Deathly Swarm

Description
Deathly Swarm flies out slowly and strikes for 15...67 cold damage on up to three targets.

Usage Notes

 * Despite the description, Deathly Swarm is not a projectile spell and does not require line of sight to hit a target. Similar to Chain Lightning, Deathly Swarm hits the target first and then moves on to hit up to 2 more targets.
 * Be wary of its long casting time: if the primary target dies before the spell is completed, then the spell fails, even if there are two other targets that are nearby and would have been hit.
 * The short recharge time and multiple-enemy hitting capacity make this a great skill for the Necromancer who wishes to do direct damage, but the long cast time can be a setback. Items which decrease cast time are extremely useful here, and the Mesmer/Necromancer who invests in both Death Magic and Fast Casting will find himself or herself in the possession of a very handy offensive skill.
 * Unlike many Necromancer spells, this does not do armor-ignoring Shadow damage, but rather Cold damage. However, this can be used in your favor, as enemies with a low armor rating or with a weakness to Cold will actually take more damage than the raw numbers would indicate. Be wary of using Deathly Swarm on enemies with a very high armor rating, though, as you may find yourself doing mere pinpricks' worth of damage.
 * Because Deathly Swarm hits multiple targets but only hits them individually, the enemies will not flee as they will when many other multiple-target skills are used, and therefore this skill can be used repeatedly to hit clumped enemies in a group for consistent damage, while most other skills which target one enemy but do damage to surrounding enemies as well will cause the enemies to move way from one another. However, this skill will still only hit three enemies, so if more than three enemies are clumped together, another skill may be more useful for damaging all of them.
 * Compared with Deathly Chill as a means of dealing quick damage, in the absence of effects which alter cast time or recharge time (Mantra of Recovery, Quickening Zephyr, Fast Casting, many offhand items, and so on), Deathly Swarm tends to outperform Deathly Chill. Both can be cast once every six seconds (Swarm has a 3s cast time and a 3s recharge time, whereas Chill has a 1s cast time and a 5s recharge time) and cost the same amount. At 12 Death Magic, Deathly Swarm will do 67 damage to an opponent, while Deathly Chill will do 69 damage to an opponent with over 50% HP. Assuming that the chosen spell is cast as often as possible, over a period of time for any number of iterations greater than 1, the two will end up triggering damage at the same rate; however, because Swarm does damage to multiple targets and Chill does less damage once the target's health becomes lower, Swarm is more effective overall. However, these results can change in the presence of other factors; for example, it may be beneficial to take the armor-ignoring Shadow component of Chill in the face of enemies with a high elemental armor level, or it may be detrimental to use a skill with a cast time as long as Swarm's when facing enemies who tend to interrupt spellls. Of course, there is no inherent reason not to employ both skills simultaneously, if the necromancer can afford to put both in his or her skillbar.

Acquisition
Skill Quests: Skill Trainers: Signet of Capture:
 * Necromancer Test (Lakeside County - Pre-Searing)
 * The Necromancer's Novice (The Catacombs - Pre-Searing)
 * The Stolen Artifact (Sardelac Sanitarium)
 * Sir Bertran (Ascalon City)
 * Dakk (Ember Light Camp)
 * Nhy Darkclaw (Mineral Springs)
 * ... to be added ...