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crabpeople -> All you need to know about Necromancer (6/15/2015 14:28:30)
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[image]http://i.imgur.com/0mR1gLu.jpg[/image]
Guide owner: crabpeople
Necromancer banner: Hopeful Guy
Having trouble finding the section you want to see? No worries! My kitty (^ ◕ᴥ◕ ^) will help you in that matter. Mmm... it's telling me that you need to press Ctrl+F and then write Neko + the number of the section you want to see right below:
Index
[NEKO1] Introduction
[NEKO2] Class Training
[NEKO3] Skill Overview and Analysis
[NEKO4] Damage Output Analysis
[NEKO5] Stat Builds
[NEKO6] Battle Strategies
[NEKO7] Matching Equipment
[NEKO8] Frequently Asked Questions
[NEKO9] Acknowledgements
Glossary
Having trouble with understanding some words/abbreviations or concepts? Fear not! I'll explain right below the meaning of those:
DoT: Damage over Time effect. An effect that usually damages your target a % of your weapon damage over a certain number of turns.
HoT: Healing over Time effect. An effect that usually heals a % of your max hp over a certain number of turns.
Seed period: It's the amount of turns that represent the beginning and end of Seed (when the effect triggers). In most situations is a 4 turn cycle: Seed->attack/skill ->attack/skill ->attack/skill+Seed proc. Remember than Seed countdown can be advanced with Inspire Terror and delayed with potions/trinkets.
Scaling: It's the factor that makes a certain attack/skill grow up in power.
Weapon Damage: The damage range your weapon has. It represents the 100% of your weapon damage for DoT effects. For the rest of damage sources, the 100% of your weapon damage is determined by your weapon damage range and stat bonuses (STR/DEX/INT/LUK). Check Version 14.0.1 for more info
Upkeep time: It's the amount of turns an effect remains active vs the total cooldown of that skill. A skill with a ratio of 1 or higher represents a loopable effect.
Note:The turn where the skill is used will count for both parts.
Stressfree time: It's the amount of turns you have to do whatever you want while the effect of the skill you used is active.
Stable weapon damage: It's a damage distribution that does more or less constant damage every turn. Because of that, it has good correlation with the average weapon damage formula (total weapon damage/total turns).
Unstable weapon damage: It's a damage distribution that does low damage in some turns and huge damage in other turns. Because of that, it has bad correlation with the average weapon damage formula.
Single hit class: It's a class where most of its skills are 1 hit or do a low amount of hits.
Multi hit class: It's a class where most of its skills do a decent or high amount of hits.
RNG: The Random Number Generator is a formula used in lots of games to decide the chance for a certain event to happen. It's popularly known as the luck factor.
In DF every time you or your opponent performs an attack/skill a number roll (from 1 to 100) happens. The resulting number interacts with your and your opponent's stats and the result determinates if an attack connects or not.
There are rng rolls for everything: weapon specials, multiple hit attacks (each one with its own rng roll), stun moves, random skills effects...
There are 2 thing that should know about this:
1- If that rng roll results in the number 100. That hit will always connect (it will hit) no matter how high the opponent defences are. Same applies to your foe attacking you, if he rolls a 100 you'll get hit.
2-If that rng roll results in the number 1 (mentioned in this guide as the "1 of doom"). The opposite thing will happen. You'll always miss that hit no matter how high you bonus is or even if a skill it's not supposed to miss. Same with your target attacking you.
Note: Not all rng rolls are from 1 to 100 and not all of them have this critical failure/instant win situations. Those make reference to the hit mechanics and a few more situations.
[NEKO1]
Introduction
Necromancer is one of the 3 classes available from Doomwood that allows you to summon friendly undead to assist you in battle and use magic that whittles down your opponent's options. The key to playing as a Necromancer is to consider yourself as a megalomaniac mastermind and your opponents as your playful and bad behaved test subjects.
If I was ever asked to pick 1 class as a DA player in order to complete all the story/side quests of the game, I would definitely go for Necromancer. The main success of this class is the versatility. Necromancer performs well in almost every situation. It has all the things that you can ask for a class: HP/MP sustain, good burst damage for the short battles, low mana costs, low cooldowns, excellent survival tools, good mid-long term damage...
It is worth mentioning that Necromancer is unique in the sense that it is the class with the most randomness in it's effects. But not the frustrating randomness like the ones you find when grinding for stuff at AQW. It's the cool randomness of having a nice day with sunshine, rainbows and finding a 100$ bill on the floor.
That being said, the class is not overpowered or perfect. It has its drawbacks like the rest of the classes. But those will be reviewed as you progress through the guide.
[NEKO2]
Class Training
Requirements
In order to obtain the Necromancer armor, some story related stuff has to be done:
First you have to beat the Noxus Fumes quest from Artix at the necropolis. After that you have to finish your training with the paladin class. To fully train the paladin class, you'll need 15 Undead Slayer Badges (1 for the armor, 14 for the skills). The badges can be obtained at several quests from the darkness orb saga. The quickest way is the Battle for Moonridge quest.
Once your paladin training is over, Artix will recommend you someone to teach you in the art of necromancy. But why would he tell you that? Well Necromancer is not an evil armor after all and any knowledge you earn will be useful at some point. But who could teach you the ways of the Necromancers after the mess you've done at the necropolis? Mmm...
Class Training
The answer is... him!
[image]http://i1119.photobucket.com/albums/k634/crabpeople92/Zorbak/Ebil_zpsb0xhbrmr.png[/image]
Behold your master, Zorbak! His ebilness is peerless and he'll teach you awesome ebilsome skills that will make you unstoppable. So remember that every time you torture your opponents, is thanks to him.
But what does [sm=zorb_smilie.gif] want for his services? Well the same as the paladin class: 15 Undead Slayer Badges. Why? pff... Silly question. The more badges Zorbak has, the less that do-goody paladin will have. Totally ebil!
Equipping the Necromancer armor
What? You completed your Necromancer training? Congratulations! Now in order to equip and use this armor you have the following options:
1- Go to The Necropolis->Talk to Artix->Other classes!->Necromancer->To Zorbak!->Zorbak->Wear Necromancer Armor.
2- In case you have an Armor Closet. You can equip and save the armor right away!
3- In case you have an Orb of Saving. You can save Necromancer as your login starting armor! Just follow the first step to equip the armor and head to the orb in order to save it (it will cost you 7213 gold).
[NEKO3]
Skills Overview and Analysis
Necromancer Armor
Base Defenses: Melee: 5, Pierce: 5, Magic: 5, Parry: 0, Dodge: 0, Block: 0
Base Resistances: Light +5, Darkness +5
Base Offenses: Crit: 5%, Bonus: 0, Boost: 0%
Default weapon: Necrostaff: Damage range 5-15; Stats: Bonus +1; Element: Darkness
Seed
Description/Effect: Cast a Purple glowing aura around you. After 3 turns, if the skill/attack is an attacking one, you summon 1 extra undead creature dealing a random amount of hits of 200-300% damage.
Joke Description: "Countdown to oblivion in 3..."
Mana Cost: 20 mana
Cooldown: 9 turns
Scaling: STR/DEX/INT/LUK
Upkeep time: N/A
Stressfree time: N/A
Seed Combination: N/A
Element: N/A
Attack Type: N/A
Special Note: Seed countdown carries through battles. Potions/trinkets do not reduce Seed countdown. Inspire Terror does reduce Seed countdown by 1.
Analysis:
Ladies and gentlemen! The most damaging skill of Necromancer is right here! What? but it does no damage, you just waste a turn. Wrong! The investment has a huge payoff! Always use this skill in boss battles. In normal battles it's good for the fun factor.
To maximize its destructive effects pair it with Dark Boon at the first or second turn after Seed and use Champion (if u have 21% or less crit) or Familiar (22% crit or more) as the third move. You can use Raise for the third turn as well but it's a pure gamble (can be the skill that ends up doing the most or least damage but sadly chances are more favorable for the "least" option).
[image]http://i.imgur.com/c53xNOm.jpg[/image]
Life Tap
Description/Effect: Cast a skull in front of you that cause "Life Tap" status. heals 14% of your total health and deals the same amount of damage to your target, lasts for 3 turns.
Joke Description: "You're hurting the life essence I stole from you. *grins* Amusing."
Mana Cost: 26 mana
Cooldown: 9 turns
Scaling: Overall: END; HoT effect:-Health resistance; DoT effect: -all resistance
Upkeep time: 3/10 = 0,3
Stressfree time: 2 Turns
Seed Combination: Life tap + 2 or 3 hits of 100% weapon damage for a total of 200%-300%.
Element: Fear
Attack Type: Melee
Analysis:
One of the healing sources of Necromancer. It's also a decent source of damage and a good one for tank builds because the more max hp you have, the more hp you heal and damage takes your enemy.
[image]http://i.imgur.com/l0d6Y3D.jpg[/image]
Inner Will
Description/Effect: Restore 10% of your maximum mana.
Joke Description: "I'll gather mana from Lore's core so the fun can continue :)"
Mana Cost: 0 mana
Cooldown: 9 turns
Scaling: WIS/-Mana resistance
Upkeep time: N/A
Stressfree time: N/A
Seed Combination: Inner Will + 2 or 3 hits of 100% weapon damage for a total of 200%-300%.
Element: N/A
Attack Type: N/A
Analysis:
A pretty standard mana regen skill. Recommended for regular battles in order to not run out of mana. Depending on your WIS investment, you'll have to abuse this skill more or less. Thanks to this skill and the generally low mana costs, Necromancer can afford a low WIS investment for high levels.
I also recommend using this skill when you're certain that your passive will finish off your target. Really fun finishing your enemies with the purple bubble of Doom!
[image]http://i.imgur.com/xe28MX0.jpg[/image]
Raise
Description/Effect: Calls a random undead minion. Damage depends on the summoned minion. The damage applied does not include stat bonuses. There's a total of 6 undead minions.
1 hit summons deal 130% damage. Summons: Undead Puppy, Undead Baby, Undead Spearman.
2 hit summons deal 260% damage. Summons: Undead Mage, Undead in Boot.
3 hit summons deal 390% damage. Summons: Undead Champion.
Joke Description: "*Spins the buddy wheel* I choose you skeleton puppy!"
Mana Cost: 12 mana
Cooldown: 2 turns
Scaling: STR/DEX/INT/LUK
Upkeep time: N/A
Stressfree time: N/A
Seed Combination: Summons 2 undead minions that deal 3-6 hits of 130% weapon damage for a total of 390%-780%.
Element: As weapon
Attack Type: As weapon
Analysis:
Necromancer's most random skill yipee! It can do a little more damage than a regular attack or a whooping 390% damage able to crit on a 2 turn cooldown skill!
You can combine it with Seed if you want but as I said, chances are that you'll do less damage than Familiar and Champion. But hey if you're a lucky guy go ahead. Tell me a class aside of DoomKnight that can achieve a 780% able to crit blow.
The general usage of this skill is pretty much under Boon effect and to do damage when Seed is on cooldown because it generally does more damage than Familiar (you have a 62,5% chance to surpass it in damage. Check the FAQ for more info).
[image]http://i.imgur.com/3aUVYoz.jpg[/image]
Inner Rage
Description/Effect: Throws your weapon and cast an arc of black lightning at the enemy, deals 1 hit of 130% damage to every opponent in battle.
Joke Description:"Time for some boomerang practice! *tosses the weapon to all the targets. Dark lightning effects included*"
Mana Cost: 15 mana
Cooldown: 0 turns
Scaling: STR/DEX/INT/LUK
Upkeep time: N/A
Stressfree time: N/A
Seed Combination: Inner Rage + 2-3 hits of 130% weapon damage for a total of 390%-520% Main target + 130% other targets.
Element: As weapon
Attack Type: As weapon
Analysis:
Necromancer's multi skill and a really good one. Low mana cost, no cooldown, fast animation and a good 130% non-element locked weapon damage multi. What else could you ask for?
[image]http://i.imgur.com/3myn6nk.jpg[/image]
Dark Dreams
Description/Effect: Runs up to the target and claws it once, deals 120% damage and causes sleep to enemy for 3 turns.
Joke Description: "*Poisons the enemy with his claws* Ohh sure you can take a nap. *smirks* What could go wrong?"
Mana Cost: 18 mana
Cooldown: 15 turns
Scaling: INT/LUK
Upkeep time: 3/16 = 0,1875
Stressfree time: 2 Turns
Seed Combination: Dark Dreams + 2-3 hits of 120% magic damage for a total of 360%-480%.
Element: As weapon
Attack Type: Magic
Analysis:
Necromancer's stun. A pretty standard one. The mana cost is lower than most of the other tier 2 classes.
[image]http://i.imgur.com/AEv3Lip.jpg[/image]
Fear Ward
Description/Effect: Cast a purple aura that shields you. +140 Melee & Magic defense for 2 or 3 turns.
Joke Description:"na na na na, na na, na na, can't touch this!"
Mana Cost: 15 mana
Cooldown: 4 turns
Scaling: N/A
Upkeep time: 2/5 = 0,4 or 3/5 = 0,6. Average: 2,5/5 = 0,5
Stressfree time: 1 or 2 Turns. Average: 1,5 Turns
Seed Combination: Fear Ward + 2 or 3 hits of 100% weapon damage for a total of 200%-300%.
Element: N/A
Attack Type: N/A
Analysis:
Necromancer's shield. Arguably the best shield in the game. An unbreakable barrier of 140 points that lasts for 2 or 3 turns with only 4 turns cooldown! You'll blink and say: "hey my shield is up again!". It has 1 drawback: It doesn't protect you from piercing attacks. The good news is that pierce attack enemies are the least common ones.
[image]http://i.imgur.com/Af65it6.jpg[/image]
Attack
Description/Effect: Runs up to the enemy and either claws it once or throws your weapon while casting an arc of black lightning at the enemy. Both animations deal 1 hit of 120% damage.
Joke Description:"Dark bolt or claws. Choose your punishment"
Mana Cost: 0 mana
Cooldown: 0 turns
Scaling: STR/DEX/INT/LUK
Upkeep time: N/A
Stressfree time: N/A
Seed Combination: Attack + 2 or 3 hits of 120% weapon damage for a total of 360%-480%. With an attack button weapon special: Cancels Seed undead summon!
Element: As weapon
Attack Type: As weapon
Analysis:
The attack button fills 4 purposes for Necro:
1-To not waste mana. Because reasons.
2-To soak the most hp from stun+Life Tap while not wasting mana.
3-To trigger attack button weapon specials (see the FAQ section)
4-To finish off enemies (although I find more fun giving that honor to the passive)
[image]http://i510.photobucket.com/albums/s344/domen94/0Attack.png[/image]
[image]http://media.artix.com/encyc/df/tags/DA.png[/image]Shroud of the Undead
Description/Effect: Cast a purple aura around you that applies a status effect to self, +140% resistance to the last attack's element for 3 turns.
Joke Description:"What you wanna hit me? *presses the immortality button* Come at me bro!"
Mana Cost: 35 mana
Cooldown: 10 turns
Scaling: All resistance, target attacking element resistance and target/s damage range.
Upkeep time: 3/11 = 0,27
Stressfree time: 2 Turns
Seed Combination: Shroud of the undead + 2 or 3 hits of 100% weapon damage for a total of 200%-300%.
Element: N/A
Attack Type: N/A
Special note: In case you dodge your target attacks, Shroud will still recognise and protect you from that element.
Analysis:
Immortality is mine! Another skill that makes Necromancer unique. It channels the hatred your opponent has towards your awesomeness into a healing source. Absolutely ebil!
Use it when you want to get healed or just not losing hp. But watch out! First it's an expensive skill in terms of mana. Second you have to make sure your enemy attacks you during the last turn (else the skill won't protect you and you'll waste a turn). And third you shouldn't combine it with Dark Intent/Fear Ward/Inspire Terror/Dark Dreams. The first 2 because they'll make the target attacks miss and miss means no hp healed (also Intent -powerboost will make you heal less due to the damage reduction). The other 2 because the enemy won't attack you at all (the Inspire Terror +60% boost gamble is not worth most of the times).
[image]http://i.imgur.com/VRBXHdG.jpg[/image]
[image]http://media.artix.com/encyc/df/tags/DA.png[/image]Dark Boon
Description/Effect: Deals 1 hit of 80% damage. Increases your Boost by 30 and your Bonus by 25 for 3 turns.
Joke Description: "Behold my undead minion! It brings a message. It says: Pain train incoming!"
Mana Cost: 18 mana
Cooldown: 4 turns
Scaling: INT/LUK
Upkeep time: 3/5 = 0,6
Stressfree time: 3 Turns
Seed Combination: Dark Boon + 2 or 3 hits of 80% magic damage for a total of 240%-320%.
Element: As weapon
Attack Type: Magic
Analysis:
Seed's best friend. Go offensive the 3 next turns after you use this skill. That means using the 3 summon skills or Familiar->Raise->Familiar in case Champion is on cd.
You can use Boon after the Seed period for a good amount of damage but that means being exposed to enemy attacks so use it with care.
This skill pays off if you use 2 summons and the third move deals some damage (Inspire Terror, Dark Intent, Dark Dreams...). So don't think about using Boon if you're going to use a shield.
[image]http://i.imgur.com/9isxFoT.jpg[/image]
[image]http://media.artix.com/encyc/df/tags/DA.png[/image]Summon Champion
Description/Effect: Summon an undead champion that deals 3 hits of 60% damage, each hit has a 100% chance to crit, for a total of 360% damage.
Joke Description: "Say your prayers! Playtime's over"
Mana Cost: 25 mana
Cooldown: 14 turns
Scaling: STR/DEX/INT/LUK
Upkeep time: N/A
Stressfree time: N/A
Seed Combination: Summons an undead minion and undead champion that deal 5-6 critical hits of 60% weapon damage for a total of 600%-720%.
Element: As weapon
Attack Type: As weapon
Analysis:
Necromancer's critical skill. This move calls the undead champion to deliver justice beyond the grave!
Really good damage for a defensive class and a decent mana cost. Recommended to use it with Seed in case your critical rate is low. Else it's fine using it with Boon.
[image]http://i.imgur.com/u40jpl0.jpg[/image]
[image]http://media.artix.com/encyc/df/tags/DA.png[/image]Summon Familiar
Description/Effect: Summons a undead baby that tosses his head to the enemy. Deals 1 hit of 160% damage to the target.
Joke Description: "Baby skeleton likes to play baseball. Here catch his head!"
Mana Cost: 10 mana
Cooldown: 1 turn
Scaling: STR/DEX/INT/LUK
Upkeep time: N/A
Stressfree time: N/A
Seed Combination: Summons a undead minion and undead baby that deal 3-4 hits of 160% weapon damage for a total of 480%-640%.
Element: As weapon
Attack Type: As weapon
Analysis:
A nice damaging skill due to its low cooldown and cost. Combine it with Raise for constant damage (add Boon for all out offense). Best option for the Seed combo if you have a high critical rate because at least 1 of those 3-4 hits will crit and the damage output will surpass the Champion+Seed combo.
[image]http://i.imgur.com/E6P3tXn.jpg[/image]
[image]http://media.artix.com/encyc/df/tags/DA.png[/image]Inspire Terror
Description/Effect: Casts a black and purple bolt of energy at the enemy for one hit of 100% damage, a skull appears when enemy gets hit and one of the following happens:
Note: The effect procs whether or not the hit connected!
If dominated - Target enemy is stunned for 1 turn, and attacks itself (for its own dmg range and with "Fear" element). Note: Damage target does to itself is taken as a DoT effect on the target.
Otherwise, target enemy gains +60% Boost for 1 turn.
Joke Description: Pretty much the Pokemon confusion move. If the stun works; "Stop hitting yourself!" Else: "Why so serious?"
Mana Cost: 18 mana
Cooldown: 4 turns
Scaling: STR/DEX/INT/LUK; Effect: Target damage range
Upkeep time: 1/5 = 0,2
Stressfree time: 0 Turns
Seed Combination: Cancels Seed undead summon!
Element: As weapon (DoT is melee)
Attack Type: As weapon (DoT effect is Fear element)
Analysis:
Another skill that makes Necromancer unique (man how many cool stuff for just 1 class!).
Known as the Guffer slayer, this skill is awesome! It turns your target's might against themselves!
After using this class a lot I can safely say that this skill is worth using as a 1 turn stun skill+damage. The stun effect triggers more often than the powerboost one. This skill is really good in order to reduce your stress with cooldowns because you can stun them for 1 turn at the cost of nothing while your other defenses and Seed are cooling off. Also this skill deals a respectable amount of damage and ignores target immobility resistance!
[image]http://i.imgur.com/o7FdepI.jpg[/image]
[image]http://media.artix.com/encyc/df/tags/DA.png[/image]Corruption
Description/Effect: Casts a black and purple bolt at the enemy that deals 1 hit of 80% damage. If the hit connects causes the Corruption status that deals 40% Disease DoT to enemy for 5 turns.
Joke Description: "Decaaaaaay. Sorry wrong quote."
Mana Cost: 15 mana
Cooldown: 5 turns
Scaling: STR/DEX/INT/LUK; Effect: target -all/disease resistance
Upkeep time: 5/6 = 0,83
Stressfree time: 4 Turns
Seed Combination: Cancels Seed undead summon!
Element: As weapon (DoT is melee)
Attack Type: As weapon (DoT is Disease element)
Analysis:
Necro's DoT skill. Deals a total of 280% weapon damage. The mana cost is low and the cooldown allows you to hold the DoT for most of the time. Recommended outside the Seed period for damage. As a finishing note don't use it under Boon effect because 80% is a weak blow.
[image]http://i.imgur.com/Ptb56SX.jpg[/image]
[image]http://media.artix.com/encyc/df/tags/DA.png[/image]Dark Intent
Description/Effect: Summons the undead mage which deals 2 hits of 40% damage and causes the Dark Intent status; the target's Bonus is reduced by 40 and Boost is reduced by 35 for 4 turns
Joke Description:"My minion's dark lightning will make you Worthless. muahahahahah!"
Mana Cost: 20 mana
Cooldown: 9 turns
Scaling:STR/DEX/INT/LUK
Upkeep time: 4/10 = 0,4
Stressfree time: 3 Turns.
Seed Combination: Summons an undead minion and undead mage that deal 4-5 hits of 40% weapon damage for a total of 160%-200%.
Element: As weapon
Attack Type: As weapon
Analysis:
A skill with a powerful effect. Deals a below-average blind that protects you from some of the incoming attacks and in case they go through the blind, you take reduced damage. In case you don't want to get hit you'll need either high defenses from items or an extra blind source from trinkets (see the FAQ). I suggest to use it right after Seed to have you protected during the Boon + Seed proc. or when Shroud is in cooldown.
[image]http://i.imgur.com/vxLb0K2.jpg[/image]
Passive: Fear Aura
Description/Effect: Every attack/skill causes a DoT effect on your opponent. It lasts 99 turns. It uses your equipped weapon to calculate damage. The status starts an invisible count at 1 and increases with each attack, except potions/trinkets and pets/guests turns, till it reaches a cap of 20 times. DoT damage is rounded.
Messages:
At the start of any battle where an action is performed (except Potion/Trinket):
"Your enemy is unable to defend against your aura of fear!"
Subsequent rounds:
"Your aura strengthens as your enemy trembles before you!"
Round 20 and higher:
"Your aura is at its full strength as your enemy trembles before you!"
Note: Remember that damage over time effects do not scale with stat bonuses.
Joke Description: Your ebilness scares your opponents harder as time passes.
Mana Cost: N/A
Cooldown: N/A
Scaling: Weapon damage and target -all resistance
Upkeep time: N/A
Stressfree time: N/A
Seed Combination: N/A
Element: Fear
Attack Type: melee
Analysis:
Wondering how the passive damage works? Check the Aura of Fear DoT table
Necromancer's passive is just outstanding. It does 10% weapon damage at the first turn which is great and in the long term is a 100% weapon damage every turn! On a defensive class! The 99 duration makes it especially useful at fights with multiple tough targets because you can apply the passive to all 3. Just dedicate 1 attack to each auxiliary target and they take 10% damage every turn even while ignoring them.
If beastmaster Necromancer can be a thing it's definitely thanks to this passive.
[NEKO4]
Damage Output Analysis
Assuming a 30 turn battle with a completely offensive strategy:
Note: The calculations are based on the following conditions: 0% critical rate, 0 STR/DEX/INT/WIS/END/CHA/LUK.
An average weapon damage will be used for the random damage skills. That being said:
-Raise: 130%*3/8 chance + 2*130%*4/8 chance + 3*130%*1/8 chance = 227,5%->228%
-Seed+Champion: 120%*5 hits*0,8 chance + 120%*6 hits*0,2 chance = 624%
-Seed+Familiar: 160%*3 hits*0,8 chance + 160*4 hits*0,2 chance = 512%
The 30 skills which are going to be used are the following.
Turn 1-11: Corruption->Seed->Boon->Raise->Champion->Familiar->Corruption->Boon->Familiar->Raise->Familiar.
Turn 12-21: Seed->Corruption->Boon->Familiar->Raise->Familiar->Rage->Corruption->Raise->Familiar.
Turn 22-30: Seed->Boon->Familiar->Champion->Raise->Corruption->Boon->Raise->Familiar.
About the skills: Other damaging sources like Inspire Terror or Life Tap are not included due to their high dependency from other factors (enemy weapon range, your character level...).
The results are the shown at this table:
Table of Doom!
Explanation:
Some information can be obtained from this table. The first is the total average damage; 297,03% -> 300%/turn. That's a lot of damage for a defensive class.
The second thing we can extract from the table is the difference between the first period and third period total average damage. 263,7% vs 331,2%. That's almost a 70% difference thanks to the passive.
The last thing we can get from this table is the distribution of damage. For example looking at the total average of 297,03%, we can see that 193,53% is weapon damage, 32% is Corruption DoT damage and 71,5% is Aura of Fear damage.
In percentage vs the total is: 65% skills, 35% DoT's. That's the distribution of damage that a full Tank build would have. If we consider the stat bonuses, the 193,53% would end up into a higher amount of damage while the DoT sources would remain constant. That means having a skills damage representing a number higher than 65% and DoT effects a number lower than 35%.
Graphics:
Picture showing the influence of each damage source
Explanation:
This is the graphic we get from the previous table. It allows us to clearly see how the damage sources distribution are working.
But we can extract something else from this pattern. We can see that Necromancer's follows an unstable weapon damage distribution. You can see it by yourself: We have turns where the class does about 50% weapon damage and turns where the class does around 700% weapon damage.
This kind of distribution has its strengths and weaknesses like everything. The strength is that it allows you to pull an absurd amount of damage in a few turns. That allows you to have an easier time killing berserker monsters (enemies that increase in power when they lose hp), monsters that heal themselves and finally skipping enemy behaviors that are tied to a certain hp range.
The main weaknesses is the lack of control. For example: What if your target uses a shield while you're under the Seed period? He just put your big damage combination down the drain. Of course that enemy could use a shield while you're not using Seed but that's something you can't control. That's one of the biggest weaknesses this class has. Fortunately it holds its ground and has some tools to deal with that like your passive that always does damage or Inspire Terror that ignores defenses. Same with Life Tap. You can even shield yourself and recover mana. So that biggest weakness I mentioned affects mostly to the offensive part.
As a side note a stable weapon damage class is the opposite. Does well in general, doesn't suffer much vs shields and struggles hard with the type of enemies I mentioned before.
Simple picture showing the increasing tendency in damage as the battle goes on
Explanation:
This is essentially the same graphic than before but with the addition of a linear approach. Because Necro has an unstable damage range due to Seed and the randomness of his skills (although averages were used here), the linear correlation is horrible. That being said, it shows us the increasing tendency in damage.
Non-Mentioned stuff that you should know about the armor
Because I recently mentioned the nature of damage stability, it's worth to explain a similar concept that differentiate some armors.
You'll probably realize about it while reading the skills descriptions but...
Necromancer is a single-hit oriented class. That means: Harder time inflicting effects that can miss, high punishment from misses and lower chances of triggering weapon specials. But it also means: Higher reward from critical attacks (making the damage distribution even more unstable) and lesser chances to roll the 1 of doom (times where no matter how high your bonus is, you'll always miss).
Other classes are multi-hit oriented. To briefly explain the characteristics of those: Easier time inflicting effects that can miss, less punishment from misses and higher chances of triggering weapon specials. But we also have: higher amount of critical attacks (that adds stability to the class because your minimum damage will be higher but your max damage will be lower depending the amount of critical hits you get) and higher chances to roll the 1 of doom and missing a hit or more (but also higher the chances of rolling a 100 and getting a hit that can't miss no matter what).
[NEKO5]
Stat Builds
Stats will be given according to lv80 standards. That represents a total of 395 stat points.
There's no "best build" for Necromancer because there's no build for Necromancer that makes it excel from the rest. That's the price of the versatility. It's good with almost any build but it doesn't shine with any. That being said, feel free to use the one that suits your playstyle.
Offensive
Final Stats:
200 STR/DEX/INT 180 LUK 15 END
Growth Path:
Lv 1-40: Start with the amount of WIS that suits your needs and put the rest to STR/DEX/INT depending on the weapon type you use.
Lv40-80: Max your STR/DEX/INT, raise your LUK and reduce your WIS (that means untraining your points if needed). Finally put the rest to END.
Lv80: Equip your best/usual equipment and adjust your STR/DEX/INT to multiples of 10, LUK to multiples of 20 and the rest to END.
Analysys:
Probably the most popular build. The build that benefits the most from the Seed combos and the damaging moves outside the Seed period. The build that does the most damage and the most elusive one (LUK increases your defenses). The price to pay? First you'll have to use Inner Will in almost every battle in order to sustain your mana. That's pretty annoying. The other drawback is that you'll encounter survival problems at really long fights. First because you'll run out of mana and secondly because your low END will make you heal less from Life Tap (also you have less max hp). Oh and that extra evasion will make you heal less from Shroud because you might dodge some moves (but it helps with Dark Intent).
Semi-Tank
Final Stats:
200 STR/DEX/INT 150 END 45 WIS
Growth Path:
Lv 1-40: Start with the 45 WIS points (add more if needed) and the rest in a 2-1 proportion between STR/DEX/INT and END (for 10 points of damage stat, 5 points of END).
Lv 40-80: Keep with the 2-1 proportion and untrain your WIS in case you needed more than 45 points.
Lv 80: Adjust your main damage stat to multiples of 10 according to your equipment. Increase/reduce your WIS and END to your personal needs.
Analysis:
The jack of all trades build. Probably the one that fits Necromancer the most. You lose some damage but win a nice deal of sustain and survival. The build that can be used in every situation. The extra END not only increases your hp but it increases the damage dealt and hp healed from Life Tap.
Full Tank
Final Stats:
200 END 195 WIS
Growth Path:
Lv1-40: Start raising your WIS to 100 points and put the following points to END.
Lv40-80: Max your END first and then increase your WIS.
Lv80: No adjustments needed.
Analysis:
The unkillable build. Meant for the overly patient players. It's easy to notice that your short and mid-term damage will be affected. The long term damage will be lower but not by a huge margin thanks to the maxed passive. Also you'll rely more on Corruption and the full potential Life Tap as alternative damage sources outside the Seed period.
Offensive Beastmaster
Final Stats:
200 CHA 180 STR/DEX/INT 15 END
Growth Path:
Lv 1-40: Start with the amount of WIS that suits your needs and put the rest to CHA.
Lv 40-80: Max your CHA. Then continue with STR/DEX/INT. Finally untrain your WIS and put the points between STR/DEX/INT and END.
Lv 80: Equip your best/usual equipment and adjust your STR/DEX/INT and CHA to multiples of 10. The rest to END.
Analysys:
Same as the full offensive build but with CHA instead of LUK. The damage lost from LUK and the bit of STR/DEX/INT is compensated by the damage increase from your pet and guests. The drawbacks are the same as the full offensive build and with the addition of the extra hp of your enemies. Although the skills of your pet/guests come into play! Feel free to experiment with different pets and guests to find the combination that works best for you :).
Tank Beastmaster
Final Stats:
200 CHA 170 END 25 WIS
Growth Path:
Lv 1-40: Start with the amount of WIS that suits your needs and put the rest to CHA and END in a 2-1 proportion (10 points of CHA for 5 END).
Lv 40-80: Keep with the 2-1 ratio until you max your CHA. Then untrain your WIS and put the rest to END.
Lv 80: Equip your best/usual equipment and adjust your CHA to multiples of 10. Put the rest to either END or WIS.
Analysis:
Another tank build. This one is meant for the most patient people. The ones that truly enjoy strategic battles instead of "2 clicks your dead". Your damage relies from the same sources as the full tank but with the addition of the pets/guests. Uncommon build indeed but it might be useful for certain challenges using guests.
[NEKO6]
Battle Strategies
About this section
The following strategies are just meant for enemies that just hit you and do a certain amount of damage. For those cases, The strategies provided are pretty accurate. In case you find enemies with stuns, blinds, powerboost and elemental resistances nerfs... Or just that they can shield themselves, the following information won't be that helpful.
In those cases it's up to you to decide what's the best move for that situation or when to use your potions. Even deciding where to put your trinket skill in your skills combination.
Oh... And remember to always take advantage of elemental weaknesses!
Some considerations
Estimated hp pools of: (in % weapon damage [stat bonuses are not included])
-Weak single target: ≈ 600%
-Tanky single target: ≈ 900%
-Main multiple battle target: ≈ 500%
-Auxiliary multiple targets: ≈ 300%
-Fear Ward shield duration: 2 turns
-Your character critical rate: <22%
Note: There's no hp pool estimate for bosses because some of them have big hp pools and others are a little squishy.
About critical rate: In case your critical rate is above 22%, you'll get a higher damage output with Seed+Familiar instead of Seed+Champion. That means leaving the usage of Champion in combination of Boon.
Weak Single Target
Offensive: Champion->Raise
Defensive: Fear Ward->Champion->Raise
Control + hp recovery: Dark Dreams->Life Tap->Attack->Attack
Control + mp recovery: Dark Dreams->Familiar->Will->Familiar
Tactician: Dark Dreams->Seed->Will->Champion (finisher); Next battle: Champion (Seed procs)
High damage range single target
Offensive: Inspire Terror->Raise
Defensive + recovery: Fear Ward->Life Tap->Shroud->Will->Champion
Tanky Single Target
Offensive: Seed->Boon->Raise->Champion->Familiar
Defensive: Fear Ward->Seed->Dark Intent->Boon->Champion->Raise
Multiple target battle
Offensive: Boon (middle enemy)->Rage->Rage->Rage
Defensive: Fear Ward->Boon (middle enemy)->Shroud->Rage->Rage
Regular Boss battle
Overall Strategy: Fear Ward->Seed->Dark Dreams->Boon->Champion->Dark Intent->Raise->Corruption->Familiar->Inspire Terror->Fear Ward->Seed->Shroud->Boon->Familiar->Dark Intent->Raise->Corruption->Familiar->Inspire Terror->Fear Ward->Seed->Dark Dreams... (back to the beginning)
High Immobility resistance boss battle
Overall Strategy: Fear Ward->Seed->Dark Intent->Boon->Champion->Raise->Inspire Terror->Fear Ward->Raise->Corruption->Life Tap->Seed->Shroud->Boon->Familiar->Raise->Inspire Terror->Fear Ward->Corruption->Raise->Life Tap->Seed->Dark Intent... (back to the begining)
High Bonus boss battle
Overall Strategy: Inspire Terror->Dark Dreams->Seed->Boon->Raise->Champion->Inspire Terror->Shroud->Corruption->Raise->Familiar->Life Tap->Inspire Terror->Seed->Dark Intent->Boon->Familiar->Inspire Terror->Shroud->Corruption->Raise->Life Tap->Dark Dreams->Seed... (back to the beginning).
Multiple target Boss battle
Overall Strategy: Fear Ward->Seed->Shroud->Boon (middle target)->Champion (middle target)->Rage->Rage->Fear Ward->Boon->Rage->Rage->Rage->Fear Ward->Seed->Shroud->Boon->Familiar->...
Note: If the main target deals way more damage than the others, it's convenient to keep him in check with Dark Dreams, Dark Intent and Inspire Terror. Also note that the first Shroud is used as a defensive method rather than as a healing tool so it might be convenient to save it for the post-Seed period.
[NEKO7]
Matching Equipment
To DA players: Show/Hide feature is your friend.
Sets
Obsidian Dragon Set: Undead Obsidian Dragon Blade/ Edge/ Staff/ Helm /Wings
Necromancer Set: Necromancer Staff/ Cloak/ Hood
ChaosMoon Set: ChaosMoon Stave/ Slice/ Edge/ Cloak/ Cowl
Ebil set: Zorbak's Staff/ Visage of Ebil/ Zorbak's Ebil Cloak
Weapons
IceScythe
Corrupt Skullstaff of Doom
Bloody Point
Heart of Nature
Dazzling Noon Promise Staff
Harrowing Staff
Violet Flame/ Perse Flame/ Plum Flame
Blackwyn Staff
Helms
Earthly Helm
Dark Emperor Helm
Deatharrows Fearless Helm
Chiffon Frostval Top Hat
Warrior of Chaos
Mad Tophat/ Female Mad Tophat
Nickto's Skullhelm
Klatu's Skullhelm
Capes
Entropic Cape
Hovering Rocks
Dark Mechawings
Lavish Vampire Cape
Rose Magus Wrap
Weaver Wrap-Around
Zephyr Spirit Wings
Manahunter Cloak
Count's Cape
RARE sets
Ripper set: Spineripper/ Ripper Wings/ Skull Ripper Helm
RARE weapons
Sundering Emerald
Ultimate Dragon Scythe of Elementals
Shadowscythe Reaper
13th 13th Scythe
Judgement Wheel
RARE helms
Dreamer Beast Helm
RARE capes
Dreamer Beast Tail
Dark Legion Cape
[NEKO8]
Frequently Asked Questions
1-Why are some of the Necromancer skills magic locked?
Because canon wise, Necromancer is a magical class (like Mage and Ascendant). That's why it has magic locked skills.
The magic locked skills are: Dark Dreams (120% magic damage) and Dark Boon (80% magic damage).
The damage lost from stats of those 2 skills in practice is negligible so feel free to use your base class stat with no regrets.
2-What are the chances of Raise outcomes? What about Seed?
Raise rolls 8 possibilities, each with the same chance. The outcomes are: 1/2: Undead Mage, 3/4: Undead in Boot, 5: Undead Baby, 6: Undead Puppy, 7: Undead Spearman, 8: Undead Champion.
So that's 50% chance of 2-hit summons, 37,5% of 1-hit summons and 12,5% of 3-hit summons.
Seed rolls 5 possibilities, each with the same chance. The outcomes are: 1/2: Undead in Boot, 3/4: Undead Mage, 5: Undead Champion.
So that's 80% chance of 2 extra hits and 20% chance of 3 extra hits.
3-What are the chances of Raise+Seed 6 hit attack?
Chances of getting 3 extra hits from Seed are 20% and the chances of summoning the Undead Champion with Raise are
12,5%. The combined probability of those 2 independent events to happen is: 1/5*1/8 = 1/40 = 2,5% chance to do the 780% mass destruction attack.
4-What trinkets would you recommend for Necromancer?
Those are the most significant non-rare trinkets that benefit Necromancer:
Low level trinkets
LimeWorks: Available at lv5. It's a really good trinket for many classes. It does 240% fire weapon damage and it has a fast animation. I recommend using it outside the Seed period after Dark Intent or under the effects of Boon as a damage source and using Dark Intent right after the trinket.
Mid-high level trinkets
Summon Honda: Available at lv20. Another great trinket and the one you'll probably use for long battles. It gives some stats and the Summon Honda does 120% damage + 400% poison DoT. That's a lot of damage. The best thing is that the cooldown is only 14 turns (same as Summon Champion). That means using it twice during long battles which is something unbelievable from a trinket.
The usage timing is the same as the Corruption skill.
Runestone: Upgradable to lv80. Available at lv30. This is your non-end game damage trinket. The active is a 300% damage move and 150% DoT. I recommend this trinket when you can't 1 shoot weak monsters with Summon Champion. In order to do that you'll need a decent amount of crit in order to best the 360% of Champion.
Aside of farming purposes I recommend using it under the effects of Boon. About inside Seed period or not... It does not really matter because trinkets do not interfere with Seed countdown.
Spiked Leather Gauntlet: Upgradable to lv60. Available at lv 18. This is you best non-end game stats trinket. In case you're not interested in the previous trinket effects, go ahead and pick this one.
End game trinkets (Warmongers only)
Special Offer/Defender Medal: Elemental Unity Defender XIII Upgradeable to lv70. Available at lv 5. This is the best trinket for Necromancer. Good damage, a blind effect and outstanding stats. The usage criteria of this skill is the same as the LimeWorks trinket.
Cost: 6500 Defender Medals.
Defender Medal: Defender Cannon MK.III Upgradeable to lv50. Available at lv30. This is the best damage trinket for Necromancer. A 400% powerhouse skill. Consider it like an upgraded Runestone but with better stats. That being said, the usage criteria is the same as the Runestone trinket.
Cost: 9500 Defender Medals.
5-Do you recommend any weapon special for the class?
Necromancer isn't a class that shines regarding the number of hits per turn ratio. That means that on-hit weapon specials are not likely to proc often. That's why I won't include them in this section. You can still use them if you want, they're always useful after all, but again chances are generally low.
Note: If you really want to look for them I'll show you those: Au'Bacon / Amulet/ 4oJ DoT special weapons
The following weapons have specials that activate through the attack button:
Axe-Blade/ Dagger/ Staff of Aww : The special is like a upgraded Life Tap. It gives you a 30% hp heal over 3 turns while damaging the 30% of your max hp as a 3 turn DoT to your enemy. That means that it scales with END like Life Tap. So it's a really recommended weapon special for tank and semi-tank builds. Proc chance is 5%.
About usage strategies: At regular battles combined with the stun is always a safe bet (just like control+hp recovery strategy). At bosses you can sacrifice part of your damage by using the attack button instead of Familiar/Raise (both of them outside Seed period or outside Boon of course).
Blade of Destiny: Probably the weapon special that you'll use the most thanks to its 25% proc chance. The special does 3 hits of 100% light damage for a total of 300%. So yeah it's worth the gamble (and Necro is all-in for the gambles!).
Average attack button damage: 120% attack + 0,25 chance * 180% damage increase = 165% Light damage.
About usage strategies: Pretty much you have to replace the Familiar skill (outside Seed period like always) with the attack button. Replacing Corruption is fine if you have a very high critical rate.
Special offer: Necrotic Sword of Doom: This is the extreme version of the Blade of Destiny. Higher the risk (5% proc chance) but higher the reward (12 hits of 100% darkness damage for a total of 1200%).
Average attack button damage: 120% attack + 0,05 chance * 1080% damage increase = 174% Darkness damage.
About usage strategies: This completely falls into your faith at the rng goddess. The efficient decision is to follow the same strategy as the Blade of Destiny.
DC: Cysero's Hamstergeddon/ Hamsterocalypse/ Hamsterclysm: This is the ultra tank boss slayer. Also really good for bosses that heal themselves. It applies a -200 ??? resist for 49 turns. That's increasing your non-DoT damage output by 3 times! Proc chance is 5%.
About usage strategies: Play full defensive and use only the attack button on the offense. Once the effect triggers you can play normally but with the special advantage.
6-What about pets?
There are many useful pets. To name some:
Offensive Pets
Those are good for beastmaster builds:
DC: Baron/BraveSirRobin/Deatharrows/Josh/LFAL/Prius cats
Undead ChickenCow
Chompers the Piranha
Pet Dragon: With Fighting and Magic
Utility Pets
Those are good for any build:
Stan the ScanOrb: My personal favourite. This one does -15 all resistance when your hp is above 50% and -15 health resist to you when you're under 50% max hp. If you've checked the skills section and the scaling factors, you'll see why this pet is so good for necromancer.
Mr. Poofles: Has a stunning move and good damage.
Prince/ King/ Emperor Linus: Has a move that reduces target's max hp by 10%. The higher your LUK, the higher the chance.
Chesire Twilly: Has a move that heals 10% of your max hp.
Rummage: Has a blind move.
Pet Dragon: With Protection, Assistance and Mischief.
7-Do you think beastmaster Necromancer is viable?
Well first let's think about what does make a class a good beastmaster:
1-DoT damage potential: DoT are not affected by stat bonuses so the more damage you do from these sources, the better.
2-Damage amplification tools: That means having elemental resistance nerfs that can be exploited by your pet and guests.
3-Low weapon damage: The lower the damage the class does with skills, the lower damage it will lose from stat bonuses.
4-Some defenses: Offensive classes might suffer more as BM due to the increase in hp from monsters. Especially at multiple target battles.
From those 4 conditions, number 1 and 2 are the most important. Number 3 can be salvaged with a offensive beastmaster build and number 4 is relative to the total damage output and assist skills your party has.
That being said... Necromancer lacks the second condition. So in conclusion Necromancer is a VIABLE beastmaster but it's not on top regarding beastmaster friendly classes.
8-I'm a non-DA player. Is Necromancer good for me?
It is. Especially for long quests thanks to his healing skill (Life Tap) and mana regen skill (Inner Will). Also it is useful for some boss battles thanks to the low cooldown of its shield and the damage output from Seed, Raise and the Aura of Fear passive.
9-Is Necromancer a good class for warring/farming?
It's a pretty good farming class yeah. It has:
-A 360% skill (370% if we count the passive) with a normal animation time.
-A 130% spammable multi attack with a fast animation that isn't element locked.
So for farming it's a good option. For warring it's better to use tier 3 classes due to their higher damage outputs.
In case that with those values you can 1 shot everything, it's better to use the Frost Moglin Armor because the animations of that class are faster and has 2 strong immediate skills instead of 1.
10-Is Necromancer a stronger defensive class than DragonLord?
Yes and No. It depends of what defense means for you. First let's go by parts and compare the defensive aspects of each armor:
Stuns
DL: Shield Bash: 3 turn stun
Necro: Dark Dreams: 3 turn stun
Considering that DragonLord Frost Dragon Spirit reduces immobility resistance by 50. DragonLord is the winner here.
Shields
DL: Darkness Dragon Spirit: 3 turn 140 m/p/m shield.
Necro: Fear Ward: 2-3 turn 140 m/m shield.
Necro shield lacks piercing resistance and can last 1 turn less than DL shield. DragonLord wins again.
Healing
DL: Wind Dragon Spirit: 35% max hp heal over 3 turns (15%+10%+10%).
Necro: Life Tap: 14% max hp heal over 3 turns (4,6%+4,6%+4,6%).
DragonLord Wind Dragon heals more than 2 times Necro's heal. Another point for DL.
Damage reduction
DL: Frost Dragon Spirit: -55 boost for 3 turns.
Necro: Dark Intent: -35 boost for 4 turns.
DL damage reduction is 165% vs 140% from Necro. DL is on fire!
Blinds
DL: Light Dragon Spirit: -55 bonus for 3 turns.
Necro: Dark Intent: -40 bonus for 4 turns.
Considering that it's harder to get hit from DL's blind, I'll give it a close victory. In addition DL has the advantage of having 10 base defenses instead of 5.
Other defensive sources
DL: Earth Dragon Spirit: 80% damage reduction for 2 turns + 50% damage reduction for 2 additional turns.
Nero: Shroud of the Undead: Absorbs damage taken for 3 turns.
Inspire Terror: Chance to stun the target for 1 turn.
So we have DL 260% damage mitigation vs a 300% that at least a 120% is healed to you from Necro. In addition Necromancer Inspire Terror that has a chance of avoiding 100% damage... Necro wins here.
Cooldowns and Upkeep Times
Dragon Lord
-Shield Bash: 3 turns duration, 13 turns cooldown. Stressfree time: 2 Turns; Upkeep time: 3/14 = 0,214
-Darkness Dragon Spirit: 3 turns duration, 8 turns cooldown. Stressfree time: 2 Turns; Upkeep time: 3/9 = 0,33
-Wind Dragon Spirit: 3 turns duration, 12 turns cooldown. Stressfree time: 2 Turns; Upkeep time: 3/13 = 0,23
-Frost Dragon Spirit: 3 turns duration, 8 turns cooldown. Stressfree time: 2 Turns; Upkeep time: 3/9 = 0,33
-Light Dragon Spirit: 3 turns duration, 7 turns cooldown. Stressfree time: 2 Turns; Upkeep time: 3/8 = 0,375
-Earth Dragon Spirit: 4 turns duration, 12 turns cooldown. Stressfree time: 3 Turns; Upkeep time: 4/13 = 0,31
-Total Upkeep time: 1,79>1 -> you can be always protected by one of those skills. You can "theoretically speaking" hold 2 effects simultaneously 79% of the time.
The calculations were made with rational numbers (they're calculated under a common cooldown) while the battle system turns works with natural numbers that means that this 85,75% in reality is a lower number. Just because the cooldowns don't fit perfectly (if all skills had the same cooldown then this % would be true).
-Avoidable damage upkeep time: In theory: 0.92; In practice: ±0,85
-Avoidable damage upkeep time without stuns: In theory: 0,7; In practice: ±0,7
-Unavoidable damage upkeep time: In theory: 0,87; In practice: ±0,8
-Free turns under a permanent defense strategy: Considering the highest stress free skills that can be looped: Light Dragon Spirit, Darkness Dragon Spirit, Earth Dragon Spirit, Frost Dragon Spirit -> 70% time. That means spending 7/10 turns on the offense while being protected by a defensive effect.
Necromancer
-Dark Dreams: 3 turns duration, 15 turns cooldown. Stressfree time: 2 Turns; Upkeep time: 3/16 = 0.1875
-Fear Ward: 2,5 turns duration, 4 turns cooldown. Stressfree time: 1 or 2 -> 1,5 Turns; Upkeep time: 2,5/5 = 0.5
-Life Tap: 3 turns duration, 9 turns cooldown. Stressfree time: 2 Turns; Upkeep time: 3/10 = 0.3
-Dark Intent: 4 turns duration, 9 turns cooldown. Stressfree time: 3 Turns; Upkeep time: 4/10 = 0.4
-Shroud of the Undead: 3 turns duration, 10 turns cooldown. Stressfree time: 2 Turns; Upkeep time: 3/11 = 0.27
-Inspire Terror: 1 turn duration, 4 turns cooldown. Stressfree time: 0 Turns; Upkeep time: 1/5 = 0.2
-Total Upkeep time: 1,8575>1 -> you can always be protected by one of those skills. You can "theoretically speaking" hold 2 effects simultaneously 85,75% of the time.
-Avoidable damage upkeep time: In theory: 1,2875; In practice: ±0,93
-Avoidable damage upkeep time without stuns: In theory: 1,1; In practice: ±0,89
-Unavoidable damage upkeep time: In theory 0,57: In practice: ±0,57
-Free turns under a permanent defense strategy: Considering the highest stress free skills that can be looped: Life Tap, Dark Intent, Shroud of the Undead, Dark Dreams -> 70% time.
Explanation:
Well after all this mess with numbers, the conclusions we can extract from them are:
1-DL cooldowns rather than shorter are better balanced. That allows you to exploit their effects to the maximum without having conflicts with other skills cooldowns. Necromancer otherwise... Just look at the number drop from theory to practice, this is because it combines skills with low cooldown vs skills with high cooldowns. That leaves a void every x turns where you're exposed. The fact of having a random duration on Fear Ward and the random nature of Inspire Terror doesn't help at all.
2-DL has more stress free turns. Yes while both results look like the same (0,7) the fact is that Necromancer is slightly more absorbed in its defensive play. The reasoning is pretty much the same as the previous point. Fear Ward has low cooldown so you'll use it more often and the duration can be the same or lower than DL Darkness Dragon. Also Inspire Terror doesn't reduce stress at all, it has its use as a breather to pass a turn though.
That being said. The winner is DragonLord.
Performance during sticky situations
This is an important section. We'll see how each armor fares vs nasty effects:
High Bonus Target:
Shields and blinds are out of question. This leaves our contenders with:
-DL: Shield Bash/Wind Dragon Spirit/Earth Dragon Spirit/Frost Dragon Spirit
-Necro: Life Tap/Dark Dreams/Shroud of the Undead/Inspire Terror/Dark Intent
DragonLord has to abuse the stun as much as possible. Outside that, it relies from Earth/Frost Dragon to decrease the damage he receives as much as possible. Once the effects are gone the class is left with some unprotected turns. Some of them can be covered with the heal though.
Necromancer has to abuse the stun as much as possible as well. After that, it has Inspire Terror as a breather skill while it is protected from Life Tap + Dark Intent. After those are gone, it can use Shroud of the Undead and then loop the previous 3 skills again.
It's hard to say a winner here. If the target damage output is low I would vote for DL, else for Necro. Because the second condition is harder than the first I'll give the victory to Necro.
Target with Shields:
Effects that require to land a hit won't be useful. This leaves our contenders with:
-DL: Wind Dragon Spirit/Earth Dragon Spirit/Darkness Dragon Spirit
-Necro: Life Tap/Fear Ward/Shroud of the Undead/Inspire Terror
DL has to use Darkness Dragon as much as possible. Then Earth Dragon and Wind Dragon for the hp sustain. Even with those 3, the class will have some unprotected turns.
Necro can abuse Fear Ward to its heart content. It also has Inspire Terror being a nuisance to its enemies. And after that Shroud and Life Tap for the hp recovery. All those 4 skills can be looped all the time.
Remember when I said that Necro suffers vs shielding enemies? Guess what? DragonLord suffers even more! It has more exposed turns and its shields have higher cooldown than Necro. Also it lacks the utility skill (even if it can backfire at times). Necro strikes again.
Target with high Immobility resistance:
Stuns won't work. This leaves our contenders with:
-DL: Wind Dragon Spirit/Earth Dragon Spirit/Darkness Dragon Spirit/Light Dragon Spirit/Frost Dragon Spirit
-Necro: Life Tap/Fear Ward/Shroud of the Undead/Inspire Terror/Dark Intent
DL has its perfect defensive rotation. Going in order from best to worst: Darkness Dragon->Light Dragon->Earth Dragon->Frost Dragon and healing if needed.
Necro has all its defenses as well. In order: Fear Ward->Dark Intent->Shroud of the Undead and using Life Tap for the healing. Inspire Terror comes once in a while as utility.
This is a direct confrontation between both armors. While it's true that DL stun is better and that entails a bigger drawback, I'll give the victory to DL anyways. The reasoning is pretty much the same as the cooldowns section. DL has more balanced cooldowns in its defenses and that shines when you have all your defensive options available. Necro does its job well too but sometimes it's messier considering that some of its defenses are random.
Target with blinds/stuns:
The key of this part is to avoid getting hit as much as possible. This leaves our contenders with:
-DL: Shield Bash/Darkness Dragon Spirit/Light Dragon Spirit
-Necro: Dark Dreams/Fear Ward/Inspire Terror/Dark Intent
DragonLord has to rotate Light Dragon and Darkness Dragon as much as possible, the turns outside that have to be covered by the stun. That will certainly work once. But once the first stun is over, DL will find exposed turns after the second Light/Dark spirits cast.
Necro is hard to tell. It relies from Fear Ward duration and Inspire Terror procs. Dark Intent covers perfectly the following Fear Ward + Inspire Terror usages. But even with the best situation you'll need the stun to cover the missing turns.
If I had to add high Immobility resistance I would give the victory to Necro. But because stuns do count and due to the random factor of Necro defenses, I'll give the victory to DragonLord. It's worth mentioning that vs blinding enemies Necro Dark Intent is more reliable than DL Light Dragon because it attempts to blind twice instead of once (the skill does 2 hits).
Target that hits like a truck:
Survive with everything you have! This leaves our contenders with:
-DL: Shield Bash/Wind Dragon Spirit/Earth Dragon Spirit/Darkness Dragon Spirit/Light Dragon Spirit/Frost Dragon Spirit
-Necro: Life Tap/Dark Dreams/Fear Ward/Shroud of the Undead/Inspire Terror/Dark Intent
DL has all its defenses. The thing is that DL defense kit includes periods where you'll get hit. Yes you'll get hit with reduced damage but still getting hit. If DL healing capabilities can't make up for that damage received, the class is bound to lose.
Necro instead has the virtue of turning the enemy's might against him. So the damage it may get while being under Dark Intent or Life Tap is easily recovered by Shroud of the Undead.
This is definitely Necromancer victory because it can survive almost forever if it's protected by Fear Ward and gets a decent amount of dodges from Dark Intent.
Conclusions
Okay we reached the ending point. The results are the following: DL: 8/12 points; Necro: 4/12 points
The main conclusion we can extract from all this comparison is that DragonLord is a better defensive class. Necromancer instead is more like an specialist class. It has tools that make it excel at certain situations and has the virtue and downfall of his rng related defenses.
Now remember what I said at the beginning of this question? "Yes and No. It depends on what defense means for you."
All this comparison has been done under the subject that surviving was the priority.
But let's remember that in this game, in order to win you have to get rid of your foe. That means offense playing a role here. It's the combination of both what makes a class better than the other. In that regard Necromancer does way more damage than DragonLord thanks to Seed and his passive.
In a situation where you're bound to lose because the damage you receive is higher than the hp you recover, a class that does more damage has higher chances of ending victorious because it will end the fight sooner (considering both lose hp at the same rate hence being equally good at defense).
[NEKO9]
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Ash for the class revamp/Necromancer class encyclopedia entry and 14.0.1 version changes
Thanks to Troy Darksword for the All You Need to Know about Necropolis Armors guide
Thanks to Hopeful Guy for The Ultimate DragonFable Strategy Guide/Necromancer banner and corrections
Thanks to Azan for corrections/presentation suggestions/FAQ suggestions and Matching Equipment contributions
Thanks to Sakurai the Cursed for math corrections/FAQ suggestions and insightful comments
Thanks to the ArchKnight team for accessories/weapons/pets/locations/quests/events/shops and classes pedia entries
Thanks to Resolute for Battle For Moonridge,Cysero's Superstore of Savings! - Rare Pets,Noxus Fumes pedia entries
Thanks to acex19 for Undead Slayer Badge pedia entry
Thanks to Viking_Jorun for the Amulet Weapon Shop pedia entry
Thanks to RyuMandruleanu for accessories/weapons pedia entries
Thanks to Silver Xoven for accessories/weapons pedia entries
Thanks to Baron Dante for weapons and accessories pedia entries
Thanks to ILmaster13 for accessories/weapons pedia entries
Thanks to ZanpakuTô for weapons pedia entries
Thanks to AztecArcher for weapons pedia entries
Thanks to foxbox6666 for weapons pedia entries
Thanks to Stephen Nix for accessories/pets/quests pedia entries
Thanks to archie for accessories pedia entries
Thanks to Silver for accessories pedia entries
Thanks to Armakuny for accessories pedia entries
Thanks to Jamenja for accessories pedia entries
Thanks to sleddyboy3 for accessories pedia entries
Thanks to babyhat5 for accessories pedia entries
Thanks to Krazy_Kakadu for accessories pedia entries
Thanks to megamanacses for pets pedia entries
Thanks to nightslayer321 for pets pedia entries
Thanks to atticus239 for housing pedia entries
Thanks to FishFrost for housing pedia entries
Updates
-07/15/2015: All you need to know about Necromancer guide release
-07/21/2015: Matching Equipment: Ebil set: Changed Ebil Dread Blade for Zorbak's Staff / Added Judgement Wheel to the RARE weapons
-07/28/2015: FAQ: Added pet suggestions/ Skill Overview and Analysis: -All resistance to Fear Aura passive scaling factor
Found a mistake, outdated information or an addition you want to add to this guide? Feel free to [image]http://forums2.battleon.com/f/image/pm.gif[/image] me!
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