In my opinion, corpse explosion from the Necromancer in Diablo II is the coolest spell in any game that I have ever played. So I sought out to try to find a spec that would have a somewhat similar feel in Diablo III. The main focus of this build will be Zombie Dogs and Sacrifice. Creative use of passives and runes should allow a player to pretty much spam sacrifice as a Necromancer would Corpse Explosion in Diablo II. It is likely that this build will just be for fun and not the best for Hell and Inferno difficulties.
Edit: Sorry, the sticky wasn't there when I started typing!
Skills:
Zombie Dogs (Crimson): Of course these walking corpses are our ammo with some added fire damage from rune effect.
Sacrifice (Alabaster): This will be the main attack spell. The runed effect will allow 70% of explodinated dogs to respawn a dog for further explodinating.
Gargantuan (Indigo): This guy will hold baddies off while dogs are recycled. The rune effect is personal preference, but this one adds a cleave to arsenal.
Firebomb (Crimson): This will be the secondary attack for when there is a low supply of dogs for some reason such as a single tough target.
Big Bad Voodoo (Alabaster): This will help buff yourself, your pets, and allies. In addition, the rune effect will help supply dogs as enemies that are killed in its effect have a 75% chance of spawning a dog. This lasts 20 seconds, so during this time, it should be a be an endless supply of dogs.
Mass Confusion (Alabaster): This will supply some crowd control in addition to adding dogs upon enemy death so you can spam Sacrifice.
Passives:
Zombie Handler: No brainer so you can have 4 dogs out and increase the health of Gargantuan
Pierce the Veil: For a massive damage bonus with increased mana cost
Circle of Life: 10% mana returned when using health globes. I may consider Tribal Rites to help with Big Bad Voodoo cooldown.
Assumptions and Synergies:
-Being able to spam acrifice will depend on the speed of dog spawning after their death or after an enemies’ death. If this takes to long, it will be hard to spam.
-This build will be somewhat dependent on cooldowns. Dog cooldown is 60 secs. Big Bad Voodoo is 120 (90 with Tribal Rites) secs. Mass confusion is 60 seconds. The 70% respawn in conjunction of any of those cooldowns should provide for sufficient dog supply, but it is hard to say at this point. And you always have Firebomb for backup.
-Does Pierce the Veil work for spells with no mana cost?
-The only spells that appear to actually have a mana cost are Zombie Dog, Gargantuan, and Firebomb. If all goes to plan, mana will not be much of an issue.
-This will really only be effective on most of the game where you are fighting groups of enemies. A change of skills may be required for bosses.
So if you were a fan of Corpse Explosion in Diablo II, perhaps this or a similar build may the way to go! Who knows if it will at all be effective, but it will certainly be a blast! … see what I did there?
-Gerahben
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Edit: Sorry, the sticky wasn't there when I started typing!
Skills:
Zombie Dogs (Crimson): Of course these walking corpses are our ammo with some added fire damage from rune effect.
Sacrifice (Alabaster): This will be the main attack spell. The runed effect will allow 70% of explodinated dogs to respawn a dog for further explodinating.
Gargantuan (Indigo): This guy will hold baddies off while dogs are recycled. The rune effect is personal preference, but this one adds a cleave to arsenal.
Firebomb (Crimson): This will be the secondary attack for when there is a low supply of dogs for some reason such as a single tough target.
Big Bad Voodoo (Alabaster): This will help buff yourself, your pets, and allies. In addition, the rune effect will help supply dogs as enemies that are killed in its effect have a 75% chance of spawning a dog. This lasts 20 seconds, so during this time, it should be a be an endless supply of dogs.
Mass Confusion (Alabaster): This will supply some crowd control in addition to adding dogs upon enemy death so you can spam Sacrifice.
Passives:
Zombie Handler: No brainer so you can have 4 dogs out and increase the health of Gargantuan
Pierce the Veil: For a massive damage bonus with increased mana cost
Circle of Life: 10% mana returned when using health globes. I may consider Tribal Rites to help with Big Bad Voodoo cooldown.
Assumptions and Synergies:
-Being able to spam acrifice will depend on the speed of dog spawning after their death or after an enemies’ death. If this takes to long, it will be hard to spam.
-This build will be somewhat dependent on cooldowns. Dog cooldown is 60 secs. Big Bad Voodoo is 120 (90 with Tribal Rites) secs. Mass confusion is 60 seconds. The 70% respawn in conjunction of any of those cooldowns should provide for sufficient dog supply, but it is hard to say at this point. And you always have Firebomb for backup.
-Does Pierce the Veil work for spells with no mana cost?
-The only spells that appear to actually have a mana cost are Zombie Dog, Gargantuan, and Firebomb. If all goes to plan, mana will not be much of an issue.
-This will really only be effective on most of the game where you are fighting groups of enemies. A change of skills may be required for bosses.
So if you were a fan of Corpse Explosion in Diablo II, perhaps this or a similar build may the way to go! Who knows if it will at all be effective, but it will certainly be a blast! … see what I did there?
-Gerahben