Originally Posted by
NemoTheAxolotl
...got healing without killing Jharod because I didn't want my learning below 20...
The much more important reason to get Healing by killing Jharod than by letting him touch you is the abysmal skill dice Necromancers are cursed with. Jharod will only give you skill value ~20 while Kranf lets you start at 60! And especially as a Necro when you're stuck at +1d3 or +1 quickly, that difference matters a lot.
Some more advice for your chosen combo that might be useful:
Prioritize First Aid and use every oportunity to practice it (in Coward mode obviously). First Aid is pretty cool since it got buffed, and it shines especially for Low-HP characters that do not benefit as much from longterm healing.
Try Candle star sign for the obvious healing benefits or Salamander which gives you a spellbook of Firebolt in addition to Frostbolt. That way you can laugh off early critical threats such as Cavemen.
Use ghuls as slaves. Use troll corpses for them for regen.
When you hear a distant wind, prepare. Vortices are a huge threat as you noticed. One efficient possibility that you might not be aware of is to sacrifice your slave (or homunculus) by commanding them to attack the vortex.
Also, just for fun, try the Heir gift for Mist elven necros once. IMO it actually makes the game harder than three useful talents but it's very unique as heir gifts go.
gremlin - karmic lizard, dark orc, acid vortex, staring eye - dragon turtle, fairy dragon, ogre lord, minotaur emperor - pit viper, orc butcher - greater mimic, dark elven wizard, carrion crawler, dwarven child - imp - ochre jelly, dark elven archer, king cobra, goodwife - kobold shaman, magebane eye, floating eye, quickling king - giant centipede, hill orc sergeant, mimic hivemind, greater claw bug, brown bear, large gnoll - giant bee queen, giant ant warrior, shadow centipede, kobold