Build Introduction
This guide is a collaboration between GhazzyTV and community member Garm Z. The Mendeln Summoner Necromancer build focuses heavily on minion attacks triggering the 
Ring of Mendeln. We do this with massive Skeletal Arch-Mages via 
The Hand of Naz!
Have questions or feedback on the guide? Join the livestream and ask me!
To see how this build compares to the other builds on our site, you can check out our build tier lists.
Strengths and Weaknesses
- Extremely effective minion build for end-game play
- Safe to play
- Relies on minion AI for your damage output
Build Requirements
Ring of MendelnThe Hand of Naz
Aspect of Service and SacrificeQuick Navigation
Use the table below to jump to the sections you are looking for.
Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar
Blight
Bone Prison
Reap
Raise Skeleton
Corpse Tendrils
SoulriftFollow the points allocated in the Skill Tree above for the complete 71-point build. The additional 12 skill points are completed using the Renown system.
Necromancer Class Mechanic – Book of the Dead
This build is all about having as many minion attacks as possible to trigger Ring of Mendeln. However, we will not be using the Golem as we benefit more from sacrificing him.
- Melee Skeletons: Skirmisher [Sacrifice] – Increased Critical Strike Chance. (If you equip
Heir of Perdition or have over 100% Critical Strike Chance – sacrifice Reapers instead for increased Shadow Damage) - Mage Skeletons: Shadow [Upgrade #1] – We get x3% multiplicative damage scaling per Shadow Mage.
- Golem: Iron [Sacrifice] – Increased Critical Strike Damage.
Gear, Stats, Gems, and Runes
The following sections cover the important systems that are essential to improving the power of your character in the endgame of Diablo 4.
Legendary Aspects
Each aspect is listed with its matching gear slot. Do your best to keep each aspect in the assigned slot. Additionally, if you are trying to farm a specific item, we recommend using your Obols to target farm them! Other recommendations for Legendary Aspect farming would be to do the Seasonal mechanic and to some extent you can farm them in Helltides as well.
| Gear Slot | Gems | Aspect / Unique | Legendary Aspect / Unique Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| Helm |  Feo +  Ner |  Aspect of the Cursed Aura | A dark aura surrounds you, inflicting  Decrepify and  Iron Maiden on enemies who touch it. Curses inflicted this way spread to surrounding targets every X seconds and last 4 seconds outside the aura. |
| Chest |  Royal Topaz |  Aspect of Hardened Bones | You gain 15-20% increased Damage Reduction. |
| Gloves | N/A | The Hand of Naz | Sacrificing both Skeletal Warriors and Golems grants an additional Skeletal Mage for each Minion sacrificed. When a Skeletal Mage attacks enemies 25 times without dying it upgrades to a Skeletal Arch-Mage. Skeletal Arch-Mages teleport to safety when attacked and their attacks occasionally shatter on impact dealing x#% increased damage to the target and up to 3 additional targets. |
| Pants | Royal Topaz |  Blood Moon Breeches | Extra critical strike damage and makes your minions apply curses. |
| Boots | N/A | Aspect of Occult Dominion | Your maximum number of Skeletal Warriors and Skeletal Mages is increased by 2. |
| Weapon 2H (Scythe) |  Ahu +  Qax | Aspect of Service and Sacrifice | Skeleton Mages take 90% less damage and deal x#% increased damage. |
| Amulet (50% Scaling) |  Royal Skull | Aspect of Reanimation Or Aspect of Occult Dominion if Chaos Armor occupies all armor slots. | Your Minions gain increased damage while alive, up to 90%[x] [60 – 90]% after 10 seconds. (Necromancer Only) |
| Ring | Royal Skull | Ring of Mendeln Or Aspect of Reanimation if Chaos Armor version is obtained. | Every 6th attack from each Minion is empowered, exploding for X Physical damage. |
| Ring | Royal Skull | Aspect of Grasping Veins | Gain 25%[+] [5 – 25]% increased Critical Strike Chance for 6 seconds when you cast Corpse Tendrils. You deal 50%[x] [10 – 50]% bonus Critical Strike Damage to enemies for 6 seconds after they are damaged by Corpse Tendrils. |
In Season 10, we’ll have access to Chaos Armor to further push the limits of the build!
Curious how this build compares to other endgame options? Take a look at our Endgame Build Tier List.
Stat Priority and Tempering Affixes
Below are the affixes to prioritize on gear. Each line of affixes is listed in order of importance. Tempering Manuals and their recommended affixes are provided in the second column, and the bolded affixes are the most important targets for Masterworking upgrades. The main priority for Greater Affixes are marked with a “*”, secondary would be anything providing Intelligence or Life. Be sure to check our Tempering and Masterworking guides for more details about these topics.
| Slot | Targeted Gear Affixes | Tempering Affixes |
|---|---|---|
| Helmet | * 1. Intelligence 2. Maximum Life 3. Cooldown Reduction |  Necromancer Wall #% Damage Reduction for Your MinionsDecay Innovation #% Soulrift Duration |
| Chest | * 1. Intelligence 2. Maximum Life 3. All Resist | Worldly Endurance #% Total ArmorDecay Innovation #% Soulrift Duration |
| Gloves | The Hand of Naz * 1. + Ranks to Skeletal Mage Mastery 2. Attack Speed | n/a |
| Pants | Blood Moon Breeches * 1. + Ranks to Hellbent Commander 2. Critical Strike Chance | n/a |
| Boots | * 1. Intelligence 2. Movement Speed 3. Intelligence 4. Essence per Second | Natural Motion #% Movement SpeedDecay Innovation #% Soulrift Duration |
| Amulet | * 1. Ranks to Hellbent Commander 2. #% Intelligence 3. + Ranks to Gloom (Or Ranks to Terror) Note: If you don’t have 2 passive skill amulet you can replace one of the modifiers with Attack Speed | Necromancer Efficiency #% Ultimate Cooldown ReductionMinion Finesse #% Skeletal Mages Damage |
| Ring | * 1. Attack Speed 2. Critical Strike Chance 3. Intelligence | Necromancer Efficiency #% Ultimate Cooldown ReductionMinion Finesse #% Skeletal Mages Damage |
| Ring | Ring of Mendeln * 1. + Ranks to Minion Masteries 2. Summon Attack Speed | n/a |
| 2H-Weapon (Scythe) | * 1. Intelligence 2. Maximum Life 3. Critical Strike Damage | Dreadful Augments + Ranks to FinalityMinion Finesse #% Skeletal Mages Damage |
Keep in mind that the maximum Resistance is 70% by default for each element and can be increased to 85% by various sources.
Make sure to achieve and maintain armor cap of 1,000 as soon as possible! For that purpose, helm or chest temporary tempering can be Total Armor %.
Uniques and Mythic Uniques
Below you will find information on Uniques and Uber Uniques that are useful for this build. Moreover, if you are interested in target farming Uber Uniques, check out our How to Farm Uber Uniques guide.
Uniques
- Ring of Mendeln (Required) – Bread and butter of the build to scale your minions damage output. You can target farm this from Beast in the Ice.
- Blood Moon Breeches – Incredibly effective pants to optimize the performance of the build as it scales both damage and defenses. This item can be target farmed from all Lair bosses.
- The Hand of Naz (Required) – Makes the build what it is! You get super Skeletal Arch-Mages.
Mythic Uniques
Heir of Perdition – Replaces your current helmet and comes with complete Runeword changes to 
Igni + 
Wat due to dropping Cursed Aura! The same applies if you use a Chaos Armor item on your helmet for your Runeword.
Shroud of False Death – Straight up replaces your current body armor for better scaling. Greater Affix and Masterworking priority on this item will be All Stats then Maximum Life.
Gems and Runewords
See below for a more detailed explanation of the best Gems to socket into your gear for each category.
| Weapon Gems | Armor Gems | Jewelry Gems |
|---|---|---|
| Recommended Runewords listed below. | Recommended Runewords then Royal Topaz For increased Intelligence. | Royal Skull For increased Armor.  Royal Diamond Can be used to help resistance if your armor has reached the cap. |
- Make sure to convert not used gem-fragments to Skull fragments to obtain 3xRoyal Skull as early as possible.
Below, you’ll see the recommended list of Runewords for this build.
| Runeword Combination | Effect |
| Ahu + Qax | Gain: 15 Offering. Lucky Hit: Up to a 100% chance against non-Healthy enemies. Requires: 400 Offering. (Overflow: Further Increased Damage). Cooldown 1 second. Casting a Skill other than a Basic or Defensive spends all your Primary Resource to increase your damage up to 100% for 1 second. |
| Feo + Ner | Gain: 1000 Offering. Become Injured or Crowd Controlled. Cooldown 10 seconds. Requires: 600 Offering. (Overflow: Increased Duration). Cooldown 6 seconds. Invoke the Rogue’s  Countering Concealment, gaining Dodge Chance, Movement Speed, Unstoppable, and Stealth. |
Paragon Board
Below you’ll find the entire end-game paragon board set-up for this build in detail!
Season of Infernal Chaos (Season 10)
In Season 10, we get access to Chaos Perks as well as Chaos Armor. Below, you’ll find a list of our recommended items to look out for.
Chaos Perks
| Power | Description |
 A Beast Cornered | For every 10% Life you are missing, you gain x20% increased damage and 5% Damage Reduction. Spending Resources also drains a percentage of your Life equal to 30% the Resources spent, refunding those Resources. This cannot reduce you to below 10% Life. |
 Marred Guard | You can no longer be healed above 50% Life. You gain 10% Maximum Resistance to All Elements, x20% Armor, and 100% increased Barrier and Fortify Generation. |
 Crazy Brew | Your Healing Potion is infused with the power of Chaos, granting you 100% Resource Cost Reduction, +80% increased Attack Speed and +80% increased Movement Speed for 5 seconds. Your Healing Potion has a 15 second Cooldown and you can drink it at full Life. Cooldown is affected by Cooldown Reduction. |
 Accelerating Chaos | Lucky Hit: Damaging an enemy has up to a 10% chance to trigger a Chaotic Burst on the enemy, dealing 3,176 damage. Your Chaotic Bursts that hit an enemy reduce a random active Cooldown by 0.5 seconds. |
Chaos Armor
Chaos Armor is seasonal corrupted unique gear that can take the form and slots of other armor pieces. An amulet can become boots or a helmet, a shield can become gloves, and so on. Chaos pieces carry their original implicit affixes, like All Resistances from Jewelry or weapon damage multiplier from the shield, regardless of the form they take. They always have increased AND top roll unique aspect value.
Lidless Wall – Any slot but preferably on chest to be replaced by 
Shroud of False Death later. Big base weapon damage multiplier and cooldown reduction.
Fists of Fate – Any slot or preferably on chest to be replaced by Shroud of False Death. Good baseline stats and a huge damage multiplier.- Ring of Mendeln – (Highest Priority) Any slot except Chest/Pants. Cornerstone of the build just with improved numerical values.
- The Hand of Naz – (Highest Priority) Any slot except Chest/Pants – Also a cornerstone of the build with improved numerical values.
Ebonpiercer – (Lowest Priority) Any slot except Pants. A lot of + Ranks to your passive skills.
Mercenaries
During the Vessel of Hatred campaign, you will unlock Mercenaries to assist you. While you can choose freely early on, we recommend Raheir as your main merc, and Varyana as a Reinforcement once you reach endgame.
For the reinforcement, stick with Varyana, utilizing her Bloodthirst skill being cast when the player casts Blight.
Build Mechanics
The build is designed to focus entirely on converting Skeletal Warriors to Skeletal Arch-Mages via The Hand of Naz. We empower Arch-Mages with Aspect of Service and Sacrifice and Ring of Mendeln triggered by their chaining attacks.
Rotation and Playstyle
We keep Soulrift up and watch your Arch-Mages melt literally everything. For maximum efficiency, you can group up enemies with Corpse Tendrils and follow that up with Bone Prison and Blight for more damage multipliers, crowd control, and better chaining Arch-Mage damage output. If you are close to the enemies, you can use Reap for even more attack speed to your minions and damage reduction to yourself.
Make sure to use your healing potion to activate Crazy Brew for increased cast speed and free casts right before you unleash your damage!
Which Elixirs Should You Use?
Visit the Alchemist and craft an Elixir providing any Resistance you need most, or the 
Elixir of Advantage II to increase Attack Speed. Some Elixirs cannot be crafted and only drop from activities like Helltides or Nightmare Dungeons. Additionally, make sure to keep your health potion upgraded!
Season 10 Updates
For a complete overview of Season 10, mechanics and theme, new leveling activity, and other changes coming, please take a look at our comprehensive season hub here.
- No major patch notes change outside of the new seasonal powers.
Obol Gambling
Obol gambling is a great way to potentially find item upgrades or items missing from your build. Check out the new tool guide from Icy Veins for gambling Obols in the link below.
Changelog
- September 19th, 2025: Guide updated for Season 10. Minor utility changes, main changes comes from the new seasonal mechanic.
- July 1st, 2025: Minor adjustments and improvements prior to launch.
- June 29th, 2025: Guide updated for Season 9.
- May 5th, 2025: Optimized and updated post launch for Season 8.
- April 26th, 2025: Guide updated for Season 8.
- February 24th, 2025: Mendeln bug fix seemingly fixed, removed disclaimer.
- February 18th, 2025: Mendeln bug fix isn’t working, re-added disclaimer.
- February 18th, 2025: Mendeln unique bug fix patched, removed disclaimer.
- January 25th, 2025: Minor adjustments.
- January 16th, 2025: Guide split into 4 pages and updated for Season 7.
- October 12th, 2024: Major guide changes due to an in-game bug.
- October 7th, 2024: Paragon board updated.
- October 2nd, 2024: Guide updated for Season 6.
- August 5th, 2024: Guide updated for Season 5, Infernal Hordes.
- May 16th, 2024: Complete rework of the guide due to undocumented changes in the patch notes demanding heavy improvements on the guide.
- May 15th, 2024: Tempering gear updates.
- May 11th, 2024: Guide updated for Season 4 Loot Reborn.
- January 22nd, 2024: Guide updated for Season 3 Season of the Construct.
- October 22nd, 2023: Minor Skill-Tree Adjustments.
- October 21st, 2023: Paragon Board updated.
- October 15th, 2023: Guide updated for Season 2 Season of Blood, Patch 1.2.
- 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.
