Don_Uvas

I've updated my Necromancy Cookbook. You can find it in the Guides section of the Mastermind Forums, my signature, or here:

Don Uvas's New and Improved Necromancy Cookbook!

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...Damnation, I just figured out how to do it. Posts in the Guide forum don't die. Looks like common sense ISN'T so common, as is often said by the smart people around here. --;

Gonna try and delete this post and do it the right way. Thanks a bunch, Geek Boy. I 'preciate it.

And without further ado, here it is, free from (most) of my stupidity! Once again, thanks to Geek Boy, whose voice of not-being-a-[censored]-idiot-ness has made this guide possible.
Don Uvas's Recipe for Necromancy

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I have updated my guide. Here's the link to Don Uvas's New and Improved Necromancy Cookbook! You will also be able to find it in my updated sig. Enjoy, happy holidays, and happy cooking!

Well, it's been an issue or two since my first guide...and honestly, not much has changed gameplay-wise for the Necromancy/Dark Miasma MM. My perspective, however, has changed. I've tried a number of builds, each quite different than the first, and have tried out nearly every power in either set possibly, as well as its synergy with certain power pools. As such, I'm bringing Don Uvas's Necromancy Cookbook back to life!

SUMMARY: The Necro/Dark MM is a potent and delicious power set combo, with good control, debuffing, and very satisfactory damage (though some will come as DoT).

And now, for the Ingredients that will be at your disposal as a Necro/Dark MM.

NECROMANCY (PRIMARY)

1) Dark Blast
Dark Blast is an inexpensive (endurance-wise) ingredient you can get early on in your career as a villain. There are many Mastermind Cooks that find that personal attacks spoil the stew of Necromancy, as well as the other power sets. However, taking a personal attack is very much up to personal preference: It is even possible to take both Dark Blast and Gloom, and maybe even Air Superiority from the pools, and replace your first-tier Zombies for less baby-sitting. However, after having no personal attacks, then no zombies and the three above, I have settled (very happily, especially with Sands of My to complement it) on one. Though I chose Gloom for the increased amount of damage, you may want Dark Blast for the lack of DoT.
Suggested Slotting: 2-3 Damage, 1-2 Accuracy
Power Rating:

2) Zombie Horde
Ah, your first henchmen (and possibly women...it’s kind of hard to tell). There is little that swells your heart with pride more than seeing your Zombies making their first pea soup and graciously giving it to enemies. Fortunately for your villainy career, it is peasoup that looks, smells, sounds, tastes, and corrodes flesh like vomit. It is certainly possible to respec out of Zombies and into personal attacks. However, your DPS–and survivability, with 3 less meatshields--does take a hit as a result of the lack of babysitting. Still, a build without first-tier zombies is perfectly viable (and fun!), though it is an option most Cooks do not opt for. Most Cooks are probably right. I'd take it if I were you. And I've gone both ways (and been happy with both. By the way, I apologize for such broken thoughts. And so many damn ands...)
Suggested Slotting: 3 Damage, 3 Accuracy
Rating:

3) Gloom
The second of your two possible personal-attack ingredients. Though Gloom's flavor is more robust, damaging, and looks a lot cooler, the flavor takes a while to sink in. The DoT nature of this ingredient makes it distasteful for many cooks, but if you're going to choose a personal attack, my vote goes out for this one. Against bigger threats (and you won't be attacking smaller ones personally anyway), the full amount of damage sinks in, and the amount of damage is satisfactory. Just like Dark Blast, however, the taking of personal attacks depends greatly on the cooking style of the chef.
Suggested Slotting: 2-3 Damage, 1 Accuracy, 0-1 Endurance Reduction, 0-1 Recharge
Rating:

4) Enchant Undead
A must-have for any serious Necromancy chef, Enchant Undead can turn any drab and unexciting undead slave into powerful additions to any dinner plate, brimming with spicy energies flowing from the bowels of Hell itself! This ingredient enhances all of your henchmen’s abilities (albeit one by one), and also makes them look cooler, granting Zombies the power to give an enemy a friendly greeting by vomiting all over them, Grave Knights an extra blast and the wonderful Disembowel (a great trick to show your friends at parties! Just make sure no one likes the guy you use it on) and gives your Lich Tenebrous Tentacles and Life Drain, all of which are very handy powers. Even the craziest of loons get this. Those that don’t either don’t get past level 5, or have had their brains eaten by zombies whose master DID take this power, and thus never got the opportunity.
Suggested Slotting: 0-1 End Reduction OR 0-1 Recharge. It doesn't need any more than the default slot.
Rating:

5) Life Drain
While a potentially useful asset for another Mastermind, the second part of this recipe (Dark Miasma) renders this ingredient useless: it’s expensive for little damage and a heal you already have in Twilight Grasp. If you are NOT /Dark, however, I could easily see it being a highly useful power, as it provides the only other self-heal in every other MM set, Primary and Secondary, excluding Twilight Grasp.
Suggested Slotting: ...Honestly, I wouldn't know. But I'd assume something along the lines of 1-2 Accuracy, 2-3 Heal, 1-2 Endurance Reduction, 1-2 Recharge Reduction.
Rating: (For /Darks, anyway)

6) Grave Knights
The Grave Knight is the primary ingredient in this recipe, the cake mix to your cake, the steak to your brisket, the hybridized variety of maize to your corn on the macabre! Not only are they monsters in melee, but they have wonderful table manners, making sure to always say “Please” before crushing the skulls of all who oppose you with their giant broadsword. If you decide not to take and use this brain-eating ambrosia you’re either insane or a petless MM. Seriously...they’re amazing. No chef should be without his Grave Knights. Or his whisk. Hey, you never know.
Suggested Slotting: 2 Accuracy, 3 Damage
Rating: Eleventy-billion out of five. (that, by the way, was somewhere slightly around eleventy-billion smilies).

7) Soul Extraction
Soul Extraction's usefulness has been decreased since its release. Though once an awe-inspiringly delicious ingredient to any MM recipe, it seems I am no longer able to keep it perma with 3 Recharges, as dismissed henchmen now die too fast to use Soul Extraction on, even with little shortcuts I used to use. This means you must wait for a henchman to die to add your Soul to the soup, which ideally, won't happen. Still, when the Extracted Soul can come out, he can be a useful addition to your army, with an extra hold to stack with your Lich's and your own, among other powers at his disposal. Plus, he looks damn cool. Can be a very pleasing garnish on your Necromantic Meal.
Suggested Slotting: 2-3 Hold, 1-2 Acc, 0-3 Recharge
Rating:

8) Lich
Ah, the Lich. Your 3rd tier pet. Though this exotic flavor may not be the most damaging ingredient in your arsenal, it can turn any intimidating group of food critics into a pack of whimpering puppies with its succulent combination of Tenebrous Tentacles, Petrifying Gaze, and Fearsome Stare. Unfortunately, the fact that it has more HP than you can be a little depressing.
Suggested Slotting: It varies, depending on what you want your Lich to do most with. Want it to debuff ToHit chance? Slot it with ToHit debuff. Want its fear to last longer? Slot Fear Duration. Want its hold to last longer? Slot Hold Duration. Basically, the only necessity is slotting one Accuracy so he doesn’t miss with all of his powers. I went for a “Jack of All Trades” approach with 1 Acc, 2 Hold Duration, 2 ToHit Debuffs, and 1 Fear Duration.
Rating:

9) Dark Empowerment
Dark Empowerment is basically the same as Enchant Undead, but even more delicious–its animation is cooler, and to quote Confucius, it makes all of your henchman look “t3h ub3r 1337" and it grants powers that are even more useful to your pet (with the exception of your first tiers–little is better than zombie vomit). Your first tier zombies get Siphon Life (yawn), though their hands are all fiery red (unfortunately, the green breath and red hands remind me slightly of Christmas colors...) The Grave Knights look awesome and they get ELECTRIC [censored] SWORDS! Plus, they get Siphon Life and the awe-inspiring Headsplitter which will make you smile every time it gets a Critical for around 200-400 damage, and your Lich gets Petrifying Gaze and Fearsome Stare. A must have for any serious Necromancer Chef.
Suggested Slotting: 0-1 Endurance Reduction OR 0-1 Recharge Reduction.
Rating:

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And now the second part of the delicious recipe that is the Necro/Dark MM...Dark Miasma.

DARK MIASMA (SECONDARY)

1) Twilight Grasp
Although you’re forced to use this power, it’s a bonanza of healing flavor, about as effective as chicken soup given to someone with a cold. Just make sure you’re almost right next to those who you plan to help with it, or it’ll just end up spilling on the ground and you might end up with a mess to clean up on the carpet.
Suggested Slotting: It’s surprisingly useful even with just an Accuracy in the default slot, but you can add Accuracies, Heals, Recharge, etcetera to taste if you want to.
Rating:

2) Tar Patch
Do you find that all your dinner guests are leaving your parties too soon? Well, slow ‘em down with Tar Patch! Not only is it good at keeping those pesky enemies within arm’s length so you can beat them into messy pulps, but it lowers their resistance making them that much easier to destroy so you can still have time in your busy schedule to giggle with your closest undead buddies about how funny the corpses are when they twitch. TRANSLATION: It’s an AoE slow with -Res.
Suggested Slotting: Useful with just 1 Recharge, though more Recharges can easily be added if you want to use it more often, and 3 Recharges allows you to put one down just as the first is wearing off. You can also add Slows if you really want to, though you don’t really need them.
Rating:

3) Darkest Night
Darkest Night is one of the most delectable ingredients in the entire Dark Miasma set, and a good reason in itself to take this Secondary. Did you bite more you could chew off of the metaphoric meat of the battlefield? Never fear! With Darkest Night, you can greatly reduce the amount of times the enemies are able to hit you and the damage they do with each strike, turning a daunting buffet heaped with food into an easily managed meal.
Suggested Slotting: 3 ToHit Debuffs, 2 Endurance Reductions
Rating:

4) Howling Twilight
Howling Twilight is an ingredient much like crackers: often looked on at nothing more than surface level. Sure, by itself, the cracker makes naught by a salty treat not fit for even a midnight snack. The noble cracker, however, is a delicacy when combined with cheese, or dipped in soup. The same applies for Howling Twilight, as it is also delicious when dipped in soup. Wait...that’s not right. The same applies for Howling Twilight. On surface level, it’s an AoE Rez than can only be used with enemies around, and you need to be close to the...um...rez-ees to use it. When looked into more thoroughly, however, you will find that it’s also an AoE auto-hit, minion-class rez! When slotted with 3 Recharge and 3 Stun Duration, it’s a useful, reliable control that’s up surprisingly often, brimming with Saltine-y goodness.
Suggested Slotting: If you’re using it as nothing more than a Rez, stick in a Recharge or an End Reduction or something. If you’re using it as a control (never a bad investment), 2-3 Recharge and 2-3 Stun Duration.
Rating:

5) Shadow Fall
Shadow Fall is a welcome ingredient to anyone using Dark Miasma in their meals. It’s just perfect for sneaking up on your heroic friends, yelling, “Surprise!” then reducing their bodies into shredded hunks of bleeding meatsacks lightly sauteed with ground bone with a side of spasming muscle. Not only is it handy for giving enemies their last Surprise Party by cloaking not only you but everyone around you, but it gives some nifty resistance to Psionic, Negative Energy, and Energy damage! Hip, hip, HOORAY! TRANSLATION: This is a power that grants stealth to you and nearby allies, as well as a sizable +Res to Psionic, Negative Energy, and Energy damage.
Suggested Slotting: 0-3 Resistance, 1 Endurance Reduction
Rating:

6) Fearsome Stare
Another hard-to-pass-up ingredient in the Dark Miasma line of products, Fearsome Stare can make any group of rude dinner guests cower before you, only moving to give you a smack if you hit them, then returning to their former, quivering selves! Also, not only can you use it to stop a group of enemies dead in their tracks, but it comes with a potent ToHit Debuff–very useful when stacked with all of your other ToHit Debuffs–and if you’re going almost all single target (a Necromancer’s forte), this can severely limit the amount of incoming damage.
Suggested Slotting: 3 Fear Duration or ToHit Debuff depending on playstyle, 1 Accuracy, 2 Recharge, or something of the like. This is a power whose slotting is up to interpretation, and can really be effective no matter how you slot it.
Rating:

7) Petrifying Gaze
Petrifying Gaze is really one of my favorite ingredients in the entire recipe. I can’t count the many times its saved me from a meal where everything has gone horribly wrong, or a dinner guest who you KNOW will ruin everything. Like a Sapper. Or a Longbow Flamethrower. All you have to do is hold them with Petrifying Gaze and either kill them while they’re helpless, or leave them for later while you show your guests good ‘ol Necromantic Hospitality in the form of the business end of your Grave Knights’ swords. Plus, you can stack your Petrifying Gaze with your Lich’s to take even bosses out of commission, or can stack it with your Lich’s and your Soul’s, and maybe even your PPP hold, to hold nearly anything!
Suggested Slotting: 2-3 Hold Duration, 1-2 Accuracy
Rating:

8) Black Hole
There’s a good side and a bad side to this power. The bad side is that though it can be useful for an “Oh, [censored]!” button, powers like Fearsome Stare and Howling Twilight are much better ones. The good side is that having too many ingredients in one delicious soup can spoil it–slots are a valuable commodity, after-all, and having TOO many good ingredients to add to your meal can really make slots tough to come by.
Suggested Slotting: Just don’t get it unless you like getting booted from teams (Hey, there’s a use for it! On a bad PuG? Just Black Hole a couple times and you don’t have to worry, a kick is on its way!)
Rating: Black Hole makes baby Statesman cry.

9) Dark Servant
I haven’t had the joy of meeting this adorably fluffy little chap, but I can’t wait until the day that I do: Even if he isn’t permanent, he lends extra Tenebrous Tentacles, a sizable ToHit debuff while in melee range, and an incredibly useful extra Twilight Grasp! Plus, he looks pretty neat.
Suggested Slotting: Another of those powers with malleable slotting–you can put in 3 Recharge if you want him out as often as possible, or you could focus on ToHit Debuff or Heals or something using Recharge as sort of an afterthought to get more bang for your buck when he/she/it is out. I, personally, plan on going 3 ToHit Debuff, 1 Acc, 2 Recharge.
Rating:

Well, you’ve got both parts of your Necromancy/Dark mix, now all you have to do is blend them into one sumptuous concoction! And now, I guess I should share my build with you. I don’t have the builder thingy, so I’ll just format it similarly to the way such a device would. Also, I would like to put in a disclaimer: This build is quite strange. And now another: Though a Necromancy MM is very powerful, there are many things it can’t do. Let me tell you a funny story. One day, I was minding my own business running through missions when I just happened to run across Agent Indigo. For all of her caltrops and that Longbow Flamethrower next to her, me and my Deadboys took her down pretty fast with barely a scratch on us by the end. So, I take a picture and ask my Lich to go to the Kinko’s down the street and make some copies. I wait for 3 hours, and he’s still not there, so I super-speed over and it turned out he was making copies of his tuchus THE ENTIRE TIME! Go figure, huh?

Now then, as a nice addition to the guide, I’m putting advice on all the power pools.

CONCEALMENT: I, personally, wouldn’t take concealment. There are other power pools to take and powers can be tight, and if you need stealth, I find that Shadow Fall is perfectly sufficient. It’s all a matter of playstyle, however, and apparently (according to one of the people who gave feedback on the first edition of this guide) Grant Invisibility stacks with Shadow Fall. Still, my advice is skip it.
Rating:

FIGHTING: Quite useless to a MM. Just don’t take it. I haven’t tested this one out, but it just doesn’t seem useful in the slightest. I’m sure others will agree with me.
Rating:

FITNESS: One of the nice things about being a MM is you don’t need Fitness for the lovely, wonderful Stamina. Fitness remains a great power pool selection, and in long battles with tough foes, I’m very glad I have it. It means you’re more free to spam your Secondary, getting more use out of it, and it means that I don’t have to be afraid to use my personal attacks for a little bit of extra damage.
Rating:

FLIGHT: Flight is a very nice pool to take. Fly can be a quick, fun travel power with 3 Flight Speeds in it, if you want to skip Zombies and take personal attacks, Air Superiority is a great addition to your repertoire (and you can even have it replace Gloom if you just want quick, non-DoT attacks), Hover is inexpensive knockback protection that, when 3-slotted with Flight Speed, is speed that’s not bad at all, and Group Fly is visually very pleasing. Group Fly also allows you to catch up with flying enemies like Longbow Eagles if they manage to avoid getting hit by your Lich’s Tenebrous Tentacles before flying through the air, and can just feel very evil. You’re flying through the skies with an undead army, cloaked with Shadow Fall. As you’re hovering over a group of villains, you whisper to your henchmen, “Kill them. Kill them all,” and out of the air comes a rain of darkness and acidic vomit upon your enemies as your Grave Knights fly in for the kill...
Rating:

LEADERSHIP: A popular choice among many Masterminds. If you do take this pool, I’d suggest taking Assault and Tactics. Added to your Supremacy, your henchmen’s attacks will be pleasantly augmented. If you take personal attacks, however, I’d advise against it, as the drain may be too much. I had the pool, and didn’t like it in the slightest, though others wouldn’t give it up for the world. It’s really a matter of playstyle.
Rating:

LEAPING: Super Jump is probably the best travel power in the game, as it’s quick, doesn’t need slots, and has vertical movement. If you have some slots to spare, though, other travel pools can be better: Speed has Hasten, Flight has Air Superiority and Group Fly, Teleportation has Recall Friend, Teleport Foe, and Team Teleport, and all Leaping has to offer is Combat Jumping and expensive Knockback protection in Acrobatics, which Flight can offer cheaper with Hover. Still, if you’re pressed for slots, Leaping’s a wonderful pool to take.
Rating:

MEDICINE: For Masterminds with secondaries other than /Dark, Medicine with its Aid Other and Aid Self can be a godsend. For a Necro/Dark, however, all of the bases are already covered, as you have a better heal in Twilight Grasp that doesn’t waste any power selections, is effective with just an Accuracy, and fits the concept better.
Rating: For other Masterminds (/Poison, /Traps, /TA, or /FF), this pool gets at least a (that’s four, count ‘em, four grins. And at least means a possible five). For a /Dark, however? Just one .

PRESENCE: With Bodyguard, Presence can be a very useful tool (though I haven’t used it personally). You can keep your henchmen in defensive follow and use Provoke and Challenge to get all the aggro on you. The damage will be split with bodyguard, and though the aggro is on you, the damage to you and your henchmen will be minimal. Also, if you’re building a Tankermind (which others can address better than I), this is a pool essential to your build.
Rating:

SPEED: Speed is an excellent travel pool–very fast, and Hasten is a pre-requisite that is very useful even if you don’t plan on taking the rest of the pool. Unfortunately, it lacks vertical movement. If you take the Speed Pool for travel, I would also suggest taking at least Hurdle and Combat Jumping, though taking an additional travel pool is ideal.
Rating:

TELEPORTATION: Teleportation is an oft-maligned travel pool, as it is expensive and difficult to control. By making a bind (/bind t “powexec_name Teleport works for me–I just press “t” and click where I want to go), however, it is easy to learn how to use the power, and with 3 Endurance Reductions, it costs almost nothing to use, making it possibly the fastest travel power in the game. Additionally, Recall Friend is helpful both for ‘porting team mates to missions, low levels across zones, and idiot undead who get stuck among many more. Teleport Foe can be a useful way to thin the crowd, though I haven’t used it personally, and for a melee Mastermind like a Necromancer, Team Teleport is incredibly useful. With 3 Endurance Reductions, it costs next to nothing and allows me to hop from mob to mob, getting the drop on each one and debuffing it before it has time to react. It also allows you to stealth through missions with your pets.
Rating:

Thank you for reading the many pages of my guide! I hope you’ve benefitted from it, and I wish you happy “Cooking” with whatever build you use !

I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that Hover already costs very little--almost 0--endurance, so those 3 extra slots in it could probably be used elsewhere. Also, a good friend of mine has an /Energy Blaster that I helped him build, and he often uses Bone Smasher for a highly effective attack. The melee range issue if you're not a blapper--which you definitely don't seem to be, judging by powers, slotting, etc.--could be alleviated by mezzing the target first with Stun or Total Focus.

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How about Ice Tankers? They don't make 'em any worse than Ice...wooeee.

* Hibernate shuts down your toggles for a whopping 5 seconds before it triggers = death
* Icicles doesn't do cold damage.
* Utterly useless at the 40+ range
* Spines / Invuln Scrappers are overwhelmingly better tankers than Ice / anything
* No high level mobs of importance deal cold damage.

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Excuse me? I think you're WAY out of line here, and terribly, terribly misinformed. I was going to continue leisurely reading the thread, perhaps see if anyone else pointed this out, but I couldn't wait.

* Hibernate doesn't shut off your toggles anymore. They stay on the whole duration, and Hibernate activates almost instantly anyway.
* Okay, this is true. But does a Damage Aura doing an oft-resisted damage type gimp a set? Silly me! I'm so naive. I thought the point of our primaries was DEFENSE. And plus, it still does DAMAGE, it's just resisted more often.
* Very, VERY untrue. Frawsty is still going on strong at level 50. In fact, he shines against enemies many tanks shake in their boots at. Like Sappers, for example.
* Once again, [censored]. Maybe your Spines/Invuln will tank better against Smashing and Lethal (Maybe). Let's try Cold, Energy, and Negative Energy. And even things like Fire, Psy and Toxic are less dangerous to us because many Tanks have some form of single-target damage mitigation stronger than an immobilize (Like Energy Melee's Stun or Total Focus, for example, Total Focus being prefered) that a Spines/Invul will not. The only thing a Spines/Invul will do better than an Ice Tank reliably is damage. As it should be.
* ...So? I can tank against things that don't do Cold damage any day of the week.

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Hullo there.

I find my faithful companion Fluffy very rarely troubles himself with Twilight Grasp. When he does, it's potent enough. I therefore spice him up with one accuracy, two recovery reducers and -three- accuracy debuffs. Admittedly I use accuracy debuffs generously as I find the more you have, the spicier the stew.

Did you know that your zombies keep better if you sprinkle them lightly with Grant Invisibility? It allows one's guests to concentrate on the knights' cute little electric party favors without distractions.

Speaking of the knights, how can you forego their last slot when it allows such wonderful choices? Accuracy debuff for me of course, but defense debuff is an excellent option.

Your choices for Soul Extraction confuse me. The days of dropping your lich down a convenient well are over, and when he falls on his own you need to think about a hasty exit. I therefore flavor the ghost with 1 acc, 2 dam, 3 rec reducers. Remember, spice doesn't do any good in the spice rack.

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Thanks for the response, especially since it was cooking-themed like my guide.

Especially thanks on telling me about the Dark Servant...I've never actually had Fluffy as a pet, so it's good to know his behavior. In that case, I'll probably go 3 Recharge, 1 Acc, and 2 ToHit Debuffs.

I know Grant Invisibility, of course, would be better than Shadow Fall--simple stealth versus invisibility!--but I get enough individual buffing with my upgrade powers, and don't really have the room. Plus, then I'd have to get rid of Shadow Fall's delicious Resistance, and would have no personal stealth. Additionally, I'm a forgetful person, which ties into my reason for not having Soul Extraction--even when one of my pets dies in battle, I forget to extract his soul because situations have to be pretty tense for me to lose a Grave Knight or worse, a Lich.

All a matter of playstyle/preference/grey matter (in my case), I guess.

Oh, right! And the reason I have only 5 slots in my Grave Knights is 2 slots of Acc is really all they need, and I couldn't really think of what else to put in there. They use their heal too infrequently and it usually heals them up enough when they do--plus, I've got Twilight Grasp. I almost never have them use their blasts, and when I do, it's not for debuffing purposes, so ToHit Debuffs are out, and defense debuff...well, my pets have accuracy that's more than sufficient with 1-2 SO's of recharge + Supremacy, so that's out too. Basically, I felt my slotting for my Grave Knights were as complete as possible, and I could spend those slots better elsewhere.

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Nice guide. I'm concerned about your advice to respec out of zombies - the return for investment is so high that I can't imagine why you wouldn't want 3 extra mobs taking hits that you and your lich and knights don't have to, doing toxic ae damage, and generally running interference on the enemy. If you don't like them in combat, why not just set them to bodyguard mode to increase your own survivability? Zombies are not your most powerful tool, but they're versatile and handy. I think most anybody can find a use for them if he tries.

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I think you misunderstood that part: I only vaguely suggested respeccing out of zombies. The only reason I did was because I'm kind of a nut, and respeccing out was simply suggested to idiots like me. And when I *DID* have them I found quite a bit of use for them, I just got really tired and bored of babysitting their dumb bony [censored] all day. So, I kicked 'em out, and got some personal attacks (*Psst...it's more fun. Keeps things on the edge. Join us, Scrapulous...Join ussss....*)

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An exception here is the lich. I'd rather not have him in melee range so that his cones are at their widest when they hit the target. Really particular necromancers will want to position the lich to ensure that his cone covers the group of mobs, but I've done a bit of this and I think the effort isn't worth the returns. If you have nothing else to do in the battle, of course, it can help.

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Yeah...I knew that, but I forgot to put it in the guide. A GoTo macro just for your 1st and 2nd Tiers (that's what I've done...but without the 1st tiers) is advisable. --; <---(This is my, "Yes, I'm an idiot. Don't rub it in" face). That's an interesting tactic, by the way, with the Grave Knights at range. Without 6 pets though, they're a lot easier and more painless to micromanage, even on bigger teams. Then again, I miss out on vomit. So it's give and take.

Thanks for the feedback!

The Rogue Isles is filled with many different dishes, each one exotic, sumptuous, and different from the other. One of my favorite hearty meals is the Necromancy/Dark Miasma Mastermind, a delicious blend of melee damage, potent debuffs, and a light garnish of healing.

Necromancy Ingredients

1) Dark Blast
A quick and inexpensive blast of Negative Energy flavor. Though its damage is light and most Mastermind Cooks tend to shy away from ingredients that have the Mastermind themselves dealing damage to unwanted house-guests, it can be useful to pick off a runner or an enemy that your pets have passed over. All in all, however, the choice of using this ingredient depends on the cooking style of the chef. Most agree that getting this is a bad idea, but if you want to feel like you’re doing more things directly (I did, I took out my Zombie Horde because I was tired of babysitting the dimwits and took both blasts and Air Superiority to make a bigger impact on the enemies. It’s more fun in my opinion, and I’m quite pleased with the results), it may be a nice power pick.
Suggested Slotting: 2-3 Damage, 1 Accuracy
Rating: 3/5

2) Zombie Horde
At the lower levels, these undead are the meat of your Necromancy stew. However, this is only because they are the only undead in your Necromancy stew until level 12, when you get your Grave Knight. As more levels pass, this ingredient which formerly made life delicious and nutritious with a heavy helping of corrosive projectile vomit becomes greatly overshadowed by your other pets. Still, meat-shields are always nice and it’s always fun to have more pets...most of the time. The only reason I respecced out of them is that I’m completely insane. Seriously, you’d have to be crazy not to get them.
Suggested Slotting: 3 Damage, 3 Accuracy
Rating: 4/5

3) Gloom
Essentially a more hearty version of Dark Blast, though it’s intense flavor can take a while to sink in (it’s DoT), potentially making it less desirable. Once more, whether or not you use it is up to your cooking style.
Suggested Slotting: 2-3 Damage, 1 Accuracy, 0-1 Endurance Reduction, 0-1 Recharge
Rating: 3/5

4) Enchant Undead
A must-have for any serious Necromancy chef, Enchant Undead can turn any drab and unexciting undead slave into powerful additions to any dinner plate, brimming with spicy energies flowing from the bowels of Hell itself! This ingredient enhances all of your henchmen’s abilities (albeit one by one), and also makes them look cooler, granting Zombies the power to give an enemy a friendly greeting by vomiting all over them, Grave Knights an extra blast and the wonderful Disembowel (a great trick to show your friends at parties! Just make sure no one likes the guy you use it on) and gives your Lich Tenebrous Tentacles and Life Drain, all of which are very handy powers. Even the craziest of loons get this. Those that don’t either don’t get past level 5, or have had their brains eaten by zombies whose master DID take this power, and thus never got the opportunity.
Suggested Slotting: 1 Endurance Reduction
Rating: 5/5

5) Life Drain
While a potentially useful asset for another Mastermind, the second part of this recipe (Dark Miasma) renders this ingredient useless: it’s expensive for little damage and a heal you already have in Twilight Grasp.
Rating: 1/5

6) Grave Knight
The Grave Knight is the primary ingredient in this recipe, the cake mix to your cake, the steak to your brisket, the hybridized variety of maize to your corn on the macabre! Not only are they monsters in melee, but they have wonderful table manners, making sure to always say “Please” before crushing the skulls of all who oppose you with their giant broadsword. If you decide not to take and use this brain-eating ambrosia you’re either insane or a petless MM. Seriously...they’re amazing. And adorable.
Suggested Slotting: 3 Damage, 2 Accuracy
Rating: Eleventy-billion/5

7) Soul Extraction
Soul Extraction used to be a much better power than it is now, as you could simply dismiss one of your pets and use this power on the quickly disappearing corpse. With 3 recharges, you could have a permanent 7th pet as long as you remembered to dismiss and Extract every few minutes. Now you have to actually wait for another pet to die. Though the Soul itself is no less useful, the times you can sprinkle it on have become more situational, turning this power from whipped cream topping on a gourmet dessert to some rainbow jimmies on a cup of vanilla ice cream from Baskin Robbins–delicious, but not necessary. Still, when you have him out, he’s useful enough and looks damn cool.
Suggested Slotting: 2 Hold, 1, Acc, 3 Recharge
Rating: 3/5

8) Lich
Ah, the Lich. Your 3rd tier pet. Though this exotic flavor may not be the most damaging ingredient in your arsenal, it can turn any intimidating group of food critics into a pack of whimpering puppies with its robust combination of Tenebrous Tentacles, Petrifying Gaze, and Fearsome Stare. Unfortunately, the fact that it has more HP than you can be a little depressing.
Suggested Slotting: It varies, depending on what you want your Lich to do most with. Want it to debuff ToHit chance? Slot it with ToHit debuff. Want its fear to last longer? Slot Fear Duration. Want its hold to last longer? Slot Hold Duration. Basically, the only necessity is slotting one Accuracy so he doesn’t miss with all of his powers. I went for a “Jack of All Trades” approach with 1 Acc, 2 Hold Duration, 2 ToHit Debuffs, and 1 Fear Duration.
Rating: 4/5

9) Dark Empowerment
Dark Empowerment is basically the same as Enchant Undead, but even more delicious–its animation is cooler, and to quote Confucius, it makes all of your henchman look “t3h ub3r 1337" and it grants powers that are even more useful to your pet (with the exception of your first tiers–little is better than zombie vomit). Your first tier zombies get Siphon Life (yawn), though their hands are all fiery red (unfortunately, the green breath and red hands remind me slightly of Christmas colors...) The Grave Knights look awesome and they get ELECTRIC [censored] SWORDS! Plus, they get Siphon Life and the awe-inspiring Headsplitter which will make you smile every time it gets a Critical for around 200-400 damage, and your Lich gets Petrifying Gaze and Fearsome Stare. A must have to any serious Necromancer Chef.
Suggested Slotting:1 Endurance Reduction
Rating: 5/5

And now onto the second part of this irresistible recipe: Dark Miasma.

1) Twilight Grasp
Although you’re forced to use this power, it’s a bonanza of healing flavor, about as effective as chicken soup given to someone with a cold. Just make sure you’re almost right next to those who you plan to help with it, or it’ll just end up spilling on the ground and you might end up with a mess to clean up on the carpet.
Suggested Slotting: It’s surprisingly useful even with just an Accuracy in the default slot, but you can add Accuracies, Heals, Recharge, etcetera to taste if you want to.
Rating: 5/5

2) Tar Patch
Do you find that all your dinner guests are leaving your parties too soon? Well, slow ‘em down with Tar Patch! Not only is it good at keeping those pesky enemies within arm’s length so you can beat them into messy pulps, but it lowers their resistance making them that much easier to destroy so you can still have time in your busy schedule to giggle with your closest undead buddies about how funny the corpses are when they twitch. TRANSLATION: It’s an AoE slow with -Res.
Suggested Slotting: Useful with just 1 Recharge, though more Recharges can easily be added if you want to use it more often, and 3 Recharges allows you to put one down just as the first is wearing off. You can also add Slows if you really want to, though you don’t really need them.
Rating: 4/5

3) Darkest Night
Darkest Night is one of the most delectable ingredients in the entire Dark Miasma set, and a good reason in itself to take this Secondary. Did you bite more you could chew off of the metaphoric meat of the battlefield? Never fear! With Darkest Night, you can greatly reduce the amount of times the enemies are able to hit you, turning a daunting buffet heaped with food into an easily managed meal.
Suggested Slotting: 3 ToHit Debuffs, 2 Endurance Reductions
Rating: 5/5

4) Howling Twilight
At first glance, Howling Twilight can seem to be a rather bland ingredient. “A rez that you need to have an enemy around for?” you must be thinking, “That suXx0rZ t3h b1g 0n3!1!!1!!” Well, look a little closer and you’ll notice that Howling Twilight is just brimming with wholesome goodness that’s good clean fun for the whole Pick-up Group! First of all, it’s capable of rezzing multiple targets as long as they’re fairly close by. Second, it can make for a great control power, even when there’s no allies to rez: It’s an auto-hit, long lasting, AoE minion-class stun!
Suggested Slotting: It really varies on playstyle. Wanna use it as a rez? Just slot a recharge or an Endurance Reduction. Are you crazy like me and wanna use it as a control power? Maybe 3 Stun Durations and 3 Recharge would be more suitable.
Rating: 4/5

5) Shadow Fall
Shadow Fall is a welcome ingredient to anyone using Dark Miasma in their meals. It’s just perfect for sneaking up on your heroic friends, yelling, “Surprise!” then reducing their bodies into shredded hunks of bleeding meatsacks lightly sauteed with ground bone with a side of spasming muscle. Not only is it handy for giving enemies their last Surprise Party by cloaking not only you but everyone around you, but it gives some nifty resistance to Psionic, Negative Energy, and Energy damage! Hip, hip, HOORAY! TRANSLATION: This is a power that grants stealth to you and nearby allies, as well as a sizable +Res to Psionic, Negative Energy, and Energy damage.
Suggested Slotting: 3 Resistance, 1 Endurance Reduction
Rating: 4/5

6) Fearsome Stare
Another hard-to-pass-up ingredient in the Dark Miasma line of products, Fearsome Stare can make any group of rude dinner guests cower before you, only moving to give you a smack if you hit them, then returning to their former, quivering selves! Also, not only can you use it to stop a group of enemies dead in their tracks, but it comes with a potent ToHit Debuff, and if you’re going almost all single target (a Necromancer’s forte), this can severely limit the amount of incoming damage.
Suggested Slotting: 3 Fear Duration or ToHit Debuff depending on playstyle, 1 Accuracy, 2 Recharge
Rating: 4/5

7) Petrifying Gaze
Are you constantly trying to start a party, but every time you do word somehow gets around to an annoying neighbor who constantly smacks you around before introducing you to his best friend, Mr. Debt? I know I do–Longbow Flamethrowers, Sappers, you name it, all can be very troublesome foes that stubbornly refuse to lay down and die. Not to fear–with this spiffalicious hold, you can take any one of them out of commission for the entire fight simply by spamming it on them, then dealing with them whenever you’re ready. TRANSLATION: A very useful single target hold easily used in handy conjunction with a PPP hold, your Lich’s hold, and your Soul’s hold.
Suggested Slotting: 2 Accuracy, 2 Hold Duration, 2 Recharge
Rating: 5/5

8) Black Hole
There’s a good side and a bad side to this power. The bad side is that though it can be useful for an “Oh, [censored]!” button, powers like Fearsome Stare and Howling Twilight are much better ones. The good side is that having too many ingredients in one delicious soup can spoil it–slots are a valuable commodity, after-all, and having TOO many good ingredients to add to your meal can really make slots tough to come by.
Suggested Slotting: Just don’t get it unless you like getting booted from teams (Hey, there’s a use for it! On a bad PuG? Just Black Hole a couple times and you don’t have to worry, a kick is on its way!)
Rating: 1/5

9) Dark Servant
I haven’t had the joy of meeting this adorably fluffy little chap, but I can’t wait until the day that I do: Even if he isn’t permanent, he lends extra Tenebrous Tentacles, a sizable ToHit debuff while in melee range, and an incredibly useful extra Twilight Grasp! Plus, he looks pretty neat.
Suggested Slotting: 3 Recharge, 1 Accuracy, 2 Heal (Though the Heals could be exchanged for ToHit Debuffs or whatever else tickles your fancy)
Rating: 5/5

Well, you’ve got both parts of your Necromancy/Dark mix, now all you have to do is blend them into one sumptuous concoction! And now, I guess I should share my build with you. I don’t have the builder thingy, so I’ll just format it similarly to the way such a device would. Also, I would like to put in a disclaimer: This build is quite strange. And now another: Though a Necromancy MM is very powerful, there are many things it can’t do. Let me tell you a funny story. One day, I was minding my own business running through missions when I just happened to run across Agent Indigo. For all of her caltrops and that Longbow Flamethrower next to her, me and my Deadboys took her down pretty fast with barely a scratch on us by the end. So, I take a picture and ask my Lich to go to the Kinko’s down the street and make some copies. I wait for 3 hours, and he’s still not there, so I super-speed over and it turned out he was making copies of his tuchus THE ENTIRE TIME! Go figure, huh?

1=Dark Blast–Acc (1) Dam (7) Dam (7) Dam (23)
1=Twilight Grasp–Acc (1) Acc (11) Heal (11) RecRed(25), Heal (37), EndRed (46)
2=Gloom–Acc (2) Dam (3) Dam (3) Dam (19) EndRed (19), RecRed (25)
4=Darkest Night–EndRed (4) ToHit Debuff (5) ToHit Debuff (5) EndRed (17) ToHit Debuff (17)
6=Air Superiority–Acc (6) Dam (9) Dam (9) Dam (23)
8=Enchant Undead–EndRed(8)
10=Swift–Empty
12=Grave Knight–Acc (12) Dam (13) Dam (13) Dam (15) Acc (15)
14=Fly–EndRed (14)
16=Shadow Fall–EndRed (16) Res (34) Res (34) Res (34)
18=Health–Empty
20=Stamina–End Mod (20) End Mod (21) End Mod (21)
22=Tar Patch–Recharge (22) Recharge (40) Recharge (43) Slow (50) Slow (50)
24=Hasten–Recharge (24) Recharge (48) Recharge (50)
26=Lich–Acc (26) ToHit Debuff (27) ToHit Debuff (27) Hold (31) Hold (31) Fear (31)
28=Petrifying Gaze–Acc (28) Hold (29) Hold (29) Acc(33) RecRed (33) RecRed (33)
30=Super Speed–Empty
32=Dark Empowerment–EndRed (32)
35=Howling Twilight–Recharge (35) Recharge (36) Recharge (36) Stun (36) Stun (37) Stun (37)
38=Dark Servant–Acc (38) RecRed (39) RecRed (39) RedRed (39) Heal (40) Heal (40)
41=Night Fall–Acc (41) Dam (42) Dam (42) Dam (42) RecRed (43) EndRed (43)
44=Soul Tentacles–Acc (44) Dam (45) Dam (45) Dam (45) RecRed (46) EndRed (46)
47=Soul Storm–Acc (47) Hold (48) Hold (48) RecRed (48) Acc (50) RecRed (50)
49=Group Fly–EndRed (49)

Yes, I do realize this is quite an off-kilter build, but remember: I did respec into it, and as Queen so aptly put it:

I’m one card short of a full deck
I’m not quite the shilling
One wave short of a shipwreck
I’m not my usual top billing
I’m coming down with a fever
I’m really out to sea
This kettle is boiling over
I think I’m a banana tree.
Oh dear...

So, I’ll post a more sane one. I picked Leaping as my Travel Pool, but of course, that’s a matter of preference. I’ll also be planning this build to only 40, for 2 reasons: One is taking the PPPs or not is a matter of preference, and two, I’m a bit on the lazy side. Humor me.

1=Zombie Horde–Acc (1) Dam (3) Dam (3) Dam (5) Acc (5) Acc (19)
1=Twilight Grasp–Acc (1) Heal (11) Acc (11) RecRed (37) Heal (37) EndRed (37)
2=Tar Patch–RecRed (2) RecRed (36) RecRed (36)
4=Darkest Night–EndRed (4) ToHit Debuff (7) ToHit Debuff (7) ToHit Debuff (9) EndRed (9)
6=Enchant Undead–EndRed (6)
8=Combat Jumping–Empty
10=Hurdle–Empty
12=Grave Knight–Acc (12) Dam (13) Dam (13) Dam (15) Acc (15)
14=Super Jump–Empty
16=Shadow Fall–EndRed (16) Res (17) Res (17) Res (19)
18=Health–Empty
20=Stamina–EndMod (20) EndMod (21) EndMod (21)
22=Fearsome Stare–Acc (22) FearDur (23) FearDur (23) FearDur (25) RecRed (25) RecRed (36)
24=Assault–EndRed (24)
26=Lich–Acc (26) ToHit Debuff (27) ToHit Debuff (27) Hold (31) Hold (31) Fear (31)
28=Petrifying Gaze–Acc (28) Hold (29) Hold (29) Acc(33) RecRed (33) RecRed (33)
30=Tactics–EndRed (30) ToHit Buff (34) ToHit Buff (34) ToHit Buff (34)
32=Dark Empowerment–EndRed (32)
35=Hasten–RecRed (35) RecRed (40)
38=Dark Servant–Acc (38) RecRed (39) RecRed (39) RecRed (39) Heal (40) Heal (40)

Also, I do believe I might want to bestow some tactical advice to those who...er...want it.

1) Melee range is your friend. You want your Deadboys in Melee range. Because of this, GoTo is a good thing to use. Just click it, target where you want them to go to (*Psst! It’s melee range*) and make ‘em go there. Because your henchies schmooze in melee range, you might want to as well so they can benefit from Supremacy and Twilight Grasp.
2) Darkest Night is not only a good way to make a group more manageable, but a good pulling tool (if you want to pull the whole group). You simply stick it on the highest priority enemy and retreat around a corner where your henchies lie in wait, often not getting hit once before you go to your hiding spot. The group will clump around the corner you’re hiding behind, making them lambs to the slaughter, nicely packed in one spot and debuffed.
3) Turn off Super Speed in battle is a good idea. It can often cause you to zip past a henchman you intend to hit with Twilight Grasp, making the wonderful heal sadly miss its target, occasionally resulting in a death you could have prevented.

Other tactics will, of course, depend on your playstyle, so I’ll let you figure them out. TRANSLATION: I can’t think of anything else. Leave me alone.

And so, with this said, I take my leave. May you have hours of enjoyment “cooking” with your deadboys–it’s like Home Economics, but with less unanswered cries for salvation from un-ending torment!

...Damnation, I just figured out how to do it. Posts in the Guide forum don't die. Looks like common sense ISN'T so common, as is often said by the smart people around here. --;

Gonna try and delete this post and do it the right way. Thanks a bunch, Geek Boy. I 'preciate it.

And without further ado, here it is, free from (most) of my stupidity! Once again, thanks to Geek Boy, whose voice of not-being-a-[censored]-idiot-ness has made this guide possible.

Don Uvas's Recipe for Necromancy

Post deleted for stupidity.

Here's my guide to the Necro/Dark MM, as well as my build as a very off kilter Scrappermind sort of thing. It's weird, but it works, and its a lot of fun.

Don Uvas's Recipe for Necromancy

Have fun, and hope it helps!