View source for Necromancer guide

The '''Necromancer''' is a very versatile class that is capable of soloing, good for groups, and powerful on raids. The necromancer can crowd control, pull (but is by no means the first choice), charm (situationally), display exceptional utility, and do pretty good DPS. The necromancer specializes in duration DPS, does moderate pet DPS, and can deal mediocre direct damage. The necromancer really shines through in a group/raid setting by having the fastest mana regeneration rate of any INT caster by employing conversion spells. Necromancers are also attractive to groups and raids by virtue of being one of the few classes who can assist in wipe recovery on raids and groups.

== New Player Tips ==
It can be a bit overwhelming to start a necromancer as a new player, especially given the amount of information on the wiki! This section will give some general tips designed to help those who are just starting out.

The first thing you should do is explore the area that you have been dropped into, all new players start in The Dream and will learn some of the basic commands of the game. After you have finished with the dream you should explore the zone that you have woken up in! Most of the starting areas have some quests that you can pick up to make the first couple of levels go by faster and get a bit of gear! If you are starting out in Grobb seek out {{NPCtag|Sytha Coldwind|nocat}} and {{NPCtag|A'han Stoneheart|nocat}} for a series of quests that will get you some spells and gear. If you are in the Newport Sewers then you should seek out {{NPCtag|Decay Lord Grindrun|nocat}} and {{NPCtag|Mujush the Mummy|nocat}} for a similar experience! When you get a bit of copper or the spell Cavorting Bones you should summon your pet, he is your very best friend and has no reagent cost. You read that right, you do not need to find bone chips or worry about running out of them! After you have reunited with your skeletal best of friends you should try progress in the quests that the local guild leaders have given you. You may want to explore the adjacent zones to find your quest drops or just kill monsters for experience. If you are in Newport the sewers can be a little bit tough and going out to Northern Newport to throw your skeleton at beetles until the fall over dead might be a safer path. If you are in Oggok you can test your chops in the bog or consider trying your hand with the neighboring zone Greenmist Jungle. The bog is a little bit tougher but your tenacity will be rewarded with quest drops and a higher zone experience modifier!

After you have gotten a few levels under your belt, some sweet new clothes from doing quests, and some copper in your pocket you might want to begin exploring the world and trying some groups with friends who are your level! There is a decent guide on how you can progress level wise called the [[Necromancer Hunting Guide]] in addition to a [[Leveling guide]]. The two popular zones close to the starting necromancer ares are [[Blackburrow]] and the [[Halls of Mielech]]. When you are around level 7 you can team up with some friends and start testing your mettle against the horrible gnolls and frogloks respectively! Once you have gotten a hang of the game you can try new options! You don't have to limit yourself to what a guide says; you might fight a really cool group of players at your level who want to try something off the beaten path - don't be afraid to go along with it and have some fun! Even in the lower levels there are fun things to do in the form of [[Adepts]] (Starting at level 1!) and [[Treasure Hunting]] (Starting at level 20!) so find something that you enjoy and have some fun with friends!

Some basics to keep in mind as you progress in your adventure:
*Check back in with your guild master to train your skills
*Purchase your spells, sometimes it is smart to grab a few ahead of time if you are going to group up!
*Don't be afraid to die! Mistakes happen, sometimes you bump into something ''way'' stronger than you and don't make it out alive. Don't sweat it! Your loot stays with you and you just get a bit of an experience debt that goes away after a couple of kills.
*If you have a question, ask! The starting guild, Dalaya's Beginners, can answer most of your questions if you stop and ask!

== Important Necromancer Mechanics ==
=== Lich ===
The lich line of spells converts hp into mana over time. At low levels this can be fatal so you want to be sure to have some sort of regeneration spell helping you out (Regen potions do the job in a pinch!) The lich ability is what lets necromancers outlast any other INT caster. Lich spells are unaffected by the spell FT cap (of 30) so you gain an additional 44 FT from lich in it's most powerful form. It is worth mentioning that casting lich spells that grant you an illusion (Call of Bones and up) can make you KoS to guards in several cities, so it is generally not advisable to run around with it on all the time. Lich spells also have a very low mana cost (1-5 mana) and no recast, so you can click it off freely to stop yourself from getting killed by it. The [[AA: Dread Lich|Dread Lich]] AA skill is worth mentioning in this section as it stacks with your previous lich spells and is on a rather short cool down (10mins). Dread Lich gives you back 25% of your mana but at the cost of 100% of your health spread out over 5 ticks. When using this it is highly recommended to have a duration lifetap running.

=== DoT Weakening ===
DoT Weakening is a mechanic that reduces the amount of damage dealt by monsters in melee combat by a set percent based on how much of their total percent of hit points was damaged by DoTs in the last tick. For example, if you are fighting The King Kobold and he normally hits the tank for 100 points of damage per round and you tick off 5% of his hit points then he will do 5% less damage (hit the tank for 95) for the next tick (6 seconds) it is recalculated every tick and has a cap of 10% melee damage reduction. This is a 'really nifty' mechanic and makes necromancers 'bleed utility' at lower levels.

=== Spell Resistances ===
The current spell resistance system is such that your damaging spells will never be fully resisted but rather will have their damage mitigated down based on the resistances of the monster you are fighting. If the monster is highly resistant to a certain element it might not be effective to use a spell of that element on that foe, as the damage will be reduced greatly (Possibly all the way down to 0 if the monster is extremely resistant!) This has the effect of making it such that your CHA, Focus/Mind Specialization, and resist debuffs provide an effective DPS increase by causing your spells to not be mitigated as much. Some spells, however, use an "All-or-nothing" system for determining resists. The spells that use the all or nothing approach are primarily debuffs and things that do not make sense to mitigate. For the Necromancer this includes your resist debuffs, your enthralls, your fears, your roots, your undead charms and your undead slows. 

=== Feign Death ===
Necromancers gain access to feign death at level 16 when they buy the [[Spell: Feign Death]] this spell does not have a chance of failure like the monk feign death mechanic but can be broken in the same ways. At level 60 you gain a faster casting version in the form of [[Spell: Death Peace]] and you can buy the Death Imitation AA for a mana free 7 second cool down feign death ability. There is a very good write up on the core mechanics of feign death on the [[Feign Death]] page if you would like to know all of the details.

=== Pets and You ===
The [[Pets]] section of this wiki has very detailed information on the core mechanics of pets. Necromancers gain a new pet at levels 1, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 29, 34, 39, 44, 49, 53, 56, 59, and 63. At level 65 there are two pets that you can get but they are only gained as a Relic (By finding a [[Eldritch Spell Scroll]]) and a Runic spell (Quested in Ikisith).
  
Your pet gains abilities as you gain more powerful pets, the abilities are cumulative. Starting at level 8 it will bash, at level 16 it will start to kick and double attack, at level 20 it will begin to dual wield weapons, at level 44 it will begin to proc a self lifetap, at level 59 it will become fearless, and at level 63 it will enrage. The Relic pet gains all the abilities of the previous pet but also has a 45 point group lifetap proc. The Runic pet is a spell caster and has a mana pool, inherits your focus effects, and casts a rotation of necromancer spells (See [[Spell: Runic: Hierophant's Acolyte|Hierophant's Acolyte]] for more details).

The pets are skeletons from levels 1-20, Zombies from 24-39, Mummies from 44-53, and Specters from 56-63. The Relic and Runic pet are new model skeletons that are red and brown respectively.

=== Crowd Control ===
The final necromancer mez makes necromancers a very viable crowd control (CC) class in groups. With it, a necromancer can easily keep a mob mezzed and stack up dots on the primary target. Be careful though, because your DoTs will break mez until they run their course, make sure you DoT the right mobs! Setting up a '''Switch To Last Target''' button in Options can be useful when it becomes necessary to mez more than one target or to keep one mezzed while DPSing another.

{{#dpl: title=Spell: Screaming Terror|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
:'''Screaming Terror''': Mezzes up to a level 54 mob but has a very short duration.

{{#dpl: title=Spell: Boundless Fright|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
:'''Boundless Fright''': Mezzes up to a level 62 mob and has a decent duration.

{{#dpl: title=Spell: Mindless Terror|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
:'''Mindless Terror''': Mezzes up to a level  64 mob (if it is not a white con, you can mez it!) and has a decent duration.

== Starting out ==
When creating a necromancer, the first major choice will be selecting a race. There are two major things to take into account: starting stats and racial modifiers. Overall, these make a very minor difference, but in the early game a high CHA score is extremely useful and will make your spells far more effective. The different racial abilities play a very minor role and you should make your choice mostly based off of what you would like to be for the rest of the game! 

==== Race Breakdown ====
*DARK ELF
**Ultravision
**50 or +10% after 50 to Hide 
**-20% Duration to Mezmerization targeting the player
**-20% Duration to Charm targeting the player 
**+2% Critical Spell and Melee at night
**+1% Riposte Chance at night

*ERUDITE
**+2.5% Experience Gain
**+10% Skill Learning Rate [Does not affect tradeskills]
**-30% Detrimental Mana Effects 

*GNOME
**Infravision
**+2% Movement Speed when Indoors
**+3% to Proc Rate
**+1% Evocation
**+1% Alteration
**+1% Conjuration 
**50 Tinkering

*HUMAN:
**-5% Magic Type Damage Received 
**+5% Experience Gain
**+10% Skill Learning Rate 
**+1% Haste
**+5% Increase to all positive faction hits
**-10 Resist Adjust to all Cast Spells 

*IKSAR
**Infravision
**50 or +10% after 50 to Forage 
**5% Fire Type Damage Received 
**-2.5% Experience Rate
**-10% Skill Learning Rate 
**Natural Armor
**Faster Regeneration

=== Starting Races & Their Stats ===
{| {{STDT|sortable}}
|- style="text-align:center; background-color:#CCC;"
! Race || [[Strength|STR]] || [[Stamina|STA]] || [[Agility|AGI]] || [[Dexterity|DEX]] || [[Wisdom|WIS]] || [[Intelligence|INT]] || [[Charisma|CHA]]
|- 
| [[Dark Elf]] || 60 || 65 || 90 || 85 || 83 || {{text|109||yellow}} || {{text|60||yellow}}
|- 
| [[Erudite]] || 60 || 70 || 70 || 80 || 83 || {{text|117||yellow}} || {{text|70||yellow}}
|- 
| [[Gnome]] || 60 || 70 || 85 || 95 || 67 || {{text|108||yellow}} || {{text|60||yellow}}
|- 
| [[Human]] || 75 || 75 || 75 || 85 || 75 || {{text|85||yellow}} || {{text|75||yellow}}
|-
| [[Iksar]] || 70 || 70 || 90 || 95 || 80 || {{text|85||yellow}} || {{text|55||yellow}}
|-
|}
Above is a break down of the starting races, purely by stats. Stats that you should care about for character creation are in yellow.

==== Stats Breakdown ====
;Strength (STR): As an intelligence caster this stat is mostly worthless, it affects how much you can carry and how hard you physically damage mobs.

;Stamina (STA): Stamina determines how much hit points you have, if you have more stamina then you have more hit points. This is an important stat for the necromancer since one of the necromancers primary abilities is turning hit points into Mana.

;Agility (AGI): Agility plays a role in how often foes will miss when trying to hit you. Agility is moderately important in that it will affect your ability to dodge blows while you try to feign dead.

;Dexterity (DEX): This is a mostly useless stat, it affects how often you will hit something in melee combat. 

;Intellect (INT): Intelligence Increases your Mana pool by 12 points per INT while your INT is under 200, and 6 points per INT until it hits 305. Since the necromancer is a caster class and reliant on mana to do most things, its an obviously important stat.

;Wisdom (WIS): This literally does nothing for a necromancer, don't worry about it at all.

;Charisma (CHA): Charisma determines how resistant foes will be to your spells. It is easily the second most important stat to a necromancer, because it directly effects how effective your spells will be by decreasing the amount of damage mitigated by your foes in the form of resists.

== Gear ==
Gear choice is very important starting out, you want to wear gear that gives you plenty of INT and mana so that you can actually cast spells; at the same time you want to have enough charisma to have your spells deal a decent amount of damage. If you focus on these three stats you should have no trouble picking good gear. Just remember that focus effects are important and you want to get Affliction Enhancement as quickly as possible! The best way to get it at low levels is to do the [[Necromancer Starfall Quests]]!

=== Augments ===
Augmenting your gear makes it better, having better gear is good! If you want to be good then augment your gear!

;Mana:Mana is probably the best augment choice '''after you have maxed your intelligence'''! This is the best for when you are done leveling up. 

;Charisma:Charisma is nice at low levels if you are having your spells mitigated to horribly low numbers, but Intelligence is usually more beneficial if your charisma is adequate.

;Intelligence:Intelligence is the best low-level augment. It provides more mana then the Mana augments do. 

;Saves:Saves are wonderful in certain situations, but for the most part you will not need them in your main gear. If you find yourself needing resistances you should invest in some resist gear and aug it with saves, for normal gear stick with stuff that gives you mana.

=== Important Equipment Qualities ===
;Worn effects: 
*[[Flowing Thought]] - Mana gain over time (Caps at 20 in combat, 40 out of combat)
*[[Recovery]] - Health gain over time

;Focus effects:
*[[Affliction Enhancement]] - 	 Increases the potency of DoT's by 3% for each level.
*[[Bane Enhancement]] - 	Increases damage done by all Bane spells by 5% per level. 
*[[Casting Speed Increment]] - 	 Improves casting speed by 2% per level. 
*[[Companion Health]] - 	 Increases the maximum hit points of your summoned pet by 5% per rank.
*[[Companion Strength]] -	Increases your pet's max hit by 5% per Rank. 
*[[Damage Increment]] - 	 Increases the damage done by all direct damage spells by 3% per focus level. 
*[[Mana Conservation]] - 	 Decreases spell mana cost by 1% per rank.
*[[Range Increment]] - 	Increases spell range by 5% per rank.
*[[Reagent Conservation]] - 	Gives a chance that a spell which consumes a reagent item to cast will not consume that reagent. 10-15% chance at each rank 
*[[Elemental Focus Effects]] - Increases the potency of spells of the matching resist type by the given %

== Specializations ==
'''Focus/Mind''' is an excellent first choice to max, as it will help mitigate the low amount of mana typical at lower levels and provide a DPS increase by causing your spells to be less mitigated by your opponents. 

'''Energy/Defense''' makes a sensible second choice for the raw damage increase it will provide. 

After that '''Sight/Warding''', followed by '''Blunt/Avoidance''' and '''Blade/Strike''' but it gets to the point where it doesn't matter, as you will get all of them eventually. It's just a matter of preference.

{| {{STDT|}}
|- 
| style="text-align:left; width:1%;" | '''Focus/Mind Specialization'''
| Improves your ability to bypass the resists of enemies, as well as your ability to conserve mana on casting. 
|- 
| style="text-align:left; width:15%;" | '''Energy/Defense Specialization'''
| Improves the damage of your damage spells, the healed amount of your healing spells, and your mitigation. 
|- 
| style="text-align:left; width:15%;" | '''Sight/Warding Specialization'''
| Improves your skill and damage with archery and throwing, as well as your ability to resist spells.
|- 
| style="text-align:left; width:15%;" | '''Blunt/Avoidance Specialization'''
| Improves your skill and damage with 1hb and 2hb, as well as your combat avoidance. 
|- 
| style="text-align:left; width:15%;" | '''Blade/Strike Specialization'''
| Improves your skill and damage with 1hs, 2hs, 1hp, 2hp, h2h and backstab.
|}

== Skills ==

=== Casting Skills ===
;[[Abjuration]]: Effects your fizzle rates and provides a small increase to the effectiveness of runes on your character per point over 250.
;[[Alteration]]: Effects your fizzle rate and provides a small increase to healing spell amounts and lifetap damage per point over 250.
;[[Evocation]]: Effects your fizzle rate and provides a small increase to nuke damage per point over 250.
;[[Conjuration]]: Effects your fizzle rate and provides a small increase to DoT damage and pet melee damage per point over 250.
;[[Divination]]: Effects your fizzle rate and provides a slight increase in the chance to overcome your target's resistances per point over 250. After changes to how spells are resisted this is now very valuable and will increase the damage done by your spells since it decreases the amount by which the damage is mitigated.

=== Combat skills ===
;[[Dodge]]:Increases your chance to avoid melee damage.

=== Non-Combat skills ===
;[[Bind Wound]]:A small heal. Requires [[Bandages]].
;[[Meditate]]:The ability to regenerate mana. The exact number is equal to your meditate skill / 2.5 per tick (So at 100 if you are meditating it will give you 40 mana back per tick, 80 mana per tick at 200, and 100 per tick at 250) and the skill can be raised over the cap with items to a maximum of 275.

== Spells ==
This segment is mostly geared towards level 65 characters, but there is some basic information along the way that even low level necromancers can use. If you are level 51+ you might have noticed that there are a few spells that you cannot buy from your class guild anymore! For the level 51-60 spells you can travel to the Library in Erudin and purchase them there, level 60+ spells only drop off of mobs and can be bought from players ([[Fetter]] is an exception; you can find that on one of the merchants in Erudin because its a cross class spell).
*Ancient spells are obtained by getting an [[Ancient Spell Scroll]] and turning it in to {{NPCtag|Apprentice Vaceth|nocat}}.
*Relic spells are obtained by getting a [[Eldritch Spell Scroll]] and turning it in to Apprentice Vaceth. 
*The necromancer Archaic, [[Spell: Archaic: Claws of the Chill|Claws of the Chill]] is obtained by gathering spell fragments from [[Prison of Admyrrza]], [[The Rust]], and [[Stronghold of Enthann]]. The Archaic is a very rare spell and some necromancers never even get it after playing for years (This condition is also known as ''The Luas Curse'').
*Ritual Spells are obtained in Prison and used for some crazy lore related things in that zone.
*Runic and Artifact Spells are part of Ikisith.
*You cannot get the Divine Word's because you cannot reach level 66.

Always adapt to the resistances of mobs around you, if the mobs are very DR, then don't use Scitterpox because if it is extremely mitigated down then its a mana sink. If your group needs a bit of extra healing love don't be afraid to toss up Sytha's. Prioritize the use of Scent of Dis, since it lowers FR/PR/DR by 36 points it will cause your dots to be mitigated less! Make use of Mind Wrack if the mobs have mana, its a good way to help yourself and your group mates out by giving them a little bit of extra mana.

In general, keeping up your best life tap, best duration life tap, best pet life tap, best direct damage spell, best poison, fire, and disease dot, and best Feign Death will provide you with a very workable spell bar.

=== Suggested Spellsets (Level 65) ===
==== Pre Ancients/Relics ====
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Gangrenous Touch of Grindrun|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Caress of Sivyana|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Funeral Pyre of Malath|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Scitterpox|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Vexing Spirit|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Vexing Mordinia|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Cryotoxin|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Endowed Death|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}

{{#dpl: title=Spell: Death Peace|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
:If '''Death Imitation (AA)''' is not available, '''Death Peace''' might be used instead of '''Endowed Death'''.

{{#dpl: title=Spell: Mindless Terror|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
:Swap out '''Endowed Death''' (or a duration tap if you are still using '''Death Peace''') for '''Mindless Terror''' when crowd control (CC) is needed 

{{#dpl: title=Spell: Scent of Dis|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
:Swap out '''Cryotoxin''' for '''Scent of Dis''' when Debuffs are needed.


==== With Ancients / Relics ====
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Ancient: Lifebane|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Caress of Sivyana|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Relic: Marlow's Cremation|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Scitterpox|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Relic: Hand of Kaezul|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Relic: Spirit of Kaezul|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Cryotoxin|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Endowed Death|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}


==== With Archaic ====
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Ancient: Lifebane|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Caress of Sivyana|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Relic: Marlow's Cremation|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Archaic: Claws of the Chill|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Relic: Hand of Kaezul|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Relic: Spirit of Kaezul|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Endowed Death|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}

Use '''Cryotoxin'''/'''Scitterpox''' / '''Scent of Dis''' depending on resistances of mobs, or '''Mindless Terror''' if CC is needed.

{{#dpl: title=Spell: Scent of Dis|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Cryotoxin|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Scitterpox|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Mindless Terror|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}

== Buffs ==
Whenever you are grouping you should have your best conversion spell up, and your best shielding spell if there is not a better alternative available. If there are other classes available then you should nicely ask them to buff you! Not all of the spells stack and you need to make a few choices depending on what classes are present. Druid and Shamans both get shielding buffs that do not stack with one another; Druid shielding spells are generally preferred over Shaman shielding spells since they provide Mana regeneration in addition to HP, however Shaman shielding might be useful if you need more HP and extra CHA. Your own conversion spells do not stack with the Breeze line of spells that Enchanters cast but they will stack with the mana buffing spells (Gift of Magic/Brilliance). The Paladin Hit Point buff line does not stack with the Beastlord Hit Point buff line, Necromancers should give preference to the Paladin Hit Point buffs as they provide more Hit Points than the Beastlord's version. Generally you want some sort of Cleric Hit Point buff, to increase your general survivability, and some form of Regeneration to counteract the slow death that you can inflict upon yourself with your conversion spells. Cleric Hit Point buffs do not stack with the Druid's Hit Point buff line (Not the shielding line) and should generally be given preference since the Cleric Hit Point buffs provide more Hit Points. Statistic buffs from Shamans and Enchanters can be very useful, most important being CHA buffs as they will increase the amount of damage that you deal since your CHA effects how often your spells are resisted and as such the amount that your DoTs are mitigated by the mobs. 

The necromancer class is not known for providing others with buffs. '''Dead Men Floating''' is their one and only raid buff, and it sees rare use in Group / Raid situations. 
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Dead Men Floating|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}


Tap spells with group recourses might also be counted as Necromancer-provided buffs, but most will again see rare use at the higher end, where buff slots are at a premium. Health taps no longer place a recourse on your party members and instead directly heal them when the damage is dealt, this mostly applies to [[Spell: Sytha's Theft of Vitae|Sytha's Theft of Vitae]] but also effects your self and pet duration taps. The following spells do place a recourse on your party.


;Mana
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Mind Wrack|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Mind Wrack Recourse|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}


;Stats (STR/STA)
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Degeneration|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Degeneration Recourse|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}


;Armor (AC)
{{#dpl: title=Spell: Succussion of Shadows|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}
{{#dpl: title=Succussion of Shadows Recourse|include={Spelltable} Listitemslim}}

== Alternate Advancement Guide ==
*For a more complete description of necromancer class AAs and their functions, see [[Alternate Advancement: Necromancer]].

=== The Basics ===
Getting the basics first is highly recommended, since these basic AAs will allow you to have a spell gem free for an extra dot thanks to AA FD, have more raw hp, critical more, run faster, gain mana with dread lich, and have lifetaps that can crit. After these it is really all up to you; you can get em all or just get the minimum amount needed to start tomes.

{| {{STDT|sortable}}
|- style="text-align:center;" style="text-align:center; background-color:#ACD;"
! Name || Points / Level || Total Points
|- style="text-align:center;"
| '''Runspeed''' || 1 || 3
|- style="text-align:center;"
| '''Innate Regeneration''' || 1 || 3
|- style="text-align:center;"
| '''Spell Casting Fury''' || 2 / 4 / 6 || 12
|- style="text-align:center;"
| '''Death Imitation''' || 3 || 3
|- style="text-align:center;"
| '''Dread Lich''' || 3 || 3
|- style="text-align:center;"
| '''Natural Durability''' || 2 / 4 / 6 || 12
|- style="text-align:center;"
| '''Vampiric Lore'''  || 1 / 2 / 3 || 5
|- style="text-align:center;"
| '''Fury of Magic''' || 3 / 6 / 9 || 18
|- style="text-align:center;"
| *'''Innate Enlightenment''' || 3 / 3 / 3 / 3 || 12
|}

: *Recommended once INT goes over cap.

=== Everything Else ===
After covering the basics consider the following: 
*Good Class Skills (Recession, Lifeburn)
*Defensive AAs (Combat Agility and Lightning Reflexes)
*Resists (Max out MR, FR, and maybe CR)
*A few Archetype AAs (Spell Casting Mastery, Spell Casting Expertise -> Mind of the Arcane (No fizzles OWNS), Mental Clarity, Spell Casting Subtlety)
*Pet AAs (Mend Companion, Hastened Mending, Pet Discipline, Recall Minion, Minion Skills) 
*Fun Skills (Leechstorm even though its terrible, Enhanced Control if you charm, Soulbound if you want it)
*Hidden Strength (If you have the cha to get the over cap benefits)
*Resists (Max out whatever you didn't max out)
*Stats (Charisma, Stamina, Agility, and Intelligence if you need it. Ultimately gear covers this, but its nice if you don't have the gear)

After you have those it's pretty much whatever you feel like doing, you can get stats if you lack the gear to boost your stats, but about the time you are done with those AAs (around 350-375 AAs spent) is an excellent time to start working on tomes!


== Tomes ==
The [[Tomes]] Page of this wiki has a very detailed description of the tome system and covers the mechanics of buying and using tomes in addition to listing all of the tomes that players have added to the wiki.

'''The Codices Of Power''': They are very very very good for necromancers, you want to start doing them as soon as possible because they provide a raw increase in the amount of damage your spells do and the amount of damage your pet does. When you have them done your spells do 20% more damage, and your pet hits 20% harder, its like you suddenly have an innate Affliction Enhancement 8 and Companion Strength 5 that stacks with your existing AE and CS. You can start them at 250+ AAs. As soon as you can bust open that first tome you can split your exp 50/50 between tome and AA until you have everything you want from AAs. 


;Emberflow Tomes: These tomes are obtained by slaying the horrible demons, dark elves, and kralaw lurking in the [[Emberflow Caverns]], the good ones for necromancers are: 
::*'''Dodging the Tears of Tarhyl''' - 5% Spell Mitigation.
::*'''Advanced Foe Management''' - 10% to Mez, Root, Charm duration.
::*'''Understanding and Working With Runes''' - +15% to damage absorbed by a rune on YOU.
::*'''Secrets of the Wee Folk''' - Death Save chance.
::*'''Treatise on Armor Optimization''' - 40% Worn Damage Reduction Increase
::*'''Compendium of Passive Stances''' - 5% less aggro generated, but you can FD and have 0 aggro so it is a bit of a waste.
::*'''Manual of Triggered Casting''' - 10% increased chance for item procs to occur. If you have good item procs then this might be worth picking up, however it is more effectively used by melee characters who are reliant upon weapon procs for a solid portion of their DPS<br />


;Ikisith Tomes
Ikisith tomes drop in several of the Ikisith zones and have 4 ranks: Tome 1, Tome 2, Opus 1, and Opus 2. The Resistance tomes have 6 ranks(Tome 1, 2, 3, Opus 1, 2, 3). Opii are dropped by higher level Ikisith raid content.
:General
::*'''Infection Mastery''' - 2% to Poison/Disease damage, this is probably the most useful elemental damage tome since necromancers have 1 good poison and 1 good disease DoT giving you the most bang for your exp buck.
::*'''Frost Mastery''' - 2% to Cold damage, this makes for bigger ticks for your Archaic, woo!
::*'''Flame Mastery''' - 2% to Fire damage, this makes for bigger Fire DoT ticks, woo!
::*'''Magic Mastery''' - 2% to Magic damage, this makes for bigger Lifetaps and Lifetap DoT ticks.
::*'''Lifetap Mastery''' - 2% to Lifetap damage, this makes for bigger Lifetaps, stacks with Magic Mastery.
::*'''Critical Evocation''' - 1% to spell crit, which is arguably more useful than a 2% damage increase '''''and''''' effects all of the spells you have.
::*'''Tome of the Mind''' - 1% to spell/heal crit if your INT/WIS is high enough over cap.
::*'''Tome of Vitality''' - +1% Base HP per rank.
::*'''Racing Thoughts''' - +1 to worn FT cap.
::*'''Bodily Brilliance''' - 1% damage mitigation.
::*'''Tome of The Swift''' - Run 2% faster (Stacks with everything.)
::*'''Tome of Enhanced STAT''' - Raises your STAT cap by 10, this is good for Charisma which you are probably drowning in by the time you do one of these tomes.
::*'''Tome of Magical/Bodily/Elemental Resistance''' - +3 to MR/PR+DR/FR+CR
:Archetype
::*'''Companion Armor''' - adds 25% of your pre-buffed AC to your pet.
::*'''Companion Critical Strike''' - gives your pet 1% crit strike.
::*'''Companion Bound ELEMENT''' - adds 25% of your pre-buffed ELEMENT resistance to your pet. Broken down into Magic, Fire, Cold, Poison, and Disease.
::*'''Glyph of ELEMENT''' - adds a -25 resist adjust to all ELEMENT spells that you cast. Broken down into Magic, Fire, Cold, Poison, and Disease. You can only have one Glyph learned. 
:Class
::*'''Leeching Servant''' - gives your pet a 20/40/60/80% chance of mimicking your life taps.
::*'''Strands of Life''' - returns hp/mana to your group when you land a kill shot. The amount is determined based on the strength of the monster killed.
::*'''Insidious Elements''' - Reduces the resistances of your foe based on the variety of elemental afflictions placed upon it causing it to be more difficult for your opponent to resist your spells.

[[Category:Necromancer]]

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