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Mercenary Corpse Explosion Necromancer Guide

Season 8B

Last Updated:August 10, 2024|Change Log

One of the most powerful Skills in the game, Corpse Explosion is key to every successful Necromancer build. It is so powerful in fact that it can even stand alone, freeing up important gear slots for Magic Find. The Mercenary Corpse Explosion Necromancer is the most efficient Necromancer build for Solo Magic Finding (/Players1). It heavily relies on the strength of a well-equipped, damage-focused Mercenary, with Summons (e.g. Raise Skeleton and Revive) primarily used as meat shields. Using only your Mercenary, Amplify Damage, and Corpse Explosion to deal damage, the Mercenary Corpse Explosion Necromancer expertly targets Elite Packs, felling them with ease.

Especially with the use of Bone Break, all Farming Spots, including Terror Zones, are open to this setup. Two major drawbacks of this approach is that it is fairly terrible at Boss killing and it requires Enigma to be effective.

Ideal Standard Setup
Ideal Standard Setup

Corpse Explosion

Amplify Damage

Raise Skeleton

Teleport

This build guide assumes you have a Character at Level 75 before transitioning to it. Check out our Necromancer Leveling Guide and our General Leveling Strategies to reach Level 75.

Great Elite Hunter
Can Farm Any Area ✔
Fast-Paced Gameplay ✔
High Area Of Effect Damage ✔

❌ Requires Enigma
❌ Horrible Boss Killer
❌ Dangerous Playstyle

❌ Bad Early-Game Starter

Sunder Charm Setup

Patch 2.5 introduced a new way of breaking Immunities: Sunder Charms. Any enemy that would be Immune to your damage type is instead reduced to 95% Resistance, before any other Resistance reductions apply. These Charms also reduce YOUR Resistance against the sundered damage types! Check out our post on Sunder Charms to learn more about these new Charms. The following setup uses Bone Break, enabling you to deal more damage to enemies that are Immune to Physical.

Sunder Charm Setup
Sunder Charm Setup

Gear Changes

To optimize this Sunder Charm you need as much -% Enemy Physical Resistance as possible. Amplify Damage provides enough -% Enemy Physical Resistance to make Bone Break effective.

Counteract the negative effect Bone Break with % Damage Reduction gear such as Harlequin Crest, Crown of Ages, and Stormshield.

Terror Zones

The new Terror Zone mechanic combined with Sunder Charms open up a wide range of farmable areas. The following list highlights the best and worst Terror Zones for this build. With the Sunder Charm Setup, more Terror Zones become accessible. Learn more about Terror Zones here and see how they stack up in our Terror Zone Tier List.

Best

Pit - High Density, Easy Mobility, Many Elite Groups, Quick Access, No Immunities
Rocky Waste + Stony Tomb - High Density, Easy Mobility, Many Elite Groups, Quick Access, No Immunities
Ancient Tunnels - High Density, Easy Mobility, Many Elite Groups, No Immunities
Cold Plains + The Cave - Easy Mobility, Many Elite Groups, Quick Access
Spider Forest + Spider Cavern - Easy Mobility, Many Elite Groups, Quick Access

Worst

The Secret Cow Level - Slow Access, Few Elite Groups
Chaos Sanctuary - Tanky Enemies, High Physical Damage, High Elemental Damage, Boss, Immunities
Arreat Plateau + Pit of Acheron - Low Density, High Physical Damage, Immunities
Durance of Hate - Low Density, High Physical Damage, Boss
Ancients' Way + Icy Cellar - High Physical Damage, Monster Types, Immunities

Skills

Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Amplify Damage
2. Bone Armor
3. Revive
4. Iron Golem
5. Summon Resist

Put 10-15 Skill Points into the following Skill:
1. Golem Mastery

Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Corpse Explosion
2. Raise Skeleton
3. Skeleton Mastery
4. Bone Prison

Put all remaining Skill Points into Amplify Damage, Bone Armor, or Golem Mastery past Level 94.

Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression

Damage

Utility

Attributes

Note: This section provides you with the standard Stat Point allocation. Build Variants may require different allocations!

Strength

Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to equip all of your gear. Take into account how much Strength your gear provides when equipped.

Dexterity

Allocate enough Stat Points into Dexterity to equip all of your gear. Take into account how much Dexterity your gear provides when equipped.

Vitality

Allocate any remaining Stat Points into Vitality after meeting Strength, Dexterity and Energy requirements.

Energy

Don't allocate any Stat Points into Energy. This build gets enough Mana from gear, Charms, buffs, and Mana Potions. It also gets significant Mana Regeneration from an Insight Iron Golem.

Essentials

Gear Options

Farming Spots

Mercenary

Playstyle

Breakpoints

Hardcore

Build Variants

Standard
Mobility
Hardcore

Setup

This is the Standard Best in Slot (BiS) Mercenary Corpse Explosion Necromancer featured in the beginning of the guide. It is the balanced "jack-of-all-trades" version, capable of performing the most tasks well. This variant is the point of comparison for all other variants. It carefully balances + to Skills, Magic Find, and Teleport mobility. Bone Break increases your damage against monsters that are Immune to Physical. The Standard setup achieves the 75% Faster Cast Rate Breakpoint.

Mercenary

The Standard Mercenary Corpse Explosion Necromancer uses an Act 2 Might Mercenary with Breath of the Dying, Fortitude, and Guillaume's Face socketed with a Ruby Jewel of Fervor for maximum damage.

Skills

Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Amplify Damage
2. Bone Armor
3. Revive
4. Iron Golem
5. Summon Resist

Put 10-15 Skill Points into the following Skill:
1. Golem Mastery

Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Corpse Explosion
2. Raise Skeleton
3. Skeleton Mastery
4. Bone Prison

Put all remaining Skill Points into Amplify Damage, Bone Armor, or Golem Mastery past Level 94.

Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression

Attributes

Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to wear your gear. Put all remaining Stat Points into Vitality.

Setup

This variant achieves the 125% Faster Cast Rate Breakpoint for high Teleport mobility at the expense of Magic Find. It is more effective than the Standard Build in Farming Spots and Terror Zones that are difficult to access or that require a great deal of travel between Elite Packs. Spirit and a 20% Faster Cast Rate Circlet are the keys to this more specialized setup. Bone Break increases your damage against monsters that are Immune to Physical.

Mercenary

Just as with the Standard Build, the Mobility Mercenary Corpse Explosion Necromancer uses an Act 2 Might Mercenary with Breath of the Dying, Fortitude, and Guillaume's Face socketed with a Ruby Jewel of Fervor for maximum damage.

Skills

Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Amplify Damage
2. Bone Armor
3. Revive
4. Iron Golem
5. Summon Resist

Put 10-15 Skill Points into the following Skill:
1. Golem Mastery

Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Corpse Explosion
2. Raise Skeleton
3. Skeleton Mastery
4. Bone Prison

Put all remaining Skill Points into Amplify Damage, Bone Armor, or Golem Mastery past Level 94.

Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression

Attributes

Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to wear your gear. Put all remaining Stat Points into Vitality.

Setup

For the Hardcore mode variant, aim for high Damage Reduction and maximum Chance to Block (75%) to guard against taking extreme amounts of Physical Damage. Additionally, overcap Resistances beyond the natural cap of 75% if possible to counteract hostile Conviction or Lower Resist. If using Bone Break, stack additional Damage Reduction to counteract its negative effect. This variant reaches the 75% Faster Cast Rate Breakpoint. Consult the "Hardcore" section for more detailed information.

Mercenary

Just as with the Standard Build, the Hardcore Mercenary Corpse Explosion Necromancer uses an Act 2 Might Mercenary with Breath of the Dying, Fortitude, and Guillaume's Face socketed with a Ruby Jewel of Fervor for maximum damage.

Skills

Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Amplify Damage
2. Bone Armor
3. Revive
4. Iron Golem
5. Summon Resist

Put 10-15 Skill Points into the following Skill:
1. Golem Mastery

Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Corpse Explosion
2. Raise Skeleton
3. Skeleton Mastery
4. Bone Prison

Put all remaining Skill Points into Bone Armor past Level 94.

Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression

Attributes

Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to wear your gear and enough Stat Points into Dexterity to achieve maximum Chance to Block (75%). Put all remaining Stat Points into Vitality.

Video Guide

Video Guide by DarkHumility

Mechanics

Teleport

Corpse Explosion

Amplify Damage

Raise Skeleton

Revive

Bone Armor

Iron Golem

Summary

  • Amplify Damage into "Telestomping" with the Mercenary into Corpse Explosion vaporizes most Elite Packs in Solo Gameplay or /Players1 in Single Player.
  • A high damage Act 2 Might Mercenary using Breath of the Dying or Obedience one-shots most monsters, setting up a quick follow-up Corpse Explosion.
  • The combination of Bone Break and Amplify Damage allows the Mercenary Corpse Explosion Necromancer to deal with Physical Immune monsters with ease.
  • Stack as much Magic Find as possible on this build. The Mobility Build (see Build Variants) sacrifices some Magic Find to achieve the maximum 125% Faster Cast Rate Breakpoint.
  • The Mercenary Corpse Explosion Necromancer performs best in maximum area level Farming Spots and Terror Zones with high numbers of Elite Packs.

We hope you enjoy this build! Magic Find like a dynamite!

Good luck!

Credits

Written by DarkHumility
Original Post by BTNeandertha1
Reviewed by Teo1904

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