Skellimancer Stat Points

[privatecitizenx]

Skellimancer Stat Points

Hey all. After a LONG hiatus (about three years ago), I'm back on D II. I've been reading some of the guides, and I like the feel of the skellimancer, but I'm getting some conflicting information:

The guides seem to disagree on whether stats should be put in dex or not; some people say put points into dex for better blocking, others say to put it into vit instead. Can someone help me out and explain if this is just a preference of taste, or is one really better?

Thanks in advance!

 

[ChronosHammer]

I'm currently running a poison/summon hybrid, and I rarely see the need for the dex- I have enough base to equip my gear, but beyond that I pump my vitality. Think of it this way- more vit = better ability to survive when your defenses are down. It might be a matter of preference, but I personally like having the extra vit.

 

[AnimeCraze]

Block saves you vs physical and blockable attacks (like frenzytaurs or abyss knight's magic shots). Vita saves you vs unblockable elemental attacks (like black souls). Whatever you pick, in the wrong circumstance you wish you have the other :tongue: .

 

[Ed from Russia]

In PvP I'd definitely go for Max Block. In PvM you could go either way. I prefer Vita, but Max Block has its benefits.

 

[Miikai]

If this is a starting character, then go for vita build.

 

[MarShenk]

you shouldnt really get hit by anything melee as your skellies will more or less protect you from that. vita all the way.

 

[Kirah]

Greetings and welcome to the wild, wild world of the Undead!

Two common arguements that come up in necro discussions
Skelly mage or no and Vita vs Block. I've not been convinced completely on these two arguements either way. It's a matter of playing style.

Vita vs Block - Unfortunately Necros have one of the worst attribute point (vita) to hit point ratio. Unlike Barbs, Pallys and even druids getting huge red globes is very difficult at worst, challenging at best. Having a high % block shield like a Homuc or some such will diminish the massive investment of dex required for max block or close to max block. That said you still need significant investment in dex to get that 70%+ block.

(from Draco et al)

Chance to Block

Total Blocking = [(Blocking * (Dexterity - 15)) / (Character Level * 2)]

Blocking = A total of the Blocking on all of your items. (E.g: Guardian Angel, Twitchthroe, Any Shield, Holy Shield)
[] = Round Down

Note: Blocking on shield shown in game is capped at 75% while it may actually be higher. For a true account of most shields blocking ability... Look here forUnique, Set, and Magical/Rare shields. (for magical/rare, add the Blocking % from the suffix to the base blocking)

Note 2: Block chance is divided by 3 after the 75% cap. You can't block more than 25% when running.

Example: A lvl85 Paladin with 100 Dex, Guardian Angel(20%), lvl20 Holy Shield (35%) and a Herald of Zakarum(82%).

Total Blocking = [(Blocking * (Dexterity - 15)) / (Character Level * 2)]
= (20 + 35 + 82 * (100 - 15)) / (85 * 2)
= (20 + 35 + 82 * (85)) / (85 * 2)
= (20 + 35 + 82 * (85)) / 170
= (20 + 35 + 82 * (85)) / 170
= (137 * 85) / 170
= 11645 / 170
= 68.5
= 68% Chance to Block

You can use the above formula to calculate your specific situation.

Anime said it best:

Block saves you vs physical and blockable attacks (like frenzytaurs or abyss knight's magic shots). Vita saves you vs unblockable elemental attacks (like black souls). Whatever you pick, in the wrong circumstance you wish you have the other.

Another thing to consider is that the occassional massive damage physical attack (getting wacked by a boss) the block will mitigate that big hit comming at you. So if uber Baal happens to tele next to you and swings AND hits you for 500 hit points damage the block has a 75% chance of saving you and buying you time to move away or get protected by a golem / skelly / merc or whatever. Plus the cool 'thunk' sound is nice, style points man!

Not having an useful high block shield will probably drive you to the vita route or if you have a shield that you're using for +skillers / resists then you'll probably want to run vita. After all you can't have enough life in Diablo.

hope this helps some, Good luck and good hunting!
Kirah

ps: I typically run near max block with a homuc on my higher level necros, but focus on vita early in the game. (I do HC unwinked though).

 

[OsTo]

its funny but evean I dont know pure and 100% correct answear to this maybe reason is that necro almost never dies which ever path you take...
if its PvP full block.
if its PvM with gear i would probably go Full block this time (evean I argue lots of times against full block)
If its like me PvM with maxed MF possible,
its full vita... you know its quite hard to get max block with monarch 4xisted (unless you are lucky and got Jmod - worth around 400high runes)
but maybe with this 4isted monarch i would still have around 40-50 chance to block which is also good..
---------------------------------------------------------------
I think when i go summoner hardcore, I'll go full block this time... so thats my advice

here is why...

dex needed
most people get at max to level 94

so its 210dex that you need at level 94 ot have full block with homo.
if you count some stuff off...
210 - (20torch+20 anni+15waterwalks+2shako+5mara+25base starting dex)
left 123 dex to put in dex
thats 246 life, with BO at level lets say 16 thats 80% its 246*1.8=442

if you get COA or have nice resists you can socket homonuclus with eld that increase chance to block resulting in only 106 points in dex... (here maybe would be better to count if ber or jah wount be better over life saved by not go dex)
not to mention u can get pair of some awsome rings and amulet...

this is where funny decieding starts...

THrou my gameplay as necro full vita, I died only from elemental attack... in the beggining of building necro with not maxed resists..
later with whole gear on i didnt die yet...

as it seems to me 75% of resists take care of all elemental attack (not to mention i got only lighting at 70 now that i MF)

so thats left us to deal with physical attack.
in here most of people would thought that full block is good
so do I, but i was thinking...
what happend to me some times, is that i am left in one seckond with 80 life, in same second i drink full reju potion.
So your life is not really only life that you got in bulb, but what you can get if you got time to react..
barbarians dont die just becouse they got 5000life but becouse when they see low life they drink full reju. And when they see low life, they still got 1K of it... hope you get what i mean

I didnt think i wrote all of this hope its helps...
----------------------------------------------------------------
As i sad i dont know for 100% which is better
but ill try full block when I go next necromancer. As I see it Necro wount die cosue of one or other but becouse of some bad decision in gameplay...

AnimeCraze is totaly right...

 

[AnimeCraze]

Another thing to consider is that the occassional massive damage physical attack (getting wacked by a boss) the block will mitigate that big hit comming at you. So if uber Baal happens to tele next to you and swings AND hits you for 500 hit points damage the block has a 75% chance of saving you and buying you time to move away or get protected by a golem / skelly / merc or whatever. Plus the cool 'thunk' sound is nice, style points man!

Do also consider the times where you failed to block the attack. Say if you go vita you have 550 life, and if you go block you have 450 life, vita is certainly better in the above scenario (if you failed to block, you get 1 hit KOed instead of chucking a purple if you go vita). Block is only useful when you have enough life to not get killed in 1 or 2 hits. Otherwise, the unlucky rolls will get you sooner or later.

So your life is not really only life that you got in bulb, but what you can get if you got time to react..
barbarians dont die just becouse they got 5000life but becouse when they see low life they drink full reju. And when they see low life, they still got 1K of it... hope you get what i mean

This is so true.

 

[Kirah]

Good point Anime, when I was doing SC that kind of problem happened to me a couple of times. Focusing on vita early in the necro development helped to decrease the chance of that problem (It did not eliminate it, but decreased the odds of it happening). I should have included something along the line of your excellent advice.

thank you - good luck and good hunting!
Kirah

 

[PMurillo]

Rather everyone said all that could be useful.
AS was written - for PvM only (and contrary to bone necro - summoner is indeed PvM char) max vita, unless you have perfect stats anni+perfect stats nec torch + perfect dex raven + homunculus waiting for ya. In that case getting those 150 or so hard point dex could be nice bonus.
I have kinda sentiment to max block so I always go for it with most classes but as others said - you will be rather seldom hit by physical things as your skells and revives should protect you well.

 

[breakz]

To bump an old thread...

It seems like having skellies around keeps you from getting those physical attacks. As a result, vita would be better so you can absorb those nonphys attacks.

That, and I'm not too twinked. Thus, vita's better, right?

 

[someoneNew]

Re: Skellimancer Stat Points

I've been laboring over this decision.
I play SP PVM players8

I have a CE / Iron Golem Nec clvl76 with Trangs
I maxed Vita, only Dex for requirements and he's practically a one hit and you're dead character in hell.

My newer Nec is Poison / Summoner clvl72 with Trangs
I've decided to put my points into Dex to get blocking above 70%
For one thing, my skeles won't last long in Hell
And I've got a Nature's Peace ring which gives me an Oak Sage, that is a 150 HP boost

To me that's huge, it'd take too many stat points to get that 150 HP boost, so I can use those in blocking instead.

So I'll see how this new nec goes, but I'm not convinced in dumping all extra points into Vit anymore because you just simply don't get that much in return for Necs.

 

[AnimeCraze]

Re: Skellimancer Stat Points

So I'll see how this new nec goes, but I'm not convinced in dumping all extra points into Vit anymore because you just simply don't get that much in return for Necs.

The reverse of this statement is also true. Because you don't get much in return in vita, you need every last drop of it to get a decent life pool so that you won't get 1 hitted. Unless you have life charms, blocking will get your life so low that it won't be even funny.

 

[jread]

Re: Skellimancer Stat Points

What about meeting in the middle? "Good" block and "Good life"? Is this the best of both worlds or does it actually end up being the worst of both worlds? Say you kept block around 50% or so?

 

[AnimeCraze]

Re: Skellimancer Stat Points

The amount of damage reduced from going to 0~50% is 1/2, and that is the same for 50%~75%. However, the first 50% takes twice as much dex. So......, I would say the middle is probably the worst of both worlds.

 

[NumtyDoo]

Re: Skellimancer Stat Points

I tried both, I like max block better, with Homonc anyway. I used Homonc shield on both builds, so I am sure I would go max VIT if I had like a 30% block shield. But with a high block shield I always go max block.

I have max resists and have not found elemental attacks to be an issue, even souls. If there were three unique packs of souls at the same time, then maybe it would be an issue, but that has never happened to me.

I guess, in my opinion, Necro's get so little life per VIT point, that I don't miss the few points in VIT. I find that maxing resists and maxing block to be the best route (with a high block shield anyway).

 

[jread]

Re: Skellimancer Stat Points

Thanks for the replies. So I guess I will go 75% block on my next fishymancer

 

[SocraticB]

Re: Skellimancer Stat Points

What about a Summoner that's built to take on the Ubers with very good gear (Shako, Enigma, Homonc, etc.)? Most of the damage he'll take is likely to be ranged elemental, right? Would life be better for this build, or are the elemental ranges shots blockable?

 

[Ed from Russia]

Re: Skellimancer Stat Points

What about a Summoner that's built to take on the Ubers with very good gear (Shako, Enigma, Homonc, etc.)? Most of the damage he'll take is likely to be ranged elemental, right? Would life be better for this build, or are the elemental ranges shots blockable?

Actually for ubers I might go with Max Block (as opposed to my earlier statement), but I'm not sure (never did this with necro). The right approach would probably be to let your army engage with Mephisto's minions, while you attack Mephisto himself, using the CB from Beast. In this case having max block will be helpful (even with the lousy hit recovery of Necros).

But I might be wrong; you might just want to tele on top of Mephy with some CB revives and get out of the way. But even then I think Max Block would be more beneficial.

I might actually give this a try myself; it sounds like a challenge. First I need to get me an Enigma though for this season.

Also, this might be worth a new thread.