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Author Topic: NecroZombie - any suggestions ??  (Read 2185 times)

Looke83

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NecroZombie - any suggestions ??
« on: July 16, 2015, 05:14:00 AM »
I'm trying to put on a Necromancer spellbook on zombies. I would like to try something like this

[spellbook]
[spellbookheader]
[spellbookname][/spellbookname]
[mage]Necromancer[/mage]
[/spellbookheader]
[spells]
[spellclass]Attack[/spellclass]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFA01]1 x  Devil's Trident[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNA01]3 x  Acid Ball[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Conjuration[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1j19]1 x  Deathlock[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNJ04]1 x  Graveyard[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j11]1 x  Idol of Pestilence[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j20]1 x  Sacrificial Altar[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNJ13]1 x  Ziggurat of Undeath[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Creature[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNC09]1 x  Plague Zombie[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC12]2 x  Shaggoth-Zora[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC08]2 x  Unstable Zombie[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC19]2 x  Venomous Zombie[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC22]1 x  Zombie Brute[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC23]2 x  Zombie Crawler[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC24]2 x  Zombie Minion[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Enchantment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1e09]2 x  Agony[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e04]3 x  Chains of Agony[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e14]2 x  Enfeeble[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE03]1 x  Arcane Corruption[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e19]2 x  Ghoul Rot[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e24]2 x  Magebane[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e25]2 x  Maim Wings[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e31]2 x  Poisoned Blood[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNE02]2 x  Rise Again[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE07]2 x  Rust[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Equipment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNQ02]1 x  Death Ring[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ03]1 x  Deathshroud Staff[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ05]1 x  Libro Mortuos[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWQ09]1 x  Sectarus, Dark Rune Sword[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ01]1 x  Cloak of Shadows[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Incantation[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNI01]2 x  Animate Dead[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i08]2 x  Drain Life[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKI01]1 x  Drain Soul[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNI06]4 x  Zombie Frenzy[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i07]2 x  Dissolve[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i06]2 x  Dispel[/mwcard]
[/spells]
[cost]Total cost: 120 pts[/cost]
[/spellbook]


Main reason of this spellbook is to keep presure with cheap zombies on opponent. Graveyard on first turn should help me with that pretty efficient.
I haven't try it yet and I'll be very grateful for any suggestions from people who has already played Necromancer.
« Last Edit: July 16, 2015, 11:02:44 AM by Looke83 »

sdougla2

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Re: NecroZombie - any suggestions ??
« Reply #1 on: July 16, 2015, 07:24:12 PM »
Your only defensive options in this spellbook are Cloak of Shadows, Agony, and Enfeeble. I really think you need more defensive options. Wall of Bones, equipment that gives armor, Brace Yourself, and Block could do wonders to increase your survivability. The Necromancer is the mage that is most vulnerable to aggression in terms of base stats and abilities, so you need to consider that in your build. This is especially true if you plan to get into melee with enemy creatures in order to use Sectarus or Deathshroud Staff.

In addition, I'm not sure why you need 2 copies of Shaggoth-Zora. It's legendary, and even if it wasn't, I'm not convinced that it would be worth playing a second one. If you're going to build around Shaggoth-Zora, you should consider running more Zombie Crawlers, since that is the cheapest way to boost Shaggoth Zora and make Zombie Frenzy more efficient.

Similarly, I don't think you have the mana to cast Drain Life twice and cast Drain Soul. I would drop at least one of them for cheaper cards or possibly Meditation Amulet.

I don't think you need Ziggurat of Undeath, 2 Rise Again, and 2 Animate Dead. I would maybe run 1 out of those 5 cards. With the 2 spawnpoints in there, you are much better off just playing more zombies. As things stand, I'm not sure why you run both spawnpoints, since it looks like you will run out of things to summon, and I'm not sure how you are going to afford to use all of your actions anyway. You have a few cheap zombies, but only 6 that cost 7 or less.
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silverclawgrizzly

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Re: NecroZombie - any suggestions ??
« Reply #2 on: July 16, 2015, 10:12:46 PM »
I'd have more zombies, the crawlers are good early game to build up for the bigger beasts. I also advise against Sectarus. It's just not worth it for a Necromancer to get into a melee battle, and if you're going to get into melee why have the Cloak of Shadows? I'm with sdougla2 on recommending some armor as well.

I primarily play Straywood Beast Master though, a Necromancer player would be better able to advise you though.
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JasonBourneZombie

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Re: NecroZombie - any suggestions ??
« Reply #3 on: July 19, 2015, 09:33:10 AM »
Quick overview of the book: you are trying things necromancers don't normally do. Doesn't mean you can't, but the book may need more specialization to compensate.

Nitty Gritty:

Attack spells
Acid balls are a good idea. Zombies don't have piercing, so it makes plenty of sense. Devil's trident is fairly expensive spell point wise to put in the book and not have a way to recast it. Whether or not it is of any use in a fight depends almost entirely on the cripple roll.

Conjurations
Plenty of staples here, so I won't go into depth on them. Keep a close eye on how much you use the altar and the ziggurat. Especially pay close attention to what happens when you do use the altar. Killing a creature to give a portion of its strength to another is tactically sound in the short term, but inefficient in the long term.

Creature
This section is a little light on creatures for a swarm build, but seems to be well compensated in the curse section.

Shaggoth-zora falls into the same category as the altar. You will probably only need the one, and if you grow him as a strategy, he will likely be made unimportant through dodges, teleports, etc.

Based on the rest of the book, I'd actually say you have too many zombies if you run an aggressive necromancer. But based on the typical Necromancer build, you have too few. If you go aggressive, that is cursing, casting attacks, swinging sectarus, then you need a group of Brutes, Unstable Zombies, and even some Ghouls to back you up.

If you go for a swarm strategy, you need to be as far away from the opponent as possible. Zombies cost less than other creatures because of the multiple drawbacks that come with them. Zombie frenzy is actually paying back that discount for additional utility. This means the more zombies you have out, the better return you get from a frenzy. If you want to cast a frenzy, though, that means you can't use sectarus, you can't hard cast and reveal most curses, and you won't have the mana to cast attack spells. Since Necros have some of the least health and durability in the game, this makes you a significant target.

Depending on how you play your book, you will likely need to commit to one strategy or the other. Or at least something similar.

Enchantments
Very curse heavy. Not a bad thing like I said before. You can likely do without the third chains of agony and the second rise again for sure. The rusts are probably going too far in terms of armor reduction. With the acid balls, this is 10 spell points dedicated to dealing with armor. You might choose to take out an acid ball, or maybe both rusts.

Equipment
Drop the cloak if you run aggro. It will be next to useless compared to even an elemental cloak in that situation. See how much you use the staff if you run aggro. It may not see much use unless you forgo using sectarus for your curses. You do need armor if you run aggro. I do suggest the demonhide since an occasional 2 critical makes for such a nice boost.

Incantations
Animate dead is probably a much better idea than rise again. If you take out both rise agains, you will probably still only need one animate dead. Drain life is ok in a pinch, but doesn't give you nearly as much use as drain soul. Warlocks probably don't care much about the difference between the two, but a necromancer can use poison mastery on the soul, but not the life. 4 zombie frenzies is a very good idea since you don't have a wand to put them on.



I see that you are experimenting a bit on the difference between a warlock and a necromancer. I think you can find a pretty good aggro build in all this if you keep at it, but you'll just have to be careful about dropping other typical necro spells to make it work. I'll be very interested to see how the book evolves over time and to see how much success it achieves.

As always, take this with a grain of salt.
« Last Edit: July 19, 2015, 09:35:01 AM by JasonBourneZombie »
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