Never give up!
Don't fret, the Barbarian and Druid are higher in my priorities (more so with the Barbarian). But if no one has this character finished by the time I get done with those two, I may entertain the idea of a run with the Necromancer.
I didn't get to read all the stuff on the old topic yet (is Gorash even still working on this?), so I'm coming up with things as I go.
Skills:
The Necromancer is the hardest spellcasting character to develop/use for a speedrun of Diablo 2. Too many of his skills don't really help the speedrunner at all, and his boss fighting ability sucks the most among the spellcasting classes (and worse than some melee-class characters). The upside is that he has some of the best large-crowd-combat skills in the game (with skills like Iron Maiden - for when melee crowds reach a minion or the player - and Corpse Explosion - for destroying large groups in a few shots, especially ranged groups if you're any good at leading them around). Thankfully his best (IMO) skills are not nearly as affected by magic resistance as those of, say, the Sorceress or Druid.
Here's what I know for sure:
-1 point in Teeth
-1 point in Corpse Explosion
-1 point in Clay Golem
-1 point in Dim Vision
-4 points in Bone Spear
Clay Golem's a diversion, plain and simple. Though it may be better to get that one from a +skill item, I decided to give it a point - it has no prerequisites and that's one less skill we have to juggle around.
Dim Vision.... well.... once we have the levels we need, we can pretty much ignore all other monsters. This is where Dim Vision comes in - cast it on enemies and run around some obstacles. The 'running around obstacles' is because you need them to hit some to get them to stop following you. Regardless it really helps with escaping enemies. Might even help against the Finger Mages and Megademons in Chaos Sanctuary (it WON'T work against the Oblivion Knights, which is a pain because they cast curses too).
Terror might help but I'm not sure whether it works on monsters at higher levels than the player - regardless you'd need to spend three skill points to get it, so I didn't list it. If it really DOES help, get it from a wand or shrunken head.
The reason I don't put Iron Maiden as a skill in which we KNOW we have to put points is because, while the skill's great on mobs, it's not too useful on bosses with the notable exception of Duriel and MAYYYBE Baal. Acquiring that skill through a wand (probably more likely) or shrunken head (Necromancer-only shields, in other words) is a much smarter idea, if you asked me, than using two skill points (because you'd also need to get Amplify Damage, and that skill only works with physical damage) for it.
The solution I see for the rest of the skill points as most likely to work may sound a little crazy, but just hear me out and I'll explain. After getting the crucial skills for those levels, put all remaining points in Teeth. Sure, that skill sucks on its own, but since the Necromancer doesn't have a whole lot working for him in the case of boss-fighting ability, pouring points in Teeth to synergize Bone Spear (his best attack spell in a speedrun) seems like the best bet to me. I'll GLADLY entertain other ideas though.
Stats:
I believe our stats deal should work much like the Druid. In other words, 10 in Strength, 30-40 in Vitality and the rest in Energy. Necromancers need a LOT of Energy though, so I may suggest snagging from Vitality.
Specific Strategies:
Andariel: First off, DON'T use Corpse Explosion against the mounds of enemies in the room before her chamber. Lure her into that room, get her near some of those enemies's corpses and THEN use Corpse Explosion. I expect we'll have to portal at least once to have enough mana. When you run out of corpses, finish with Teeth.
Duriel: Cast Iron Maiden on Duriel and then just start summoning Golems right next to him. Re-cast Iron Maiden when it runs out. Easiest boss for the Necromancer. But remind me whether the 10x damage against minions that bosses can do is ALSO part of the damage reflected.
Mephisto: By now you'll have Bone Spear, and that's probably what should be used. However, one strategy I'd entertain is luring the Council Members near you, ripping through THEM with Bone Spear (ideally pegging Mephisto a couple of times in the process), and getting Mephisto over the corpses. Then Corpse Explosion away - the corpses can do roughly anywhere from 100% to 370% the damage of a single Bone Spear (I came up with these numbers by taking the low end of the Council Member's health range multiplied by .6 and the high end of their health range, and multiplied each by 5/6 to take into account Mephisto's fire resistance. THEN I divided these by the maximum damage of a rank 4 Bone Spear synergized with rank 14 Teeth, and then multiplied by 100 to get a percentage. So I forgot to take into account any unique enemies in the area, and the damage I'm comparing against is higher than what would be had by then). Once out of corpses THEN start using Bone Spear against Mephisto.
Diablo: He has too many close-range magical attacks for Iron Maiden to work. I'd stick to Bone Spear (I thought I once heard that the corpses resulting from the Chaos Sanctuary battle can't be used for Corpse Explosion against Diablo at all, which is why I didn't suggest it). Unless the Baal strategy I'll suggest falters, THIS is probably our hardest boss.
Ancients: Necromancer probably has the easiest (not fastest - that's still the Sorceress) time here out of all the spellcasting classes. Line at least two of them up and Bone Spear away. They have no general magic resistance and pretty low HP - it should take about 15-20 Bone Spears to finish one of them off. This is why I say line them up - you save a LOT of time and mana.
Baal's five waves of minions: I think the Necromancer has no NEED to park any of these guys. Just off one of them (Bone Spear for early groups, Iron Maiden/Clay Golem for later ones) and start blowing things up. (Extra attacks against them might be needed though.)
Baal: I took a look at the Amazon run and I've determined that Baal MIGHT be able to be persuaded into using physical attacks in melee. So I'm going to suggest repeating the Duriel strategy - although it's going to take longer because Baal can teleport, might just not want to cooperate, and has tons more hit points.
I didn't get to read all the stuff on the old topic yet (is Gorash even still working on this?), so I'm coming up with things as I go.
Skills:
The Necromancer is the hardest spellcasting character to develop/use for a speedrun of Diablo 2. Too many of his skills don't really help the speedrunner at all, and his boss fighting ability sucks the most among the spellcasting classes (and worse than some melee-class characters). The upside is that he has some of the best large-crowd-combat skills in the game (with skills like Iron Maiden - for when melee crowds reach a minion or the player - and Corpse Explosion - for destroying large groups in a few shots, especially ranged groups if you're any good at leading them around). Thankfully his best (IMO) skills are not nearly as affected by magic resistance as those of, say, the Sorceress or Druid.
Here's what I know for sure:
-1 point in Teeth
-1 point in Corpse Explosion
-1 point in Clay Golem
-1 point in Dim Vision
-4 points in Bone Spear
Clay Golem's a diversion, plain and simple. Though it may be better to get that one from a +skill item, I decided to give it a point - it has no prerequisites and that's one less skill we have to juggle around.
Dim Vision.... well.... once we have the levels we need, we can pretty much ignore all other monsters. This is where Dim Vision comes in - cast it on enemies and run around some obstacles. The 'running around obstacles' is because you need them to hit some to get them to stop following you. Regardless it really helps with escaping enemies. Might even help against the Finger Mages and Megademons in Chaos Sanctuary (it WON'T work against the Oblivion Knights, which is a pain because they cast curses too).
Terror might help but I'm not sure whether it works on monsters at higher levels than the player - regardless you'd need to spend three skill points to get it, so I didn't list it. If it really DOES help, get it from a wand or shrunken head.
The reason I don't put Iron Maiden as a skill in which we KNOW we have to put points is because, while the skill's great on mobs, it's not too useful on bosses with the notable exception of Duriel and MAYYYBE Baal. Acquiring that skill through a wand (probably more likely) or shrunken head (Necromancer-only shields, in other words) is a much smarter idea, if you asked me, than using two skill points (because you'd also need to get Amplify Damage, and that skill only works with physical damage) for it.
The solution I see for the rest of the skill points as most likely to work may sound a little crazy, but just hear me out and I'll explain. After getting the crucial skills for those levels, put all remaining points in Teeth. Sure, that skill sucks on its own, but since the Necromancer doesn't have a whole lot working for him in the case of boss-fighting ability, pouring points in Teeth to synergize Bone Spear (his best attack spell in a speedrun) seems like the best bet to me. I'll GLADLY entertain other ideas though.
Stats:
I believe our stats deal should work much like the Druid. In other words, 10 in Strength, 30-40 in Vitality and the rest in Energy. Necromancers need a LOT of Energy though, so I may suggest snagging from Vitality.
Specific Strategies:
Andariel: First off, DON'T use Corpse Explosion against the mounds of enemies in the room before her chamber. Lure her into that room, get her near some of those enemies's corpses and THEN use Corpse Explosion. I expect we'll have to portal at least once to have enough mana. When you run out of corpses, finish with Teeth.
Duriel: Cast Iron Maiden on Duriel and then just start summoning Golems right next to him. Re-cast Iron Maiden when it runs out. Easiest boss for the Necromancer. But remind me whether the 10x damage against minions that bosses can do is ALSO part of the damage reflected.
Mephisto: By now you'll have Bone Spear, and that's probably what should be used. However, one strategy I'd entertain is luring the Council Members near you, ripping through THEM with Bone Spear (ideally pegging Mephisto a couple of times in the process), and getting Mephisto over the corpses. Then Corpse Explosion away - the corpses can do roughly anywhere from 100% to 370% the damage of a single Bone Spear (I came up with these numbers by taking the low end of the Council Member's health range multiplied by .6 and the high end of their health range, and multiplied each by 5/6 to take into account Mephisto's fire resistance. THEN I divided these by the maximum damage of a rank 4 Bone Spear synergized with rank 14 Teeth, and then multiplied by 100 to get a percentage. So I forgot to take into account any unique enemies in the area, and the damage I'm comparing against is higher than what would be had by then). Once out of corpses THEN start using Bone Spear against Mephisto.
Diablo: He has too many close-range magical attacks for Iron Maiden to work. I'd stick to Bone Spear (I thought I once heard that the corpses resulting from the Chaos Sanctuary battle can't be used for Corpse Explosion against Diablo at all, which is why I didn't suggest it). Unless the Baal strategy I'll suggest falters, THIS is probably our hardest boss.
Ancients: Necromancer probably has the easiest (not fastest - that's still the Sorceress) time here out of all the spellcasting classes. Line at least two of them up and Bone Spear away. They have no general magic resistance and pretty low HP - it should take about 15-20 Bone Spears to finish one of them off. This is why I say line them up - you save a LOT of time and mana.
Baal's five waves of minions: I think the Necromancer has no NEED to park any of these guys. Just off one of them (Bone Spear for early groups, Iron Maiden/Clay Golem for later ones) and start blowing things up. (Extra attacks against them might be needed though.)
Baal: I took a look at the Amazon run and I've determined that Baal MIGHT be able to be persuaded into using physical attacks in melee. So I'm going to suggest repeating the Duriel strategy - although it's going to take longer because Baal can teleport, might just not want to cooperate, and has tons more hit points.
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