Diablo 4 is an action RPG where the goal is to defeat Lilith, and there are plenty of ways you can build your character to do so. Out of all the classes, the Necromancer allows the player to build an army of the dead and use dark magic to fight through hordes of enemies.

There are many ways to build a Necromancer, but building around the many minions you can spawn and control can lead to quite a fun build. From the start of the game to the endgame, multiple skills allow a Necromancer to turn from a powerful mage into a horde master that turns bosses into mincemeat.

Necromancer Minion Build Skill Tree

Out of all the options each class has in its skill tree, some specific skills fit best if you want to build an undead army.

Basic Skills: Out of the first branch of options, the Basic skills that the skill tree offers, both Reap and Bone Splinters can get their uses. Enhanced Reap is usually the go-to for a build like this, but only put one skill point into whichever you choose and then another to get the improvement. Saving skill points for stronger things later is key for this build, especially since minions are very strong in the early game stage.

Core Skills: When the Core skills are unlocked, choose one of Sever or Blight and only put one skill point into them. Sever is strong for physical attackers, while the additional skill Paranormal Sever allows for the third cast to make enemies Vulnerable, and Blight is also strong as a ranged magic option, as the Supernatural Blight addition allows for your minions to do a lot of bonus damage to Blighted targets.

If you can't make a decision between the two, Supernatural Blight's minion damage bonus is usually the stronger option, but spamming the ability will lead to your essence disappearing fast, so use carefully.

Corpse and Macabre Skills: Down to the Corpse and Macabre skills, don't worry about the big shiny new abilities, and focus on the buffs. Skeletal Warrior Mastery just makes your warrior minions stronger, while Grim Harvest and Fueled By Death make future synergies even better. Feel free to throw in as many skill points as you wish for the harvesting skills, but make sure to fully upgrade the Warrior Mastery one.

Curse Skills: Unlocking the Curse Skills offers your newest key ability: Decrepify. It slows enemies and reduces their damage output for 10 seconds, but its essence cost is minuscule at 10. Max that curse skill out, and get the Abhorrent Decrepify skill to get a chance for reduced cooldown for all abilities when cursed enemies are hit. In the same branch, get the Skeletal Mage Mastery up to max for the same reason as the Warrior Mastery.

Ultimate Skills and Key Passives: Last but not least, the Ultimate skills and Key Passives. Army of the Dead is what you want, improved to Supreme. Then max out Golem Mastery, Inspiring Leader, and Hellbent Commander to add to your minions' power. Finally, get the Kalan's Edict passive to increase all your minions' attack speed and fill out the rest of your skills to your preference to complete your skill tree.

Here is a quick table of which skills you need for this build in order of how you unlock them:

Reap (1 point)

Enhanced Reap (1 point)

Sever or Blight (1 point)

Supernatural Blight (1 point)

Skeletal Warrior Mastery (max)

Grim Harvest (as many points as desired)

Fueled By Death (as many points as desired)

Decrepify (max)

Abhorrent Decrepify (1 point)

Skeletal Mage Mastery (max)

Corpse Tendrils (1 point)

Plague Corpse Tendrils (1 point)

Necrotic Carapace (max)

Army of the Dead (1 point)

Supreme Army of the Dead (1 point)

Golem Mastery (max)

Inspiring Leader (max)

Hellbent Commander (max)

Kalan's Edict (1 point)

Necromancer Minion Build Book of the Dead Choices

For a Necromancer, the Book of the Dead is how you can customize your minions' damage output, from shadow to ice or blood damage, and it is split into three sections that connect to a different type of minions: warriors, mages, and Golems. Then, each kind of minion has a choice of damage type from three choices, then a selection of one of three effects from each.

For this particular build, the best options are Reaper Warriors with the second effect (15% chance to form a corpse on attack), Shadow Mages with the first effect (3% increased damage for each Shadow Mage), and Blood Golem with the second effect (shared healing and more damage reduction).

Some other good choices include the Cold damage for Mages, as well as the Iron Golem for stuns.

Necromancer Minion Build Paragon List

After completing the Skill Tree, the only thing left to build and customize outside your inventory is how your Paragon Board get used. These paragon points are the post-level 50 ways of improving your build.

The way you incorporate Paragon Board is in a different kind of skill tree, and it is pretty flexible across all kinds of Necromancer builds. Long story short, look towards any benefits for Willpower, Intelligence, and Maximum Life, and when you access the Glyph Socket near the end of the board, the best Glyphs to use revolve around boosting your Golem or all of your minions.

Best Aspects for Necromancer Minion Build

Finally, we have which aspects fit best with the Necromancer Minion build. In Diablo 4, weapons, armor, and shields all have the chance to have aspects, which are unique buffs that usually pertain to specific classes.

Necromancer is no different, with plenty of useful aspects that can make specific builds stronger. For example, the character photo above has aspects on all of their equipment, which can be either collected through random loot or from destroying equipment and can also be redeemed through Diablo 4 Gold. with aspects at the Blacksmith and then adding them to items with the Occultist.

If you want to see which aspects you have available, go to the in-game menu and click Collections. The Codex of Power section will have a list of all the aspects that you have unlocked.

Whether through crafting or natural luck, some of the best aspects for this build include: Reanimation, Hardened Bones, Blood Getter, Grasping Veins, and Unyielding Commander. Each one offers significant boosts to the build, like Reanimation offering increased minion damage, or Unyielding Commander heavily improving the Army of the Dead ultimate ability.

Plus, there are Uber Unique items that players can very rarely get. Lots of them can work for almost any build, but the Harlequin Crest helm offers significant damage reduction and skill improvements that work particularly well with the minion build. Other great choices include Sacrilegious Soul, which automatically uses powerful Corpse abilities for you with no cost of Essence.

Conclusion

The Necromancer Minion build in Diablo 4 offers an engaging and powerful playstyle that lets you command an army of the dead to vanquish your foes. By carefully selecting and upgrading your skills, utilizing the Book of the Dead to customize your minions, and strategically choosing your Paragon points and aspects, you can create a formidable force that excels in both solo and group play. Happy hunting!

MMOexp Diablo 4 Team