Curse

BeefEater4:20 · Mar 14, 2007, 05:26 PM // 17:26

Hi fellow Necromancers,

Since I posted the MM build I've been using, I got quite a bit of good feedback and have made some adjustments to that build and am currently running it on Olias to great effect. This has allowed me to modify my usual SS curse build, and I feel I have made some improvments to it and am posting it here to get some feedback on it to improve it even more.

Stats:

Curses: 16 (12+3+1)
Blood: 13 (11+2)
Soul Reaping: 6

Gear:

So, having been playing with my Necro for the past week after a long vacation from GW, I got looking at his droks bonelace armor and decided it looked old. Time for a change, so I stole all my money from 6 of my other chars and bought and dyed him a new set of Factions Revenant Krytan armor with a Wicked scar pattern (+1 curses). The Revenant set gives a HP bonus of like +/- 35 hp, leaving me with 405 hp. For a weapon I am currently using a green curses staff called the Stonereaper (I think, can't remember and am at work) which I find very effective.

Skills:

[skill]Awaken the Blood[/skill][skill]Spiteful Spirit[/skill][skill]Reckless Haste[/skill][skill]Barbs[/skill][skill]Insidious Parasite[/skill][skill]Desecrate Enchantments[/skill][skill]Unholy Feast[/skill][skill]Rebirth[/skill] or [skill]Resurrect[/skill]

Usage:

Since I'm not usually one to play with a PUG unless I can't beat a certain mission with heroes & hench (not too often but occasionally) I generally order my party to attack, then cast AtB and barbs on the called target, then I'll switch to another target, preferrably with a few friends nearby, and hit him with SS and RH, switch targets to someone with an enchantment and hit him with desecrate enchantments. Then I'll look for an enemy likely to cause damage (like a war or ranger) and hit him with insidious parasite. By this time SS and DE have likely recharged so I'll throw them around again. Usually by this time the enemy group is mostly dead or all dead, but if not I'll throw some more curses in there or just use my staff if there's only one left.

I really enjoy playing this build much more than playing an MM build as there is less micro management and I get to see lots of damage numbers fill my screen

Please post any comments and feedback to help me improve this build.

Thanks,

BeefEater

EDIT: WOOT!!! figured out how to use the skill pics thing!!

Pick Me · Mar 14, 2007, 07:08 PM // 19:08

Do you not find energy to be a problem?

Soul Reaping: 6?

Not even a minor rune for Soul Reaping?

What a thief! A Necro stealing from his fellow characters....

I'd rather have Signet Of Lost Souls over IP. Parasitic Bond over UF. UF is too much recharge time and a high cost.

Lower Blood Magic and raise Soul Reaping so you can gain more energy per death.

BeefEater4:20 · Mar 14, 2007, 07:23 PM // 19:23

I hardly ever run out of energy, I have 45 energy with my staff and can fire off almost my whole skill bar without running out. I also have one of my heroes with BIP which they cast on me when I'm low, so that helps. Insidious Parasite does massive damage to enemies who are dealing damage and I just threw Unholy Feast in there cause it's not very often I need a heal, but when I do it's usually a large amount. I can get over 200 health back from one casting.

Of course, I haven't played much with the changes I made to this build from what I was using before, but my first impressions are that it is working much better. I may take my necro to a higher end area and try it out, but so far in Kourna I can steamroll most enemies with no trouble. I was massacring (sp?) am fah and jade brotherhood in Cantha as well while I was travelling to the Kryton armorer NPC (numerous times I might add cause I kept forgetting to bring all the right materials)

Pick Me · Mar 14, 2007, 07:39 PM // 19:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeefEater4:20

I hardly ever run out of energy, I have 45 energy with my staff and can fire off almost my whole skill bar without running out. I also have one of my heroes with BIP which they cast on me when I'm low, so that helps. Insidious Parasite does massive damage to enemies who are dealing damage and I just threw Unholy Feast in there cause it's not very often I need a heal, but when I do it's usually a large amount. I can get over 200 health back from one casting.

Of course, I haven't played much with the changes I made to this build from what I was using before, but my first impressions are that it is working much better. I may take my necro to a higher end area and try it out, but so far in Kourna I can steamroll most enemies with no trouble. I was massacring (sp?) am fah and jade brotherhood in Cantha as well while I was travelling to the Kryton armorer NPC (numerous times I might add cause I kept forgetting to bring all the right materials)

Well that answers that then. "... can fire off almost my whole skill bar without running out." So you do have energy problems.

"I also have one of my heros with BiP..." thus no energy concerns.

I usually run Enfeebling Blood + Oppresive Gaze.

Well, I'll probably test this build out with my N/Me (since the only monk skill you have is rebirth).

jesh · Mar 15, 2007, 07:50 AM // 07:50

I'd rather use more Soul Reaping and not waste a hero elite on BiP.

ZenRgy · Mar 15, 2007, 10:25 AM // 10:25

Take out awaken the blood and unholy feast, try something... useful?

Jetdoc · Mar 15, 2007, 01:59 PM // 13:59

Beef - try starting with a "classic" SS build, and try deviating from there...

Curses 15 (11+1+3)
Blood 11 (10+1)
Soul Reaping 11 (10+1)

Spiteful Spirit (E)
Arcane Echo
Reckless Haste
Awaken the Blood (flex)
Parasitic Bond (flex)
Well of Blood (flex)
Blood Ritual (flex)
Rez

You see deviations on the four last skills very often, but that's the base that people normally play from. I've worked a Curses/Domination necro utilizing Empathy with SS, and it really devastates enemies quickly.

ZenRgy · Mar 15, 2007, 02:15 PM // 14:15

[skill]Price of failure[/skill] owns [skill]Empathy[/skill] in the face.

I don't know why anyone would run Awaken the blood for, 4 points of damage in SS?

At high curses [skill]Barbs[/skill] is Godly, especially if A) your group has a MM or B) A few physical damage dealers.

And of course 1 or 2 desecrates are always fun to have, and of course [skill]Suffering[/skill] is a nice cover hex, but Parasitic works just aswell.

BeefEater4:20 · Mar 15, 2007, 05:37 PM // 17:37

Hey everyone,

Thanks for the replies.

I was playing this build last night near Camp Rankor. I had decided that I wanted to get to the Deldrimor War Camp and do some forays into Sorrows Furnace as I've never been there. I loaded up with my heroes and henchmen and proceded north through Snakes Dance. I had some difficulty with the Blessed Griffons, but other than that, Stone Summit, Azure Shadows, Trolls and Tundra Giants all fell quickly under the onslought of my party. This build performed very well as I only died once, which I blame mostly on inexperience fighting the griffons and a bad pull. Henchmen AI didn't help much in this area as I think Stefan needs a bit higher IQ and Orion isn't particularly useful. Once I got past all the griffons, it was much easier, and as I made my way into Grenths Footprint, it became a walk in the park.

Fought my way to Deldrimor to get it on my map, grabbed some better henchmen, namely Devonna and Cynn, and went back out to do some Sorrows Furnace quests. Grabbed the dwarf closest to war camp and accepted his quest and made my way towards SF with no problem. It was about halfway there that I realized Olias didn't have any minions. Looked at his skills and saw that he was running my hexgiver build (must have loaded the wrong template). Rather than map back to war camp, I decided to see how I would fare with 2 Hexgivers in the party. Proceeded to run through SF trying to keep up with the dwarf, destroying stuff along the way. I can't believe how easy killing things was with 2 of this build in the group. Was almost done the dwarfs quest when something funny happened and my whole party wiped instantly (I think the dwarf guy might have died, he's insane, running recklessly all over the place) and I had to return to the outpost. I probably should have been payin more attention at that point, but my fiance was distracting me

I really like using AtB with barbs, minions do an additional 17-18 points of damage per hit. And while and extra 4 damage on SS doesn't seem like much, with RH triggering it more quickly in a group, it can really add up. Also, the extra 2 in the attributes makes the curses last longer. In fact, I found almost every skill useful, with the only 2 I would consider optional being Unholy Feast and a res. I found that the few times I needed UF though, it saved me, so I was happy with that. I also needed a res once, so I think any res is fine.

ZenRgy · Mar 16, 2007, 12:42 AM // 00:42

I'd rather dump points into soul reaping over points into blood magic for ATB.

Cathode_Reborn · Mar 16, 2007, 02:08 AM // 02:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jetdoc

I've worked a Curses/Domination necro utilizing Empathy with SS, and it really devastates enemies quickly.

*Devastates the idiots quickly. No one with a brain would keep attacking with both of those on them. There's no reason for Necros to use Emapthy ever again because of the buff that Price of Failure and Insidious Parasite got.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZenRgy

I don't know why anyone would run Awaken the blood for, 4 points of damage in SS?

People just can't do simple math. If you want damage, Defile Enchantments x is what you need....AtB is usually wasteful.

Jetdoc · Mar 16, 2007, 02:58 PM // 14:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cathode_Reborn

*Devastates the idiots quickly. No one with a brain would keep attacking with both of those on them. There's no reason for Necros to use Emapthy ever again because of the buff that Price of Failure and Insidious Parasite got.

...and when did PvE enemies develop brains????

Let's check out the PoF versus Empathy damage-wise really quick...

PoF + Reckless Haste = 75% chance to miss at 15 Curses.

75% x 45 damage per miss = 33 damage per attack.

Empathy at 12 Domination = 39 damage per attack.

So, damage-wise, Empathy is still superior. The difference is that Price of Failure also has the benefit of adding a 25% chance to miss, which is nice - but in PvE where the kills are quick, that benefit doesn't materialize as much as you would imagine.

Using Insidious Parasite with Price of Failure and Reckless Haste is foolish, IMO, as you're only getting 25% benefit from it.

ZenRgy · Mar 17, 2007, 12:54 AM // 00:54

Running PoF/Insidious doesn't require you to stack attribute points for one or two skills.

beltran13579 · Mar 17, 2007, 01:15 AM // 01:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jetdoc

...and when did PvE enemies develop brains????

Let's check out the PoF versus Empathy damage-wise really quick...

PoF + Reckless Haste = 75% chance to miss at 15 Curses.

75% x 45 damage per miss = 33 damage per attack.

Empathy at 12 Domination = 39 damage per attack.

So, damage-wise, Empathy is still superior. The difference is that Price of Failure also has the benefit of adding a 25% chance to miss, which is nice - but in PvE where the kills are quick, that benefit doesn't materialize as much as you would imagine.

Using Insidious Parasite with Price of Failure and Reckless Haste is foolish, IMO, as you're only getting 25% benefit from it.

yeah but in Price of Failure thier attacks miss so lets say 33 to 39 then factor them missing u and with emapthy they still hit u so overal Price is better cause unless thier attacks to <6 dmg u will get more out of PoF

Vincent_v_valentine · Mar 18, 2007, 12:00 AM // 00:00

hehe i had no trouble running it =) i got like 55 energy or so and it worked wonders

BeefEater4:20 · Mar 22, 2007, 06:43 PM // 18:43

Hey everyone,

I've been tweaking the build this past week and have replaced a couple of skills.

Here is what i'm using now that I find is working very well.

[skill]Spiteful Spirit[/skill][skill]suffering[/skill][skill]reckless haste[/skill][skill]parasitic bond[/skill][skill]insidious parasite[/skill][skill]desecrate enchantments[/skill][skill]mark of pain[/skill]

the last slot is left for a res of your choice.

Now since the whole skill bar is curses line attributes necessary are curses: 16 (12+3+1). A high soul reaping is helpful for E management.

Tabak0 · Mar 23, 2007, 12:15 AM // 00:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeefEater4:20

Hey everyone,

I've been tweaking the build this past week and have replaced a couple of skills.

Here is what i'm using now that I find is working very well.

[skill]Spiteful Spirit[/skill][skill]suffering[/skill][skill]reckless haste[/skill][skill]parasitic bond[/skill][skill]insidious parasite[/skill][skill]desecrate enchantments[/skill][skill]mark of pain[/skill]

the last slot is left for a res of your choice.

Now since the whole skill bar is curses line attributes necessary are curses: 16 (12+3+1). A high soul reaping is helpful for E management.

that's pretty standard, but I would go N/Me and replace parastic bond with Arcane Echo so you can cast SS on multiple targets at once. You are running a pretty basic build there.