N/ME Summonmancer

Hello all, here is my Idea for a PvE Necromancer build. I've already posted pre-EOTN prediction builds and a post-EOTN necromancer build that resembles this, but I think this out maximizes party size and damage output.

Note that it is very energy intensive and requires alot of concentraction for a necromancer, but it does include e-return and damage/energy management.

Summoner
Necromancer/Mesmer

16 Death
13 Soul Reaping

[skill]Echo[/skill][skill]Arcane Echo[/skill], Ebon Vanguard Assassin Support, [skill]Animate Shambling Horror[/skill][skill]Animate Bone Horror[/skill][skill]Signet of Lost Souls[/skill][skill]Signet of Sorrow[/skill], Summon Ice Imp

or

[skill]Echo[/skill][skill]Arcane Echo[/skill], Ebon Vanguard Assassin Support, [skill]Animate Shambling Horror[/skill][skill]Animate Bone Horror[/skill][skill]Signet of Lost Souls[/skill][skill]Blood of the master[/skill], Summon Ice Imp

The casting order should be the following

Summon Ice Imp

Arcane Echo>Ebon Vanguard Assassin Support>Arcane Echo'ed Assassin>Echo Arcane Echo'ed Assassin

You now have a party of 1 Asura summon +3 or more Assassins.

As things die, raise minions using Animate Bone/Shambling Horrors.

As your Assassin's die, you unfortunatly cant use them for exploitable corpses, but they ARE corpses, spam the heck out of your Signet of Sorrows for free damage spams

You will gain double energy return from Shamblin Horrors and you also have Signet of Lost Souls for Energy.

As the battle wages on, keep summoning Assassins as your minions kill. Unfortunatly this build did not have room for a minion heal.

10 Minions +4 allied creatures = Summonmancer

ha nice idea imma have to try that but i dont have regular echo any suggestions on a different elite (maybe a minion healing elite?)

Unfotunatly there IS no Minion Healing Elite, which would be preatty awesome.

I dont see it working all that well Wihout Echo, because Arcane Echo itself, is costly and recharges slower, and by itself, only able to keep 2 Assassin's up.

Worth a try though, or just go cap Echo!

At a bare minimum, it needs blood of the master. Toss the worthless signet of sorrow for it.

Signet of Sorrow isn't completely worthless, but yeah, you need Blood of the Master to heal your minions, unless you plan to let them die in between fights.

Quote: Originally Posted by Dr Strangelove

Quote: Originally Posted by Zodiak

I do agree that one should carry Blood of the Master. I do however agree that Minions are expendable and will die no matter what you do.

Minions outside of battle are standing egg timers.

A Minion Master also doesnt have any alternative source of damage other then Minions except some special cases.

This Build does have alternative sources of Damage, a Summon of choice, in this case, Summon Ice Imp, for AOE damage and slow down, and Assassins. Which should provide dead corpses for Minions.

I put the alternative without Signet of Sorrow up

I'm not gonna lie to you: whenever I see a double echo build, I almost immediately put it off as a waste of time. With some exceptions, a double echo is mostly just a waste of energy. In the case here, I'd suggest some other elite (possibly FG if you're looking to make corpses). I'm assuming that the point of this build is to amass a pile of corpses around your enemy and spam your signets. That being said, your alternative without SoS doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense. To be honest, I'll continue running a standard MM long before wanting to try this build. It's an interesting idea, but I don't see it catching on any time soon.

Well, I find that a Minion Master does not depend on his Elite slot as much as most other classes. You can create a very successful Minion Master without it.

I'm not a huge fan of the typical Flesh Golem or Aura of the Lich skills and its been proven that that damned little Assassin Summon skill packs one HECK of a punch.

I'm a big fan of Asura Summons myself for their overall damage over their lifetime compared to their energy cost.

So I'm looking for the best of BOTH worlds, with a Long lasting Asura Summons, Suicidal Assassins that pack one HECK of a punch, energy return and free costing Damage spamming.

To be 100% honest. I'm at work right now and put this together. I got the Idea from a guildie friend of mine who uses Signet of Illusion to make maxed out assassins. I wanted to find a profession that would maintain the most number of Assassins/Summons/additional, with the most energy return to sustain his allies.

I admit it may not be for everyone, but it sure is interesting

Most about this when I get home soon.

If I want damage, I'll take a nuker.
If I want minions, I'll take a real MM that actually has minions ready at the BEGINNING of the battle.
Here's a quick hint for you: SOS can be used on MMs as well, most MM just don't run it. And if you really want even more damage on your MM, consider taking Putrid Bile and/or even MBing.

It's a different way of playing, is all

I think you'd be better off moving the Death points into Curses, and then unleashing your three Assassins on a foe hexed with Mark of Pain and/or Barbs.

Edit: Just played around a bit on the Isle of the Nameless. Came up with this:

Curses 16
Soul Reaping 11
Deadly Arts 8

[skill]Mark of Pain[/skill][skill]Barbs[/skill][skill]Ebon Vanguard Assassin Support[/skill][skill]assassin's promise[/skill][skill]"Finish Him!"[/skill]

Cast in order. The hexes satisfy Iron Palm's condition, knocking down the target. MoP causes a bunch of AoE armor-ignoring damage, while Barbs takes advantage of your little buddy's rapid physical attacks. Use "Finish Him!" to make sure the target dies in time to satisy AP, and you get energy and full skill recharge.

This lets you have serious single-target focus damage, with significant AoE splash. Since you'll get your Assassin buddy recharged after each kill under AP, you're ready to lay into your next target. Plus, you have three open slots.

Pretty fun stuff.

Quote: Originally Posted by trankle

this build rocks the bison tournament with ease only i got rid of elite echo and put ursan for magni to get him at long distances and run back. Easily the fastest tournament ive done

cast
summon ice imp
archane echo
assassin(x2)
Barbs
= joke