Necro: what am I doing wrong?

[necrosaurio]

I've got a level 5 Iksar necro and I can't manage to kill any yellow mobs. White mobs are more or less OK, but they leave me at less then 40% HP and no mana. Dark blue mobs take 10000 kills to get a single yellow. OK, I'm exagerating about the dark blue but not by much :P

My normal routine is:
- Get a pet out
- Give the pet a weapon (dropped from the skellies) and, if I have it, a shield
- Buff myself with minor shielding + grim aura
- Aggro a mob with whatever spell
- Darkness + poison bolt the mob
- Fear

Most of the times, the mob interrupts my casting and resist fear so often that I end up tanking and, most often, have to turn and run.

My equipment is all cloth and I haven't got a shield (haven't been able to find a necro one around) but, supposedly, necros are "easy". I have a lot less trouble kiting with my bard, although it also feels less interesting.

What am I doing wrong?

Even if I manage to kill the mob, I have to sit and meditate to full again. Is this normal?

[Estu]

At level five, you don't want to bother with fear since it costs a lot of mana and your pet is still a good tank. Get a max level pet out, send it at the mob, have the pet tank until it's close to dying. Poison bolt the mob when you can without drawing aggro. When your pet is nearly dead, take over and tank, lifetapping as necessary; by that time, the mob should be nearly dead. When the fight's over, let the pet regen to full. Should be fast and easy on the mana.

[beentheredonethat]

until 12 forget killing yellows. at 12 i can fight a yellow, but it's very very very risky.

you should be simply hitting dark blues, let your pet tank... until it gets to 40% hp and than help it by going into melee with lifetap.

if you don't do at least 1 point of damage to the monster yourself you'll get almost no exp.

[Aandolaf]

What he said, you should stick to dark blues for a while

[necrosaurio]

Thanks everybody. I tried Estu's recommendation and I can indeed kill quite a few white mobs without issue. In fact, if I get the highest level pet (white to me) and give it a shield, it can tank some yellow mobs :)

Level 60, err 6, here we go!

[Coan]

aggro kiting is the way to go. Grab a sow and you'll be pulling doubles easily. Don't forget to make a run in Kurns w/ banshee aura and get your evoc up.