DaggerMancer and the Mad Mantis Guide

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drinkturps

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DaggerMancer and the Mad Mantis Guide

I'm embarking on a daggermancer after looking at the section in Mad Mantis's guide as it looks like a very fun char to play.

In his guide it lists a potential daggermancers skills as....

Curses
Amplify Damage = 1
Dim Vision = 13
Weaken = 1
Iron Maiden = 1
Terror = 1
Life Tap = 1
Decrepify = 8
Lower Resist = 1

Poison & Bone
Teeth = 1
Bone Armor = 1
Poison Dagger = 20
Corpse Explosion = 1
Bone Wall = 10
Poison Explosion = 10
Poison Nova = 20

Summoning
Clay Golem = 5
Golem Mastery = 1
Summon Resist = 1

I'm no expert in this field by any means and this appears to be the only source of a daggermancer guide I can locate. I do appreciate that this necro can be played in many different forms. Personally, I was going to choose my untwinked hardcore necro (I'll be slow and careful!) to eventually have 20 to all Poison skills, a high level Gumby and bone prison. Getting later on a Holy Freeze merc to slow things down nicely in Nmare. Maxing block, Str as needed, Vita rest.

I was wondering whether the more experienced of you out there have any variations on how you distributed your skill points and what degree of success you have had with them.

I would also like some questions answered if you may....

Can I attack a monster that is inside a bone prison with a dagger or is a longer poking stick required?
Does Dim Vision need to be so high?
Is it worth adding more than 1 point to Lower Resist?

My 'plan' was to cast lower resist on the baddies, hit 'em with a Poison Nova or two. Decrep them (if needed) and then hit them with a bone prison before charging in with my dagger, whilst Dim Visioning any ranged attackers.

Is my plan a load of cobblers? Would a bone wall be more advisable?

I would really appreciate any advice.

Thanks
 
I think you need a longer weapon to hit through prison, not positive though. Extra points in dv aren't required imo but they do help the raidus a good bit which is very sexy. Extra points in lower resist are a waste because of the mega diminishing returns.
 
The radius and the duration for DV are seriously nerfed in Hell. I find about 10 pts in here (including +skills) is enough so that you don't have to recast it with annoying frequency.
 
drinkturps said:
I was wondering whether the more experienced of you out there have any variations on how you distributed your skill points and what degree of success you have had with them.
Click to expand...

You can add a lot of variation. My "template" was made with a rather poor Necro in mind. This means that people will not need a lot of +skills to make all skills viable. You can of course max all Poison synergies and distribute things differently. You could use Attract instead of DV for example.




drinkturps said:
Can I attack a monster that is inside a bone prison with a dagger or is a longer poking stick required?
Does Dim Vision need to be so high?
Is it worth adding more than 1 point to Lower Resist?
Click to expand...

You can attack over a Prison. I have not tested it fully, but I believe a range 3 weapon is required.
As for LR, Diminishing returns kick in hard after level 7. You can probably reach that with +skills, but feel free to raise the skill by another point or two.




drinkturps said:
My 'plan' was to cast lower resist on the baddies, hit 'em with a Poison Nova or two. Decrep them (if needed) and then hit them with a bone prison before charging in with my dagger, whilst Dim Visioning any ranged attackers.
Click to expand...

Depending on the outcome of my tests, I would say that BP-ing baddies would not be a very good idea. Just place a wall in front of ranged attackers and let Holy Freeze and Decrep work their magic on the melee targets you engage.
 
Thanks for the advice people and the guide Mantis. I'll try like you suggest with the bone wall option and practice a bit with it's strategic placement. I'll keep Lower Resist at 1, get Dim Vision and Decrep to acceptable levels for duration.

I'm currently at Level 18 filling out the pre-requisites on the curses more than anything. I'm totally untwinked and making sure that my merc keeps up with me.

Any recommendations on skill placement in the crucial early (pre level 30) stages? I'm now thinking about alternating between bone wall and poison dagger (with pre-reqs where necessary) until I get to Level 30 when it's poison nova all the way.

I must say I am having a lot of fun with a rather overlooked build and once again thank you.
 
drinkturps said:
Any recommendations on skill placement in the crucial early (pre level 30) stages? I'm now thinking about alternating between bone wall and poison dagger (with pre-reqs where necessary) until I get to Level 30 when it's poison nova all the way.
Click to expand...

Only pump Wall when you find that your BA gets smashed too easily. You should be playing a hit and run character, so the damage is more important than safety.
 
I've got a daggermancer who uses a Fleshripper. He's level 70ish and can seriously tank in hell, rather funny...(go go max block and high% bone armor)

He has 75% crushing blow, 83% OW (iirc) a pretty good % of DS. I was thinking of rebuilding him. I've found the most useful +skill grand charm for him are actually CURSE grand charms, as your VERY reliant on your mojo with this build.

You'll L:love:VE Lifetap

Just thought i'd add in my .02 ;)
 
Once again thanks for the tips! I'm up to Level 21 now (I don't get too much time to play) but he's doing ok. I did semi-twink my merc with a nice pike though (I almost feel guilty).

I love the run in, stab 'em, run out aspect. One day I'll get a poison nova.

The BA is holding out ok with 3 points in Bone Wall so I'll continue to get Poison dagger pumped. I'm finding poison explosion more fun than corpse explosion. It's rather effective in the early game.

It's not a cookie cutter by any means but I am having FUN!

Cheers all.
 
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