Necromancer

PvE DPS GUIDE

Necromancer is an AOE damage powerhouse. Even when optimised for single target encounters, almost everything it does deals big splash damage. Other defining features include the iconic Blastbones ability, a unique boost to DOTs, Major Vulnerability on demand, great sustain and extra survivability. This makes for a pretty competitive toolkit which rewards you for using class abilities, stacking DOTs, staying in melee range where possible and putting those corpses to work.

UPDATE 41 MINI GUIDES

KEY PASSIVES

10% is a big boost, and an overwhelming incentive to stack DOTs wherever possible. This passive defines and restricts the optimal rotation of a Necromancer and should not be ignored.

This provides a significant damage boost in execute, even with just 2 or 3 Grave Lord abilities slotted. Do not build your entire setup around it, but it take advantage of it wherever possible.

An extra 1500 Penetration is not always needed, but it allows us to wear more Medium Armor pieces to boost our damage and becomes a big advantage if certain debuffs are missing.

25% stronger than the typical class passives for ultimate generation, this one also works out of combat. This is a big advantage, so try to trigger it on cooldown if you can.


Recent Changes

    • Colossus cost reduced by 22%. Damage per hit increased by 11%.

    • Pestilent Colossus changed to guarantee Diseased status effect on every hit.

    • Glacial Colossus duration of Major Vulnerability extended from 12s to 17s.

    • Deaden Pain changed to increase its duration by 4s per corpse, up from 2s.

    • Weapon passives changed to shrink the gap between different weapon types.

      • Long Shots renamed Vinedusk Training, changed to a universal damage bonus.

      • Bonuses from Twin Blade & Blunt and Heavy Weapons reduced slightly.

      • Ancient Knowledge changed to boost damage types based on type of staff equipped.

      • Tri Focus restricted to the final tick of fully charged Lightning Heavy Attacks, rather than any tick.

    • Merciless Charge changed to increase all direct damage for 18s after casting Critical Charge.

    • 0.5s cooldown and 30% ramping damage per target added to Azureblight, base damage reduced.

    • Warchief, Battlereeve and General monster sets added to Cyrodiil.

    • Sourcing of Craglorn trial sets adjusted to fix curation.

    • Improved death notifications added to PvP areas.

    • Hundreds of bug fixes for quests, sets, items, companions etc.

    • Flame Skull third cast bonus damage increased from 20% to 50% seconds.

    • Arcanist class added.

    • Velothi Ur-Mage’s Amulet set added.

    • Default melee attack range increased from 5 to 7 meters.

    • Spectral Cloak changed to activate only when in combat.

    • Plaguebreak changed to apply only to enemy players.

    • Empower bonus reduced to 70% from 80%.

    • Graverobber synergy damage reduced by 34%.

    • Resources restored from Death Gleaning increased by 233%.Major Berserk added to Wrecking Blow.

    • Jewelry damage glyphs hybridised. Stamina/Magicka Recovery added.

    • Runecarver’s Blaze and Ozezan the Inferno sets added.

    • Light Attack scaling increased, but base damage capped at 3,850 for melee, 3,465 for ranged.

    • Taunt added to single target pull abilities and procs when target is not already taunted.

    • Taunt immunity changed to activate only after 5 taunts from 2 players.

    • Pearls of Ehlnofey ultimate gain reduced from 5 to 3. Resource threshold raised from 30% to 50%.

    • Elemental Susceptibility fixed so Major Breach no longer overrides the ability.

    • Harmony trait changed to restore resources rather than boost synergies.

    • Syrabane’s Ward and Back-Alley Gourmand sets added.

    • Target marker system added.

    • Elemental Drain duration increased from 23 to 60 seconds.

    • Elemental Susceptibility changed to apply Burning, Chilled and Concussed every 6s. Duration reduced to 30s.

    • Volley fixed to scale dynamically and not solely with Weapon Critical.

    • Healing from Vigor reduced by 10%.

    • Occult Overload damage reduced by 60%, now applies a random status effect.

Recent Changes


Scions of Ithelia (U41)

  • Blastbones overhauled and renamed to Sacrificial Bones.

  • Blighted Blastbones morph cost reduced 20%, guaranteed Diseased status effect added.

  • Death Knell Critical Chance bonus increased from 8% to 10% per Grave Lord ability.

  • Animate Blastbones changed to spawn Blighted Blastbones rather than the new morph.

  • Status Effects system overhauled, bringing them closer together in power.

    • Burning damage reduced by 6%.

    • Chilled damage increased by 106%.

    • Concussed damage increased by 106%, plus 15% extra to recently Concussed enemies.

    • Diseased damage increased by 88%, AOE damage added.

    • Hemorrhaging damage reduced by 20%, stacking added, Mangle removed.

    • Overcharged damage increased by 106%, Magicka restore added.

    • Poisoned damage reduced by 30%, duration reduced, ramping execute added.

    • Sundered damage increased by 106%, bonus Weapon & Spell Damage added.

  • Charged trait reduced from 365% to 235% increased status effect chance.

  • Barbed Trap changed to apply Hemorrhaging only on the initial hit.

  • Guaranteed Sundered status effect added to Focused Aim.

  • Guaranteed Hemorrhaging status effect added to every tick of Lacerate.

  • Executioner changed from Physical to Bleed Damage.

  • Runecarver’s Blaze fixed to apply Burning more often; a significant damage increase.

  • Mantle of Siroria perfected bonus changed from Max Magicka to Weapon & Spell Damage.

  • Vitality and Defile changed to affect damage shield strength as well as healing.

  • Inner Rage cost reduced by 40%, damage reduced by 10%, multi-synergy added.

  • Inner Beast damage increased by 80%, Minor Vulnerability & Minor Maim added.

  • Buff/debuff tray updated to track taunt stacks.

Infinite Archive (U40)

  • Infinite Archive and class-specific item sets introduced.

  • Aegis Caller bonus changed from Stamina Recovery to Critical Chance.

  • Pillar of Nirn bonus changed from Maximum Stamina to Critical Chance, proc damage reduced by 22%.

  • Dawnbreaker cone size increased.

  • Blessing of Protection fixed to no longer attempt to heal pets.

  • Grand Master Crafting stations added.

  • XP and rewards system overhauled.

Update 39

  • Colossus cost reduced by 22%. Damage per hit increased by 11%.

  • Pestilent Colossus changed to guarantee Diseased status effect on every hit.

  • Glacial Colossus duration of Major Vulnerability extended from 12s to 17s.

  • Deaden Pain changed to increase its duration by 4s per corpse, up from 2s.

  • Weapon passives changed to shrink the gap between different weapon types.

  • Merciless Charge changed to increase all direct damage for 18s after casting Critical Charge.

  • 0.5s cooldown and 30% ramping damage per target added to Azureblight, base damage reduced.

  • Warchief, Battlereeve and General monster sets added to Cyrodiil.

  • Sourcing of Craglorn trial sets adjusted to fix curation.

  • Improved death notifications added to PvP areas.

  • Hundreds of bug fixes for quests, sets, items, companions etc.

Necrom (U38)


Magicka


No setup is perfect everywhere. Check your tooltips regularly and tweak your setups depending on the group and the content.


Single Target

Relequen + Aegis + Zaan + Kilt

SLOT ITEM TRAIT ENCHANTMENT
Head Zaan's Guise Divines Magicka
Shoulders Zaan's Epaulets Divines Magicka
Chest Relequen's Jack Divines Magicka
Hands Relequen's Bracers Divines Magicka
Waist Relequen's Belt Divines Magicka
Legs Harpooner's Wading Kilt Divines Magicka
Feet Relequen's Boots Divines Magicka
Necklace Aegis Caller Necklace Bloodthirsty Spell Damage
Ring Aegis Caller Ring Bloodthirsty Spell Damage
Ring Aegis Caller Ring Bloodthirsty Spell Damage
Front Bar Main Hand Relequen's Dagger Nirnhoned Flame
Front Bar Off Hand Aegis Caller Dagger Charged Poison
Back Bar Main Hand Aegis Caller Greatsword Infused Berserker
Back Bar Off Hand - - -
  • Perfected gear is NOT needed. The bonuses are nice to have, but small.

  • Daggers are still the strongest option for THIS setup, which contains a mix of DOTs and direct damage. If you drop Skull and invest more into DOTs, an Inferno front bar will perform better.

  • 2 x Light is recommended, but Armor weights can be changed depending on your sustain and penetration.

  • You can swap Aegis for sets like Nirn, Siroria or Whorl according to situation or preference.

  • The Kilt is a good default, but not suitable everywhere. Swap in other Mythics depending on the situation.


CHAMPION POINTS

Biting Aura - Exploiter - Thaumaturge - Wrathful Strikes

These are for when Off-Balance, Brittle, Catalyst, Alkosh/Crimson and all necessary buffs/debuffs are provided.

Outside of these conditions, use Backstabber and/or Fighting Finesse to reach the 125% Critical Damage cap, and Force of Nature to meet the 18,200 penetration cap (adjusting Medium-to-Light Armor ratio also helps). If Off-Balance is not being triggered on cooldown, drop Exploiter and slot Master-at-Arms/Deadly Aim to boost your direct/single target damage instead.


FOOD & POTIONS

Firsthold Fruit & Cheese Plate
or
Thrice-Baked Gorapple Pie
or
Tomato Garlic Chutney

Increase Max Magicka by 6048 for 35 minutes.

Food > Fruit
Jazbay Grapes, Cheese
Apples, Saltrice
Tomato, Garlic

Essence of Spell Power

Grants Major Sorcery which increases your Spell Damage by 20% for 47.6 seconds.

Grants Major Prophecy which gives you 2629 Spell Critical Rating for 47.6 seconds.

Restore 7582 Magicka immediately.
Grants you Major Intellect which increases your Magicka Recovery by 30% for 47.6 seconds (45s cooldown).

Corn Flower
Lady's Smock
Namira's Rot / Water Hyacinth

+

These are recommended for practice and easy content. Other options include:

Max-level Savoury recipes for Health + Magicka
Ghastly Eye Bowl for Magicka + Magicka Recovery
Witchmother’s Potent Brew
for Health + Magicka + Magicka Recovery

Bewitched Sugar Skulls for Health + Magicka + Stamina
Crunchy Spider Skewer for Magicka + Stamina Recovery

Tri Restoration Potion for Major Intellect + Endurance + Fortitude
Essence of Weapon Power for Major Brutality + Savagery + Endurance

Essence of Heroism for Major Intellect + Endurance and Minor Heroism
(very expensive and very rarely needed)


ABILITIES


ROTATION
121k DPS

Magicka Necromancer can lean fully into Rapid Rot and Thaumaturge, stack DOTs and have no spammable besides Blastbones. But juggling DOTs can be tricky and makes it harder to pivot between targets without losing damage. Using Skull as a spammable makes it easier to perform consistently, and the damage increase means we have a bit more single target damage, as well as AOE pressure.

If your group has Encratis, swap to Blockade of Fire on the back bar (drop Zaan and use a Maelstrom Inferno) and replace Carve with Rune, Siphon (whatever you need) and switch food as needed. If you’re on Catalyst duty, then use Blockade, remorph Siphon and never let Boneyard drop for more than 2s. Open with Archer, Blastbones, Trap, and Shooting Star.

If you are learning and/or want to keep things simple, follow the rotation as shown. But you can gain 2-3k damage by recasting Boneyard and Siphon dynamically, so try to do this once you’re comfortable. If you find that Carve is running out between recasts, either speed up your weaving speed or recast it dynamically to keep it at 3 stacks.

The goal is to fire a Blastbonesevery 3s and recast all our DOTs as they expire (try to refresh Trap with 2s to go for perfect Minor Force uptime). If multiple DOTs expire simultaneously, prioritise Stampede, Trap and Boneyard. Siphon and Trap have upfront hits so you can recast these early if you see a pinch point coming up. When all DOTs are up, fill every remaining cast with a Skull spam.

Necromancers generate ultimate fast, so keep an eye on Shooting Star and drop it the instant it is ready (if using Pestilent Colossus, wait for the callout). Use Dawnbreaker in the last 20s if your primary ult is unavailable, and let Siphon, Caltrops, Archer and Carve start to fall off in the last 10s or so. When the target has only 5s left, cast one last Blastbonesand spam Skull until it is dead.


SLOT ITEM TRAIT ENCHANTMENT
Head Grothdarr’s Guise Divines Magicka
Shoulders Grothdarr’s Epaulets Divines Magicka
Chest Jack of Sul-Xan’s Torment Divines Magicka
Hands Burning Spellweave Gloves Divines Magicka
Waist Burning Spellweave Sash Divines Magicka
Legs Guards of Sul-Xan’s Torment Divines Magicka
Feet Burning Spellweave Shoes Divines Magicka
Necklace Velothi Ur-Mage's Amulet Bloodthirsty Spell Damage
Ring Ring of Sul-Xan’s Torment Bloodthirsty Spell Damage
Ring Ring of Sul-Xan’s Torment Bloodthirsty Spell Damage
Front Bar Main Hand Dagger of Sul-Xan’s Torment Nirnhoned Flame
Front Bar Off Hand Burning Spellweave Dagger Charged Poison
Back Bar Main Hand Burning Spellweave Inferno Staff Infused Weapon Damage
Back Bar Off Hand - - -
  • Perfected gear is NOT needed. The bonuses are nice to have, but small.

  • 3-5 x Light is recommended. You can equip more Medium/Light pieces depending on your sustain and Critical Damage.

  • For important nukes, swap Sul-Xan for Acuity, Spellweave for Elf-Bane and Grothdarr for Balorgh.

  • Other useful monster sets include Prior Thierric, Stormfist, Kra’gh and Skoria, depending on what you need.

  • The best trash spammable depends on your sustain and choice of food. If you prefer a Magicka spammable, an Inferno Staff with Pulsar will also work very well.


CHAMPION POINTS

Biting Aura - Exploiter - Master-at-Arms - Wrathful Strikes

The best choices depend on your group and how long the fight lasts. Use Backstabber if you are below the crit cap (or Fighting Finesse if you cannot flank). Drop Exploiter if no one in your group is triggering Off-Balance consistently. And if trash pulls are lasting longer, DOTs will provide a higher proportion of your damage and Thaumaturge may be worth slotting.


ABILITIES

Stamina


No setup is perfect everywhere. Check your tooltips regularly and tweak your setups depending on the group and the content.


Single Target

Relequen + Aegis + Zaan + Kilt

SLOT ITEM TRAIT ENCHANTMENT
Head Zaan's Mask Divines Stamina
Shoulders Zaan's Epaulets Divines Stamina
Chest Relequen's Jack Divines Stamina
Hands Relequen's Bracers Divines Stamina
Waist Relequen's Belt Divines Stamina
Legs Harpooner's Wading Kilt Divines Stamina
Feet Relequen's Boots Divines Stamina
Necklace Aegis Caller Necklace Bloodthirsty Weapon Damage
Ring Aegis Caller Ring Bloodthirsty Weapon Damage
Ring Aegis Caller Ring Bloodthirsty Weapon Damage
Front Bar Main Hand Relequen's Dagger Nirnhoned Flame
Front Bar Off Hand Aegis Caller Dagger Charged Poison
Back Bar Main Hand Aegis Caller Greatsword Infused Berserker
Back Bar Off Hand - - -
  • Perfected gear is NOT needed. The bonuses are nice to have, but small.

  • Daggers are still the strongest option for THIS setup, which contains a mix of DOTs and direct damage. If you drop Skull and invest more into DOTs, an Inferno front bar will perform better.

  • 2 x Light is recommended, but Armor weights can be changed depending on your sustain and penetration.

  • You can swap Aegis for sets like Nirn, Siroria or Whorl according to situation or preference.

  • The Kilt is a good default, but not suitable everywhere. Swap in other Mythics depending on the situation.


CHAMPION POINTS

Biting Aura - Exploiter - Thaumaturge - Wrathful Strikes

These are for when Off-Balance, Brittle, Catalyst, Alkosh/Crimson and all necessary buffs/debuffs are provided.

Outside of these conditions, use Backstabber and/or Fighting Finesse to reach the 125% Critical Damage cap, and Force of Nature to meet the 18,200 penetration cap (adjusting Medium-to-Light Armor ratio also helps). If Off-Balance is not being triggered on cooldown, drop Exploiter and slot Master-at-Arms to boost your direct damage instead.


FOOD & POTIONS

Bravil's Best Beet Risotto
or
Hearty Garlic Corn Chowder
or
Tenmar Millet-Carrot Couscous

Increase Max Stamina by 6048 for 35 minutes.

Food > Vegetable
Beets, Saltrice
Corn, Garlic
Carrots, Millet

Essence of Weapon Power

Grants Major Brutality which increases your Weapon Damage by 20% for 47.6 seconds.

Grants Major Savagery which gives you 2629 Weapon Critical Rating for 47.6 seconds.

Restore 7582 Stamina immediately.
Grants you Major Endurance which increases your Stamina Recovery by 30% for 47.6 seconds (45s cooldown).

Blessed Thistle
Dragonthorn
Water Hyacinth / Wormwood

+

These are recommended for practice and easy content. Other options include:

Max-level Ragout recipes for Health + Stamina
Lava Foot Soup-and-Saltrice for Stamina + Stamina Recovery
Dubious Camoran Throne
for Health + Stamina + Stamina Recovery

Candied Jester’s Coins for Stamina + Magicka Recovery
Bewitched Sugar Skulls
for Health + Magicka + Stamina

Tri Restoration Potion for Major Intellect + Endurance + Fortitude
Essence of Spell Power for Major Sorcery + Prophecy + Intellect

Essence of Heroism for Major Intellect + Endurance and Minor Heroism
(very expensive and very rarely needed)


ABILITIES


ROTATION
123k DPS

Magicka Necromancer can lean fully into Rapid Rot and Thaumaturge, stack DOTs and have no spammable besides Blastbones. But juggling DOTs can be tricky and makes it harder to pivot between targets without losing damage. Using Skull as a spammable makes it easier to perform consistently, and the damage increase means we have a bit more single target damage, as well as AOE pressure.

If your group has Encratis, you can swap to Blockade of Fire on the back bar (drop Zaan and use a Maelstrom Inferno) and replace Carve with Rune, Siphon (whatever you need) and switch food as needed. If you’re on Catalyst duty, then use Blockade, remorph Siphon and never let Boneyard drop for more than 2s. Open with Archer, Blastbones, Trap, and Shooting Star.

If you are learning and/or want to keep things simple, follow the rotation as shown. But you can gain 2-3k damage by recasting Boneyard and Siphon dynamically, so try to do this once you’re comfortable. If you find that Carve is running out between recasts, either speed up your weaving speed or recast it dynamically to keep it at 3 stacks.

The goal is to fire a Blastbones every 3s and recast all our DOTs as they expire (try to refresh Trap with 2s to go for perfect Minor Force uptime). If multiple DOTs expire simultaneously, prioritise Stampede, Trap and Boneyard. Siphon and Trap have upfront hits so you can recast these early if you see a pinch point coming up. When all DOTs are up, fill every remaining cast with a Skull spam.

Necromancers generate ultimate fast, so keep an eye on Shooting Star and drop it the instant it is ready (if using Pestilent Colossus, wait for the callout). Use Dawnbreaker in the last 20s if your primary ult is unavailable, and let Siphon, Caltrops, Archer and Carve start to fall off in the last 10s or so. When the target has only 5s left, cast one last Blastbones and spam Skull until it is dead.


SLOT ITEM TRAIT ENCHANTMENT
Head Slimecraw’s Guise Divines Stamina
Shoulders Burning Spellweave Epaulets Divines Stamina
Chest Jack of Sul-Xan’s Torment Divines Stamina
Hands Bracers of Sul-Xan’s Torment Divines Stamina
Waist Belt of Sul-Xan’s Torment Divines Stamina
Legs Guards of Sul-Xan’s Torment Divines Stamina
Feet Boots of of Sul-Xan’s Torment Divines Stamina
Necklace Velothi Ur-Mage's Amulet Bloodthirsty Weapon Damage
Ring Burning Spellweave Ring Bloodthirsty Weapon Damage
Ring Burning Spellweave Ring Bloodthirsty Weapon Damage
Front Bar Main Hand The Master’s Greatsword Nirnhoned Flame
Front Bar Off Hand - - -
Back Bar Main Hand Burning Spellweave Inferno Staff Infused Weapon Damage
Back Bar Off Hand - - -
  • Perfected gear is NOT needed. The bonuses are nice to have, but small.

  • 1-2 x Light is recommended. You can equip more Medium/Light pieces depending on your sustain and Critical Damage.

  • You can swap Slimecraw for a Stormfist, Kra’gh or Skoria 1-piece, depending on what you need.

  • Hitting the penetration cap of 18,200 in trash pulls is important. Using a Sharpened Master’s Maul on the front bar, upgrading to the Perfected version, dropping Unnerving Boneyard on adds and wearing more Light pieces are some of the things you can do to get there.


CHAMPION POINTS

Biting Aura - Exploiter - Master-at-Arms - Wrathful Strikes

The best choices depend on your group and how long the fight lasts. Use Backstabber if you are below the crit cap (or Fighting Finesse if you cannot flank). Drop Exploiter if no one in your group is triggering Off-Balance consistently. And if trash pulls are lasting longer, DOTs will provide a higher proportion of your damage and Thaumaturge may be worth slotting.


ABILITIES