Alright, so you wanna build a crazy strong Necro who just lets his minions do all the work, right? That summoner build everyone talks about. I tried it myself recently, and man, it felt slow at first, but it’s a beast once you get rolling. Here’s exactly how I did it, step by step.
Starting Out: The Struggle Was Real
Grabbed the Necro, named him BoneHead (cause why not). First few levels? Rough. Me and my single Skeleton got smacked around by those trash mobs in the Den of Evil. Took ages to kill anything. Only had Raise Skeleton and that puny Skeleton Mastery. Felt like a babysitter for one weak bony dude. Not fun. Had to use my dagger way more than I wanted to.
Unlocking the Army & That First Gamechanger
Stuck it out. Every single skill point early on? Shoved them all into Raise Skeleton. Needed more bodies! By level 12 or so, I had maybe four or five bony boys swinging rusty swords. Better, but still kinda pathetic. Damage was still trash.
Then… Amplify Damage curse. Holy moly, what a difference! Suddenly my dorky skeletons were actually hurting things. That red curse circle over monsters’ heads? Music to my ears. Things died faster, which meant I could raise their corpses. Slowly, painfully, my little bony mob started to grow.
The Mid-Game Grind and a HUGE Discovery
Got into Act 2. Needed a beefier tank than just skeletons. So, I grabbed Clay Golem. This lump of mud is SLOW, but damn does it soak up hits. Pure meat (clay?) shield for my bony buddies. Put a point into Golem Mastery too, just to make him chonkier.
The real game-changer came when I got the skill points for Corpse Explosion (CE). Hold up. This skill is NUTS. I remember my first big mob fight after getting CE. Skeletons finally took down one Fallen. I targeted the corpse, hit CE. BOOM! Like half the screen exploded! I was grinning like an idiot. Suddenly, killing groups wasn’t slow and painful – it was fast and chaotic and oh-so-satisfying. More corpses? MORE BOOMS! This became my main “clear the room” button. Spammed it constantly.
Rounding Out the Crew: Mages and Mercs
Okay, army getting decent. Skeletons hitting things up close, Clay Golem tanking, CE cleaning up. But I needed some ranged support and more oomph against tougher stuff. Enter Skeleton Mages. Dropped some points into them. Mostly cold and poison types showed up. Not amazing damage, but they chipped away from a distance, sometimes chilling enemies. Nice little added pressure.
Then I hired that Act 2 Mercenary (Offensive or Defensive, doesn’t matter too much early on – I went Defensive for the prayer aura for a bit of healing). But wait, the KEY is the weapon runeword I saved up for: Insight. Found a halfway decent polearm base, got the runes (Ral Tir Tal Sol – not too hard by nightmare). Threw it on my merc. BAM! Meditation Aura! My mana problems? GONE. Suddenly I could spam Corpse Explosion like crazy without chugging a thousand blue pots. So much smoother!
The Final Power Trio in Action
So, here’s my bread and butter, how I roll through content now:
- Curses First: Spot a pack? Instantly hit ‘A’ for Amplify Damage. Make everything squishy.
- Minion Mob: Skeletons, Mage, Clay Golem, and Insight merc charge in. They dogpile the enemy.
- First Corpse: Wait… wait… come on guys! Okay! First monster drops! HIT CORPSE EXPLOSION (Right-click spamming!).
- Chain Reaction: BOOM! That explosion kills two more? BOOM! BOOM! Suddenly the whole screen is chain explosions. Watch the health bars just vanish. Feels unfair sometimes. So damn good.
Making it Stronger: The Late Game Goals
Right now, my main skills are:
- Maxed Raise Skeleton (Moar skellies!)
- Almost Maxed Skeleton Mastery (Tougher, harder hitting skellies)
- Maxed Corpse Explosion (Bigger boom radius? Yes please!)
- Just enough in Amp Dmg, Clay Golem, Summon Resist, Golem Mastery.
Still hunting for that good +skills gear to make the army even bigger and badder. Finding an “Arm of King Leoric” wand would be sweet. Maybe even look at Revive later for some crazy temporary allies.
Final thoughts? This build has zero fancy moves I need to do myself. I just manage the crowd. Buff the army a bit. Toss curses. Spam the heck out of Corpse Explosion. It’s powerful, kinda lazy, and watching your personal undead demolition crew tear through everything feels ridiculously good, especially after the painful start. You gotta be patient early on, but trust me, that chain explosion chaos later? Totally worth it!
