I have submitted an in-game bug ticket and decided to post it here as well for the edification of others and possible clarifications or resolutions others might have found.

After extensive testing I have found two bugs with Necromancy. The following are my observations:

Item modifier "Provoke Undead cause target undead to deal +x% damage for 10 seconds." appears to add no additional damage. Using Rank 3 Summons with Rank 4 Provoke Undead and two items totaling 28% I calculated the net gain would be somewhere between +5 and +15 as I wasn’t certain if modifier was adding to Provoke Undead, Base Attack, or Total damage. My results for all tests were a net of 0 additional damage for all skeletal summons. I tried re-equiping, relogging as well as resummoning but none of these actions resulted in a resolution.

In addition to the item modifier bug I did find that skeletons often cease aggression after one or two attacks. I noticed this was never an issue with my zombie which allowed me to narrow the problem down to using portals. When a portal is used the skeletons will only fire once or twice and wait for the player to resume attacking. This is manageable during times where player is actively asserting aggression against a target, however it becomes rather problematic if a player is on the defensive using skills that deal no damage - such as heals and buffs. I was unable to recreate this bug by dying and respawning.

I feel as if most players on the server have all but abandoned necromancy as it is a difficult to control albeit frustrating and somewhat underpowered skill. I think a resolution of these two issues would make this incredibly fun skill once more a very attractive option for players.

Also the skeletons say such silly things. I would love to be able to dress them in silly hats one day.

Sincerely
Beezkneez
Necromancer