A
Argyle
Guest
After mulling over many template threads, I felt the need to make an all inclusive post about the topic of the Necro Warrior. From the beginning of AOS my friend Will X and I worked on finding the "ultimate necro warrior template." We were quite successful, and we both settled on variations of the same basic concept.
In this post I will detail:
Template Choices
Required/Helpful Equipment
Symbiosis of the setup
Bear in mind that this is primarily a focus on template choices, as I play on Siege, and ultra equipment is looted faster than Budweiser at a frat party. That being said, the core concept behind our choices remain the foundation of what makes for an extremely solid template.
TEMPLATE~
____________________________________________________________________
Vampire Necro Warrior(720 pts):
120 Melee (preferably fencing, more on this later)
120 Magic Resist
105 Necro
100 Spirit Speak
100 Tactics
94 Healing
81 Anatomy
125 Dex
70 Str
55 Int
____________________________________________________________________
SKILL CHOICES~
120 Fencing:
Although other melee types can work fine, fencing was the #1 choice, as it allowed for the highest rate of swing speed with a dagger or preferably a kryss, and offered a very solid secondary weapon, the warfork (bleed for mages, disarm for warriors).
120 Magic Resist:
We found that a necro warrior MUST use protection as a key component to being a successful pvper. We also encountered plroblems without resist, as the necro warrior has no way to bless, remove curse, or replenish mana rapidly. 85 resist addresses this problem well. Poison wasnt much of an issue, because vampire form prevented the lower level poison from doing much harm.
105 Necro:
The only spell that must never fail is strangle. 105 Necro covers this requirement. Will X eventually went to 120 necro for the ability to cast revenants and toggle out of vampire form against poisoners.
100 Spirit Speak:
As the core of the template is based on dexterity and melee, we found that the base 100 spirit speak was enough to guarantee heals, and make our necro spells do some damage. 120 wound be ideal on any template besides this one, but it is very cramped and the 20 points is better spent elsewhere.
100 Tactics:
The template relies on weapon damage for many reasons. Tactics and damage increase are very important, because at the heart of a necro warrior, the entire offense and defense is based around hitting with your weapon. Offense is obvious, but the ability to gain mana on this template is a mana leeching weapon (and armor if you have insurance). Also, by keeping the opponent on defense from rapid swings (1 swing per second was the goal, anything less than 1.5 wasnt even considered), you gained the advantage, which turned you back on offense. The weapon also leeches life through vamp form, and combined with curse weapon, you can leach 70% of the damage back in life, allowing you to heal through total offense.
94 Healing:
90.1 healing is all that is required to never fail a heal. We balanced healing and anatomy to the minimum requirements to get the job done. With 94 healing, you cure poison reasonably well (had issues with leathal poison on the RARE occassion).
81 Anatomy:
People ALWAYS ask me, why 81 anatomy? Because it is the minimum to ressurect. The added damage increase for going above 81 is much like the arguement for 120 Spirit Speak. It would be nice, but the 19 points is better spent elsewhere. By minimizing healing and anatomy, we can add 25 points to vital scrolled skills. The hitpoints healed is 32-52 hit points vs. 36-60 at GM Healing and Anatomy.
STAT CHOICES:
Dex:
As mentioned above, high dexterity equates to faster swings, which equates to more mana/life leeched over time. Also, your main defense is dexterity based: Healing. With 140 dex (125+ Greater Agility potion), you can heal with a bandage every 4 seconds. With 160 its, 3 seconds, 180 is 2 seconds, 200 is 1 second!!! (bear in mind, stamina is not dexterity. Stamina affects swing speed, not your healing speed)
Str:
70 Str = 85 hit points. With high speed healing (140+ dex), this is plenty of base hit points if you play conservatively coupled with a Greater Strength potion (95 hit points).
Int:
55 int is just enough to keep you in business. If you open with a strangle, and start hitting with a weapon, you can recoup the mana in a few swings, and begin a combo. If you have a +5 AOS stat bonus, use the points in intelligence. The same goes for bonuses on armor…get the mana bonus over anything else.
Vampire Form:
Possibly the coolest form for any warrior, Vampire form gives MR4, and SR 15, coupled with immunity to poison and the ability to gain 20% of the damage you deal back in hit points. The MR/SR helps with the lack of points spent on either meditation or focus. The only drawback is the inability to use garlic, cure potions (quick heals make this easier), and the –25 fire resists.
Equipment:
I am not going to pretend that I have the ideal setup for shards with insurance. On Siege I used faction blessed runic weapons, a Jackal’s Collar, and a Spirit of the Totem. Will X used the same, but a Hunter’s Headdress instead of the Totem. However, there are some core requirements for this template:
JACKAL’S COLLAR – higher dex & huge fire resists. The best item for this template.
30%+ HCI
A fast Mana Leech Weapon with 30%+ Damage Inc (1.5 swings per second minimum)
Dex Bonus on Jewels is a huge bonus
60’s across the board in resists (curse will put you there if you go above, so 60 works)
Potions, potions, some more potions, and some extra potions
For insurance shards:
LMC, MR, Mana Bonus, HCI/Dex/DI jewels. Again, I am not accustomed to using an entire suit crafted and insured, so there is some flexibility here. I would recommend looking at a Rune Beetle Carapace and Dread Pirates Hat in addition to the above items. Being able to add barbed kit armor (I used faction blessed barbed or horned armor) will help immensely.
Conclusion:
Will X and I are avid solo’ers. Barring any unforeseen nerfs, I believe this setup will continue to be a contender for a long time. Played correctly, you might not be able to overcome every gank that finds you, but most of them will have fits trying to kill you. I have won many a 5vs1 with this template. Also, this template is capable of relentless offense in a 1vs1 situation with fast healing and the leeching effects of Vampire Form and Curse Weapon. I have played this template for a long time now, and I don’t plan on retiring it for quite a while.
I hope this can help anyone with questions about the Necro Warrior. Happy PvPing!
In this post I will detail:
Template Choices
Required/Helpful Equipment
Symbiosis of the setup
Bear in mind that this is primarily a focus on template choices, as I play on Siege, and ultra equipment is looted faster than Budweiser at a frat party. That being said, the core concept behind our choices remain the foundation of what makes for an extremely solid template.
TEMPLATE~
____________________________________________________________________
Vampire Necro Warrior(720 pts):
120 Melee (preferably fencing, more on this later)
120 Magic Resist
105 Necro
100 Spirit Speak
100 Tactics
94 Healing
81 Anatomy
125 Dex
70 Str
55 Int
____________________________________________________________________
SKILL CHOICES~
120 Fencing:
Although other melee types can work fine, fencing was the #1 choice, as it allowed for the highest rate of swing speed with a dagger or preferably a kryss, and offered a very solid secondary weapon, the warfork (bleed for mages, disarm for warriors).
120 Magic Resist:
We found that a necro warrior MUST use protection as a key component to being a successful pvper. We also encountered plroblems without resist, as the necro warrior has no way to bless, remove curse, or replenish mana rapidly. 85 resist addresses this problem well. Poison wasnt much of an issue, because vampire form prevented the lower level poison from doing much harm.
105 Necro:
The only spell that must never fail is strangle. 105 Necro covers this requirement. Will X eventually went to 120 necro for the ability to cast revenants and toggle out of vampire form against poisoners.
100 Spirit Speak:
As the core of the template is based on dexterity and melee, we found that the base 100 spirit speak was enough to guarantee heals, and make our necro spells do some damage. 120 wound be ideal on any template besides this one, but it is very cramped and the 20 points is better spent elsewhere.
100 Tactics:
The template relies on weapon damage for many reasons. Tactics and damage increase are very important, because at the heart of a necro warrior, the entire offense and defense is based around hitting with your weapon. Offense is obvious, but the ability to gain mana on this template is a mana leeching weapon (and armor if you have insurance). Also, by keeping the opponent on defense from rapid swings (1 swing per second was the goal, anything less than 1.5 wasnt even considered), you gained the advantage, which turned you back on offense. The weapon also leeches life through vamp form, and combined with curse weapon, you can leach 70% of the damage back in life, allowing you to heal through total offense.
94 Healing:
90.1 healing is all that is required to never fail a heal. We balanced healing and anatomy to the minimum requirements to get the job done. With 94 healing, you cure poison reasonably well (had issues with leathal poison on the RARE occassion).
81 Anatomy:
People ALWAYS ask me, why 81 anatomy? Because it is the minimum to ressurect. The added damage increase for going above 81 is much like the arguement for 120 Spirit Speak. It would be nice, but the 19 points is better spent elsewhere. By minimizing healing and anatomy, we can add 25 points to vital scrolled skills. The hitpoints healed is 32-52 hit points vs. 36-60 at GM Healing and Anatomy.
STAT CHOICES:
Dex:
As mentioned above, high dexterity equates to faster swings, which equates to more mana/life leeched over time. Also, your main defense is dexterity based: Healing. With 140 dex (125+ Greater Agility potion), you can heal with a bandage every 4 seconds. With 160 its, 3 seconds, 180 is 2 seconds, 200 is 1 second!!! (bear in mind, stamina is not dexterity. Stamina affects swing speed, not your healing speed)
Str:
70 Str = 85 hit points. With high speed healing (140+ dex), this is plenty of base hit points if you play conservatively coupled with a Greater Strength potion (95 hit points).
Int:
55 int is just enough to keep you in business. If you open with a strangle, and start hitting with a weapon, you can recoup the mana in a few swings, and begin a combo. If you have a +5 AOS stat bonus, use the points in intelligence. The same goes for bonuses on armor…get the mana bonus over anything else.
Vampire Form:
Possibly the coolest form for any warrior, Vampire form gives MR4, and SR 15, coupled with immunity to poison and the ability to gain 20% of the damage you deal back in hit points. The MR/SR helps with the lack of points spent on either meditation or focus. The only drawback is the inability to use garlic, cure potions (quick heals make this easier), and the –25 fire resists.
Equipment:
I am not going to pretend that I have the ideal setup for shards with insurance. On Siege I used faction blessed runic weapons, a Jackal’s Collar, and a Spirit of the Totem. Will X used the same, but a Hunter’s Headdress instead of the Totem. However, there are some core requirements for this template:
JACKAL’S COLLAR – higher dex & huge fire resists. The best item for this template.
30%+ HCI
A fast Mana Leech Weapon with 30%+ Damage Inc (1.5 swings per second minimum)
Dex Bonus on Jewels is a huge bonus
60’s across the board in resists (curse will put you there if you go above, so 60 works)
Potions, potions, some more potions, and some extra potions
For insurance shards:
LMC, MR, Mana Bonus, HCI/Dex/DI jewels. Again, I am not accustomed to using an entire suit crafted and insured, so there is some flexibility here. I would recommend looking at a Rune Beetle Carapace and Dread Pirates Hat in addition to the above items. Being able to add barbed kit armor (I used faction blessed barbed or horned armor) will help immensely.
Conclusion:
Will X and I are avid solo’ers. Barring any unforeseen nerfs, I believe this setup will continue to be a contender for a long time. Played correctly, you might not be able to overcome every gank that finds you, but most of them will have fits trying to kill you. I have won many a 5vs1 with this template. Also, this template is capable of relentless offense in a 1vs1 situation with fast healing and the leeching effects of Vampire Form and Curse Weapon. I have played this template for a long time now, and I don’t plan on retiring it for quite a while.
I hope this can help anyone with questions about the Necro Warrior. Happy PvPing!
