Do you constantly run around/kite? Or are you face tanking when all four get out?
Constantly kiting/stutter stepping, sorry i placed my tactics in wrong order
Here’s my exact tactic and order:
Cast CoF
Run
Cast Solael
Run
Cast DB on melee clone
Run
Try to group up Clones and cast SS
Run
Watch for shadow strike and place RE at feet
Run
Repeat
place RE at feet when you see them start SS
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Awesome, thanks for that. I’ll give it a shot later.
Ooh , sounds like a plan 
I really appreciate that and probably will give it a go at some point .
Got a few chars to level atm but will add this now and try it out .
Thanks again
why do you max out necromancer if you dont use any of the skills at the end? just for the stats?
I’m having fun with this build. I’m just level 29 and playing on Veteran.
I’m wondering why you don’t put more into Curse of Frailty base skill. My theory is that I don’t need the larger AoE because I only need it for elite mobs. The trash dies fine to Ravenous Earth.
Also, you might want to tell folks to take back their Crossroads Eldritch after completing Bat.
Thank you for creating and maintaining this build @ceruleansong!
@jabberwock yes the mastery is maxed just for the stats, they are quiet important if you want to equip the elite body armor and the extra health helps to get the 14-16k health (depending on which medal you use)
@Arbitrary I don’t know if ceruleansong is the same as me, but i prefer to cover as many mobs as possible in a single cast and to have it last as long as possible as RE damage slows down a fair bit in ultimate
While RE is fine on its own in veteran and moat of elite by late half of elite (especially AoM)/start of ultimate you will see a need for CoF
@ceruleansong have you tried lokarr with my strategy yet?
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@Arbitrary, glad you’re having fun. Yes, reason I didn’t invest more than 1 early on in CoF is because it’s really not necessary until late Elite/Ultimate. Before that, RE by itself will kill very quickly. Having 1 point allows you to debuff boss/hero monsters, though, just in case you feel you need a little extra damage for those fights. I invest more later on once you get to higher level where having longer/larger coverage is more important.
For Crossroads Eldritch, you eventually put a point back in end game, so to make minimal respec necessary, I just left the point there. If you want to get to other stuff faster, though, by all means, take out that point and use it to progress a little further (then add back in later for the extra stat points it provides).
@Nightmare, no, not yet. I was trying out the new Crucible (just 100-150, didn’t even try the new 150-170 yet). I find that on Challenger, I’m actually needing to use Hoarfrost Ointment when Moosilauke shows up to prevent freeze (or I can die more easily). Some of the waves are nastier, but it’s definitely still doable. Will get around to Lokarr at some point though. Sorry for the delay. I do want to get him down, but just been focused on a few other things recently.
That is fair enough, I have found need hoarfroast for moonsilake in campaign ultimate so not surprising needing it for challeger.
I have managed to get to 100 on gladiator, old version, haven’t played the new one yet
And no worries no need to apologise
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Hi man, nice guide, clear and detailed. I have a couple of questions for you:
- why do you suggest flat Vit as a useful stat for gear? Doesn’t RE benefit only from %Vit dmg?
- why don’t you man spectral wrath for max Vit res reduction?
- do you find doom bolt that effective? In my (noob) experience it seems to add little dmg to the spell rotation.
Thanks for the feedback, FMonopoli. I believe you’re right about flat Vit damage and RE only benefitting from %Vit dmg. Maxing Spectral Wrath is a decent idea, I just wanted the extra points in Necro mastery for more health/stats/etc. But that’s definitely a spot you can feel free to experiment (take some out of Necro mastery to put more in Spectral Wrath).
For Doom Bolt, this actually does good damage. I didn’t really start using it (and doing damage with it) until very late (like 90+), but after that point, it does decent damage on cooldown, possibly more so than RE at least on single target bosses. For tough mobs in Acts 5/6, RE will very slowly do damage, whereas DB will noticeably chunk their health down (not much, but some).
Hey! Really enjoying the build right now. Thank you for the great leveling description.
I was wondering. This is a beginner build without the need for a mountain of legendaries, but are there legendaries you could hunt for that would make this even better?
Hi Thomean. Glad you’re enjoying it. Without putting together an exhaustive list, check out the Cabalist builds I listed in the Attributes section. They’re a little different skill-wise, but contain items that would be at least decent for this build (since they all focus on Vitality damage).
Thanks for the reply! I will look at those builds as well
That’s a heckin’ great guide, esp. leveling part and devotions picks, thank you very much!
Is there any reasonable alternative to the relics, I’m a little RP here and don’t want to rob Rovers, they’re friends after all. Gluttony early on?
WOW, I just come across of your guide and man… what an awesome presentation. This is one if the not the best guide from these forums. Wonderful job, congrats!
Thank for an awesome guide! I’ve just finished the game and expansion on ultimate on my commando and want to try to get a hardcore character do the same and would like to play something completely different. This build seems pretty interesting because of the life regeneration and lack of gear farming. Would you say this build is hardcore viable or did you die a lot?
@Bykot, thank you! I totally understand. I didn’t want to rob them on my first play through either (and then I got over it… I assure you, they don’t actually care; you don’t lose rep or anything). But yeah, you can use others. Gluttony is good for the %Vit Dmg and health regen (early on) and Mortality is probably the best replacement (likely better than Sacred Talisman) short of a legendary relic (since it has +necro skills, %OA, and %vit dmg).
@kpaxy, thank you! This is the type of guide I was looking for when I started and since none were forthcoming, I made this after getting excited seeing Nightmare’s build. I should add that Stupid Dragon has been putting out a lot of similar new player friendly builds recently, too, though. They’re all linked in the Builds section in my sticky’d New Player Knowledge Compendium if you want to check them out.
@Starlynk, you’re most welcome! Yes, this is definitely a hardcore viable build. I got through Normal without deaths and Epic I could have if I didn’t have a few deaths where I wasn’t paying attention (and when I fell asleep once at the keyboard… for real…). If you’re very careful in Ultimate, especially in the Expansion content, you should be fine. Definitely use ForgottenKane’s guide and/or practice bosses on a softcore character to make sure you know how to fight various bosses effectively without dying. I think I completed Ultimate with about 20 deaths, and almost all of those were from trying to kill Kubacabra (don’t…) and dying on bosses where I didn’t fully understand their ability usage.
Nice build, ABCbarbecue! I’ll add it to my list of stronger builds to try/respec into.