Diablo 4 Season 5 brings a plethora of new items, game modes, and seasonal quests. As players dive into Season of Infernal Hordes, many are looking for a fun and efficient leveling build to quickly reach the late game. While each class has multiple viable leveling strategies, Necromancer’s Minion build is considered one of the best options.
In Season 4, Necromancer’s Minion build received several buffs, and an interesting new Legendary Aspect was introduced to the game to enhance the build’s survivability. Here are some suggestions on how to play Minion Necromancer and successfully reach level 100 in this season, including equipment selection, Skill Tree walkthrough, and Book of the Dead advice.
Best Build
Necromancer’s Minions have undergone significant buffs in Season 4, and these improvements make a minion-centric build the preferred option for leveling up Necromancer. The most prominent of these improvements is the tweak to the defensive abilities of minions, which greatly increases their duration.
Combined with some of the new gear and Legendary Aspects introduced in Season 5, this makes a minion-focused Necromancer build a strong, true Army of the Dead Power fantasy, and also highlights the importance of Diablo 4 Gold in acquiring this precious resource. You can also stay up to date with the game’s Giveaway channel by being active in IGGM discord group.
Skill Tree Walkthrough
Skill tree for Minion Necromancer can seem a little unusual in its early stages, mainly because players tend not to pick the first node of skills. However, Diablo 4’s progression system dictates that players must invest 2 points in Basic Abilities Node before continuing, which often results in players having to randomly allocate these two points to Sever and/or Decompose. Beyond that, though, this build is fairly passive, with the main purpose of providing players with a steady supply of corpses to use with Corpse Tendrils or Raise Skeleton.
Basic Abilities
These skills are only used when there is room in Hotbar, and are usually replaced by other skills when the player reaches level 25-30. Depending on the player’s preference for melee or ranged combat, you can choose to allocate two skill points to Sever or Decompose.
Core Skills
Before Necromancer’s Minions are enhanced, this version relies on Blood Surge for its main damage output. This version only provides 2 skill points, but this limitation is not critical because the skill will not be displayed in Hotbar unless the player chooses not to use full minions in the late game.
- Blood Surge (2/5)
- Enhanced Blood Surge
- Paranormal Blood Surge
- Unliving Energy (3/3)
- Imperfectly Balanced (3/3)
- Hewed Flesh (3/3)
Corpse And Macabre Skills
This is when Necromancer’s Minions start to wreak havoc on the enemy. However, besides getting more passive buffs, players should also choose the best defense for Necromancer’s best - Bloodmist.
- Blood Mist (1/5)
- Enhanced Blood Mist
- Ghastly Blood Mist
- Spiked Armor (2/3)
- Skeleton Warrior Mastery (3/3)
- Grim Harvest (2/3)
- Fueled by Death (3/3)
Curse Skills
At this level, players need to allocate 2 points to Iron Maiden to gain Essence Generation and bonus damage, but it is more critical to focus on the multiple useful passive skills provided by this node.
- Iron Maiden (1/5)
- Enhanced Iron Maiden
- Death’s Embrace (3/3)
- Amplify Damage (3/3)
- Death’s Approach (3/3)
- Skeletal Mage Mastery (3/3)
- Corpse And Macabre Skills (2)
This is when Minion Necromancer gets all the important CCs and primary Defensive Statistics. At this stage, the build should be able to handle Elite Packs and Mini-Bosses with some ease while the player can watch from the back.
- Corpse Tendrils (1/5)
- Enhanced Corpse Tendrils
- Plagued Corpse Tendrils
- Necrotic Carapace (3/3)
Ultimate Skills
This is where the player needs to keep the ultimate build in mind. For a pure Minion build later on, remove all points from Blood Surge and Imperfectly Balanced and invest in Army of the Dead and some extra passive skills here. However, if players want to switch to Blood Surge Build, then don’t choose Army of the Dead. Here are the two options side by side.
Pure Minion Build Transition
- Blood Surge (2→0/3)
- Remove upgrades
- Imperfectly Balanced (3→0/3)
- Army of the Dead
- Prime Army of the Dead
- Supreme Army of the Dead
- Golem Mastery (3/3)
- Hellbent Commader (3/3)
- Inspiring Leader (3/3)
- Reaper's Pursuit (1/3)
- Terror (1/3)
- Gloom (1/3)
Blood Surge Build Transition
- Blood Surge (2 → 3/5)
- Spiked Armor (2 → 1/3)
- Golem Mastery (3/3)
- Hellbent Commander (3/3)
- Inspiring Leader (3/3)
Key Passives
There is only one passive skill that benefits Minion Necromancer, and that is Kalan’s Edict. This passive is especially powerful for those who will continue to grow minions in World Tiers 3 and 4, as the items dropped there increase the maximum number of minions.
Book Of The Dead
The Book Of The Dead is fairly simple for Minion Necromancer. Just pick those options that maximize the damage of horde. In this version, the real damage output is handled by Skeletal Mages, who will gain most of the buffs from their gear.
Skeletal Warriors
- Reapers - Option 2
- There is a 15% chance to convert enemies hit into corpses.
Skeletal Mages
- Shadow Mages - Option 1
- Deal 3% additional damage for each active mage.
Golem
- Blood Golem - Option 2
- Golem heals the player by 5% for each enemy drained with its active ability
- Golem gains 25% damage reduction and 50% increased damage while Healthy
Itemization
The items in this version are designed to increase the damage output of the player’s minions while ensuring that the player himself has enough survivability. Look for a gear with the following traits:
- Weapon Damage
- Damage Increase (%)
- Intelligence
- Maximum Life
- Critical Strike Chance
- Critical Strike Damage
- Vulnerable Damage
- Movement Speed
Useful Legendary Aspects
While it is impossible to pick the best combination of Aspects from the litter of Aspects during upgrades, as players are limited by RNG and material resources, the following Legendary Aspects are very suitable for this build:
- Reanimation (Aldurwood in Scosglen)
- Grasping Veins (Corrupting Grotto in Kehjistan)
- Unyielding Commander’s (Faceless Shrine in Hawezar)
- Aphotic (Random Drop)
- Frenzied Dead (Random Drop)
- Occult Dominion (Random Drop)
- Shademist (Random Drop)
- Coldbringers (Random Drop)
- Sly Steps (Random Drop) Drop)
- Hardened Bones (Random Drop)
- The Great Feast (Random Drop)
If players are lucky enough to choose between multiple aspects of gear, you should prioritize the following aspects: Hardened Bones, Occult Dominion, Frenzied Dead, Shademist, Coldbringers, and The Great Feast.
Useful Unique Items
The drop time of unique items may vary depending on the player’s luck. Here are some unique items worth equipping:
- Ring of the Sacrilegious Soul
- Deathspeaker’s Pendant
- the Mortacrux
- Ring of Mendeln
Whether it is a novice player or an experienced player, Necromancer’s Minion build is an ideal choice for exploring the fifth season content. It not only brings an efficient upgrade experience but also allows players to enjoy the iconic dark fantasy atmosphere of the Diablo series. So, prepare your Necromancer, summon your Minions, and let’s go deep into the adventure of Diablo 4 Season 5 together!
