Soul Reave Abomination Necromancer Build Guide

Very fun, makes you feel like a beast

Super rewarding at check points, skill proficiency, item upgrades, etc...

Flexible

Quick

Super strong

May be difficult to learn

Walls get hit on power without significant upgrades

On the squisher side

No Dread Shade on Abomination is WIS

There is a bug when using Summon Skeletal Mage produces all the same Skeleton Mage. Leaving the game will resolve the issue but still a nuisance.

So as you now know, this build is built around the Abomination, specifically the soul reave ability (Reap The Damned 1/1). Prior to entering each dungeon you will need to create the abomination. We can summon 4 Skeleton Mages (Typically you'll get something like 2 Cryomancers, 1 Skeleton Mage &1 Pyromancer) via Summon Skeletal Mage, 2 Bone Golem (1 Bone Golem, 1 Blood Golem), 6 Wraith (This is random but all you're hoping for is a lot of variety), and some Skeleton Vanguard via Dark Retribution 3/3. You want to summon the Abomination right before you go into the content you're above to do because he will eventually die, Once you've entered the in-game content, cast Dread Shade on the Abomination This will turn every one of his hits into a guaranteed crit via Egoism 1/1 for the next 20 seconds. Thus whenever Soul Reave hits a large stack of enemies they are all crit, usually one shotting them.

One large note about this build is because we are taking Pernicious Pact 1/1, our Abomintion will die. But with some of the points we are taking and the lifesteal we provide him he can stay alive for 2 full casts of Dread Shade. That is the timer we have for when we have to summon a new Abomination. As you are approaching the end of your second Dread Shade I recommened finding a non-hectic area and re-summon him.

Dread Shade Tips

1. We must get Dread Shade on our Abomination. So to do that since we can't always guarantee the application is since the only melee minions we usually have are Golems and the Abomination is to cast Summon Bone Golem in the edge of the screen so that the Abomination is alone thus making it easier to apply Dread Shade directly to him.
2. If you miss-cast Dread Shade on another minion, I recommened not trying to some additional minions until Dread Shade comes up again to guarantee it.

Gameplay Rotation

Prior to Mono:

1. Summon all minions
2. Use Assemble Abomination

Enter Mono:

1. Cast Dread Shade on Abomination
2. Cast Summon Bone Golem
3. Run around killing everything using Summon Skeletal Mage as our traversal ability
4. Use health potions once Elixir of Hunger 8/8 has gone on cooldown, keep this always up
5. Reapply Dread Shade on Abomination around 20 seconds after
6. After 2 casts of Dread Shade on your Abomination, he will probably die, find a quiet spot to resummon him with all the minions

Note:

Since Abomination is our main damage ability we mainly have to control which target he attacks and also ensure we are in a safe spot as we are not the tankiest.

For leveling I recommend following just a regular leveling minion build. Once you start entering regular monoliths, and unlock the abomination ability, you can transition to something like this entry mono build.

Initially, you're going to focus on gear with PrefixMinion Damage and PrefixMinion Health. Once you enter empowered monos your focus on affixes should be in order,SuffixNecrotic Penetration and Minion Necrotic Penetration, PrefixIntelligence, and finally PrefixMinion Damage.

In the End Game it's really just farming for the quick accessible Uniques with LP such as Ribbons of Blood, Scales of Lemniscate, and Death Rattle. Getting these with good LP slams is a great way to instantly gain power. As you enter late late game, I think Aaron's Will is a huge upgrade and will help push higher corruption.

I think the capped version of this would be able to kill Aberoth in under 10 seconds, but that jump is quite high as we're looking for many items with at least 2 LP to get there. I think the more realistic version of this build is what I have presented as my Empowered Mono/End Game Build, with just best in slot affixes such as PrefixShared Increased Necrotic Damage. I have recently been trying to get to the End End Game build but getting items such as Aaron's Will with 2 LP has been difficult. Also to note, I have done all this on Circle of Fortune and I think it's proven to be relatively easy. But, items with affixes such as PrefixLevel of Assemble Abomination may be even easier to just straight up buy in the Merchant's Guild.

Additionally, PrefixShared Increased Necrotic Damage is valued much more than PrefixMinion Damage as we get stronger so always be looking out for those affixes.

Overall, this build started as a home-grown, no guide/influence build for me, and I think the level I have been able to take it has exceeded expectations. I still love seeing the Abomination 1 shot entire mobs even after the billionth time. Hope you give it a try, thanks for checking out this guide!