Even though Diablo 2: Resurrected beta players did not have access to the Assassin and the Necromancer, both classes will be available at launch. The Necromancer has three skill trees: Summoning, Poison and Bone, and Curses, which lends the class a high degree of versatility. The Summoning tree equips the Necromancer with the ability to raise an army of skeleton warriors and mages, as well as a variety of different golems to do their bidding.
While beginner players tend to gravitate towards the Summoning tree because of its relatively simple nature, it can be overlooked by inveterate players as a boring build. However, a Summon Necromancer is a class that is viable through the entirety of the game and is arguably the best choice for a first character when Diablo 2: Resurrected launches.
Summon Necromancers Are The Least Gear Dependent Class in Diablo 2: Resurrected
It's hard to imagine another build in Diablo 2: Resurrected that can run around stark naked and still be able to easily beat the game. While there are certainly other builds that don't rely heavily on gear, a Javelin Amazon, for example, a Summon Necromancer needs essentially nothing at all. While it's far from optimal, as a Summon Necromancer, it's possible to beat the game with absolutely no items. As a consequence, Summon Necromancers are the cheapest class to play and probably the best choice at launch because players won't have to spend any time at all farming for low-level items and instead will be able to cruise into the higher difficulty areas of the game where they will be treated to far better rewards.
There are two logical reasons why a Summon Necromancer is the most viable class without quality gear. First, by its very nature, the Summon Necromancer rarely gets hit, if they do at all. The build is played behind a wall of skeletons that take the brunt of the damage. Second, once a player has attained 40 skill points—placed into Raise Skeleton and Skeleton Mastery—the build is more or less finished, meaning that skill-boosting items are helpful, but far from necessary.
Summon Necromancers Are Viable on Hell Difficulty
Not all builds are created equal. In fact, players that are looking to solo Hell difficulty in Diablo 2: Resurrected will likely only have a handful of builds to choose from. In the original game, the most commonly used builds for Hell runs were the Lightning Sorceress, Blessed Hammer Paladin, and, of course, the Summon Necromancer. Again, out of all the best choices for Hell difficulty, the Summon Necromancer is going to be the most user-friendly due to its low cost and its low skill requirement.
Oddly enough, the Summon Necromancer struggles the most in Normal difficulty against Duriel and Diablo as there are few corpses around to resummon skeletons, and those two bosses, in particular, chew through minions rather quickly. After Normal difficulty, though, Summon Necromancers tend to carry on rather easily. The only real difficulty posed to them is to get their summons going, but once the ball is rolling, they are more or less unstoppable.
Summon Necromancers Can Survive Hardcore Mode
A select few masochists will opt to play Diablo 2: Resurrected on Hardcore mode which enables permadeath. Since they get to operate behind their army of skeletons, the Summon Necromancer is one of the best choices for Hardcore. Unfortunately, because they are extremely squishy once their minions are gone, Summon Necromancers have to be extra vigilant, since getting hit with a single blow can often mean death.
If played seriously and slowly, the Summon Necromancer is one of the least stressful characters to take through a Hardcore run. When compared to the Barbarian, who has to fight in the middle of giant hordes of enemies and relies mostly on well-timed potions, the Summon Necromancer will allow the player to feel far more in control of their own fate than most other builds in Diablo 2: Resurrected.
Diablo 2: Resurrected releases September 23, 2021 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.