PvP Poison Nova Necromancer Guide

Poison Nova Necromancer Guide for PvP and PvM

PvP Rank: A Class / PvM Rank: A Class

Introduction

Poison Nova Necromancers use a wide area of effect Poison Nova attack that expands away from the player hitting almost the entire screen. Poison Nova Necromancers also have many tools at their disposal to lower enemies poison resistances. Death's Web lowers enemies poison resistances by up to 50, Trang-Oul's three set bonus lowers enemies poison resistances by 25, Poison Facets lower enemies poison resistances by up to 5% each, and the Lower Resist curse can lower enemies poison resistances by more than 60. It's not uncommon to take a players to one life with one Poison Nova once they have the Lower Resist curse on them. Poison Nova can only takes opponents down to a minimum of one life in one cast and then you'll need to hit them again to take them to zero life. You should also make use of a Fire Golem because its Holy Fire aura ticks are usually enough to finish off your opponents.

Poison Nova Necromancer Skills

Poison Nova Necromancers excel at screen-wide clears in PvM and are strong against any player class that chases them in PvP.

Recommendation: Poison Nova Necromancer

Stats: Enough Strength for equipment, no Dexterity (Bone Armor is used to negate physical damage), all remaining points in Vitality, and 0 Energy.

Skill Points:

20 Poison Nova

20 Poison Explosion

20 Poison Dagger

5 Lower Resist (5 is enough with endgame plus skills because the Lower Resist curse has diminishing returns)

1 Skeleton Mastery

1 Golem Mastery

1 Summon Resist

1 Bone Armor

1 Fire Golem (poison takes players down to 1 life and your Fire Golem can be used to finish them with its Holy Fire aura)

1 Revive (Revives can serve as meat shields for damage in PvM and PvP)

All remaining points in Bone Prison which is a synergy for Bone Armor for a stronger physical damage shield.

Poison Nova Necromancer Gear

Weapon

Death's Web - Gives +2 Necromancer Skills, up to +2 to Poison and Bone Skills, -50% to enemy poison resistance, and can be socketed with a Poison Facet for another -5% to enemy poison resistance and 5% increased poison skill damage.

Shield

Trang-Oul's Shield (Um'd) - This shield is used for the three set Trang-Oul's bonus which gives -25% to enemy poison resistance and has +2 to Poison and Bone Skills, poison resistance, fire resistances, and for a high block chance.

Weapon Switch

Call to Arms (Amn Ral Mal Ist Ohm) - Gives up to +7 to Battle Orders combined with a Lidless Wall for another +1 to all skills.

Helmet

Harlequin Crest (aka Shako) (Poison Facet'd) - +2 to all skills, 10% physical damage taken reduction, life and mana per level, and 50% magic find. Once you can afford 20 life charms with resistances you can use a Poison Facet for damage instead of an Um rune.

Body

Enigma (Jah Ith Ber) - Gives +2 to all skills, 45% faster run walk, high strength per level, 5% to maximum life, 8% physical damage taken reduction, Teleport which is very important for this build, and magic find per level. The Bramble body armor (which gives 50% increased poison damage) isn't recommended because it makes you an easy target for too many builds without Teleport.

Gloves

Trang-Oul's Gloves - Gives 20% faster cast rate, 25% increased poison damage, +2 to Curse Skills, and 30% cold resistance.

Belt

Trang'Oul's Belt - Completes the Trang-Oul's three set bonus for -25% enemy poison resistance, 40% cold resistance, 66 life, up to 50 mana, and has the added benefit of cannot be frozen.

Feet (PvP)

Waterwalk - Gives up to 65 life, 20% faster run walk speed, 15 dexterity, 5% to maximum fire resistance, and defense vs missiles.

Feet Vs. Lightning & Cold Builds That Lower Your Resistances

Tri-Resistance Boots - Look for rare boots with close to 40% cold resistance and 40% Lightning Resistance and if you can afford it fire resistance. You can also use Natalya's Boots for 40% faster run walk and up to 25% lightning resistance and 25% cold resistance.

Feet (PvM)

Ethereal Sandstorm Trek - These boots should be used for PvM because the Rotting Fissure Charm which breaks poison immunities lowers your poison resistance by 70 or more. Sandstorm Treks have up to 70% poison resistance, 20% faster run walk, 20% faster hit recovery, 15 strength, 15 vitality, and repairs 1 durability in 20 seconds. These boots repair durability over time so they should also be ethereal for higher defense and lower stat requirements.

Feet Vs. Fire Builds

Hotspur - These boots should be used against fire builds for +15% to maximum fire resistance, 15 life, and 45% increased fire resistance. Hotspur boots can be Up'd to Demonhide Boots in the Horadric Cube using a Perfect Diamond, Shael rune, and Tal rune. Hotspur can also be Up'd a second time to Wyrmhide Boots in the Horadric Cube using a Perfect Diamond, Lem rune, and Ko rune.

Amulet

Rare Amulet or Caster Amulet - Look for +2 to Necromancer Skills, 10% faster cast rate (to hit the 30% faster cast rate breakpoint for Teleport without a faster cast rate ring), high all resistances, one over stacked resistance, and optionally life.

Amulet (Budget)

Mara's Kaleidoscope - Gives +2 to all skills, 5 to all attributes, and up to all resistances +30%.

Ring

Wisp Projector - This ring is used for its level 2 Oak Sage charges because Nature's Peace which also gives Oak Sage has Monsters Rest In Peace which prevents summoning Revives from corpses. Wisp Projector also gives up to 20% lightning absorb. If you don't plan on summoning Revives and don't need lightning absorb you can use a Nature's Peace instead for level 5 Oak Sage charges.

Ring 2

Bul-Kathos's Wedding Band - Gives +1 to all skills and life per level. If you are using the budget Mara's Kaleidoscope instead of a faster cast rate amulet you should instead use a faster cast rate ring with all resistances, dexterity, and life. When fighting fire builds you can switch this ring for a Dwarf Star which gives 15% fire absorb and when fighting cold builds you can switch this ring to a Raven Frost which gives 20% cold absorb, 20 dexterity, and cannot be frozen.

Charms

Hellfire Torch for +3 Necromancer Skills, Annihilus for +1 to all skills, 1 Rotting Fissure for PvM to break poison immunities, and +1 Poison and Bone Skills Grand Charms with life. The rest of your charms should be small charms with life and resistances.

Mercenary Type

Act 2 Defiance Mercenary - The Defiance aura gives high defense and can help keep your mercenary alive. Holy Freeze shatters the corpses of enemies and isn't recommended if you are using Corpse Explosion which requires corpses.

Mercenary Weapon

Ethereal Insight (Ral Tir Tal Sol) - Gives up to level 17 Meditation which provides very high mana regeneration.

Mercenary Armor

Ethereal Fortitude (El Sol Dol Lo) - 300% enhanced damage, up to all resistances +30%, life per level, 5% to maximum lightning resistance, and a 20% chance to cast level 15 Chilling Armor when struck.

Mercenary Helmet

Ethereal Andariel's Visage (Ral'd) - Gives +2 to all skills, 10% life leech, -30% fire resistance, and 30 strength. Ral gives 30% fire resistance but you should eventually upgrade to a 30% fire resistance jewel with other great modifiers.

Budget Mercenary Weapon

Insight (Ral Tir Tal Sol) - Gives up to level 17 Meditation which provides very high mana regeneration.

Budget Mercenary Armor

Duriel's Shell - Gives 20% all resistances, 50% cold resistance, 15 strength, life per level, and cannot be frozen.

Budget Mercenary Helmet

Tal Rasha's Helmet - Gives 10% life leech, 15% to all resistances, and 60 life.

Note: Ethereal items don't lose durability on mercenaries.

Poison Nova Necromancer Strategy

It's very common to lower players life to 1 with one Poison Nova because not many players over stack their poison resistance to high amounts. Poison Nova is extremely powerful against any class that chases you in PvP and is also a very strong build in PvM now that there is a Poison Sunder Grand Charm in the game. The greatest weakness of Poison Nova is that it has a medium speed spread which can make it hard to hit players that quickly run or teleport away. Teleporting close to runners and teleporters optionally with an army of Revives is often necessary when you are having a hard time getting close enough to hit them with a Poison Nova. It's also usually a good idea to play defensive against PvP builds that can't damage you without getting up close.

Poison Nova Necromancer Leveling Items

You can use an Ancient's Pledge Large Shield (Ral Ort Tal) at level 21 for high all resistances. A Spirit Crystal Sword (Tal Thul Ort Amn) can be used at level 25 for up to +2 to all skills, 35% faster cast rate, vitality, mana, and 55% faster hit recovery. Skin of the Vipermagi is an excellent early body armor that can be switched to as early as level 29 for +1 to all skills, 30% faster cast rate, up to magic damage taken reduced by 15, and up to all resistances +35%. Smoke (Nef Lum) can also be used as a budget body armor option at level 37 and is a great starter runeword with faster hit recovery and an easy all resistances +50%.

That's all for the PvP Poison Nova Necromancer Guide. You can also check out the most popular crafted items here Crafting Guide.