DISCLAIMER:
This is property of KIRBIX (Sean D'Hoostelaere). This may be not be
reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not
be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance
written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any
public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.
In plain English, this means that it is against the law for you to copy this
guide. If you want to print it out, that's fine, but I do not permit its use
anywhere on the web or for it to be used for anything profitable.
_________________
/ \
|*****************|
|Table of Contents|
|*****************|
\_________________/
I. Version History
II. What this guide is for
III. Overview of the Bonemancer (AKA: Boner)
a. Faster Cast Rate
IV. Skill List
a. Summoning Skills
b. Poison and Bone Skills
c. Curses
V. Skill allocation
VI. Stats
VII. Equipment
a. Helmet
b. Armor
c. Gloves
d. Belt
e. Boots
f. Weapon
g. Armor
h. Jewelery
i. Final listing
VIII. Mercenary
IX. How to Use/ Leveling up
X. Contact Me
XI. Credits
I. VERSION HISTORY
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
1.0- I split up my necro guide into two parts. This is the bone half.
1.01- After dealing with squabbling board members for months, I finally just
changed it.
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
\_/\_/\_/
II. WHAT THIS GUIDE IS FOR
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Necromancers are some of the most versatile characters in the game, second only
to the druid. This particular branch of necromancer, the bonemancer, utilizes
the necromancer's ability to cast spells of bone.
We'll cover skill allocation, stat options, equipment, and all other things that
you might need to know.
The bonemancer is often used for dueling- I will not cover dueling strategies
nor builds here; this is solely for the purpose of PvM. That is, the killing of
monsters and bosses.
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
\_/\_/\_/
III. OVERVIEW OF THE BONEMANCER (AKA: Boner)
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Yea, go ahead and laugh- I said boner. >_> Immature people can laugh about just
about anything. Anyhow, the bonemancer utilizes the bone spells in the necro's
arsenal.
While you would think it would be physical, bone spells are magical damage,
which is why they're so popular; magic damage, as many hammerdin players may
know, is a fairly reliable source of damage with few enemies that have an
immunity. The boner utilizes bone spear, bone spirit and teeth to wipe out
enemies quickly and efficiently.
The bone necro was once the most powerful PvP character in Diablo; 5,000 damage
per spell was a minimum before. However, that was dependent on a glitch in the
system. THe marrowalk boneweave boots gave a level 33 charge of bone prison.
The way that the glitch worked was to give your character a synergy equal to the
level of the charges on your equipment, so long as you didn't have any points
invested in that skill.
That glitch was fixed in the 1.11 patch that was release in August of '05. It
nerfed the boner quite effectively. STILL, the necro is amazingly powerful, you
simply can't guarantee that you'll always win in PvP, and you really need much
closer to perfect equipment to be successful.
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
IIIA. FASTER CAST RATE
##########################
1) What IS faster cast rate?
Faster Cast rate is an ability on equipment that affects how quickly your
character casts a spell and is ready to cast another.
2) Just how useful is it?
Let me put it this way- they call sorceresses that have high FCR and use
fireball the "machine gun sorceress"- for someone like a necro who spams spells,
it's incredibly useful.
However, it's NOT better than +skills, so don't sacrifice +skills for some
extra faster cast rate.
3) Mind explaining in detail?
Well, normally your computer runs at about 30 frames per second (FPS). A spell
from a necro takes 15 frames to cast. Faster Cast Rate bumps down the amount of
time it takes to cast a spell, in the following table.
Now, on a spell with a delay (frozen orb, for example), this doesn't serve any
big use. However, in a spell like bone spear, which has no casting delay, the
faster you can cast spells, the better. You can typically cast 2 spells per
second, but by having 125% faster cast rate, you can now cast three spells
per second; on a small scale, that's not much- but in the long run, that's HUGE.
75% is enough to get a 33% increase to your
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
\_/\_/\_/
IV. SKILL LIST
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The skills are broken up into three parts, represented by the three trees that
the necromancer has. I'll only include abilities that you ought to be aware
of in case you choose to utilize them. If they have no place, then I'll ignore
them entirely.
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
IVa. Summoning Skills
#########################
Summoning skills are meant for a summoner, and you're not a summoner. So, there
aren't many skills of importance to you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Summon Clay Golem~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required Level: 6
Effect: Summon a golem from the earth to fight for you
Necromancers can erect golems from nothingness to fight for them. Clay golems
are the most basic of these creatures.
Despite being the most basic, clay golems are invaluable to a boner. They
have a much higher maximum life than other golems, and they also cause any
target they hit to slow down. This means that your clay golem can sit there and
take a vicious beating from any boss that comes your way, while additionally
slowing them down. Your clay golem and your mercenary should be your tanks,
taking all the hits while you spam your bone missiles into the fray.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Germanolem Mastery~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required Level: 12
Effect: Increase the life, attack rating and speed of your golem
Attack rating can be somewhat useful, depending on your use of the golem.
However, I will not be discussing the in-depth purposes of an attack golem.
STILL, increased speed and life can be quite useful. If you're trying to make
a tank, the more life is (obviously) better. The increased speed is also
very useful when dealing with archers. Golems can run up to ranged attackers
and quickly draw their fire before you get slaughtered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Summon Resist~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required Level: 24
Effect: Raises all resists on your summoned creatures
There's not much to say about this skill- it raises the resistances of all of
your monsters. You'll want a powerful golem, and a point here will go a LONG
way towards making him kick ass.
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
IVb. Poison and Bone Skills
############################
These are the meat and cheese of your build- focus almost every point into this
tree.
~~~~~~~
~~Teeth~~
~~~~~~~
Required Level: 1
Effect: spew little bone teeth in several directions
Teeth are the most basic of the bone spells. On its own, it's really
just useless. The teeth do little damage, despite spewing in every direction.
HOWEVER, teeth is not a useless spell altogether. It synergizes with all of the
bone spells, and for a bone necro, the teeth are quite deadly, dealing heavy
damage in their own right, and then adding on that you're spamming 20 of them,
you can take out entire groups with two or three castings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Bone Armor~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required Level: 1
Effect: Create a floating shield of bone to absorb melee damage for you
This spell can be quite good, but it's quite similar to teeth- useless on its
own. Bone armor really doesn't absorb a tremedous amount of damage at level 1,
or even level 10 or 20. Granted, that 210 damage can save your life sometimes,
but it ONLY absorbs melee damage, and if your attacker is magical, it doesn't
help much.
Still, as was true with teeth, bone necros find it quite handy. When adding
points to the synergies of the bone spells, you add points to bone wall and
prison. Adding points to those skills greatly increases the damage absorbed by
bone wall. A powerful bone necro generally has a bone armor that absorbs 800
damage with just one point into the skill.
By all means, you can invest points if you want (hardcore players generally do)
but generally, it's not an effective way to spend points.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Corpse Explosion~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required Level: 6
Effect: Destroy enemy corpses to deal damage to everyone nearby
FUCKING AWESOME-NESS! But... you won't be using it! You've got bone spells- why
do you need Corpse Explosion?
1 point as a prerequisite, and +skills will make it effective enough to use if
you really must.
~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Bone Wall~~
~~~~~~~~~~~
Required Level: 12
Effect: Creates a wall of bone to stop your enemies
Bone spells outside of corpse explosion are useless >_>. That is, for all non
bone necros. For a bone necro, this spell serves no purpose outside of
synergy. Still, since you're spending the points, you might as well use it.
The HP amounts in the wall are impressive; many times greater than your own
HP, making it an effective wall. Clog a passage with bones, and then use your
bone spells to pick off the enemy- that's the way it's normally done.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Bone Spear~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required Level: 18
Effect: Send a spike of bone hurling at enemies
Bone Spear is the only bone spell that is a good spell when it stands alone.
It is a spammable spell, which means you can send them out rapidly. Spear
also pierces enemies, which allows it to hit 5 or 6 enemies with a single
casting. Oh, and it also can do 4000 damage easily.
This is the arguably the best spell in the bone necro's arsenal. If you have
extra points to spend on ANY build, corpse explosion and bone spears are
definitely the skill of choice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Bone Prison~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required Level: 24
Effect: Cast an entrapment of bone around your foe
This is essentially the same thing as bone wall, only it creates a cage of
bone instead of wall fragments. Casting it three or four times can often
make a seriously complicated maze that the enemy can't get out of.
Treat it the same way that you do bone wall- max it for synergy purposes only.
NOTE: The Marrowalk glitch of 1.10 DOES NOT WORK IN 1.11! For those of you in
the dark, the Marrowalk boots gave a charge of level 33 bone prison. With any
charge weapons, if you have zero points into the skill, it acts as a syngery.
Therefore, Marrowalks gave a level 33 bone prison synergy and therefore a
massive boost to bone skills for no points. However, this was fixed, so sadly,
the marrowalks are nowhere as useful as they once were.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Bone Spirit~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required Level: 30
Effect: Send a spirit of bone homing towards the target
The most powerful of bone spells, this is something not to be trifled with.
There's a certain amount of dispute over whether or not bone spirit is better
than bone spear. These days, it's generally agreed the bone spear is the better
spell, but it's still somewhat debatable. The bone spirit initially does a lot
more damage than bone spear does, but while bone spear pierces enemies, spirit
simply hits an enemy and disappears.
Once you get into 35+ skill points, the damage of bone spear begins to catch
up and surpass bone spirit, but up until that point, bone spirit is clearly
superior.
Bone spirit is also homing, which means that it's great for PvP. You can spam
it, especially if you've got enigma; few people can consistently outrun your
bone spirits, and if they get hit, they die.
All in all, it's a great PvP (Player killing) skill, but in the normal monster
infested world, gets overshadowed by spear.
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
IVc. Curses
###############
It's always a good idea to have a point into each curse, no matter what. They
can all come in handy. HOWEVER, they're generally party curses.
Amplify Damage actually lowers physical resistance by 100 percent. That means
that an enemy with zero physical resistance will take double the damage.
However, amp is even more valuable with enemies who DON'T have 0 percent
resistance.
Let's say they are 50% resistant. Amplify damage will lower their resistance to
-50%, which will triple the damage that you would have normally done. Up it a
notch to 75%, which changes to -25%, and your damage is five times as much as
it would have been.
It gets better still, though. Amplify damage removes immunties. You see, an
immunity isn't simply a computer telling the game that the monster can't take
damage. Immunity is where the monster has 100% or more resitance and therefore
is effectively immune.
This means that unless the enemy is 200% resistant to physical damage, the use
of amplify damage will ALWAYS remove their immunity.
Keep this baby around for when you're partying up with physical characters.
~~~~~~~~
~~Weaken~~
~~~~~~~~
Required Level: 6
Effect: Lower the damage that enemies do
This spell isn't much more widely used than dim vision. It lowers damage that
the enemy does by a small amount, but 98.6% of the people who get weaken are
going to eventually get decrepify, which is FAR better than weaken is. 1 point
prerequisite.
(By the way, did you know that 56.4% of all statistics are made up?)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Iron Maiden~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required Level: 12
Effect: Send damage back to foes at multiples of the damage dealt to you
A very useful curse in parties of melee units. You can quickly deal back some
fairly significant damage.
... At least, that's true in normal difficulty. In nightmare and hell, the
curse is nigh on useless. As I said when discussing blood golems, iron maiden
simply doesn't dish out enough damage for the high HP amounts that the monsters
have in Nightmare and Hell. Put a point into it for early on, but you're not
likely to ever use it past normal.
~~~~~~~~
~~Terror~~
~~~~~~~~
Required Level: 12
Effect: Send your enemies running in terror
Effective at removing your enemies from around you, this curse can be VERY
useful for those of us who are more defensive. Sending your foes running away
in terror can be good if you need a break; just remember that it doesn't last
forever.
It doesn't work on super uniques, bosses or players. Learn to effectively use
this spell to keep yourself alive more than once.
~~~~~~~~~~
~~Life Tap~~
~~~~~~~~~~
Required Level: 18
Effect: Suck the life out of your foes
VERY useful skill. For every point of damage you inflict, you recieve 50% back
to your own health.
If you have vindicator friends, they will love you for using this one. Frankly,
ANY melee user will love you for using it.
~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Decrepify~~
~~~~~~~~~~~
Required Level: 24
Effect: Make monsters weaker all around
Considered by most to be the most all-round useful curse that the necromancer
has in his arsenal. It slows down the monster, lowers the defense AND attack.
It's an ideal boss spell, as it leaves bosses prone to lots of attacks.
In conjunction with a clay golem, it can make bosses slow down to an utter
snail's pace. Add on that their damage is reduced and their defense lowered,
and this is a total boss killer.
When in doubt, decrepify them all!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Lower Resist~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required Level: 30
Effect: Lower the resistance of your enemies
A definite crowd pleaser, this is conviction in curse form. While not quite
as powerful, this curse can be devastatingly useful in a group of sorceresses.
Seeing as it seems like 85% of the players these days are using a sorc, this
curse makes a lot of sense.
As a whole, there are four useful curses- decrepify, amp. damage, life tap, and
lower resist. Use them all in moderation, based on the situation, and master
their usage while throwing in a few confuses or attracts to render your foes
useless.
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
\_/\_/\_/
V. SKILL ALLOCATION
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The boner uses three attack spells: teeth, bone spear and bone spirit. It is
therefore a very good idea to max them all.
~~~
20 teeth
20 bone spear
20 bone spirit
60 points spent, 50 left
All bone spells (except bone armor) synergize towards teeth, bone spear and
bone spirit. Again, it's a good idea to max them.
~~~
20 bone wall
20 bone prison
100 points spent, 10 left
A summoner also needs some of the more important curses (decrepify and lower
resist, obviously).
~~~
7 curse points
107 spent, 3 left
Another important aspect for the summoner is a clay golem. As with the summoner,
a clay golem combined with decrepify is quite powerful. In this particular
scenario, you only need 1 point. For good measure, place points into summon
resist and golem mastery as well.
~~~
Summon Clay Golem, Golem Mastery and Summon Resist
110 spent, 0 left
and.. there's your ideal necro stat allocation!
But wait- what about prerequisites?
~~~
Corpse Explosion and Bone armor
112 spent, 2 points too many.
Whoops; back it up. Take two points off of either bone wall or bone prison,
whichever you feel is less useful for you.
###########################
As for how to distribute them:
Clay Golem is obtained at level 6, and as it's only a point, you should spend it
as soon as you get the opportunity.
You'll also benefit from getting bone armor at the get-go; it won't help much,
but it's better than nothing, assuming you've got the energy to spare. At level
12, a point into bone wall as well. Again, not very helpful, but it might prove
to be useful at some time or another.
Otherwise, just max out teeth. Put every spare point there. You should have it
at level 10-15 by the time you get to bone spear.
Once you get to bone spear, ignore teeth for a while. Max bone spear ASAP. If
you get extra points via quests, put them into golem mastery and summon resist.
At level 24, you can opt to get bone prison if you want; you may or may not have
any good use for it.
Come level 30, you can choose how you want to build. If you're in love with
bone spear, keep raising it until you max it. However, it's probably a better
idea to leave bone spear alone (assuming you have the first 4 quest points and
have 1 point into all of the areas I've mentioned, bone spear should be level
12, and that's good enough). Max bone spirit, and then finish bone spear.
By now you're approximately level 55-60. Before you do anything else, get the
seven curses. Use quest points, or just level up. However, you'll be glad that
you have those curses, and everyone else will love your more if you do.
From there, finish putting your points into teeth, and put all points into
bone wall and prison.
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
\_/\_/\_/
VI. STATS
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Four stats to consider: Strength, Vitality, Energy and Dexterity.
\ /\ /
Strength
/ \/ \
While is used to determine damage, that really doesn't matter much for
a spell caster; you only need strength to wear certain equipment.
Your strength is based on how good your equipment is. The highest strength that
you will ever need is 118, for marrowalk boneweave boots. If you've got an
enigma (runeword in armor that raises strength, among other things), then you
naturally don't need too much strength. Simply put in as much strength as you
need to get to 118 with your equipment.
\ / \ /
Dexterity
/ \ / \
Dexterity is a matter of preference; the homunuculus shield for necros has a
block rate of 72%. Due to this detail, max block is quite obtainable. On the
other hand, why do you want it? You're not fighting and using your block... are
you?
Personally, I wouldn't bother, but if you want to, put in as much dexterity as
you need for max block with the homunuculus (if you don't have homun, DON'T
BOTHER.) I'll leave you to look up the amount of dexterity for that yourself.
\ /\ /
Vitality
/ \/ \
The most important of the stats- place every extra point into vitality. You'll
need the life, I guarantee it.
\ /\ /
Energy
/ \/ \
NO POINTS IN ENERGY. Despite the boner being a caster, he really doesn't need
the extra points into energy. Learn to love the mana potion, and get a merc
who has insight.
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
\_/\_/\_/
VII. EQUIPMENT
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Now, the bone necro doesn't live in the same dream world that a summoner does;
he doesn't have mountains of allies to protect his stark white ass from the
enemy. He's a caster, very similar to the sorceress, and you accordingly need
to treat him like one.
I'm going on a wild limb here, but I'm GUESSING you'll want some +mana, +%mana,
and anything else to increase your mana... That's just a wild guess, though XD.
Things to look for when trying to find low-mid equipment follow the same
guidelines as a sorceress or a hammerdin; get some +life and +mana, some
resistances,
and most important of all, Faster Cast Rate and +skills.
(Refer back to the beginning for the importance of FCR)
~~~~~~~~~~~
Early on, try some cheaper runewords to start- Stealth, Smoke, Lore, Rhyme.
All are easy to make and give great bonuses. Just mess around and see what
works.
NOW, as for the ideal equipment: That really depends on if you're planning to
kill monsters or duel other players. At this point I'm more of a monster
slayer, so for now you're stuck with the equipment for a person intent on
killing monsters. (If someone would send me a PvP equipment setup, I'd
appreciate it.)
VIIa.
-----
********
**HELMET**
********
As was true with a summoner, you can go about this one two ways; +skills or
just better overall. Getting a circlet that gives +2 PnB and +2 necro skills
will indeed be useful, but again, I wish you luck finding such a circlet.
For those of us who don't want to spend that time, the unique Shako Harlequin
Crest has +2 to all skills and nice well-rounded bonuses. Personally, I don't
have the patience to get such a powerful circlet and stick with the shako, but
if you have that time, by all means, take it- such a circlet is superior.
/Harlequin Crest (unique shako)
\+2 To All Skills
/+ 1-148 To Life (Based On Character Level)
\+ 1-148 To Mana (Based On Character Level)
/Damage Reduced By 10%
\50% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
/+2 To All Attributes
It's got one socket- place an um rune in for some resists.
VIIb.
-----
*******
**ARMOR**
*******
Enigma gives a bunch of great all-around bonuses that you cannot go wrong with.
The faster run/walk is great, the teleportation can be dead useful, and it's
an overall kickass armor.
\Enigma (3 Socket Body Armor) Jah+Ith+Ber
/+2 To All Skills
\+45% Faster Run/Walk
/+1 To Teleport
\+750-775 Defense
/+0-74 To Strength (Based On Character Level)
\Increase Maximum Life 5%
/Damage Reduced By 8%
\+14 Life After Each Kill
/15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
\+1-99% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (Based On Character Level)
VIIc.
-----
********
**GLOVES**
********
We're going for the 125% FCR breakpoint with this setup, so we need the gloves
that are ideal for hitting it- Trang-Oul's claws and Magefists both give 20%
FCR, but Trang-Oul has better bonuses than Magefists, so Trang-Oul it is.
VIId.
-----
******
**BELT**
******
Everyone agrees- there's only one belt of choice; Arachnid's Mesh. +skills and
Faster Cast rate.... duh! As if there's any better option!
\Arachnid's Mesh (unique spiderweb sash)
/Defense: 119-138
\+90-120% Enhanced Defense
/Slows Target By 10%
\+1 To All Skills
/+20% Faster Cast Rate
\Increases Maximum Mana 5%
/Level 3 Venom (11 Charges)
VIIe.
-----
*******
**BOOTS**
*******
Marrowalks boots were originally ideal for the bone necros, but with the ending
of the synergy bonus, they're not quite as useful. Today, the more popular
choice is ANOTHER walk- the waterwalk. Faster Run/walk is a must, of course,
and it gives a bonus to life that you can't go wrong with.
\Waterwalk (unique sharkskin boots)
/Defense: 112-124
\+180-210% Enhanced Defense
/+20% Faster Run/Walk
\+100 Defense Vs. Missile
\+15 To Dexterity
/+5% Maximum Fire Resist
\Heal Stamina Plus 50%
/+40 Max Stamina
\+45-65 To Life
VIIf.
-----
********
**WEAPON**
********
White is a good runeword- no denying that. Tons of bonuses to your bone spells
can't set you wrong. However, Heart of the Oak suits your purposes better.
Good +skills, great FCR, a huge resistance boost, mana... awesome setup.
/Heart of the Oak (5 socket staves/maces)- Ko + Vex + Pul + Thul
\+3 To All Skills
/+40% Faster Cast Rate
\+75% Damage To Demons
/+100 To Attack Rating Against Demons
\Adds 3-14 Cold Damage, 3 sec. Duration
/7% Mana Stolen Per Hit
\+10 To Dexterity
/Replenish Life +20
\Increase Maximum Mana 15%
/All Resistances +30-40
\Level 4 Oak Sage (25 Charges)
/Level 14 Raven (60 Charges)
\+50% Damage To Undead
VIIg.
-----
********
**SHIELD**
********
I love the homunuculus. It has some great all-around bonuses just like Heart
Of the Oak. They compliment each other perfectly.
\Homunculus (Unique Hierophant Trophy)
/+150-200% Enhanced Defense
\+5 To Mana After Each Kill
/40% Increased Chance of Blocking
\30% Faster Block Rate
/+2 To Necromancer Skill Levels
\+20 To Energy
/Regenerate Mana 33%
\All Resistances +40
/+2 To Curses Skills (Necromancer Only)
VIIh.
-----
*********
**JEWELRY**
*********
If you feel the need for mana, use SoJs. If you aren't feeling a pinch, BK
gives a nice life bonus.
\Stone of Jordan (unique ring)
/+1 To All Skill Levels
\Increase Maximum Mana 25%
/Adds 1-12 Lightning Damage
\+20 To Mana
^^^^^^^^
\Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band (unique ring)
/+1 To All Skill Levels
\+0-49 To Life (Based On Character Level)
/3-5% Life Stolen Per Hit (varies)
\+50 Maximum Stamina
^^^^^^^^^
As for your amulet, we run into the same problem that we did with circlets.
While you cannot get +2 PnB and +2 necro on an amulet (That's only circlets),
You can have an amulet with +3 to poison and bone, but it needs some damn good
mods to overpower the great properties on Mara's Kaleidoscope.
\Mara's Kaleidoscope (unique amulet)
/+2 To All Skill Levels
\All Resistances +20-30
/+5 To All Attributes
#########################
VIIi.
-----
FINAL LISTING OF EQUIPMENT:
\Harlequin Crest w/ um
/"Enigma" Archon Plate
\WaterWalks
/Trang-Oul's Claws
\Arachnid Mesh
/"Heart of the Oak" Flail
\Homunuculus w/ um
/Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band x2
\Mara's Kaleidoscope
+Bone skills- 14
+resist all- 117-137 (depending on maras and HotO)
+Faster cast rate- 80%, which gets you the desired minimum of 75
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
\_/\_/\_/
VIII. MERCENARY
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Act 2 mercenaries give off powerful paladin auras- they are the ONLY choice
for you; they are powerful tanks (which you need) and provide great bonuses
(which you also need).
There are two choices for a mercenary. The first choice is the NM defensive
mercenary that has holy freeze as its aura. Holy freeze is a valuable addition
to your team.
However, the rich folk of Diablo 2 have access to the doom runeword; if you get
the doom runeword, you can have holy freeze on your mercenary innately due to
the effect of the word.
If you are this kind of rich person, grab yourself a might merc, which is the
Nightmare Offensive merc. While the aura doesnt' help you, it gives your
mercenary a tremendous damage bonus.
EQUIPMENT: At first, all you want is high damage and high defense. Later, look
for mercenary equipment that also has life leech and damage reduction. You want
to add any and every mod that you can to keep him alive. It's also advisable to
give him an item with crushing blow, to help him take enemies down.
All in all, treat him like you would any melee character you would make when it
comes to what to equip him with.
LATER: Here's the best setup for a merc.
WEAPON
++++++++
The best weapon choice for your mercenary is a
cryptic axe with the Doom runeword. It has Prevent Monster Heal, a MASSIVE
damage boost, an innate holy freeze aura... and the list goes on!
\Doom (5 Socket Axes/Polearms/Hammers) Hel + Ohm + Um + Lo + Cham
/5% Chance To Cast Level 18 Volcano On Striking
\Level 12 Holy Freeze Aura When Equipped
/+2 To All Skills
\+45% Increased Attack Speed
/+330-370% Enhanced Damage
\-(40-60)% To Enemy Cold Resistance
/20% Deadly Strike
\25% Chance of Open Wounds
/Prevent Monster Heal
\Freezes Target +3
/Requirements -20%
Of course, if you can't afford Doom, a Bonehew (Unique Ogre Axe) will do. It
also has prevent monster heal and does massive damage.
ARMOR
+++++++++
Mercenaries always seem to have an amazing amount of resist. Guardian Angel
takes full advantage of it and makes your merc all but invincible to the
elements.
\Guardian Angel (Unique Templar Coat)
/+180-200% Enhanced Defense
\+20% Increased Chance Of Blocking
/+30% Faster Block Rate
\+ 2-247 To Attack Rating Against Demons (Based On Character Level)
/+1 To Paladin Skill Levels
\+4 To Light Radius
/15% To Maximum Poison Resist
\15% To Maximum Cold Resist
/15% To Maximum Lightning Resist
\15% To Maximum Fire Resist
HELMET
+++++++++
Andariel Visage is perfect for the merc. Attack speed, life steal, and the
poison nova ability doesn't hurt, either.
\Andariel's Visage (unique demonhead)
/+100-150% Enhanced Defense
\+2 To All Skills
/20% Increased Attack Speed
\8-10% Life Stolen Per Hit
/+25-30 To Strength
\+10% To Maximum Poison Resist
/Fire Resist -30%
\Poison Resist +70%
/15% Chance To Cast Level 15 Poison Nova When Struck
\Level 3 Venom (20 charges)
IX. HOW TO USE/ LEVELING UP
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Bone Necros are pretty easy to use, actually. You use bone wall and bone prison
to block your enemies from getting to you and spam bone spear or spirit until
they die. The mercenary keeps them all at bay while you do so. Throwing in a
decrepify here and there can't hurt, either.
Early on, stuck with teeth, you'll want to piggyback a bit, as your killing
power sucks. However, once you hit level 18, bone spear is an effective killing
machine; use it well and kill EVERYTHING! MWAHAHA.
Seriously, though- up through about act 5 of nightmare, you should have NO
problems. Everything will fall quickly and easily to your spammable bone spear.
However, come act 5, it's time to start paying more attention. Things can kill
fast, and they can do it with relative ease. Be on your guard. At this point
it's time to work on getting your ideal equipment. Run through nightmare
Travincal- they drop Grand Charms that can have +1 to a specific branch of
characters (I.E. cold skills, summoning skills), and are worth a fortune. Find
two or three, and start pooling some cash for some halfway decent equipment.
You NEED high resists, you NEED FCR, and you NEED +skills.
Once you get some good equipment, and are nearing the top, you should know
what to do- just pummel to death with bone spells!
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
\_/\_/\_/
X. CONTACT ME
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
I'm game to any suggestions people might have, and I don't have a problem with
you asking questions.If you want to ask me a question, send a suggestion or
make comments, send me an Email, and I'll get back
to it as soon as I see it. My email address is kirbix@gmail.com, and you're more
than welcome to ask and comment.
XI. CREDITS
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The Arreast Summit (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/)- Best website on the
net for Diablo 2; I owe them a lot of information.
GameFAQs and CjayC- My favorite gaming website, it's a pleasure to write here.
