Patriarch The_NightKing, Melee Summon Necromancer

[maxicek]

When I chose the bases for my RW Grail, I always planned to use as many of the high end runewords as possible. Doom is often recommended as a Merc weapon, but I see no situation where I wouldn't rather be using Infinity or Reaper's Toll. Berserker axes are possibly interesting, but the durability is terrible. Then one night I was watching Game of Thrones and had an idea for a character that has a seemingly limitless army, whilst the cold froze the marrow in their enemies bones.

The_NightKing​

Patriarch The_NightKing, Melee Summon Necromancer​

The basic concept is to use normal attack with as much cold damage stacked on the character as possible. The army is obviously skeletons and revives, I wanted to supplement this with an Iron Golem. As the theme is cold, no Corpse Explosion allowed.

Skills​

Amplify Damage: 1/7
Dim Vision: 1/7
Weaken: 1/7
Terror: 1/7
Decrepify: 13/19

Teeth: 1/7
Bone Armor: 1/7
Corpse Explosion: 1/7
Bone Wall: 1/7
Bone Spear: 1/7
Bone Prison: 16/22

Skeleton Mastery: 20/29
Raise Skeleton: 20/29
Clay Golem: 1/10
Golem Mastery: 1/10
Raise Skeletal Mage: 1/10
Blood Golem: 1/10
Summon Resist: 1/10
Iron Golem: 1/10
Fire Golem: 0/0
Revive: 11/20

Max Skeletons obviously. I was originally thinking of maxing Revives too, but it became clear quite early on that I couldn't handle 20 revives, let alone 30. Mana ran out too quickly and it just wasn't needed. In retrospect 1-5 points would have been fine.
Decrepify was pumped for the duration. It got comfortable at level 10, I would have used the points spent in Revive to max this if I did it again. With the Holy Freeze and Decrepify almost every slows down to a crawl.
The rest of the points went into Bone Armour synergies.

Stats​

Name: The_NightKing
Class: Necromancer
Experience: 1075686725
Level: 85

Naked/Gear
Strength: 133/135
Dexterity: 35/71
Vitality: 322/322
Energy: 25/25
HP: 825/1042
Mana: 193/248
Stamina: 470/520
Defense: 8/1163
AR: 130/1224

Fire: 167/127/67
Cold: 156/116/56
Lightning: 186/146/86
Poison: 137/97/37

MF: 19 Block: 6
GF: 0 FR/W: 44
FHR: 22 IAS: 65
FCR: 0

Damage 1501-2350 at 13FPA
1224 AR. This gives a rough equivalent of 7K with Conviction

Equipment​

Weapon: 'Doom' Champion Axe

Switch Weapon: Arm of King Leoric
Switch Shield: Boneflame

Helm: Nightwing’s Veil
Armour: 1.07 Ancient Armour 2x Um, 2x Cold Facets
Belt: Snowclash
Boots: Rare
Gloves: Laying of Hands

Amulet: Metalgrid
Ring 1: Ravenfrost
Ring 2: 1.10a Bul Kathos Wedding Band

Inventory: 3x Summoning Skillers, Steel GCs, Resists



I went with a Champion Axe for the Doom base as I quite like the ridiculous size on the Necro. The rest of the equipment needed to look blue in game. Nightwings was an obvious choice for the helm with +skills and damage. I wanted a full armoured look, so I decided for a 1.07 four socket Armour, that meant shopping Anya. 1.07 Larzuk wasn't very helpful and this must have been my 5th attempt for 4os. Snowclash was really just for the style, the ctc Blizzard was just decoration.
I didn't have any Mana Leech on the gear, which was a bit of an oversight. It meant chugging a few more mana potions so wasn't a big deal, but it did interrupt the flow a bit. I could have probably dropped the BKWB for a dual leech ring, the loss of the skills wouldn't have made much difference.

Spoiler: Equipment Readouts

Doom
Superior Champion Axe
HelOhmUmLoCham
Two Hand Damage: 279 - 445
Durability: 29 of 50
Required Level: 67
Required Strength: 134
Required Dexterity: 48
Fingerprint: 0x6efe341b
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion
5% Chance to cast level 18 Volcano on striking
Level 12 Holy Freeze Aura When Equipped
+2 to All Skills
+45% Increased Attack Speed
374% Enhanced Damage
-54% to Enemy Cold Resistance
20% Deadly Strike
25% Chance of Open Wounds
Prevent Monster Heal
Freezes target +3
Requirements -20%
5 Sockets (5 used)
Socketed: Hel Rune
Socketed: Ohm Rune
Socketed: Um Rune
Socketed: Lo Rune
Socketed: Cham Rune

Nightwing's Veil
Spired Helm
Defense: 345
Durability: 40 of 40
Required Level: 67
Required Strength: 96
Fingerprint: 0xaeaeda86
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
100% Chance to cast level 37 Blizzard when you Die
+2 to All Skills
Adds 24 - 38 Cold Damage Over 0 Secs (3 Frames)
-4% to Enemy Cold Resistance
+18% to Cold Skill Damage
+116% Enhanced Defense
+18 to Dexterity
+9 Cold Absorb
Half Freeze Duration
Requirements -50%
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Rainbow Facet

Metalgrid
Amulet
Required Level: 81
Fingerprint: 0x41368115
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+450 to Attack Rating
+343 Defense
All Resistances +34
Level 22 Iron Golem (11/11 Charges)
Level 12 Iron Maiden (20/20 Charges)

Serpent's Ancient Armor of Nova Shield
Ancient Armor
Defense: 229
Durability: 58 of 60
Required Level: 49
Required Strength: 100
Fingerprint: 0x45f37e2b
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion
14% Chance to cast level 5 Nova when struck
100% Chance to cast level 43 Frost Nova when you Level-Up
100% Chance to cast level 37 Blizzard when you Die
Adds 48 - 76 Cold Damage Over 0 Secs (6 Frames)
-9% to Enemy Cold Resistance
+8% to Cold Skill Damage
+15 to Mana
All Resistances +30
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Um Rune
Socketed: Um Rune
Socketed: Rainbow Facet
Socketed: Rainbow Facet

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x9590463b
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+223 to Attack Rating
Adds 15 - 45 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)
+18 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
Cold Absorb 20%
Cannot Be Frozen

Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band
Ring
Required Level: 58
Fingerprint: 0xd37a79fe
Item Level: 75
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
5% Life stolen per hit
+42 to Life (Based on Character Level)
+50 Maximum Stamina

Snowclash
Battle Belt
Defense: 114
Durability: 17 of 18
Required Level: 42
Required Strength: 88
Fingerprint: 0x824952cd
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 16 Blizzard when struck
Adds 13 - 21 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
+2 to Chilling Armor (Sorceress Only)
+2 to Blizzard (Sorceress Only)
+3 to Glacial Spike (Sorceress Only)
+167% Enhanced Defense
+15% to Maximum Cold Resist
+15 Cold Absorb

Beast Blazer
Greaves
Defense: 12
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Level: 29
Required Strength: 70
Fingerprint: 0xb982cc60
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Chance to cast level 3 Nova when struck
+30% Faster Run/Walk
Cold Resist +39%
Lightning Resist +5%
Poison Resist +20%
19% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Laying of Hands
Bramble Mitts
Defense: 86
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0x3f24f816
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Chance to cast level 3 Holy Bolt on striking
+20% Increased Attack Speed
+350% Damage to Demons
+25 Defense
Fire Resist +50%

Arm of King Leoric
Tomb Wand
One Hand Damage: 10 - 22
Durability: 15 of 15
Required Level: 36
Required Strength: 25
Fingerprint: 0xf770a43f
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 10 Bone Spirit when struck
10% Chance to cast level 2 Bone Prison when struck
+2 to Summoning Skills (Necromancer Only)
+2 to Poison and Bone Skills (Necromancer Only)
+10% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to Raise Skeletal Mage (Necromancer Only)
+2 to Terror (Necromancer Only)
+3 to Raise Skeleton (Necromancer Only)
+3 to Skeleton Mastery (Necromancer Only)
+106 to Mana (Based on Character Level)

Boneflame
Succubus Skull
Defense: 360
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 72
Required Strength: 95
Fingerprint: 0xdf6b1dcf
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
15% Chance to cast level 3 Terror when struck
+3 to Necromancer Skill Levels
+20% Faster Run/Walk
+145% Enhanced Defense
All Resistances +28

Graverobber's Grand Charm of Inertia
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xab35019d
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Summoning Skills (Necromancer Only)
+7% Faster Run/Walk

Graverobber's Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x17ec0027
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Summoning Skills (Necromancer Only)
+25 to Life

Graverobber's Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 53
Fingerprint: 0x366afc13
Item Level: 72
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Summoning Skills (Necromancer Only)
+31 to Life

Shimmering Grand Charm of Inertia
Grand Charm
Required Level: 27
Fingerprint: 0x30bfd0e0
Item Level: 93
Version: Expansion
+7% Faster Run/Walk
All Resistances +18

Shimmering Grand Charm of Balance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 27
Fingerprint: 0x1bfdbf23
Item Level: 63
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+12% Faster Hit Recovery
All Resistances +15

Amber Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0xd4cbe70
Item Level: 67
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+12 to Life
Lightning Resist +11%

Amber Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x7e45434a
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+12 to Life
Lightning Resist +10%

Amber Small Charm of Balance
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0xcb5d6b13
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+5% Faster Hit Recovery
Lightning Resist +11%

Boreal Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 58
Fingerprint: 0x55467730
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 7 - 10 Cold Damage Over 1 Secs (25 Frames)
+12 to Life

Boreal Small Charm of Frost
Small Charm
Required Level: 58
Fingerprint: 0xe9150eb2
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 6 - 14 Cold Damage Over 2 Secs (50 Frames)

Boreal Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 58
Fingerprint: 0x2d83f757
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 7 - 10 Cold Damage Over 1 Secs (25 Frames)
+19 to Life

Steel Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 41
Fingerprint: 0x750f4903
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+120 to Attack Rating
+30 to Life

Steel Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 53
Fingerprint: 0x76ef9e72
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+121 to Attack Rating
+34 to Life

Amber Small Charm of Balance
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x752f7764
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+5% Faster Hit Recovery
Lightning Resist +10%

Amber Small Charm of the Icicle
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x502b289a
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 2 - 3 Cold Damage Over 1 Secs (25 Frames)
Lightning Resist +11%

Amber Small Charm of Strength
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x2900e0c7
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Strength
Lightning Resist +11%

Mercenary​

A2 NM Offensive 'Might'
Weapon: 'Infinity' Thresher
Helm: Tal Rasha's HC
Armour: Ethereal 'Fortitude' Kraken Shell

Spoiler: Mercenary

Fortitude
Kraken Shell
ElSolDolLo
Defense: 3435
Durability: 25 of 25
Required Level: 61
Required Strength: 164
Fingerprint: 0xd5a80032
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
20% Chance to cast level 15 Chilling Armor when struck
+25% Faster Cast Rate
300% Enhanced Damage
+200% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
+95 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Replenish Life +7
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
All Resistances +29
Damage Reduced by 7
12% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
+1 to Light Radius
Ethereal
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: El Rune
Socketed: Sol Rune
Socketed: Dol Rune
Socketed: Lo Rune

Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest
Death Mask
Defense: 114
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 66
Required Strength: 55
Fingerprint: 0x57f84a09
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Faster Hit Recovery
10% Mana stolen per hit
10% Life stolen per hit
+45 Defense
+60 to Life
+30 to Mana
All Resistances +15
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Shael Rune

Infinity
Thresher
BerMalBerIst
Two Hand Damage: 71 - 833
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 142
Required Dexterity: 108
Fingerprint: 0x2c532938
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
50% Chance to cast level 20 Chain Lightning when you Kill an Enemy
Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped
+35% Faster Run/Walk
295% Enhanced Damage
-53% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Prevent Monster Heal
+42 to Vitality (Based on Character Level)
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Level 21 Cyclone Armor (30/30 Charges)
Ethereal
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Ber Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Ber Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune

Finds​

Ethereal Vampire Gaze, 20% DR. Can't remember where I found it though.

Spoiler

Vampire Gaze
Grim Helm
Defense: 378
Durability: 21 of 21
Required Level: 41
Required Strength: 48
Fingerprint: 0x89cb0d36
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Unidentified
Adds 6 - 22 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)
6% Mana stolen per hit
7% Life stolen per hit
+100% Enhanced Defense
15% Slower Stamina Drain
Damage Reduced by 20%
Magic Damage Reduced by 10
Ethereal

Gameplay​

It worked out pretty much as expected really. Skeletons provide great crowd control and the Holy Freeze and Decrepify slowed everything down to a crawl. I deliberately avoided using CtA and he felt pretty safe without it. Damage output was fine on /players3 throughout.

I don't think I ever managed to get all 20 Revives up, especially as I didn't really have enough mana - At 45 mana per revive, 20 revives would need a mana pool of 900. I could manage 5 with a full bulb, but drinking a potion whilst you revive helps. With 11 Skeletons they were not really needed earlier in Hell, but I used them later in the game.

Iron Golem I used periodically but had lots of problems keeping him alive. I tried a few Windhammers, but they died really quickly. Doombringer worked OK due to the life leech. Hopefully Iron Golem will be more robust with more points in, as my next Necro is planned to be an Iron Golem-mancer.

Overall the theme worked fairly well, although I did forget about the ctc on Doom. Volcanoes going off really detracted from the aesthetics, shame it wasn't ctc Blizzard of Frost Nova.

 

[ffs]

Very cool char, literally.

Reminds me of the Necro in my Zod Sept who was also a summoner participating in the melee action, but that guy focused more on physical damage with eth Zod'ed Ribcracker and Golem Mastery to go with a Beast Iron Golem. His 11 FPA weren't exactly fast either, but still seemed to make a difference when he hit things.

 

[saracen85]

Congrats! Nice theme!

So.. Were you hyped up theorycrafting and playing him in the early to mid stages of the game only to be disappointed and left unfulfilled at the end?

 

[Pb_pal]

Awesome! Love the theme, you did a great job pulling it off.

I echo your sentiments re: Revives. I really wish the timer was longer or the cost was a bit lower. Having done a couple Revive-based builds myself I know all too well it becomes a task all on its own just maintaining the herd.

Also, Iron Golem definitely gets stronger if you invest in him. Golem Mastery and whichever synergy gives life to him are your friends.

Great work!

 

[Miron]

Congrats! Very interesting concept and glad it worked out as planned. For some reason when I read the intro I couldn't stop thinking about that sword with CtC FOrb as fitting the theme.

Looking forward to read the Golemancer thread.

 

[Babyhell]

S...o.... g...r...e...a...t...

I... l...o...v...e... i...t...

 

[Klonki]

Congratz!! interesting build!

 

[teddeeboy]

I love the theme, the layout, the look (and the series). Some rare javelins with cold damage to incorporate when the Doom for play even in early Hell, late NM for the video promo's dream.

Congrats.

 

[maxicek]

Thanks for the comments everyone

@saracen85 After so many characters I kind of know how they will play as I plan them. He was a bit slow without CE, but was very comfortable. I kind of like the challenge of different attacks for different situations, he felt a bit one dimensional.

@Miron @Pb_pal I’m quite looking forward to the golem-mancer, he will be next after the MFO. Definitely not going to try and keep a Pride IG alive though.

@teddeeboy I forgot about the ice javelin thing! Would have been cool to incorporate that.