The best Necromancer builds and skills in Diablo 4

The best Necromancer builds and skills in Diablo 4

Time Stamp: June 5, 2023 6:08 PM
Source Node: 2701883

The Necromancer, much like the Sorcerer, is one of the most formidable classes in Diablo 4. Not only is it capable of slinging spells or inflicting debilitating debuffs on enemies, it can also summon a small army of skeletons armed to the teeth. This is perhaps one of the easiest classes to play effectively, as you will mostly rely on your skeletons to do your bidding for you.

However, if you’re looking for a more active playstyle, you can choose to forgo using these minions, and can instead the blood and corpses of your foes against them in devastating ways. Capable of dealing serious single-target and area-of-effect damage, the Necromancer is extremely well-rounded. The only thing it lacks is any clear escape, which you’ll want to keep in mind when creating your own builds.

Here are the best Necromancer skills to get in Diablo 4.

Best Diablo 4 Necromancer Build — Skeleton and Minion build:

How to create the best Diablo 4 Skeleton and Minion Necromancer build:

  • Bone Splinters → Enhanced Bone Splinters → Initiates Bone Splinters
  • Bone Spear → Enhanced Bone Spear → Supernatural Bone Spear
  • Skeletal Warrior Mastery 3/3 (Skeletal Warriors – Reaper: Reapers have a 15% chance to carve the flesh off of enemies, forming a Corpse)
  • Iron Maiden → Enhanced Iron Maiden → Horrid Iron Maiden
  • Amplify Damage 3/3
  • Skeletal Mage Mastery 3/3 (Skeletal Mages – Bone: Reduce the Life cost of your Bone Mages’ attack from 15% to 10%. After being alive for 5 seconds, Bone Mages deal 40% increased damage.)
  • Serration → Compound Fracture → Evulsion
  • Army of the Dead → Prime Army of the Dead → Supreme Army of the Dead
  • Golem Mastery 3/3 (Golem – Bone: Each time your Bone Golem takes 20% of its Maximum Life as damage, it sheds a Corpse)
  • Kalan’s Edict

Best Diablo 4 Necromancer Build — Solo:

How to create the best Diablo 4 Necromancer solo build:

  • Bone Splinters → Enhanced Bone Splinters → Initiates Bone Splinters
  • Bone Spear → Enhanced Bone Spear → Supernatural Bone Spear
  • Blood Surge → Enhanced Blood Surge → Paranormal Blood Surge (Skeletal Warriors – Skirmishers: Your Critical Strike is increased by 5%, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Warriors)
  • Corpse Explosion → Enhanced Corpse Explosion → Blighted Corpse Explosion
  • Iron Maiden → Enhanced Iron Maiden → Abhorrent Iron Maiden
  • Decrepify → Enhanced Decrepify
  • Serration → Compound Fracture → Evulsion (Skeletal Mages – Bone Mages: Your Overpower damage is increased by 30%, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Mages.)
  • Bone Storm → Prime Bone Storm → Supreme Bone Storm (Golem – Iron: You deal x30% Critical Strike Damage, but lose the ability to summon a Golem)
  • Ossified Essence

How to make a great Necromancer build in Diablo 4

Skeletons are the bread and butter of any Necromancer build. You’ll want to prioritize investing in Skeleton Warrior and Skeleton Mage Mastery. As far as basic skills go, Bone Splinters is great for inflicting enemies with Vulnerable, which makes affected enemies take 20% more damage from you and your skeletons.

Skeletons also provide a buffer for you against bosses, and depending on how you choose to specialize your skeletons, they can also tank for you against bosses if you choose to go the path alone. There are a total of three different specialized trees you can choose from for your Skeletal Warriors and Mages, each having their own benefits. Playing around with this will be integral to how you choose to tackle World Events in Sanctuary.

Debuffs are also extremely important to the Necromancer. Using skills like Iron Maiden to increase the amount of damage they will take from you and your army of the undead is extremely helpful. Taking this skill in tandem with Amplify Damage will make a huge difference when it comes to your overall damage output.

A necromancer stands at a campfire next to a text description of the necromancer class in Diablo 4. Image: Blizzard/Activision via Polygon

As mentioned previously, Necromancers can choose to go without their trusty skeletons. In this case, you want to build something comparable to a Sorcerer and use debuffs such as Decrepify and Iron Maiden in tandem with Corpse Explosion. Additionally, getting Enhanced Blood Surge will give you a little more survivability. As while the Necromancer can take more of a beating than Sorcerer can, it isn’t nearly as durable as the Barbarian and has less escapes than the Rogue.

You can further enhance the power of your skills through the use of aspects, passive skills that are found on gear that you can remove and reapply on better gear. Here’s how that process works.

Concerning Glyphs, you’ll will want to make sure your Glyphs are selected for individual builds. For Skeleton- or Minion-focused builds, Rare Glyphs like Corporeal, Warrior, and Dead Raiser should be prioritized. Those looking to go without Minions should invest in Sacrificial and Exploit. Though Exploit as a Glyph is generally a good choice since it increases damage to Vulnerable enemies, and the Vulnerable status effect in Diablo 4 is one of the most important concerning any build in the game. Where Legendary Glyphs are concerned, it’s a similar affair. Legendary Glyphs like Bone Graft should be selected for Bone-focused builds, and Cult Leader is an obvious choice for Minion-based builds.

Looking for more Diablo 4 builds? We’ve got detailed pages on the Sorcerer, Barbarian, Rogue, and Druid classes.

Time Stamp:

More from Polygon