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...its 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 DPSand 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 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: 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: its 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 youre either insane or a petless MM. Seriously...theyre 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 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:
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 for any serious Necromancer Chef.
Suggested Slotting: 0-1 Endurance Reduction OR 0-1 Recharge Reduction.
Rating:
________________________
And now the second part of the delicious recipe that is the Necro/Dark MM...Dark Miasma.
DARK MIASMA (SECONDARY)
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:
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:
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...thats not right. The same applies for Howling Twilight. On surface level, its 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 its also an AoE auto-hit, minion-class rez! When slotted with 3 Recharge and 3 Stun Duration, its a useful, reliable control thats up surprisingly often, brimming with Saltine-y goodness.
Suggested Slotting: If youre using it as nothing more than a Rez, stick in a Recharge or an End Reduction or something. If youre 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. 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: 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 Debuffvery useful when stacked with all of your other ToHit Debuffsand 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, 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 cant 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 theyre 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 Lichs to take even bosses out of commission, or can stack it with your Lichs and your Souls, and maybe even your PPP hold, to hold nearly anything!
Suggested Slotting: 2-3 Hold Duration, 1-2 Accuracy
Rating:
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: Black Hole makes baby Statesman cry.
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: Another of those powers with malleable slottingyou 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, 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?
Now then, as a nice addition to the guide, Im putting advice on all the power pools.
CONCEALMENT: I, personally, wouldnt 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. Its 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 dont take it. I havent tested this one out, but it just doesnt seem useful in the slightest. Im sure others will agree with me.
Rating:
FITNESS: One of the nice things about being a MM is you dont need Fitness for the lovely, wonderful Stamina. Fitness remains a great power pool selection, and in long battles with tough foes, Im very glad I have it. It means youre more free to spam your Secondary, getting more use out of it, and it means that I dont 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 thats 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 Lichs Tenebrous Tentacles before flying through the air, and can just feel very evil. Youre flying through the skies with an undead army, cloaked with Shadow Fall. As youre 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, Id suggest taking Assault and Tactics. Added to your Supremacy, your henchmens attacks will be pleasantly augmented. If you take personal attacks, however, Id advise against it, as the drain may be too much. I had the pool, and didnt like it in the slightest, though others wouldnt give it up for the world. Its really a matter of playstyle.
Rating:
LEAPING: Super Jump is probably the best travel power in the game, as its quick, doesnt 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 youre pressed for slots, Leapings 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 doesnt 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 (thats 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 havent 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 youre 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 poolvery fast, and Hasten is a pre-requisite that is very useful even if you dont 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 meI 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 havent 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 youve benefitted from it, and I wish you happy Cooking with whatever build you use !
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!
(For /Darks, anyway)
(that, by the way, was somewhere slightly around eleventy-billion smilies).
Black Hole makes baby Statesman cry.
(thats four, count em, four grins. And at least means a possible five). For a /Dark, however? Just one 
.
!
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...its 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 DPSand 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 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: 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: its 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:
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 youre either insane or a petless MM. Seriously...theyre 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.
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 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:
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 for any serious Necromancer Chef.
Suggested Slotting: 0-1 Endurance Reduction OR 0-1 Recharge Reduction.
Rating:
________________________
And now the second part of the delicious recipe that is the Necro/Dark MM...Dark Miasma.
DARK MIASMA (SECONDARY)
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:
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:
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...thats not right. The same applies for Howling Twilight. On surface level, its 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 its also an AoE auto-hit, minion-class rez! When slotted with 3 Recharge and 3 Stun Duration, its a useful, reliable control thats up surprisingly often, brimming with Saltine-y goodness.
Suggested Slotting: If youre using it as nothing more than a Rez, stick in a Recharge or an End Reduction or something. If youre 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. 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: 0-3 Resistance, 1 Endurance Reduction
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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 Debuffvery useful when stacked with all of your other ToHit Debuffsand 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, 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.
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7) Petrifying Gaze
Petrifying Gaze is really one of my favorite ingredients in the entire recipe. I cant 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 theyre 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 Lichs to take even bosses out of commission, or can stack it with your Lichs and your Souls, and maybe even your PPP hold, to hold nearly anything!
Suggested Slotting: 2-3 Hold Duration, 1-2 Accuracy
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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!)
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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: Another of those powers with malleable slottingyou 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.
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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?
Now then, as a nice addition to the guide, Im putting advice on all the power pools.
CONCEALMENT: I, personally, wouldnt 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. Its 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.
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FIGHTING: Quite useless to a MM. Just dont take it. I havent tested this one out, but it just doesnt seem useful in the slightest. Im sure others will agree with me.
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FITNESS: One of the nice things about being a MM is you dont need Fitness for the lovely, wonderful Stamina. Fitness remains a great power pool selection, and in long battles with tough foes, Im very glad I have it. It means youre more free to spam your Secondary, getting more use out of it, and it means that I dont have to be afraid to use my personal attacks for a little bit of extra damage.
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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 thats 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 Lichs Tenebrous Tentacles before flying through the air, and can just feel very evil. Youre flying through the skies with an undead army, cloaked with Shadow Fall. As youre 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...
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LEADERSHIP: A popular choice among many Masterminds. If you do take this pool, Id suggest taking Assault and Tactics. Added to your Supremacy, your henchmens attacks will be pleasantly augmented. If you take personal attacks, however, Id advise against it, as the drain may be too much. I had the pool, and didnt like it in the slightest, though others wouldnt give it up for the world. Its really a matter of playstyle.
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LEAPING: Super Jump is probably the best travel power in the game, as its quick, doesnt 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 youre pressed for slots, Leapings a wonderful pool to take.
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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 doesnt 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
PRESENCE: With Bodyguard, Presence can be a very useful tool (though I havent 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 youre building a Tankermind (which others can address better than I), this is a pool essential to your build.
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SPEED: Speed is an excellent travel poolvery fast, and Hasten is a pre-requisite that is very useful even if you dont 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.
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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 meI 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 havent 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.
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Thank you for reading the many pages of my guide! I hope youve benefitted from it, and I wish you happy Cooking with whatever build you use