On the old forums I was reading about the raid necromancer. I am intrigued has any necro don the full caster no pet build in raids and if so how does it stack up?
Normally, a melee pets build is more efficient, especially if you have in group a tos or pom, because of the synergies.
The only case where I’m using a DtS build is the 2nd boss in T6, because the stacking dots kills the pets quite fast. Vistrix T5 is a good place to use a DtS build too, if you’re assigned to portals groups, because the pets are not protected by the buff you get when you port.
So, in my opinion, a DtS spec is best only when the mechanic of the fight makes the pets non-viable, or on a boss with very low magical protection.
I used to find it also a bit better dps in Nightfall spec when dealing with lots of mobs where you want big aoe damage. Like Sabazios, the last boss in T2, W1. Pet specs would do consistently less dps for that kind of fight.
Also, if you have a boss fight where you can sit still in spellweaving and never have to move, a Nightfall spec may prove quite a bit better.
You must have mixed up 2nd boss in t6 with the yothians (first boss).
It all depends on many factors and if you have the knowledge you can be very flexible.
Do you have gear? DtS is feasible
Dont have gear? Pet Specc is recommended
Boss having high protection values? Pet specc is recommended
Boss having low protection values? Both are competetive
Are you able to spellweave in the fight? DtS
Are you partly able to spellweave in the fight? DtS might work
Are you unable to spellweave in the fight? Pets 100%
Do you need to push a lot of aoe damage? DtS
It all depends on what kind of dps you want to push out. A pet necro with a good group compostion will push a decently high amount of damage already with low end gear. With boost of a tos alone the dps is going up by a lot if you run melee pets… But if you really really dislike having to play with pets then a DtS build is viable as well but you need to know it will come with a significant lower dps with low end gear. With more powerful gear your dps will start even out.
To sum it up,
Low on gear? Pets.
Got t4+? DtS is viable.
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Anyone able to share a non pet DTS build?
I would go with something like this for DTS raid spec. I left 4 points unused to be put in either the General - Spiritual Aegis for protection, in Nightfall - Mark of the Devourer, in Reanimation - Infestation, or something else you may desire.
I’ve just come back to the game after a few years and am playing on the Saga server. I’ve been using a build which includes feats in General based off one of the joharaoc builds, but the joharaoc.eu site appears to be down. Can anyone share their current feats? I can find nothing via google except for the old posts in the archived forums. :\
i’d go with something like this: link 
You could also go with something like this, which is very similar to what Yawgmoth posted: http://joharaoc.eu/feat?link=v5_12913884138e813ec013948139ae13f8c13fee13a1114d341405213ba013c0613dfc13c691424414310148241488814371145641494c14ec4143d8145c914b41148ea14439151821511c
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Is it Harvester that are the best pets for a build like this?
no, go with mutilators. mana drain pets are only for louhi…
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I always ran 2 blighted ones (for unholy debuff) and 6 mutilators (for bleeds).
What’s with the lack of Ancient Soul? More skull uptime = more skulls = more DPS
well, on the build i linked, i feated the mana dran abilities, just to keep it as generic as possible. but if mana drain is not needed, it’s indeed possible to spend those points differently, like this for example: https://goo.gl/k2EdeF
In my experience necros is one of the classes with most close to useless feats that is a VEEERY small increase in damage. I kinda prefer using a build with general hate dump, that allows you to go nuts with spellweave critbuff and pre-spawned skulls from the start without pulling aggro, the amount of crazier you can play with it is better then the useless dps points you put out instead of it imo.
https://goo.gl/HNzABZ - My record with this specc is 3.2k dps on the first boss slithering chaos (kiting circles), around 2.9k on second (kiting circles). Would have pulled aggro like mad no matter who tanked without general hate dump. Can prolly dig up that parse file if anyone wanna see what i got all dmg from.
I like having the option to use despoil the soul in case pets die mid fight, its better to up extra magic damage quick then being idle re-spawning those pets.
Also i like having One with dead for 11 pets for fights you know you can survive (like slithering chaos for example).
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Out of curiosity are you running with Supreme Lich or Chilling Breath ?
In almost every encounter i prefer Chilling breath. But in slithering chaos i run supreme lich so i can fit as many icestrikes as possible between the times i need to drop spellweave and move.
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I remember a guide, it was real short. “TO become the best necromance, it simple, roll a ranger”