Whether you’re making a character in the Seasonal or Eternal Realm, the Necromancer is wildly destructive and a beautifully grotesque character to build out. As you command the forces of the undead, you’ll bend death to your will, summoning corpses, monstrosities, and wicked weapons.
Here we’ve laid out three very straightforward and common Necromancer builds for you to progress through or use elements of as a framework for a more experimental build.
Exploding Corpse Necromancer Build
What’s better than manipulating corpses to your will? Why exploding them to trigger excellent AoE damage, of course. The Exploding Corpse Necromancer build optimizes a self-destructive army of the dead under your command.
Exploding Corpse Necromancer: Levels 1-15
- Bone Splinters > Enhanced Bone Splinters > Initiate’s Bone Splinters
- Blight > Enhanced Blight > Supernatural Blight
- Skeletal Warrior Mastery
- Corpse Explosion > Enhanced Corpse Explosion > Blighted Corpse Explosion
- Corpse Tendrils > Enhanced Corpse Tendrils > Plagued Corpse Tendrils
For your final two skill points on the path to level 15, max out Skeletal Warrior Mastery to 3/3 ranks.
Exploding Corpse Necromancer: Levels 16-50
- Unliving Energy > Imperfectly Balanced > Hewed Flesh
- Reap > Enhanced Reap > Acolyte’s Reap
- Army of the Dead > Prime Army of the Dead > Supreme Army of the Dead
- Reaper’s Pursuit > Crippling Darkness > Terror > Gloom
- Necrotic Carapace
- Grim Harvest > Fueled by Death
- Inspiring Leader > Death’s Defense
- Shadowblight
- Skeletal Mage Mastery
As you continue toward level 50, consider the following list of skills to max out your ranks in.
- Blight
- Imperfectly Balanced and Hewed Flesh
- Corpse Explosion Skeletal Warrior Mastery, Grim Harvest, and Fueled By Death
- Terror, Gloom, and Necrotic Carapace
- Death’s Defense
Summoner Necromancer Build
What if you like summoning the undead but want to keep them around? You know, as friends. Friends that can help you on your path to absolute devastation. The Summoner Necromancer build focuses on making the most of your summoned skeletons, keeping them on the battlefield with you and your party as you rage through demon hordes.
Summoner Necromancer: Levels 1-15
- Enhanced Bone Splinters > Enhanced Bone Splinters > Initiate’s Bone Splinters
- Sever > Enhanced Sever > Supernatural Sever
- Unliving Energy > Imperfectly Balanced > Hewed Flesh
- Corpse Explosion > Enhanced Corpse Explosion > Blighted Corpse Explosion
- Skeletal Warrior Mastery > Grim Harvest > Fueled by Death
Summoner Necromancer: Levels 16-50
- Reap > Enhanced Reap > Acolyte’s Reap
- Corpse Tendrils > Enhanced Corpse Tendrils > Plagued Corpse Tendrils
- Reaper’s Pursuit > Crippling Darkness > Terror > Gloom
- Shadowblight
- Golem Mastery > Inspiring Leader
- Skeletal Mage Mastery
On your path to level 50, consider upping your ranks in the following skills:
- Sever
- Corpse Explosion
- Imperfectly Balance and Hewed Flesh
- Skeletal Warrior Mastery, Grim Harvest, Fueled by Death
- Terror and Gloom
Bone Spear Necromancer Build
If your calling to the cursed arts of necromancy involves summoning weapons made from the remnants of the dead, look no further than the Bone Spear Necromancer build. Here, you’ll optimize a build for using the Bone Spear skill to the best of its abilities, with both piercing and shrapnel damage.
Bone Spear Necromancer: Levels 1-15
- Bone Splinters > Enhanced Bone Splinters > Acolyte’s Bone Splinters
- Bone Spear > Enhanced Bone Spear > Supernatural Bone Spear
- Blood Mist
- Hewed Flesh
- Corpse Explosion > Enhanced Corpse Explosion > Blighted Corpse Explosion
- Grim Harvest
- Corpse Tendrils > Enhanced Corpse Tendrils > Plagued Corpse Tendrils
Bone Spear Necromancer: Levels 16-50
- Fueled by Death
- Serration > Compound Fracture > Evulsion
- Unliving Energy > Imperfectly Balanced > Hewed Flesh
- Bone Storm > Prime Bone Storm > Supreme Bone Storm
- Stand Alone > Memento Mori
- Ossified Essence
As you continue the path to level 50, consider these skills for maxing ranks.
- Bone Spear
- Unliving Energy, Imperfectly Balanced, Hewed Flesh
- Corpse Explosion
- Grim Harvest and Fueled by Death
- Death’s Reach
- Serration, Compound Fracture, and Evulsion
- Stand Alone, Memento Mori
The Necromancer stood out early on in Diablo IV’s life as a particular kind of lethal to control. While the latest season one patch has complicated some of the game’s meta, the Necromancer remains a great class and these builds lay the foundation for a solid character to take into endgame challenges.