[Diablo II] You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling

[Megamanfan]

Ugh.

I installed D2 and the Expansion the other night and I learned something.

I just can't get into this game.

I don't know what it exactly is...but I was killing stuff in the very first area and got bored in a matter of seconds.

Is there nothing that can't be done? Good mods? An interesting skin? Surely someone knows something to help me out here. I want to have fun with D2, honest I do...please help. :(

[Elizabeth Brooks]

What did you play?

Trying a different character might help - commanding an army of undead may entertain you more than stabbing things over and over, or vice versa.

[Megamanfan]

I was going for a Werewolf Druid...I suck at anything but tanking...:(

[Valmont]

I was going for a Werewolf Druid...I suck at anything but tanking...:(Werewolf does seem to be the least sucky Druid suite.

Maybe try an artillery Necromancer?

[Megamanfan]

Werewolf does seem to be the least sucky Druid suite.

Maybe try an artillery Necromancer?

A who what now? Artillery Necro? Tell me more, I'm intrigued.

[Underpants Gnome]

A who what now? Artillery Necro? Tell me more, I'm intrigued.


It's a necro that uses poison and bone skills (usually in conjunction with curses)and generally avoids the summoning skills. Usually you'll want corpse explosion for your big damage dealer, it combines well with Amp Damage and/or Lower Resists, since the CE damage is half fire / half physical.

You'll also need bone spirit or spear with a lot of points in the synergy skills too, in order to get that first body to drop so you can start popping corpses. Some other skills that can be worthwhile for the arty necro include bone walls/prisons, etc. Those add synergies to your bone spear/spirit anyway, so it's usually good to invest points in them once you have filled out your main attacks. Some necros also swear by high level poison nova. But I understand that has been nerfed a bit - and to make it effective, you have to build up all the synergies for it and get some pretty rare runeword gear.

Arty necs are just about my favorite build. Usually I'll have at least a point in every curse, so that makes him a good party player. Sometimes I'll add a golem (usually iron) - that helps a ton if you are playing solo.

It takes a while before your arty nec will be powerful. CE gobbles up mana, and your pool will be too low to make it a useful weapon until you hit the mid 20s - unless you have a ton of twinked gear with +mana and +mana/kill. Also, act bosses are a bitch, since there are usually no corpses around to pop. But the sound of those demon corpses exploding one after another makes it all worthwhile. The flayer jungle is one of my favorite spots to hunt. Decrepify them so they can't run away, then start blasting.

[Megamanfan]

Sounds complex. And I hate spending points on Energy...it makes me feel so...dirty.

[Underpants Gnome]

It's not all that complex, unless you chose to use a ton of different curses in party play. Sometimes you can run out of hotkeys. And the best way to circumvent the energy problem is to use socketed items with lots of sapphires and Tir runes, which are cheap to come by.

It's not for everybody, though. You won't be plowing through wave after wave of demons for quite a while.

[vitus979]

Sounds complex. And I hate spending points on Energy...it makes me feel so...dirty.

Since the 1.10 patch the skellimancer is probably one of the most frightening builds in the game.

Basically until 30 you put points into Skeleton, Skeleton Mastery, and a pip into a few different curses (Amp Damage, Decrepify, and Dim Vision I find the most useful at low level) as well as a pip in Clay Golem (for slowing bosses). Later get Attract, Revive, and max out Corpse explosion after you've maxxed Skellie & skellie mastery.

The skeletons in the 1.10 patch are VERY tough. Use them as your primary means of damage, with CE and revives as your secondary. For this build a 'Might' Act II mercany is a must. To add insult to injury this guy can wield the Kelpie Snare, which when used in combination with Decrepify and a Clay Golem will get bosses so slow that you can see their individual frame animations.

Primary tactic at later levels is to Attract one or two mobs, then Amp Damage the rest and let your skeletons wade in on them. After a corpse or 2 is down hit CE once or twice and the pack is dead, all the while you're sitting back with little personal danger.

It's a completely different ballgame from the normal frenetic pace of D2. As a plus you also don't really need to put more points into Energy.

[Elizabeth Brooks]

I played a Skelemancer to 67 or 68 on the season one ladder...the poor guy's probably expired by now, but, er, wow. The build is definitely what it's advertised to be.

The hardest fight I had was Diablo in normal difficulty. He wiped out my army of undead with a casual wave of his hand... I ended up having to shop a + decrepify wand because I hadn't taken the curse yet. Decrepify + Clay Golem = really slow boss...I could actually count the individual frames of his attacks at that point. :)

That and he didn't kill all of my skeletons. I think two or three made it out.

Pretty much everywhere else, though, and the skeleton army is a school of piranha. Killing is pretty fast and pretty relaxed at the same time.

Anyway, when I play on the new ladder, i think I'm going to try a trapassin. Those look like much fun. :)

[Underpants Gnome]

They're not lying. Skellies are the power build now - so strange since they have been next to useless in previous patches. But I can't give up my love for the Arty Necro. Ever since the first time I ever took mine into a hell cows game and wreaked carnage upon the heathen bovine, I've been hooked. The sound effect for CE is just freakin' addictive, and seeing all those giblets fly is a great added bonus.

[Weltenreiter]

Skelemancer is fun, allows for pretty lazy play thru norm and NM because your minions pwn everything.
Other pluses:
- Not as annoying early game as some late bloomer builds because you can start raising the important skills right from the start. Being able to actually play your char instead of generic Khalim's Will twinked raw melee monster for the first 20 levels is a refreshing change.
- Relatively gear independent. +Skill items boost skels massively, but don't need the overly expensive or rare ones really. Trade for an Arm of King Leoric (its pretty cheap), gamble up circlet/amulet with +summon, and you're set for now.
- Very party friendly. People love the horde of meatshields and the Curses. Better for physical damage dealers like Amazons instead of Sorcs because of the curses you'll likely use (you probably ideally want to avoid having to put skill point in Lower Resist), but the meatshieldage benefits everyone.

Me and friend played some Strafeazon + Skelliemancer recently, was massive fun, great team. And skells aren't annoyed by Bow Knockback either. :D

[Jais]

Damn, now *I* want to play D2.

[Megamanfan]

Skellimancer sounds kinda fun...maybe I'll try the Arty though. What the heck.