Necropolis Cursed Skull - What it is and How it works

[Serancha]

I managed to get enough bones together to do some testing on the mysterious cursed skull. It was originally debated if this was a gem-like item or not, and it turns out it is.

Here are the stats given by the grand version of the skulls:

106889


Perfect skull blades compared to perfect dex blades:

106890



Overview:

This gem provides a very nice mana boost, in the same numbers the Elondrian Life Gem offers for health. This is the main bonus of this item. The life drain is a bit of a gimmick, but it could be effective. Further testing would be needed in various situations to confirm some of the info here, but I am making sure to be clear what is known and what is suspected.

Facts:


The amount of hp return (life steal) is directly related to the health stat of the character
Hp happiness bonus from pets does count
Mob level does not affect amount of hp returned
Damage done by pets does not return any hp
Does work with skill use
Damage over time ticks can trigger the heal (although timeshift was unimpressive)
The heal return from isolated mobs in a controlled situation was the same with one, two, or three skulls.



Note: It does not appear to actually be draining the enemy's life. It just provides a small heal. There was no corresponding damage amount on any mob in the screenshots I captured of the process.



General Observations:

Facts (Thank you Carapace): The proc rate of normal skull is 1%, the proc rate of a Grand Skull is 2.5%. The amount healed is consistently 2% of max health.

Note: the observations in the box have since been confirmed as just coincidence.
I'm leaving the observations in since they were part of the original post, and the process is most of the fun.


Running with higher hp seems to have a slightly higher frequency of heals as well as the higher hp amount. This could be just coincidence

I noticed some oddities/extra healing when I had 3 skulls on and was in a group in the tombs, but there were too many variables to be sure. When I isolated in brack elite, there was nothing extra or odd.

Stacking Observations:

Stacking 2 skulls in one item had no effect I could see, other than the obvious mana stat bonus

3 Skulls across 2 items has an apparent increased frequency of heal, but this is just observation, not calculated.

Theory:
It's possible the heal frequency is slightly more with each skull worn, but was more noticeable when I added the second item / third skull. (if it is more frequent with each skull, then this makes sense) The randomness of the "proc" makes it hard to judge.



Calculated returns:

The following are the hp returns for each class based on various hp stats. I just tossed a skull in a generic ring for the multi class tests, but it gives an overview of how this scales.

Columns are displayed:
Health Stat / Skull hp returned per proc

Mage
I found a staff had more frequent returns than gun due to more hits and better aoe
Great with aoe skill use. More frequent than other classes, although clock didn't do much for me, fireball was awesome.

2746 hp / 55
3041 hp / 61
3136 hp / 63
3607 hp / 72
3967 hp / 79


Rogue
I tested this with magmatic blades. It's not like the elondrian bow heal, so don't expect that. The bonus mana is what rogues will appreciate most on this item.

3381 hp / 68
3840 hp / 77
3915 hp / 78
4200 hp / 84
4499 hp / 90


Warrior
Heal seemed more frequent than rogue and clearly the best hp return of the classes.

5796 hp / 116 / 125 (last column is with magmatic claymore proc)
6338 hp / 127 / 139
6588 hp / 132 / 144
6638 hp / 133 / 145


Summary:

This is a decent gem for all classes, for different reasons on each. I am not convinced there is much benefit to multiple skulls, and the heal won't save your life in any case. However, I haven't seen it in a true field test, as these were just isolated encounters to get the base numbers. There are still a lot of unknown variables (yes, twinks, I didn't forget you're there) that will only come clear as more people get out and using these.

[Haligali]

so its a rogue gem basically

[Serancha]

I thought so too at first, but I got a lot more return on mage than on rogue, to be honest. The fireball hits were giving me 2-3 heals a lot of the time. Rogues are mostly single target, so less chances to get that proc.

[Haligali]

It will be good, if life shard give hp return. Which mage need a gem with mana?

How is it working with curse?

[Serancha]

I haven't got that far yet. I ran lb all day, and then gathered my bones to get to this point. Even a Serancha needs to sleep eventually ;)

More data would be great if anyone has the inclination to gather some. Grands seem quite common on these, which is nice.

[Anarchist]

Not impressed by the gems. Better raw stats than a proc that might or might not come.

[Serancha]

It would be really cool if the heals stacked. It would make it a real "heal vs stats" decision. Right now it's just kind of m'eh like the life shard. Nothing great like tarloks.

I honestly don't see the point in giving us something to farm multiples of when they are not even stackable. It made sense for the plat tier thing, but for this? Why bother making something like this that most players won't have a use for, and can't use more than one of?

[Haligali]

Wait, so it doesnt matter how many cursed skull, you got the exact same hp return with 10 and with 1?

[epicrrr]

does the "life steal" increases as you add more cursed skull? or 1 is enough to have the "life-steal" effects on each of you attacks?

[radagan]

Nice thread

[Serancha]

The amount of life steal does not increase as you add skulls. The hp returned was exactly the same with 1 skull or 3. The only thing that affected the amount was the health of the character, (including equipped gear and happiness from pet).

The frequency appears to be better (but not extremely) with aoe skills, additional hp and / or with more skulls, however this is only from observation in an hour or two of testing. It is not calculated so could just be coincidence.

The only way to know for sure would be to get an item of every type (weapon, armor, helm, ring, ammy) and start adding skulls and recording frequency.

You do not get hp returned every hit. It procs about as frequently as a weapon does.

[Hilyana]

Are they tradeable? I haven't seen one in cs, yet.

[Zeus]

Essentially, unlike the Elo shards, they're nothing a Tarlok wins gem cannot give. However, it does allow to be a Tarlok wind gem replacement in some cases.

[Serancha]

Are they tradeable? I haven't seen one in cs, yet.

Yes, they are tradeable.

[Dex Scene]

Essentially, unlike the Elo shards, they're nothing a Tarlok wins gem cannot give. However, it does allow to be a Tarlok wind gem replacement in some cases.
What did u mean zeus? Iam about to upgrade my ring with it. Did you mean they are almost as useful as a tarlok wind gem?

[Zeus]

What did u mean zeus? Iam about to upgrade my ring with it. Did you mean they are almost as useful as a tarlok wind gem?

I mean that if you are L41, 6 super fire gems + 1 super necropolis cursed skull is equivalent to ~3 super tarlok wind gems in terms of mana reward. It takes more gems but it will get you a similar result to that of when you use tarlok wind gems.

[Dex Scene]

I mean that if you are L41, 6 super fire gems + 1 super necropolis cursed skull is equivalent to ~3 super tarlok wind gems. It takes more gems but it will get you a similar result to that of when you use tarlok wind gems.
Hmm ty sir!

[Zeus]

Hmm ty sir!

I clarified my post just a little bit; I hope it helps!

[zerofort]

So in general for a rouge do you think having one is good or even more? Or stick with fire?

[Dex Scene]

I clarified my post just a little bit; I hope it helps!
Ty it does help!! I think I will still upgrade the curse gem just because its new and the curse effect :)

[Zeus]

So in general for a rouge do you think having one is good or even more? Or stick with fire?

One should be plenty - two max.

[Haligali]

I mean that if you are L41, 6 super fire gems + 1 super necropolis cursed skull is equivalent to ~3 super tarlok wind gems in terms of mana reward. It takes more gems but it will get you a similar result to that of when you use tarlok wind gems.

Wind gems much better.

[Zeus]

Wind gems much better.

They are but this is the closest you can get to reproducing wind gem effect.

[zerofort]

OK cool thanks zeus

[zerofort]

Sorry one more thing perhaps its to early but would like to know if it has grand gem form also does the plat tier gem have grand gem?

[Excuses]

Thank you for this awesome thread.

I wanna ask a couple of questions.
You are talking about 'frequency', how often does its proc happen and how long does it last?

And is there a difference of heal amount between normal skull and super skull?

[Serancha]

Sorry one more thing perhaps its to early but would like to know if it has grand gem form also does the plat tier gem have grand gem?

At the beginning of the initial post there is a picture with the answer. Yes, it comes in grand gem form.

[Serancha]

Thank you for this awesome thread.

I wanna ask a couple of questions.
You are talking about 'frequency', how often does its proc happen and how long does it last?

And is there a difference of heal amount between normal skull and super skull?

Each proc is a single heal. I don't know if there is a difference in heal between a normal and a super, since I was having a very lucky day yesterday. Given that there is no difference in single vs multiple gems, I think the heal numbers are static based on hp, so would not be different.

Each 'proc" is a single heal. Sometimes I'd get 2 or 3 in a row, other times I'd kill a couple of mobs with nothing. It is as random as any proc, although as I posted, I believe certain factors may increase how often it happens.

(as seen below, with Malison I got a better heal, since he provides far more health than Abaddon does)

106926

106927

[Jexetta]

It seems from your numbers it's a static 2% of total health.

That being said, I wonder how buffs affect the total amount of HP gained. For a warrior running around with 8k hp static, but buffed with Juggernaught and Vengeful blood - would the 2% of total health be applied to the buffed HP? A warrior buffed to 9k hp would receive 180 hp which isn't too bad.

From a twink perspective - having 1500 hp as say a level 15 rogue - that would only equate to 30hp.

Another unanswered is if the HP gain numbers are consistent in PvP. We all know PvE to PvP isn't always the same.

And of course - Awesome write up Serancha!

[Serancha]

Well, considering the Claymore proc added a significant amount of gain, I can only assume that skill buffs would too. Elixirs don't because they don't add hp (I initially thought this was dmg related, since I was thinking like a rogue ;))

Thanks for calculating the %. I figured it was something like that but wanted to leave some fun for others.

As I said, it's decent for each class for different reasons, and you just nailed the Warrrior's main reason. Also for fatties, a lot spec 5 int to keep their mana reasonable. With this gem they could use those points in other passives, or vary their skill selections a bit more.

[Haligali]

Well, considering the Claymore proc added a significant amount of gain, I can only assume that skill buffs would too. Elixirs don't because they don't add hp (I initially thought this was dmg related, since I was thinking like a rogue ;))

Thanks for calculating the %. I figured it was something like that but wanted to leave some fun for others.

As I said, it's decent for each class for different reasons, and you just nailed the Warrrior's main reason. Also for fatties, a lot spec 5 int to keep their mana reasonable. With this gem they could use those points in other passives, or vary their skill selections a bit more.

I think warriors spec for passive int because there is nothing else. Might and durable max. Damage useless. Dex and crit isnt really useful for them. So int left.

[Carapace]

to clarify, the primary difference between a normal skull and a grand skull is the frequency of the procs. Multiple skulls will not stack in this regard. The proc rate of normal skull is 1%, the proc rate of a Grand Skull is 2.5%. The amount healed is consistently 2% of max health. I can dispel the rumor that multiple skulls provide any bonuses beyond the raw mana bonus. Any variance you saw is exactly that, a roll of the die so to speak.

If you have multiple skulls, as long as their is a grand you will always have 2.5% proc rate.

Nice write up!

[Serancha]

Awesome, thanks Carapace. I was pretty sure it was just coincidence I was seeing, so glad to have some hard facts!

[Opry]

are cursed skull worth to craft? :/

[Excuses]

to clarify, the primary difference between a normal skull and a grand skull is the frequency of the procs. Multiple skulls will not stack in this regard. The proc rate of normal skull is 1%, the proc rate of a Grand Skull is 2.5%. The amount healed is consistently 2% of max health. I can dispel the rumor that multiple skulls provide any bonuses beyond the raw mana bonus. Any variance you saw is exactly that, a roll of the die so to speak.

If you have multiple skulls, as long as their is a grand you will always have 2.5% proc rate.

Nice write up!

Theorically I thought it would be worth to get one, but after I tested it, it turns out as frustrating.

2.5 % is extremely too low I think. I have stood in the middle of mobs for 30 mins and saw 3 procs came out. I wonder how Serancha even tested. @_@

Hope you guys raise the rate to make it worth. Or like Serancha felt, there would be a trigger to get more proc.
I literally standing in the middle of mobs on different maps and pvp, saw 3 procs out so far.

And the description says 'drain life'.
Does this mean the heal it gives or it damage others hp too? I'm not sure what you guys wanted to mean.

[Serancha]

It procs 2.5% of the time, so a little better than once every 50 hits. Not impressive considering it doesn't stack or heal enough to help anyone. Attacks that hit multiple mobs as well as higher dps weapons see a better result, since the more mobs you hit and the faster you hit them, the more chances you get to proc.

As I said in the original post, the heal is really just a gimmick. The only real benefit to the gem is in the mana boost. If you're expecting a heal like on the elondrian bow, you're out of luck. I also did not see any "life drain" from the mobs when it procced. It's just a small heal.

[Excuses]

It procs 2.5% of the time, so a little better than once every 50 hits. Not impressive considering it doesn't stack or heal enough to help anyone. Attacks that hit multiple mobs as well as higher dps weapons see a better result, since the more mobs you hit and the faster you hit them, the more chances you get to proc.

As I said in the original post, the heal is really just a gimmick. The only real benefit to the gem is in the mana boost. If you're expecting a heal like on the elondrian bow, you're out of luck. I also did not see any "life drain" from the mobs when it procced. It's just a small heal.

Haha I was actually asking to dev, but thank you for the answer.
And I misunderstood that it works like 'curse' for its name, which I thought I have to get hit to trigger the proc. But actually it procs more when I hit. But still low chance.

Hope it has 5% chance to heal since it doesn't stack.

[Serancha]

Oops sorry mstj. Hopefully Carapace has the real answer and maybe a tweak or two ;)

[Kreasadriii]

It must be just like elondrian gem that provide help, in here the case to provide mana.
Draining enemies life, it prevent us to buy hp potion if it really drain enemies life a lot I think..

Nice analysist Serancha! ;)
Hope STS clarified and do something on the cursed skull.

[Excuses]

Oops sorry mstj. Hopefully Carapace has the real answer and maybe a tweak or two ;)

No. Thank you so much.
You are so nice, not many people answers me. Lol T_T
And thanks again for the great thread. :)

[Kakashis]

Dang I just crafted 3 of these to test out. 1% here I come :(

[kinzmet]

Since the chances dont stack, why not go for 5%? The 2.5% on grand is really low.

[Carapace]

The main reason it is only 2.5% is much like Serancha mentioned earlier in the thread. If you are a Mage for example and use Fireball as a primary skill, that 1 attack did damage to 4, 7, 12, maybe more enemies all of which have a chance to proc the heal. It's a nice perk, but not the main purpose of the gem.

[Ghostyfiend]

Not good gem for war:upset:

[Madxnoob]

I got a bow with full grand life stealer gems and nothing!!!! :'(( I tried everything to make proc.

[.no]

Not the best thing I've ever crafted, but a grand cursed skull at least looks cool on my maul. lol

[Energizeric]

sounds like this is the kind of gem worth having 1 grand on a single item for a mage. Just dropping a clock on a group of mobs will probably cause a few procs.

[Arpluvial]

This is a fantastic post! Thanks!

[Excuses]

The main reason it is only 2.5% is much like Serancha mentioned earlier in the thread. If you are a Mage for example and use Fireball as a primary skill, that 1 attack did damage to 4, 7, 12, maybe more enemies all of which have a chance to proc the heal. It's a nice perk, but not the main purpose of the gem.

IMO Mage should have some advantages with this. They are still weak with defense anyways. ;)

Hope you guys consider little buff on this so we can enjoy more build options and have more fun with farming, but still nice work.
Thank you guys.

[Madxnoob]

(Please) Take a look at lvl 10 and see if this thing is procing, i cant even make it proc 1hp -_-

[Serancha]

sounds like this is the kind of gem worth having 1 grand on a single item for a mage. Just dropping a clock on a group of mobs will probably cause a few procs.

I didn't get to test extensively, but I found fireball giving me better returns than clock. However, like many things, this could have been just luck of the draw. Since you don't get additional returns from more gems, I think one is good for mage. For rogue, the mana is a very nice benefit.


Not good gem for war:upset:

Warriors have good aoe skills and get the best hp return of the classes. Their claymore / glaive procs along with venge and jugg make this quite a beneficial item on warrior also. I'm getting one for my fatty.



(Please) Take a look at lvl 10 and see if this thing is procing, i cant even make it proc 1hp -_-

At level 10 you have such low hp that 2% isn't going to be any benefit anyways, but the mana boost should make up for it.

[Dermuti]

Guys, if the chance for a grand gem is the same as for the normal ones, it´s really useful to talk about the advantages of this gem? If you only craft a normal gem it´s totally unuseful. And if you speculate for grand gems how much you have to craft? 30? 40? IMO this way is more then discutable. You can´t sell it, so you have no advantage if you only have five or six of this skulls.

[extrapayah]

The main reason it is only 2.5% is much like Serancha mentioned earlier in the thread. If you are a Mage for example and use Fireball as a primary skill, that 1 attack did damage to 4, 7, 12, maybe more enemies all of which have a chance to proc the heal. It's a nice perk, but not the main purpose of the gem.

i though fireball can only hit max 6 units, i tried it several times on free respec weekend, strange..............

[Serancha]

Guys, if the chance for a grand gem is the same as for the normal ones, it´s really useful to talk about the advantages of this gem? If you only craft a normal gem it´s totally unuseful. And if you speculate for grand gems how much you have to craft? 30? 40? IMO this way is more then discutable. You can´t sell it, so you have no advantage if you only have five or six of this skulls.

Information is power. You can never have too much.

[Madxnoob]

At Lvl. 10 I should get atleast a 20 hp heal proc >_> 40+ sounds better v.v

[Kakashis]

Seems like a pointless gem, but ill test it out

[.no]

Guys, if the chance for a grand gem is the same as for the normal ones, it´s really useful to talk about the advantages of this gem? If you only craft a normal gem it´s totally unuseful. And if you speculate for grand gems how much you have to craft? 30? 40? IMO this way is more then discutable. You can´t sell it, so you have no advantage if you only have five or six of this skulls.

I got a grand one on first try, so this thread was very helpful

[Instanthumor]

Seems like a pointless gem, but ill test it out

PvP-wise, I think it is for mages.

[Energizeric]

The main reason it is only 2.5% is much like Serancha mentioned earlier in the thread. If you are a Mage for example and use Fireball as a primary skill, that 1 attack did damage to 4, 7, 12, maybe more enemies all of which have a chance to proc the heal. It's a nice perk, but not the main purpose of the gem.

Does each tick of DoT damage have a chance to proc, or only the initial attack?

[Dermuti]

What the f..... Why its not possible to stash this recipe like the nekro crates recipe? I bought it with my barb but all bones are at the sorc. I´m really pissed about this sorry. One item is stashable, the other not, one recipe is stashable the other not. That does not make sense.

[Qnoy]

So drain hp is not really "drain" is it..it would be awesome if it could drain enemy hp like the para poll boss, but in less % ofcourse

Sent from my XT1022 using Tapatalk

[Jaffakex]

So if i understood correctly. HP drain effect doesnt "stack". If u have gems spread across the gear (1 in a weapon, 1 in a helm, ring, pendant, armor) it doesnt count as 5% proc for normal gem. Its always 1%?

[Serancha]

Correct. Or 2.5% for super versions.

[Heartt]

I managed to get enough bones together to do some testing on the mysterious cursed skull. It was originally debated if this was a gem-like item or not, and it turns out it is.

Here are the stats given by the grand version of the skulls:

106889


Perfect skull blades compared to perfect dex blades:

106890



Overview:

This gem provides a very nice mana boost, in the same numbers the Elondrian Life Gem offers for health. This is the main bonus of this item. The life drain is a bit of a gimmick, but it could be effective. Further testing would be needed in various situations to confirm some of the info here, but I am making sure to be clear what is known and what is suspected.

Facts:


The amount of hp return (life steal) is directly related to the health stat of the character
Hp happiness bonus from pets does count
Mob level does not affect amount of hp returned
Damage done by pets does not return any hp
Does work with skill use
Damage over time ticks can trigger the heal (although timeshift was unimpressive)
The heal return from isolated mobs in a controlled situation was the same with one, two, or three skulls.



Note: It does not appear to actually be draining the enemy's life. It just provides a small heal. There was no corresponding damage amount on any mob in the screenshots I captured of the process.



General Observations:

Facts (Thank you Carapace): The proc rate of normal skull is 1%, the proc rate of a Grand Skull is 2.5%. The amount healed is consistently 2% of max health.

Note: the observations in the box have since been confirmed as just coincidence.
I'm leaving the observations in since they were part of the original post, and the process is most of the fun.




Calculated returns:

The following are the hp returns for each class based on various hp stats. I just tossed a skull in a generic ring for the multi class tests, but it gives an overview of how this scales.

Columns are displayed:
Health Stat / Skull hp returned per proc

Mage
I found a staff had more frequent returns than gun due to more hits and better aoe
Great with aoe skill use. More frequent than other classes, although clock didn't do much for me, fireball was awesome.

2746 hp / 55
3041 hp / 61
3136 hp / 63
3607 hp / 72
3967 hp / 79


Rogue
I tested this with magmatic blades. It's not like the elondrian bow heal, so don't expect that. The bonus mana is what rogues will appreciate most on this item.

3381 hp / 68
3840 hp / 77
3915 hp / 78
4200 hp / 84
4499 hp / 90


Warrior
Heal seemed more frequent than rogue and clearly the best hp return of the classes.

5796 hp / 116 / 125 (last column is with magmatic claymore proc)
6338 hp / 127 / 139
6588 hp / 132 / 144
6638 hp / 133 / 145


Summary:

This is a decent gem for all classes, for different reasons on each. I am not convinced there is much benefit to multiple skulls, and the heal won't save your life in any case. However, I haven't seen it in a true field test, as these were just isolated encounters to get the base numbers. There are still a lot of unknown variables (yes, twinks, I didn't forget you're there) that will only come clear as more people get out and using these.

i was just wondering, does the skull still take effect if the skull was placed in an armor rather than in a weapon? :) since i placed the skull in my armor.

[Serancha]

It works in any equipped piece of gear.

[Heartt]

It works in any equipped piece of gear.

okay thanks a lot :)

[Kreasadriii]

Anyone using cursed gem for PvP?
Is it good?