Build Introduction
This is the endgame version of original Summoner Necromancer build which requires the unique 
Ring of Mendeln, as the entire build is designed around it! This build was curated in collaboration with SinityX, the first player to defeat Uber Lilith with a Summoner build, and GhazzyTV. We can both say we’ve optimized and fine-tuned this build to perfection!
While being able to run Tier 100 Nightmare Dungeon, as well as defeating Uber Lilith. The build is by far the best Necromancer build you can possible play during Season 1. It’s extremely fast & brings out brutally high damage numbers making it capable of killing Uber Lilith well before you reach level 100 even!
As a final note before we dive in to the details, the damage is exclusively coming from the Ring of Mendeln. This means the damage is coming from you as the player and not your Skeletal Minions.
Video Guide
The video below shows the old version of this build, playstyle is very similar so we’ll leave this up for that purpose. A new video is coming soon showing the insane power this build brings!
Strengths and Weaknesses
- Brutal single-target damage
- Very safe to play
- The best version Summoner Necromancer available
- Relies on Minions to deliver the damage from our Mendeln ring
- Requires the Unique Ring of Mendeln
- Relies heavily on triggering Lucky Hit to deal damage
To see how this build compares to the other builds on our site, you can check out our build tier lists.
Build Requirements
Ring of MendelnSince the build is entirely designed around Ring of Mendeln, you’ll need that Unique Ring before you can follow this guide. The Ring itself is a random Unique and can’t be directly target farmed outside of opening jewelry boxes in Helltide events.
Before you get the ring, you can always play the initial Summoner Necromancer build.
Season of the Malignant
Season 1 Patch Updates
The following list details the changes in the Season 1 Patch Update that are specific to this build.
Patch 1.1
- Raise Skeleton, Corpse Explosion, and Corpse Tendrils range for auto-targeting Corpses on mouse and keyboard increased by 50%.
- Raise Skeleton Skeletal Priest bonus damage increased from 20% to 30%.
- Raise Skeleton Skeletal Priest healing increased from 10% to 15%.
- Transfusion Minion healing increased from 15/30/45% to 20/40/60%.
- Amplify Damage increased from 3/6/9% to 4/8/12%.
- Necromancer’s minions will now automatically re-summon after respawning during a World Boss fight.
- Essence Glyph’s bonus now affects all damage instead of just Core Skills.
- Aspect of Plunging Darkness bonus damage increased from 50-100% to 75-125%.
- Aspect of Grasping Veins Critical Strike Damage bonus reduced from 30-60% to 20-40%.
- Osseous Gale Aspect bonus Bone Storm duration increased from 4-8 to 5-10 seconds.
- Aspect of Disobedience maximum stacks reduced from 100 to 60, reducing maximum Bonus Armor % from 25-50% to 15-30%.
Patch 1.1.1
- Aspect of Decay: Damage increased from 20-40% to 25-45%.
- The following attacks now deal reduced damage to Druid Companions and Necromancer Minions:
- Balrog
- Fire Breath
- Elite Affixes
- Fire Enchanted
- Electrified Obelisks
- Shock Lance
- Balrog
These changes mainly affect the generic damage output our minions deal. This build is based around the unique Ring of Mendeln which makes us focus on our own damage output, delivered by the minions. Thankfully, the patch changes have improved the build in the form of better survival for our minions, as well as making the 
Essence Glyph more reliable for our damage output. The Amplify buff is very significant, however, the 
Aspect of Grasping Veins Critical Strike Damage nerf lowered it slightly.
Besides the Necromancer specific changes, we did receive a nerf to our armor through the 
Aspect of Disobedience change.
The 1.1.1 patch brought us some extra damage output as well as warmly welcomed minion survival buffs!
Malignant Hearts
The Season 1 theme introduces Malignant Hearts that provide build-altering bonuses. The hearts are divided into 4 categories, each with a color that needs to be socketed in the corresponding colored Malignant Socket on equipped jewelry. Wrathful Hearts are a special case due to their rarity, and can be placed in any Socket.
Listed below are the Malignant Hearts that are useful for this build, ranked by importance. Stats displayed reflect what a Level 20 character would receive as a drop.
Caged Heart of the Sacrilegious (Vicious, Offensive): Walking near a Corpse automatically activates an equipped Corpse Skill every second, dealing 40-30% reduced damage.
Caged Heart of The Barber (Wrathful, Super-World Tier III): Critical Strikes and all subsequent damage within 2.0-4.0 seconds is absorbed by your target. Then, the absorbed damage erupts onto surrounding enemies. Stored damage is increased by 10% per second.
Caged Heart of the Decrepit Aura (Brutal, Defensive): When at least 5 enemies are near you, gain an aura that automatically curses surrounding enemies with 
Decrepify for 5-15 seconds. (Do note that you’ll want a high level one to bring the required nearby enemies from 5 down to 0 preferably or 1).
Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar
Summoning Skill 
Bone Prison 
Blood Mist 
Corpse Explosion 
Corpse Tendrils 
Bone Storm 
| Remaining Renown Points | Cluster |
|---|---|
 Gloom Level 3,  Terror Level 3 | Summoning Skill |
 Death’s Defense Level 3,  Inspiring Leader Level 3 |  Ultimate Skill |
Book of the Dead
Since this is a pure Minion build, we’ll want to use our Minions instead of sacrificing them. However, since we are in need of other skills, the Golem just isn’t bringing enough power to be used.
- Melee Skeletons: Reapers Skeletons; these will generate corpses for us to consume.
- Mage Skeletons: Shadow Skeletons; we’ll take the extra shadow bolt option here to further trigger our
Shadowblight. - Golem: Iron Golem; you’ll want to sacrifice the Iron Golem to provide increased Critical Strike damage.
Paragon
The Paragon progression system unlocks at Level 50, providing a vast amount of character power. On the Paragon Board, bonuses range from minor stats on Magic Nodes to more powerful Rare Glyphs and Legendary Nodes.
As you path towards Glyph Sockets and Legendary Nodes, you should prioritize Damage, Intelligence, and Life for Normal and Magic Nodes. Glyph radius increases as you level them up. Therefore, if you cannot fulfill Additional Bonus requirements early on, skip allocating extra nodes for now. It’s also important to point out that you might not have the Glyph you want when you reach your first socket; if that’s the case, simply slot in any Glyph providing any beneficial stats for you until you get the correct one.
Listed below are images of the pathing you should take along with the locations of the Glyphs and order you should choose your Paragon Boards past the initial starting board. It’s very important to point out that to make this build work you’ll need to keep the minions alive, this is done with our sixth & final board “Cult Leader” in which we’ll use the 
Deadraiser Glyph to scale our damage reducing nodes for the minions. Due to the importance of this board it’s recommended to place this early on instead of the “Flesh-eater” board as you progress your character and later on when you’re higher level become able to swap places with the 2 boards you’ll do so.
Starting Board
The Starting Board is very straight forward; we’ll rush up on the right-hand side and get the socket in which we’ll socket the Amplify Glyph. Remember to take the extra attributes within radius to get the bonus modifier from the Glyph if possible. The radius will increase as you level the Glyph up via Nightmare Dungeons. We’ll next head out north to our next board. Do ignore the first nodes on the left side of this board till you’ve collected all sockets from all our boards.
Scent of Death (2nd Board)
Our second Board is the Scent of Death Legendary Board. Remember, in order to match the image above, you may need to rotate the Paragon Boards. In this Board we’ll start by rushing the Legendary Node Scent of Death before taking the Magic and Rare nodes on our way to the socket, in which we’ll place the 
Control Glyph. As with the Starting Board, take the extra attributes within radius if possible to get the bonus modifier out of the Glyph. Once done, we’ll briefly exit on the left side to get our third Board, Bone Graft, before coming back and exiting out of the north side to enter the Wither Board.
Bone Graft (3rd Board)
The third board, Bone Graft, we’ll rush the socket to place the Exploit Glyph. As before, take extra attributes if the radius and level of the Glyph allows for the bonus modifier to be activated. Once done, we’ll head back to our second Board, Scent of Death, and head out on north.
Wither (4th Board)
Here we rush the socket slot, you’ll grab the surrounding Magic and Rare nodes as we make our way to the socket in which we’ll place the 
Scourge Glyph. Only take the extra attributes and Nodes around this Glyph if you have it leveled enough to enable the bonus modifier. If not you just path out on the left side for our 5th board being the Flesh-Eater.
Flesh-Eater (5th Board)
For Flesh-Eater, take all surrounding Magic and Rare as shown in the image, grabbing the socket first to place the Essence Glyph. Only take extra attributes around it to enable the bonus modifier, however, prioritize any and all Dexterity nodes within the Glyph radius to further scale our damage output. Once done, we’ll head out on the north side onto our final Paragon Board.
Cult Leader (6th Board)
Cult Leader is our bread & butter in keeping our Minions alive. The only reason for taking this board is to grab the Damage Reduction Nodes for our Minions, in combination with the Deadraiser Glyph, further scaling those modifiers.
Paragon board images courtesy of d4builds.gg.
Mechanics and Playstyle
This build is entirely designed around Ring of Mendeln. We’ll want to stack Lucky Hit as much as possible on every single gear piece. This build will be abusing some niche mechanics, such as Bone Prison triggering Lucky Hits, at an almost obnoxious level.
The mechanic of the build is all centered around triggering Lucky Hits, and thanks to Bone Prison, the effect happens constantly. The Malignant Heart, Caged Heart of the Decrepit Aura, will automatically apply Decrepify onto your enemies. Meanwhile, the Caged Heart of the Sacrilegious, will force Corpse skills to be used every second you’re near a corpse on the ground. Follow this up by placing Bone Prison onto nearby enemies and hop into Blood Mist. Corpse Tendrils will provide a consistent way of applying Vulnerable onto enemies, as well as stunning them and gathering them into one place. Everything up to this point is capable of triggering Lucky Hits, which in turn will trigger the Ring of Mendeln‘s special effect. With the changes in Season 1, the playstyle of this build allows us to stay in Blood Mist form continually until the demon threat is gone!
Gear Choice and Stat Priority
Lucky Hit is absolutely crucial for this build to function, but at the same time this build craves Critical Strike Chance. The goal is 100% chance to Critical Strike, achieved by combining our Aspect Powers and the bonus Critical Strike Chance we get from our Supreme Bone Storm. The Mendeln Summoner build ensures low cooldown rate through Lucky Hits, meaning it can consistently apply Vulnerable unto enemies through Decrepify, thus making stacking Vulnerable damage an ideal option.
Listed below are the Affixes to prioritize on gear for the Mendeln Summoner Necromancer. Affixes for each gear slot are listed in order of importance. Bolded stats are the most important and sometimes vital for the build to function properly
| Gear Slot | Important Affixes |
|---|---|
| 1H Wand | + Vulnerable Damage + Critical Strike Damage + Intelligence + All Attributes + Damage to Close Enemies + Damage to Enemies affected by shadow damage over time |
| Focus (Offhand) | + Lucky Hit Chance + Cooldown Reduction + Critical Strike Chance + Maximum Minion Life + Intelligence + All Attributes |
| Helm | + Cooldown Reduction + Armor + Life + All Attributes |
| Chest | + Armor + Life + Damage reduction to Close Enemies + Damage reduction to Enemies affected by Shadow Damage over time |
| Gloves | + Lucky Hit Chance + Critical Strike Chance + Intelligence + All Attributes |
| Pants | + Armor + Life + Damage reduction to Close Enemies + Damage reduction to Enemies affected by Shadow Damage over time |
| Boots | + Movement Speed + Movement Speed when you’ve killed an elite + Intelligence + All Attributes |
| Amulet | + Ranks of Amplify + Movement Speed + Cooldown Reduction + Ranks to all Macabre Skills + Intelligence + All Attributes |
| Ring | + Lucky Hit Chance + Critical Strike Chance + Critical Strike Damage + Maximum Minion Life + Vulnerable Damage |
Legendary Aspects
Listed below are all the recommended Legendary Aspects, whether from the Codex of Power or found on Legendary Items, that are important for the Mendeln Summoner Necromancer build. Aspects from the Codex of Power can be used if you cannot find the proper Legendary drops, but they have weaker effects.
| Gear Slot | Aspect Name | Aspect Power |
|---|---|---|
| Helm |  Aspect of Explosive Mist | Blood Mist triggers Corpse Explosion on surrounding Corpses. When Blood Mist detonates a Corpse, its Cooldown is reduced by 0.2-0.5 seconds. |
| Chest | Viscous Aspect | Your maximum number of Skeletal Mages is increased by 2. |
| Gloves | Aspect of Decay | Each time the Shadowblight Key Passive deals damage to enemies, it increases the next Shadowblight’s damage within 10 seconds by 20-40%, stacking up to 5 times. |
| Pants | Aspect of Disobedience | You gain 0.25-0.5% increased Armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to 25-50%. |
| Boots |  Ghostwalker Aspect | While Unstoppable and for 4 seconds after, you gain 10-25% increased Movement Speed and can move freely through enemies. |
| 1H Weapon | Osseous Gale Aspect | Bone Storm consumes up to 8 corpses to increase its duration by up to 5-10 seconds. |
| Amulet (50% scaling) | Aspect of Grasping Veins | Gain 10-20% increased Critical Strike Chance for 6 seconds when you cast Corpse Tendrils. You deal 30-60% bonus Critical Strike Damage to enemies damaged by Corpse Tendrils. |
| Ring | Blighted Aspect | You deal 50-120% increased damage for 6 seconds after the Shadowblight Key Passive damages enemies 10 times. |
| Offhand | Aspect of Ultimate Shadow | Bone Storm and Blood Wave are also Darkness Skills, deal Shadow damage, and gain additional effects: Enemies damaged by Bone Storm take X Shadow Damage over 2 seconds. Blood Wave desecrates the ground it travels over, dealing X Shadow damage over 4 seconds. |
Unique Items
Ring of Mendeln: While you have 7 or more Minions you gain: Up to 10% chance to empower all of your Minions, causing the next attack from each to explode for [X] Physical damage.
The only Unique we’ll want to use is the Ring of Mendeln. The entire build is designed around this ring, making it mandatory for the build to function.
Gems
Listed below are the best Gems to socket into gear for each slot type.
- Weapon:
Royal Emerald for +#% Increased Vulnerable Critical Strike Damage. - Armor:
Royal Ruby for Life increase. - Jewelry: Exclusively using our Malignant Hearts for these slots.
Elixirs and Health Potions
To gain an edge in your adventures, head to the Alchemist in Kyovashad and craft Elixirs that enhance your stats and experience gain for 30 minutes. Remember to gather the necessary crafting materials by foraging plants. Select an Elixir that provides the resistance you need most, or try the 
Assault Elixir to boost your Attack Speed by 7%.
Return to the Alchemist again when you reach Level 20 and 30 to upgrade your potion. The extra healing is essential to survival.
For the endgame, it’s important to make sure you have the highest level health potion as well as an active elixir as it provides increased experience gained and can either compensate low resistances or increase your damage output in the form of attack speed.
Changelog
- August 7th, 2023: Guide updated for Patch 1.1.1.
- July 26th, 2023: Big rework on the structure of the guide.
- Changes entire Paragon Board, Aspects, skill tree.
- Finalized decision of the Season 1 Heart choices.
