With Diablo 4 hitting PlayStation Plus at the start of Season 9, the game has seen a new wave of players checking it out for the first time. While it can be somewhat intimidating for first-time Diablo 4 players to figure out which class they'd like to play and the best build for that class—including all the ideal skills, gear, and runes they will need—there are ways to take some of the pressure off players just learning the ropes. One Diablo 4 Season 9 class is simple enough for newcomers to pick up while also being an endgame meta threat for those looking to take a build deep into seasonal content.

The hallmark of a great Diablo 4 build is its ability to function both for leveling a character up to level 60 and then transitioning to endgame content and Paragon farming. Diablo 4 Season 9's Minion Necromancer build fits both of these requirements, while also being the perfect option for newcomers to try out, since summoning minions to fight in their place can help ease players into Diablo 4's combat. At the same time, the Minion Necromancer build can also take more skilled players far into endgame content like the Pit and Tormented Bosses thanks to the new Hand of Naz unique added this season.

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Minion Necromancer is Ideal for Diablo 4 Season 9 Players of All Skill Levels

Diablo 4 Season 9's Minion Necromancer Build is a Great Leveling Option

This build emphasizes the Necromancer's ability to summon Skeletal Warriors, Mages, and a Golem to automatically attack enemies, with minimal input necessary from the player. Although the build largely intends to empower the Necromancer's minions, there are options for the player themselves to deal damage with a few powerful skill options.

  • Reap
  • Sever
  • Raise Skeleton
  • Golem
  • Corpse Explosion
  • Soulrift

Necromancers will have access to Raise Skeleton immediately upon starting a new character, allowing them to create minions right from the start. However, a Basic Skill like Reap and a Core Skill like Sever are helpful in damaging enemies before the player gets access to the full force of the Necromancer's undead army. Corpse Explosion is a must-have skill for both dealing additional damage to enemies and restoring the Necromancer's Essence with a passive like Grim Harvest. Soulrift is the Necromancer's Ultimate Skill for this build, which helps Crowd Control enemies for their minions to make short work of.

Golem won't be available until Diablo 4 players complete the Necromancer's Call of the Underworld quest once they hit level 25.

With this setup, the main gameplay loop for combat while players are leveling their Necromancer is to summon all minions—Skeletal Warriors, Skeletal Mages, and Golem—while casting Sever from a distance to both engage enemies and create corpses thanks to the Hewed Flesh passive. Then, utilize Corpse Explosion to deal AoE damage to enemies and restore some Essence with the Grim Harvest passive so that Sever can be cast again. Meanwhile, the Necromancer's minions will keep enemies occupied, so players should be sure to re-summon any that are defeated.

Minion Necromancer Builds Have a High Endgame Ceiling in Season 9

What makes this Diablo 4 Season 9 build truly a great pick for any player is the fact that it can easily be adapted into a top-tier endgame build with only some minor adjustments. The biggest change players should make for an endgame version of this Diablo 4 Necromancer build is to sacrifice their Skeletal Warriors and Golem, leaving only Skeletal Mages as their minions. Doing so allows players to take advantage of The Hand of Naz unique gloves for the Necromancer.

  • The Hand of Naz Unique Gloves
    • +77.5-100% Skeletal Mage Damage
    • +10.5-15% Attack Speed
    • +424-457 Maximum Life
    • +2-4 Skeletal Mage Mastery
    • Unique Affix: Sacrificing both Skeletal Warriors and Golems grants an additional Skeletal Mage for each Minion sacrificed. When a Skeletal Mage attacks enemies 25 times without dying it upgrades to a Skeletal Arch-Mage. Skeletal Arch-Mages teleport to safety when attacked and their attacks occasionally shatter on impact dealing 50-100% increased damage to the target and up to 3 additional targets.

This unique puts a lot of the pressure on Skeletal Mages to be the primary damage dealers of the build, so Necromancer players will need to swap out a few skills to provide more direct damage themselves. Golem is no longer a factor, so replacing it with Bone Prison to help group enemies together and apply Vulnerable to them is the best course of action. Since Soulrift can replace Corpse Explosion in terms of Essence regeneration, Corpse Tendrils makes another great alternative and similarly allows players to pull enemies together for easy Diablo 4 Crowd Control. Sever can also be replaced with Blight, since the upgraded version of the skill allows the Necromancer and their minions to deal more damage to Elites, which is perfect for endgame boss farming.

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9 /10

Diablo 4
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Action RPG
Hack and Slash
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Systems
PlayStation-1 Xbox-1 PC-1
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Top Critic Avg: 88 /100 Critics Rec: 93%
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Released
June 5, 2023
ESRB
Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
Developer(s)
Blizzard
Publisher(s)
Blizzard
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DIGITAL
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Engine
Proprietary Engine
Genre(s)
Action RPG, Hack and Slash