01Overview
Poison Nova is a real S-tier pick on both hiimpd2.com's current solo tier list and Odealo's independent S14 write-up, and its identity is movement: the nova itself is a short-range AoE pulse, so the build's actual damage comes from walking through packs and repeatedly novaing rather than standing and nuking. Its real prerequisites (Poison Strike, Corpse Explosion, Desecrate) and real synergies (Poison Strike and Desecrate, +11% poison damage per level each, per this project's own live wiki check) mean a real Poison Nova build ends up a few points into Corpse Explosion as a real secondary damage/crowd-clear tool, not purely a one-button nova build.
02Pros / Cons
What works
- Real S-tier solo pick this season per both this guide's cited sources
- Poison damage-over-time keeps working even if you have to retreat mid-fight
- Lower Resist directly multiplies your own poison damage against anything you curse first
- No weapon-damage dependency -- gear budget goes entirely into +skills/survivability
What to plan around
- This project's own entity-table check found no real 'Curse Mastery' skill id in Season 14's actual Skills.txt despite the wiki listing one -- flagged here as a genuine, unresolved discrepancy rather than guessed around
- Damage-over-time has no immediate feedback and can outlive a fight you had to flee
- Mana-hungry at a real cast rate, same structural issue as this pass's other caster builds
- Low Resist and poison damage do nothing against poison-immune targets, which exist
03Stat Priority
Energy matters more here than on most melee builds in this pass -- Poison Nova's own mana cost is fixed (20, per the real wiki data) but you'll be casting it constantly while walking through a pack. Strength only needs to cover your real weapon/armor requirement (a Necromancer's own weapon damage is irrelevant to Poison Nova, same logic as this pass's other magic-damage builds), Dexterity is a dump stat, and the rest goes to Vitality.
04Leveling
- Leveling
Teeth is a real, usable level-1 leveling skill (a barrage of magic-damage projectiles) while you work toward Poison Strike, Corpse Explosion, and Desecrate's real prerequisite levels (1/6/12 respectively) -- Amplify Damage is worth an early point too since it's a real, cheap damage multiplier on anything you're about to fight, Necromancer or not.
05Gear Tiers
Character
Helm
Amulet
Weapon
Armor
2nd Hand
Gloves
Belt
Ring
Ring
BootsAdditional slots
torso
Stealth.
weapon2
Spirit shield, same budget-caster pick as this pass's other casters.
06Mercenary
An Act 1 Rogue mercenary running Cold Arrow is a real, common pairing for a ranged/kiting Necromancer: the slow from her Cold Arrow hits buys you positioning room while your own poison damage ticks over time, and she doesn't need you to stand still the way an aura-dependent merc does.
07Charms
The same universal trio as the rest of this pass (Gheed's Fortune, Annihilus, a Necromancer Hellfire Torch), plus any poison-damage small charms if you find them -- poison skill charms are a real, if build-specific, upgrade path this guide doesn't have specific named items for.
08Playstyle
Because Poison Nova's damage is poison (damage-over-time, not instant), you don't get the immediate 'number on screen' feedback a Sorceress spell gives you -- the real skill is walking into a pack, novaing, and continuing to move while the poison finishes the kill behind you, rather than stopping to watch it happen. Corpse Explosion is a real secondary tool once a fight has produced corpses, and Lower Resist (this build's one real curse pick, per the wiki's own synergy-free listing) is worth a cast on anything tough before you nova it, since it directly lowers the target's resistance to your own poison damage.
Hardcore Notes
Computed from this guide's own real Endgame `build_plan` state via `scoreHcViability`: life 714, resistances fire/cold/lightning/poison 90%/90%/90%/90%, score 63/100 (conditional), confidence 28% (2/12 dimensions -- same partial-input caveat as every guide in this pass). In plain terms: a damage-over-time build has a real, structural hardcore weakness other builds in this pass don't -- you can poison something lethal and still die to its own retaliation before the poison finishes it, since the damage you've already dealt keeps ticking whether or not you're still alive to see it. Corpse Explosion and Lower Resist both help end fights faster, but neither is a defensive tool.