Diablo 4's Necromancer class passes the only test a game with a Necromancer class must pass – whether or not you can command a deadly army of skeletons. Minions in Diablo 4 are weaker than the free spider pet everyone gets as part of Season 3. They're so bad that you can learn any minion-based skill and use them to do more damage Don't even summon them.
That could change The mid-season patch for Diablo 4 Next Tuesday. The damage and health of all Necromancer Skeletons will be increased, and complementary skills such as Corpse Blast will also be improved. Blizzard said in a stream yesterday that these changes will be the first step toward major reworks for minions in Season 4.
Season 3 highlighted the issues with Necromancers compared to the other four classes, and the new patch notes seem aimed at addressing these head-on. In addition to lacking good minions, necromancers had no way to increase their movement speed – which has become mandatory for successfully completing dungeons – without equipment.
This won't be as much of an issue next week, when her passive skill Approaching Death (formerly Approaching Death) will be buffed to give you up to 12% more movement speed before equipment adds even more.
The patch notes contain so many improvements that it will probably take players a few days to understand them. But the most notable findings for me are:
- Minions will finally do more damage and survive longer
- Corpse Explosion's increased damage helps it fit into more builds
- Spiked Armor's new armor bonus allows you to equip more attack gear
- Increased passive survivability skills make defensive skills less important
- Blight and Sever's buffs loosen the grip that Bone Spear had on powerful mid- to long-range builds
I haven't done the math yet – although I'm sure someone will – but multiple Necromancer builds should have better damage and smoother rotations, as well as a better selection of good skills. While Barbarians and Rogues continue to dominate the game in terms of speed, Necromancers won't be far behind.
The glove will be the true test. It releases on the same day as the patch and offers endgame players a fixed weekly dungeon with a points system and leaderboards. However, Blizzard designed it to be accessible to even casual players, rewarding you with legendary item caches every week if you beat the set times, regardless of your rank. It would be wishful thinking to assume that Necromancers will have the best results, but the gap between them and the other classes could be smaller than you think with the help of the patch.
