Best Diablo 4 Necromancer builds for leveling, endgame & PvP in Season 1

Diablo 4‘s Necromancer class is back to raise the undead and take down minions from afar. We’ve put together the best Necromancer builds for leveling, endgame, and PvP in Season 1 to maximize your undead damage output.

The Necromancer has always been the most macabre class in Diablo, and that’s no different in Diablo 4. Like all the character classes in the game, such as the Barbarians and Sorcerers, the Necromancer is one that many long-time players already know and love. They can inflict damage from long-range and from up close with a range of bone and spirit spells, but the main draw of the best Necromancer builds in Diablo 4 is utilizing a horde of undead minions to deal death in their stead.

The best Necromancer builds in Diablo 4 emphasize the careful management of a troop of Skeletal Warriors, Mages, and the Golem. The Skeletons and Golem do melee damage to enemies, while the Skeletal mages pelt demons with magic from afar. The Necromancers themselves have a lot of options when it comes to how they deal damage, relying on a mixture of spells and curses, as well as some nasty melee attacks.

If you’re looking to become a custodian of the balance between life and death, here are some of the best Necromancer builds for leveling, endgame, and PvP to survive the legions of Hell in Diablo 4 Season 1.

Contents

• Best Necromancer leveling build
• Best Necromancer endgame build
• Best Necromancer PvP build

Best Necromancer leveling build in Diablo 4

Currently, the best Necromancer build in the current Diablo 4 Season 1 meta is the Sever Necromancer, a build that makes use of the Sever skill to inflict most of its damage while also blowing up the many demon corpses you create to deal death upon death!

Here’s how to create the Sever Necro from scratch:

Level	Skill
2	Reap
3	Enhanced Reap
4	Sever
5	Enhanced Sever
6	Paranormal Sever
7	Sever
8	Sever
9	Sever
10	Sever
11	Unliving Energy
12	Imperfectly Balanced
13	Imperfectly Balanced
14	Imperfectly Balanced
15	Corpse Explosion
16	Enhanced Corpse Explosion
17	Blighted Corpse Explosion
18	Corpse Tendrils
19	Enhanced Corpse Tendrils
20	Plagued Corpse Tendrils
21	Corpse Explosion
22	Corpse Explosion
23	Corpse Explosion
24	Corpse Explosion
25	Acolyte’s Reap
26	Grim Harvest
27	Fueled by Death
28	Reaper’s Pursuit
29	Gloom
30	Gloom
31	Gloom
32	Terror
33	Terror
34	Terror
35	Shadowblight
36	Blood Mist
37	Crippling Darkness
38	Hewed Flesh
39	Hewed Flesh
40	Hewed Flesh
41	Grim Harvest
42	Grim Harvest
43	Fueled by Death
44	Fueled by Death
45	Skeletal Mage Mastery
46	Skeletal Mage Mastery
47	Skeletal Mage Mastery
48	Reaper’s Pursuit
49	Reaper’s Pursuit
50	Paragon begins
1 – Renown	Necrotic Carapace
2 – Renown	Necrotic Carapace
3 – Renown	Necrotic Carapace
4 – Renown	Inspiring Leader
5 – Renown	Inspiring Leader
6 – Renown	Inspiring Leader
7 – Renown	Death’s Embrace
8 – Renown	Death’s Embrace
9 – Renown	Death’s Embrace
10 – Renown	Death’s Reach

Book of the Dead

When it comes to using the Necromancer’s unique Book of the Dead skills, we recommend doing the following:

• Level 1: ‍Raise Skeleton
• Level 5: ‍Skeletal Warriors – Skirmishers
• Level 15: ‍Skeletal Mages – Shadow
• Level 18: ‍Skeletal Mages – Cold
• Level 25: ‍Golems – Bone
• Level 36: Sacrifice ‍Golems, Bone, and Sacrifice ‍Skeletal Warriors, Reapers

This Book of the Dead setup is the best way to support your Sever build, making it a minion-heavy style that also lets the Necromancer deal damage up close and from afar.

However, it relies less on the minions as you approach endgame, choosing to sacrifice some – this is entirely optional though. If you want to keep your minions around then go for it!

Best Caged Hearts

Here are the best Caged Hearts to use for the Necromancer Sever build in Season 1:

• Caged Heart of the Malignant Pact
• Caged Heart of the Sacrilegious
• Caged Heart of the Decrepit Aura
• Caged Heart of Determination
• Caged Heart of Frozen Terror

Legendary Aspects

While there are many great Legendary Aspects in the Codex of Power that will help this build, there are three in particular that you need to prioritize. Here’s what they are and where to find them:

• Blighted Offensive Aspect – (Akkhans’s Grasp, Hawezar)
• Offensive Aspect of Grasping – (Veins Corrupted Grotto, Kehjistan)
• Offensive Aspect of Empowering – (Reaper Flooded Depths, Scosglen)

Each one will essentially buff your damage in various ways and make your Necromancer build even more deadly.

We’d recommend not imprinting these Aspects on your weapons, as you’re likely to replace these many times on your Leveling journey. Instead, add offensive Aspects to your jewelry, this way, it can continue to serve you well into endgame.

Best Necromancer endgame build in Diablo 4

Once you get past level 50 and have seen the ending of Diablo 4, things change as you’re launched into the endgame. This means the build you used to reach this point may no longer be sufficient. To really make the most of the endgame content, you’ll need an endgame build.

Remember, if you want to switch from the above leveling build to the below endgame build, you’ll need to respec your skill points. Luckily, you’ll have all your points ready to go, but below is our recommended order of assignment to craft the build.

Here’s the best endgame Necromancer build in Diablo 4 currently – the Bone Spear Necromancer:

Level	Skill
2	Bone Splinters
3	Enhanced Bone Splinters
4	Bone Spear
5	Enhanced Bone Spear
6	Supernatural Bone Spear
7	Bone Spear
8	Blood Mist
9	Corpse Explosion
10	Enhanced Corpse Explosion
11	Blighted Corpse Explosion
12	Bone Spear
13	Bone Spear
14	Bone Spear
15	Grim Harvest
16	Grim Harvest
17	Grim Harvest
18	Hewed Flesh
19	Corpse Tendrils
20	Enhanced Corpse Tendrils
21	Plagued Corpse Tendrils
22	Serration
23	Serration
24	Serration
25	Compound Fracture
26	Compound Fracture
27	Compound Fracture
28	Evulsion
29	Evulsion
30	Evulsion
31	Stand Alone
32	Memento Mori
33	Memento Mori
34	Memento Mori
35	Ossified Essence
36	Bone Storm
37	Prime Bone Storm
38	Supreme Bone Storm
39	Corpse Explosion
40	Corpse Explosion
41	Corpse Explosion
42	Corpse Explosion
43	Unliving Energy
44	Imperfectly Balanced
45	Imperfectly Balanced
46	Imperfectly Balanced
47	Hewed Flesh
48	Hewed Flesh
49	Stand Alone
50	Paragon Begins
1 – Renown	Stand Alone
2 – Renown	Fueled by Death
3 – Renown	Fueled by Death
4 – Renown	Fueled by Death
5 – Renown	Unliving Energy
6 – Renown	Unliving Energy
7 – Renown	Acolytes Bone Splinters
8 – Renown	Death’s Reach
9 – Renown	Death’s Reach
10 – Renown	Death’s Reach

Book of the Dead

As this build has little need for minions and makes use of passives that buff solo Necromancers, we’d recommend sacrificing each minion for the various bonuses that provides. Of course, if you don’t want to roll solo, then the Leveling Build also works in endgame. Just be aware that the Bone Spear Necromancer is more powerful at this point.

Paragon Board

At level 50 you’ll gain access to the Paragon Board to continue building your character to level 100. Here are the boards you need to focus on to maximize the potential of the best endgame Necromancer build:

• Starting board
• Bone Graft board
• Scent of Death board
• Flesh Eater board

Glyphs

Here are the Glyphs we’d recommend activating as your work through the Paragon board:

At Level 15:

• ‍Control
• ‍Exploit
• ‍Sacrificial
• ‍Corporeal
• ‍Essence

From Level 21:

• ‍Essence
• ‍Exploit
• ‍Control
• ‍Corporeal
• ‍Sacrificial

Best Caged Hearts

Here are the best Caged Hearts to use for the Necromancer Bone Spear build in Season 1:

• Caged Heart of the Great Feast
• ‍Caged Heart of Tempting Fate
• ‍Caged Heart of the Prudent Heart
• ‍Caged Heart of Revenge
• ‍Caged Heart of the Calculated
• ‍Caged Heart of The Barber

Legendary Aspects

As this is an endgame build, it pays to unlock as many Legendary Aspects for the class as possible. Try to unlock the following Aspects as soon as possible in Season 1 to take advantage of their buffs, as each will have its own use within an endgame build:

• Splintering Offensive Aspect (Guulrahn Slums, Dry Steppes)
• ‍Aspect of Grasping Veins (Corrupted Grotto, Kehjistan)
• ‍Resource Aspect of Torment (Black Asylum, Fractured Peaks)
• ‍Wind Striker Mobility Aspect (Shivta Ruins, Kehjistan)
• ‍Resource Aspect of Potent Blood (Betrayer’s Row, Dry Steppes)
• ‍Aspect of Disobedience (Halls of the Damned, Kehjistan)
• ‍Eluding Aspect (Caldera Gate, Fractured Peaks)

You can also find Aspects by gambling with Obols or farming through Helltides and Nightmare Dungeons.

Endgame item build

Here are the items you should aim to equip for your endgame Necromancer build in Diablo 4:

Item name	Item type
Eluding Archon Helm	Helm
Boneweave Armor of Disobedience	Chest Armor
Exception Gloves of Grasping Veins	Gloves
Archon Folds of the Shielding Storm	Pants
Wind Striker Adventurer’s Boots	Boots
‍Splintering Demonblade	Main Hand
None	Offhand
Chain of Serration	Amulet
Ring of Umbral	Ring 1
Band of Exposed Flesh	Ring 2

Best Necromancer PvP build

Interestingly, the best PvP Necromancer build in Diablo 4 Season 1 (in the current meta) is also the Bone Spear Necromancer. To make the best possible Necromancer for player-on-player battles in Diablo 4, craft the Endgame build above, complete with items and Paragon information.

This is likely to change during Season 1 of Diablo 4, but for now, the Bone Spear Necromancer is the best build to use in PvP.

That wraps up everything we know about the best Necromancer build in Diablo 4. If anything changes, we’ll be sure to update our build. So, do check back regularly.

If you’re not feeling these builds, check out our alternative Necromancer builds guide.

There you have it — these are the best Necromancer builds in Diablo 4 Season 1. If you want to know about more class builds and the game in general, be sure to check our other guides and content:

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