Necromancer - From Massed Undead to Front-Line Brawler

What It Does Well

Officially described as mostly hailing from the Order of Death's Vigil and Uroboruuk's training, making heavy use of skeletal minions and sapping vitality from foes - though entering the fray themselves with martial weapons is not unheard of.

• ▸Pets: pet-bonus pets occupy much of the tree, up to three kinds and close to ten at once, with buffs to scale them - specialized, it carries a single mastery deep into the higher difficulties.
• ▸Caster: builds around the mid-range channeling skill that gains a small area, or the multi-hit placed skills.
• ▸Melee: high-multiplier weapon-damage skills and weapon pool skills, backed by strong Physique growth, health buffs, and varied attack-damage-to-health.
• ▸Devotion: several skills generate multiple attack instances over a few seconds from one cast, which suits on-hit procs.
• ▸Defense: a low-tier permanent buff raises maximum health substantially, and it has a rare percentage damage absorption skill, albeit time-limited.
• ▸Debuffs: two sources of the enemy total damage reduction that matters at high difficulty - a placed skill and a spreading debuff.
• ▸Attribute growth: Physique 3.5 / Cunning 1 / Spirit 3.

Strengths and Weaknesses

• ▸Strength: high pack-clearing throughput from deep area damage, and strong endurance from attack-damage-to-health skills.
• ▸Strength: an unusually versatile tree that can lean pet, caster, or melee.
• ▸Strength: an automatic counter-triggered resistance reduction skill with a short cooldown, an area effect, and damage attached.
• ▸Weakness: no skill that raises health regeneration or heals instantly.
• ▸Weakness: the worst Cunning growth of any mastery.
• ▸Weakness: vitality, from the exclusive skill, is the only resistance the mastery itself supplies.
• ▸Weakness: it cannot heal its pets, so unlike Occultist's they are somewhat disposable.
• ▸Rules note: taking Necromancer removes the option to side with the Kymon's Chosen in the Act 3 quest Allies Among the Ashes.

Choosing a Partner and Getting Started

• ▸Occultist: brings pet healing and debuffs, covering Necromancer's main practical weakness - fragile pets.
• ▸Shaman: layers area healing and pet scaling for a more complete pet build, and overlaps on vitality and bleed.
• ▸Soldier: adds weapon attacks and durability, letting Necromancer's high-multiplier weapon skills and ADCtH commit to the front line.
• ▸Decide early between a pet build and a personal-damage build - see the Pet and Player Bonuses article for how pet scaling works.
• ▸For what Ashes of Malmouth adds and whether you have it, see the DLC Guide.

1. Official Grim Dawn Game Guide: Masteries — Confirms Necromancer's heavy use of skeletal minions and vitality draining, that entering melee with martial weapons is not unheard of, and that the Ashes of Malmouth expansion is required.
2. Grim Dawn Japanese Wiki: Necromancer — Confirms the AoM origin; vitality and aether as primaries with physical, cold, and acid synergies; up to three kinds and nearly ten pets at once, with specialization carrying a single mastery deep into higher difficulties; the absence of pet healing unlike Occultist; the high-multiplier weapon-damage skills, weapon pool skills, and varied ADCtH; the several skills producing multiple attack instances over seconds; the time-limited percentage damage absorption and two sources of enemy total damage reduction; and the listed strengths and weaknesses (worst Cunning growth, vitality as the only mastery-supplied resistance, and the loss of the Kymon's Chosen option in Allies Among the Ashes).
3. Grim Dawn Japanese Wiki: Masteries index — Confirms the attribute growth (Physique 3.5 / Cunning 1 / Spirit 3), favored damage types (1. vitality, 2. aether, 3. acid and cold, 4. physical/pierce/bleed), and the dark-magic, mass-undead positioning.
4. Official Crate Forum: Grim Dawn Version v1.3.0.4 + Hotfixes — Official patch notes for the verified version.