Summon Necro having trouble killing Diablo

[FQVBSina]

He uses that AOE flame attack twice and all skeletons would die. Moreover, since I don't have teleport, we would engage at the bridge area and minions can't surround Diablo. How can I either lure Diablo completely out or somehow get my minions inside the pentagon?

I am level 28, 14 pts in skeleton, 3 in skeleton mastery, 4 in skeleton mage, and 1 point everywhere else but I don't have Decrepify. I have already used the skill reset...

Edit: I managed to slowly kill Diablo by making a portal nearby him and go to other maps to "recruit" minions. I just want to know why was it so hard and based on this, what should I do about Act V boss?

 

[krischan]

It's my experience as well that normal Diablo is the toughest act boss along a summon necro's way through the game. I usually need 3 full sets of minions to defeat him.

Normal Diablo is extra tough on normal mode because a necro usually doesn't have decrepify at the time he's encountered. That curse usually prevents him from using his special attacks as often as he normally would. Also, his breath starts right at his position while it starts a bit away from it ni nightmare and hell mode, so melee characters are rather safe.

By the way, did you forget to spend a point on summon resist? I would also invest a point into clay golem. It slows enemies when striking them or when being struck.

In act 5, you will have decrepify and Baal will probably be no problem..

 

[FQVBSina]

It's my experience as well that normal Diablo is the toughest act boss along a summon necro's way through the game. I usually need 3 full sets of minions to defeat him.

Normal Diablo is extra tough on normal mode because a necro usually doesn't have decrepify at the time he's encountered. That curse usually prevents him from using his special attacks as often as he normally would. Also, his breath starts right at his position while it starts a bit away from it ni nightmare and hell mode, so melee characters are rather safe.

By the way, did you forget to spend a point on summon resist? I would also invest a point into clay golem. It slows enemies when striking them or when being struck.

In act 5, you will have decrepify and Baal will probably be no problem..

Thank you! I do have summon resist, 3 points in fact due to weapon bonus. Should I be using clay golem instead of iron then?

 

[krischan]

Yes. I don't think that a summon necro with all his skeletons and a merc (act 2 nightmare offensive) needs what an iron golem can offer. You can make pretty good iron golems out of certain stuff, but it's a bit expensive. A merc costs 50k to resurrect and a valkyrie just a few mana points. An iron golem would be more useful if you had the option to re-create it as it was before in case it died.

A clay golem from a 1 point investment will die rather often, but that's not a problem because re-summoning it doesn't cost much mana... and if it's killed by being struck, it served its purpose as well

 

[FQVBSina]

Yes. I don't think that a summon necro with all his skeletons and a merc (act 2 nightmare offensive) needs what an iron golem can offer. You can make pretty good iron golems out of certain stuff, but it's a bit expensive. A merc costs 50k to resurrect and a valkyrie just a few mana points. An iron golem would be more useful if you had the option to re-create it as it was before in case it died.

A clay golem from a 1 point investment will die rather often, but that's not a problem because re-summoning it doesn't cost much mana... and if it's killed by being struck, it served its purpose as well

Cool. Thanks. Now I have Decrepify, do I still need Amplify Damage? It seems Decrepify can replace many of the curses.

 

[krischan]

Amp has a greater duration and radius and it's better in everyday situations. Decrep is often better against tough enemies coming in small amounts.

Amp and decrep are must-have curses for a summon necro. Terror, confuse, attract and dim vision are useful, too. If you intend to use mages, you certainy want to have lower resist as well. As lower resist and attract need all the other curses as prerequisites, it's a good idea to put one point into each curse... but no more than that.

 

[Noodle]

I wouldn't put any additional points in Skeleton Mage until you're level 80 or so, and have run out of actually useful skills in which to sink your points. Amplify Damage will be enough to break the vast majority of Physical Immunes you'll run into anytime soon, and maximizing Corpse Explosion will be your best group killer. A mercenary with some Crushing Blow gear will be your best boss killer - think Goblin Toe for boots, or Guillaume's Face for a helmet.