Diablo 4 finally delivers the best version of a fan-favorite class

The Necromancer class evolved for the better in Diablo 4, they stopped being the sick man of the series and have finally become death incarnate.

As a huge fan of Diablo 2 – which is still the best Diablo game ever made – I was instantly drawn to the Necromancer class.  There was just something about the idea of summoning skeletal warriors and Golems to do my dirty work while I sat back and cackled that was my idea of fun, and twenty years later, this hasn’t changed.

The Necromancer also had an air of the alternative about him which added to his appeal. From a lore perspective, the other heroes should have been very wary of having a gothic corpse-desecrating priest amongst them. But when the demonic armies of Hell are at the gates, it’s good to have that spooky guy on your side. This is what made the Necro so cool – in any other game; he’d be the bad guy.

Outliving their usefulness

The issue came when players reached endgame and the Necromancer’s reliance on minions became a pointless strategy. Enemy monsters could just cut through summons with ease on Hell difficulty. While this is no longer the case in the remake, with Diablo 2: Resurrected buffing the Necro’s minions for endgame, in the original version they eventually became useless.

I remember LAN parties alongside a Barbarian player who asked me, “Why is the Necromancer so slow?” as he breezed passed me, squashing demons with his great maul. PvP was even more embarrassing when this same person was able to crush my minions like they were nothing, shortly followed by my Necromancer himself. The minion build has always been more effective in PvE, but this was just ridiculous.

The class was only added to Diablo 3 as DLC, their role mostly being taken by the Witch Doctor, but they suffered from the exact same problem. The Necro was fun to play but often felt outclassed by endgame and PvP, with classes like the Barbarian, Demon Hunter, and Sorcerer just being more reliable. 

When Diablo 4 rolled around, I prepared myself for the same situation, I’d enjoy the Necromancer, but when it came to serious grinding I expected I’d need to use a different class – oh how nice it was to be wrong. 

Dealing death

Diablo 4 is a game where all characters rise and fall in the meta when a new season rolls around, and the Necromancer has been both at the top of the tree and down at the bottom at different times. But more often than not, the Necromancer has dominated in Diablo 4. The only difference is that this time, things are much more build-dependent.

When it comes to PvP, the minion build is still not recommended. Your skeletons will just be smashed like regular enemies, leaving you at the mercy of your opponent. However, this time, not only do minions perform well in endgame, but for some Diablo 4 seasons, they’ve been one of the best builds you can use. 

Finally, Diablo 4 delivers on the twenty-year-old power fantasy of letting you build a powerful undead army and use it to roll over the forces of Hell. Each demonic corpse you make potentially becomes another undead thrall in your malevolent menagerie – and this never gets old. The more skeletons you have, the more deadly you become.

It’s incredibly satisfying to see your minions go crashing into enemy mobs like a wave, washing them away and moving on to the next. Even the Druid, another summoner class, can pull this off with their own group of minions, but only with the Necromancer does it feel like an undead horde – and one that is totally under your control. 

Going solo

While previous Diablo games have flirted with Necromancer builds that don’t rely on minions, Diablo 4 makes this a reality. By sacrificing minions instead of summoning them, a Necromancer can gain a powerful buff while pumping all their points into other skills like shadow, bone, and blood magic, creating a macabre one-person army instead of a summoner.

This creates a ton of new builds and playstyles to try; it also makes the Necromancer a class that other players may wish to try, after all, summoning minions isn’t every Diablo player’s bag. Give them the option to play as an OP Grim Reaper, though, who can give any melee-focused class a run for their money in PvP, and the character suddenly finds a new appeal. 

The Necromancer has been a fan-favorite since Diablo 2 and is probably one of the most enduring classes, standing alongside the Barbarian, Sorcerer, and Rogue in this regard, so it’s gratifying to finally see them getting the love they deserve in Diablo 4. 

The class is no longer just a guilty pleasure or simply the option for those who are a bit more alternative, they truly are the masters of death, and in Season 7, even the mighty Spiritborn class couldn’t keep them down for long.