Best Necromancer Builds for Vessel of Hatred

Necromancers retain their identity as summoners and grim magic casters, wielding blood, blight, and bone as one of the five playable classes in the launch of Diablo 4. They haven't changed too drastically from their iterations, but even veteran fans of the franchise might have trouble getting a good build going.

The early portions of Diablo 4 are fairly tame as far as difficulty is concerned. Many players can breeze through the campaign using whatever they feel like using. However, things do start to slow down at around the Level 35 mark, and Necromancers might start running into issues when it comes to surviving and dealing damage. Here are three builds designed for pre-Level 50 Necromancers with limited resources.

Updated October 17, 2024 by Marc Santos: Necromancers have seen several changes to some abilities before and after the launch of the Vessel of Hatred expansion. Some leveling builds have fallen out of favor, while others have taken over their place, and existing ones have become even better. The leveling builds in this guide have been updated to better fit into the current state of the game, and a new one has replaced the previous Blood Lance build.

Necromancer Minion Build

Minions have been on the butt-end of several nerfs and buffs over Diablo 4's development. Luckily, Skeletons have landed on a fairly decent spot after the launch build of the game, and even more so in Season of Loot Reborn. Players can safely build down this path in the early game for some startling success.

Decompose and Skeletal Mages are your main sources of damage with this build. The former deals decent damage for a Basic Skill, but it's mainly here to create Corpses and apply Vulnerable. The DPS of Shadow Mages early in the game is extremely high, and they'll help you power through Diablo 4's reworked difficulty levels with relative ease.

Cast Iron Maiden, Corpse Explosion, and Blight for extra damage-over-time and damage buffs, then continuously cast Decompose at a target while your mages blast them with Shadow magic. Skeletal Defenders and Iron Golem can keep the pressure off you and your mages. If you're having trouble managing aggro, use Bone Golem instead for the taunt.

Main Aspects

• Frenzied Dead (2H Weapon): Minions gain attack speed every time they attack an enemy. Stacks up to three times.
• Reanimation (Ring): Minions deal more damage the longer they've stayed alive. Caps at 10 seconds.
• Occult Domination (Amulet): Summon more Skeletal Warriors and Mages
• Damned (Ring): Deal increased Shadow Damage to enemies afflicted by any Curse.

Out of all the Aspects, you should always have these equipped. Again, these are here to further improve the DPS of Shadow Mages. Use whatever else you have for the rest of your gear slots. To get the most out of this build, Temper your equipment to have bonus Skeletal Mage Damage.

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Overpowering Blood Surge Build

This build uses the many built-in Overpower passives in the Necromancer's Blood skills to disintegrate entire rooms full of monsters in a few Skill casts. Blood Surge is the star of this show, and every ounce of the following setups is designed to make it reliable in almost every situation.

Paranormal Blood Surge greatly increases the consistency of Overpower procs, and even more so with the Rathma's Vigor Key Passive. We take Acolyte's Hemorrhage for the increased attack speed and chance to form Blood Orbs, which will fuel Blood Surge and the Rathma's Vigor.

Skeleton Defenders will keep your enemies distracted while you build your Essence together with Cold Mages. With Acolyte's Hemorrhage and a sacrificed Bone Golem, your attack speed should be significantly increased, helping you generate more Essence for Blood Surge.

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Main Aspects

The following are the primary Aspects you should be using for this build. Use whatever else you have for your other equipment slots:

• Rathma's Chosen: When your Blood Skills Overpower, gain increased attack speed.
• Blood-bathed Aspect: Blood Surge's nova echoes again after a short delay, dealing reduced damage.
• Blood-boiling Aspect: When your Core Skills Overpower, spawn Volatile Blood Drops that explode when picked up. Every 20 seconds, your next Core Skill Overpowers.
• Aspect of the Expectant: After attacking with your Basic Skill, your next Core Skill deals up to 30% more damage.

Expectant is a staple Diablo 4 Offensive Aspect that's great for many builds, and if you pair it with guaranteed Overpower procs from passive skills and the Blood-boiling Aspect, you'll be able to clear hordes of enemies with a single button press. This build is particularly great for leveling via Helltides or the Kurast Undercity.

Sever Build

The following is an off-shoot of the Minion build above. This time, instead of relying solely on your Skeletons and Golems to deal damage, players will have a more active role by using the Sever Core Skill that's empowered to deal as much damage as possible over a larger area.

Affliction does a number of things. First, it makes you deal 15% more damage against enemies that are affected by Crowd Control, Vulnerable, or Shadow Damage Over Time effects. We can apply these via Sever, Cold Mages, Corpse Tendrils, and our Iron Golem's slam attacks. Second, it turns Iron Maiden into an AOE nuke when used on enemies affected by Affliction.

Main Aspects

Sever itself is an excellent damage skill, and when paired with minions, you'll be able to handle most enemies with ease, including large hordes and bosses. You can strengthen this build even further with the following core Aspects:

• Reaping Lotus (2H Weapon): Sever no longer returns. Instead, it splits into 3 specters that expand out and back from its apex.
• Damned (Amulet): You and your Minions deal increased Shadow Damage to enemies afflicted by any curse
• Occult Domination (Ring): Summon more Skeletal Warriors and Mages
• Grasping Veins (Ring): Gain increased Critical Strike Chance after using Corpse Tendrils. Additionally, deal more Critical Strike Damage when damaging enemies affected by Corpse Tendrils.

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Diablo 4

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9 /10

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Released

June 5, 2023

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SUBSCRIPTION

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DIGITAL

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Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info

ESRB

Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact

Developer(s)

Blizzard

Publisher(s)

Blizzard

Engine

Proprietary Engine

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op

Cross-Platform Play

All platforms

Cross Save

All platforms

Franchise

Diablo

Number of Players

1-2 players

Steam Deck Compatibility

Verified

Platform(s)

PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC

Genre(s)

Action RPG, Hack and Slash

How Long To Beat

26 Hours

X|S Optimized

Yes

PS Plus Availability

N/A

File Size Xbox Series

158.25 GB

Local Co-Op Support

1-2 players (console only)

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

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