The Necromancer is known for his knowledge of corpses. Using dark magic, he can summon Skeletons, Golems, and even Revive the dead to fight by his side. But bones won't only be used for Skeletons, other offensive and defensive abilities use them too. What would be the master of death without waves of Poison and Curses? These are of course also in his wheelhouse.
Corpse Explosion is the ultimate Area of Effect (AOE) clearing ability, basically being used in every build available. After initial targets are killed, this Skill starts a domino effect of explosions, blowing up screen-worth of monsters in no time.
The best early game option is Bone Spear in combination with Corpse Explosion. Due to the Runeword White, up to +8 to Bone Spear is possible, creating a powerful Magic Damage sniping ability. After a few monsters have been killed, it is time to let Corpse Explosion unleash its destructive power.
With medium to high end gear, the Summon Necromancer's army becomes a scary sight for your enemies. Its power spike comes with the inclusion of Enigma, granting the ability to teleport the whole army on top of an enemy. Early on his army feels extremely weak, especially when facing Act bosses.
Poison Nova is a powerful AOE-clear ability, commonly used in combination with Corpse Explosion. While powerful in the end game, this combination is not recommended for the early to mid game.
Due to the lack of a native mobility Skill, the Necromancer is rather slow compared to other Characters until he gains access to Teleport through items such as Enigma. His great Cast Rate allows him to make up some ground when teleporting around.
Attributes
Every Character has the Attributes Strength, Dexterity, Vitality and Energy. At maximum Level, a Character has access to 505 Stat Points which can be allocated into the Attributes. While Vitality only affects the Life pool and Energy only affects the Mana pool of your Character, Strength and Dexterity have additional uses:
Strength: Generally, Stat Points are only allocated to this Attribute to wear your gear, however, Strength has an additional use: it increases the Physical Damage portion of melee attacks.
Dexterity: Generally, Stat Points are only allocated to this Attribute to wear your gear, however, Dexterity has 4 additional uses:
It increases the % Chance to Block up to 75 while using a Shield.
The Attack Rating of every attack is increased, improving the Chance to hit your target.
Every 4th Stat Point into Dexterity increases the base Defense of the Character by 1.
On ranged builds, Dexterity increased the Physical Damage portion of your attacks.
Starting Attributes of the Necromancer
Strength
Dexterity
Vitality
Energy
15
25
15
25
Base
per Level
per Stat Point
Life
45
+1.5
+2 per Vitality
Stamina
79
+1
+1 per Vitality
Mana
25
+2
+2 per Energy
Breakpoints
Breakpoints are an integral way to improve your Character's performance. For in-depth explanations on them, please check out our article on Breakpoints.
Attack Rate
Due to his Skill set, Attack Speed is a Breakpoint the Necromancer doesn't care about.
Block Rate
When using a Shield, the Necromancer has a % Chance to Block. When successfully blocking, he enters a block animation. Increasing your +% Faster Block Rate decreases the time your Necromancer needs to execute it.
Faster Block Rate
0
6
13
20
32
52
86
Block Frames
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
Cast Rate
The Necromancer's Cast Rate determines the rate at which he can use spells. Increasing your +% Faster Cast Rate decreases the time required for a cast. The Action Flag determines at which Frame the used Skill is actually triggered.
Normal:
Faster Cast Rate
0
9
18
30
48
75
125
Cast Frames
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
Action Flags
8
7
6
5
Vampire Form:
Faster Cast Rate
0
6
11
18
24
35
48
65
86
120
180
Cast Frames
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
Action Flags
5
4
3
Hit Recovery Rate
When being hit, there is a chance that you get stunned. Increasing your +% Faster Hit Recovery decreases the time your Necromancer needs to recover from this stun.
Normal:
Faster Hit Recovery
0
5
10
16
26
39
56
86
152
377
Hit Recovery Frames
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
Vampire Form:
Faster Hit Recovery
0
2
6
10
16
24
34
48
72
117
208
Hit Recovery Frames
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
Skill Trees
Structure Every Character has 3 Skill Trees to allocate their Skill Points into. Each Skill Tree consists of a total of 10 Skills, and you can assign a maximum of 20 points per Skill. These Skills are placed into 6 rows, which represent the 6 Skill tiers. While tier 1 is available at Character Level (clvl) 1, the other tiers become available at clvl 6, 12, 18, 24, and 30.
Skill Points Every Character gains access to 110 Skill Points (98 from Levels and 12 from quests).
Prerequisites Not every Skill is available right away. The arrows on the Skill Tree show the prerequisites needed to obtain skills further down the Tree. Example: You have to put a Skill Point into Clay Golem and Golem Mastery to gain access to Summon Resist.
Synergies A lot of Skills have Synergies, which are Skills that passively boost the strength of another Skill. The main Skill shows how much a Synergy increases its power per Skill Point allocated into it. Example: The base Magic Damage of Bone Spear is increased by a summed up multiplier which increases by 7% for each Skill Point allocated into Teeth, Bone Wall, Bone Prison, and Bone Spirit.
Build Guides
The Necromancer has a variety of builds to choose from:
Trang-Oul's Avatar is the Elite Set, which was exclusively designed for the Necromancer. Giving the Necromancer the ability to transform into a Vampire, this Set aims to add primary Fire Skills they use to his arsenal. Long term, this Set gets out scaled by setups that focus on a combination of Uniques and Runewords.
Character Specific Gear
Every Character has exclusive items that only it can use. For the Necromancer, these are Voodoo Head Shields. They can spawn with 0-3 "Staff mods" with the range of +1-3 to the Skills added by the Staff mods. In addition to the Voodoo Heads, the Necromancer benefits from Staff mods on the non Character specific Weapon type "Wand".
Base Items
Wands
Normal
Wand
Yew Wand
Bone Wand
Grim Wand
Exceptional
Burnt Wand
Petrified Wand
Tomb Wand
Grave Wand
Elite
Polished Wand
Ghost Wand
Lich Wand
Unearthed Wand
Voodoo Heads
Normal
Preserved Head
Zombie Head
Unraveller Head
Gargoyle Head
Demon Head
Exceptional
Mummified Trophy
Fetish Trophy
Sexton Trophy
Cantor Trophy
Hierophant Trophy
Elite
Minion Skull
Overseer Skull
Hellspawn Skull
Succubus Skull
Bloodlord Skull
Set and Unique Items
Wands
Normal
Torch of Iro
Maelstrom
Gravenspine
Ume's Lament
Sander's Superstition
Infernal Torch
Exceptional
Suicide Branch
Carin Shard
Arm of King Leoric
Blackhand Key
Elite
Bone Shade
Death's Web
Voodoo Heads
Exceptional
Homunculus
Trang-Oul's Wing
Elite
Darkforce Spawn
Boneflame
Lore & In-Game dialogue
In this section you will find the lore of the Necromancers as well as the in-game dialogue he uses while travelling through Sanctuary.
Lore
As might be expected, the devotees of magic are a segregated lot. They are as leery of students of rival disciplines as a layperson is of all arcane practitioners. None, however, are so widely maligned and misunderstood as the Priests of Rathma. As with most users of magic, the priests of the cult of Rathma hail from the far Eastern jungles. They reside in a vast underground city located deep within those jungles. Their specific geographical locale is particularly secluded, however, preventing their assimilation into a formal mage clan. But it is this same isolation that allowed them to pursue their distinct kind of arcane science. For it is through the teachings of Rathma, as well as through years of research and physical experimentation, that these men have come to understand and hold sacred the delicate balance of life and death and are able to twist the line that borders the two. For although the minions of Hell have long possessed this power, among mortals the knowledge to reanimate and control the dead belongs to these priests alone. It is this practice that has lead outsiders to refer to them as Necromancers. They truly comprehend the balance of all things, and understand and accept their place in what they refer to as the Great Cycle of Being. Their culture has subsisted in the shadow of the great mage clans from the earliest days, and in most ways their practice reaches back to a time before magic was formalized into strict disciplines. Although their art is considered "dark," and the people of the outside world shun the priests who practice these arts, these mysterious cultists never suffered the epidemic of corruption that plagued the ancient Mage Clans. Pragmatists in the truest sense, they are above temptation. They see death merely as a natural part of life and do not seek to deny its arrival. Their singular knowledge of the unknown allows them to face death without fear. These ideals, coupled with an understanding of the natural balance between Order and Chaos, explain why they have not fallen prey to the influences of evil. Their desire to uphold this balance has brought the Necromancers forth from the isolation of their remote, dank homeland to destroy Diablo and his brethren. For the mere presence of these Prime Evils on the mortal realm upsets the natural symmetry of not only the mortal realm, but also the Great Cycle of Being, itself. The followers of Rathma seek to right the balance by ridding the mortal realms of non-mortal intervention altogether. They resent any force that would treat humans as pawns in a cosmic game, though they are apparently willing to ally with the forces of Order but only until such time as the balance is restored.
Act 1
Blood Moor (Entering) Den of Evil (Entering) Den of Evil (All monsters killed) Burial Grounds (Entering) Blood Raven (After Kill) Cairn Stones (Clicking one) Tree of Inifuss (Clicking it) Tristram (Entering) Deckard Cain (Saving in Tristram) Forgotten Tower (Entering) The Countess (After Kill) Monastery Gate (Entering) Horadric Malus (Picking up) Jail (Entering) Catacombs (Entering) Andariel (After Kill)
"All who oppose me... beware." "I sense... death within this place." "Is that enough to earn the Rogues' trust?" "Too many empty graves..." "Blood Raven... rest well." "I sense many spirits about these stones." "This tree shines with inner spirit." "All that's left of proud Tristram are ghosts and ashes." "Deckard Cain, if you value your life, leave here immediately!" "This place... reeks of death." "Treasure hunting, heh. Treasure finding, yes!" "This place has the stench of demons about it!" "All this for a hammer?!" "Ahh, the slow torture of caged starvation." "I sense... a demonic presence here..." "Back to the Hell that spawned you, Andariel!"
Act 2
Radament (After Kill) Claw Viper Temple (Entering) Tainted Sun Altar (Clicking it) Arcane Sanctuary (Entering) The Summoner (After Kill)
Tyrael (After talking to him)
"What a waste of undead flesh." "This place is as dark as a tomb." "What a pity... I was beginning to enjoy the darkness." "This is fantastic! I wish I had time to study this bizarre dimension!" "He was not Horazon, he was a deluded fool who got too close to true power." "I came too late. Now destruction is let loose upon the world once more."
Act 3
Jade Figurine (After picking up) The Gidbinn (After picking up) Lam Esen's Tome (After picking up) High Council of Zakarum (After Kill) Mephisto (After Kill)
"A worthless statue. Perhaps I can trade this for something better." "This is a powerful weapon... perhaps Ormus can tell me more about it." "Once the book has served its purpose, I shall delve into its secrets." "The temple's dark power is broken." "Good journey, Mephisto. Give my regards to the abyss."
Act 4
Izual (After Kill) Diablo (After Kill)
"Izual was weak... he squandered his infernal power." "Lord Diablo, I have bested you!"
"It takes more than a siege to stop me!" "My my, what a messy little demon." "Follow me." "Ah, the familiar scent of death." "You were a sad little man, Nihlathak." "The resting place of the Ancients." "So this is what the Ancients guard." "Baal, never doubt my skills."
