DE Necro Startup Tips?

[Drakul]

Hey all,


I'm starting up a dark elf necro and it's been slow going. I could use a few tips.

More specifically...

1) Where should I go to level up at first? I'm currently level 3 and Nektulos has been rough.

2) Where is a good place to farm bone chips? The skellies in Nektulos seem to be pretty far out.

3) Should I be pumping int/sta or int/agi?

4) It's been nine years since I played, so any other useful tips would be greatly appreciated.

[PhelanKA]

Hey all,

1) Where should I go to level up at first? I'm currently level 3 and Nektulos has been rough.


Stick with it. Don't forget to loot and sell EVERYTHING. It's tougher for us DEs because we don't have the luxury many other races have of a vendor in our newbie area.


2) Where is a good place to farm bone chips? The skellies in Nektulos seem to be pretty far out.

Unless your play time is limited or you're having really bad luck you should be able to use the same pet from level 1-4 and from 4-8 in a day or two's work. If you need chips, just focus on finding those skeletons. Think of it as a treasure hunt ;)

3) Should I be pumping int/sta or int/agi?

Definitely Int/Sta. I even went so far as to dump all the points I could into Stamina at creation. The reason for this is that one of the Necromancer's biggest strengths is his ability to turn his health into mana. I've heard people say to this "If you're killing yourself in Lich form you're doing it wrong". While this is true it is not my point. My point is this: As a DE your starting Int is sufficient for what you will become. We're thinking long term here. It should be easy enough to reach the 200 mark in Int without putting any more than 5 points in at creation given the gear a Necro typically wears at high levels. You should have only a small amount of mana less than a similarly equipped Necromancer at end game and you will also have a larger health pool to play with from all those points you put into Sta at creation. It's tough starting out but it does pay off IMO.

I can't think of a reason to ever put points in Agi though. You shouldn't be depending on dodge much as Necro. That's a true case of "doing it wrong".

4) It's been nine years since I played, so any other useful tips would be greatly appreciated.

Know that you are a superior life form.

[Critical Error]

I just started recently.

1. Get level 3 then go to EC. People on this server are really nice and will buff you up at the tunnel. Score and HP buff from a dru or cle, sow from a dru or sham, and most important a damage shield from mage or dru. With those buffs just smack something once and let it kill itself. Shoot for yellow or even red mobs and you can get to 10 in a few hours. Go for bears as priority as their HQ skin sells for 10pp and will buy your early spells.

2. Bone chips, buy sense undead, if you run low, chain cast it and hunt down skellies. Eventually youll hit up befallen which will stock you for a while. Thsn youll hit up unrest sometime and will be set for even longer.

3. People always say go sta/int, but really, I started completely fresh. Not having mana early game will hurt you. Maybe Im gimping myself out of 50hp late game, but that extra mana has probably been the clutch factor when having just enough for FD tons of times.

[Stickyfingers]

Once I hit level 4. I parked my character in EC, at a spot where mobs pathed over at a good frequency, then I just AFK'd for like 4 hours lol. Came back and had gained over 5orange...not too shabby.

[Humwawa]

3) Should I be pumping int/sta or int/agi?

Stam/int.

It won't be optimal in Classic, but in Kunark and beyond it's better than int/stam.

[Drakul]

Stam/int.

It won't be optimal in Classic, but in Kunark and beyond it's better than int/stam.


Hmmm... I made a DE yesterday and put 25 into int, 5 into Sta. Are we talking gear here or will that 20 point Sta difference really have a noticable effect? On a related note, I just got fear, hit level 5, and it drains like half my mana bar even though I pumped Int... can't even use it yet unless I want to med for 5 mins in between every mob.

In Kunark Iksar necro should be way optimal anyway right?

Really debating just going mage, chanter, or druid for now, Iksar in lich form is so much better.

[Overcast]

1) Where should I go to level up at first? I'm currently level 3 and Nektulos has been rough.

Just kill lots of blues in Nektulos, even at that level, the Necro should be able to slaughter the weak with mass efficiency. You can migrate to the FP newbie area as well - it's also a good source for bone chips, but watch the guards, not sure of the faction there. Also, near the Wizard portal in Nek - you should be able to find a number of skeletons for bone chips. But be cautious, some might be level 5-ish.

2) Where is a good place to farm bone chips? The skellies in Nektulos seem to be pretty far out.

See above.

3) Should I be pumping int/sta or int/agi?

I'd lean on INT/STA - no particular order. if I made a new Necro, I would balance the two to start. Stamina becomes a bit more important as you get into groups and particularly raids. Since stamina is almost always useful to a necro, particularly once you get lich - well, you can't go wrong there.. :)

But then... in raids, a good mana pool with be a big help too. Can sustain twitching or DPS longer. Of course, Stamina offsets a lot of would be deaths from AoE - something FD can't stop at all.

But INT might help just a hair more to start. And yes, the differences in the starting stats are pretty trivial. Personally, if I was playing an Necro - I'd lean on a balance of the two..

4) It's been nine years since I played, so any other useful tips would be greatly appreciated.

Iksar vs. DE... I think with the DE you'll find faction is 'easier' - as more towns will have less issues with you. Iksar faction in the 'old world' can be hit or miss. Many places where a DE isn't KoS - an iksar is. But then, iksar's get more regen, obviously. That's hard to say anything bad about with Lich. The DE's 'hide' is marginally useful, but with FD it's almost a non-issue.

I played a Necro in EQLive to 80 - a DE. I didn't regret my choice at all. But - yes, Iksar regen would be nice... :)

[Drakul]

Well I stuck with the necro, now I'm level 8 and it's going better as I get more spells to play with. I finally got my first health to mana spell, pet heal, invisibility, and have some new diseases and leach coming at 12.

For future reference I'd recommend staying in Nektulos until level 8 as a DE necro, then going to Ecomm.

Now all I need is bind and gate and I'm good to go.