The character is for those of you who like to think
tactically. A master of death, the Necromancer summons the Undead. He
eventually has the power to bring the dead back to life. The early creatures
you can control are Golems, Skeletons, then Skeleton Magi and increasingly
powerful Golems.
Necromancers should have an early run on building up
their Life stats. Bring you mana up so that you can achieve a better level for
spell casting. Bear in mind that some of your later skills have a very high
Mana quotient. Then you’ll need some strength so you can wear decent armour.
After that you’ll want more Vitality. Necromancers barely ever engage in
hand-to-hand combat so your Dexterity isn’t the big deal it is to hands-on
warriors.
As far as combat goes, your essential skill for the
early game is Summoning Skeletons. You’ll note you have two skills, Skeleton
Mastery and Raise Skeletons. Mastery increases the actual power and damage
potential of your Undead. It’s a matter of preference if you’d rather have a
few powerful Skeletons or many weak ones. It might be best to start out with a
lot of Skeletons, and then master them up in time to have strong Skeleton Magi.
Here’s a tried and true tactic for the Necromancer:
Iron Maiden Curse, which you’ll get at level 10, causes cursed monsters to take
damage when they harm others. It’s a very inexpensive skill with additional
skill points increasing the percentage of damage returned and the duration in
seconds. The Iron Golem, a tough summoned monster, has the Thorns ability, which
causes damage to the attacking unit. Combine both skills, and you’ll have
monsters severely weakening themselves as they attack the strong Iron Golem.
Blood, Iron and Fire Golems are forged from magical
weapons. If you have a magic sword that causes fire damage, so will the Golem.
There is a temptation for magic users to simply identify and sell magic
weapons. Hold on to a few sweet ones, just to be sure. The Golem remains one of
the most significant weapons in the Necromancers arsenal and you should make
every attempt to get at least the Blood Golem, with its power to filter life
back to itself and the player.
Like every character, there are different
specialisation paths. For Necromancers, Summoning is probably the best. The
Necromancer isn’t really there to fight. Get some points in Teeth and at least
one point in Bone Armour, but some of the poisoning skills rely on you getting
into a mêlée, which is something you should avoid. Too often
you’ll be facing Undead, who have strong poison resistance, But then again,
Bone Spear, which passes through creatures, is a handy weapon. Life-tap is an
often overlooked skill, which can drain energy from the foe to your summoned
creatures. Even the simple Teeth skill can give support to your beasts.
Curses, those vicious little skills, can make the
difference between life and death, especially against particularly large groups
of creatures. Decrepify, the penultimate skill of this tree, can virtually
incapacitate monsters. Curses aren’t your major weapon, but can be very useful.
Enhancing Damaging before you charge with a dozen Skeletons is a sure was to
tip the scales in your favour. Revive is a must-have skill if you have put lots
of points into Summoning.
A final tip: Battle.net players who suffer from bad
lag may find the Necromancer the ideal player. Minions exist on the game
server, not on yours, so while you are gritting you teeth, your unholy armies
of the night will still be killing just fine.
