Curse

scorpid17 · Feb 04, 2010, 12:40 PM // 12:40

Heya all.

Im playing a necro in Factions. I've been playing a MM, untill I became Closer to the Stars, which is not even halfway in the storyline. Now i see my minions dont prove any threat to the ever stronger mobs anymore.
So I tried a curse N/Me, but didn't like it.

Since Flesh Golem is one of the few elite skills accessible to me atm, i decided to base a death magic build around it.

This is what i came up with:

12 Soul Reaping, 13 Death Magic, 8 Illusion Magic

-Deathly Swarm
-Conjure Nightmare
-Faintheartedness
-Soul Feast
-Dark Bond
-Blood of the Master
-Animate Flesh Golem
-Res signet

I figured since i will be having only one minion, i can use Blood of the Master and Soul Feast extensively, Dark Bond when taking heavy damage, Faintheartedness for weakening W and R, Conjure Nightmare as a heavy degen and Deathly Swarm as AOE dmg.

Now, while this is one of my best builds in terms of skill synergy, it seems it doesnt do much good all in all.. not as shutdown, not as dps, not as support.

I know it is difficult to suggest builds when there are only limited skills available, but im open to everything

_Nihilist_ · Feb 04, 2010, 03:27 PM // 15:27

Scorpid,

I take it that you only have Factions or are you just playing the Factions storyline and have other Campaigns available? That will help us to know what skills you do and don't have available to you.

A few points on what you've given so far:

*12 Soul Reaping, 13 Death Magic, 8 Illusion Magic - What are your base attribute investments and your Runes?

*Flesh Golem is your only Minion. While this might seem like a good idea (lower sacrifice on Blood of the Master/availability to use Soul Feast as a self-heal), Flesh Golem really isn't that good of a Minion to have. Its attack speed is slow, and one of the main purposes of having a Minion Master is to have as many Minions as possible to A) create a Minion Wall that bodyblocks enemies and soaks damage/takes the brunt of enemy offensive hexes B) create as many damage packets as possible (to fuel Mark of Pain, Barbs, Order of Undeath, etc.)

*Deathly Swarm deals Cold damage, which is reduced by armor. Armor-reduced damage becomes less and less effective the further you progress in the game.

I'll add more later when I get the chance, and try to make a few suggestions to help out!

Lusciious · Feb 06, 2010, 01:44 AM // 01:44

If you're a human MM, Try Order of Undeath . it's a good armour ignoring elite .

combine it with animate vampiric horror to negate hp loss .

Or aura of the lich . 11 lv 21 minions is nice .

ac1inferno · Feb 06, 2010, 02:28 AM // 02:28

If you only have access to [[Flesh Golem]:

[build prof=N/any Death=12+3+1 soulreap=8+1 Curses=10+1][Animate Flesh Golem][Animate Bone Fiend][Animate Bone Horror][Blood of the Master][Mark of Pain][Barbs][Signet of Lost Souls][Sunspear Rebirth Signet][/build]

If not, then you should really try [[Order of Undeath].

scorpid17 · Feb 06, 2010, 09:17 AM // 09:17

Thanks for the answers.

Well, this is a new account, and im a new player =) I have all four campaigns so it would be possible to travel to other continents to get skills, but I dont want to go through half of another campain just to get an elite spell..

As for runes, atm I am using only a +1 Death Magic.

You all seem to suggest a standard MM buld, more or less. Thats what Id also enjoy most, but i thought that the minions get less and less useful at higher level mobs (lv 15 minion proves little threat for a lv 20 mob?)

I would mind going a SS build if better, but Id rather stick with Death Magic.

edit: as for Order of Undeath, its pretty deep into the nightfall storyline, as far as i see

Lusciious · Feb 06, 2010, 02:07 PM // 14:07

PvP

unlock it . farm a bit for money . get an elite tome . acquire OoU .

Moloch Vein · Feb 06, 2010, 07:11 PM // 19:11

You can't really make a strong Death build focused around Flesh Golem. Or, well, it'll be strong enough, but only the Golem is a no. You need more minions then and possibly a hero curser w/ Barbs and Mark of Pain.

But seeing that you're a Factions toon I'd go /A and use Assassin's Promise. Yeah, that's a "curse necro" but it's way more fun.

MasterSasori · Feb 07, 2010, 02:14 AM // 02:14

Try Order of Undeath. Probably the best Human MM elite when used correctly. It is intensive and a little more difficult than MM, but I doubt it should be a problem.

scorpid17 · Feb 08, 2010, 08:42 AM // 08:42

Ok after reading the replies i like the idea of Assassin's Promise.

So i see the build as something like this:

-Mark Of Pain
-Barbs
-Assassin's Promise
-Rigor Mortis
-
-
-Animate Bone Fiend
-

Since the biggest problem I see with Mark of Pain is the 20s cooldown, it goes nice with AP. And i find Bonde Fiends to be the most effetive minions for this, becouse they attack very fast and at range.

Although ive tried out a simpler version of this (without AP), what bothers me is the long casting time of Barbs. I used MoP on a mob, started the attack, and before Barbs was cast, the mob was dead.

I also dont know what i should use the other skill slots for.. something for survival? Blood of the Master maybe?

...Oh and one more thing. What about attributes? Wouldn't this kind of build require me to split on 4 attributes (Curses, Death Magic, Deadly Arts, Soul Reaping)?

Drbongalot · Feb 08, 2010, 11:41 PM // 23:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lusciious

If you're a human MM, Try Order of Undeath . it's a good armour ignoring elite .

combine it with animate vampiric horror to negate hp loss .

Or aura of the lich . 11 lv 21 minions is nice .

o: human mm?

haha oh duh, as opposed to ai. thought you meant race xD

ac1inferno · Feb 09, 2010, 01:10 AM // 01:10

Mark of Pain Nuker build is along the lines of:

[build prof=necro/assa curses=12+1+1 soulre=10+1 deadly=8][mark of pain][rigor mortis][barbs][optional][assassin's promise][ebon vanguard assassin support]["Finish Him!"][optional][/build]
Optional 1 should be:
- [[Enfeebling Blood] for Melee protection.
- [[Weaken Armor] for extra damage.
- [[Reckless Haste] for Melee protection
- [[Mark of Fury] for general buff.
- [[Mark of Death] for faster clearing.
Optional 2 should be:
- [[Mindbender] for faster clearing.
- [[Technobabble] for Spell protection.
- [[Great Dwarf Weapon] for damage buff.
- [[Rend Enchantments] for strong enchant removal.
- [[Sunspear Rebirth Signet]

Pick a physically oriented team and call targets. But if you don't like it and want to go back to being a MM, I recommend capping [[Aura of the Lich] or [[Order of Undeath].

maxxfury · Feb 09, 2010, 01:28 AM // 01:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ac1Inferno

snip

By urals hammer for the optional slot too ^ :P

scorpid17 · Feb 09, 2010, 01:23 PM // 13:23

Ok, i dont understand how can one assassin npc (from EVAS) be better than than 8 or more Bone Fiends if the goal is to trigger MoP and Barbs as much as possible?

Thanks for the optionals =)

syphonus · Feb 09, 2010, 02:24 PM // 14:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by scorpid17

Ok, i dont understand how can one assassin npc (from EVAS) be better than than 8 or more Bone Fiends if the goal is to trigger MoP and Barbs as much as possible?

Thanks for the optionals =)

Because minions are by far the dumbest sacks of meat out there. EVAS gives you an instant homeless man with knives, who attacks your target relentlessly in a coked-up rage.

Being a human mm is a buzzkill anyway. More fun to let a hero do the bitch work.

ac1inferno · Feb 09, 2010, 06:55 PM // 18:55

Another big reason is that you don't have to split your attributes further and there is no limit to the number of Assassins a person may summon. [[Assassin's Promise] is effective in summoning multiple Assassins and makes sure your target is under a hex or condition so the assassin's [[Iron Palm] will cause knockdown.

Chthon · Feb 09, 2010, 07:33 PM // 19:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by scorpid17

Ok, i dont understand how can one assassin npc (from EVAS) be better than than 8 or more Bone Fiends if the goal is to trigger MoP and Barbs as much as possible?

Thanks for the optionals =)

Because he almost always attacks the target that you summon him at.

Minions consider what you're targeting in their target selection, but it's often outweighed by other factors like proximity, health, and armor. They're quite likely to not follow, or at least not quickly follow, your targets.

Anywho, to clear up something that I don't think has been made clear so far:

MM and AP-MoP are both very, very powerful player builds if you do them right. It's not really a matter that one is better than the other. They are both insane. The reasons for preferring AP-MoP for playing with heroes, hench, or stupid people are these:
1. The gap between a good human AP-MoP and a curse hero/stupid human is much, much bigger than the gap between a good human MM and a MB hero/stupid human MM. To put it another way, while a good human MM can run circles are a MB hero, a good human AP-MoP can run figure-eights interspersed with cartwheels and backflips around a curse hero. So, you stand more to gain by allocating your party's one (good) human mind to the AP-MoP role.
2. Minion damage is enormous, but diffuse; AP-MoP damage is focused. If you're the only member of your party with the sense of which targets to prioritize (and you will be if the others are heroes/hench/stupid), then you want to be in charge of the focused damage.

scorpid17 · Feb 16, 2010, 10:02 PM // 22:02

I apologize for the late response. Thanks for the answers.

I finaly made an AP MoP build (with lowest rank on EVAS). I like it pretty much, the damage is awsome. I find it most effective on bosses, where focusing the attack on the boss will result in all the adds to be dead even before the boss xD

the only issues I have are these:

1. On most of the mobs, i call a target and if the npcs obey, i barely manage to cast EVAS and AP before the mob is dead, which makes little to no use of MoP and/or Barbs. This goes especialy for Barbs, since it has a 2s casting time.
The only way around I see is picking different targets than the rest of the group, but thats kinda against my sense.

2. Often heroes and henchies ignore my call, the timing of AP as screwed and there I can wait 45s.

funny how this evolved into another AP thread

maxxfury · Feb 16, 2010, 11:25 PM // 23:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by scorpid17

the only issues I have are these:

1. On most of the mobs, i call a target and if the npcs obey, i barely manage to cast EVAS and AP before the mob is dead, which makes little to no use of MoP and/or Barbs. This goes especialy for Barbs, since it has a 2s casting time.
The only way around I see is picking different targets than the rest of the group, but thats kinda against my sense.

I guess your using disco heroes eh? thats the evidence why a 'real' mop nuker sucks with discoway...

If your not running discoway then mop must be proccing like hell from your physicals, then you cant complain that stuff dies fast, cos thats what you want :P

And barbs is often not needed, and best used to tag stragglers who dont die from the mop nuke or for bosses/hard mobs and isnt needed to be cast on every mob^

FyrFytr998 · Feb 17, 2010, 05:28 AM // 05:28

Scorpid. You need to give a little more if you really want to maximize your fun as a Necro.

What hero set up are you running?

How many and which heroes are available to you?

Are you capping Elites or are you getting them from tomes?

I would go against the way PvX describes to employ an MoP/AP nuker since your new to the game still. I would cast AP first then MoP...etc.

scorpid17 · Feb 17, 2010, 07:25 AM // 07:25

No im not using discordway.

Quote:

mop must be proccing like hell from your physicals, then you cant complain that stuff dies fast, cos thats what you want :P

good point hehe ^^

Quote:

What hero set up are you running?
Are you capping Elites or are you getting them from tomes?

Im capping skills.

About heroes:

Im using what I have, which are 4 heroes considering im a faction character. Ogden Stonehealer (monk), Vekk (ele), that mesmer girl and M.O.X (dervish)

So I usualy take Ogden, Vekk and MOX, a healer henchie, and and archer, fighter and an aditional depending on the area and mobs (cutthroat if i want more physical dmg, earth for protection, ...)

Anyway, Im just gonna play and learn to play to this build