Character Evaluation

[Urza-DSF]

Hey all, been working on this guy for a bit, just finished soloing diablo in normal so it isnt going too bad :) Still, skill and equipment suggestions are very much needed.

Urza-Bone
clvl 27 Necromancer

Stats-
STR: 70
DEX: 25
VIT: 75
ENG: 45

Skills-
Summoning:
Summon Skeleton - 9
Skeleton Mastery - 7
Clay Golum - 1
Golum Mastery - 1
Summon Skeleton Mage - 3
Blood Golum - 1
Summon Resistance - 1
Iron Golum - 1

Poison/Bone:
Teeth - 1
Bone Armor - 1

Curses:
Amplify Damage - 1
Weaken - 1
Terror - 1
Decrepify - 1

Current Equipment:
+2 Summon Skeleton/ +2 Skeleton Mastery Wand
+2 Summon Skeleton Preserved Head
Manald Heal Ring
Civerbs Icon Amulet
Other things that arent worth noting.

Well, thats about it. I do have a +2 Summon skills rare ammy that'll be useable when I hit clvl 30, as well as a +2 necro skills wand that has a clvl 42 requirement and finally a Duriels Shell which should serve me well untill I find something better. So, any thoughts/suggestions for skills, stats, or equipment?

[Sir_Die_alot]

A zookeeper necro can work quite well now. On mine my skeleton warriors are doing over 400 damage each (before might and amp). I never thought I would see the day. :blink:

Don't worry about mages so much, especially for now. More often than not they get in the way of my much more powerful skeleton warriors. In hell they can be useful for taking out the odd physical immune boss and eating damage you otherwise might have taken, but besides that they are just around to look cool and slow your fram rate. :D Just keep pumping mastery and raise skeleton.

You have teeth so you may as well get corpse explosion. IMO a necro without this skill is like a paladin without an aura. Well, not that bad but you get the idea. ;) I would recomend against bone spells because they will be particularly weak after maxing even just skeleton warrior and the mastery. Let alone points spent on getting curses, revive, ect. My necro is in his 80s and with max skel warrior, mage, mastery, 1 in teeth bone armor and CE and every curse/other summon spell. I have enough points left over to max 1 skill. If I used that for a bone spell it would probably get me about 300-400 damage per shot, which compaired to just one swing of a skeleton shows it to be a complete waste. When I decide having that many unspent skill points has lost its novelty I will probably max out CE and dump the rest in bone armor synergies (oddly this skill gets better bonuses from its synergies).

The only probelms you are likely to have are act bosses. The solution is a combination of 2 or more of the following: party, decrepify, merc crushing blow, and clay golem. Eventually though your army will be enough that even act bosses won't be a problem.

For equipment: +skills +skills and more +skills. Maybe a good life leech stick for an act 2 merc too. :)

[Urza-DSF]

and clay golem

Quick question here: why Clay Golem? Is there some kind of draw to them that I dont know about?

[Striker]

why Clay Golem?  Is there some kind of draw to them that I dont know about?

Clay golems have a slow effect in v1.10.

[Rinnhart]

They're also very, very cheap.

[Urza-DSF]

Ahh...had no clue about that. How many points should I bother putting into it? Im already maxing skel mastery and summon skel, possibly mages as well...so should I max clay and golum mastery or rely on +skills for that?

[gekko]

Generally speaking, it's best to put a single point in clay golem, golem mastery, and summon resist. +Skills will boost all three skills to a usable level, though a few extra points can be added to taste if required. The idea with clay golem is to have a cheap, recastable tank, and retaining the ability to cast that tank at will, wherever and whenever needed. Adding points to clay golem, in particular, doesn't really help in this regard. Points in golem mastery can be more useful, however, typically a summoner's other minions take the heat off of the golem enough to keep the golem alive as long as needed.

gekko

[Urza-DSF]

Ok, thanks for all the help ^_^ Update time now! Just hit clvl 41 (no I wasnt rushed, soloed all the way) And finally got myself some halfway decent equipment.

Urza-Bone
clvl 41 Necromancer

STR: 100
DEX: 25
VIT: 100
ENG: 65

Skills:
Summoning-
Summon Skeleton - 20
Skeleton Mastery - 12
Clay Golum - 1
Golum Mastery - 1
Summon Skeleton Mage - 3
Blood Golum - 1
Summon Resistance - 1
Iron Golum - 1

Poison/Bone:
Teeth - 1
Bone Armor - 1
Corpse Explosion - 1

Curses:
Amplify Damage - 1
Weaken - 1
Terror - 1
Decrepify - 1

Equipment:
Ume's Lament
+2 Summon Skeleton Preserved Head
Undead Crown
Duriels Shell
+2 Summon Skills Rare Amulet
Manald Heal
+cast rate/+MF ring
+MF gloves
Rare Belt with some resists
Vildalas Boots

NM is beyond a breeze :) I just summon 10 skeletons, 4 Mages and a Fire Golum, then my Merc has Woestave, Heavenly Garb, and a +def Helm and bam, all Im doing is occasionally casting decrepify while my army destroys everything in sight. All I think I need at the moment would be a better necro head...but Ive got no clue where to find good ones that arent trangs or the exceptional/eleite uniques that would probally cost me a bundle. Any recomendations as to were I could find a good one?

[Little Faith]

All of this seems very sound except for one point:

Why are you pumping Energy? As a summoner the only time you need a lot of mana is when you are summoning your horde. That can easily be handled by a potion. Even the somewhat mana-hungry Corpse explosion only needs a few castings to be effective.

The skills you will be using most of the time like curses or the Clay Golem are all dirt cheap mana-wise.

[Urza-DSF]

Eh, I dunno, probally the old D1 instincts in me to tell the truth. I like being able to recast my horde quickly if I loose them while running or they start dying on me. That and with my pack-rat tendencies I usually have little invintory space to hold blues. Really though, what else do I really need to pump? Vit is nice I guess, but I dont duel (its dumb), Ive got enough stamina so that I dont keep on having to rest, and being a summoner why do I need high HP?

As for my Golem and Curses...eh, I personally prefer my Fire Golem at the moment, which takes nearly half of my mana to cast, and then constantly casting decrepify (since the duration is still a bit short for my liking) can really suck down my mana.

[Baajikiil]

All I think I need at the moment would be a better necro head...but Ive got no clue where to find good ones that arent trangs or the exceptional/eleite uniques that would probally cost me a bundle. Any recomendations as to were I could find a good one?

Unfortunately there aren't too many options here. Either get lucky and find a decent one, or use one from act1 normal with +skelleton and mastery.

I've found that finding decent head in act1(+skellys and +mastery), and putting some diamonds lasts me until hell. Another similiar choice is finding a white head with 2 sockets and +skills you want, then putting the rhyme runeword in it. Rhyme has a few useful mods, especially the resists and the mf. After a while in NM/Hell I usually end up with a +2 all head with some resists as my end game necro head.

Splendor runeword(on the realms) is now available as well, but at the cost of resists.

[Minionman]

Eh, I dunno, probally the old D1 instincts in me to tell the truth.  I like being able to recast my horde quickly if I loose them while running or they start dying on me.  That and with my pack-rat tendencies I usually have little invintory space to hold blues.  Really though, what else do I really need to pump?  Vit is nice I guess, but I dont duel (its dumb), Ive got enough stamina so that I dont keep on having to rest, and being a summoner why do I need high HP?

As for my Golem and Curses...eh, I personally prefer my Fire Golem at the moment, which takes nearly half of my mana to cast, and then constantly casting decrepify (since the duration is still a bit short for my liking) can really suck down my mana.

The usual strategy seems to be to get mana as high as you need it, than put the rest in vitality. Strength and dexterity are only neede for items if you use a wand. Extra vitality is good because every extra death avoided is good, if your skeletons die you could get killed easily with low life, some monsters have piercing attacks that go through skeletons, and if you do get killed you have to summon your army all over again. Plus, no one likes dying, and once you have your equipment and mana vitality is still more useful than other stats as insurance.

This is all from someone who plays softcore, but someone from hardcore would probably say something similar.

Edit: changed deadth to death and id to is