM. +17 energy and +21 to mana, also had Cold resist 21% but I didn’t need that. Mainly kept for the mana and energy.
Desired Wands include
-Ume’s Lament
+40 to mana and +2 to necro skills along wiht 20% FCR This wand is a great one to have.
-Gravespine +10 to dex and str, again only to reduce the points needed for other gear. adds cold damage and mana leach, both nearly useless. Best thing about this wand is it comes with +25-50 to mana and + 2 to necro skills.
Shields
-Sigon’s Ward
A nice +1 to all skills. Defense isn’t that high at 23, but a nice 64% chance to block. Your not supposed to be getting hit anyway ;) If you do it should only be by arrows or magic attacks.
-The Ward
If you want a higher defense, this shield offers a decent 112 with 30-50 in resist all. Chance to block however is somewhat low at only 46% for necros.
-Tower Shield with 3 sockets (3 Perfect Diamond Shield)
Brings your resistance to all at 57% And has a decent blocking rate. but you do miss out on the + to all skills.
Armor
-Silks of the Victor
Defense 468-514 (varies)
Required lvl is 28
The real nice thing about this armor is the +1 to all skills. It also has a 5% mana leach but you probably wont be hitting too many monsters anyway.
I couldn’t think of other armor that would be better. Anything with a good mod would be ok such as a FHR
Belt
-Bladebuckle
With 51-54 defense and 30% FHR this is a Great belt. Also has other mods not so useful like the +5 to dex and +10 to str. Neither of which you should be using much of. but can help minimize the str required for your other gear.
-Deaths Guard
Another ok choice just because of the mod Cannot be Frozen.
-Nightsmoke
If you find yourself taking a lot of hits for some reason(you shouldn’t be) You can have 50% damage go to mana with this belt +20 to mana and a great 10% resist all. Not too bad of a choice.
Gloves
-FrostBurn
with 47-49 defence and Increase to max mana 40% gives you some extra CE power as you just simply wont have to use potions as much. also comes with 1-6 cold damage incase you get surrounded could come in handy. (again should never happen)
-Magefist
Is another great choice for this build. Mainly for the 20% FCR that helps with CE
Helmet
-Wormskull
33-36 to defense is a bit low but the bonuses are decent with +1 to necro skills. and +10 to mana. 25% poison resistance. againthe adding of 79 poison damage over 8 seconds should hardly ever happen, your not going to be that close to battle. (hopefully)
-Undead Crown
Because it is your minions dealing most all the damage I like this helmet also. Simply for the +3 to Skeleton Mastery it offers. Also holds half freeze duration, +50-100 attack rating vs undead, +50% damage to undead, and 50% poison resist. Not only control the undead... make them fear you with this helm.
Boots
Little Note, In order to keep your minions, especially the mages if you use them, and the Revives, you need to watch your speed. Go to fast and you can lose them.
-Treads of Cthon
25-26 defense is kind of low. But if you can control your minions the 30% increased run/walk with 50% less drain on your stamina is good. +50 defense to Missiles is great because missiles is the only thing that should really be hitting you. (not that you want to be hit at all)
-Tearhaunch
For boots this one is high in defense setting at 60-63 def. +5 to str and dex again isn’t really needed except for possibly using stat points in vitality. You do get 20% faster run/walk and all resistances +10
Amulet
+2 to necro skills, Can spawn with some other useful mods as well.
Rings
The Stone of Jordan and Manald Heal.
-Manald Head
With 20% mana regeneration and the added +20 to life and life replenish. This is a nice ring to be wearing.
-SoJ
This also gives you another +20 to mana +25% mana. Who cares about the lightning damage it deals cause you shouldn’t be that close. The +1 to all skills is well desired.
note:
If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to let me know along with why you would chose the item. Remember this is CLASSIC build however I may extend the gear to fit LOD which would make it a little different. I don’t know much about charms and runes and gems and such. So if I extend this to work with LOD I will need help in that area.
5. PvM Strategies
General (for all monsters of all kinds includign act bosses.)
Primarily you need to move a little slower then your typical fighter or your summons just wont keep up. Especially any revives, they are horrible in the speed area as they wonder like they do. Let your minions deal your physical damage, in bigger groups you can alternate amplify/decrypt (decrypt if available) and poison nova. Once something is killed Use the Corps Explosion to do some room clearing.
If the critters are a little more spread apart, amp/decrypt and nova alternating. Also if the critters are further apart chances are your army gets a little thin and spread apart. It’s almost always not a good thing. Strength in numbers, Town portal to regroup if needed.
PvP Umm I wouldn’t even attempt to... but in the case of someone BM and coming at you, you’ve got a few options. 1. outrun them to town. 2 teleport to town. or 3 decrypt/poison/iron maiden let your minions that (I hope) you have already, do some stalling. Then run like the wind. Because chances are, when your army gets killed, so do you if you don’t get out of the area.
Advanced
VS Andariel
She was pretty much one of the harder ones for me to take down in hell. Nightmare and normal were fairly easy without the use of this stratigy. Summon Resist doesn't cover poison and her poison eats threw those bones in no time. I found myself often using a portal to town just to rebild the army. Then I thought what if I can group a whole lot of monsters in 1 general area and somehow lure andy to them. Tried it and it took a little practice but it worked. First of all you need to draw the monsters into 1 area, somewhat difficult with 15 mindless minions doing your work. Once that is done, step 2 is to draw the venomous boss to the "circle of death." (your dead foes) That can be easily accomplished even with your minions running about, just takes a few portals behind the circle. Once she is in range, Blast the hell out of her with CE while your minions keep her busy.
VS Duriel
Normal was easy enough so long as your prayer merc doesnt get killed first. He keeps your skeletons healed while the big bug randomly hits each one at different times. Thus giving them a good amount of time to heal.
Nightmare was even a quicker kill. Using the might merc your skeletons are doing massive damage and again he still hits randomly on each one. you may lose 1 or 2 in this battle but i never lost more then 3 myself.
Hell.. Well I havn't made it that far as of yet but I did the same thing I used for normal... What else is there to try.
VS Mephesto
Easiest fight in the game imo of all the bosses. Other then the countess of course but shes not really that hard for any build. Anyway, First things first, getting threw that council in EoH lvl 3 Take them out first as always. then procede to the left pathway and kill anything along the way. Once you get to Meph you should have decrypt if in NM and Hell, but Amplify will work in normal too. Just let the skeletons do the work, sometimes you may need to go back to collect some more dead souls, however I never needed too.
VS Diablo
Kill everything in the Sanctuary. Before you get to opening the seals, try to figure out which one is closest to the center of his circle. Open up a town portal in the center and be sure when you open that last (closest) seal to run towards that portal. Portal out do what you need in town real quick and go back. Decrypt as soon as you possibly can and let the skeletons do the work. NM they can take an elemental beating as mine took 3 nova and a few of them even took a full blast or 2 of his massive lightning spell. Just let them do the work and you should be fine. Also while your skeletons give the beat down, it wouldnt hurt to use a mage or 2 or 3 of poison and cold (they may not last long.) Poison to prevent heal, although you have your poison nova going too. Cold because the slow effect of cold damage and decrypt together make for a super slow boss. Of course heal when needed from his fire nova hitting you too. If you need to revive some skeletons or revives, you can go where you killed the bosspack of ghosts from the left side seal for some quick reinforcements. otherwise you may need to portal out to regroup elsewhere.
6. Mercenary
As all classic players know, Without the expansion LOD, Your mercenary just doesn't travel with you. So you get stuck using the mercenary of the act you are in. Furthermore, you cannot equip a mercenary at all in classic. That being said,
Act I
Fire arrow or Cold are your only choices. Either of the 2 are ok. Cold arrow isn’t your best option cause if everything is shattering in little icy pieces, what do you have to summon? Absolutely nothing.
Act II
Normal Mode- I like to run with a prayer spearman. He seriously helps in the Duriel fight. And when your army is consistently getting healed 24/7. They almost never die.
Nightmare- Always always always, Offensive for the might aura. It makes your skeletons SUPER skeletons in the way of str. Deals some awesome damage. your only other option here is Holy Freeze, but why use that cause by now you should be utilizing decrypt. and the Freeze damage really isn’t all that great either. You just get a lot more out of Might. This is also the best choice for LOD. (explained below.)
Hell- again with the prayer, cause lord knows you going to need it :) Refer to normal mode reasoning.
Act III
I have always ran threw this act with the lightning mercenary. Main reason are as follows
1 You get a good wide spread Charged Bolt,
2 Fire doesn’t have range that I like
3. You just can’t build an army with shattered bodies. so the cold guys out of the picture. Besides, for that slowing effect, you should have decrypt by now.
ACT IV
Unfortunately, you get to solo ACT IV because there’s no mercenary for hire. How about that?
For those that do want to use this for LOD should be looking at an ACT II NM Might mercenary. The might aura allows your minions to do much more damage. When you have a full 12+ skeletons and 5 good revives out all hitting someone like Baal, they can make short work most of the time. At least in Normal/NM runs. Hell is a little more testy, but is quite easy if done correctly from what I understand...
7. Closing
This is my first guide, and I hope you all would enjoy it. I do welcome constructive criticism. So for those “this guide sucks.” people. Just give a reason as to why it sucks. please if you like the guide and to you its real great please explain why. Furthermore, I hope those of you that do try this, be it classic or LOD, I would hope that you have fun with it. Keep in mind that this guide is meant for classic play. Only because the equipment and such just isn’t available. Feel free to post any LOD equipment options if you wish. and with proper accreditations and permission I may use them for LOD and Classic giving 2 separate equipment sections, one for each.
THANKS AGAIN AND GOOD LUCK
Kwittstruck
I want to give thanks to DarkPrinceLoki and PerfictEnigma for a few equipment ideas for this type of necro. Diablo stratigy I did read off of a few other guides too, locally on this forum off of DarkPrinceLoki, Thanks again.