Whether it was on Diablo 2 20 years ago or its D2 Resurrected remasters in 2021, the Necromancer is a very good hero to choose if you intend to go far on the adventure. And in particular, its Necro Invoc build, which will allow you to raise armies of the living dead.
Here you will find here a leveling guide for the Necromancer “Summon”. While experienced players could go straight to a Bone Lance build, it is clearly easier to start your leveling with a Summon Necromancer. As a result, you will have many servants to protect you: skeletons (mages and warriors), bodies recently returned to life, but also a golem which, depending on the points you dedicate to it, will prove to be your most faithful ally. and resistant, or just another rampart, resuscitated at will.
Pros and Cons
+ Your creatures are tanking for you
+ No need for APM or to switch spells too often
+ A perfect build to play “safe”
+ Basic stuff that’s pretty easy to collect
+ Curses are very powerful in multi
+ Morbid explosion, it’s clearly cheated
+ Lots of skill points/variations possible
– All this is a little fragile against the bosses of acts
– When you launch a game, you have to spend a little time going to “farm” corps to create your army.
– But which lacks explosiveness in a single target
– A pathfinding of your minions that will sometimes drive you crazy
Principle and Gameplay
The principle of all of this is going to be quite simplistic, but indeed not always fascinating. You’re “just” going to spend your time hiding behind your minions, resurrecting them, and laying curses until you can detonate corpses.
Basically, when you enter a new part, your “cycle” will look like this:
Summon a Golem (it doesn’t matter which one you prefer to play and which you put points in)
Go for a walk in Act 1 or the portal side to Pindleskin in Act 5 (whatever the difficulty) and kill a few mobs on which to use Resurrect a Skeleton.
Once the number of Skeletons is maximized, go to Act 4 or 5 (if available) to use your Resurrection on some powerful mobs. If they aren’t, take whatever mobs you are in from the Act you are in, they’ll also do the job in the meantime.
Your army is ready: you can go and start your farming/leveling. Stay hidden behind your army, spam your Damage Amplification curse on mob groups, and spam Morbid Blast as soon as the first corpse appears in order to start a chain reaction (NB: in Normal mode, prefer the Iron Lady curse, the mobs will be really bad with)
If you have the time, the inclination (and mana available), you can add some damage with Bone Spear
When it comes to survival and protection in general, remember to always have your Bone Shield active. Bone Prison is also a good way to keep your distance from mobs that might be tempted to get too close to you.
For bosses, and especially melee ones (like Diablo and Duriel), consider spamming Iron Lady and re-summoning your Chain Golem. It’s a good way to get over it quite easily. For the bosses more oriented “casters”, you can count on your mercenaries and other summons to hold up a bit and inflict the necessary damage, especially if you have invested a few points in Summon Resistance.
Recommended Skill Points
During leveling
1 pt in Skeleton Mastery
1 pt in Damage Amplification
20 pts in Resurrecting a Skeleton
1 pt in Iron Lady
1 pt in Clay Golem
1 pt in Bone Shield
1 pt in Teeth
1 pt in Morbid Explosion
19 pts in Skeleton Mastery
1 pt in Skeleton Mages
1 pt in Mastery of Golems
1 pt in Summon Resistance
1 pt in Blood Golem
1 pt in Iron Golem
1 pt in Fire Golem (for Diablo)
Some points pts in Resuscitate
19 pts in Skeleton Mages
1 pt in Wall of Bones
1 pt in Bone Prison
Invest points in Bone Spear or Morbid Blast, depending on your leveling preference
StatPoints
The thresholds to be reached
Strength: as much as needed to wear your armor & weapon
Dexterity: normally, no point to invest
Vitality: put all your points that did not go into the Force
Energy: it is supposed to be quite boosted by the passive bonuses of your equipment, do not put any point on it
Which Mercenary to Choose?
As soon as possible, take an Act 2 mercenary in Nightmare mode, in the Offensive version. It will give you – and especially all your summons – the Paladin’s aura of Might (which increases the physical damage inflicted).
As long as you have not arrived at Act 2 Nightmare, take the mercenaries available to you, but remember to favor those who play melee (Acts 2 and 5). You build an army that will tank just about anything that passes, you might as well add a layer. The best is undoubtedly still that of Act 2, in the Defensive or Offensive version (and not Combat).
Avoid: mercenaries who generate spells or cold auras (Act 2 Defensive Nightmare or Act 3). This is because cold damage can ultimately cause your enemies to explode when they die, and thus prevent the optimized use of Corpse Explosion. It would still be a shame to do without its main source of damage.
Best Weapons & Armor To Equip
The Necro Summoner is one of the easiest characters to stuff on Diablo 2. Since you are not directly in the middle of the fight and you do not strike directly with your weapon for example, a lot of statistics will prove to be “dispensable”. “. Of course, the best Diablo 2 Resurrected items to buy will always stay above the endgame melee, but you have to understand that you can totally play your Necro Summon without having Enigma and company.
What you will be looking for above all is:
- From “+ x to Necro skills” (or at worst to Summoning skills)
- Casting speed (% Faster Cast Rate if you have the game in English)
- Resistances (Fire, Electricity and Frost are the most important)
- Running speed (% Run / Walk)
Naturally, you should also have mana, health and% of Magic Find on your items. This last stat will be to be maximized when you have a really big level and you will be in farming mode on certain bosses.
