Necromancer summoner lets you live your best Solo Leveling life in Diablo IV

Necromancer summoner builds may not be the strongest or best in Diablo IV (D4), but they are fun. While originally one of the weakest sides of the class when the game was released, some much-needed buffs helped it along the way. Now, Necromancer is one of the strongest classes, and summoner builds can easily work in the endgame.

Necromancer summoner builds in D4, also known as minion builds, are easy to play. In fact, once a player has the correct gear, the builds can almost play themselves. Even with the artificial intelligence (AI) of the minions being a bit clunky and overly aggressive at times.

Below, we will look at why the summoner Necromancer build is a strong contender for new D4 players, how it works, and just what you will need to get started.

However, it must be noted that much of this will change in Season 8 on April 29.

As mentioned previously, Necromancer in D4 started on the wrong foot. Originally, players wished for the class to be similar to its predecessor, Diablo 3. Over time, Blizzard changed things, opening up the class in D4. Now, with Seasonal Powers and without, the class thrives through blood, shadow, and bone.

Necromancer summoner builds in D4 rely on their skeletal army to do the brunt of the work. With Skeletal Reapers, Mages, and a Golem to carry them through the game. These are empowered through different choices the player makes, which can include sacrificing the minions altogether for some buffs.

In D4, your minions all gain 100% of any stats or buffs that your character gains. To supplement the damage of your minions, you will use a few skills.

While your minions do the work, the player can utilize these skills to increase their damage output. Blight functions as a damage amplifier while also activating the buffs and debuffs from Decrepify through the Rune system. These Runes are discussed further down.

Next up is Corpse Tendrils, which grabs mobs into a tight area for huge Area of Effect (AoE) damage. Tendrils are also great to keep bosses staggered and for Blood Orb healing.

Soulrift is a new Ultimate talent that was added in Vessel of Hatred. This talent brings everything together by keeping the Necromancer alive through barriers and resource generation.

Another skill that players will pick up is the highly defensive Blood Mist. This, being the only defense for the summoner Necromancer build, ensures that you have a quick escape from dire situations.

Players should also watch the health of their minions and utilize their Raise Skeleton skill whenever possible to refresh their summons and buff them, too.

Tied into Raise Skeleton is the Book of the Dead. This feature allows Necromancers to control how their minions function. Each different summon has three variations, and a further two possible choices beyond that, with a third choice to sacrifice them and gain some huge buffs. You can see below exactly how to set up your Book of the Dead, sacrificing only your Iron Golem.

These talents assume that you are level 60 (maximum level), with all extra Renown points unlocked in each zone for a total of 71 points.

Summoner Necromancer works perfectly with two Unique items and three different Ancestral Mythic items. These items are not extremely difficult to obtain and can be either farmed by focusing on certain “uber-bosses” or crafted with various materials.

There are four main aspects that the summoner Necromancer build requires in D4, but only one can be targeted.

The best way to acquire the rest of the aspects is through Murmuring Obol gambling or simply just farming through the Helltides. To get these, if a player has acquired an item with the relevant aspect, they can head to any Occultist in town and extract the power, adding it to their codex. Aspects are also granted through completion of the “seasonal journey” tiers, which are generally fairly quick for the first few.

When the D4 expansion, Vessel of Hatred, arrived in October 2024, Blizzard renewed a mechanic from Diablo 2 – Runewords. Combining two Runes – one of Ritual and one of Invocation, you can create a powerful ability that works as a passive. For summoner Necromancer builds, players preferred the following setup:

With Season 7, Witchcraft Powers and Occult Gems empowered every single class and build in D4. The summoner Necromancer utilized a few of these, which functioned extremely well together with its skills and minions. However, since Season 7 is almost at an end, these are no longer viable to delve into.

The above is just the basics, as Paragon levels and Glyphs will further empower you as you progress further and further in the endgame. Although this build is powerful, there are also many variations and different ways for it to be played. The best part of any action role-playing game (ARPG) is experimenting and finding out what suits you. Seasonal content in APRGs means that they are constantly evolving.

Season 8 is just around the corner, beginning on April 29. With it, Necromancer summoner builds could become even more powerful as we explore boss powers. However, the apparent slower pace and harder difficulty curve could also plunge the minions into the depths of hell. Unfortunately, we will not know until the patch goes live.

As it stands, the summoner Necromancer in D4 is not the absolute strongest build. However, it is a fun style of gameplay that allows people to sit back, relax, and let a few skeletons do the work. For those looking for a more chilled class to play and not pushing the upper echelons of Pit Farming, summoner Necromancer could be the best choice for you.

We will revisit the Necromancer summoner build for D4 in the coming weeks once Season 8 launches, so stay tuned to esports.gg.