Necromancer & Summoner Guide
This guide focuses on helping you understand how the Necromancer class works rather than presenting a single predefined build. Necromancer is one of the most versatile classes in SpiritVale, capable of filling multiple roles and supporting a wide variety of playstyles. By understanding the class mechanics, you’ll be able to create a build that best fits the way you want to play.
In addition to explaining Necromancer’s mechanics, this guide also includes an early-game progression path to help Summoners reach Job Level 50 and unlock the Necromancer class.
Unlocking Necromancer
After reaching Job Level 50 as a Summoner, travel to Festering Woods, which can be accessed through the western portal in Nevaris, to complete the class advancement and become a Necromancer.
Understanding Necromancer
Necromancer is one of the most flexible classes in the game. Instead of being locked into a single archetype, it supports numerous viable builds, allowing players to specialize in almost any role.
Possible roles include:
- Melee DPS
- Magic DPS
- Minion-focused DPS
- Basic Attack builds
- Autocast builds
- Tank
- Healer
- Hybrid support builds
The key to understanding Necromancer is learning how summons work.
How Summons Scale
Summons do not inherit your allocated attribute points (STR, DEX, INT, etc.).
Instead, their stats are determined almost entirely by your equipment if you have Summon Mastery.
Summons inherit:
- Equipment stats
- Artifact stats
- Cards
- Gems
- Equipment enchantments
- Autocast effects
One unique advantage of this system is that any autocast effects equipped on your gear can also be triggered independently by your summons, allowing them to cast abilities on their own.
Because of this, equipment selection is significantly more important than attribute allocation for minion-focused builds.
Building a Necromancer
Before selecting gear or skills, ask yourself three questions.
What role do you want to play?
Necromancer can successfully perform many different roles, including:
- DPS
- Tank
- Healer
- Hybrid Support
Unlike many classes, there is no single “correct” build.
How do you want to perform that role?
For example, if your goal is to deal damage, you still have several options:
DPS
- Melee (Scythe)
- Magic (Staff, Scythe, or Mace)
- Basic Attack (Sword or Mace)
- Autocast (Mace)
Healer
- Death Coil
- Heal Bomber
- Resonance Well
Tank
- Cactus
- Ice Golem
- Warchief
- Abomination Off-Tank
- Regenerative Tank
- Covariant Tank
These are only examples. Necromancer supports many additional variations.
How do you want your summons to contribute?
Think of your summons as vessels that deliver your build’s power.
For example:
- Do you want your summons to deal most of your damage while you play safely?
- Do you want them to tank while you cast spells?
- Do you want to fight alongside them in melee?
- Do you prefer a semi-AFK minion build?
Answering these questions naturally determines your build direction.
The Three Main Build Paths
Nearly every Necromancer build belongs to one of three primary archetypes:
Everything else is generally a variation or hybrid of these three paths.
Why Strength Is So Important
Although it may seem counterintuitive, approximately 80–90% of Necromancer builds prioritize Strength.
This is because:
- Scythe builds naturally scale with Strength.
- Mace builds convert Strength into Magic Attack, allowing many magic skills to benefit from Strength as well.
- Several skills receive double scaling through mace mechanics, making Strength valuable even for many caster builds.
Your remaining attributes should be allocated according to your build’s needs.
Examples:
- Intelligence if you need additional mana.
- Dexterity if you need Cast Speed.
- Other attributes depending on your build.
Strength is generally the safest primary investment for most Necromancer builds.
Early Game Progression
Objectives
During the early game, focus on:
- Reaching Job Level 50.
- Unlocking Necromancer.
- Progressing to Swamp Wilderness.
- Farming equipment that will remain useful well into the mid game.
Recommended Companion
For nearly the entire early game:
- Use Cat before obtaining Serpent Fang.
- Switch to Wolf after acquiring Serpent Fang.
Both companions remain effective well into the mid game.
Early Game Equipment
Combat Knife
Crafted using materials obtained in Forest Labyrinth.
This is your primary early-game weapon.
A good Combat Knife is strong enough to comfortably explore Forest Labyrinth and unlock teleporters leading to:
- Fairy Glen
- Mystic Lake
- Wayfarer’s Landing
Jack-o’-Lantern
Drops in Festering Woods.
One of the strongest helmets available for approximately 70–80% of all Necromancer builds, including many non-autoattack builds.
Recommended versions to farm:
- STR / MATK / HP
- STR / ATK / HP
- INT / MATK / HP
Expect to spend a considerable amount of time farming this item, usually until level 50–60 or until you’re ready to move to the next progression area.
Cleric Legs
Drops in Festering Woods.
Excellent for solving early-game mana problems.
Serpent Fang
Drops in Forgotten Depths.
One of the strongest weapons available during early progression and remains viable until the transitional mid game.
Ashwalker Set
Drops in Forgotten Depths.
A reliable armor set for early and mid-game progression before upgrading to Soulbinder.
Blitzcore Artifact Set
Drops in Forgotten Depths.
Provides a strong artifact setup throughout the early and mid game before transitioning into build-specific artifacts.
Reanimation Tip
As soon as you can reliably defeat Sting, make it your primary reanimation target whenever possible.
Mid Game
Objectives
Your priorities during the mid game are:
- Become familiar with Necromancer skills.
- Decide which of the three primary build paths you want to specialize in.
- Begin farming bosses for your endgame equipment.
Recommended Equipment
Daggers
Recommended for physical and critical-focused builds.
Crystal Cache
Recommended for magic and caster builds. Choose the option that matches your intended specialization.
Soulbinder Set
Obtained from Demon’s Maw.
This is the primary armor set for most Necromancer builds and remains effective until you’re ready to transition into full endgame equipment. At this stage, begin farming bosses that drop gear specific to your chosen build.
Late Game
Objective
Complete your final build and optimize your equipment. Because Necromancer supports many different playstyles, there is no single universal endgame gear list. However, several pieces are considered core for most builds.
Recommended Endgame Equipment
Undead Gem
Best-in-slot offensive gem for Necromancer.
Heart Gem
Best-in-slot defensive gem, greatly improving survivability.
Power Set
The primary endgame armor set used by most Necromancer builds.
Progression Summary
- Level your Summoner to Job Level 50.
- Unlock Necromancer in Festering Woods.
- Farm Jack-o’-Lantern, Serpent Fang, Ashwalker Set, and Blitzcore Artifacts.
- Progress into the Soulbinder Set.
- Decide whether your build will focus on Magic, Melee, or Minions.
- Begin farming bosses for build-specific equipment.
- Complete your endgame setup with the Power Set, Undead Gem, and Heart Gem.
Following this progression provides a solid foundation for nearly every Necromancer build while allowing plenty of flexibility to tailor the class to your preferred playstyle.