Generator Necromancer Skills and Runes
On this page, we explain how to choose and use your skills when playing Generator Necromancer in Diablo 3. Updated for patch 2.6.10 and Season 22.
Active Skills |
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Passive Skills |
Rotation
Similarly to all Inarius builds, the Grim Scythe Generator spec begins runs
with an activation of Bone Armor, trying to catch as many monsters in the
initial radius as possible to maximize your damage reduction stacks from the set
4-piece bonus. Then, summon your
Simulacrums; due to the rune
Blood and Bone you will get two minions at your side, and you need to be
diligent in their upkeep as a large part of your DPS relies on them (you do not
need to worry about their duration however —
Haunted Visions makes
them last indefinitely). If you find it hard to keep track of them in the thick
of a fight, simply check with a cast of a spender (i.e.
Bone Spear)
somewhere outside the cluster of monsters; if two more spears shoot in that
direction, you are set.
Rotate between your poisonous skills at your discretion; you only goal is to
stay at your maximum Nayr's Black Death stacks at all times. You can spread
Bone Spear and
Command Skeletons to draw monster attention, or
throw a
Skeletal Mage
Contamination for some extra DPS. Right as your
Convention of Elements rotation finishes the Physical cycle and reaches
Poison, you want to pop
Bone Armor to trigger the stun of
Dislocation, which will maximize your
Krysbin's Sentence damage
bonuses during your burst cycle. After that, simply swing
Grim Scythe
Cursed Scythe alongside your
Simulacrums and enjoy the
devastation; once the Poison cycle is over, you can resume the rotation of Nayr
upkeep and drawing monster attention into big packs for the next cycle of
mayhem.
Skills and Runes
The primary damage dealer and main focus of the build is Grim Scythe
— the close range Essence generator of Necromancers, whose melee mechanics
fall in exact line with the proximity-based damage enhancement of the Inarius set. Its damage will be further
enhanced with the dedicated
Leger's Disdain phylactery, which introduces
the unique dynamic of the playstyle — striving to remain as low on Essence
as possible at all times, as your damage is amplified by the amount of resource
Grim Scythe is actively restoring. Rune-wise, you are locked by the
Cursed Scythe rune due to its dedicated weaponry,
Trag'Oul's Corroded Fang, because of the poisonous synergy with the cubed
Nayr's Black Death, and finally due to the huge curse value of the rune
itself (see this build's gear page for more
information).
A major skill slot will be devoted to Simulacrum, one of the
Necromancer's longest cooldowns — thankfully, with the power of the revised
Haunted Visions, now made permanent minions at your side. You will be
taking the "double summon" rune
Blood and Bone, since you want to maximize
the mimicking of your own skills, which now includes — again, thanks to the
amulet —
Grim Scythe itself.
Bone Armor is the basis of Inarius set builds, tying into the damage
reduction mechanic of the set and producing the swirling bone tornado effect of
the 6-piece. The preferred rune is
Dislocation, whose two-second stun
will provide a moment of respite in the thick of battle, as well as an additional
source of
Nayr's Black Death and
Krysbin's Sentence procs.
Since your major damage amplifier will be the cubed Nayr's Black Death,
you will be trying to include as many synergistic poisonous abilities as possible
(on top of the
Cursed Scythe) with the remainder of your skillset:
Skeletal Mage
Contamination will bring another nice poisonous proc, and due to the free
Singularity rune from the suggested
Razeth's Volition shoulders, you will also gain a convenient resource dump for the needs of your
Leger's Disdain.
Command Skeletons are a seemingly odd choice in a build with no focus on pet damage, but taken with the poisonous
Kill Command rune they become closer to an Essence spender than a summoner skill. As previously mentioned, you will be trying to rid yourself of your resources asap, and the lack of casting animation on the active of
Command Skeletons make them a perfect candidate for spamming an extra
Nayr's Black Death proc.
- Your final Poison skill slot can vary according to preference; you can use
Bone Spear
Blighted Marrow for the long range monster pull,
Death Nova
Blight for the damage reduction, and many others. You can even alter this slot into
Blood Rush
Potency if you dislike playing without a mobility skill.
This concludes the overview of the Active Skills. Now let us look through the Passives.
Passives
Swift Harvesting is the most logical addition to a primary
attack-focused build, increasing the Attack Speed of both
Grim Scythe and
Siphon Blood with an impressive 15% bonus.
Since this spec falls into the category of low summoning builds, you can make
use of the Stand Alone passive and its massive Armor bonuses with minimal
losses.
Two interconnected passives — Eternal Torment and
Spreading Malediction — will work off each other, with the former
making curses applied by
Cursed Scythe last indefinitely, and the latter
— increasing your damage for each afflicted enemy with no apparent cap.
Season 22 Modification
Due to the 4th Kanai's Cube slot in Season 22 and the ability to include an
extra damage multiplier in the form of Reilena's Shadowhook, you will focus
on expanding your Essence reserve alongside the usual recommendations for this
build. Skill-wise, this means changing the passive
Eternal Torment for
Overwhelming Essence.
Changelog
- 19 Nov. 2020: Passives changed to accomodate S22-specific changes.
- 08 Jul. 2020: Overhauled the guide to include skill recommendations based on the revised powers of Haunted Visions and Razeth's Volition.
- 12 Mar. 2020: No changes necessary for Season 20.
- 22 Nov. 2019: Reviewed for Season 19.
- 23 Aug. 2019: Reviewed for Season 18.
- 12 May 2019: Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 17.
- 18 Jan. 2019: Information was reviewed and approved for Season 16 with no changes required.
- 27 Mar. 2018: Added the guide.
More Necromancer Guides
Builds from Other Classes
Farming Guides
This build is presented to you by Deadset, one of the very few professional Diablo 3 players. Deadset regularly publishes video guides on Youtube and streams on Twitch, where you can see how this and other builds play out in practice.
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