Okay so yesterday I was grinding rifts on my seasonal Necro, right? Wanted to finally push past GR120 and figured my build might be crap. Went hunting for what everyone else was running, you know, those ‘top tier’ setups. Man, sorting through those ‘Top 5 Popular Choices’ was a wild ride, let me tell you exactly how it went down.
Starting with the Supposed King: Rathma Army of the Dead
Saw this listed first everywhere. Looked awesome on paper – endless skeletons and a nuke button. So I farmed the gear:
- Crafted the Rathma set pieces, took forever to get decent ancients.
- Rolled the Jesseth shield and scythe.
- Slapped on Krysbin’s Sentence, Circle of Nailuj’s Evol… all that stuff.
Got everything geared up, jumped into a GR90. Hit Army of the Dead… BOOM! Things melted. But wow, playing this felt like walking on eggshells. Skeletons kept dying instantly against anything spicy. I had zero toughness! One lag spike, one misclick on Command Skeletons, and poof, dead. Did maybe two rifts and almost threw my mouse. DO NOT RECOMMEND unless you have nerves of steel and perfect ping.
Next Up: The Safe Bet – Inarius Bone Tornado
Okay, need something tankier. Inarius set is basically free damage reduction, figured this would be chill. Farmed up the pieces:
- Inarius set? Check.
- Wisdom of Kalan? Found one… rolled bad, but okay.
- Brigg’s Wrath and that ring that pulls enemies? Got ’em.
Playstyle is simple: run around like a maniac leaving bone tornadoes everywhere. Actually stayed alive! Could face tank elites. But the damage… oh man, the damage. Pushing into higher GRs felt like wading through mud. Took ages to kill the Rift Guardian. Solid choice if you just wanna survive, but slow as molasses for pushing.
Got Desperate: Trying Trag’Oul Corpse Lance
Saw this listed as top DPS. Looked complex but figured why not? Hunted down the gear:
- Trag’Oul set? Ugh, farming Blood Shards for rings is pain.
- Needed Reilena’s Shadowhook and that corroded fang dagger.
- Also needed specific legendaries for essence management… what a mess.
Got it all sorta together. Damage during Land of the Dead? Absolutely insane. One-shotted elites no problem. But outside of that cooldown? Utterly useless. Just ran around like a headless chicken trying not to die, waiting for Land of the Dead to come back. Super satisfying when it works, utterly depressing 95% of the time.
Fourth Attempt: Masquerade Bone Spear
Okay, this looked promising. People said it was good. Found the Masquerade set easier than others. Key gear:
- Crafted the set, focused on Crit Damage.
- Snagged a decent Haunted Visions amulet after way too many runs.
- Equipped the scythe that boosts Bone Spear… think it’s Maltorius’?
Got the rotation down: pop Simulacrum, blast Bone Spears. Damage felt really good! Actually had some toughness too. Squishier than Inarius, for sure, but man, elites vanished when Bone Spear hit. Killed RGs way faster than Inarius. Pushed me up a few GR levels comfortably. Finally felt like I found a legit contender.
Settled On: Rathma + Mages (The Command Skeletons)
Kept seeing mentions of Rathma but focused purely on the Mages. Skeletons just for defense? Huh. Re-tooled my earlier Rathma gear:
- Same Rathma set, but rolled more CDR and Area Damage.
- Swapped to a different scythe – Nayr’s Black Death – for the poison bonus.
- Key item: Ring of Royal Grandeur + Tasker and Theo gloves? For Mage attack speed.
- Cube was Mask of Scarl instead of whatever junk I used before.
Playstyle clicked this time. Command Skeletons set to absorb hits, spam the hell out of Skeletal Mages. They just melted packs. Big AoE poison pools everywhere. So much less squishy without relying on those stupid melee skellies. Cleared GR115 without even sweating much. Definitely stuck with this one. Feels smooth, powerful, not frustrating. This is the keeper.
Patch Changes Broke Everything?
Seriously though, why does Blizzard keep messing with Necro? Half the builds I tested got nerfed last season or changed weirdly. Spent hours farming gear only to find it useless now. Community guides sometimes feel out of date two weeks later. Saw so many forum posts screaming about the same thing. Gotta constantly recheck patch notes and experiment yourself. The ‘Top 5’ list feels kinda pointless unless it’s updated yesterday.
Final Thoughts & RNG Rant
Wasted so many materials and Death’s Breaths trying ancient rolls that didn’t pan out. Finding that perfect Krysbin’s with Crit Chance/Crit Damage? Yeah right, still looking. At least the Mages build seems more forgiving gear-wise than Army of the Dead. Might actually push higher now. Point is, don’t trust those “Top 5” lists blindly like I did at first. Had to waste a whole Saturday just figuring out what actually works. Feels like Blizzard designs Necro to be intentionally annoying and gear-hungry.