How the engine works
The Core Skill upgrade removes Bone Spirit's charges and cooldown. It costs 30 Essence, then consumes all the Essence you have left and deals 3% more damage for every point consumed. So the build is a race to hold as much Maximum Essence as possible and refill it instantly. Astral Projection makes the spirits spiral around you, piercing and exploding, instead of seeking a target. Vengeful Sinew makes each one explode a second time. Bone Storm supplies about half of your Critical Strike Chance and Attack Speed. Skeleton Mages are on the bar only because Gift of Death gives 50% more Essence regeneration per active mage.
Who it's for
Players who want the fastest way through Helltides, the Undercity and mid-tier Pits, and a build that also pushes well. It is slightly weaker on bosses than Blood Wave and it is not a budget build.
- Rating
- S to A-Tier
- Difficulty
- Moderate — Essence upkeep
- Key stat
- Maximum Essence, with the regeneration to refill it
- Must have
- Vengeful Sinew (unique chest)
The bar
This is the pushing bar. Only Bone Spirit does damage; two minion buttons are there as utilities, not as an army. For pure speed farming, swap Skeleton Warrior for Blood Mist. There is also a Shadow damage-over-time version of this skill built on the Unfinished Business upgrade, but it needs a different set of uniques and is harder to gear, so this page covers the Bone version only.
The damage. Take Core Skill, Maximum Essence (each enemy hit raises Maximum Essence by 2 for 15 seconds, up to 20) and Astral Projection. Rank 15. Four or five casts get the ring of spirits going; after that you refresh it.
Press — to refreshRoll The Bones gives Critical Strike Chance and cast speed that grow with skill ranks. Duration Increase consumes up to 4 Corpses for 2 more seconds each, and Barrier gives 50% of Maximum Life. Rank 15. It must never drop.
Keep it upInexorable Reaper makes it a dash, and it moves faster the more Attack Speed you have. It also starts Corpses. Cast it at least every 8 seconds if no other Corpses are around, so Flesh-eater stays active.
MovementWith Get Over Here! it is cast on you and needs no Corpse. It pulls the pack in, Fortifies you for 5% of Maximum Life per enemy, returns 35 Essence and makes them Vulnerable.
Press — each packYour Essence engine. Gift of Death gives 50% more Essence regeneration for each active mage. Rank 15. Keep the full number alive at all times; raising them also consumes Corpses for Flesh-eater.
Keep it upOne point, with Master of Puppets, Healing and Vulnerable. They consume Corpses automatically so you don't have to think about Flesh-eater. For speed farming, replace them with Blood Mist (Blood Rush) and consume Corpses yourself.
Keep it upPassives
There is no Key Passive. Every point goes into skills and upgrades: Bone Spirit, Bone Storm and Skeleton Mage to rank 15, and one point in each utility. Iron Maiden takes 13 ranks and Decrepify one, even though neither sits on the bar: Blood Moon Breeches and the Teb rune apply them for you.
Book of the Dead
Sacrifice the Warriors and the Golem for damage, and keep Shadow Mages with their Barrier upgrade. A Sacrifice halves how many of that skeleton you can raise rather than removing them, which is why a single point in Skeleton Warrior still works as a Corpse consumer. For the Golem slot there is a choice: Iron gives 15% more Critical Strike Damage, Blood gives 20% more Maximum Life. Take Iron unless you are dying.
| Pick | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Skeletal Warriors: Reapers, Sacrifice | You deal 15% more damage. The number of Reapers you can summon is halved. |
| Skeletal Mages: Shadow, Barrier upgrade | Shadow Mage bolts give you and the mage a Barrier for 3% of your Maximum Life for 4 seconds, up to 30%. |
| Golem: Iron, Sacrifice | You deal 15% more Critical Strike Damage. Your Golem does 50% less damage. |
What to wear
A one-handed weapon with the Lidless Wall shield. Four uniques do most of the work, and the rolls on them matter: you want Maximum Essence and Essence per Second on Vengeful Sinew itself.
Uniques
| Item | What it does | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Vengeful Sinew | Chest. Bone Spirit explodes an additional time for 45% of normal damage, and Bone Spirit deals 40% more damage. Comes with guaranteed ranks to Bone Spirit. Drops from The Butcher. Try to get Maximum Essence and Essence per Second on it. | Mandatory |
| Blood Moon Breeches | Pants. Your summons have a 7–10% chance to inflict Decrepify or Iron Maiden when they deal damage, and you deal 50–60% more Critical Strike Damage to cursed enemies. It takes both curses off your hands. First choice for a Mythic-quality copy. | Core |
| Lidless Wall | Shield. Each Sacrifice bonus raises its chance to spawn an extra Bone Storm and allows one more of them. Each active Bone Storm gives 30% Critical Strike Damage, up to 150%. | Core |
| Leoric's Crown | Helm. Counts as jewellery and doubles any gem socketed in it, so your best Soul Splinter goes here. Drops from any boss. | Core |
| Tibault's Will | Pants, the alternative to Blood Moon Breeches. 20% more damage and 25 Essence regeneration while Unstoppable and for 5 seconds after. Its regeneration was halved this season. Drops from any boss. | Variant |
| The Undercrown | Helm for the early game. Four extra Skeleton Mages means four more helpings of Gift of Death. Wear it until your gear has a Greater Affix Essence per Second roll, then move it to a charm slot. | Variant |
| Gravewalker's Hand | Unique Charm. Raises Essence generation, and your Bone skills deal 0.5% more damage for each point of Essence you have when you cast. A huge multiplier for the sixth slot. | Charm |
| Crown of Lucion | Helm, the damage alternative to Leoric's Crown. A very large multiplier, and its cost increase doesn't hurt because Bone Spirit consumes Essence rather than spending it. Take Leoric's Crown if you have a strong Soul Splinter for it, this one if you don't. | Variant |
Before they drop
There is no comfortable version of this build without Vengeful Sinew. Stay on your levelling setup or the Minion build and farm The Butcher until it drops. Until Leoric's Crown, wear Aspect of Glynn's Anvil on a legendary helm, or The Undercrown for the extra mages. Get at least two ordinary Essence per Second rolls on your gear before you stack Maximum Essence.
Legendary aspects
| Aspect | What it does for you |
|---|---|
| Aspect of Bursting Bones | Amulet. Bone skills gain damage for every point of Maximum Essence you have, up to 200. This is the main multiplier and the reason Maximum Essence is the key stat. |
| Aspect of Rapid Ossification | Ring. Every 100 Essence you spend reduces your Bone skill cooldowns, and your Bone damage is 20% higher. It is what keeps Bone Storm permanently available. |
| Aspect of Serration | Ring. Bone and Corpse skills gain 10% Critical Strike Chance and more Critical Strike Damage. |
| Aspect of Compound Fracture | Gloves. After 10 Critical Strikes with Bone skills, your Bone skills deal more damage for 5 seconds. With spirits orbiting you that is always. |
| Splintering Aspect | Main hand. Bone skills deal more damage to Vulnerable enemies. Corpse Tendrils and the curses keep everything Vulnerable. |
| Shielding Bones | Transfigured onto the amulet as a second aspect for pushing. Casting a Bone skill grants 2 stacks of Resolve. Pair it with Glynn's Anvil and Resolve tempers on helm, chest and pants. |
| Exploiter's Aspect | Boots for pushing. 50% longer crowd control, and more damage to Unstoppable enemies. |
| Aspect of Creeping Cadaver | Boots for speed farming. Every 20 metres travelled triggers a random equipped Corpse skill, and consuming a Corpse raises your Movement Speed. It casts Corpse Tendrils and Skeleton Mage for you, which keeps Flesh-eater on. Pair it with Aspect of Deluge on a ring. |
Maximum Essence is useless if you can't refill it
Every cast empties the bar. If your regeneration can't refill a bigger bar between casts, the extra Maximum Essence adds nothing. Build Essence per Second, Gift of Death mages and Lucky Hit restore tempers alongside it, not after it.
Stats, gems and paragon
Roll and masterwork toward these, in this order.
| # | Stat | Where you roll it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maximum Essence | Helm, chest and amulet. Bursting Bones counts it up to 200. |
| 2 | Essence per Second | Helm, chest, pants and boots, ideally as a Greater Affix on the uniques. |
| 3 | Attack Speed | Gloves, rings and amulet. Bone Storm supplies about half of what you need. |
| 4 | Critical Strike Chance | Gloves, rings and amulet, plus tempers on weapon and shield. |
| 5 | Maximum Life | Helm, chest, pants and boots, and as the temper on the first three. |
| 6 | Critical Strike, Vulnerable and Physical damage multipliers | Gloves, rings, amulet and weapon. Spread them evenly: multipliers of the same type add together, different types multiply. |
| 7 | Ranks to Bone Spirit and Bone skills | Guaranteed on Vengeful Sinew, and on boots and charms. Bone ranks also raise Roll The Bones. |
Hard targets
100% Attack Speed and 100% Critical Strike Chance. With your Bone skill ranks, Bone Storm gives about 50% of each, so gear has to find the other half. 30,000 Maximum Life or more. Maximum Essence counts towards Bursting Bones up to 200.
Tempering & masterworking
Maximum Life on helm, chest and pants. Critical Strike Chance on weapon and shield. Critical Strike Damage on gloves. Movement Speed on boots. The Lucky Hit chance to restore Essence on the amulet and both rings. When you start pushing, Resolve stack tempers on helm, chest and pants are your main defence. Masterwork Maximum Essence and Essence per Second first, then whichever damage multiplier is lowest.
Gems, runewords & Splinters
- Gems: Skull in the weapon, Topaz in the shield and pants, and an Emerald or Diamond in a ring.
- Runewords: Tam + Teb in Vengeful Sinew for pushing. Tam gives 25 Offering each time you cast a Core skill and Teb spends it to cast Iron Maiden. For speed farming use Poc + Que for an Earthen Bulwark Barrier and Tam + Mot for a Dark Shroud shadow.
- Soul Splinters, in priority order: Black Soulstone, then Anguish and Hellfire in Leoric's Crown where they are doubled, then Pain. Hellfire removes Critical Strike Chance, so only use it while you are well short of the 100% target.
- Talisman, mid game: the full five-piece Bone Weaver set, a large multiplier with Essence regeneration, plus Gravewalker's Hand in the sixth slot. Look for + to Bone skills on charms first, then + to Core skills for Gift of Death.
- Talisman, finished: Seal of the Diamond Mind lets you run two sets at once. Use four Berú of Desecration charms, which form Corpses, apply both curses near your Corpses, give 25% damage reduction and add a large multiplier, with two Bone Weaver charms.
Paragon
Starter board with the Corporeal glyph, then Bone Graft with Essence, Scent of Death with Eliminator, Frailty with Exploit and Flesh-eater with Amplify. On Frailty, run Dominate until you have the points to make Exploit worthwhile. Level glyphs in this order: Essence, Exploit, Amplify, Corporeal, Eliminator. For speed farming, put Gravekeeper on the Starter board and move Corporeal to Flesh-eater.
| Glyph | Where and why |
|---|---|
| Essence | Bone Graft board. Level it first. |
| Exploit | Frailty board. Dominate sits here earlier on. |
| Amplify | Flesh-eater board. The node itself needs you to keep consuming Corpses. |
| Corporeal | Starter board. |
| Eliminator | Scent of Death board. |
Mercenary
Hire Raheir with Provoke, Shield Charge and Raheir's Guard. He keeps you alive and also adds a damage multiplier. The reinforcement is Aldkin with Field of Languish for more damage reduction. This build dies to mistakes more than it runs out of damage, so both slots go to defence.
From fresh 70 to finished
This is a build you move into, not one you start on. Expect to farm for it on something else first.
Stay on your levelling build or the Minion build. Kill The Butcher for Vengeful Sinew and collect legendary gear with Essence per Second and Maximum Essence.
Respec when it drops. Wear The Undercrown or a Glynn's Anvil helm, put Bursting Bones on the amulet and Rapid Ossification on a ring, and keep every mage alive. Essence will feel tight.
Blood Moon Breeches removes both curses from your to-do list. Lidless Wall adds up to 150% Critical Strike Damage. Finish the five Bone Weaver charms and add Gravewalker's Hand.
Reach 100% Attack Speed and 100% Critical Strike Chance with Bone Storm running, and 30,000 Life. Add Leoric's Crown with your best Splinter in it. From here Bone Storm never drops and the spirits never stop.
Swap to four Desecration and two Bone Weaver charms. Transfigure Shielding Bones onto the amulet for pushing, or switch to Creeping Cadaver, Deluge and Blood Mist for one-to-two-minute speed Pits.
The rotation
Dash into the pack. This starts your Corpses.
Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed and a Barrier. Rapid Ossification keeps resetting it as you burn Essence, so recast it the moment it is ready.
Pulls the pack onto you, makes it Vulnerable, Fortifies you and returns 35 Essence.
That gets the ring of spirits turning around you.
Skeleton Warriors consume Corpses for you. On the speed bar, Blood Mist does it instead. Check your mages are all alive.
Sever from pack to pack and stop only to refresh the spirits.
On bosses
Walk around the boss in the opposite direction to the way your spirits are circling; they pass through it more often and land more hits. Keep Bone Storm and all your mages up. If you use the Dominate glyph, a single point in Blood Lance with its Overpower upgrade lets you drop a stack so the glyph's bonus triggers again. Single target is the build's weakest area, so expect longer boss fights than Blood Wave.
Strengths, weaknesses, mistakes
What it's good at
- The best mobility on the class. Sever is a dash that speeds up with Attack Speed.
- Massive area damage that follows you around, so you clear while moving.
- Doesn't need a Mythic to work.
- Resolve stacking makes the pushing setup very tanky.
Where it struggles
- Hard to gear. It wants Greater Affix Essence per Second on uniques that are already hard to find.
- Essence management is the whole game, and it punishes lapses at once.
- A lot of upkeep: Bone Storm, mages and Corpses all need watching.
- Weaker on bosses than the other two builds.
Mistakes that ruin it
- Letting Bone Storm drop. It is about half your Critical Strike Chance and Attack Speed. Without it the build collapses.
- Letting mages die. Each one is 50% more Essence regeneration from Gift of Death. Resummon immediately.
- Stacking Maximum Essence without regeneration. A bigger bar that doesn't refill between casts adds nothing.
- Stacking one kind of multiplier. Same-type multipliers add together. Spread Physical, Critical Strike and Vulnerable damage evenly.
- Going a long stretch without consuming a Corpse. Flesh-eater switches off. Sever at least every 8 seconds.
Not for you? The other Necromancer builds: Blood Wave · Minion Necromancer.