Dread / Necromancer assistance

[Pinkcrusade]

Hello!

So, I want to create a necromancer for a new campaign (we are starting at level four), and I wanted to know which non-homebrew class was the best for the classic summoner necromancer. Also, if Dread Necromancer is the best for that type of stuff, how exactly do its spells work? I couldn't completely understand that.

Thanks.

[Waker]

Dread Necromancer is a fairly good choice for playing as a classic necromancer. It has a good selection of spells, rebuke undead and assortment of other class abilities. What exactly are you having trouble understanding about their spellcasting? If it is the spells known aspect, they know their entire spell list, which they can cast spontaneously.

[lsfreak]

A dread necro knows all its spells of a given level as soon as it gets access to that level of spells. You simply cast off their entire spell list, and just check off the slots you use up.

For animating, dread necro or cleric are the best. Dread necros make more and stronger minions out-of-the-box starting at level 8, and have a decent set of other abilities to back them up (among them is unlimited out-of-combat healing for minions and, if everyone takes the Tomb-Tainted Soul feat, for the party as well). Clerics get minionmancy three levels earlier (only 1 level early if you grab the Versatile Spellcaster feat on the dread necro) and native access to Deathbound domain and desecrate are really good, and can be supplemented with normal cleric stuff (DMM:Persist mass lesser vigor on all your minions? How about righteous wrath of the faithful?). Both have rebuke for taking control of a few non-skelly/zombie minions.

Wizards make decent necromancers, and have a few of their own tricks (the necromancy variant in UA, a skeleton army + Lord of the Uttercold blaster build to heal them while damaging others). Warlocks can do necromancy, but they lack most (or all, really) of the other tricks except for having easy, unlimited AoE healing at high level. Necrocarnates (Magic of Incarnum) are interesting, but don't fit normal necromancy stuff.

Personally, I'd always direct a new player wanting a necromancer to a dread necro and the Versatile Spellcaster feat. Saves you all the pain of having to sift through what spells you want.