Diablo 4 Season 9 Necromancer Build Tier List (Leveling & Pit Endgame)

With Season 9 arriving in Diablo 4, Necromancer players are seeing a new landscape shaped by changes introduced in the PTR patch. These adjustments rework Overpower mechanics, alter item interactions, and rebalance several key passives and legendary aspects. This Diablo 4 Season 9 Necromancer Tier List presents a full overview of Necro builds for both leveling and endgame pit pushing, using direct findings from the Season 9 patch and PTR testing.

Diablo 4 Season 9 Necromancer Changes

Season 9 introduces dramatic shifts for Necromancers. The most impactful change is the overhaul of Overpower mechanics. Previously, builds could scale Overpower damage by stacking maximum life, granting them tremendous free additive damage. This is no longer the case, as Overpower now functions more like a critical strike, offering a flat multiplier without additive bonuses from max life. This affects all builds that relied on Overpower, particularly Blood builds like Blood Surge and Blood Lance.

At the same time, several previously underwhelming builds have received direct and indirect buffs. Shadowblight, once seen as a weak keystone, now has increased scaling, jumping from 300% to 450%, and its aspect, Blighted, has also been strengthened. Affliction, another passive that previously offered minimal value, now provides a much higher damage multiplier, raising the potential of builds like Blight and Sever.

Minion builds, long considered clunky and inconsistent, benefit from key bug fixes and enhancements. The Hand of Na’s gloves now properly scale with Skeletal Mage Mastery and offer more consistent procs. Mages themselves are more responsive and resistant to crowd control, making them a strong contender this season.

The meta has opened up. While some familiar builds remain strong, others have fallen significantly. Let’s look at the full tier list.

Diablo 4 Season 9 Necromancer Build Tier List

This tier list ranks each Necromancer build for both Leveling and Pit Endgame performance:

1. Shadow Blight Crit Build (S Tier)

• Pit: 105+

• Leveling: Strong

This version of Shadow Blight is now leading the charge. Shadow Blight’s cap was increased from 300% to 450%, and its scaling is easier to reach due to the buff from 20% to 70%. Blighted aspect was also increased from 25% to 35%. These updates result in over twice the damage output compared to PTR values. The build relies on spamming blighted corpse explosions and casting Ebon Piercer to trigger Shadow Blight procs. With eight triggers needed within a 6-second window, the build benefits from high cast frequency and critical strike chance to maximize its damage.

2. Overpower Bloodwave

• Pit: 104–105+

• Leveling: Strong

Despite changes to Overpower, this build remains a powerhouse. Bloodwave can still clear Pit 103–105. With lucky hit effects and a point in Transfusion, it’s still possible to maintain strong blood orb generation. The build has been tested in the PTR, where it cleared Pit 101 without using any powers.

3. DoT Bloodwave

• Pit: 100+

• Leveling: Moderate

This version focuses on damage over time rather than burst. It performed well during PTR testing, and players have already cleared Pit 100 with it. It uses aspects that boost DOT scaling and proves to be highly effective in sustained encounters.

4. Skeletal Mage Summoner (Hand of Nause)

• Pit: 102+

• Leveling: Moderate

Skeletal mage builds finally see proper functionality. The gloves now correctly scale with mastery ranks, doubling the damage multiplier from 200% to 400%. Mage minions also gain unstoppable after teleporting, which improves their uptime and consistency. They no longer run from enemies due to crowd control effects, leading to higher DPS. With these fixes, the build is now expected to reach Pit 102 and possibly higher.

5. Bone Spirit (Shadow Version)

• Pit: 100+

• Leveling: Strong

Thanks to buffs to Ossified Essence and the new Aspect of Spell and Curse, Bone Spirit now scales with shadow damage. This makes it a viable alternative to overpower builds. The build also benefits from the change where Ossified Essence now outperforms Wrathmas, even if Overpower is used 100% of the time. This build provides fast, immediate damage without setup. It clears entire rooms quickly and has a satisfying playstyle, making it ideal for nightmare dungeons and escalation content.

6. Shadow Blight Ebon Piercer

• Pit: ~100

• Leveling: Moderate

This build benefits from the same buffs as the crit version, but lacks the burst potential. It’s more relaxed to play and very consistent, relying on spamming Blight and using Ebon Piercer to stack Shadow Blight procs. The DoT Ebon Piercer build is fire-and-forget, you move through zones, cast it once or twice, and enemies melt from DOT effects, that's great for speed  leveling and farming!

7. Sever Necro

• Pit: ~95

• Leveling: Strong

Sever’s performance is tied to its base damage. While Affliction’s buff from 15% to 45% improves its output, the build lacks synergy with other keystones, limiting its scaling. Instant impact and good base damage allow Sever to outperform other mid-tier builds in speed content.

8. Blood Spear Necro

• Pit: ~90–92

• Leveling: Weak

Once a top-tier option, Blood Spear has been heavily nerfed. The Bone Duster aspect now only causes the first cast to overpower, rather than all casts within Bone Prison. This results in much lower damage and less healing, making the build clunkier and less fluid.

10. Bone Spirit (One-Handed Variant)

• Pit: ~95

• Leveling: Moderate

This version shows potential with new shadow aspects, but is still outclassed by higher-tier builds. It may outperform Blood Spear but lacks standout performance.

11. Golem Necromancer

• Pit: ~90

• Leveling: Weak

The Golem build received buffs through the new Paragon node, which grants 35% bonus damage per sacrificed minion. However, there's confusion around how this interacts with Kalan's Edict, which also depends on minion deaths. There’s uncertainty about how to consistently trigger the bonus without conflicting mechanics, leaving this build in a weird spot.

12. Affliction-Based Builds

• Pit: ~85

• Leveling: Weak

Even after the increase in damage from Affliction, these builds still struggle. Their base damage is too low, and they lack good passive synergy.

13. Plagued/Blighted Corpse Explosion

• Pit: ~80

• Leveling: Weak

These builds lack scaling. Corpse explosion doesn’t benefit from strong multipliers or passives, and the key passive options don’t offer enough to make up for it.

14. Snapshot Army of the Dead

• Pit: ~75

• Leveling: Weak

Snapshotting mechanics no longer function properly, leaving this build without a core identity.

15. Blood Lance

• Pit: <70

• Leveling: Very Weak

Previously reliant on Overpower, Blood Lance has now lost its main source of damage. With no alternative scaling options, it now performs at the bottom.

16. Blood Surge

• Pit: <70

• Leveling: Very Weak

This build also suffers from the Overpower rework. It used to gain 15,000 additive damage from high max life, but now that bonus is gone. It's guaranteed fifth cast no longer delivers the punch it once did.