Yeah I know it’s called, “Hell,” for a reason, but I’m wondering if my experience is average or should I go back and grind better gear.
I’m a level 69 necro summoner build and i appear to be holding my own okay, but seems like I get one shotted really easy now that I’ve entered black marsh. My current strength is 68 and while better armor dropping I don’t have the strength to equip it. I’ve dumped all my points into vitality.
As far as damage, i seem to be doing okay. It’s getting one shotted that has me wondering if I need better gear, or is this what I should expect in hell mode.
edit: should add that i’ve mostly been playing solo
This is what to expect in Hell mode on a squishy character like necromancer or sorceress. My level 89 necro has full Trang-oul’s set, maxed resists, etc. and can only survive a second or two of taking hits. At a lower level, with less life: no, there is no way to survive even 1 hit in most cases.
For these type of characters the #1 method of survival is: don’t get hit.
Welcome to hell.
You should be maxed resist or close to it before going into hell. You should also have some form of damage reduction hopefully as well otherwise you run the risk of dying in a few hits. As the previous user said, the simplest way to deal with this is just to not get hit. Positioning is key. “Better armor” isn’t determined by how much defense it gives. If you can, i suggest making the smoke runeword preferably in a mageplate.
so i had great resist in nightmare. Does armor in hell have better resist drops?
Get your resist at least in the positive numbers in hell and use bone armor. Should be able to take at least 1 hit from act 1 mobs.
I’m not trying to sound like a jerk, but if you are having a rough time surviving in hell as a summoner, you’re doing something wrong.
Try analyzing your build and make sure you have allocated your stat and skill points efficiently. Make sure you aren’t charging headfirst into groups of enemies, let the enemies come to you. You have incredible meat shields, use them to your advantage. Try using more defensive options like decrepify instead of amp damage. Make sure your merc is geared well enough to be able to tank at least small packs of monsters by himself.
Most untwinked chars go to Hell around level 70, so your level shouldn’t be much of a hindrance. However, you can always try grinding nm Baal more to gain a few more levels/items so that you feel sturdier.
Too easy once you’re geared
1 Like
Does the armor drop with higher resist numbers in hell mode?
The Resist affixes on Rare Armor doesn’t change from Nightmare to Hell, but you do have better chance of getting Unique items with high resists. Are you playing single-player, or online?
What is your skill distribution? Strength should be around 80.
You need mainly + skills equip as summoner.
My strength is only at 68, as i thought it should all go into vitality
Your job once you hit Hell is to work on getting ‘better stuff’. For a Summoner your going to aim for a Bone runeword armor until you get Enigma. Marrowalk has a Strength req of 118 so by the time you get those boots you will want ST at 118. That’s the highest ST req gear you will want as a summoner.
You can finish hell with Spirit sword, Stealth armor, Lore Helm and Rhyme shrunken head. Upgrading as you get better. Faster run walk is far better than anything else in keeping you alive.
If you need skill help jump over to the necy forum or I can post you a basic build here.
Hell is EZ for a summoner, you shouldn’t worry about it, just dive in. Don’t get hit and keep away from the CE monsters when they pop.
And that skill distribution?
I’ve dumped into some clay golem/mastery, maxed out summon skeletons with max skeleton mastery, healthy amount of corpse explosion and decrepify. I can also summon 4 fallen enemies. Summon resist as well.
do you happen to have an offensive act 2 NM merc that gives might aura? That would help some along with good damage and survivability on him.
Other than that you just need to play defensively and let your minions/merc do the heavy lifting while you cast curses and corpse explosion from afar.
Well that good, golem, golem mastery, revive and decrepify should be only one point. Skeleton mages currently sucks. Rest points into corpse explosion. Amplify damage +your skeletons, when there are bodies, corpse explosion. Decrepify on bosses. Its slow but you should be able to get to the end like that. I did.
Pick up every necro head(shields) and wand, you need good one. You should make dol+IO in good wand base. I belive mage in act 2 normal can sell you good base with two sockets.
Make ort+sol in helm for + skills, necro armor +3 skills runeword if you have runes.
- skills stat is what you need the most.
I wonder why you keep dying, you should not as you should stand behind your army. Act 3 normal Ormus should sell teleport staff with charges, it help to get past certain places.
If you are going to fight hard boss, try to revive few blunderbores/urdars, they are in paláce, durance of hate and River of Flame for example. They have crushing blow.
Necro summoner is slower killer, but you should eventualy be in phase where you find some stuff to be stronger.
Thanks for the input.
I don’t KEEP dying, but when I do die, it’s quick. I def need better armor with resistance. This is my first time into hell mode, so was looking for feedback on expectations and so far it looks like I belong there lol, though def need better resistances
Lionheart is great if you get the runes. Its very nice armor for anyone.
By the way, noticed you said use ampily damage with the skeletons, but wouldn’t decrepify be more effective?
Decrepit lowers physical resistance by 50, Amp lowers physical resist by 100. Thus amp is the best option for damage while decrep is your best option for safety. I’ll be honest that most new to summoner players use decrep because you don’t feel safe, as you become more ‘seasoned’ with you nec you will use amp everywhere but bosses. Amp is your better option.
Summoner is a glass ‘general’ if you get into a mob you are dead, the key is do not get into a swarm of monsters. This is all about how you move around and positioning. Run forward agro things then run back behind a skelly. If you are in areas with rooms like the durast and you are not feeling safe to run straight in, cast a clay golem in. In the end the only thing that ends up hitting me is piercing attacks like the kitties in A5 and gloams.
I also see a lot of necys run forward and start cursing things as their first action. With other classes this is correct, you see a monster you use a skill. The first thing a summoner should do is run back or cast a clay golem in the monsters face or attract to keep thing off of you. After your crew engages then it’s important to amp.
1 Like