User:Eddycurrents

A general purpose minion and direct damage build. It uses Animate Shambling Horror (plus Jagged Horror) for damage by minions and to apply conditions, and Death Nova and Discord for direct damage. It does not require a lot of minions to be effective, making it useful for areas that do not have a lot of fleshy targets.

Attributes and Skills
[build prof=necro/mesmer deathm=12+1+3 soul=10+1 curses=8+1][arcane echo][parasitic bond][discord][blood of the master][death nova][resurrection signet][taste of death][animate shambling horror][/build]

Equipment

 * A set of armor with Radiant Insignias.
 * One piece of armor with Bloodstained Insignia, for example boots.
 * Any good death staff or wand / offhand combination will work, however a fast cast setup is preferred for use with Discord. This is a wand with 20% HCT & HSR of Death Magic spells, plus an offhand item also with 20% HCT & HSR of Death Magic spells. Both of these can be crafted by Gertrud or Telamon. Since the 20% speed effects stack, this allows you to cast death spells twice as fast 40% of the time. This increases damage from Discord as well as helping you create minions faster.

Usage

 * Before the battle, cast Death Nova on a Shambling Horror. When it is within range of an enemy, cast Taste of Death to cause damage and Disease. This will turn it into a Jagged Horror which will constantly apply Bleeding for you.
 * Hit the target with Parasitic Bond and Discord. Note: if the target has an enchantment or another hex, Parasitic Bond is unnecessary.
 * Follow your minions. This is important because they are your source of conditions. Whatever they attack, you attack. Use Death Nova plus Taste of Death on Shambling Horrors to cause damage and Disease, and keep healing Jagged Horrors so they can apply Bleeding.
 * As the corpses pile up, cast Arcane Echo, then Animate Shambling Horror, then the echoed copy of Animate Shambling Horror to create two new minions.
 * Use Blood of the Master to heal minions between battles.
 * Before tough battles, use Death Nova on as many minions as possible. If it looks like they are going to die anyway, spam Taste of Death to cause multiple explosions and AoE damage. With luck, you will have fresh corpses plus some Jagged Horrors left over.
 * You can use the above tactic during a battle as well, however targeting minions in a crowd can be difficult and frustrating. This is the biggest downside of all minion bomber builds.
 * If you are fighting a lot of elementalists or similar enemies that do massive damage up front, do not cast Taste of Death on your Shambling Horrors at the start of the battle. Instead, let the enemies cast their spells and kill your shamblers. They will then be replaced with Jagged Horrors at no cost to you.

Counters

 * Other necromancers competing for exploitable corpses.
 * Enemies that are immune to conditions.

Variants

 * Parasitic Bond becomes Optional if other party members are using hexes, or if targets use a lot of enchantments.
 * Replace Parasitic Bond with Barbs for additional damage if health and energy are not a concern. Parasitic bond is cheap and spammable, and provides a nice health boost when the target dies. Barbs is more costly but adds additional damage by minions.
 * Replace Discord with Virulence to change damage type to degeneration, plus weakness.
 * Replace Parasitic Bond with Enfeeble if you will be fighting a lot of targets that do not bleed (though you should consider another build in this case).
 * Replace Resurrection Signet with Barbs or Enfeeble if you are running with heroes and henchmen.