Getting past Duriel

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

How do I get a Necromancer past Duriel? I've spent all day trying and
getting no where. My stats are:
Level 26 Experience 2,066,226
Str 62
Dex49
Vit 61
En 66
Teeth 1
Corpse Explosion 1
Skeleton Mstery 6
Raise Skeleton 8
Clay Golem 3
Golem Mastery 3
Raise Skeleton Mage 2
Blood Golem 1
Amplify Damage 1
Dim vision 1
Iron Maiden 1
Terror 2
Life tap 1
Now, to you esperts at Diablo I'm sure these stats don't make a lot of
sense. But I'm still a noob at this game and only been playing a
month or so.
But with the build I've got, what are the chances of getting any
further in the game. Or should I pack it up, and start from new?
Many thanks.
-
Peter James
Remove AT to reply

P F James

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

Peter James wrote:

> How do I get a Necromancer past Duriel? I've spent all day trying
and
> getting no where.

*snipped stats*

What happens when you try? Durry wipes out your army?

Ideally, this early on, rather than focusing on so many curses, the
early points, after getting AD and, at level 24, Decrepify, would have
been better spent on Raise Skeleton and Skeleton Mastery if, in fact,
you are planning on building a skelliemancer, which is what it seems
like you are doing.

You could try getting another level for another skill point but, at
level 26, I'm not sure where you can go to get experience in Act II
Normal.

Assuming that Durry wipes out your army, and given that I don't know
what equipment you're using, you could try to find some wand or
shrunken head with pluses to Summoning skills, RS and/or SM, which may
help your army a little. Immediately after entering the Chamber cast
Decrepify on the Big Giant Slug. If you don't already have one with
you, cast a Clay Golem in Durry's face. He will be considerably slowed
by both Decrep and the Clay Golem, which should make things much easier
for your skellies.

> But with the build I've got, what are the chances of getting any
> further in the game. Or should I pack it up, and start from new?
> Many thanks.

I think you're fine. The beauty of a skelliemancer is that once RS and
SM are maxed, everything else is really just gravy, which leaves you
with a lot of skill points to play around with (although I *strongly*
recommend maxing Corpse Explosion and Dim Vision).

A few friendly tips: stop putting points into Energy. It can get
tedious constantly chugging Mana potions, but if you have an Act II
merc, stick the inexpensive Runeword Insight in a polearm-type weapon
and you will have solved your Mana problem. Also, stop placing any more
points into Terror. Most curses are one-point wonders, with the boost
to skills you get from your present or future equipment. And, although
it's personal preference, I also wouldn't put any more points into Clay
Golem. I have one hard point in Clay Golem and Golem Mastery, he's slvl
14 after my equipment skills boost, and he can tank Hell Baal like a
champ.

Jill

 

[Diane]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

Peter James <pfjames@clara.co.uk> wrote in
news:5a9c21lr97rbupmsm0tcvl3qa9onpk54hk@4ax.com:

> How do I get a Necromancer past Duriel? I've spent all day trying and
> getting no where. My stats are:
> Level 26 Experience 2,066,226
> Str 62
> Dex49
> Vit 61
> En 66
> Teeth 1
> Corpse Explosion 1
> Skeleton Mstery 6
> Raise Skeleton 8
> Clay Golem 3
> Golem Mastery 3
> Raise Skeleton Mage 2
> Blood Golem 1
> Amplify Damage 1
> Dim vision 1
> Iron Maiden 1
> Terror 2
> Life tap 1
> Now, to you esperts at Diablo I'm sure these stats don't make a lot of
> sense. But I'm still a noob at this game and only been playing a
> month or so.
> But with the build I've got, what are the chances of getting any
> further in the game. Or should I pack it up, and start from new?
> Many thanks.
> -
> Peter James
> Remove AT to reply
>
> P F James
>

I'm no expert, but with 8 skellies, a blood golem, 2 mages and a merc, I
would think you could get past just by allowing them to do most of your
fighting for you. Just keep reactivating your skellies, golem and mages
if you see them getting killed and keep yourself in the background using
either Amplify or Iron Maiden.

Diane

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

"Peter James" <pfjames@clara.co.uk> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:5a9c21lr97rbupmsm0tcvl3qa9onpk54hk@4ax.com...
> How do I get a Necromancer past Duriel? I've spent all day trying and
> getting no where. My stats are:
> Level 26 Experience 2,066,226
> Str 62
> Dex49
> Vit 61
> En 66
> Teeth 1
> Corpse Explosion 1
> Skeleton Mstery 6
> Raise Skeleton 8
> Clay Golem 3
> Golem Mastery 3
> Raise Skeleton Mage 2
> Blood Golem 1
> Amplify Damage 1
> Dim vision 1
> Iron Maiden 1
> Terror 2
> Life tap 1
> Now, to you esperts at Diablo I'm sure these stats don't make a lot of
> sense. But I'm still a noob at this game and only been playing a
> month or so.
> But with the build I've got, what are the chances of getting any
> further in the game. Or should I pack it up, and start from new?
> Many thanks.
> -
> Peter James
> Remove AT to reply
>
> P F James

Clay a golem in front of him and use Iron Maiden. Recast both until he hits
himself to death. Do not get near him. Stand behind and let your army do the
job. Make sure you have enough mana potions with you so can re-cast your
clay golem often enough )

HTH Walt



--
-------------
Europe SC non-ladder
*inzaire110, *inzaire1101,
*inzaire1102, *inzaire_hc
*inzaire1103 (ladder, i had to try the new runewords, I gave the account
away!)
http://stud3.tuwien.ac.at/~e9173169/MyDiablo/MyDiablo.html

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

On 2-Mar-2005, Diane <kirchbabe1@verizon.net> wrote:

> Peter James <pfjames@clara.co.uk> wrote in
> news:5a9c21lr97rbupmsm0tcvl3qa9onpk54hk@4ax.com:
>
> > How do I get a Necromancer past Duriel? I've spent all day trying and
> > getting no where. My stats are:
> > Level 26 Experience 2,066,226
> > Str 62
> > Dex49
> > Vit 61
> > En 66
> > Teeth 1
> > Corpse Explosion 1
> > Skeleton Mstery 6
> > Raise Skeleton 8
> > Clay Golem 3
> > Golem Mastery 3
> > Raise Skeleton Mage 2
> > Blood Golem 1
> > Amplify Damage 1
> > Dim vision 1
> > Iron Maiden 1
> > Terror 2
> > Life tap 1
> > Now, to you esperts at Diablo I'm sure these stats don't make a lot of
> > sense. But I'm still a noob at this game and only been playing a
> > month or so.
> > But with the build I've got, what are the chances of getting any
> > further in the game. Or should I pack it up, and start from new?
> > Many thanks.
> > -
> > Peter James
> > Remove AT to reply
> >
> > P F James
> >
>
> I'm no expert, but with 8 skellies, a blood golem, 2 mages and a merc, I
>
> would think you could get past just by allowing them to do most of your
> fighting for you. Just keep reactivating your skellies, golem and mages
>
> if you see them getting killed and keep yourself in the background using
>
> either Amplify or Iron Maiden.
>
> Diane

Err... Diane, when fighting Duriel there is not any other monsters around
to reactivate the skellies (in reg D2LOD).
Peter, see Walt's reply - also, if necessary do a lot of canyon runs to up
your level to get summon resist skill, that helps keep the skellies and
golem alive. Good luck, Duriel is one of the tougher end bosses, get past
him and it will/should be pretty easy sailing until you get to Diablo
himself.
--
Don't Panic!

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

On Wed, 02 Mar 2005 22:01:13 GMT, "ArtDent" <par@noyd.invalidname>
wrote:

>> I'm no expert, but with 8 skellies, a blood golem, 2 mages and a merc, I
>> would think you could get past just by allowing them to do most of your
>> fighting for you. Just keep reactivating your skellies, golem and mages
>> if you see them getting killed and keep yourself in the background

>Err... Diane, when fighting Duriel there is not any other monsters around
>to reactivate the skellies (in reg D2LOD).

That's why God created TP scrolls. If you run out of skellies, you
can TP out, use a waypoint to get to the easiest bit of act 1 (blood
moor) and have your merc and golem pound a few fallen into bone meal.
(Assuming you're playing LOD. If you don't have the expansion, you
cannot take skellies or a merc with you from one act to another.)

But you should be able to take Duriel without regathering your
skellies- Iron Maiden him, and keep recasting your CLAY golem whenever
it gets killed (you don't have iron golem, and blood golem is
useless). Golem and merc together should be enough.

Cheers
---The Mad Alchemist---
http://www.mad-alchemy.com
Email sent to the above address, unless clearly marked
as wine or heraldry, will be deleted unread.

 

[Diane]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

"ArtDent" <par@noyd.invalidname> wrote in
news:JIqVd.12846$Ba3.8827@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net:

>
> On 2-Mar-2005, Diane <kirchbabe1@verizon.net> wrote:
>
>> Peter James <pfjames@clara.co.uk> wrote in
>> news:5a9c21lr97rbupmsm0tcvl3qa9onpk54hk@4ax.com:
>>
>> > How do I get a Necromancer past Duriel? I've spent all day trying
>> > and getting no where. My stats are:
>> > Level 26 Experience 2,066,226
>> > Str 62
>> > Dex49
>> > Vit 61
>> > En 66
>> > Teeth 1
>> > Corpse Explosion 1
>> > Skeleton Mstery 6
>> > Raise Skeleton 8
>> > Clay Golem 3
>> > Golem Mastery 3
>> > Raise Skeleton Mage 2
>> > Blood Golem 1
>> > Amplify Damage 1
>> > Dim vision 1
>> > Iron Maiden 1
>> > Terror 2
>> > Life tap 1
>> > Now, to you esperts at Diablo I'm sure these stats don't make a lot
>> > of sense. But I'm still a noob at this game and only been playing
>> > a month or so.
>> > But with the build I've got, what are the chances of getting any
>> > further in the game. Or should I pack it up, and start from new?
>> > Many thanks.
>> > -
>> > Peter James
>> > Remove AT to reply
>> >
>> > P F James
>> >
>>
>> I'm no expert, but with 8 skellies, a blood golem, 2 mages and a
>> merc, I
>>
>> would think you could get past just by allowing them to do most of
>> your fighting for you. Just keep reactivating your skellies, golem
>> and mages
>>
>> if you see them getting killed and keep yourself in the background
>> using
>>
>> either Amplify or Iron Maiden.
>>
>> Diane
>
> Err... Diane, when fighting Duriel there is not any other monsters
> around to reactivate the skellies (in reg D2LOD).
> Peter, see Walt's reply - also, if necessary do a lot of canyon runs
> to up your level to get summon resist skill, that helps keep the
> skellies and golem alive. Good luck, Duriel is one of the tougher end
> bosses, get past him and it will/should be pretty easy sailing until
> you get to Diablo himself.

Like I said, I'm not an expert. AAMOF, I rarely know what I'm talking
about, but somehow I get by. Listen to the other guys. Pay no
attention to that old woman who keeps interjecting.

Diane

 

[Diane]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

Darren George <madalch@starmail.com> wrote in
news:l5fc219md0c06h1b3hhc09dk3325eq3o1r@4ax.com:

> On Wed, 02 Mar 2005 22:01:13 GMT, "ArtDent" <par@noyd.invalidname>
> wrote:
>
>>> I'm no expert, but with 8 skellies, a blood golem, 2 mages and a
>>> merc, I would think you could get past just by allowing them to do
>>> most of your fighting for you. Just keep reactivating your
>>> skellies, golem and mages if you see them getting killed and keep
>>> yourself in the background
>
>>Err... Diane, when fighting Duriel there is not any other monsters
>>around to reactivate the skellies (in reg D2LOD).
>
> That's why God created TP scrolls. If you run out of skellies, you
> can TP out, use a waypoint to get to the easiest bit of act 1 (blood
> moor) and have your merc and golem pound a few fallen into bone meal.
> (Assuming you're playing LOD. If you don't have the expansion, you
> cannot take skellies or a merc with you from one act to another.)
>
> But you should be able to take Duriel without regathering your
> skellies- Iron Maiden him, and keep recasting your CLAY golem whenever
> it gets killed (you don't have iron golem, and blood golem is
> useless). Golem and merc together should be enough.
>

I need a point of clarification. I'm using the blood golem and I'm
having a lot of success with him. Especially, he seems to keep my life
ball filled. However, what exactly is the differences between all the
golems, and what are their particular uses. And, please don't give me a
website to read b/c I get a lot more out of a brief explanation than I
do from having to go to a website and read it there. Thanks dear.

Diane

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

> I need a point of clarification. I'm using the blood golem and I'm
> having a lot of success with him. Especially, he seems to keep my life
> ball filled. However, what exactly is the differences between all the
> golems, and what are their particular uses.

I'll probably be corrected by those who have played more than I, but I never
used a blood golem because I as under the impression that it doesn't
actually do any real damage to its victims- it just heals you.

Iron golems do a lot more real damage, and have thorns (so they do damage
even when they're not hitting things). Trouble is, you need metal objects
to make them again.

Fire golems do lots of damage (unless you're fighting something fire immune)
and can be created from nothing. I find them to be the most useful. Other
people prefer iron.

Cheers,

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

> However, what exactly is the differences between all the
> golems, and what are their particular uses.

I'll give you my impression on this topic:

Clay Golem: huge life at lvl20 and slows enemies. It is the perfect help to
kill bosses. Cast a clay golem and decrepify and the monster cannot move or
teleport (baal!) anymore.

Blood Golem: Besides the leech effect nothing useful here. However, there is
a build that uses maxed blood golem and maxed iron maiden along with items
"damage to mana". It is called suicide-build, I think.

Iron Golem: If you die your iron golem dies with you and the item he was
made of is gone. It might be useful in certain occasions but I would like it
more if its aura would effect my whole army...

Fire Golem: 1 skillpoint is enough here, more would cause huge mana costs.
This golem is great because of its high life and useful for attracting
monsters (holy fire aura). It was my main golem before I found the use of
clay golem.

All in all it depends what build you are playing.

Summoner: I max mastery and skeleton. ~10 in revive, ~10 in CE. That leaves
1 skill to max. I chose clay golem with my last necro and it worked out
great (especially against Diablo).

Boner: I would go with firegolem/holyfreeze merc. The monsters are attracted
by them and you can nail them with bonespear/spirit.

Poison: I am not sure here but because you already have to max 3 skills to
be effective and you need the lower resist curse, fire golem seems best
here. Same arguments as Boner-build.

HTH Walt

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

Start over. Your necro build is dead meat in Nightmare and Hell.

Do not spend a single point in skeletons. Your main spells, all of which
should be maxed EXCEPT lower resist is fine at level 6-7, are:

Fire Golem.
Golem Mastery.
Lower Resist.
Bone Spirit.
Corpse Explosion.

You will never hit a single thing with a necro build like above. Your
golem is the tanker, my golem has 5500 hit points. Damage is done by
casting Lower Resist first, then Bone Spirit, once you kill a monster,
you cast CE to kill the rest. Having a good bow merc at your side helps
greatly as well, I consider a good merc essential, give her a 'breath of
dying' bow to make her an integral part of your attack.

This build of necro is able to solo in hell level with little
difficulty. Nightmare level is so easy you won't believe it. There are
some more detailed necro building instructions online.

Hope this helps.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

Peter James wrote:
> Now, to you esperts at Diablo I'm sure these stats don't make a lot of
> sense. But I'm still a noob at this game and only been playing a
> month or so.
> But with the build I've got, what are the chances of getting any
> further in the game. Or should I pack it up, and start from new?
> Many thanks.
> -
> Peter James
> Remove AT to reply
>
> P F James

Turn your Nec into a melee'er. Get the best shield and the highest damage
weapon you can find. Hotkey your town portal scrolls to something handy. I
always hotkey belt slot 4 to the spacebar and put my tp scroll in that.

Then fill up the rest of your belt with health or rejuve pots.

Now, all you're looking to do is survive Duriel's initial charge. If you
can do that, then you can beat him. So, enter the chamber with your
minions, then don't try to run from Duriel--get in his face. Once you're
there, immediately pop a town portal. Keep flailing away on Duriel and pop
your pots as needed. DON'T RUN--and don't particularly worry about renewing
your army, either. Just keep pounding.

When you get low on pots, step through the town portal you've created that
should be right next to you. Go to town, heal and reload. Rinse and repeat
until you kill the bug.

Good luck.

BTW, this same technique will work with all your casters--I've beat Duriel
with hardcore sorcs, necs, zons--everything--using this technique, and can't
remember the last time I ever lost a character to him. You don't need to
twink either. You can do this usually by just buying the best you can find
from the merchants.

--
chainbreaker

If you need to email, then chainbreaker (naturally) at comcast dot
net--that's "net" not "com"--should do it.

 

[Diane]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

"Walt" <wbecke[no-spam}@gmx.at> wrote in
news:4226adf5$0$12126$3b214f66@tunews.univie.ac.at:

>> However, what exactly is the differences between all the
>> golems, and what are their particular uses.
>
> I'll give you my impression on this topic:
>
> Clay Golem: huge life at lvl20 and slows enemies. It is the perfect
> help to kill bosses. Cast a clay golem and decrepify and the monster
> cannot move or teleport (baal!) anymore.
>
> Blood Golem: Besides the leech effect nothing useful here. However,
> there is a build that uses maxed blood golem and maxed iron maiden
> along with items "damage to mana". It is called suicide-build, I
> think.
>
> Iron Golem: If you die your iron golem dies with you and the item he
> was made of is gone. It might be useful in certain occasions but I
> would like it more if its aura would effect my whole army...
>
> Fire Golem: 1 skillpoint is enough here, more would cause huge mana
> costs. This golem is great because of its high life and useful for
> attracting monsters (holy fire aura). It was my main golem before I
> found the use of clay golem.
>
> All in all it depends what build you are playing.
>
> Summoner: I max mastery and skeleton. ~10 in revive, ~10 in CE. That
> leaves 1 skill to max. I chose clay golem with my last necro and it
> worked out great (especially against Diablo).
>
> Boner: I would go with firegolem/holyfreeze merc. The monsters are
> attracted by them and you can nail them with bonespear/spirit.
>
> Poison: I am not sure here but because you already have to max 3
> skills to be effective and you need the lower resist curse, fire golem
> seems best here. Same arguments as Boner-build.
>
> HTH Walt
>
>
>

OK guys. Thanks for the info. Now I understand more about the golems
and I'll probably switch to my fire golem. Seems he may be most
effective. I did try the iron golem and I found it difficult in some
cases to find iron to revive him. That's why I thought the blood golem
was my best choice. All along I've felt as if he was actually killing
off the bad guys, but perhaps that was my skellies doing the killing
while he was just standing there. Sometimes it's hard to see who is
doing what with all that army I have. And, I'm thinking that at clvl49,
the clay golem isn't as useful. So, fire it is.

You guys are great!!!

Diane

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

Alex Lazarevich wrote:

> Start over. Your necro build is dead meat in Nightmare and Hell.

Could you please elaborate on why you feel this particular necro build
is "dead meat" in the later difficulties?

Jill

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

Alex Lazarevich wrote:
> >
> >>Start over. Your necro build is dead meat in Nightmare and Hell.

> > Could you please elaborate on why you feel this particular necro
build
> > is "dead meat" in the later difficulties?

> Yes. The most obvious problems are the waisted stat points in dex.
Those
> points should go elsewhere, as a suming necro never hits or get's
hit.

My skelliemancer uses the Homunculus and has around 160 points in
Dexterity for about a 60% chance to block.

I am not a perfect player and there are times, especially in areas with
a large number of ranged attackers, that I get hit, or critters attempt
to hit me, and each *beloved patriot* sound I hear of a successful block is like
music to my HC nec's ears.

To that end, I would suggest to the OP that he keep in mind which
shield he would like to finish the game with. If the shield of choice
has a very small chance to block I wouldn't waste any more points in
Dexterity. I have a SP nec who never did find the Homunculus and used
some rare necro head with a 30% blocking chance. At clvl 93, he still
has base Dexterity.

> Secondly, skill points in things like teeth and terror are better
spent
> elsewhere, you suggest this very thing in a previous post.

Actually, what I said is that if the OP was building a skelliemancer
the early points might perhaps have been better spent on RS and SM
rather than spreading them out all over the place.

I did suggest that the OP get Decrepify, for which Terror is a
prerequisite. I merely suggested that one point in Terror is
sufficient.

And if the OP eventually gets Bone Spear or Bone Spirit, as you suggest
later, he will need the prerequisite of Teeth, anyway. As he will for
Corpse Explosion.

> Third, he has
> no good magic damage spell, he needs bone arrow and then bone spirit.

Well, perhaps, but it all really depends on what kind of necro he is
building. If he's building a skelliemancer there's no real need to get
either Bone Spirit or Bone Spear, plus the fact that these will do
pitiful damage without synergies unless he uses Marrowwalks.

> I suspect you are more interested in starting a fight over golems vs.

> skeletons rather than suggesting his build is viable in Hell?

Not at all. Since I have never used any other kind of golem besides
clay, I can't really comment on the viability of a golem build. I was
genuinely curious, and a little puzzled, as to why you would say what
you said.

> Frankly I
> have no idea what's better. I just don't like all those skeletons
> walking all over the place, I think they look stupid.

Hmmm. Interesting criteria for determining which builds will become
"dead meat" in later difficulties.

Jill

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

>
>>Start over. Your necro build is dead meat in Nightmare and Hell.
>
>
> Could you please elaborate on why you feel this particular necro build
> is "dead meat" in the later difficulties?
>

Yes. The most obvious problems are the waisted stat points in dex. Those
points should go elsewhere, as a suming necro never hits or get's hit.
Secondly, skill points in things like teeth and terror are better spent
elsewhere, you suggest this very thing in a previous post. Third, he has
no good magic damage spell, he needs bone arrow and then bone spirit.

I suspect you are more interested in starting a fight over golems vs.
skeletons rather than suggesting his build is viable in Hell? Frankly I
have no idea what's better. I just don't like all those skeletons
walking all over the place, I think they look stupid.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

On Thu, 03 Mar 2005 13:57:26 -0600, Alex Lazarevich
<alazarev@itg.uiuc.edu> wrote:

>>
>>>Start over. Your necro build is dead meat in Nightmare and Hell.
>>
>>
>> Could you please elaborate on why you feel this particular necro build
>> is "dead meat" in the later difficulties?
>>
>
>Yes. The most obvious problems are the waisted stat points in dex. Those
>points should go elsewhere, as a suming necro never hits or get's hit.

A summoning necro never gets hit? You should tell that to all those
pesky quill rats that keeps hitting my necro with poisoned darts.
Ever heard of max blocking? You need dex for that. In one of my necros
case, he needed dex to use Blade of Ali Baba.

>Secondly, skill points in things like teeth and terror are better spent
>elsewhere, you suggest this very thing in a previous post.

You need the one point in teeth to get to your uber attack of bone
arrow. Terror has it's uses. I hardly think an extra allocated point
in Terror is worth starting a character over.

>Third, he has no good magic damage spell, he needs bone arrow and then bone spirit.
>
No he doesn't nor does he need it. He has skeletons and later on
Revives to do his bidding. Terror and Attract curses work quite well
for a summoner. The same goes for all the other curses which I'm sure
you will consider a waste of points as well.

>I suspect you are more interested in starting a fight over golems vs.
>skeletons rather than suggesting his build is viable in Hell?

Having made a few necros in my time, I can always pick a fight over
golems vs skeletons. His build IS viable in Hell.

>Frankly I have no idea what's better.

Yet you felt compelled to tell him that his necro is dead meat and he
should start over.

>I just don't like all those skeletons walking all over the place, I think they look stupid.

Hmmm so you think that a summoning necro build is dead meat and on the
same vein believe that a Golemlord is the "end all be all" of necro
builds? Skeletons look stupid? You have no idea what's better. You
think a necro's must have is magic damage. Umm what else?

I am far from being an expert but I'd have to say that your suggestion
of scrapping the necro is dead wrong and you should do some research
before you reply next time.

Alan
--
USWest - SonofJorEl, SonofJorEl2-6 Ladder SC
USEast - SonofJorEl, SonofJorEl2-4 Ladder & Non, SC & HC

 

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"Alex Lazarevich" <alazarev@itg.uiuc.edu> wrote in message
news:d078gk$mc2$1@news.ks.uiuc.edu...
> Start over. Your necro build is dead meat in Nightmare and Hell.
>
> Do not spend a single point in skeletons. Your main spells, all of which
> should be maxed EXCEPT lower resist is fine at level 6-7, are:
>
> Fire Golem.
> Golem Mastery.
> Lower Resist.
> Bone Spirit.
> Corpse Explosion.
>
> You will never hit a single thing with a necro build like above. Your
> golem is the tanker, my golem has 5500 hit points. Damage is done by
> casting Lower Resist first, then Bone Spirit, once you kill a monster,
> you cast CE to kill the rest. Having a good bow merc at your side helps
> greatly as well, I consider a good merc essential, give her a 'breath of
> dying' bow to make her an integral part of your attack.
>
> This build of necro is able to solo in hell level with little
> difficulty. Nightmare level is so easy you won't believe it. There are
> some more detailed necro building instructions online.
>
> Hope this helps.

What?

I guess my summoning necro is somehow soloing hell by mistake. No points in
bone spear/spirit. One in each curse, maxed summon skells, and skell
mastery. Other points shotgunned around, most in corpse exp, some in fire
golem, summon resist, and revive. Using a rogue merc currently using an edge
runeword bow (everybody gets thorns) which is a hell of lot cheaper than a
botd bow.

Once you get to act 5 building your army is trivial, either grab the three
bodies outside town and use that to build up or once you get the portal to
pindle you can grab as many skells as you have time for.

With lvl 32 summon skell and skell mastery my skells only die to the
occasional pack with nasty mods, they do survive Baal's minions in an 8
player game. Quantity has a quality all its own, 12 skells and up to 15
revives give me a cloud of troops that keep my summoner safe, as well as
anyone else in the party. Not to mention the merc and firegolem.

Everyone has their own favorite style of play, I don't like playing boner
necros, I would rather play a more classic summoner.

 

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Alex Lazarevich wrote:
> Yes. The most obvious problems are the waisted stat points in dex. Those
> points should go elsewhere, as a suming necro never hits or get's hit.
> Secondly, skill points in things like teeth and terror are better spent
> elsewhere, you suggest this very thing in a previous post. Third, he has
> no good magic damage spell, he needs bone arrow and then bone spirit.

I have personally seen two summoning necro got killed in Hell Act 1.
First guy died to a MS Extra-Strong Skelly Archer boss pack in the
Underground Tunnel. He apparently got killed in one to few hits and
he was astonished (like you) and frustrated about his death. The
second one was my friend, a lvl 80 summoning necro, who got killed
by a Zombie (minion of a might boss) in Hell Blood Moor after shot
by a MS Quill Rat boss hiding behind the Zombie, while he was
gathering his army. Since Zombie moves so slow, I believe he was in
stun lock when the Zombie approached him.

Both these deaths happened in HC. Don't play HC ^_^

All high level HC necros I've seen have high block%. Actually all
high level HC chars I have seen have reasonable block% (50%+) unless
they use 2H weapons and hence can't have block (in which case they
either have high DR, D/A/E, or insane defense.)

They do so for a reason. 200 points in vit for a necro will give
you 400 life. That is 1.5 to 2 hits by a regular Hell monster. The
same investment in dex will usually give maxed block, which
practically means 75% DR, and can usually give more protection. Of
course the big perrequisite is you have enough life first (usually
1k in HC.) You aren't going to fool around in Hell WSK with 75%
block and 300 life.


Bing

 

[Diane]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

Alex Lazarevich <alazarev@itg.uiuc.edu> wrote in news:d07q4n$tbk$1
@news.ks.uiuc.edu:

>>
>>>Start over. Your necro build is dead meat in Nightmare and Hell.
>>
>>
>> Could you please elaborate on why you feel this particular necro
build
>> is "dead meat" in the later difficulties?
>>
>
> Yes. The most obvious problems are the waisted stat points in dex.
Those
> points should go elsewhere, as a suming necro never hits or get's hit.
> Secondly, skill points in things like teeth and terror are better
spent
> elsewhere, you suggest this very thing in a previous post. Third, he
has
> no good magic damage spell, he needs bone arrow and then bone spirit.
>
> I suspect you are more interested in starting a fight over golems vs.
> skeletons rather than suggesting his build is viable in Hell? Frankly
I
> have no idea what's better. I just don't like all those skeletons
> walking all over the place, I think they look stupid.
>

And so you disqualify a build b/c you think skellies LOOK stupid? Wow,
that sure makes a heap of sense.

 

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"Peter James" <pfjames@clara.co.uk> wrote in message
news:5a9c21lr97rbupmsm0tcvl3qa9onpk54hk@4ax.com...
> How do I get a Necromancer past Duriel? I've spent all day trying and
> getting no where. My stats are:
> Level 26 Experience 2,066,226
> Str 62
> Dex49
> Vit 61
> En 66
> Teeth 1
> Corpse Explosion 1
> Skeleton Mstery 6
> Raise Skeleton 8
> Clay Golem 3
> Golem Mastery 3
> Raise Skeleton Mage 2
> Blood Golem 1
> Amplify Damage 1
> Dim vision 1
> Iron Maiden 1
> Terror 2
> Life tap 1
> Now, to you esperts at Diablo I'm sure these stats don't make a lot of
> sense. But I'm still a noob at this game and only been playing a
> month or so.
> But with the build I've got, what are the chances of getting any
> further in the game. Or should I pack it up, and start from new?
> Many thanks.
> -
> Peter James
> Remove AT to reply
>
> P F James

I'm surprised NO ONE suggested Bone wall. Cast, and keep Dury behind the
wall, Iron maiden and Golem with Merc will keep hacking at him while he
can't move away. I've beaten Dury around level 18 with this tactic in
Hardcore (I was a golemancer)

 

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On Thu, 03 Mar 2005, Diane wrote:

>> What exactly is the differences between all the
>> golems, and what are their particular uses.

In version 1.09 and earlier, Iron Maiden on an enemy caused the enemy to
damage itself when it smacked at your blood golem, and this damage was
treated as damage to the target *by* the blood golem, which dumped life
back into the golem and you.

As of 1.10 this is 'fixed'.

Iron Golems tend to disappear for no good (or bad) reason. This
precludes making them from expensive items (think Breath Of The Dying in
an Ogre Maul). so I've tired of the IG.

Fire Golem is useful but expensive in mana and useless against fire
immunes.

Clay Golem (1 point in C.G.,1 in G. Mastery, and 1 in Summon Resists)
and I tank hell Baal in Hard Core. I have about 10 plusses to summoning
skills.

I have zero points in raise skeletal mage, 0 in Revive, and items that
give +Revive (I have about 13 revives for tanking Lister).

I max'd Dim Vision, and those *&^%$#@#$%^^&* spear-chuckers and archers
just never bother me. Dolls are usually no bother. Max'd Dim Vision is
a sight to behold (pun deliciously intended). Raise Skel, Skel Mastery,
and Corpse Explosion are the other max'd skills.


--

USEast HC Ladder: Rockstomper

 

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> What?
>
> I guess my summoning necro is somehow soloing hell by mistake. No points in
> bone spear/spirit. One in each curse, maxed summon skells, and skell
> mastery. Other points shotgunned around, most in corpse exp, some in fire
> golem, summon resist, and revive. Using a rogue merc currently using an edge
> runeword bow (everybody gets thorns) which is a hell of lot cheaper than a
> botd bow.
>
> Once you get to act 5 building your army is trivial, either grab the three
> bodies outside town and use that to build up or once you get the portal to
> pindle you can grab as many skells as you have time for.
>
> With lvl 32 summon skell and skell mastery my skells only die to the
> occasional pack with nasty mods, they do survive Baal's minions in an 8
> player game. Quantity has a quality all its own, 12 skells and up to 15
> revives give me a cloud of troops that keep my summoner safe, as well as
> anyone else in the party. Not to mention the merc and firegolem.
>
> Everyone has their own favorite style of play, I don't like playing boner
> necros, I would rather play a more classic summoner.

Thanks for the detailed explanation John.

I feel stupid for suggesting my build preference was somehow better than
other builds, which is obviously wrong because other people have
skeleton builds in Hell just fine, as well as putting points into dex,
which you say makes a lot of sense for HC. I now wish I had originally
posted: "try this build", rather than "start over".

I tried a skeleton necro a while ago and had a really hard time with it
once I reached NH. My skeletons just died so fast and killed so few,
that I kept on having to backtrack to find corpses to reanimate some
skeletons. And the skeletons seemed to just meander around without
finding a target. That build became such a hastle, I assumed it would
get worse, but apparently I was doing something wrong. Maybe I'll try it
again sometime based on your suggestions.

Once I found the golem/CE/spirit build, I found it to be much easier, I
could cast the golem whenever I wanted, and the golem had a great sense
of direction, and the bone spirit did some nice magic damage when I
needed it. This build seemed far easier for soloing in non-HC. I was
only trying to suggest that the orignal poster can try this build and
see what he thinks.

Alex

 

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neithskye wrote:

> Alex Lazarevich wrote:

>>>>Start over. Your necro build is dead meat in Nightmare and Hell.

>>> Could you please elaborate on why you feel this particular necro build
>>> is "dead meat" in the later difficulties?

>> Yes. The most obvious problems are the waisted stat points in dex. Those
>> points should go elsewhere, as a suming necro never hits or get's hit.

> My skelliemancer uses the Homunculus and has around 160 points in
> Dexterity for about a 60% chance to block.

My summoning necro, Koileriker (Lvl 92 Euro-HCL) has 73% Block @ 180 Dex.

I hope nobody tells him, that he's actually dead meet.
I want him to continue having fun in hell Baal runs (including Baal
of course).

Koile

 

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On Thu, 03 Mar 2005, Bingain wrote:

>> All high level HC necros I've seen have high block%. Actually all
>> high level HC chars I have seen have reasonable block% (50%+)

My only Guardian, DaintyFella, a summoning necro, has a 15% chance to
block with a dex (adjusted by gear) of 52.

>> unless they either have high DR, D/A/E, or insane defense.

I don't check the sanity of my skeletons, and my Merc is certifiably
loopy.



--

USEast HC Ladder: Rockstomper