BONE SPLINTERS [2/5]

It won't be needed, it's only required to advance further.

BLIGHT [1/5]

It deals low damage, then leaves a defiled area that deals damage over 6 seconds. It's used for its powerful modifiers.

Modifiers:

1. Enhanced Blight [1/1] - Blight Slows enemies by 25%.
2. Supernatural Blight [1/1] - Your Minions will deal 15% increased damage to enemies affected by Blight's defiled ground.

SEVER [1/5]

It's a Specter-type Minion that deals damage while charging, then deals damage again as it returns back to you. Here it is used mostly as a source of Vulnerability.

Modifiers:

1. Enhanced Sever [1/1] - Specter deals low damage alongside its charging path.
2. Paranormal Sever [1/1] - Every fourth cast of this Skill, it makes enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds.

CORPSE EXPLOSION [4/5]

It has no Cost or Cooldown but requires a Corpse. Use it to detonate a Corpse dealing damage to surrounding enemies. You can also Generate Essence with it after allocating Grim Harvest. You won't need to use it directly, it's triggered with Blood Mist via Aspect of Explosive Mist.

Modifiers:

1. Enhanced Corpse Explosion [1/1] - Explosion has a larger radius.
2. Blighted Corpse Explosion [1/1] - The Corpse doesn't explode, but deals Shadow Damage as DoT instead. It becomes a Darkness Skill.

BLOOD MIST [1/5]

The character becomes Immune, moves slower, deals insignificant damage to nearby enemies, and heals over time. The effect lasts for 3 seconds and has a 24-second Cooldown. With Blood-soaked Aspect it will deal Shadow Damage.

Modifiers:

1. Enhanced Blood Mist [1/1] - Casting a Skill that Overpowers reduces the Cooldown of Blood Mist by 2 seconds.
2. Ghastly Blood Mist [1/1] - The Skill creates a Corpse every second it's active.

ARMY OF THE DEAD [1/1]

The Ultimate Skill. For the next 7 seconds, it summons Volatile Skeletons that will explode when in range of an enemy. It has a 70-second Cooldown.

Modifiers:

1. Prime Army of the Dead [1/1] - Skill's Skeletons have a 15% chance of leaving a Corpse after exploding.
2. Supreme Army of the Dead [1/1] - Alongside the default Skeletons, it also summons Skeletal Warriors and Skeletal Mages.

HEWED FLESH [1/3]

GRIM HARVEST [3/3]

FUELED BY DEATH [3/3]

NECROTIC CARAPACE [3/3]

REAPER'S PURSUIT [3/3]

GLOOM [3/3]

SKELETAL WARRIOR MASTERY [3/3]

SKELETAL MAGE MASTERY [3/3]

GOLEM MASTERY [3/3]

BONDED IN ESSENCE [3/3]

INSPIRING LEADER [3/3]

DEATH'S DEFENSE [3/3]

HELLBENT COMMANDER [3/3]

SHADOWBLIGHT

SKELETAL WARRIORS

SKELETAL MAGES

GOLEMS

Here's the stat priority list. Look mostly for Shadow Damage as it's the main type of damage you're specialized in. Enemies should be Slowed with Blight most of the time, and Vulnerable periodically via Sever. A big chunk of the damage will come from Shadow Skeletal Mages. Try to reduce your Cooldowns to cast Blood Mist and Army of the Dead more often. Get a lot of Willpower to reap the benefits from Wither Board's Legendary node.

1. 2-H Weapon - % DMG to Slow → % DMG to Close → % DMG to CC
2. Chest Armor - % Max Life → % Shadow DMG → % DMG Reduction from Close → All Stats
3. Helm - % Max Life → All Stats → % Shadow DMG
4. Gloves - % Shadow DMG → All Stats → % Core Spell → Willpower
5. Pants - Macabre Skills →  % Max Life → % DMG Reduction
6. Boots - % Move Speed → Evade Charges →  All Stats
7. Amulet - % DMG Reduction → % Max Life → % Elemental Res
8. Rings - % DMG to CC → % Shadow DMG

Use Diamond Gem for Ultimate Skill Damage or Amethyst Gem for DoT in a Weapon slot. Choose Ruby Gem in your Armor to increase your Maximum Life. For the Jewelry, choose Skull for the extra Armor, or any other Gem if you need a specific type of Resistance.

RECOMMENDED UNIQUE ITEMS

Greaves of the Empty Tomb (Boots) - Your Sever Minion deals now Shadow Damage, which is a great addition to your arsenal of skills. These Boots increase your Shadow Damage and reduce damage taken.

+Max Evade charges

+Intelligence

+Essence Cost Reduction

+Lucky  Hit: Apply Shadow damage over time

+Damage Reduction from enemies that are shadow damage over time

+Create desecrated ground beneath your Sever specters as they travel, damaging enemies for [x] Shadow damage over 2 seconds.

Ring of Mendeln (Ring) - Great Rign for when you have at least 7 Minions, it empowers your Minions with Attacks that explode, and it's especially good after investing in Lucky Hits. It's overall a good Ring for a summoner.

+Cold Resistance

+Shadow Resistance

+Lucky Hit Chance

+Minion Attack Speed

+Minion Health

+Thorns

+While you have 7 or more Minions you gain: Lucky Hit: Up to a 10% chance to empower all of your Minions, causing the next attack from each to explode for [X] Physical damage.

CODEX OF POWER
Legendary Aspects

Mandatory/Heavily recommended Aspects

1. Aspect of Frenzied Dead grants you Minions ramping up Attack Speed as they attack.
2. Aspect of Decay significantly enhances damage from your Key Passive. The bonus damage from Shadowblight can grow to 300% of its base value.

Optional Aspects

1. Viscous Aspect will increase the maximum number of Skeletal Mages by 2.
2. Blood Getter's Aspect will increase the maximum number of Skeletal Warriors by 2.
3. Aspect of Reanimation increases the damage of your Skeletons for each second they're alive for up to 30% after 10 seconds.
4. Aspect of Hardened Bones enhances Minions' durability. If you have 7 or more Minions they'll take reduced damage.
5. Blood-soaked Aspect is an excellent addition. Blood Mist will now deal additional Shadow Damage which you're specialized in. Blood Mist also will slow you down no more.
6. Aspect of Explosive Mist upgrades Blood Mist once again. It now activates Corpse Explosion when you come into contact with a Corpse. It also reduces its own Cooldown per Exploded Corpse.
7. Blighed Aspect increases your damage by up to 12% for 6 seconds after your Shadowblight dealt damage ten times.
8. Aspect of the Void Pulls enemies toward your Blight's defiled area.
9. Aspect of Disobedience is great with DoTs. Each time you deal damage, your armor gets increased by a tiny amount for 4 seconds, stacking up to 50%.

1st Board - Starting Board

Nodes - Purchase all the Willpower surrounding the Scourge Glyph.

Glyphs - Scourge is the best Glyph to put here. You and your Minions will deal increased damage to enemies affected by Shadow DoT effects.

2nd Board - Wither Board

Nodes - The Legendary node here is very influential. It makes your DoT Shadow Damage have a chance o deal increased damage. It's more effective the more Willpower you have.

Glyphs - Darkness makes you deal increased Shadow Damage, and your enemies deal Reduced Damage.

3rd Board - Cult Leader Board

Nodes - Get the Legendary node that would increase your Minions' Damage per one of the Skeletal Mages, Skeletal Warriors, and Golems you have.

Glyphs - Deadraiser is excellent, it allows you Minions to ramp up their damage by hitting an enemy - they'll receive up to 12% increased damage from all sources.

4th Board - Flesh-eater Board

Nodes - The Flesh-eater node increases your damage by 40% for 6 seconds after consuming 5 Corpses. There's also a lot of Willpower on this Board.

Glyphs - Mage Glyph upgrades your Skeletal Mages. They deal increased Damage and have increased all Elemental Resistances.

END NOTE

This is the beta version of our Summoner Necromancer Build for Diablo 4. The game has just launched so we expect all of the Guides will require constant updates when we get to test all the builds properly. Make sure to check out the Guides regularly to keep track of all the changes!

If you have any Build requests, please post them in the Comments section below. We will be happy to cover your most requested builds in the future! Also, we hope that you have found this guide useful and informative. Also, we will be happy to receive constructive criticism that will help us improve our future work, so don't hesitate to give us your feedback.