Modding Nekros

[(PSN)MelodiousMelody]

... Again, I asked this a while back, but this was before his update and prime release.

So, Just curious what others think.
I usually build my frames with solo survivability in mind, I like to be able to hold my own, and often play on my own.

I prefer to simply Desecrate with Nekros, and use his Shadow of the Dead squad as decoys or distractions when things get chaotic. It works out, I can hold positions on my own that way, but recently I've considered amping up the shadows a bit.

I've got high Vitality and Health Conversion + Equilibrium on my Nekros, been experimenting with that and it seems to be working fabulous for him. I also have Quick Thinking as a fail safe, but I'm considering switching that out. Despoil for desecrate, but I am uncertain if I should build for duration or power when it comes to the shadows.
I do have Stretch (only because of Desecrate, and I've and Natural Talent (because summon is too slow for my tastes).

Anyways... any opinions?
 

[Aurea_Hiigara]

Duration for the shadows is probably better, as they cost 100 Energy to maintain which really adds up fast if they drop too quickly. Don't forget Shield of Shadows for the boost to your own survival.

[Zachles]

My ideal build would be a combination of Vitality, including Health Conversion and Energy Conversion with Equilibrium. The Shield of Shadows augment will help you spread out damage that Nekros receives among your shadows, and Despoil will tick health instead of energy, and because of all of the health drops from Desecrate, you shouldn't really have any issues. And I would keep Stretch and Natural Talent.

You don't really need to mod for additional duration or efficiency with this build, just your basic stretch mod for more power range. Energy Conversion will grant you additional power strength for your Shadows of the Dead, too.

EDIT: I don't think duration will matter too much for your Shadows of the Dead ability. Their health will tick a % amount until they are dead, but they can still die from enemy fire anyways. The additional power strength you get from Energy Conversion will help with their survivability, but ultimately I think it's just a matter of opinion.

Edited October 25, 2016 by Zachles
Added my two cents about Power Duration for Shadows of the Dead.

[Inarticulate]

Building Nekros for duration will slow down the health decay on your shadows, meaning you'll need to recast the ability less often. Building Nekros for power will increase the health and damage output of your shadows, meaning they will take less damage from enemies relative to their maximum health. Increasing one or both will increase the survivability of your shadows, meaning you might be able to remove Natural Talent because you'll be using the longer cast animation less often.

If you are building for solo survivability, I highly recommend using the Shield of Shadows augment. With +114% power strength (achievable with Blind Rage and Power Drift), you receive 90% damage reduction when all seven shadows are within link range, effectively multiplying your effective health by 10. Combined with Health Conversion, this makes Nekros's damage reduction factor (around 50) even greater than Cold Chroma's (typically between 40 and 45). Compared to Chroma, you don't have the damage output boost on your own weapons, but you trade that for enemy aggro spread out across your seven shadows and the ability to heal yourself, your companion, and your squadmates (and the ability to create more life support).

My build looks like this:

• Aura: Corrosive Projection or Energy Siphon
• Exilus: Power Drift
• Blind Rage
• Primed Continuity
• Primed Flow
• Vitality
• Equilibrium
• Health Conversion
• Despoil
• Shield of Shadows

but it's customizable based on your preferences. You can trade out Primed Continuity or Primed Flow for Stretch or Streamline (or both).

I've chosen not to use Stretch because I typically use solo Nekros with melee (because it's often hard to tell what's an enemy and what's a shadow), meaning corpses are typically already in range of Desecrate. Even in a squad or with a ranged weapon, I find the base range of Desecrate to be sufficient, but in the end, you should build for how you play.

I'm considering switching out Primed Flow for Streamline in my build and seeing how that goes. My current build uses up a bit too much health per corpse with Desecrate, which is especially noticeable in a squad due to the increased kill rate, and it's hard to keep my health up even with Equilibrium, so Streamline might help with that a bit. However, it would make it a bit more difficult to have Terrify as a panic button on demand because I wouldn't have enough maximum energy to cast Shadows of the Dead and Terrify in quick succession. Without Streamline, I highly recommend having Arcane Pulse to keep your health regeneration up.

For the energy reduction Sortie condition, I replace Primed Continuity with Streamline because the condition reduces your maximum energy enough to make Shadows of the Dead literally uncastable otherwise.

[(PSN)MelodiousMelody]

On 10/25/2016 at 0:13 PM, Aurea_Hiigara said:

Duration for the shadows is probably better, as they cost 100 Energy to maintain which really adds up fast if they drop too quickly. Don't forget Shield of Shadows for the boost to your own survival.

I've never had much trouble surviving without Shield of Shadows, but I'm trying it out.

I've always found it annoying actually... the energy lines that connect to Nekros is distracting to me. Lol.