Necro/non-Dark - Thoughts?

Hello!

I have a concept I'd like to try out that involves a Necro Mastermind, but I'm not totally sure about the secondary. I don't want to do Dark, as I've played Dark a bunch and I'd like to try something different (plus it seems like Dark is very popular with Necro, seems like all the Necro threads I found were about Dark).

I don't want to do Traps, since the technology there won't fit the concept I don't think. TA is kind of the same; it's a no due to technology but also because I don't want to have the bow.

I've got a Poison MM already, and I like the set but I don't want to reuse it for this MM. I've got a Force Field Defender and I'm not a big fan of that set, so I think that's out.

That narrows it down quite a bit and leaves me with Pain, Thermal, or Storm. I think any of those would fit my concept pretty well. Any thoughts on which might be the best performing? I was leaning Thermal, but I'm not sure I want to do all the shielding every four minutes.

Anyone have experience with Necro/Thermal, Necro/Pain, or Necro/Storm that would like to share their thoughts?

Thanks!

I have a necro/thermal. I leveled to fifty primarily duoing a Bots/Storm with my cousin's necro/storm. I can attest that both are successful builds. Hurricane doesn't bother the zombies as much as you might think if used with discretion. Necro/thermal is nice since the thermal shields cover a big gaping resistance weakness of zombies to fire. You can break up your shielding; you can shield 3 every two minutes and rotate your buffing.

Steamy Mist from Storm also helps zombies resist fire, as long as they are near you. And the tohit debuff from Hurricane stacks with your Lich's -tohit, which is nice.

My Necro/Pain and Necro/Therm are only in their 20s, but seem good so far.

I've got a Necro/Storm and Necro/Traps at 50, a Necro/Thermal at 45, and a Necro/TA at 38.

For both the /Storm and /Traps, I slotted my Lich for mostly -Tohit. My Necro/Thermal is more sturdy. The def/resist pet procs help a lot with zombies. The easiest to level is my Necro/Thermal, the hardest being my Necro/TA.

Shielding every 4 minutes isn't as bad as you think, considering you're not the primary source of damage. Simply support your pets, keep them healed and buffed. It's not like playing other support on other ATs. Thermal is a lot less intense then Storm and Pain, as you get your buffs sooner.

On my stormer, I'd gale mobs into corners and keep hurricane on them while my pets roll them over.

Thermal matures the fastest, but IMO endgame solo Necro/Storm is quite a beast. Traps synergies well with the Detonation + Soul Extraction combo. Also negative tohit from pet attacks plus the shield generator.

Really can't go wrong with Necro, its by far my favorite MM set.

Necro/Thermal should be decent, if unexciting as a Mastermind, though it probably meshes better with Bots or Demons, which already have pretty good resists to stack with its shields. I don't see /Storm as being terribly helpful for the Zombies, either. I've never done /Pain.

The way I play Necro is to leave my MM in bodyguard mode all the time and lead my band of easily-excited morons into melee the hard way. Storm is counter-productive to that on most maps; I think it works best for pets that are primarily ranged damage.

Necro/Dark is popular because there's synergy on almost every point. There's so much -toHit and soft control floating around that you are for all practical purposes a controller with bodyguard mode.

It's hard for me to picture not using Dark Miasma and Necromancy together because they fit thematically and in use so well. But if I couldn't choose Dark Miasma for a Necromancy MM, it would either be Pain or Traps. Pain Domination can pair well with just about any primary. I'd choose Traps merely to blow up Zombie's purely for fun.

I have a nec/dark & nec/pain at 50 - the /pain was really on the boring side and I couldn't have done it solo.

Of the combos you've listed as options, I think /storm is going to be the strongest in terms of sustained killing power. /therm will level pretty safely, as has been noted, but if you are an aggressive player I would suggest storm. Your pets will die more early on, but with the 32 buff and the later storm debuffs I think it will catch up. My nin/storm is decent as far as survivability goes, and ninja tend to die even more than the zombies, in my experience.

One of the best ways to keep any minion alive, especially melee ones is a good damage mitigation tool. Hurricane\Gale\freezing rain are GREAT tools for this (as is a lot of other tools in Storm).

Storm is really a great set once you figure out how to use it. I find the -toHit from Hurricane + the -toHit the Lich throws out to stack quite nicely too. Storm goes great with just about everything though...kind of like bacon.

mmMMMmmm bacon zombies..... ZOMBIE PIG muhahahahah

My necro/pain is a blast to play.

The abilities are best when in the middle with your zombies, so I've taken Air Superiority and KO Blow so I can be in there where my help is needed. I also have a hold so that I can take any problematic enemies out of the fight quickly.

I have a lot of fun solo.

I went Necro/Poison on my MM actually....Maybe not the best secondary to min/max in, but since i made it at the start of CoV i felt it was the best fit RP-wise..
(An undead former hero betrayed by her friends returning with her zombie hordes to exact revenge on those who wronged her called "The Embalmer")
So far it's not too bad imho...Probably could do a lot better in other secondary sets but as long as you have fun playing, i think it doesn't matter what you pick.

As mentioned Nec/Dark really just works very well together: Everything you do has to-hit debuffs and controls.

But I'd say Storm, probably. It has some of the same effects, some nice -res, and some powers later on that aid with damage and control.

I have a lvl 45 Necro/Pain MM and it is awesome!!! Slides through mobs like a hot knife through butter!!! Great buffs, decent attacks for the MM, and AMAZING survivabilty! (Besides, it looks so darn cool!!!) I promise you will never regret it. Take care and have a great day!!!

I have a Necro/Therm MM, and I love it for its concept. This concept is, of course, FLAMING ZOMBIES! The /Therm heals and debuffs are nice and helpful and all, with the Lich filling in a lot of the control cracks, but seriously, FLAMING ZOMBIES!

Necro/Storm is what it is. If you can handle /storm, then the zombies will benefit. If you can't handle /Storm, then your poor zombies won't be upright for very long.

Necro/Pain is nice, but you'll be eagerly awaiting the coming of your lich. Once you have him AND your mighty AoE buff and debuff, you'll be a pain train.

Have an undead pirate necro/storm. His minions are named things like "Scurvy Dog" and "Bo'sun". Toyed with another that has all the /storm powers recolored to look like dirt and sand, but until they give us a "wrapped" torso and legs, I'm not terribly enthusiastic about playing my "mummy" character.