Necromancers are a pseudo-damage dealer pseudo-support summon-focused class--probably the oddest class in EO5 by a large margin. Their skillset is all over the place and comprises several different possible roles, with one central theme tying it all together: ghosts. Necromancers, like Hounds, are focused entirely on their summons--in fact, Necromancers basically can't do shit without ghosts, because most of their skills require killing at least one ghost to do something. Depending on the specialization you pick, Necromancers might not work so well with a Dragoon that uses Bunker/Pillbox or a Hound, since summon slots [i]are[/i] limited and you ideally want as many ghosts out at one time as possible.


Stats

Lunarian Base


Spirit-Summoning Necromancer: Support-ish
(Full stat table)

Spirit-Destroying Necromancer: Damage dealer-ish
(Full stat table)

Basic gist of the stats: Spirit-Summoning Necromancers get more TP, VIT, AGI, and LUC while Spirit-Destroying Necromancers get more HP, INT, and WIS.

Necromancers can equip coffins, and can wear light armor and clothes.

Ghost Stats
(Full stat table)

Ghosts have a lot of HP and a decent amount of STR (actually more than Therians have at level 99, without specializations) and LUC, and bad INT and AGI, which really don't matter. What does matter, though, is that their high HP is offset by their [i]terrible[/i] VIT and WIS--they can eat a lot of damage, but their problem is that they take a lot more damage than a player character.

Much like Warlocks, there's really not any good reclass options for Necromancers.


Basic Skills

Ghost Mastery
Requirements: None


Increases ghost attack damage, and the chance of them inflicting paralysis with their attacks.
Uh... Ghost normal attacks never really amount to much, and doubling them really won't help. The paralysis base chance is also 1% base so a maxed out Ghost Mastery means they have a 6% base paralysis chance, which is still laughable.


Ghost Summoning
Requirements: None
Body parts used: Head


Consumes 15% of the user's current HP to create a ghost with a max HP bonus. Has no speed modifier at all levels.
One of two active ways to create a ghost--the other active one is part of a specialization, while the rest of them are all passives. Ghosts already have enough HP that I don't think leveling it up beyond what you need for other skills is necessary.


The Price of Life
Requirements: Ghost Summoning level 2
Body parts used: Head


Destroys one ghost. Restores all party members' HP. Has an 80% speed modifier at all levels.
Useful as an emergency party heal--it's also one of the few methods you get early on for healing your entire party at once--and by "few methods" I mean "it's the only Basic skill that heals the entire party," meaning your other option early on is Somas. Unfortunately, all-target attacks mean your ghosts will probably die along with your party being hurt, but them's the breaks.


Moaning Spirits
Requirements: None
Body parts used: Head


Destroys one ghost. Reduces one enemy's defense for a set amount of turns. Has no speed modifier at all levels.
Defense debuff! If you want your Necromancer to play more of a supporting role, this is a pretty decent skill to pick up.


Soul Food
Requirements: None
Body parts used: Head


Destroys one ghost. Increases all party members' INT-based defense for a set amount of turns. Has no speed modifier at all levels.
Nah. Raising defense exclusively against magic attacks isn't worth putting points in.


Merciless Wall
Requirements: Moaning Spirits level 2, Soul Food level 2
Body parts used: Head


Targets one ghost. The selected ghost will tank all damage to the party until the end of the turn. The ghost under the effect of Merciless Wall has a modifier applied to all damage it takes. Has standard priority.
Merciless Wall is actually fairly useful for just taking some heat off your party for a bit, but, uh, don't expect ghosts to really be able to live long when using this. Even at level 10, ghosts will still take boatloads of damage because of their low VIT and WIS--plan your usage of Merciless Wall around this!


Gravekeeping Knowledge
Requirements: None


If the user goes a turn without taking any damage, they have a chance to summon a ghost.
A few points in Gravekeeping Knowledge can be useful, especially if you're using a dodgetank Fencer to just keep attacks off the rest of your party, but I wouldn't invest fully in it.


Ghost Reincarnation
Requirements: Gravekeeping Knowledge level 3


When a ghost is destroyed in battle, the user has a chance to summon another one.
Ghost Reincarnation is more useful for Ghost-Destroying Necromancers, since they have more skills that just destroy multiple ghosts at once.


Poison Bomb
Requirements: None
Body parts used: Head


Destroys one ghost. Attempts to inflict poison on all enemies. Has no speed modifier at all levels.
Definitely one of the better skills to rush for at early levels--although note that "rush for" does not necessarily mean "get to 10 as soon as possible." It costs way less than Fire Bomb does, and'll deal far more damage once it actually lands. Combine with Poison Smoke (assuming that doesn't inflict its own poison) for easy inflictions!


Fire Bomb
Requirements: None
Body parts used: Head


Destroys one ghost. Deals ranged INT-based fire damage to all enemies. Has no speed modifier and 150 base accuracy at all levels.
Less than useful early on, despite me tossing points into it early on. It does deal an okay amount of damage, but holy cripes that TP cost. Double digits for levels 1-4 on a Basic skill is incredibly unreasonable.


Spirit-Summoning Necromancer Skills
Common Passives: HP Up, Curb ATK Up

Ghost Secret Arts
Requirements: None


Whenever any party member or enemy dies, the user has a chance to summon a ghost.
Ludicrously useless in boss fights, unless you come up with a strategy that involves constnatly intentionally letting party members die to create ghosts, in which case, uh... Well, props to you for that unique and inventive strategy!


Curse Transfer
Requirements: The Price of Life level 5


When the user takes fatal damage, if a ghost is currently summoned, they have a chance to destroy the ghost and restore a static amount of HP instead of dying.
I'm not convinced that 10 skill points are worth a 50% chance to endure mortal damage, mostly since Necromancers are extremely skill point-hungry.


Soul Trade
Requirements: Curse Transfer level 5
Body parts used: Head


Destroys one ghost. Attempts to revive all dead party members. Has no speed modifier at all levels.
If you're in a situation where you'd need Soul Trade, you have bigger problems than relying on a 75% chance to bring someone back to life.


Open Grave
Requirements: Merciless Wall level 3
Body parts used: Head


Targets one ally. For one turn, when that ally is attacked, all ghosts will counterattack. The counterattack overrides normal ghost attacks. Counterattacks attempt to inflict paralysis on hit targets. Each time a ghost counterattacks, the chance of Open Grave activating decreases by 9%. The base chance starts at 100%. Has a 300% speed modifier at all levels. Counterattacks has 120 base accuracy at all levels. Benefits from Ghost Mastery.
Useful if you have a Dragon's Roar tank or if you have Bunkers/Pillboxes out, I suppose. Remember that the damage will be less impressive than the number seems, since ghosts only have STR, with no weapon ATK.


Ghost Dance
Requirements: Open Grave level 5
Body parts used: Head


For one turn, all ghosts will attack 3 times. Each attack's damage is multiplied at each level by a certain value. Has a 200% speed modifier at all levels. Benefits from Ghost Mastery.
Eh... The Ghost Mastery bonus makes Ghost Dance okay. Without it, though, it's really damn mediocre.


Curse Bomb
Requirements: Poison Bomb level 3
Body parts used: Head


Destroys one ghost. Attempts to inflict curse on all enemies. Has no speed modifier at all levels.
l o l


Ice Bomb
Requirements: Fire Bomb level 3
Body parts used: Head


Destroys one ghost. Deals ranged INT-based ice damage to all enemies. Has no speed modifier and 150 base accuracy at all levels.
Literally just Fire Bomb but with a different element.


Gravestone Binding
Requirements: Curse Bomb level 3, Ice Bomb level 3
Body parts used: Head


Destroys all ghosts. Attempts to inflict petrification on one enemy. The base infliction chance depends on the number of ghosts destroyed. Has no speed modifier at all levels.
Now here's something I can get behind! Petrification's a damn good ailment, and even just two ghosts gives a pretty good chance of inflicting it.


Spirit-Destroying Necromancer Skills
Common Passives: TP Up, Mag ATK Up

The Beckoning of Hades
Requirements: None


When the user is below a certain HP threshold, they have a chance to summon a ghost at the end of a turn.
Those HP thresholds are too low for me to really recommend investing in The Beckoning of Hades, honestly.


Preemptive Ghost Summoning
Requirements: The Price of Life level 3


The user has a chance to use Ghost Summoning at the start of a battle.
A nice convenience for dungeon exploration, pretty useless in FOE/boss fights.


Equivalent Exchange
Requirements: Merciless Wall level 3
Body parts used: Head


Destroys one ghost. Deals ranged untyped damage to one enemy. The damage is exactly equal to a percentage of how much HP the ghost had when it was destroyed. Has an 80% speed modifier and 150 base accuracy at all levels.
I don't think much of Equivalent Exchange on its own, but it's part of this standard rotation for Spirit-Destroying Necromancers:


You basically get 4.5x the damage of whatever The Gates of Hell would've dealt normally. Only downside to this rotation is that you need at least one ghost at all times to use Sacrifice, which means either having to take a turn to use Ghost Summoning, or hoping one of the passive summons activates.


Ghost Explosion
Requirements: Equivalent Exchange level 5
Body parts used: Head


Destroys all ghosts. Deals ranged INT-based bash+fire damage to all enemies. The damage is based on how many ghosts were destroyed. Has no speed modifier and 150 base accuracy at all levels.
Three ghosts for 600% (INT) damage, at the cost of 45 TP, is...questionable.


Sacrifice
Requirements: None
Body parts used: Head


Destroys one ghost. Increases the user's damage until the end of the next turn. Has no speed modifier at all levels.
Given how much Necromancer skills cost innately, 25 TP for 2.25x damage could be worse. It's kind of hard to combo it with Ghost Explosion, though, since this requires, y'know, blowing up a ghost.


Negative Energy
Requirements: Sacrifice level 3
Body parts used: Head


Deals ranged INT-based almighty damage to one enemy. For each party member and enemy that died on that turn, as well as for each ghost destroyed on that turn, the damage is increased by 150% (additive, not multiplicative). The damage has no cap. Has a -100% speed modifier at all levels. Does not check for accuracy.
What the fuck is this worthless skill? I mean, maybe you can get use out of it in normal encounters, but still, what the fuck?


The Gates of Hell
Requirements: Poison Bomb level 5, Fire Bomb level 5
Body parts used: Head


Deals ranged INT-based bash damage to one enemy. Summons a ghost with HP equal to how much damage was dealt. Has an 80% speed modifier and 150 base accuracy at all levels.
Summon a ghost while dealing damage. I can think of worse ways to invest skill points. It's also part of the standard rotation for Spirit-Destroying Necromancers, so...


Zombie Powder
Requirements: The Gates of Hell level 5
Body parts used: Head


Attempts to instantly kill one enemy. If the instant death succeeds, summons a ghost with HP equal to how much HP the enemy had left. Has a 50% speed modifier at all levels.
Ahaha, this fucking skill. Okay, obviously this thing doesn't do much in boss fights, but it's useful for random encounters at level 10, and there's a fun exploit with it. See, there's a 4th Stratum FOE that has over 10,000 HP...but it's also weak to instant death ("weak" in the context of an FOE meaning 75%). Guess what happens when you kill it with Zombie Powder?

If you guessed "a ghost with 9999 HP spawns," congratulations! (Ghost HP totals, and player HP totals in general, have been capped at 9999 since EO2U.) Now, you could waste this amazing ghost on Merciless Wall... Or, you could go the fun route, and use it with Equivalent Exchange for 9999 guaranteed damage! If you want an idea of how useful that is, the final boss has 35347 HP. Want to just chop off 28% of its HP? Use the exploit! Want to deal 85% of the final boss's total HP in three turns? Bring along three of the 9999 HP ghosts! I mean, you'll have to walk the entire way to wherever you want to go, because Floor Jump doesn't exist anymore, but eh.
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