When I decided to try a summon necro in Diablo 2, man, it was messy at first. My skeletons kept dying like flies against Andariel, and I wasted so much gold reviving my dumb clay golem. Felt like quitting right there.
What Actually Works
Trial-and-error taught me the hard way. First playthrough? Maxed poison dagger like an idiot. That changed fast.
Key skills that carried the build:
- Skeleton Mastery before anything else – pumped this to 10 immediately. Without it, skellies die if a zombie sneezes on ’em.
- Raise Skeleton as main dump skill – stopped at 15 points when I had 7 skellies marching. No need to overcommit.
- ONE point wonder in Corpse Explosion – seriously, just one point plus gear bonuses makes entire screens go boom.
My gamechanger was realizing Revive sucks early game. Spent 5 points trying to make it work in Act 2 – worst decision ever. Monsters get unrevivable later, total waste. Reset that junk immediately.
Stat Distribution Nightmare
Strength for gear only – stopped at 70 when I could wear top uniques. Energy? Zero points ever. Health and mana come from gear. Put every damn point into Vitality after str requirements. Watching my health bar balloon made Duriel feel like a mosquito.
Merc choice matters too:
- Tried Act 3 fire merc – useless as a wet noodle.
- Act 2 might aura merc? Absolute MVP. Doubled my skeleton damage.
Final tip? Amplify Damage curse is the only curse you need till Hell difficulty. Tried weakening everything manually – pure misery. One red wave clears whole rooms when paired with corpse explosions.
Now my army just rolls through Chaos Sanctuary while I sip coffee. Took five failed attempts though – almost ragequit forever after that first Duriel wall.