Pride vs. Infinity: The Ultimate Necromancer Mercenary Showdown in Diablo 2: Resurrected
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The age-old question for summoner Necromancers in Diablo 2: Resurrected (D2R): Pride or Infinity? Which runeword makes the better mercenary weapon, providing the most significant boost to your army of the undead? The answer, as with many things in D2R, is nuanced and depends heavily on your playstyle, gear, and overall build goals.
In most cases, Infinity is the superior choice for a summoner Necromancer. The Conviction aura it provides is a game-changer, drastically reducing enemy elemental resistances. While summoner Necromancers primarily deal physical damage, the vast majority rely heavily on Corpse Explosion (CE) to clear packs of monsters quickly, and CE is primarily a fire and physical damage skill. Breaking immunities and significantly lowering resistances means your CE will deal far more damage. Furthermore, if you opt to use summons with elemental attacks, such as skeleton mages, you get the benefits of boosting their damage as well.
Pride, with its Concentration aura, offers a substantial damage boost to your summons. However, most summoner Necromancers already have access to the Amplify Damage curse, which effectively doubles the physical damage dealt. While stacking damage is always welcome, breaking immunities and boosting CE damage generally provides a larger overall benefit.
Therefore, in the grand scheme of a summoner Necromancer’s build, Infinity’s versatility and impact on both physical and elemental damage output typically outweigh the raw damage increase offered by Pride.
Diving Deeper: Pride and its Merits
Let’s not completely dismiss Pride. There are specific scenarios where Pride can be a viable, even preferred, choice.
Situational Superiority of Pride
- Pure Physical Damage Builds: If your Necromancer build focuses solely on physical damage, eschewing Corpse Explosion almost entirely, Pride offers a more direct and significant boost to your army’s damage output.
- High End Gear: If your necromancer already has very high-end gear that provides massive damage bonuses, the raw damage boost from Pride is a viable choice.
- Specific Boss Fights: In certain boss encounters where elemental resistance is less of a factor, the increased damage from Concentration might lead to faster clear times.
Understanding Pride’s Aura
- Concentration Aura: Provides a significant boost to attack rating and damage. This directly impacts the damage output of your summons (skeletons, revives, golems).
- Enhanced Damage: The Enhanced Damage stat on Pride itself further increases your mercenary’s damage output.
Why Infinity Reigns Supreme
Infinity’s advantages lie in its unique Conviction Aura and the impact it has on the entire battlefield.
The Conviction Aura Advantage
- Breaking Immunities: Conviction has the chance to break immunities.
- Reducing Resistances: Significantly lowers elemental resistances for enemies within its radius. This dramatically increases the effectiveness of Corpse Explosion, your primary AoE damage source.
- Elemental Damage Amplification: While your summons deal primarily physical damage, the Conviction Aura boosts the damage of other party members who may deal elemental damage.
- Synergy with Other Skills: It also synergizes well with other skills you might use, such as Poison Nova (if you are running a hybrid build).
Addressing Concerns About Infinity
Some argue that Infinity’s low physical damage on the mercenary makes them less effective at securing the first kill for Corpse Explosion. However, a well-geared mercenary with a reasonable weapon base can easily secure the first kill, especially when supported by your summons and Amplify Damage.
Choosing the Right Mercenary
Regardless of whether you choose Pride or Infinity, the Act 2 Nightmare Offensive Mercenary is still the best choice for a summonmancer. Their Might aura will boost the damage of your summons as well.
The Bottom Line
For most summoner Necromancer builds, Infinity offers the greatest overall benefit due to its Conviction Aura’s ability to break immunities and drastically reduce enemy elemental resistances, leading to increased damage output from Corpse Explosion and other elemental sources. However, in specific scenarios where a pure physical damage focus is prioritized, Pride can be a viable alternative.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What is the best mercenary for a summoner Necromancer in D2R?
The best mercenary for a summoner Necromancer in D2R is the Act 2 Nightmare Offensive Mercenary. His Might aura significantly increases the physical damage output of your skeletons, revives, and golem.
2. Which golem is best for a summoner Necromancer?
The Clay Golem is often considered the best golem for a summoner Necromancer. It has a large health pool and applies a slow effect to enemies, which stacks with Decrepify, further reducing their movement and attack speed.
3. Is a summoner Necromancer viable in D2R?
Yes, a summoner Necromancer is perfectly viable in D2R. With the proper gear and strategy, they can clear Hell difficulty and tackle endgame content effectively, especially with the help of Corpse Explosion.
4. What are the best curses for a summoner Necromancer?
The best curses for a summoner Necromancer are Amplify Damage (for physical damage amplification) and Decrepify (for slowing down enemies and reducing their physical damage output). Life Tap can also be useful for survivability.
5. What stats should I prioritize on my Necromancer?
The primary stat for a Necromancer is Vitality for increasing health. After that, prioritize enough Strength and Dexterity to equip your gear. Intelligence increases your mana pool but has little impact on a summoner build. Energy is usually not prioritized.
6. What is the best Necromancer build for solo play?
The summoner Necromancer is a strong and safe build for solo play. Its reliance on summons allows for safe exploration and engagement, while Corpse Explosion provides excellent crowd control and damage output.
7. Can summoner Necromancers kill bosses effectively?
Yes, summoner Necromancers can kill bosses effectively, especially with the help of Decrepify to slow down the boss’s attacks and revives with Crushing Blow. Using teleport with Enigma allows you to position yourself and your summons effectively.
8. What gear is essential for a summoner Necromancer?
Essential gear includes:
- Enigma runeword armor: Provides teleport, significantly improving mobility and summon positioning.
- Beast runeword axe: Provides Fanaticism aura, further boosting summon attack speed and damage.
- Homunculus shield: Offers +skills, resists, and mana.
- Trang-Oul’s Gloves Provides +Curses
- Rare rings/amulets: Focus on +skills, faster cast rate, and resists.
9. Does Faster Cast Rate (FCR) matter on a summoner Necromancer?
While not as crucial as on other builds, Faster Cast Rate is still beneficial for a summoner Necromancer. It allows you to cast curses and teleport faster, improving your overall efficiency and survivability.
10. What is the best golem to use in Act 1 Normal?
Use the clay golem; it doesn’t require any gems and has high health. This makes it the most cost-effective in Act 1.
11. Is summoner Necromancer good for beginners?
Yes, the summoner Necromancer is generally considered a good build for beginners due to its relatively safe playstyle and reliance on summons.
12. How does Corpse Explosion work?
Corpse Explosion explodes a corpse, dealing a mix of physical and fire damage in a radius. The damage is based on the monster’s health and is highly effective at clearing large groups of enemies.
13. What are the best Revive monsters to use?
Great revive monsters:
- Urdars (high crushing blow)
- Oblivion Knight (curses/elemental)
- Tomb Viper (ranged poison)
14. Can skeletons tank for me?
Yes, skeletons can effectively tank for you, especially when supported by a Clay Golem and curses like Decrepify. Prioritize raising skeleton mastery to increase their health and damage.
15. Where can I learn more about gaming and education?
You can explore the intersection of games and education by visiting the GamesLearningSociety.org website at https://www.gameslearningsociety.org/ for resources, research, and community discussions.