The Necromancer in Diablo Immortal is incredibly strong for solo farming when built around minions. I say this from hours of testing and runs across dozens of routes — you can clear long farming sessions with little downtime if you set things up correctly. Below I describe a practical, gear-first Summon Army approach that I use and tweak constantly; these are the reasons behind each choice so you can adapt it to your playstyle.
💀 Why Summon Army Works
Summon Army focuses on overwhelming enemies with minions so you stay at range and manage resources. In my experience the payoff is twofold: sustained safety and reliable loot/hour. Your skeletons soak hits, your mages deal AoE, and you handle priorities—simple, effective, repeatable.
Surprisingly, this build scales better with moderate gear than many flashy burst builds. You don’t need perfect rolls to be useful. That said, there are exceptions (depends on your niche and the content difficulty).
Core idea
Let minions fight while you control corpses, place curses, and pick targets. Why? Because minions multiply effective damage per slot and free you to optimize routes and inventory. Honestly, when I’m farming I want steady returns, not a tight mechanical loop.
⚔️ Skills I Use — and why
| Slot | Skill | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | Soulfire | Resource sustain & basic DPS |
| Skill 1 | Skeletal Mage | Main AoE — towers of consistent damage |
| Skill 2 | Command Skeletons | Tanking, corpse generation |
| Skill 3 | Bone Spear | Direct damage, filler |
| Skill 4 | Corpse Lance | Priority-target burst |
| Ultimate | Army of the Dead | Boss/elite control |
Why these? Skeletal Mage wins at AoE. Command Skeletons buys you time and corpses. Corpse Lance kills elites fast — that’s why I upgrade its synergies first. There’s a tactical reason behind every pick: sustain, control, or single-target removal.
// Simple rotation example I use when farming
1) Deploy Command Skeletons to anchor.
2) Cast Skeletal Mage to clear rooms.
3) Use Corpse Lance on elites.
4) Keep Bone Armor up.
5) Save Army of the Dead for bosses or big pulls.
(This rotation won’t be identical for every map — adjust for enemy density.)
🎯 Gear and Set Choices
Set bonuses matter. We found Shepherd’s Call to Wolves is potent for pure minion scaling, but I’ll admit: it’s sometimes overrated if you prefer mobility. Windloft Perfection helps route speed and reduces downtime — great for bounties and open-world loops. Mixing two-piece bonuses from both sets often produces the best results in practice.
Practical priorities: look for cooldown reduction, minion damage/duration, and movement when farming open maps. Defensive stats follow; you still need to survive the occasional wipe. To be fair, some players chase raw DPS instead — that works too but you’ll often trade longevity for bursts.
Priority pieces
- Helmet: Shepherd’s Call (set focus)
- Chest: Windloft Perfection (mobility)
- Shoulders/Accessories: skill/minion boosts
Controversial take: chasing full four-piece Shepherd’s can slow you down more than it helps on certain routes. I said it — get mad! But test before you commit.
🔢 Stats & Paragon Strategy
Invest heavily in Intelligence. It’s the clearest way to increase both your direct and minion damage. After that, balance Vitality for longer sessions and Fortitude for damage reduction. We found a Survivor-first Paragon approach gives the best uptime in solo farming through 2025.
| Paragon Tree | Focus |
|---|---|
| Survivor | Life, armor, resistances — base safety |
| Vanquisher | Damage & crit — secondary after safety |
| Treasurer | Magic/gold find — optional for efficiency |
Tip: aim for ~30% crit chance and ~40% crit damage as practical breakpoints. These exact figures worked for me across dozens of runs in 2025; they balance survivability and output nicely.
🗺️ Where I Farm (2025)
Library of Zoltun Kulle is excellent — dense spawns and predictable layouts. Forgotten Tower drops good legendaries and experience; the vertical floors let minions control chokepoints. Cavern of Echoes gives steady crafting materials and circular loops that minimize downtime.
Route example:
- Entry: summon Command Skeletons
- Clear: Skeletal Mage for rooms
- Elite: burn with Corpse Lance
- Collect: grab loot while minions hold aggro
How long should a loop take? Aim for 4–7 minutes per clear for maximum efficiency, depending on density and travel time. Yes, measure your items-per-hour — boring, but it pays off.
💎 Gems and Upgrades
Berserker’s Eye is my top priority for damage. Everlasting Torment helps with DoT and control on packed pulls. Ca’arsen’s Invigoration keeps you farming longer by giving heals and resources. Focus resources on two or three gems first; rank 3 is the sweet spot where returns become noticeable.
| Rank | Gem | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Berserker’s Eye | Primary damage, rank 5+ |
| 2 | Everlasting Torment | AoE DoT, rank 3+ |
| 3 | Ca’arsen’s Invigoration | Sustain, rank 3+ |
Economics: upgrade 2–3 gems first. Don’t spread mats across six gems if you can’t farm them reliably (depends on your grind schedule).
Practical Tips from Me (short list)
- Deploy minions before you engage.
- Keep Bone Armor active for emergencies.
- Reserve your ultimate for packed elites.
“If you can’t keep skeletons up, you’re not farming — you’re DPSing.” — me, after a lot of bad runs.
Want an odd trick? Oddly enough, sometimes pausing for 10 seconds to reposition yields more loot/hour than forcing a messy pull. Try it (between us: it felt wrong the first time).
Counterintuitive insight
Counterintuitively, slower clears with perfect sustain often beat aggressive, high-risk runs in total yield over a six-hour session. You’ll live longer and maintain a steadier item rate. It’s boring, yes — but it works.
Also, here’s a small controversial claim: movement-heavy sets will outpace pure minion scaling on some open-world routes in 2025. Test it. You may disagree, and that’s fine.
Final notes (quick)
I’ve noticed players often obsess over perfect rolls. Don’t. Prioritize functional synergy and map-specific adjustments. This doesn’t always work for every challenge rift or boss fight, but for steady farming it’s more practical.
Want my saveable checklist? Copy this into chat or your notes:
Checklist:
- Minions up before pull
- Bone Armor ready
- Corpse Lance for elites
- Gems focused rank 3+
- Measure items/hour
Play smart, not just hard. If you want, tell me your current gear and route and I’ll point out one change you can make today that’ll increase your items-per-hour. Seriously — drop it here and I’ll review it with specifics!
— A woman who farms too much, but refuses to stop.
⚠️ Caveat: game balance may shift; re-evaluate after patches. (I update my recommendations as of 2025.)
