Necromancer & Automatons

[GrimR3velation]

I'm having a bit of trouble staying alive in some Dwemer ruins with my necromancer. Lydia can't seem to kill the spheres fast enough & my zombies die within a few hits. Any advice? I'm level12 if the changes anything or matters at all.

 

[MushroomGenius]

What are you reanimating in a Dwemer ruin? Falmer?

Personally, I went up the Atronach side for Conjuration as I preferred the speed and reliability of using an Atronach rather than having to locate and use a corpse, but if you want to stick with the Necromancer roleplay, I support that too. It's not "wrong", just different than what I did, and I have no problems with it.

Along with my Atronachs and Follower, I used Lightning Magic. It honestly doesn't seem to work very well against Spheres, but it was, at the time, the only Destruction Magic that I had added perks into.

You might consider carrying a Staff with you as backup since at level 12, your magicka pool is pretty low. Just be aware that using a Conjuration/Summon staff will kill your already-reanimated Zombie. Until you get the Twin Souls perk, you can only have one Summon/Zombie at a time regardless of how it was created.

While making the fight a bit more cumbersome and risky (in that you may kill your follower), you could also buy a Dog. You can use both a Follower and a Dog. Add your Zombie to this mix and you can go 4vs1 on most any enemy. Dogs can be purchased at the Markarth Stable.

What are your current perks? What type of armor are you wearing? We could suggest more if we had a bit more info.

Do you dual cast your Zombie?

 

[Necromis]

and don't forget Meeko.....or the stray dog they are free. Or the daedric quest with Barbaras, though he is rather annoying for a dog.

 

[GrimR3velation]

I'm not dual casting zombie. LEFT: reanimate RIGHT: bind sword. I'm wearing black robes with 50% magicka regen & 12% conjuration, conjuration gloves. Perks in conjuration & one-handed mostly. With a few in alteration.

 

[MushroomGenius]

I'm not dual casting zombie. LEFT: reanimate RIGHT: bind sword. I'm wearing black robes with 50% magicka regen & 12% conjuration, conjuration gloves. Perks in conjuration & one-handed mostly. With a few in alteration.

Thanks Grim... are you reanimating Falmer? I wasn't sure if they were considered "too powerful" for you at level 12 or not.

 

[GrimR3velation]

I honestly haven't tried. I haven't come across any to find out yet. But Draugr Wights are too powerful.

 

[MushroomGenius]

I honestly haven't tried. I haven't come across any to find out yet. But Draugr Wights are too powerful.

That's odd.. usually Dwemer ruins are infested with Falmer. There are probably some exceptions that don't immediately come to mind.

You could try dual casting and see if that helps you at all. I don't know if you've invested a perk point into it or not. With my Atronachs, I never bothered to spend into that perk, it was easy enough for me to just resummon them as they were about to die.

How high is your skill level in Conjuration? You said you spent some points there, but where? Did you get to Dark Souls yet?

Are you using your Flesh spells?

As a Necromancer, there's quite a bit of prep work you need to do before each battle:

Reanimate Zombie​

Flesh spell​

Destruction Magic​

​

If your Zombies die quickly, as you've noticed, it's a mad scramble to try and reanimate another while the attacker has focused on you. This was one of the primary reasons I went with the Atronach side, I can just cast/recast quickly without having to search for a corpse.

You said you cast Bound Sword and you have perks invested into the 1H tree, would you find it easier/safer to just attack at a distance instead of taking your zero armor body right into the battle?

 

[GrimR3velation]

I can't recall my conjuration skill points off the top of my head seeing as I'm at work. But by flesh spells, you mean such ones as Oakflesh?

However, if you suggest that re-rolling my character again & placing points in different trees would make life easier, I have no objections. Getting to lvl12 only takes a few hours. Lol

 

[MushroomGenius]

Yeah I meant Oakflesh, Ironflesh, etc. They're helpful if you do find yourself having to take blows.

I've never played a straight Necromancer character in Skyrim, but from what I saw and experienced dabbling with Zombies vs. Atronachs, it just wasn't as fluid a battle mechanic as going the Atromancy route.

With the Atronachs, you are able to cast them from a distance essentially creating a wall behind which you can safely fire Destruction spells. With Necromancy, you need to enter the room completely and allow your Zombie to target and aggro the mob inside. All this time for your zombie to lug his undead body over there after acknowledging the target is time lost that he could be fighting.

You also have to deal with your Zombies vaporizing into ash. Atronachs, on the other hand, can easily be recasted granted you have enough Magicka to do so.

Zombies often get in the way was you're navigating narrow hallways and such. Atronachs, while also roadblocking behemoths (Frost Atronach), can easily be recasted away from the hallway you're trying to get through.

My zero-armor Pure Mage, from the start, was primarily a Conjuration focused Mage in the beginning so I weighed the pros/cons of zombie vs atronach. I just couldn't see a justification for the Zombie side when the Atronach side was filled with more positives.

 

[GrimR3velation]

I reset my necromancer & gonna follow your advice with the atronachs. Any advice on where to get the spells?

 

[MushroomGenius]

I reset my necromancer & gonna follow your advice with the atronachs. Any advice on where to get the spells?

Early on, you could purchase spells from the Court Wizard in Dragonsreach, or just make your way to the College of Winterhold and start their questline. It's a good idea to try and get the Archmage Robes ASAP. Helps with Magicka reduction for all schools and regeneration. This should be a top priority for you off the bat.

You should start with the Familiar and some Zombies just to boost your Conjuration skill high enough to get your first Atronach. The casting distance early on is really limited, but you can start practicing "throwing out" your summon. Again, you want your summon to take the brunt of the beating from your enemies while you pummel them at a distance with Destruction magic.

 

[GrimR3velation]

Awesome. Yeah, from the moment my binds were cut, I was throwing out my familiar. And using spark as well.

The archmage robes are at the college right?

 

[MushroomGenius]

Awesome. Yeah, from the moment my binds were cut, I was throwing out my familiar. And using spark as well.

The archmage robes are at the college right?

Yeah the Archmage Robes along with the Morokei mask are the items you really want by the end of the College of Winterhold questline. The Morokei mask is considered light armor, but has 100% magicka regen... so it's up to you whether you want to forgo the zero armor constraint and use it. I used it for a little while until I could replace it with a decent hood/circlet.

 

[GrimR3velation]

Gotcha. And who would be a better melee partner than Lydia? She's not that strong I've noticed...

 

[MushroomGenius]

I used Stenvar quite a bit early on. He's a mercenary that can be hired out of Candlehearth Hall in Windhelm.

If you want some really interesting battles, Brelyna (the dunmer student at the College) is a good choice. She's another Mage that specializes in Conjuration. She will almost always start off battles by conjuring a Familiar. From there, with your own Summon, it's basically 4vs1 on any enemy. She'll also wear heavy armor if you provide it to her.

 

[GrimR3velation]

A heavy armor conjurer sounds interesting...

 

[MushroomGenius]

Wonder how you're progressing.....

 

[GrimR3velation]

Lydia died not long after I brought her along. Atronachs are easier, but not as satisfying as zombies IMO. Dunno though. Been playing my blacksmith a lot lately.