Necromancer Summoning

Necromancer Skills
All Skills Curses Poison and Bone Summoning

The Necromancer's summoning skills enable him to draw up skeletons and revives from corpses, and to create golems to fight for him.

Golems

Only one golem, of any type, may be active. If you cast another golem, the first one will be dispelled. Golems do not require a monster corpse to summon, though Iron Golems require a metal item to be created. Golems have a fixed defense. The Hit Points and Damage of Golems increase on Nightmare, and again on Hell Difficulty.

Skeletons and Skeletal Mages

In earlier versions of the game, one skeleton warrior or mage was summoned for each point in the skill. Since v1.10 you only gain one skeleton for every three points beyond the first three, but each one is much more effective. (And the screen is much less crowded.)

The attack ratings for summoned creatures are based on the Necromancer's level, and can not be raised with equipment or more points in the skills.

Raise Skeleton

Required Level: 1
Prerequisites: None
Requires: Valid monster corpse.
Synergies: Raised Skeletons are made more effective by points in:

• Skeleton Mastery
• Summon Resist

Details: The Necromancer targets a monster's corpse and casts this spell, causing a humanoid skeleton to emerge. Raised skeletons are melee fighters who spawn with semi-random equipment. Skeleton AI is about the same as a Mercenary. Meaning, they will pursue enemies that they see and otherwise stay near their owner, but can sometimes get stuck behind walls or around corners. If they get lost too far away from their owner, they will teleport to somewhere onscreen.

• Skeletons have a 5% chance to spawn with a shield, and a 3% chance to block attacks with a shield.
• Skeletons receive a hidden attack rating bonus as your character levels up.

Skill Level Progression [e]

Slvl	#	Mana	Dmg.	AR	Def.	Slvl	#	Mana	Dmg.	AR	Def.	Slvl	#	Mana	Dmg.	AR	Def.	Slvl	#	Mana	Dmg.	AR	Def.
1	1	6	1-2	+20	+20	6	4	11	1-2	+95	+95	11	5	16	8-9	+170	+170	16	7	21	21-23	+245	+245
2	2	7	1-2	+35	+35	7	4	12	1-2	+110	+110	12	6	17	10-11	+185	+185	17	7	22	26-28	+260	+260
3	3	8	1-2	+50	+50	8	4	13	2-4	+125	+125	13	6	18	12-14	+200	+200	18	8	23	31-33	+275	+275
4	3	9	1-2	+65	+65	9	5	14	4-5	+140	+140	14	6	19	14-16	+215	+215	19	8	24	37-39	+290	+290
5	3	10	1-2	+80	+80	10	5	15	6-7	+155	+155	15	7	20	17-19	+230	+230	20	8	25	37-39	+305	+305

Skill Level Progression [e]

Slvl	Life (Nrml)	Life (Ngtmr)	Life (Hell)	Slvl	Life (Nrml)	Life (Ngtmr)	Life (Hell)	Slvl	Life (Nrml)	Life (Ngtmr)	Life (Hell)	Slvl	Life (Nrml)	Life (Ngtmr)	Life (Hell)
1	21			6	52			11	105			16	157
2	21			7	63			12	115			17	168
3	21			8	73			13	126			18	178
4	31			9	84			14	136			19	189
5	42			10	94			15	147			20	199

Raise Skeleton Builds

• Poison Necromancer Build
• Summoner Necromancer Build

Skeleton Mastery

Required Level: 1
Prerequisites: Raise Skeleton
Synergies: None.
Details: Increases the hit points and damage dealt by Skeletons, Skeleton Mages, and Revived.

Improved Missile Damage	Beyond Level 2, Skeleton Mages only.

Skill Level Progression [e]

Slvl	Skel. Life +X	Skel. Dmg. +X	Revive Life +X%	Revive Dmg. +X%	Slvl	Skel. Life +X	Skel. Dmg. +X	Revive Life +X%	Revive Dmg. +X%	Slvl	Skel. Life +X	Skel. Dmg. +X	Revive Life +X%	Revive Dmg. +X%	Slvl	Skel. Life +X	Skel. Dmg. +X	Revive Life +X%	Revive Dmg. +X%
1	8	2	5%	10%	6	48	12	30%	60%	11	88	22	55%	110%	16	128	32	80%	160%
2	16	4	10%	20%	7	56	14	35%	70%	12	96	24	60%	120%	17	136	34	85%	170%
3	24	6	15%	30%	8	64	16	40%	80%	13	104	26	65%	130%	18	144	36	90%	180%
4	32	8	20%	40%	9	72	18	45%	90%	14	112	28	70%	140%	19	152	38	95%	190%
5	40	10	25%	50%	10	80	20	50%	100%	15	120	30	75%	150%	20	160	40	100%	200%

Skeleton Mastery Builds

• Poison Necromancer Build
• Summoner Necromancer Build

Clay Golem

Required Level: 6
Prerequisites: None
Synergies: Clay Golems benefit from points spent in the following skills.

• Golem Mastery
• Summon Resist
• Blood Golem: +5% Life Per Level
• Iron Golem: +35 Defense Per Level
• Fire Golem: +6% Damage Per Level

Details: Raises a Golem from the earth to fight for you. Before spending more than one point into Clay Golem consider that you will probably want upgrade to Blood Golem (at 18), Iron Golem (24), or Fire Golem (30), all of which replace the Clay Golem.

• Notice that higher level clay golems have twice as much HP as other golems.

Defense	20

Skill Level Progression [e]

Slvl	Mana Cost	Dmg.	AR +X	Slow Enemy X%	Slvl	Mana Cost	Dmg.	AR +X	Slow Enemy X%	Slvl	Mana Cost	Dmg.	AR +X	Slow Enemy X%	Slvl	Mana Cost	Dmg.	AR +X	Slow Enemy X%
1	15	2-5	80	11%	6	30	5-13	180	41%	11	45	9-22	280	53%	16	60	12-31	380	60%
2	18	2-6	100	20%	7	33	6-15	200	44%	12	48	9-24	300	54%	17	63	13-33	400	60%
3	21	3-8	120	27%	8	36	6-17	220	46%	13	51	10-26	320	56%	18	66	13-34	420	61%
4	24	4-10	140	33%	9	39	7-19	240	49%	14	54	11-27	340	57%	19	69	14-36	440	62%
5	27	4-12	160	37%	10	42	8-20	260	51%	15	57	11-29	360	58%	20	72	15-38	440	63%

Skill Level Progression [e]

Slvl	Clay Life (Normal)	Clay Life (Nightmare)	Clay Life (Hell)	Slvl	Clay Life (Normal)	Clay Life (Nightmare)	Clay Life (Hell)	Slvl	Clay Life (Normal)	Clay Life (Nightmare)	Clay Life (Hell)	Slvl	Clay Life (Normal)	Clay Life (Nightmare)	Clay Life (Hell)
1	100	175		6	275	481		11	450	787		16	625	1093
2	135	236		7	310	542		12	485	848		17	660	1155
3	170	297		8	345	603		13	520	910		18	695	1216
4	205	358		9	380	665		14	555	971		19	730	1277
5	240	420		10	415	726		15	590	1032		20	765	1338

Clay Golem Builds

• Bone Necromancer Build
• Poison Necromancer Build
• Summoner Necromancer Build

Golem Mastery

Required Level: 12
Prerequisites: Clay Golem
Details: This skill provides a passive bonus to the speed and hit points of all golems. Enhances speed and life of Golems. Golem Mastery adds more Hit Points to the Golem's Original Base Life, not the Life shown with more than one point into a Golem skill.

• Most useful if you're planning to use a lot of Iron Golems, since the others can simply be recast as often as you like.

Skill Level Progression [e]

Slvl	Life +X%	+Run Speed	+AR	Slvl	Life +X%	+Run Speed	+AR	Slvl	Life +X%	+Run Speed	+AR	Slvl	Life +X%	+Run Speed	+AR
1	20%	6%	25	6	120%	22%	150	11	220%	28%	275	16	320%	32%	400
2	40%	10%	50	7	140%	23%	175	12	240%	29%	300	17	340%	32%	425
3	60%	14%	75	8	160%	24%	200	13	260%	30%	325	18	360%	32%	450
4	80%	17%	100	9	180%	26%	225	14	280%	30%	350	19	380%	33%	475
5	100%	20%	125	10	200%	27%	250	15	300%	31%	375	20	400%	33%	500

Golem Mastery Builds

• Bone Necromancer Build
• Poison Necromancer Build

Raise Skeletal Mage

Required Level: 12
Prerequisites: Raise Skeleton
Requires: A valid monster corpse.
Synergies: Skeletal Mages gain bonuses from points spent in:

• Skeleton Mastery
• Summon Resist

Details: Summons a skeletal mage from a monster corpse. Skeleton mages occur randomly in four types; fire, lightning, cold, and poison. Keep summoning new ones and unsummoning individuals if you wish to get all poison, or no cold, etc.

• Cold mages are useful if you wish to slow monsters and potential break their corpses so shamans can not resurrect them. Cold is not good if you want monster corpses left to raise more skeletons from, Revive, or Corpse Explosion.
• Skeleton mages have high elemental resistance, especially to the element that makes up their own attack.
• See the Raise Skeletal Mage article for a complete breakdown of the damage, hit points, and more for each type of skeleton mage.

Skill Level Progression [e]

Slvl	Mages	Mana	Def.	Slvl	Mages	Mana	Def.	Slvl	Mages	Mana	Def.	Slvl	Mages	Mana	Def.
1	1	8	+10	6	4	13	+60	11	5	18	+110	16	7	23	+160
2	2	9	+20	7	4	14	+70	12	6	19	+120	17	7	24	+170
3	3	10	+30	8	4	15	+80	13	6	20	+130	18	8	25	+180
4	3	11	+40	9	5	16	+90	14	6	21	+140	19	8	26	+190
5	3	12	+50	10	5	17	+100	15	7	22	+150	20	8	27	+200

Skill Level Progression [e]

Slvl	Life (Nrml)	Life (Ngtmr)	Life (Hell)	Slvl	Life (Nrml)	Life (Ngtmr)	Life (Hell)	Slvl	Life (Nrml)	Life (Ngtmr)	Life (Hell)	Slvl	Life (Nrml)	Life (Ngtmr)	Life (Hell)
1	61			6				11				16
2				7				12				17
3				8				13				18
4				9				14				19
5				10				15				20

Blood Golem

Required Level: 18
Prerequisites: Clay Golem
Synergies: Blood Golems receive bonuses from points spent in the following skills:

• Golem Mastery
• Summon Resist
• Clay Golem: +20 Attack Rating Per Level
• Iron Golem: +35 Defense Per Level
• Fire Golem: +6% Damage Per Level

Details: Blood Golems are linked to the Necromancer who casts them. As the Blood Golem damages the target it leeches life, and shares this with the Necromancer. Before v1.13, the Necromancer would also lose life as the golem took damage, but this is no longer the case.

• The Golem gains 70% of the health it steals while the player gains 30%. If the current life + stolen life > maximum life of the Blood Golem, the Hit Point overflow goes to the Necromancer. If the current life + stolen life > maximum life of the Necromancer, the Hit Point overflow returns to the Golem up to the maximum life for each target.

Defense:	80

Skill Level Progression [e]

Slvl	Mana Cost	Dmg.	Life Leech	Slvl	Mana Cost	Dmg.	Life Leech	Slvl	Mana Cost	Dmg.	Life Leech	Slvl	Mana Cost	Dmg.	Life Leech
1	25	6-16	86%	6	45	16-44	116%	11	65	27-72	128%	16	85	37-100	135%
2	29	8-21	95%	7	49	18-49	119%	12	69	29-77	129%	17	89	39-105	135%
3	33	10-27	102%	8	53	20-55	121%	13	73	31-83	131%	18	93	41-111	136%
4	37	12-32	108%	9	57	22-60	124%	14	77	33-88	132%	19	97	43-116	137%
5	41	14-38	112%	10	61	24-66	126%	15	81	35-94	133%	20	101	45-122	138%

Skill Level Progression [e]

Slvl	Blood Life (Normal)	Blood Life (Nightmare)	Blood Life (Hell)	Slvl	Blood Life (Normal)	Blood Life (Nightmare)	Blood Life (Hell)	Slvl	Blood Life (Normal)	Blood Life (Nightmare)	Blood Life (Hell)	Slvl	Blood Life (Normal)	Blood Life (Nightmare)	Blood Life (Hell)
1				6				11				16
2				7				12				17
3				8				13				18
4				9				14				19
5				10				15				20

Summon Resist

Required Level: 24
Prerequisites: Clay Golem, Golem Mastery
Details: This skill passively raises the elemental (not physical) resistances of all the Necromancer's minions: skeletons, golems, and revives.

Skill Level Progression [e]

Slvl	Resist All	Slvl	Resist All	Slvl	Resist All	Slvl	Resist All
1	28%	6	50%	11	59%	16	64%
2	34%	7	52%	12	60%	17	64%
3	39%	8	54%	13	61%	18	65%
4	44%	9	56%	14	62%	19	65%
5	47%	10	57%	15	62%	20	66%

Summon Resist Builds

• Bone Necromancer Build
• Poison Necromancer Build
• Summoner Necromancer Build

Iron Golem

Required Level: 24
Prerequisites: Clay Golem, Blood Golem
Requires: A metal item. Iron Golems can not be created from Clubs, Wands, Crystal Swords, Gloves, Belts, Throwing Weapons, Staves, Bows, Crossbows, Quest Items, Jewelry, Leather Armor and Leather Boots.
Synergies: Iron Golems benefit from points in the following skills:

• Golem Mastery
• Summon Resist
• Clay Golem: +20 Attack Rating Per Level
• Blood Golem: +5% Life Per Level
• Fire Golem: +6% Damage Per Level

Details: This golem is created from the item, and takes on properties of the item. This feature was underutilized in earlier versions of D2, with little more than some defense, or a type of damage transferring to the golem's stats.

Since v1.09, the item used has become far more important, with most of the item properties showing up in the golem itself. It's worth it to most Necromancers to save nice items for future Iron Golems, rather than simply selling them.

• Iron Golems have an inherent Thorns property, reflecting damage back to attackers. This adds to damage from the Iron Maiden curse, making striking an Iron Golem a very painful experience.
• Some item properties do not work on Iron Golems, such as Magic Find, Gold Find, or Mana steal.
• Iron Golems made from ethereal items are translucent.

Mana Cost:	35
Damage:	7-19/11-30/12-33
Attack Rating:	100
Recieves Bonus From:	Item properties of the item used to create the golem

Skill Level Progression [e]

Slvl	% Dmg. Returned	Defense	Defense +X	Slvl	% Dmg. Returned	Defense	Defense +X	Slvl	% Dmg. Returned	Defense	Defense +X	Slvl	% Dmg. Returned	Defense	Defense +X
1	150%	190	35	6	210%	365	210	11	285%	540	385	16	360%	715	560
2	150%	225	70	7	225%	400	245	12	300%	575	420	17	375%	750	595
3	165%	260	105	8	240%	435	280	13	315%	610	455	18	390%	785	630
4	180%	295	140	9	255%	470	315	14	330%	645	490	19	405%	820	665
5	195%	330	175	10	270%	505	350	15	345%	680	525	20	420%	855	700

Skill Level Progression [e]

Slvl	Iron Life (Normal)	Iron Life (Nightmare)	Iron Life (Hell)	Slvl	Iron Life (Normal)	Iron Life (Nightmare)	Iron Life (Hell)	Slvl	Iron Life (Normal)	Iron Life (Nightmare)	Iron Life (Hell)	Slvl	Iron Life (Normal)	Iron Life (Nightmare)	Iron Life (Hell)
1				6				11				16
2				7				12				17
3				8				13				18
4				9				14				19
5				10				15				20

Fire Golem

Required Level: 30
Prerequisites: Clay Golem, Blood Golem, Iron Golem
Synergies: Fire Golems benefit from points added to the following skills:

• Golem Mastery
• Summon Resist
• Clay Golem: +20 Attack Rating Per Level
• Blood Golem: +5% Life Per Level
• Iron Golem: +35 Defense Per Level

Details: Fire Golems are beings of flame. They deal fire damage, heal from fire damage, and have a Holy Fire Aura.

• Fire Golems have the most hit points of any golem, but they also cost, by far, the most mana.
• Fire Golems are very effective at drawing in monsters, thanks to the constant damage their fire aura deals everything on the screen.
• Fire Golems deal substantial fire splash damage when they die. This can be used as a weapon by casting and recasting them beside a target.

Attack Rating	140
Defense	235

Skill Level Progression [e]

Slvl	Mana	Fire Dmg.	Holy Fire	Fire Abs.	Slvl	Mana	Fire Dmg.	Holy Fire	Fire Abs.	Slvl	Mana	Fire Dmg.	Holy Fire	Fire Abs.	Slvl	Mana	Fire Dmg.	Holy Fire	Fire Abs.
1	50	44-90	4-6	36%	6	100	119-170	9-11	66%	11	150	203-259	15-17	78%	16	200	307-368	24-26	85%
2	60	59-106	5-7	45%	7	110	134-186	10-12	69%	12	160	225-282	17-19	79%	17	210	330-392	26-28	85%
3	70	74-122	6-8	52%	8	120	149-202	11-13	71%	13	170	241-299	18-20	81%	18	220	359-422	29-31	86%
4	80	89-138	7-9	58%	9	130	165-219	12-14	74%	14	180	263-322	20-22	82%	19	230	382-446	31-33	87%
5	90	104-154	8-10	62%	10	140	187-242	14-16	76%	15	190	279-339	21-23	83%	20	240	411-476	34-36	88%

Skill Level Progression [e]

Slvl	(Normal)	Life (Nightmare)	Life (Hell)	Slvl	(Normal)	Life (Nightmare)	Life (Hell)	Slvl	(Normal)	Life (Nightmare)	Life (Hell)	Slvl	(Normal)	Life (Nightmare)	Life (Hell)
1				6				11				16
2				7				12				17
3				8				13				18
4				9				14				19
5				10				15				20

Revive

Required Level: 30
Prerequisites: Raise Skeleton, Clay Golem, Raise Skeletal Mage, Blood Golem, Iron Golem.
Requires: A valid monster corpse. (It will highlight when targeted with this skill active.) Bosses, SuperUniques, leapers, undead mages and some other monsters can not be Revived. Synergies: Points spent in Skeleton Mastery, and Summon Resist boost Revives.
Details: Revives the dead monster, raising it up in its living form, but coloured dark gray. Revived monsters retain most of their attributes from life, and deal the same damage, type of damage, attack speed, foot speed, and more. Revives gain a bonus to their hit points, damage, and resistances.

• Revives will use magical attacks, but shamans will not resurrect their monsters or your Revives.
• Revives retain their original AI, so resurrecting aggressive attackers is more useful than shamans or others that wander around a lot.
• Revives do not warp to keep up, though they will instantly reappear if you pass through a portal/waypoint, or use the teleport skill. It's easy to lose them if you run around too quickly.
• Gather useful Revives in one area, then quickly portal to another area, such as for a boss battle. You can use waypoints to move between acts as well, taking Flayers to fight Diablo, for instance.
• Revives only last for 3 minutes, so keep moving and keep summoning up new ones to replace the old.
• Each point in Revive simply adds one more to the number you can keep alive at once. If you're not using them all on a regular basis, more points here are not well spent.

Life:	Corpse Life +200%
Duration:	180 Seconds

Skill Level Progression [e]

Slvl	# of Revives	Slvl	# of Revives	Slvl	# of Revives	Slvl	# of Revives
1	1	6	6	11	11	16	16
2	2	7	7	12	12	17	17
3	3	8	8	13	13	18	18
4	4	9	9	14	14	19	19
5	5	10	10	15	15	20	20