To find out more general information about leveling as a Necromancer in Diablo 4, you can check out our mainNecromancer Leveling guide. Or you can go to ourNecromancer Builds pagefor a list of other leveling and endgame Necromancer builds for you to choose from.
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Build Introduction
The Summoner Necromancer leveling build is the absolute best-performing Necromancer build this season! Not only are your minions going to be tanking all the enemies, but they will completely obliterate them in the process.
Due to the high damage output, this build will take you from the start of the game all the way through the campaign with ease, as well as being capable of soloing the Cathedral of Light Capstone dungeon.
Solo play can be fun and playing with friends can be great if you have the right spec! The high damage output makes the build very attractive to have in a party with friends, and it also makes enemies consistently Vulnerable, allowing the rest of your party to benefit immensely from having you with them.
Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar
Recommended
Suggested Skill Bar
Blight 
Corpse Explosion 
Decrepify 
Summoning Skill Summoning Skill 
Blood Mist
| Order | Skill | Cluster |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bone Splinters | Basic Skill |
| 2 | Enhanced Bone Splinters | Basic Skill |
| 3 | Blood Surge | Core Skill |
| 4 | Blood Surge Rank 2 | Core Skill |
| 5 | Blood Surge Rank 3 | Core Skill |
| 6 | Blood Surge Rank 4 | Core Skill |
| 7 | Blood Surge Rank 5 | Core Skill |
| 8 | Corpse Explosion | |
| 9 | Enhanced Corpse Explosion | |
| 10 | Hewed Flesh | Core Skill |
| 11 | Hewed Flesh Rank 2 | Core Skill |
| 12 | Hewed Flesh Rank 3 | Core Skill |
| 13 | Grim Harvest | |
| 14 | Grim Harvest Rank 2 | |
| 15 | Grim Harvest Rank 3 |
At this point in your character progression, it is optimal to move all your points from Blood Surge over to Blight as now our minions will be able to carry most of your damage output.
| Order | Skill | Cluster |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Enhanced Blight | Core Skill |
| 17 | Supernatural Blight | Core Skill |
| 18 | Corpse Explosion Rank 2 | |
| 19 | Corpse Explosion Rank 3 | |
| 20 | Corpse Explosion Rank 4 | |
| 21 | Corpse Explosion Rank 5 | |
| 22 | Skeletal Warrior Mastery | |
| 23 | Skeletal Warrior Mastery Rank 2 | |
| 24 | Skeletal Warrior Mastery Rank 3 | |
| 25 | Skeletal Mage Mastery | Curse Skill |
| 26 | Skeletal Mage Mastery Rank 2 | Curse Skill |
| 27 | Skeletal Mage Mastery Rank 3 | Curse Skill |
| 28 | Golem Mastery | Ultimate Skill |
| 29 | Golem Mastery Rank 2 | Ultimate Skill |
| 30 | Golem Mastery Rank 3 | Ultimate Skill |
| 31 | Fueled by Death | |
| 32 | Blighted Corpse Explosion | |
| 33 | Fueled by Death Rank 2 | |
| 34 | Shadowblight | Key Passives |
| 35 | Fueled by Death Rank 3 | |
| 36 | Blood Mist | |
| 37 | Inspiring Leader | Ultimate Skill |
| 38 | Inspiring Leader Rank 2 | Ultimate Skill |
| 39 | Inspiring Leader Rank 3 | Ultimate Skill |
| 40 | Hellbent Commander | Ultimate Skill |
| 41 | Hellbent Commander Rank 2 | Ultimate Skill |
| 42 | Hellbent Commander Rank 3 | Ultimate Skill |
| 43 | Reaper’s Pursuit | |
| 44 | Reaper’s Pursuit Rank 2 | |
| 45 | Gloom | |
| 46 | Decrepify | Curse Skill |
| 47 | Enhanced Decrepify | Curse Skill |
| 48 | Terror | |
| 49 | Terror Rank 2 | |
| 50 | Terror Rank 3 | |
| 51 | Death’s Embrace | Curse Skill |
| 52 | Death’s Embrace Rank 2 | Curse Skill |
| 53 | Death’s Embrace Rank 3 | Curse Skill |
| 54 | Amplify Damage | Curse Skill |
| 55 | Amplify Damage Rank 2 | Curse Skill |
| 56 | Amplify Damage Rank 3 | Curse Skill |
| 57 | Gloom Rank 2 | Curse Skill |
| 58 | Gloom Rank 3 | Curse Skill |
Mechanics and Playstyle
In the beginning, we utilize Blood Surge to one-shot enemies and when we get access to our Mage Skeletons we replace this with Blight and start using our abilities, with the purpose of scaling our minions’ damage output, and providing Shadow damage hits for the use of our Shadowblight Key Passive!
Don’t forget to use your Summoning Skills even when you have maximum number of minions as this will heal them and make them stronger as well as provide you with some Essence.
Book of the Dead
Necromancer’s class-specific ability is the Book of the Dead, which provides three different type of minions that unlock by leveling up. This build is designed around using all of your minions from this system.
- Melee Skeletons – Reaper will be our choice as they will be generating corpses that we will explode for more damage!
- Mage Skeletons – Shadow Mages has an option allowing you to gain multiplicative damage scaling for you based of how many Shadow Mages you have summoned.
- Golem – Bone With the option of shedding corpse that we will use with other abilities.
Legendary Item Aspects
To unlock Aspects in the Codex of Power, you must complete the corresponding Dungeon where the specific Aspect drops. Visit the Occultist to imprint this Aspect onto an item. Aspects from the Codex of Power can be used often on weapons.
There’s only 1 available aspect power you can find in a dungeon that will scale the build and that is the Aspect of Reanimation which you can unlock by doing Aldurwood in Scosglen. You could grab the Hulking Aspect but it isn’t mandatory and is only a nice addition to the build which is why I don’t recommend going out of your way to getting this one as you progress the early levels.
A list of sought after legendary powers you need to look out for as you progress looks like this:
- Aspect of Occult Dominion
- Aphotic Aspect
- Blood Getter’s Aspect
- Coldbringer’s Aspect
- Juggernaut’s Aspect
- Aspect of Frenzied Dead
We have a dedicated in-depth Aspect and Codex of Power guide that you can check out for more information.
Gear Choice and Stat Priority while Leveling
Prioritize a higher total damage output when it comes to your weapon, as the higher it is, the better. It should be kept in mind that if you find a higher Item Power 1-handed weapon, it could very well be better than a 2-handed weapon if coupled with an off-hand or even a shield, as shields scale your main-hand weapon by 80%!
Outside of this, you’ll be on the look out for the following modifiers, in no particular order:
- Life
- Armor
- Intelligence
- Attack Speed
Gems
Listed below are the best Gems to socket into gear for each slot type.
- Weapon Emerald for increased Vulnerable damage output.
- Armor:Ruby for increased Maximum Life.
- Jewelry:Diamondfor all Resistance or any gem that provides you with the resistance type you lack the most.
Elixirs and Health Potions
To gain an edge in your adventures, head to the Alchemist in any major town, and craft Elixirs that enhance your stats and experience gain for 30 minutes. Remember to gather the necessary crafting materials by foraging plants. Select an Elixir that provides the resistance you need most, or try the Assault Elixir to boost your Attack Speed.
Return to the Alchemist again when you reach Level 20 and 30 to upgrade your potion. The extra healing is essential to survival.
Early Paragon
Once you hit Level 50 with this build, you will be ready to tackle your firstCapstone Dungeonand unlock World Tier 3. We recommend using the following Paragon boards and Glyphs for your first few levels after 50, as you transition into your preferredendgame build. Please keep in mind that the information provided is just intended to assist you in spending points for a few levels, and we strongly advise you to choose an endgame build guide to truly enjoy the game at world tier 4 and beyond.
Starting Board
The generic approach for Necromancers starting board is to rush the socket node via the right-hand side and picking up the surrounding Magic nodes then rush upwards towards the second board. At this point you really need to check the endgame build guide you want to engage with as they can all have their own specific way of pathing here!
Paragon Board images courtesy of d4builds.gg.
Changelog
- May 12th, 2024: Guide added.
