Necromancer Skeletal Mages Build With Rathma and Jesseth Sets
Welcome to our build guide for Rathma Skeletal Mages Necromancer in Diablo 3. Here, you will learn everything you need to know to play this build at the highest level. This build is updated for patch 2.6.9 and Season 21.
For more information regarding followers, we advise you to read our follower guide, which contains detailed advice on choosing the skills and the gear of your companion.
Introduction
Drawing from the minion-related powers of the Bones of Rathma set, this Necromancer build gorges on the Essence of the surrounding corpses and unleashes its power through mighty Skeletal Mage summons. This deliberate, skeleton-heavy, summoner build is geared towards Greater Rift solo progression. We also have a group speed farming variation and a solo speed farming variation, both accessible using the links below.
Video Guide
The following video guide was created to accompany the present written guide and demonstrate how to play the build in-game.
Quick Reference
Skill Setup
The basic skill setup of the Rathma Skeletal Mage Necromancer is displayed below. Read the dedicated Skills page for detailed information on choices, alternatives and build customization.
| Active Skills |
|---|
Bone Spikes
 Sudden Impact
Skeletal Mage
 Singularity
1
Devour
Cannibalize
2
Land of the Dead
Frozen Lands
3
Command Skeletons
 Freezing Grasp
4
Simulacrum
Reservoir
|
| Passive Skills |
Gear Setup
The required gear setup for the Rathma Skeletal Mage Necromancer is listed below. Check the Gear page for detailed information on choices, alternatives, gemming, Kanai's Cube and Paragon distribution.
- Helm:
Rathma's Skull Helm - Shoulders:
Rathma's Spikes - Gloves:
Rathma's Macabre Vambraces - Chest:
Rathma's Ribcage Plate - Belt:
The Witching Hour - Pants:
Rathma's Skeletal Legplates - Boots:
Rathma's Ossified Sabatons - Bracers:
Reaper's Wraps - Amulet:
Haunted Visions - Ring 1:
Convention of Elements - Ring 2:
Krysbin's Sentence - Weapon:
Jesseth Skullscythe - Offhand:
Jesseth Skullshield
Legendary Gems
- Legendary Gem 1:
Enforcer - Legendary Gem 2:
Bane of the Trapped - Legendary Gem 3:
Zei's Stone of Vengeance
Kanai's Cube
- Weapon Slot:
Reilena's Shadowhook - Armor Slot:
Tasker and Theo - Jewelry Slot:
Circle of Nailuj's Evol
Changelog
- 02 Jul. 2020 (group speed grs page): No changes required for Season 21.
- 02 Jul. 2020 (speed farming page): No changes required for Season 21.
- 02 Jul. 2020 (skills page): No changes required for Season 21.
- 02 Jul. 2020 (this page): No changes required for Season 21.
- 02 Jul. 2020 (gear page): No changes required for Season 21.
- 12 Mar. 2020 (speed farming page): No changes necessary for Season 20.
- 12 Mar. 2020 (group speed grs page): No changes necessary for Season 20.
- 12 Mar. 2020 (gear page): No changes necessary for Season 20.
- 12 Mar. 2020 (this page): No changes necessary for Season 20.
- 12 Mar. 2020 (skills page): No changes necessary for Season 20.
- 22 Nov. 2019 (speed farming page): Reviewed for Season 19.
- 22 Nov. 2019 (group speed grs page): Reviewed for Season 19.
- 22 Nov. 2019 (gear page): Reviewed for Season 19.
- 22 Nov. 2019 (skills page): Reviewed for Season 19.
- 22 Nov. 2019 (this page): Reviewed for Season 19.
- 23 Aug. 2019 (speed farming page): Squirt's Necklace is now the recommended amulet.
- 23 Aug. 2019 (gear page): Reviewed and approved for Season 18.
- 23 Aug. 2019 (skills page): Reviewed and approved for Season 18.
- 23 Aug. 2019 (group speed grs page): Reviewed and approved for Season 18.
- 23 Aug. 2019 (this page): Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 18.
- 12 May 2019 (group speed grs page): Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 17; its group GR speed farming variant has been archived.
- 12 May 2019 (speed farming page): Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 17.
- 12 May 2019 (gear page): Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 17.
- 12 May 2019 (skills page): Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 17.
- 12 May 2019 (this page): Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 17; its group GR speed farming variant has been archived.
- 18 Jan. 2019 (gear page): Added suggestions for the baseline Ring of Royal Grandeur for Seasonal characters.
- 18 Jan. 2019 (skills page): Information was reviewed and approved for Season 16 with no changes required.
- 18 Jan. 2019 (this page): Guide was revised with additional recommendations for Season 16.
- 20 Sep. 2018 (this page): Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 15.
- 14 Jun. 2018 (this page): Guide was reviewed and approved for Season 14.
- 26 Nov. 2017 (group speed grs page): Variation added.
- 27 Oct. 2017 (gear page): Revised belt and jewelry recommendations for Patch 2.6.1.
- 27 Oct. 2017 (this page): Revised the guide to reflect its Patch 2.6.1 buffs.
- 27 Oct. 2017 (speed farming page): Adapted variant to the changes we made to the gear page.
- 27 Oct. 2017 (skills page): Adjusted skill selection according to the buffs in Patch 2.6.1.
- 17 Jul. 2017 (gear page): Guide updated with improved skill and gearing recommendations.
- 17 Jul. 2017 (skills page): Guide updated with improved skill and gearing recommendations.
- 17 Jul. 2017 (this page): Guide updated with improved skill and gearing recommendations.
- 17 Jul. 2017 (speed farming page): Guide updated with improved skill and gearing recommendations.
- 07 Jul. 2017 (skills page): Skill recommendations updated.
- 05 Jul. 2017 (gear page): Gear recommendations updated.
- 26 Jun. 2017 (this page): Guide added.
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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