The Necromancer is a death-dealing warrior-mage who uses their macabre powers to bring Diablo 4’s demons to heel, so here’s the best build to use in Season 9.
With Season 9 of Diablo 4 replacing Boss Powers with the all-new Horadric Powers, the meta has shifted, and the builds that were top of the pile last season may not be anymore.
Last season, it was the ever-reliable Bone Spirit build that dominated, but that is no longer the case in Season 9. So here’s the best build to use this season for not only leveling to endgame, but far beyond it. This is also a build that will serve you well in PvP this season.
What is The Best Necromancer Build in Diablo 4 Season 9?
The best Necromancer build in Season 9 is the utterly grim Blood Wave build.
Long-time Diablo 4 players will remember the Blood Wave build becoming a big deal in Season 7, but now it’s back in Season 9 and is easily the best build you can use.
As the name suggests, the Blood Wave build is going to make use of that skill to do most of its damage, but below, we’ll reveal what else goes into the build to best optimise it for endgame and leveling.
What Are The Best Necromancer Skills For This Build?
The foundation of any build in Diablo 4 is the skills you select, how many points you allocate to each, and what upgrades you add, if any. As you may expect, the key skill we’re going to use for this build is Blood Wave, but we’re also going to use Decreptify and Corpse Explosion as essential skills in this rotation.
Remember, as most seasonal characters push to endgame within a few hours in Season 9, we’ll be crafting this build with that in mind. But the good news is that this build will also work for anyone who’s playing through the campaign, too.
So, for the Blood Wave build, pick the following skills as you level:
Active Skills
Select the following Active Skills with the below number of points and upgrades:
| Skill | Points | Upgrades |
|---|---|---|
| Decompose | 1 | Enhanced |
| Blight | 1 | Enhanced, Supernatural |
| Corpse Explosion | 1 | Enhanced, Blighted |
| Decreptify | 1 | Enhanced, Abhorrent |
| Corpse Tendrils | 1 | Enhanced, Blighted |
| Blood Wave | 5 | Enhanced, Supreme |
Passive Skills
Select the following Passive Skills with the below number of points and upgrades:
| Skill | Points |
|---|---|
| Hewed Flesh | 3 |
| Necrotic Fortitude | 3 |
| Titan’s Fall | 3 |
| Fueled by Death | 3 |
| Spiked Armor | 3 |
| Death’s Embrace | 3 |
| Death’s Approach | 2 |
| Amplify Damage | 3 |
| Precision Decay | 1 |
| Coalesced Blood | 3 |
| Transfusion | 1 |
| Tides of Blood | 3 |
| Reaper’s Pursuit | 3 |
| Terror | 3 |
| Compound Fracture | 3 |
| Gloom | 3 |
| Finality | 3 |
| Hellbent Commander | 3 |
| Inspiring Leader | 3 |
| Rathmas’s Vigor | 1 (Key Passive) |
Book of The Dead
A key question when assembling every Necromancer build is whether to use minions or not. For this build, we’re going to use them, so organize your Book of The Dead to look like this:
- Skeletons Warriors: Reapers
- Skeleton Mages: Bone
- Golem: Blood
This minion setup is the best one for this build.
Paragon Board
Once you reach level 60, traditional leveling will stop, and you’ll enter the Paragon Board instead. From here, you’ll need to navigate different boards, selecting small boosts to your stats, but sometimes you’ll activate nodes that buff certain skills.
As you move across the boards, you’ll notice some special nodes called Glyphs. These are the ones that help you continue to craft your build, so with the Blood Wave build in mind, prioritize the following Glyphs when you can:
- Dominate
- Abyssal
- Gravekeeper
- Eliminator
- Essence
While all Glyphs are beneficial, selecting any with the above titles will buff your damage output, making your attacks even more deadly.
You may find you’re not always able to select the above Glyphs, that’s okay, just work towards the closest one and enjoy the benefits of the nodes you unlock on the way.
What Are The Best Mercenaries to Choose?
Mercenaries have been a crucial part of buildcrafting since they were introduced in the Vessel of Hatred expansion. While using mercs is entirely optional, they’re a legitimate part of your build, and you’re free to hire one as a follower, with another serving as a reinforcement with a cooldown.
Different mercenaries offer different tactical advantages; for example, a tank character can often benefit from a mercenary that adds some magic damage to their arsenal. Or, a caster can often use the protection of a tanky merc.
For this build, we recommend hiring the following mercenaries:
Hired: Subo
Hiring Subo lets him back you up from a distance as his ranged attacks put even more pressure on enemies as they’re pelted by his attacks and your Bone Spears. He also boosts your visibility and overpower damage, making you a deadly combination.
Set his active skills to Molotov and Explosive Charge, with his passives being Share a Drink and Bargaining Chips for best results.
Reinforcement: Raheir
Select Raheir as your reinforcement and set his key skill to Bastion. This way, Raheir will periodically charge enemies, dealing damage but keeping you safe at the same time. This provides an additional layer of security while you and Subo are busy blasting enemies.
What Are The Best Horadric Powers to Use?
Of course, Season 9 of Diablo 4 is all about using Horadric Powers, and these new abilities have really shaken up the meta. For the Blood Wave Necro, hunt down and prioritize the following Horadric Powers and modifiers:
- Catalyst: Disintegrate
- Infusion: Nebulous Extract
- Arcana: Tranquil Stone, Bloody Charm, Fractured Core
It may take some time to hunt these ingredients down, but these are the Horadric Powers to aim for.
What Are The Best Items to Equip?
The gear you use is a massive part of your build in Diablo 4, and each one has some weapons and armor that is ideal for it. The issue is, it takes time to hunt down this high-level gear, or the Legendary/Mythic Aspects that give each its power.
Therefore, below we’ll reveal the items/Aspects you should be aiming to find to complete your build. While some drops are random, some can be acquired at certain locations or by killing specific bosses.
Remember, some items and Aspects are one and the same, where some Aspects need to be planted onto different items once unlocked.
| Item | Aspect | Item type | How to get | Sockets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heir of Perdition | Heir of Perdition | Unique Helm | Farm Echo of Varshan boss | Grand Topaz x2 |
| Shroud of False Death | Shroud of False Death | Unique Armor | Grind bosses | CirVex Runeword |
| Runic Gloves of Ultimate Shadow | Ultimate Shadow | Gloves | Both are random drops | – |
| Kessime’s Legacy | – | Unique Pants | Random drop | Grand Topaz x2 |
| Runic Cleats of the Cursed Aura | Cursed Aura | Unique Boots | Both are random drops | – |
| Tidal Bonebreaker | Tidal | Two-Handed Mace | Complete Corrupted Grotto in Kehjistan for Aspect. Bonebreaker is a random drop. | AhuQux Runeword |
| – | – | Offhand | – | – |
| Sacrificial Ocelot’s Eye | Sacrificial | Amulet | Ruins of Eridu in Hawezar for Aspect. Amulet is a random drop. | Grand Diamond |
| Fastblood Soulwatch Hoop | Fastblood | Ring | Fastblood is in the Iron Hold in Hawezar. Soulwatch Hoop is a random drop. | Grand Diamond |
| Ring of Starless Skies | Ring of Starless Skies | Unique Ring | Farm bosses for best results | Grand Diamond |
You’ll not be able to obtain many of these items and Aspects until endgame, but these are the ones to hunt down once you’re able.
Looking forward to slaying some demons with the Necromancer in Season 9? Let us know via the Insider Gaming forum, where you can start up some hot Diablo 4 discussions.
You can also find out the best builds in Season 9 for the Spiritborn, Druid, Barbarian, Rogue, and Sorcerer classes while you’re here.
