This Build relies on your Minions as your main source of damage, while you help them out with your own DoTs (damage-over-time skills).
Skills
This Build mainly revolves around the use of your Minions — as such, you will need to use both Raise Skeleton and Golem in order to summon them.
Additional Core Skills:
- Blight – the primary source of your own damage. It will provide a damage multiplier, and a source of Shadow DoT.
- Decrepify – this will keep enemies Slowed, as well as keep your Cooldowns low.
- Corpse Tendrils – a great way to group up enemies, as it will pull them in and make them Vulnerable.
- Bone Storm – gives you and your Golem an extra source of Shadow DoT damage, as well as giving some survivability.
Passives
The Key Passive for this Build is Shadowblight, as its effects are one of the most important things to make this Build work.
Additional Passives:
- Necrotic Carapace – will increase your survivability.
- Skeletal Warrior Mastery, Fueled by Death, Death’s Embrace, Amplify Damage, Skeletal Mage Mastery, Reaper’s Pursuit, Crippling Darkness, Terror, Gloom, Golem Mastery, Inspiring Leader, and Hellbent Commander will all boost your damage.
- Grim Harvest, Death’s Approach, and Reaper’s Pursuit will help your utility.
Book of the Dead
You will want to pick the following Minions for this Build:
- Reaper Skeletal Warriors – helps with Cooldown Reduction and Corpse generation.
- Shadow Skeletal Mages – this will be your main source of damage.
- Blood Golems – provides some additional damage.
Paragon Boards
- Board 1 (Start):
- Use Amplify Glyph
- Connect at the top end
- Board 2 (Cult Leader):
- Don’t rotate
- Take Legendary Node
- Use Deadraiser Glyph
- Connect at the right end (board 3) and the top end (board 4)
- Board 3 (Hulking Monstrosity):
- Rotate 3 times
- Take Legendary Node
- Use Golem Glyph
- Connect at the top end
- Board 4 (Bone Graft):
- Rotate 3 times
- Don’t take Legendary Node
- Use Essence Glyph
- Board 5 (Flesh-eater):
- Don’t rotate
- Take Legendary Node
- Use Scourge Glyph
- Connect at the right end
- Board 6 (Scent of Death):
- Rotate once
- Take Legendary Node
- Use Exploit Glyph
- Connect at the right end
- Board 7 (Wither):
- Don’t rotate
- Don’t take Legendary Node
Glyph Leveling Priorities
Level 15 | Level 21 |
---|---|
1. Golem | 1. Golem |
2. Scourge | 2. Essence |
3. Exploit | 3. Territorial |
4. Territorial | 4. Exploit |
5. Essence | 5. Deadraiser |
6. Deadraiser | 6. Scourge |
7. Amplify | 7. Amplify |
- The Golem, Scourge, Exploit, and Territorial Glyphs will only work once they reach Level 15.
Equipment
While this Build doesn’t need any Uniques, you will want these Legendary Aspects:
- Occult Dominion – increases the amount of Skeletal Warriors and Mages you can have.
- Hulking – gives your Golem a chance to reduce its active Cooldown, and a chance to spawn a Corpse when it deals damage.
- Frenzied Dead – gives your Minions a stacking Attack Speed buff when they deal damage.
- Reanimation – increases your Minions’ overall damage.
- Hardened Bones – gives you and your Minions Damage Reduction.
- Blood Getter’s – allows your Skeletal Priests to empower you.
- Blighted – allows the Shadowblight Passive to boost your damage.
- Ultimate Shadow – turns Bone Storm into a Darkness Skill that deals Shadow damage, and inflicts a DoT on enemies when it damages them.
- Shielding Storm – allows Bone Storm to give you a Barrier whenever it deals damage.
- The Void – causes Blight’s defiled area to pull enemies in.
You will want to use a Emerald Gem on your weapon, Ruby Gems on your armor, and Diamond Gems on your jewelry.
Equipment Stat Priorities
Slot | Stat Priorities | Tempering |
---|---|---|
Main Hand | 1. Maximum Life 2. Intelligence 3. Critical Strike Damage 4. Vulnerable Damage | – Minion Attack Speed – Damage to Cursed Enemies |
Off-Hand | 1. Cooldown Reduction 2. Critical Strike Chance 3. Maximum Life 4. Intelligence 5. Damage 6. Lucky Hit Chance | – Minion Attack Speed – Damage to Cursed Enemies |
Helm | 1. Cooldown Reduction 2. Maximum Life 3. Intelligence 4. Resistance to All Elements | – Maximum Life – Decrepify / Corpse Tendrils Size |
Chest Armor | 1. Ranks to Golem Mastery 2. Armor 3. Maximum Life 4. Intelligence 5. Resistance to All Elements | – Maximum Life – Decrepify / Corpse Tendrils Size |
Gloves | 1. Ranks to Skeletal Mage Mastery 2. Critical Strike Chance 3. Attack Speed 4. Intelligence 5. Critical Strike Damage 6. Vulnerable Damage 7. Maximum Life | – Damage to Cursed Enemies – Decrepify / Corpse Tendrils Size |
Pants | 1. Ranks to Skeletal Mage Mastery 2. Armor 3. Maximum Life 4. Intelligence 5. Resistance to All Elements | – Maximum Life – Decrepify / Corpse Tendrils Size |
Boots | 1. Movement Speed 2. Maximum Life 3. Intelligence 4. Resistance to All Elements | – Movement Speed – Crowd Control Duration |
Amulet | 1. Ranks to Hellbent Commander 2. Critical Strike Chance 3. Cooldown Reduction 4. % Intelligence 5. Maximum Life | – Ultimate Cooldown Reduction – Damage to Cursed Enemies |
Rings | 1. Critical Strike Chance 2. Attack Speed 3. Intelligence 4. Critical Strike Damage 5. Vulnerable Damage | – Ultimate Cooldown Reduction – Damage to Cursed Enemies |
Resources
Maxroll
Shadow Minion Necromancer Endgame Guide