Zelaron Gaming Forum - Fun Builds / Serious Builds!

Hey all, been a while since I last logged into Zelaron ;). I started playing Diablo 2 ladder again, sort of sucks though since all my previous characters and items expired. Anyway, here are some varous builds, some you probably know already.

First build, swarm necro (my favorite character ever!). Quite honestly my swarm necro was better in 1.09 against monsters. People said Skellies suck in hell. Well, yeah thats true if you have 20 skelly warriors and 20 mages (mages were good back then). Well, I had 50 warriors, 50 mages, 50 revives, a fire golem (1 point + boost) and a Merc (Prayer for Heal, since in 1.09 they didn't regen as fast as they do now). Did they suck? No, people dropped their jaws open when they died in Hell Baal Minions, while Im standing there picking up items, and gold, reading a magazine while my minions are slaughtering and protecting me from all elements. Did I mention I had only -70 in all resist? (except poison, I had +75 on that). Anyway, here is a 1.10 build, I have a necro like this so everything is tested

PvM Necro (Swarm).
- Positives: Excellent Field Control, Rarely anyone in your party dies
: Can solo handle any act monsters including Hell Uniques.
: Does NOT require godly gear. Good for noobs!
: Fun to use, especially with Paladins, Druids and Barbs.
- Negatives : Diablo and Baal give some problems in Hell
: Lag for crap computers (I use a cheap dell and i suffer no lag)
: Weak Resistance (Since you will rather want to carry +1 summoning Skill charms instead of resist ones. Not Mandatory though if your poor.

Skills Required:
1 Amp - For Physical Immunes
20 - Skelly Mastery
20 - Skelly Warriors
5 - Summon Resist
1 - Each Golem (Optional) I prefer to do so though, Iron works decently with amp and you need Fire golem point to syn boost the others.
1 - Corpse Explosion (Staple for swarm control)

Total Points used: 51
Basically, by level 45 you can have all of these. So where do all your other points go? That depends totally on you! I like the idea of GREATLY outnumbering your foes. Therefore, I max out mages. Honestly, they're not THAT great and die fairly easy, but offer added fire. (Just like in War, Arrows and Swordsman, Soldiers and Snipers). I also max out revive (30 more golems are nice too, but your skellies will be more powerful. Once again, its only for the swarm.

DO NOT PUT POINTS INTO FOLLOWING:
Bone Attacks - You wont have enough Syn Energy to really do lots of damage.
Poison Attacks - You wont have lower resist, and if you do, your skelly warriors are pointoless
Golems - They're stupid, look dumb, and you can recast them anyway if they die.
Bone Armor / Walls - Armor is useless since you wont get hit, Walls are stupid cause your melee can't get close.

MERCS: Rogue - Pointless, you simply dont need her.
A3 - Freeze? Yeah right, where will the bodies be then?
A5 - o.O; this guy shouldn't be anyone's merc, nothing good. No Range, no Aura, no Freeze, atleast the A2 one has an aura to make him worth keeping even if he dies getting swarmed.

Obviously: A2 - Best. For Norm, use A2 Combat, it gives early prayer which is good, keeps skellies alive early on when your mastery might be low, but if you have good mana, Defiance (Defensive) is good.
NIGHTMARE: Ditch your Norm merc and get A2 Offensive (Might). This gives all your skellies a lovely boost and with AMP, your unstoppable.
Hell: Do NOT get any merc. A2 ones have same auras as Norm ones, only WEAKER. it is PROVEN that its WEAKER.

3 State Builds: Higher Life, Low Mana. Average Life / Average Mana (Slightly Lower). Average Life (Slightly Lower / Average Mana

Leveling: Higher Life, Low Mana
-------------------------------
First level up: 5 points strength.
Second : 4 Vital, 1 energy
Third : 4 vital, 1 energy
REPEAT.
Results: Higher Life, little energy. Some put 0 into energy and rely on items. Dont rely on charms (You'll need +1 summon charms). You do have vacant small charm space, but thats good for resist ones. Although you wont need resist for unique monsters, what will save you against Diablo's Fire nova? Ideal build for hardcore assuming you dont want a shield block. You COULD sacrifice some later points for dex in order to block attacks, but its usually the elements that kill you.

Leveling: Average life, Average Mana (Mana Favor)
-------------------------------
First level up: 5 points strength.
Second : 2 Vital, 3 energy
Third : 2 vital, 3 energy
REPEAT.
Results: Decent life with plenty of mana for casting. You'll rarely need to drink mana pots with this build but will need full protection of minions unless you have life gear. Pretty good for newb necros.

Leveling: Average Life, Average Mana (Life)
First level up: 5 points strength.
Second : 3 Vital, 2 energy
Third : 3 vital, 2 energy
REPEAT.
Results: More than decent life with mana. You may need to drink mana pots to keep summoning early on. Once you got your minions though, you'll rarely use mana. This is good for lots of Hell Venturing.

Skills: I suggest put points into warriors until you can control 5 WITHOUT ANY bonuses of wands / heads. Then pump up mastery all the way to 20. Then warriors. Use Quest points like Den, Raddy, Izzy to help your other skills. (Amp, Corpse Explosion, Golem). I never died with this build.

Alright guys, there is your build, its tested and it works. Tell me what you think =) Remember, this is PvM. I HAVE killed with it though. Amp and lots of warriors killed barbs and pallies IF they do not charge at me and crap. And Iron Maiden always helps ;). Any Questions PM me or post here.