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.
-- Dr. Walter "Baskerville" Lamont, 48 Necro/Dark, Virtue Server.
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.
Then again, I do like it when people challenge conventional wisdom and make their own fun builds (I'm a fan of human-only kheldians, for example, though I haven't yet gone as far as making a petless mastermind), so I don't necessarily think you should change your guide. I'm just registering my concern.
I like your advice about Howling Twilight. I think a lot of people skip it without considering its value as a control power, mainly because the in-game description makes it sound like the primary benefit is the rez.
A couple of other comments:
[ QUOTE ]
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! Its 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.
[/ QUOTE ]
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.
There are also occasions when I want the grave knights to be standing back and debuffing enemy acc rather than fencing - this mainly occurs in teams, either when I'm teamed with brutes and stalkers, who are more efficient in melee range and shouldn't be crowded out, or generally in situations where my value controlling/debuffing is greater than my value doing damage. Solo, of course, I want the zombies and knights in melee as much as possible.
[ QUOTE ]
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 youre hiding behind, making them lambs to the slaughter, nicely packed in one spot and debuffed.
[/ QUOTE ]
This is excellent advice, especially once the lich is fully packed with AE controlling debuffing goodness. Dark Servant's occasional AE just makes this better, not to mention your own considerable AE control and debuff power.
[ QUOTE ]
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.
[/ QUOTE ]
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....*)
[ QUOTE ]
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.
[/ QUOTE ]
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!
[ QUOTE ]
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.
[/ QUOTE ]
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.
I use Grant Invisibility -and- Shadowfall. They stack.
If you're on Virtue Server, look me up. We'll do our own little Iron Chef. -- Bask
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 youre 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. Its more fun in my opinion, and Im 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 its always fun to have more pets...most of the time. The only reason I respecced out of them is that Im completely insane. Seriously, youd 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 its intense flavor can take a while to sink in (its 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 henchmens 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 dont either dont 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: its 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 youre either insane or a petless MM. Seriously...theyre 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 Robbinsdelicious, but not necessary. Still, when you have him out, hes 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 doesnt 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 deliciousits 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 tierslittle 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 youre forced to use this power, its a bonanza of healing flavor, about as effective as chicken soup given to someone with a cold. Just make sure youre almost right next to those who you plan to help with it, or itll just end up spilling on the ground and you might end up with a mess to clean up on the carpet.
Suggested Slotting: Its 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 arms 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: Its 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 dont 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 youll notice that Howling Twilight is just brimming with wholesome goodness thats good clean fun for the whole Pick-up Group! First of all, its capable of rezzing multiple targets as long as theyre fairly close by. Second, it can make for a great control power, even when theres no allies to rez: Its 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. Its 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 youre going almost all single target (a Necromancers 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 doLongbow Flamethrowers, Sappers, you name it, all can be very troublesome foes that stubbornly refuse to lay down and die. Not to fearwith 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 youre ready. TRANSLATION: A very useful single target hold easily used in handy conjunction with a PPP hold, your Lichs hold, and your Souls hold.
Suggested Slotting: 2 Accuracy, 2 Hold Duration, 2 Recharge
Rating: 5/5
8) Black Hole
Theres 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 itslots 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 dont get it unless you like getting booted from teams (Hey, theres a use for it! On a bad PuG? Just Black Hole a couple times and you dont have to worry, a kick is on its way!)
Rating: 1/5
9) Dark Servant
I havent had the joy of meeting this adorably fluffy little chap, but I cant wait until the day that I do: Even if he isnt 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, youve 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 dont have the builder thingy, so Ill 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 cant 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 Kinkos down the street and make some copies. I wait for 3 hours, and hes 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 BlastAcc (1) Dam (7) Dam (7) Dam (23)
1=Twilight GraspAcc (1) Acc (11) Heal (11) RecRed(25), Heal (37), EndRed (46)
2=GloomAcc (2) Dam (3) Dam (3) Dam (19) EndRed (19), RecRed (25)
4=Darkest NightEndRed (4) ToHit Debuff (5) ToHit Debuff (5) EndRed (17) ToHit Debuff (17)
6=Air SuperiorityAcc (6) Dam (9) Dam (9) Dam (23)
8=Enchant UndeadEndRed(8)
10=SwiftEmpty
12=Grave KnightAcc (12) Dam (13) Dam (13) Dam (15) Acc (15)
14=FlyEndRed (14)
16=Shadow FallEndRed (16) Res (34) Res (34) Res (34)
18=HealthEmpty
20=StaminaEnd Mod (20) End Mod (21) End Mod (21)
22=Tar PatchRecharge (22) Recharge (40) Recharge (43) Slow (50) Slow (50)
24=HastenRecharge (24) Recharge (48) Recharge (50)
26=LichAcc (26) ToHit Debuff (27) ToHit Debuff (27) Hold (31) Hold (31) Fear (31)
28=Petrifying GazeAcc (28) Hold (29) Hold (29) Acc(33) RecRed (33) RecRed (33)
30=Super SpeedEmpty
32=Dark EmpowermentEndRed (32)
35=Howling TwilightRecharge (35) Recharge (36) Recharge (36) Stun (36) Stun (37) Stun (37)
38=Dark ServantAcc (38) RecRed (39) RecRed (39) RedRed (39) Heal (40) Heal (40)
41=Night FallAcc (41) Dam (42) Dam (42) Dam (42) RecRed (43) EndRed (43)
44=Soul TentaclesAcc (44) Dam (45) Dam (45) Dam (45) RecRed (46) EndRed (46)
47=Soul StormAcc (47) Hold (48) Hold (48) RecRed (48) Acc (50) RecRed (50)
49=Group FlyEndRed (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:
Im one card short of a full deck
Im not quite the shilling
One wave short of a shipwreck
Im not my usual top billing
Im coming down with a fever
Im really out to sea
This kettle is boiling over
I think Im a banana tree.
Oh dear...
So, Ill post a more sane one. I picked Leaping as my Travel Pool, but of course, thats a matter of preference. Ill 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, Im a bit on the lazy side. Humor me.
1=Zombie HordeAcc (1) Dam (3) Dam (3) Dam (5) Acc (5) Acc (19)
1=Twilight GraspAcc (1) Heal (11) Acc (11) RecRed (37) Heal (37) EndRed (37)
2=Tar PatchRecRed (2) RecRed (36) RecRed (36)
4=Darkest NightEndRed (4) ToHit Debuff (7) ToHit Debuff (7) ToHit Debuff (9) EndRed (9)
6=Enchant UndeadEndRed (6)
8=Combat JumpingEmpty
10=HurdleEmpty
12=Grave KnightAcc (12) Dam (13) Dam (13) Dam (15) Acc (15)
14=Super JumpEmpty
16=Shadow FallEndRed (16) Res (17) Res (17) Res (19)
18=HealthEmpty
20=StaminaEndMod (20) EndMod (21) EndMod (21)
22=Fearsome StareAcc (22) FearDur (23) FearDur (23) FearDur (25) RecRed (25) RecRed (36)
24=AssaultEndRed (24)
26=LichAcc (26) ToHit Debuff (27) ToHit Debuff (27) Hold (31) Hold (31) Fear (31)
28=Petrifying GazeAcc (28) Hold (29) Hold (29) Acc(33) RecRed (33) RecRed (33)
30=TacticsEndRed (30) ToHit Buff (34) ToHit Buff (34) ToHit Buff (34)
32=Dark EmpowermentEndRed (32)
35=HastenRecRed (35) RecRed (40)
38=Dark ServantAcc (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! Its 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 youre 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 Ill let you figure them out. TRANSLATION: I cant 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 deadboysits like Home Economics, but with less unanswered cries for salvation from un-ending torment!