Out of all the core classes that will be present at Diablo 4's launch, perhaps none showcases more in terms of pure power than the Necromancer. The Necromancer and the Sorceress have proven to be the most popular classes during the three beta periods for Diablo 4 and all signs point to several new and returning players choosing to main one of the two during their first run of the game's campaign. When choosing a potential build for the Necromancer that is capable of absolutely deleting entire screens of enemies, the Corpse Explosion build just might be the best choice.
Rather than apply damage-over-time in a large area of effect like the Necromancer's Blight Commander build, the Corpse Explosion build focuses on dealing burst DPS to mobs of enemies. Once players get the associated skills leveled up, the activation of the Corpse Explosion skill triggers a devastating chain reaction capable of clearing the screen in mere seconds. Between the staggering amount of DPS it delivers and the ability to look cool while doing so, the Corpse Explosion build is a perfect example of why the Necromancer class is arguably the most popular in Diablo 4.
Skills to Prioritize for Diablo 4's Corpse Explosion Build
Part of the beauty of the Corpse Explosion build in Diablo 4 is its primary reliance on only two active skills, switching back and forth between them to tackle and quickly eliminate large groups of foes. By using Bone Spear as the primary attack to kill enemies, players can then quickly trigger Corpse Explosion to detonate the bodies left behind for massive waves of DPS against mobs.
Outside the active skills necessary for the build, the Grim Harvest passive skill will allow for more Essence to be generated after each successful use of Corpse Explosion, creating a never-ending loop of destruction. After players acquire the Aspect of Explosive Mist, Corpse Explosion becomes even more deadly by triggering automatically and at higher speeds thanks to Blood Mist. The end result is a Necromancer that is effectively invincible, moving through groups of enemies and melting them in their wake. If becoming a walking wave of death is how one wants to play Diablo 4, Corpse Explosion is the way to go.
Reap - Reap is the prerequisite skill for the Corpse Explosion build and will be the primary attack players will use until they can unlock Bone Spear. The primary benefit to Reap is that it has decent range and also produces a corpse that can be reanimated as a Necromancer minion or exploded to deal damage to surrounding enemies. In the early hours of Diablo 4, players using the Corpse Explosion build will essentially alternate between spamming Reap immediately into Corpse Explosion until Bone Spear is unlocked.
Bone Spear - Once unlocked, Bone Spear will become one of the two anchor skills for the Corpse Explosion build. Bone Spear allows the Necromancer to handle Diablo 4's encounters with ease while also generating plenty of corpses to be subsequently detonated using Corpse Explosion (or Blood Mist once the aspect has been unlocked). In addition to needing to max out the base skill, players will want to upgrade it to Supernatural Bone Spear to get the added Vulnerability debuff on the first enemy hit.
Corpse Explosion - Once players have hit enemies with their primary attack and have sufficiently drained their Essence, they'll want to activate Corpse Explosion to put all those dead bodies to work. As the titular anchor skill for the build, Corpse Explosion turns the Necromancer into one of the best damage-dealing classes in Diablo 4. In conjunction with the Grim Harvest skill, each activation of Corpse Explosion will restore Essence and allow players to continue using Bone Spear before switching back to Corpse Explosion, then rinse and repeat until the entire screen has wiped.
Grim Harvest - Grim Harvest serves as somewhat of a linchpin for the Corpse Explosion build in that it transforms Corpse Explosion from a pure damage-dealing skill into one that regenerates Essence. By leveling up Grim Harvest, players restore their Essence at a faster rate, allowing them to quickly swap between Bone Spear and Corpse Explosion without needing to worry about their resource pools. Despite the changes made to Diablo 4's Necromancer between the open beta and the server slam, Grim Harvest is still essential for any build relying on the Corpse Explosion skill.
How to Use the Corpse Explosion Build Against Diablo 4's Enemies and Bosses
The general strategy for handling large groups of enemies involves initiating encounters by using either Reap or Bone Spear until the Necromancer's Essence pool has been depleted and the battlefield is littered with corpses. Any remaining enemies can be almost instantaneously vaporized by activating Corpse Explosion and triggering a domino effect of more corpses appearing and Essence being regenerated. In terms of handling the moment-to-moment encounters in Sanctuary, the Corpse Explosion build will make traversing Diablo 4's dungeons and environments a relative breeze.
The strategy shifts slightly for dealing with any of Diablo 4's challenging boss encounters thanks to a lack of available corpses. Instead of solely relying on switching between Reap/Bone Spear and Corpse Explosion, players will want to reanimate some Skeleton Warriors with the Reaper passive so that they simply have to hit enemies (rather than outright kill them) to generate corpses.
Once players have unlocked the Golem at level 25, they can deploy it instead thanks to the perk that generates a corpse once the Golem has lost 20% of its health. Regardless of whether dealing with mobs or elites and bosses, the Corpse Explosion build is a serious contender for the best DPS build in Diablo 4.
Diablo 4 will be available June 6 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.