Bone Spear is one of the most iconic Necromancer skills, and it makes a triumphant return in Diablo 4 with a few new tricks up its sleeve. It's capable of high single-target and AOE damage, but getting the most out of it will require a lot of investment from players.
Those who are looking for a fast and reliable Core Skill that boasts some of the best damage in the game will have a lot to look forward to in this build. Here's how to set up an endgame Bone Spear Necromancer that's great from the early stretches of WT3 up to the later ends of WT4 in Diablo 4.
On July 18, 2023, Blizzard put out Patch 1.1.0a for Diablo 4, which comes with major balance changes, bug fixes, adjustments to gameplay, and much more. Our endgame Bone Spear Necromancer Build guide has been updated to account for these changes and better reflect the class' power in the current state of the game.
Diablo 4 Endgame Bone Spear Necromancer Build
Skills | Points |
Acolyte's Bone Splinters | 3 |
Paranormal Bone Spear | 7 |
Blood Mist | 1 |
Ghastly Bone Prison | 3 |
Blighted Corpse Tendrils | 7 |
Supreme Bone Storm | 3 |
Book of the Dead | Upgrades |
Skirmishers | Sacrificed |
Cold Mages | Sacrificed |
Iron Golem | Sacrificed |
Bone skills in Diablo 4 have a heavy emphasis on crit damage, which means players should stack as much Critical Strike Chance as they possibly can when attempting a Bone Spear build. Having little to no crit chance will work pre-Nightmare mode, but players will find their damage lacking without it in harder content.
With that said, this build uses Acolyte's Bone Splinters and Paranormal Bone Spear to get 13% additional Critical Strike Chance for free. Plagued Corpse Tendrils will handle Vulnerable application, so there's no need to worry about missing out on free percentage damage.
Previously, Blighted Corpse Explosion was used in this build as an Essence generator and AOE damage tool. It has since been replaced with Ghastly Bone Prison for its stronger Essence generation as well as its ability to aggro enemies while making them Vulnerable.
Bone Storm is here to grant even more free Critical Strike Chance. With one of the Aspects below, it will also generate Barrier. Meanwhile, Blood Mist is only here to escape from Crowd Control effects or to slip away from dangerous situations.
Passive Skills
Skills | Points |
Unliving Energy | 3 |
Imperfectly Balanced | 1 |
Hewed Flesh | 3 |
Death's Embrace | 3 |
Death's Reach | 3 |
Serration | 3 |
Compound Fracture | 3 |
Evulsion | 3 |
Inspiring Leader | 3 |
Stand Alone | 3 |
Memento Mori | 3 |
Ossified Essence | 3 |
Hewed Flesh is a must-have for builds that use Corpse skills. It will greatly help improve AOE damage output and make Corpse Tendrils constantly useful in boss fights.
All the passives here are self-explanatory. They increase the Necromancer's damage and survivability while placing a heavy emphasis on Essence management and Bone skill buffs. The only skill that seems out of place here is Inspiring Leader—it will buff the player's attack speed after staying Healthy for a short duration, regardless of whether they use minions or not.
Speaking of minions, sacrifice Skirmishers for more crit chance, Iron Golem for crit damage, and Cold Mages for more damage against Vulnerable enemies. Swap out Skirmishers for Defenders for more non-Physical damage resistance.
Gear and Aspects
Offense | Defense | Utility |
Edgemaster (Gloves) | Might (Helm) | Mother's Embrace (Ring) |
Serration (2H) | Disobedience (Chest) | Wind Striker (Boots) |
Splintering (Amulet) | Shielding Storm (Pants) | |
Grasping Veins (Ring) |
Serration and Grasping Veins are the two most important Aspects for this build. The latter provides a large Critical Strike Chance bonus while also providing extra Critical Strike Damage. Serration's own Critical Strike Damage bonus seems to be counted as a separate multiplier, so players can expect a larger damage increase from it.
The build previously relied on the Umbral Aspect with Corpse Tendrils for Essence generation. After testing, these have been replaced with the Mother's Embrace Unique ring, which restores Essence whenever Bone Spear damages five or more enemies. The returning splinters from Bone Spear also trigger the ring's effect. Replace this with a ring equipped with the Aspect of Exposed Flesh.
Edgemaster is here to compensate for the nerf done to the Splintering Aspect in Patch 1.1.0a. Still, expect Bone Spear's splinters to deal less damage than before.
As mentioned, players should stack as many critical hit stats on their gear as possible. Two-Handed Swords are the preferred weapon for this build because of their implicit Critical Strike Damage multipliers. Afterward, stack Vulnerable damage, Core Skill damage, Cooldown Reduction, and Essence Cost Reduction.
Paragon Board
Bone Graft is pretty much made for Bone skills. It has nodes that make Essence generation easier while also providing a socket for Dexterity Glyphs, which is great for early access to the Exploit Glyph.
Scent of Death is generally useful for almost every Necromancer build. It provides bonuses based on the number of Corpses surrounding the player. The board also has a socket suited for Intelligence Glyphs, making it an excellent spot for Sacrificial, which boosts the Necromancer's damage as long as they have no active minions.
Moving forward, players should pick boards that have the correct stats surrounding their respective Glyph sockets based on the Glyphs they want to use. Bloodbath is a good third board since its socket is close to one of the attachment gates, and it allows players to slot in another Dexterity Glyph to further boost their damage.
Diablo 4 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.