D2R Season 9: Corpse Explosion Necromancer Build Guide

Ben Author

Created - 17.12.2024 Updated - 18.12.2024

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Do you want to build a character in Diablo II: Resurrected that can achieve bonus magic find upwards of 700%? If so, the Corpse Explosion Necromancer is a top contender!

This build is capable of outputting huge amounts of damage with its primary skill. However, our version of the Corpse Explosion Necromancer is only built as a support.

What we mean by that is the Necromancer only stays behind the battle lines, providing some much-needed assistance to his allies.

This D2R build is one that we can wholeheartedly recommend if you want to play a character that has no problem finding valuable loot.

If that sounds interesting to you, come! This is our comprehensive build guide for the D2R Corpse Explosion Necromancer in Season 9!

Why Choose the Corpse Explosion Necromancer?

Did you know that Corpse Explosion was once considered “the best skill in Diablo II” by some of the game’s developers? Although there are now more D2R builds that can outmatch the Corpse Explosion Necromancer in terms of damage output, this build is still quite capable of blasting monsters and killing them in a jiffy.

Corpse Explosion (CE), as its name implies, gives you the power to make a nearby corpse explode, dealing massive amounts of damage in the process. This skill is unique in that it can deal two different damage types; half of it is physical and the other half is fire.

That is important to note because you can boost its power by casting the appropriate skills. For example, Amplify Damage effectively boosts CE’s physical damage. Additionally, Corpse Explosion’s fire damage can be amplified by Conviction Aura, which reduces the elemental resistance of your foes. You can obtain it by having your mercenary equipped with Infinity or party up with a Paladin that has a higher-level Conviction Aura.

While items with “+ to Skills” help all D2R builds, in general, that is not really something that you need to invest in when playing the Corpse Explosion Necromancer. Instead, you’ll want to get items with bonuses to Magic Find (MF). Now, why is that?

Corpse Explosion deals damage based on a percentage of the corpse’s maximum life (70-120%, to be exact). This does not increase when you level the skill up. The only thing that will change is the radius of the explosion.

You still need to put 20 hard points on the skill, but increasing its level even further is not necessary at all. If anything, only your minions become sturdier when you equip a number of “skillers.”

Because things that increase the level of your skills are not mandatory, you can safely wear Magic Find items wherever you can. Of course, you still have to make sure that you hit the FCR breakpoints, which will be discussed later on in this D2R build guide.

While the Corpse Explosion Necromancer is amazing damage-wise, we do not recommend this build for farming ubers. The main reason is that most of these bosses do not spawn nearly enough monsters for you to explode, making them a chore to defeat.

So, what is this D2R build good at? Well, the CE Necromancer can farm areas that are abundant with monsters, including the Chaos Sanctuary, Act 5 Bloody Foothills, and the Stony Tomb, among others.

Playstyle

If you are going to play the Corpse Explosion Necromancer in Diablo II: Resurrected Season 9, know that this build only has you playing a support role. By this, we mean that you get behind the battle lines and have your mercenary, as well as your minions, do all of the dirty work.

As soon as you see corpses lying around, use Corpse Explosion and watch as nearby monsters die shortly after! You may have to activate this a couple more times to ensure that no enemy is left standing!

Corpse Explosion is capable of dealing physical and fire damage at the same time. Cast Amplify Damage to reduce the enemy’s resistance to physical damage by 100%. Fire damage can be boosted by having Conviction Aura; either from an Infinity-wielding mercenary or a Paladin party member with the said aura active.

Before you start your main farming session, go to any Act 1 area and kill monsters so that you can summon your minion army. When you have enough skeletons and revived minions with you, then let the party begin!

If you are new to Diablo II: Resurrected, you must enhance your skills by casting Battle Command twice and then following it up with Battle Orders. These are Barbarian-only skills that can be utilized by equipping the Call to Arms runeword.

Don’t search for monsters until you have Bone Armor enabled. This is a huge part of your survival because it completely absorbs physical damage. Re-cast this when you see that your Bone Armor has fallen off.

Stats

• Strength: 156
• Dexterity: Depends on gear
• Vitality: Spend the rest of your points here
• Energy: None

The Monarch Shield requires you to have 156 STR to wield. If you are curious, this is a shield in Diablo II: Resurrected that can have four open sockets. These sockets are needed to put the Spirit runeword in, which is mainly used for boosting FCR and skills.

Dexterity is not really something that you invest in too much on this build, especially since you do not need to achieve a 100% chance to block attacks. If you need any gear that requires more DEX, then spend points to this attribute accordingly.

The rest of your attribute points need to be placed on VIT to increase your HP. Although you’re not going to fight in the front lines, you still need a large health pool to survive in Hell Difficulty.

Skills

• 20 points on Corpse Explosion
• 20 points on Raise Skeleton
• 20 points on Skeleton Mastery
• 20 points on Bone Prison
• 10 points on Golem Mastery
• Put 1 point on the following skills:
• Teeth
• Bone Armor
• Amplify Damage
• Bone Wall
• Bone Spear
• Clay Golem
• Raise Skeletal Mage
• Blood Golem
• Iron Golem
• Summon Resist
• Revive

The D2R Corpse Explosion Necromancer is a flexible build when it comes to the skills that can be allocated. Corpse Explosion is maxed out to increase its radius, but you can remove some points from it to improve the Necromancer’s other abilities.

Raise Skeleton is such a nice minion to have, especially early on. At level 20, you can summon eight skeletons, which can obliterate enemies easily, leaving behind corpses that you can explode with your primary skill!

While leveling, you can leave Corpse Explosion at level 5, and then focus on Raise Skeleton and Skeleton Mastery until your minions are sturdy enough to survive. Don’t forget to take Amplify Damage to make them deal more damage!

Bone Prison is also maxed to level 20 to improve the amount of physical damage Bone Armor can absorb. What’s great about Bone Armor is that it fully absorbs damage, which means that your HP only depletes when the protective armor has been removed.

You must allocate at least 10 points to Golem Mastery because it helps your Iron Golem survive longer. Every point spent on this passive skill increases the life of your golem even further by a considerable percentage.

Speaking of which, the Iron Golem can only be conjured if you drop a metallic item on the ground. One thing that you have to know about this skill is that the Iron Golem can take advantage of the properties of the weapon you have used to summon it.

For instance, if you have a polearm with the Insight runeword on it, casting the skill will summon an Iron Golem that has the Meditation Aura. If you have the budget, you can even invest in Infinity for that very powerful Conviction Aura!

If you sum up all of the skills mentioned above, you will find that there are some unspent points left. That’s one of the good things about the D2R Corpse Explosion Necromancer—there is some room for flexibility when it comes to skills!

Do you want to improve your Bone Armor so that it can absorb more physical damage? If so, you can spend the remaining points on Bone Wall. Each point spent on this skill will improve Bone Armor’s physical damage absorption by 15 (similar to Bone Prison).

Want to ensure that your Iron Golem never dies? Maxing out Golem Mastery can help you with that. Although it is very unlikely that the Iron Golem dies even with a level 10 Golem Mastery, increasing this passive skill’s level to 20 gives you that peace of mind.

Breakpoints

Most of the D2R Corpse Explosion Necromancer’s abilities benefit from a high Faster Cast Rate. That said, a 75% FCR value is fine in most cases. You can aim for the maximum 125% breakpoint, but the number of Magic Find items you can wear will be diminished as a result.

Even though you rarely get hit when playing this Diablo II: Resurrected build, having some Faster Hit Recovery items is still helpful from a survivability standpoint. The 56% FHR is quite doable, though 39% isn’t bad if you want to have more MF items.

Visit our D2R Necromancer Breakpoints guide for more information about these things.

Corpse Explosion Necromancer Gear Recommendations

Faster Cast Rate and Magic Find are two of the most important things to look for when gearing the D2R Corpse Explosion Necromancer. While items with “+ to skills” are great, they are not mandatory for this build because they don’t enhance the damage output of CE whatsoever.

As soon as you have the budget, you’d want to invest in better weapons for your Iron Golem and Act 2 Mercenary. If you need anything, visit our D2R store for all your needs.

Helmet

If your main goal is to attain that 125% FCR breakpoint, then you want to equip the Corpse Explosion Necromancer in Diablo II: Resurrected with a helmet that has a Faster Cast Rate on it. A rare helmet should give you 20% FCR at most, so invest in that.

Aside from Faster Cast Rate, a rare helmet can roll +2 to Necromancer skills as well. Although we did mention that skiller items are not needed as far as Corpse Explosion is concerned, it does improve the other aspects of the build, mainly the health and damage output of your minions.

If the helmet contains sockets, you can insert a Perfect Topaz for some additional Magic Find bonus. The Ist Rune will also work but only use this if you’re extravagant enough to insert this rune for the purpose of finding more valuable loot.

The Harlequin Crest does not boost your Faster Cast Rate at all. However, what it does is better for your survivability because it increases your life and mana by up to 148 points depending on your current level.

In addition, this unique D2R helmet already comes with a 50% Magic Find bonus, which can further be increased when you insert a Perfect Topaz.

Body Armor

Enigma is a very popular D2R runeword that grants the ability to use a skill native to the Sorceress, Teleport. You will need this for the Corpse Explosion Necromancer because you want to gain the power to move around the map as quickly as possible.

Another thing of note here is that Enigma also boosts your MF chance by up to 99% based on the current level of your character. As you reach the higher levels, you can easily gain more lucrative items like Jah and Ber—two runes that are necessary for the creation of this runeword.

Weapon

The weapon of this D2R Corpse Explosion Necromancer build hinges on whether you want to attain the 125% FCR breakpoint or gain more MF. If you want to achieve the former, then the Wizardspike is the ideal option.

Wizardspike increases your FCR by a whopping 50%. This is very good considering that this is only a one-handed weapon. Besides that, it increases your mana and mana regeneration rate by 15%. This allows you to freely use Teleport (from Enigma) without worrying about running out of mana.

In the endgame, put an Ist Rune into the Wizardspike for an additional 30% MF bonus.

A typical weapon used by Gold Find characters in Diablo II: Resurrected, the Blade of Ali Baba can be utilized by the Corpse Explosion Necromancer for the purpose of improving Magic Find immensely.

This unique weapon has the same modifier found in Enigma, where you gain 1% additional MF depending on your level. Additionally, the fact that you can insert a couple of Ist Runes into this makes it a very interesting option if you solely want the highest amount of Magic Find bonus for your character.

If all you care about is Magic Find and nothing else, then you can insert six Ist Runes into a Crystal Sword with the appropriate number of sockets. This weapon grants the highest MF bonus attainable on a single item in the game.

Shield

While the Corpse Explosion Necromancer is not a build that’s totally invested in summoning, it does utilize minions to provide you with corpses for your primary skill. That said, the Homunculus is a great shield that significantly boosts your defenses.

First of all, it gives you a considerable chance of blocking incoming attacks. Plus, it grants a 30% Faster Block Rate. You might not need it all the time, but it certainly comes in handy in sticky situations.

Other noteworthy bonuses that you can get simply by wielding the Homunculus include +2 to Necromancer Skills (+4 to curses), +20 Energy, and +40 to all-resists.

For D2R runes, you can go for the Eld Rune for a higher block chance or an Ist Rune for a 25% MF.

Spirit is pretty much necessary for any D2R build, but even more so if you want the Corpse Explosion Necromancer to have a 125% Faster Cast Rate. Moreover, this runeword sorts out your defenses by providing you with 35% cold/lightning/poison resistance, +22 Vitality, and 55% Faster Hit Recovery.

If you want to achieve crazy amounts of MF, you can also put several Ist Runes into a shield. You need the Monarch for this one, particularly because of its relatively low STR requirement for a four-socketed shield. When you pair this shield with the “Isted” Crystal Sword, you will gain a whopping 280% bonus to Magic Find just from a couple of items!

Weapon/Shield Swap

• Call to Arms (Crystal Sword or Flail): To gain access to Battle Command and Battle Orders. Useful for buffing before summoning minions and casting Bone Armor.
• Spirit (Monarch): +2 to skills also apply to Battle Command and Battle Orders.

Gloves

The ideal gloves for the Corpse Explosion Necromancer is the Magefist primarily for its 20% FCR. Although some people recommend the Chance Guards for additional Magic Find, we advise you not to use the said gloves because you’ll be sacrificing a lot just to gain more MF. The Magefist will do just fine, particularly when you want to attain the maximum FCR breakpoint for Necromancers in Diablo II: Resurrected.

Boots

Although the +10 points to strength and vitality are nice when wearing these boots, you equip the War Traveler mainly for its insane 50% MF bonus.

Amulet

You can craft a rare amulet by following a Horadric Cube Recipe. The ideal outcome is an amulet that has +2 to Necromancer Skills and 20% FCR. The other bonuses can be anything that you want, such as elemental/poison resistance, mana, and strength.

Rings

Capping your resistances is one thing that you need to worry about when playing the Corpse Explosion Necromancer D2R build. This is because aside from having an insane amount of Magic Find, you have to survive whatever your enemies throw at you—all while your minions are attacking your foes.

Having said that, a rare ring can address your potential issues with your elemental and poison resistance. While you’re at it, make sure that the rings you’re going to wear have some FCR and MF as well.

Belt

Whether you are trying to attain the highest Necromancer FCR breakpoint or not, you still need to wear the Arachnid Mesh. The Arachnid Mesh is a solid option for the belt slot as there are no viable alternatives for the Corpse Explosion Necromancer.

Charms

• Annihilus: +1 to skills, +20 attributes, +20 all resistances
• Hellfire Torch: +20 all resistances, +20 attributes, +3 to Necromancer skill levels
• Gheed’s Fortune: preferably with the perfect rolls
• Small Charms: Resistances and Magic Find (MF) bonus

This Diablo II: Resurrected build, for the most part, requires the same charms as that of other builds in the game. However, major emphasis should be placed on particular charms, such as Gheed’s Fortune.

Ideally, you want a Gheed’s Fortune that has the perfect rolls of 40% MF and 160% extra gold from monsters. The reduced vendor prices provided by this item (when placed in the inventory) can be 10%, though a maximum of 15% is highly desired.

If you are in need of a good boost in resistances, you can populate your inventory with various small charms depending on the type of resistance you need. Just make sure that each of them contains bonus MF.

Mercenary

During your Diablo II: Resurrected journey, your minions will do sufficient damage to enemies, thus giving you a bunch of corpses for use with your primary skill. In the endgame, however, that job rests mainly on the hands of your Mercenary, so you have to make sure that he gets the right equipment.

Having said that, acquire the services of the Desert Hireling from Greiz in Act 2. Hire a mercenary with the Might Aura to improve the damage of your Corpse Explosion, as well as your minions.

For the weapon, have your mercenary wield the Breath of the Dying. This D2R runeword is one of the best melee runewords in the game because of its 400% Enhanced Damage, -25% to Target’s Defense, and 15% life leech.

A viable alternative to BoTD is a Giant Thresher with the Infinity runeword on it. This weapon grants the wielder the ability to weaken the elemental resistance of nearby monsters via Conviction Aura.

If you already have an Iron Golem that was born out of Infinity, then you have to save up for Breath of the Dying. There is no better replacement for BoTD or Infinity on the Corpse Explosion Necromancer’s mercenary, so if you need the necessary ingredients to create either of these runewords, visit our D2R store today!

For the helmet, you need Guillaume’s Face so that your mercenary can deal a Crushing Blow or a Deadly Strike. Insert a 15% IAS jewel for good measure.

Here are all the necessary items to ensure that your Act 2 Mercenary becomes a reliable killer in Diablo II: Resurrected:

• Weapon: Breath of the Dying or Infinity
• Helmet: Guillaume’s Face (preferably with 15% IAS jewel)
• Body Armor: Fortitude (on a Sacred Armor as base)

Tips and Strategies

• Get Bone Spear for More Active Playstyle: One of the issues with this particular build is that it has to rely on minions, as well as the mercenary, to get the initial set of corpses to explode. If you don’t like this playstyle very much, you can invest points in Bone Spear (and its synergies) to have reliable single-target damage. A good place to start is by removing 10 points from Corpse Explosion, and then maxing out Bone Spear. The rest of the points (if any) can be allocated to Bone Spirit.

• Maximize the Iron Golem: The Iron Golem is one of the only skills from this D2R build that can benefit from “skiller” items. If you truly want to summon an overpowered Iron Golem, use the best weapon you have and gain the effects of a Skill Shrine before calling the said golem to fight for you.

• Ideal Weapons for the Iron Golem: The thing about the Iron Golem that you need to keep in mind is that it can inherit the stats and abilities of the weapon that was used to summon it. Therefore, weapons that grant auras are the most ideal to use. That said, Insight is a relatively inexpensive weapon runeword that allows your Iron Golem to boost your mana regeneration rate thanks to Meditation Aura. Infinity is also nice because it reduces the resistances of your enemies by 85%. If you have an unlimited budget, then the Last Wish is a great option as well. The Last Wish grants the Iron Golem the ability to land a Crushing Blow more consistently!

• Revive Blunderbore Corpses: Pay a quick visit to the Harem or Palace Cellar in Act 2. Here, you will find an enemy called the Blunderbore, which is a suitable candidate to use Revive on. We recommend that you make the Blunderbore a part of your minion army simply because it can make quick work of the enemy due to Crushing Blow. CB is pretty awesome because it removes a chunk of the enemy’s current HP whenever it procs.

• Don’t Use the Reaper’s Toll: Although The Reaper’s Toll is a commonly used weapon for the mercenary, we advise you not to utilize it. This is because the said weapon has added cold damage, which causes some enemies to shatter when they die. On that note, never use any items with added cold damage if you’re playing the D2R Corpse Explosion Necromancer.

Final Thoughts

Do you want to play a build in Diablo II: Resurrected that specializes in dealing with the enemy by causing devastating explosions? If so, the D2R Corpse Explosion Necromancer is the right one for you!

The main selling point of the Corpse Explosion Necromancer is that it is one of the only builds in the game that can comfortably reach an insane amount of Magic Find bonuses without compromising damage.

Sure, you still need to attain at least a 75% Faster Cast Rate. However, with the items that we’ve recommended in the gear section of this build guide, you shouldn’t have any problems achieving that!

The build does feel a bit clunky at first, especially because minions do not deal that much damage until enough skill points are spent to improve their stats. But, rest assured that the performance of this build picks up quickly when you’ve made the right investments.

Whether you are playing your third character or your very first in Diablo II: Resurrected Season 9, the Corpse Explosion Necromancer is awesome, particularly if you are looking for a reliable item farmer!

So, do you find the Corpse Explosion Necromancer appealing? Make your thoughts known in the comments section below!

PROS

• Can easily fit in a lot of MF-increasing items for better chances of acquiring more valuable loot.
• Able to survive Hell without much worry about survival due to the enhanced Bone Armor.
• Plenty of flexibility when it comes to skills.

CONS

• Needs corpses to be able to use its main skill.
• May struggle with bosses that don’t summon minions during the encounter.
• Not suited for party play with members that have corpse-consuming skills.