The Necromancer of Diablo 4 holds sway over the forces that control Life and Death, being able to use blood, bones, and even shadow to eliminate their opponents. Considered as one of the most technical Classes in Diablo 4, players can have their Necromancer fight by siphoning the life of enemies, impaling them through bone, engulfing them with darkness, or be represented by their skeletal thralls.
The myriad of options at a Necromancer’s disposal can make leveling up in the Diablo game rather stressful for new players. However, players who take a good look at the Necromancer’s Paragon Board may discover certain Rare Nodes that may work precisely for their needs.
Updated September 11, 2023, by Rhenn Taguiam: Since the release of Season 1 in Diablo 4, the Sever Necromancer remains one of the most popular builds associated with the lore’s master of life and death. With Patch 1.1.3 making the endgame content more palatable for hardcore fans, players have more incentive to experiment with the full offerings of this rather technical Class.
However, players may soon realize that focusing on the right Paragon Nodes can lead them to effective builds. In this regard, certain Paragon Nodes may be surprisingly effective in a player’s setup. Certain Nodes to consider include ones that improve Maximum Health and DOT Reduction, extra damage on certain conditions, and even improved critical strike damage.
15 Tenacity (Bone Graft)
- +4% Maximum Life, +100 Armor
- Bonus: +4% Maximum Life at 250 Willpower
Sometimes, the best upgrades for a character in Diablo 4 are the simplest ones. This is the case with Tenacity, providing a straightforward +4% Maximum Life and +100 Armor. Despite the minuscule nature of the buff, Tenacity is practical enough for a Necromancer to obtain in order to boost their base survivability.
The +8% Maximum Life buff at 250 Willpower seems small at first. However, knowing that Necromancers heal more with their Blood Orbs can incentivize pulverizing through mobs for emergency heals. Moreover, the +100 Armor provides much-needed base defense, ensuring the Necromancer can at least outlive Elites at higher difficulties.
14 Suffused Resilience (Bloodbath)
- +6.5% Damage Over Time Reduction, 4% Resistance To All Elements
- Bonus: +4% Resistance To All Elements at 260 Willpower
Resistances are a crucial part of defenses in Diablo 4. Many Classes rely on various Elements to deal damage and inflict status conditions. With Suffused Resilience, the Necromancer can gain up to 8% Resistance To All Elements, giving them an edge against elemental specialists such as the Sorcerer and the Druid.
However, Suffused Resilience's primary effect makes it worth the grabL a 6.5% reduction to damage-over-time that the user receives. With debilitating DOT statuses such as Bleed, the Rogue’s Poison Imbuement, or the Sorcerer’s Burn, Suffused Resilience drastically increases the Necromancer’s odds of survival.
13 Deathmarked (Scent Of Death)
- +25% Damage To Injured Enemies, +10 Intelligence
- Bonus: +25% Damage To Injured Enemies at 270 Willpower
Unlike other status conditions that proc based on certain parameters, all creatures are classified as Injured when they reach 35% health or lower. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean they deal less damage. The only way to maximize fighting an Injured enemy is to kill it as soon as possible. Deathmarked makes this process easier.
With this Rare Node, a Necromancer gets up to +50% Damage boosts against Injured enemies. Considering the glass cannon nature of Necromancers, Deathmarked can give them a significant DPS boost. This is especially true when a Blood Orb from an eliminated enemy could provide much-needed healing.
12 Corrective (Scent Of Death)
- +15% Critical Strike Damage, +4% Potion Healing
- Bonus: +15% Critical Strike Damage at 270 Willpower
Thanks to Blood Orbs, Necromancers of Diablo 4 might not have a dire need of Potions. At first glance, this realization can make Corrective quite an average Rare Node. However, Corrective shines as through its primary effect, which grants the Necromancer up to an additional 30% Critical Strike Damage.
At 270 Willpower, the whopping 30% boost to Critical Strike Damage can incentivize heavy-damage plays, especially with kits that emphasize crits. The Corrective Node makes popular PVP builds such as the Blood Necromancer or the Bone Spear Necromancer must-haves.
11 Blood-Empowered (Blood Begets Blood)
- +10% Damage for 4 Seconds after picking up a Blood Orb, +10 Intelligence
- Bonus: +10% Damage for 4 Seconds after picking up a Blood Orb at 270 Dexterity
Given their mastery over life and death, Necromancers in Diablo lore are often feared for their uncanny abilities. In Diablo 4, key to their mastery are Blood Orbs. This Class exclusive summons crimson spheres from enemies that heal the Necromancer a set amount of HP upon pickup. With Blood-Empowered, they also give the Necromancer also gets a +10% Damage buff for 4 seconds.
The extra 10% Damage at 270 Dexterity gives the Necromancer a whopping 20% Damage buff whenever they get a Blood Orb. This gives the Class a significant DPS boost, making this Rare Node compatible for both PVE and PVP setups.
10 Prime (Basic Board)
- +10% Damage, +4% Maximum Life
- Bonus: +10% Damage at 160 Willpower
The Necromancer shares the Prime Rare Node as a common element with fellow Diablo 4 Classes Rogue and Druid, giving them access to extra damage and maximum Life. This Rare Node is a must-have in the early-to-mid game, regardless of the Necromancer build.
The Prime Node shines in its synergy with other Paragon Board elements. For instance, Thick Hide (Bloodbath) is a decent Prime upgrade, providing another 4% to Max Life and 10% Damage while Fortified. Attaching Territorial (Glyph) to the board this early can boost the Necromancer’s damage to close targets by 1.9% (per Dexterity Node) and a hefty 10% Damage Reduction against said enemies (at 5 Dexterity Nodes).
9 Invigorated (Blood Begets Blood)
- +10% Damage for 4 Seconds after picking a Blood Orb, +12.5% Damage while Healthy
- Bonus: +10% Damage for 4 Seconds after picking up a Blood Orb at 260 Willpower, 350 Intelligence
Across all variants of the Necromancer in Diablo 4, the Blood Necromancer is one of the most PVP-compatible aggressive builds. With the Invigorated Rare Node, Blood Necromancers get more damage when picking up Blood Orbs and being Healthy. This synergizes with Blood Begets Blood (Legendary Node) which can grant up to a 5-second 15% damage boost when picking up a Blood Orb.
With Blood Orb pickups being an integral part of the Blood Necromancer’s gameplay, Invigorated can also work well with another pickup Rare Node: Blood-Empowered. This Node provides +10% Damage for 4 seconds upon acquiring a Blood Orb on top of +10 Intelligence, the latter of which can further improve the Necromancer’s overall Resistances.
8 Vampiric (Blood Begets Blood)
- +4% Maximum Life, +5% Blood Orb Healing
- Bonus: +5% Blood Orb Healing at 250 Willpower
Even efficient PVP builds like the Blood Necromancer or the Bone Spear Necromancer become useless when enemies get to outpace their defenses. Thanks to Vampiric, players can get more out of their recovery through Blood Orbs on top of bolstering their overall Life.
When paired with another Orb-healing booster such as Blooddrinker (Blood Begets Blood), which also adds +10 Intelligence, Necromancer can get more potent healing even in the middle of combat. To ensure maximum survivability, Recuperate adds +4% to Potion Healing and +10 Life Regeneration when not damaged recently.
7 Thick Hide (Bloodbath)
- +4% Maximum Life, +10% Damage while Fortified
- Bonus: +10% Damage while Fortified at 260 Willpower, 350 Intelligence
Thanks to Fortify, players at lower Life can protect themselves through a skill that absorbs damage. The Blood Necromancer can Fortify themselves using Blood skills (Drain Vitality) or creating Corpses (Necrotic Carapace), providing much-needed defenses for their frail builds. However, unlocking the Thick Hide Rare Node can reinvigorate the Necromancer’s offensive when they get their Fortification courtesy of added damage.
Players who enjoy this type of gameplay can synergize Thick Hide with other Nodes. These enhance damage at Fortify while adding benefits, such as +10 Intelligence (Hardened) and +65% Fortify Generation (Guarded Advance). It may also work with Tenacity (Bone Graft), which adds the same maximum Life on top of +100 Armor.
6 Powerhouse (Bloodbath)
- +30% Overpower Damage, +12.5% Damage while Healthy
- Bonus: +12.5% Damage while Healthy at 270 Willpower
The Necromancer’s constant access to Fortify opportunities (Drain Vitality, Necrotic Carapace) makes them fit for abusing the extra damage from Overpowered attacks. Such is the nature of the Powerhouse Rare Node, with which players can enjoy additional DPS while healthy and get more Overpower damage when they proc them.
This Node works well with the rest of the Bloodbath Board. The core Bloodbath (Legendary) Node gives a whopping 50% Overpower damage boost to guaranteed Overpowers (e.g., Rathma’s Vigor, Blood Lance, Blood Surge). Synergies with this Node also happen with Aggression (Blood Begets Blood), which provides +30% Overpower Damage on top of a base +10% Damage increase. When used properly, Powerhouse can be the tool a PVP Necromancer needs to dominate the competition.