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While travel for the necromancer was made possible with Gather Shadows, the true potential
for travel is opened up with the ability to Bind Affinity nearly anywhere the world. Many
hunting areas which would otherwise seem quite distant are made convenient.
Level 12 Spells
The spells of this circle are a pleasant combination of utility and mayhem.
Two of our spell lines, Darkness and Lifetap, receive much-appreciated improvements. We also
see the introduction of several other spell lines: the fiery Blood line, the lifetap-over-time
Leach, and our Scent resistance debuffs. A stronger pet is also available for conjuring.
Bind Affinity is what makes all the difference, though.
The highly increased damage potential makes solo adventuring even easier. Don't forget to
group occasionally to stay in touch with your allies.
The School of the spell reflects which magical skill is called
upon. Mana is drained from your mana pool immediately upon casting the spell. Cast Time is in
seconds. Reagents must be in your inventory to complete the spellcasting.
| Dark Ritual |
School |
Mana |
Cast Time |
Reagents |
| Bind Affinity |
Alteration |
100 |
6.0 |
None |
|
Sets the binding point of the target to where
their current position. |
|
You can bind yourself nearly anywhere – including
places that will get you killed instantly, repeatedly, so choose wisely. If you want
to bind someone else, they must be in a group with you, and you can only bind
them in cities, for the most part.
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| Convoke Shadow |
Conjuration |
120 |
8.0 |
1 Bone Chip |
|
Summons a skeletal
warrior to do the necromancer's bidding. |
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By now, you've probably had encounters with creatures
that are immune to normal weapons, such as wisps and ghouls. Convoke Shadow is our
first pet summoning that can reliably damage such creatures, although it's possible
to call up a particularly weak one that doesn't. As usual, the previous pet summoning
can now be ignored.
|
| Endure Disease |
Abjuration |
20 |
2.5 |
None |
|
Provides the target with an extra 10-25 disease
resistance. |
|
Most diseases won't kill you, but they can certainly
be annoying. Prepare yourself and your comrades with this extra protection if you
suspect you'll be running into mummies or rabid animals.
|
| Engulfing Darkness |
Conjuration |
60 |
2.5 |
None |
|
Reduces the target's running speed by 40 percent,
and inflicts 110 magic damage over 2 minutes. |
|
This upgrade to Clinging Darkness does approximately
the same amount of damage in a given amount of time, but lasts significantly longer.
Since the primary use of the Darkness spells is to snare, some necromancers never
stop using the cheap and fast-casting Clinging Darkness, which is sufficient for their
purposes. Personally, I like the extended duration and additional damage of the later
versions. Either choice is certainly valid.
|
| Focus Death |
Alteration |
35 |
3.0 |
None |
|
Increases your pet's attack speed by up to 12–15 percent,
adds 15–20 strength, and adds 5–6 armor class. |
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Back in the old days, young necromancers didn't have
little spells like this to make our minions stronger. No, we had to tough it out with
what we summoned! Take it or leave it! Only necromancers twice the age had the
privilege of boosting the power of their pet, and we had to work for it too!
Research, that's right, only the smart ones got that
extra kick. And don't you forget it.
|
| Heat Blood |
Alteration |
72 |
2.5 |
None |
|
Strikes the target for no initial damage, but inflicts
170 fire damage over 60 seconds. |
|
This is the first spell in a series of damage-over-time
spells affecting the blood. It does a goodly amount of damage in a reasonable amount of
time, and is a fine addition to our arsenal of death. The only disadvantage is its
inability to damage creatures with high fire resistance, such as most of the things in
Lavastorm. Regardless, Heat Blood will be useful for quite a while.
|
| Leach |
Alteration |
72 |
2.4 |
None |
|
Drains 72 health from the target over 54 seconds and
grants it to the necromancer. |
|
Leach is our first lifetap-over-time spell, providing an
excellent counterpoint to Dark Pact. Note that the spell will continue to drain energy
throughout its full duration, even if the target dies – there's always a bit more
life that can be sucked out of a fresh corpse.
|
| Lesser Summon Corpse |
Conjuration |
100 |
5.0 |
Black Ceremonial Coffin |
|
Brings to the necromancer the corpse of a groupmate
level 35 or less. |
|
Expensive, but occasionally worth both the trouble
and the gaping hole in your coinpurse.
|
| Lifedraw |
Alteration |
63 |
2.5 |
None |
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Drains 39-45 health from the target and grants it to the necromancer. |
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The much-needed improvement to Lifespike is a welcome
addition to the spellbook. Leach will give you more health for your mana, but Lifedraw
is a must when your health gets dangerously low.
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| Scent of Dusk |
Alteration |
50 |
2.25 |
None |
|
Reduces the target's fire resistance by 7-9, poison resistance
by 7-9 and disease resistance by 7-9. |
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The Scent spells (of which this is the first) are actually
based on poison, which is something to keep in mind. It does a fair job of lowering the
main resistances that a necromancer cares about, but it's expensive in mana and fairly
resisted itself. On the whole, it's not very popular, but it has uses.
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| Sight Graft |
Divination |
10 |
5.0 |
None |
|
Transfers the necromancer's vision to the summoned pet's
point of view. |
|
Even though it's interesting to get the skeleton-eye
view of combat sometimes, this is mostly just a party trick. It can be used in some
situations for scouting or watching for a particular event, but the limited casting
range makes it less useful than it otherwise might be.
|
| Spook the Dead |
Alteration |
10 |
2.0 |
None |
|
Inspires the undead target to flee in a panic at their
best speed for up to 18 seconds. |
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If you're battling the undead, this works exactly like
Fear – except it costs a quarter of the mana and casts almost twice as fast.
It's a fine thing. No necromancer should be without our specialty spells dealing with
the undead.
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| Wave of Enfeeblement |
Alteration |
40 |
2.5 |
None |
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Robs all enemy targets near the necromancer of 15
strength. |
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In most situations, the effects of the wave will be
practically unnoticeable. In certain dueling situations, though, it can be extremely
effective.
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Tactics
No particularly new tactics present themselves at this point. Previous tactics tend to work even
better, though, with the increased damage of the new spells and the ever-greater pool of mana to
draw from.
Fear Kiting becomes even more effective at this point. Fear is an affordable spell, and Spook the
Dead can replace it in places. Heat Blood does a significant amount of damage, and can be used in
addition to Engulfing Darkness on enemies with high health.
Always keep your minion focused if you're in the battlefield.
Hunting Grounds
With Bind Affinity, the world opens up for hunting. Travel to a choice hunting spot, bind
yourself somewhere safe, and let the screaming begin.
Gnomes may be tempted to head back to Steamfont and visit areas that were previously deadly but
now offer a wide range of choice victims. On Antonica, there are too many good hunting spots to list;
if you want to avoid crowds, head for Lavastorm or the Rathe Mountains, but hunt carefully.
This is a good time to start venturing into some of the dungeons, too. The upper levels of
Befallen and the Warrens offer many opportunities.
Morty's Bloody Trail
I only visited a few of the places that I could have, and some of them were a lot less
crowded than they are now.
Level 12
The Commonlands were becoming routine, and it was time for a change. Now that I was able to
Bind Affinity, I headed back across the Ocean of Tears and returned to Steamfont. It was like old
times, only better. The heretic dead that used to terrorize me were now just walking piles of bone
chips, and the kobolds were beneath my contempt. I spent a great deal of time near the windmills
and in the minotaur cave.
Level 13
The pickings were too good to leave. I remained in Steamfont, slaughtering minotaurs, harpies,
elementals, and anything else that got in my way. The living was good, but the killing was better.
Level 14
Steamfont suddenly being much less challenging, I once again turned westward. Lesser Faydark had
camps of suitable enemies, but companions were few and far between and so I continued on. I visited
Dagnor's Cauldron, having never been there before, and did find opponents worth my time; however, they
were found only infrequently, and far tougher foes than I wished to confront were also plentiful. I did
not tarry. I returned to Antonica to hunt in the West Commonlands, taking care to avoid the druid ring.
I also spent some time exploring the first two floors of Befallen – quite the endearing place, I
may choose to retire there in my advancing years – but the depths were beyond my skills, and so I
must return at a later time.
Level 15
Although I could feel Befallen calling to me, I avoided it like the... well, I avoided it. I took
some time to tread the outskirts of Lavastorm, but I did not find the weather to my liking (although I
must make it a point to visit Najena later). Lured by the promise of good fishing spots, I spent a quite
a lot of time in the Oasis of Marr.
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