5 Best Necromancer builds to try in Diablo 4 Season 8

Diablo 4 Season 8’s Necromancer has a few varied builds that range in power and viability. Not everything is going to be good for both leveling and endgame. While I did think the Barbarian had a chance to be the strongest build going into Season 8, now that I’ve seen more Necromancer, I feel they perhaps have stronger builds, capable of safely dealing just as much, if not more, damage.

These are just a few ideas, if you’re thinking about playing a Necromancer going into Season 8 of Diablo 4. This list of builds considers how good the build is at its task (endgame/leveling), how viable it is, and most of all, how enjoyable it is to play. This list isn’t focused on the boss powers, though those are going to be a blast, and only serve to enhance these builds.

Which builds should players try as a Necromancer in Diablo 4 Season 8

Blood Wave (Endgame)
Bone Spirit (Endgame)
Bone Spear (Endgame)
Blood Surge (Leveling and Endgame)
Minion (Leveling)

1) Blood Wave

Blood Wave definitely still works like it did last season (Image via Blizzard Entertainment/@LordxSaura)

It turns out that even though the damage on Blood Wave was capped in the Diablo 4 Season 8 patch notes, Blood Wave Necromancer is still going to be incredibly powerful! While personally, I’m not crazy about minion-less builds, this is truly one of the better ones. You sacrifice your Minions for increased stats, drag enemies together with a Corpse Tendrils cast, and crash Blood Wave into them to melt their health pool.

However, you do need at least one Unique to make this whole thing move. Without Kessime’s Legacy, Blood Wave doesn’t do quite as much as it did in previous Seasons. This is one of the stronger builds going into the season and has a chance to remain the top build for two seasons in a row.

2) Bone Spirit

Although Bone Spirit is not the most powerful build right now, it feels good and hits hard. It just takes some setup (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Bone Spirit is another endgame build, but this one might be even more frustrating than Bone Spear. It not only requires three Uniques (Path of Trag’Oul, Blood Moon Breeches, and Banished Lord’s Talisman), but you also need to have Elixir of Resourcefulness II until you have better gear. This is how you get an easier time reaching 275 Essence. You also want several Mythic Uniques in the late game, like Starless Skies, Heir of Perdition, and Shroud of False Death. Moreover, it's another minionless build, which may or may not interest you as a player.

After you’re geared, Bone Spirit is one of the best Necromancer builds for Diablo 4 Season 8, without a doubt. Hit a group of enemies with Decrepify, Bone Prison, and Blight. Then Bone Spirit to absolutely shred foes and deal millions of damage. You may also need to use the occasional Corpse Tendrils to pull enemies close together. Between those skills and keeping Soulrift active, you can shred any content with ease.

3) Bone Spear

There's not a lot that is more satisfying than locking down foes in a Bone Prison and shredding them with Bone Spear (Image via Blizzard Entertainment/@SKULM)

Bone Spear Necromancer is similar to Bone Spirit in a lot of its setup in Diablo 4 Season 8, but instead of using Bone Spirit as your primary damage tool, you’re going to shred enemies with Bone Spear. It needs a few Uniques as well — Indira’s Memory, Deathless Visage, and Path of Trag’Oul again. That’s because this is also a Bone Prison build!

You pull people close together, use the Tam+Wat Rune Combo to Decrepify for free, Bone Prison foes together, and pin them with Bone Spear. You also have to keep your various utility skills going — Soulrift and Bone Prison in particular. This build takes practice to get down, but it’s fast, and it deals a ton of damage. However, if you aren’t hitting enemies with Bone Spears, it will cost you life, so be careful.

4) Blood Surge

Blood Surge transitions nicely into a solid, tanky lategame build (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Finally, a Diablo 4 Season 8 build that uses Minions! You’ll sacrifice Golems, but you still get the rest of your bony friends. Unfortunately, when you shift this build to endgame, you will be getting rid of them. However, thanks to the tankiness of this build, minions just get in the way in the late game.

The late-game version needs Cruor’s Embrace and Blood Moon Breeches. Though this build is remarkably tanky and reliable, it may fall off in the higher tiers of The Pit. It just doesn’t do as much damage as other builds. That makes it, for my money, a solid grouping build, since you can try and tank, and bring a friend for extra damage. However, it is satisfying to level with Blood Surge and Hemorrhage, blowing up bodies and dealing tons of damage at the same time.

5) Minion

When in doubt, bring your friends about (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Sadly, it appears that Minion Necromancer just isn’t the play in Diablo 4 Season 8. Hopefully, we uncover an endgame build that continues to use our skeleton friends, but in the interim, it’s the best leveling build you’re going to have for this class. You inflict curses on the ground and let your allies do the hard work. If you’re feeling frisky, you can cast the occasional Corpse Explosion alongside your Decrepify/Iron Maiden/Bone Prison.

Thanks to Cursed Aura Aspect in Diablo 4, you can get those first two Curses cast for free for this Season 8 Necromancer build. Bone Prison, you’ll have to activate yourself. It’s a build where you can just play at a nice pace, let your allies do all the heavy lifting, and cast support skills to make life easier. It’s a nice, brainless, and fun way to play.

Check out our other Diablo 4 Season 8 guides and features

About the author

Jason is an Esports and Gaming journalist at Sportskeeda holding an amazing 11 years of experience under his belt. Having put out 4000-plus articles and amassing over 12 million reads for Sportskeeda, he is among the company’s most experienced writers. Jason holds a Bachelor's degree in English from UNC Pembroke and was inspired to become a gaming journalist very early on in life after reading Nintendo Power.

Jason is a jack of all trades when it comes to gaming journalism. He’s a key writer in Sportskeeda's MMO department, but he also likes to help out in other categories, like streamers, RPG, card games, and whatever else is needed. A solo gamer at heart, Jason's favorite titles include Earthbound and Dragon Warrior.

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Edited by Jason Parker