Diablo 4 Necromancer Book of the Dead: Upgrades, Sacrifice & More

Published: Jun 1st, 2023, 17:43

Updated: Jun 1st, 2023, 17:43

Awaken the dead with our guide explaining the Necromancers Book of the Dead in Diablo 4, including its upgrades and sacrifice system.

Diablo 4 Necromancer Book of the Dead: Upgrades, Sacrifice & More

With Diablo 4 inching ever closer to its full release, many players are getting more anxious to see what new and powerful abilities are waiting to be discovered. One of these new abilities that span the entire game is the unique class ability that each class will have in the game.

For the Necromancer class, this unique ability is called the Book of the Dead, and if you want to know more about it, then we have you covered. Below we'll cover everything you need to know about the Necromancers Book of the Dead ability, including how it works, the upgrades it has available, the sacrifice mechanic, and much more.

Update on 1 June 2023: We've updated this article with the latest Necromancer Book of the Dead details in Diablo 4.

Diablo 4 Necromancer Book of the Dead

Similar to past Diablo titles, the Necromancer can still summon undead to aid them in battle. However, this time they are channeled through the Necromancer's unique class skill, the Book of the Dead. This allows the Necromancer to summon three kinds of undead to aid them, the Skeletal Warriors, Skeletal Mages, and the Golem.

Each of the undead summons types can then be subdivided into three of their distinct types, which makes it far more flexible than before. Below are the Specifications for each of the summoned creatures that the Necromancer can access thanks to its Book of the Dead ability.

Skeletal Warriors

Skirmishers - Fast-attacking and have increased damage but reduced Life.
Defenders - Sword and board wielders that have bonus Life.
Reapers - Scythe-wielding creatures that have a slower attack, deals AoE in front of them, and have a wind-up attack that deals a high amount of damage.

Skeletal Mages

Shadow - Shadow magic
Cold - Cold magic
Bone (Sacrificial magic)

Golems

Bone Golems - Tanks hits
Blood Golems - Health-stealing abilities
Iron Golems - Charging abilities

However, it doesn't stop there because the Book of the Dead gives you the ability to customize these summoned creatures more than ever before. You can now upgrade each sub-class of summon, letting you customize them to suit your play style and battle needs.

Diablo 4 Necromancer Book of the Dead Upgrades

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. So below, we've broken down the full list of upgrades that each summon has to help you see the bigger picture:

Skeletal Warrior

Skeletal Skirmishers
- Upgrade 1 - You can raise one additional Skirmisher Warrior.
- Upgrade 2 - Each time you Critically Strike, your Skirmishers Warriors' next attack Critically Strikes as well. It can only happen every 3 seconds.
Skeletal Defenders
- Upgrade 1 - Every 8 seconds, your defenders negate the next instance of direct damage they are dealt.
- Upgrade 2 - Increase the number of thorns that Defenders inherit from you to 50%.
Skeletal Reapers
- Upgrade 1 - Reaper attacks against enemies who are immobilized, Slowed, Stunned or vulnerable reduce the cooldown of their powerful wind-up attack by 2 seconds.
- Upgrade 2 - Reapers have a 10% chance to carve flesh off enemies, forming a corpse. This can only happen every 5 seconds.

Skeletal Mages

Shadow Mage
- Upgrade 1 - Shadow Mage attacks have a 10% chance to Stun for 2.13 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.
Cold Mage
- Upgrade 1 - Each time your Cold Mage damages enemies with their primary attack, you gain x2 essence.
- Upgrade 2 - Enemies who are frozen by or damaged while frozen by your Cold MAges primary attack will be made Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
Bone Mage
- 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 #.

Golem

Bone Golem
- Upgrade 1 - Each time your Goelm takes up to 20% of its max life as damage, it sheds a corpse.
- Upgrade 2 - Your Golem gains 10% maximum Life, and the amount of thorns they inherit from you is increased to 50%.
Blood Golem
- Upgrade 1 - Your Golem absorbs 15% of the damage you would take.
- Upgrade 2 - While healthy, your Golem gains 25% damage reduction and x25% increased damage.
Iron Golem
- Upgrade 1 - Every 5th Golem attack causes a shockwave, dealing 16% damage to the primary enemy and the enemies behind them.
- Upgrade 2 - Your Golem Slam attack also makes enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds.

Diablo 4 Necromancer Book of the Dead Sacrifice Mechanic

Last but not least, we come to the final ability that the Book of the Dead employs, which is the sacrifice mechanic. Simply put, instead of upgrading your summoned creature with one of the abilities shown above, you have a third option, to sacrifice the creature/the ability to summon it for a powerful and permanent buff as long as the creature remains sacrificed.

Diablo 4 Necromancer Book Of The Dead Sacrifices for permanent buffs — You can also sacrifice the ability to summon one or more of your Skeletal warriors for a permanent stat buff. (Picture: Blizzard)

Below is the full list of buffs that you get when you sacrifice any of the Skeletal Summons:

Skeletal Warrior

Skeletal Skirmishers Sacrifice
- Your Critical Strike Chance is increased by 5%, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Warriors.
Skeletal Defenders Sacrifice
- You gain 15% Non-Physical Resistance, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Warriors.
Skeletal Reapers Sacrifice
- You deal X10% increased Shadow Damage, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Warriors.

Skeletal Mages

Shadow Mage Sacrifice
- Your maximum Essence is increased by 15%, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Mages.
Cold Mage Sacrifice
- You deal X15% increased damage to Vulnerable enemies, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Mages.
Bone Mage Sacrifice
- Your Overpower damage is increased by 30%, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Mages.

Golem

Bone Golem Sacrifice
- You gain a 10% increased Attack Speed, but you lose the ability to summon a Golem.
Blood Golem Sacrifice
- Your Maximum Life is increased by 10%, but you lose the ability to summon a Golem.
Iron Golem Sacrifice
- You deal x30% increased Critical Strike Damage, but you lose the ability to summon a Golem.

And that's everything you need to know about the Book of the Dead class mechanic for the Necromancer in Diablo 4. Be sure to check back here soon, as we'll be keeping this article up to date with the latest information as soon as the game is in full swing.

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

Features: Beginners Guide | Impressions From Beta |

Stronghold Guides - Kor Dragan | Malnok | Nostrava |

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

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.

Written by Shane Moosa

Shane started his career as a freelance writer for Gamezo while working full-time as a software developer. You can often find Shane trying his hand at no-hit runs of Souls Games such as Elden Ring and Dark Souls 3 (and being quite unsuccessful). To relax, Shane will often boot up sessions of Overwatch 2 or Hunt: Showdown, but his interests are spread across various games, from AAA titles (He loved the Dead Space Remake and RE4 Remake) to indies such as Hollow Knight, Celeste, and Hades. Shane is always willing to try new games though, so feel free to drop him an email with what you think he should check out next.

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