[1.A9] Manimarco: The Summoner Necro

Manimarco: The Summoner

Original post by DarthKim on the old forums (forumer).
Most formatting is lost.
-WolfieeifloW


Table of Contents:
1.) Manimaro's Intro
2.) Skills
3.) Stats
4.) Merc
5.) Equipment
6.) Minion Resists
7.) Level Challenge
8.) The Black Road
9.) Ennead Challenge
10.) Uber Quests
11.) Heroic Levels and Heroic Bosses
12.) General Leveling Strategies
13.) Screen Shots

MANIMARCO
For those of you who recall from Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Manimarco is the King of Worms, the feared and powerful necromancer who terrorized Cyrodil. The MXL incarnation of this feared necromancer summons his massive army of monsters to demolish and destroy anyone or anything foolish enough to stand in his way.

His general play style is simple. Use Mana Tide Totem to help you summon your army quickly. Drop a Blood Tide Totem, a Howling Totem and an Elemental Totem as support. Now that your army is summoned, go out and let your zerg army run amok and kill everything that moves. You will also want to use Bend the Shadows (Targets a summoned minion and teleports you on top of it, gathering your army) frequently to make sure that your totems keep up with you.

In my personal opinion, this is a fantastic build for beginners and it is highly recommended. I have attempted every uber quest, and the overwhelming majority of them are very easy with this build.

If you don't believe me, Brother Laz had a dream about Manimarco the other night....

Character Pros:
Awesome for beginners
Very safe
Stat independent
Can easily wipe out most ubers

Character Cons:
Slow killer due to having to let your summons kill
Can get boring (always summoning is annoying)
Low life and defense (don't let anything hit you)

Ultimately, what can be said about the Necro Summoner? I Have re-written this guide several times, and I can tell you that Manimarco....

Manimarco NEVER changes.


SKILLS
Before I begin talking about skills, I just want to mention that Manimarco is a character that benefits ENORMOUSLY from +skills. Your maximum minions increase with +skills and your totems increase their bonuses from soft points. Don't ignore the benefit of soft points with this character.

You have 5 basic summons. As you add hard points into each summon skill, you can summon more minions, and their stats and abilities increase. Some summons have inherent abilities that are tremendously helpful. Let's take a look at each summon, and I will add my recommendations for skill points.


1.) Summon Shadows - Shadows have an inherent life aura that increases that HP of your army by 50%. However, that aura does not increase with hard or soft points. They also have an aura that increases the elemental damage of the party which increases with hard points. Early on, they are good distractions and can kill acceptably. Later though, they tend to drop fast. (10 points)


2.) Summon Rampagors - Darklings were removed in the latest patch and Rampagors were shifted down into the number two slot. Rampagors are just big tanks with a lot of life. Their main damage from from poison damage as opposed to physical damage, but it is an instant poison attack as opposed to over X seconds. (Max)


3.) Summon Lamias - Lamias are ghosts that run around and curse enemies. I don't know if Doom is a curse, but that's what they do. Doom basically makes the cursed enemy take more physical damage, and as you put more hard points into Lamias, their Doom ability increases as well. This applies to the damage that all your other summons do to enemies. They also massively slow single targets. As you can see from the screen shot, enemies are slowed big time, but slow is capped at, I believe, 75%. (10-15 points)


Summon Veil King - Veil King is the new replacement for Darklings. Thank goodness because you can only summon one and you don't need to bother summoning 60-70 Darklings. The Veil King's life and damage are almost identical, level by level, to that of the Void Archon. The difference is that VK has, as you can see, a 10% chance to inflict a deadly poison attack as well as having a 100% reanimate chance when he kills something. It should be noted that he will turn hostile if he dies in battle, but you can always re-summon him if his HP gets low. (Max)


5.) Summon Void Archon - You can only summon ONE Void Archon. Period. Items with +Max minions does not work. However, the VA is very powerful and slows enemy attacks. When you get your VA close to a mob, it slows them down so your army can feed. As of 1.A9, the Void Archon's Warp Field aura reduces physical damage done by enemies by 25% (20 points)


Totem Skills

1.) Death Fury Totem - Meh. (1 point)

2.) Blood Tide Totem - Increases the max life of your army. It is certainly valuable for that reason alone. However, there is a problem here. In acts 3 and 5, you will be encountering some heavy elemental damage from enemies. If you are playing un-twinked, then + Minion Resistances are hard to come by. Some enemies will rip you to shreds with elemental damage, and a Blood Tide totem is just not going to do the job early on. However, once you are fully geared up, +skills gear should be enough. (Discretionary Points)

3.) Mana Tide Totem - Mana Tide grants you MASSIVE mana regeneration. This is very helpful for helping you to summon your army quickly and keep Unholy Prayer humming. (5-10 points)

4.) Elemental Totem - Increases the amount of elemental damage for the party. It does help boost your Rampagor poison damage. (1 Point)

5.) Howling Totem - Adds physical damage and crushing blow to your minion. So even the pathetic Darklings can have 30% crushing blow or more in conjunction with a Fellblood amulet. (10 points + Discretionary Points)

Miscellaneous Skills

Put 1 point into the following skills:

1.) Unholy Armor - It's basically the necro equivalent of Holy Armor (Paladin) and Pact of Blood (Amazon). It makes you invulnerable. 1 point should be enough in conjunction with +skills.

2.) Sacrifices - This skill summons the worthless scum who have been hit by Laz's banhammer to fall as corpses upon the ground. You need corpses to use your totems.

3.) Famine - Prerequisite for....

4.) Bend the Shadows - This is an INCREDIBLY valuable skill. It is absolutely necessary. It is basically a teleport skill that uses one of your minions as the jump point. You target a minion and cast the spell. Your entire army jumps to that location (Merc included). This is essential because your support totems jump with you. Adding points into this skill reduces the skill timer, but soft points are enough.

5.) Talons Hold - This skill gives you the ability to reanimate fallen foes into Rathma Priests. It also will work with any gear that you have that will reanimate. With enough +skills....(0 points or from charm)

6.) Unholy Prayer - This is your Ennead Challenge skill. Putting more points in simply increases the damage done by your minion while under the influence of UP. (1 point)

Uber skill
As of 1.A9, the summoner necro has a pure summon uber-skill. No doubt about it, Summon Jinn is the choice for us. Terrific life and fire damage as well as bonuses that increase the player's max fire resist and pierces enemy fire resists. As you can see, the fire damage is capped and the number of Jinni does not increase with any more hard points. (1-5 points should be enough with enough +skills)


STATS
Strength: Enough to equip the gear you want.
Dexterity: Enough to equip the gear you want.
Vitality: None. You're not fighting, your army is and they will shield you.
Energy: Put the rest of your points here.

Keep in mind that if you are using plugY, then you can easily re-assign stat points.

MERC
Yes, Act5 Barbarian mercs pwn. Manimarco is generally a slow character, and because of the early lack of resistances for your army, there will be times where your army can get slapped by elemental damage. An act5 merc can speed things up a lot until you get some end game gear. Remember that Bend the Shadows carries your merc as well.

There are some other nice choices that you can play with as well. Act 2 Fighter Mages can cast Time Field once they hit level 90. Act 3 Blood Mages can also cast Gift of Inner Fire at level 12.

EQUIPMENT
Getting geared up is super important for every build, and there are so many options that I'm not going to tell you that you have to wear this-or-that particular piece of gear. There are all sorts of good gear options, so I'll highlight a few interesting choices that you may want to take a look at.

1.) First, I would highly recommend the full Necromancer Summoning Set because it really has some awesome bonuses. The +Max minions is great of course. Dark Power is a buff for your army that add damage. Also, the +2 to Summon Overlord is awesome. Overlord is a summonable creature that emits an aura that allows you to increase your max minions by 15. So the whole set gives a ton of +minion stats and 30+ maximum minions. This is the absolute best choice, hands down.
Full Set Bonus:
With 2 or more set items:
+50 to Strength
+50 to Dexterity
With 3 or more set items:
+9 to Snake Stance
With 4 or more set items:
+10 Enhanced Stance Radius
+2 to Summon Overlord
With Complete Set:
+2 to Necromancer Skill Levels
25% Lamia Reanimate Targets as: Rathma Priest
+17 to Dark Power
+15 to Maximum Necromancer Minions
+100% Bonus to Summoned Minion Damage
+150% Bonus to Summoned Minion Life
+50% Bonus to Summoned Minion Resistances

General item suggestion
Make sure you get some proper jewels to put in your uniques. Use normal jewels or use Lem craft jewels with +stats that have minion boosts. The Lem rune crafts give you +str or +dex so that you can equip better gear, but having +minion life/damage/AR/resists is just a bonus. You can get some good jewels with +15% minion life and such, so use them. Of course, the ultimate socketing jewel is what is known as the Wertron Jewel. Basically, it is the best summon jewel ever. You can always go the the Pandemonium section of the forum and trade for one. Once you do, you can use the dupe recepie and copy the hell out of it.

(The screen shots used above for minion stats were taken with full gear stuffed with these jewels.)


Unique
Rune Word
Set

WEAPONS
Lord of Thorns
Marrow Staff (6)
Two-Hand Damage: 58 to 76
Durability: 106
(Necromancer Only)
Required Strength: 222
Required Level: 59
7% Chance to cast level 15 Spike Nova when Struck by a Missile
+(3 to 6) to Necromancer Skill Levels
80% Faster Cast Rate
Hit Causes Monster to Flee +(10 to 11)%
+(46 to 50)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Damage
+(46 to 50)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Life
+(66 to 75) to Energy
All Resists +(36 to 40)%
Socketed: 6

Fateweaver
Bone Wand (6)
One-Hand Damage: 31 to 45
Durability: 60
(Necromancer Only)
Required Dexterity: 65
Required Level: 51
100% Chance to cast level 42 Hunting Banshee when you Die
30% Chance to cast level 36 Frozen Soul when Struck
35% Faster Cast Rate
+(11 to 12) to Maximum Necromancer Minions
Increase Maximum Mana (18 to 20)%
Slows Attacker by (18 to 20)%
Socketed: 2

Blackheart
Grim Wand (6)
One-Hand Damage: 39 to 61
Durability: 108
(Necromancer Only)
Required Dexterity: 92
Required Level: 55
1% Chance to cast level 18 Gift of Inner Fire when Attacked
+(2 to 4) to Necromancer Skill Levels
40% Faster Cast Rate
40% Faster Hit Recovery
+(11 to 12) to Dark Power
+(41 to 45)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Damage
Replenish Life +(1.5 per level) (Based on Character Level)
Socketed: 2

Hali
0-5 Jewels+Thur
+(4 to 6) to Necromancer Skill Levels
(51 to 100)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Attack Rating
+(1 to 14) to Liche Totem
Attacker Flees after Striking (11 to 20)%
+(31 to 50)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Damage
-100 to Life
All Resists +(31 to 50)%

Prince of Nothing
Marrow Staff (Sacred)
Two-Hand Damage: 90 to 98
Durability: 106
(Necromancer Only)
Required Strength: 275
Required Level: 100
+(8 to 12) to Necromancer Skill Levels
50% Faster Cast Rate
Increase Maximum Life (31 to 40)%
Damage Reduced by 10%
(21 to 25)% Reanimate as: Living Flame
(21 to 25)% Reanimate as: Black Ice Demon
(21 to 25)% Reanimate as: Trap Rat
(21 to 25)% Reanimate as: Avalanche
(21 to 25)% Reanimate as: Dirge
Socketed: 6

Talon of Trang-Oul
Bone Wand (Sacred)
One-Hand Damage: 74 to 80
Durability: 60
(Necromancer Only)
Required Dexterity: 170
Required Level: 100
+(2 to 4) to Necromancer Skill Levels
(101 to 150)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Attack Rating
+(7 to 18 ) to Summon Acid Fiends
+(23 to 27) to Ice Beam
+(31 to 40)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Damage
10% Chance to Avoid Damage
Cold Resist +(41 to 50)%
Poison Resist +(41 to 50)%
(21 to 25)% Reanimate as: Blood Mage
(21 to 25)% Reanimate as: Soul Mage
Socketed: 2

Leviathan
Level 100
(Taha - Necro Scythe)
+(301 to 350)% Enhanced damage
+(401 to 500) to Maximum Damage
+(8 to 27) to Summon Overlord
Slows Target by (21 to 25)%
(31 to 50)% Bonus to Strength
(31 to 50)% Bonus to Dexterity
Damage Reduced by (11 to 15)%

Semhazai
Level 100
(Taha - Necro Wand)
+(26 to 45) Energy Factor to Spell Damage
+(2 to 4) to Necromancer Skill Levels
15% Faster Cast Rate
+40 to Maximum Damage
+(8 to 22) to Shadow Avatar
+(6 to 19) to Abyss
+(11 to 15) to Maximum Necromancer Minions
-25% Penalty to Summoned Minion Life

NECRO SUMMONER SET 1/5
Archangel Dark Angel
Marrow Staff (Sacred)
Two-Hand Damage: 90 to 98
Durability: 106
(Necromancer Only)
Required Strength: 275
Required Level: 100
+(8 to 10) to Necromancer Skill Levels
50% Faster Cast Rate
+(11 to 15)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Resistances
+(21 to 40)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Damage
+(10 per level) Defense (Based on Character Level)
All Resists +(31 to 40)%
Socketed: 6


SHIELDS
Graven Image
Gargoyle Head (6)
Defense: (1382-2681)
Durability: 62
(Necromancer Only)
Required Dexterity: 195
Required Level: 51
+(12 to 13) Extra Shadow Minions
30% Faster Cast Rate
+(36 to 40)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Life
+(41 to 45)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Resistances
+(181 to 210)% Enhanced Defense
+(41 to 45) to Strength
+(351 to 400) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(36 to 40)%
Damage Reduced by 10%
Socketed: 4

Shadowchild
Zombie Head (6)
Defense: (883-1596)
Durability: 45
(Necromancer Only)
Required Dexterity: (71-67)
Required Level: 48
+(46 to 50)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Damage
+(171 to 200)% Enhanced Defense
(36 to 40)% Bonus to Energy
Cold Absorb (18 to 20)%
Lightning Absorb (18 to 20)%
Fire Absorb (18 to 20)%
Socketed: 4
Requirements (-36 to -40)%

Sinwar
Demon Head (Sacred)
Defense: (3124-4431)
Durability: 70
(Necromancer Only)
Required Dexterity: 445
Required Level: 100
+(3 to 4) to Necromancer Skill Levels
Ignore Target's Defense
+(31 to 40)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(31 to 40)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(5 to 13) to Snake Stance
+(8 to 11) to Kraken Stance
+(2 to 7) to Shaman's Path
+(41 to 50)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Damage
+(201 to 250)% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +(41 to 50)%
Poison Resist +(41 to 50)%
Socketed: 4

HELMS
Umbaru's Jinx
Mask (6)
Defense: (348-441)
Durability: 26
Required Strength: 320
Required Level: 50
+(18 to 20)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(18 to 20)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(36 to 40)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Damage
+(14 to 15)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Resistances
Poison Length Reduced by (23 to 25)%
(14 to 15)% Reanimate as: Acid Beast
Level 17 Diseased Cattle (40 Charges) <-- If you are having early trouble with a summoning uber, pre-buff the battlefield with this.
Socketed: 4

The Prophet's Veil
Great Helm (Sacred)
Defense: (1018-1112)
Durability: 51
Required Strength: 230
Required Level: 100
+2 to Necromancer Skill Levels
+(2 to 4) to Maximum Necromancer Minions
Attacker Flees after Striking 5%
+(21 to 25)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Resistances
+(31 to 40)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Damage
+(31 to 50) to Energy
Poison Resist +(51 to 60)%
-2 to Light Radius
Socketed: 4
Requirements -60%

Dreadlord
Level 75
(Lah - Hemls)
25% Chance to cast level 22 Mind Flay on Attack
(41 to 50)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Attack Rating
5% Chance of Crushing Blow
+(1 to 6) to Death Coil
+(2 to 4) to Maximum Necromancer Minions
+(41 to 50)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Damage
+(201 to 250)% Enhanced Defense
5% Bonus to All Attributes

NECRO SUMMONER SET 2/5
Through Death's Veil
Crown (Sacred)
Defense: (3190-4109)
Durability: 57
Required Strength: (206-181)
Required Level: 100
+(1 to 2) to Necromancer Skill Levels
+(201 to 250)% Enhanced Defense
+40 to Strength
+40 to Energy
Increase Maximum Mana 25%
(101 to 200)% Extra Gold from Monsters
Requirements (-66 to -70)%
Socketed: 4

Amanita
Level 100
(Auhe - Helms)
-(31 to 40)% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
-(31 to 40)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(2 to 5) to Amatoxin
+(24 to 29) to Summon Glowing Fungus
Attacker Flees after Striking 20%
+(201 to 250)% Enhanced Defense
-25 to Vitality
Regenerate Mana +5%

ARMOR
Fauztin's Visage
Field Plate (6)
Defense: (2444-4947)
Durability: 87
Required Strength: 468
Required Level: 51
35% Faster Cast Rate
+(27 to 30)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Life
+(36 to 40)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Damage
+(181 to 210)% Enhanced Defense
Cold Resist +(46 to 50)%
Poison Resist +(46 to 50)%
Level 6 Death's Fury Totem (40 Charges)
Socketed: 6

NECRO SUMMONER SET 3/5
Lend Me Thy Light
Scale Mail (Sacred)
Defense: (5351-6947)
Durability: 57
Required Strength: 525
Required Level: 100
+(1 to 2) to Necromancer Skill Levels
+(2 to 4) to Maximum Necromancer Minions
+(201 to 250)% Enhanced Defense
+(81 to 100) to Strength
+(81 to 100) to Energy
+(31 to 50) to Dexterity
+(31 to 50) to Vitality
+500 to Mana
+2 to Light Radius
Socketed: 6


GLOVES
Aiwass
Level 69
(Zod - Gloves)
+2 to Necromancer Skill Levels
Shadows Spawn Corpses on Striking 5%
+(31 to 40)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Damage
(11 to 20)% Bonus to Strength
+93 Defense
Level 4 Rune of Mana (78 Charges)

If you are using the summoner set, I would recommend using either a Magical Shrine or Tainted Shrine craft for gloves. Magical Shrines give you a defensive version such as...


...while Tainted Shrines give you an offensive version with damage and attack rating.


Notice how the required level is 80 or below. This means that you can add up to 20 Mystic Orbs on the glove so that you can super max the given mods or add, say, +%minion life and resists to an offensive glove for a great all-around glove. Add you best crafted jewels to the sockets.

Use sacred leather gloves since they have the lowest requirements and we don't need the higher defense of other glove types.

BELTS
Sash of Shadows
Sash (Sacred)
Defense: (2548-2944)
Durability: 25
Required Strength: 180
Required Level: 100
+(1 to 2) to All Skills
(0.25 per level)% to Cold Spell Damage (Based on Character Level)
+(21 to 25)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Resistances
+(251 to 300)% Enhanced Defense
Cold Resist +(31 to 50)%
Damage Reduced by 25
(21 to 25)% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
Socketed: 2
Requirements -60%

Red Vex' Sin
Light Belt (Sacred)
Defense: (2374-2866)
Durability: 34
Required Strength: 245
Required Level: 100
20% Faster Block Rate
-(21 to 25)% to Enemy Fire Resistance
+(11 to 15)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Life
+(11 to 15)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Resistances
+(201 to 250)% Enhanced Defense
+(21 to 40) Life after each Kill
Requirements -50%
Socketed: 2

The Defender
Heavy Belt (Sacred)
Defense: (3208-3948)
Durability: 52
Required Strength: 568
Required Level: 100
+(5 to 8 ) Enhanced Stance Radius
15% Faster Hit Recovery
Enhanced Weapon Damage +(31 to 40)%
+(21 to 25)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Life
(11 to 15)% Bonus to Energy
+(251 to 300)% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +(41 to 50)%
Socketed: 2

NECRO SUMMONER SET 4/5
Till We Have
Light Belt (Sacred)
Defense: (2374-2866)
Durability: 34
Required Strength: 490
Required Level: 100
10% Faster Cast Rate
+(11 to 20)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Life
+(201 to 250)% Enhanced Defense
+25 to Strength
+25 to Energy
All Resists +(21 to 25)%
(21 to 25)% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Socketed: 2


BOOTS
Nephilim
Level 100
(Nih - Boots)
100% Chance to cast level 51 Fire Splash when you Die
+2 to All Skills
10% Bonus to Buff/Debuff/Cold Skill Duration
(21 to 25)% Bonus to Strength
(21 to 25)% Bonus to Vitality
+(251 to 300)% Enhanced Defense
+1000 Defense
+100 to Strength
+100 to Vitality

Lionpaw
Chain Boots (6)
Defense: (718-997)
Durability: 55
Required Strength: 282
Required Level: 48
+(131 to 150)% Enhanced Defense
+(27 to 30) to all Attributes
+(131 to 150) to Life
+(131 to 150) to Mana
Total Character Defense Plus (18 to 20)%
(216 to 250)% Extra Gold from Monsters
Socketed: 4

Death Spur
Heavy Boots (6)
Defense: (248-306)
Durability: 42
Required Strength: 179
Required Level: 46
1% Chance to cast level 16 Spike Nova when you Take Damage
+(1 per level) to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
(46 to 50)% Chance of Open Wounds
+(36 to 40) to Strength
+(36 to 40) to Dexterity
Socketed: 4

Tainted or Magical Crafted Boots <-- Boots can spawn with +1 Necro Skills


NECRO SUMMONER SET 5/5
Heaven In Sight
Light Plated Boots (Sacred)
Defense: (1691-2177)
Durability: 68
Required Strength: 336
Required Level: 100
25% Faster Run/Walk
10% Faster Cast Rate
+(11 to 20)% Bonus to Summoned Minion Damage
+(201 to 250)% Enhanced Defense
5% Bonus to All Attributes
+25 to Strength
+25 to Energy
Requirements -40%
Socketed: 4

AMULET
Felblood
Amulet
Required Level: 20
+1 to Necromancer Skill Levels
(3 to 6)% Life stolen per Hit
15% Crushing Blow to Darklings
+(1 to 3) to Maximum Necromancer Minions
+50 to Life
Socketed: 1
You can add a total of 50 Mystic Orbs to this.


Rare Ammy with +3 skills and minion stats.

RING
Ring of Disengagement <--- Notice the level requirement. You can make a single ring devoted to LOLsummons.
Required Level: 1
2% Chance to cast level 8 Celerity when you Kill an Enemy
20% Faster Run/Walk
+(101 to 150) Maximum Stamina
50% Slower Stamina Drain

Rare ring with +1 skills and minion stats. Once you get one, Mystic Orb the hell out of it.



Of course, something like this always helps...


Good luck finding it...

REMINDER Also, is is useful early on to make some Honorific gloves with lots of resists. Your army does your fighting for you, but if you ignore your resists, a Daystar will hit you with with his flame spell and turn you into a crispy critter. Use it to help max your resists early on.

MINION RESISTS
It is VERY important to make sure that your minions gave good elemental resistances. Rather than explain it to you, I will direct you to the LFAQ page created by SingInSilence

THE LEVEL CHALLENGE
Before you hit level 50, it's time to head to Tran Athula and kill each of the Priestesses, steal their shiny gems and cube them with a TP and ID scroll. It's very possible to do the challenge, and it is a bit tricky, but it can be done.

The Amazons of Tran Athula hit hard and often. It helps to have gear that gives you +Maximum Minions. First, summon your army outside Tran Athula and have your minions buffed with totems. When you jump in, let your army clear the entrance. Your Mana Tide Totem should allow you to quickly resummon any of your dead minions. SLOWLY move toward each Priestess using Bend the Shadows to pull your totems with you and so that your minions have the benefit of crushing blow. It takes time and you may have to head back into town a few times. Just remember to have a TP open on the level in case you make a mistake. Use Unholy Armor to re-claim your corpse if you die. Just be patient and you should be able to kill all three Priestesses.


THE BLACK ROAD CHALLENGE
The BRC isn't particularly difficult for the summoner, but it can be a bit tricky at points. However, you really don't need to do this one because as far as the extra skill goes, it stinks for our purposes. I say just ignore it, but if you want a challenge, then go for it.

1.) Trial of Fear[very easy]
Have your army set, summon, he dies. Simple.

2.) Trial of Greed.[very easy]
Pull 666,666 gold out of your stash and cube your charm. Simple.

3.) Trial of Contrition[very easy]
Same as The Butcher. Summon him, he dies, cube.

4.) Trial of Knowledge[easy]
Time to head to Fauztinville and collect the robot brains. It takes a little while, but your army will plow over the residents of Fauztinville. If you get into trouble, use Unholy Prayer or retreat to the enterence and re-summon.

5.) Trial of Blood[tricky]
This one is pretty tricky to pull off because you have to lure the Skovos and Lycander together and kill them together. The problem is that your minions don't care and they will try and kill anything they see. Use your army to kill Philos first and any amazons between your targets. Try to unsummon most of your army and use just a few minions to try and get one of your targets alone. Then unsummon all your minions when you get one of your targets alone. Lure her all the way to the other priestess and cast Unholy Armor. TP back into town and re-summon your army. One your army is back, jump back in and let your army slaughter everything in sight. You should be able to pull it off.

ENNEAD CHALLENGE
It's a bit tricky to pull off, but it's not too bad. Have your army take out the first totem by the entrance and re-summon if necessary. It's a bit risky, but try running right at the Necro in the SE corner of the map. He is unprotected by totems and if your have a minion that followed you, cast Bend the Shadows and bring your whole army right on top of him. Get your Class Charm and you're good to go.

UBERQUESTS
SUMMONING UBER QUESTS
The Butcher [very easy] - Have your army set. Summon him. He dies instantly. Pick up loot.

Tal Rasha [very easy] - Try to summon him in one of the four corners so that you can keep Tal Rasha and his mages concentrated in one spot. Summon and kill. Simple. Just remember that when you are summoning a group, walk away quickly(don't run) because you do not want to be caught in the middle of a group of uber monsters. Let your summons do the work.

King Koth [very easy] - Same thing. Summon him while your army is standing around and watch him die. Just watch out if he casts Fortress.

Akarat [very easy] - Just use your basic rules. Set your army and totems. Summon, walk away pick up Visions of Akarat
Lord Aldric Jitan [very easy] - Just as simple as the others, but you do want to position your self and your army carefully. Use Bend the Shadows to draw your army into the building, and summon Jitan near the door. This will keep the guardsmen concentrated in one spot. Make sure to walk out of the building after you summon just in case there are some guard towers inside.

Bartuc [very easy] - Same as the others. Summon your army with support totems outside and walk into the tower. Summon Bartuc in one corner and walk to the opposite one. When he's dead, pick up the loot.

Judgment Day [very easy] - That's right! The infamous Judgment Day is very easy for Manimarco. This was, after all, a quest meant for summoners. Summon your entire army and support totems. Infact, set your totems on one side of the Way Point and your army on the other just to keep the totems out of the way of the fighting. Summon the Edyrem and watch the carnage unfold. The Edyrem and Dark Uldyssian will hack at your army non-stop and they will eventually summon either Imperius or Malthael. Hold down the ALT button to see if a Crystaline Flame Medallion drops. Cast Unholy Armor when you go to pick it up, just to be safe. It's hard to tell what's going on in all that chaos, so the easiest way to get the bonus is to hold down ALT and watch to see if more Medallions drop. When they do, cube your Medallion to get the bonuses.

Brother Laz [coming soon]

UBERLEVELS
Kurast 3000 BA [easy] / [tricky] - K3KBA isn't really tough, but it can get a tad tricky at times and you need to use some minimum strategy. Taking out the Shield Generators is the main trick here. The problem is getting your summoned army to focus on the totems since they want to hit everything. When you want to attack a totem, the safe way is run at a totem with Unholy Prayer active. Your army will eventually follow. One they are near a totem, cast Bend the Shadows to draw them all near that they will rip the shield totem to shreds. Just don't run off too far away from your support totems and army. Use Unholy Prayer liberally and play it safe. Should not be too much of a problem.

Island of the Sunless Sea [very easy] - It's a wide open area so your army will not be restricted. Summon your support totems and army outside and walk in. They will take down Malic's Messenger almost immediately, and when they do, I would suggest walking back outside for a few seconds so that you do not have to get hit with his blastwave. After that, walk back in and watch your army rip every thing to pieces. Use Bend the Shadows to pull your army and totems along and you should not have any problems.

Khalimgrad [easy] - The only things that may give you problems here are some of the walls and those damn Lightwells that shoot punishers. Have your army clear a path toward one of Zakarum's Avatars. Once there, cast Bend the Shadows right on it and try to coax some Ethereals near. Once you pop one, your army will take down the Avatar. Hopefully, it will drop Zakarum's Ear.

Tran Athula [easy] - Having Mana Tide Totem here is your friend. When you enter, keep Unholy Prayer humming along and watch as your army mows down the Amazon army with ease. Just don't run too far ahead of your army and use Bend the Shadows frequently.

Fauztinville [tricky] - It is possible to fully clear Fauztinville, it just takes a long time and patience. You will need your full army available. Also having the Ability to summon Daystars, Shredders and such are a big help because of their elemental damage that can help with physical immunes. The trick is to keep Unholy Prayer active at all times. When you clear a small section, re-summon if necessary and use Bend the Shows to pull your totems along. You will have to inch your way through, but it can be done. Hopefully you will get a great rune!

Bremmtown [hard] - Not impossible, but I would like to quote Chevyboy77(this is for 1.99d)...
Chevyboy77 wrote:
Just thought I would post so the guide creator could update if he decides to in this case.

Bremmtown is very doable under 3 minutes (managed 2:15 without 1 adrenalin pot on /p8) but does require absurd minion damage stacking. I finished it with a bit over 1000%, however if done on P1 700% or so should be fine. Just to give an idea, without the totem damage included (howling totem is smax) my void archon hits for a bit over 55k. Insane damage is required to do this.

Also didn't require the use of high amounts of minions.

I used 31 Rampgor, 33 Lamia, 1 Void Archon and roughly 10 Shadows (mostly for the life buff and aura). The key is to not have too many minions that you lag the game or reach the sprite limit. Also you don't want to flood the screen with weaker minions like shadows or minions that die in 1 hit like darklings causing your hard hitting meat shields to not be able to get within attacking range. A well geared (mine is using the Triune runeward) A5 merc demolishes that place. With a smax howling totem 1 SoR is enough to kill an entire pack of the mobs in that place even on /p8.

Walk a few steps and summon a few shadows at the maximum range the screen will let you, if no mobs attack them bend the shadows to move your totems up and continue as such. Be ready to use Unholy Armor if it gets close, however this is best saved for the dragon so you can charge strait at him and bend the shadows as close as possible.

Anyways just thought I'd share as it is labeled as impossible but is in fact very doable if one is committed enough. All this was done without the use of 1 adrenalin potion.


Good work! For purposes of full disclosure, I have not attempted his strategy myself. Therefore, I think that a difficulty of [hard] is reasonable given the evidence.

Kingdom of Shadow [impossible] - Do I really need to explain this one? I suppose if some one REALLY GOOD wanted to do it, you would need a ton of adrenaline potions, Unholy Armor and a lot of luck.

Duncraig [very hard] - Uugh! This level is an absolute nightmare! Poison clouds and exploding barrels can and will decimate your entire army. Unfortunately, Unholy Prayer is not of much use here. Also, this level could take hours for a summoner to clear because you will be spending most of your time reclaiming your body and re-summoning your army. It really does suck for this character, but it can be done if you are VERY patient.

My advice....make an Amazon and twink the damn thing.

DUNGEON UBERQUESTS
Creature of Flame [very easy] - Just walk in with your army and let them rip everything to pieces. Simple. Just use Bend the Shadows occasionally to point them in the right direction.

Infernal Machine [very easy] - Summon your army right outside and dash in. Cast Bend the Shadows as close as possible to the Infernal Machine and your army will take care of the rest.

Death Projector [easy] - Normally, the DP heals when one of the Mechanics kills a minion. Your Void Archon's aura takes care of that problem. The beam however is a problem. First, I would recommend parking all but one of the Mechanics to minimize the risk of having your Void Archon killed. Drop your summoned army right on top of the DP and stand in the 8 O'Clock position. Normally, your army will destroy the DP before it can get off a second beam, but if you hear that click, cast Unholy Prayer. You shouldn't have too much of a problem.

Azmodan [tricky] - It's actually easy, but you do need a tad bit of luck. Summon your army outside and walk in with Unholy Armor active. I would recommend heading right from the entrance and see if you can spot Azmodan. If you do, cast Bend The Shadows near by, and keep Unholy Prayer active. You may have to run around a little bit to find Azmodan which is risky. When you do find him, he's dead.

Rathma Square [very easy] - Very easy indeed. Before you enter, summon your army and support totems. When you enter, your army will take out and gore crawlers in the immediate area. Cast Bend the Shadows as you make your way toward Primus. Your army will shield you from Primus' Bladestorm attack, and he will go down easy. Your army will take care of any gore crawlers running around.

Cathedral of Vanity [hard]
It used to be easy to just cheese the CoV by drawing Inarius into the entrance room and using a Barb merc to destroy his physical immunity with Shower of Rocks. Well, SoR no longer breaks physical immunities, so this challenge has gone from very easy to very hard. Summon your army and totems outside. Walk in and cast unholy armor. From there, drink an adrenalin potion and run like crazy toward the ball. If you are lucky, you may be able to cast bend the shadows right on top of the ball and tear it down quickly. If you can do it, you are in the clear.

Toraja [very easy] - It shouldn't be too surprising that Toraja is easy for Manimarco to beat. Summon all your totems, army and Edyrem outside and walk in. If you are pumped up with summoner jewels, you don't even need Unholy Prayer. But if you are untwinked, you might want to have UP humming. Summon your entire army with along with Overlord if you have it. When you are in, keep casting BtS to the NE If you hit a pack of enemies, cast your Edyrem right on top of them and then BtS on top of them. Move quickly, because if you wait too long, Lilith will have summoned a huge number of monsters, and you may get killed when you go for the attack. When you have a visual on Lilith, re-summon your Edyrem right next to her and then summon your Rampagors next to her. The Rampagors have enough life to take several hits. Then, BtS right next to her. Your army should be able to take her down.

Vizjun [tricky]
If you walk in, do so with your full army with Unholy Prayer active. With 10 points in Mana Tide totem and enough energy, you can keep it humming indefinitely. Your summons will tear the robots apart, but they are more vulnerable with the reduced range of UP. Also, Bend the Shadows does not work here . So, how do we move our totems along? Town Portals! It's tricky, and it takes time. Be patient, and you can get to the Master Control System. Hit it with Purify and you should be able to take it down.

HEROIC LEVELS AND HEROIC BOSSES
Cow Level [very easy] - Since Bull Prince Rodeo is a summonable boss, you can clear the level very easily and with impunity. Walk in with Unholy Prayer active and you will decimate this wide open level.

Bull Prince Rodeo [tricky] - Rodeo is summonable, so try to trap him in the NE corner and summon him. The think about Rodeo is that he has a Blast Wave like attack that will seriously damage your army and scatter them. If that happens, run away and re-summon. Rush him again and drop your army on top of him again. You will probably die a few times, but it's not really that hard to kill him.

Act 1 Mausoleum [easy] - The walls are a bit confining, but the level it self is not so bad. However...

Astrogha [impossible] - Are you kidding me? If there was ever a boss that summoners are not equipped to deal with, it's Astrogha.

Act 2 Stony Tomb Level 1 [easy] - The thing about this level that makes it somewhat tricky is the sheer size of it. It's massive, so you will be casting BtS constantly. It's not so bad, but hopefully you won't run into....

Quov Tsin [have not tried yet, but I can't imagine this being pleasant..]

Act 5 Icy Cellar [easy] - The difficult thing about this level is the massive amount of little flesh spawns that are summoned. They are re-summoned so often that the often distract from the other monsters.

Belial [not tried yet]

GENERAL LEVELING STRATEGIES
Previously, running Bremmtown with a Beacon ring or Lionskull was the way to go. However, those areas got some serious experience nerfs in 1.A9, so where to go? Of course, everyone knows that the Death Projector is the universal experience farming ground, but for Hatred and Terror, it may be a little too tricky for some players. A great alternative for Hatred is The Isle of the Sunless Sea. You can easily get to level 80 in there if you have /players 8 on. Oh, and bring a Beacon ring. It's a lot of fun there. Once you reach Terror, you can use the Infernal Machine and the high level monsters it spawns to get to level 90. After that, it's back to the Sunless Sea.

MISCELLANEOUS SCREEN SHOTS
General Summon Stats



Necro Summoner set gear socketed full of Lum runes for MF. LOL!



Judgment Day for Manimarco.



Suck it Lilith!



Manimarco is FANTASTIC for farming great runes in Toraja.



Found another one on my second run.



Suck it Jitan!