My necromancer got a strong item, any tips on how to use it? Oracle of war spoilers.

[Rfkannen]

So last session my level 11 (now 12) necromancer wizard got this magic item:

https://i.imgur.com/UPJQc2t.png


It seems like a ton of fun, but I am not sure what the best uses of it are. Would I be best served just casting summon undead at level 4 and having it count as level 6? Or for a big fight would a level 8 summon undead be worth my highest level spellslot?

Normally I don't use create undead or animate dead, as animate dead's zombies are pretty useless at this level, and create undead always seemed kind of meh, what use is a mummy at level 17? On the other hand, would a mummy be worth it at level 13?

How would you recommend using this item?

[MaxWilson]

So last session my level 11 (now 12) necromancer wizard got this magic item:

https://i.imgur.com/UPJQc2t.png


It seems like a ton of fun, but I am not sure what the best uses of it are. Would I be best served just casting summon undead at level 4 and having it count as level 6? Or for a big fight would a level 8 summon undead be worth my highest level spellslot?

Normally I don't use create undead or animate dead, as animate dead's zombies are pretty useless at this level, and create undead always seemed kind of meh, what use is a mummy at level 17? On the other hand, would a mummy be worth it at level 13?

How would you recommend using this item?

I'd use it to create/maintain 9-12 skeletal archers from a single 5th level spell slot, then enjoy using other spells like Cloudkill and Web that synergize with my 20 odd archers. Maybe toss in a Danse Macabre (9 skeletons from a 5th level slot! Approximately as much damage as an Action Surging 20th level Sharpshooter Fighter) if I had nothing better to concentrate on.

[Sigreid]

I'd use it to create/maintain 9-12 skeletal archers from a single 5th level spell slot, then enjoy using other spells like Cloudkill and Web that synergize with my 20 odd archers. Maybe toss in a Danse Macabre (9 skeletons from a 5th level slot! Approximately as much damage as an Action Surging 20th level Sharpshooter Fighter) if I had nothing better to concentrate on.

That or use it with create undead to have more stronger undead. Or both.

[Rfkannen]

I'd use it to create/maintain 9-12 skeletal archers from a single 5th level spell slot, then enjoy using other spells like Cloudkill and Web that synergize with my 20 odd archers. Maybe toss in a Danse Macabre (9 skeletons from a 5th level slot! Approximately as much damage as an Action Surging 20th level Sharpshooter Fighter) if I had nothing better to concentrate on.

that does sound fun! However I would be afraid of slowing the game down with 12 skeletons. (though I am already playing a necromancer lol, it happens a bit, thankfully we are on roll20 which speeds things up)

also I really should get cloudkill and web now that I read those spells.

[MaxWilson]

that does sound fun! However I would be afraid of slowing the game down with 12 skeletons. (though I am already playing a necromancer lol, it happens a bit, thankfully we are on roll20 which speeds things up)

also I really should get cloudkill and web now that I read those spells.

What really slows a game down is hesitation in decision making. If you treat your skeletons like expendable missiles instead of precious jewels, and are good at rolling their attacks en masse (I don't know if Roll20 makes this harder but it shouldn't), it shouldn't slow things down for you to just order a bunch of them to attack while you Web. Or, order them to Help PCs attack, or to grapple enemies or knock them prone, whatever is appropriate to the situation and the party--just think things through ahead of time so you can make your decisions quickly.

But if you don't like that then as Sigreid said creating two super-Wights with your 6th level spell slot concentrates a decent amount of power into a smallish package. They have resistance to normal damage and two attacks per round. They're less vulnerable to AoEs than skeletons are, although two wights is probably only about 1/10 as powerful as nine Animate Dead skeletons let alone nine Danse Macabre skeletons.

[Sigreid]

What really slows a game down is hesitation in decision making. If you treat your skeletons like expendable missiles instead of precious jewels, and are good at rolling their attacks en masse (I don't know if Roll20 makes this harder but it shouldn't), it shouldn't slow things down for you to just order a bunch of them to attack while you Web. Or, order them to Help PCs attack, or to grapple enemies or knock them prone, whatever is appropriate to the situation and the party--just think things through ahead of time so you can make your decisions quickly.

But if you don't like that then as Sigreid said creating two super-Wights with your 6th level spell slot concentrates a decent amount of power into a smallish package. They have resistance to normal damage and two attacks per round. They're less vulnerable to AoEs than skeletons are, although two wights is probably only about 1/10 as powerful as nine Animate Dead skeletons let alone nine Danse Macabre skeletons.

Additionally, you can get enough dice to roll their attacks and damages together if the DM will let you run them as a group.