Minion Army Hero Build

Ok, so this is a work in progress since my Necro hasn't finished Nightfall yet. Also, no guarantee the GW Freaks skill listings (and links) are up to date. This is a Player +3 hero build (add henchies if you'd like, I recommend 1-2 healers, a warrior or dervish tank, Paragon or Ritualist support or Nuker for quick death). I've been running a similar build to this with my Dervish providing corpses. In areas lean on corpses, this build is about as effective as using a single MM. It can be altered easily (change Razah to Spirit Spammer, keep Golems and keep Olias a minion bomber) to work sufficiently though. Energy isn't a problem with Necros or Rit. I'm assuming no runes on heroes (though, clearly they would benefit from them). Presently I'm using the Factions CE Rit staff on all heroes. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give me feedback on this.

Primary Necro Player (You)

Necromancer/Monk
Level: 20

Soul Reaping: 10 (9+1)
Curses: 9
Death Magic: 16 (12+4)

Animate Flesh Golem [Elite] (Death Magic)
Expolit nearest corpse to animate a level 26 Flesh Golem. The Flesh Golem leaves an exploitable corpse. You can have only one Flesh Golem at a time.
Energy:15 Cast:3 Recharge:30

Animate Vampiric Horror (Death Magic)
Exploit nearest corpse to animate a level 18 Vampiric Horror. Whenever a Vampiric Horror you control deals damage, you gain the same amount of Health.
Energy:25 Cast:3 Recharge:15

Mark of Pain (Curses)
For 30 seconds, whenever target foe takes physical damage, Mark of Pain deals 28 shadow damage to adjacent foes.
Energy:10 Cast:1 Recharge:20

Signet of Lost Souls (Soul Reaping)
If target foe is below 50% Health, you gain 70 Health and 7 Energy.
Energy:0 Cast:0.25 Recharge:8

Dark Bond (Blood Magic)
For 30..54 seconds, whenever you receive damage, your closest minion suffers 75% of that damage for you.
Energy:5 Cast:2 Recharge:20

Blood of the Master (Death Magic)
Sacrifice 5% max Health. All adjacent undead allies are healed for 122. You sacrifice an additional 2% maximum Health per minion healed in this way.
Energy:5 Cast:1 Recharge:2

Verata's Aura (Death Magic)
Sacrifice 33% max Health. All hostile animated undead in the area become bound to you. Verata's Aura ends after 312 seconds. When Verata's Aura ends, you lose your bond with any undead bound to you. (50% failure chance with Death Magic attribute of 4 or less)
Energy:15 Cast:0.75 Recharge:30

Resurrection Signet ()
Resurrect target party member. That party member is returned to life with 100% Health and 25% Energy. You may use this Signet only once per mission.
Energy:0 Cast:3 Recharge:0

The primary necro makes sure everything runs smoothly. You will likely be calling targets, so Dark Bond is provided to boost your defense. You'll control a Flesh Golem and Vampiric horrors (for self healing). Signet of Lost Souls will supplement your healing and boost Soul Reaping to help you cast your spells and Animate your Vamps. Mark of pain should be cast on called targets for extra shadow AoE. Alternatively, Rotting Flesh will spread disease, but this is less useful when fighting humans. Be careful with Blood of the Master, you will drain your health quickly given the number of minions on the field. Wait until you have 2-3 Vamps up before using that often and try to use SoLS after you use BotM to regain lost health and energy. Verata's Aura is here to save the rest of the party from a slain necromancer's minions. If a MM goes down, cast it to regain his minions. You may want to slay your minions after the battle by targeting them with your heroes and using Taste of Death. This way they won't turn on you when the spell ends.


Supplemental Necro Hero (Master of Whispers)

Necromancer/Ranger
Level: 20

Soul Reaping: 10
Death Magic: 12
Beast Mastery: 8

Animate Flesh Golem [Elite] (Death Magic)
Expolit nearest corpse to animate a level 21 Flesh Golem. The Flesh Golem leaves an exploitable corpse. You can have only one Flesh Golem at a time.
Energy:15 Cast:3 Recharge:30

Animate Bone Fiend (Death Magic)
Exploit nearest corpse to animate a level 14 bone fiend. Bone Fiends can attack at range.
Energy:25 Cast:3 Recharge:5

Verata's Sacrifice (Death Magic)
Sacrifice 15% max Health. For 9 seconds, all of your undead allies gain +10 Health regeneration. All Conditions are removed from those allies and transferred to you. If this Spell is successful and you have control of 3 or fewer minions, Verata's Sacrifice instantly recharges.
Energy:10 Cast:2 Recharge:60

Feast for the Dead (Death Magic)
Destroy target animated undead ally. All of your other animated undead allies are healed for 82 Health.
Energy:5 Cast:0.25 Recharge:10

Taste of Death (Death Magic)
Steal 340 Health from target animated undead ally.
Energy:5 Cast:0.25 Recharge:0

Comfort Animal (Beast Mastery)
You heal your animal companion for 65 points. If your companion is dead, it is resurrected with 36% Health.
Energy:10 Cast:1 Recharge:1

Charm Animal (Beast Mastery)
Charm target animal. Once charmed, your animal companion will travel with you whenever you have Charm Animal equipped.
Energy:10 Cast:10 Recharge:0

Resurrection Signet ()
Resurrect target party member. That party member is returned to life with 100% Health and 25% Energy. You may use this Signet only once per mission.
Energy:0 Cast:3 Recharge:0

This Hero controls a Golem, Pet and as many bone fiends as he can muster. Fiends work well for ranged attacks and will often target the same enemy as the pet at the beginning of the battle. Verata's Sacrifice should keep your Golem and fiends alive. Use Feast of the Dead as an alternate to BotM during battle. This will sacrifice a minion (rather than your health) and heal all other minions. Taste of Death is your self heal.

Minion Bomber Necro Hero (Olias)

Necromancer/Monk
Level: 20

Soul Reaping: 10
Death Magic: 12
Healing Prayers: 10

Jagged Bones [Elite] (Death Magic)
For 30 seconds, whenever target undead servant dies, it is replaced by a level 12 jagged horror that causes Bleeding with each of its attacks.
Energy:5 Cast:1 Recharge:5

Death Nova (Death Magic)
For 30 seconds, if target ally dies, all nearby foes take 85 damage and are Poisoned for 15 seconds.
Energy:5 Cast:2 Recharge:0

Animate Bone Minions (Death Magic)
Exploit nearest corpse to animate two level 10 bone minions.
Energy:15 Cast:3 Recharge:5

Animate Bone Horror (Death Magic)
Exploit nearest corpse to animate a level 14 bone horror.
Energy:15 Cast:3 Recharge:5

Blood of the Master (Death Magic)
Sacrifice 5% max Health. All adjacent undead allies are healed for 99. You sacrifice an additional 2% maximum Health per minion healed in this way.
Energy:5 Cast:1 Recharge:2

Taste of Death (Death Magic)
Steal 340 Health from target animated undead ally.
Energy:5 Cast:0.25 Recharge:0

Heal Area (Healing Prayers)
Heal yourself and all adjacent creatures for 130 points.
Energy:10 Cast:1 Recharge:5

Resurrect (Monk other)
Resurrect target party member. Target party member is returned to life with 25% Health and zero Energy.
Energy:10 Cast:6 Recharge:5

I simply love this build. Thanks to the Hero AI, you will get the best use of Death Nova and Jagged Bones this way (heroes are better at targeting minions and are better at keeping track of minion health). Animate Minions and Bone Horror will provide you with plenty of minions relatively quickly (5 sec recharge on both skills). Death Nova will cause them to explode when they die and Jagged Bones turns them into another free minion immediately (plus gives bleeding to foe). BotM heals all minions, ToD is a self heal and Heal Area is to keep those minions alive between battles (also self heal when away from foes). You'll probably want to disable Heal Area and use it manually.

Explosives Artist Ritualist Hero (Razah)

Ritualist/Necromancer
Level: 20

Spawning Power: 12
Restoration Magic: 3
Death Magic: 12

Boon of Creation (Spawning Power)
For 51 seconds, whenever you create a creature, you gain 41 Health and 5 Energy.
Energy:10 Cast:2 Recharge:45

Explosive Growth (Spawning Power)
For 51 seconds, whenever you create a creature, up to 5 foes near that creature are struck for 56 lightning damage.
Energy:15 Cast:2 Recharge:45

Spirit's Gift (Spawning Power)
For 60 seconds, whenever you create a creature, all allies near that creature gain 41 Health and lose 1 Condition.
Energy:10 Cast:1 Recharge:45

Animate Bone Minions (Death Magic)
Exploit nearest corpse to animate two level 10 bone minions.
Energy:15 Cast:3 Recharge:5

Jagged Bones [Elite] (Death Magic)
For 30 seconds, whenever target undead servant dies, it is replaced by a level 12 jagged horror that causes Bleeding with each of its attacks.
Energy:5 Cast:1 Recharge:5

Death Nova (Death Magic)
For 30 seconds, if target ally dies, all nearby foes take 85 damage and are Poisoned for 15 seconds.
Energy:5 Cast:2 Recharge:0

Taste of Death (Death Magic)
Steal 340 Health from target animated undead ally.
Energy:5 Cast:0.25 Recharge:0

Flesh of my Flesh (Restoration Magic)
Lose half of your Health. Resurrect target ally with your current Health and 8% Energy.
Energy:5 Cast:5 Recharge:0

This build is all about creation. Keep Boon of Creation, Explosive Growth and Spirit's Gift up at all times to gain health and energy, heal allies and deal damage to foes. The rest works like the Minion Bomber. This build deals damage upon creation as well as destruction.

Discussion

Ok, at first glance this may seem to be a bit much. You will have 2 golems and 1 pet going generally at all times. In addition, minions created by Razah and Olias will last longer thanks to Jagged Bones. The biggest benefit is the portability of this army. Once a single group of enemies is defeated, you will have 2 golems, 1 pet and at least 2 minions per hero. Minions who die with Jagged Bones will raise as a Jagged Horror. I've provided each character with self heal and rez, which can be altered to your liking.

The beauty of this build is that the heroes work together. Jagged Bones and Death Nova are spread around on all dieing minions. With this build you will constantly have minions and, if you run into trouble, you can spam (I hate that word) taste of death to blow up your bombs and heal your characters. Total minion coverage with max runes: 10 primary, 10 supplemental, 10 bomber and 8 EArtist = 38 minions + 1 pet.

Enjoy and please give me some feedback on how to improve on this!

Belzan