Necros, the previous kings of both survivability and single target damage, with their Infinimist and Bone Spear builds took a hit this season, but not in a bad way. Everything else just got improved, including minion builds and other Overpower Blood builds. And so, here are the best five builds for Season 2!
5. Shadow Summoner
The Shadow Summoner Necromancer seamlessly blends the formidable might of Shadow Damage over Time (DoTs) with an unyielding horde of Undead Minions, showcasing unparalleled mastery over the delicate balance of Life and Death!
The pivotal passive, Shadowblight, now triggers with each strike from your Skeletal Mages - Shadow, unlocking the full potential of this sophisticated build. Relying on sustained damage and fortuitous Lucky Hit procs from Corpse Explosion, you can strategically empower your Minions in a myriad of ways. The impact of Ring of Mendeln is particularly pronounced, injecting a well-calculated burst potential into your strategic arsenal.
This build offers a smooth transition from the Summoner Leveling Guide, leveraging analogous Legendary Aspects from the Codex of Power. It centres around maximizing the effectiveness of the Minions themselves and strategies for amplifying their prowess. Prioritizing the Necromancer's personal damage and scaling can significantly elevate the experience for those seeking a more engaged and strategic playstyle!
The harmonious blend of DoT and substantial Critical Strike/Vulnerable damage ensures a consistent and calculated traversal through content. Understanding the intricate dynamics of how Minions interact with various stats and buffs serves as the linchpin to your triumph!
What the Shadow Summoner Excels in:
- Doesn’t care about Essence.
- Strong AoE clearing.
- Easy to get started.
- Strong meat shields with your minions.
Pick the Shadow Summoner if you Like:
- High APM builds, with complex skill rotations.
- Commanding hoards of minions to demolish enemies.
- Fun and unique build.
Vampiric Powers and Unique Items:
- Ravenous - Amps up our Attack speed considerably, benefitting both us and our Minions.
- Coven's Fangs - Introduces a crucial multiplier to Minion damage, boosting their offensive prowess.
- Prey on the Weak - Bestows an additional multiplicative damage modifier, making our attacks hit even harder.
- Flowing Veins - Elevates the potency of our Damage over Time effects, ensuring a more impactful and sustained assault.
- Metamorphosis - Bestows Unstoppable status upon successful evasion, while dealing damage and inflicting a Vampiric Curse on adversaries in our trajectory.
- Ring of Mendeln – Massively strong ring that will boost the single target of your minions, and that scales in a unique way.
- X'Fal's Corroded Signet drastically increases your AoE damage output, as well as your kill speed against Bosses. This procs continuously from our multiple DoT effects. Its ability to Critically Strike allows it to benefit from more damage multipliers, easily slotting onto the build.
- Lidless Wall adds a new way to drastically increase your Speed farming potential but requires constant enemy engagement to maintain its bonus Bone Storm. While increasing survivability from Barrier Generation and Damage Reduction, it also provides a significant boost to our Shadow Damage output and spreads our damage even further across a battlefield.
- Ring of the Sacrilegious Soul brings back a powerful Malignant Heart power from Season 1. The auto-casting skills need to be equipped on your Skill Bar to function. This automates a lot of the build's primary gameplay loop to increase efficiency and damage output.
- Tibault's Will adds an additional damage multiplier for "free" since you are Unstoppable once you enter Blood Mist. Great for Speed Farming and Bossing.
For more information, check here: https://maxroll.gg/d4/build-guides/shadow-summoner-necromancer-guide
4. Blood Surge
The Blood Surge Necromancer stands as an AoE powerhouse, delivering impressive DPS coupled with continuous healing. This resilient juggernaut is practically indestructible and excels across all content types. The recent overhaul in Patch 1.2 has transformed Overpower into a potent mechanic that seamlessly integrates into more intuitive setups.
Blood Necromancers reap the rewards of heavy investments in Maximum Life and survivability, acquiring free damage scalers through Overpower. Blood Surge, in particular, shines in spreading Overpower damage across the entire screen with its massive AoE potential. This makes the Blood Surge Necromancer exceptionally formidable in density farming within Helltides, Nightmare Dungeons, and the latest Seasonal content: Blood Harvests!
While the primary focus of this build is to unleash Overpower as frequently as possible, mastering the art of incorporating Critical Strike Chance and exploiting Vulnerable status can elevate your damage to new heights. This design rewards players who delve into the finer details of gameplay.
What Blood Surge Excels in:
- Extremely Tanky.
- Fast Paced build.
- Great clearing.
- Deals damage based on how Tanky it is.
Pick Blood Surge if you Like:
- Lots of Explosions.
- Unique play style.
- Complex Skill Rotations that require focus to master.
Vampiric Powers and Unique Items:
- Ravenous (Minor) - Amps up our attack speed significantly.
- Prey on the Weak (Minor) - Boosts Vulnerable damage and applies the status when an enemy is under a Vampiric Curse.
- Hemomancy (Minor) - Introduces extra AoE damage and provides substantial self-healing.
- Sanguine Brace (Minor) - Bestows additional Fortify and increases Critical Strike Chance.
- Metamorphosis (Major) - Bestows Unstoppable upon successful evasion, dealing damage and applying Vampiric Curse to enemies in your path.
- Temerity: Amazing survivability tool that can replace any Legendary pants you may have. Requires you to prioritize overhealing significantly to maintain the Barrier.
- Tibault's Will: Phenomenal Speedfarming and Bossing setup pants for added damage multipliers with Resource generation built in. Lacks survivability stats for pushing high NM Dungeons.
- Blood Moon Breeches: Powerful Boss Killing pants with the highest total damage multiplier as well as decent survivability stats.
- Banished Lord's Talisman: Rewards building into Critical Strike Chance and adds the highest total damage multipliers for an Amulet. Great for pushing high NM Dungeons. Not as valuable for Speed farming, as the damage tends to be overkill.
- Lidless Wall: Interesting option for Speedfarming as well as NM Dungeon pushing. Offers good damage and survivability, and can be used in most scenarios a perfectly rolled Shield would.
For more information, check here: https://maxroll.gg/d4/build-guides/blood-surge-necromancer-guide
3. Blight Corpse Explosion
The Blight Corpse Explosion Necromancer presents a distinctive and potent playstyle, often referred to as the "Black Hole" or "Brawler" Necromancer. This close-quarters Necromancer build hinges on the synergy between Blight and Corpse Explosion to rapidly accumulate Shadowblight, delivering an extraordinary amount of AoE DoT Shadow Damage and unleashing Critical Strike bursts!
Leveraging Aspect of the Void, both Blight and Corpse Tendrils collaborate to trap monsters within a tightly controlled space. With the inclusion of Aspect of Ultimate Shadow and Blood-soaked Aspect, Bone Storm and Blood Mist join forces with Blight and Corpse Explosion, intensifying the onslaught of Shadow Damage. Collectively, these abilities create a gravitational force, pulling monsters into an abyss of Darkness from which escape is futile.
The Blight Corpse Explosion Necromancer obliterates high-density groups and individual targets alike, sans the necessity of any Unique Items. Only a handful of Legendary Aspects are required for optimal functionality. It consistently dominates Nightmare Dungeons across the highest Tiers, asserting its dominance in endgame content. Unlike the Leveling Blight Corpse Explosion Necromancer, this iteration sacrifices minions in exchange for heightened power and survivability against formidable adversaries.
What Blight Corpse Explosion Excels in:
- Massive AoE Clearing
- Good Single Target
- Constant Vacuuming
- Easy to play
Pick Blight Corpse Explosion if you Like:
- Sucking enemies in and exploding them
- Damage over Time Builds
- Littering the map with Corpses
Vampiric Powers and Unique Items:
- Accursed Touch (Major) - Provides a source of Vampiric Curse.
- Flowing Veins (Major) - Greatly boosts your Shadow Damage Over Time, especially alongside Accursed Touch.
- Metamorphosis (Major) - Necromancers lack sources of Unstoppable making this a no-brainer, especially on a build that jumps directly into the fray.
- Anticipation (Minor) - Increases Bone Storm uptime and makes it do more damage.
- Domination (Minor) - Increases damage dealt to enemies that are Stunned by Corpse Tendrils.
- X'Fal's Corroded Signet: Insanely strong effect that synergizes well with your Shadow Damage Over Time.
- Howl from Below: Powerful Unique gloves that can increase your damage in certain scenarios such as against Suppressor Elites and Bosses. Otherwise, the loss of Critical Strike Chance and a Legendary Aspect is most often not worth it.
- Black River: This Unique 1-Handed Weapon can improve your ability to destroy weaker targets quicker with a larger AoE and less overall damage. Can be good for farming Helltides, Dungeons, and lower-tier Nightmare Dungeons.
For more information, check here: https://maxroll.gg/d4/build-guides/blight-corpse-explosion-necromancer-guide
2. Bone Spear
The Bone Spear Necromancer stands as the natural endgame evolution from our top-leveling build! Critical Strike Chance? Absolutely. But now, brace yourself for an avalanche of POWER.
We're keeping the Bone Spear legacy alive by making everything on the screen Vulnerable. In Season 2, achieving this is a walk in the park with Prey on the Weak. With the right gear, you might just find yourself swimming in seas of Essence.
The Necromancer's Achilles' heel is its movement speed. Fear not, as we're adding movement speed boots with Wind Striker Aspect to our arsenal of death, letting our crits propel us through the entire game.
However, the path to becoming a fully kitted out level 100 god of death won't happen overnight. Quick thinking and adaptability are your allies on this journey. This Endgame Guide is your roadmap to achieving calcium perfection. Whether you prefer Soy Milk, Oat Milk, or regular Hell Bovine Milk, the might of our Bone Spear remains unstoppable!
What Bone Spear Excels in:
- Levelling is a breeze with the endgame skill.
- The highest single target Necro build.
- Good AoE.
- Fairly tanky.
Pick Bone Spear if you Like:
- High APM builds, with highly complex skill rotation.
- Rewarding gameplay.
- Seeing multiple millions of damage popping per hit.
Vampiric Powers and Unique Items:
- Sanguine Brace - Boosts our Critical Strike Chance and provides a source of Fortify.
- Prey on the Weak - Amplifies Vulnerable damage and inflicts that status when an enemy is under a Vampiric Curse.
- Hemomancy - Unleashes automatic and potent Physical damage, aligning perfectly with our specialization.
- Ravenous - Heightens attack speed, ensuring our build maintains a rapid and relentless assault.
- Metamorphosis - Bestows Unstoppable upon successful evasion, dealing damage, and applying Vampiric Curse to enemies in our path.
- Deathless Visage – Gives a massive boost to our single target and somewhat better clearing.
- The Grandfather – Best weapon in the game for any Critical-Focused Build.
- Harlequin Crest - Buffs our already incredible damage with 4 more skill points. Stayin' alive was never easier with 20% damage reduction.
For more information, check here: https://maxroll.gg/d4/build-guides/bone-spear-necromancer-guide
1. Infinimist
At first glance, it may appear to be just another Darkness build, centered around spamming Corpse Explosion and relying on decent Lucky Hit procs for Crowd Control (CC). However, prioritizing Lucky Hit opens the door to intriguing interactions when you stack over 50% Lucky Hit Bonus. With Decrepify in the mix, you can almost instantly refresh all your cooldowns and maintain... Infinite Blood Mist uptime. Hence, the name of the build!
What's even more convenient is that transitioning into this build is surprisingly easy, especially if you're coming from the Sever Necromancer Leveling Guide or Sever Necromancer Endgame Guide. Many of the same Aspects are used, including potent options from the Codex of Power.
The combination of Damage over Time (DoT) and high Critical Strike damage ensures consistent progress through content. With specific optimizations for clear speed and single target damage, the Infinimist Necromancer can even expedite farming and handle high-level bosses with greater ease.
What Infinimist Necromancer Excels in:
- Practically immortal.
- Extremely quick for a Necromancer.
- Fantastic Speed Farmer.
- Can do all content in the game.
Pick Infinimist Necromancer if you Like:
- Noticeable Gear Progression.
- High APM builds.
- Easy to play once used to the rotations.
Vampiric Powers and Unique Items:
- Anticipation (Minor) - Boosts Bone Storm damage and uptime.
- Prey on the Weak (Minor) - Enhances Vulnerable damage and bestows this status when an enemy is under a Vampiric Curse.
- Domination (Minor) - Adds another damage multiplier to your arsenal.
- Flowing Veins (Major) - Significant Damage over Time (DoT) multiplier.
- Metamorphosis (Major) - Provides Unstoppable when you nimbly evade, deals damage, and applies Vampiric Curse to enemies in your vicinity.
- Howl from Below these are effectively NEED to have gloves for the build until the very late-game. Even a low rolled Sacred version of these gloves out-performs high item power Legendary Gloves.
- X'Fal's Corroded Signet drastically increases your AoE damage output, as well as your kill speed against Bosses. This procs continuously from our multiple DoT effects. It's ability to Critically Strike allows it to benefit from more damage multipliers, that easily slot onto the build.
- Lidless Wall adds a new way to drastically increase your Speed farming potential but requires constant enemy engagement to maintain its bonus Bone Storm. While increasing survivability from Barrier Generation and Damage Reduction, it also provides a significant boost to our Shadow Damage output and spreads our damage even further across a battlefield.
- Greaves of the Empty Tomb are an interesting option for stacking even more Lucky Hit Chance and can help offset the loss from not using a Wand. They also offer a unique Damage Reduction stat that can't normally be found on boots.
- Black River great option for farming density, as well as clearing non-Boss Nightmare Dungeons. The DoT potential for this item is VERY high while requiring the player to prioritize Corpse generation to a whole new level to get the most out of it.
- Ring of the Sacrilegious Soul brings back a powerful Malignant Heart power from Season 1. The auto-casting skills needed to be equipped on your Skill Bar to function. This automates a lot of the build's primary gameplay loop to increase efficiency and damage output.
- Tibault's Will adds an additional damage multiplier for "free" since you are Unstoppable once you enter Blood Mist. Great for Speed Farming and Bossing.
Build details: https://maxroll.gg/d4/build-guides/infinimist-necromancer-guide
