Hello everyone, I know you'll probably get this question on a daily basis but I was wondering if anyone could help me with setting up my Summoner AA's I'm very new to Everquest 2. I'm a level 33 almost 34 Freeblood Necromancer, not really sure on how exactly I should be spending these points. Not really sure offhand how many I have exactly but I do know I have more than my level lol. Very new to EQ2 as I've stated and I know no one so any help is much appreciated.
A Necromancers #1 priority when leveling up or otherwise sill be Tainted Heals... After words anything that makes your pets stronger or faster. Lifeburn when you start grouping or learning how to solo like the beast class you rolled. The #1 advice I can give any Necro around is that; the Necro class is extremely AA hungry and generates a great deal of its power through enhanced AA abilities.
So I should probably start dropping points into Necromancer tree first to get Tainted Heals? or do I max myself out in Summoner first? Sorry don't mean to sound like such a noob but I'm very new to EQ2 and the whole AA' system
My Advice: (assuming you have at least 60 AA's at level 30) Tainted Heals in the Necro tree. Pump points into Soulrot, Bloodcoil, and Pandemic. Choose another (I'd choose Necro Pact). Get Tainted Heals. STR line in Summoner. Crit + Detonate = awesome. Also put at least one point into Shockwave, Shadowstep, and Transference) After that, its preference. I prefer to get the pet revive in the INT tree. Here is what I would do (clicky)
Also, get your rotation down. Rotation on Necro is fairly simple but here are some points. 1. Remove ALL temp summons such as Blighted Horde. These do little damage to be worth pressing the button. I'd also remove Dooming Darkness. I also dont bother with stuns and roots. Nothing lives long enough to hurt you. 2. Mage Pet. Use it. Exclusively. Mage Pet is your only friend. Dont listen to people who use the Scout or Fighter pets. 3. Soulrot, Pandemic, and Bloodcoil should ALWAYS be on your target. My Rotation: Soulrot - Pandemic - Bloodcoil - Vampire Bats - Soulrot - Pandemic - ? - Soulrot - Pandemic - Bloodcoil - Bats Let me explain. Soulrot any time it is up. The "?" is whatever filler spells you want to use when everything else is on cooldown. Arcane Bewilderment, Animated Dagger are my two most used fillers. When specced, you will recast Bloodcoil and Vampire Bats about every third Pandemic. For instance, start out with the initial Pandemic-Bloodcoil-Bats. You will in 9 seconds be recasting Pandemic. This Pandemic is a free-stand. On the third Pandemic (at 18 seconds) you recast Bloodcoil and Bats. So in its simplest: SR-PD-BC-VB-PD-PD-BC-VB with Soulrots being cast whenever they are up. Typically you will cast Soulrot then Pandemic then a filler on the off rounds. The key is to always keep Soulrot and Pandemic up, and Bloodcoil on the target without wasting ticks or mana. Bats doesnt do a lot of damage, but as a DoT class our Bats still ticks a bit of damage. Every bit helps. Soulrot > all Pandemic > Bloodcoil Bloodcoil > rest Get used to those three spells. They are your bread and butter to start out. It might seem like a lot but Necro essentially is a 4 spell class. Get those 4 down and the rest is easy.
Been a long time since I played my necro. Just recently dusted him off and started getting him gear, 90/320 still.. Do you still cast pandemic on the single target fights? Is it really still that good? I have read alot of posts on other sites that say bats is a waste of time to cast, yet you put alot of stock into it. How come? You also don't talk about elemetal toxicity, soulburn bloodcloud etc in your rotation at all. Do you not use these? Just relearnin the class, so bear with me
Let me first state that my advice was based on him being level 30. IMO the spells I listed are core spells that one should get used to early on and change the rotation later. Pandemic. This spell is debatable, sure. I prefer to include it. Necros get a lot of DoT increases so I see any increase as a good increase. With every 1 cast of Bloodcoil you are casting 2 Pandemics. 2 Pandemics do about 95% of the damage of 1 Bloodcoil. So essentially 2 Pandemics are equal to an extra Bloodcoil. And the quick cast time and cooldown make it an easy spell to fit into a rotation. IMO it packs enough punch so I use it. Vampire Bats. Early on its useful. Later on you are partly right. It does about 70% of the damage of Bloodcoil. So, while it is not as useful, if I have a chance I still use it. I admit I do not use it religiously in the rotation. Necros, again, get DoT increases which helps VB along. There are some Necros who will tell you to use it (every bit helps) and others who say its a waste (not worth the mana). This one is personal preference. I throw it in about half the time. I will say as a Freeblood Necro I just feel cooler casting it. As for other spells you need to use... Soulburn and Elem Tox... use it every time its off cooldown. I didnt address the big nukes at his level. There are also those who preach the Siphon spells. I dont find them all that useful with our quick cooldown times (we just dont need extra spells although I do use the extra heal spell). Undead Horde is the only dumbfire I use, and not all that often. I believe most of our other spells are utility. Might have missed a couple. AoE. AE. Whatever you term it. This is where I wing it a little more. I still stand by the rule of Soulrot > all. But I start out with Pandemic - Bloodcloud - Detonate in some order. We have horrible recasts on AoE's compared to the Conjy so after the initial casts the only thing usable is Pandemic. So after throwing out the initial burst I usually switch to single dps mode while waiting for Bloodcloud to come back up. Siphon of Souls also gives you an AoE. Weigh it yourself. I use it sometimes. I believe the guide on EQ2Flames is the best guide out there. I will double check as I havent been on there in a while. I've found the good thing about Necro is that there is no "cookie cutter" template with us. We all agree on a few spells. After that we debate over the usefulness of other spells. Depends on each of our playstyles. Forgot our heal spells. By all means use them. I do. Lifetap imo is my second best friend after the Mage pet. If you need to, forego a Soulrot or Pandemic and heal up. A dead Necro is ironic. An undead Necro dying is SOE's way of playing a joke on us. (Yes, as a Freeblood Necro with the ArchLich title and a spell to turn into a Lich, I should not be dying unless you stake me through the heart! Or destroy my phylactery.)
