All five classes in Diablo 4 offer players a unique mechanic that helps to spice up their gameplay and build variety. While Sorcerers, Druids, and Rogues need to complete quests to unlock their unique class mechanic in Diablo 4, Barbarians and Necromancers are lucky in that they don't need to do anything except level up to get theirs.
Diablo 4: How To Respec
It's easy to refund skill points and respec to a new build in Diablo 4 – what is not as easy is how much gold respeccing can cost.
Necromancers' unique mechanic is the Book of the Dead, which details the three types of summons that the class can use. As Necromancers level up to Level 25, more skeletons become available, eventually culminating in a special quest to learn how to summon a Golem. But the Book of the Dead isn't just about summoning – it's also about sacrificing minions for personal power.
Updated October 23, 2024 by Erik Petrovich: In Diablo 4, the Book of the Dead is the unique Necromancer class feature that gives players significant control over their army of undead minions. For Necromancers, the Book of the Dead specifically lets you alter your three types of minion (Warrior, Mage, Golem) to give them new abilities, or sacrifice them entirely for enormous passive stat boosts. After several updates since the launch of Diablo 4, the Book of the Dead system still works essentially the it always has, but most of the specifics have been updated over the last six seasons. This guide to the Diablo 4 Necromancer Book of the Dead system has been updated to reflect the current stats and effects of each Spirit Boon in Diablo 4 Season 6.
How To Unlock the Book of the Dead
The Book of the Dead is one of the easiest class mechanics to unlock in Diablo 4 as it only has one requirement: reach Level 5. Upon reaching Level 5, players will be able to see their Book of the Dead one tab over from the Character/Inventory page. The main page has three categories: Skeletal Warriors, Skeletal Mages, and Golems.
When a Necromancer clicks on one of these categories, another screen comes up, this time with three sub-classes that are available for that type of summon. Upgrades for these sub-types, and additional sub-types, are earned automatically with each level until Level 25. At that point, players must learn how to summon a Golem via a unique questline called "Call of the Underworld" that brings the Necromancer back to the Shrine of Rathma in the Fractured Peaks to learn a new ritual.
Book of the Dead Overview: Minions, Buffs, and Requirements
Necromancer minions automatically inherit 30% of the player's stats, barring some exceptions. The three summons each have three sub-types, which have a short track of optional upgrades. Skeletal Warriors can become Skirmishers, Defenders or Reapers, while Skeletal Mages can adopt Shadow, Cold, or Bone abilities. Golems can become Bone, Blood, or Iron Golems, each of which unlocks after that initial questline.
Diablo 4: How To Unlock Season Blessings (& What They Do)
Season Blessings can be upgraded throughout Diablo 4 Season 4, granting strong Seasonal bonuses through its unique Smoldering Ashes system.
Minions and summons are a core part of the Necromancer class identity, but they don't necessarily need to be summoned to provide a benefit to the player. Players can choose to sacrifice their ability to summon minions in exchange for personal power, too.
To summon minions as a Necromancer, though, the ability must be slotted onto the player's ability bar. This cuts out three of the possible six slots, so players who aren't going for a summoning-centric build could probably stand to cut out one or two of these minions and take a sacrifice passive instead.
Though every class has received significant updates since the launch of Diablo 4, especially with the Vessel of Hatred DLC, the Necromancer's Book of the Dead still essentially works the same way it always has. However, the specific effects and stats of Book of the Dead skills have changed over time. The Book of the Dead skills below are current for Season 6 and Vessel of Hatred.
Skeletal Warriors Specs and Upgrades
-
Skeletal Skirmishers: Deals +30% damage, but has -15% Life
- Option 1: Gain +1 Max Skeletal Skirmisher that can be summoned at once
- Option 2: Player's Crits cause Skirmishers to Crit on their next hit with 50% extra damage.
- Sacrifice Ability: Sacrifice the Skeletal Reapers to gain to increase your Crit Chance by 10%
-
Skeletal Defenders: Gains +15% Life
- Option 1: Your Skeletal Defenders Taunt nearby enemies every 6 sec
- Option 2: Skeletal Defenders take 99% less damage
- Sacrifice Abilit y: Sacrifice the Skeletal Defenders to gain +25% Non-Physical resistance
-
Skeletal Reapers: Can deal a wide AoE power attack every 10 sec
- Option 1: Skeletal Reaper's wind-up attack reduces one of your Cooldowns by 3 sec
- Option 2: +15% chance to form a corpse on hit
- Sacrifice Ability: Sacrifice the Skeletal Reapers to gain +25% Shadow damage
Diablo 4: How To Unlock Torment 1 Difficulty
Prioritize unlocking Torment 1 difficulty in Diablo 4 to get the best chance at high-tier loot and boost your Gold and XP gains.
Skeletal Mages Specs and Upgrades
-
Shadow Mages: Cast Shadow Bolts, dealing Shadow damage
- Option 1: +10% chance to Stun
- Option 2: Extra Shadow bolt every five bolts
- Sacrifice Ability: Sacrifice the Shadow Mages to gain +15 to Max Essence
-
Cold Mages: Deals Cold damage and builds Chill and Freeze on enemies
- Option 1: Damage dealt by Cold Mages regenerates 3 of your Essence
- Option 2: Cold Mage attacks also make enemies Vulnerable for 4 sec
- Sacrifice Ability: Sacrifice the Cold Mages to gain +20% Vulnerable damage
-
Bone Mages: Launch themselves at enemies for enormous damage at the cost of Life
- Option 1: Bone Mages cast Bone Splinters or Bone Spear every 6 attacks, if slotted
- Option 2: Bone Mage attacks grant 3% Fortify, and when your Bone Mages die, they create a Corpse
- Sacrifice Ability: Sacrifice the Bone Mages to gain +30% Overpower damage
Golem Specs and Upgrades
-
Bone Golem: Can be Activated to Taunt enemies to attack it
- Option 1: Activating the Golem creates 5x Corpses
- Option 2: Every 3 sec, if the Bone Golem takes damage, it casts empowered Bone Spikes (extra damage and causes Vulnerable)
- Sacrifice Ability: Sacrifice the Bone Golem to gain +15% Attack Speed
-
Blood Golem: Can be Activated to Heal itself by drawing Life from nearby enemies
- Option 1: 30% of player damage is transferred to the Blood Golem
- Option 2: Healthy Blood Golems gain 25% damage negation and 50% boosted damage. When it Heals itself, you also heal for 5% max Life for each Enemy.
- Sacrifice Ability: Sacrifice the Blood Golem to gain +20% Max Health
-
Iron Golem: Can be Activated to do a Slam attack that Stuns enemies
- Option 1: Every other attack creates a Shockwave dealing empowered damage in the surrounding area
- Option 2: Iron Golem attacks pull in enemies automatically
- Sacrifice Ability: Sacrifice the Iron Golem to gain +35% Crit Damage
Diablo 4
- Released
- June 5, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Blizzard
- Franchise
- Diablo
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Hack and Slash
