The Necromancer class in Diablo 4 is often seen as the game’s embodiment of the Grim Reaper, particularly evident in Season 6 with the Sever build. This unique configuration enables the Necromancer to truly embrace a deathly persona. In this guide, we’ll explain how to construct this build and assess its effectiveness for leveling, endgame progression, and PvP encounters.
The Sever Necromancer build revolves around summoning a shadow minion that slices through its foes with a lethal scythe. As this season features the Necromancer as a strong contender, mastering the best builds is crucial for success.
Below, we’ll provide detailed guidance on optimizing this build for leveling, endgame, and PvP scenarios, highlighting the top skills, items, Aspects, and Glyphs to focus on throughout your journey this season.
The Necromancer exemplifies the Grim Reaper in Diablo 4.
Top Sever Leveling Build in Diablo 4 Season 6
In this season, the Sever build is classified as B-tier. While not the strongest option available, it remains highly lethal.
As you level up through the campaign or tackle the new Season 6 content, prioritize selecting skills in the following order:
| Level | Skill |
|---|---|
| 1 | Bone Splinters |
| 2 | Enhanced Bone Splinters |
| 3 | Initiate’s Bone Splinters |
| 4 | Sever |
| 5 | Sever |
| 6 | Sever |
| 7 | Enhanced Sever |
| 8 | Paranormal Sever |
| 9 | Sever |
| 10 | Sever |
| 11 | Reap |
| 12 | Enhanced Reap |
| 13 | Acolyte’s Reap |
| 14 | Corpse Explosion |
| 15 | Corpse Explosion |
| 16 | Iron Maiden |
| 17 | Enhanced Iron Maiden |
| 18 | Enhanced Corpse Explosion |
| 19 | Blighted Corpse Explosion |
| 20 | Corpse Explosion |
| 21 | Corpse Explosion |
| 22 | Corpse Explosion |
| 23 | Corpse Tendrils |
| 24 | Enhanced Corpse Tendrils |
| 25 | Plagued Corpse Tendrils |
| 26 | Fueled By Death |
| 27 | Fueled By Death |
| 28 | Fueled By Death |
| 29 | Grim Harvest |
| 30 | Grim Harvest |
| 31 | Skeletal Warrior Mastery |
| 32 | Skeletal Warrior Mastery |
| 33 | Skeletal Warrior Mastery |
| 34 | Skeletal Mage Mastery |
| 35 | Skeletal Mage Mastery |
| 36 | Skeletal Mage Mastery |
| 37 | Unliving Energy |
| 38 | Imperfectly Balanced |
| 39 | Imperfectly Balanced |
| 40 | Imperfectly Balanced |
| 41 | Hewed Flesh |
| 42 | Hewed Flesh |
| 43 | Hewed Flesh |
| 44 | Reaper’s Pursuit |
| 45 | Shadowblight |
| 46 | Fueled By Death |
| 47 | Fueled By Death |
| 48 | Fueled By Death |
| 49 | Crippling Darkness |
| Renown 1 | Reaper’s Pursuit |
| Renown 2 | Amplify Damage |
| Renown 3 | Amplify Damage |
| Renown 4 | Gloom |
| Renown 5 | Gloom |
| Renown 6 | Gloom |
| Renown 7 | Terror |
| Renown 8 | Terror |
| Renown 9 | Terror |
| Renown 10 | Golem Mastery |
This skill progression allows you to forge an optimal Sever Necromancer build during leveling. Keep in mind that unlocking Renown points is necessary to utilize the additional ten.
Many of the passive skills highlighted will enhance your Corpse and Shadow abilities (including Sever), ensuring they pack a potent punch. Since every build requires active skills, we’ve curated a selection that complements the Sever build effectively in combat.
Additionally, we’ve prioritized boosting your passive Minion skills while sidestepping Bone and Blood skills in this particular configuration, although adjustments will be made for the endgame variant of this build.
Optimal Book of the Dead Configuration for Leveling
When utilizing the Necromancer’s exclusive Book of the Dead abilities, we recommend the following selections:
- Skeletal Warriors – Reapers
- Skeletal Mages – Cold
- Golems – Blood
This particular setup enhances your build, allowing your Reaper Skeletal Warriors to engage in melee combat while you and your Skeletal Mages provide support from a distance using Cold spells.
This strategy slows down adversaries as your minions, Golem, and yourself deal damage to unsuspecting foes. While your minions are engaged, use your spells and deliver assaults with Sever from afar.
Ideal Leveling Rotation
- Summon Minions
- Iron Maiden
- Corpse Tendrils
- Sever
- Corpse Explosion
- Reap
Following this, utilize Plagued Corpse Tendrils to immobilize opponents and enhance the chances of generating additional corpses to bolster your minion count. Subsequently, unleash your main attack, employing Sever to inflict damage from a distance while your minions engage the enemy.
Plagued Corpse Tendrils, Iron Maiden, and Sever complement each other, creating a deadly zone where enemies are captured, and the situation becomes more lethal as you cast Corpse Explosion. This will dispatch remaining foes rapidly. If any enemy closes in, utilize Reap to defend yourself.
While any rotation that suits your style will work, the aforementioned strategy offers a logical and effective means of combining skills into a cohesive onslaught.
Top Legendary Aspects
Though Legendary Aspects gain greater significance in the endgame Sever Necro build, a few can be collected while progressing toward level 50 or narrating the main storyline. Here’s where to locate them:
| Aspect | Power | Dungeon | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blighted | Amplified Shadow Blight damage | Akkhan’s Grasp (complete A Debt Repaid quest) | He can’t |
| Threshold | Restores primary resource when crowd-controlling an enemy | Champion’s Demise (Complete the Temple of Rot Stronghold first) | Dry Steppes |
| Damned | Enhanced Shadow Damage | Uldur’s Cave | I develop |
Expect to discover additional Aspects to seek out in the endgame build.
The Sever skill calls forth a skeleton wielding a scythe, expertly dispatching foes.
Premier Sever Necromancer Endgame Build in Diablo 4 Season 6
Upon reaching the endgame in Season 6—having completed the story, achieved level 50, and unlocked the Paragon Board—you can then respec to the endgame Sever Necromancer build.
This time, note that significant changes are made to the leveling configuration. While the core skills maintain similarity, we now introduce Bone Storm into our repertoire—along with a departure from minions.
Keep in mind that the endgame Sever build is classified as C-tier within the current meta. Thus, if you want a hybrid build, you may opt to retain your minions; however, this deviates from the true Sever endgame setup.
| Active Skill | Upgrades | Points Allocated |
|---|---|---|
| Reap | Enhanced | 1 |
| Sever | Enhanced, Paranormal | 5 |
| Corpse Explosion | Enhanced, Blighted | 1 |
| Iron Maiden | Enhanced | 1 |
| Corpse Tendrils | Enhanced, Plagued | 1 |
| Bone Storm | Enhanced, Supreme | 1 |
Here are the necessary passive skills for the endgame build:
| Passive Skill | Points |
|---|---|
| Unliving Energy | 1 |
| Hewed Flesh | 3 |
| Imperfectly Balanced | 3 |
| Grim Harvest | 1 |
| Fueled by Death | 3 |
| Amplify Damage | 3 |
| Death’s Embrace | 3 |
| Crippling Darkness | 1 |
| Gloom | 3 |
| Reaper’s Pursuit | 3 |
| Terror | 3 |
| Necrotic Carapace | 2 |
| Memento Mori | 3 |
| Stand Alone | 3 |
| Shadowblight | 1 |
This variant mainly emphasizes Shadow capabilities, replacing minion-oriented skills with passives that enhance a solo Necromancer’s prowess.
Optimal Endgame Book of the Dead Setup
For the endgame version of this build, we will sacrifice our minions to bolster our strength, transforming the Necromancer into a formidable solitary warrior with an even more potent Sever skill.
- Skeletal Warriors – Sacrifice
- Skeletal Mages – Sacrifice
- Golems – Sacrifice
While maintaining minions is an option, be aware that your power during solo encounters will decrease when compared to the strengths afforded by sacrificing them. In the event you choose to keep your minions, consider adapting some of your passive choices, such as exchanging Memento Mori and Stand Alone for minion mastery skills.
Optimal Endgame Rotation
In the endgame, consider using the following skill rotation when engaging mobs:
- Iron Maiden
- Corpse Tendrils
- Bone Storm
- Sever
- Corpse Explosion
- Reap
Your objective remains to confine enemies within a perimeter while Iron Maiden and Corpse Tendrils perform their roles. However, this time, without minions to rely on, Bone Storm becomes critical.
Now, go ahead and strike the mob with Sever, and once you begin dropping foes, capitalize on that with Corpse Explosion to deal with any remaining threats. If an enemy ventures too close, use Reap to remind them of your formidable nature.
Top Legendary Aspects
Having reached the endgame, you can now access numerous Legendary Aspects that enhance your build and introduce unique powers to bolster your main abilities. Some aspects remain the same as those from the leveling build, but additional options are available. Here’s a breakdown of where and how to find them:
| Aspect | Power | Dungeon | Region | Gamble Obols |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blighted | Amplified Shadowblight damage | Akkan’s Grasp | He can’t | – |
| Damned | Increased Shadow damage | Uldur’s Cave | I develop | – |
| Threshold | Resource regeneration boost | Champion’s Demise | Dry Steppes | – |
| Grasping Veins | Critical boost when using Corpse Tendrils | Broken Bulwark | Scosglen | – |
| Disobedience | Defense boost based on damage output | Halls of the Damned | I develop | – |
| Shared Misery | Crowd control damage increase | Oblivion | He can’t | – |
| Sacrificial | Enhances Sacrifice bonuses | Ruins of Eridu | He can’t | – |
| Hulking | Cooldown boost for Golem | Sepulcher of the Forsword | I develop | – |
| Metamorphosis | Inflicts Vampiric Curse | – | – | Boots |
| Hardened Bones | Damage boost for you and minions | – | – | Pants |
| Shielding Storm | Bone Storm can trigger a Barrier | – | – | Pants |
| Cursed Aura | Decrepify added to Iron Maiden | – | – | Boots |
| Great Feast | Increase damage for minions | – | – | Focus |
| Accelerating | Critical strikes enhance attack speed | – | – | Focus |
| Concussive Strikes | Critical strikes may induce Daze | – | – | Boots |
| Exposed Flesh | Vulnerable enemies enhance Essence regeneration | – | – | Rings |
Keep in mind, you can detach these Aspects from their original items and apply them to your choice of equipment.
Paragon Board Overview
The Paragon Board updates your skills at level 50.
Upon reaching level 50, you’ll transition from earning skill points to accumulating Paragon points. This new progression system allows you to choose upgrades from multiple boards, each offering diverse enhancements and bonuses.
With a variety of paths available, the good news is that by focusing on specific Glyphs as you navigate the Paragon Board, you’ll be able to amplify your Sever Necromancer in essential ways for the build.
Refer below to pinpoint which Glyphs to prioritize first.
Top Glyphs to Target
Level 15
- Abyssal
- Grave keeper
- Essence
- Control
- Exploit
- Sacrificial
- Amplify
Level 21
- Essence
- Control
- Exploit
- Grave keeper
- Amplify
- Sacrificial
- Abyssal
Once you achieve Paragon Level 15, make your way towards the Glyphs listed above. More will become available across the Paragon Board as you earn additional points, but selecting these in the specified sequence will guide you along the best route for the Sever Necromancer build.
Optimal Endgame Item Build for Sever Necromancer
| Item | Socket | Item Type | Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruinic Runic Skullcap of Disobedience | Ruby for extra life | Helm | Enhances Minion damage |
| Runic Mail of Shared Misery | Ruby for extra life | Chest Armor | Boosts Armor |
| Sacrificial Runic Gloves | Ruby for extra life | Gloves | Augmented damage |
| Ghoul Anvil | Ruby for extra life | Pants | Increased crowd control damage |
| Wind Striker Runic Cleats | Ruby for extra life | Boots | Increased Unstoppable chance |
| Parashu of the Damned | 2x Amethysts for heightened damage | Main Hand | Augmented Shadow damage |
| – | – | Offhand | – |
| Chain of Grasping Veins | Diamond for increased attack power | Amulet | Amplified Shadowblight damage |
| Blighted Band | Diamond for extra attack power | Ring 1 | Boosts crowd control damage |
| Band of the Umbral | Diamond for extra attack power | Ring 2 | Enhances core skill damage |
Sever Necromancer Build for PvP
The Sever Necromancer is typically not advisable for PvP, as its strengths lie more in PvE scenarios. If you’re determined to engage in PvP with this build, we recommend switching to the Bone Spirit or Bone Spear configurations. This strategy enables you to sacrifice your minions and utilize your Necromancer as a singular force on the battlefield.
If you choose to proceed with this build against other players, we strongly recommend utilizing our endgame variant to optimize your results.
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