Attract

Curses a monster to become the target of all nearby monsters. This curse may not be overridden by another curse.

Attract is a level 24 Necromancer curse (Curses tree, requires Confuse; it unlocks nothing). It picks one eligible monster near the cursor and makes it the target of every monster around it; the attracted monster attacks anything too. It is the longest curse the Necromancer has, 12 seconds at level 1 and 80.4 at level 20 in Normal, and the only one that nothing can overwrite, not even another Attract. Mana is a flat 17, the highest after Lower Resist.

The numbers

• Duration is Param3 300 frames plus Param4 90 frames a level, at 25 frames a second: 12 seconds at level 1, +3.6 a level, 80.4 at level 20. That is the Normal figure. The tooltip's duration line is the difficulty-dependent kind, which the site's evaluator does not compute, so it is not in the table above. The Basin's page gives the same Normal rule (8.4 + 3.6 × level) and prints the Nightmare and Hell columns at a half and a quarter: at level 20, 40.2 seconds in Nightmare and 20.08 in Hell.
• Radius is Param1 9 with Param2 0 a level: 6 yards at every level. It is the circle the target is picked from, not the range of the monsters that will attack it.

The duration reads the full skill level, so +skills count.

Hell quarters the duration: level 20 holds for 20.08 seconds there and level 1 for 3.

How it works

Attract is a cast curse: no attack roll, no damage. It puts the attract state on a single monster. The Basin's rules for the state:

• It applies to only one normal or minion monster (with a few AI exceptions) within the 6-yard radius of the cursor; you do not have to click the monster itself. Champions, Uniques, Super Uniques and bosses cannot be attracted, but they will attack the attracted monster if it is their closest target.
• Monsters do not have to be inside the radius to attack the attracted monster; the attracted monster attacks anything, normally the closest target.
• You gain Experience from monsters killed by the attracted monster and from the attracted monster itself.
• The target may keep being attacked after the curse expires, until each attacker's next AI check.
• Friendly auras and buffs from players and allies do not apply to it; hostile auras and debuffs do. A friendly Aura Enchanted Unique's aura does not apply to it, but buffs that have not expired still do, as do hostile monster auras and debuffs.
• It cannot be overwritten, even by itself, which is what the game text means by "may not be overridden by another curse". Amplify Damage cast on an attracted monster does nothing to it until Attract expires.

Synergies and +skills

No synergies: Attract has no synergy lines in skilldesc.txt and feeds none. The duration reads lvl, so a +1 from items is worth one hard point: +3.6 seconds in Normal, +0.9 in Hell. The radius does not change.

Against players

Attract is a monster-AI effect and does nothing to a player. See Player versus Player.

Build notes

• The duration grows 3.6 seconds a level in Normal and 0.9 in Hell, the fastest of the AI curses: level 20 is 20.08 Hell seconds against Confuse's 12.
• Because it cannot be overwritten, an attracted monster is also one you cannot Amplify or Decrepify until the curse runs out; pick a monster you do not need to kill quickly.
• One target per cast at 17 mana: it is a tool for turning a pack on one of its own, not for cursing the pack.