Diablo 4 Season 8: Mendeln Summoner Necromancer build guide

Diablo 4’s Mendeln Summoner Necromancer proves that summons are still viable in the endgame of Season 8. Though it takes a bit of setup, and is focused around a few specific Uniques, it’s the build I used throughout the endgame as I prepared to write my Season review. However, there are a few ways to play this, and when I stumbled upon Kripparian’s version, I immediately started looking into it.

This could easily be the best way to play a Mendeln Summoner Necromancer in Diablo 4 right now, from what I can see. It’s easy to play once it’s set up, and it’s incredibly satisfying to use. As you watch your summoned minions pummel groups of enemies wrapped up in Corpse Tendrils, you’ll be in love with the build like I am.

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How a Mendeln Summoner Necromancer build works in Diablo 4

The Mendeln Summoner Necromancer in Diablo 4 Season 8 is built around the power of the Xan Rune, and of course, the Unique Ring of Mendeln. This ring has your summons explode for physical damage every sixth attack. Thanks to a powerful weapon, and the Xan Rune, you can decimate your foes in relatively short order.

This build lets players bask in the power of their undead army - I'm still adjusting my build from the old one to this one! (Image via Blizzard Enteratinment)

This build naturally uses Raise Skeleton and Raise Golem — particularly Bone Golem, to put corpses on the ground to make triggering Corpse Tendrils easier. It runs Decrepify as its curse, and Blight/Soulrift as sources of damage and Stagger. If things get rough, you can swap Decrepify for another Darkness skill, to increase the damage from the Reaper’s Pursuit talent.

The Bone Golem creates a corpse on the ground, and you Corpse Tendril it to reel in huge groups of monsters. Pop Soulrift, curse the ground, and let your Skeletons do the work. Make sure you keep activating Summon Skeleton to get that Skeletal Priest buff. You also want to hit tankier enemies with Blight, and spam it on bosses to really stagger them quickly.

Since the Ring of Mendeln’s proc for damage is in a small space, being able to pack everyone in as close as possible is important. The skeletons are a huge source of your DPS, so this is an important thing to practice. Another great thing about this build is it transitions neatly from a regular leveling build for minion Necromancers.

Shame I can't reset all my points and start my boss powers over (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

In Diablo 4 Season 8, you want to run Urivar’s Lobbed Bombs (Main), and Beastmaster’s Training, Harbinger of Hatred’s Volley, and Flesh Reaper’s Disruption (Modifier).

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Ideal Talents and Book of the Dead selections for Mendeln Summoner Necromancer build in Diablo 4

You aren’t going to find a lot of surprises in the Mendeln Summoner Necromancer build, as far as talents go. You can see everything you need before. Most combat talents only take one point, except Soulrift, which needs the full five to get its bonus. Here’s the breakdown of what you need at Level 60:

• Reap (Enhanced) x1
• Blight (Enhanced, Supernatural) x 1
• Hewed Flesh x 3
• Necrotic Fortitude x 3
• Titan’s Fall x 3
• Spiked Armor x 3
• Skeletal Warrior Mastery x 3
• Grim Harvest x 1
• Fueled by Death x 3
• Decrepify (Enhanced, Abhorrent) x 1
• Skeletal Mage Mastery x 3
• Amplify Damage x 3
• Death’s Embrace x 3
• Death’s Approach x 3
• Corpse Tendrils (Enhanced, Blighted) x 1
• Coalesced Blood x 3
• Reaper’s Pursuit x 3
• Necrotic Carapace x 3
• Soulrift (Prime, Supreme) x 5
• Finality x 3
• Golem Mastery x 3
• Inspiring Leader x 3
• Hellbent Commander x 3
• Kalan’s Edict x 1

Unlike some other Necromancer builds in Diablo 4 Season 8, Meldeln Summoner actually uses its Skeletons and Golem! As it pertains to your Book of the Dead, you want Skeletal Warrior Skirmishers (First pick), Skeletal Shadow Mages (First pick), and Bone Golem (First pick). This gives you an extra minion, more damage per Shadow Mage, and when you activate the Golem, it drops five corpses for you to use.

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Which Mercenaries to pick for a Mendeln Summoner Necromancer build

Raheir is still the King of Mercenaries (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

As long as you have the Vessel of Hatred expansion for Diablo 4, you can pick up a Mercenary and a secondary for reinforcements. For this build, you want Raheir primary, Aldkin secondary. It’s not a shock, though. Raheir is amazing, and he’s a tank. Here are the skills chosen for this build:

Raheir picks

• Ground Slam
• Raheir’s Aegis
• Bastion
• Inspiration

Aldkin pick

• Field of Languish (when player casts any Skill in Combat)

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Paragon Loadout for Mendeln Summoner Necromancer in Diablo 4

Here's your Paragon Board loadout to try (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Spending Paragon points wisely is important for a good build in Diablo 4, and this one has quite a few differences from some other Paragon boards I’ve experimented with. You can see the point spread above, as well as the important boards/glyphs below:

• Starter Board (Corporeal)
• North into Cult Leader (Deadraiser)
• East into Flesh-eater (Essence)
• East into Frailty (Amplify)
• North from Flesh-eater into Scent of Death (Eliminator)

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Ideal gear and Legendary Aspects for Mendeln Summoner Necromancer in Diablo 4

Gear Slot	Ideal Stats	Legendary Aspect
Helmet	Critical Strike Chance, Lucky Hit Chance, Movement Speed, +2 Core Skills	N/A (Heir of Perdition Unique)
Chest	Maximum Life, Intelligence, Golem Mastery Ranks, Total Armor, Corpse Tendrils Size	Hardened Bones
Gloves	Intelligence, Maximum Life, Attack Speed, Critical Strike Damage, Soulrift Duration	Grasping Veins
Pants	Critical Strike Chance, Curse Skill Ranks, Golem Mastery Ranks, Hellbent Commander Ranks	N/A (Blood Moon Breeches)
Boots	Intelligence, Maximum Life, Skeletal Warrior Mastery Ranks, Movement Speed, Corpse Tendrils Size	Occult Dominion
Amulet	Hellbent Commander Ranks, Death's Embrace Ranks, Intelligence, Golem Active Cooldown, Crowd Control Duration	Great Feast
Ring #1	Intelligence, Maximum Life, Lucky Hit Chance, Critical Strike Damage, Golem Active Cooldown	Reanimation
Ring #2	Minion Attack Speed, Skeletal Warrior Mastery Ranks, Damage, Intelligence	N/A (Ring of Mendeln)
Weapon	All Stats, Maximum Resource, Damage	N/A (The Grandfather)

The Mendeln Summoner Necromancer can be a very Unique-heavy build in Diablo 4, that’s for sure. While The Grandfather is listed as an item in the table above, it’s not a requirement. Otherwise, grab a two-handed Scythe, and put Corpse Tendrils Aspect on it. You can then put Frenzied Dead on the gloves if you’d like. Before you have Heir of Perdition, I recommend Cursed Aura Aspect, for the free curses.

If you do have Cursed Aura, you can swap Decrepify/other curses off your bar for other skills, since you don’t have to actively cast them. Fists of Fate is another great pick for this build if you get a high-rolled one, and you also need Blood Moon Breeches alongside the obvious Ring of Mendeln.

As far as Gems go, you’ve got a few options. Weapons should get Emerald, Armor should get Topaz, and skulls in your jewelry. However, we also want to have a pair of Rune combos — one in your Weapon, and one in an Armor Slot.

• Weapon: Ahu + Xan (Lucky Hit: 100% when hitting non-Healthy enemy to make next attack causes hits to be a Guaranteed Critical Strike and Overpower for 0.35 seconds)
• Armor: Nagu + Ohm (Maintain at least 1 active Summon for 5 seconds, gaining offering for each up to 6 to invoke Barbarian’s War Cry)

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Check out our other Diablo 4 guides and features

• Diablo 4 Season 8 review
• All Boss Powers in Diablo 4 Season 8, and how to get them
• Diablo 4 Season 8 Boss Powers Tier List