PWMAngband strategy: how to play a Necromancer

[PowerWyrm]

Necromancers are dark spellcasters, masters of death and undeath. They are very close to Mages (same stats and many spells in common), but have a special set of spells and abilities that make them truly unique to play.

What is the best race for a Necromancer? Since Necromancers are not pure spellcasters, but will also rely on melee a lot, I'd say a race with good INT but also good STR/DEX/CON (avoid races with -STR, it would make the early game almost impossible):
- human: no stat boost, but fast levelers
- half-elf: almost the same as human, +1 INT, +1 DEX, -1 CON
- half-orc: +2 STR and +1 CON, but -1 INT (more melee, less spellcasting at start)
- dunadan or high-elf: STR/INT/DEX/CON boost (easy start), but high xp penalty
- thunderlord: great STR/INT/DEX/CON boost (easy start), but very high xp penalty
Other races would only be good for challenge games (half-troll would be ok with innate regen and great STR/CON/HP, but -4 INT makes spellcasting really hard; yeek would be the ultimate challenge...)
Note that as a Necromancer, you cannot choose the Dragon race.

Necromancers have to rely on their special abilities. They are not as good as Mages for spellcasting (in particular they get almost no offensive attacks), and are no great fighters as well...

So how to play a Necromancer? As they gain levels, they get the following useful spells/abilities:
- Horrify (level 1): this spell (and the improved ones Beam of Terror, Ball of Terror and Mass Horrify) will daze monsters and make them afraid... very useful to stab them with your starting dagger and kill them quickly; after your first dive, spend all your cash on a better weapon (a Battle Axe is probably the best you can get); spend further cash on enchant scrolls (to-hit and to-dam) until you have your weapon enchanted to +9 +9
- Raise Dead (level 5): while not very effective, this spell can raise corpses and skeletons as undead slaves which can be used to block a path to prevent other monsters from reaching your character, giving more time to rest and prepare the next moves
- Frost Bolt (level 7): Necromancers have really few offensive spells (mostly cold/nether based), and this is the first one; quite costly and doing mediocre damage...
- Shadow Touch (level 12): this spell grants a temporary vampiric brand to the wielded weapon, helping regenerating HP while hitting monsters in melee... nice to stay healthy most of the time
- Guard (level 15): with this spell, undead won't be a threat anymore... they just can be easily pacified by ordering them to stand still
- Identify (level 17): this spell should help your character get cash rapidly; scum BM or player shops for +STR/INT/DEX/CON rings/items and items with regeneration ability
- Frost Ball (level 19): first ball spell, quite costly and doing low damage...
- Absorb Soul (level 20): this heals you by a substantial amount every time you kill a monster; very effective with packs of monsters to keep HP high while meleeing
- Nether Bolt (level 25): the first spell that deals enough damage to be really useful... however the mana cost is very high, and the spell does only half damage against evil
- Follow (level 26): with this spell, you can order undead to follow you; combined with Guard, you can place non hostile monsters at any spot in the dungeon
- Haste Self (level 29): you need the first high level book to cast this spell (not very costly, easily found in black markets)... but it makes diving much easier; start to dive to 1500ft and collect your first stat pots
- Undead Form (level 30): this spell kills your character instantly and transform it into a ghost... however, starting at level 30, Necromancers gain a special ability (they need 18/70 INT to be able to use it though) which makes them retain all their gear as a ghost; as a penalty, they will lose one HP every turn (which can be countered by casting Shadow Touch or Absorb Soul and killing monsters to keep HP high) and won't be able to use any means of resurrection except the town Temple and any common means of healing except life draining spells; note that a Necromancer doesn't lose XP when resurrecting after using this spell (they still lose XP when they get killed though, even if it turns them into undead form instead of permanently dying - only casting the spell on purpose removes the XP penalty)
- Drain Life (level 30): similar to the Holy Word spell from Priests, this drains life from the target and gives it back to the character; vital when playing in undead form
- Word of Destruction (level 35): the perfect lifesaver if you are in great danger...
- Attack (level 42): with this spell, you can order undead to attack and kill other monsters for you! however, you won't get drops or xp that way...
- Darkness storm (level 45): the only really useful offensive spell, but you need the last Necromancer spellbook in order to cast it
- Death (level 45): this spell kills both the target (which must be a non unique monster) and your character (turning it into undead form, with the same effects as when using the Undead Form spell)
- Touch of Death (level 50): the ultimate spell for a Necromancer, this spell adds critical blows (with a lot of added damage) to your wielded weapon

Melee is the key here. Get the best weapon you can wield that gives (at least) 4 bpr and a high tohit/todam. Use Shadow Touch and Absorb Soul to counter some of the melee damage dealt by monsters in melee. Use Drain Life/Cloud of Draining to heal during combat while hurting monsters. Use Touch of Death at level 50 to get a damage boost.

[Agor]

/this makes me want to try your variant :)

[PowerWyrm]

Well you can join my server when it's up (powerwyrm.dyndns.org)...
In fact, I'm currently playing a Necromancer on that server, trying to see if I can win with one using decent gear... or if the class is too weak to be winnable (in this case I would probably rebalance some stuff a little). Currently Morgoth leads by 2 to 0... so we'll see :)

[Agor]

Thanks, might drop by some day :) Usually I only play warrior-type classes in roguelikes, but I think a Necromancer really sounds like something I'd like to try .

[PowerWyrm]

Took me 5 tries before killing Morgoth, but he finally croaked!
So the class is winnable after all, you just need good equipment and a bit of luck with the manastorms... quite the same as the good old Mage trying to kill Morgoth in melee.

[PowerWyrm]

Next time I'm gonna try to find morgy with Vecna on the level. It should be interesting...