Necromancer Rathma Army of the Dead Build

The Bones of Rathma set sees a complete reimagining in Patch 2.7, one that transforms it into a Revive- and Army of the Dead-centric set that uses the power of his necromantic posse to reset an otherwise humongous cooldown, and turn it into a steady stream of nukes that envelop and control the battlefield. This guide will cover all of its available playstyles. The base one presented on this page is the Greater Rift Solo Pushing Variation, but this build also has a Nephalem Rift Farming Variation, and a Greater Rift Speed Farming Variation.

The basic skill setup of the Rathma Army of the Dead Necromancer is displayed below. Read the dedicated Skills page for detailed information on choices, alternatives and build customization.

Active Skills
Siphon Blood Power Shift Command Skeletons Frenzy 1 Bone Armor Dislocation 2 Army of the Dead Death Valley 3 Blood Rush Potency 4 Revive Personal Army
Passive Skills
Rigor Mortis Final Service Rathma's Shield Grisly Tribute

The required gear setup for the Rathma Army of the Dead Necromancer is listed below. Check the Gear page for detailed information on the required stat rolls on gear, itemization alternatives, gemming, Kanai's Cube and Paragon distribution.

• Head: Rathma's Skull Helm
• Shoulders: Rathma's Spikes
• Torso: Rathma's Ribcage Plate
• Wrists: Bonds of C'Lena
• Hands: Rathma's Macabre Vambraces
• Waist: Captain Crimson's Silk Girdle
• Legs: Captain Crimson's Thrust
• Feet: Rathma's Ossified Sabatons
• Amulet: Squirt's Necklace
• Ring #1: Krysbin's Sentence
• Ring #2: Convention of Elements
• Weapon: Jesseth Skullscythe
• Offhand: Jesseth Skullshield

This Season comes with the theme of Angelic Crucibles — consumable items that empower Legendary items with perfected Ancient-level stats, as well as infuse them with one of three unique, powerful, class-specific abilities at random. For this build, we recommend aiming for the Army of the Dead Sanctification, which adds the following power to your build:

• Army of the Dead Sanctification: Enemies within 50 yards are constantly assaulted by the Army of the Dead Unconventional Warfare while this item is equipped.

Use Angelic Crucibles on an item that crosses over most (if not all) variants of a build, and is also an item that is relatively harder to perfect than other slots (since sanctifying an item maximizes its stats). In the case of this build, good candidates for Sanctification are your Krysbin's Sentence and your weapon and off-hand combo, Jesseth Skullscythe and Jesseth Skullshield.

You can read more on Angelic Crucibles and the sanctification process in our dedicated Angelic Crucible Mechanics guide.

The former Season 28 theme, the Altar of Rites, has been revised and re-added to Diablo 3 as a permanent character progression mechanic. — For virtually all builds and players of all skill levels — from casual to advanced — we recommend progressing through the Altar tree using the path outlined below. The suggested path is geared towards maximum quality of life first, then amplifying damage, and then mopping up the tree with defensive and edge case utility nodes.

Note that while they require reaching them with a Seal, Legendary Potion Powers are not part of the Seal cost system; Potions unlock with a separate resource called Primordial Ashes, obtained from salvaging Legendary or Set items of Primal (red bordered) quality. Upgrade them as soon as possible, and in the order shown below (courtesy of Caleko's Altar of Rites planner).

You can read more on the Altar of Rites, Seals and Legendary Potion Powers in our dedicated Altar of Rites Mechanics guide.

• Legendary Gem 1: Bane of the Trapped
• Legendary Gem 2: Gogok of Swiftness
• Legendary Gem 3: Zei's Stone of Vengeance

• Weapon Slot: Funerary Pick
• Armor Slot: Fate's Vow
• Jewelry Slot: Ring of Royal Grandeur