Diablo II- Necromancer

[Ruler2112]

Has anybody had success playing the Necromancer in Diablo II? I've been playing him for a couple of weeks and must admit, despite being initially opposed to the magic-orientation of the class, I really like playing him. The only problem is that I've reached Diablo and have no clue as to how to beat him. I've beaten him with the Paladin and the Barbarian before; this is my first time playing a character whose offense is based around magic instead of hack&slash-ing my way through everything in my way. Getting to Diablo is a breeze, but he throws that semi-circular wave of fire and most if not all of my skeletons die immediately (6 skeletons and 5 skeleton magi), my golem is down soon after, and then he starts kicking me around. I make a portal out, summon more creatures, then repeat the process with the same results - none. My character stats/equipment are listed below.

I'm playing the version with the latest patch (1.10). I've found that playing the Necromancer is kind of like playing football - you're the quarterback and direct the action while scrambling around (or just standing there if the pass rush is like that of the Broncos last Sunday ) until your offensive line takes out the opposition. I feel as though I've collected some really good items (all legit) and have some descent stats for my character. The fact that going through the hell levels up to Diablo is a snap reinforces this idea, but I have no idea for a strategy for success even if I spend considerable time running through hell over and over to build up my character.

Any advice is appreciated.



Level 28 Necromancer

Strength - 54
Dexterity - 50
Vitality - 70
Energy - 55
Fire Resistance - 20%
Cold Resistance - 70%
Lightning Resistance - 26%
Poison Resistance - 38%
Damage 3-5
Attack Rating - 304
Defense - 244
Stamina - 182
Life - 225
Mana - 139

Skills:
Skeleton Mastery - 6
Raise Skeleton - 11 + 2
Golem Mastery - 1
Clay Golem - 1 + 2
Raise Skeletal Mage - 9
Blood Golem - 1
Iron Golem - 1
Summon Resist - 1
Amplify Damage - 0 + 1

Equipment:
Tangerine Wand - +2 Clay Golem, +2 Raise Skeleton, +1 Amplify Damage, +8% Lightning Resist

Storm Hide (Ring Mail) - 68 Defense, 17% Faster Hit Recovery, +20% Cold Resist, +14% Poison Resist, Damage Reduced by 1, Magic Damage Reduced by 1

Superior Spiked Shield - 46 Defense, 30% Chance of Blocking, +11% Resist All

Strong Bone Helm of Energy - 51 Defense, +3 Energy

Death Knuckle (Heavy Gloves) - 9 Defense, +11 Attack, +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +9% Fire Resist, Half Freeze Duration

Treads of Cthon (Chain Boots) - 25 Defense, 30% Faster Run/Walk, +50% Defense VS Missles, +10 Life, 50% Slower Stamina Drain

Arctic Binding (Belt) - 33 Defense, +40% Cold Resist

Amulet of Regrowth - Replenish Life +9

Corruption Master (Ring) - +2 Strength, +16 Stamina, +7% Lightning Resist, +13% Poison Resist, Magic Damage Reduced by 1, Half Freeze Duration

Storm Turn (Ring) - 10% Faster Cast Rate, +88 Attack, 4% Life Stolen/Hit, +2 Energy, +5 Stamina

[GohanSSJ]

Ok get yourself 75% fire resist, you could buy a simple shield with sockets, and throw in a few rubys.

Lvl to 30, get fire golem, it dies very slowly from diablo, then put a point in iron maiden, cast iron maiden on him, cast your fire golem infront of him, and recast your golem if needed, and ofcourse make sure iron maiden is on him at all times.

Ofcourse you can also continue attacking him with bone spear or bone spirit.

75% fire resist + fire golem + iron maiden works great.

[jynxedu]

Agreed.

Portal out... heal up... create more cannon fodder... portal in... repeat as needed...

Took me awhile my first try as well.

[JohnE.]

Skills:
Skeleton Mastery - 6
Raise Skeleton - 11 + 2
Golem Mastery - 1
Clay Golem - 1 + 2
Raise Skeletal Mage - 9
Blood Golem - 1
Iron Golem - 1
Summon Resist - 1
Amplify Damage - 0 + 1

Hmm... best to just start over, imo... make a new Necromancer and transfer your items to him and use this current Necro as an item/gem/rune mule.

For the new Necro, max out Iron Maiden and put only 1 point in Raise Skeleton and Skeletal Mage (use +skills items to boost, rather than spending precious points). Skeletons and Mages are good for Normal & Nightmare but will be mostly useless in Hell. Focus on Iron Maiden, Revive, Bone Spirit, a few points in Golum & Skeleton Mastery, salt & pepper to taste for the other skills.

Collect diamonds, transmute in the Cube and put 3 Perfect Diamonds in either a 3 socket Tower sheild (best % blocking, but heavy) or Bone sheild (lower % block, but lighter) for 57% resistance to all.

As was said already, you'll need Fire Golum and Iron Maiden to take on Diablo.

[krohnjw]

Actually Jonh E, I will disagree with you there.

I have a lvl 84 HC necromancer, and he is easy to play. He has stalled at 84 as once again the game got boring, but is able to solo in hell, as he has done all of his hell quests solo.

Pre 1.10, skeletons were uesless in hell, but in 1.10 skeletons are one of the few effective killing methods in hell. With Max skele and skel mastery, combined with amp, (you can use a thorns merc) or IM and thorns although it will be slower, the necromancer is able to solo hell with little problem.

Unless you are maxing BS then there is ZERO need to ever put a single point into energy, those are points you should be putting into life. Unless you are playing pre 1.08, % to block is based on shield and dex also, so unless you want a necro with 140 dex and no life, dont count on block for anything. Get a +2 head with good res (not hard to find, rare heads drop quite a bit).

Revies used to be your tank, but now their life doesnt scale, and their damage isnt great. Unless you want to wait around until you are old and grey, revives and IM isnt a very effective killer.

I can speak from experience that skeletons can kill diablo and baal, along with minions. A good combo of decrepify, slows 50%, reduces damage 50%, and lowers physical resistance 50%, allows your skeletons to survive and do damage.

I would scrap this necromancer build one with a specific build in mind as to not waste points.

If I read this correctly you are in hell at 28? Slow down a bit If you play hardcore on US east ill give you some items to start you out. let me know.

[GohanSSJ]

JohnE, i don't agree, yeah sure it won't get him through hell... but to get through hell you need to make a very different necromancer, and well he obviously made a Summoner, and if you make them then you just have to face that you won't beat hell... not like that anyway.

The necro you need to beat the game isn't a very fun necro imo, i like the summoner most, so if i were him i would just stick with that one, and if he would still want to beat the game, then he could make a other char...

[JohnE.]

Hmm... interesting. Truth be told, I haven't played any of my Necro's since 1.10 so my build strategy may be somewhat outdated. He's gotta put some points in IM and at least 1 in AD though... I stand by that

As for a sheild, Homonoculous (spelling?) would be ideal but until then you can't go wrong with a 3 pdiamond sheild in the early stages and if it offers some %block that's a bonus. As you suggest, a rare +2 head with good resists would be good too. I've never been lucky enough to find one that even comes close to +57 though.

[krohnjw]

well, you can find them easily with +22, socket it with a P diamond......

I have crap gear and still almost all max res in hell, the only that isnt max is poison

[geekoid32]

One more thing. Get a new wand. Clay golem is cool, but I find him, the golem, weak against Diablo. Fire goes good there. I learned from Gohan that you absolutely MUST have iron maiden. I find it MUCH easier to kill people now.

[Ruler2112]

Well, the big bad-ass is dead and I did it with the guy I built. (No way I was starting over from the beginning again.) I'm well into Nightmare difficulty - hope to kill Mephisto tonight. You dudes are right- Iron Maiden rules! (And not just because they play some rockin music! )

What I ended up doing was casting IM on Diablo, then creating a fire golem. He'd kill the golem in 3-4 hits, but take significant damage because of it. I'd then summon another golem and repeat the process. Only had to teleport out once, which is FAR fewer than when I did it with the paladin or barbarian. I'm also finding that I'm not getting sick of the game as fast playing the necromancer. IM is wonderful when going up against difficult single creatures, but I find that Amp Damage is the best all-around curse for my guy. Just curse them, then let my horde of skeletons, skeleton magi, the fire golem, hireling, and any revived monsters beat the living crap outta whatever I'm trying to kill. (I still don't have any offensive spells and get slaughtered pretty damn fast when trying to go hand-to-hand!) Only bad part is when I'm in tight areas and there's not enough room for more than one or two of the horde to attack at any given time and curves or something interfere with the magi casting spells.

Thanks for the help guys! (Honestly, I don't think I would've thought of using IM against him and would probably have quit playing because of boredom by now.)