Summoning Necro tips

[Captain_Straydum]

Summoning Necro tips

Im making a summoning necro, and already I'm having problems with getting summons up nice and easy, after using the Bloody moor 'trick' I wondered, how hard is it to kill something in Act1 hell mode w/o summons? Because most untwinked necros (Like myself) Dont have any godly items to give boosts to fast monster killers! Being in multiplayer helps but, how do u kill things solo?
Also, is it worth it to drop one point into corpse explosion? Just incase you have max skeletons, and there are a few xtra corpses lying around and your buddies need some help? (Noob question follows) Doesn't AMP dmg make Corpse explosion do more dmg? I heard it was like 50% fire, and 50% phys..
Thanks:thumbsup:
-Straydum

 

[Bigru]

depending on your gear i recomend maxind corpse explosion, and yes amp does make CE better, its half fire/phys

 

[Captain_Straydum]

Any tips on how to kill act1 hell mode monsters without minions or other tree spells?

 

[Bigru]

merc. curse.

 

[krucker13]

If your having major problems go to pindles garden. Always lotsa corpses there to raise for free.

And ce with amp is a huge help for a summoners killing speed. Hope this helps.

-krucker-

 

[Myrakh-2]

For my own Skelemancer, CE does most of the killing; the skellies only provide the corpses to get it started.

My merc provides the corpses to get the army started.

 

[waflob]

Any tips on how to kill act1 hell mode monsters without minions or other tree spells?

By the time you reach hell, you should have one point in each of the curses tree. You will need them !!

What you can do is to cast attract on one monster and let your merc and the other monsters kill the first one. After that, it's CE for a few more corpses and then you can start raising skellies.

I usually start unlucky and run into a pack on minions with an aura enchanted boss, but I know that it's personal and only happens to me )

DelBoy

 

[Myrakh-2]

I usually start unlucky and run into a pack on minions with an aura enchanted boss, but I know that it's personal and only happens to me )

My merc isn't wearing uber gear (ariocs, crown of thieves and a random archon plate I found ages ago), but he has absolutely no problems killing stuff on his own. Bosses included. Sometimes I choose to decrep them instead of using amp, though.

I generally get my army "in the field" when I'm going somewhere in A1 or A2, although in larger games I tend to only go to Cold Plains to get the army, before going anywhere else. Agaiin, depending on my plans and what I find in Cold Plains (fallen camp or just small packs) I might not get all my skellies, and grab the missing ones in the field.

 

[Peacrusher]

Your merc should be able to kill the first monster and from then on you should have no problem raising your army. I tend to cast gumby at a pack of monsters... they attack him and my merc can easily nail one or two quickly for the rest of my army to be raised.

Equip your merc with an item that has crushing blow. It really speeds up the merc killing process.

If your hurting for decent (not uber) +skill items I suggest going back and mfing in nm with baal and meph.... you'll find useful things and a few tradeables too.

 

[RetroStar]

1. Let merc kill the first monster.
2. CE and blow the thing up which will kill some other ones.
3. Repeat 2 if needed
4. Get some skelly
5. and so forth

btw. 800th post :winner: :buddies: :yep: :clap:

 

[Wambat]

Waflob is right. Curses are a major reason why necs are so successful untwinked. Using attract, DV, and confuse you can usually make your first kills without fear of reprisal; remember that attract is the only stackable curse. Hit a group with DV, then attract someone in the middle or rear, then amp the whole group. They will immediately set upon the hapless victim, and your merc can set upon their hapless backs.

As for CE I really think people have a habit of going overboard with this skill. One point +skill items is all I have ever needed, even with just a few (I currently have 6) +skills the radius on CE is plenty. Guys get overly excited about filling up the whole screen and beyond with CE, but there aren’t too many places, particularly mf places, where there wont be obstacles in the way to negate your huge CE radius; that means wasted skill points. Also CE becomes far less potent in multiplayer games with amp in place two corpses are usually enough to kill everything in the radius, but you multiply that number for every extra player in the game, and this is the case whether you are playing norm, nm, or hell! By the time you get 8 players in a game you need 10-16 corpses to be sure of killing anything, and if you have that many corpses you probably don’t need CE in the first place. My point is 19 skill points are better served almost anywhere.

Also, as far as your merc is concerned, while Doom is the holy grail, a good CB polearm, preferably with some ias, is essential merc equipment, and pretty easy to find or trade for. Even once you acquire a Doom you will still want to switch back to the CB weapon for bosses, and for your initial kills; keep one in your cube for easy access.

My merc isn't wearing uber gear (ariocs, crown of thieves and a random archon plate I found ages ago), but he has absolutely no problems killing stuff on his own. Bosses included.

I cannot overemphasise the importance of leveling your merc for hell. If you just try to run though hell with a level 50 might merc you will spend as much time resurecting him as you will fighting monsters, and your minions' killing power will suffer greatly. Having your merc at an apropiately high level is more important than his having godly items: A low level merc with godly items will still be slaughtered in hell; a high level merc with average items will last much longer.

 

[waflob]

Also CE becomes far less potent in multiplayer games with amp in place two corpses are usually enough to kill everything in the radius, but you multiply that number for every extra player in the game, and this is the case whether you are playing norm, nm, or hell! By the time you get 8 players in a game you need 10-16 corpses to be sure of killing anything

I understood this differently. I think CE scales nicely, as it does 60-100%. If the monsters have more life due to multi-players, then surely the CE does more damage when they go 'pop'.

If I've got this completely wrong, I'd appreciate being corrected.

DelBoy

 

[philmar]

i dunno how it works exactly but wambat is correct, it does get A LOT less potent in multiplayer games - it would simply be too powerfull any other way.

 

[Mad Mantis]

I understood this differently. I think CE scales nicely, as it does 60-100%. If the monsters have more life due to multi-players, then surely the CE does more damage when they go 'pop'.

The problem is that CE doesn't scale with more players in the game. Monsters get a boost to their base amount of hitpoints. The more players in the game, the higher the boost.
However CE is based on the base amount of hp's and not the amount of hp's after the bonus. So with more players in the game the spell becomes weaker.

 

[waflob]

The problem is that CE doesn't scale with more players in the game. Monsters get a boost to their base amount of hitpoints. The more players in the game, the higher the boost.
However CE is based on the base amount of hp's and not the amount of hp's after the bonus. So with more players in the game the spell becomes weaker.

Many thanks for the information - learned something new today ...

DelBoy

 

[Myrakh-2]

Actually, Corpse Explosion scales with the number of players LIKE EVERY OTHER SKILL IN THE GAME.

I don't really understand the whole fuzz --- corpse explosion doesn't do more damage as the number of players goes up. Why is that bad? Frozen orb doesn't do more damage. Blessed hammer doesn't do more damage. Lightning traps don't do more damage. Skellies don't do more damage. Strafe doesn't do more damage. Whirlwind doesn't do more damage. Dragon tail doesn't do more damage. <insert your favorite skill here> doesn't do more damage.

And no, Corpse Explosion does not get weaker. The monsters get stronger.

 

[Mad Mantis]

I don't really understand the whole fuzz

Since the damage of this spell depends on the life of monsters I guess a lot of people do expect it to scale with the number of players. That is why there is always a little misunderstanding.

Anybody remember when it did scale?

 

[Kyo]

I could be wrong but did it not scale back in 1.08 or somewhere around that time?

btw fuzz = fuss?

 

[Wambat]

I am glad to finality see someone supporting my position on CE. People seem to think that, just because i advise that CE not be max, I do not value the skill. As I indicated previously: I use this skill! This is a very useful skill, and is certainly worth having. This skill does not get enough of a benefit in enough situations from 20 points to warrant the investment; this doesn't make it a bad skill. Lots of skills are great with just 1 point of investment.

corpse explosion doesn't do more damage as the number of players goes up. Why is that bad? Frozen orb doesn't do more damage...etc...

This is very true, and I have seen the argument before, probably by you. But, let us not forget, many of the skills Myrakh-2 listed can be pumped up enough to kill many monsters with one or two hits, even in full games. Moreover, they will do the same awesome damage in norm, nm and hell. CE will never kill monsters with one hit in any multi-player game in either norm, nm or hell. This is why we put CE in a separate class from these skills.

 

[GenXCub]

CE hasn't scaled with monster HP since 1.03. 1.03 (well before LoD) was considered the Necro Nirvana. Every build had CE back then. You just had Iron Maiden, a Blood Golem and CE, and you walked through the game like nothing happened.