Diablo 4: Best Necromancer Builds

Discover everything you need to know about the best Necromancer builds in Diablo 4 along with the Talents and gear to choose from.

Necromancer in Diablo 4 is a summoner class that works with close-quarter combat to deal most of its damage. While the Bone Spear build deals high burst damage and is crit-focused, the Shadow Blight Minion Build uses an army of undead for damage while applying DoT effects. Choosing the right build is crucial for every game stage as enemies get more powerful as you progress. Minions are the bread and butter for the Necromancers acting as frontline, dealing massive damage on your behalf. In this guide, we’ll discuss the best Necromancer builds in Diablo 4 and what makes them unique along with the Necromancer skills.

Necromancer Builds for Diablo 4 – Overview

Necromancer builds in Diablo 4 are different depending on playstyle. Bone Spear Necromancer deals high burst damage and offers excellent crowd control. Choosing the best build is crucial as your gameplay highly depends on it. Equip the gear that complements your playstyle and grants you additional capabilities during combat. Blood Artisan’s Cuirass, Greaves of the Empty Tomb, and Lidless Wall are the best gear for the Necromancer builds. Choose the abilities that maximize the capabilities of your minions, allowing them to deal with additional damage while you stay at a safe distance. Each build shines in different content, so pick wisely based on your preferred playstyle.

Diablo 4 Necromancer Leveling Builds

Unleash powerful attacks with this item (Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Necromancers in Diablo 4 have a variety of powerful builds, each serving unique playstyles. The best builds often revolve around minions, Bone skills, or Shadow damage.

Summoner Necromancer Leveling Build

Summoner Necromancer is good for max leveling using minions. It is an excellent build that lets your minions do most of the work, keeping you safe while dealing massive AoE damage in combat. The Summoner Necromancer Leveling build maximizes your minion’s capability and sustain. Your minions will be tanking all the foes and will destroy them. This is easy to play and offers passive damage with minions for handling fights. Here are the best skills for the Summoner Necromancer Leveling build.

Blight
Corpse Explosion
Army of the Dead
Summoning Skill
Blood Mist
Raise Skeleton

Blood Surge Necromancer Leveling Build

The Blood Surge Necromancer Leveling build focuses on self-healing, AoE damage, and straightforward playstyle. It allows you to clear mobs quickly while staying alive with life-draining skills. This build offers high survivability, good AoE damage, and lower single-target damage. This makes it a smooth build with which to level your Necromancer. Use this build to progress from the start of the game to the campaign due to the high damage output. Here are the best skills for the Blood Surge Necromancer Leveling build.

Blood Surge
Hemorrhage
Decrepify
Corpse Tendrils
Blood Mist

Bone Spear Necromancer Leveling Build

The Bone Spear Necromancer is one of the powerful builds in Diablo 4, offering burst damage, high crit potential along strong single-target damage for bosses. This build focuses on Bone Spear, enhancing its crit chance and essence regeneration to keep spamming deadly attacks. It’s the best build for clearing nightmare dungeons and dealing with great crit damage. Here are the best skills for the Bone Spear Necromancer Leveling build.

Blood Mist
Bone Spear
Corpse Explosion
Decrepify
Summoning Skill
Bone Splinters

Diablo 4 Necromancer Endgame Builds

Grigoire from Diablo 4 (Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

You need a powerful build to tackle Nightmare Dungeons, Helltides, and Uber Bosses after reaching level 50+ and entering the endgame in Diablo 4. Here are the best Necromancer endgame builds in Diablo 4.

Blood Wave Necromancer Build

Blood Wave Necromancer build focuses on massive AoE burst damage, Blood Orb sustain, and high survivability. It uses blood-based abilities and summoned undead to deal massive damage and maintain health during intense combat. Using the Blood Wave ultimate, it excels in Nightmare Dungeons, Helltides, and endgame bosses. Use this top-tier build to get to the highest tier of content and perform. Here are the best skills for the Blood Wave Necromancer Leveling build.

Blood Wave
Decrepify
Reap
Blight
Blood Mist
Corpse Explosion

Spirit Wave Necromancer Build

This explosive burst damage build delivers massive single-target and AoE bursts. Due to its high crit scaling and massive Essence consumption, this is the best build for Nightmare Dungeons, Helltides, and Boss Fights. It comes with good mobility and survivability with Blood Mist. This build, also known as Blood Spirit, comes in the form of casting your Ultimate, making it one of the best single-target burst builds in Diablo 4. Here are the best skills for the Spirit Wave Necromancer Leveling build.

Blight
Corpse Tendrils
Decrepify
Blood Lance
Blood Wave
Blood Mist

Blight Shadowmancer Necromancer Build

This damage-over-time and minion-based build focuses on Shadow damage, corpse synergy, and constant crowd control. It focuses on Shadow damage, corpse synergy, and constant crowd control, making it a perfect choice for sustained AoE damage and summoning hordes of minions. This allows you to debuff foes with Blight & Decrepify. Use this build to take control over your enemies. Here are the best skills for the Blight Shadowmancer Necromancer Leveling build.

Decrepify
Corpse Explosion
Corpse Tendrils
Blood Mist
Soulrift
Blight

Shadow Summoner Necromancer Build

A hybrid build combines summoned minions and Shadow DoT abilities. Shadow Summoner Necromancer Build allows you to deal consistent, sustained damage while maintaining high survivability. Minions apply Shadow damage and debuffs while being a frontliner and you boost their power with curses, Blight, and Corpse-based abilities. However, this build requires Legendary Powers to be a performing character. Here are the best skills for the Shadow Summoner Necromancer Leveling build.

Soulrift
Decrepify
Raise Skeleton
Blight
Corpse Tendrils
Golem (Blood)

Bone Spear Necromancer Build

This is one of the best high-damage builds in Diablo 4 that excels in Nightmare Dungeons, Helltides, and boss fights. Bone Spear Necromancer Build offers massive crit damage, high burst damage, and infinite Essence sustain. This Necromancer build is best for speed-clearing content. Use this build to melt bosses and clear dungeons at great speeds. If you prefer Crit-based, high-damage builds with piercing projectiles, this is the best for you. Here are the best skills for the Bone Spear Necromancer Leveling build.

Blood Mist
Decrepify
Bone Prison
Corpse Tendrils
Bone Storm
Bone Spear

Mendeln Summoner Necromancer Build

A minion-focused endgame build that revolves around the Ring of Mendeln, providing massive burst damage from your minions. Mendeln Summoner Necromancer Build combines a full army of skeletons and a Golem to destroy the foes in the endgame content. It offers strong sustain with Fortify, Life Steal, and high survivability. This is the best build if you prefer a Hit-based build with great burst damage. Here are the best skills for the Mendeln Summoner Necromancer Leveling build.

Raise Skeleton
Golem (Iron)
Corpse Tendrils
Corpse Explosion
Army of the Dead
Blight

Blood Lance Necromancer Build

It is an endgame build that combines piercing projectiles, good single-target damage, and self-sustain. Blood Lance Necromancer Build excels in boss fights and high-tier Nightmare Dungeons. The Blood Orbs, Fortify, and Life Steal provide strong survivability, making your character a lethal player. However, this build is not as fast for clearing large groups as Bone Spear. Here are the best skills for the Blood Lance Necromancer Leveling build.

Blight
Corpse Explosion
Blood Mist
Blood Lance
Corpse Tendrils
Blood Wave

Bone Spirit Necromancer Build

A high burst and one-shot build that excels in boss fights and high-tier Nightmare Dungeons. Bone Spirit Necromancer Build focuses on dumping all Essence into a single powerful Bone Spirit attack. This deals huge crit and Overpower damage when upgraded. This build just takes you to a whole new level with crowd control and the capability to generate good amounts of Essence. Here are the best skills for the Bone Spirit Necromancer Leveling build.

Bone Spirit
Bone Prison
Blood Mist
Decrepify
Corpse Tendrils
Raise Skeleton

Blood Surge Necromancer Build

A powerful self-sustaining AoE build that excels in Helltides, Nightmare Dungeons, and endgame farming. Blood Surge Necromancer Build uses Blood Surge to deal massive area damage while healing through Fortify and Blood Orbs. This is one of the tankiest Necromancer builds that deals massive bursts of damage. Curse the enemy by Decrepify to lower the damage dealt due to the Cursed Aura Aspect. Here are the best skills for the Blood Surge Necromancer Leveling build.

Blight
Reap
Blood Mist
Blood Surge
Corpse Tendrils
Soulrift

Sever Shadowmancer Necromancer Build

A high DPS build that focuses on Shadow damage, Sever, and a mix of minion sacrifice. Sever Shadowmancer Necromancer Build excels in Nightmare Dungeons, AoE clearing, and sustained DPS. This unique build uses lucky hit procs and Shadowblight for massive burst damage in combat. The best build for you if you prefer a fast-paced Shadow-based playstyle. Here are the best skills for the Sever Shadowmancer Necromancer Leveling build.

Soulrift
Blight
Reap
Blood Mist
Blood Surge
Corpse Tendrils

Skills for Necromancer Builds in Diablo 4

Basic, Core, Macabre, Corruption, Summoning, and Ultimate are the different types of Necromancer skills in Diablo 4. These abilities play a unique role in combat as they can be an Essence generation, damage, crowd control, summoning minions, or survivability.

Basic Skills

The skills for Necromancers are low-cost and Essence-generating attacks. They provide crucial Essence generation, utility effects, and status procs while dealing relatively low damage. Here are the best basic skills for the Necromancer builds in Diablo 4.

Hemorrhage- Generates Essence, Fortify, and Blood Orbs
Reap- High Essence gain, AoE hit, spawns corpses
Bone Splinters- High crit chance, Essence return on lucky hits
Decompose- Channels damage, spawns corpses, Essence gain

Core Skills

Necromancer Core skills are the main damage dealers in Necromancer-related builds. However, they consume Essence rather than generate it. Core Skill synergizes with a different playstyle regardless of Shadow, Blood, Bone, or Summoning.

Blood Surge- AoE burst damage, healing, and Overpower scaling
Blood Lance- High single-target DPS, pierces enemies
Bone Spear- High crit damage, AoE projectile pierces enemies
Bone Spirit- Massive single-target damage, consumes all Essence
Sever- Shadow minion deals AoE damage and returns
Blight- Creates a damaging Shadow pool, slows enemies

Macabre Skills

Necromancer Macabre’s skills focus on mobility, corpse usage, and crowd control. These types of abilities are crucial for defense, corpse generation, and debuffing enemies. This makes them essential for the several types of Necromancer builds.

Bone Prison- Makes a bone wall that traps foes and can generate Essence
Corpse Explosion- Detonates corpses for burst AoE Shadow damage
Corpse Tendrils- Pulls enemies together, Stuns, and applies Vulnerable
Blood Mist- Provides invulnerability, spawns corpses, and restores HP

Necromancer Talents in Diablo 4

Necromancers can use talents like Blood Lance, Soulrift, and the Book of the Dead to summon skeletons, cast spells, and drain blood from enemies. Talents boost your damage, survivability, minions, and Essence management. Passives depend on whether you’re focusing on Blood, Bone, Shadow, or Summoner mechanics in the game.

Basic Passives

Unliving Energy- Increases maximum Essence
Imperfectly Balanced- Increases Core Skill damage but costs more Essence
Hewed Flesh- Damage has a chance to generate a corpse

Core Passives

Grim Harvest- Consuming a corpse restores Essence
Fueled by Death- Damage increases after consuming a corpse
Stand Alone- Increased damage reduction if you have no minions
Memento Mori- Sacrificing Skeletons or Golems grants increased buffs

Macabre Passives

Death’s Embrace- Close enemies deal less damage & take more from you
Death’s Reach- Increases damage to distant enemies
Gloom- Shadow damage stacks slow debuff on enemies
Terror- Increases Shadow damage against slowed/stunned enemies

Corruption Passives

Crippling Darkness- Lucky Hit: Shadow damage stuns enemies
Reaper’s Pursuit- Hitting an enemy with Darkness increases movement speed
Amplify Damage- Increases damage against Cursed enemies

Summoning Passives

Kalan’s Edict- Minions attack faster if you haven’t been hit recently
Hellbent Commander- Increases minion damage when they are near you
Inspiring Leader- Minions deal more damage when you’re at full HP
Bonded in Essence- Your Skeletal Priest heals minions every few seconds

Ultimate Passives

Rathma’s Vigor- Provide Fortify over time and grants an Overpower boost
Ossified Essence- More Essence means more Bone skill damage
Shadowblight- Shadow damage applies stacks that cause bonus damage

Gears for Necromancer Builds in Diablo 4

Gear in Diablo 4 plays a crucial role in defining your Necromancer build. We include legendary aspects and unique items to customize your playstyle. The right gear will maximize your damage, survivability, and utility regardless of whether you’re running a Bone Spear crit build, a tanky Blood build, or a minion-heavy summoner.

Name	Item	Effects
Helm	Deathless Visage	+[2 – 4] to Bone Spear +[23.5 – 32.5]% Chance for Bone Spear Projectiles to Cast Twice +[327 – 444] Armor +[13 – 21] Maximum Resource
Chest	Blood Artisan’s Cuirass	Blood Orbs Restore +[8 – 12] Essence +[103.5 – 135.0]% Damage for 4 Seconds After Picking Up a Blood Orb +[611 – 658] Maximum Life +[2 – 3] to Bone Spirit
Gloves	Howl from Below	Corpse Explosion Fears and Slows for [0.3 – 0.5] Seconds +[2 – 3] to Corpse Explosion +[23.5 – 32.5]% Corpse Attack Speed +[9.0 – 11.0]% Lucky Hit Chance
Pants	Tibault’s Will	+[51 – 65] All Stats +[489 – 526] Maximum Life +[8 – 16] Maximum Resource +[10.5 – 15.0]% Damage Reduction while Unstoppable
Boots	Greaves of the Empty Tomb	+[16.0 – 25.0] Movement Speed +[30.9 – 44.4]% Chance for Sever to Deal Double Damage +[30.9 – 44.4]% Sever Size [9.0 – 11.0]% Damage Reduction from Shadow Damage Over Time-Affected Enemies
Sword	Serration	Your Bone skills have a 0.3% [+] increased Critical Strike Chance for each 30 Essence you have upon cast.
Shield	Lidless Wall	20% Block Chance 45% Blocked Damage Reduction +80% Main Hand Weapon Damage +12.6% Total Armor
Amulet	Great Feast	Each Minion drains [1 – 2] Essence per second but deals x[50 – 75]% increased damage.
Ring 1	Ring of Starless Skies	+17.5% Attack Speed +12.5% Critical Strike Chance +12.5% Lucky Hit Chance +2 to Core Skills
Ring 2	Ring of Mendeln	+[12.5]% Resistance to All Elements +[12.5]% Shadow Resistance

Conclusion

Bone Spear Necromancer is the best build for burst DPS and high crit damage. Blood Surge Necromance build is ideal for tanky and life-stealing gameplay. The best build depends on your preferred gameplay and content focus. Select the build that suits your playstyle and increase the capabilities of your minions to deal massive damage. Choose the skills that complement your build in every aspect. You can change your build whenever you feel that the current build is not working for you. Skills like Decrepify, Corpse Explosion, Corpse Tendrils, and Bone Spear are the best ones to use for the Necromancer builds.

FAQ’s About Necromancer Build in D4

Did Necromancer get buffed in Diablo 4?

Yes, the Necromancer class received buffs in Season 7 of Diablo 4, including improvements to Blood Wave, Bone Spear, and the Summoner Necromancer.

What is the best first skill for a Necromancer in Diablo 4?

Blight is the best skill for a Necromancer in Diablo 4 because it creates a damaging Shadow pool, and slows enemies.

What weapon should Necromancer use Diablo 4?

Scythe is the best weapon that every Necromancer should use in Diablo 4. It offers the best damage output due to its high base damage per hit.

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Diablo 4: Best Necromancer Builds

Necromancer Builds for Diablo 4 – Overview