Necromancer fans in Diablo 4 Season 8: Season of the Belial might be mourning the fall of Blood Wave, but there's still plenty of undeath-fueled power to take advantage of. With Season 8 introducing new Uniques like Sanguivor, Blade of Zir, and shifting the meta toward boss-focused gameplay and survivability, leveling a Necro remains very viable, especially with the right build and Diablo 4 Items.

Here are the two best Necromancer leveling builds to consider in Diablo 4 Season 8.

1. Minion Necromancer- Safe, Scalable, and Strong

Playstyle: Minion-focused Necromancers lean on a passive but deadly army of undead to do most of the work. This is one of the safest builds in the game, allowing you to focus on positioning and resource generation.

Why it works in Season 8:

·To buy Diablo IV Items, Sanguivor, and Blade of Zir, empower minions with bonus damage and skill ranks.

·Ring of Mendeln (if found) can turn your Skeletal Mages into elite-shredding machines.

·Corpse Explosion complements minions perfectly and benefits from density-heavy leveling.

Core Skills:

·Raise Skeleton (Warriors or Mages, depending on preference)

·Corpse Explosion (main AoE)

·Blight (to help spread debuffs and apply Vulnerable)

·Decrepify or Iron Maiden (whichever curse suits your build better)

·Skeletal Priest passive (via Skeletal Mages skill upgrades)

·Golem (optional but very useful early survivability)

Key Passives and Upgrades:

·Inspiring Leader (for buffs when minions are healthy)

·Hellbent Commander (increased minion damage)

·Death's Defense (minion survivability)

·Fueled by Death (synergy with Corpse skills)

Leveling Strategy:

·Start by summoning a full army ASAP.

·Use Corpse Explosion and Blight to clear groups.

·Let your minions tank and chip down elites.

·If you find Ring of the Sacrilegious Soul, you'll get passive casts of Raise Skeleton and Corpse Explosion- this trivializes a lot of grind.

Pros:

·Great survivability

·Excellent for new players

·Scales well with gear

Cons:

·Slightly slower boss clear times than Bone Spear

·Relies on gear for minion scaling

2. Bone Spear Necromancer- The Elite Slayer

Playstyle: This build is designed to burst down Elites and bosses with powerful Bone Spear shots, supported by a wave of minions and corpse detonation.

Why it works in Season 8:

·Spectral Ash from Tormented Bosses makes targeted power scaling more important. Bone Spear is perfect for this.

·It synergizes well with Vulnerable and Crit scaling, allowing for smooth scaling into higher World Tiers.

·Great balance between AoE (via Corpse Explosion) and elite damage.

Core Skills:

·Bone Spear (your primary damage dealer)

·Corpse Explosion (secondary AoE)

·Bone Splinters or Reap (basic generator)

·Decrepify (for CC and Vulnerable application)

·Corpse Tendrils (group enemies and apply Vulnerable)

·Golem (optional tank)

Key Passives and Upgrades:

·Serration (crit scaling)

·Death's Embrace (boost close-range Bone Spear)

·Grim Harvest (generate Essence from corpses)

·Splintering Aspect (Bone Spear hits enemies behind the first target)

Leveling Strategy:

·Use Bone Spear to burst down champions and elites.

·Rely on Corpse Explosion and Corpse Tendrils to handle density.

·Pick up defensive passives and Fortify generators as needed.

Pros:

·One of the highest single-target damage skills

·Smooth boss killing

·Easy to scale with Vulnerable & Crit gear

Cons:

·Slightly higher Essence management demand

·Needs positioning discipline for Bone Spear effectiveness

Honorable Mention: Hybrid Minion + Bone Spear

If you're torn between the safety of minions and the punch of Bone Spear, you can run both- use minions as meat shields while you snipe from range with Bone Spear. It's slower than fully committing to one side, but it gives you great flexibility while leveling.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, both of these builds are highly effective for Season 8 leveling and can carry you into World Tier 3 and 4 with minimal respecs. If you enjoy an army of the dead wiping the floor for you, go Minions. If you love blasting through elites and big baddies, Bone Spear is your weapon of choice.