Season 4 Loot Reborn made so many changes to Diablo 4, but I’m personally excited over Necromancer builds finally getting their time in the sun. They weren’t terrible but were frequently outclassed by bone and blood builds. The tables have completely turned and minions are the best they’ve ever been and, by extension, Necromancers in general. And the best part is that minion builds are fantastic at all stages of content, from early to endgame.
D4: Best Necro Minion Build in Season 4 Loot Reborn
With the best Necromancer minion build, you really feel like a composer of the dead, throwing out CC (crowd control) and buffs to minions just so they can go ham on some unsuspecting demon. The best part is its lack of glaring weaknesses, the worst of which is you being slow; otherwise, this minion build will be great for single-target and multi-target damage.
Talents and Glyphs
As you’ll quickly notice, this minion build relies solely on letting your minions do most of the work, by prioritizing talents that not only buff the effectiveness of both your skeletal minions and your golem, but weaken and CC your targets through curses and shadow damage.
| Category | Skills and Talents |
| Basic | +1 to Reap, Enhanced Reap |
| Core | +1 to Blight, Enhanced, Supernatural +3 to Hewed Flesh |
| Corpse & Macabre | +3 to Skeletal Warrior Mastery +2 to Grim Harvest +3 Fueled by Death |
| Curse | +5 to Decrepify, Enhanced, Abhorrent +3 to Death’s Embrace +3 to Amplify Damage +3 to Death’s Approach +3 to Skeletal Mage Mastery |
| Corpse & Macabre | +1 to Corpse Tendrils, Enhanced, Plagued +3 to Reaper’s Pursuit +1 to Crippling Darkness +3 to Necrotic Carapace |
| Ultimate | +1 Army of the Dead, Prime, Supreme +3 to Golem Mastery +3 to Inspiring Leader +3 Hellbent Commander |
| Key Passive | Kalan’s Edict |
| Skeletal Warriors | Reapers |
| Skeletal Mages | Cold |
| Golem | Blood |
Once you start running Nightmare dungeons and pick up some Glyphs, you want to be on the lookout for:
- Amplify
- Corporeal
- Deadraiser
- Essence
- Exploit
- Golem
- Territorial
With those Glyphs, you’ll get bonuses to minion damage, more effective curses, critical strike damage, and some sweet damage reduction.
Items and Aspects of Power
Surprisingly, the best Necromancer minion build in Diablo 4 doesn’t actually require any unique or Uber unique items to be effective in Season 4. A Shako would be nice, but it isn’t required. Otherwise, you only need four Aspects of Power to get the build rolling, which you can easily unlock by completing these dungeons:
| Aspect of Power | Dungeon | Location |
| Disobedience | Halls of the Damned | Kehjistan (Scouring Sands) |
| Grasping Veins | Corrupted Grotto | Kehjistan (Ragged Coastline) |
| Reanimation | Aldurwood | Scosglen (Shrouded Moors) |
| Unyielding Commander’s | Faceless Shrine | Hawezar (Forsaken Coast) |
Outside of that, you also want to unlock these Legendary Aspects during Season 4 to make the best Necromancer minion build in Diablo 4 more effective:
- Blood Getter’s
- Frenzied Dead
- Hardened Bones
- Metamorphosis
- Occult Dominion
- Slaughter
Unlike the others, those Aspects of Power can only be obtained from playing the game and getting lucky. Run Nightmare dungeons, kill world bosses, loot Tortured Gifts during Helltides, spend your Obols, and you’ll have them in time!
How to Play the Best Necromancer Minion Build
While your minions will be doing the majority of the damage, don’t think for a second you’ll be kicking back with some popcorn. Think of yourself as the coach of a sports team, directing your minions on who to attack and when.
Most fights will play out like so: Open with Decrepify and blanket the area with the curse, then follow up with Corpse Tendrils and end with Blight. You only have to apply Blight after the effect wears off, but you should be spamming Decrepify often. With demons being crowd-controlled and debuffed, your minions will eat them for dinner.
If you come across any elites or your minions suddenly get pulverized quickly, Army of the Dead is great for damage, and it summons the maximum number of skeletal minions.
Additionally, your skeletons and golem will gain a buff whenever you use their respective summon abilities when you’re already at max. It’s particularly effective against both groups and bosses!
