Getting Back into the Necro Groove
So, I decided to jump back into Diablo 3 the other day. Felt like an eternity since I last really played it, you know? My old Wizard felt stale, like eating the same sandwich every day for a year. I needed something fresh. And then I remembered the Necromancer. Always had a soft spot for the spooky stuff, so I thought, “Yeah, let’s give that a whirl.”
Early Days: Skeletons and Utter Confusion
Booted it up, made a new Necro. Man, those early levels. I was just throwing whatever skills sounded cool. Raise Skeletons, obviously. Who doesn’t want an army of bones? Seemed like a no-brainer. But then, what else? I tried that Siphon Blood thing. Felt kinda weak, like trying to suck a milkshake through one of those tiny coffee stirrers. Not very impactful, if you ask me.
And Corpse Explosion? Sounded awesome on paper, but half the time I was running around desperately looking for corpses, especially when I actually needed them. It was a bit like, “Okay, bad guys are here… now where’s a body?” Often, there just weren’t any conveniently placed. I remember one time, I was swarmed by those little demon guys, the ones that jump on you. Hit my skeleton button, nothing. Cooldown. Then I tried to blow up a corpse, but there weren’t any nearby! Just me, getting poked to death. Good times, eh? Frustrating, to say the least.
Finding My Lane: The Pet Master Dream (Eventually)
After a bunch of dying and generally flailing about, I started to think, “Okay, maybe I should focus a bit.” This scattergun approach wasn’t cutting it. I really liked having my bony buddies around. It meant less frantic kiting for me, and more watching them do the dirty work. So, I decided to double down on pets. Anything that made my skeletons tougher or gave me more of them, I was all over it. Threw in a Golem too, because why not? A big chunky dude, seemed useful for tanking a few hits.
I wasn’t really looking at online guides at this point. Felt more fun to just tinker, you know? Like building with LEGOs, but with more exploding bodies and dark magic. I’d swap runes in and out, try different passives. Some were total duds, honestly. That passive that makes your curses last longer? Seemed useless to me, because either everything died too fast anyway, or I did before the curse duration mattered much.
The Gear Grind: Oh, the Agony!
Then came the gear. Ugh. You know how it is in these games. Running rifts over and over, hoping for that beautiful green glow. I was chasing that Grace of Inarius set at first, because someone in chat mentioned it was good for melee stuff, but then I realized I was more into the whole ‘stand back and let my minions do the work’ thing. So I switched my focus to the Bones of Rathma set. Seemed like the go-to for pet builds. Every time a set piece dropped, my heart would leap. And then it’d be for some other class, or a duplicate of a piece I already had. Classic Diablo, right?
I swear, Kadala just hates me. Spend all my Blood Shards, get nothing but yellow junk. “Thanks, Kadala, another pair of useless boots I’ll salvage immediately!” But eventually, piece by piece, it started coming together. Got the Rathma chest, then the gloves. It was slow going, man. Felt like I was farming for a mythical beast sometimes, the way those last few pieces eluded me.
Putting It All Together: The Symphony of Death (and Lag)
Once I had most of the Rathma set, things really clicked. My skeletons were hitting like actual trucks, not just wet noodles. My Golem was actually doing stuff, holding aggro. I started playing around with Army of the Dead. Big cooldown, sure, but man, when you pop that in a huge mob? Chef’s kiss. Pure chaos and screen clutter, but effective chaos!
I also figured out that Command Skeletons with the Freezing Grasp rune (the one that makes them charge and stun) was super handy. Kept stuff off me, gave me breathing room. And Bone Armor, always gotta have Bone Armor up. Makes you feel a bit less squishy, which, let’s be honest, Necros can be if you’re not careful. That Dislocation rune for a stun is pretty nice too.
My rotation became something like: keep Bone Armor stacked, make sure my skeletons are up, use Command Skeletons to direct the beatdown onto elites or dangerous stuff, and pop Army of the Dead for the big groups or tough single targets. If things got really hairy, I’d use Blood Rush to zip out of there. Still not a huge fan of Corpse Explosion myself, even with all the pet stuff making corpses. It just felt too clunky for my playstyle, always needing to target the ground and hope for the best.
Where I’m At Now, and What’s Next
So yeah, that’s my Necro build in a nutshell. It’s mostly the Rathma pet setup, with a focus on just swarming everything. It’s not pushing insane Greater Rift leaderboard numbers or anything; I’m too casual for that kind of intense grind these days. But it’s fun. I can clear Torment levels pretty comfortably, do some Greater Rifts without wanting to tear my hair out. It’s satisfying watching my little bone army just wreck stuff while I sip my coffee.
Still tweaking it, you know? Always looking for that ancient upgrade, or a better-rolled ring. Maybe I’ll even give that Trag’Oul’s Avatar set a proper try one day, the blood mage thing. Heard it can be powerful. But for now, I’m happy being the creepy dude with a bone posse. It’s a good time. Reminds me of the good old Diablo 2 days, just a bit flashier and with more buttons to press.
