I'd knock down the diff to +1/3 at the most. (+0) might be the best suited actually) I dunno if the zombies are squishier than the ninjas, but I know that they're not nearly as tough as the two other builds you mentioned./Poison takes some work before it gets good too. Your build sounds like mm hard mode, but it CAN be done! Just remember to throw in the +res and +def procs in the soul extraction move and your pet slots. I hear ya though, I have 1 of each type of mm, and the zombies rarely see the light of day. (no pun intended)
Oh have no problem with /poi it is in alot of cases situational and a very tactical secondary.
Basically it is just zombie horde...
From what I hear the horde is used by some as the aggro-grabber, cannon fodder while the Dark nights and Lich do the work. That would work out, and after the second upgrade they do get a little harder to kill, but still go down faster than any other 1st tier pet, except maybe Genin.
One time I teamed with a necro/ mm that I noticed only the Knights and Lich were running around with him. When we we were in the instance, he would summon them in the middle of the mob, they would die quickly, but took the alpha cause we had no Br00t. Seemed useful, but might not be your playstyle.
Not sure what they hp scheme is on them on paper, hopefully one of the crazy zombie fans can come in and clarify, I'd like to know myself how they compare as far as numbers go.
Well, this hthread has given me some food for thought. I have a lvl10 MM Necro/Poisons and I LOVE LOVE LOVE him! I don't have any problems with my zombies being squishy. Often, you can find me at the battlesides reading a Newspaper whilst my minions do the dirty work. If I notice them losing I chuck em a pumpkin/HP heath thingy, and go back to my newspaper. I cannot wait to get this toon to higher levels, IMO if you think they're squishy you're either doing sometihng wrong or they just aren't suited to your playstyle!
Rules of Necro:
1. Leverage your secondary to keep them alive.
2. But don't be afraid of them dying and having to re-summon.
3. Get your Knights in for melee -- they do wicked damage in melee.
This might mean having to adopt a Blapper mindset, putting yourself into melee range, but, hey, that's what Bodyguard is for. Just keep converting all your inspirations into Break Frees, set up a bind for that.
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I think we had a ninja/poison the other day with the same issue.......
OP, friend, make sure you are using bodyguard mode, take the alpha with your MM. Pull with weaken and envenom. Use macros/binds to push your first two tier minions into melee mode. You probably know all this. I trust you have envenom, weaken, neurotoxic breath, and paralytic poison when they are available.
You are also on the edge of the big break. Your second grave knight is a godsend for the big smack down. When the Lich arrives at level 26, your grave knights' AI improves to where they don't want to hang back as much. I don't mind a bit of ranged toxic damage from the boys, but they more effective in slap or sword mode. This is my second plug for a macro/bind.
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HelinCarnate:OMG it is so terrible. I have the option to take 3 more powers but no additional slots. Boo F'ing hoo.
Personally, my normal strategy with most types of Necro/ ( including Necro/Poison ) is to send in the Lich first. He's got good HP, debuffs the enemy, and makes the best ghost if defeated ( which is seldom ). I find that the Necro henchmen survive much better once I get the Lich.
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Necro is one of those love/hate things for me.This powerset and me have had a history over the years,I like the concept the powers sound good,but,whenever I start to play it I just get disgusted with it.
Namely,the zombie horde is sssooo damn squishy.Does it get any better?Grave Knights are cool,haven't ever made it to the Lich yet,usually I get so pissed at having to recall the zombies after every mob that I delete the toon.
Rolled a necro/poison yesterday and I'm lvl 24 now,was runnin solo and had it on +2/3(which is way easy for that lvl for my thug/pain and bots/ff) and every mob I was havin to recall them.Got to the point when I was about to give up,when I got invited to a team.
Figured I'd give it a go to see how it performed with a team.Namely it was ok mainly because aggro was elsewhere.Talked to the leader who has experience with a high lvl necro and said it gets better.Didn't get to talk any further about it though,hence why I'm here.
So does it get any better,will there be a time when I can crank the diff up like other mm's,or am I wasting my time and they will always be squishy and just piss me off more?