Puppetmaster build

[Skivverus]

Well, I'm pretty sure Lamia can cross the gap there (or at least go into it - whether they'll stray far enough to go all the way across is another matter), and so could lure out the harpies to be dealt with separately. Once you've lured all you can, marshal the army and then cross the Rubic... er, blink across and read from the waist (portal on the belt). I imagine the main problem in Fauztinville would be the Robotniks since they're all immune to the regular minion damage types, but between Dark Power and Death's Fury (and the multitude of corpses you'll get from the harpies and the fiends) they shouldn't be that bad either.

[enkephalin07]

I'm maxing DP, so the minions will have magic damage. Does bonus% to minion damage affect magic damage, physical? And would the lamia's slow% still affect phys immunes?

[quote=oneillz808";p="368360"]the staff - dol ohm io. its possess, but its basically like charm.[/quote]Hm, I'd go from 14fpa to 9fpa, but give up +1skill for it now, potentially +5skill later. But this just wouldn't be a 'puppetmaster' build without it, maybe I can keep it offhand and use Unholy Armor to boost it.

[Skivverus]

The "bonus% to minion damage" is a boost to physical damage that adds together with any percentage bonuses from synergies - incidentally, this is (probably) why the Necromancer's minions get straight damage synergies instead. Multiplies with other sources of %ED though (like Dark Power and Alpha Totem), so it's a good mod to have.

I'm pretty sure slow will affect physical immune monsters as well (just like Slows Target for characters), but I'd have to pull my summoner out to check my memory on this.

[oneillz808]

i noticed youre using the abjurer... does the banish really help for you.

i would suggest the slayer, he casts elemental and punisher, and hes GREAT to work with in large parties because of gift of inner fire. 2 elemental damages is nice, one with aoe and one with an extremely devastating boss killer [if it isnt immune ]

but then you said youre maxing dp... i forget which synergy adds to attack speed [or maybe its hard points] then that broadens your options a WHOLE LOT as far as mercs go. necrolyte is out of the picture.

the rest is yours to choose from.

ranger - the best mass killer.
priestess - its good to have all those corpses lying around so she can heal herself and take it all away! xP

shapeshifter - bloodlust for any army in reach... i dont think youd have to worry about nhd
fighter mage - if you have some REALLY GREAT gear for him...
holy - hmm... this would be a merc that i would not recommend right after the necrolyte. really tricky to play.

abjurer - your current merc you tell me xD
slayer - hehe ^.^

barbarian - gift of the wild and can equip barbarian items... thunderslam and shower of rocks. a good staple, stable merc.

[enkephalin07]

Shapeshifter and barb do great damage, but I already have enough physical and magic damage spread around, I need more elemental. I may try the slayer. The problem with the abjurer is that he's not a tank, so he hangs back when I hang back, and I catch him loafing around while I'm trying to manage the battlefield, and I have to rush through packs to get him to wake up. When he does go into action the lightning does soften up a nice area of effect, and the lightning shield bolsters barbed wire, and gives everyone some elemental damage reflection. At least he hasn't died on me yet, so he's low maintenance and easy to overlook, and I haven't stopped to compare how the Banish is working.

[oneillz808]

oh yeah i forgot that the abjurer casts lightning shield as well...

but do you really want that; what, with the resummoning and all... who cares about banish anyhow, the abjurer sucks at it. its the gift of inner fire! ^.^

[enkephalin07]

Right now, darklings are the only ones that need to be resummoned regularly, and the LS aura activates pretty quick after resummoning so I can launch more suicidal darklings with the same benefit. But I have enough power in the rest of my army that I don't bother resummoning at all until I'm down to 25%-50% of my forces, unless I'm about to face a boss.

It's difficult to assess how much effectiveness the Abjurer is adding because he hasn't died yet, not without me dying, and that's only happened with the Butcher, who I had to solo anyway. Healing isn't so necessary with this mob of minions, they're dying less often and I've got so many of them I can replace them to decent fighting strength before the battle is over. I myself get hit so rarely that it's a surprise when my struck-proc fires off ("Where's that meteor storm coming from?") I've been running since I got the ring of disengagement in Act1 Hatred and I still haven't needed a heal potion.

Anyway, this would've been a fun build idea, but it turns out it's not as smooth and effective as standard summon-necro. The staff isn't available until mid-game, and it'll be late-game before you can get the +skill to cast it quick enough. Possess has a 4sec duration and at slvl 7, a 10 sec spell timer. Unholy armor's timer won't work with it without swigging adrenalines, and it still wouldn't be as smooth or effective as simply placing a minion or totem. I guess it's just as well, because if it did work it'd probably be seriously imbalanced.

[oneillz808]

has this build been better with the beta patch.

i assume it is. the necromancer has incredible killing power now with the new flying/slowing/breaking immunity summon and widescreen destruction of totems.

[enkephalin07]

I tried it about a minute and switched back. Killing power hasn't been a problem in 1.56, but in 1.57 I lose all the skill points I spent in liche totem. I may try it again after I finish the LC/AC challenges, and then I'll rebuild the Bladewitch. The Puppetmaster build isn't going to be feasible with runeword Servitude, probably better to try a charm druid with some extra summoning oskills.