User:Jaesmyn/N MinionMaster

This build is a Necromancer/Monk skill set to use on Master of Whispers or Olias. The purpose of this build is to use your Necromancer Hero to maintain an army of minions at low cost, with minimal human involvement and to utilize the skills Death Nova and Jagged Bones to cause spike damage, poison and bleeding on enemy groups.

Attributes and Skills
[build prof=necro/monk deathm=12+1+3 soulre=10+1 healin=8][jagged bones][death nova][animate bone minions][blood of the master][kareis healing circle][taste of death][signet of lost souls][optional][/build]

Equipment
Wayward Wand (HSR of Death Magic 20%)

Bleached Skull (Death Magic +1 20% / Heath +30)

A Ghial's Staff works great too.

Best Vigor Rune possible.

Rune of Superior Death Magic.

Usage
Master of Whispers and/or Olias have shown that they use the build very well with minimal human support. The only exception to this may be the usage of Blood of the Master at in-opportune times as they tend to, literally, kill themselves by over using it. By adding Karei's Healing Circle to their bar they will alternate between the two skills, healing themselves and their minions as well as any nearby allies.

If you are in a heavy fight you may need to activate Jagged Bones and/or Death Nova periodically as they will sometimes ignore these skills in order to pull up more minions or to spam Blood of the Master, although this is a rare occurrence.

If you notice your Hero is running low on health or is in a bad situation you may need to manually make him use Taste of Death, although they normally do this themselves.

Variants
Use Feast for the Dead for a low cost heal instead of Karei's Healing Circle or Blood of the Master. It kills a minion but heals all of the others for a third of their health bar due to all of the points in death magic.

Verata's Aura can be used in the optional spot in the event that the MM should die. This will give him the ability to recover a few of the unbound minions.

Rather than using Taste of Death to destroy a minion, you can also use Putrid Flesh. Coupled with Death Nova, this will deal damage in the area, as well as spreading poison AND disease to all vulnerable foes.

Counters
Enemies that do not have flesh will render the build useless as they will be immune to poison and bleeding.

The other problem occuring frequently is that heroes using this build often tend to drag behind the party and maintain the enchantments and health of the minions instead of keeping in touch with the frontlines. Patience, frequent stops and inspecting the radar before engaging enemies is essential for you as you will find yourself amidst the battle taking all the damage otherwise while your allied undead army recieves care in safe distance. The other option is to use a flag to force the hero to move closer to enemy, but that reduces the effectiveness of the build, because you will interrupt him and the minions won't be properly boosted before the fight.