I'm fresh to the style of the Necro, the only class I don't play end game in single player and I'm hoping to add him to my main rotation of characters I play. Now, I'm wondering first of all, what is the #1 skill necromancer build for high players settings(7)? and are they viable to clear areas like Chaos Sanc + Baal keeping in mind of high players settings in a respectable amount of time?
If so, here's a couple more questions. I recently ran into a Ber rune and am deciding to build a Beast or CoH(sorc/java), question is, how much of a boost does Beast give overall to the Necro? It being SP I have very limited runes, I have to be sure Beast is worth it, same question for the RW Pride, is the price worth the Conc aura, I need someone to tell me, before I toss 90% of my rune stash!!
I am willing to throw in these high runes to make my Necro be top tier up with the other characters, only if the Necro is capable. Pretty much I'm asking if the Necro's performance will NOT let me down given I throw in these runes.
As for gear I was thinking(feel free to suggest otherwise)
Shako Um'd, Hoto, BP Enigma, 3/3/3 Darkforce Um'd, Arachs, 2x SoJ}
but I'm not sure about the boots, and gloves?|||Before you burn any runes on the character, I'd suggest making a necro and trying out builds to see what you like. Summoners can clear just about everywhere. Sorc/Javazon might be faster but the necro is much safer imo. Poisonmancers do well, and their kill speed really ramps up if you can get Death's Web.
Your gear looks fine. I'd use Homunculus because I like max block, but that's preference. For gloves, Trang's give FCR and +2 to curses. Boots are pretty open, Waterwalk, Sandstorm Trek, Aldur's, Marrowwalk, and Silkweave all work.
I'm sure there has been discussion before about how effective Beast and Pride are on a summoner so I suggest you do some searching to find some of those debates.|||Ah, looks like you have begun your Necro research
I will throw a chunk of advice, then.For high /players settings, summoners are the best. I have played a poisonmancer, and it just does not get the job done very well on high settings in my opinion. I can not speak for bone necros. Now, for summoner specific gear..
Shield - That Darkforce is indeed a nice find, but I am afraid it should be left as an off-hand shield that you can switch to when summoning skeletons. To be honest, I think Homunculus is the best choice if you are going max block, and a Spirit Monarch is the best if you are going max vitality. And I personally prefer max block because it allows me to teleport aggressively and take down enemies faster. In any case, an Um in a Darkforce may be a little over the top, perhaps use a Perfect Diamond instead.
If you go max block with Homunculus, then either socket it with PDiamond or Um depending on how rich you are feeling.
Main Weapon - You stated you are interested in excelling at high player settings. Therefore, I would recommend using Beast. Beast is the better choice for /players 7-8 because the DPS of your merc and army gets the job done more than Corpse Explosion on such settings. For /players 1-3, HotO would be better because it aids your CE ability more and makes you more mobile. Know that CE is the main killer on lower players settings.
Off-hand Weapon - Arm of King Leoric to be honest. Switch to it when raising skeletons. Some people will suggest Call to Arms, but that is not really necessary because your skeleton warriors will be pretty hardy regardless. Pair up AoKL with your Darkforce and you will have a nice skeleton buff setup.
Armor - Enigma BP is fine. If you go with a base armor with more defense, you may have to dump more points into STR. Or you can exploit the strength bug like me
.Helm- Shako. Either Um it or stick a PTopaz in it.
Belt - Arachnid Mesh
Amulet - Mara's is the best unique choice, but there are some good magic and rare ones you can possibly get. I am using +30 Mara's and will probably never use anything else.
Rings - SoJs are awesome, but you may want to switch one out for Wisp Projector or a MF/Resist ring. Depends on your needs.
Gloves - Since you mentioned Enigma, go with Trang's Claws or Magefists. They both add 20 FCR. Decide if you want skill bonuses to Curses or CE, and choose which gloves accordingly. If you don't have Enigma on your summoner, use Chance Guards so you can earn more gold to pay for Teleport charges when using Naj's Puzzler as an off-hand teleportation item.
Boots - As Doctor Clock said, boots are really open to preference. I prefer the Sandstorm Treks because it has 20 FHR, and none of your other gear grants you FHR. That 20 FHR alone can make your hit recovery 3 frames faster. The Sandstorm Treks also has some nice STR, VIT, and faster run/walk.
THE MERC
This is where the debate really heats up. I am afraid I will cause a storm of debate by offering a single "Best Merc Setup" to you. In any case, I feel bold enough to suggest one thing--use the Infinity runeword in an eth Giant Thresher or Great Poleaxe. It has good Enhanced Damage, good CB, and it has the Conviction Aura. Conviction can allow your merc and skeleton warriors to hit more often, and it increases the damage of your cold/lightening/fire mages. Lastly, it increases the fire damage component of Corpse Explosion. Overall, it provides a higher and more diversified DPS for your summoner.
This may seem to be a silly choice compared to Pride, but Pride just does not give enough damage to your merc. It has no Enhanced Damage of its own which is plain awful, and it lacks CB. Its Concentration aura, 20% Deadly Strike, and double digit ED against demons does not make up for this.
For armor and helm, consider Guilliames + eth CoH or Andy's + eth Fortitude. Both are great setups, but I personally would like to have the former. Remember, your merc should have damage, CB, life leech, and 75 resistances. Damage Reduction and FHR are also nice to have (Guilliames + CoH provides that
).|||Beast is good but imo if youre not rich, then save ber rune for something else. Your skel dmg will be good enough especially with enigma as you will be able to stack skellies. If you are going to use ce anyway then they there wont be any enemies left on screen after a few clicksAlready been said i think but imo gloves - trang, boots - marrowwalk are nec boots afterall|||Beast is pretty good but infinity is a killer weapon id recommend save the ber for that, btw it does more dps in an eth CV and is easier to find|||Quote:
Beast is pretty good but infinity is a killer weapon id recommend save the ber for that...
Agreed, Infinity should have priority above Beast. But Divxman said he has an Infinity already so that is not an issue.
Quote:
...btw it[Infinity] does more dps in an eth CV and is easier to find
Yes, number crunching time! I am bored so this is a pleasure. I decided to pull up the Diablo 2 wiki, Arreat Summit, and the IAS Calculator to test this claim. Note that the Diablo 2 wiki is incorrect where its says the Colossus Voulge has a weapon speed of 0--it is actually 10 according to both Arreat Summit and the IAS Calc.
Let us assume an Act 2 merc equipped with an Infinity, Guilliame's Face socketed with 15% IAS jewel, and Chains of Honor. His total IAS is 15%. Using the the IAS Calc., I got the following values for the three weapons. I did not use Ethereal damage values because they are simply scaled and are therefore irrelevant. Note that the average damage per frame does not account for missed attacks (missing is irrelevant), and floating point values are rounded to nearest first decimal place:
Code:
Weapon Name FPA Avg. Damage per Hit Avg. Damage per Frame
Colossus Voulge 7 91 13
Great Poleaxe 6.5 86.5 13.3
Giant Thresher 6 77 12.8
Bear in mind that Crushing Blow damage over time is independently benefited by lower FPA, and that can not be accounted for with these damage calculations. That means Great Poleaxe beats out Colossus Voulge outright, and it can still be argued that Giant Thresher is the better choice because it allows you to deal out Crushing Blows more quickly.
However, let's not end it here. Next, I factored in the necromancer holding a Beast runeword. As a /players 8 fan, I am personally interested in these results. Beast has a level 9 Fanaticism aura, and the IAS Calc. allows us factor it in nicely. Here is the table with the Beast-affected FPA values:
Code:
Weapon Name FPA Avg. Damage per Hit Avg. Damage per Frame
Colossus Voulge 5.5 91 16.5
Great Poleaxe 5 86.5 17.3
Giant Thresher 5 77 15.4
With Beast equipped on the necromancer, Great Poleaxe once again beats Colossus Voulge. However, Giant Thresher loses ground here; it does not provide faster FPA than Great Poleaxe, and it still has a lower average damage per frame. Therefore, Great Poleaxe is undoubtedly the better weapon in this case.
Conclusion: When choosing an Infinity base weapon for a skelemancer merc wearing Guilliame's Helm with a IAS jewel and Chains of Honor, Colossus Voulge is not the best for two reasons. First, its average damage per frame is not the best. Second, it is a slow weapon which means it will provide fewer Crushing Blows over a period of time.
As for Great Poleaxe vs. Giant Thresher, it depends. Without Beast, Giant Thresher is arguably better because it can provide more Crushing Blows than Great Poleaxe. But with Beast equipped, Great Poleaxe maintains better damage per frame and it has the same FPA which surely makes it the better choice.
Zerk is right about Colossus Voulges being easier to find, and it is up to the player to choose convenience or superiority.
Note that this conclusion is only relevant to the mentioned gear setup. I am not interested other setups such as Infinity + Andy's + Fortitude, so someone else can do it if they wish. Also, I invite anyone to point out any mistakes or shortcomings of this number crunch--I am human after all.|||Another rather cheap option is Oath with lvl 16 heart of the wolverine charges.|||Quote:
Agreed, Infinity should have priority above Beast. But Divxman said he has an Infinity already so that is not an issue.
Yes, number crunching time! I am bored so this is a pleasure. I decided to pull up the Diablo 2 wiki, Arreat Summit, and the IAS Calculator to test this claim. Note that the Diablo 2 wiki is incorrect where its says the Colossus Voulge has a weapon speed of 0--it is actually 10 according to both Arreat Summit and the IAS Calc.
Let us assume an Act 2 merc equipped with an Infinity, Guilliame's Face socketed with 15% IAS jewel, and Chains of Honor. His total IAS is 15%. Using the the IAS Calc., I got the following values for the three weapons. I did not use Ethereal damage values because they are simply scaled and are therefore irrelevant. Note that the average damage per frame does not account for missed attacks (missing is irrelevant), and floating point values are rounded to nearest first decimal place:
Code:
Weapon Name FPA Avg. Damage per Hit Avg. Damage per Frame
Colossus Voulge 7 91 13
Great Poleaxe 6.5 86.5 13.3
Giant Thresher 6 77 12.8
Bear in mind that Crushing Blow damage over time is independently benefited by lower FPA, and that can not be accounted for with these damage calculations. That means Great Poleaxe beats out Colossus Voulge outright, and it can still be argued that Giant Thresher is the better choice because it allows you to deal out Crushing Blows more quickly.
However, let's not end it here. Next, I factored in the necromancer holding a Beast runeword. As a /players 8 fan, I am personally interested in these results. Beast has a level 9 Fanaticism aura, and the IAS Calc. allows us factor it in nicely. Here is the table with the Beast-affected FPA values:
Code:
Weapon Name FPA Avg. Damage per Hit Avg. Damage per Frame
Colossus Voulge 5.5 91 16.5
Great Poleaxe 5 86.5 17.3
Giant Thresher 5 77 15.4
With Beast equipped on the necromancer, Great Poleaxe once again beats Colossus Voulge. However, Giant Thresher loses ground here; it does not provide faster FPA than Great Poleaxe, and it still has a lower average damage per frame. Therefore, Great Poleaxe is undoubtedly the better weapon in this case.
Conclusion: When choosing an Infinity base weapon for a skelemancer merc wearing Guilliame's Helm with a IAS jewel and Chains of Honor, Colossus Voulge is not the best for two reasons. First, its average damage per frame is not the best. Second, it is a slow weapon which means it will provide fewer Crushing Blows over a period of time.
As for Great Poleaxe vs. Giant Thresher, it depends. Without Beast, Giant Thresher is arguably better because it can provide more Crushing Blows than Great Poleaxe. But with Beast equipped, Great Poleaxe maintains better damage per frame and it has the same FPA which surely makes it the better choice.
Zerk is right about Colossus Voulges being easier to find, and it is up to the player to choose convenience or superiority.
Note that this conclusion is only relevant to the mentioned gear setup. I am not interested other setups such as Infinity + Andy's + Fortitude, so someone else can do it if they wish. Also, I invite anyone to point out any mistakes or shortcomings of this number crunch--I am human after all.
Well yeah.. i did the numbers on a generic fort/andy/weapon setup with might aura and no other speed modifiers so that changes it a bit(speed frames 6, 6, 5.5 from slowest to fastest weapon). Used the numbers shown on merc screen with might aura and bc on lvl 98 merc:
infi merc with andy 15 ias and fort, might merc:
cb damage to regular monster: 0.25*0.4*6000(12k life monster at half life as an estimation)=600
giant thresh: 5.5 jab,
5189+600: dps 26313 (23586)
cryptic axe/colossus voulge: 6 jab,
6034+600: dps 27641 (25975)
gpa: 6 jab(nn ias jewel in andy),
5739+600: dps 26412 (23912)
cryptic axe, treachery, andy 15 ias
3448+600: dps 22489 (19155) 4.5 jab
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