Blizzard EntertainmentThe Necromancer is at the top of the meta in Season 7 of Diablo 4 with the Minion build, so here’s how to assemble it after Vessel of Hatred.
The Minion Necro build involves the Necromancer doing what they do best – summoning the dead and pitting them against the forces of Hell. As the Necromancer is a top-tier class this season, knowing how to build it and optimize the build for endgame, giving you the best skills, items, Aspects, and Glyphs to target on your journey this season.
Here’s how to craft the best Minion Necromancer in Diablo 4 – the most legendary Necromancer build in the entire franchise.
Blizzard EntertainmentBest Minion Necromancer skills
To assemble the Minion Necromancer build, allocate this many points on these active skills:
| Active Skill | Upgrades | Points allocated |
|---|---|---|
| Reap | – | 1 |
| Decompose | – | 1 |
| Blood Mist | Enhanced, Ghastly | 2 |
| Decrepify | Enhanced, Abhorent | 5 |
| Corpse Tendrils | Enhanced, Plagued | 1 |
| Army of the Dead | Enhanced, Supreme | 1 |
Also, allocate this many points on these passive skills:
| Passive Skill | Points |
|---|---|
| Unliving Energy | 1 |
| Hewed Flesh | 3 |
| Grim Harvest | 2 |
| Fueled by Death | 3 |
| Skeleton Warrior Mastery | 3 |
| Amplify Damage | 3 |
| Death’s Approach | 3 |
| Skeletal Mage Mastery | 3 |
| Reaper’s Pursuit | 1 |
| Gloom | 1 |
| Necrotic Carapace | 3 |
| Terror | 3 |
| Golem Mastery | 3 |
| Inspiring Leader | 3 |
| Kalan’s Edict | 1 |
When you start a new character, if you’re a returning player, you’ll likely have lots of skill points ready to assign from your Renown or by being boosted to level 60 from the start.
But if you’re a new player, you’ll need to start from scratch. The good news is you’ll be able to hit level 60 very quickly in the post-Vessel of Hatred version of Diablo 4.
Below, we’ve detailed how many skill points you’ll need to assign to each passive and active skill using your leveling and Renown points.
You may find yourself needing to select other skills to progress across the skill tree. That’s okay, just respec to the ones included in the build once you’re able. Who knows, you may create a custom build that suits your needs better.
Best Book of the Dead setup
Set your Book of the Dead options to the following:
- Skeletal Warriors – Reapers
- Skeletal Mages – Shadow
- Golems – Blood
This is the best setup for a pure Minions build and the Shadow damage from your Skeletons will also buff your own Shadow damage. Your Blood Golem will also provide you with some added defense if things get hairy.
While a Minions build always makes the Necromancer using it somewhat of a glass cannon, these above options will make you more powerful, balancing our the sacrifice you make by spending so many points on Minion skills.
Blizzard EntertainmentBest Minion Necromancer skill rotation
Use the following skill rotation when approaching mobs and elites in battle:
- Summon Minions
- Decreptify
- Army of the Dead
- Corpse Tendrils
- Blood Mist
- Reap / Decompose
The rotation of attacks involves first casting Decreptify to slow enemies, (your minions will likely already be there), then hitting a mob with your ultimate skill, Army of the Dead. This will likely kill many of them, so next you’ll cast Corpse Tendrils to stun and poison the weakened survivors – and to maximize corpse generation.
From here, your minions will engage the slow, stunned, and weak mob while you cast Blood Mist or Decompose. Alternatively, you can race into the fray and hack enemies apart with Reap until they’re all dead.
Powers of Witchcraft
Season 7 adds Witch Powers to give each character a boost and something new to do this season. While all Witch Powers are beneficial, some are more suited to certain classes and builds.
For this build, choose the following Witch Powers:
- Hex of Whispers – Deal extra shadow damage.
- Aura of Siphoning – Casts an aura that heals you.
- Grow – After casting your ultimate skill your minions will grow in size and become more powerful.
- Soul Harvest – Sucks the life from nearby enemies.
- Hex of Shattering – Provides damage reduction.
Powers of Witchcraft may disappear after Season 7, but they could return in another form like Vampire Powers and Malignant Hearts did.
Best Occult Gems
Here are the best Occult Gems for this build:
- Dust Stone – Buffs damage.
- Friend of the Bog – Boosts skill damage, armor, resistances and health.
- Pointed Finger – Boosts minion damage.
Best Legendary Aspects
Legendary Aspects can boost your build and add special powers to buff your primary skills. Here are the ones you need and where to find them:
| Aspect | Power | Dungeon | Region | Gamble Obols |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reanimation | Increased minion damage | Aldurwood | Scosglen | – |
| Grasping Veins | Increased critical strike chance for Corpse Tendrils | Corrupted Grotto | Kehjistan | – |
| Unyielding Commander’s | Increased minion damage | Faceless Shrine | Hawezar | – |
| Blood-bathed | Duplicates Blood Surge Nova | Hoarfrost Demise | Fractured Peaks | – |
| Disobedience | Boosts defense based on your minion damage output | Halls of the Damned | Kehjistan | – |
| Frenzied Dead | Boosts minion damage and speed | – | – | Offhand |
| Occult Domination | Increases number of Skeleton Warriors by 2 | – | – | Boots |
| Blood Getter’s | Skeletal Priest now empowers you by an extra 55-77% | – | – | Boots |
| Hardened Bones | You and your minions get damage reduction | – | – | Pants |
| Aphotic | Skeletal Priest empowers Skeleton Warriors by an extra 20% | – | – | Boots |
| Metamorphosis | Evade triggers Unstoppable for 2.5 seconds | – | – | Boots |
Remember, you can also strip these Aspects from their original item and apply them to an item of your choosing.
Best Paragon Glyphs
Once you reach level 60 you’ll stop earning skills points and start earning Paragon points instead. This leveling system works very differently and involves you selecting updates from various boards with different themes and buffs.
Every path is different, but the good news is that by targeting different Glyphs as you move around the Paragon Board, you’ll start buffing your Minion Necro in the ways that matter most to the build.
Blizzard EntertainmentSee below to see which Glyphs you should target first.
Level 15
- Golem
- Corporeal
- Exploit
- Essence
- Deadraiser
- Amplify
- Control
Level 21
- Golem
- Essence
- Exploit
- Control
- Deadraiser
- Corporeal
- Amplify
Once you reach Paragon Level 15, work your way towards the above Glyphs. You’ll also unlock more across the Paragon Board as you earn more points, but selecting these particular Glyphs in this order will keep you on the best possible path for the Minion Necro build.
Best Mercenaries
As you’ve already got a small army to fight alongside you against the forces of Hell, you’ll benefit more from support Mercs than those who run into melee alongside your minions. We’d recommend bringing Aldkin as your Primary Mercenary and set his skills to Shadow Damage.
This way, he’ll blast enemies from afar, making them vulnerable and easier for you and your minions to take down. His Shadow path also buffs your Shadow damage, making him useful in two ways.
Select Raheir as your reinforcement merc. His defensive buffs will help keep you alive should you get caught by a mob. He can also do decent damage to enemies.
Blizzard EntertainmentBest endgame weapons, armor & socket
Here’s the best gear you should hunt down for the Minion Necromancer build, including the best socket to use:
| Item | Socket | Item type | Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runic Skullcap of Hardened Bones | Ruby for extra life | Helm | Increased minion damage |
| Runic Mail of Occult Domination | Ruby for extra life | Chest Armor | Increased Skeleton Warriors by 2 |
| Runic Gloves of Reanimation | Ruby for extra life | Gloves | Increased minion damage |
| Blood Getter’s Runic Leggings | Ruby for extra life | Pants | Increased Skeleton Priest damage |
| Aphotic Runic Cleats | Ruby for extra life | Boots | Increased Skeleton Priest damage |
| Unyielding Commander’s Sparr | Emeralds for poison damage | Main Hand | Army of the Dead increases minion damage |
| – | – | Offhand | – |
| Nazar of the Great Feast | Diamond for extra attack power | Amulet | Increased minion damage |
| Circle of the Grasping Veins | Diamond for extra attack power | Ring 1 | Increased minion critical hit rate |
| Circle of Frenzied Dead | Diamond for extra attack power | Ring 2 | Increased minion attack speed |
Alternative to Necromancer Minion build for PvP
The Minion Necro isn’t recommended for PvP, and while it’s fantastic in PvE, we’d recommend using the Bone Spirit or Bone Spear build instead, sacrificing your minions and turning your Necromancer into a one-person army.
It’s not suited to PvP play as most players will treat your minions like normal enemies, or elites at best, and will take them down just as quickly, leaving you alone and vulnerable in battle.
If you’re set on taking this build into battle against other players, though, we’d suggest sticking to our endgame version for the best results.
Now that you know how to craft this top-tier Necromancer build, make sure to check out our guides for the Druid, Sorcerer, Rogue, Barbarian, and Spirtiborn.
