Wow I never heard this one before...
Heres a quote from The Arreat Summit:

Maybe you should have kept that eth bow of yours...may have been worth something.

This is what I reccomend.

Equips

Armor
Enigma Mp (Don't change)

Boots
Marrowalk (Are ok)
Rare boots w/ Fhr, Res, Str, etc (this is best choice)

Belt
Arach (Hands Down)

Gloves
Frosts
Trang-Oul's (First choice, also gives to curses)
Magefist

Rings
2 Soj

Helm
Shako

Shield
Darkforce Spawn (If its 3-3-3 it would be better then Homunculus, it also has 30 fcr)
Homunculus (It has res, better chance to block, but only help your summon skill lvls by 2)

Wep
Hoto (#1 choice, Hoto Beats King Leoric easy)

Arm of King LeoricTomb Wand
One-Hand Damage: 10 To 22 (16 Avg)
Required Level: 36
Required Strength: 25
Durability: 15
Base Weapon Speed: [-20]
+50% Damage To Undead
10% Chance To Cast Level 2 Bone Prison When Struck
5% Chance To Cast Level 10 Bone Spirit When Struck
+ (1.25 Per Character Level) 1-123 To Mana (Based On Character Level)
10% Faster Cast Rate
+2 To Terror (Necromancer Only)
+2 To Raise Skeletal Mage (Necromancer Only)
+3 To Skeleton Mastery (Necromancer Only)
+3 To Raise Skeleton (Necromancer Only)
+2 To Summoning Skills (Necromancer Only)
+2 To Poison And Bone Skills (Necromancer Only)

Skills

Summons
Max Skele Mastery
Max Raise Skele
Max Raise Skele Mage
Max Summon Resists
1 into any Golem ( I choose clay for the slow)
1 into Golem Mastery

Curses
1 into any curses you want

Recommendations
Amp Damage (This is better than decrep)
Lower Res
Decrepify
Life Tap

Merc- Act3
Dream Helm
Dream Shield
Bramble Armor
Wep doesn't matter

I hope you like this guide and it works for you.

use a beast as your weapon and get a might merc with a pride, +skills add very little damage to compare with 3 aura's.

You can't use beast and pride at the same time

merc uses pride.... you use beast
Might +concentration from merc and Fanactism from you.

The merc conc/might with me having fanta combo sounds all well & good, BUT how is he (the merc & necessary ***ly doer of damage) going to:

A.) Hit anything?
B.) Kill bosses?

I ask this because:

1.) Infinity gives -85% Enemy Defense
2.) Infinity gives 40% Chance of Crushing Blow

USe conviction it lower's the boss's resist.

If anything, lowering their resistances DOES help the mages, but seriously, if you compare the mods of Infinity and Pride, infinity is just sooooooooo much better.

Why the hell did you guys open this up after the last post was 5-17-2006....

Real nice... some one should close this..

good start i would max out skele mage and put at least 1 in all golems and put more in the golem u like the most then u should max out either amplify dmg or iron maiden

"max amp damage"? yeah, i'm a noob and even i know better. there's this new curse... decrep. i think it's called. just thought i would share that secret. definitely max skel mastery and summon skel. put a point in clay golem and decrep. used in conjunction they keep diablo and the boys from casting. use a might merc and with your plus skills and ton of minions it jacks their damage. it's funny when a druid thinks his hurricane is going to waste you and he can't get thru your army. i don't sweat revives... they just die anyways. some say mages aren't worth their salt but they can be handy to have... elemental dmg and all. i don't really have anywhere to put points but there at this point... aside from curses i'm trying to keep him pure summon. king leoric is nice for it's + various skills just don't get hit... the autocast on bonewall can screw you so prepare to esc+up+enter once in awhile. i have roughly +14 to summon skills and maybe +10 or so to the rest and i have 14 skel warriors, 12 mages, and 17 revives... like i said i don't put points in revives, they just die and arent worth much unless you get them from worldstone and then, again, there's a 3 min. expiration on em so don't get attached. make sure you have a point in amp. decrep. and lower resist... u may need to switch between them on dual immune monsters to lose one of the immunities. golem mastery i put a point or two in. i think i maxed corpse explosion so it gets max radius and clears boards fast. i, like most skelemancers i think, only put enough points in str to wear armor and i'm only wearing trang's armor. the rest i put in life. oh, don't forget a point in summon resist. skelemancers are easy to be successful with. just focus on your summons, put a single point in the skills i mentioned and let your + skills do the rest.

does anyone know if, when creating an summonmancer, might aura stacks up with fanaticism aura, for instance when using beast or when using pride does might aura stack up with the conc. Aura, and what are your preferations for Merc equip, and 1s hand weapon on summonmancers?

Thanks in advance.

M.

ok amp dmg makes 1 army into 2 so it can be a real hlp with bosses