Diablo 4 will release on June 6, 2023, so it’s time to take a closer look at the classes you can play. We already wrote a guide for Sorceress, in which we analyzed in detail her abilities, key mechanics, and completely new mechanics for the series. This guide will focus on the Necromancer, Diablo 4 Necromancer skills, Diablo 4 best Necromancer build, Diablo 4 Necromancer armor sets, and, generally, how to play Necromancer in Diablo 4.
How to play as Necromancer in Diablo 4
The Necromancer is a classic dark magician who has mastered the art of resurrecting the dead to perfection. The necromancer has two resource types: essence and corpses. Essence is essentially an analog of mana, which the class spends on spells and which is gradually restored. The corpses are needed by the necromancer to interact with them. In addition to the obvious resurrection, corpses are needed to enhance other class abilities or for the Corpse Explosion ability. Long story short, this resource provides a huge arsenal of possibilities.
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Necromancer uses One-Handed Swords, Daggers, Wands, Focuses, Shields, and One-/Two-Handed Scythes as weapons. And of course, legions of dead bodies, if you prefer to play through summons. But besides summon build, the necromancer has Bone, Darkness, and Blood builds. These are all schools of magic that you can combine or focus on one.
Bone magic
Bone magic specializes in dealing physical damage and consumes a lot of Essences, and your servants are mostly in incorporeal form (ghosts and spirits). Here are examples of some of the abilities that have already been shown at the presentation:
- Bone Spirit — spends all Essence to create a spirit that chases a random target and deals AoE damage;
- Bone Prison — creates a bone prison around the enemy from which he cannot escape;
- Bone Spear — a familiar ability for any necromancer. Creates a projectile that pierces enemies and ricochets off walls.
Darkness magic
This style focuses on curses, debuffs, and damage over time.
- Decompose — deals damage and generates Essence. Also creates corpses around the enemy;
- Blight — creates an orb that deals damage on impact and leaves an area where enemies take damage.
Blood magic
Blood magic is similar to Darkness magic but more risky and powerful. This type of magic deals damage and regenerates your health and deals more damage the more enemies are hit by your spells.
- Blood Surge — an area ring attack that damages enemies and drains their life;
- Blood Mist — vampire cosplay. Turns you into a blood mist, making you immune to damage.
Book of the Dead Mechanic
Every class in Diablo 4 has Unique class mechanics. Book of the Dead is a unique class mechanics for Necromancer. This ability allows you to fine-tune your summoned creatures more than ever before. There are three creature archetypes in your arsenal: Skeletal Warriors, Skeletal Mages, and the Golem. Each of these creatures can be configured in completely different ways depending on your preferences and needs. And what’s more, you can choose not to summon any of the creature types and get a permanent buff for it.
Skeletal Warriors
The first archetype of creatures available for summoning can be of three types:
- Skirmishers — a standard skeleton – big damage, low life;
- Defenders — +15% life;
- Reapers — big damage, low attack speed.
Skeletal Mages
The second archetype of summoned beings. There are three types:
- Shadow — at the moment there is no information about them;
- Cold — Skeletons have abilities that freeze enemies;
- Bone — berserk skeletons that deal massive damage at the cost of their health.
Golems
The final archetype of summoned creatures. As in the previous archetypes, there are three types:
- Bone — taunts enemies in a wide area;
- Blood — drains Life from nearby enemies;
- Iron — stuns all nearby enemies.
Diablo 4 Necromancer Leveling Build
Since the necromancer is equally proficient in both blood magic and dark magic, he has many good builds. However, we choose the classic necromancer to build via deadman summoning because it is the simplest, most effective, and the most fun.
- Decompose (2/2) → Enhanced Decompose → Acolyte’s Decompose
- Blood Surge (3/3) → Enhanced Blood Surge → Supernatural Blood Surge
- Corpse Explosion (4/4) → Enhanced Corpse Explosion → Plagued Corpse Explosion
- Corpse Tendrils → Enhanced Corpse Tendrils → Plagued Corpse Tendrils
- Army of the Dead → Prime Army of the Dead → Supreme Army of the Dead
- Grim Harvest
- Fueled by Death
- Skeletal Warrior Mastery
- Skeletal Mage Mastery
- Hewed Flesh
In this build, the Necromancer battles in unison with their legion of Skeletal Warriors and Magicians. Employing Decompose on adversaries results in the creation of Corpses and Essence. Subsequently, Blood Surge is utilized for additional area damage and potential healing. Corpse Tendrils emerge from the lifeless bodies, inflicting maximum harm, while Corpse Explosion eradicates any leftover enemies. The Skeletal underlings serve as a formidable force, supporting the Necromancer and unleashing extensive AoE devastation.
Damage Rotation:
- Cast Decompose on enemies to create bodies.
- Summon Skeletal Warriors and activate the Army of the Dead Ultimate for more minions.
- Use Blood Surge for area damage and to get back life if needed.
- Then Corpse Tendrils and then Corpse Explosion to finish off remaining foes.
Diablo 4 Necromancer Best Gear
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.
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Diablo 4 Necromancer Best Gems
Gemstones are crafted to enhance your hero’s attributes, rather than offering unrivaled might. Consequently, it’s crucial to choose gems that harmonize with your current equipment and yield the most substantial advantages. For the Necromancer, Sapphire and Skull or Ruby gems are the prime selections.
Sapphire is a super option for amplifying your Critical Strike Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies, while Skull bolsters your healing through Enhanced Blood Surge. Ruby simply increase your Life. Moreover, any gem that elevates your Resistance proves to be a sagacious choice for the Necromancer.
Best Legendary Aspects for Necromancer
Aspects act as vital enhancements to your character’s configuration, bestowing distinct and potent capabilities. These can be discovered throughout dungeons, and upon finding them, they will be documented in the Tome of Potency. Subsequently, you may integrate them with your gear for supplementary perks.
Numerous aspects exist within the game, and in the following section, we will highlight the most sought-after and effective aspects specifically tailored for the Necromancer.
- Unyielding Commander’s Aspect — While Army of the Dead is active, your Minions gain 70% Attack Speed and take 90% reduced damage.
- Aspect of Reanimation — Your Skeletons gain increased damage while alive, up to x20% after 10 seconds.
- Aspect of Grasping Veins — Gain #% increased Critical Strike Chance for # seconds when you cast Corpse Tendrils. You deal #% bonus Critical Strike Damage to enemies damaged by Corpse Tendrils.
- Requiem Aspect — You gain 3.0 maximum Essence per active Minion.
At the moment, this is all available information about the Necromancer in Diablo 4. We will monitor the presentations and leaks to keep this guide up to date, and with the release of the game, we will add the best builds for each class. Meanwhile, dive into our Diablo 4 Boost and pick something to your liking! Thanks for your time and support.
