Ultimately Red, I was imagining the Necro as a more dynamic Doomed with Shadows combined with a Summoner with the option to develop later into an Summoner/Archmage hybrid or lastly a Doomed/Archmage hybrid.
However, I understand your point but I don't see a path to reorganizing the skills in the manner you suggest, so I won't. Perhaps I'll lock another category (after all, you have 4 category points and maybe 5 if you go Cornac).
So, here's another category:
Grave:
1. Single-target life-drain. This skill does "x" damage to one target and if said target is brought close to death, there is an up to 40% chance that this skill will do the additional damage necessary to kill the enemy. Then, that damage is recouped as a heal, up to "x" amount.
2. Blood Rain… this does darkness/blight damage randomly over "x" turns in a radius of up to 5 or so. Every turn, some % of tiles in radius are targeted for damage. Chance to cause disease.
3. Passive skill… For duration, every time any enemy, minion, or you kill anything or do a direct heal or regen, you're granted a pseudo-ward/bone shield hybrid. This is a flat damage reduction for one attack per pseudo-ward… probably between 10-30 damage when maxed. Basically like a combo between Bone Shield and Anti-magic shield with a hint of Harmony category's 3rd skill (I think).
The number of max pseudo-wards is equal to active talent level.
4. Vampiric Gifts… I'd have to change the Nukelavee sacrifice bonus.
What do you think about that?
Full Necro concept… Pg1, now in add-ons section.
Moderator: Moderator
Re: Full Necro concept… Pg1, now in add-ons section.
Life Drain: Good.
Blood Rain: This sounds bad. Your most challenging enemies are individual monsters. In addition, radius 5 means affecting 60 squares, so even if you're surrounded by a dozen monsters in that area, each attack only has a 1/5 chance of hitting anything. If you only care about damaging a boss, you're looking at a 1/60 chance of hitting him with one square, and a 1/2 chance if you summons 30 squares of damage. Also, range 5 is uncomfortably close.
Healtheft/Killward: Based on Necrotic Aura. Based on Necrotic Aura. The skill that is locked away with an extra cat point under AMM. Fix that and skills like this can be good for blasters, since they can get enough range to be good, but as it stands just plain no. In addition, this is another skill that is useless against bosses (except for minion users). It relies on the enemy healing, which even on bosses that do heal it won't happen often enough to ward you to any significant degree, and on killing enemies, which will only happen with bosses when the fight is over. It's only really useful in tough fights if you ahve minions that will die, and it's not a fun on-death ability since all it does is make you a bit harder to kill instead of making the fights go any faster.
Vampiric Gifts: It's a good ability, but this doesn't feel like the appropiate spot for it.
What do I think about it? I think you're stuck thinking with minions (damn you, Planetus, and your thread that has spawned such amazing ideas) and failed to make a blaster category. There was one blast, one just bad ability, one minion ability, and a useful utility. There's nothing wrong with the catgeory once you fix Blood Rain, but it doesn't work towards solving the Blaster problem.
Blood Rain: This sounds bad. Your most challenging enemies are individual monsters. In addition, radius 5 means affecting 60 squares, so even if you're surrounded by a dozen monsters in that area, each attack only has a 1/5 chance of hitting anything. If you only care about damaging a boss, you're looking at a 1/60 chance of hitting him with one square, and a 1/2 chance if you summons 30 squares of damage. Also, range 5 is uncomfortably close.
Healtheft/Killward: Based on Necrotic Aura. Based on Necrotic Aura. The skill that is locked away with an extra cat point under AMM. Fix that and skills like this can be good for blasters, since they can get enough range to be good, but as it stands just plain no. In addition, this is another skill that is useless against bosses (except for minion users). It relies on the enemy healing, which even on bosses that do heal it won't happen often enough to ward you to any significant degree, and on killing enemies, which will only happen with bosses when the fight is over. It's only really useful in tough fights if you ahve minions that will die, and it's not a fun on-death ability since all it does is make you a bit harder to kill instead of making the fights go any faster.
Vampiric Gifts: It's a good ability, but this doesn't feel like the appropiate spot for it.
What do I think about it? I think you're stuck thinking with minions (damn you, Planetus, and your thread that has spawned such amazing ideas) and failed to make a blaster category. There was one blast, one just bad ability, one minion ability, and a useful utility. There's nothing wrong with the catgeory once you fix Blood Rain, but it doesn't work towards solving the Blaster problem.
I'm not crying. I'm offering a sacrifice to DarkGod in hopes he'll show favor to me.
It hasn't worked yet.
It hasn't worked yet.
Re: Full Necro concept… Pg1, now in add-ons section.
Okay… what do you want then, for a blaster?
Nix 2nd and 3rd skills. Now what? Another beam? Cone? Nova? I see your point and am inclined to agree except I like the second skill idea, especially if it adds disease.
Now, against bosses… you already have some really good boss-killing abilities. I don't see any reason to add another one.
Here's another skill idea:
Mortal Inversion… active that targets one enemy. All damage that said enemy inflicts is stored until said enemy dies (or up to duration of spell). If duration expires, enemy suffers said damage up until to the point of death… all remaining damage is inflicted on you.
If the enemy is killed before the duration expires, you receive a 3-turn damage shield equal to the damage stored.
And another:
Marked by Death… mark 1 enemy for duration. While spell is active, 10% of ALL damage inflicted against anyone within the vision range of said enemy is inflicted upon them. Short duration.
Nix 2nd and 3rd skills. Now what? Another beam? Cone? Nova? I see your point and am inclined to agree except I like the second skill idea, especially if it adds disease.
Now, against bosses… you already have some really good boss-killing abilities. I don't see any reason to add another one.
Here's another skill idea:
Mortal Inversion… active that targets one enemy. All damage that said enemy inflicts is stored until said enemy dies (or up to duration of spell). If duration expires, enemy suffers said damage up until to the point of death… all remaining damage is inflicted on you.
If the enemy is killed before the duration expires, you receive a 3-turn damage shield equal to the damage stored.
And another:
Marked by Death… mark 1 enemy for duration. While spell is active, 10% of ALL damage inflicted against anyone within the vision range of said enemy is inflicted upon them. Short duration.
Re: Full Necro concept… Pg1, now in add-ons section.
Both of those are cool ideas. That's something to add to a blaster-it's not a nuke, it's an attack that fits the theme of the Necromancer and lets you play in a fun way. Stuff like that is gold. Marked By Death is less useful against bosses, since the only other person taking damage is probably going to be you (unless you have minions), but it's still somewhat useful. In addition, it's something that could make normal fights go faster by slapping it on a higher HP/defense enemy and focusing fire on others to weaken/kill it by attacking other things.
If you replaced Blood Rain and the T3 skill with those two and found a nice T4, it'd be a fantastic locked blaster category. Idea that's probably OP for the T4, but interesting:
Unliving Spells
Sustain, 100 Mana
CD 50
Instant Cast
While US is active, any spell that is cast will be cast again on each following turn instantly, targeting as best it can the same area as your current attack or, if you move, its last target. (For instance, if you shoot a projectile directly north, a cone aimed southeast would also have that same projectile shot southeast.) Each time a spell is cast, its cost is double from the last time. On the turn you run out of mana, any extra costs needed to cast the spells comes from your life at a 1 HP:TL Mana ratio and the sustain deactivates.
It's insanely costly, is going to leave you pretty much totally crippled in terms of HP and definitely Mana, but at the same time you're going to murdering everything in sight. Good for the high Willpower build blasters will need to keep pumping out spells, but if you screw up manging this you might run out of Mana when you only planned a temporary power boost or outright kill yourself.
As for Blood Rain, is it the random tiles thing you're attached to? That's the main issue with it. In radius 5, you're affecting 60 squares, so again, even if you summon 30 damage squares you've only got a 50% of hitting any given enemy. It might work if it created a lingering spot of damage (like Searing Ray can do), but even then the Necro doesn't really have the skills to move enemies into those spots.
Perhaps make it similar to Blood Curse? It affects random tiles, unless there is an enemy who is pinned/diseased/etc.? That way, you can slam a status on an enemy, then add injury to insult by opening apoaclyptic precipitation on his head.
If you replaced Blood Rain and the T3 skill with those two and found a nice T4, it'd be a fantastic locked blaster category. Idea that's probably OP for the T4, but interesting:
Unliving Spells
Sustain, 100 Mana
CD 50
Instant Cast
While US is active, any spell that is cast will be cast again on each following turn instantly, targeting as best it can the same area as your current attack or, if you move, its last target. (For instance, if you shoot a projectile directly north, a cone aimed southeast would also have that same projectile shot southeast.) Each time a spell is cast, its cost is double from the last time. On the turn you run out of mana, any extra costs needed to cast the spells comes from your life at a 1 HP:TL Mana ratio and the sustain deactivates.
It's insanely costly, is going to leave you pretty much totally crippled in terms of HP and definitely Mana, but at the same time you're going to murdering everything in sight. Good for the high Willpower build blasters will need to keep pumping out spells, but if you screw up manging this you might run out of Mana when you only planned a temporary power boost or outright kill yourself.
As for Blood Rain, is it the random tiles thing you're attached to? That's the main issue with it. In radius 5, you're affecting 60 squares, so again, even if you summon 30 damage squares you've only got a 50% of hitting any given enemy. It might work if it created a lingering spot of damage (like Searing Ray can do), but even then the Necro doesn't really have the skills to move enemies into those spots.
Perhaps make it similar to Blood Curse? It affects random tiles, unless there is an enemy who is pinned/diseased/etc.? That way, you can slam a status on an enemy, then add injury to insult by opening apoaclyptic precipitation on his head.
I'm not crying. I'm offering a sacrifice to DarkGod in hopes he'll show favor to me.
It hasn't worked yet.
It hasn't worked yet.
Re: Full Necro concept… Pg1, now in add-ons section.
I think your proposed skill is a murder-machine that'll reduce every fight to 3 turns or less, ha ha.
I made another proposal in the next post.
I made another proposal in the next post.
Last edited by Delmuir on Fri Jan 30, 2015 3:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Full Necro concept… Pg1, now in add-ons section.
Information of note:
ALL bonuses granted from negative or 0 life linger for 3 turns after recovering to positive life. Harvest works as a super buff in that sense as it triggers all of those bonuses.
I'm going to call the 50% cold/darkness damage "Animus" damage.
Blood Curse has even more synergy, including with minions.
There are now 4 locked and 4 unlocked categories. In theory, you shouldn't need the extra category point for "Celestial/Light" which would leave most players with 1 or 2 depending on their preferences for another inscription slot.
With the two primary minion skills maxed, your minion cap is 8. With a mastery in each one, the minion cap can be increased to 10.
EotD is going away but the bonuses will remain… they only apply when you're at or below 0 life or for 3 turns after if you heal.
Added bonuses below:
Adds a bonus to Undead Explosion: doubles damage and range.
Changes Assemble bonus such that it guarantees a Runed Bone Giant.
Changes Consume Soul bonus such that it grants a 5-turn regeneration effect in addition to and equal to the base life and mana restored.
Remove bonus from Shadow Tunnel, Ice Shards, Undeath Link, and Create Minions.
Lastly, I've shortened many of the descriptions for the sake of saving time. The Page 1 will reflect a fuller description of those talents.
Necrotic Minions:
1. Create Minions… Summons only skeletons, ghouls, ghasts, and Ghoulkings. Minion cap is 5.
Cost is 5 mana and 1 soul per minion.
2. Aura Mastery… Dark Empathy effect is folded into this talent as part of the sustain. This sustain cannot be deactivated when you're at or below 0 life… it acts as a passive in that situation.
3. Surge of Undeath… same effect except that the accuracy bonus scales massively and it includes a bonus to minion movement speed, up to 65%. This effect is shared with you if UL is active and you're undead or classified as undead.
4. Undeath Link… this is no longer a heal but a sharing effect such that all damage and healing affecting you or your minions, excluding Husk/Forgery of the Haze, is shared equally among all of you. Duration is 5 + active talent level.
Mana cost is increased to 60 and cool-down is increased to 28.
Nightfall: Changes all damage to 50% darkness and 50% cold.
Necrosis:
1. Invocation of Decrepitude: new active skill...
Use: Activated
Range: Necrotic Aura
Cost: 35 mana
Use speed: 1 turn
Cool-down: 25
This skill causes all non-undead creatures, including yourself, within your Necrotic Aura to lose 2% of their current life, per turn, for the duration of this spell, in the form of arcane damage. Duration increases with active talent level (2 + 1 per active talent level) and there is no save against this.
This spell has no effect on the Undead, potentially including yourself.
In addition, while you're at or below 0 life, this spell does an additional 1% of current life.
2. Impending Doom… gains 100% spellpower solely for the purpose of overcoming the enemy save when you're at or below 0 life.
3. Become Death… new passive skill:
Whenever you're at or below 0 life, your Necrotic Aura becomes enhanced such that it functions in a similar manner to a Cursed Gloom effect.
All enemies within your Necrotic Aura must save against you spellpower each turn, and if they fail, they lose one beneficial effect or sustain of any type (including anti-magic and prodigies) or if none exist, a 10% chance for any talent to fail. For the purpose of this spell, you gain a spellpower bonus equal to 5% of your real magic power per active talent level in order to overcome enemy saves.
Non-undead can also be inflicted by the Necrosis effect:
The Necrosis effect is a magic effect and causes a resource and life drain of 25% of current over 8 turns. Doesn't affect odd resources like souls, paradox, equilibrium, et al., but will still drain life. Affects: Stamina, Mana, Positive and Negative Energy, Vim, Hate, and Psi.
If you increase your life above 0 life, the aura lingers for 3 additional turns.
4. Chance of Life
Use: Sustain
Range: 1-51
Cost: 200 mana
Use speed: instant
Cool-down: 40
As long as this sustain is active, if you're dropped to or below 0 life (if this triggers, it can save you from death), there is a maximum "28/34%" chance that you'll be "resurrected" and gain 36/51% life, mana, reduced cool-downs, and teleported randomly within range "x."
The max life, cool-down, and mana recovery scale with magic and active talent level. For living characters, the max is 36% but for undead classified characters, the max is 51%. The cool-down reduction only affects skills currently on cool-down.
Grave: All damage is 50% darkness and 50% cold.
1. Chill of the Tomb… this is no longer a normal ball spell. Instead, this spell targets all enemies within radius 3 of one of your minions for cold/darkness damage. This affects a radius around the minions and can stack when your minions are close together, akin to Hurricane for the archmage.
2. Mark of the Sepulchre… replaces Will o' the Wisp. This is an offensive/defensive active spell that lets you target 1 enemy without save for up to 5 turns. It does "x" cold/darkness damage when it hits, and in addition, each damage type that this enemy is damaged by, from any source, will grant you up to 1 ward of that damage type.
If you already have a ward of that type, the ward is granted to the nearest minion if UL is active.
In addition, 10% of all damage that affects you (or your minions if UL is active) is directed to the marked enemy as arcane damage.
3. Soul Purging Flame… This is just Animus Purge that leaves a lingering "Cold Flame" effect. If an enemy is left below "x" % life, this spell has a chance to create a "husk/forgery of the haze."
This also costs 1 soul in addition to mana. Thus, your husk/FoH can't cast it.
4. Vampiric Gift… This only affects damage dealt within your necrotic aura. If UL is active, this spell grants the VG affect to your minions at 50% effectiveness.
Animus: Locked at level 1.
1. Consume Soul… this spell cannot crit.
2. Animus Hoarder… changes effect to soul recycling ability rather than chance to gain extra soul. This now becomes a passive ability.
3. Eternal Servitude… Sustain ability such that when minions die, they still can't escape their service to you. They are retained as poltergeists. These ghosts are quick moving, have moderate life, do low damage, but have a few status effects, 80% physical damage resistance, and they have mid-level invisibility like a Dread. Ultimately, they're not a real weapon… yet. This replaces Will o' the Wisp.
4. Legion… consumes up to 5 poltergeists (the more you use, the more powerful the legion becomes) in order to create this super minion. This creature is always incorporeal and can move through walls and enemies for up to two tiles. More so, when a Legion is in play, all poltergeists gain ability to cause Bleeding and Weakened Disease.
This creature can gain, based on how many poltergeists make up its form, these abilities: Cursed Gloom, invisibility, fear effects, and resist all, up to 70% total.
Legion counts as 2 against your minion cap.
Advanced Necrotic Minions: Locked at level 10.
1. Create Greater Undead. This is an active skill that summons all of the more advanced minion types. Cost is 7 mana and 1 soul per minion.
Increases minion cap to 8.
You can only control 1 Lich at a time.
More so, this spell is targeted in a radius rather than in a cone a la Create Minions.
2. Assemble… always consumes lowest-tiered minions for Bone Giant.
In addition, the limit for Bone Giant summons is changed such that:
lvl 1 - Bone Giant at your lvl - 4.
lvl 2 - Heavy Bone Giant at your level at your level -2
lvl 3 - Can create a 2nd Bone Giant at your level.
lvl 4 - Eternal bone Giant at your level +1.
lvl 5 - 20% Chance of Runed Bone Giant at your level +2. In addition, it eliminates the limit on # of Bone Giant minions except as per minion cap.
lvl 6 - Grants additional level +1
lvl 7 - Guarantees a Runed Bone Giant. Each subsequent level grants level +1.
Bone Giants count as 2 against your minion cap. You can only have 1 Runed Bone Giant under your control at a time.
3. Sacrifice… is now targetable. Mana cost is increased to 25.
If used on any Bone Giant, the effect is unchanged: maximum damage shield.
If used on a Lich, it damages every enemy in your necrotic aura arcane damage equal to your life.
If used on a Legion, it grants bonus to saves for "x" turns.
If used on a Blood Golem, it grants a massive heal and regeneration effect.
4. Blood Golem:
Use: Activated
Range: 3
Cost: 100 mana
Use Speed: 1 turn
Cool-down: 26
This spell combines 1 basic and 1 advanced minion into a Blood Golem that is tied to your life. This creature absorbs all damage it delivers to enemies which is then converted into a heal. Excess life from drain/heal is wasted unless Undeath Link is active.
Only 1 can be summoned and counts as 2 minions against your cap. This minion has a standard set of talents but also gains 2 additional talents based on the particular combination of minions used.
If this golem is killed, you immediately suffer approximately 100-45% of its max life as direct physical damage that can bypasses damage shields and wards but not Undeath Link or Sacrifice. The amount of life you suffer diminishes approximately 8% per active talent level.
In addition, Dark Empathy effect is shared with the Blood Golem such that the Blood Golem also isn't damaged by other minions.
Shades: Locked at level 10.
1. Shadow Tunnel… transports your minions through the underworld to you from anywhere on the map.
At level 2, the act of opening a gateway through the underworld is violent and thus gains % chance of releasing 1 wisp or poltergeist at the original location of each of your minions. Damage scales to active talent level.
2. Dark Vision… new passive skill.
After any enemy or minion is killed, you gain a radius "1 + active talent level/2" vision in that spot for "1 turn per active talent level." This is due to your ability to communicate with the dead… it essentially acts as a limited Arcane Eye.
Radius and duration increase with active talent level.
3. Grim Shadow… new sustain skill.
Cost: 50 mana
Instant Cast
Cool-down: 36
This skill infuses a portion of your life into your shadow to grant it the appearance of life whenever your life is at or below 0 life. This shadow will spawn somewhere within your necrotic aura and has no skills, takes no damage. It exists as an added target which can be moved to a minimum and maximum pre-set range. It can move on its own and absorb attacks, although not beams, etc., as attacks just go right through it.
Enemies cannot tell the difference between you and the shadow and will target each of you equally. The shadow can be cancelled and while active produces a constant mana drain of 1 per turn, per talent point invested. With each additional active level, there is an added 3% chance that enemies will target the shadow.
If the Shadow should stand in any magical darkness such as from a Doomed, it will cause the Shadow to be unseen and thus ignored by the enemy. Shadow is cancelled should it leave your Necrotic Aura, i.e. if you teleport away.
Sustain is dropped when you raise your life about 0 although the shadow lingers for 3 turns.
Any spells cast that travel through your shadow before hitting the enemy will grant a 1-turn bonus that the enemy will target the shadow as it appears as though the attack came from it.
4. FrostDusk… no change.
Ice: … Eliminated.
Mastery of Death: Level 10 locked category at 1.2.
1. Grasping Claws:
Use: Activated
Range: Necrotic Aura
Cost: 25 mana and 2 souls
Use Speed: 1 turn
Cool-down: 14
Causes the dead to reach up from the ground and grab at enemies within your Necrotic Aura, inflicting a small amount of physical damage and pin. With added levels it gains a chance to cause bleeding, and disease.
Duration scales with active talent level, albeit slowly. It gains an additional turn at active talent level 1, 4, 7, etc.
2. Undead Explosion… Skeletons and Bone Giants cause physical damage with chance to cause bleeding. All other minions cause blight damage with chance to infect enemy with disease. Mana cost and cool down remain unchanged.
This ability can now be used on any regular undead enemy in addition to your own minions. However, the success rate is equal to how much life they've lost (excluding negative life). Thus, if an enemy has lost 90% of its life then this spell has a 90% chance of success. On your own minions, the success rate is 100%.
Gains EotD bonus.
3. Blood Curse:
Use: Activated
Range: Necrotic Aura
Cost: 50 mana
Use Speed: 1 turn
Cool-down: 18
Causes damage to any enemy affected by pin, disease, or bleeding from any source, as long as it is within your Necrotic Aura. Damage stacks, i.e. if an enemy has more than one of the below status-effects, it'll suffer damage for each status effect.
Any enemy pinned suffers added physical damage and chance of disarm.
Any enemy bleeding suffers bloody cysts to explode inflicting radius 1 blight damage.
Any enemy that is diseased suffers blight damage and chance to spread disease.
4. Fatal Spite:
Use: Active
Range: 1
Cost: 50 mana and 5 souls
Use Speed: 1 turn
Cool-down: 30
Delivers to 1 target, in melee range of you or one of your minions, blight/darkness damage equal to 100% of the cumulative amount of life below the max for you and all of your minions. Then, you suffer 100%-50% (scales with talent point investment) of said damage on a 1-turn delay as arcane damage.
When at or below 0 life, the delay increases to 2 turns.
Thus, you'd have Survival, Divination, and the new Necromancy as your generics.
Necromancy:
1. Blurred Mortality… no changes except with Lichform.
2. Phase Soul
Use: Activated
Range: 4-10+ with active talent level.
Cost: 30/60 mana
Use Speed: 1 turn
Cool-down: 8/1
This is a perfect, intermediate teleport, albeit an expensive one. It works outside of line of sight with 0% fail.
Range increases per active talent level. This teleport cannot be "targeted" on enemies, escorts, etc. Range scales with active talent level.
In addition:
If you're at or below 0 life (either with equipment, Blurred Mortality, or Heroism infusion, etc.), then this teleport's cool-down is reduced to 1 although the mana cost doubles and the range is reduced by half.
3. Harvest:
Use: Activated
Range: N/A
Cost: 5 mana and 99.99% of life.
Use speed: 1 turn
Cool-down: 36
This spell immediately reduces your life to 0 in exchange for granting the undead status for up to 15 (scales with active talent level) turns and gaining absolute immunity to all new status effects AND damage for 1 turn. Duration increases to 2 at active talent lvl 7 (so with a category mastery).
This will cure up to 7 status effects (1 +1 per active talent level).
This ability does not work if you're already at or below 0 HP.
4. Lichform… gains passive bonus: Blurred Mortality now scales to constitution at 1.25% per point of constitution in addition to base amount.
ALL bonuses granted from negative or 0 life linger for 3 turns after recovering to positive life. Harvest works as a super buff in that sense as it triggers all of those bonuses.
I'm going to call the 50% cold/darkness damage "Animus" damage.
Blood Curse has even more synergy, including with minions.
There are now 4 locked and 4 unlocked categories. In theory, you shouldn't need the extra category point for "Celestial/Light" which would leave most players with 1 or 2 depending on their preferences for another inscription slot.
With the two primary minion skills maxed, your minion cap is 8. With a mastery in each one, the minion cap can be increased to 10.
EotD is going away but the bonuses will remain… they only apply when you're at or below 0 life or for 3 turns after if you heal.
Added bonuses below:
Adds a bonus to Undead Explosion: doubles damage and range.
Changes Assemble bonus such that it guarantees a Runed Bone Giant.
Changes Consume Soul bonus such that it grants a 5-turn regeneration effect in addition to and equal to the base life and mana restored.
Remove bonus from Shadow Tunnel, Ice Shards, Undeath Link, and Create Minions.
Lastly, I've shortened many of the descriptions for the sake of saving time. The Page 1 will reflect a fuller description of those talents.
Necrotic Minions:
1. Create Minions… Summons only skeletons, ghouls, ghasts, and Ghoulkings. Minion cap is 5.
Cost is 5 mana and 1 soul per minion.
2. Aura Mastery… Dark Empathy effect is folded into this talent as part of the sustain. This sustain cannot be deactivated when you're at or below 0 life… it acts as a passive in that situation.
3. Surge of Undeath… same effect except that the accuracy bonus scales massively and it includes a bonus to minion movement speed, up to 65%. This effect is shared with you if UL is active and you're undead or classified as undead.
4. Undeath Link… this is no longer a heal but a sharing effect such that all damage and healing affecting you or your minions, excluding Husk/Forgery of the Haze, is shared equally among all of you. Duration is 5 + active talent level.
Mana cost is increased to 60 and cool-down is increased to 28.
Nightfall: Changes all damage to 50% darkness and 50% cold.
Necrosis:
1. Invocation of Decrepitude: new active skill...
Use: Activated
Range: Necrotic Aura
Cost: 35 mana
Use speed: 1 turn
Cool-down: 25
This skill causes all non-undead creatures, including yourself, within your Necrotic Aura to lose 2% of their current life, per turn, for the duration of this spell, in the form of arcane damage. Duration increases with active talent level (2 + 1 per active talent level) and there is no save against this.
This spell has no effect on the Undead, potentially including yourself.
In addition, while you're at or below 0 life, this spell does an additional 1% of current life.
2. Impending Doom… gains 100% spellpower solely for the purpose of overcoming the enemy save when you're at or below 0 life.
3. Become Death… new passive skill:
Whenever you're at or below 0 life, your Necrotic Aura becomes enhanced such that it functions in a similar manner to a Cursed Gloom effect.
All enemies within your Necrotic Aura must save against you spellpower each turn, and if they fail, they lose one beneficial effect or sustain of any type (including anti-magic and prodigies) or if none exist, a 10% chance for any talent to fail. For the purpose of this spell, you gain a spellpower bonus equal to 5% of your real magic power per active talent level in order to overcome enemy saves.
Non-undead can also be inflicted by the Necrosis effect:
The Necrosis effect is a magic effect and causes a resource and life drain of 25% of current over 8 turns. Doesn't affect odd resources like souls, paradox, equilibrium, et al., but will still drain life. Affects: Stamina, Mana, Positive and Negative Energy, Vim, Hate, and Psi.
If you increase your life above 0 life, the aura lingers for 3 additional turns.
4. Chance of Life
Use: Sustain
Range: 1-51
Cost: 200 mana
Use speed: instant
Cool-down: 40
As long as this sustain is active, if you're dropped to or below 0 life (if this triggers, it can save you from death), there is a maximum "28/34%" chance that you'll be "resurrected" and gain 36/51% life, mana, reduced cool-downs, and teleported randomly within range "x."
The max life, cool-down, and mana recovery scale with magic and active talent level. For living characters, the max is 36% but for undead classified characters, the max is 51%. The cool-down reduction only affects skills currently on cool-down.
Grave: All damage is 50% darkness and 50% cold.
1. Chill of the Tomb… this is no longer a normal ball spell. Instead, this spell targets all enemies within radius 3 of one of your minions for cold/darkness damage. This affects a radius around the minions and can stack when your minions are close together, akin to Hurricane for the archmage.
2. Mark of the Sepulchre… replaces Will o' the Wisp. This is an offensive/defensive active spell that lets you target 1 enemy without save for up to 5 turns. It does "x" cold/darkness damage when it hits, and in addition, each damage type that this enemy is damaged by, from any source, will grant you up to 1 ward of that damage type.
If you already have a ward of that type, the ward is granted to the nearest minion if UL is active.
In addition, 10% of all damage that affects you (or your minions if UL is active) is directed to the marked enemy as arcane damage.
3. Soul Purging Flame… This is just Animus Purge that leaves a lingering "Cold Flame" effect. If an enemy is left below "x" % life, this spell has a chance to create a "husk/forgery of the haze."
This also costs 1 soul in addition to mana. Thus, your husk/FoH can't cast it.
4. Vampiric Gift… This only affects damage dealt within your necrotic aura. If UL is active, this spell grants the VG affect to your minions at 50% effectiveness.
Animus: Locked at level 1.
1. Consume Soul… this spell cannot crit.
2. Animus Hoarder… changes effect to soul recycling ability rather than chance to gain extra soul. This now becomes a passive ability.
3. Eternal Servitude… Sustain ability such that when minions die, they still can't escape their service to you. They are retained as poltergeists. These ghosts are quick moving, have moderate life, do low damage, but have a few status effects, 80% physical damage resistance, and they have mid-level invisibility like a Dread. Ultimately, they're not a real weapon… yet. This replaces Will o' the Wisp.
4. Legion… consumes up to 5 poltergeists (the more you use, the more powerful the legion becomes) in order to create this super minion. This creature is always incorporeal and can move through walls and enemies for up to two tiles. More so, when a Legion is in play, all poltergeists gain ability to cause Bleeding and Weakened Disease.
This creature can gain, based on how many poltergeists make up its form, these abilities: Cursed Gloom, invisibility, fear effects, and resist all, up to 70% total.
Legion counts as 2 against your minion cap.
Advanced Necrotic Minions: Locked at level 10.
1. Create Greater Undead. This is an active skill that summons all of the more advanced minion types. Cost is 7 mana and 1 soul per minion.
Increases minion cap to 8.
You can only control 1 Lich at a time.
More so, this spell is targeted in a radius rather than in a cone a la Create Minions.
2. Assemble… always consumes lowest-tiered minions for Bone Giant.
In addition, the limit for Bone Giant summons is changed such that:
lvl 1 - Bone Giant at your lvl - 4.
lvl 2 - Heavy Bone Giant at your level at your level -2
lvl 3 - Can create a 2nd Bone Giant at your level.
lvl 4 - Eternal bone Giant at your level +1.
lvl 5 - 20% Chance of Runed Bone Giant at your level +2. In addition, it eliminates the limit on # of Bone Giant minions except as per minion cap.
lvl 6 - Grants additional level +1
lvl 7 - Guarantees a Runed Bone Giant. Each subsequent level grants level +1.
Bone Giants count as 2 against your minion cap. You can only have 1 Runed Bone Giant under your control at a time.
3. Sacrifice… is now targetable. Mana cost is increased to 25.
If used on any Bone Giant, the effect is unchanged: maximum damage shield.
If used on a Lich, it damages every enemy in your necrotic aura arcane damage equal to your life.
If used on a Legion, it grants bonus to saves for "x" turns.
If used on a Blood Golem, it grants a massive heal and regeneration effect.
4. Blood Golem:
Use: Activated
Range: 3
Cost: 100 mana
Use Speed: 1 turn
Cool-down: 26
This spell combines 1 basic and 1 advanced minion into a Blood Golem that is tied to your life. This creature absorbs all damage it delivers to enemies which is then converted into a heal. Excess life from drain/heal is wasted unless Undeath Link is active.
Only 1 can be summoned and counts as 2 minions against your cap. This minion has a standard set of talents but also gains 2 additional talents based on the particular combination of minions used.
If this golem is killed, you immediately suffer approximately 100-45% of its max life as direct physical damage that can bypasses damage shields and wards but not Undeath Link or Sacrifice. The amount of life you suffer diminishes approximately 8% per active talent level.
In addition, Dark Empathy effect is shared with the Blood Golem such that the Blood Golem also isn't damaged by other minions.
Shades: Locked at level 10.
1. Shadow Tunnel… transports your minions through the underworld to you from anywhere on the map.
At level 2, the act of opening a gateway through the underworld is violent and thus gains % chance of releasing 1 wisp or poltergeist at the original location of each of your minions. Damage scales to active talent level.
2. Dark Vision… new passive skill.
After any enemy or minion is killed, you gain a radius "1 + active talent level/2" vision in that spot for "1 turn per active talent level." This is due to your ability to communicate with the dead… it essentially acts as a limited Arcane Eye.
Radius and duration increase with active talent level.
3. Grim Shadow… new sustain skill.
Cost: 50 mana
Instant Cast
Cool-down: 36
This skill infuses a portion of your life into your shadow to grant it the appearance of life whenever your life is at or below 0 life. This shadow will spawn somewhere within your necrotic aura and has no skills, takes no damage. It exists as an added target which can be moved to a minimum and maximum pre-set range. It can move on its own and absorb attacks, although not beams, etc., as attacks just go right through it.
Enemies cannot tell the difference between you and the shadow and will target each of you equally. The shadow can be cancelled and while active produces a constant mana drain of 1 per turn, per talent point invested. With each additional active level, there is an added 3% chance that enemies will target the shadow.
If the Shadow should stand in any magical darkness such as from a Doomed, it will cause the Shadow to be unseen and thus ignored by the enemy. Shadow is cancelled should it leave your Necrotic Aura, i.e. if you teleport away.
Sustain is dropped when you raise your life about 0 although the shadow lingers for 3 turns.
Any spells cast that travel through your shadow before hitting the enemy will grant a 1-turn bonus that the enemy will target the shadow as it appears as though the attack came from it.
4. FrostDusk… no change.
Ice: … Eliminated.
Mastery of Death: Level 10 locked category at 1.2.
1. Grasping Claws:
Use: Activated
Range: Necrotic Aura
Cost: 25 mana and 2 souls
Use Speed: 1 turn
Cool-down: 14
Causes the dead to reach up from the ground and grab at enemies within your Necrotic Aura, inflicting a small amount of physical damage and pin. With added levels it gains a chance to cause bleeding, and disease.
Duration scales with active talent level, albeit slowly. It gains an additional turn at active talent level 1, 4, 7, etc.
2. Undead Explosion… Skeletons and Bone Giants cause physical damage with chance to cause bleeding. All other minions cause blight damage with chance to infect enemy with disease. Mana cost and cool down remain unchanged.
This ability can now be used on any regular undead enemy in addition to your own minions. However, the success rate is equal to how much life they've lost (excluding negative life). Thus, if an enemy has lost 90% of its life then this spell has a 90% chance of success. On your own minions, the success rate is 100%.
Gains EotD bonus.
3. Blood Curse:
Use: Activated
Range: Necrotic Aura
Cost: 50 mana
Use Speed: 1 turn
Cool-down: 18
Causes damage to any enemy affected by pin, disease, or bleeding from any source, as long as it is within your Necrotic Aura. Damage stacks, i.e. if an enemy has more than one of the below status-effects, it'll suffer damage for each status effect.
Any enemy pinned suffers added physical damage and chance of disarm.
Any enemy bleeding suffers bloody cysts to explode inflicting radius 1 blight damage.
Any enemy that is diseased suffers blight damage and chance to spread disease.
4. Fatal Spite:
Use: Active
Range: 1
Cost: 50 mana and 5 souls
Use Speed: 1 turn
Cool-down: 30
Delivers to 1 target, in melee range of you or one of your minions, blight/darkness damage equal to 100% of the cumulative amount of life below the max for you and all of your minions. Then, you suffer 100%-50% (scales with talent point investment) of said damage on a 1-turn delay as arcane damage.
When at or below 0 life, the delay increases to 2 turns.
Thus, you'd have Survival, Divination, and the new Necromancy as your generics.
Necromancy:
1. Blurred Mortality… no changes except with Lichform.
2. Phase Soul
Use: Activated
Range: 4-10+ with active talent level.
Cost: 30/60 mana
Use Speed: 1 turn
Cool-down: 8/1
This is a perfect, intermediate teleport, albeit an expensive one. It works outside of line of sight with 0% fail.
Range increases per active talent level. This teleport cannot be "targeted" on enemies, escorts, etc. Range scales with active talent level.
In addition:
If you're at or below 0 life (either with equipment, Blurred Mortality, or Heroism infusion, etc.), then this teleport's cool-down is reduced to 1 although the mana cost doubles and the range is reduced by half.
3. Harvest:
Use: Activated
Range: N/A
Cost: 5 mana and 99.99% of life.
Use speed: 1 turn
Cool-down: 36
This spell immediately reduces your life to 0 in exchange for granting the undead status for up to 15 (scales with active talent level) turns and gaining absolute immunity to all new status effects AND damage for 1 turn. Duration increases to 2 at active talent lvl 7 (so with a category mastery).
This will cure up to 7 status effects (1 +1 per active talent level).
This ability does not work if you're already at or below 0 HP.
4. Lichform… gains passive bonus: Blurred Mortality now scales to constitution at 1.25% per point of constitution in addition to base amount.
Re: Full Necro concept… Pg1, now in add-ons section.
This is interesting, but as most re-imaginings of Necromancy here, it seems too complicated by half to be good mechanically.