Should I?
- Thread starter marcusr
- Start date
Nimbostratus
Diabloii.Net Member
Don't max summon resist; It has bad diminishing returns, so one point with skill bonuses is always enough.
Mages are a good idea, they can help speed things up around phys. immunes or near rivers and stuff like that. Just make sure you have a point in all the curses.
Mages are a good idea, they can help speed things up around phys. immunes or near rivers and stuff like that. Just make sure you have a point in all the curses.
Latex Glove
Diabloii.Net Member
Physically Immune manosters will not be an issue if he has Amplify Damage.
My suggestion would be to place at least one point in all the curses. The versitality of a Necromancer's curses are something that can easily change the tide of battle within a second. If nothing else, be sure to get Amplify Damage, Dim Vision, and Decrepify.
This ought to leave you with around 50 or so skill points. Here, you basically have four choices, which are as follows:
My suggestion would be to place at least one point in all the curses. The versitality of a Necromancer's curses are something that can easily change the tide of battle within a second. If nothing else, be sure to get Amplify Damage, Dim Vision, and Decrepify.
This ought to leave you with around 50 or so skill points. Here, you basically have four choices, which are as follows:
Golems
Make use of a golem, such as Clay or Iron. Clay Golem will be the ultimate tank, as it absorbs physical damage, has the most life of all the golems, and slows the enemy by a substantial amount. An Iron Golem can either be used as an additional aura or as a tank that is immune to all types of elemental damage and/or a minion with a ton of Crushing Blow (Hone Sundan). A Fire Golem is nigh useless, and a Blood Golem will only kill you.
Choosing the golem route requires you to spend points in Golem Mastery. Although the Blood Golem offers a synergy of life to other golems, it's quite literally useless, as it only adds around 200 life.
Poison Damage
Choosing the golem route requires you to spend points in Golem Mastery. Although the Blood Golem offers a synergy of life to other golems, it's quite literally useless, as it only adds around 200 life.
Poison Damage
Another route to take is travel along the Poison path. Your destination here would be Poison Nova, which makes a great supporting spell to speed up the killing of your minions. Poison damage also halts monster heal, so this in itself is useful. Simply be wary that many enemies in Hell difficulty either have high Poison resistance or are immune. Lower Resist helps, but then you must ask yourself what matters more. Your poison damage, or your minons's damge output? If the former, use Lower Resist, if the latter, use Amplify Damage and Decrepify. The nice thing about this route is that you can almost maximize your Poison Nova and have a substantial army. Additionally, casting Poison Nova and whatnot is much more interesting than simply casting Amplify Damage and nothing else.
Bone Spear and Spirit
Another route to take would be in the vein of a Bonemancer. However, I strongly suggest not taking this route, as your Bone Spear and Bone Spirit damage will be utterly pitiful - which in turn spells trouble or stalemate in hell difficulty. This is because it takes a gargantuan amount of skill points spent into synergies and whatnot for either of these two spells to be useful.
Skeletal Magi
The last route to take would be in maxing your Skeletal Magi. There is a persistent debate as to whether or not this is of any use. This is because they don't put out as much damage as Skelton Warriors, have less Life and Defense, and when you have enough +skill equipment, only one point will often net around 10 Skeletal Magi. However, a couple of things to note:
Hope that helped.Another route to take would be in the vein of a Bonemancer. However, I strongly suggest not taking this route, as your Bone Spear and Bone Spirit damage will be utterly pitiful - which in turn spells trouble or stalemate in hell difficulty. This is because it takes a gargantuan amount of skill points spent into synergies and whatnot for either of these two spells to be useful.
Skeletal Magi
The last route to take would be in maxing your Skeletal Magi. There is a persistent debate as to whether or not this is of any use. This is because they don't put out as much damage as Skelton Warriors, have less Life and Defense, and when you have enough +skill equipment, only one point will often net around 10 Skeletal Magi. However, a couple of things to note:
- The poison damage from the poison mages will halt monster heal.
- Lower Resist will increase their damage. Used with conjunction with your Corpse Explosion and/or Poison Nova, this can do considerable damage.
- The larger your army, the better. A summoner's strength comes in the size of his army.
Nimbostratus
Diabloii.Net Member
LG: marcusr said pure summoner, so the poison & bone skills are already out (he even mentioned that he didn't like bone). As for the physical immunes and amp damage:
-When against immunities, it only works at 1/5 power. So at best, you'll end up with an 80% resistant enemy.
-Some PIs are unbreakable or are "possessed" champions, which cannot be cursed.
As for other skill options:
Iron Golem- Use a nice (but preferably not TOO nice, in case it dies =P) item for a golem. Some nifty ones to have around:
-Paladin shield with high resists and pdiamonds for an elementally immune golem.
-"Insight" runeword for meditation aura that doesn't require a merc
-Any item with crushing blow and/or open wounds
-An expensive aura-granting item if you're rich
Revives- Probably not such a good choice, as they have a set timer. One point with skill bonuses should be enough; too many points, and you won't be able to summon the full number before the first ones start dropping.
Mages- Already mentioned, but they're a great choice. Attack things out of reach of your melee guys, more speed vs physical immunes, more tanks, poison damage, and cold damage.
-When against immunities, it only works at 1/5 power. So at best, you'll end up with an 80% resistant enemy.
-Some PIs are unbreakable or are "possessed" champions, which cannot be cursed.
As for other skill options:
Iron Golem- Use a nice (but preferably not TOO nice, in case it dies =P) item for a golem. Some nifty ones to have around:
-Paladin shield with high resists and pdiamonds for an elementally immune golem.
-"Insight" runeword for meditation aura that doesn't require a merc
-Any item with crushing blow and/or open wounds
-An expensive aura-granting item if you're rich
Revives- Probably not such a good choice, as they have a set timer. One point with skill bonuses should be enough; too many points, and you won't be able to summon the full number before the first ones start dropping.
Mages- Already mentioned, but they're a great choice. Attack things out of reach of your melee guys, more speed vs physical immunes, more tanks, poison damage, and cold damage.
