So, I’ve been meaning to share this for a while. Been tinkering with my Necromancer in D3, trying to find something that really clicks, you know? Not just effective, but fun. And I think I finally landed on a setup that I’m pretty happy with, figured I’d walk you through how I got there.
Getting Started with the Spooky Boi
I originally rolled a Necromancer ’cause, well, they just look cool. Raising skeletons, blowing up corpses – what’s not to love? But for a while, I was kinda struggling. Tried a few popular builds I saw floating around, some pet stuff, some bone spear things. They were okay, got me through some Torment levels, but I always felt like I was hitting a wall, especially when trying to push higher Greater Rifts. My damage would fall off, or I’d get swarmed and just melt.
The Corpse Explosion Dream
I always had a soft spot for Corpse Explosion. It’s such an iconic Necro skill. The problem was making it consistent. You need corpses, right? And lots of ’em. So, I started looking into gear that could help with that. I remembered the Pestilence Master’s Shroud set. That one’s built around consuming corpses and empowering your Bone Spear, but also gives you those corpse lances when you consume a corpse. I thought, “Hmm, maybe I can lean into the corpse consumption part.”
Here’s what I started to piece together, skill-wise:
- Corpse Explosion (obviously), usually with the Close Quarters rune for that bigger boom around me.
- Land of the Dead. This became my bread and butter. Pop this, and suddenly every enemy is a potential corpse. Unlimited fuel for a short time! I went with Frozen Lands for the control.
- Bone Armor for survivability, Dislocation for the stun helps a lot.
- Blood Rush with Potency for an armor buff and just to get out of nasty stuff. Essential.
- A generator, usually Bone Spikes with Sudden Impact to stun, just to have something when Land of the Dead is on cooldown.
- And for the last slot, I often used Frailty with Aura of Frailty. Cursing stuff just by walking near it? Yes, please. Makes trash mobs pop easier.
Grinding for Gear and Making it Work
Getting the full Pestilence set took a bit of grinding, as always. Kadala was her usual stingy self, and drops were slow. But piece by piece, it came together. The key was getting good cooldown reduction on my gear. With Land of the Dead being so crucial, I needed it up as often as possible. So, I focused on CDR on shoulders, gloves, amulet, and weapon. Diamond in the helm, of course.
I also hunted for some specific legendaries. Nayr’s Black Death was a big one, boosting damage for each different poison skill I used. So, I made sure my Corpse Explosion rune was poison, and maybe another skill if I could fit it. Krysbin’s Sentence ring is pretty much a must for any Necro, that triple damage bonus is insane. And an In-geom in the Cube, or equipped, is amazing for farming when Land of the Dead is up often thanks to elite packs.
The Payoff: Explosions Everywhere!
Once I got the gear and the rhythm down, man, it was a blast. Literally. You jump into a pack, pop Bone Armor, hit Land of the Dead, and then just spam Corpse Explosion. The screen just clears. It’s super satisfying. For tougher elites or the Rift Guardian, if I had the Pestilence set bonus active, those auto-lances from consuming corpses would chip away nicely too, but the main show was definitely the big booms from Corpse Explosion.
It’s not the tankiest build out there, you still gotta dodge the big hits. But for clearing speed and just sheer destructive fun, this setup has been great for me. I’m pushing higher GRs than I was before, and farming Torment 16 feels like a breeze. It took some patience, a lot of blood shards, and a fair bit of dying while I figured out the positioning, but yeah, this necromancer build is finally where I want it to be. Just gotta keep an eye out for ancient upgrades now!
