Necro EXP Options

[Estu]

Here are, as far as I can tell, the main solo EXP options for a necro:

1) Fear-kite in an outdoor zone (not really viable in dungeons).
2) Root-dot in a dungeon (can also do so in an outdoor zone, but why not take dungeon ZEM?).
3) Charm undead in a dungeon (or maybe outdoors if dungeon charming is too nasty).

I was wondering how people have found these to stack up against each other in terms of EXP per hour. (1) is clearly more mana-efficient than (2) because you make better use of your pet, but on the other hand, you don't get dungeon ZEM. (3) might be the winner, but I've heard that charm breaks can ruin it; (1) and (2) are certainly safer.

Opinions?

[Tecmos Deception]

Fear kiting works. The old reliable I guess.

Root-rot in a dungeon is probably better than fear kiting, imo. At least it is once you're high enough level that you can root without having breaks every 2-3 ticks. You get dungeon ZEM, you can even start working on camps that have some drops, and you can still use your pet to help finish stuff off for some extra "free" damage with no fear of pet eating any of your xp.

Charming seems like it should be the best. I haven't done it personally with a necro yet, but several of the experienced necros on the server swear by using reverse charming to xp. You definitely shouldn't be worried about charm break killing you. I mean, you've got harmshield and feign and lifetaps.

[crkhobbit]

I'd imagine the efficacy of all three tactics will vary by level.

Fear kiting seems to be the old standby, and always relevant.

Root rotting is impossible until at least 34. We get a new dot at that level that ticks pretty hard, so it might be very good then for at least a few levels.

I have very little experience so far with charming, but it seems like absolutely the way to go in places like HS, CoM, KC basement. Might be good in Unrest in the 20s.

[Potus]

You can root rot early if you research the undead root. Fear kiting is viable in some spots inside Kurns Tower early on using Spook the Dead because that fear only lasts 3 ticks. You also will be tanking a lot during these levels because your pet's aggro is absolutely non-existent.

Mid-to-high level (roughly 20-45) Fear Kiting is the way to go. I know people swear by charm solo'ing but it's not that great, you'll have large periods of downtime from having to burn mana on recharms and having caster mobs go nuts on you when charm breaks. You can charm solo in Unrest, but you can also fear kite as well (just pull outside).

Charm solo'ing is fantastic for breaking hard camps and solo'ing in LGuk and even in Howling Stones and Karnors.

[Uteunayr]

From my experience, Charming is the most efficient in terms of XP grinding. Because of the low mana investment of charm, and being able to one shot two enemies at once... It is super mana efficient. The problem is that it is super dangerous, risky, and you'll spend a lot of money on mats for Manaskin. It is also hard to find good spots.

Root rotting is amazing. But I wouldn't do it with root. Too inconsistent. It seems to break more often than Fear does. So, I root rot indoors all the time. I fear kite outdoors. For second place, I would say that root rotting is likely the most efficient because of how much you can meditate. Fear kiting requires constant standing, running, casting, which digs into your meditate time. But again, you can't really root rot until 49.

That's why in my guide, I suggest fear kiting until you get the superior tool of Paralyzing Earth, and then I suggest that until you get your strong undead charm, Thrall of Bones, and you have a good spot (Charasis). I bump the Charasis stuff up one more level past Thrall just so you have more of a level bump to slow down charm breaks.

You can root rot earlier on with Hungering Earth pretty easily, but I don't know how mana efficient it is given that dots are relatively weak, and you don't have Lich like mana return, just stuff like Allure of Death. So, I wont say it is not possible, nor can I say it is possible. It seems plausible. I am just not sure if it is efficient.

[Malone88]

Mid-thirties, I use both fear-kite (outdoors) and root-rot (indoors).
Mana-wise, the two are pretty close. 3 dots + fear for fear-kite
and 3 dots + root for root-rot, though most times you do need
to cast root more than once (level 34 fear tends to last the whole
duration, so only one cast is needed). Pet gets more hits in with
fear-kiting though since it can attack the whole time, so the kills
are probably a little faster. Big benefit to root-rot is indoor
dungeon ZEM. In SK, you can trade off between outdoor spire
dogs and PAW to get a taste of both methods.

[Autotune]

Fear kiting works. The old reliable I guess.

Root-rot in a dungeon is probably better than fear kiting, imo. At least it is once you're high enough level that you can root without having breaks every 2-3 ticks. You get dungeon ZEM, you can even start working on camps that have some drops, and you can still use your pet to help finish stuff off for some extra "free" damage with no fear of pet eating any of your xp.

Charming seems like it should be the best. I haven't done it personally with a necro yet, but several of the experienced necros on the server swear by using reverse charming to xp. You definitely shouldn't be worried about charm break killing you. I mean, you've got harmshield and feign and lifetaps.


The only time you will die from the reverse charm method is when you put your charm pet on a pack of mobs and it immediately breaks after aggroing them. However, even then you should have put enough distance on them to get off a FD (as long as that doesn't fail, you'll be okay) and if it fails you should have a self rune and be able to live long enough (doing necro tricks) to get off a second FD.

I've died very little using the reverse charm method while leveling up, less really than another other techniques, after I got in the grove of it.

[Swish]

39-49 (or as early as 37) = spectres

Root rot them with your undead root, or better still fear kite them. Better results in Feerott.

[Autotune]

39-49 (or as early as 37) = spectres

Root rot them with your undead root, or better still fear kite them. Better results in Feerott.

This is what I did all the way to 50, doing the ones in the oasis (did them nonstop for hours to hit 50 pre kunark)

before these I did WC druids I believe and before that I think I was doing the AC in Uguk.


There are faster XP options though now, but those also got me some good $$$ back then as well as being easy camps.

[Uteunayr]

Spectres XP drops off after 45, and it is kind of disappointing. I have always shifted over to Bloodgills, where you'll get 1% per DB kill. Covering 8 pops per respawn, you can get 3-4 levels in a few days.