Best Necromancer builds in Diablo 4 season 4 (2024)

Necromancers are the summoners of Diablo 4, but that’s not their entire identity. Like much of Diablo 4, Necromancers are far more complex than you’d initially imagine. So when you can summon minions to do your bidding or sacrifice them for major stat bonuses, how do you know what to do? That’s where we come in, with our suggestions of the best Necromancer builds for Diablo 4 season 4.

Necromancers are able to summon Skeletons and Golems. But they’re also able to cast Sorcerer-like spells dealing in the creepier sides of magic. They can sling bones and drain blood from foes. They can even project poison blight on the ground. And, yes, they can sacrifice minions for incredible bonuses with the Book of the Dead.

In this Diablo 4 guide, we’ve gathered and simplified the best Diablo 4 Necromancer builds for season 4. If you need even more information on item affixes or other more complex ideas, we’ve been sure to link out to the more detailed versions of these builds, as well as where to find their original creators.

Best Necromancer leveling build in Diablo 4 season 4

Best Necromancer builds in Diablo 4 season 4 (1) Image: Blizzard Entertainment

This build is based off GhazzyTV’s Necromancer leveling guide at IcyVeins, and is purely for leveling: i.e., allocating your 58 skill points between levels 1 and 50. If you want more detailed information about the item affixes you want to look for on your gear, or which other Legendary powers are great for your build, check out the original IcyVeins guide.

Best skills for leveling

Necromancer leveling guides use the absolute powerhouse of a skill: Bone Spear. Bone Spear is both extremely versatile and deals massive damage, hence why we rank it up so quickly. In this build, you’ll also use Bone Splinters, Corpse Explosion, Blood Mist, and Decrepify — as well as both Golem and Skeleton skills.

Here are the best skills for a Necromancer leveling build, organized by the exact order you should purchase them in — bearing in mind that some skills require you to allocate a number of skill points in the tree in order to unlock them. As such, you’ll need to unlock new skills before enhancing existing ones.

Note: GhazzyTV’s guide recommends starting with Blood Surge and transitioning to Bone Spear after level 15.

  1. Bone Splinters / Enhanced Bone Splinters
  2. Blood Surge (rank 1-5) — Replace with Bone Spear (rank 1-5) after level 15
  3. Corpse Explosion / Enhanced Corpse Explosion
  4. Hewed Flesh (rank 1-3)
  5. Grim Harvest (rank 1-3)
  6. Enhanced Bone Spear / Supernatural Bone Spear
  7. Corpse Explosion (rank 2-5)
  8. Skeletal Warrior Mastery (rank 1-3)
  9. Plagued Corpse Explosion
  10. Serration (rank 1-3)
  11. Compound Fracture
  12. Evulsion (rank 1-3)
  13. Unliving Energy
  14. Ossified Essence
  15. Unliving Energy (rank 2-3)
  16. Fueled by Death (rank 1-3)
  17. Blood Mist
  18. Compound Fracture (rank 2-3)
  19. Imperfectly Balanced (rank 1-3)
  20. Decrepify / Enhanced Decrepify
  21. Necrotic Carapace (rank 1-3)
  22. Death’s Reach (rank 1-3)
  23. Amplify Damage (rank 1-3)
  24. Decrepify (rank 2-3)

Best Book of the Dead setup for leveling

While sacrificing your minions is the common play for endgame builds, most builds actually use minions while leveling, and this build is not different. Here are the minions you should use for this build:

  • Melee Skeletons – Reapers
  • Mage Skeletons – Cold
  • Golem – Bone (change to Iron as you get closer to 50)

Best Legendary Aspect for Necromancer leveling build

GhazzyTV’s build only recommends a single Legendary Aspect while leveling.

When you first start your new character, complete one dungeon first in order to collect its Aspect. Then place it on a piece of gear (ideally jewelry, when possible). Just keep in mind that you should replace this Legendary with a new version using the imprint system every few levels.

  • Splintering Aspect (Guulrahn Slums dungeon in Dry Steppes) — Bone Spear’s primary attack makes enemies hit beyond the first Vulnerable for 1.5 seconds. Bone Shards from Bone Spear deal 50% bonus damage to vulnerable enemies and pierce them.

Best Necromancer endgame build for season 4 — Minions

This build is based off of Chronikz’s Necromancer endgame guide at MaxRoll.gg, and is a general endgame guide capable of finding success in all activities. This guide assumes that you’re over level 50, have access to all 58 skill points, and are making progress on your Paragon Boards. If you want more detailed information about the item affixes you want to look for on your gear, or why these Legendary powers are great for your build, check out the original MaxRoll guide.

Best skill points for Necromancer Minion build for endgame

This build utilizes Raise Skeleton as its core skill and main means of dealing damage. It also utilizes Golem, Decrepify, Bone Prison, Corpse Tendrils, and Army of the Dead.

Since you need all 58 points for this build, the order you select these skills in doesn’t matter as long as you have the pre-requisite points in the earlier skill tree tiers. Here is how you should spend your skill points for this build:

  • Reap / Enhanced Reap
  • Blight / Enhanced Blight / Supernatural Blight
  • Hewed Flesh (rank 1-3)
  • Bone Prison / Enhanced Bone Prison / Dreadful Bone Prison
  • Skeletal Warrior Mastery (rank 1-3)
  • Grim Harvest
  • Fueled by Death (rank 1-3)
  • Decrepify (rank 1-5) / Enhanced Decrepify / Abhorrent Decrepify
  • Death’s Embrace (rank 1-3)
  • Amplify Damage (rank 1-3)
  • Death’s Approach (rank 1-3)
  • Skeletal Mage Mastery (rank 1-3)
  • Corpse Tendrils / Enhanced Corpse Tendrils / Blighted Corpse Tendrils
  • Reaper’s Pursuit (rank 1-3)
  • Necrotic Carapace (rank 1-2)
  • Army of the Dead / Prime Army of the Dead / Supreme Army of the Dead
  • Golem Mastery (rank 1-3)
  • Inspiring Leader (rank 1-3)
  • Hellbent Commander (rank 1-3)
  • Kalan’s Edict

Book of the Dead setup for Necromancer Minion build

For this build, do not sacrifice your minions. Here are the specializations you want to pick for all three minions in your Book of the Dead:

  • Defenders
  • Cold
  • Iron

Legendary Powers and Uniques for Necromancer Minion build

To make this build work, you’re going to need powerful Legendary Powers and Unique items to augment your build.

Chronikz recommends these Aspects:

  • Helm: Juggernaut’s Aspect
  • Chest: Aspect of Occult Dominion
  • Gloves: Aspect of Plunging Darkness (dungeon drop)
  • Pants: Blood Getter’s Aspect
  • Boots: Aspect of Slaughter
  • Two-handed scythe: Aspect of Reanimation (dungeon drop)
  • Amulet: Aspect of Hardened Bones
  • Ring 1: Fastblood Aspect (dungeon drop)
  • Ring 2: Unyielding Commander’s Aspect (dungeon drop)

If you want to get into the nitty gritty of stat priorities, refer to Chronikz’s original guide.

Paragon Boards for Necromancer Minion build

The Paragon Board system is very complex, and you’ll want to carefully pair your Glyphs with specific boards for your class:

  1. Starter Board / Amplify Glyph
  2. Cult Leader / Deadraiser Glyph
  3. Hulking Monstrosity / Golem Glyph
  4. Bone Graft / Essence Glyph
  5. Flesh-eater / Corporeal Glyph
  6. Scent of Death / Exploit Glyph
  7. Wither / Territorial Glyph

You should level your Glyphs to 15 in this specific order:

  1. Golem
  2. Corporeal
  3. Exploit
  4. Territorial
  5. Essence
  6. Deadraiser
  7. Amplify

You can path your own way through the Paragon Boards following these basic guidelines. However, for the best results, follow Chronikz’s path exactly.

How to make a great Necromancer build

Best Necromancer builds in Diablo 4 season 4 (2) Image: Blizzard/Activision via Polygon

Necromancer’s are Diablo 4’s main summoning class — although Druids, ironically, had better summons during the game’s launch window. But aside from their army of minions, Necromancers also act as a darker caster, sharing a lot of playstyle DNA with the Sorcerer.

Like all classes, most Necromancer builds boil down to a few Key Passives:

  • Bone
  • Blood/Health
  • Shadow
  • Minion

Bone skills — like Bone Spear — hit extremely hard for Necromancers, and are great for chunking down enemies. The Ossified Essence Key Passive modifies that damage even further for players that successfully pool their Essence. Blood builds utilize Blood skills to both keep the Necromancer healthy while dealing big damage. These builds typically end with the Rathma’s Vigor Key Passive.

Shadow builds use Shadow skills to poison enemies with dark essence. Interestingly, the Shadowblight Key Passive not only benefits the Necromancer, but also their minions, making it a more diverse build path. Minion builds are Necromancer’s main bread and butter, but are entirely dependent on how good minions are in the current meta. When they’re useful, these builds end with the Kalan’s Edict Key Passive.

Like all classes, Necromancer builds have other identities to them — like Thorns — but most will converge on one of the four identities highlighted above. What really determines build viability on Necromancer is how you use your minions and the Book of the Dead. If you want to make your own build, decide early on if you want to sacrifice your minions or use them in battle. This will not only determine which skills you’ll want to use, but which of the four Key Passives you want to angle toward.

Looking for other Diablo 4 builds? We have explainers on the Sorcerer, Rogue, Druid, and Barbarian classes.

  1. Polygon
  2. Diablo 4 guides
  3. Altar of Lilith map
  4. Endgame bosses
  5. How to farm XP
  6. All Vampiric Powers
  7. All Aspect and dungeon locations
Best Necromancer builds in Diablo 4 season 4 (2024)

FAQs

What is the most OP Necromancer build in Diablo 4? ›

Best Necromancer Endgame Builds for Diablo 4
  • Blight Ebonpiercer Necromancer - Massive burst damage, solid defensives, high mobility.
  • Blight Minions Necromancer - Blighted Summoner.
  • Bone Spirit Necromancer - Group them up, drop the bomb.
  • Infinimist Minions Necromancer - AoE powerhouse with Minions.
Jun 5, 2024

What is the best class to pair with Necromancer Diablo 4? ›

2 Necromancer And Sorcerer

Plus, using Corpse Tendril, the Necromancer can frequently pull groups of monsters together, making it easier for the Sorcerer to hit them with their spells. These classes work best together against large groups of enemies, but can also tackle bosses with the right skill setups.

What is the best Necro glyph in Diablo 4? ›

Necromancer Start Board Best Paragon Glyph

For the Start Board, we recommend using the following Paragon Glyph: The Exhumation Glyph provides the Minion Necromancer with additive damage to and per Intelligence node within its radius.

What is the best set for Necromancer? ›

Contents
  • Best Necromancer Armor Sets.
  • Necromancer Armor Set List. Bones of Rathma (6 Pieces) Grace of Inarius (6 Pieces)
  • Pestilence Master's Shroud (6 Pieces) Trag'Oul's Avatar (6 Pieces) Masquerade of Burning Carnival (6 Pieces)

What is the most op class in Diablo 4? ›

The best class in Diablo 4 is the Rogue.

The Twisting Blades Rogue is an incredibly powerful build thanks to its ability to consistently inflict enemies with the Vulnerable and Infect status effects.

What class makes the best Necromancer? ›

Which Classes Can Be Necromancers. The class (and subclass) capable of making the most out of this spell is the School of Necromancy wizard. While the ability to learn the spell is a nice feature for clerics, druids, and paladins, School of Necromancy wizards significantly improve the benefits of controlling undead.

Is Blood Necromancer good in Diablo 4? ›

Our Diablo 4 Blood Necromancer build is a perfect balance between AoE and single-target damage, offering the best of both worlds and making it incredibly versatile. This power comes from Blood Surge and Blood Lance, respectively, and both see frequent power spikes thanks to guaranteed Overpower hits.

What is the best race for solo Necromancer? ›

The most suitable races for a solo Magicka Necromancer are:
  • High Elf: Offers bonuses to Magicka and Magicka/Stamina sustain, as well as a Weapon and Spell Damage.
  • Dark Elf: Provides bonuses to Magicka and Stamina to help with combat skills like blocking and roll dodging.

Who can beat Necromancer? ›

The Occultist and the Houndmaster in particular can Stun the Necromancer fairly well, but other characters can also Stun him if equipped with the proper trinkets.

What is the best Necro for MF? ›

Necromancers can Magic Find with any of the three most popular builds, but the Poison Nova Necromancer is considered the best MF Necromancer build.

What is the best mercenary for summon Necro? ›

The best mercenary for Summonmancers by far is the Act 2 Nightmare Offense Mercenary. He will increase the physical damage of all minions thanks to his Might aura. You can further enhance your merc with weapon and armor runewords that provide additional auras, such as Conviction from Infinity runeword.

What is the best paragon for a Necromancer? ›

Best Necromancer Paragons To Use. We rank the Scent of Death, Bloodbath, and Bone Graft as among the best Necromancer Paragons to use. With at least 2 Corpses Nearby, you gain 15% Damage Reduction. With no Corpses Nearby, you deal 15% increased damage.

What is the most powerful Necromancer build in Diablo 4? ›

Necromancer leveling guides use the absolute powerhouse of a skill: Bone Spear. Bone Spear is both extremely versatile and deals massive damage, hence why we rank it up so quickly. In this build, you'll also use Bone Splinters, Corpse Explosion, Blood Mist, and Decrepify — as well as both Golem and Skeleton skills.

What is the best jewelry for the Necromancer in Diablo 4? ›

Diablo 4 Necromancer best gems

Sapphire, when used in a weapon, increases Critical Strike Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies. Another good option for weapons is the Amethyst which increases Damage Over Time. Now, for armor pieces, Sapphire is also great because it increases Damage Reduction when Fortified.

How to use Necromancer Golem in Diablo 4? ›

Go to your skill tree and hit the “skill assignment” button to open up that menu. At the bottom of your unlocked skills, you'll see the Necromancer's unique summon abilities. Once you place the Golem ability on your bar, you'll see the big guy pop up right next to your character.

What is the best Necromancer dungeon in Diablo 4? ›

Hoarfrost Demise is one of Diablo 4's best dungeons of the game if the player has chosen to play as a Necromancer. This is because once it is completed, players will earn the Aspect Blood-Bathed. This Aspect allows a player's Blood Surge echo to strike again, although it does do less damage the second time.

What is the main stat for the Necromancer in Diablo 4? ›

Like the previous parts of the series, each class has a main attribute that gives the greatest increase in character power and minor ones that correct the weaknesses of the class. Intelligence is the main attribute of the necromancer. Strength increases Armor by 1 per point.

What is the best Necromancer transmog in Diablo 4? ›

One of the very best transmog skins for the Necromancer is the Coven set. This armor aesthetic turns up the spookiness to another level by going for an evil, dark shamanistic vibe. Using pitch-black colors laced with gold accents, this skin set will definitely blend in the dark atmosphere in the world of Sanctuary.

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