Best Diablo 4 Necromancer Build: Skills, Stats, Items, Legendary Aspects

Looking for the best Necromancer class build in Diablo 4? Then we've got you covered. To quote Necromancers in Diablo lore: "What a pity... I was beginning to enjoy the darkness." Yes, we have enjoyed the darkness, and with the best skills, Legendary aspects, and more for Necromancers in Diablo 4, so can you.

In this consistently updated Diablo 4 class guide for Necromancers across the world of Sanctuary, we dive deep into everything players need to know. This includes the best Skills, Gems, Stats Priority, Arsenal System, best-in-slot items, and much more for the Necromancer class in Diablo 4, so let's dive in.

Updated on 12 May 2023: If you're interested to learn more about how to unlock Golems in Diablo 4, you might like to check out our separate guide discussing it in more detail.

Get ready for the Diablo 4 Server Slam running from 12 to 14 May. Learn about the download/update file size, and how you can earn the Cry of Ashava Mount Trophy.

Diablo 4 Necromancer Overview: Is it a Good Class?

The Necromancer is one of the best classes in Diablo 4. It is arguably also beginner-friendly, as you can cast spells from range and summon undead to tank enemies for you.

In practice, we believe the Necromancer will be in the S-Tier classes with the best build possible once Diablo 4 releases on 2 June 2023 via Early Access. An official lore description reads:

Necromancers are cunning summoners that conjure vengeful hordes of the undead. Their Essence flows into three powerful bastions of Bone, Blood, or Shadow to bring low their enemies.

Check out the official cinematic trailer for the Necromancer class below to get the blood flowing, no pun intended.

The Necromancer uses Essence as its resource to cast Bone, Blood, and Shadow spells, both offensively and defensively. The class features the unique Book of the Dead mechanic to customize your army of undead further.

The class' unique Dismount ability sees the player jump from their mount and slam into the ground. Releases a cone of Bone Magic to damage enemies nearby. 

Best Diablo 4 Necromancer Skills Build: Corpse Bomb

We call our best Necromancer skill build in Diablo 4 the "Corpse Bomb," with skills that help along Corpse Explosion, alongside some summons to tank enemies for you and keep them in place while you blow up their friends. We also focus on some must-have CC skills to slow down any big packs.

For those new to Diablo 4, these skill names and upgrades might not mean anything in particular. To really flesh out the best Necromancer build in Diablo 4, we've got explanations of each of the skills listed above, alongside their upgrades.

• TBC

We suggest picking the Enhancements only for the skills where mentioned above.

What Passive Skills Are Best for D4 Necromancers?

In the expansive Diablo 4 skill tree, there are passive skills to unlock, and for our Necromancer build, we've picked some you can go after as priorities before branding out into others. Check them out below.

• TBC

Still with us? Well done, but we are only about halfway through our in-depth best Diablo 4 Necromancer build guide!

Diablo 4 Necromancer Book of the Dead

Each of the Skeletal summons that the Necromancer uses will have two upgrades that will boost its main battle specialty. So, for instance, the Cold Skeletal Mage will have upgrades that grant you Essence when enemies are damaged, or its second upgrade, which states that enemies who get attacked while frozen are made vulnerable for a short time.

We suggest going for the following summoning upgrades:

• Skeletal Warriors: Skeletal Skirmishers - Sacrifice
• Skeletal Mages: Bone Mages - Increased damage after 5 seconds alive
• Golem: Iron Golem - Apply vulnerable to stunned enemies

Learn more about how the unique class mechanic for the Necromancer in Diablo 4, the Book of the Dead, works with our dedicated guide.

Stats Priority For Diablo 4 Necromancers

In terms of Primary Stats for Necromancers in Diablo 4, the priority is:

• Intelligence: +0.1% Skill Damage per point.
• Willpower: +0.1% Resource Generation per point.
• Dexterity: +0.02% Critical Strike Chance per point.
• Strength: Nothing.

Each primary stat increase has a defensive effect on the player's character in Diablo 4. Check out the defensive stats gained by increasing your primary stats.

• Strength: +1 increase to Armor per primary stat point.
• Dexterity: +0.025% increase to Dodge Chance per primary stat point.
• Intelligence: +0.05% increase to All Resistance per primary stat point.
• Willpower: +0.1% increase to Healing Received and +0.25% Overpower Damage per point

Please note: The defensive bonuses increase from primary stats for all classes, including the Necromancer. This priority list assumes your items will have enough resistance for your current difficulty level.

Best Gems For Necromancers in Diablo 4

The best Gems for your Necromancer build in Diablo 4 should complement your skill selection and fill in some blanks where you might be lacking. Our gem picks and reasons for adding them to specific slots can be found below.

• Ruby - Add to weapon for increased Essence generation.
• Amethyst - Add to Armor for Damage over Time reduction.
• Emerald - Add to weapon for +damage to Elites
• Sapphire - Add to weapon for +Critical Strike chance against CC'ed enemies.
• Diamond - Add to Jewelry for +All Resistance.
• Topaz - Add to Armor for damage reduction.
• Skull - Add to Armor for +healing.

Top Legendary Aspects For Diablo 4 Necromancers

With Diablo 4's Codex of Power and the Occultist vendor, players can Imprint, Extract, and Store Legendary Aspects and Powers. For our best Necromancer build in Diablo 4, we've listed the top 10 Legendary Powers. You can get these via item drops or by completing Dungeons.

• 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 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. 
• 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 the Void - Blight's defiled area, when spawned, Pulls in enemies around the affected area.
• Aspect of Potent Blood - While at full Life, Blood Orbs grant 10 Essence.
• Requiem Aspect - You gain 3.0 maximum Essence per active Minion.
• Aspect of Torment - Critical Strikes with Bone Skills increase your Essence Regeneration by x20% for 4 seconds.

Remember, you can use the Occultist to extract and imprint these powers on Rare gear as well, turning them Legendary in the process. Check out our guide's complete list of Diablo 4's Legendary Aspects and Powers for the Necromancer class.

Best in Slot Items For Diablo 4 Necromancers

At the time of writing, it is impossible to give you a full list of best-in-slot items for a robust Necromancer build in Diablo 4 since we have no idea what types of items will drop during the endgame.

However, we can say that you should be on the lookout for high Intelligence and Willpower stats, alongside 

We will endeavor to update this article as soon as more item information becomes available. 

Unique Necromancer Items in Diablo 4?

The ultra-rare "god drops" in Diablo 4 comes in the form of Unique items. While not a lot has been revealed about them at the time of writing, we think we found one great Unique item for the Necromancer since it allows you to gain 100% additional max Essence and effectively makes the Necromancer tougher.

Melted Heart of Selig (Amulet)

• Class: All Classes
• Unique Effect: Gain +100% bonus maximum resource. In addition, when you take damage, drain [3.0-6.0] resource for every 1% of Life you would have lost instead.
• 4.5 - 8.0% Damage Reduction
• +4.5 - 8.0% Cooldown Reduction
• +3.0 - 6.0% Critical Strike Chance
• +6 - 10 All Stats

Lore text: "Do not allow your passions to become obsessions. Fuel the fire that burns within you, but it is madness to allow yourself to become ash to please an uncaring universe. - Last words of Master Selig"

Remember, you can only equip one Unique item on a character!

Check out YouTuber Vulkan's Diablo 4 Necromancer class overview video to get a look at gameplay and some insights.

So there you have it, a complete guide to the Necromancer class in Diablo 4 for a robust build, from the best skills to use to gems, stat priority, the Book of the Dead, and more. We will endeavor to update this article consistently, so you always have the latest information at hand.

For more Diablo 4, be sure to check out our dedicated section or some of our Guides & Tutorials just below:

Diablo 4 Class Builds - Best Barbarian Build |  | Best Necromancer Build | Best Sorcerer Build | Best Druid Build | Best Rogue Build | All Classes Tier List | Best Class For Beginners | Build Calculator | 

Class Mechanics: Sorcerer Enchantment System | Barbarian Arsenal | Rogue Specialization | Necromancer Book of the Dead | Druid Spirit Animals | Unlock Golems | 

Items - Healing Vial | Item Slot Types | Transmogs/Wardrobe | Salvage Items | Durability & Repair | Trading Items | All Unique Items & Stats | Set Items | Item Quality/Rarity Levels | Elixirs | Butcher's Cleaver | Cry of Ashava Trophy | 

Features: Beginners Guide | Impressions From Beta | 

Quests: Ritual Tower Key | Forgive Me Side Quest | Traveler's Prayer Side Quest | Secret Of The Spring Riddle | Raising Spirits Side Quest | Woodsman Of Nevesk | Fiend Rose | 

General D4 Guides: Legendary & Gold Farming | Town Portal | Inventory Size | Stash Size | Beat Lilith's Lament | Beat Den Mother Boss | Beat Lord Avitus Boss | Beat Blood Bishop Boss | Reset Dungeons | Gathering Legions Guide | The Butcher Boss | Leave Dungeons | All Stronghold Locations | Hardcore Mode | Change Difficulty | Unlock/Launch Time | Balance Changes | Patch Notes | 

Diablo 4 Tech Guides - Ray Tracing Support | Couch Co-Op | Server Regions | PC Requirements & File Size | Diablo 4 Servers Down? | Connection Issues Fix | Crashing Issues Fix | Unable To Install or Patch | Low FPS Fix | Error Code 34202 Fix | Disable Fog & Glare | Stuck in Queue Fix | Console Issues | PC Issues | Enable & Disable Chat Bubbles | Hit Max Level Fast | Best PC Settings High FPS | Error Code 395002 Fix | Error Code 316719 Fix | D4 on Steam Deck | Offline Mode | DLSS 3 & NVIDIA Reflex | 

Crafting/Vendors - Jeweler | Gambling & Obols | Occultist | Alchemist | Blacksmith | | Monster Parts | Skins | Ore | Plants | 

Legendary Aspects - Codex of Power | Sorcerer Legendary Powers | Barbarian Legendary Powers | Rogue Legendary Powers | Necromancer Legendary Powers | Druid Legendary Powers

Activities - Strongholds | Nightmare Dungeons | Silent Chests | Altars of Lilith | Helltides | Endgame | 

Story & Lore - Campaign Length | Who is Lilith? | Who is Inarius | Deckard Cain | Secret Cow Level | All D4 Acts Listed | 

Zones - Fractured Peaks Overview | Scosglen | Kehjistan | Dry Steppes | Hawezar | All Waypoint Locations | Full World Map | Fractured Peaks Chests | Fractured Peaks Cellars | 

Stronghold Guides - Kor Dragan | Malnok | Nostrava |

Mounts - Temptation Mount | Diablo 4 Class Dismount Mechanics | Unlock & Customize |

Seasons - Battle Pass Price | Diablo 4 Season Duration | Battle Pass Differences | Get Favor | Next Season Start Date | Season Blessings | Season Journey | Diablo 4 Content Roadmap |

Gameplay Systems - Armor System | Clans | Primary Stats & Effects | Shrines & Buffs | Renown & Reputation | Max Level & Paragon Cap | World Tier Difficulty Levels | Followers/Mercenaries | 

World Bosses - Ashava | Avarice | Wandering Death | Beat Ashava | Ashava Spawn Location | 

Diablo 4 Misc - Statue of Inarius Price & Specs | Wolf Pack Cosmetic | Codes | Diablo 4 Free-to-Play? | Mother's Inked Title | Collector's Edition | How To Respec | Stagger Mechanic | Patch Notes | Asmongold Diablo 4 Beta Thoughts | Item Shop | Wings of the Creator Emote | 

Challenges/Achievements - Necromancer Challenges | Barbarian Challenges | Druid Challenges | Rogue Challenges | Sorcerer Challenges | Crafting Challenges

Diablo 4 PvP - Coming soon!

Our section keeps growing, so check for new guides daily! Don't forget to pick up one of the Diablo 4 Editions and join the fight to save Sanctuary soon.