Mistplosion 2.0 Necromancer Build for Diablo IV [A+ Tier Grade]

Mistplosion 2.0 Necromancer BUILD for Diablo IV [A+ Tier Grade]

(Turn to Mist & turn your fallen foes’ corpses into an explosive bloody spectacle. Death is Your Fuel!)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

Diablo IV launched on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation) and I’ve had my fair share of playing and testing done. I’m now ready to start making full Builds/Theorycrafts that work for both ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters as well as late endgame. I’ll evolve & keep them updated when we get major rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Necromancer Class called Mistplosion 2.0.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for my builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect + unique item + gems & sockets + suggested stat rolls + paragon boards that work well with the build which you can use to tinker. Alternatively, I’ve added build calculator links (mostly needed for the paragons)

This build will be updated when needed.

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 + alternative skill options, you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Mistplosion 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

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

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Reap – Sweep an ethereal scythe in front of you, dealing 12% (X-?) damage. Hitting an enemy with Reap increases your damage Reduction by 15% for 2 seconds.
    Lucky Hit Chance: 17%
    Generates: 4 Essence per enemy hit | Damage: Shadow ; Tags: Basic, Darkness
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Reap If an enemy hit by Reap dies within 2 seconds, you gain 30% attack speed for 3 seconds.
    • (2nd upgrade – don’t need any of the 2 but temporary you can use ) Acolyte’s Reap Reap forms a Corpse under the first enemy hit. Can only occur every 5 seconds.

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

  • (active) Blood Surge Draw blood from enemies, dealing 20% (X-?) damage, and expel a blood nova, dealing 50% (X-?) damage. Blood Surge’s nova damage is increased by 10% (multiplicative) per enemy drained, up to 50% (multiplicative).
    Lucky Hit Chance: 20%
    Essence Cost: 30 | Damage: Physical ; Tags: Core, Blood
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Blood Surge Blood Surge heals you for 2.5% of your maximum Life when drawing blood from enemies. If 4 or more enemies are drawn from, then Heal for an additional 1.0% of your Maximum Life.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Paranormal Blood Surge – If an enemy is damaged by Blood Surge’s nova while you are Healthy, then gain 1 stack of Overwhelming Blood. When you have 5 stacks of Overwhelming Blood, your next Blood Surge Overpowers.
  • (passive) Hewed Flesh Lucky Hit: Your damage has up to a 4%/8%/12% chance to create a corpse at the target’s location.
  • (passive) DID NOT INVEST in other Core passives to save points

Macabre Skills (Required Points: 6 )

  • (active) Corpse Explosion Detonate a Corpse, dealing 75% (X-XX) damage to nearby enemies. Lucky Hit Chance: 40% Damage: Physical ; Tags: Corpse, Corruption
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Corpse – Corpse Explosion’s radius is increased by 15%.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Plagued Corpse Explosion Corpse Explosion deals 8% (multiplicative) increased damage to enemies that are Slowed, Stunned or Vulnerable. These damage bonuses can stack.
  • (active) Blood Mist Disperse into a bloody mist, becoming Immune for 3 seconds. Your Movement Speed is reduced by 20.00% and you periodically deal 2% (X-?) damage to enemies, healing for 0.5% of your Maximum Life.
    Lucky Hit Chance: 9%
    Cooldown: 20 Seconds. | Damage: Physical ; Tags: Macabre, Blood
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Blood Mist Casting a Skill that Overpowers reduces the cooldown of Blood Mist by 2 seconds.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Ghastly Blood Mist Blood Mist leaves behind a Corpse every 1 second.
  • (passive) Grim Harvest Consuming a Corpse generates 3/6/9 Essence.
    • (upgrade) Fueled by Death You deal 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage for 4 seconds after consuming a Corpse.
  • (passive) DID NOT INVEST in other Macabre passives to save points

Corruption Skills (Required Points: 11 )

  • (active) DID NOT TAKE a Corruption active due to using 2 minions on the skillbar
    • (1st upgrade)
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2)
  • (passive) Death’s Embrace Enemies in melee range take 2%/4%/6% (multiplicative) more damage from you and deal 3%/6%/9% less damage to you.
  • (passive) DID NOT INVEST in other Corruption passives to save points

Summoning Skills (Required Points: 16 )

  • (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Corpse Tendrils Veins burst out of a Corpse, pulling in enemies, Stunning them for 3 seconds, and dealing 20% (X-?) damage to them.
    Lucky Hit Chance: 20%
    Cooldown: 11.0 Seconds. | Damage: Physical ; Tags: Corpse, Corruption
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Corpse Tendrils Enemies who are in range of Corpse Tendrils are Slowed by 50% before being pulled.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Plagued Corpse Tendrils Enemies damaged by Corpse Tendrils are made Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
  • (passive – only put 1 point into this) Gruesome Mending While below 50% Life, you receive +10%/+20%/+30% more Healing from all sources.
    • (upgrade) Coalesced Blood While Healthy your Blood Skills deal 6%/12%/18% (multiplicative) increased damage. Note: Need to invest into this node to unlock BOTH Tides of Blood & Drain Vitality
    • (upgrade) Transfusion – DID NOT INVEST in this to save points
    • (upgrade) Drain Vitality Lucky Hit: Hitting enemies with Blood Skills has up to 25% chance to Fortify you for 2%/5%/8% Base Life.
    • (upgrade) Tides of Blood Your Blood Skills deal 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased Overpower damage. This bonus is doubled while you are Healthy.
  • (passive) Necrotic Carapace – When a Corpse is formed from your Skills or your Minions, Fortify for 2%/4%/6% Base Life.
  • (passive) DID NOT INVEST in other Summoning passives to save points

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

  • (active) Bone Storm A swirling storm of bones surrounds you and your Golem, dealing 180% (X-?) to surrounding enemies over 10 seconds.
    Lucky Hit Chance: 40%
    Cooldown: 60 Seconds. | Damage: Physical ; Tags: Ultimate, Bone
    • (1st upgrade) Prime Bone Storm Your Damage Reduction is increased by 15% while Bone Storm is active.
    • (2nd upgrade) Supreme Bone Storm Your Critical Strike Chance is increased by +20% while Bone Storm is active.
  • (passive) Stand Alone Increases Damage Reduction by 6%/12%/18%,, reduced by 2% for each active Minion.
    • (upgrade) Memento Mori Sacrificing both Skeletal Warriors and Skeletal Mages increases their Sacrifice bonuses by 20%/40%/60%.
  • (passive) DID NOT INVEST in any other Ultimate passives to save points

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Rathma’s Vigor Increase your maximum Life by 10% (multiplicative). After being Healthy for 15 seconds, your next Blood Skill Overpowers.

Book of the Dead (Class Mechanic):

This build is all about creating as many corpses as possible and consuming them with Corpse Explosion directly or with the auto-cast via Blood Mist. For that we don’t need minions. There’s room for a basic skill on the skillbar and many may not want it and might rather prefer to use Decrepify there so it’s up to you to decide on this one. I love using Reap at the beginning of a fight as it’s a guaranteed corpse every (5 seconds) that can be used to start the fight off with a Corpse Tendrils for the crit chance buff & crit damage taken debuff + Vulnerable debuff.

I’d advise taking ZERO Minions for this build. So you’ll & Sacrifice the Skeletal Warriors & Mages + the Golem:

  • Skeletal Skirmishers: Sacrifice so that we get extra Crit Chance
    • Description: Your critical strike chance is increased by 5%, but you can no longer raise Skeletal Warriors.
  • Bone Mages: Sacrifice is amazing to get our Overpower damage multiplied by x40%. This is a HUGE boost as the majority of the Overpower for this build is additive.
    • Description: Your Overpower damage is increased by 40% (multiplicative)
  • Iron Golem: Sacrifice so that we get extra Crit Damage
    • Description: You deal 30% (multiplicative) increased critical strike damage, but you lose the ability to summon a Golem.

Unique Items

In Diablo IV we can equip more than one unique item at the same time (not so ‘unique’ if we can get decked out in full uniques I guess). It seems that the one unique per build idea that Uniques inherited from the Mythical gear they supposedly replaced was scrapped even before the closed beta tests. My top picks will be the following two but check the notes under the Aspects list for more picks:

Black River (Scythe)

[0.06] Life On Kill Corpse Explosion consumes up to 4 additional Corpses around the initial Corpse, dealing x[122-130%] increased damage and with a +[21-25%] larger radius per additional Corpse.

[49 – 63] Intelligence
+[21 – 35]% Damage to Healthy Enemies
+1 Ranks of the Fueled by Death Passive
+[2 – 4] Ranks of Corpse Explosion + X% Damage to Distant Enemies

“The scrolls describe a river of tar that separated the living from the land of the dead. Any unfortunate soul who tried to cross would be dragged down into oblivion.” – Notes of Scholar Kamien

Harlequin Crest (Helm)

Gain [5-8%] Damage Reduction. In addition, gain +[2-4] Ranks to All Skills.

[0.245 – 0.455] Maximum Life
X% Cooldown Reduction
+[42 – 70]% Crafting Material Drop Rate
[14 – 28] All Stats

“This headdress was once worn by an assassin disguised as a court mage. Her treachery was unveiled, but not before she used its magic to curse the king’s entire lineage.” – The Fall of House Aston

Sockets & Gems

There are various possible good/viable choices for the gem slots. I’ve shortlisted what works by slot. I’d recommend picking one of those:

Weps: Ruby.
Armor: Ruby or Saphire (dmg reduction apparently is very needed in high tier NM dungeons).
Jewelry: Skull for Armor until they rework resistances. After the rework: Diamond unless you need specific resistance more than all.

XYZ Diamond (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Ultimate Skill Damage
• Armor: +N% Barrier Generation
• Jewelry: N% Resistance to All Elements

+5%/+5%/+5% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Skull (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N Life On Kill
• Armor: +N% Healing Received
• Jewelry: +N Armor

+13/+5%/+170 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Saphire (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies
• Armor: N% Damage Reduction While Fortified
• Jewelry: N% Cold Resistance

+7.5%/5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Ruby (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Overpower Damage

• Armor: +N% Maximum Life
• Jewelry: N% Fire Resistance

+15%/+5.5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Emerald (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
• Armor: +N Thorns
• Jewelry: N% Poison Resistance

+7.5%/+39/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

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 RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Mistplosion 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: Exploiter’s Aspect / Harlequin Crest (see notes below)
  • Amulet: Aspect of Grasping Veins
  • Chest: Aspect of The Protector
  • Pants: Aspect of the Embalmer
  • Gloves: Blood-bathed Aspect
  • Boots: Aspect of Explosive Mist
  • Ring 1: Cadaverous Aspect
  • Ring 2: Sacrificial Aspect
  • 1H Weapon: Smiting Aspect / Black River (see notes below)
  • Off-hand: Aspect of Untimely Death
  • 2-H Weapon: Aspect of Grasping Veins OR Cadaverous Aspect OR Sacrificial Aspect BUT I do NOT recommend using a 2-hander as the whole build is centered around the Black River but until you get it you can use a 2-hander and loose one of the offensive aspects
NOTES: How to re-arrange if using any of the Uniques:

- Smiting Aspect stays in the 1-h Weapon slot ONLY until you get the Black River Unique 1-h Scythe. 
- For Harlequin Crest (Helm): Exploiter’s Aspect gets removed from the Helm slot to make room for the Unique Helm.

ALTERNATIVE PICKS (if you decide to use them): 
- For Temerity (Pants): Aspect of The Protector gets removed from the Chest Slot, then Aspect of the Embalmer goes into the now empty Chest slot to make room for the Unique Pants.
- For Mother's Embrace (Ring) in the build, you will need to sacrifice one more aspect and it may be hurting the build to loose any of the remaining aspects once you have the Helmet and 1-h Weapon slots filled up with Uniques. Up to you to decide which on is okay to sacrifice for that Unique ring.

Paragon Boards:

Use the links below to check the paragon boards selected and the nodes I’ve taken. One link is for what the boards will look like at lvl 91 with 185 paragon points (so more paragon points will be obtained on the way to 100). The other link is what the boards will look like when fully maxed out on paragon points.

Suggested Gear Rolls to look out for (NOT in order of priority):

I’ve shortlisted 42 different affixes that work well with the build of almost 300 total. I’ll highlight in Orange the ones I think should get higher priority. NOTE: I’ve added a new “Top Priority per Slot” list but left the old unsorted list below it.

This is the Sorted by Slot list of Top Priority Affixes/Rolls:

    • Helm:
      • Priority 1: Cooldown Reduction
      • Priority 2: Maximum Life
      • Priority 3: Total Armor or Maximum Essence (both are kind of equal priority)
      • Priority 4: Core Stats (Int, Dex, Wil, All Stats)
    • Amulet:
      • Priority 1: Cooldown Reduction, Movement Speed
      • Priority 2: Maximum Life, +X Ranks of All Corpse/ Macabre Skills, +X% Core Skill Damage, +X% Blood Skill Damage
      • Priority 3: +X% Damage, Damage Reduction from Close or Distant Enemies/While Injured,
      • Priority 4: Essence Cost Reduction
    • Chest:
      • Priority 1: Damage Reduction from Close or Distant Enemies/while Fortified
      • Priority 2: Maximum Life, + X% Damage
      • Priority 3: Blood Skill Damage, Core Stats (Int, Dex, Wil, All Stats), Total Armor
      • Priority 4: Physical Damage, Fortify Generation, Damage Reduction
    • Pants:
      • Priority 1: +X Ranks of Blood Mist/Corpse Explosion, Damage Reduction from Close or Distant Enemies/while Fortified
      • Priority 2: Maximum Life, Damage Reduction while Injured
      • Priority 3: Core Stats (Int, Dex, Wil, All Stats), Total Armor
      • Priority 4: Damage Reduction
    • Gloves:
      • Priority 1: + X ranks to Blood Surge, Critical Strike Chance, Overpower Damage
      • Priority 2: Damage to Injured Enemies, Critical Strike Chance Against Injured Enemies
      • Priority 3: Lucky Hit: Up to a 5% Chance to Restore +X% Primary Resource, Lucky Hit Chance
      • Priority 4: Core Stats (Int, Dex, Wil, All Stats), Lucky Hit: Up to a 5% Chance to Heal +X Life
    • Boots:
      • Priority 1: Movement Speed, Essence Cost Reduction
      • Priority 2: +X Ranks of Corpse Tendrils, Damage Reduction while Injured
      • Priority 3: Core Stats (Int, Dex, Wil, All Stats)
      • Priority 4: Fortify Generation
    • Ring 1:
      • Priority 1: Overpower Damage, Critical Chance
      • Priority 2: Maximum Life, Critical Damage, Vulnerable Damage, Damage to Close/Vulnerable Enemies
      • Priority 3: Damage to Stunned Enemies, X% Damage for 4 Seconds After Picking Up a Blood Orb
      • Priority 4: Physical Damage, Maximum Essence, Lucky Hit Chance
    • Ring 2:
      • Priority 1: Overpower Damage, Critical Chance
      • Priority 2: Maximum Life, Critical Damage, Vulnerable Damage, Damage to Close/Vulnerable Enemies
      • Priority 3: Damage to Stunned Enemies, X% Damage for 4 Seconds After Picking Up a Blood Orb
      • Priority 4: Physical Damage, Maximum Essence, Lucky Hit Chance
    • 1H Weapon: Apparently, weapons can NOT roll two types of Damage mods!!!
      • Priority 1: Damage to Vulnerable Enemies & Vulnerable Damage, Damage to Close Enemies, Overpower Damage
      • Priority 2: Critical Strike Damage, Core Skill Damage
      • Priority 3: Damage to Slowed/Stunned Enemies
      • Priority 4: Core Stats (Int, Dex, Wil, All Stats)
    • Focus Off-hand | When you use a Focus Off-hand:
      • Priority 1: Cooldown Reduction, Essence Cost Reduction
      • Priority 2: Critical Strike Chance
      • Priority 3: Up to a 5% Chance to Restore +[7 – 14]% Primary Resource , Lucky Hit Chance
      • Priority 4: Core Stats (Int, Dex, Wil, All Stats), Damage Reduction while Fortified, Critical Chance Against Injured
    • Shield Off-hand: When you use a Shield Off-hand:
      • Priority 1: Cooldown Reduction, Essence Cost Reduction
      • Priority 2: Critical Strike Chance, Damage Reduction while Fortified/from Close or Distant Enemies
      • Priority 3: Up to a 5% Chance to Restore +[7 – 14]% Primary Resource , Lucky Hit Chance
      • Priority 4: Core Stats (Int, Dex, Wil, All Stats), Critical Chance Against Injured
    • 2-H Weapon: See the 1H Weapon Rolls List
+ X% Damage
Critical Strike Chance/Critical Damage Bonus
Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Physical/Blood Skills
Critical Chance/Critical Damage with Core/Blood/Corpse/Corruption/Macabre Skills
Damage with Core/Blood/Corpse/Corruption/Macabre Skills
Lucky Hit Chance
+ X Ranks to Core/Blood/Corpse/Corruption/Macabre Skills
+ X Ranks to Blood Surge/Corpse Explosion/Corpse Tendrils/Blood Mist
Overpower Damage
+ Wilpower, + Dexterity, + Intelligence
+ All Stats
+ Maximum Life
Essence Generation / Regeneration / On Kill
Resource/Essence Cost Reduction
Cooldown Reduction
Blood/Corpse/Corruption/Macabre Skills Cooldown Reduction
Physical/Blood Damage Bonus
Lucky Hit Chance with Physical/Blood Damage
Resistance to All Elements
+ % Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Physical/Blood Damage
+ % Physical/Blood Damage to Elites
+ % Critical Strike Chance with Physical/Blood Damage Against Elites
+ % Damage for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction from Elites
Damage / Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Close Enemies
Damage / Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Crowd Controlled Enemies
Vulnerable Damage
Damage / Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Vulnerable Enemies
Lucky Hit: Up to a 5% chance to Restore +X% Primary Resource
Lucky Hit: Up to a 5% chance to Heal +X Life
Damage while Healthy
Fortify Generation
Damage while Fortified
Chance When Struck to Fortify for X Life
Movement Speed
Higher Priority
Damage vs Injured Enemies
Lucky Hit: Up to a +X% Chance to Execute Injured Non-Elites
Critical Strike Chance Against Injured Enemies
Damage vs Healthy Enemies
Weapon Damage (not sure if there are any bonuses to that as rolls)
Attack Speed
Lower Priority

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV Post-Launch & RDY-4-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

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

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

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Mistplosion 2.0 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

Hemomancer Diablo IV Necromancer Build

Hemomancer Necromancer BUILD for Diablo IV

(the Hemomancer will bleed you dry and consume your vitality to keep themselves Healthy)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

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 Hemomancer. (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 (Hemomancer) 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) Hemorrhage – Burst an enemy’s blood, dealing 25.00% (X-XX) damage. Hemorrhage has 20% chance to form a Blood Orb. Blood Orbs heal you for 15% of your maximum Life when picked up. Generates: 7 Essence Damage: Physical
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Hemorrhage After picking up a Blood Orb, your next Hemorrhage also hits nearby enemies and grants 2 additional essence per enemy hit
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Initiate’s Hemorrhage Hemorrhage grants X Fortify each time it hits and enemy, and had a 1.5% chance per enemy hit to Fortify you.

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

  • (active) Blood Surge Draw blood from enemies, dealing 20.00% (X-?) damage, and expel a blood nova, dealing 50.00% (X-?) damage. Blood Surge’s nova damage is increased by 10% (multiplicative) per enemy drained, up to 50% (multiplicative). Essence Cost: 30 Damage: Physical
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Blood Surge Blood Surge heals you for 1% of your maximum Life per each enemy drained, up to 5%.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Supernatural Blood Surge Each time an enemy is hit by Blood Surge’s nova, you are Fortified for X.
  • (passive) Unliving Energy – Your maximum Essence is increased by 3.
    • (1st upgrade) did not pick to save points
  • (passive) Reconstitution Your damage has up to a 4% chance to create a corpse at the target’s location.

Macabre Skills (Required Points: 6 ) I took two Macabre active skills

  • (active) Blood Mist Disperse into a bloody mist, becoming Immune for 3 seconds. Your Movement Speed is reduced by 50.00% and you periodically deal 1.75 (X-X) damage to enemies, healing for 100% of the damage dealt. Cooldown: 19 Seconds.
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Blood Mist Blood Mist’s Movement Speed penalty is reduced to 20%.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Ghastly Blood Mist Blood Mist leaves behind a Corpse every 1 second.
  • (passive – only put 1 point here to unlock the upgrade) 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 – only put 1 point here & it’s optional) Necrotic Carapace When a Corpse is formed from your Skills or your Minions, Fortify for X.
  • (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) Dreadful Bone Prison Fortify for X for each enemy trapped by Bone Prison.

Corruption Skills (Required Points: 11 ) DID NOT pick a Corruption skill but you can remove Bone Prison and pick Iron Maiden

  • (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) did not invest into Corruption passives to save points

Summoning Skills (Required Points: 16 )

  • (active) Corpse Tendrils Veins burst out of a Corpse, pulling in enemies, Stunning them for 3 seconds, and dealing 20.00% (X-?) damage to them. Cooldown: 11.0 Seconds. Damage: Physical
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Corpse Tendrils Enemies who are in range of Corpse Tendrils are Slowed by 50% before being pulled.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Abhorrent Corpse Tendrils Enemies slain while Stunned by Corpse Tendrils have a 25% chance to drop a Blood Orb.
  • (passive) Blood Begets Blood While below 50% Life, you receive 10% more healing from all sources.
    • (upgrade 1 DID NOT INVEST in this to save points) Tides of Blood Your Blood Skills deal 5% increased (multiplicative) Overpower damage. This bonus is doubled while you are Healthy.
    • (upgrade 2) Coalesced Blood Blood Orbs heal you for 15% more.
    • (upgrade 3 DID NOT INVEST in this to save points) Drain Vitality Hitting enemies with Blood Skills has up to 25% chance to Fortify you for X.
    • (upgrade 4) Transfusion Blood Orbs also heal your Minions for 15% of the amount.
  • (passive) did not invest into Summoning passives to save points

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

  • (active) Blood Wave Conjure a tidal wave of blood that deals 90.00% (X-XX) damage and knocks enemies back. Cooldown: 50.0 Seconds. Damage: Physical
  • (1st upgrade) Prime Blood Wave Blood Wave Slows enemies by 50% for 4 seconds.
  • (2nd upgrade) Supreme Blood Wave Blood Wave leaves behind 3 Blood Orbs as it travels.
  • (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) Golem Mastery Increase the damage and Life of your Golem by 15%
  • (passive) did not invest into Ultimate passives to save points but there are some nice options

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Rathma’s Vigor Increase your maximum Life by 10%. While Healtthy, you deal 25% (multiplicative) increased damage

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 (Hemomancer) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: Aspect of Potent Blood
  • Amulet: Aspect of Shared Misery
  • Chest: Fastblood Aspect
  • Pants: Aspect of Might
  • Gloves: Aspect of Pummeling
  • Boots: Aspect of Grasping Veins
  • Ring 1: Aspect of The Umbral
  • Ring 2: Aspect of Bursting Bones
  • 1H Weapon: Aspect of Retribution
  • Off-hand: Blood-bathed Aspect
  • 2-H Weapon (if you decide to use one): Aspect of Retribution

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

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Hemomancer 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

Dark Lord Diablo IV Necromancer Build

The Dark Lord and his Mages emerge from the shadows to engulf the battlefield in darkness

Dark Lord Necromancer BUILD for Diablo IV

(the Dark Lord and his Mages emerge from the shadows to engulf the battlefield in darkness)

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

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 Dark Lord.

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) Reap Sweep an ethereal scythe in front of you, dealing 12.00% (X-?) damage. Hitting an enemy with Reap increases your damage Reduction by 15% for 2 seconds. Generates: 4 Essence per enemy hit Damage: Shadow
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Reap If an enemy hit by Reap dies within 2 seconds, you gain 30% attack speed for 3 seconds.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Initiate’s Reap Reap instantly executes non-Bosses below 5% Life.

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

  • (active) Blight Unleash concentrated blight that deals 30.00% (X-?) damage and leaves behind a defiled area, dealing 80% (X) damage over 6 seconds. Essence Cost: 25 Damage: Shadow
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Blight Blight Slows enemies by 25%
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Paranormal Blight Blight has a 10% (multiplicative) chance to Stun for 2 seconds each time it deals damage.
  • (passive) Unliving Energy – Your maximum Essence is increased by 3.
    • (1st upgrade) did not pick to save points
  • (passive) Reconstitution Your damage has up to a 4% chance to create a corpse at the target’s location.

Macabre Skills (Required Points: 6 )

  • (active) Corpse Explosion – Release a vile miasma from a Corpse, dealing 75.00% (X-?) Shadow Damage over X seconds. Detonate a Corpse, dealing X damage to nearby enemies. Cooldown: ? Seconds.
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Corpse – Explosion Corpse Explosion’s radius is increased by 15%.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Horrid Corpse Explosion – Corpse Explosion deals 15% (multiplicative) increased damage to enemies that are Slowed, Stunned or Vulnerable.
  • (passive) did not invest into the Macabre passives yet to save points

Corruption Skills (Required Points: 11 ) here we’re taking both Curses

  • (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.
  • (active) Decrepify – Curse the target area. Enemies afflicted by Decrepify are Slowed by 50% and deal 25% less damage for 10 seconds. Essence Cost: 10 Damage: Physical
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Decrepify – Enemies hit while afflicted with Decrepify have up to a 10% chance to be Stunned for 2 seconds.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Abhorent Decrepify Enemies hit while afflicted with Decrepify have up to a 15% chance to reduce your active cooldowns by 1.0 seconds.
  • (passive) Skeletal Mage Mastery – Increase the damage and Health of your Skeletal Mages by 15%.
  • (passive) did not invest into other Corruption passives to save points

Summoning Skills (Required Points: 16 )

  • (active DID NOT TAKE IT BUT YOU CAN REMOVE A CURSE FOR IT) Corpse Tendrils – Veins burst out of a Corpse, pulling in enemies, Stunning them for 3 seconds, and dealing 20.00% (X-?) damage to them. Cooldown: 11.0 Seconds. Damage: Physical
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Corpse – Tendrils Enemies who are in range of Corpse Tendrils are Slowed by 50% before being pulled.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Horrid Corpse Tendrils – Enemies Stunned by Corpse Tendrils take 40% (multiplicative) more damage from Corpse Explosion.
  • (passive) Reaper’s Pursuit – Damaging enemies with Darkness Skills increases your Movement Speed by 5% for 3 seconds.
    • (upgrade) Crippling Darkness – DID NOT INVEST in this to save points
    • (upgrade) Gloom – When you damage enemies with Darkness Skills, they take 2% (multiplicative) increased Shadow Damage for 2 seconds, stacking up to 3 times.
    • (upgrade) Terror – Darkness Skills deal 5% increased damage against Immobilized, Slowed, or Stunned enemies. This also applies to Shadow Damage dealt by your Minions.

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

  • (active) Blood Wave Conjure a tidal wave of blood that deals 90.00% (X-XX) damage and knocks enemies back. Cooldown: 50.0 Seconds. Damage: Physical
  • (1st upgrade) Prime Blood Wave Blood Wave Slows enemies by 50% for 4 seconds.
  • (2nd upgrade) Supreme Blood Wave Blood Wave leaves behind 3 Blood Orbs as it travels.
  • (passive) Hellbent Commander – Your Minions deal 10% (multiplicative) increased damage while you are near them.
    • (upgrade) Inspiring Command – DID NOT INVEST in this to save points
  • (passive) Bonded in Essence – Your Minions gain 15% of your Resistances.
    • (upgrade) Death’s Defense – DID NOT INVEST in this to save points

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Shadowblight – Darkness Skills infect enemies with Shadowblight for 2 seconds. Every 10th time an enemy receives Shadow Damage from you or your Minions while they are affected by Shadowblight, they burst for 20.00% (X-XX) Shadow Damage.

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 + Upgrade 2 is a good build synergy
    • Description: Shadow Mages fire an additional shadow bolt every 6th attack.
  • Bone 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 (Dark Lord) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: Aspect of The Umbral
  • Amulet: Blighted Aspect
  • Chest: Sacrificial Aspect
  • Pants: Aspect of Disobedience
  • Gloves: Aspect of Shared Misery
  • Boots: Aspect of The Void
  • Ring 1: Aspect of Pummeling
  • Ring 2: Aspect of Retribution
  • 1H Weapon: Aspect of The Damned
  • Off-hand: Aspect of The Expectant
  • 2-H Weapon (if you decide to use one): Aspect of The Damned

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

♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦

This concludes the Dark Lord 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