General newbie necro questions:

[Kich867]

Hey all,

Just a few quick questions that I've been trying to figure out but couldn't quite find a consistent answer.

1. I notice my level 4 pet occasionally double attacks, I found a post from years ago by Haynar I think that this is working as intended but, I really don't recall this being a thing? It's obviously been a long ass time so I could be mistaken but does that sound right? Why do pets even get Double Attack if this was true?

2. How much damage do I have to do to get full XP from a kill? It seems like so long as I even touch the enemy I get full XP? I had heard somewhere it was over 50% of the damage.

3. When I get there, I've heard people saying that Charming is a great way to solo, does Necro charming work similar to Druid charming? Charm mob -> fight another mob -> when it's close to dead invis vs undead and kill both? Or is it just that you can charm an undead mob and wreck things with a pet way stronger than your ordinary pet?

4. I've heard that if you give a pet a torch it'll automatically dual wield and hit with both hands, is this true even with low level pets?


Thanks all!

[Aueamin]

I do know that you have to do over 50% to get full exp if you are soloing. IF you are in a grp you will get full exp. I wish I could answer more.

[Jmcwrestling]

Hey all,

Just a few quick questions that I've been trying to figure out but couldn't quite find a consistent answer.

1. I notice my level 4 pet occasionally double attacks, I found a post from years ago by Haynar I think that this is working as intended but, I really don't recall this being a thing? It's obviously been a long ass time so I could be mistaken but does that sound right? Why do pets even get Double Attack if this was true?

2. How much damage do I have to do to get full XP from a kill? It seems like so long as I even touch the enemy I get full XP? I had heard somewhere it was over 50% of the damage.

3. When I get there, I've heard people saying that Charming is a great way to solo, does Necro charming work similar to Druid charming? Charm mob -> fight another mob -> when it's close to dead invis vs undead and kill both? Or is it just that you can charm an undead mob and wreck things with a pet way stronger than your ordinary pet?

4. I've heard that if you give a pet a torch it'll automatically dual wield and hit with both hands, is this true even with low level pets?


Thanks all!

1. I am just guessing but I'd say that extra attack is a kick /bash
2. You must do 51% for full xp. At low levels the xp is so fast you really wouldn't notice otherwise. If you are grouped however, you don't even have to have aggro to get 100% xp
3. All of that is true. Mostly the technique you described which is the general idea behind charm soloing
4. This is true.

[Kich867]

1. I am just guessing but I'd say that extra attack is a kick /bash
2. You must do 51% for full xp. At low levels the xp is so fast you really wouldn't notice otherwise. If you are grouped however, you don't even have to have aggro to get 100% xp
3. All of that is true. Mostly the technique you described which is the general idea behind charm soloing
4. This is true.

1. It's definitely not, these are two distinct hits for different damage, my hit and his first hit is only 9 damage which wouldn't kill a decaying skeleton. Level 4 pets don't have kick or bash.
[Tue Mar 14 02:24:16 2017] Auto attack is on.
[Tue Mar 14 02:24:16 2017] You pierce decaying skeleton for 1 point of damage.
[Tue Mar 14 02:24:17 2017] Decaying skeleton tries to hit YOU, but misses!
[Tue Mar 14 02:24:18 2017] Xebarn hits decaying skeleton for 8 points of damage.
[Tue Mar 14 02:24:18 2017] Xebarn hits decaying skeleton for 10 points of damage.
[Tue Mar 14 02:24:18 2017] decaying skeleton has been slain by Xebarn!

2 & 3: Awesome, thanks!

4. I did some testing on this (probably should have before asking, sorry!) and that does not seem to be the case. Wearing a torch on a level 4 pet, I never saw it dual wield for it's life. Is it just a very low chance?

[Razaz]

https://wiki.project1999.com/Pet_Guide#Necromancer_Pets

Necromancer pets should start dual wielding at lvl 20.

[NegaStoat]

1. The double attack you are seeing in the damage scroll is a 'caught up' damage report that skips in due to the way the server handles 'ticks' of time, and it not being quite the same as retail. The double attack report is usually found right at the end of the damage scroll, when a monster is slain and the attack report is applied. Rarely, it can show up in the middle of a combat when a 'tick' of time elapses. The short of it is, the level 4 pet is not actually double attacking.

2. You need to score 51% of the damage on a mob in order to gain full experience when you are solo hunting. You will indeed notice an experience award difference as you get to level 6 and higher. It's very noticeable when the pet does more than 50% damage.

I'd recommend that a Necromancer from levels 1-12 just face tank mobs with damage spells running (or using your first undead nuke on skeletons / zombies) while the pet assists to make sure you do more than 51%. Ask a friendly Magician for a modulation rod to use as a melee weapon if you are poor and it will get the job done to level 12, no issues.

At level 12 and higher, when you have real attack spells and a decent mana pool to Fear with, remember to back the pet off at 1/4 health left remaining on the mob so that your DoT's finish the remaining health by themselves, always giving you more damage done with you as the source over your pet.

3. Necro charming is the same as druid charming. It solely uses your level vs the mob's level w/ magic resist check. There is no charisma check. It is an excellent way to level when you can find the right places for it, and I'd recommend it once you are level 20+ so that your personal level over the potential level of the mobs that you'd like to fight would give you a greater range of low blue mobs to charm and use (we're considering the magic resist check on the charm cast for this).

4. I can't confirm the torch thing. I always pack some rusty daggers when I'm using a pet as their cheap and it makes the pet happy. Since I'm not a Magician, I've never seen a point in reclaiming the pet mid-fight and I don't lose a pet very often. I DO reclaim on a summon if I get a weak pet. Only use the strong ones.

Edit - the very highest level of the 20 summon I found could dual wield when given 2 weapons. It was easy to see when he had a club and a dagger and I was getting crush / piercing reports. All of the level 24 summons on will dual wield for certain, but as the wiki pet guide states, the mid level range pet summons will require a pair of weapons for them to do this.

[Kich867]

1. The double attack you are seeing in the damage scroll is a 'caught up' damage report that skips in due to the way the server handles 'ticks' of time, and it not being quite the same as retail. The double attack report is usually found right at the end of the damage scroll, when a monster is slain and the attack report is applied. Rarely, it can show up in the middle of a combat when a 'tick' of time elapses. The short of it is, the level 4 pet is not actually double attacking.

I'm not so sure about #1:

Less than level 35, npcs have a low chance to double attack. Its 1.22 * level %. Very low. Working as intended.

And the double damage message on killing blow should not be there. I see the place in the code. It is not actually doing double damage.

H

That's a quote from Haynar from a thread reporting that low level necro pets are double attacking. The confirmation is that on P99 low level necro pets _are_ double attacking (the logs I posted wasn't a tick catching up, he walked up and insta-killed the mob in one double attack for different damage).

I think I was wondering more like--even though Haynar stated thats working as intended, does anyone actually recall that being classic? My pet occasionally destroys things, and I pretty regularly get double attacked by mobs who are level ~4. I just didn't recall that happening, since randomly my pet obliterates a mob.

[Bones]

3. When I get there, I've heard people saying that Charming is a great way to solo, does Necro charming work similar to Druid charming? Charm mob -> fight another mob -> when it's close to dead invis vs undead and kill both? Or is it just that you can charm an undead mob and wreck things with a pet way stronger than your ordinary pet?

Both are correct. If you want to play it safe or you are just leveling you try to get both the target and your pet low hp as possible (usually under 10%), break charm with invise or hide and finish both off and you get full xp for both kills. If you are farming a cash camp (like my favorites, jail in KC or various spots in HS) for drops you usually try to keep the same pet and have pet equipment on hand to boost him. Stunwhips from gnolls at paw are popular. Anything with +hit points and -magic resist are also popular. When charm breaks just screaming terror and re-apply MR debuff scent spell and charm again. This is dangerous though if the pet breaks dual wielding stunwhips w/ haste it can kill you so fast you cant even channel FD or screaming terror.

[Neric]

Forget necro charming. It only works on undead and it is rarely ever useful, especially since Crypt of Decay will never be part of P99.

[Razaz]

Necro charm has limited targets but can still be a very useful tool in the toolbox.

[thebutthat]

Forget necro charming. It only works on undead and it is rarely ever useful, especially since Crypt of Decay will never be part of P99.

For leveling and farming: Kaesora, Lower Guk, Karnor's Castle, Howling Stones are all amazing places for a necro to go bananas with charm. Any zone with undead, you become a gimpy enchanter with the ability to heal, FD, and put out great damage on named mobs.

There's a few undead in some raid zones you can snatch up as well, but not so much in Velious.

[Neric]

True, you got some zones with undeads in Kunark, but he is at beginning and he tries to get an idea about the class. Once he gets to Kunark, he won't care about charming anymore, because it's simply too much of a niche.

[articnv]

Charming si the mist efficent mana wise to lvl, i charmed from lvl 30 to 55 just charming....

[thebutthat]

True, you got some zones with undeads in Kunark, but he is at beginning and he tries to get an idea about the class. Once he gets to Kunark, he won't care about charming anymore, because it's simply too much of a niche.

The fun thing about necro is the best method to play the class changes as you progress and what zone your in. Charming in Kaesora, Lower Guk, City of Mist, then Howling Stones is probably the most efficient way to level from 40-60. After 45, if soloing, i'd say using a skele pet was more niche for me and a lot of other necros. Charmed pets are just too good.

Fear kiting becomes less and less of an option for good XP in your 50s. There's a few places, but it's slow and often risky with lots of roaming potential adds. If I'm somewhere without undead, I'm often root rotting over fear kiting. So I tend to stick to dungeons that allow me to charm.

[Scaer]

Hey all,

Just a few quick questions that I've been trying to figure out but couldn't quite find a consistent answer.

1. I notice my level 4 pet occasionally double attacks, I found a post from years ago by Haynar I think that this is working as intended but, I really don't recall this being a thing? It's obviously been a long ass time so I could be mistaken but does that sound right? Why do pets even get Double Attack if this was true?

2. How much damage do I have to do to get full XP from a kill? It seems like so long as I even touch the enemy I get full XP? I had heard somewhere it was over 50% of the damage.

3. When I get there, I've heard people saying that Charming is a great way to solo, does Necro charming work similar to Druid charming? Charm mob -> fight another mob -> when it's close to dead invis vs undead and kill both? Or is it just that you can charm an undead mob and wreck things with a pet way stronger than your ordinary pet?

4. I've heard that if you give a pet a torch it'll automatically dual wield and hit with both hands, is this true even with low level pets?


Thanks all!

1) Don't know, but our pets just get stronger and better. :)
2) I soloed my Necro on Live up to 103 with about 8k AAs. I never worried about out damaging my pet. On p1999 that hasn't changed. Between dots and tapping it is pretty easy to out damage your pet. If it worries you though, don't buff your pet with haste and don't give it weapons. That helps to slow down its dps. But, really, I don't even think about it. Do what a necro does... kill everything you see! :)
3) I don't charm undead for pets. Typically, for charm to be efficient you wind up grabbing a green mob which likely will not be as damaging as your own pet. Also, your cast pet could last longer than the charmed pet going against a blue and above. Charm is resistable, meaning recasting charm; whereas a cast pet is more likely a single cast and therefore more mana efficient. I can think of other reasons why I don't charm a pet and go to work. I prefer to cast a pet and then use that spell slot for a dot, not charm.
4) I can't remember at what level necro pets get dual wield, but its pretty early. I love putting velious 1h weapons on my pet and watch it proc like crazy. :D

Edit: Btw, Necros are like BBQ chefs. We're masters at slow cooking. Don't ask us to do "fast food." ;)

[thebutthat]

3) I don't charm undead for pets. Typically, for charm to be efficient you wind up grabbing a green mob which likely will not be as damaging as your own pet. Also, your cast pet could last longer than the charmed pet going against a blue and above. Charm is resistable, meaning recasting charm; whereas a cast pet is more likely a single cast and therefore more mana efficient. I can think of other reasons why I don't charm a pet and go to work. I prefer to cast a pet and then use that spell slot for a dot, not charm.


Don't write off charm. Charmed pets are much better than summoned pets, they just require a little work. But charm will allow you to break a lot of camps that you otherwise couldn't, the pets are much beefier, and they open options for you that you wouldn't have with a normal pet. Also, duoing with a shaman, druid, or cleric, you can mow through some stuff with the right pet weapons and haste in zones like CoM, Howling Stones, KC.