Best Builds for Necromancer in Diablo 4: Which Skills, Aspects and Equipment to Choose

The balance in Diablo 4 has already been changed several times, but the Necromancer still remains one of the strongest classes, equally comfortable for solo adventures and PvP fans. In honor of the official release, we decided to create a comprehensive guide on several key builds for this class, as well as analyze battle tactics, strengths, and weaknesses.

The Necromancer is a versatile class. It is so powerful that it can easily become both a tank and support. The main resources required for successfully annihilating hordes of the undead are essence and corpses. The former is automatically replenished during combat. The speed and volume of essence recovery can be regulated by various passive and active skills. Corpses remain after enemies. They can be used in different ways, for example, to revive as skeletons and allies or to explode, turning the battlefield into a bloody mess.

The main characteristic of the Necromancer is, of course, intelligence, but it also makes sense to pay attention to dexterity and willpower. Regular strength will be practically useless; after all, you're not some barbarian.

Despite its near-ultimate capabilities, the Necromancer is not that easy to master. To unlock the full potential of the class, you will need to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of its three development paths: bone, blood, and summoning (or dark magic).

Additionally, the Necromancer has the Book of the Dead. This ability allows you to regulate which specific skeletons can be summoned for help. Initially, you will get regular weak soldiers. In the future, the army will expand with shield-bearing knights, reapers, various mages, and even golems. Interestingly, each type of troop is not interchangeable but adds to the already known skeletons. Thus, the Necromancer gathers an impressive army around themselves, allowing the hero to avoid direct combat.

If the build focuses on the character's personal abilities, you can sacrifice skeletons and gain a unique enhancement. All this provides a wide scope for creativity and build formation.

A Necromancer specializing in bone magic deals the most damage and does not rely on anyone's help, including skeletons. The entire build revolves around accumulating various positive buffs. Here, you are closest to the title of a tank, easily absorbing a huge amount of damage. This is by no means the easiest build, although most experts on the internet use it as the core of their progression.

In the Book of the Dead, you should sacrifice regular skeleton warriors to receive a +5% critical damage boost. Freezing mages should also be sacrificed for enhancement. By sacrificing them, you will receive +15% damage to all vulnerable enemies. Finally, in the golem section, it's better to choose the blood type, which can drain life from enemies and strengthen itself. Sacrificing the golem is not necessary; it is needed to protect the Necromancer. You should choose the first specialization, which gives the ability to absorb 15% more damage from everything you would otherwise receive. Now let's look at specific skills.

Combat tactics with the considered abilities:

Always try to have an active golem nearby. It not only distracts enemies but also absorbs some of the damage. This will help you calmly use other skills and accumulate positive buffs.

Constantly use Bone Shards to replenish essence. Essence is extremely important, and if it runs out, the necromancer's effectiveness will drop sharply.

To isolate particularly strong enemies, activate Bone Prison. This will give the golem an advantage and allow you to quickly deal with the small fry.

Bone Spear is especially useful in narrow spaces. You can also use Blood Mist there to quickly escape encirclement.

Bone Storm will become your ultimate area weapon. However, if you obtain the Explosive Mist aspect, you will turn into a real death machine.

The bone necromancer deals massive damage and will help you feel especially comfortable in PvP mode when you can only rely on yourself. The abilities do not require targeted attacks and activate positive effects automatically, without direct control. Plus, you will have a very strong golem, which will give you additional seconds to think through your strategy.

The blood necromancer strongly resembles a vampire. Many of his attacks are aimed at draining life, while the amount of damage also commands respect. Unlike the bone build, this one involves skeletons much more. Moreover, the blood build allows for significant area damage, which the bone necromancer can only achieve after obtaining the corresponding aspect. Corpses play a significantly lesser role compared to essence and are mainly needed to replenish your personal army of the dead. The blood necromancer is quite simple to master, and thanks to his abilities, he is almost invulnerable. However, you will have to closely monitor his position in the arena, as he has no slowing skills.

In the Book of the Dead, it is better to choose the very first skeletons and increase their number. In the second category, you should opt for shadow mages with an upgrade for an additional attack. The golem should also be the very first one with a boost for dropping a corpse every time after receiving a certain amount of damage.

At the start of the battle, you should always raise the maximum number of available skeletons of all classes — this is your main defensive force. In combat, frequently use Hemorrhage to create blood orbs, replenish essence, and constantly heal. When essence is at maximum, use Bone Spirit to deal high damage to a priority target. In the finale, activate Blood Mist to finish off the remaining enemies. If other abilities are on cooldown, don't forget to use Corpse Explosion; this will clear the arena and help preserve your skeletons.

The last build that interests us is the Summoner. As you might guess, it focuses on constant interaction with the army of the dead. Many don't like this option because the Necromancer essentially becomes a support character for his own minions. However, leading more than 10 different skeletons is an impressive task. Here, the Necromancer also has high survivability, and the gameplay becomes even simpler, allowing you to calmly think through your actions away from the battle. Obviously, you constantly need to refresh your troops by raising skeletons from the corpses of enemies. Such monotonous gameplay may not suit everyone.

It's better to take the most basic skeletal infantry and increase their number. Among the mages, shadow ones with a stun buff are suitable, although ice mages can also work well. As for the golem, the last one — the iron golem — is needed. The second buff is better — powerful attacks make enemies vulnerable.

Since you rely on your minions, they should start the fight. First, create your own army and equip it to the maximum. Keep track of and constantly update the negative statuses applied to enemies. Use Decay and Decompose in time so that your character and skeletons deal increased damage.

You can slow down hordes of enemies with Weakness. Try to stay in the safest position to support your army with various enhancements. If an elite enemy manages to reach you, Blood Mist will help. With proper leveling, the build seems especially interesting in PvP, as you are always at a distance from the enemy, and the opponent has to fight not only you but also a dozen enhanced soldiers.

Aspects are gear upgrades that significantly affect your combat strategy. Let's look at a few that will be especially useful for the necromancer: