The Necromancer reigns supreme in the Season 6 meta of Diablo 4, particularly with the Minion build. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to create an effective Minion build for leveling, optimize it for endgame runs, and discuss its viability in PvP scenarios.
This powerful Minion Necromancer build empowers players to summon the dead and unleash them upon the inhabitants of Hell. As one of the leading classes this season, understanding the essential build components while leveling a new character is crucial for success.
We will provide insights on how to refine the build for the endgame, detailing the best skills, gear, Aspects, and Glyphs to pursue during your playthrough. Additionally, for PvP enthusiasts, we’ll evaluate whether the Minion Necromancer excels in player combat this season.
As a Necromancer, you’ll master the dark arts of death against the forces of Diablo.
Top Minion Leveling Build in Diablo 4 Season 6
As you progress through the campaign or explore new Season 6 content, it’s important to select your skills in the following order:
| Level | Skill |
|---|---|
| 1 | Reap |
| 2 | Decompose |
| 3 | Blood Surge |
| 4 | Blood Surge |
| 5 | Enhanced Blood Surge |
| 6 | Paranormal Blood Surge |
| 7 | Blood Surge |
| 8 | Blood Surge |
| 9 | Skeletal Warrior Mastery |
| 10 | Skeletal Warrior Mastery |
| 11 | Skeletal Warrior Mastery |
| 12 | Iron Maiden |
| 13 | Enhanced Iron Maiden |
| 14 | Death’s Approach |
| 15 | Death’s Approach |
| 16 | Corpse Tendrils |
| 17 | Enhanced Corpse Tendrils |
| 18 | Plagued Corpse Tendrils |
| 19 | Blood Surge |
| 20 | Grim Harvest |
| 21 | Amplify Damage |
| 22 | Amplify Damage |
| 23 | Death’s Approach |
| 24 | Inspiring Leader |
| 25 | Inspiring Leader |
| 26 | Inspiring Leader |
| 27 | Hellbent Commander |
| 28 | Hellbent Commander |
| 29 | Hellbent Commander |
| 30 | Kalan’s Edict |
| 31 | Imperfectly Balanced |
| 32 | Imperfectly Balanced |
| 33 | Imperfectly Balanced |
| 34 | Hewed Flesh |
| 35 | Hewed Flesh |
| 36 | Necrotic Carapace |
| 37 | Necrotic Carapace |
| 38 | Necrotic Carapace |
| 39 | Hellbent Commander |
| 40 | Hellbent Commander |
| 41 | Hellbent Commander |
| 42 | Fueled by Death |
| 43 | Fueled by Death |
| 44 | Fueled by Death |
| 45 | Unliving Energy |
| 46 | Skeletal Mage Mastery |
| 47 | Skeletal Mage Mastery |
| 48 | Skeletal Mage Mastery |
| 49 | Kalan’s Edict |
| Renown 1 | Golem Mastery |
| Renown 2 | Golem Mastery |
| Renown 3 | Golem Mastery |
| Renown 4 | Blood Mist |
| Renown 5 | Enhanced Blood Mist |
| Renown 6 | Ghastly Blood Mist |
| Renown 7 | Hewed Flesh |
| Renown 8 | Spiked Armor |
| Renown 9 | Spiked Armor |
| Renown 10 | Iron Maiden |
Following this skill sequence will help you build the optimal Minion Necro configuration. Remember to unlock the Renown points to use the additional ten skills, and feel free to prioritize Golem Mastery if it fits your playstyle better.
Each of the passive skills you select will empower your Minions, maximizing their effectiveness through your base skills and stats. It is essential to integrate active skills that synergize with the Minion paradigm.
Since there exists a synergy between Corpse skills and Minion abilities, be sure to choose your passive Corpse skills wisely so you can generate plenty of corpses for resurrection. While Bone Magic takes a backseat in this build, your main offensive focuses will be Blood Magic, sprinkled with some Shadow-based attacks for close-range encounters.
Optimal Book of the Dead Setup for Leveling
The Book of the Dead grants the Necromancer control over their minions.
For the Necromancer’s unique Book of the Dead skills aimed at the Minion build, we suggest the following choices:
- Skeletal Warriors – Reapers
- Skeletal Mages – Cold
- Golems – Blood
This setup ensures your Reaper Skeletal Warriors engage in melee combat while your Skeletal Mages unleash Cold attacks from a distance. The cold effect will slow adversaries, allowing your minions and you to assault them while they are vulnerable.
Choosing the Blood Golem enhances this configuration since it buffs your damage output and heals you when you’re in peril. Though the Minion Necro isn’t fragile, you’ll be preoccupied managing your minion army, and the Blood Golem serves as an additional safety net against elite foes and mobs.
Best Leveling Skill Rotation
- Summon Minions
- Iron Maiden
- Corpse Tendrils
- Blood Mist / Blood Surge
- Reap / Decompose
- Corpse Tendrils
Next, use Plagued Corpse Tendrils to stun enemies and enhance your corpse generation. After casting it, unleash your main attacks, using Blood Mist and then Blood Surge for significant ranged damage while your minions engage the swarm.
If an enemy closes in, use Reap to retaliate, then retreat and strike them with Decompose. With Corpse Tendrils expiring, recast it for additional corpse generation, stunning the remaining foes and dealing residual poison damage.
While the suggested rotation is a reliable method to combine your skills into a potent set of attacks, feel free to adapt the approach that suits you best.
Best Legendary Aspects
Legendary Aspects gain prominence in the endgame phase of the Minion Build. However, there are several aspects you can collect as you progress toward level 50 and venture through the storyline. Below are aspects to gather:
| Aspect | Power | Dungeon | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| resuscitation | Boosts minion damage | Aldurwood | Scosglen |
| Grasping Veins | Improves critical strike chance for Corpse Tendrils | Corrupted Grotto | I develop |
| Unyielding Commander’s | Enhances minion damage | Faceless Shrine | He can’t |
| Blood-bathed | Duplicates Blood Surge Nova | Hoarfrost Demise | Fractured Peaks |
| Disobedience | Enhances defense based on minion damage contribution | Halls of the Damned | I develop |
Ultimate Minion Endgame Build in Diablo 4 Season 6
The Minion Build has long been a fan favorite since Diablo 2.
Upon reaching endgame in Season 6 by finishing the main story, hitting level 50, and unlocking the Paragon Board, you can then re-spec to the advanced Minion Necro build. This endgame version closely mirrors the leveling build but features key differences in skill point allocation.
You will want to readjust your active and passive skill points. With your skill points available, including any Renown points you’ve accrued, distribute them across these active and passive skills:
| Active Skill | Upgrades | Points allocated |
|---|---|---|
| Reap | – | 1 |
| Decompose | – | 1 |
| Blood Mist | Enhanced, Ghastly | 2 |
| Decrepify | Enhanced, Abhorent | 5 |
| Corpse Tendrils | Enhanced, Plagued | 1 |
| Army of the Dead | Enhanced, Supreme | 1 |
| Passive Skill | Points |
|---|---|
| Unliving Energy | 1 |
| Hewed Flesh | 3 |
| Grim Harvest | 2 |
| Fueled by Death | 3 |
| Skeleton Warrior Mastery | 3 |
| Amplify Damage | 3 |
| Death’s Approach | 3 |
| Skeletal Mage Mastery | 3 |
| Reaper’s Pursuit | 1 |
| Gloom | 1 |
| Necrotic Carapace | 3 |
| Terror | 3 |
| Golem Mastery | 3 |
| Inspiring Leader | 3 |
| Kalan’s Edict | 1 |
This endgame setup emphasizes Minion skills as the primary damage source, but it leans more toward Shadow Magic like the Reap skill, instead of prioritizing Blood Magic for front-line combat.
Your defense grows stronger in the endgame; thus, you can choose to engage enemies from a distance or become more involved in melee situations. We’ve swapped out Iron Maiden for Decrepify, allowing you to hinder enemy movement and give your minions an edge during combat.
Optimal Endgame Book of the Dead Setup
Your minions can charge into battle while you attack from a distance.
In the endgame, the key adjustment for the Book of the Dead is adopting Shadow Magic for Skeletal Mages instead of cold elements:
- Skeletal Warriors – Reapers
- Skeletal Mages – Shadow
- Golems – Blood
The rest of the Book of the Dead configuration remains unchanged, so you can preserve the previous setup.
Top Endgame Skill Rotation
When engaging enemies in the endgame, follow this rotation:
- Summon Minions
- Decreptify
- Army of the Dead
- Corpse Tendrils
- Blood Mist
- Reap / Decompose
Initiate combat by casting Decreptify to slow down enemies (your minions will likely have initiated combat by this point), then unleash your ultimate ability, Army of the Dead. This should decimate many foes, allowing you to follow up with Corpse Tendrils to stun and poison any remaining enemies, further enhancing corpse generation.
Following this, your minions will tackle the encumbered and weakened foes while you utilize Blood Mist or Decompose. In close quarters, feel free to dive into combat and slash with Reap until all threats are vanquished. These tactical adjustments differ slightly from your leveling sequence but are purposeful.
Essential Legendary Aspects for Endgame
At this endgame stage, many more Legendary Aspects will be available to enhance your build and augment your main abilities. Some are repeats from the leveling phase, with a host of new options as well. Here’s an overview of their locations and benefits:
| Aspect | Power | Dungeon | Region | Gamble Obols |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| resuscitation | Enhances minion damage | Aldurwood | Scosglen | – |
| Grasping Veins | Boosts critical strike chance for Corpse Tendrils | Corrupted Grotto | I develop | – |
| Unyielding Commander’s | Enhances minion damage | Faceless Shrine | He can’t | – |
| Blood-bathed | Duplicates Blood Surge Nova | Hoarfrost Demise | Fractured Peaks | – |
| Disobedience | Increases defense based on minion damage output | Halls of the Damned | I develop | – |
| Frenzied Dead | Increases minion damage and attack speed | – | – | Offhand |
| Occult Domination | Raises number of Skeleton Warriors by 2 | – | – | Boots |
| Blood Getter’s | Empowers your Skeletal Priest’s effect by an extra 55-77% | – | – | Boots |
| Hardened Bones | Provides damage reduction for you and your minions | – | – | Pants |
| Aphotic | Boosts Skeleton Warriors’ power by an additional 20% | – | – | Boots |
| Metamorphosis | Activating Evade grants Unstoppable for 2.5 seconds | – | – | Boots |
Keep in mind that you can also remove these Aspects from their original items and transfer them to your preferred gear.
Understanding the Paragon Board
The Paragon Board comes into play after reaching level 50.
Once you hit level 50, you will stop acquiring skill points and start gaining Paragon points, which operate under a different leveling system focusing on choosing buffs from various thematic boards.
Paths differ across boards, but the good news is that you can enhance your Minion Necro by targeting specific Glyphs within the Paragon Board as you collect points.
Refer to the following section for ideal Glyphs to prioritize.
Optimal Glyph Strategy
Level 15 Glyphs:
- Golem
- Corporeal
- Exploit
- Essence
- Deadraiser
- Amplify
- Control
Level 21 Glyphs:
- Golem
- Essence
- Exploit
- Control
- Deadraiser
- Corporeal
- Amplify
Upon reaching Paragon Level 15, focus on these Glyphs. You can unlock additional options as you progress through the Paragon Board, but following this approach ensures you’re optimizing the Minion Necro build effectively.
Optimal Endgame Item Configuration for Minion Build
| Item | Socket | Type | Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runic Skullcap of Hardened Bones | Ruby for enhanced life | Helm | Boosts minion damage |
| Runic Mail of Occult Domination | Ruby for enhanced life | Chest Armor | Increases Skeleton Warriors by 2 |
| Runic Gloves of Reanimation | Ruby for enhanced life | Gloves | Increases minion damage |
| Blood Getter’s Runic Leggings | Ruby for enhanced life | Pants | Boosts Skeleton Priest damage |
| Aphotic Runic Cleats | Ruby for enhanced life | Boots | Boosts Skeleton Priest damage |
| Unyielding Commander’s Sparr | Emeralds for poison damage | Main Hand | Augments Army of the Dead to increase minion damage |
| – | – | Offhand | – |
| Nazar of the Great Feast | Diamond for improved attack power | Amulet | Enhances minion damage |
| Circle of the Grasping Veins | Diamond for improved attack power | Ring 1 | Raises minion critical hit rate |
| Circle of Frenzied Dead | Diamond for improved attack power | Ring 2 | Boosts minion attack speed |
Alternative Build for PvP Players
While the Minion Necromancer isn’t typically recommended for PvP, it thrives in PvE scenarios. Instead, employing a Bone Spirit or Bone Spear build can transform your Necromancer into a formidable force.
This build isn’t ideal for PvP since opponents will likely view your minions as mere fodder and can dispatch them quickly, leaving you vulnerable.
If you choose to pursue this build in PvP, it’s best to stick with the endgame version for the greatest effectiveness.
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