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These are the best Necromancer builds in Diablo 4 (D4), updated for the Abattoir of Zir. See a tier list of the best Necromancer builds of Update 1.2.3, including the top stats, vampiric powers, affixes, and gems for Necromancers in the current meta!
| All Necromancer Guides | ||
|---|---|---|
 Class Guide |
 Best Builds |
 Book of the Dead |
List of Contents
| Tier | Best Builds |
|---|---|
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| ① Balance Between Ease-of-Use and Power
While the very best builds house significant damage output across the board, the overall mechanical skill required to dish them out effectively is what separates the very best. Note that when two builds perform at roughly the same level, the one that is easier to execute will be the clear winner. |
| ② Overall Build Synergy
To say that builds can be complex in Diablo 4 is an understatement! A great build must have all of its parts, from skills to paragon boards, laid out in a way that is intuitive and maximizes synergy across the board to ensure maximum efficiency. The release of the Abattoir of Zir added the Tears of Blood glyph, which provides DPS scaling based on how many main stat nodes are within a glyph socket's radius. The builds on this list were evaluated based on how well they scaled with this new rune. |
| ③ Endgame and AoZ Performance (Season 2)
On top of standard endgame content such as nightmare dungeons, these builds are heavily evaluated based on how many tiers they can efficiently clear in the Abattoir of Zir. |
| ④ Overall Fit in the Current Meta (Season 2)
The best will always rise among the rest. While every build we display aims to give players the best experience at endgame, how they compare against other builds in the evolving meta of Update 1.2.3 across all classes is instrumental in determining their overall place in the tierlist. |
| Build Overview and Summary | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Necromancer Leveling | Tier: TBD Focus: Leveling Playstyle: Solo and Party | ||||
| Active Skills |        | ||||
| Passive Skills |               | ||||
| Build Overview and Summary | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Necromancer Leveling | Tier: TBD Focus: Leveling Playstyle: Solo and Party | ||||
| Aspects and Uniques | |||||
| Build Overview and Summary | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Necromancer Leveling | Tier: TBD Focus: Leveling Playstyle: Solo and Party | ||||
| Stat Priorities | Recommended Gems | ||||
| ・Movement Speed ・Vulnerable Damage ・Critical Strike Damage ・Critical Strike Chance ・Intelligence ・Lucky Hit Chance ・Core Skill Damage |  Emerald (2H Sword)  Ruby (Armor)  Tempting Fate (Vicious) The Sacrilegious (Vicious)  The Decrepit Aura (Brutal) | ||||
 Tips from Game8 |
A no-minion build that utilizes the high burst potential of Ossified Essence and sacrificed minions. Your Essence Pool is easily replenished via Iron Maiden and Bone Prison. |
|---|
Necromancer Leveling Build Guide
| Build | Skills (Hotbar) |
|---|---|
|
Infinimist
|
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| Description: A Blood Mist with Corpse Explosion Necromancer build that focuses survivability and Lucky Hit triggers to gain huge amounts of DPS. | |
|
Corpse Explosion Blight
|
|
| Description: A Corpse Explosion build that is amplified by Blight and other aspects to gain a very consistent amount of DPS and survivability! | |
 Blood Surge Solo
|
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| Description: A solo Blood Surge build based on amplifying our HP and Fortify to maximize guaranteed Overpower damage procs! | |
|
Bone Spear
|
|
| Description: A Critical setup focused on using Bone Spear and maximizing Vulnerable and Critical Damage multipliers to deal huge amounts of damage! | |
 Ring of Mendeln Summoner
|
|
| Description: A full summoner build utilizing the unique item Ring of Mendeln to maximize our summon effects! | |
 Sever Summoner
|
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| Description: An offensive Summoner build that uses the core skill Sever in combination with The Barber Malignant Heart to deal millions of damage through Shadow procs and Critical Hits. | |
 Blood Lance
|
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| Description: A build that focuses on utilizing blood skills and Blood Orbs to trigger extra effects on your combos. |
| Vampiric Power Cost |
Effect Explanation |
|---|---|
 Sanguine Brace
 0 1 1 |
When you kill an enemy, Fortify for 6% of your Base Life. While you have more Fortify than half of your Maximum Life, you gain 8% Critical Strike Chance.
The perfect compliment to the top Necromancer build in the current meta, Infinimist. Sanguine Brace improves fortify generation, making Infinimist builds even more durable in the Abattoir of Zir. |
 Ravenous
3 0 0 |
Lucky Hit: Up to a 20% chance to increase your Attack Speed by 40% of your Total Movement Speed for 6 seconds.
Ravenous is a meta staple in the Abattoir of Zir. The general ease to stack lucky hit chance and movement speed through one's equipment allows the top builds to take advantage of its attack speed buff. |
 Flowing Veins
2 2 2 |
You deal 60% increased Damage Over Time to enemies that are moving or affected by a Vampiric Curse.
The top Necromancer as of Update 1.2.3 apply hefty amounts of DoT. Flowing Veins is the perfect compliment to bolster DoT applications across the board and scale well throughout the Abattoir of Zir. |
 Metamorphosis
2 2 2 |
When you Evade you turn into a cloud of bats, becoming Unstoppable for 4 seconds. Enemies along your path take 160% Physical damage and are inflicted with Vampiric Curse.
Grants unstoppable that synergizes with Tibault's Will. It also affects enemies with Vampiric Curse which synergizes with Accursed Touch and Prey on the Weak. |
 Anticipation
0 1 0 |
Your Ultimate Skills gain 20% Cooldown Reduction. Your Ultimate Skills gain 12% increased damage for each nearby enemy affected by your Damage Over Time effects.
An amazing vampiric power for Necromancer builds. Bone Storm is a stable addition for most builds in the current meta that amplifies our survivability. This vampiric powerkeeps its uptime much easier to maintain |
| Vampiric Power Cost |
Effect Explanation |
|---|---|
 Prey on the Weak
2 0 0 |
You deal 16% increased damage to Vulnerable enemies. Enemies are Vulnerable while affected by a Vampiric Curse from your other Vampiric Powers.
Those who prefer more damage can opt for Prey on the Weak. The added damage to vulnerable enemies synergizes extremely well with the top Necromancer builds as of the Abattoir of Zir update. |
 Domination
1 0 0 |
You deal 24% increased damage to enemies who are Stunned, Immobilized, Frozen, or Feared. If they're also Injured and not an Elite, they're instantly killed.
An easy 24% increase in overall damage since Necromancers can easily stun enemies. Consider picking the Domination vampiric power up if you prefer more damage. |
| Aspect | Effect and How to Get |
|---|---|
 Aspect of the Expectant
(Offensive) |
How to Get: Underroot (Dungeon Clear)
Attacking enemies with a Basic Skill increases the damage of your next Core Skill cast by (5-10)%, up to 30%. |
 Blood Getter's Aspect
(Utility) |
Your maximum number of Skeletal Warriors is increased by 2. |
|
Cadaverous Aspect
(Offensive) |
Consuming a Corpse increases the damage of your next Core Skill by (5-10)%, up to (25-50)%. |
|
Edgemaster's Aspect
(Offensive) |
How to Get: Oldstones (Dungeon Clear)
Skills deal up to (10-20)% increased damage based on your available Primary Resource when cast, receiving the maximum benefit while you have full Primary Resource. |
|
Viscous Aspect
(Utility) |
Your maximum number of Skeletal Mages is increased by 2. |
| Aspect | Effect and How to Get |
|---|---|
|
Accelerating Aspect
(Offensive) |
Critical Strikes with Core Skills increase your Attack Speed by (15-25)% for 5 seconds. |
|
Aspect of Frenzied Dead
(Offensive) |
Each time one of your Summoning Minions damages an enemy, they gain (10-14)% Attack Speed for 3 seconds, up to (30-42)%. |
 Aspect of Hardened Bones
(Defensive) |
While you have Minions active, your Minions gain (10-20)% increased Damage Reduction. |
|
Aspect of Reanimation
(Offensive) |
How to Get: Scosglen (Story Campaign)
Your Golem and Skeletons gain increased damage while alive, up to (30-40)% after 10 seconds. |
|
Aspect of Serration
(Offensive) |
The Ossified Essence Key Passive also increases the Critical Strike Damage of your Bone Skills by 1% per Essence, up to (30-40)%. |
|
Aspect of Shielding Storm
(Defensive) |
Each time that Bone Storm damages an enemy, gain a Barrier equal to (2-5)% of your Base Life for 10 seconds. |
|
Aspect of the Expectant
(Offensive) |
How to Get: Underroot (Dungeon Clear)
Attacking enemies with a Basic Skill increases the damage of your next Core Skill cast by (5-10)%, up to 30%. |
|
Blood Getter's Aspect
(Utility) |
Your maximum number of Skeletal Warriors is increased by 2. |
|
Cadaverous Aspect
(Offensive) |
Consuming a Corpse increases the damage of your next Core Skill by (5-10)%, up to (25-50)%. |
|
Edgemaster's Aspect
(Offensive) |
How to Get: Oldstones (Dungeon Clear)
Skills deal up to (10-20)% increased damage based on your available Primary Resource when cast, receiving the maximum benefit while you have full Primary Resource. |
|
Rapid Aspect
(Offensive) |
How to Get: Buried Halls (Dungeon Clear)
Basic skills gain (15-30)% Attack Speed. |
|
Sacrificial Aspect
(Offensive) |
How to Get: Ruins of Eridu (Dungeon Clear)
Your Sacrifice bonuses are increased by (15-25)%. |
|
Viscous Aspect
(Utility) |
Your maximum number of Skeletal Mages is increased by 2. |
| Priority | Stats and Affixes |
|---|---|
| 1 |
・Critical Damage
・Vulnerable Damage ・Maximum Life (Rings) ・Cooldown Reduction (Amulet) ・Movement Speed (Boots/Amulet) |
| 2 |
・Attack Speed (Gloves)
・Lucky Hit Chance (Gloves) ・Critical Chance ・Overpower Damage ・Attack Speed ・Armor (Chest/Amulet) ・Intelligence (Weapons) |
| 3 |
・Elemental Resistance (Boots/Chest/Rings)
・Damage Reduction (Chest/Amulet) ・Damage to Close Enemies (melee to mid-range builds) ・Damage to Distant Enemies (long range builds) ・Gloom and Terror Passive Levels (Amulet) ・Imperfectly Balanced Passive Levels (Amulet) ・Tides of Blood Passive Levels (Amulet) |
| Recommended Gems | |
|---|---|
| Weapon | Ruby:Enhances Overpower damage which a blood necromancer needs! Emerald:Enhances critical strike damage against vulnerable enemies which bone necromancers can apply easily. |
| Armor | Ruby: Max HP increased! Generally good across all roles and the Necromancer is no exception. |
| Jewelry | Diamond: Percentage resistance to all elements basically guarantees you have percentage damage reduction against non-physical attacks which is more valuable than armor that gets outscaled hard later in the game. |
While diamonds provide the least amount of elemental resistance per piece, Necromancers can pump their resistances naturally through their main stat (Intelligence).
| Skeletal Warriors | Effects |
|---|---|
| Skirmishers (Level:5) |
Main Effect:Sword-Wielding skeletal minions that deal 30% increased damage but have 15% reduced life. Upgrade 1:You can raise one additional Skirmisher Warrior. Upgrade 2: Each time you Critically Strike, your Skirmishers Warrior's next attack Critically Strikes and deals 50% bonus Critical Strike damage. Can only happen every 3 seconds. Sacrifice: Your Critical Strike Chance is increased by 5%, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Warriors. |
| Defenders (Level:8) |
Main Effect:Increases Max HP Upgrade 1: Every 8 seconds, your Skeletal Defenders negate the next instance of Direct Damage they would take. Upgrade 2: Increase the amount of Thorns that Defender Warriors inherit from you from 30% to 50%. Sacrifice: You gain 15% non-physical resistance but you can no longer raise Skeletal Warriors. |
| Reapers (Level:12) |
Main Effect:Deals AoE damage every few seconds. Upgrade 1: Repear attacks against immobilized, slowed, stunned, or vulnerable enemies reduce the cooldown of their powerful wind-up attack by 2 seconds. Upgrade 2: Reapers have a 15% chance to carve flesh off enemies, forming a corpse. Sacrifice: You deal 10% increased shadow damage, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Warriors. |
| Skeletal Mages | Effects |
| Shadow (Level:15) |
Main Effect: Converts Skeletal Mage damage to Shadow. Upgrade 1: Shadow Mage attacks have a 10% chance to Stun for 2.2 seconds. This cannot happen on the same enemy more than once every 5 seconds. Upgrade 2: Shadow Mages fire an additional shadow bolt every 6th attack. Sacrifice: Your maximum Essence is increased by 15 but you can no longer raise Skeletal Mages. |
| Cold (Level:18) |
Main Effect: Converts Skeletal Mage damage to Cold. Upgrade 1: Each time your Cold Mages damage enemies with their primary attack, you gain 2 essences. Upgrade 2: Enemies who are Frozen by or damaged while Frozen by your Cold mages' primary attack are made Vulnerable for 3 seconds. Sacrifice: You deal 15% increased damage to Vulnerable enemies, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Mages. |
| Bone (Level:22) |
Main Effect: Deals higher damage but drains the Skeletal Mage's HP per attack Upgrade 1: Reduce the Life cost of your Bone Mages' attacks from 15% to 10%. After being alive for 5 seconds, Bone Mages deal 40% increased damage. Upgrade 2: Each time a Bone Mage dies from its attack, they leave behind a corpse and Fortify you for 11% of your Base Life. Sacrifice: Your Overpower damage is increased by 30%, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Mages. |
| Golem | Effects |
| Bone (Level:25) |
Main Effect: Activate to make the golem head to a direction then taunt all enemies. Upgrade 1: Each time your Bone Golem takes up to 20% of its maximum Life as damage, it sheds a corpse. Upgrade 2: Your Bone Golem gains 10% maximum Life and the amount of Thorns they inherit from you is increased from 30% to 50% Sacrifice: You gain 10% increased Attack Speed, but you lose the ability to summon a Golem. |
| Blood (Level:28) |
Main Effect: Drains blood from nearby enemies and bolster itself. Upgrade 1: Your Blood Golem absorbs 15% of the damage you would take. Upgrade 2: While Healthy, your Blood Golem gains 25% Damage Reduction and 50% increased damage. Sacrifice: Your maximum life is increased by 15% but you lose the ability to summon a Golem. |
| Iron (Level:32) |
Main Effect: An amalgamation of steel that slams the ground and stuns targets. Upgrade 1: Every 5th Iron Golem attack causes a shockwave, dealing XX damage to the primary enemy and to the enemies behind it. Upgrade 2: Your Iron Golem's attack also makes enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds. Sacrifice: You deal 30% increased Critical Strike damage but you lose the ability to summon a Golem. |
Necromancer Book of the Dead Guide
| Season 3 Leveling Builds | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barbarian HoTA | Sorcerer Chain Lightning | ||||
| Rogue Twisting Blades | Necromancer Blood Surge | Druid Poison Creeper | |||
| All Classes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Barbarian |
 Druid |
 Sorcerer |
|||
 Rogue |
 Necromancer |
 Uber Lilith Builds |
|||
Best Necromancer Builds for the Abattoir of Zir
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