Tips for Mummy Necromancer Play?

[Garrus01]

After I got sick of getting murderated by Orc Priests and Wizards as a Hill Orc Fighter and turned into sushi and cracker dip as an Octopode Transmuter, I've been trying a Mummy Necromancer set, which I am finding much more fun. Inevitably though, I end up outclassed by around floor 4 or 5 or so, even when I carry down corpses to the next level to build my army. Anyone got any hints or suggestions to what I should do?

[Sar]

All the spells in your book are good, you should use them. By floor 4-5 you should have Vampiric Draining ready.
I would probably go with Kiku if I had a choice (and take pain as a gift), though early altar can change my strategy.
Mummies are the worst race in the game, by the way!

[tabstorm]

Get vamp drain usable, take kiku, animate every corpse you find. Once vdrain is usable you should turn on melee skills.

[some12fat2move]

Following the best advice ever will help a lot.

[Patashu]

Note that Mummies can't use some of the best Necromancy spells.

[Garrus01]

True, but it's the only school that they have good growth in, and get a natural bonus to at higher levels. I've been trying to take advantage of that, but unfortunately I've been having trouble just getting to those levels; highest one of my mummies has gotten was level 9-10. Granted, I've also been avoiding melee like the plague, since I figured that as a non-transmuter getting close would be a horrible idea. Also, generally I've been seeking out Sif Muna in order to take advantage of her channeling. So you think I should switch to Kiku?

That best advice ever is also very interesting. I had already figured out the very hard and pointy way to never move towards an enemy though. I suppose you could say I had a sharp lesson in that, followed by a few blunt ones.

[Patashu]

Granted, I've also been avoiding melee like the plague, since I figured that as a non-transmuter getting close would be a horrible idea.

If you have summons, it's encouraged to melee for two reasons:
1) You can retreat into your summons and they will cover for you/keep the enemy distracted.
2) By fighting alongside your summons, they will be distracted between the two of you and your summons will be able to deal damage for longer (won't die as fast).

Basically, for the same reason you fear packs fighting you at once, you should fight enemies all at once - you + your summons.

Even if your weapon skills aren't so hot, try every shiny weapon you can find (if you have remove curse handy) and look for non-multiplicative brands like elec, venom and pain. Elec in particular is insanely good and turns any average shmuck into a god of war instantly.

[Garrus01]

In that case, should I bother getting the lethal infusion spell as a stopgap until I can get a good branded weapon? I avoid it and drain items because of the experience loss you get when killing a monster which is under the effects of Drain.

[archaeo]

It's not really worth factoring the XP loss into your decision, as it's so minor as to be negligible over the long haul of the game.