Exactly my point. In all honesty I think Necro/Mage is probably the most versatile of the caster builds. You have all the damage types and spells to enhance your other spells.While yes, the spells are the damage/mana/cast equivalent of some mage spells, I often find them less effective.
In this build, it looks like Mystic is more or a 2ndary, or maybe tertiary skill. In this case, what spells are you primarily casting?It is EXCELLENT for PVM.
Here is my template:
Magery 100 (120 with Crystalline Ring)
Eval Intel 120
Mysticism 120
Focus 80 (120 with Crystalline Ring, obedience belt and talisman)
Resisting Spells 110
Meditation 72
Spellweaving 118
You can tweak the template to your preference. This is my primary character I play. The main spell book I use also has +10 meditation and +10 resisting spells.
And as Tuan noted, Bard/Mystic is also effective template to play.
With most mobs or bosses, I will cast an RC and fight around it. I will primarily heal using Cleansing Winds, but also use Hail Storm, Eagle Strike, Bombard and Spell Plague quite a bit for offensive skills. I will hit Mass Sleep to slow down some bigger groups a bit and hit an area effect spell like Hail Storm. Going into Stone Form to boost up resists is useful, especially if you're fighting a boss or mob that poisons you a lot. Don't rule out Nether Cyclone either. I can do that with either that full Mysitc Mage Spellweaver template I posted above, or Mystic Bard templates I've played in the past (where I would obviously be using masteries along with it).In this build, it looks like Mystic is more or a 2ndary, or maybe tertiary skill. In this case, what spells are you primarily casting?
What does e current Necro Mage temp consist of these days? I made a Mystic Mage, and like you said, it does seem very limited. It does ok if I can unload a lot of damage quickly, but I get interrupted way more often than I feel comfortable with. I have an old Necro Mage, but I'm thinking the template may need updating, and he's red, so I have plenty of time to work on him My current temp looks like this:Exactly my point. In all honesty I think Necro/Mage is probably the most versatile of the caster builds. You have all the damage types and spells to enhance your other spells.
The template is a pure spell caster template. I use a bit of everything really... it depends on what you're fighting and what their respective weaknesses are. While I do probably use Mysticism the most, I just don't know what I would replace Eval with if I were to take that skill off. Just haven't seen any reason to dump it for something else.IF your primary offensive capabilities come from Mystic spells, then isn't 240 skill points worth of magery and eval a bit wasteful?
I know this is off topic but I love using my bard on maps. People are surprised by how easy I make it. All they have to do is hide/loot/force spawn and I take care of all the spawn keeping it off of them, tieing it up, Discord/Despair/Tribulation/summons to beat down the singles. Provoke/Discord is pretty unbeatable on maps and quite a few things, especially when you can select the damage type. But... that of course isn't on the same template as the T-hunter.This worked excellently through L5 treasure hunts, but it breaks down at L6. Ancient Wyrms are particularly problematic, being difficult to provoke and their self-healing is faster than mana regeneration. I would often be able to redline an SW, only to frustratingly watch it heal while I meditated. I haven't attempted an L7 yet, the frost dragons and changelings particularly difficult is what I've heard. Most recommend the Rising Collosus as the solution.
I loved playing my t-hunter, it's been my main character from my first year of playing. And being a bard was a big part of the identity, dancing among the monsters, balancing damage among them, watching them all fall simultaneously. Great fun. I just found even with 120 Provo and 110 music the fails too big on the ancient wyrms, and with 90 Meditation (all I had room for), I couldn't regenerate mana faster than the AW could heal itself. I had considered all worst of jewelry / suits / soulstone swapouts on the fly, but the bottom line was that my favorite skill Provocation just wasn't up to the task of L6 and L7 chests. I'm still training Mysticism as we speak, and stoned away Provocation for another day.I know this is off topic but I love using my bard on maps. People are surprised by how easy I make it. All they have to do is hide/loot/force spawn and I take care of all the spawn keeping it off of them, tieing it up, Discord/Despair/Tribulation/summons to beat down the singles. Provoke/Discord is pretty unbeatable on maps and quite a few things, especially when you can select the damage type. But... that of course isn't on the same template as the T-hunter.
I think most people play fairly lazily and use Mysticism as a one trick pony with Colossus, I just find that boring.