The problem with a Necromancer is that the need for Disease and Poison resist I have 80 Disease and 100 Poison resist, and that is not enough when dueling. Its so much easier to get some Fire / Cold resist gear, without having to take away main gear :/ But Necromancer is not unbeatabel.... Bards own them in and out.
Disease and poison resists don\'t even matter when it comes to a necro in a duel. Lifetap spells are based on magic, and even if someone had 255 MR the lifetap will still do its job, it\'s not like other spells which sometimes give partial dmg, lifetap is 100%.
And I believe a necro which knows what he is doing will beat a bard in the same scenario.

Ah, I\'m not much of a dueler anyway, seeing how I don\'t even play the game anymore to begin with.
edit: I misunderstood your first statement, but as far as my playing characteristics, I wouldn\'t even use a disease/poison dot,. there\'s really no need, when the lifetap dots and lifetap dd is all that\'s needed really. The time spent on casting a disease/poison dot, I prefer to be using some sort of lifetap. But hey, that\'s just me.