The Necromancer isn't exactly the first class that players think about when Thorns damage is mentioned, but these masters of life and death have some surprising synergy with damage reflection. This may not be as strong as some other Diablo 4 Necromancer setups, but the fact that it works is enough to warrant making a build out of it.
The following is a variant of the Shadow Summoner build that makes heavy use of gained from items and skills. It still revolves around dealing Shadow damage and overall, it still plays similarly to every other minion build in Diablo 4. Here's a rundown of all the parts that makes this build work.
Thorns Necromancer Build Main Skills
Skills | Points |
Acolyte's Reap | 3 |
Supernatural Blight | 7 |
Horrid Iron Maiden | 7 |
Prime Bone Storm | 2 |
Reap is here to increase the Necromancer's own damage reduction for when enemies end up targeting them. This won't happen often thanks to all the minions on the field, but it's nice to have. This can be replaced with Acolyte's Decompose if players want something more tangible.
Blight buffs the damage dealt by minions while also impairing the movement of enemies standing on top of it. This and Iron Maiden are the build's main damage dealers alongside the Thorns and the minions themselves. Curse an area with Iron Maiden and watch the numbers fly.
Bone Storm is mostly here as a defensive tool. It generates a Barrier over the Necromancer with the Aspect of Shielding Storm while also providing more damage reduction. Use it before starting a fight against a big pack, a group of elites, or a boss.
Passive Skills
Skills | Points |
Hewed Flesh | 3 |
Unliving Energy | 1 |
Imperfectly Balanced | 3 |
Spiked Armor | 3 |
Skeletal Warrior Mastery | 3 |
Death's Embrace | 3 |
Skeletal Mage Mastery | 3 |
Reaper's Pursuit | 1 |
Gloom | 3 |
Golem Mastery | 3 |
Bonded in Essence | 3 |
Inspiring Leader | 3 |
Death's Defense | 3 |
Hellbent Commander | 3 |
Shadowblight | 1 |
Book of the Dead | |
Defenders | Upgrade 2 |
Shadow Mages | Upgrade 2 |
Bone Golem | Upgrade 2 |
The passives for this build feature bonuses to Shadow damage, minion effectiveness, player tankiness, and more Thorns from Spiked Armor. Skeletal Defenders and Bone Golem will inherit 50% of the player's Thorns thanks to the Book of the Dead upgrades while Shadow Mages will trigger Shadowblight and all the bonuses related to it.
Start fights using Iron Maiden and taunting targets with Bone Golem. Spread Blight around to increase the damage enemies take then stand in the middle of the room with Bone Storm active. Keep the minions alive by spamming Raise Skeleton.
It's best to stand near the Shadow Mages for the sake of the Hellbent Commander passive. They are the ones who will be dealing the most damage out of all minions (outside of dealing Thorns damage), so keep them alive at all times.
Gear and Aspects
Offense | Defense | Utility |
Decay (1H) | Might | Blood Getter |
Frenzied Dead | Disobedience (Shield) | |
Razorplate (Unique Chest) | Hardened Bones (Pants) | |
Ultimate Shadow (Gloves) | Shielding Storm (Amulet) | |
Blighted |
Razorplate greatly increases the wearer's Thorns damage at the cost of not being a very good defensive item. Since players will be sitting at the back of their minions, this Unique's lack of defenses shouldn't matter much in most content. This item isn't a complete necessity, and players can replace it with any chest piece that has a Thorns affix.
Decay and Blighted greatly increase the damage of Blight and Shadowblight procs. It also buffs Bone Storm since Ultimate Shadow turns it into a Darkness ability. Frenzied Dead will help Shadow Mages trigger Shadowblight more often while Hardened Bones keeps all minions alive for longer.
As for gear, get as much Thorns on the chest piece, pants, and amulet. Also, helmets and rings respectively have affixes that increase the amount of Thorns that Skeletal Warriors and Golems inherit from the player, so stack these up as well. Insert Emeralds onto armor pieces and Skulls on jewelry for more Thorns and Armor.
It's hard to tell if Needleflare triggers when minions get hit. This build will be updated once a definitive answer is reached. In the meantime, the equipped shield should use Disobedience instead.
Paragon Boards
First, take damage-related nodes in the starting board and insert Warrior into the Glyph Socket. This will give Skeletal Warriors more armor, letting them tank more damage before needing to get healed or revived.
Afterward, take the Cult Leader board and purchase the Legendary Node, the Glyph Socket, and all minion-related bonuses close to them. Insert Abyssal for increased Shadow damage for the Necromancer and Shadow Mages.
From here, players can choose between Wither and Flesh-eater. Both can accommodate the Revenge Glyph, which increases the damage enemies take after getting hit by Thorns damage. The former focuses on increasing Shadow DoTs while the latter increases all damage after consuming five Corpses.
Diablo 4 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.