Diablo
Summoner Endgame Necromancer Build for Diablo 4
Jul
The primary aim of this build guide is to emphasize the cherished playstyle of commanding a horde of Skeletal Minions to wreak havoc. However, it is crucial to acknowledge that the Minion-focused Necromancer build currently faces significant challenges in terms of overall speed and effectiveness, particularly in terms of damage output and survivability until reaching level 50+. It is advisable to refrain from adopting this build until you have commenced advancing through the Paragon Boards, which will grant additional layers of defense and offense to fortify your army.
With that being said, unleashing the true potential of your character will demand harnessing specific Legendary Powers. This comprehensive guide will delve into the art of utilizing our minions to inflict devastating damage, while simultaneously afflicting our adversaries with the debilitating effects of Decrepify and impeding their movements with precision. Additionally, we will maintain a steady barrage of damage by skillfully wielding the formidable Bone Spear.
If you desire to reach new heights with this build, we highly suggest exploring the Necromancer Leveling guide to ensure a seamless journey throughout the campaign prior to adopting this exceptional build.
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Video Guide
Please be aware that the video guide is intended to showcase gameplay and provide a general understanding of build mechanics, rather than serving as a specific build guide. The written guide, on the other hand, is always the most current and accurate version, as updating the video with new information is not feasible.
Strengths.
Weaknesses.
Skill Tree Points
The subsequent tables unveil the complete distribution of Skill Points for the Summoner Necromancer build. The initial table showcases the crucial 48 points that lay the foundation of the build. Meanwhile, the second table houses the remaining 10 points, which are designated upon acquiring all Skill Points through Renown.
| Priority Skills | Cluster |
|---|---|
| Bone Splinters, Enhanced Bone Splinters | Basic Skill |
| Bone Spear Level 5, Enhanced Bone Spear, Supernatural Bone Spear Hewed Flesh Level 3 | Core Skill |
| Blood Mist, Grim Harvest Level 3, Fueled by Death Level 3, Skeletal Warrior Mastery Level 3 |  Corpse & Macabre Skill |
| Decrepify, Enhanced Decrepify, Abhorrent Decrepify, Death’s Embrace Level 3, Skeletal Mage Mastery Level 3, Death’s Reach Level 3 | Curse Skill |
| Necrotic Carapace Level 3 | Corpse & Macabre Skill |
| Bone Storm, Prime Bone Storm, Supreme Bone Storm, Bonded in Essence Level 2, Inspiring Leader Level 3, Death’s Defense Level 2 | Ultimate Skill |
| :Kalan’s Edict | Key Passives |
| Remaining Renown Points | Cluster |
|---|---|
| Amplify Damage Level 3 | Curse Skill |
| Hellbent Commander Level 3, Golem Mastery Level 3, Death’s Defense Level 3 | Ultimate Skill |
Book of the Dead
In our pursuit of maximizing minion damage, we shall strive to preserve the lives of all our minions, refusing to make any sacrificial offerings.
Paragon Board
At the pinnacle of level 50, the Paragon progression mechanism unveils its boundless potential, showering characters with an abundance of formidable might. Within the Paragon Board, an array of rewards awaits, spanning from modest enchantments nestled within the mystical Magic Nodes, all the way to awe-inspiring Rare Glyphs and the illustrious Legendary Nodes.
On your journey towards Glyph Sockets and Legendary Nodes, make it a priority to enhance your Minions’ damage reduction, increase their damage and attack speed, boost your intelligence, resistance, and overall life for the Normal and Magic Nodes. As you level up the Glyphs, their radius expands, allowing for more potent effects. If you’re unable to meet the requirements for Additional Bonuses at the beginning, it’s best to postpone allocating extra Nodes for now. Additionally, it’s worth noting that you may not have the desired Glyph when you first reach a socket. In such cases, simply insert any Glyph that provides beneficial stats until you acquire the correct one.
Behold! Presented below are a visual feast of the sacred pathways that shall guide your journey, unveiling the hidden Glyphs and unraveling the enigmatic order in which you shall embark upon your Paragon Boards, transcending the confines of the humble Starting board.
The initial game board will prioritize maneuvering towards the socket slot through the left-hand side while aiming for the coveted Mage Glyph. To maximize the benefits, it is advisable to collect the supplementary Intelligence Nodes, provided your level and radius allow you to activate the Additional Bonus. Afterwards, our journey continues by advancing upwards towards the subsequent board, ensuring to acquire all the Magic Nodes and the Rare Node located on the right side.
Our second board, Cult Leader, is the most important one due to the massive amount of scaling modifiers for our minions in both offense and defensive terms. We will rotate the board to allow for a fast rush to the Legendary node on the left-hand side and pick up the Rare and Magic nodes right next to it. After this, it’s a matter of hunting down literally every single Rare and Magic node on this entire board. When you reach the socket, you’ll want to use the 
Deadraiser Glyph. Similarly to our starting board, if the radius is big enough to get the bonus modifier, you should take the extra Intelligence. Once done, we’ll path out to the right-hand side for our third board.
The third board is Hulking Monstrosity and, similarly to our previous board, we’ll be rushing towards the Legendary Node and picking up the Rare and Magic Nodes as shown in the image above on the way. Once you reach the socket, you’ll slot in the 
Control Glyph and the extra Nodes around for Intelligence, if the radius of the Glyph allows for it to benefit from the bonus modifier. Make sure you grab the displayed Rare and Magic nodes before you move upward to the fourth board.
The last board is Scent of Death, which we’ll rotate to get the socket slot first, in which we want to use the 
Warrior Glyph. Similarly to our previous boards, we’ll take the extra attributes if the radius allows for us to benefit from the bonus modifier. After this, we will finish our progression by getting the remaining Rare and Magic nodes.
Paragon board pictures provided by d4builds.Gg.
Mechanics and Playstyle
The primary objective is to ensure the vitality and well-being of all your subordinate creatures. Make certain to employ the Raise Skeleton ability at regular intervals of 5 seconds, maintaining the damage enhancement and healing for your minions. Apart from this, it is vital to afflict adversaries with the curse of Decrepify and utilize your Bone Spear to induce vulnerability and inflict greater harm, considering the abundance of Essence provided by our Mage Skeletons. Whenever your Essence reserves are depleted, replenishing them by incessantly utilizing the Summon Skeleton ability, aided by Grim Harvest, will prove advantageous.
In the realm of devastating blows, Bone Storm emerges as the ultimate force to reckon with when facing formidable foes such as bosses or elite adversaries. Unleashing this power not only grants you a substantial increase in Critical Strike Chance but also bestows a generous portion of this advantage upon your loyal Minions.
The final spot on the Skill Bar is reserved for the mighty Golem.
Bone Splinters is a seldom utilized Skill Bar addition, chosen solely to ensure the allocation of points in the Basic cluster.
Gear Choice and Stat Priority
Emphasize maximizing the overall damage output of your weapon, for the greater it is, the more advantageous. Bear in mind that discovering a 1-Handed weapon with a higher Item Power might prove superior to a 2-Handed weapon, especially when paired with an Off-Hand or a Shield, as Shields bolster the effectiveness of your primary weapon by a staggering 80%!
Apart from this, your attention should be directed towards the subsequent modifiers, without any specific sequence (although the emphasized ones hold significant importance):.
| Gear Slot | Important Affixes |
|---|---|
| 2H Sword | + Critical Strike Damage + Critical Strike Damage with Bone skills + Core Skill Damage + Intelligence |
| Helm | + Life + Shadow Resistance + Armor + Intelligence |
| Chest | + Damage Reduction, DR from Close, Distant or Burning Enemies + Armor + Intelligence + Maximum Minion Life |
| Gloves | + Critical Strike Chance + Critical Strike Damage + Lucky Hit Chance + Attack Speed |
| Pants | + Damage Reduction, DR from Close, Distant or Burning Enemies + Ranks of Blood Mist + Armor + Intelligence + Maximum Minion Life |
| Boots | + Movement Speed + Movement Speed for X seconds after killing an elite + Intelligence + Life |
| Amulet | + Movement Speed + Movement Speed for X seconds after killing an elite + Minion Attack Speed + Ranks of the Hellbent Commander |
| Ring (Rare) | + Critical Strike Chance + Critical Strike Damage + Lucky Hit + Intelligence |
| Ring (Unique) | Ring of Mendeln: The higher the Unique effect is rolled, the better. |
Legendary Aspects and Codex of Power
Below, you will find a comprehensive compilation of the recommended Aspects encountered within dungeons or on Legendary Items. These Aspects hold great significance for the Summoner Necromancer build. It is worth emphasizing that, in order for this build to operate effectively, it is imperative to ensure the survival and swiftness of your minions. Therefore, Aspects like the Hardened Bones and Frenzied Dead are undeniably vital.
| Gear Slot | Aspect Name | Legendary Aspect Power |
|---|---|---|
| Helm, Chest, Gloves, Boots, Shield, Amulet (+50%) | Viscous Aspect | Your maximum number of Skeletal Mages is increased by 2. |
| Gloves, Off-hand, 1H, 2H weapon (+100%), ring, amulet (+50%) | Splintering Aspect | Bone Spear’s primary attack makes enemies hit beyond the first Vulnerable for 1.5-2.5 seconds. Bone Shards from Bone Spear deal 50-100% bonus damage to Vulnerable enemies and pierce them. |
| Helm, Chest, Gloves, Boots, Shield, Amulet (+50%) | Coldbringer’s Aspect | Every 10 seconds, your Cold Skeletal Mages cast a blizzard that deals X Cold damage and continuously Chills enemies for 8% over 6 seconds. |
| Helm, Chest, Pants, Shield, Amulet (+50%) | Aspect of Disobedience | You gain 0.25-0.5% increased armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to 25-50%. |
| Helm, Chest, Gloves, Boots, Shield, Amulet (+50%) | Blood Getter’s Aspect | Your maximum number of Skeletal Warriors is increased by 2. |
| Gloves, Off-hand, 1H, 2H weapon (+100%), ring, amulet (+50%) | Aspect of Frenzied Dead | Each time one of your Summoning Minions damages an enemy, they gain 10-14% Attack Speed for 3 seconds, up to 30-42%. |
| Helm, Chest, Pants, Shield, Amulet (+50%) | Aspect of Hardened Bones | While you have 7 or more Minions, your Minions gain 15-20% increased Damage Reduction. |
| Gloves, Off-hand, 1H, 2H weapon (+100%), ring, amulet (+50%) | Aspect of Reanimation | Your skeleton gain increased damage while alive, up to 20-30% after 10 seconds. |
Unique Item
With the inclusion of the one-of-a-kind Mendeln Ring, this build becomes truly exceptional. The Lucky Hit feature causes your Minions’ subsequent attack to detonate, unleashing a remarkable surge of devastation. This extraordinary item propels your build to unparalleled heights, where your damage output will soar to unimaginable levels.
Gems
Discover the ultimate assortment of precious Gems that perfectly complement various gear slots.
Elixirs and Health Potions
Embark on a thrilling journey to the mystical Alchemist in Kyovashad, where you can unlock untapped potential by concocting powerful Elixirs. These magical potions bestow upon you extraordinary abilities, amplifying your statistics and accelerating your progress for a glorious half-hour. Don’t forget to scour the enchanted lands for precious herbs and plants, as these invaluable ingredients are vital for your alchemical endeavors. Choose a remarkable Elixir that harmonizes perfectly with your unique needs, or dare to experiment with the captivating Weak Assault Elixir, igniting your Attack Speed with a remarkable surge of 7%.
Ascend to the realm of the Alchemist once more upon attaining Levels 20, 30, 45, 60, 70, 80, and 90, in order to enhance the potency of your elixir. The augmentation in curative powers is vital for prolonged existence.
