Monos King & Galaxy Brain: Necromancy

[Galaxy Brain]

Necromancy

 

For the full details of the Monos-Brain Overhaul, please view the link below:

Monos King & Galaxy Brains Mastermind Changes

 

 

Necromancy has always been a popular thematic MM choice, but suffers a weakness in AoE damage, certain thematic inclusions, and the spirit of being a true undead master.  The changes proposed in this thread will address these through:

 

1. Increasing AoE Damage Situationally and Directly
2. Modifying Inherent Resistances
3. Grander Scale of Summoning

 

General Necro Changes

 

Soul Extraction | Recharge lowered to 200s from 600s. | Endurance cost raised From 13 to 20 | 1.10 Second Interrupt Time | You may now target defeated enemies.

 

This is the first major change for necromancy, leaning hard on the "Summoning the dead" side of the set where as you progress through an encounter you amass an actual army of the undead! The extremely reduced recharge allows you to have multiple ghosts out at once with ease, especially combined with the ability to target not only your own dead Zombies (that seems like an oxymoron...), but defeated enemies along the way with the same system: Minions and below summon a Spirit, LTs and Snipers a Tortured Soul, and Bosses and above a Wraith. The unleashed spectres will continue to be controllable like ordinary Henchmen, or can be let rampant via aggressive setting to attack various enemies in AoE fashion. 

 

This is coupled with a rather large increase in Endurance cost. Sure, you can summon multiple ghosts to fight with your Zombie Horde... but at what cost? It isn't easy to control a zombie legion in tandem with extracting a soul, resulting in an minor, but interruptable cast time. The interruptable endurance charge can be managed back down in Aggressive Mode (see linked post) at the risk of being hit hard, with slotting, or other means, but is still a major hit if you decide to constantly grow your forces.

 

Lich

Almost to the extent of raising spirits, the set is noteworthy for its Lich, known to be a former necromancer in its own right. But it is observed to become an arguably disappointing T3 pet given it is more of a limited controller than a heavy hitter. Its lacking damage and need to wait until the final upgrade to gain its one truly substantial debuff, Fearsome Stare, leaves the supposedly mighty summon hungry for more.  In its current state, the Lich isn't quite the husk of itself it could be. Let's try to fix that.

 

Lich Mod 1: New Attribute: Containment (Controller)

Available from Default Equipment 

Simply put, the damage the Lich deals can be increased on targets that are under a control effect. This has several synergies within it's own set (Tentacles being the big one), but also with powers found in your Secondary and Epic sets, as well as with team mates.

 

Lich Mod 2: Inherent Resistance

26% N/C/T > 30% N/C/T Resistance

Available from Default Equipment 

The Lich is squishy, and being the powerhouse magic caster it should most certainly have higher supernatural and rare damage resistance compared to the rest of the pets.

 

Lich Mod 3: Dark Blast > Petrifying Gaze

Available from Default Equipment

Moving this power over Dark Blast gives the set some more control right away, and while Dark Blast may be gone it will more than make up for it with it's other changes!

 

Lich Mod 4: Torrent | Damage amped to match Dark Blast in an AoE (30.59 base at lvl 50), double the endurance cost

Available from Default Equipment

For example, turning Torrent into a proper AoE attack that also applies KD and -ToHit. The endurance cost is increased on the Lich, which will require some monitoring, but the output per endurance from this power after holding or immobilizing targets will boost the set's AoE potential up nicely.

 

Lich Mod 5: Petrifying Gaze > Unleash Soul   

+New power that it activates at <25% hp. Detonates itself for powerful negative Energy damage in a 15ft PBAoE, destroying itself and applying a Mag 3 stun to anything that survives. This can use the animations from the Dominator /Dark Assault PBAoE.

 

Base Damage: 114.4 at lvl 50

Target Cap: 16

Activation Time: 4s.

Available from Dark Empowerment

A new power designed to give Necro some burst AoE damage, this mini-nuke can change the course of a fight if it's going south by triggering the Lich to unleash it's inner darkness and wipe the field / stun everything in it's wake. Especially powerful after the Lich probably has sent out Tentacles, the self sacrifice helps to balance the shift in power that this new Lich brings to the table and can easily give breathing room (well, if they breathe?) to the rest of your horde to finish the fight as you re-summon. Not to mention, once it does, you have the option to bind his soul back onto the material plane. Ghastly indeed.

 

Lich Mod 6: New Power:  Soul Extraction, non-interruptable. 

Available from Enchant Undead

Lastly, while the Lich gets a self-detonating nuke version of Heart of Darkness, it also gains a brand new power in it's final upgrade: Soul Extraction. Combined with the Extraction you yourself posess, these situational abilities will handily increase the damage potential of necro, and the Lich itself. Ghosts summoned by the Lich are bound to the Lich, and will perish along with it in combat. 

Aside from the inability to be interrupted, this is a 1:1 clone of the version you have access to: the same base ghost stats, recharge and endurance costs. The main difference being that they inherit the slotting given to your Lich, and it may not exactly prioritize summoning during a fight. But still, getting to 32 and being able to snowball into an undead army will be a sight to see!

 

Grave Knights 

The vast majority of the set's DPS comes from the two Grave Knights. These two are in pristine condition, and require only the slightest of modifications. With the proposed changes they would be practically unchanged -- but with a thin bone tossed their way.

 

Knight Mod 1: Disembowel +10% chance of 52.13 damage crit 

Available from Enchant Undead

Just like with Head Splitter, giving Disembowel a small crit chance on occasion will simply help with burst damage and allow the Knights to finish enemies off quicker and move onto the next target.

 

Knight Mod 2: Crit Enabled in PvP

Available When Applies

Necro damage falls short in PvP compared to the other classes, as its single target damage is actually weakened due to the cornerstone Knights not maintaining their chance to crit. The damage difference in single target damage is significant, as the Head Splitter loses its chance for 79.52 damage in a short burst and thus 10% of its average damage as a result. Doing heavily resisted lethal damage and being melee whilst targets leap and run about, this is quick to become a shortcoming of Necro in PvP.

 

 

Knight Mod 3: Inherent Resistance

26% Toxic Resistance > 28% S/L Resistance, 10% Toxic Res

26% Psionic Resistance > 13% Psionic Resistance

Available from Default Equipment

The Grave Knights are meant to be exactly that: Knights arisen from their earthly graves. The idea that they would have a lower panel of resistances than ordinary zombies despite their experience and armor has always been an extremely silly occurence. Combined with the fact they are the ones taking all the damage for the undead legion, their weakness to common damage has been in need for a change. They are more sentient than zombies though, and should recieve lower psionic res as a consequence and minor trade-off.

 

 

Ghosts (Spirit, Tortured Soul, Wraith)

 

Spirit Mod 1: Inherent Resistance

-20% Resistance to Energy Damage

 

Coming with thematic additions to augment the performance and experience of Necromancy, the Extracted Pets will now be in line with existing Spirits, and have a moderate Energy vulnerability. It seems appropriate with the games descriptions of Ghosts, and is a small trade off for being able to summon many easily.

 

 

 

Overall these changes to Necro keep the theme of having extra temporary pets as well as adding specifically Conditional AoE damage to the set to help keep it competitive. The new vulnerability on summoned Ghosts is a hit to their own survival, and will need to be buffed per each summoned (see linked post), but the sheer number you and the Lich can summon can more than make up for that.

Edited May 8, 2020 by Galaxy Brain

[Emperor Cole]

On 5/7/2020 at 7:35 PM, Galaxy Brain said:

Lich

Almost to the extent of raising spirits, the set is noteworthy for its Lich, known to be a former necromancer in its own right. But it is observed to become an arguably disappointing T3 pet given it is more of a limited controller than a heavy hitter. Its lacking damage and need to wait until the final upgrade to gain its one truly substantial debuff, Fearsome Stare, leaves the supposedly mighty summon hungry for more.  In its current state, the Lich isn't quite the husk of itself it could be. Let's try to fix that.

 

Lich Mod 1: New Attribute: Containment (Controller)

Available from Default Equipment 

Simply put, the damage the Lich deals can be increased on targets that are under a control effect. This has several synergies within it's own set (Tentacles being the big one), but also with powers found in your Secondary and Epic sets, as well as with team mates.

 

Lich Mod 2: Inherent Resistance

26% N/C/T > 30% N/C/T Resistance

Available from Default Equipment 

The Lich is squishy, and being the powerhouse magic caster it should most certainly have higher supernatural and rare damage resistance compared to the rest of the pets.

 

Lich Mod 3: Dark Blast > Petrifying Gaze

Available from Default Equipment

Moving this power over Dark Blast gives the set some more control right away, and while Dark Blast may be gone it will more than make up for it with it's other changes!

 

Lich Mod 4: Torrent | Damage amped to match Dark Blast in an AoE (30.59 base at lvl 50), double the endurance cost

Available from Default Equipment

For example, turning Torrent into a proper AoE attack that also applies KD and -ToHit. The endurance cost is increased on the Lich, which will require some monitoring, but the output per endurance from this power after holding or immobilizing targets will boost the set's AoE potential up nicely.

 

Lich Mod 5: Petrifying Gaze > Unleash Soul   

+New power that it activates at <25% hp. Detonates itself for powerful negative Energy damage in a 15ft PBAoE, destroying itself and applying a Mag 3 stun to anything that survives. This can use the animations from the Dominator /Dark Assault PBAoE.

 

Base Damage: 114.4 at lvl 50

Target Cap: 16

Activation Time: 4s.

Available from Dark Empowerment

A new power designed to give Necro some burst AoE damage, this mini-nuke can change the course of a fight if it's going south by triggering the Lich to unleash it's inner darkness and wipe the field / stun everything in it's wake. Especially powerful after the Lich probably has sent out Tentacles, the self sacrifice helps to balance the shift in power that this new Lich brings to the table and can easily give breathing room (well, if they breathe?) to the rest of your horde to finish the fight as you re-summon. Not to mention, once it does, you have the option to bind his soul back onto the material plane. Ghastly indeed.

 

Lich Mod 6: New Power:  Soul Extraction, non-interruptable. 

Available from Enchant Undead

Lastly, while the Lich gets a self-detonating nuke version of Heart of Darkness, it also gains a brand new power in it's final upgrade: Soul Extraction. Combined with the Extraction you yourself posess, these situational abilities will handily increase the damage potential of necro, and the Lich itself. Ghosts summoned by the Lich are bound to the Lich, and will perish along with it in combat. 

Aside from the inability to be interrupted, this is a 1:1 clone of the version you have access to: the same base ghost stats, recharge and endurance costs. The main difference being that they inherit the slotting given to your Lich, and it may not exactly prioritize summoning during a fight. But still, getting to 32 and being able to snowball into an undead army will be a sight to see!

This entire selection is beautful. Currently, my most recent character I'm playing is a Necromancer. I recently got my Lich, and despite the fact that he looks cool and seems great in theory, he's no where near as good as he could be. A former Necromancer being summoned back from the grave to do your bidding is such a great idea and yet they are so pitiful. Everything in this section is making the Lich as he should be.