Alright folks, let me tell you how I finally got my Necromancer build in Diablo 3 feeling like a true deathlord, not some flimsy skeleton raiser who keels over to the first breeze. Took some trial and error, believe me.
Starting Out Was Rough
So I figured, hey, skeletons are classic, right? Spammed skeleton mages and warriors like crazy. Found some pieces early on that boosted skeleton damage. Felt pretty good running around with an army… until I hit a nasty elite pack. Boom. One nasty AOE spell, and my whole undead squad was dust faster than you can say “oops”. RIP skeleton army. Clearly, just having minions wasn’t gonna cut it past a certain point. They needed to be tougher, or I needed something else entirely.
Digging Through the Gear Graveyard
Started hunting for specific stuff mentioned in guides I skimmed. Found these key items after way too much grinding:
- Reilena’s Shadowhook: Dropped from a random Treasure Goblin! This bad boy makes all my spent blue juice (Essence, whatever) boost my overall damage? Sign me up. Suddenly using skills felt more impactful.
- Crimson Captain’s Trims: Not my usual look, but anything that makes my skills refresh faster when I spend that blue juice? Huge for keeping things rolling.
- Circle of Nailuj’s Evol: This ring… man, finding this felt like a turning point. Skeletons exploding when I commanded them to attack? Awesome for clearing trash mobs fast. Plus it doubled the time my skeleton mages lasted, fixing their biggest weakness.
But the real game-changer was The Iron Rose shield. I almost salvaged it thinking shields weren’t great for Necros. But then I noticed its effect: Using Siphon Blood – that basic blood-sucking skill – had a chance to spawn a free blood nova? And I had a skill slot open for Blood Nova! This was pure gold. Basically meant I could channel Siphon Blood on an enemy and passively spew out damaging novas everywhere. Suddenly, I wasn’t just relying on minions!
Putting the Pieces Together
Okay, gear acquired. Now, how do I actually play this monstrosity? Here’s what works for me:
- Run into a pack with your skeleton crew ahead of you to take the hits.
- Find a juicy target, usually the biggest guy, and latch onto him with Siphon Blood (the blood-tendril rune). Hold it down!
- Watch those free Blood Novas just start popping like crazy all around you thanks to Iron Rose. Melts everything nearby.
- Spam Skeleton Mages like there’s no tomorrow, fueled by all the blue juice I get from Siphon Blood.
- Use Command Skeletons to focus down elites or bosses. They all explode thanks to the ring? Bonus!
- Panic Button? Blood Rush – gotta get outta dodge when walls or ground effects try to trap you. Always feelin’ squishy deep down.
The passive Blood Novas from constant Siphon Blood do so much work. It keeps my essence full for more skeleton mages, and those mages plus the novas chew through groups while my skeletons tank. Against elites and bosses, the focused Command Skeletons + exploding skeletons + constant novas just melts them. It feels crazy powerful and delightfully grim, just how a Necro should be.
Took a while to find all the bits and get the flow right, but man, seeing a screen full of blood novas while an army of skeletons tears things apart? That feeling makes all the grinding worth it. It ain’t brain-dead simple, you gotta kinda run around like crazy managing it all, but it absolutely shreds.