Mr. Bones Necromancer BUILD for Diablo IV

(Mr. Bones locks enemies in a prison, curses & showers them with spears & splinters to collect essence)

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Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV’s Open Beta Tests are almost here and I felt motivated to make some Pre-Launch theorycrafted semi-builds that should be good for ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters when the game launches. I also plan to evolve them into FULL builds when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Necromancer Class called Mr. Bones. (you can call it Mrs. or Ms. bones if suits you better

The Beta tests will only let us reach lvl 25 and only let us play in the first Act/Zone (Fractured Peaks) so those builds will be more useful for the actual game launch and ideally for characters around lvl 50+ or 60+. I’ve used 50+ and 60+ skill points when making the builds instead of the full 100 so that they can be used to jumpstart a player’s post-story endgame grind.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect that work well with the build so one can spend the extra skill points on the way to lvl 100 into those other skills.

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have actual in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken on the way to lvl 100 + alternative skill options, you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Reaping Army) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

The images you see are PLACEHOLDERS due to lack of any real skill icons leaks for the Necromancer class. I will replace them once the Beta starts and I can screenshot the actual icons.

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

• (active) Bone Splinters – Fire 3 bone splinters, dealing 22.50% (X-?) damage each. Each subsequent time an enemy is hit by the same cast of Bone Splinters, you gain 1 Essence. Generates: 5 Essence Damage: Physical
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Bone Splinters – Bone Splinters has a 30% chance to fire 2 additional projectiles if cast while you have 50 or more essence.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Initiate’s Bone Splinters – Bone Splinters has a 20% chance per hit to make enemies Vulernable for 2 seconds.

Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 )

• (active) Bone Spear – Conjure a Bone Spear from the ground, dealing 85.00% (X-?) damage and Piercing through enemies. Essence Cost: 25 Damage: Physical
• (1st upgrade) Enhanced Bone Spear – Bone Spear breaks into shards when it is destroyed, dealing 10.00% (X-?) damage each.
• (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Paranormal Bone Spear – Bone Spear has a 5% increased Critical Strike Chance and deals 10% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage.
• (passive) Unliving Energy – Your maximum Essence is increased by 3.
  • (1st upgrade) did not pick to save points
• (passive – SEE NOTE) Reconstitution – Your damage has up to a 4% chance to create a corpse at the target’s location. NOTE: I only took this for the No-golem version. If you take a Golem then you might need to drop this passive for the points.

Macabre Skills (Required Points: 6 )

• (active) Bone Prison – Unearth a prison of bone with X Life that surrounds the target area for 6 seconds. Cooldown: 20 Seconds.
• (1st upgrade) Enhanced Bone Prison – Gain 3 Essence each time an enemy hits your Bone Prison.
• (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Ghastly Bone Prison – Enemies inside of Bone Prison are Vulnerable.
• (passive) Grim Harvest – Consuming a Corpse generates 3 Essence.
  • (upgrade) Fueled by Death – You deal 4% (multiplicative) increased damage for 4 seconds after consuming a Corpse.
• (passive) did not invest into other Macabre passives to save points

Corruption Skills (Required Points: 11 )

• (active 1) Iron Maiden – Curse the target area. Enemies afflicted by Iron Maiden take 10.00% (X-XX) damage each time they deal direct damage. Lasts 10 seconds. Essence Cost: 10 Damage: Physical
• (1st upgrade) Enhanced Iron Maiden – Iron Maiden no longer costs Essence. Instead, gain 5 Essence for each enemy Cursed. Does not work with enemies already cursed with Iron Maiden.
• (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Abhorrent Iron Maiden – Heal for 5% of your maximum Life when an enemy dies while afflicted with Iron Maiden.
• (passive – SEE NOTE) Amplify Damage – You deal 3% increased damage to Cursed enemies. NOTE: I only took this for the No-golem version. If you take a Golem then you might need to drop this passive for the points.
• (passive) did not invest into other Corruption passives to save points

Summoning Skills (Required Points: 16 )

• (active) Bone Spirit – Consume all of your Essence to conjure a spirit of bone that seeks enemies. Upon reaching an enemy, the spirit explodes, dealing 80.00% (X-XX) damage to the target and all nearby enemies. Damage is increased by 3% for each point of Essence spent casting Bone Spirit. Cooldown: 12.0 Seconds. Essence Cost: All remaining Essence Damage: Physical
• (1st upgrade) Enhanced Bone Spirit – If Bone Spirit Critically Strikes, its cooldown is reduced by 6 seconds. This effect can only happen once per cast.
• (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Dreadful Bone Spirit – After Bone Spirit hits an enemy, you generate 30 Essence over the next 4 seconds.
• (passive) Serration – Your Bone Skills have a 0.5% increased Critical Strike Chance for 10 Essence you have upon cast
  • (upgrade 1 DID NOT INVEST in this to save points) Rapid Ossification – Every 100 Essence you spend reduces the cooldowns of your Bone Skills by 0.5 seconds.
  • (upgrade 2) Compound Fracture – After Critically Striking 10 times with Bone Skills, your Bone Skills deal 6% (multiplicative) increased damage for 5 seconds.
  • (upgrade 3) Evulsion – Your Bone Skills deal 6% (multiplicative) increased Criticial Strike Damage to Vulnerable enemies.

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

• (active) Bone Storm – A swirling storm of bones surrounds you and your Golem, dealing 180.00% (X-XX) to nearby enemies over 10 seconds.
• (1st upgrade) Prime Bone Storm – Your Damage Reduction is increased by 15% while Bone Storm is active.
• (2nd upgrade) Supreme Bone Storm – While Bone Storm is active, you consume nearby Corpses. Each Corpse consumed adds 2 seconds to Bone Storm’s duration, up to 10 seconds.
• (passive- ONLY PUT 1 LEVEL here to save points & to unlock the upgrade) Stand Alone – Increases Damage Reduction by 6%, reduced by 2% for each active Minion.
  • (upgrade) Memento Mori – Sacrificing both Skeletal Warriors and Skeletal Mages increases their Sacrifice bonuses by 20%.
• (passive – SEE NOTE) Bonded in Essence – Your Minions gain 15% of your Resistances. NOTE: I DID NOT take this BUT If you take a Golem then you might want to put 3 points here.
  • (upgrade – SEE NOTE) Death’s Defense – Your Minions can’t lose more than 50% of their maximum Life from a single damage instance. NOTE: I DID NOT take this BUT If you take a Golem then you might want to put 1 point here.
• (passive – SEE NOTE) Bonded in Essence – Your Minions gain 15% of your Resistances. NOTE: I DID NOT take this BUT If you take a Golem then you might want to put 3 points here.

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

• (passive) Ossified Essence – Your Bone Skills deal 1% (multiplicative) increased damage for each point of Essence you have above 50% upon cast.

Book of the Dead (Class Mechanic):

This build is all about doing as much shadow dmg hits as possible and focuses on ranged DPS. Sacrificing our melee minions might make it hard by not having a “tank” but it also boosts our dps in a lovely way. As for the types I picked, I’d recommend as follows:

• Skeletal Reapers + Sacrifice is what we take for the bonus dps
  • Description: Your critical strike chance is increased by 5%, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Warriors.
• Shadow Mages + Sacrifice is a lovely build synergy
  • Description: Your maximum essence is increased by 15, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Mages.
• Iron Golem + Sacrifice is what we take for the bonus dps
  • Description: You deal 30% (multiplicative) increased critical strike damage, but you lose the ability to summon a Golem.

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my pre-launch builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Mr. Bones) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

• Helm: Aspect of Potent Blood
• Amulet: Sacrificial Aspect
• Chest: Aspect of Torment
• Pants: Aspect of Might
• Gloves: Rapid Aspect
• Boots: Ghostwalker Aspect
• Ring 1: Aspect of Bursting Bones
• Ring 2: Aspect of Swelling Curse
• 1H Weapon: Edgemaster’s Aspect
• Off-hand: Aspect of The Expectant
• 2-H Weapon (if you decide to use one): Edgemaster’s Aspect

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

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This concludes the Mr. Bones Necromancer Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website