Necro Masquerade of Burning Carnival feedback

PTR Feedback
102

Here is my take on this set after some extensive GR runs.

The good:

  • Good DR, much less squishy compared to other necro sets.
  • Simulacrums do contribute to overall dps though it’s not consistent and tricky at times to get the simulacrums to attack the designated target (elites). More on this later below.
  • Mechanics of the set is quite unique and is fun to play.

The bad:

  • Damage of bone spear is mediocre due to lack of supporting items. Struggling to complete GR 110+ with this set in its current form. In order to reach GR 135+ this set needs massive damage boost (see suggestions below). The only supporting items 2 hands Maltorious Petrified Spike that gives 700% damage bonus to bone spear is not enough because it’s bonus is additive to bone spear damage bonus from gears (15% x 3 = 45%).
  • Simulacrums do not Always attack the same target as you do (stuck behind walls, bone spears from Simulacrums miss the target entirely etc)
  • Lack of skill diversity - While Bone Spears is the original intended skill for the set, but it would enhance the build diversity if another skill such as Grim Scythe and/or Death Nova is added to the 6 pieces bonus.

Suggestion:

  • Increase Bone spear damage bonus of 2 hands Maltorious Petrified Spike from 700% to 1500% and REDUCE essence cost to 20 instead of 40.
  • Introduce a necromancer specific bracer that increase bone spear damage by 400% to enemies that are cursed. (Similar concept to Crusader Bracers of Fury)
  • Change 6 pieces bonus of the set to shift the bone spear bonus to the necromancer instead of the Simulacrums. For example: Bone Spear damage is increased by 10000%. In addition, simulacrum no longer deals damage, instead necromancer gains triple this bonus per simulacrum(s) active on the field. This effective bring the damage dealer role back to the necromancer, not the simulacrums. Why would the simulacrum deals 3x more damage than the necromancer in its current form? Makes no sense at all.
  • Add Grim Scythe and Death Nova bonus to the 6 pieces in addition to Bone Spears to add diversity to the build since simulacrum is already duplicating grim Scythe while using Haunted Vision. For example: Bone Spear, Grim Scyth and Death Nova damage is increased by 10000%. In addition, this bonus is triple per active simulacrum on the field.

Overall impression: This set is unique in a way that it utilizes a skill that can be quite fun to play but lack damage due to non existing supporting items. The set in its current form checks the survivability box but still doesn’t quite get there in terms of damage potential (due to lack of supporting legendaries and the reliance on damage done by simulacrums instead of the necromancer himself). Fortunately the fix to this problem is suggested above. This set can potentially be as fun and unique to play to even rival that of WD and Crus new sets only if Blizzard follows through and make changes to the set as suggested.

Final notes:

  • Just for the sake of comparison, this set is about 20GR behind barbs/monk and 25 GR behind the newly nerfed crusader/wd.
8 Likes
103

Really well said. I had the same observations.

104

You are doing great already! There are a few other individual threads on this set, including my own. We greatly appreciate your energy and concern.

105

While we are on this topic, please take a look at Pestilence set as well. While the new added buff of Pestilence (3300% damage to Corpse Lance and Corpse Explosion) is very much appreciated, it is however still far behind in terms of GR performance. Here is why:

  • Corpse Lance
    Corpse Lance with its reliance on LotD is an elite hunting build or a RGK build if you will. At the moment, Pestilence central theme is corpse lance due to its 2 pieces, 4 pieces and 6 pieces bonus. Going from 1650% (old number) to 3300% (new number) only yield 5 GR increase. Before the buff, Pestilence Corpse Lance was struggling at GR 125ish, and even the LoD Corpse Lance is able to outperform it by several GR tier. Now with the new buff, Pestilence corpse lance is on par with the LoD Corpse Lance which max out around 130ish GR, which is far behind Barb/Monk 140 GR and Crus/WD 145+ GR.
    In order to close this 10-15GR gap, Corpse Lance Pestilence 6 pieces bonus need to go up further from 3300% to 10000% (about 10 GR increase) to reach 140 GR.

  • Corpse Explosion
    Currently Corpse Explosion is being used with LoD build which gives 9750% damage bonus in addition to about 80% elemental bonus. In order for Pestilence Corpse Explosion to be on par with its LoD version, its bonus must be increased as well from 3300% to roughly 10000% as well to match that of LoD.

3 Likes
106

really cool idea and really fun to play, does need a bit of a number jump though to be strong. I do love the survivability of it.

107

really need an armband, damage reduction, death kills fun …
I like about necro … My don’t play it because of that

& bone armor should immunize against control … stop necro ping pong
I had a dream I play necro this season … but … is a dreams

108

I think Bone Spirit and Bone Spikes should be added to the 6 piece as well. Another potential fix is to buff the 6 set to either 15000 or 20000%. Toughness is better than other necro sets but still requires bone armor. This set needs options for skills other than just Bone Spear.

1 Like
109

My friend did 140 with Necro on PTR… Sharing video as feedback.

110

10k paragon …20 caractères requis

2 Likes
111

Not sure if it has been suggested yet but could we get an icon for when Razeth is in effect like we do for Aquila’s?

Sometimes it is not always clear when the essence is full when it is close to the top of the globe.

112

I’m glad Necro is getting looked at, however in testing it does not seem enough. My consolidated thoughts below:

  1. Masquerade Set - A welcome set that increases Necro survivability, a bit. The damage multiplier needs to be increased as it still does not seem sufficient in comparison with other, better, GR pushing builds. I’d also like to see additional abilities added to the 6-piece bonus. Perhaps primary abilities, or bone spirit, death nova ?

  2. CE Increase - The damage is nice… when it can be used. I still feel forced to use LotD and / or Golem in order to really utilize the ability. I’m not a fan of running around waiting for long cd’s in order to play. It also really seems best utilized with a LoD build, which leads me to…

  3. Survivability - While the new set increases survivability, it is focused primarily around Bone Spear alone. Survivability of other sets and items needs to be increased in order to really make use of abilities. If you are running a LoD set, it’s still just entirely to squishy imo.

  4. Item Multipliers - Or lack-there-of. We need more items which increase skills damage. Offhands, bracers, belts, etc… Something similar to items like Bracers of Fur y (increasing ability by xxx%)

I’m hopeful additional changes to the Necro come this week, which increase the damage of the new set, and survivability of others. I’d like nothing more to start of the season with a Necro, but in order to do so I feel as if this tuning needs to take place in order to bring the Necro to a level worth pursuing.

3 Likes
113

10000 paragons and very good heavy density map? Imagine a similar paragon with WD/Crus would have achieved minimum 145+, about 100% more damage.

This only reinforces that CE damage need to go up 100% more to be on par with WD/Crus.

4 Likes
114

I’ve been playing Masquerade in seasonal, with very early gearing progression, sub 800 paragon. For GR speeds, been running CoE+Krysbin’s+Zodiac with Scythe of the Cycle+Maltorius’… Lots of MS with Stuart’s+Lost time. Similar to: https://www.d3planner.com/868969008

EDIT (6/8/2020): was able to clear GR90-92 in 2.5-4m time with a different build:
https://www.d3planner.com/135494342. Better than I initially thought, but Masquerade definitely still needs a damage increase, about 4 GR’s worth (~doubled damage output).

Videos: [2.6.9 PTR] Masquerade Crystallization Speed + Feedback:

[2.6.9 PTR] (GR90-105+) Masquerade Voracious Speed

What feels bad + bug:

The biggest issue I’ve been having is that Simulacrums seem to be dying, which by the way, is not an issue limited to this set alone.

For Masquerade in particular, the 2 piece states ‘Your Simulacrums no longer take damage’.

In this instance, simulacrums dying is most likely a bug related to the 2 piece that provides multiple runes.

Self Sacrifice rune:

If you would die with a Simulacrum active, instead the Simulacrum is destroyed and you are fully healed.

I think what’s happening is the rune procs, kills off the simulacrums (even if you have Final Service in the build), and because the 4 piece is entirely dependent upon Simulacrum being active, you have no mitigation anymore after they die.

This feels exceedingly bad for multiple reasons: first, you don’t realize often that your simulacrums aren’t alive any more.

Second, you’re running a build that’s meant to not stack loads of cooldown (typically) and this means your Simulacrum often has a 30+ seconds or more of cooldown remaining after they die. So even if you do realize it, you’re more likely better off just dying on purpose to reset. Moving on…

Simulacrums sometimes will lag behind in the rift. This makes it more difficult to aim their spears or have them within the same room (for levels with doors).

Edit (6/3/2020): I do not like that the damage from the 6 piece triples simulacrum damage compared to player damage. I’d prefer if my own damage were the same as theirs. This is especially evident when you are walled off, or around corners in levels with many obstructions.

Damage in solo speeds feels pretty low compared to many other sets and builds. I’ve been farming GR80’s consistently in 2 minutes or less. Compare this with PoJ TR Monk, which can readily farm ~GR90 3m or less at the same gear and paragon level.

EDIT (6/8/2020): Since date of original posting was able to clear GR90-92 in 2.5-4m time with a different build:
https://www.d3planner.com/135494342. Better than I initially thought, but it definitely still needs a damage increase, at least 4 GR’s worth (doubled damage output) to be competitive.

Bone Prison bug?:

What feels Good:

I’ve been favoring the Crystallization Bone Spear rune (love the 30% AS, and ramp up). I feel like the runes on Bone spear are fairly varied, which leads to a variety of playstyles.

Edit (6/3/2020): Just found out that Crystallization is added in with weapon affix, similar to how Echoing fury works. Neat little mechanics tidbit there.

Compared to many Necro builds which heavily rely on corpses, this build does not, aside from needing a little essence, and that makes is so much more easygoing. Combine that with not being heavily reliant on CDR, and it starts really shine in this way. A more Attack speed / area damage based build is great to see, especially given the history of Necromancer relying on LoTD and Thorns builds.

Having damage come from yourself and simulacrums… casting Bone spear, a spell that pierces with most runes, feels great when aim is on point. Elites and good trash pulls explode, and you’re able to follow spears as they continue through the level, hitting additional targets sometimes.

LOVE the level of toughness from the 4 piece when it is working. I’ve always felt necro needed more toughness, especially when it came to sets, and seeing this in action for Masquerade is nice.

Suggestions / Feedback:

Feedback wise I will agree that additionally pairing Bone spirit with the 6 piece somehow might work out well. However, I’m not in favor of requiring Bone Spirit (if you want to go only Bone Spear, and equip more skills for toughness, CC, or mobility, you should be able to do that.

I can certainly see interplay with Crystallization bonus IAS and Bone spirit cast weaving being appealing.

Having the set significantly reduce the cooldown (by 75%?) of Bone spirit would be very handy.

Side note: I think bone spirit’s 15s cooldown is exceedingly high to begin with, so perhaps adjusting this baseline cooldown as well as tacking additional cooldown for the set would be a good comination.

Could also play around with increasing the projectile movement speed of Bone spirit (might require adjustment of Defiler Cuisses to be based on distance rather than seconds though). Note: credits to Lord_Fluffy for mention of projectile speed.

Thank you for reading.

4 Likes
115

Sorry to be so pessimistic, but why bother taking the time to develop a new set when the damage output is so low no one will ever play it. Honestly, you had to pay extra money just to play necromancer, and for what, limited offhand choice, limited bracer choice, no variation in play styles, and even when a new set is introduced it uses a skill that is already used on another set…really!

116

And again I have to remind some people that at the moment the 10k% buff from the set is merely the initial test value. Its purpose is to give a baseline for the devs to do the necessary adjustments based on the actual test data provided by the players.

Do you people really think the first iteration will be the final one?

While Pestilence does have Bone Spear buff attached to it, that one is not a Bone Spear set, it’s a Corpse Lance set.

1 Like
117

After reading through multiple replies/threads on the ptr forum, the answer is unfortunately ‘yes’. I dunno why, though. Each of these new, fifth class sets has had at least minor tweaks if not major reworkings (the crusader set comes to mind, going from a fist of the heavens set to primarily a heaven’s fury set), to say nothing of how different some of the existing class sets are from their initial versions.

So… yeah. I dunno why, but people think everything in this game is written in stone and can never, ever change, lol.

118

Hi all :slight_smile:

This is a very good idea to ask a set fonction that use Revive. But i think it is too complicated to add it on the necro set of this season.

Anyway i think there is a way to give more credit to this skill. Maybe someone here have already had my idea.

But when i see the changes of haunted vision, i think we could make a legendary item that make the revived monsters to stay forever with a malus to maintain them. Like this, the revive skill would be usefull with the rathma set and with the new changes ou Jesseth set.
I saw on this forum that lot of players want new bracers for the necro, that would be the opportunity for a next patch to make a bracer that make revive usefull.
I dont think we need an entire set especialy for revive skill.

Enjoy :slight_smile:

119

I don’t see why they could make a small tweak to the Rathma set to make the 6 piece bonus count mages OR revives. Granted, Revive would still need some more supporting items, but it would be a sensible set to tweak a bit to allow for a Revive focused build.

120

Apparently Blizzard thinks this set is fine as is because they didn’t change anything on the new patch.

1 Like
121

Yup looks like a LoD season for the necro…

5 Likes