The Necromancer in Diablo 4 is automatically a summoner in addition to whatever path the player decides to take. This gives the class a huge leg up over others that have to choose a distinct path and then take it. But that doesn't mean the Necromancer is easier to build than the rest.
With an unoptimized build, the Necromancer actually becomes rather generic in Diablo 4, struggling to keep its minions alive while dealing paltry damage and getting killed by minions. With a goal in mind, the class can be one of the best PvE classes whether solo or in a group.
Updated on June 29th, 2023 by Hodey Johns: This guide has been updated for the huge rebalance patch in 1.0.3. Many guides have remained untouched because most skills got a simple numerical buff or nerf to bring them in line with the rest of the skills in the game. Especially with Vulnerable builds becoming so powerful, this was an appropriate rebalance. However, not every skill received a small buff or nerf. Some of these were significant enough to change builds for and this build was one of those. Some of these buffs weren't to damage but to cooldown or resource reduction which alters the skill rotation entirely. The old build might still be better than it was before but this new guide gets the absolute most out of the class.
Skill Tree
Skill | Points |
Decompose | 5 |
Enhanced Decompose | 1 |
Acolyte's Decompose | 1 |
Hewed Flesh | 3 |
Corpse Explosion | 5 |
Enhanced Corpse Explosion | 1 |
Plagued Corpse Explosion | 1 |
Bone Prison | 5 |
Enhanced Bone Prison | 1 |
Ghastly Bone Prison | 1 |
Skeletal Warrior Mastery | 3 |
Grim Harvest | 1 |
Fueled by Death | 3 |
Decrepify | 5 |
Enhanced Decrepify | 1 |
Abhorrent Decrepify | 1 |
Amplify Damage | 3 |
Skeletal Mage Mastery | 3 |
Corpse Tendrils | 5 |
Enhanced Corpse Tendrils | 1 |
Plagued Corpse Tendrils | 1 |
Army of the Dead | 1 |
Prime Army of the Dead | 1 |
Supreme Army of the Dead | 1 |
Golem Mastery | 3 |
Kalan's Edict | 1 |
At the maximum level and with all the Renown gathered, players will have 58 skill points to invest. The best PvE build for the Necromancer blends corpse generation with minions. The minions will take care of the tanking and some passive damage while the Necromancer focuses on burst damage when corpses start to pile up.
The goal for this build is to stack Slow, Stun, and Vulnerable debuffs, for maximum Corpse Explosion damage. In conjunction with the Amplify Damage from Decrepify, gamers will have layered multipliers of damage against foes. Because Corpse Explosion doesn't have a cooldown and there is no Essence needed for a core skill, the PvE Necromancer also has the perk of not needing to wait around for Resources before casting its best skill.
Paragon Boards
Board | Paragon/Legendary Nodes | Glyph |
Start | Prime, Knowledge | Essence |
Flesh-Eater | Stifle, Flesh-Eater, Erudite, Culler | Control |
Scent of Death | Ruin, Scent of Death, Corrective, Deathmarked | Deadraiser |
Cult Leader | Cult Leader, Puppeteer, Custody, Overlord | Gravekeeper |
Hulking Monstrosity | Frenzied Golem, Mutation, Hulking Monstrosity | Amplify |
The paragon boards and glyphs can be a bit tough to figure out. It's a matter of adjusting the boards so that they snake properly. Few players will get to the maximum 200 paragon points but those that do will find that their powers are enhanced by enormous magnitudes.
Listing all nodes would be tedious and impossible to read, but if gamers move between the major nodes listed, it shouldn't be an issue. Make sure to purchase all relevant stat bonus nodes inside the designated glyph areas.
This build is primarily all about the physical damage done from Corpse Explosion but minions can help with that by boosting their attack speed. Flesh-Eater should certainly be the first board after the starting one as the build will generate tons of corpses to detonate so gamers can get an extra 40% damage buff if they rotate their spells correctly.
Gear
Slot | Aspect/Piece |
Helm | Harlequin Crest |
Chest | Exploiters Aspect |
Gloves | Howl From Below |
Pants | Aspect of Hardened Bones |
Boots | Aspect of Shared Misery |
Amulet | Rotting Aspect |
Ring | Unyielding Commander's Aspect |
Ring | Ring of Mendeln |
Main Hand | Black River |
Off-Hand | Aspect of Grasping Veins |
With the new aspect system, gamers have a ton of freedom to take the piece of gear they find with the best stats and then add their favorite effect to it. Increasing potion efficiency helps out a bit but these aspects are game-changing. Note that some of these aspects can be swapped in and out on other pieces of gear; which piece has which aspect is not important.
This build goes from great to unreal with the addition of the unique Howl From Below gloves. If there is any weakness to this build so far, it's that highly mobile enemies will manage to leap away from the corpses spawning all over the place. Now each corpse becomes a missile that locks onto targets, guaranteeing a hit. The unique Black River weapon gives players extra damage for having extra corpses so it's a savvy weapon to use.
Book of the Dead
- Skeletal Skirmishers - Upgrade 1
- Bone Mages - Upgrade 2
- Bone Golem - Upgrade 1
World Tiers can get out of control when it comes to difficulty. Thankfully, the Book of the Dead is a simple way to keep pace with the escalating challenge. The Skeletal Skirmishers is a simple upgrade that adds some more attack speed and, with this build, reduces cooldowns and increases the odds of spawning a corpse.
The latter two are incredible for a PvE Necromancer. Both will spawn more corpses. Once this build is complete, players will find they almost have too many corpses on the screen in PvE instances. Stick with a good spell rotation and don't be afraid to let them pile up. When it's time to deal damage after casting Corpse Tendrils, detonate the bodies for one of the biggest bursts any class can deliver.
Diablo 4 is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.