Necromancer

The Necromancer was the fifth and final class to be revealed for the release of Diablo 4. The reveal was part of Microsoft's showcase in June 2022.

The Necromancer has been a fan favourite since Diablo 2 and returned to Sanctuary in Diablo 3.

Necromancer Resources

The Necromancer has two resources. Essence and Corpses.

Essence

Essence is the primary resource that recharges slowly over time. Essence can also be obtained using basic skills allowing players to cast their skills more often.

Corpses

Corpses are literally the left over remains of fallen enemy. These remains can be used to summon minions or power other skill such as Corpse Explosion.

Diablo 4 Class
The Necromancer
Skills:	Necromancer Skills
Resources:	Essence / Corpses
Background
Origin:	Hawezar
Affiliation:	Cult of Rathma.

Necromancer Weapons

Necromancers are proficient with:

• Swords
• Daggers
• Wands
• Focuses
• Shields
• Scythes

Skills

So far we know that Necromancer skills are split into multiple skill groups which includes Bone and Darkness skills.

Name	Icon	Type	Damage	Generates	Description
Army of the Dead			Cooldown		Call forth the deep buried dead. Volatile undead emerge over the next X seconds that explode near enemies, dealing X damage.
Blight		Darkness			Unleash concentrated blight that deals X damage and leaves behind a defiled area, dealing X damage over X seconds.
Blood Lance		Blood			Throw a blood lance that lingers in an enemy for X second, dealing X damage to the enemy and all other lanced enemies.
Blood Mist		Blood	Cooldown		Disperse into a bloody mist, becoming Immune for X seconds. Your Movement Speed is reduced by X and you periodically dealX damage to enemies, healing for X% of the damage dealt.
Blood Surge		Blood			Draw blood from enemies, dealing X damage, and expel a blood nova, dealing X damage. Blood Surge's nova damage is increased by X% per enemy drained, up to X%.
Blood Wave		Blood	Cooldown		Conjure a tidal wave of blood that deals X damage and knocks enemies back.
Bone Prison		Bone			Slam weapon into the ground to create circular wall of bone. Use this skill to block enemies.
Bone Spirit		Bone	Cooldown		Cooldown and consumed all Essence. A spirit of bone seeks out the enemy and then explodes dealing AOE damage. The more Essence spent, the more damage dealt. When it Critical Strkes, cooldown is reduced.
Bone Spear		Bone			Conjure a bone spear from the ground, dealing X damage and Piercing through enemies.
Bone Splinters		Bone			Fire 3 bone splinters, dealing X damage each.
Bone Storm		Bone			A swirling storm of bones surrounds you and your Golem, dealing X damage to nearby enemies over X seconds.
Command Skeletons		Summon			Command your skeletons to unleash powerful attacks on an enemy. Focus Target: Command your skeletons to unleash powerful attacks on an enemy and then focus it for X seconds. Skirmisher: X damage Defender: X damage Shadow Mage: X damage Sacrifice Mage: X damage Priest: X damage
Corpse Explosion		Bone			Release a vile miasma from a Corpse, dealing X Shadow Damage over X seconds.{else}Detonate a Corpse, dealing X damage to nearby enemies.{
Corpse Tendrils			Cooldown		Veins burst out of a Corpse, pulling in enemies, Stunning them for X seconds, and dealing X damage to them.
Dark Ritual		Darkness			Infuse your Minions with dark energy, causing them to deal X more damage and move X% faster.
Decompose		Darkness			Tear the flesh from an enemy, dealing X damage per second and forming a usable Corpse with the flesh every X seconds.
Decrepify					Curse the target area. Enemies afflicted by Decrepify are Slowed by X% and deal X% less damage for X seconds.
Golem		Summon	Cooldown		You are protected by a Golem. Blood: Bone: Iron:
Hemorrhage		Blood		Essence	Burst an enemy's blood, dealing X damage. Hemorrhage has a X% chance to form a Blood Orb.
Iron Maiden					Curse the target area. Enemies afflicted by Iron Maiden take X damage each time they deal direct damage. Lasts X seconds.
Miasma			Cooldown		Release vile miasma from a corpse that deals X damage over time for X seconds.
Raise Skeleton		Summon			Raise a Skeleton from a Corpse to fight for you. Once all of your Skeletons have been summoned, Raise Skeleton briefly summons a Skeletal Priest to empower your Minions for X seconds, increasing their damage by X% and healing them for X% of their maximum Life.
Reap				Essence	Generate Essence per enemy hit. Sweep an ethereal scythe in front of you, dealing X damage.
Sever					A spectre of you charges forward and attacks with its scythe for X damage.

Talents

Name	Icon	Type	Damage	Generates	Description
Gloom		Darkness			When you damage enemies with Darkness Skills, they take X% increased Shadow Damage for X seconds, stacking up to X times.
Death's Defense					Your Minions can't lose more than X% of their maximum Life from a single damage instance.
Unliving Energy					Your maximum Essence is increased by X.
Grim Harvest					Consuming a Corpse generates X Essence.
Death's Reach					You deal X% increased damage to enemies outside of melee range.
Memento Mori					Sacrificing both Skeletal Warriors and Skeletal Mages increases their Sacrifice bonuses by X%.
Necrotic Carapace					When a Corpse is formed from your Skills or your Minions, Fortify for X.
Coagulation					While Healthy, Fortify for X per second.
Death's Embrace					Enemies in melee range take X% more damage from you and deal X% less damage to you.
Bone Spurs					Fire 3 bone splinters, dealing X damage each.
Bone Storm					Gain X Thorns.
Golem Mastery					Increase the damage and Life of your Golem by X% .
Rapid Ossification					Every Essence you spend reduces the cooldowns of your Bone Skills by X seconds.
Tides of Blood					Your Blood Skills deal X% increased Overpower damage. This bonus is doubled while you are Healthy.
Skeletal Mage Mastery					Increase the damage and Health of your Skeletal Mages by X%
Skeletal Warrior Mastery					Increase the damage and Life of your Skeletal Warriors byX% .

Talents (Caster)

Name	Icon	Type	Damage	Generates	Description
Stand Alone					Increases Damage Reduction by X, reduced by X% for each active Minion.
Crippling Darkness		Darkness			Darkness Skills have up to a X% chance to Stun for X seconds.
Terror					Darkness Skills deal X% increased damage against Immobilized, Slowed, or Stunned enemies. This also applies to Shadow Damage dealt by your Minions.
Coalesced Blood					Blood Orbs heal you for X% more.
Imperfectly Balanced					Your Core Skills cost X% more Essence, but deal X% increased damage.
Crit Skill Damage Count					Crit Skill Damage Count
Solid Bones					Dealing bonus damage with Bone skills.
Compound Fracture					After Critically Striking X times with Bone Skills, your Bone Skills deal X% increased damage for X seconds.
Reaper's Pursuit		Darkness			Damaging enemies with Darkness Skills increases your Movement Speed by X% for X seconds.
Blood Begets Blood					While below 50% Life, you receive X% more healing from all sources.
Serration		Bone			Your Bone Skills have a X% increased Critical Strike Chance for each 10 Essence you have upon cast.
Ossified Essence		Bone			Your Bone Skills dea X% increased damage for each point of Essence you have above X upon cast.
Shadowblight		Darkness			Darkness Skills infect enemies with Shadowblight for X seconds. Every 10th time an enemy receives Shadow Damage from you or your Minions while they are affected by Shadowblight, they burst for X Shadow Damage.

Talents (Summoning)

Name	Icon	Type	Damage	Generates	Description
Bonded in Essence					Your Minions gain X% of your Resistances.
Evulsion		Bone			Your Bone Skills deal X]% increased Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable enemies.
Hellbent Commander					Your Minions dea X% increased damage while you are near them.
Reconstitution					Your Minions regenerate X% Life per second.
Amplify Damage					You deal % increased damage to Cursed enemies.
Power Absorption					Dealing bonus damage
Fueled by Death					You deal X% increased damage for X seconds after consuming a Corpse.
Steady Command					Steady Command Attack Speed Bonus
Inspiring Command		Darkness			After you have been Healthy for at least X seconds, you and your Minions gain X% Attack Speed.
Transfusion					Blood Orbs also heal your Minions for X% of the amount.
Drain Vitality		Bone		Hit Effect	Hitting enemies with Blood Skills has up to a X% chance to Fortify you for X.
Rathma's Vigor		Bone			Increase your maximum Life by X%. While Healthy, you deal X% increased damage.
Strength in Numbers		Darkness			While you have at least X Minions, they gain X% Attack Speed.

Darkness Skills

These skills use Shadow magic and tend to be damage over time (DOT). These skill can also have debuffs and crowd control elements.

Blood

Blood skill are used to siphon life from the enemy.

The Army

The Necromancers summoning skills which includes skeletons and golem. Blizzard explains their approach to summoning in Diablo 4:

We went through a lot of iteration on how we want the experience of summoning the undead to feel for the player, and how much of their skill bar should be dedicated to this part of the class. To that end, we’ve come up with what we feel is the best possible version to ensure that players have as much customization as possible over not only their army itself, but also in which other skills they want to use to support their own unique playstyle.

If a player wants to have the maximum number of summoned units possible then they will only have to dedicate two buttons to their skill bar: one to raising Skeletons and the other for their Golem. The Raise Skeleton button is a one-stop shop to raise all the different Skeletons a player can summon, and the Golem button is used to command the Golem to use a unique effect that is dependent on the type of Golem that is currently active. With this setup, we’ve found a great balance between having the necessary tools for raising and commanding a Necromancer army while also leaving room for player expression in what additional skills they want to put on their bar.

Known Curses

• Decripify
• Iron Maiden

Book of the Dead

The Book of the Dead is the Necromancer's unique class mechanic.

The book allows players to customise how their summoned Skeletal Warriors, Skeletal Mages, and Golems will react while playing. There are three specialisations:

• Skirmishers - Increased damage but reduced health.
• Defenders - Bonus health
• Reapers - Slow attacks but AOE damage and increase damage with a "wind-up" attack.

As well as the above, each unit in the "army" can be customised although it's still a little vague how this will function. Blizzard states:

Each specialized unit in the army has unique upgrades available to them, giving you even more customization over how each unit in their army functions in their overall playstyle. These units and upgrades will have synergies with the various playstyles mentioned above, as well as add other potential ways to play.

A player can use the Book of the Dead to "sacrifice the ability to summon that unit" in exchange for a personal permanent buff.

• Book of the Dead
• 
• 

Necromancer History

As might be expected, the devotees of magic are a segregated lot. They are as leery of students of rival disciplines as a layperson is of all arcane practitioners. None, however, are so widely maligned and misunderstood as the Priests of Rathma.

As with most users of magic, the priests of the cult of Rathma hail from the far Eastern Jungles. They reside in a vast underground city located deep within those jungles. Their specific geographical locale is particularly secluded, however, preventing their assimilation into a formal mage clan. But it is this same isolation that has allowed them to pursue their distinct kind of arcane science.

For it is through the teachings of Rathma, as well as through years of research and physical experimentation, that these men have come to understand and hold sacred the delicate balance of life and death and are able to twist the line that borders the two. For although the minions of Hell have long possessed this power, among mortals the knowledge to reanimate and control the dead belongs to these priests alone. It is this practice that has led outsiders to refer to them as Necromancers. They truly comprehend the balance of all things,and understand and accept their place in what they refer to as the Great Cycle of Being.

Their culture has subsisted in the shadow of the great mage clans from the earliest days, and in most ways their practice reaches back to a time before magic was formalized into strict disciplines. Although their art is considered “dark”, and the people of the outside world shun the priests who practice these arts, these mysterious cultists never suffered the epidemic of corruption that plagued the ancient mage clans.

Pragmatists in the truest sense, they are above temptation. They see death merely as a natural part of life and do not seek to deny its arrival. Their singular knowledge of the unknown allows them to face death without fear. These ideals, coupled with an understanding of the natural balance between Order and Chaos, explain why they have not fallen prey to the influences of evil.

Their desire to uphold this balance has brought the Necromancers forth from the isolation of their remote, dank homeland to destroy Diablo and his brethren. The mere presence of these Prime Evils on the mortal realm upsets the natural symmetry of not only the mortal realm, but also the Great Cycle of Being itself. The followers of Rathma seek to right the balance by ridding the mortal realms of nonmortal intervention altogether. They resent any force that would treat humans as pawns in a cosmic game, though they apparently are willing to ally with the forces of Order, but only until such time as the balance is restored.