IMHO "Undead rapport" needs a buff

I still feel it's a very useful spell outside of conventional PvP. I've killed and harmed many invaders with it.

Do you normally need to pair it with alluring skull/aural decoy?

No, it works perfectly fine on it's own.
Generally it's best used on enemies your opponent hasn't seen yet, but you know they will pass by very soon.

Try using the lingering dragoncrest if you're having probs.

I mean getting off the spell at point blank range without the subject beating you to a pulp; how do you pull it off? Parry/cast? sansvie seems to use alluring skulls to distract the 'subject'.

oh, dear no. Just walk up and use it. Most creatures have more then a two second pause inbetween attacks, so block or dodge, then hit the cast button.

How much more time does the Lingering Dragoncrest give you on this?

Lingering always adds 50% to the time.

Rynn wrote:Lingering always adds 50% to the time.

So with lingering the spell will last 45 seconds? still dosent seem to be that great. but it is a bit of a boost none the less.

45 seconds is 75% of the time a buff lasts. It's very useful.