The best skills to unlock early for Necromancer in Diablo 4

For those new to the Diablo series, the Necromancer is the ideal class of hero to pick in Diablo 4. Not only does the Necromancer boast superior crowd control abilities through their various summoning skills, they can also deal devastating AOE damage. The best aspect of starting at the Sanctuary with a Necromancer is that you can affect the gameplay from a fair amount of distance.

This forces players to take a tactical approach, where they poke enemies from a safe distance. Notably, the aiming and timing of the abilities of a Necromancer are pretty easy to master in Diablo 4 compared to other character classes.

A fully skilled and buffed-up Necromancer can be a force to reckon with as you can walk down the Sanctuary with an army of skeleton warriors, mages, and Golems. In this feature, we’ll walk you through some of the most powerful skill sets to choose for your Necromancer in the early stages of Diablo 4.

What are the best skills for Necromancer in Diablo 4

All in all, the Necromancer boasts 19 skills in its skill tree, divided into six major categories. Furthermore, certain skills can be further upgraded. Here’s a complete breakdown of all the Necromancer capabilities you will discover in Diablo 4:

Basic Skills

These are spammable skills that deal a fair amount of damage. However, their main purpose is to regenerate corpses and facilitate far more devastating skills in other categories. Here are the basic skills that a Necromancer possesses:

Decompose: Tears flesh from an enemy dealing physical damage. The flesh can be used later to generate usable corpses later.
Reap: Sweeps a scythe in front of enemies dealing physical damage in the process.
Hemorrhage: Bursts enemies’ blood to deal damage. The blood can be used to form a Blood Orb.
Bone Splinters: Throws spiny bones in front of enemies that deal physical damage upon contact.

Core Skills

These are some of a Necromancer's most powerful skills, as they require no cooldown. However, the biggest drawback is that they cost a lot of essence. Some core skills deal shadow damage, while others also inflict physical damage. Here are the core skills of a Necromancer in Diablo 4, listed.

Blight: Unleashes a concentrated Blight that deals shadow damage and leaves behind a defiled area. The defiled area deals damage over seconds.
Sever: Releases a dark Spector, then charges forward and deals damage with a scythe.
Blood Surge: Draws blood from the enemy dealing damage in the process, then expels a blood nova.
Blood Lance: Throws a Lance forward at enemies. The impaled enemies receive extra damage.
Blood Spear: Hurls a Blood spear toward the ground, dealing damage to enemies upon contact.

Macabre Skills

These are the defensive abilities of the Necromancer class. While building up a Necromancer, it is recommended to have at least one of these in your arsenal.

Corpse Explosion: Detonates nearby corpse to deal AOE damage on enemies.
Blood Mist: Unleashes a bloody mist in an area. The Necromancer becomes immune to damage for a few seconds. The blood mist deals additional damage to enemies, which regenerates the Necromancer’s health.
Bone Prison: Summons a prison of bones from the ground that confines a target for a few seconds.

Curse Skills

These are some of the most annoying skills a Necromancer possesses, inflicting a curse upon its enemies. These powers can be a headache to deal with as they deal slow damage over time. Here are the curse skills of a Necromancer.

Iron Maiden: Curses an area. Any enemy stepping into the cursed area will receive continuous damage for a short duration of time.
Decrepify: Curses an area. Enemies stepping over the cursed area will be slowed down for a few seconds, and their ability to deal damage will be greatly reduced.

Corpse Skills

One of the most fearful sets of skills a Necromancer possesses, players can use these to summon fearsome beasts to help their cause.

Corpse Tendrils: Veins burst out of a corpse that pulls the enemies and stuns them for a few seconds.
Bone Spirit: The Necromancer conjures up all of its essence and summons a devastating bone spirit to help you at your cause.

Ultimate Skills

These are the most powerful skills in any character class in Diablo 4. They require a long cooldown, but can inflict devastating damage that could potentially turn the tide of any battle. Here are the ultimate skills of the Necromancer class in Diablo 4.

Army of the Dead: Calls upon an army of Skelton warriors, Skeleton mages, and a powerful Golem from the ground to support you in defeating the enemies.
Blood Wave: Casts a wave of blood in front that deals an insane amount of damage on enemies and knocks them back.
Bone Storm: A bone storm appears around your Necromancer and his Bone Spirit, damaging surrounding enemies for a few seconds.

What are the best early-game skills to pick for your Necromancer in Diablo 4

The necromancer skill tree in Diablo 4 (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

If you choose a Necromancer in Diablo 4, you will be spoilt for choices. Too many permutations and combinations can be built for your Necromancer that are equally enticing and lethal in nature. However, to give you a headstart, here are the early-game skills you should pick for your Necromancer.

You may choose to pick all of the suggested skills in the early game or opt for a few. In Diablo 4, you get up to six active skill slots. So without further ado, here’s a basic early-game Necromancer build.

Reap: Since most of a Necromancer’s skills focus on summoning and dealing area damage, you must pick a skill that deals some kind of physical damage from close range. Hence, you must pick Reap initially when your Necromancer doesn’t have most of the summoning skills at their disposal.
Blight: A useful skill at your disposal that not only deals shadow damage but defiles an area that incurs additional AOE damage on multiple enemies.
Corpse Explosion: Corpse Explosion is one of Necromancer’s most lethal weapons if used correctly. The more corpses lying on the ground, the more will be damage output from the explosives. You’d be surprised to see the amount of AOE damage this simple skill can incur when surrounded by a corpse.
Iron Maiden: Use the Iron Maiden to weaken your enemies before they even reach close to you.
Bone Spirit: It is recommended to unlock the Bone Spirit skill for your Necromancer as soon as possible. A handy companion who will fight at your side, the Bone Spirit can be used in many versatile ways to give you an edge on the battlefield. It can be used as a bodyguard or a distraction to wreak havoc on your enemies from a safe distance.
Army of the Dead (Ultimate): The Army of the Dead is perhaps one of the most powerful ultimate skills in the entirety of Diablo 4. The skill becomes even more devastating as you scale it up. You can have an entire army of skeleton warriors, undead mages, and a Golem at your disposal. This way, you can overpower your enemies through sheer numbers alone.

That concludes our foray into the best skills for the Necromancer in Diablo 4.