Author: Holy Terrrror
Introduction
Greetings all! This is my guide to creating (in my opinion) one of the best and most viable character types in the game, the Poison & Bone Necromancer.
Virtues of this Character Type
Personally, I have made several variants of this character class, but I find this one to be the most satisfying; he’s easily the most fun variant I have made; and while some people say the Necromancer is a boring class to play, I find this to be totally untrue: this character is capable of soloing on Hell difficulty, up through act 5 without too much difficulty. He’s also a great compliment to every single other character class, as he has much to offer a party ranging from 1 partner to 7. Throw in a touch of PVP appeal, and this character is tough to beat for fun-factor!
Mistakes Commonly Made by Those Less “Diverse” Players:
1. I’ve encountered lots of people who whine and cry when I join a game. “Oh, the lag! Leave Necro!” Well guess what? This Necromancer is next to minion-less, so lag is not a factor.
2. Poison is no longer weak. It’s viable for Hell difficulty, and is nearly instantly fatal to those characters who do not prepare for it. The simple rule-of-thumb to remember for poison is: “Stack, stack, stack!”
3. Bone Spear is quite over-rated. It has its merits, but by the time you reach Hell diff., it’s worthless.
Anyway, on to the guide. 🙂
Skills (and Which Ones to Develop)
Please note: skill points are a great thing to save. CLvl 30 skills require CLvl 30 for a reason, after all. Now, if only saved points earned interest… 😉
CLvl 1-5:
Amplify Damage: 1 point. This one seems to be a staple for a lot of Necro’s, but I find it to not be worth more than one point (and that’s only to get it as a pre-requisite). Exception: if you party with lots of Barb’s.
Teeth: 1 point. This skill is next to worthless. Pre-requisite only.
Bone Armor: 1 point. This skill may seem useless at first, but it’s quite nice in later difficulties for avoiding the dreaded one-hit kill. Don’t put more than one point in it though, as you will acquire plenty of items that will boost this skill pretty high.
Raise Skeleton: 0 points. Avoid this skill like the Plague.
Skeleton Mastery: 0 points. See above.
CLvl 6-11:
Dim Vision: 1 point. Highly under-rated skill. This one is *excellent* for areas with lots of ranged attackers (Radament’s sewer, Palace Cellar, Flayer Jungle, Chaos Sanctuary) and it’s even better for areas with lots of resurrecting monsters (Act 2 underground, Fallen camps, Act 3 jungles). However, rely on your equipment later to boost it to acceptable levels.
Weaken: 1 point. Pre-req only.
Poison Dagger: 1 point. Pre-req only.
Corpse Explosion: 3-5 points. “Necromancer’s Best Friend”. Yes, I know everyone uses this skill, but let’s face it. It’s the ultimate crowd control, its strength scales by difficulty, and it’s one of the few skills that will get you through the Cow Level alive. 3 to 5 points are enough however, as more points add nothing but a larger blast radius.
Clay Golem: 1 point. Pre-req only. He is, however, a good early tank.
CLvl 12-17:
Iron Maiden: 3-5 points. Highly overrated, but somewhat useful nonetheless. Don’t bother planning your character around the Blood Golem/Iron Maiden cheese technique. That’ll only take you so far, then at that point, it’s time to grow up and use some REAL strats. 🙂 This skill is useful for playing solo and for partying with melee characters. Note for PVP players: this skill might do you well in fending of those pesky melee characters. 🙂
Terror: 1 point. Pre-req only. Terror has potential to save you or your party in a bad situation, but really, you should never be in a position where this skill could be used (in other words, you shouldn’t ever be surrounded). Barbs will hate you if you use this skill.
Bone Wall: 0 points. Don’t bother. Exception: PVP players. 1 point, pre-req only.
Golem Mastery: 20 points. This is one of the ones you want to max out. Some will argue this, but it’s critical to this character build. More later when we reach Fire Golem.
Skeletal Mage: 0 points. I agree that these guys make great artillery, but really, their damage is insignifigant later on. This build doesn’t need them anyway.
CLvl 18-23:
Confuse: 0 points. Back off! This skill may have its uses somewhere, somehow.. but until I figure out exactly *how* it affects the enemy AI, forget about it. 🙂
Life Tap: 1 point. Pre-req only. Exception: parties including melee characters. Some of them really like this curse, since leeching was nerfed quite badly in the expansion.
Poison Explosion: 1 point. Pre-req only. Not a bad skill, but save those points for Poison Nova.
Bone Spear: 1 point. Nice in the early levels, but it lacks the punch needed in later difficulties. Please, resist the urge to pump this one through the roof, it may doom your character later.
Blood Golem: 1 point. Pre-req only. He’s nice to have around though, while you’re waiting for bigger, better golems.
CLvl 24-29:
Attract: 0 points. If there is even ONE less useful skill in the game, please someone, point it out to me. Once again, Blizzard’s AI has my brain fried. The only thing that could make this skill useful is, if it worked on bosses. But guess what? It doesn’t!
Decrepify: 1 point. Pre-req only. Exception: PVP players. Pump this one up til your heart’s content; you will need it for your Bone Spirits to catch anything at all.
Bone Prison: 0 points. Don’t bother. Exception: PVP players, drop in as many points are you feel are necessary. Bone Spirits DO penetrate prisons, after all.
Summon Resist: 1 point. Certainly worth just one point, this skill will add at least a little resistance to your single minion. Rely on equipment to boost this skill higher, however. There are more important skills.
Iron Golem: 1 point. Pre-req.
CLvl 30+:
Lower Resist: 5-10 points. This skill is essential to make Poison Nova worth the while. If you are unhappy with your current poison damage, drop some more in. Also, if you party with a Sorceress on a regular basis, make sure you use this skill a lot!
Poison Nova: 20 points. Max this one out. Its damage goes quite high and (unlike D2C) it can actually help you kill things! Note: casting several poison novas on top of one another appears to stack the damage somehow, though I have not yet figured it out. Anyone?
Bone Spirit: 20 points. This skill gives you quite high damage when it’s maxed, and it will be your primary method of dealing death. It may take several hundred of these bad boys to kill Izual on Hell difficulty, but it’s still the best damage you’re gonna get!
Fire Golem: 20 points. I like to call this guy “Sherman”. Everyone wave hello to Sherman! He’s your new best friend. When you combine 20 points in Fire Golem and 20 points in Golem Mastery, he will run incredibly fast, be quite adept at being right where he needs to be when he needs to be there, and he will have a LOT of hit points to boot. Somewhat like an old Sherman tank, he will take mass amounts of punishment (which pre-occupies monsters, allowing you plenty of time to Nova them to death or rattle off 100+ spirits) and he detonates with a massive force when he dies! What could be better?
Revive: 0 points. Pssh. My dirty gym socks are more intelligent.
Summary of Tactics
Up through level 30, this character build is quite weak. You will have to rely very much on cheesy/hit-and-run/weenie tactics. Go ahead, feel free to use the Blood Golem/Iron Maiden cheese for a while, it’ll pay off in the end.
Early Levels: When you first create your character, you will have virtually no offensive power at all. Rely on the +1 Raise Skeleton wand until at least CLvl 6, where you can get Clay Golem. At this point, abandon the starter wand for something that adds to damaging skills (Clay Golem or maybe Teeth). Immediately drop a few point in Corpse Explosion. It’s a mana-burner at this point, but you WILL need it. Dim Vision will help you get through tougher areas like Catacombs 3, where there are undead mages around every corner. It also works well on damaged Misshapen who run off to bombard you with Lightning.
Andariel: She can be tough with this build. My recommendation is to wait til at least CLvl 12 to confront her, so you can rely on Iron Maiden/Clay Golem to kill her. Your only other real option is Teeth (uggh) or to hop in melee with Amplify Damage (not wise). I suppose Poison Dagger could be an option, but daggers do not add anything to skills .. I guess it’s a matter of opinion though.
Middle Levels: At this stage, Iron Maiden and your golem are all you can really use. I know it’s cheesy, but hey, you gotta make it somehow, right? Golem Mastery will enhance your golem so he can at least survive some of Act 2’s finest. At CLvl 18, you get your blessed Bone Spear. At this point, it becomes a lot easier to level-up, as you can now have a hand in dealing damage without relying on IM/BG. I recommend finding a wand that adds points to Bone Spear and/or Blood Golem and Golem Mastery. It’ll make your life easier here, and it will help you resist the urge to dump mass amounts of points into Bone Spear or Blood Golem.
Duriel: Clay Golem and Iron Maiden. Resist the urge to use Blood Golem here, as Duriel will lay a serious hurting on you. Continually re-casting Clay Golem when one dies is once again the best way of dealing with this Boss. Lay into him with Bone Spear if you can muster the extra mana. Not really a tough fight.
Later Levels: At CLvl 24, no really useful skills become available, so just hold tight with your Bone Spear and Iron Maiden. Drop your pre-req points in Iron Golem (though I recommend continuing to use Blood Golem) and Decrepify. Make good use of Dim Vision in the jungles of Kurast, as it is great for stopping the shamen from resurrecting their kiddies, not to mention the fact that it stops those damned annoying blowpipe Fetish from running!
The High Council: This battle could be very tough or very easy. It all depends on how you go about killing them. The best method I have found is to try to isolate the Council Members from other monster types, distract them with your golem, and try to kill off the minions before you actually attack the bosses themselves. Not only do the minions seem to randomly heal their masters, but their bodies make great bombs. Beware the lightning-enchanted Council Member though, he’ll be your daddy before you know it, if you’re not careful. Really, the Council isn’t that bad. Boss packs of Heirophants could be more troublesome.
Mephisto: Run around him and pelt him with Bone Spears. The Iron Maiden/Golem tactic could work, but I have found it to be pretty ineffective without a lot of points in Golem Mastery. This is probably the toughest battle yet (with the possible exception of the High Council).
Act 4: Keep with that Bone Spear/Golem/Iron Maiden strategy for just a little longer. It’s not too bad, since by now you should have decent equipment and a good wand that boosts the appropriate skills. Once again, Dim Vision is a great ally in the Chaos Sanctuary.
Izual: What a bastard. Iron Maiden/Golem-of-your-choice will eventually stick it to him though. Just keep a golem active, since Izual will mercilessly chase you around, Frost-Nova’ing you, if you don’t.
Diablo: Same as Mephisto. Run around Spearing him until he gives up. Summon Resistance may help your golem survive one of his lightning attacks, but it’s not likely. He’s really a great big red Teddy Bear; just avoid the pretty red lightning!
Act 5: This is where the game really gets fun. You can level-up at an extreme rate; your best skills will become available; and the quest rewards themselves are really cool. Bone Spirit will prove invaluable here against those annoying Demon Imps that teleport around. Shenk the Overseer is a weenie; just pepper him with Spirits. The only boss who gave me trouble here is Nihilathak (sp?). His Corpse Explosion reaches far and wide, and is especially nasty on Nightmare and Hell difficulties. Just try to beat him to the punch and detonate all the corpses before he has the chance. Parties will love your talent with dead bodies when you come across the Reanimated Horde. These guys tend to get back up after dying, unless you pop their remaining parts. In the Worldstone Keep, BEWARE the charging Ice Spawns (constantly punching the numeric keypad #7 here is quite good for getting laughs; “Run! Run away!”) and the Succubi. Their one curse is deadly AND annoying (it looks like some kind of spiralling ribbon over your head; it swaps your mana and health globes around so your spells all drain health instead).
The Ancients: First off, pray that they target Sherman instead of you! Cast Iron Maiden and keep your distance. One of them is very likely to Leap Attack you, so watch out for him. Casting Spirits in their general direction while they pound on Sherman is your best bet. Keep it up and they will fall rather quickly.
Baal: This guy is bizarre. Sometimes he’s really really easy, other times he is really really hard. He uses the same health-draining curse as the Succubi, and his Appendages make it tough to do damage to him while keeping your distance. Your best bet is to open a portal before decending into the Worldstone Chamber (hehe), then try to spawn a new Sherman right next to him very quickly. Hopefully his attention will be redirected to the new golem right in front of him. At this point, Iron Maiden him and lock onto him with Spirits. He may teleport away, but as long as you hold down your mouse button to continue casting Spirits, they will track him relentlessly. If/when Sherman dies, replace him and make sure you keep Iron Maiden on Baal. When Baal creates his twin, it’s best to either completely ignore the twin, or, for safety’s sake, keep an obstacle between you and the twin while you continue to unload Spirits in Baal’s direction. If by chance, your golem diversion doesn’t work, you must dodge Baal’s projectiles. They are quite powerful and will drain your red globe quickly. The V-shaped cold projectile is especially bad if it hits you dead-center, as it will continue to knock you backwards until you hit a wall or die (the latter being more likely). If you keep it up like this, Baal won’t last long at all. Good luck!
What’s in Style (What Equipment You Should Wear and Look For)
Here are my recommendations for what equipment you should ultimately look for and end up with for this character build. I will list a primary recommendation and a secondary recommendation, but you must remember that I am choosing each piece of equipment with regard to the other choices (ie, I chose my primary weapon rec to parallel my primary shield rec, as well as my secondary gloves rec to parallel my secondary boots rec, and so on). Since this build is very very mana-intensive (I repeat, very very mana-intensive), I will reflect that in my equipment choices. Obviously, equipment like the Trang-Oul’s Avatar set is a goal for every Necromancer out there, but there’s no originality in that, plus you aren’t likely to assemble that setup in a reasonable time frame. The stuff I am recommending is all very attainable and reasonable. And finally, my choices are not the end-all best choices around. If you disagree with my choices, you may very well be right too! So, on with my choices:
Primary Weapon
2-Socket Wand (Runeword “White” or alternatively “Bone”). This Runeword rocks for all Poison & Bone Necros. “White” (DolPo) is a verified Runeword (as of v1.08) that adds 3 to every skill in the Poison & Bone tree, on top of +4 Skeleton Mastery (bleh!), +3 Bone Armor, and +2 Bone Spear. Mix that in with 20% fast cast and reduced magic damage, and you have a pretty solid weapon. As for “Bone”, it’s also a 2-socket Wand Runeword, though it’s not currently active as of v1.08. It supposedly adds +4 to all Poison & Bone skills though.
Secondary Weapon
Ume’s Lament.I know every Necromancer in the world has one, but that’s only because it’s a damn fine weapon. +2 Necro skills, 20% fast cast and +40 mana… tough to beaUme’s Lament.I know every Necromancer in the world has one, but that’s only because it’s a damn fine weapon. +2 Necro skills, 20% fast cast and +40 mana… tough to beat. Of course you could always socket it and personalize it if you *need* something that’s truly unique.
Primary Shield
Viscerataunt (unique Defender) +2 Necro skills along with decent defense and fast blocking. The +80 life is a needed shot in the arm for most Necromancers. Its lack of resistance could be a problem though.
Secondary Shield
Any “Ancients’ Pledge” or triple-diamond shield. You need the resistance in later difficulties, that’s the bottom line. Go for the highest defense and block % possible when making these shields. Another possible alternative would be a good Rare Trophy, but they’re tough to come by with good resistances and +skills mods.
Other: Wall of the Eyeless; a good Rare
Primary Armor
2-socket armor (Runeword “Smoke”). Grab the best 2-socket armor you can find and make this, pronto. Currently there are not too many known Runewords, and this one is definitely among the best for resistance. +75% defense, 20% faster hit recovery, +50 resist all, and +280 defense vs. missiles makes for a great suit of armor.
Secondary Armor
Spirit Shroud; Heavenly Garb; Silks of the Victor; a good socketted Rare armor
Primary Helm
Any triple-socketted Exceptional with 3 perfect skulls, or possibly a perfect sapphire This one is a tough call. Mana regeneration is important to this build, and there aren’t too many great helms for Necros. Some may argue the virtues of Tarnhelms forever, but let’s face it, you get more utility out of this setup.
Secondary Helm
Peasant Crown (unique War Hat); Wormskull (socketted maybe). These two fairly common helms have +1 skills, and other decent mods. Again, there aren’t too many choices for helms.
Other: Runeword “Lore” (bleh) or a good Rare (preferably a Circlet)
Primary Gloves
Frostburn. There’s really no alternative. They have decent defense, and the +40% mana will have you sitting pretty in the mana department for a good long time.
Secondary Gloves
A good Rare with resistance and +lots of mana; Chance Guards (if you can’t find anything else)
Primary Belt
A good Rare with 16 potion slots, +mana and resistances, and other good mods. As I said before, mana is very very important to this character build.
Secondary Belt
Lenymo, Nightsmoke. Lenymo has +30% mana regeneration, mild resistances and +15 mana, but only 8 potion slots. Nightsmoke reduces damage dealt to you by 2, has 10% resist all and +20 mana, along with %50 damage->mana.
Primary Boots
Sander’s Riprap. Damn, I love these boots. 40% fast run is the best part, along with +10 dexterity and +5 strength. The +100 AR is nice, but not for Necromancers. 🙁
Secondary Boots
Treads of C’thon; Vidala’s Fetlock or a good Rare with fast run. Fast run is all I really care about on boots. I need it to stay sane!
Primary Amulet
A good Rare with +1 or 2 to skills and Prismatic, +mana or +hit points.
Secondary Amulet
Mara’s Kaleidoscope; Eye of Etlich. Mara’s has 20% resist all, +5 to all four stats and +1 skills. Very nice. And who wouldn’t want the good old Eye?
Primary Rings
A Stone of Jordan and a Crafted Caster ring (or a Rare with +mana and GOOD mods). The Stone speaks for itself, and having a crafted caster ring is the only way I know of to get mana regeneration on a ring. It’s possible to get a Rare that is better than a crafted caster ring though.
Secondary Rings
Any good Rares with +lots of mana, hit points, resistances, or fast cast.
Other: Raven Frost. This ring has Cannot be Frozen, a good mod for certain occasions.
As I stated before, I am sure some people will deisagree with my equipment choices. But please, before you flame me, realize that these are purely subjective choices, and will vary person-to-person. Don’t bother to write me, telling me that having two Stones of Jordan would be better than one Stone and a Crafted Caster ring. That’s your opinion. 🙂
In Conclusion
My Poison & Bone Necromancer is great fun to play. My D2 bud (mostly a Sorceress) has lots of fun playing in a party with me. The going is kind of slow in the beginning, yes, but once you get over the top of the hill, it’s a blast. Please write me with any suggestions or corrections you have, as long as your suggestions/corrections aren’t purely a matter of opinion.
My email is: (email address removed)
Have fun on Battle.Net!
Holy-Terrrror, USEast
Original D2Sector reference. This article describes the historical game version indicated; some advice and external resources may be outdated.