DV vs Decrip vs Amp

[Archangel Manael]

DV vs Decrip vs Amp

I'm at char lvl 75 with 8 saved skill points. Summoner build.

Got max CE, SM, RS and some revives and RSM.

I want to invest in one curse and get it to a high level.

Now, question is, what curse deserves a whole bunch of points out fo the 3 I said.

I hear usually Amp is best for monsters and Decrip for bosses. One suggested stragetgy I read about is large DV an then small Amp to overwrite only those monsters that your skellis are attacking.

I guess, also gives you something to click rather than just watch the game play itself.

So what woul you put 10 or 15 points to?

 

[Forbiddian]

Bone Wall/Bone Armor, but it depends on your +skills and (to a lesser extent), your FCR. If you don't need any more points, though, you'll want to get Bone Armor (esp Hardcore). A lot of HC deaths are to amped enemies, and Bone Armor blocks the damage before it hits the amp stage. Even softcore, though, having an extra 300 or 400 effective hps can't hurt.

None of the curses gets better at higher levels, so any points you invest are for convenience purposes only. Putting points into decrep is kinda dumb, though, since like you said you only use it on bosses or specific dangerous packs. With 4 or 5 +skills, the radius and duration is more than sufficient for that.

Big radius amp is really useful to speed up killing, but it helps less than some FCR (which 99% of Fishies ignore). If you have to amp more than twice before the CE to get the pack amped up, then you should put a few more into amp. Ideally, you amp once and then start blowing up the bomb. But a screen-filling amp is really unnecessary.

Having a high level Dim Vision can be useful as well. You can spam the edge of the screen and then advance/look at the map/look at enemies at your leisure. This is a ridiculously safe method on HC. Except it also takes like an hour to clear anywhere since every half-screen you have to re-DV the screen. Maybe nice to have, but I'd rather have the extra 300 to my Bone Armor.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,

Depends on your build/gear. If you have plenty of resistance and blocking, then do whatever speeds killing, which may be Amp for you. Personally I don't care to raise Amp because I can cast it several times on whatever is being attacked by my minions, and that's that.

I'm a Dim Vision user. I like the safety. I like it because it nulls the monsters all over the screen and beyond, and not just the ones that are attacking/being attacked. It helps me not miss things. I've had a lot of times where I didn't see a monster before it's nearly too late and it zaps me or something. Dim Vision fixes those moments. I also like it because I don't want max block & resistance. I want some MF and +skills for my summons. Dim Vision lets me play like that safely.

It comes down to preference.

Play around with the curses and see what you like. Definitely don't put hard points into Decrep just for bosses beyond 1 point. That's single target and recastable.

-- You can also get some Mages with those extra points. The poison/cold mages are very useful.

Cheers,

 

[AnimeCraze]

If you are playing SC, definitely amp if you are going to do anything with adding into a curse (which I don't suggest, as I find adding more into things like mages more useful).

 

[Archangel Manael]

I guess we all learn by our mistakes the hard way sometimes

I put 2 into DV and 8 into Amp...with + skills now I have 4 DV and 12 Amp.

I cant say that the Amp is wasted, as I use that curse more than anything else, and it resulted in far less "clicking" so that I can move to CE or summons quicker.

However, I now wish I had more mages and more revives, since my skellies are just not doing enough damage. They do about 250 now, with amp that's 500 usually, with 10 skellies that's 5000 dmg, u say well that's good. Yeah, if they all went for the same guy. But they all decide to go their own way and thus only do 500 dmg usually, which doesnt scratch the surface of a 10K monster.

Usually if my minions manage to take down one or two, then I can CE, which creates more corpses and once the ball is rolling then I start owning.

But until that first corpse falls...my necro is very weak.

I'm at lvl 77, and I decided all my next skill points will go to revives and mages.

Especially since I have level 30 SM...each point in RSM and Revive will go a long way. Too bad I wasted a point in DV. The Amp I dont regret much, as I said, it's nice to have a 9 yard radius.

 

[MasterMynd]

I started out building my Fishys with maxed Amp, 1-DV and 1-Decrep. But I found that DV handles much of what I thought that build was lacking. I've since switched Amp and DV (max DV and 1-Amp - I don't mind casting Amp multiple times.) and I'm much happier with the results. (You can cast it in front of a closed door to DV stuff on the other side. Or cast it into an intersection to DV things around the corner.) As for Decrepify, I use it strictly for Bosses (and once in a while for a fast-moving/hard-hitting pack) so I don't mind the short duration from only having 1 point.

 

[AnimeCraze]

You sound like you need a better merc. A good merc can waste a single enemy in a second or 2.

 

[Archangel Manael]

Yeah, he's improved. I'm now at lvl 86.

I've put my points since last post into Mages and 1 into revive.

With groups I do great...in fact I dont need any of my minions. Just Amp and CE all over. The others produce enough bodies for my 10 yard CE to finish the job.

However, I tried baaling by myself, and it just TAKES FOREVER. Right at level 2 wp , right off the bat, skellies go and attack all sorts of things and just whack whack and whack and whoosh and whoosh and so does my merc...and it just takes forever.

Of course at lower Acts, even in Hell, my necro does fine...but I see Paladins just plow through baal running and get that TP in no time...and I'm envious

I was looking at what I could POSSIBLY do to increase my dmg. I figure my options are:

a) more mages
b) more revives
c) more gholem skills
d) lower resist
e) better merc

a) and b) I'm doing.

c) seems like a waste, since if I go gholem I should go all out or nothing IMO.

d) Lower resist seems great...but it overrides my amp...so what's the point?

e) I'm doing the best I can...offensive Act 2 which does 400 to 800 dmg and 2000 defense and some 1700 life. Not sure if this is good.

Advice is welcome of course

 

[AnimeCraze]

a) & b) helps.
c) is useless.
d) is bad, since no amp = less damage.
e) My merc is doing 837~5833 with an eth obedience thresher (with might on), and he got nice jabbing speed, so there's definitely room for improvement. (obedience isn't all that expensive, and even insight would do)

There's also f):
Get more +skills, and prebuff on summon.

Though, unless you have really good gear, do not expect to be able to do high player count quickly.

 

[Mitch Turnbuckle]

Hello,

Amplify Damage and Decrepify are "safety net" Curses. If you just cannot handle it with 20 Skeleton Mastery, 20 Raise Skeleton, 20 Skeleton Mage, Corpse Explosion and the stereotypical Act II Might Mercenary than these Curses are "4U!". No matter what, these kiddie Curses practically always work, even on act bosses and lions and tigers and bears oh my!

If, however you appreciate the subtle (as subtle as a Necromancer can really be of course) stretegic aspects of the Necromancer rather than the mindless unlimited army approach, then each of the A.I. Curses is awesome. Dim Vision, Confuse and Attract are all capable of easily controlling the majority of monsters that you will face. Plus these are the only Curses that cannot be overidden by any other non A.I. curse, opening the doorway to simultaneous multiple Curse effects. For adults only of course!

Unless you are maxing Corpse Explosion, putting more than 1 point into Amplify damage or Decrepify is a waste of points as far as I am concerned. These skill points will yield far greater results in the Summoning tree.

 

[bruticus]

e) I'm doing the best I can...offensive Act 2 which does 400 to 800 dmg and 2000 defense and some 1700 life. Not sure if this is good.

Advice is welcome of course

what gear is your merc wearing? even with a good rare polearm, you won't get a ton of damage per unit of time without Crushing Blow. if you have some riches, Infinity runeword in an ethereal 4 socket polearm is nice. on the cheaper side, Obedience runeword in a 5 soc pole gives just as much crushing blow (although, without the added bonus of conviction aura).

other sources of crushing blow include Guillaume's Face Winged Helm (from Orphan's Call set), and i've even seen someone use Rattlecage unique armor as a cheap source of CB for their merc.

when you're killing Baal (or other monsters with a LOT of life - ubers, dclone and so forth), crushing blow is a must for a solo necro, if you want to kill in under 15 minutes :smiley: