So yesterday I finally decided to try a pure summoner Necro build for leveling in Diablo 4. Everyone kept telling me minions fall off hard, but I wanted that classic undead army fantasy, you know? Here’s how it went down.
The Messy Beginning
Started fresh right after breakfast. Grabbed my coffee, fired up the game, made my bony-looking Necro dude. The minute I got control, I smashed Skeleton Warriors. Just one guy, felt pretty weak swinging his little sword. Few more minutes I got Skeleton Mages too. Barely did any damage myself, just let these dudes do their thing. Felt super slow clearing those first enemies, man. Corpses were popping up everywhere.
Early Game Grind
- Level 1-5: Total chaos. My skeletons died constantly. Ran out of Essence spamming Corpse Explosion trying to make more corpses. Barely had any gold.
- Hit Level 5: Unlocked Reap. Game changer! Slash an enemy, sometimes get a corpse instantly. No more waiting for kills. Spammed this nonstop. Felt less frantic.
- Level 10-15: Got the Golem! Chose Bone Golem first. Big tanky boy up front finally took some heat off my skeletons. Things started smoothing out. Corpses became fuel. Explosions everywhere. Cleared faster.
- Key Find: That Corpse Tendrils skill is mandatory. Pulls enemies in, stuns them, makes corpses drop. Makes everything explode way better. Used this every chance I got.
Finding the Groove
Around level 25, the build really clicked. Started hunting for specific gear.
- Prioritized Stats: Anything that said Minion Health, Minion Attack Speed, or Lucky Hit Chance. Sniper vision for those rolls. Skipped trash gear fast.
- First Big Win: Found gloves with +2 to Skeleton Warriors! Suddenly my melee skeletons felt less squishy. Celebrated that drop like a moron.
- Book Management: Started putting points into passives that buffed minion damage & survival. Skipped fancy stuff – kept it simple: more minion power, more corpses, more explosions.
The Build Comes Together
By Level 40, I had a rhythm. Felt strong.
- Core Rotation: Run in with Reap to start corpses > Instantly raise Skeletons/Golem if dead > Corpse Tendrils the pack > Detonate every corpse with Corpse Explosion. Screen goes boom. Repeat.
- Essence Saver: Used Hewed Flesh passive + Reap to keep corpses flowing without emptying my Essence tank. Stopped having to auto-attack like crazy.
- Survival Secret: Honestly? Hiding behind my Golem and Skeletons. Used Blood Mist as my panic button if enemies somehow got through. Saved my life tons.
- Book Priority: Maxed Skeletal Warriors first (Warriors + Mages), then Corpse Tendrils & Explosion. Any spare points went into passives boosting minions. Ignored Core Skills mostly.
Hitting the Endgame Stride
Past level 50, into World Tier 3? Absolute mayhem. My gear finally aligned.
- Gear Goals Achieved: Got helm with +2 Skeletal Mages, chest piece with huge Minion Life. Finding legendaries with good defensive/minion stats was key.
- Book Optimization: Respecced a bit (cost some gold, sucked) to max minion buffs and get crucial survivability passives. Sacrificed a few points elsewhere.
- Feeling Powerful: Ran nightmares. Pure destruction. Skeletons swarm elites. Golem tanks the big hits. Corpse Tendrils groups them, explosions finish them. Chaos everywhere. Love it.
- Why It Works: Focused purely on minion stats + corpses + explosions. Didn’t try to mix in Bone Spear or Shadowblight nonsense. Pure undead army chaos. Works like a charm.
Final thought? Summoner Necro is legit fun for leveling. Not the absolute fastest maybe, but damn satisfying watching your personal army wreck everything. Stick to those minion stats early, lean on the corpse combo, and enjoy the glorious undead chaos. Worked like a charm.