Board 8 > I'm playing Diablo II for the first time...

(+) Yeah! (+)

Technically I played it to Act 2 years ago, but this time I intend to actually finish the game. I'm playing a Necromancer, and I want to make the biggest army of skeletons I can and just overrun my enemies while making corpses explode. What are good skills for this and what should I invest in stat-wise? I've been putting everything into Vitality and Energy and smashing enemies with a sword for a while now, but my low strength is making that less effective.
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Raise Skeleton and Skeleton Mastery are the two skills you should max first, in that order (but definitely put one point into Skeleton Mastery before maxing Raise Skeleton). The only point you should be putting in Skeleton Mage is the prerequisite for the future skills, especially Revive. Skeleton Mages suck.

One point in Stone Golem is enough for now.

One point in each curse is usually recommended, though only Amplify Damage and Decrepify (for bosses) seem necessary. +Skills will handle the rest of the points for these curses. Amplify Damage is necessary for maximizing the efficiency of Corpse Explosion.

You should be increasing Strength enough to wear the best equipment you get. Increasing Energy is fine for now, but once you get to the high levels and respec, you shouldn't invest in Energy because you'll have more than enough mana.

Ideally, find a Wand with +3 Raise Skeleton and +3 Skeleton Mastery, in that order of priority.
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I cannot imagine a world where I don't max skeleton mage
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ClyTheCool posted...

I cannot imagine a world where I don't max skeleton mage

That world is Hell
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gotta max mages gotta have as many skeletons as possible

dont max revive because they die out/disappear before you can have as many as possible

and yeah 1 point in all the golem stuff except fire
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Do I need all of the curses or just decrepify?
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metaIslug posted...

pretty shocked you never finished this game. you always came off as the PC rpg guy of this board to me

I am normally, but Diablo 2 has been a blind spot for me for years.
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Do I need all of the curses or just decrepify?

just amp damage and decrep (and all the prereqs of course)
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Is it worth it to put points in the other golems besides clay, or can you only have one golem at a time, or what?

And what's the least fun and worst class? I remember years ago hearing bad things about druids.
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I didn't care for Blood Golems, but you can send the third type (Iron? Whichever one reflects damage) wading into a crowd and watch enemies drop dead trying to kill it
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only 1 golem at a time. i prefer iron but i think clay is better for bosses? dont think the other 2 are useful tho
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blood golem + iron maiden was the shit back in 2000
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Metal_DK posted...

blood golem + iron maiden was the shit back in 2000

Yeah but that doesn't even work in Classic anymore thanks to it being patched.
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Golems are great distractions in boss fights regardless, so you'll want to pick one to use at least.
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I already have the clay golem, I was just wondering if the others were worth a point.

I found +4 to raise skeleton and +2 to raise skeletal mage from items, so I'm rolling around with a huge army. I throw around teeth during fights but it's only so I'll have something to do.
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Anagram posted...

I already have the clay golem, I was just wondering if the others were worth a point.

From what I understand, Fire Golem's pretty good because its Holy Fire aura serves to draw enemies towards it and away from your army.

Iron Golem is great once you get weapons that are good to make it, and unlike other golems, due to its expensive nature, it doesn't despawn when you log out of the game.

Blood Golem is..... ehh....

Clay Golem definitely works, though.

Just remember, you get one free respec per difficulty level.
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BowserCuffs posted...

Increasing Energy is fine for now, but once you get to the high levels and respec,

er, what? Did they make some change to the game when I wasn't looking? Part of the issue with character planning in D2 was that you had to map out your choices ahead of time because you couldn't take them back.
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azuarc posted...

BowserCuffs posted...

Increasing Energy is fine for now, but once you get to the high levels and respec,

er, what? Did they make some change to the game when I wasn't looking? Part of the issue with character planning in D2 was that you had to map out your choices ahead of time because you couldn't take them back.

Completing the Den of Evil on each difficulty will give the player a chance to reset their stats and skills at any time, but only once for that difficulty.

There's also a cube recipe that's been added that allows you to create an item that'll do the same thing but that's significantly more difficult to get the items for.
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I don't plan to do any kind of PvP or anything on this character, I just want to finish the game. I chose necromancer mostly because I used a warrior in Diablo 1 and a wizard in Diablo 3 and wanted something different.
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My advice was for PvE, actually. Hell is the difficulty that can kick your ass if you're too suboptimal.
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Hell is actually not a joke if you aren't trading for gear on battlenet.
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i remember the first time i got a zod rune, i felt like i completed a part of my gaming bucket list or something.

Never got to do the uber diablo event stuff or anything though. Always wanted an Annihilus charm
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What's a zod rune do?

Anyway, the Maggot Lair was agony. My army was large enough that everyone constantly got stuck in the tiny hallways, and my necromancer's only direct damage spell that doesn't require a corpse already there (Teeth) was way too weak for the task. It took me forever. I'm actually considering investing in either Teeth some more or another, better direct damage spell.
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Anagram posted...

What's a zod rune do?

It's more that it's the rarest rune in the game.

And it's also the second rarest item, period.
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BowserCuffs posted...

Anagram posted...

What's a zod rune do?

It's more that it's the rarest rune in the game.

And it's also the second rarest item, period.

Ah, okay.
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BowserCuffs posted...

Anagram posted...

What's a zod rune do?

It's more that it's the rarest rune in the game.

And it's also the second rarest item, period.

is Tyrael's Might still the rarest?
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Metal_DK posted...

BowserCuffs posted...

Anagram posted...

What's a zod rune do?

It's more that it's the rarest rune in the game.

And it's also the second rarest item, period.

is Tyrael's Might still the rarest?

According to the wiki, yes.
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Anagram posted...

I'm actually considering investing in either Teeth some more or another, better direct damage spell.

Forgot to address this earlier - try Bone Spear. And don't worry about speccing out of Teeth because, thanks to synergies, the points you've put into Teeth will make Bone Spear stronger.
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