Diablo 4 Necromancer Guide: How to play Necro in D4

Welcome to our guide on the Necromancer Class in Diablo 4!

This complete guide presents an in-depth view about how to play Diablo 4 as a Necromancer. We will go through its best skills and talents, class strengths and weaknesses, how to gear and play it, and how to prepare your build for End-Game PvE content.

First, we will check out the Necromancer class particularities and see if this type of character suits your needs. Then, you will learn how to prioritize your primary stats, how to gear and what build to choose, and the skill rotation to maximize your damage output.

Finally, we will get into the best Necromancer Skills, builds, items, and gear to min-max your character. By the end of this guide, you will become a master of the Necromancer Class in Diablo IV! Without further ado, Let's get started!

Table of Contents

Here is a little breakdown of our Diablo 4 Necromancer Class guide:

• Necromancer Class Overview
• Strengths and Weaknesses
• Stats Priority
• Necromancer Skill Tree
• Book of the Dead
• Necromancer Class Talents
• How to play Necromancer
• How to gear your Necromancer
• Best Necromancer Builds
• Set & Unique Items
• Legendary Items & Powers
• BiS Gear for Necromancer
• Necromancer Paragon Board
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Conclusion

Necromancer Class Overview

The Necromancer Class can summon a group of minions and golems to help you in battles, dealing out spell damage through Darkness, Corruption, Bone & Blood, and the following type of element:

• Physical
• (More damage types will be announced once the game will be released)

As a Necromancer, you can further enhance your spells with the unique class mechanic called Book of the Dead. You can make a deep customization for your undead army.

Following up, we'll cover the class archetype, the resource generation, elements, and more information about the Necromancer Class in Diablo IV!

Class Archetype

In Diablo 4, the Necromancer is a Caster, Summoner, Close-Quarters Combat that wields Physical element.

Resource

As a Necromancer, your primary resource is Essence. Using Basic Necromancer skills will give Essence, allowing you to cast your skills more often.

Note: Essence restores itself automatically at a slow rate!

Damage Type

Necromancers have the ultimate control over physical damage.

Skill Groups

All Diablo IV classes have specific Skill Categories, such as Basic and Core skills, but Necromancers have additional groups for Macabre, Corruption, and Summoning abilities:

• Basic – Filler skills, which usually cost no Mana.
• Core – Abilities with no cooldowns, but their most significant drawback is the high cost of mana.
• Macabre – For defensive and crowd-control.
• Corruption – Amplify your damage.
• Summoning – Summoning minions and golems that accompany you.
• Ultimate – Powerful abilities with big impact but high cooldown.

Skill Examples

• Bone Splinters – Fire 3 Bone Splinters, dealing 22% damage each. Each subsequent time an enemy is hit by the same cast of Bone Splinters.
• Bone Spear – Conjure a bone spear from the ground, dealing 85% damage and Piercing through enemies.
• Corpse Explosion – Detonate a Corpse, dealing 75% damage to surrounding enemies.
• Decrepify – Curse the target area. Enemies afflicted by Decrepify are Slowed by 40% and deal 20% less damage for 10 seconds.
• Army of the Dead – Call forth the deep buried dead. Volatile Skeletons emerge over the next 7 seconds that explode when around enemies, dealing 30% damage.

Note: You will start with Raise Skeleton skill at level 1.

Unique Class Mechanic

Each class owns a distinctive mechanic that adds bonuses to the character's skills & abilities. The Necromancer's unique class mechanic in Diablo 4 is called the Book of the Dead.

This new addition allows players to dominate the battlefield with deeper customization of their undead army:

• Three customizable summons
• Each summon has one of three specializations
• Each specialized minion in the army has unique upgrades
• Sacrifice the ability to summon a specific unit in exchange for a personal, permanent buff

Weapons Used

As a Necromancer, you can equip different types of weapons and off-hand:

• Reaper's Scythe
• Sword
• Dagger
• Focus
• Wand
• Shield

Each weapon can provide a different implicit modifier or stats, which might not be the best option for a specific build. The choice is yours, and everything is dictated by your playstyle and the purpose of the build/character.

Strengths and Weaknesses

In this section of our Necromancer class guide, we'll present the Necromancer's Pros and Cons in Diablo IV:

Following up on our Diablo 4 Necromancer Guide, we'll present the stats prioritization for your class and the bonuses & effects provided by them. Let's get into it!

Necromancer Stats Priority

In this section of our Necromancer guide, we'll present the most important stats and how to prioritize them.

Each primary stat in Diablo 4 is another way of enhancing your class further. The offensive effects of each stat will differ depending on which character you are playing. In terms of Primary Stats for Necromancer, the priority should be the following:

Necromancer Offensive Stats Priority: Intelligence > Willpower > Strength > Dexterity

Necromancer Defensive Stats Priority: Strength > Dexterity > Intelligence > Willpower

Following up in our Diablo 4 Necromancer Guide, we'll present the skill tree & skill groups and how to enhance the proficiency of your abilities.

Necromancer Skill Tree

In the following section of our guide, we'll present the Diablo IV Necromancer Skills, ability groups, and their enhanced versions.

The Necromancer class in Diablo 4 has 19 different skills distributed in six categories:

• Basic Skills
• Core Skills
• Macabre Skills
• Corruption Skills
• Summoning Skills
• Ultimate Skills

Following up, we'll dive deep into each category of skills and their importance!

Active & Passive Skills

Active skills are abilities that are used by different characters and monsters. Necromancer's active skills can be acquired from any abilities group in the tree.

Passive skills are permanent buffs/effects added to a specific skill or group of skills. A Necromancer's passive ability is always active and modifies the attributes of the character/skills or increases the capabilities of a specific element.

Basic Skills

Basic skills are abilities that can be used indefinitely with zero essence cost. These abilities have a low damage output, but they are good to use while waiting for other skills to cool down or to gain Essence.

Skill	Skill Description	Upgrade Paths
Bone Splinters Element: Physical	Fire 3 Bone Splinters, dealing 22% damage each. Each subsequent time an enemy is hit by the same cast of Bone Splinters.	Upgrade 1 (Acolyte's Bone Splinters): Hitting the same enemy at least 3 times with the same cast of Bone Splinters grants 8% Critical Strike Chance for 4 seconds. Upgrade 2 (Initiate's Bone Splinters): Bone Splinters has a 20% chance per hit to make enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds.
Hemorrhage Element: Physical	Burst an enemy's blood, dealing 25% damage. Hemorrhage has a 20% chance to form a Blood Orb.	Upgrade 1 (Acolyte's Hemorrhage): Hemorrhage gains an additional 20% Attack Speed while Healthy. Upgrade 2 (Initiate's Hemorrhage): Hemorrhage grants 1.6% Base Life as Fortify each time it hits an enemy, and has a 1.5% chance per enemy hit to Fortify you for 100% Base Life.
Decompose Element: Shadow	Tear the flesh from an enemy, dealing 30% damage per second and forming a usable Corpse with the flesh every 2.5 seconds.	Upgrade 1 (Acolyte's Decompose): You and your Minions deal 10% increased damage to enemies who are being Decomposed. Upgrade 2 (Initiate's Decompose): Decompose Slows enemies by 30%.
Reap Element: Shadow	Sweep an ethereal scythe in front of you, dealing 12% damage. Hitting an enemy with Reap increases your Damage Reduction by 15% for 2 seconds.	Upgrade 1 (Acolyte's Reap): Reap forms a Corpse under the first enemy hit. Can only occur every 5 seconds. Upgrade 2 (Initiate's Reap): Reap instantly kills targets below 5% Life. This does not work on bosses or players.

Core Skills

The Necromancer's core skills are abilities that have no cooldown, but they consume a lot of essence when casting:

Skill	Skill Description	Upgrade Paths
Blight Element: Shadow	Unleash concentrated blight that deals 30% damage and leaves behind a defiled area, dealing 80% damage over 6 seconds.	Upgrade 1 (Paranormal Blight): Reap forms a Corpse under the first enemy hit. Can only occur every 5 seconds. Upgrade 2 (Supernatural Blight): Reap instantly kills targets below 5% Life. This does not work on bosses or players.
Sever Element: Shadow	A specter of you charges forward and attacks with its scythe for 63% damage then returns to you and attacks again for 21% damage.	Upgrade 1 (Paranormal Sever):  Every 4th cast of Sever makes enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds. Upgrade 2 (Supernatural Sever): Sever deals 2% increased damage for each Minion you have upon cast.
Blood Surge Element: Physical	Draw blood from enemies, dealing 20% damage, and expel a blood nova, dealing 50% damage. Blood Surge's nova damage is increased by 10% per enemy drained, up to 50%.	Upgrade 1 (Paranormal Blood Surge): If an enemy is damaged by Blood Surge's nova while you are Healthy, then gain 1 stack of Overwhelming Blood. When you have 5 stacks of Overwhelming Blood, your next Blood Surge Overpowers. Upgrade 2 (Supernatural Blood Surge): Each time an enemy is hit by Blood Surge's nova, you are Fortified for 1% Base Life. While you are Fortified for over 50% of your Maximum Life, Blood Surge deals 20% increased damage.
Blood Lance Element: Physical	Throw a blood lance that lingers in an enemy for 3 seconds, dealing 45% damage to the enemy and all other lanced enemies.	Upgrade 1 (Paranormal Blood Lance): While at least 2 enemies or a Boss are affected by Blood Lance, you gain 15% Attack Speed and Blood Lance's Essence cost is reduced by 2. Upgrade 2 (Supernatural Blood Lance): After casting Blood Lance 8 times, your next cast of Blood Lance is guaranteed to Overpower and spawns a Blood Orb under the first enemy hit.
Bone Spear Element: Physical	Conjure a bone spear from the ground, dealing 85% damage and Piercing through enemies.	Upgrade 1 (Paranormal Bone Spear): Bone Spear has a 5% increased Critical Strike Chance. If Bone Spear's primary projectile Critically Strikes, it fires 2 additional bone shards upon being destroyed. Upgrade 2 (Supernatural Bone Spear): Bone Spear makes the first enemy hit Vulnerable for 3 seconds..

Macabre Skills

Macabre skills are used for defensive and crowd-control.:

Skill	Skill Description	Upgrade Paths
Corpse Explosion Element: Physical	Detonate a Corpse, dealing 75% damage to surrounding enemies.	Upgrade 1 (Blighted Corpse Explosion): Corpse Explosion becomes a Darkness Skill and, instead of exploding, Corpse Explosion releases a vile miasma dealing 110% Shadow Damage over 6 seconds. Upgrade 2 (Plagued Corpse Explosion): Corpse Explosion deals 10% increased damage to enemies that are Slowed, Stunned or Vulnerable.
Blood Mist Element: Physical	Disperse into a bloody mist, becoming Immune for 3 seconds. Your Movement Speed is reduced by 20% and you periodically deal 2% damage to enemies, healing for 0.5% of the damage dealt.	Upgrade 1 (Ghastly Blood Mist):   Blood Mist leaves behind a Corpse every 1 second. Upgrade 2 (Dreadful Blood Mist): Blood Mist Fortifies you for 0.5% Base Life each time it hits an enemy.
Bone Prison	Unearth a prison of bone with 12 Life that surrounds the target area for 6 seconds.	Upgrade 1 (Ghastly Bone Prison): Enemies inside of Bone Prison are Vulnerable. Upgrade 2 (Dreadful Bone Prison):  Fortify for 5% Base Life for each enemy trapped by Bone Prison.

Corruption Skills

Corruption skills are used to amplify your damage.

Skill	Skill Description	Upgrade Paths
Iron Maiden Element: Physical	Curse the target area. Enemies afflicted by Iron Maiden take 10% damage each time they deal direct damage. Lasts 10 seconds.	Upgrade 1 (Horrid Iron Maiden): When at least 3 enemies are afflicted by Iron Maiden, its damage is increased by 15%. Upgrade 2 (Abhorrent Iron Maiden): Heal for 5% of your maximum Life when an enemy dies while afflicted with Iron Maiden.
Decrepify Element: Physical	Curse the target area. Enemies afflicted by Decrepify are Slowed by 40% and deal 20% less damage for 10 seconds.	Upgrade 1 (Horrid Decrepify):   When you or your Minions hit an enemy afflicted with Decrepify below 10% Life, they are instantly killed. Does not work on Bosses. Upgrade 2 (Abhorrent Decrepify): Enemies hit while afflicted with Decrepify have up to a 15% chance to reduce your active cooldowns by 1 second.

Summoning Skills

Summoning skills are used to call up minions and golems that accompany your Necromancer in battles:

Skill	Skill Description	Upgrade Paths
Corpse Tendrils Element: Physical	Veins burst out of a Corpse, pulling in enemies, Stunning them for 3 seconds, and dealing 20% damage to them. Does not consume the Corpse.	Upgrade 1 (Blighted Corpse Tendrils):  Corpse Tendrils has a 20% chance when damaging enemies to drop a Blood Orb. Upgrade 2 (Plagued Corpse Tendrils): Enemies damaged by Corpse Tendrils are made Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
Bone Spirit Element: Physical	Consume all of your Essence to conjure a spirit of bone that seeks enemies. Upon reaching an enemy, the spirit explodes, dealing 80% damage to the target and all surrounding enemies. Damage is increased by 3% for each point of Essence spent casting Bone Spirit.	Upgrade 1 (Ghastly Bone Spirit):   Bone Spirit has an additional 10% Critical Strike Chance. Upgrade 2 (Dreadful Bone Spirit):  After Bone Spirit hits an enemy, you generate 30 Essence over the next 4 seconds.

Ultimate Skills

Ultimate skills are the most powerful abilities with very long cooldowns but high effectiveness. Only one ultimate skill can be equipped at a time:

Skill	Skill Description	Upgrade Paths
Army of the Dead Element: Physical	Call forth the deep buried dead. Volatile Skeletons emerge over the next 7 seconds that explode when around enemies, dealing 30% damage.	Upgrade 1 (Prime): When Army of the Dead's Volatile Skeletons explode, they have a 15% chance to leave behind a Corpse. Upgrade 2 (Supreme): Army of the Dead also raises your Skeletal Warriors and Skeletal Mages.
Blood Wave Element: Physical	Conjure a tidal wave of blood that deals 90% damage and knocks enemies back.	Upgrade 1 (Prime):    Blood Wave Slows enemies by 50% for 4 seconds. Upgrade 2 (Supreme):  Blood Wave leaves behind 3 Blood Orbs as it travels.
Bone Storm Element: Physical	A swirling storm of bones appears around you and your Golem, dealing 180% to surrounding enemies over 10 seconds.	Upgrade 1 (Prime): Your Damage Reduction is increased by 15% while Bone Storm is active. Upgrade 2 (Supreme):  Your Critical Strike Chance is increased by 20% while Bone Storm is active.

Book of the Dead

The Necromancer Unique Class Mechanic is an exclusive system that helps you customize your undead army to easily dominate the battlefield.

Book of the Dead Unlock

You unlock the Book of the Dead Class Mechanic as you progress through the campaign. You will start with Skeletal Warriors and progress to Mages and Golems. To acces Book of the Dead menu, you can press Shift + C on keyboard or RB on a controller.

Book of the Dead Abilities & Bonuses

Your undead army have the following abilities and perks:

Skeletal Warriors

• Perk 1 – Lets you raise one additional Skirmisher.
• Perk 2 – Critical strikes cause Skirmishers to deal criticals with bonus 50% crit damage; can happen once every three seconds.
• Sacrifice – +5% crit rate; unable to summon all types of Skeletal Warriors.

• Perk 1 – Every eight seconds, Defenders can negate one instance of direct damage that they take.
• Perk 2 – Defenders gain 50% of your Thorns value.
• Sacrifice – +15% physical resistance; unable to summon all types of Skeletal Warriors.

• Perk 1 – Reaper attacks versus immobilized, slowed, stunned, or vulnerable enemies reduce the cooldown of their wind-up attacks by two seconds.
• Perk 2 – +15% chance to create a corpse via their attacks.
• Sacrifice – +10% shadow damage; unable to summon all types of Skeletal Warriors.

Skeletal Mages

• Perk 1 – +10% chance to stun for two seconds; can only happen to the same enemy once every five seconds.
• Perk 2 – Fire an additional shadow bolt every sixth attack.
• Sacrifice – +15 maximum essence; unable to summon all types of Skeletal Mages.

• Perk 1 – Gain +2 essence when Cold Mages deal damage with their normal attack.
• Perk 2 – Enemies frozen or damaged while frozen by your Cold Mages become vulnerable for three seconds.
• Sacrifice – +15% damage against vulnerable enemies; unable to summon all types of Skeletal Mages.

• Perk 1 – The HP lost per attack is reduced by 5%; +40% damage if the Bone Mage is still alive after five seconds.
• Perk 2 – Gain a percentage of fortify and leave behind a corpse whenever a Bone Mage dies.
• Sacrifice – +30% overpower damage; unable to summon all types of Skeletal Mages.

Golems

• Perk 1 – Gain a corpse whenever a Bone Golem loses 20% of its max HP.
• Perk 2 – The Bone Golem gains +10% max HP and 50% of your Thorns value.
• Sacrifice – +10% attack speed; unable to summon all types of Golems.

• Perk 1 – The Blood Golem absorbs 15% of the damage you take.
• Perk 2 – The Blood Golem will have 25% damage reduction and 25% increased damage when it's healthy (i.e., 80% HP or more).
• Sacrifice – +10% max HP; unable to summon all types of Golems.

• Perk 1 – Every fifth Iron Golem attack creates a frontal shockwave.
• Perk 2 – The Iron Golem's slam will make enemies vulnerable for three seconds.
• Sacrifice – +30% critical damage; unable to summon all types of Golems.

This covers everything you should know about the Book of the Dead for Necromancer in Diablo IV. Next, we'll present the Necromancer Class Talents and their passive benefits.

Necromancer Class Talents in Diablo 4

Talents are passive abilities that increase your character's survivability or DPS output. There are 34 talents in Diablo 4, and you can unlock them by allocating a specific amount of points to your skill tree.

Following up in our Diablo 4 Necromancer Guide, we'll cover all six talent groups and how they affect your character!

Necromancer Core Talents

• Unliving Energy - Your maximum Essence is increased by x.
• Imperfectly Balanced - Your Core Skills cost x% more Essence, but deal x% increased damage.
• Reconstitution - Lucky Hit: Your damage has up to a x% chance to create a corpse at the target's location. This chance is doubled against bosses.

Necromancer Macabre Talents

• Grim Harvest - Consuming a Corpse generates x Essence..
• Fueled by Death - You deal x% increased damage for x seconds after consuming a Corpse.
• Necrotic Carapace - When a Corpse is formed from your Skills or your Minions, Fortify for x% Base Life.
• Skeletal Warrior Mastery - Increase the damage and Life of your Skeletal Warriors by x%.

Necromancer Corruption Talents

• Skeletal Mage Mastery - Increase the damage and Life of your Skeletal Mages by x%.
• Amplify Damage - You deal x% increased damage to Cursed enemies.
• Death's Embrace - Close enemies take x% more damage from you and deal x% less damage to you.
• Death's Reach - You deal x% increased damage to Distant enemies.

Necromancer Summoning Talents

• Reaper's Pursuit - Damaging enemies with Darkness Skills increases your Movement Speed by x% for x seconds.
• Gloom - When you damage enemies with Darkness Skills, they take x% increased Shadow Damage for x seconds, stacking up to x times.
• Terror - Darkness Skills deal x% increased damage against Immobilized, Slowed, or Stunned enemies. This also applies to Shadow Damage dealt by your Minions.
• Crippling Darkness - Lucky Hit: Darkness Skills have up to a x% chance to Stun for x seconds.
• Blood Begets Blood - While below 50% Life, you receive x% more healing from all sources.
• Coalesced Blood - After being Healthy for x seconds, your next Blood skill Overpowers.
• Transfusion - Blood Orbs also heal your Minions for x% of the amount.
• Tides of Blood - Your Blood Skills deal x% increased Overpower damage. This bonus is doubled while you are Healthy.
• Drain Vitality - Lucky Hit: Hitting enemies with Blood Skills has up to a x% chance to Fortify you for x% Base Life.
• Serration - Your Bone Skills have a x% increased Critical Strike Chance for each 10 Essence you have upon cast.
• Rapid Ossification - Every {#} Essence you spend reduces the cooldowns of your Bone Skills by x seconds.
• Evulsion - Your Bone Skills deal x% increased Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable enemies.
• Compound Fracture - After Critically Striking x times with Bone Skills, your Bone Skills deal x% increased damage for x seconds.
• Spiked Armor - Gain x Thorns

Necromancer Ultimate Talents

• Bonded in Essence - Your Minions gain x% of your Resistances.
• Death's Defense - Your Minions can't lose more than x% of their maximum Life from a single damage instance.
• Hellbent Commander - Your Minions deal x% increased damage while you are Close to them.
• Inspiring Command - After you have been Healthy for at least x seconds, you and your Minions gain x% Attack Speed.
• Stand Alone - Increases Damage Reduction by x%, reduced by x% for each active Minion.
• Memento Mori - Sacrificing both Skeletal Warriors and Skeletal Mages increases their Sacrifice bonuses by x%.
• Golem Mastery - ncrease the damage and Life of your Golem by x%.

Necromancer Capstone Talents

• Ossified Essence - Your Bone Skills deal x% increased damage for each point of Essence you have above x upon cast.
• Shadowblight - Shadow Damage infects enemies with Shadowblight for x seconds. Every (x)th time an enemy receives Shadow Damage from you or your Minions while they are affected by Shadowblight, they take additional x% Shadow Damage.
• Rathma's Vigor - Increase your maximum Life by x%. While Healthy, you deal x% increased damage.
• Strength in Numbers - While you have at least x Minions, they gain x% Attack Speed.

This sums up everything regarding Necromancer Class Talents in D4. Moving on, we'll present a quick introduction to how to approach this class and how to improve your character.

How to play Necromancer in Diablo 4

The Necromancer is one of the most powerful solo classes in Diablo IV. As we tested in the Beta, there was nothing you couldn't solo on this character except the World Bosses. To improve your DPS and survivability, you must use gear with good affixes that boost your character, such as:

• +% Core Skill Damage
• +% Ranks to Core, Conrruption, or Macabre Skills (depending on your playstyle)
• +% Crit Strike Chance

Additional attributes that could work, but they are not as important as the ones listed above are:

• +% Skill Damage
• +% Movement Speed
• +% Crit Strike Damage

Necromancer Leveling Skills

The best leveling skills in the necromancer's gameplay depend significantly on the chosen build. Below you have a setup of skills for each one separately:

Blood – Hemorrhage, Blood Surge, Blood Mist, Blood Wave, Ghastly Blood Mist & Coalesced Blood.

Bone – Bone Splinters, Bone Spear, Bone Spirit, Blood Mist, Stand Alone & Memento Mori.

Summoner – Decompose, Blood Surge, Corpse Explosion, Grim Harvest, Corpse Tendrils, Army of the Dead.

Necromancer Leveling Talents

The best leveling talents are extremely powerful and define the overall playstyle of your build. Every talent group has a requirement that needs to be met before allocating a specific amount of points to your skill tree:

• Core Talents: Requires 2 skill points to be allocated in the skill tree.
• Defensive Talents: Requires 6 skill points to be allocated in the skill tree.
• Corruption Talents: Requires 11 skill points to be allocated in the skill tree.
• Summoning Talents: Requires 16 skill points to be allocated in the skill tree.
• Ultimate Talents: Requires 23 skill points to be allocated in the skill tree.
• Capstone Talents: Requires 33 skill points to be allocated in the skill tree.

Blood Element Talents

• Blood Begets Blood: While below 50% Life, you receive x% more healing from all sources.
• Tides of Blood: Your Blood Skills deal x% increased Overpower damage. This bonus is doubled while you are Healthy.
• Death's Embrace: Close enemies take x{#}% more damage from you and deal x% less damage to you.

Bone Element Talents

• Rapid Ossification: Every Essence you spend reduces the cooldowns of your Bone Skills by x seconds.
• Evulsion: Your Bone Skills deal x% increased Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable enemies.
• Compound Fracture: After Critically Striking x times with Bone Skills, your Bone Skills deal x% increased damage for x seconds..

Summoner Element Talents

• Skeletal Warrior Mastery: Increase the damage and Life of your Skeletal Warriors by x%..
• Necrotic Carapace: When a Corpse is formed from your Skills or your Minions, Fortify for x% Base Life.
• Death's Defense: Your Minions can't lose more than {#}% of their maximum Life from a single damage instance.

Necromancer Leveling Build

A build is more important in the endgame than in leveling, but we found some examples of high-quality items that you must use as a Necromancer:

Blood Necromancer Build

• Blighted Aspect (Weapon) You deal x% increased damage for x seconds after the Shadowblight Key Passive damages enemies 10 times.
• Blood Seeker's Aspect (Gloves): Blood Lance deals x15% increased damage to its primary target per lanced target.
• Aspect of Potent Blood (Amulet): While at full Life, Blood Orbs grant 10 Essence.
• Requiem Aspect (Ring): You gain x maximum Essence per active Minion.

Bone Necromancer Build

• Fastblood Aspect (Helm): Blood Orbs reduce your Ultimate Cooldown by # seconds.
• Aspect of Bursting Bones (Amulet): When a segment of Bone Prison is destroyed or expired, it deals damage in an area around itself.
• Aspect of Swelling Curse (Ring): Bone Spirit deals increased damage based on distance traveled, up to x%.

Necromancer Rotation

The Necromancer Rotation is very dependent on your Essence resource generation. The basic skills are very weak, mostly used to apply debuffs on targets or reset cooldowns.

The rotation itself is effortless: use each skill when it comes out of cooldown and try to maintain the essence with the help of abilities, upgrades & legendary aspects.

This wraps everything regarding the basics of the Necromancer Playstyle in Diablo IV. Now let's check out the gear particularities and what stats you should primarily focus on for your character.

How to gear a Necromancer in Diablo 4

Necromancer in Diablo 4 can equip a total of ten items in the following item slots:

• Head
• Torso
• Gloves
• Legs
• Boots
• Amulet
• 2x Rings
• Main Hand Weapon
• Off-Hand Weapon

Necromancer Primary Stats

In Diablo IV, the stats are divided into two categories; the class you use determines the benefits you gain by increasing a specific stat. The bonuses for Necromancer Primary Stats in Diablo IV are the following:

Offensive Effects

• Intelligence – Increases Skill Damage by X%.
• Willpower – Increases Resource Generation by X% and Overpower Damage by +X%.
• Dexterity – Increases Critical Strike Chance by +X%.
• Strength – No Effect.

Defensive Effects

• Intelligence – Increases Resistance to All Elements by +X%.
• Strength – Increases Armor by +X.
• Willpower – Improves Healing Received by +X%.
• Dexterity – Increases Dodge Chance by +X%.

Best Weapon for Necromancer

Scythes & Swords equipped along with a specific Shield helps your character have an additional Legendary Power, depending on how many aspects you require for your build.

As soon as we have specific weapons for particular builds, we will update the section for the best Necromancer Weapon in Diablo 4.

Necromancer Best Armor Pieces

When using a specific build, you want to look for particular pieces of equipment with any of the required legendary aspects. Any Necromancer build depends on skills, so your gear improvement upgrades the efficiency of your DPS & survivability.

The aspects either help you regenerate essence, deal more damage, or receive less damage from enemies.

Best Gems for Necromancer

A perfect addition for survivability or DPS increase would be socketing your gear with proper gems to buff your active or passive skills:

• Ruby on Weapon for increased Essence generation.
• Sapphire on Weapon for Critical Strike Chance against Crowd Controlled Enemies.
• Emerald on Weapon for Increased damage output while fighting with Elite Enemies.
• Diamond on Jewelry for Resistances.
• Topaz on Armor for Damage Reduction.
• Skulls on Armor for Healing Capabilities.
• Amethyst on Armor for Damage over Time (DoT) reduction.

Now that you've learned how to gear your character, it's time to check out some of the best Necromancer builds in Diablo 4.

Best Necromancer Builds

When going for the best Necromancer Build in Diablo 4, combining and carefully selecting the skills that we use is very important. We are currently testing the best Necromancer Builds to update the section with the strongest abilities and a mixture of skills. Meanwhile, let's cover the best Necromancer Leveling and Farming Builds that we used during the Beta Testing.

Best Leveling Build

One of the best leveling builds for the Necromancer in Diablo IV seems to be the Blood build, that has a huge advantage over other classes. We used the following Skills and upgrades while leveling, and we went through the content like a breeze:

Basic Skill & Essence Generator - Hemorrhage - acts as extra HP/overshield and bonus damage from Overpower attacks.

Core Skill - Blood Surge - with good AoE ability that heals you.

Corpse Skill - Corpse Explosion - you can follow up with several Corpse Explosion casts to deal tremendous AoE damage.

Curse Skill - Decrepify - cts as both an AoE debuffer (lower damage dealt) and crowd-control (slow and stun).

Ultimate Skill - Army of the Dead - This conjures an undead army for a few seconds, leading to an explosion.

This build has a very high clear speed and DPS output, slaying bosses in seconds without any legendary powers or items.

Best Farming Build

At the moment, we haven't found a build that would allow faster farming of the items or materials you need. As soon as we have a specific build in place, we will update the section with the best Necromancer Build for Farming in Diablo 4.

Sets & Unique Items

In this section of our Necromancer guide, we'll present the best class-exclusive Sets & Unique Items you can use on your character and what benefits you acquire from them!

Necromancer Unique Items

Uniques are very rare drops in Diablo 4, and only a little information has been revealed about them at the time of writing this guide. We can only say that your character can only equip one Unique Item at a time!

Necromancer Set Items

Set items are powerful pieces of gear that enhance your character with unique bonuses and abilities depending on how many pieces of that particular set you have equipped. They are similar to Diablo 3 sets which provide a bonus when you equip 2/4/6 set items.

Specific details were not announced, but as soon as we have any information about the Necromancer Sets, we will update this section for you!

Necromancer Legendary Items & Powers

In this section of our Necromancer guide, we'll present the legendary items, powers, and aspects you can use to further increase your character's capabilities, such as DPS output and survivability.

Best Legendary Aspects For Necromancer

We did not have access to all aspects, but only those from Act I. The following section lists only the known groups of Necromancer-specific legendary aspects in Diablo IV:

• Defensive Legendary Aspects
• Offensive Legendary Aspects
• Resource Legendary Aspects
• Utility Legendary Aspects

Legendary aspects can be imprinted on Rare or Legendary items at the Occultist, and after imprinting, the following results can occur:

• Rare Items turn into Legendaries + they keep the same stats that were previously on the item.
• Legendaries will overwrite their aspect with the new one.

Certain Legendary aspects are exclusive to a single class, while some are available to multiple characters. The Codex of Power aspects remain in the book indefinitely, and the imprinted item consumes the extracted Legendary Aspects.

Necromancer Defensive Legendary Aspects

Defensive Legendary Aspects can only be imprinted into the following item types: Helm, Chest Armor, Pants, Off-Hand, and Amulet.

• Aspect of Grasping Veins - Enemies who are Stunned by Corpse Tendrils are also made Vulnerable for their duration. If they die while Stunned, they have a 15% chance to spawn a Blood Orb.

Necromancer Offensive Legendary Aspects

Offensive Legendary Aspects can only be imprinted into the following item types: Gloves, Focus, Ring, Amulet, One-Handed Weapon, and Two-Handed Weapon.

• Blighted Aspect - The Shadowblight Passive deals x15% increased damage against Slowed or Chilled enemies and x30% increased damage against Stunned enemies instead.
• Blood-bathed Aspect - Blood Surge's nova echoes again after a short delay, dealing x60% less damage.
• Blood Seeker's Aspect - Blood Lance deals x15% increased damage to its primary target per lanced target.
• Aspect of Bursting Bones - When a segment of Bone Prison is destroyed or expired, it deals X damage in an area around itself.
• Aspect of the Damned - You deal x30% increased Shadow Damage to enemies afflicted by both Decrepify and Iron Maiden.
• Aspect of Empowering Reaper - Each target hit along Sever's path increases the scythe's damage by x6%, up to x30%.
• Aspect of Possessed Blood - When you pick up 5 Blood Orbs, a free Bone Spirit is spawned, dealing bonus damage based on your current Life percent.
• Aspect of Reanimation - Your Skeletons gain increased damage while alive, up to x20% after 10 seconds.
• Sacrificial Aspect - Your Sacrifice bonuses are increased by 15%.
• Aspect of Swelling Curse - Bone Spirit deals increased damage based on distance traveled, up to x15%.
• Unyielding Commander's Aspect - While Army of the Dead is active, your Minions gain 70% Attack Speed and take 90% reduced damage.

Necromancer Resource Legendary Aspects

Resource Legendary Aspects can only be imprinted into the following item types: Helm, Ring, and Amulet.

• Fastblood Aspect - Blood Orbs reduce your Ultimate Cooldown by 0.5 seconds.
• Flesh-Rending Aspect - After Decompose spawns a Corpse, gain 10 Essence.
• Hulking Aspect - Each time your Golem damages an enemy, its active Cooldown is reduced by 1 second.
• Aspect of Potent Blood - While at full Life, Blood Orbs grant 10 Essence.
• Requiem Aspect - You gain 3.0 maximum Essence per active Minion.

Necromancer Utility Legendary Aspects

Utility Legendary Aspects can only be imprinted into the following item types: Helm, Chest Armor, Boots, Gloves, and Amulet.

• Aspect of Torment - Critical Strikes with Bone Skills increase your Essence Regeneration by x20% for 4 seconds.
• Torturous Aspect - Enemies afflicted by your Iron Maiden have a 15% chance to be Stunned for 1 second when they deal direct damage.
• Aspect of the Void - Blight's defiled area, when spawned, Pulls in enemies around the affected area.

Now that we've gone through all the Legendary Aspects for the Necromancer in Diablo IV, it's time to present you how to min-max your character for the end game!

BiS Gear for Necromancer in D4

In this section of our Necromancer guide, we'll present the Best in Slot Gear for your character and how to acquire it.

The most crucial point in acquiring the best armor and weapons for your Necromancer is that you don't need to farm a perfectly rolled Legendary piece. You can transfer any legendary ability/aspect into a rare item. Legendaries have four affixes that make them more powerful.

You can create perfect items by rolling rare items with your desired aspect. We recommend gathering materials while leveling, but save them for the end game crafting.

Necromancer Paragon Board

In this section, we'll present the Necromancer's Paragon Board, its levels, and how to acquire them.

Once you reach level 50, you start gaining paragon points. At each level beyond that, you will gain four paragon points, expecting 200 Paragon Points at the maximum level.

At level 50, you will receive a starting paragon board (each class will start with a suitable board for them). You assign your points moving closer to the gate tiles; when you reach one of those, you will attach a new paragon board to your existing one.

As you can see, the Paragon Board represents a one of the end game progression systems in Diablo IV.

Necromancer Glyphs

In addition to the different tile types, glyphs can be slotted into paragon sockets. Glyphs are items found throughout the sanctuary and in dungeons. When a glyph is socketed into your board, you will gain various benefits based on the number of active tiles within the Glyph's radius.

Glyphs have different qualities, such as magic or rare, and they can be leveled up to increase their bonuses and the radius of their effect, allowing them to draw powers from more active tiles.

Frequently Asked Questions - Diablo 4 Necromancer Class

1. Are Necromancers any good in Diablo 4?
As we could see in the Beta Launch, the Necromancer is one of the strongest classes for soloing, mostly all activities. We recommend this class for both beginners and professional players.

2. Is Necromancer easy to play in Diablo 4?
The Necromancer is a beginner-friendly class that is very easy to use in any activity, even if it's about ad-clear or bosses.

3. Is the Necromancer the best solo class in Diablo 4?
As we mentioned, the Necromancer is one of the best classes to play Solo, with many self-buffs that help with survivability and the best aspects for massive damage outputs.

4. Is Necromancer good in PvP in Diablo 4?
We don't have access to PvP in Diablo IV for now, but the Necromancer will be very good in PvP due to its talents and movement skills.

5. How long does it take to level a Necromancer in Diablo 4?
The Necromancer will have one of the fastest evolutions in Leveling due to its AoE abilities and the speed with which it can farm materials/items.

6. What is the best Diablo 4 Necromancer leveling build?
One of the best Leveling Builds for Necromancer is Blood due to the speed with which it can go through the content and the ease with which it can kill regular enemies and bosses.

7. What is the best Diablo 4 Necromancer build?
The best builds for Necromancer depend on the element you choose, however both Blood and Bone builds presented above work perfectly.

8. What skills should I use for a Necromancer in Diablo 4?
Typically, you should choose the skills that represent your gameplay and help you get through the activity you are in.

9. What are the best weapons for Necromancer in Diablo 4?
The best weapons for Necromancer depend significantly on the build you choose and the number of aspects you need to enable your build.

10. What is the stats priority for Necromancer in Diablo 4?
As a Necromancer, regardless of the chosen build, you must consider that Intelligence is the most important because it increases both the damage of your abilities and skills.

11. What are the best Sets for a Necromancer in Diablo 4?
There is not enough information about Necromancer Class Sets in Diablo 4, and we will update the guide when more details become available.

Related Guides

Now that you have learned about Necromancer Class, how about you check out our guides about Leveling, Other Classes, Class Builds & Currencies Farming?

• The Pit of the Artificer – Diablo 4 Guide
• Diablo 4 Tempering & Masterworking Guide
• Diablo 4 Leveling Guide
• Diablo 4 Best Builds Guide
• Best Barbarian Builds in Diablo 4
• Best Rogue Builds in Diablo 4
• Best Necromancer Builds in Diablo 4
• Best Sorcerer Builds in Diablo 4
• Best Druid Builds in Diablo 4
• Diablo 4 Legendary Aspects Farming Guide
• Diablo 4 Uniques & Uber Uniques Farming Guide
• Diablo 4 Best Class Guide
• Diablo 4 Barbarian Class Guide
• Diablo 4 Druid Class Guide
• Diablo 4 Rogue Class Guide
• Diablo 4 Sorcerer Class Guide
• D4 Gold Farming Guide
• D4 Forgotten Souls Farming Guide
• D4 Grim Favors Farming Guide
• D4 Materials Farming Guide
• D4 Red Dust Farming Guide
• D4 Aberrant Cinders Farming Guide
• D4 Murmuring Obols Farming Guide
• D4 Seeds of Hatred Farming Guide

We update our articles with each and every update in the game, so keep an eye out on our guides.

Conclusion

This is the end of our in-depth Diablo 4 Necromancer Class Overview Guide. We hope that we helped you have a better view about this complex class and learned how you can easily become a Necromancer Master. Our recommendations should help you min-max your gear, create your perfect build, and have fun mastering the elements.

As Diablo said: "Are you ready for the carnage to come?" so be prepared to revisit our Diablo 4 Necromancer Class Overview guide for new and updated content!

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