Diablo 4 Season 9 Archmage Minion Necromancer Leveling Build Guide - How to Get to Endgame Faster

Jul-05-2025

 

In Diablo IV Season 9: Sins of the Horadrim, the Necromancer class receives a massive overhaul in minion-based gameplay with the introduction of the new Unique Glove, The Hand of Naz. This glove transforms your Skeletal Warriors and Golem into a powerful army of Skeletal Mages, which can evolve into devastating Skeletal Arch-Mages after attacking enemies 25 times without dying. This endgame build guide dives deep into how to maximize the damage output, survivability, and utility of this elite shadow army.

 

 

Build Core Mechanics

The Archmage Minion Necromancer is a late-game powerhouse designed around amplifying the destructive potential of Skeletal Mages. With multiple layered damage multipliers, efficient crowd control, and automatic curse spreading, this build excels at melting Elites, Bosses, and even Uber Bosses.

 

Instead of relying on clunky Golems or underwhelming Skeletal Warriors, this build empowers 12–14 Skeletal Mages who can evolve into Arch-Mages—capable of teleporting to your location and delivering massive AoE shadow damage.

 

Book of the Dead Settings (Required)

No Skeletal Warriors: +20% Shadow damage

Shadow Mages: +3% increased damage per Mage

No Golem: +35% Critical Strike Damage

 

These sacrifices unlock the highest potential for Shadow and summon damage, enabling you to command a deadly horde of 12–14 Mages dealing synchronized AoE devastation.

 

Gear Recommendation

Helm: Blood Getter's Cap

Chest: Tunic of Hardened Bones

Weapon: Two-Handed Scythe of Service and Sacrifice

Gloves: The Hand of Naz ★Core Unique Item

Pants: Blood Moon Breeches ★Automatically curses enemies

Boots: Boots of Occult Dominion

Ring1: Ring of Mendeln

Ring2: Ring of Reanimation

Amulet: Unyielding Commander's Amulet

 

All gear choices focus on enhancing the survivability and damage multipliers of your summoned minions, ensuring your Skeletal Mages quickly evolve into Arch-Mages and remain effective in sustained combat.

 

 

⚔ Skill Rotation & Playstyle

Combat Flow:

1. Army of the Dead – Start every encounter with this Ultimate to explode Volatile Skeletons, stun enemies, and spawn Corpses.

2. Corpse Tendrils – Pull enemies into the corpse pile to stack them.

3. Raise Skeleton – Use on a Corpse to summon a Skeletal Priest, buffing and healing your army.

4. Bone Prison – Trap enemies for Vulnerable + cooldown reduction.

5. Blight – Core Skill, deal damage and amplify Shadow multipliers in the defiled zone.

6. Decompose – Generate Essence and corpses while applying Shadow damage over time.

7. Walk through Blood Orbs – Trigger Blood Begets Blood node for temporary damage buffs.

 

Key Passive Skills:

Skeletal Mage Mastery – The most important passive, scaling minion damage and life.

Hellbent Commander – Adds a constant multiplier as long as you have 7+ summons.

Titan's Fall – Boosts damage vs. Elites when Fortified.

Terror, Gloom, Reaper's Pursuit – Shadow synergy set: enhances damage when enemies are crowd controlled or you equip Darkness skills (Blight, Decompose).

 

Recommended Runewords (Main Combos)

Igni + Thul:

  Stores Offering quickly and auto-casts Mystical Frost Nova every 3.6s for crowd control + 4s damage multiplier.

 

Nagu + Qax:

Converts your excess Offering every 5 seconds into a huge damage burst. When you cast a non-Basic, non-Defensive skill, all remaining Essence is spent, doubling your damage briefly. All minions inherit this burst.

 

Horadric Spells & Jewels

Catalyst: Cosmic Anomaly

Spawns anomalies that explode passively. When activated, grants Unstoppable, quadruples damage, and triggers double explosion damage.

 

Infusion: Nebulous Extract

 Converts Cosmic Anomaly to Shadow damage and grants its bonus equal to your highest Damage Type bonus (usually Curses via Affliction).

 

Arcana Picks:

Fractured Core – Breaks enemy resistances (useful for Pit 100+).

Bloody Charm – Executes non-Boss enemies under 20% HP.

Tranquil Stone – Grants immunity to Stun, Freeze, Slow, and Knockback when activated.

 

Best Jewels:

Reverie Horn – Skeletal Mages grow in size and gain +30% damage after killing low-health enemies (or after executions).

Idol From Below – Increases Intelligence and Max Life; both are inherited by Skeletal Mages.

Horadric Crest – Mitigates Armor/Resistance penalties from higher Torment levels and enables smoother scaling.

 

Strengths

Extreme damage scaling via numerous multipliers and Shadow synergy

Excellent survivability through Blood Orbs, Fortify generation, and defensive passives

Unhindered movement with Unstoppable effects and auto-controls

Consistent AoE crowd control with Tendrils, Bone Prison, and auto-casting Frost Novas

 

Weaknesses

No Golem for taunt, bonus health, or sustain

No escape tool (e.g., no Blood Mist)

Relies on multiple Mythic and Unique items

Manual summoning required — no Sacrilegious Ring automation

 

Player Suggestion

If you have just started Season 9, it is recommended to use the Quick Farming and Blood Mist Build for the early to mid-game phase. Once you acquire The Hand of Naz and the dual Mythical Runewords, transition to the Archmage Minion Build. Prioritize stacking the levels of [Skeletal Mage Mastery] and [Titan's Fall] to maximize damage multipliers. This build is slow to form and depends on diablo 4 items heavily but once it does, it becomes incredibly explosive.