The Season 4 of Diablo 4 will arrive in just under a couple of weeks. While we've been aware of many major changes coming to the game for some time, the stream promised some significant reveals. It was expected to unveil the season theme, which was previously unknown, as well as any adjustments based on player feedback from the PTR.

Season 4 Overview

First, let's delve into the seasonal theme. The Blizzard have a general theme centered on fire and the forge, which is anticipated to be the primary topic of discussion until the season officially launches. 

The upcoming season is titled Loot Reborn, a name that may seem somewhat straightforward but also marks a departure from previous season themes. Unlike past seasons, which typically revolved around specific themes, this season's focus is on the changes made to the game itself.

While there are some season-exclusive elements, there are no distinct season-specific powers, which may disappoint some players. Essentially, the season is built upon the revamped loot system and extensive alterations to Helltide, serving as the foundation for the season's content, despite the Helltide also being an internal realm feature.

Helltide Changes

Before moving on to the seasonal bit specifically, we should also talk about changes made to the Helltide since the PTR, which are essentially just changes to drop rates in various ways. The Infernal Loot will drop far more, Pain Warthful Hearts will drop more and more consistently.

Blood Maidens, the big altar bosses, now just drop far more loot, including summoning materials for Lord Zir and a percentage chance at summon materials for various different endgame bosses too. One final relatively notable change: Helltide chests now take half of the channel time to open, 1 and a half seconds down from 3.

Seasonal Events

The seasonal part that won’t be returning in the future, will be the Iron Wolves reputation system and extra events based around the Iron Wolves in Helltide and the new Call of the Wolves seasonal event that all that is contained within because it’s essentially just a name for the questline and reputation system. So essentially, we’re just taking the stuff that they changed as a permanent feature for Diablo 4 and making it the seasonal mechanic.

Then there is also a new consumable called the Profane Mindcage. This raises the level of monsters in the Helltide for its full duration by 10 and also raises the cinder drop rate during this effect, as well as increasing your threat meter gain too.

Uber Uniques

Then we have some Boss Ladder specific changes, most notably that all Uber bosses now have a decent chance of dropping Diablo 4 Items that are Uber Uniques. It was related to us as being slightly lower than Duriel and the Andariel, but that means all the Uber bosses now have a proper chance for Uber Uniques to drop from them as well. The tormented bosses, which is the secondary super high-end tier of the Boss Ladder, now cost 3 times the summoning materials instead of the 5 times that were originally tested in the PTR.

There have been significant adjustments to both Nightmare Dungeons and the Pit of Artificers. They now yield varying amounts of Murmuring Obols at higher tiers, a crucial development considering the alterations made to the gambling vendor in towns. This vendor will now consistently provide 925 item power items if you're at Level 100, a substantial enhancement.

Final Thought

One of the most notable changes from the PTR to the current version of the game, unrelated to player feedback, aims to refine the balancing of deeper and more challenging endgame content. Armor effectiveness offering 85% damage reduction against Level 100 enemies from Diablo 4 Season 4 onwards.

As well as that, just a number of changes to make performance a bit smoother on some of the results of the new systems to while also increasing power in return where necessary to sort of just even it out. We will see more of when we get the full picture on season release, but the season journey has been adjusted to sort of give each class a full strong build by Level 100.

Get ready for a complete guide to the Necromancer build centered entirely on minions for Season 4 of Diablo 4. It's designed to tackle high-endgame challenges, such as the Level 100 Pit featuring formidable bosses. In addition, I've perfected and optimized the gear, integrating a range of special items. Let's get started!

Gear & Aspects

Now, I'm going to take you through all the aspects for us to use and some general things to look for in your gear for this minion Necromancer build. Be prepared by stocking up on some Diablo 4 Gold ahead of time.

Helm: We have the Blood Getter's Aspect. For tempering, you can have an increase in size for Decrepify or Corpse Tendrils, which are the 2 skills you're using. For the other Tempering, I have total armor to help me reach the armor cap.

Chest: We have the Aspect of Hardened Bones, which can give you and your minions 25% damage reduction. Once again, go for an increase in size for Decrepify or Corpse Tendrils for the Tempering.

Gloves: We have the Aspect of Frenzied Dead for the increased attack speed, up to 45%, which is key to this build as you want good attack speed for our minions. For Tempering, go for a damage source from minions and then increase the size of either Corpse Tendrils or Decrepify.

Pants: We have the unique Temerity on to help with the barriers with the interaction with the Blood Getter's Aspect, as discussed earlier.

Boots: We have the Aspect of Occult Dominion for the increased minions you get. Then just make sure you have a movement speed buff from the Tempering and ideally another size increase from one skill you're using.

Weapon: We use the Unyielding Commanders aspect for the increased minion damage when it's paired with the Army of the Dead. For Tempering, I would suggest an attack speed buff and then one of the minion damage increases, as discussed earlier.

Amulet: I recommend using the Ebonpiercer to help with the damage reduction.

Rings: For the first ring, we have the Ring of Mendeln. This is going to help in a few ways: one with a bit of extra damage, but it also has a good buff to Minion Attack Speed and Max Minion Life, which is a bit harder to get.

For the second ring, we have the Aspect of Grasping Veins on it to help by increasing critical strike chance and critical strike damage to enemies affected by Corpse Tendrils, which with the size increase, will basically be everyone.

Finally, I have the Focus on for the cooldown reduction, and I have the Aspect of Reanimation on for the increased minion damage of up to 40%. For the Tempering, I took an attack speed buff and summoning damage, which will affect all my minions.

Minion Skill Setup

In terms of skills, one slot will be taken up by your Raise Skeleton, and another by your Golem skill. Although you need to summon your minions with these, you also need to actively use them in battle. The Raise Skeleton skill serves 2 purposes:

• Trigger the Fueled by Death passive, buffing yours and your minions' damage.
• For an extra damage buff and, more importantly, for healing purposes.

The healing is facilitated by the Blood-Soaked Aspect, which empowers you with 70% effectiveness, meaning you receive the damage and healing buff from the summoned Skeleton Priest. For additional healing, we pair this with the unique pants, Temerity, which grants a barrier when healed beyond 100% life, boosting survivability significantly.

Golem Skill

For the Golem, you'll use the active skill for extra damage and to direct your Golem. It can also make you unstoppable to escape CC. Corpse Tendrils buffs by applying vulnerability and critical strike chance, complemented by the Aspect of Grasping Veins to group enemies and stun them in place, especially effective when paired with tempering effects to increase the skill size.

Ultimate Skill Setup

As for the ultimate skill, we utilize Army of the Dead to boost minion power, pairing it with the Unyielding Commander's Aspect to increase minion damage by 100%. We also use the Decrepify for enemy slow and damage reduction, with a chance to stun enemies and reduce cooldowns.

The Blight provides a bonus of 20% damage when enemies are within its area, complemented by the Ebonpiercer amulet for damage reduction and applying Shadow damage over time.

Book Of The Dead

For the Book of the Dead, we choose the Reapers to generate corpses and Shadow Mages for increased damage. The Golem is equipped with the Blood Golem for damage absorption.

Paragon Board

Now, for the paragon board, I'm not going to go through it fully, but I will quickly list the boards and glyphs I'm using. I recommend having the following 6: a starter board, Cult Leader, Scent of Death, Hulking Monstrosity, Wither, and Flesh-Eater. In terms of glyphs, you can use Warrior, Deadraiser, Golem, Mage, Darkness, and Control.