Every player can, and should, have a favorite way to game in Diablo Immortal. Every new strategy is carved by an intrepid explorer, willing to endure mistakes and ridicule until, one day, they find themselves on top of the leaderboards.
This guide is not trying to reinvent the wheel for the best PvE build in Diablo Immortal. Quite the opposite. After visiting several servers and looking at the top of the leaderboards, it's clear what the top build is right now. Go ahead and try something different. But, for now, these are what the best Necromancers in the Challenge Rifts are doing.
Due to several factors, like gear, skills, reforging, and upgrades, it is impossible to list the exact quantities for many of the numbers detailed here. Any variable number has been replaced with an 'X' to signify its potential to change.
Skill Selection
Slot | Skill | Description |
Primary Skill | Soulfire | Throw a ball of Soulfire that explodes when it strikes an enemy, inflicting X damage to the target and X% as much to all other nearby enemies. |
Skill | Command Skeletons | Active: Command your skeletal champions to charge to a location and increase attack speed by 80% for 4.5 seconds. Passive: Raise a skeletal champion every X seconds to a max of X. Skeletal champions deal X damage per attack. |
Skill | Skeletal Mage | Summon an immobile skeletal mage for X seconds that throws bolts of Soulfire in a direction, each dealing X damage to all enemies in the bolt's path. You may not command more than X total skeletal champions and skeletal mages. |
Skill | Command Golem | Summon a bone golem for X seconds. When summoned, it will deal X damage to all nearby enemies and Stun them for X seconds. While it is active, you can order the golem to leap to a nearby location, where it will deal damage and force all nearby monsters to attack it for X seconds. |
Skill | Dark Curse | Curse all enemies in the area, dealing X damage to them over X seconds and greatly reducing their vision. |
This is a very typical setup for the Summoner Necromancer build. Some of the rest of the build makes necessary alteration or survivability, but it's good news for the players who already enjoy this style of play.
Gear
The bulk of gamers will be hunting down their ideal pieces of legendary gear after taking the time to beat the game. But don't forget to track down the set bonus pieces after choosing them from the list. A complete set gives three additional effects, on par with the legendary bonuses from the regular gear.
Primary Gear
Slot | Piece | Legendary Effect |
Head | Visitant's Sign | Command Golem duration increased by X%. |
Chest | N/A | No legendary gear yet exists in this slot that boosts this build's skills. |
Shoulders | Synod's Anointing | Skeletal Mage maximum charges increased by X. |
Legs | Guided By Maggots | Dark Curse no longer decreases enemy vision, instead causing your minions within the area to frenzy, increasing their attack and movement speeds. |
Main Hand | Desolatoria | Command Golem now summons a molten golem that continually Burns all nearby enemies instead of forcing them to attack it or Stunning them. |
Off Hand | Baleful Trinity | Soulfire now bounces to 1 additional target, but deals 30% decreased damage to subsequent targets. |
The biggest difference between a traditional Summoner and this build is the inclusion of the Baleful Trinity. Hitting groups of targets down with the primary Soulfire attack is necessary for getting through the first leg of the rift in a timely manner.
Set Items
Set Bonus | 2/6 Effect | 4/6 Effect | 6/6 Effect |
Shepherd's Call To Wolves | Your summons deal X% more damage. | Critical Hit Chance increased by X% for each of your summons, up to a maximum of X%. | Your summons enters a frenzied state for X seconds each time one of them critically hits. The frenzied state increases their damage and Attack Speed by X%. Cannot occur more often than once every X seconds. |
It appears, from comparing the top players between servers, that this set is the ideal. Many have not managed to put the whole set together, but these pieces are common enough that it's apparent this set is the endgame goal.
Reforge Bonuses
Even for paid players, reforge attribute bonuses can be guided, but are not guaranteed completely. With enough rerolls, any player can eventually get the exact attribute they want, but this will take time and luck, even for those who have the money. Therefore, several different attributes have been listed within the same family, in order of preference.
Family Bonus
Family | Family Attribute |
Ravager | You have a X% chance when you defeat an enemy to cause the corpse to explode, damaging all nearby enemies. |
Although the free corpse explosion is undoubtedly helpful for killing clusters of enemies, the Ravager family is chosen mostly due to its individual attributes.
Attributes
Preference | Attribute |
First | Healing potion cooldown reduced by X%. |
Second | Damage done by summons increased by X%. |
Third | Damage to elite enemies increased by X%. |
Aside from the potion cooldown reduction, there seemed to be an equal split among the other attributes. Although it can be tempting to invest fully into summons, challenge rifts have a way of forcing the player to be more defensive. Life regeneration is also part of this Ravager family and is another popular selection among the top-tier raiders.
Gems
There are two kinds of gems to consider for this build: the legendary gems and the regular gems. Players of all income levels will be using this guide, so there are three charts for legendary gems to choose from. Probability demands that even paying for an advantage will still make it tough to get the right gems, so feel free to mix and match from the charts based on the character's most valuable stats.
Legendary Gems
5-Star Gem | Effect |
Blood-Soaked Jade | Increases all damage you deal by up to X% and your Movement Speed by X%, with less damage bonus the lower your Life, to a minimum of X%. |
Echoing Shade | Your attacks have a X% chance to summon a shadow clone for X seconds that gains some of your abilities. |
Phoenix Ashes | Prevents fatal damage, and then grants a shield for X seconds that absorbs damage equal to X% of your base damage. Cannot occur more often than once every X seconds. |
Blessing Of The Worthy | When you take damage, you have X% chance to unleash retribution on all nearby enemies, dealing damage equal to X% of your maximum Life. Cannot occur more often than once every X seconds. |
Bottled Hope | Using a skill to grant a buff increases the target's damage done and movement speed by X% for X seconds. Cannot occur more often than once every X seconds per target. |
Seeping Bile | Your attacks X% chance to poison enemies, inflicting X% base damage +X every second for X seconds. This poison spreads to nearby enemies if the victim dies. Cannot affect the same target more often than once every X seconds. |
For the higher-level challenge rifts, there is no chance to avoid being struck by opponents. The Necromancer will have to act as a tank, in part, and that's reflected in the gem selection.
2-Star Gem | Effect |
Bloody Reach | Increases all damage you deal by X% for every X yards between you and the enemy hit. Maximum increase of X% at X yards. |
Cutthroat's Grin | Gain X% increase Critical Hit Chance when attacking from behind. |
Fervant Fang | Each time you deal damage to an enemy, that enemy now takes X% increased from your attacks, up to a maximum increase of X% at X stacks. |
Follower's Burden | Increases all damage you deal by X% for each summon you control, up to a maximum increase of X% |
Lightning Core | Your Primary Attacks and movement slowly charge you up with electricity. When fully charged, your next Primary Attack will release chain lightning, dealing X% base damage +X to nearby enemies. Cannot occur more often than once every X seconds. |
Unity Crystal | You and all party members take X% reduced damage per additional party member within X yards of you. |
For those who have gotten lucky, the 2-star gems might not have the Resonance power of the 5-star gems, but they do have some strong bonuses to give.
1-Star Gem | Effect |
Berserker's Eye | Increases all damage you deal by X%, but increases all damage you take by X%. |
Ca'arsen's Invigoration | Increases the speed of your Primary Attack by X%. |
Chained Death | Increases damage done by your attacks by X% per target hit, up to a maximum of X% with X targets. |
Everlasting Torment | Your critical hits inflict agony, dealing X% base damage +X every second for X seconds. Each enemy can only be affected by this once every X seconds. |
Freedom And Devotion | Increases the duration of your summons by X%. |
Seled's Weakening | Gain X% increased damage for X seconds after killing an Elite monster. |
Although 1-star gem runners might not be able to achieve the heights of the rest, their speed will be nearly unmatched due to the nifty buffs from the available gems.
Regular Gem Preference
Color | Gem | Effect |
Red | Tourmaline | +Damage |
Yellow | Citrine | +Potency |
Blue | Sapphire | +Armor Penetration |
Given the choice between tanking and damage, elect for extra damage every time, allowing the best defense to be a good offense. Players at high levels are split between the blue being Armor or Armor Penetration, so this decision can lean heavily on player preference, demand, and balance.
Diablo Immortal is available now for mobile and PC.