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With a massive skill tree, Paragon Board, and class-specific specializations, Diablo 4 has a wealth of build options. Some players relish in the trial and error of making their own build, while others prefer to follow a guide.
If you prefer to follow a guide and want to play a powerful, fun Shadowmancer, then read on. This guide will tell you which specializations to choose, the skills to prioritize, as well as aspects and gear to look out for.
Necromancer Specializations
The Necromancer's specializations are located in the Book of the Dead and deal with your minions. There are several viable options, but for this build, you'll want to sacrifice the Reapers for +15% shadow damage. This is pretty key to the build, and you won't be nearly as powerful without doing this.
You also want to sacrifice the cold mages for additional damage to vulnerable enemies. You could keep them as shadow mages, but sacrificing both allows you to pick up the Memento Mori passive. Additionally, this frees up a spot on the Hotbar because you no longer need the summon skill.
Having said all that, you'll want to keep the golem. It will be a useful tank, and it helps generate vulnerability. For this, choose the second option on the iron golem.
Shadow Necromancer Best Skills
Your key skills as a Shadowmancer are going to all be basic and core skills. There are four total Shadow damage skills here, and while you can make Decompose and Blight work as a ranged build, you want to pick Reap and Sever because the secondary upgrades are better for a low minion build.
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Recommended Skill |
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Basic |
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Core |
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Macabre Skills |
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Corruption Skills |
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Summoning Skills |
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Ultimate Skills |
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Key Passives |
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As a note, you'll only have room for either Corpse Explosion or Corpse Tendrils on your Hotbar. The one that you pick is up to personal preference. Corpse Tendrils provides an easy way to round up enemies for cursing and Sever (as well as filling the stagger bar on bosses), but Corpse Explosion is a powerful late-game damage tool (which can be conveniently converted to Shadow damage for synergy).
Shadow Necromancer Best Aspects
There are several aspects that work well with this build, but only one is extremely important. Unfortunately, this aspect is only found on an item and is not available in a dungeon. This is the Offensive Aspect of Ultimate Shadow.
This Aspect is so powerful in the Shadowmancer build because it shores up one of the Shadow Necromancer's major weaknesses. Normally, you wouldn't have access to a Shadow damage ultimate, but this aspect turns Bone Storm and Blood Wave into Darkness skills.
Other Legendary Item aspects to keep an eye out for include:
- Offensive Aspect of Decay
- Defensive Aspect of the Shielding Storm
- Defensive Aspect of the Crowded Sage
Keep in mind that Legendary Aspects can only be moved onto new gear once, so it's wise to save imprinting them until you reach late-game content.
In your Codex of Power, consider picking up the following necromancer aspects:
- Blighted Aspect
- Sacrificial Aspect
- Fastblood Aspect
You can also make good use of the Aspect of the Damned, but you will need to give up a skill to equip both curses. If you plan on using this, forgo both Corpse Explosion and Corpse Tendrils to equip curses instead.
Best Gear & Gems
Due to this build being very melee-heavy, it is suggested to run gear and gems to help your staying power. Picking a shield over a focus and Socketing rubies into your armor are always good choices. You can also socket skulls into your jewelry to increase your armor.
Leveling Gear
When choosing which gear items to equip, focus on those with a boost to shadow damage, extra defensive stats, and ranks of sever or your chosen curse.
Unique Items
In the late game, Shadow Necromancers can expect to receive a big power spike from the unique item Greaves of the Empty Tomb, as it adds a pool underneath where Sever travels, a Shadow damage over time effect, and reduces your damage taken from effected enemies. If available, Deathless Visage might also be a good upgrade to your gear, though you won't make ideal use of all its features.
You can also make use of Bloodless Scream, which causes you to chill enemies when dealing Shadow damage and increases damage to chilled and frozen enemies. However, this is a risky upgrade because it is a two-handed weapon and thus involves forgoing your shield, making you squishier. It also may conflict with your Aspect of Ultimate Shadow, as this also frequently drops on weapons.