Minimum strength for a skellie-mancer?

[Akemi]

Minimum strength for a skellie-mancer?

I'm making a skellie-mancer (possibly golem-mancer hybrid) and I'm wondering what my ideal level of STR should be for whatever items a Necro would be using. I'm not likely going to be in combat personally much, so I'm guessing it doesn't need to be too high but I'm not taking any risks. I'd like the best possible armor, if possible, with the rest dumped into VIT (I'm not putting any points in Energy, I've learned many times over that you can get away with no points there if you have the right items or some Mana Potions)

 

[HarbingersOfSkulls]

I'm making a skellie-mancer (possibly golem-mancer hybrid) and I'm wondering what my ideal level of STR should be for whatever items a Necro would be using. I'm not likely going to be in combat personally much, so I'm guessing it doesn't need to be too high but I'm not taking any risks. I'd like the best possible armor, if possible, with the rest dumped into VIT (I'm not putting any points in Energy, I've learned many times over that you can get away with no points there if you have the right items or some Mana Potions)

I always go 100 for my summoners.

HoS

 

[Akemi]

Oh, here's my planned skill tree...


20 in Raise Skeleton (they're too darn lovable)
20 in Skeletal Mastery
10-20 in Skeletal Mage (More skellies are fun for me. All those pretty lights!)
1 in Amp Damage
5+ in Revive

That leaves the last forty. I'm eyeballing getting a Golem simply because this character is less about maximum effectiveness and more of a themed character (the ability to bring life to unliving material). If so, it's probably going to be an Iron Golem with 20 in Golem Mastery. This is tentative, however.

Pure summoner, and unabashedly so. What I love about a summoner build is that it more or less lets me play naked if I needed to or change my equipment at a moment's notice (my wand, for example, is probably going to have +'s on a crowd control curse like Attract). I'll probably put a couple more points in Amp Damage so I can deal with non-unique Phys. Immunes, but I mostly have it all figured out.

 

[Planet_Smasher]

I just built a new skellimancer(my 11th one :clap: ) I had a strength problem today when I acquired a pair of Marrowwalks. I only had 117 str. Marrowwalks need 118(I believe those were the numbers) I ended up having to wait a level to use them.

Therefore, your highest requirement item is your required strength.

Planet_Smasher

 

[HarbingersOfSkulls]

Oh, here's my planned skill tree...


20 in Raise Skeleton (they're too darn lovable)
20 in Skeletal Mastery
10-20 in Skeletal Mage (More skellies are fun for me. All those pretty lights!)
1 in Amp Damage
5+ in Revive

That leaves the last forty. I'm eyeballing getting a Golem simply because this character is less about maximum effectiveness and more of a themed character (the ability to bring life to unliving material). If so, it's probably going to be an Iron Golem with 20 in Golem Mastery. This is tentative, however.

Pure summoner, and unabashedly so. What I love about a summoner build is that it more or less lets me play naked if I needed to or change my equipment at a moment's notice (my wand, for example, is probably going to have +'s on a crowd control curse like Attract). I'll probably put a couple more points in Amp Damage so I can deal with non-unique Phys. Immunes, but I mostly have it all figured out.

As for mages...either max them..or dont waste the points.

The only good golem is Gumby Dammit!!!

If you want to max something...max ce then...it's very helpful in act4...and 5 mostly...and bosses if there are dead bodies around.

HoS

 

[HarbingersOfSkulls]

I just built a new skellimancer(my 11th one :clap: ) I had a strength problem today when I acquired a pair of Marrowwalks. I only had 117 str. Marrowwalks need 118(I believe those were the numbers) I ended up having to wait a level to use them.

Therefore, your highest requirement item is your required strength.

Planet_Smasher

What i do...is use a t-gods with my base 100 points...and there I go with marrowalks.

Otherwise...use strength charms...easy to find and only needs a few.

HoS

 

[Akemi]

Eh... Corpse Explosion always struck me as a pretty gross skill. And inefficient because I prefer keeping corpses for more minions when needed. If I wanted mass scale damage, I'd play a Sorceress. CE also is expensive for someone w/o energy points to spend, and any damage I do with it seems irrelevant when that MP will be used better by minions.

And what is Gumby? Clay Golem?

And yes, the plan is to max out mages too.

 

[Myrakh-2]

Eh... Corpse Explosion always struck me as a pretty gross skill. And inefficient because I prefer keeping corpses for more minions when needed. If I wanted mass scale damage, I'd play a Sorceress. CE also is expensive for someone w/o energy points to spend, and any damage I do with it seems irrelevant when that MP will be used better by minions.

If you don't like CE, don't use it.

It's your decision whether you want to be a fast killer or not.

 

[Akemi]

Doesn't it not-scale though? And the skellie-mancer guide said one's minions do the job fast enough without need of poison or bone skills.

 

[Crettin]

my summoner only has 41 base strength... >_>

 

[Mad Mantis]

Doesn't it not-scale though? And the skellie-mancer guide said one's minions do the job fast enough without need of poison or bone skills.

CE doesn't scale with increased players, but it is still powerful. Skellies alone do a good job of killing things, but CE makes it all that much simpler and faster.

If you want a variant, then more power to you. I am very fond of variants. Let me know if you come up with some good tricks for the IG.

 

[Akemi]

Thank you Mad Mantis!

Actually, what I'm likely doing is putting 20 in Golem Mastery and 20 in Meatsauce (Blood Golem). Meatsauce I think has potential to be one of the best minions, and even if not, he keeps with my characte'rs theme. I'm also combining this with a Prayer Aura Merc. While I know Might is the preferred Merc for minions, I see it this way: There are lots of times when I'm just running around an area between fights, and if in that time a minion almost dead can be brought back to full health, the merc was worth it. It'll also offset Meatsauce's disadvantage, I think.

I see what good Corpse Explosion can do, but I don't think it's anything a wand with points in it can't help me with -- Skill Points only add to its radius. I mostly save direct attack skills for bosses anyway. CE is also useless in several boss runs that I'll no doubt be using.

I'm also questioning whether I need a full 20 in Summon Resist. I'm about to check a chart online and see if the benefits begin dropping to a level where more points just wouldn't be practical.

 

[prion]

huh, i'm thinking like 2 in summon resist at the most. you'll have +summon tree skills so it will be boosted at the same time as your minions.

 

[Mad Mantis]

Meatsauce I think has potential to be one of the best minions, and even if not, he keeps with my characte'rs theme.

Would you care to explain why you think BG can be one of the top minions?

I'm also combining this with a Prayer Aura Merc. While I know Might is the preferred Merc for minions, I see it this way: There are lots of times when I'm just running around an area between fights, and if in that time a minion almost dead can be brought back to full health, the merc was worth it. It'll also offset Meatsauce's disadvantage, I think.

A Merc can be switched relatively easily. It is not comparable to dumping 20 points in a skill that doesn't work. Experiment with Mercs and see what you think works well.

 

[Planet_Smasher]

:scratch: Ponders to himself.. comes to the conclusion that our CE hating, Gumby dissing friend here will be posting a request for help. I also predict that there will be many remakes of this 'non-CE using variant'. Just my predictions though... lol. Goodluck.


Planet_Smasher

 

[hobbs28]

Good luck

If you are trying to be different and dont want to use CE then more power to you. If you want to kill in hell then you will be slow without CE. Not having a might merc will hurt you as well. CE speeds up the killing 10 fold. I can mow down hell cows as fast as another build with it. So if you want to be original and use a prayer mecr and no CE sounds great the game will be a challange for ya. If you want to kill fast with high MF then you need CE and a might merc.

 

[Akemi]

I tried CE through a skill boosting item. It's still overrated, paying more for radius doesn't seem worth it. I think a CE boosting item with up to +5 points will take care of it whenever I need it.

On another note, I've found that minions slow down on some bosses and become completely helpless in some situations (such as against cold enchanted, spectral hit creatures). I found a Golem build isn't practical in conjunction with skellies because paying points for two masteries doesn't make sense to me.

However, I think I found another solution. Poison. I'm going to put my extra points into a poison dagger or a poison nova to supplement my minions and take down bosses with due speed. Also, getting Poison Nova will open CE for me if I get a Bone/Poison skill ++ accessory