{"id":564385,"date":"2014-10-01T15:40:28","date_gmt":"2014-10-01T13:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/diablo3.ingame.de\/?page_id=564385"},"modified":"2022-03-23T19:09:54","modified_gmt":"2022-03-23T17:09:54","slug":"nobbie_artyguide","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/planetdiablo.eu\/de\/diablo-2\/guides\/nobbie_artyguide\/","title":{"rendered":"Diablo 2 – Arty\/Ladder Necromancer Guide by nobbie – Patch 1.09"},"content":{"rendered":"

nobbie’s Arty\/Ladder
\nNecromancer Guide – Page 1<\/u><\/font><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

All information in this guide is based on version 1.09 of 
\nDiablo 2 „Lord Of  Destruction“ (LoD)<\/p>\n

About this Guide<\/font><\/b><\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/b>

Hello, and welcome to my Arty\/Ladder Necromancer Guide for Diablo 2
\n„LoD“!<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\"The<\/p>\n

„Everybody say „Cheeeese“ now!“<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In this short introduction, I’ll describe what this guide is, and what it is not.<\/b><\/p>\n

\nThis guide is a closer look at my current Arty („Arty“ from „Artillery“) Necromancer
\nDerExorzist<\/font><\/b><\/a>
\nwhom I played in 10 days to <\/b>level
\n99 and rank 1 on the European Battle.net Necromancer Ladder<\/font><\/b><\/a> <\/b>(the ladder after the reset in September 2001). I’m going to present his
\ncharacter attribute and skill point allocation, his equipment, as well as some infos and comments about these. I’ll make only comments about the skills and equipment that I actually use and
\nconsider the best
\nfor this
\nplaying style, and which I have tested across all game difficulties. 
\nAs such, this guide is neither a general or beginner’s Necromancer guide, nor is it an end-all, set-in-stone guide for the Arty Necromancer
\nplaying style. It is rather a portrait of an Arty Necromancer who has been played successfully to the top of the ladder, and who is able to solo Hell difficulty in 8-people multiplayer
\ngames.<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Have fun!<\/b><\/center><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The
\nNecromancer<\/font><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

The
\n„LoD“ Necromancer<\/font><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

The
\n„LoD“ Arty Necromancer<\/font><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Equipment<\/font><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Character
\nAttributes<\/font><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Skills
\n– Poison & Bone Spells<\/font><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Skills
\n– Curses<\/font><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Skills
\n– Summoning Spells<\/font><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Strategy
\n& Leveling<\/font><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Mercenaries
\n\/ Conclusion \/ Thanks<\/font><\/b><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The Necromancer<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\"Necro's<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

„From the steamy recesses of the southern swamps comes a figure cloaked in mystery. The Necromancer, as his name implies, is an unseemly form of sorcerer whose spells deal with the raising of the dead and the summoning and control of various creatures for his purposes. …“<\/font><\/p>\n

Raising the dead, summon and control creatures .. wow! This character description once caught my attention when
\n Diablo 2<\/font> (the classic, basic Diablo 2 version) came out, and I’ve been an avid Necromancer player since then. I’ve played all classic Diablo 2 (CD2) and Diablo 2 „LoD“ characters so far, but the most interesting and satisfying to me has always been the Necromancer. This has probably to do with
\nthe fact that this character’s skills are much more involved in the AI (Artificial Intelligence) system of the game than those of the other
\nclasses. I consider his Summoning tree, for example, the most elegantly designed skill tree in the entire game, and, before the release of LoD, the Necromancer was the overall best integrated character. Each of his main skills scaled up perfectly with the increasing game difficulties and the numbers of players in a game, the most prominent example being the „steam-rolling“
\n Summoner<\/i> or „Zookeeper“<\/i> with his large number of revived creatures and the
\n Iron Maiden<\/i> curse.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The „LoD“ Necromancer<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

Things have changed quite a bit with the release of the Diablo
\n2 „LoD“<\/font> expansion package. The introduction of hundreds of new, very powerful (elite) items and
\nitem modifiers required a complete overhaul of the last game difficulty.<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A general 50% resistance against physical damage has been introduced for
\nall monsters in Hell difficulty, as well as a random 100% immunity to physical
\nand elemental (cold, fire, lightning and poison) attacks. Furthermore, the hitpoints and damage of the monsters in the new last act of the game are now the highest, making it even more difficult to beat them. Soloing 8-player Hell games, which was well possible for any character in CD2, is now next to impossible without a party, except for extremely specialized and powered character builds.<\/p>\n

\nWhile these new concepts work quite well with the other character classes – Paladin’s, for example, use
\n Vengeance\/Conviction<\/i> against physical immunity, Barbarians use Berserk<\/i>, and Sorceresses their elemental attacks – the Necromancer is much more affected by them. For example, the interaction between two of his (once) best spells,
\n Iron Maiden<\/i> and Revive<\/i>, and the
\nnew physical immunities (global 50% and random 100%) results in a severe reduction of his power. Since Iron Maiden counts physical resistance for the damage a monster takes, and thus returns, as well as the damage the attacker gets returned, it has been quartered in effect. A higher physical resistance than 50% on either the revived monster or the attacker drops the effect even
\nmore, not taking into account monster regeneration, which in any case is very
\nhigh in Hell difficulty. It is quite possible that a monster will never die from the
\ndamage reflected by Iron Maiden, especially when soloing multiplayer games.<\/p>\n

\nSo, the days of the steam-rolling, Iron Maiden-casting Zookeeper are over (at least if he plans
\nto play in Hell difficulty), and new strategies are required. With the much enhanced effect of poison
\nin LoD, one alternative would be a Necromancer who concentrates on the Lower Resist<\/i> curse and his
\nbest elemental and magical attacks, which would be Poison Nova<\/i> and Bone
\nSpirit<\/i>, and to a lesser extent Corpse Explosion<\/i> (50% fire damage) and
\n Fire Golem<\/i>. With maxed skills and as much +skill items and +skill charms as possible, this build is even viable in multiplayer Hell. I find this playing style too slow though, and since I wanted to build a Necromancer which is able to level and climb up the Battle.net Ladder fast, I decided to play a style which is already well known from CD2: The
\n Arty (or Artillery) Necromancer<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The „LoD“ Arty Necromancer<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

What is an „Arty“ Necromancer, and what’s the
\ndifference between a „LoD“ Arty Necromancer and a Classic Diablo 2
\nArty Necromancer?<\/b><\/p>\n

„Arty“ is short for „Artillery“ and
\nrefers to the Necromancer’s direct damage spells found in the Poison
\nand Bone Spells<\/font> tree, including Corpse Explosion<\/i>, Teeth<\/i>, Bone
\nSpear<\/i> and Bone Spirit<\/i>. Although Poison Dagger<\/i>, Poison
\nExplosion<\/i> and Poison Nova<\/i> can be considered direct damage spells as
\nwell, they are not direct damage spells in the sense of „artillery“.
\nAn Arty Necromancer focusses on the „artillery“ spells and develops
\nthem to their maximum possible levels.<\/p>\n

The „new“ LoD Arty Necromancer is different from
\nthe CD2 Arty in that he has the ability to develop his skills to much higher
\nlevels, the playing style remains the same. This is made possible by a.) better items, and b.) new, so-called Charms<\/i>,
\nwhich enhance his skills beyond
\nthe normally possible maximum levels. A classic Arty could, for example,
\ndevelop Corpse Explosion<\/i> (not counting plusses to this spell) to a maximum skill
\nlevel of 29 (Wormskull helm, +2 Necromancer Skills amulet, Silks Of The Victor
\narmor, +2 Necromancer Skills wand, 2 Stone Of Jordan rings, Sigon’s Guard
\nshield). A LoD Arty can develop Corpse Explosion<\/i> to a skill level of 41 or 42
\n(+2 Necromancer Skills circlet or tiara, +2 Necromancer Skills or Mara’s
\nKaleidoscope amulet, Skin Of The Vipermagi or Arkaine’s Valor (+2 skills –
\npossible, but impractical because of the high strength requirement), +2
\nNecromancer Skills wand, 2 Stone Of Jordan rings, Homunculus trophy\/shield, and
\n10 +1 Poison\/Bone Skill grand charms (10 grand charms is the maximum number that
\nfits into the inventory)).<\/p>\n

In addition to higher skill levels, the LoD Arty enjoys
\nmuch better equipment than his classic brother. Playing an Arty, especially a
\nhigh-level one, is very<\/i> mana-intensive and requires equipment that takes
\nthis into account. The new Arty is best supplied in LoD, as +Mana<\/i> and Mana
\nRegen(eration)<\/i> is available on almost every part of his equipment, and Faster Cast<\/i>
\n(another important skill of the Arty) is available at much higher rates. The
\nclassic Arty, on the other hand, didn’t have access to such superior equipment,
\nso, his level 29 Corpse Explosion can be considered more a theoretical maximum
\nbecause of the huge mana requirement.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Equipment<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

As already said previously, playing a high-level Arty
\nNecromancer is very mana-intensive and requires good +Mana<\/i> and Mana
\nRegen(eration)<\/i> equipment, as well as equipment which increases the (Spell)
\nCast Rate<\/i>.
\nIn LoD, a Necromancer has access to a good selection of unique and set items,
\nwhich in almost every case are superior to the found or imbued rare items<\/i>.
\nAn exception are +2 Necromancer Skill circlets or tiaras, which are only
\navailable as rare items. Rare amulets or rings  may be better than uniques,
\nbut in most cases, the unique amulet Mara’s Kaleidoscope<\/i> and two Stone
\nOf Jordan<\/i> rings are the best choice.<\/p>\n

\"DerExorzist<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    
\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This screenshots show the equipment and inventory of my
\nNecromancer DerExorzist<\/font> at character level 99. In
\nthe following, I’ll list the items and the sum of their effects. If you want to
\nknow the detailed stats of them, you can look them up at Blizzard’s The
\nArreat Summit<\/font><\/a>. All items are from LoD version 1.09:<\/p>\n

+2 Necromancer Skills\/+Life\/+Cold Resist
\nTiara, socketed with Perfect Skull for Life\/Mana Regen
\nMara’s Kaleidoscope<\/i> Amulet (+2 All Skills, 27% Resist All)
\nSkin Of The Vipermagi<\/i> Armor, socketed with Perfect Skull
\nGloom’s Trap<\/i> Belt
\nSilkweave<\/i> Boots
\nFrostburn<\/i> Gloves
\nArm Of King Leoric<\/i> Wand, 2nd Weapon: Wizardspike<\/i> Knife with HEL Rune for
\n(lower) 60 Dexterity
\nHomunculus<\/i> Trophy\/Necro Shield, socketed with Perfect Diamond for Resists
\n2x  Stone Of Jordan<\/i> Rings<\/font><\/p>\n

10x  +1 Poison and Bone Spells<\/i> Grand Charms
\n7x  +15 to +20 Life<\/i> Small Charms<\/font><\/p>\n

Sum of all equipment stats\/effects (using the 1st weapon Arm
\nOf King Leoric<\/i>):<\/b><\/p>\n

+ To Base Mana: 163 (at character
\nlevel 99)
\n+ To Energy: 25
\nIncrease Maximum Mana %: 115
\nRegenerate Mana %: 86
\n% Damage Taken Goes To Mana: 25
\n+ To Mana After Each Kill: 5<\/font><\/p>\n

+ To Vitality: 20
\nReplenish Life: +10<\/p>\n

% Resist All: 146 (incl. the 3 „Rescue Anya“ Quests)
\nMagic Damage Reduced By: 10<\/p>\n

% Faster Cast: 40<\/p>\n

+ To All Skills: 9
\n+ To Curses: 2 (Homunculus<\/i>)
\n+ To Summoning Spells: 2 (Arm Of King Leoric<\/i>)
\n+ To Poison And Bone Spells: 2 (Arm Of King Leoric<\/i>) + 10 (Skill Charms) = 12<\/p>\n

<\/font>+2 To Terror (Arm Of King Leoric<\/i>)
\n+2 To Raise Skeletal Mage (Arm Of King Leoric<\/i>)
\n+3 To Skeleton Mastery (Arm Of King Leoric<\/i>)
\n+3 To Raise Skeleton (Arm Of King Leoric<\/i>)<\/font><\/p>\n

The second, alternative weapon Wizardspike<\/i>
\nincreases Base Mana by 238 (at character level 99), Maximum Mana by 130%, Mana
\nRegen by 101%, Resist All by 221% (incl. the 3 „Rescue Anya“ Quests), and the Cast Rate by 80%
\nat the cost of the
\nskill boni and auto-cast features found on Arm Of King Leoric<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Using the Mana Regen formula from The
\nArreat Summit<\/font><\/a>, this equipment generates:<\/p>\n

31 Mana\/Second using Arm Of King Leoric<\/i><\/font>
\nApplication example: 1 level 17 Corpse Explosion<\/i> (8 Yards) per second<\/p>\n

33.5 Mana\/Second using Wizardspike<\/i><\/font>
\nApplication example: 1 level 19 Corpse Explosion<\/i> (8.6 Yards) per second<\/p>\n

(calculations based on 2000 Mana total)<\/p>\n

As one can see, my Necromancer’s equipment consists almost
\nonly of unique items which support the mana-intensive Arty style. I’ve chosen
\nunique items over set items because they offer more flexibility and, in this
\ncase, more power. The popular Trang Oul’s Avatar<\/i> set deserves a mention
\nhere because it’s a very good „general“ Necromancer set, but for this
\nstyle, it’s not the best choice.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Character Attributes<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

As with the equipment, an Arty Necromancer develops his
\ncharacter attributes for support of the mana-intensive playing style.<\/b><\/p>\n

\n\"DerExorzist<\/p>\n

Strength<\/i> and Dexterity<\/i> are just increased
\ntill they meet the minimum requirements for the equipment (the Silkweave<\/i>
\nboots require the most strength (65), and the Wizardspike<\/i> knife with a
\nHEL rune (lowers the requirements to 80%) requires the most dexterity
\n(60)). <\/p>\n

Vitality<\/i> is developed to a relatively high level
\n(195 points). The reasons are a.) the higher hitpower of monsters in LoD,
\nespecially in the last act of Hell difficulty, and b.) the relatively offensive
\nArty playing style. With +Life items and charms, my Necromancer has 774
\nhitpoints at level 99, which is usually enough to survive at least one strong
\nphysical and\/or elemental attack. Death must be avoided at all costs in the late
\ngame (character level 95 and above) because the experience penalty for dying in
\nHell is very high, and new experience comes very, very slow at these character
\nlevels. At character level 98, for example, you get only 20% of the experience
\nyou would get from level 1 to 75, plus<\/i>, because you are already 8 levels
\nhigher than a level 90 monster (like the cows in Hell), you get an additional
\npenalty of 43% of the original experience. If you are playing Hardcore, you will
\nwant about 1000 hitpoints here.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Energy<\/i> is your most important attribute. High-level Bone
\nSpirits<\/i> and Corpse Explosions<\/i> burn Mana at an incredible speed, even
\nwith very good Mana regeneration. In a typical battle, you will burn Mana like a
\nhigh-level Sorceress, but without access to a Mana regeneration skill like her Warmth<\/i>
\nskill. To compensate this ability, raise your base Mana as high as
\npossible and put all remaining points into Energy. Including all +Mana and Mana
\npercentage enhancing equipment and charms, about 2000 Mana is desirable in the
\nlate game. Note that in my Necromancer’s case, base Mana (without equipment) is
\njust 701 (265 Energy). With the previously described equipment, it is raised to
\nalmost 2000, without any +Mana charms!<\/p>\n

Also note the damage values of Bone Spirit<\/i>. Without
\nequipment (skill level 20), it does „just“ 340 – 350 magic damage.
\nWith equipment and skill charms (skill level 41), it does 718 – 728 damage,
\nwhich is high enough to get the first corpse(s) for the Corpse Explosions<\/i>
\nquickly, even in solo multiplayer Hell games. More about this in the Skills
\nchapters.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Skills – Poison & Bone
\nSpells<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

The Poison & Bone Spells<\/i> tree is the backbone of
\nthe Arty Necromancer. All other skills can be considered support skills. The
\ntree is divided into three parts: the Poison Spells<\/i> (left branch), the Offensive
\n(direct damage) Bone Spells<\/i> (middle branch), and the Defensive Bone
\nSpells<\/i> (right branch).<\/b><\/p>\n

\"DerExorzist<\/p>\n

Since the majority of +skill items and charms are applied
\nto this tree (+21 in the case of DerExorzist<\/font>), it makes sense to have at least 1 point in
\nthe defensive spells Bone Armor<\/i>, Bone Wall<\/i> and Bone Prison<\/i>,
\nand in the poison spells Poison Dagger<\/i>, Poison Explosion<\/i> and Poison
\nNova<\/i>.<\/p>\n

For just 1 skill point invested, and the skill adders, DerExorzist’s<\/font>
\nBone Armor<\/i> absorbs 230 damage, which is equal to 230 additional
\nhitpoints. 1-hit kills are very unlikely with this powerful protection. The same
\ngoes for Bone Wall<\/i> and Bone Prison<\/i>. For just 1 skill point in each
\nspell, he has two powerful defensive spells against ranged attackers, large or
\naggressive monsters hordes, and bosses.<\/p>\n

Among the poison spells, only Poison Nova<\/i> is of
\ninterest. 3 skill points gave him a level 22 Poison Nova<\/i>, which does 406
\n– 440 poison damage over 2 seconds. The short 2 second duration doesn’t make
\nthis spell particularly useful, but in combination with the Lower Resist<\/i>
\ncurse, it is handy against the occasional physical
\nimmunes or tough monsters.<\/p>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

In the middle branch are the two direct damage spells that
\ndefine the Arty playing style: Corpse Explosion<\/i> and Bone Spirit<\/i>. Teeth<\/i>
\nand Bone Spear<\/i> get just 1 point because they are required to enable the
\nother spells.<\/b> Both Corpse Explosion<\/i> and Bone Spirit<\/i> will be
\nmaxed out (20 skill points) during the Arty’s career. I<\/b>n the case of DerExorzist<\/font>, both spells reached level 41 with the skill adders (+11 from equipment and +10
\nfrom charms).<\/p>\n

\"Corpse<\/p>\n

A level 41 Corpse Explosion<\/i> explodes a corpse with 60 – 100% of the corpse’s
\nlife as damage, and a blast radius of 16
\nyards at the cost of 55 Mana. This is equal, or even a bit more than the blast
\nradius of a level 20 Corpse Explosion<\/i> during its „glory days“ in version
\n1.00 of classic Diablo 2, before the radius nerf in patch 1.03. A Hell Death
\nLord<\/i>, for example, has about 3000 – 4000 hitpoints (3500 average). When his
\ncorpse explodes, an average damage of 2800 (50% physical damage and 50% fire
\ndamage) hits all enemies within the radius of 16 yards. In combination
\nwith the Amplify Damage<\/i> curse (reduces target’s physical resistance by
\n100%) and chain-casting, it has a power that even
\nNihlathak will be green with envy \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

\"Bone<\/p>\n

Bone Spirit<\/i> does 718 – 728 Magic Damage for 32 Mana
\nat level 41 and is powerful enough to get the first corpse(s) for the Corpse Explosions<\/i>
\nquickly, even in solo multiplayer Hell games. Some Arty’s use an Act 5 Barbarian
\nmercenary with a high-damage Colossus Sword or Blade to get the first corpses. I
\npersonally prefer the Act 1 Rogue with a special attack (more about that later)
\nthough, because the aggressive barbarians die much too often for my taste. And
\nwith such a powerful Bone Spirit<\/i> and a huge Fire Golem<\/i> as tank,
\nthe barbarian mercenary would actually be redundant. <\/p>\n

\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Skills – Curses<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

In the Curses<\/i> tree, two curses are of particular
\ninterest for the Arty Necromancer: Amplify Damage<\/i> (reduces target’s
\nphysical resistance by 100%) and Lower Resist<\/i> (lowers elemental and<\/i>
\nmagical resistance of monsters). Other useful, but not particularly necessary
\ncurses are Iron Maiden<\/i> (returns damage to the attacker), Life Tap<\/i>
\n(attacker returns life to you, your mercenary and  your party), Dim
\nVision<\/i> (reduces vision radius of attackers), and Terror<\/i> (attackers
\nflee in fear).<\/b><\/p>\n

\"DerExorzist<\/p>\n

As said earlier, Iron Maiden<\/i> has lost its status as
\none of the Necromancer’s „uber-spells“ because the general 50%
\nphysical resistance of all monsters in Hell quarters its effect. It is quite
\nuseful in the early game though, when Mana is not yet high enough to support
\nconstant casting of Corpse Explosions<\/i> and Bone Spirits<\/i>.Life
\nTap<\/i>, Terror<\/i> and Dim Vision<\/i> serve as „emergency spells“,
\nand are used when the battle gets too dangerous. Dim Vision<\/i> is especially
\nuseful against ranged attackers and critter mobs, but unfortunately loses its
\neffect against bosses and champions, and Oblivion Knights<\/i>. DerExorzist<\/font>
\nhas these skills at level 12 (1 point + 11 from skill adding items), except for Terror<\/i>,
\nwhich has an additional 2-point bonus from Arm Of King Leoric<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\"Amplify<\/p>\n

Amplify Damage<\/i> is by far the Arty’s most important
\ncurse. Its radius of effect should be about equal to the blast radius of Corpse
\nExplosion<\/i> for full support of its damage effect. In the case of DerExorzist<\/font>,
\nits level is 21 for a radius of 15.3 yards (Corpse Explosion<\/i> is 16 yards)
\nand a duration of 68 seconds at the cost of 4 Mana.<\/p>\n

Why is this the best curse for the Arty? Amplify
\nDamage<\/i> enhances physical damage, which, with the exception of its
\neffectiveness against physical immune monsters in Hell, is the Necromancer’s
\nmost effective form of damage in a typical battle against monster hordes. The
\nsecond reason is its actual<\/i> effectiveness in Hell difficulty. The skill
\ndescription „Damage Taken: +100 Percent“ is somewhat misleading. At a
\nfirst glance, one would assume „ok, this spell doubles my physical
\ndamage“, which is wrong, at least as Hell difficulty is concerned. The
\ncorrect skill description would be „Reduces Target’s Physical Resistance By
\n100%“. Because every monster in Hell difficulty has at least 50% physical
\nresistance, a monster has just 50% – 100% = -50% physical resistance when it is
\ncursed. This means that your previously reduced damage of 50% is raised to its
\noriginal 100% damage, plus 50%. Thus, Amplify Damage<\/i> actually triples<\/i>
\nphysical damage against all Hell foes. Its effectiveness increases even more
\nwith higher physical resistance, because the damage inflicted on a cursed
\nmonster gets higher in relation to the damage that could have been otherwise
\ndone. The melee fighters in your party will appreciate this
\npowerful spell very much.<\/p>\n

\"Lower<\/p>\n

Lower Resist<\/i> is the second important curse. It
\ncurses an enemy to take more damage from all magical attacks, including
\nelemental (lightning, fire, cold and poison) and<\/i> magic damage. Immunities
\ncan not be affected. DerExorzist<\/font> has this skill at
\nlevel 12 (1 point + 11 from skill adding items), lowering the monster resistance
\nby 57% at the cost of 22 Mana. Because of its diminishing returns with
\nincreasing skill level, more points are not recommended.<\/p>\n

Whenever physical damage loses its effect, for example
\nagainst physical immune monsters, this curse is used to amplify your and your
\nparty’s magical attacks. The Arty has three magical attack forms: Fire (Corpse
\nExplosion<\/i>: 50% fire damage, Fire Golem<\/i>), Poison (Poison Nova<\/i>),
\nand Magic (Bone Spirit<\/i>). Combined with Lower Resist<\/i>, they
\nall do sufficient damage to handle monsters that are only sensible to magical
\nattacks. While playing my Necromancer, I have not met monsters which are immune
\nto all three attack forms, so at least one of them was always working. Lower Resist<\/i>
\nalso amplifies the magical attacks of your party members. Sorceresses get a huge
\nboost in power, but magical attacks using melee fighters like Berserk<\/i> Barbarians
\nor Vengeance<\/i> Paladins profit equally. <\/p>\n

\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Skills – Summoning Spells<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

In the Summoning Spells<\/i> tree, the Arty Necromancer’s
\nminions and supporting spells are located. Even though the Arty is able to
\ninflict massive direct damage on his own, he can’t operate efficiently and safe
\nenough without minions. Ideally, all attackers are gathered within a small area,
\nso that he can blow them up with a couple of Corpse Explosions<\/i>. In this
\ntree is a minion which is great for that purpose.<\/b><\/p>\n

\"DerExorzist<\/p>\n

The Fire Golem<\/i> is the Arty’s „monster
\nmagnet“<\/b>. He features a fire aura that literally attracts monsters like a
\nlight attracts moths.<\/p>\n

\"Fire         
\n\"Golem<\/p>\n

The effect of his aura gets stonger with increasing skill
\nlevel, and this is the third spell after Corpse Explosion<\/i> and Bone
\nSpirit<\/i>, which I recommend to max out. A Fire Golem<\/i> should, not at
\nlast because of the high casting costs, stand like an indestructible pillar in
\nthe battle field, thus, Golem Mastery<\/i> (increases life and speed of
\ngolems) should be developed to a high level during the Arty’s career, too. I
\nrecommend to develop the golem and his mastery equally, with a slight focus on
\nthe golem.<\/p>\n

\"Me<\/p>\n

Me and the Golem, discussing whether to max him or his
\nmastery first<\/i><\/p>\n

The Fire Golem<\/i> of DerExorzist<\/font>
\ndoes 225 – 587 fire damage, absorbs 94% fire damage to heal himself, and has
\n6685 hitpoints in Hell difficulty thanks to his level 28 Golem Mastery<\/i>.
\nHis walk\/run speed is enhanced by 36% through his mastery, and he costs 330 Mana
\nto be summoned. Since my Necromancer passed character level 85, I almost never had
\nto recast him. He is nearly indestructible, and does decent fire damage at high
\nlevels, especially in combination with the Lower Resist<\/i> curse.<\/p>\n

\"Revive\"<\/p>\n

At times, you want to take off some of the heat of your
\ngolem, your mercenary and your party, and summon some Revives<\/i>. Their
\ndamage is negligible compared to the damage you inflict otherwise, but they work
\ngreat as „meat shields“. Revive<\/i> requires 2 prerequisite points
\n(Raise Skeleton<\/i> and Raise Skeletal Mage<\/i>), and 1 point into Skeleton
\nMastery<\/i> is highly recommended to make them more durable and increase their
\ndamage. For 4 skill points and the 11 points from skill adding items, DerExorzist<\/font>
\ncan summon a dozen of durable Revives<\/i>. Skeleton Mastery<\/i> (skill
\nlevel 15) gets the additional skill bonus from Arm Of King Leoric<\/i>,
\nincreasing the lives of revived creatures by 105% and their damage by 30%.<\/p>\n

Summon Resist<\/i> increases the resists of all summoned
\ncreatures and gets 1 point (and the rest from skill adding items). At skill level
\n12, Summon Resist<\/i> increases all resistances by 60%, which is high enough
\nto protect your minions for a while against the worst elemental attacks. It should
\nbe noted that Summon Resist<\/i> impedes the Fire Golem’s<\/i> ability to
\nabsorb and heal himself from fire damage. However, since a high-level golem
\nabsorbs a very high  percentage of fire damage, he still retains a quite good
\nself-healing ability.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Strategy & Leveling<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

The strategy of an Arty Necromancer is quite simple: Cast
\nBone Armor and the Fire Golem in town, get your mercenary, and then walk out
\ninto the lands of Sanctuary. Your strong „monster magnet“ (the Fire Golem) attracts the monster hordes, and the high-level Bone Spirit gets the first corpse(s) for your Corpse Explosion
\nchains quickly. Cast Amplify Damage before casting Corpse Explosions and further
\nBone Spirits. Should you run into physical immunes, cast Lower Resist instead of Amplify
\nDamage, and use Bone Spirit, Poison Nova and Corpse Explosion, which is 50% fire damage.
\nCast Revives when you get mobbed too hefty, the Cow Level being a good example.
\nIf you are running out of your grey „meat shields“, use the defensive
\nspells Bone Wall and Bone Prison to protect yourself and to isolate single
\ntargets or smaller groups. Bone Wall and Bone Prison also work great against
\nmonsters and bosses which are unaffected by certain curses, like Oblivion
\nKnights.<\/p>\n

When playing in parties, use the curse that supports the
\nfighters next to you best. Amplify Damage makes life for melee fighters a lot
\neasier, and spellcasters will like your Lower Resist curse. Continue to cast
\nBone Spirits and Corpse Explosions (Corpse Explosions with a Static Field
\ncasting Sorceress next to you works fantastic in big parties). When you have
\nboth melee fighters and spellcasters next to you, support the melee fighters
\nwith Amplify Damage. Against physical immune monsters, use Lower Resist
\nexclusively.<\/p>\n

When you want to play solo, for the purpose of finding
\nitems, for example, join games with 3 or 4 people. More people is still well
\npossible for a soloing Arty, but the Corpse Explosion chains<\/i> start to get
\ninterrupted because their damage can’t cope with the high total  hitpoints
\nof the monsters (in a 6 to 8-player multiplayer game). In other words,
\nyou can’t play fluent anymore.<\/p>\n

As far as unique monsters\/bosses and act bosses goes, none
\nof them is a problem for this kind of Arty. The powerful Fire Golem and Bone
\nSpirit are strong enough to kill them quickly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

MMMoooooooo !!! \ud83d\ude42<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

Well, this guide is also written for the Necromancer who
\nwants to run the Battle.net Ladder (read: get experience fast), and here are
\nsome tips.<\/p>\n

I played my Arty Necromancer<\/b>
\n DerExorzist<\/font><\/a><\/p>\n

in 10 days to <\/b>
\n level 99 and rank 1 on the European Battle.net Necromancer Ladder<\/font><\/b><\/a> (the ladder after the reset in September
\n2001), and he was the third Necromancer to reach level 99 on the new ladder in
\nthe Europe Realm. He
\nis not<\/i> a so-called „team char“, who leeches experience till
\nlevel 60 in a strictly organized power-leveling („twinking“) team
\nbefore he finally kills the first monster on his own. Instead, he has been
\nplayed and leveled „normally“ in public and private games, often with
\nsome friends, but most of the time together with people we didn’t know. He has
\nbeen „twinked“ as far as the equipment goes, which means that all of
\nhis equipment parts was already there on mule characters, ready to be used when
\ntheir time has come. This isn’t exactly the way the game should be played, but
\nduring the „Ladder Rush“ (the first few days after its reset), you
\ndon’t want to waste time collecting items and spend hours in the trading
\nchannels to trade for the equipment you need. We also had the help of some
\nhigh-level friends, which gave us waypoints, so that we could get to important
\nleveling areas (Act 2 Sewers<\/i>, Canyon of the Magi<\/i>, Act 3 Kurast<\/i>, Act 5
\n Bloody Foothills<\/i>, Cow Level<\/i>) and Act Bosses as fast as possible. All leveling on the
\nway to Act 5\/Hell however, has been done without high-level help (experience
\nleech) in public and private games, and we killed all Act Bosses and the
\nAncients ourselves. <\/p>\n

\n\"Leveling<\/p>\n

„A fresh beefsteak, anyone?“<\/i><\/p>\n

Before I get to the most important leveling area for the
\nladder runner, the Cow Level<\/i>, some statistics regarding the experience
\nduring a character’s life.<\/p>\n

The Level „Malus“<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

„Level Malus“ refers to a general experience
\npenalty depending on your character level. The penalty gets higher with
\nincreasing character level.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Character Level<\/td>\nExperience per Monster<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1 – 75<\/td>\n100%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
76 – 79<\/td>\n50%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
80 – 84<\/td>\n33%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
85 – 89<\/td>\n25%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
90 – 99<\/td>\n20%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

As one can see, the general experience penalty gets very
\nhigh past character level 79. At character level 90 (and beyond), one needs to
\nkill 5 times<\/i> the monsters one would have to kill till character level 75
\nto gain the same experience. But that’s not all, it gets even worse! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

The Character Level vs.
\nMonster Level Penalty<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

„Character Level versus Monster Level Penalty“
\nrefers to an experience penalty depending on the level of your character and the
\nlevels of the monsters you are fighting. If your character’s level is too far
\noff from the monster’s level, you gain almost no experience from the kill.<\/b><\/p>\n

Experience per<\/i> Monster<\/i><\/u><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Character Level – Monster Level<\/td>\n Character Level 1 – 24<\/td>\nCharacter Level 25 – 99<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-10 and lower<\/td>\n5%<\/td>\nCharacter Level\/Monster Level<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-9<\/td>\n15%<\/td>\nCharacter Level\/Monster Level<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-8<\/td>\n37%<\/td>\nCharacter Level\/Monster Level<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-7<\/td>\n68%<\/td>\nCharacter Level\/Monster Level<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-6<\/td>\n88%<\/td>\nCharacter Level\/Monster Level<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-5 to +5<\/td>\n100%<\/td>\n100%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
+6<\/td>\n81%<\/td>\n81%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
+7<\/td>\n62%<\/td>\n62%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
+8<\/td>\n43%<\/td>\n43%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
+9<\/td>\n24%<\/td>\n24%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
+10 and higher<\/td>\n5%<\/td>\n5%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

So, a level 98 character not only gets just 20% experience
\nper killed monster on his way to level 99, but also an additional experience
\npenalty of -57% when killing a level 90 Hell monster like the cows. The actual
\nexperience is now just 8% for every level 90 monster!<\/p>\n

To give a better idea what this means in practice, an
\nexample: At character level 85, a typical „Hell Cow Level Experience Run“
\nin an 8-player party gives about 9 to 10 million experience points for your
\ncharacter (at 25% experience). At character level 98, the same run gives just 3
\nmillion experience points (at 8% experience). Count the constantly increasing
\nexperience requirements for the next character level in (about 290 million from
\nlevel 98 to 99), and you get an idea how hard it is to level your character past
\nlevel 90. So, when you run into one of those snobs again who say „the game
\nis too easy, and the ladder a joke“, throw these numbers at him \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\"Experience<\/p>\n

„Is the Cow Portal open, guys?“<\/i><\/p>\n

Experience Shrines to the
\nRescue!<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

In Diablo 2 (LoD), there is no problem that cannot be
\nworked around somehow, and that applies to the experience penalty as well \ud83d\ude09 In the
\ngame are a number of different so-called shrines<\/i>, and one of them, the Experience
\nShrine<\/i>, increases your experience by 50% (including the experience gains
\nfrom kills by your party) for a limited time. They can be often found in the
\nfirst areas of Act 1 (like the Cold Plains<\/i>, the Stony Field<\/i> or the
\nDark Wood<\/i>), which is quite handy because you start the „Cow
\nRuns“ from the Rogue Camp in Act 1. Their effect doesn’t last for long, but
\nwhenever possible, use these experience boosters to your advantage. Note that
\nwhen you get cursed, for example by one of the numerous bosses in the Cow Level,
\nthat the experience increasing effect of the shrine vanishes. While under the
\ninfluence of the shrine, avoid boss packs like the plague.<\/p>\n

Leveling in the
\nNot-So-Secret Cow Level<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

When you have killed the last Act Boss (Diablo in CD2, Baal
\nin LoD), you get access to a special game area called „The Secret Cow
\nLevel<\/i>„. This fun-area offers by far the best experience per time in the
\nentire game and is the recommended level area for the ladder runner, at least
\nfor those playing Softcore. For Hardcore players, this area is not recommended
\nbecause it is crowded <\/i>with hundreds of fast moving „1-hit
\nwonders“ (the cows), random (often dangerous) cow boss packs, and a unique
\nboss, the Cow King<\/i>. It is almost certain that you die several times here,
\nthus, Hardcore players should level in the first area of Act 5, the Bloody
\nFoothills<\/i>, instead. Leveling there takes significantly longer, but it is
\nalmost guaranteed that you don’t die if your elemental resists are sufficient,
\nand if you avoid the two bosses in that area, Shenk the Overseer<\/i> and Dac
\nFarren<\/i>. I definitely recommend to play in a party when leveling your
\ncharacter in the Cow Level.<\/p>\n

Before you can enter the Cow Level, someone in your party
\nhas to go to Tristram, go to Wirt’s body and get Wirt’s Leg<\/i>. Wirt’s Leg
\nand a tome of town portals in the Horadric Cube opens a red portal to the Cow
\nLevel.<\/b><\/p>\n

„DON’T KILL THE COW KING
\n!!“<\/i><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

When the red portal is open, this is probably the first
\nsomeone in your party will say \ud83d\ude42 The reason for it is once you, or someone else
\nin your party, kills the Cow King, no party member will be able to open the
\nportal to the Cow Level in future games. The (always lightning enchanted) Cow
\nKing and his minions have the annoying habit to follow you once they
\n„saw“ you. Thus, for practical reasons, we mostly had a character in
\nthe game whom we called the „Gate Char“. The Gate Char had not yet killed the Cow King, and his only task
\nwas to
\nopen the Cow Level portal, and then we were free to kill the King. He must not be in the party if he intends to stay in
\nthe game, or leave the game when the portal is open.<\/p>\n

The melee fighters should go through the portal first,
\nfollowed by the ranged fighters and the spellcasters. Very often, the portal was
\nright next to a cow mob, or even worse, a boss pack or the King himself (well,
\nsometimes you wonder what they smoke over there at Blizzard \ud83d\ude09 This fact, by the
\nway, is yet another reason why the Cow Level is not recommended for Hardcore
\nplayers. Melee fighters can stand one or more bad hits, and are best suited to
\nmake the first step. As soon as they give their OK, the weaker party members follow.<\/p>\n

„STICK TOGETHER, TEAM
\n!!“<\/i><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

 This is probably the best tip I can give for
\npartyplay in the Cow Level. Have your team stick together, and your killing
\nspeed will be much higher. The worst party you can have is a party with
\nloot\/item-hungry people, running around everywhere, hoping to find the
\n„godly“ item before you find it. I have made comparisons between this
\n„worst case“ and a team that strictly killed together for experience
\nonly. The latter team was about 4 to 5 times faster, finishing a Cow Run in
\nabout 2 – 3 minutes, and I guess I don’t need to explain what that means if you
\nare after level 99 and a top ladder position. If you want items, do item runs,
\notherwise leave the chests closed.<\/p>\n

An ideal party consists of a good mix of melee and ranged
\nfighters, and spellcasters. For example, two Barbarians with high-level Battle
\nOrders<\/i>, a Paladin with Fanaticism<\/i> and\/or Conviction<\/i>, a Druid
\nwith Oak Sage<\/i>, one or two Amazons (Bow and\/or Javelin), one or two
\nSorceresses, and of course you, the Arty Necromancer, is a very powerful
\ncombination, which can clear the Cow Level in almost no time at almost no risk.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Mercenaries<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

In LoD, the hireable mercenaries have evolved from
\ncannon-fodder to actually helpful companions. Vive la evolution! \ud83d\ude09 <\/p>\n

Four types of mercenaries are available:<\/b><\/p>\n

Act 1 – Rogue <\/font> <\/b>(Ranged fighter, can uses
\nNon-Amazon-Class Bows exclusively)
\nAct 2 – Desert Mercenary <\/b><\/font> (Melee fighter with Auras, can use Spears\/Polearms exclusively)
\nAct 3 – Mage <\/b><\/font> (Ranged fighter with Elemental Spells, can use 1-handed Swords and
\nShields)
\nAct 5 – Barbarian <\/b><\/font> (Strong melee fighter, can use Swords exclusively)<\/p>\n

For the Arty Necromancer, all of the mercenaries can be
\nuseful. I decided to get an Act 1 Cold Arrow Rogue because she has a nice
\n„hidden feature“: a powerful Lightning Hose attack, which accompanies
\nher arrow attacks once it is enabled.<\/p>\n

\"Act<\/p>\n

Act 1 Rogue Mercenary – Equipment<\/i><\/p>\n

If the rogue gets equipment which has +3 to all skills on
\nit, for example the unique Cliffkiller<\/i> bow (+2 skills) and the unique Peasant
\nCrown<\/i> (+1 skills), she uses a Lightning Hose attack similar to that
\nof Diablo together with her cold arrow attacks. It is limited in its range,
\nbut it is very powerful once she gets to higher character levels. Her lightning
\nadds a third elemental attack form to the Arty’s arsenal, which, besides its
\ngeneral effectiveness, is very useful against physical, poison and fire immune
\nmonsters.<\/p>\n

\"Act<\/p>\n

Act 1 Rogue Mercenary – Lightning Hose Attack<\/i><\/p>\n

Another advantage of the rogue is that she almost never
\ndies because the strong Fire Golem and the Revives tank for her. Most of the
\ntime, she is just running around, happily firing her cold arrows and lightning
\nhoses. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

Well, I think I have told you everything that is important
\nto know about my Arty\/Ladder Necromancer. He is a blast to play, and I had a
\ngreat time in the 10 days during which I played him to the top of the ladder.
\nThe experience to play together with some of the best realm players was very
\nexciting, and I will certainly do it again when the next ladder run starts. This
\ntime, you’ll probably see me as Elemental Druid, or as Meteor Sorceress.<\/p>\n

DerExorzist<\/font> has now retired.
\nSometimes, he can be seen strolling through the lands of Sanctuary in search of
\n„godly“ items. He plans to marry Isolde, his lovely rogue mercenary,
\nand finally take the time to study the „Bizarre Dimension“, and
\n„The Book“ \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thanks<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

Thanks to all the fine people whom I played with during the
\n„Ladder Rush“! Thanks for the fun time, and the support, which finally
\nmade the top ladder rank possible.<\/b><\/p>\n

Special thanks go to my steady companions during the run:<\/b><\/p>\n

AXTGOTT<\/font> (Barbarian)<\/b><\/p>\n

CHRISSIE<\/font> (Sorceress)<\/b><\/p>\n

DARKELDAR<\/font> (Paladin)<\/b><\/p>\n

ERDNUCKEL<\/font> (Barbarian)<\/b><\/p>\n

FROGWOLF<\/font> (Werewolf Druid)<\/b><\/p>\n

SHERA<\/font> (Sorceress)<\/b><\/p>\n

and last, but not least:<\/b><\/p>\n

HEMAN<\/font> (The Gate Char)<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You are the Best! \ud83d\ude42<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Europe Realm<\/b><\/p>\n

October 21, 2001<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

nobbie’s Arty\/Ladder Necromancer Guide – Page 1 All information in this guide is based on version 1.09 of  Diablo 2 „Lord Of  Destruction“ (LoD) About this Guide Hello, and welcome to my Arty\/Ladder Necromancer Guide for Diablo 2 „LoD“!   „Everybody say „Cheeeese“ now!“   In this short introduction, I’ll describe what this guide is,… Diablo 2 – Arty\/Ladder Necromancer Guide by nobbie – Patch 1.09<\/span> weiterlesen<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":748,"featured_media":0,"parent":562964,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-564385","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetdiablo.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/564385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetdiablo.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetdiablo.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetdiablo.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/748"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetdiablo.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564385"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/planetdiablo.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/564385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":585406,"href":"https:\/\/planetdiablo.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/564385\/revisions\/585406"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetdiablo.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/562964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetdiablo.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}