Some Fishy questions...

[TopGun]

Some Fishy questions...

Hi all!

I'm getting ready to start doing Baal and Uber runs and have some questions about optimizing gear and skills.

My skills->
Max Skel Mastery
Max Raise Skel
Max Raise Skel Mage
Max CE
1 pt wonders...(curses-all but IM, LT, and LR), Revive + prereqs, Summon Resist + prereqs


1)I'm level 86 currently with 1 skillpoint to spend...I was thinking Bone Armor (0 pts currently) would be the most useful as I'm using Marrowwalk boots? Agree/Disagree

2)What does the summon resist synergy do? Not really sure where to put my remaining few points. Options I was thinking...pump DV, or prereqs + Lower Resist, or Summon Resist, or Revives, or something else? What do you guys think?

3)I'm thinking of using Infinity (eventually) polearm for merc to help mages with damage (and CB, and prevent heal). What is the best polearm to use? I'm assuming something ethereal, do you just go with the fastest? (Giant Thresher) Or does it not really make much difference?

4)Which would you recommend-Beast or Oath after summoning with AoKL? What is the best weapon to socket either in? Could you have both active at the same time? (cast heart of wolverine charge, then switch to beast aura?)

5)Do you use Homunoculous for each weapon switch, or recommend a different setup?

6)Guide recommends Arriocs/Tomb Reaver, Shaftstop, and Guillaume's Helm. I'm thinking there's got to be better options than that. What's the top gear for my merc in your opinion? And if Runewords, what type of armor/helm/polearm?

7)Wondering if you can have Might (merc), Conviction (merc), Heart of Wolverine (Oath charges), Fanaticism (Beast), and Amp all active at the same time? And is there a calculator somewhere that shows the effects of all those that work together?


Thanks a lot to all those who share their opinions,
-TG

 

[Ava]

1)I'm level 86 currently with 1 skillpoint to spend...I was thinking Bone Armor (0 pts currently) would be the most useful as I'm using Marrowwalk boots? Agree/Disagree

If you're referring to the Marrowwalk bug... that no longer exists. With some +skills, bone armor is still worth a single point though.

2)What does the summon resist synergy do?

Just what it says: it gives all your summons a base resist. Without this skill, all your summons will start with a base 0 resist all, even in hell. (the -100 penalty only applies to you)

Not really sure where to put my remaining few points. Options I was thinking...pump DV, or prereqs + Lower Resist, or Summon Resist, or Revives, or something else? What do you guys think?

IMO, SR is out. It suffers from too severe diminishing returns to be useful. Besides, your skellies will survive well enough.

Personally, I don't care for more revives, your Golem really is durable enough as it is and more than one point in Bone Armor is wasted, so that leaves a curse. DV and Amp seem like the logical choices. If you party with casters a lot, a point in LR would be wise.

3)I'm thinking of using Infinity (eventually) polearm for merc to help mages with damage (and CB, and prevent heal). What is the best polearm to use? I'm assuming something ethereal, do you just go with the fastest? (Giant Thresher) Or does it not really make much difference?

Infinity is a great choice. It also lowers defense so your skellies will hit more often. The weapon type doesn't really make much difference. As long as it's elite, ethereal and your merc has enough strength to equip it, it's fine.

4)Which would you recommend-Beast or Oath after summoning with AoKL? What is the best weapon to socket either in? Could you have both active at the same time? (cast heart of wolverine charge, then switch to beast aura?)

I'm afraid that your HoW will vanish when you switch to Beast. Not sure though. Beast is commonly considered the best choice as it also improves casting and attacking speed. Unless you want to go melee (like a commandomancer), the weapon type really doesn't matter.

5)Do you use Homunoculous for each weapon switch, or recommend a different setup?

Homonculus sounds like a solid choice to me.

6)Guide recommends Arriocs/Tomb Reaver, Shaftstop, and Guillaume's Helm. I'm thinking there's got to be better options than that. What's the top gear for my merc in your opinion? And if Runewords, what type of armor/helm/polearm?

My choice would be an act2 Might Merc with: Infinity eth Cryptic Axe, eth Fortitude Archon Plate, Crown of Ages "BerBer" (or Delirium Bone Visage).

7)Wondering if you can have Might (merc), Conviction (merc), Heart of Wolverine (Oath charges), Fanaticism (Beast), and Amp all active at the same time? And is there a calculator somewhere that shows the effects of all those that work together?

You sure can (except for the thing I mentioned about HoW possibly vanishing when you switch to Beast).

Hope this helps.

 

[TopGun]

-If you're referring to the Marrowwalk bug... that no longer exists. With some +skills, bone armor is still worth a single point though.

Oh, :sad2: , OK...too bad...I'll probably still do 1 pt. Seems like a decent value.

-Just what it says: it gives all your summons a base resist. Without this skill, -all your summons will start with a base 0 resist all, even in hell. (the -100 penalty only applies to you)

I meant...under Summon Skeleton, Summon Skel Mage, and Revive...it says Summon Resist is a synergy. Was wondering if it gave more dmg, AR, etc. to your summons?...or is it not really a true synergy?


-IMO, SR is out. It suffers from too severe diminishing returns to be useful. Besides, your skellies will survive well enough.


-Personally, I don't care for more revives, your Golem really is durable enough as it is and more than one point in Bone Armor is wasted, so that leaves a curse. DV and Amp seem like the logical choices. If you party with casters a lot, a point in LR would be wise.

Hmm...tough choice here...I'll probably do LR to see how it works I guess. I should have enough +skills to get by with 1 in DV and Amp.


-I'm afraid that your HoW will vanish when you switch to Beast. Not sure though. Beast is commonly considered the best choice as it also improves casting and attacking speed. Unless you want to go melee (like a commandomancer), the weapon type really doesn't matter.

OK, so...beast...what weapon if I did want the option to melee?

-Homonculus sounds like a solid choice to me.

For both shield spots then?

-My choice would be an act2 Might Merc with: Infinity eth Cryptic Axe, eth Fortitude Archon Plate, Crown of Ages "BerBer" (or Delirium Bone Visage).

You recommending Cryptic Axe because of its higher dmg then? (over faster base speed?) Also, why AP over a higher Def armor? Is it because of the Str. Req.? Or will the weight affect how fast the Merc moves or something? Also, I know I asked for optimal, but I think CoA + 2 Ber may be a little (lot) out of my league for a little while...anything for on the way there? Not really sold on Delirium...

Thanks sooo much for your input,
-TG

 

[anilrobo]

I meant...under Summon Skeleton, Summon Skel Mage, and Revive...it says Summon Resist is a synergy. Was wondering if it gave more dmg, AR, etc. to your summons?...or is it not really a true synergy?

Summon resist gives resistances to your summons depending on the level of this skill. This is all it does - only resistances. No damage, no attack rating whatsoever.

Hmm...tough choice here...I'll probably do LR to see how it works I guess. I should have enough +skills to get by with 1 in DV and Amp.[/B]

One point in each curse is recommended. Even though you are not using LR right now, I have encountered immune to physical monsters in hell whose immunity could not be broken with Amp. So I relied on mages to kill them with LR.

OK, so...beast...what weapon if I did want the option to melee?[/B]

Berserker axe, if you have the stats to wear it.

-Homonculus sounds like a solid choice to me.

For both shield spots then?

For summoning: Use a magical shield with + necro/summoning skills, or boneflame. On switch: Use Homunculus for resists.

Other questions are a matter of personal preference, so I let ava reply to them.

 

[Jerrett]

I have a summoner with a similar skill setup. As far as Merc goes, I have a lovely Act 2 Might Merc.

There are a few things that are really nice for Merc gear: Leach, Crushing Blow, Open Wounds, IAS, FHR, Resistances, Physical Damage Reduction, Damage!

So, my favorite weapon of all time to get this stuff:

Obedience
Hel + Ko + Eth + Thul + Fal
30% Chance To Cast Level 21 Enchant When You Kill An Enemy
40% Faster Hit Recovery
+370% Enhanced Damage
-25% Target Defense
Adds 3-14 Cold Damage 3 Second Duration (Normal)
-25% To Enemy Fire Resistance
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
+200-300 Defense (varies)
+10 To Strength
+10 To Dexterity
All Resistances +20-30 (varies)
Requirements -20%

By itself this weapon covers a metric ton of the things you'll be needing. Not only will your Merc be hitting hard (I built mine in an Eth, Superior Thresher), but he will already gain a big bonus to resistances (that should come close to capping him in Hell, or will, depending on your level). He'll also gain a gigantic bonus to attack rating through enchant, a lot of faster hit recovery, crushing blow, and a nice bonus to defense for survivability.

This leaves you with a few things left to cover: Leach, Open Wounds, IAS, Physical Damage Reduction.

There are a couple of ways you can go from here, actually, but there are some very good, cheap options. Vampire Gaze and Shaftstop will give your merc a huge boost in survivability, providing both the PDR and Leach that you'll need. You can also add sockets to both items and add 15% IAS jewels with another mod that could be useful for your merc. I personally am a VERY large fan of Treachery... It is one of my favorite armors in the game. the 45% boost to IAS will make your Merc swing his jab stick incredibly fast. Similarly, he will also gain the benefits of a level 15 Venom and a level 15 Fade while he tanks for you. This is nothing to sneeze at. If you couple the armor with a vampire gaze, you'll gain even more PDR (on top of Fade's) and Leach. The poison damage from Venom is quite comprable to Open Wounds, so you shouldn't have to worry about monster regen as much. Depending on your weapon's base speed, you still have the option to use your Vampire Gaze Socket on something, perhaps a IAS jewel.

I do baal runs with my merc as my primary tank and I almost don't need my skeletons. He currently uses my Obedience Thresher, Treachery, and a Shael'ed Guillame's Face. He has 0% life leach, but he has 90% Faster Hit Recovery (which is very fast), swings very quickly, and has a lovely 75% Crushing Blow, plus enchant damage, plus venom.

A very viable, cheap option.

=)

 

[mephiztophelez]

My choice would be an act2 Might Merc with: Infinity eth Cryptic Axe, eth Fortitude Archon Plate, Crown of Ages "BerBer" (or Delirium Bone Visage).

i just have to LOL at this.

LOL

there is a distinct lack of Life Leech in this setup. put the Ber/Ber CoA on a character and use either Tal's Hat, Crown of Thieves, Andy's if your rich or some rare hat with life-leech.

in general, Cold Damage is to be avoided on a summoners merc, which unfortunately includes Vamp Gaze and Obedience. Cold Damage can cause monsters to shatter when killed by your merc, denying you corpses from whence you can summon your skelly's or blow 'em up with Corpse Explosion (which is your main killing skill anyways).

my summoner gets along quite happily with a merc (might merc, i agree there) dolled up with a CoT, Gladiators Bane and an e-Insight CV. i'm never short on Mana for all the cursing, summoning and exploding and the g-bane makes my merc nigh on indestructable except for Iron Maiden casting oblivion knights (my tactic there is to dim-vision the whole shebang and telebomb the OK's)

granted, theres a lack of Crushing Blow in my setup, but if i really need CB, i can always go and revive some Urdar/Maulers/Blunderbore etc. or i could switch in an Obedience on my merc (as this would only really be needed against bosses, the cold damage isn't a problem)

as for summoner weapons, i find a Lem/Lem Ali Baba to be a damn fine piece of gear. on switch, i like a Naj Puzzler.

remember: this is a summon nec we're talking about. there have been numerous credible accounts of summoners soloing their way to Guardian status over the years. NAKED. summoners are pretty much completely gear independent. they don't "need" +skills like a caster character. they can happily use whatever they find along the way. i see no point in spending up vast amounts of e-wealth for a summoner or his merc. certainly not to the point of putting a COA in their gear (as for the Delerium suggestion, when i cast Amp or Attract or Dim Vision, i certainly don't want my merc overriding my choice of curse).

 

[lendial]

what exactly does the name fishymancer come from? i dont see any fish related skills.

 

[mephiztophelez]

a poster named Nightfish wrote a rather nice guide on making a summon necro. hence, it became known as the Fishymancer.

 

[anilrobo]

i just have to LOL at this.

LOL

there is a distinct lack of Life Leech in this setup. put the Ber/Ber CoA on a character and use either Tal's Hat, Crown of Thieves, Andy's if your rich or some rare hat with life-leech.

Well I do not see any point of loling at this. Though life leech is good for the merc, they can survive pretty well without it - IF they have a good defense, damage, and resistances. I have zero life leech on my level 91 merc, and he survives because he kills everything pretty much in 1-2 shots. Bottomline: Life leech is recommended but not essential for a might merc.

in general, Cold Damage is to be avoided on a summoners merc, which unfortunately includes Vamp Gaze and Obedience. Cold Damage can cause monsters to shatter when killed by your merc, denying you corpses from whence you can summon your skelly's or blow 'em up with Corpse Explosion (which is your main killing skill anyways).

Another misconception. I'll clarify a bit.

1. Why do you need so many bodies? You need just one body to start corpse explosion chain reaction. Even if a body shatters here and there, it hardly makes a difference.

2. When you add cold damage to your merc, he will freeze the target, and has a chance to vanish the corpse. However, remember that the merc is just one of your dozen-or-so army members, so only one of the corpses will shatter. So what if one in 10 corpses is shattered? Just wait for 0.5 second and your skellies will produce one more.

3. Cold damage has a distinct advantage against superuniques and act bosses. It slows them.

Because of the three reasons, I don't mind to have cold damage on my might merc.

However, hiring a holy freeze merc is a bad idea indeed (for a Fishymancer) because it'll cause shattering of a considerable number of bodies as opposed to just one with might merc + cold damage.

granted, theres a lack of Crushing Blow in my setup, but if i really need CB, i can always go and revive some Urdar/Maulers/Blunderbore etc. or i could switch in an Obedience on my merc (as this would only really be needed against bosses, the cold damage isn't a problem)

I think you don't run the act bosses very much. That is why you don't have crushing blow. If you're running usual areas like hell pits or even chaos sanctuary, lack of crushing blow is okay. However crushing blow is almost indispensable when you're fighting big bosses like hell diablo, diablo clone, and the Ubers. In my opinion, crushing blow is a must when running Baal on hell, or dclone or Ubers, but not otherwise.

as for summoner weapons, i find a Lem/Lem Ali Baba to be a damn fine piece of gear. on switch, i like a Naj Puzzler.

Good setup. Just a reminder that if your merc does not have insight, you can have two Tir runes in Ali Baba - will provide you with +4 total mana after each kill - very helpful, as stated by Nightfish himself.

 

[TopGun]

Nice discussion guys, thanks a lot!

I'm thinking I'll go with Beast Berserker for fanaticism. (Anyone know for sure about if Heart of Wolverine charges from Oath would work together with this if you switch weapon after using the charge?)

Summon shield doesn't seem to matter too much (Homun or Boneflame)...so, I'll maybe just roll with it and see what I can find first...and go with Homun for melee.

Obedience seems like a very nice cheap option (if I can get a 5os Eth Polearm for cheap)...until I can afford Insight anyway.

There still doesn't seem to be much of a consensus on the helm and armor though...so, I really don't know what direction to take there. I'll mostly be key/Pit/Uber/Baal running and using Enigma myself, if that helps. Is Bramble any good?

Also, I agree CB is probably needed...seems like a big inconvenience to go rounding up Urdars. Also, cold or no cold...not a big deal to me. Rarely does a shattered body hamper what I'm doing too badly...just wait a sec for the next body to drop...unless the merc ends up be too Uber? and killing everything?

Meph makes a good point too. How much e-wealth do we really want to spend on a build (or merc) that can do everything almost naked already? At least until we're so e-wealthy it doesn't matter

Again, thanks for the input guys,
-TG

 

[mephiztophelez]

Well I do not see any point of loling at this. Though life leech is good for the merc, they can survive pretty well without it - IF they have a good defense, damage, and resistances. I have zero life leech on my level 91 merc, and he survives because he kills everything pretty much in 1-2 shots. Bottomline: Life leech is recommended but not essential for a might merc.

you seem to be ignoring the point i make in my final paragraph:

remember: this is a summon nec we're talking about. there have been numerous credible accounts of summoners soloing their way to Guardian status over the years. NAKED. summoners are pretty much completely gear independent. they don't "need" +skills like a caster character. they can happily use whatever they find along the way. i see no point in spending up vast amounts of e-wealth for a summoner or his merc. certainly not to the point of putting a COA in their gear (as for the Delerium suggestion, when i cast Amp or Attract or Dim Vision, i certainly don't want my merc overriding my choice of curse).

most people build a summoner to help them create e-wealth. why would you spend up big on such a character? it strikes me as counter-intuitive.

Another misconception. I'll clarify a bit.

1. Why do you need so many bodies? You need just one body to start corpse explosion chain reaction. Even if a body shatters here and there, it hardly makes a difference.

2. When you add cold damage to your merc, he will freeze the target, and has a chance to vanish the corpse. However, remember that the merc is just one of your dozen-or-so army members, so only one of the corpses will shatter. So what if one in 10 corpses is shattered? Just wait for 0.5 second and your skellies will produce one more.

3. Cold damage has a distinct advantage against superuniques and act bosses. It slows them.

Because of the three reasons, I don't mind to have cold damage on my might merc.

each to their own on this one. i dislike cold damage on my merc and assiduously avoid it.

i find Decrepify and a clay golem does a marvelous job of slowing down act bosses, sacrificing some corpses for more slow strikes me as a bad deal.

but it's a matter of opinion. theres more than one way to build a summoner

However, hiring a holy freeze merc is a bad idea indeed (for a Fishymancer) because it'll cause shattering of a considerable number of bodies as opposed to just one with might merc + cold damage.

we agree on this.

I think you don't run the act bosses very much. That is why you don't have crushing blow. If you're running usual areas like hell pits or even chaos sanctuary, lack of crushing blow is okay. However crushing blow is almost indispensable when you're fighting big bosses like hell diablo, diablo clone, and the Ubers. In my opinion, crushing blow is a must when running Baal on hell, or dclone or Ubers, but not otherwise.

with no CtA, extremely marginal resists (except for Fire), ~1k life and ~2000% Goldfind (and some nice %MF too), i have little to no problems running any area of the game that takes my fancy. it's only Oblivion Knights i need to be particularly wary of.

i will admit, i predominantly run pindle/eldritch/shenk, the Travincal Council and Mephisto (i walk the Durance of Hate lvl2 rather than tele it). Mephisto drops plenty fast enough for me (especially with a few Mauler revives collected from Durance 2).

when i head for baal, i'll usually finish up Lister and Co. then get some Blunderbore from Act 2 before heading into the Chamber. by the time the revives expire, crushing blow is no longer effective (and Baal is usually dead anyway).

Good setup. Just a reminder that if your merc does not have insight, you can have two Tir runes in Ali Baba - will provide you with +4 total mana after each kill - very helpful, as stated by Nightfish himself.

and sacrifice 150% Goldfind? no thanx.

i still LOL at any suggestion that places one of rarest and most expensive to trade for helms in the game on a merc. even more do i LOL when it's completely superfluous, unnecessary and leaves said merc without lifeleech.

while i'm sure it works just fine, i would rather use a 2os CoA for a pvp toon, safe in the knowledge that my summoners merc is perfectly happy with his Crown of Thieves.

LOL i have and LOL i will.


edit:

I'm thinking I'll go with Beast Berserker for fanaticism. (Anyone know for sure about if Heart of Wolverine charges from Oath would work together with this if you switch weapon after using the charge?)
-TG

yes, your heart of the wolverine will disappear if you switch from Oath to Beast.

Obedience seems like a very nice cheap option (if I can get a 5os Eth Polearm for cheap)...until I can afford Insight anyway.

im assuming your on Ladder. the runes for Insight are very cheap. just shove 'em in the first 4os elite polearm you find and use that until you find an ethereal 4os elite polearm (and just make another one)

i would only make Obedience in a nice eth 5os elite polearm.

There still doesn't seem to be much of a consensus on the helm and armor though...so, I really don't know what direction to take there. I'll mostly be key/Pit/Uber/Baal running and using Enigma myself, if that helps. Is Bramble any good?

i wouldn't use bramble myself.
if you don't mind the cold damage, then a Duress Armour is pretty nifty and very cheap.

Also, I agree CB is probably needed...seems like a big inconvenience to go rounding up Urdars. Also, cold or no cold...not a big deal to me. Rarely does a shattered body hamper what I'm doing too badly...just wait a sec for the next body to drop...unless the merc ends up be too Uber? and killing everything?

Duress has %Crushing Blow.

Meph makes a good point too. How much e-wealth do we really want to spend on a build (or merc) that can do everything almost naked already? At least until we're so e-wealthy it doesn't matter in, thanks for the input guys,
-TG

i spent exactly the following kitting out my summoner: 1x 45res, 4os Sacred Targe and 1x 4os Monarch. these two items got me 6 Lem last ladder, enough to make a Wealth armour, socket 2 into a 20res-all, 79% Goldinfind helm i'd happened to gamble, 1 in my Homonc and two in my Ali Baba.

the rest of my summoners gear i was able to scrape together from my Mules, received for phree from wealthy friends or found along the way.

 

[anilrobo]

Edite: Sorry I didn't see the above reply by Mephiztophelez. Apologies for redundancy.

Anyone know for sure about if Heart of Wolverine charges from Oath would work together with this if you switch weapon after using the charge?

If you remove the weapon that gave you the charges (e.g. switch weapons, or put it in inventory or stash), the charged product (e.g. Heart of Wolverine) will vanish instantly. They also vanish when you close a trade window because the game reequips everything. Charges cost a fortune to repair.

Summon shield doesn't seem to matter too much (Homun or Boneflame)...so, I'll maybe just roll with it and see what I can find first...and go with Homun for melee.

Homunculus gives +2 to all skills which mean +2 to summoning skills while you're summoning your army. Use either a boneflame (+3 skills) or a magical shield with +2 to all skills and +3 to skeleton mastery etc. Once your army is summoned, then switch to homunculus for resistances and other bonuses.

Is Bramble any good?

Not anymore. The thorns aura is cut down drasticallly in patch 1.11b, so just use enigma, or Trang Oul's armor for summoning, then use a resistance/life armor. Notice some cheap runewords are available that provide very good resistances.

 

[mephiztophelez]

Not anymore. The thorns aura is cut down drasticallly in patch 1.11b, so just use enigma, or Trang Oul's armor for summoning, then use a resistance/life armor. Notice some cheap runewords are available that provide very good resistances.

he's talking about a Merc armour.

please tell me your not suggesting Enigma on a MERCENARY?

i would die laughing if you are.

 

[anilrobo]

he's talking about a Merc armour.

please tell me your not suggesting Enigma on a MERCENARY?

i would die laughing if you are.

Lol

Sorry I thought he's talking about his own armor. I know of someone who makes his merc wear enigma - but that was because he got an extra enigma from someone for free and he didn't have anything better for his merc.

 

[BlargX]

Hey Sasja's meteorb sorceress guide puts engima as the second rated merc armor. It's not a bad merc armor at all.

 

[TopGun]

im assuming your on Ladder. the runes for Insight are very cheap. just shove 'em in the first 4os elite polearm you find and use that until you find an ethereal 4os elite polearm (and just make another one)

i would only make Obedience in a nice eth 5os elite polearm.

Sorry, I meant Infinity, not Insight. :embarassed:

Also, ya...Duress does seem pretty decent...I'm assuming this beats a Shaftstop then if I can put it in an eth armor? Should work until I'm able to afford the runes for anything else anyway.

As far as the shield...ya, I didn't realize you could get +2 skill and +3 summon tree. That sounds pretty good. I'm assuming you're talking about a shrunken head? How would you recommend getting one of these? Gambling (assuming they can be gambled), merchant (I don't remember seeing any for sale), getting hella-lucky and finding one, or trading for it (and if so, how much would one cost)?

Oh ya, and I was referring to Enigma for myself. I can see it being good for a Merc if it's for a MeteOrb because of the MF mostly...just let him get the final hit. I think there would be something better for a summon merc though...even for bosses, unless you want to dismiss all your summons to let him get the final blow. Also, for the areas I'm running, I almost don't even want any MF except for Baal.

Thanks,
-TG

 

[mephiztophelez]

Hey Sasja's meteorb sorceress guide puts engima as the second rated merc armor. It's not a bad merc armor at all.

+2skills, 45frw, 8%dr and a big str boost make a "decent" merc armour?

you are kidding me.

i'd rather shove a Duriels Shell on a merc. a Duress, Smoke, Gladiators Bane, shaftstop, rattlecage, Levi, CoH, fort, Skin of the flayed One even, would all be far better choices than Enigma for a merc. if i want MF on my merc, i'll give him a wealth or a skullders before contemplating an enigma.

enigma on a merc. thats just one step below enigma on a sorc for sheer, outright, unadulterated, duped-rune bloated stupidity.

this "sasja" of whom you speak is obviously a total noob.

As far as the shield...ya, I didn't realize you could get +2 skill and +3 summon tree. That sounds pretty good. I'm assuming you're talking about a shrunken head? How would you recommend getting one of these? Gambling (assuming they can be gambled), merchant (I don't remember seeing any for sale), getting hella-lucky and finding one, or trading for it (and if so, how much would one cost)?

i'd just build around a homonculus myself.

such a necro head (+3summon/+3 raise skelly/+3 summon res) would probably cost a bomb. i'd rather gamble circlets/blade talons/rings/ammy's with my gold.

if you come across one, by all means use it, but i wouldn't bank on ever seeing one.

 

[zuke]

Since I have played a mf fishymancer for a while now, I'll weigh in.

Merc armor: Treachery, Shaftstop, Duress, Skullder's are all good choices. Lately, I'm leaning more and more towards Treachery. (it's what my lvl89 merc currently wears).
Merc helm: Tal Rasha's helm for life leech or Guliame's Face depending on whether or not you need CB
Merc weapon: Low to mid lvl - triple shael hone sundan Endgame: I've used Obedience, it's nice for the sheer dmg, resists, and CB. Then I got rich enough to build an Infinity. Infinity, because of it's conviction aura is more helpful because it helps that first monster or two die faster which means you can CE faster. Insight is nice for Meditation aura, but it has no CB which is a limitation.

Necro shield: There really isn't a better choice than a Homunuculus. Socket it with a pdiamond and be done with it. Even better, get two so that you however you switch between main and backup weapons, you still are wearing it.

Necro weapon: AoKL for summoning obviously. I really like using a Blade of Ali Baba to walk around with. Summon with the arm, then switch to the blade for big magic find boost.

 

[MasterMynd]

Just wanted to add a couple possibilities.

Merc weapon: Reapers Toll - Ignore Target Defense, 33% chance to cast Decrepify, 33% Deadly Strike, 15% life leech and some cold damage, make it ideal for Boss killing. I added an IAS jewel to make the 7fps breakpoint on the Merc. Downside: it's lvl75 req so it's pretty much an endgame-only option.

As everyone else has already said, there is nothing better than AoKL for the "summonning weapon" switch.

For the "working weapon" switch, I find that a Spirit runeword in a Crystal Sword gives me enough mana (+98) that the Insight is not necessary (hence the Reapers Toll). Of course I chug blues more often, but that's usually after the battles (i.e. after all the monsters are dead and there's pots all over the place), not during.

As soon as I find a decent 5os polearm, I'm going to see if the raw massive damage of Obedience works any better than the Reapers.

 

[anilrobo]

enigma on a merc. thats just one step below enigma on a sorc for sheer, outright, unadulterated, duped-rune bloated stupidity.

It's not - different people have different needs depending on their setup. A sorceress who is unable to trade for skullder, or make a wealth runeword, if she finds a Jah and Ber runes from Hell WSK, obviously will make an enigma and start using it for mfing rightaway. The +teleport may seem redundant for her, but an enigma is the best thing she could do in that particular condition. Just an example.

this "sasja" of whom you speak is obviously a total noob.

Noob is a derogatory word. Please be kind with your words on these forums - I beg you.

such a necro head (+3summon/+3 raise skelly/+3 summon res) would probably cost a bomb. i'd rather gamble circlets/blade talons/rings/ammy's with my gold.

if you come across one, by all means use it, but i wouldn't bank on ever seeing one.

I've found three shrunken heads with +2 necro skills and +2 skeleton mastery so far, during three months of gameplay. I sold all the three for a pul rune each because I didn't consider ubering till then, but now I do. I'll hang on to my next one.