Fishy question

[Erlend]

Fishy question

Hey all...

My fishy is about to encounter Diablo on NM and I am wondering if I should put more then 1 pt into summon resist. Last time I faught Diablo I only had 1 pt and they got incinerated in one shot... thus making defeating Diablo a real pain. It took me over an hour to kill him, running back and forth in the pits trying to find more corpses for my army.

I guess my question is...
How many pts do I need in Summon Resist before it will actually make a change against the big red meanie? Or will it make a diff at all with more pts? I dont notice my minions taking much damage from magic attacks at ALL in player 8 NM game, so I dont know if I want to put pts into it.

Right now I am lv 68 with MF gear and thats about it. Merc is kinda crappy geared. Trying to find a nice enough polearm to make insight. I have the runes, just need the highest lv polearm to drop before I have Larzuk socket it.

Thanks for the help!

 

[NumtyDoo]

Re: Fishy question

Use decrep+clay golem+cold mages to make diablo super super super slow, have a poison mage up for PMH. Diablo will usually kill the golem first, so when he dies, keep recasting him on the opposite side of diablo than the side your merc is on.

Your merc is what is gonna get the job done, so find a way to get his resists, damage, and CB up.

Revives help alot too, get urdars if you can, if not, revive the doom nights or venom lords that spawn when you open the seals. If I recall correctly they keep the speed and damage bonus that they got from thier unique boss.

 

[maiku]

Re: Fishy question

As a Fishymancer, you already have both Skeleton Mastery and Raise Skeleton maxed, right? If so, your skeletons should be quite tough.

You probably shouldn't add more than just that initial 1 point into Summon Resist. +2 to +4 skills gives your summons an immediate boost of 30-50 resists, and Summon Resist is also subject to diminishing returns. Eventually you'll have enough +skills that your summons will resist most elemental damage without problem. If you follow NumtyDoo's good advice and suggestions, Diablo should be toast and it'll be over in about a minute or two. Clay Golem + Decrepify is the key to disable bosses. Merc with high damage and Crushing Blow the best way to kill them.

 

[Erlend]

Re: Fishy question

I'll make sure I do that.
I already use a clayman with decrep in order to slow bosses. The one thing that is killing my skellies seems to be the lightning attack and the AoE Fireblast he has.

Yeah I have both SM and RS maxed. I also have the 1pt in SR. I am wearing nothing but mf gear though, so I dont really have that much +skill for the summons. I wear summon gear when I first raise them, but playing on players 8 on my first run through nightmare means my skellies will still die quite a bit, so its kinda a chore to keep switching all my gear everytime one of them dies.

I'll work hard on getting the positioning right. Any advice on how to get the positioning the way I want it? Clay on one side and the rest on the other? Most of the time my army is retarded and just all pile in.
I guess I could wait untill I engage, then summon clayman on the other side of where my main army is. Just hope the blastwave does not fry all of them in one shot... and me... since I have not used any stat points lawl. Still have like 290 available. I have not found any of my endgame gear yet, and have not been able to read enough articles to where I confidently can place my pts. I know about 150 or so STR with about 200+ Dex is where I should aim, and then rest in VIT, but as I said... I have not found the endgame gear I want yet, so I dont really know where I should put my pts.

 

[Erlend]

Re: Fishy question

Oh.... Merc has maxed resists... he actually has 90 fire because of the armor he is wearing gives him +15 to max fire.

His damage and CB are crap though. Still have not found a good weapon for him, and I dont have the runes, or the level, to make some of the nicer runewords. I have all the runes for an insight, but dont have the 4socket eth elite polearm. Still trying to find one that I can either have larzuk socket or just use as it is.

 

[Zodiacz]

Re: Fishy question

Max skels & mastery, golem &decrep are all you need. You should face him before investing any points. You might be surprised how well your army does if Diablo isn't given a chance to concentrate on one target. Try to have everyone next to his spawn spot to ensare him ASAP.

If I recall correctly they keep the speed and damage bonus that they got from thier unique boss.

Very good to know.

 

[maiku]

Re: Fishy question

I'll make sure I do that.
I already use a clayman with decrep in order to slow bosses. The one thing that is killing my skellies seems to be the lightning attack and the AoE Fireblast he has.

Yeah I have both SM and RS maxed. I also have the 1pt in SR. I am wearing nothing but mf gear though, so I dont really have that much +skill for the summons. I wear summon gear when I first raise them, but playing on players 8 on my first run through nightmare means my skellies will still die quite a bit, so its kinda a chore to keep switching all my gear everytime one of them dies.

Ah, I see. If you are in single player, it could be worth a few points. I wouldn't invest more than 4 into it (to bring it to Level 5) though. (But it's better if you can avoid the temptation and hold off. Once you do get more +skills, you might regret investing in Summon Resist.)

I'll work hard on getting the positioning right. Any advice on how to get the positioning the way I want it? Clay on one side and the rest on the other? Most of the time my army is retarded and just all pile in.

That's all right if the army rushes forward. The main thing is to catch Diablo's attention with the Clay Golem and get it on the opposite side of the Merc while Diablo's beating up the golem, so that Diablo doesn't one-hit kill your Merc. And hit with Decrepify to keep the Lizard chilled.

I have an idea. You could try making your Merc a "Strength" polearm or spear (Amn Tir) which has 25% Crushing Blow on it. Would be best in a 2-socket ethereal polearm, although you don't really need to aim for high damage. Key here is CB. So long as you can keep your Merc alive, he should be able to eventually kill Diablo with the rest of your army.

I guess I could wait untill I engage, then summon clayman on the other side of where my main army is. Just hope the blastwave does not fry all of them in one shot... and me... since I have not used any stat points lawl. Still have like 290 available. I have not found any of my endgame gear yet, and have not been able to read enough articles to where I confidently can place my pts. I know about 150 or so STR with about 200+ Dex is where I should aim, and then rest in VIT, but as I said... I have not found the endgame gear I want yet, so I dont really know where I should put my pts.

Indeed, a bit hard to figure out. Here are my favorites as far as shields go (and shields determine quite a bit how much Str, Dex, or Vit you can invest in):

1. Homunculus. Best balance of +skills, resists, max block, increased mana regeneration, and still allows for high Vitality investments after you invest a bit in Dexterity. No fcr though.

2. "Spirit" Monarch. High fcr, decent resists and oodles of mana to play with, and +Vit and FHR. Useful if you want to spam Corpse Explosion fast. Drawback: Requires 156 Str to use. Ouch. (Also requires ladder or rune word mods to enable it in single player.) I suggest max Vitality build for this. Forget about blocking. Monarchs don't block well.

3. "Splendor" Necro Head. Depending on mods, this can be one of the best choices for pre-buffing or MF and adventure gear. "Splendor" provides +1 skills, MF, 10% fcr, and other decent mods. No resists or enhanced blocking. Look for +2-3 Raise Skeleton, +Skeleton Mastery, and +CE as your goodies.

4. "Rhyme" Necro head. More block, faster block, adds resists, MF, and can be made in a nice head. Add this if you want more safety than "Splendor" provides. Could go with partial or max block with this, I think. Requires more into Dex investments than Homunculus.

It's all a matter of what you like and want out of your Fishymancer.

 

[NumtyDoo]

Re: Fishy question

Did you say you are doing D in players 8? I would probably do him in single player until you can get a few more +skills, and can boost merc's damage and CB.

Also I would go ahead and spend those stat points, put 156 in strength and the rest in vitality. This will allow you to have enough STR to use any item that a Nec needs, since your not using enigma, block is not all that important, I only find max block nice during blind tele. Spending those points will greatly improve your survivability. I mean there is no point in playing gimped when it might be a few months before you get that enigma, in the mean time your not using any good gear because your waiting for the STR boost from enigma, or the dex from torch and anni.

If you are killing slow you are missing alot of drops while MFing, you need to get a balance of speed and player count to MF effectively. Make this guy the best you can with what you got, after this guy generates some wealth, and you get your end game gear, remake him with better stat allocation.

 

[Erlend]

Re: Fishy question

I am playing through the content in Player8 mode, when I hit bosses however I cant keep that up. I switched to Player1 for both Meph and Diablo.

Btw... Just fought D on NM about 2 hours ago and that hoe got worked! I definitely do NOT need summon resist. My skellies are quite a lot more powerful then they were before. He went down quite fast.

I have all the runes needed for insight on my Merc, however I would like a good Boss killer weapon. I was going to try and get a honed yari, but that is a long ways off. Is Strength polearm a good investment until I can get something meaner?
I am about to start on the summit and then finish NM mode and start on hell. I am hoping to find an elite weapon that I can socket for Insight. That way I can spam CE without chugging as many potions as I am. I would switch to the CB weapon for a boss killer. Trechery is on the way as well... I hope, and Guill's face. Prob going to run Baal runs on NM until one drops before I start on Player1 Hell.

Should be fun. Thanks for all the awesome advice!
Oh... and I was planning on using Homo as my shield.