USWest
-Hoto (40 fcr)
-2/20 amulet (20 fcr)
-Arachnids (20 fcr)
-Wizardspike gloves (50 fcr)
---> TOTAL 130% FCR
USEast
-Hoto (40 fcr)
-2/20 amulet (20 fcr)
-Arachnids (20 fcr)
-Magefist/Trang-Oul's (20 fcr)
-Necromancer circlet (20 fcr)
-1 fcr ring (10 fcr)
---> TOTAL 130% FCR
My personal selections.
Factors deciding your FCR gear:
1) Homunculus vs Darkforce Spawn (Max block vs others)
Firstly,
Darkforce Spawn is used for the +1 more skill(s) [a.ka. more damage] and the main purpose is for the
30% FCR. Newbie reasons include surface value things like the ability to type, "Hey, I'm on perfect Darkforce! I'm rich! Bow to the godly necromancer!" and the possibility that you may hit a very high spear level, "Ahhh... my spear? Ohhh... the damage is very low. It's just 100 from 7k (which can be achieved theoretically at lvl 51)."
Reasons to use it:
a) If you don't have a necromancer circlet and a 2/20 amulet
Then you're forced by circumstances to use it... However, as you seem quite well off in finance, I think that a 2/20 amulet and a necromancer circlet is a better choice.
b) If you want to put on other items which have little/no FCR increase over FCR gear
Such as a shako over necromancer circlets, or if your 2/20 amulet has bad stats and you'd rather choose a Mara's or a 2/10, or awhite wand over hoto or wizardspike et cetera. Then, with an overall lower FCR, you must then use a darkforce spawn over homunculus.
c) If you don't need max block
i) Pure PvP
Then you definitely max block against amazons especially, unless you're using summon stacking to keep you safe, whereby you still must consider whether or not you're going to abide by clan honor (private/public dueling?) or your summons are unreliable.
ii) Pure PvM
It hence depends on how often you're hit by monsters and whether or not you have summons to tank hits. Even so, it's recommended, personally, that you go for max block as some creatures seem to prefer carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen of a pale necromancer over calcium of skeletons -.-;
iii) Both equally
Then you must decide as usual, over the factors as I've mentioned above, a) reliability of summons, b) tendency to be hit.
Personal advice:
Even though I'm running on 13 skeletons stacking over me in PvP and tanking my hits in PvM, I still have max block. Even so, I can still get critically injured or killed when teleporting into monsters. Imagine if I didn't have max block?
Also, +1 more skill wouldn't increase your damage as though it's some marrowwalk, unless you're trying to beat souless' spear level -_-;
A
homunculus is used mainly for its
high block probability. Other reasons include resistances and mana boost (regeneration, energy and mana per kill).
Reasons to use it:
a) If you have a necromancer circlet and a 2/20 amulet
Running on a 20 fcr circlet and 20 fcr amulet, there's no problem when it comes to need of more FCR from other items, so why not aim for homunculus and max block?
b) If your overall items have 125% or more FCR
Furthermore, why not use a homunculus for Max block and the other reasons? Ahem... more the better
c) If you need Max Block
Use the factors above to decide whether you need max block or not.
d) If you need Resistances
Even with a resistance jewel/Um rune in your darkforce, it's still no match for a homunculus' resistances. Consider your overall gear. Does it give you enough resistances? If not, here's an item through which you may get resistances.
2) Hoto vs White/Wizardspike
A
Heart of the Oak is used mainly for +40% FCR coupled with +3 skills and resistances, smaller reasons include Dexterity (lesser points spent on dexterity means more points on vitality!) if you need max block and mana, which is still a crucial necessity to meet, but I believe is not as important as resistances in this case. Other reasons which aren't really important includes having a nice ethereal hoto.
Reasons for choosing Hoto:
a) FCR
As applies for all of these 3 weapon choices, depending on the varying degree of need of FCR to hit your preferred breakpoint (aka 125% fcr) caused by a varying extent of FCR gained from your OTHER ITEMS, choose your preferred item. White for the least FCR, Hoto for the second most and Wizardspike for the most.
b) Damage
A white wand gives the most damage, hence this is comparing Hotos/Whites over Wizardspikes. +3 to all skills affect your damage by a relatively moderate extent.
c) Max Block
Max block needs high dexterity. Dexterity is a stat. Stat points are needed for high dexterity. More dexterity from items means less dexterity from stat points. Less stat points on dexterity means more spare stat points. More spare stat points means more points to put into vitality. More points put into vitality means more life. To sum this up, if you need max block, the dexterity means life. View it in that perspective (*cough* although 10 vitality affects your overall life by a small extent)
d) Resistance
Most resistance comes from Wizardspike. Substantial from Hoto. None from White. Decide how much resistances you need and reduce that by the amount of resistances you have from your other items, then see which allows you to obtain the right amount of resistances, at the same time meeting your needs of other things such as damage, FCR etc.
e) Mana
If you're exploiting zero point energy, ok just making a corny joke/pun; if you're on no points in energy, then 15% increase is considerably a LOT and cannot be missed. However, Wizardspike gives more mana. Weigh the pros and cons between the both if you're in need of mana.
f) Oak sage
A few people do use the Oak Sage from their hotos, this can be particularly useful for a summoner or any necromancer who uses summons.
e) Skills
I put damage and skills as a separate factor as they're vastly different. If you greatly depend on skills such as Decrepify, Amplify Damage, Skeletons AND P&B etc., it is an important point to consider. If it's just purely bone that matters to you, the +3 to all skills only affects your damage and not to an insane level of difference such as 1k damage.
Personal advice
Though I don't really provide credible advice, but heck, in my opinion, summoner/bone hybrids should use the HOTO.
----No time to complete my reply, I'd update the point on Whites and Wizardspikes later----
If I made any mistake in anything I typed, please forgive me and feel free to correct it.
