Necromancer build routes
Raise Skeleton is a legal summoning opening; Teeth is the bone opening. Corpse Explosion is a separate level-6 skill, while Poison Nova needs a complete two-chest poison evolution chain.
Opening and progression
- Choose Raise Skeleton for a fresh summon route, then add Skeleton Mastery for its damage/life support and eventual Revive at 30. Add Amplify Damage when offered for physical support.
- Learn Corpse Explosion from character level 6 in a separate slot. It consumes fresh corpses and deals half physical, half fire damage; keep another damage source for the first kill and for moments without usable corpses.
- For bone, start with Teeth, max its learned ranks, and hold Bone Wall from 12. A chest from 18 gives Bone Spear; Bone Armor then enables Bone Spirit from 30.
- For poison, learn Poison Dagger from 6, max it and hold Faster Cast Rate for Poison Explosion from 18. Lower Resist unlocks at 30 and enables Poison Nova in a later chest; Nova is not an opening card.
Evolution prerequisite table
Each row also requires the listed base to be learned to its maximum and a chest after all requirements are met. A target’s unlock level alone does not guarantee that its base can already be maxed.
| Skill to max | Catalyst to hold | Evolution | Earliest character level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teeth 8 (1) | Bone Wall (12) | Bone Spear | 18 |
| Bone Spear 1 | Bone Armor (1) | Bone Spirit | 30 |
| Poison Dagger 8 (6) | Faster Cast Rate (1) | Poison Explosion | 18 |
| Poison Explosion 1 | Lower Resist (30) | Poison Nova | 30 |
| Raise Skeleton 8 (1) | Skeleton Mastery (1) | Revive | 30 |
| Amplify Damage 8 (1) | Faster Run/Walk (1) | Decrepify | 24 |
Alternatives and Hell / Terror boundaries
Skeletons and skeletal mages can rise from the ground when no corpse is available. Revive and Corpse Explosion instead consume fresh corpses and compete for them. Avoid Slain Monsters Rest in Peace gear if your plan depends on those corpses.
Amplify Damage and Decrepify replace each other on a monster; do not count their effects as stacked. Other different curses can coexist, subject to the movement-curse priority Terror > Dim Vision > Attract > Confuse. Bosses ignore Terror, Dim Vision and Confuse.
If corpses are scarce, keep bone or another independent damage source active instead of treating Corpse Explosion as a self-starting skill. Summons skip monsters immune to their damage and bosses push through them. Your summons’ kills do not trigger your item effects on a kill.
Official skill pages publish base damage and recharge values: Teeth goes from 4 teeth at 14 damage each and 1.36 seconds at rank 1 to 21 at 25 each and 0.59 seconds at rank 8, before Faster Cast Rate and other modifiers. Projectile hits, resistances and synergies prevent treating that as final combat DPS.
Slot and survival budget
Normal has 6 skill slots and 6 passive slots; Nightmare has 8 of each and Hell 10 of each. Continuing past Baal adds 2 of each. An evolution replaces its base in the same slot. Do not plan all alternatives below as simultaneous picks.
Nightmare applies a -40 resistance penalty and Hell -100. Review the character sheet before advancing. No fixed gear list, clear time, Terror floor or final DPS is established by these routes.
How to use these routes
These are editorial routes assembled from the official skill rules, not tested endgame loadouts. The mechanics below have one publisher: the official D2 Survivors wiki. Its class, skill-systems and numbers pages are not independent sources.
Max an ordinary base skill at 8 learned ranks, hold its catalyst and meet both level requirements, then open a chest. An evolution arrives at its maximum of 1 rank; its next step needs another catalyst and another chest, not eight more ranks. Item +skills do not substitute for learned ranks. Each chest evolves one ready skill.
The tables give the earliest rule-based character level, including the base rank cap and catalyst unlock where relevant; card availability can delay it. A skill cannot exceed character level minus its unlock level plus one. Keep a passive slot for your catalyst and avoid banishing it. These opening instructions apply when choosing a fresh level-1 build; check your existing banked hero before changing a later-difficulty plan.
Questions and answers
Can I take Poison Nova immediately?
No. Max Poison Dagger plus Faster Cast Rate gives Poison Explosion from level 18; hold Lower Resist and reach level 30 for the Poison Nova chest.
Are these tested endgame builds?
No. These are actionable progression routes derived from one official publisher’s mechanics. They specify prerequisites and alternatives, without a verified final gear set, clear time or Terror floor.
Sources checked 2026-10-29
Source scope: the official site, FAQ, wiki and changelog share one publisher. Build IDs, installer sizes and detailed mechanics are single-source official claims unless a separate independent reference is identified. Several official links do not count as independent confirmation.
- Necromancer skill levels and evolutions — Official single publisher; checked against build 20261028.2. (checked 2026-10-29)
- Evolution and learned-rank rules — Official single publisher; checked against build 20261028.2. (checked 2026-10-29)
- Slots, resistance penalties and cooldown caps — Official single publisher; checked against build 20261028.2. (checked 2026-10-29)
- Damage and immunity rules — Official single publisher; checked against build 20261028.2. (checked 2026-10-29)
- Teeth base values and synergies — Official single publisher; checked against build 20261028.2. (checked 2026-10-29)