Best Diablo 4 Sever Necromancer build in Season 5

Sam Smith
Sever necromancer

The Necromancer is Diablo 4’s very own Grim Reaper and that’s especially true in Season 5 with the Sever build. This is a build that allows the Necromancer to turn into Death himself. Here’s how to assemble the build as well as how effective it is for Leveling, Endgame, and PvP play.

The Sever Necromancer build involves the Necromancer summoning a shadow minion that cleaves its enemies to pieces with a deadly scythe. As the Necromancer is a top-tier class this season, knowing how to craft their best builds is essential.

Below, we’ll detail how to optimize the build for leveling, endgame, and PvP, giving you the best skills, items, Aspects, and Glyphs to target on your journey this season.

diablo 4 necromancer endgame
Necromancer is Diablo 4’s very own Grim Reaper.

Best Sever leveling build in Diablo 4 Season 5

The Sever build is rated as B-tier this season, meaning while it’s not the best, it’s still pretty deadly.

As you level while playing through either the campaign or the new Season 5 content, you’ll want to make sure that you’re selecting your skills in the following order:

LevelSkill
1Bone Splinters
2Enhanced Bone Splinters
3Initiate’s Bone Splinters
4Sever
5Sever
6Sever
7Enhanced Sever
8Paranormal Sever
9Sever
10Sever
11Reap
12Enhanced Reap
13Acolyte’s Reap
14Corpse Explosion
15Corpse Explosion
16Iron Maiden
17Enhanced Iron Maiden
18Enhanced Corpse Explosion
19Blighted Corpse Explosion
20Corpse Explosion
21Corpse Explosion
22Corpse Explosion
23Corpse Tendrils
24Enhanced Corpse Tendrils
25Plagued Corpse Tendrils
26Fueled By Death
27Fueled By Death
28Fueled By Death
29Grim Harvest
30Grim Harvest
31Skeletal Warrior Mastery
32Skeletal Warrior Mastery
33Skeletal Warrior Mastery
34Skeletal Mage Mastery
35Skeletal Mage Mastery
36Skeletal Mage Mastery
37Unliving Energy
38Imperfectly Balanced
39Imperfectly Balanced
40Imperfectly Balanced
41Hewed Flesh
42Hewed Flesh
43Hewed Flesh
44Reaper’s Pursuit
45Shadowblight
46Fueled By Death
47Fueled By Death
48Fueled By Death
49Crippling Darkness
Renown 1Reaper’s Pursuit
Renown 2Amplify Damage
Renown 3Amplify Damage
Renown 4Gloom
Renown 5Gloom
Renown 6Gloom
Renown 7Terror
Renown 8Terror
Renown 9Terror
Renown 10Golem Mastery

These skills will help you craft the ideal Sever Necro build for leveling. Of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Renown points to use the extra ten.

Many of the passive skills above will boost your Corpse and Shadow skills (like Sever) and make them as powerful as possible. As every build needs active skills, we’ve provided a variety that complements the Sever build in combat.

We’ve also ensured that your passive Minion skills have been boosted while ignoring Bone and Blood skills in this build, however, this will change when we respec for the endgame version of this build.

Best Book of the Dead setup for leveling

When it comes to using the Necromancer’s unique Book of the Dead skills, we recommend selecting the following:

  • Skeletal Warriors – Reapers
  • Skeletal Mages – Cold
  • Golems – Blood

This Book of the Dead setup is the best for this build, letting your Reaper Skeletal Warriors focus on melee combat while you and your Mages support them from a distance with Cold Magic.

This will slow enemies down while your Skeletons, Golem, and yourself strike at them while they’re vulnerable. While your minions engage the enemies, cast your spells, then batter them with Sever from a distance.

Best leveling rotation

  • Summon Minions
  • Iron Maiden
  • Corpse Tendrils
  • Sever
  • Corpse Explosion
  • Reap

You’ll likely already have your minions active when a battle begins, if not summon them. Then, strike a mob with Iron Maiden so that they’re likely to take more damage when the battle starts.

Next, cast Plagued Corpse Tendrils to stun enemies and increase the likelihood of producing extra corpses to re-supply your minion army. From here, hit them with your main attack, using Sever to do damage from a distance once your minions engage the mob.

Plauged Corpse Tendrils, Iron Maiden, and Sever will work well together, trapping enemies in a deadly kill box that only becomes more lethal when you start casting Corpse Explosion. This will finish off stragglers in no time. Should an enemy get too close to you slice them with Reap.

Of course, whichever rotation works for you will be the best to use, but the above is a logical, tried, and tested method to combine skills into one powerful set of attacks.

Best Legendary Aspects

While Legendary Aspects will become more useful in the endgame version of the Sever Necro build, there are some you can hunt down while progressing to level 50 or while playing through the story. Here’s where you can find them:

AspectPowerDungeonRegion
BlightedIncreased Shadow Blight damageAkkhan’s Grasp (complete A Debt Repaid quest)Hawezar
UmbralRestores Primary Resource when you crowd-control an enemyChampion’s Demise (Complete the Temple of Rot Stronghold first)Dry Steppes
DamnedIncreased Shadow DamageUldur’s CaveKehjistan

There will be more Aspects to hunt down in the endgame build.

sever necromancer
The Sever skill summons a skeleton who swings a scythe around, cutting down enemies.

Best Sever Necro endgame build in Diablo 4 Season 5

Once you reach endgame in Season 5 by beating the story, hitting level 50, and unlocking the Paragon Board, you can then respec to the endgame version of the Sever Necro build.

However on this occasion, there are some significant changes from the leveling build. While the core skills remain similar, we now add Bone Storm to our arsenal – and say goodbye to minions.

Note the endgame Sever build is rated as C-tier in the meta. So, if you prefer to create a hybrid build you can always keep your minions – just know that this isn’t the true Sever endgame set-up.

Active SkillUpgradesPoints allocated
ReapEnhanced1
SeverEnhanced, Paranormal5
Corpse Explosion Enhanced, Blighted1
Iron MaidenEnhanced1
Corpse TendrilsEnhanced, Plagued1
Bone StormEnhanced, Supreme1

Here’s which passive skills you’ll need for the endgame build:

Passive SkillPoints
Unliving Energy1
Hewed Flesh3
Imperfectly Balanced3
Grim Harvest1
Fueled by Death3
Amplify Damage3
Death’s Embrace3
Crippling Darkness1
Gloom3
Reaper’s Pursuit3
Terror3
Necrotic Carapace2
Memento Mori3
Stand Alone3
Shadowblight1

This version of the build still primarily focuses on Shadow skills, but you’ll also notice that minion skills have been replaced by passives that favour a solo, minionless, Necromancer.

Best endgame Book of the Dead setup

In our endgame version of this build we’re going to Sacrifice our minions to strengthen ourselves, turning our Necromancer into a deadly solo warrior who’s Sever skill is even more powerful than before.

  • Skeletal Warriors – Sacrifice
  • Skeletal Mages – Sacrifice
  • Golems – Sacrifice

Of course, you can choose to keep your minions, just know you’ll be less powerful when fighting solo without the buff Sacrifcing them gives you. If you do choose to do this, consider changing some of your passives, like Memento Mori and Stand Alone to minion mastery skills.

Best endgame rotation

For endgame, use the following skill rotation when approaching mobs in battle:

  • Iron Maiden
  • Corpse Tendrils
  • Bone Storm
  • Sever
  • Corpse Explosion
  • Reap

Once again, the aim here is to trap enemies in a box while Iron Maiden, and Corpse Tendrils do their work. However, this timne we won’t have minions to fall back on, so we’ll use Bone Storm instead.

Now, hit the mob with Sever and when the bodies start to drop, use Corpse Explosion to massacre the survivors. Should anyone get to close to you, use Reap to show them that you’re death personified.

Best Legendary Aspects

Now that you’ve reached endgame, you’ll have access to many more Legendary Aspects to boost your build and add special powers to buff your primary skills. Some are the same as in the leveling build, but now there’s even more. Here’s where and how you can find them:

AspectPowerDungeonRegionGamble Obols
BlightedIncreased Shadowblight damage damageAkkan’s GraspHawezar
DamnedIncreased Shadow damageUldur’s CaveKehjistan
UmbralBoosts resource regeneration Champion’s DemiseDry Steppes
Grasping VeinsBoosts critical when casting Corpse TendrilsBroken BulwarkScosglen
Disobedience Boosts defense based on your damage outputHalls of the DamnedKehjistan
Shared MiseryBoosts crowd control damageOblivionHawezar
SacrificialBoosts Sacrifice bonusesRuins of EriduHawezar
HulkingBoosts Golem cooldownSepulcher of the ForswordKehjistan
Metamorphosis Inflicts Vampiric Curse on enemiesBoots
Hardened BonesYou and your minions get damage boostPants
Shielding StormBone Storm has a chance to cast BarrierPants
Cursed AuraDecreptify added to Iron MaidenBoots
Great FeastMinions damage increasedFocus
AcceleratingCritical Strikes increase attack speedFocus
Concussive StrikesCritical Strikes have a chance to cast DazeBoots
Exposed FleshVaulrable enemies boost Essence regeneration Rings

Remember, you can also strip these Aspects from their original item and apply them to an item of your choosing.

Paragon Board

Paragon Board
The Paragon Board replaces skills at level 50.

Once you reach level 50 you’ll stop earning skills points and start earning Paragon points instead. This leveling system works very differently and involves you selecting updates from various boards with different themes and buffs.

Every path is different, but the good news is that by targeting different Glyphs as you move around the Paragon Board, you’ll start buffing your Sever Necro in the ways that matter most to the build.

See below to see which Glyphs you should target first.

Best Glyphs

Level 15

  • ‍Abyssal
  • ‍Gravekeeper
  • ‍Essence
  • ‍Control
  • ‍Exploit
  • ‍Sacrificial
  • ‍Amplify

Level 21

  • Essence
  • ‍Control
  • ‍Exploit
  • ‍Gravekeeper
  • ‍Amplify
  • ‍Sacrificial
  • ‍Abyssal

Once you reach Paragon Level 15, work your way towards the above Glyphs. You’ll also unlock more across the Paragon Board as you earn more points, but selecting these particular Glyphs in this order will keep you on the best possible path for the Sever Necro build.

Best Sever Necro endgame item build

Item SocketItem typePower
Ruinic Runic Skullcap of Disobedience Ruby for extra lifeHelmBoosts Minion damage
Runic Mail of Shared Misery Ruby for extra lifeChest ArmorIncreased Armor
Sacrifical Runic Gloves Ruby for extra lifeGlovesIncreased damage
Ghoul AnvilRuby for extra lifePantsIncreased crowd control damage
Wind Striker Runic CleatsRuby for extra lifeBootsIncreased Unstoppable chance
‍Parashu of the Damned2x Amethysts for increased damageMain HandIncreased Shadow damage
Offhand
Chain of Grasping VeinsDiamond for extra attack powerAmuletIncreased Shadowblight damage
Blighted BandDiamond for extra attack powerRing 1Increased crowd control damage
Band of the UmbralDiamond for extra attack powerRing 2Increased core skill damage

Sever Necromancer build for PvP

The Sever Necro isn’t recommended for PvP, and while it’s fantastic in PvE, we’d recommend using the Bone Spirit or Bone Spear build instead, sacrificing your minions and turning your Necromancer into a one-person army in some cases.

If you’re set on taking this build into battle against other players, though, we’d suggest sticking to our endgame version for the best results. Minions will only be a hindrence in PvP, you’ll be much better off using the Sacrifice option if you use the Sever build.

Now that you know how to craft this top-tier Necromancer build this season, make sure to check out our guides for the Druid, Sorcerer, Rogue, and Barbarian.