Diablo 4: How To Use Necromancers Book of The Dead Mechanic

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The Necromancer’s Book of the Dead unique class mechanic in Diablo 4 has received some major changes to the specific stats and effects since the game launched. While the system remains in place and has not changed significantly, the minor details have. This guide will highlight those changes and give you an overview of the mechanic, which you can use to find out what works best for you.

The Necromancer is always a favorite among players of the various class builds in Diablo 4, allowing you to summon hordes of minions and deal lots of damage quickly. The class has received a fair few buffs as well, making it even more favorable. While it does not hit at quite the same level as the Spiritborn or Sorcerer class, it is still a heavy-hitting class that benefits a lot from the Book of the Dead.

How To Unlock the Necromancer's Book of The Dead Mechanic

What It Does & How It Works

Fortunately, it is not hard to unlock the Book of the Dead, as it will automatically become available at Level 5. Once it does, you can see the menu in the tab next to the character menu, which has three sections underneath it detailing the minions available. The three minions are Skeletal Warriors, Skeletal Mages, and Golems. However, the Golems will not be available right at Level 5.

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Each of those minion types in return has an additional three sub-types. These sub-types will slowly level up over time and you do not have to actively do anything to do so besides level up your character. At level 25, you will unlock a unique quest called Call of the Underworld, and you will travel to the Fractured Peaks to learn a ritual to summon a Golem.

Beyond getting 30% of your stats, the minions will also get any of your buffs .

All of your minions will get 30% of your stats right off the bat, although there is an exception. There are other optional upgrades for each sub-type as well. Not every Necromancer build wants to summon the minions, some of them sacrifice them instead. However, if you do want to summon minions, you have to have it equipped as one of your active skills.

The skills Raise Skeleton & Golem are what should be on your skill bar if you want to summon them.

If you want more information on using the minions themselves, you can see this video from YouTuber Goblin Inc . However, the basic idea is that Skeletons can be either front-line swarming minions or back-line artillery minions, depending on whether they are Warriors or Mages, while Golems are tanks. If you want an endgame Necromancer build, you will have to understand how their stats work specifically.

Best Necromancer Book of The Dead Arsenal Summons, Bonuses & Upgrades

All Stats & What They Do

The changes to the Book of the Dead are mostly in the form of the individual stats for each of the Summons and their sub-types. Each one has three sub-types, and you will want to pick their specialization based on what you want them to do. You can only select one additional bonus, but if you choose to sacrifice them instead, you will get a permanent boost. Each minion has a limit of summoning, but certain Necromancer-specific items you acquire - like Legendary Aspects - might grant you more.

During a World Boss fight, minions will automatically get re-summoned after re-spawning .

Skeletal Warriors act much like normal Skeleton enemies, which attack enemies at close range. You can initially summon 4. Their stats are as follows:

Skeletal Warrior Sub-Type

Base Ability

Optional Upgrades

Sacrifice Ability

Skirmishers

Defenders

Reapers

Deal 30% increased damage but have 15% less life	You can raise 1 additional Skirmisher	Increase your Critical Strike Chance by 10%
Deal 30% increased damage but have 15% less life	Each time you critically strike, your Skirmishers next attack does as well, dealing 50% bonus damage. Only happens every 3 seconds.	Increase your Critical Strike Chance by 10%
15% increased life	Every 6 seconds the Defenders negate the next instance of damage they would take	You gain 15% Physical Resistance.
15% increased life	Increase the amount of Thorns that Defenders inherit from you by 50%	You gain 15% Physical Resistance.
Wields a powerful scythe that has a special wind-up attack, dealing heavy damage every 10 seconds.	Reaper attacks against enemies with Immobilized, Slowed, Stunned, or Vulnerable reduce the cooldown of the special attack by 2 seconds.	You deal 10% increased Shadow damage.
	Reapers have a 15% chance to carve the flesh off enemies, which makes a Corpse.	You deal 10% increased Shadow damage.

Skeletal Mages are a ranged minion, and can send spells at enemies from far away. You can initially summon 3. Their stats are as follows:

Skeletal Mage Sub-Type

Base Ability

Optional Upgrades

Sacrifice Ability

Shadow

Cold

Bone

Deals moderate Shadow damage.	Shadows have a 10% chance to Stun for 2 seconds once per enemy every 5 seconds.	Your Maximum Essence is increased by 15%.
Deals moderate Shadow damage.	Shadows fire an additional Shadow Bolt every 4th attack.	Your Maximum Essence is increased by 15%.
Deals chill damage.	Each time your Cold Mages damage enemies with their primary attack, you gain 2 Essence.	You deal 15% increased damage to Vulnerable enemies.
Deals chill damage.	Enemies who are frozen by Cold Mage's primary attack are Vulnerable for 4 seconds.	You deal 15% increased damage to Vulnerable enemies.
Use their own bodies as projectiles, dealing heavy damage at the cost of their own life.	Reduce the Life cost of your Bone Mages' attacks from 15% to 10%. After being alive for 5 seconds, they deal 40% increased damage.	Your overpower damage is increased by 40%.
	Each time a Bone Mage dies from its own attack, they leave behind a corpse and Fortify you for 20% of your base life.

Golems, as stated, are more like tanks, and they have a large amount of health to stand against your foes. You initially just get 1. Their stats are as follows:

Golem Sub-Type

Base Ability

Optional Upgrades

Sacrifice Ability

Bone

Blood

Iron

Taunts enemies, drawing enemy attacks.	Each time your Bone Golem takes up to 20% of its Maximum Life as damage, it sheds a corpse.	You gain 10% increased Attack Speed.
Taunts enemies, drawing enemy attacks.	Bone Golem gains 10% Maximum Life and amount of Thorns they inherit from you is increased to 50%.	You gain 10% increased Attack Speed.
Drains life from nearby enemies to heal and bolster itself.	Blood Golem absorbs 15% of the damage you would take.	Your Maximum Life is increased by 10%.
Drains life from nearby enemies to heal and bolster itself.	While Healthy, Blood Golem gains 25% Damage Reduction and 50% increased damage.	Your Maximum Life is increased by 10%.
Stuns enemies.	Every 4th Iron Golem attacks causes a shockwave, dealing 30% damage to the primary enemy and to enemies behind them.	You deal 30% increased Critical Strike Damage.
	Slam attack also makes enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds.

With all that said, players should decide what they want to do with their summons based on what build they are going for. The Bone Spiritwave build remains a very popular option, which sacrifices all three summons in order to get a powerful boost instead. You can experiment with what works best based on what playstyle they enjoy the most. This will give you a preferable experience with the Book of the Dead as a Necromancer in Diablo 4.

Video Credit: Goblin Inc./YouTube