Necromancer question pls

I am Prophecies only atm, level 20, and working on ascension. I have not been overly thrilled with minion master, and I'm finding lots of areas where mobs can't be incarnated into minions. I'm also not finding my sec Elementalist to be much help other than a little aoe fire. I'm now looking into Spiteful Spirit to see what thats about, and after ascension, changing my sec to a mesmer. Anyone else try this combo before and like it ? I'm looking for as much dps as I can manage as a Necromancer.

Thanks !

http://pvx.wikia.com/wiki/Build:N/Me_SS_Nuker

that should be good enough

As a monk, minion masters are amazing. They may not always kill things, unless you go minion bomber, in which case they just blow stuff up, but they absorb a lot of damage that I don't have to heal on important people like you, or Rurik.. But the effectiveness of an MM lies in the area you are playing in, like you touched on earlier. If you're in a place with undead only, an MM is going to be as worthless as a mini devourer. But another component is the MM's build. If you've got 5 animate skills you're doing it wrong. If you just have Vampiric Horrors, you'll probably have a hard time getting the full minion count. There are a couple MM builds on here and PvX that you could check out if you think your hero's build might be the problem. But it's your call.

Thanks for the link

A curses based Necro is a good damage dealer. At the point in the game you are, you probably don't have the skills to complete most "builds" you'd find on PvX, sojust use them as a guide for now.

Using Templates it is easy to save your MM (and any other) build and swap back and forth as desired.

Yea, I looked at the spells required and most are from campaigns beyond Prophecies. If fact, it looks like I have a ways to go to even pick up SS. I guess it's just a bit deceiving to hit max level and still be so low on the food chain

I think the MM role is much more effective in the hands of a Hero because they can very quickly cast spells like Death Nova and Dwayna's Sorrow on all their minions. The lack of a minion selection mechanism makes it impossible for a human to compete with that.

FYI some types of undead do make corpses, just not the mobs with "skeleton" in the name.

Don't forget about the Blood Magic line being recently buffed: personally I find the most fun Necro build to be a vampire build right now.

Order of Undeath.
Heroes make better Minion Bombers, yes. Humans make much better Minion Masters.


Necromancers can go support with Blood (only in a full human team though, otherwise it's just crap), offensive stuff with Curses (Spiteful, Barbs, Mark of Pain etc) or MM with Death. A Necromancer's direct damage options are rather poor.
Curses is probably the most potent later on in the game.

Don't worry about your secondary profession. You can very easily create an effective Necro build using only Necro skills.

Look in the Necromancer forum, under Campfire.

If you have a few thousand gold to spend, you can get SS early. Unlock it by making a PvP character and doing Jade Quarry or Fort Aspenwood for the Balthazar Faction. When you have 3k faction you can unlock the skill at the Priest of Balthazar. Then purchase an Elite Necro tome and use it on your necro. You will have obtained SS.

Meanwhile here is a list of skills, all available in Prophecies prior to Ascension.

Faintheartedness
Insidious Parasite
Vampiric Gaze
Life Siphon
Enfeebling Blood
Shadow of Fear

Sounds interesting... I'm considering trying JQ. Why do I have to make a PvP char, can I use my Necro ? Does it matter which side I choose ? Can't find any decent maps of JQ... gezzzz, I hate being a noob...

A PvE character has to reach those areas by way of the game. A PvP character, on the other hand, is automatically level 20 with max weapons and armor, and can go to Fort Aspenwood or Jade Quarry via the NPCs in Great Temple of Balthazar (the PvP center) as long as you own Factions.

an mm's effectiveness depends on the area. remember, not only are you freely able to switch builds from area to area, but often times it is recommended that you do.