I play on Europe realm mainly (but very few in these days), I will try to help.
c9h13no3 said:
1) The value of meat shields on a teleporting necro. I could see how they could be useful against attacks like guided arrow, TS, and maybe FoH (I hear it doesn't auto-target anymore). However, they take time to obtain. And going out into the blood moor and getting some skellies///revives can be a pain. So for those few attacks, is it really worth the investment? And summons are rarely (if ever) allowed in league duels, for a variety of reasons. So is the 1 point in skellies really worth it?
2) The value of Oak Sage. To me, it seems like he'd die a lot, and most of your time would be spent recasting him. I don't have any dueling experiance with Oak Sage, because I didn't duel in 1.10, so I need some advice there.
3) What are the primary attacks people are using in PvP? I hear cold sorcs, bone necs, psn necs, various projectiles from amazons, Elemental Druids, and FoH pallies make up the majority of duelers. However, I don't really know. But if this is the case, only one of these duelers uses physical damage (amazons) so neglecting physical damage, and concentrating on high life, high resistances, high absorb might be a feasible strategy.
4) How much mana do you need? I know, personally, with my dueling style, I teleported A LOT. And with a level 1 teleport, that can eat a lot of mana. However, you can also buy mana potions now (are they considered bad manners in pubs?), so I'm not sure how they would affect game play.
5) As far as the poison nova vs. bone thing, I don't think there's any real reason to go with psn nova (then again, I've been out of the loop for a while). Nova is great for teleporters, but from what I hear, teeth can fill the gap for an area of effect attack. And lasty, with teleport of your own, it won't be as critical to have an anti-sorc attack like poison nova.
So I basically need those questions answered. That would help immensly.
1) The problem with skellies is that they need a corpse to be created, and the fact that usually in duels they're not allowed. In pubbies, you can use skellies / clay golem to gain some time / meat shields especially with opponents like FoH'ers / Bowazons. And they can be really useful. But in leagues, both clay golem and skellies (or any minions) are prohibited.
2) I think oak sage is quite useless. It dies by 1 attack, and it's a waste of time in terms of cast. Time that could be better spent attacking your opponent. It's only immune to poison in hell, so it can be useful against novanecros. But useless in every other case.
3) Most duelers I've seen on my realm are Bowazons / Bone necros / FoH'ers / Ele druids / WW-Trapper Sins / Cold sorcs and a few WW barbs.
The most difficult to face (imho) are the Bowazons and the WW Sins, even if you have a good gear they can be formidable opponents cuz they can be very fast. I've found teeth being a formidable attack vs zons. Vs sins it's very hard to duel. Despite of what is written in teh sticky, it seems to me that mind blast actually stuns the opponent in PvP, so vs sins a lot of FHR is needed, or you're a dead necro even before starting to duel. Their combo of ww / traps is very effective, and I've lost with my necro 8 duels on 10 vs sins. They are damn fast.
4) Well, if you're going to teleport a lot, you need a plenty of mana, but in pubbies you can use mana potions. In serious leagues, mana potions aren't allowed, so I think that mana gear / charms is a good choice. If a call to arms is allowed, it helps a lot with life / mana (but call to arms is usually not allowed in 1vs1 leagues).
5) Like I said before, teeth can be a marvellous attack to use. I would max it in every case. Bone spear is very good too, cuz it can damage from long distances and it's quite a pain in the ass if it hits.
However, a lot of factors can give their influence on pvp strategy. For example, the difficulty level in which the duel is made is very important. I've seen lots of leagues (euro-pvp) in which duels are made @ Normal difficulty, but if you go pubbies, the most duels are in hell (so the gear is a lot different). And - another example - the teleporting thing is critical. If teleport is allowed, all is different. Last example: "bugged items" like marrowwalks, you have to see if they're allowed or not.
As to your guide, I think it can still be good if revised / corrected in some parts. For example, in the cases you're going to need a Lidless, how about using a darkforce spawn (+3)? It has really good bonuses for pvp.
And maybe an "in-depth" section in the guide about facing specific kinds of opponents (bowazons, ww sins, etc.) can be helpful. I can try to help, just ask me what your doubts are.
