Diablo 3
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Trag’Oul Death Nova Necromancer Guide
Last Updated: July 8th 2024
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Introduction
Season 27 brought updates to the Death Nova Necromancer with buffs to Funerary Pick and Iron Rose. This patch also included a juicy boost for Trag'Oul's Avatar, all of which combines into a powerhouse for Greater Rift pushing. You can make very similar setups using Legacy of Dreams or Grace of Inarius which are almost equally strong but rank on different solo leaderboards.
All the power comes from having large pulls that scale your AoE damage through the roof. As a result, pushing high in solo typically requires a Rift Guardian that spawns adds consistently (e.g. Saxtris, Eskandiel) or using one or multiple saved Pylons with Nemesis Bracers to spawn extra targets that can fuel Bloodtide Blade. Even with the massive damage bonus of Funerary Pick fights against single targets bosses can take forever on the highest tiers.
While not being very consistent at pushing, it can be really fun to decimate huge pulls in just a few casts with this build. Especially when playing on higher tiers in a group where you don't have to worry about pulling or killing the boss, this build is the most effective. The main parts of the guide describe the solo pushing variant, adjustments for different game modes can be found below.
Easy to set up ✔
Simple DPS rotation ✔
Incredible AoE damage ✔
High toughness and recovery ✔
❌ Requires GR fishing
❌ Simulacrums can die
❌ Has to stand still a lot
❌ Struggles on single targets
Core Setup
Items
- Trag'Oul's Avatar quadruples our Life and adds 6,250% extra damage to Blood Skills. We also gain all runes for Blood Rush and Siphon Blood for more utility and survivability.
- Bloodtide Blade adds 400% increased damage to Death Nova for each nearby enemy, up to 10 stacks.
- Funerary Pick provides another steady 200% damage bonus after stacking it with Siphon Blood Power Shift as well as an extra bonus against 1-3 targets.
- Iron Rose casts Blood Nova automatically while siphoning. These are replicated by Simulacrums, which can also proc Area Damage.
- Haunted Visions makes our Simulacrums last forever.
- Krysbin's Sentence gives us 100% against slowed or 300% extra damage against stunned (etc.) enemies.
- Convention of Elements fits in well with the rotation-based gameplay of the build to provide another 200% extra damage during our nukes.
- Dayntee's Binding adds 50% damage reduction while any nearby enemy is cursed.
- Mantle of Channeling synergizes with our channeling-based playstyle.
Season 32 Ethereals
Ethereals are powerful rare weapons that can only be found during Season 32. They were initially the Season 24 Theme. They have incredible stats, a random Legendary power, and a free passive for your class. Read our Ethereal Mechanics Guide for full details on how they work and our Ethereal Farming Guide to learn how to acquire them. What you should prioritize on them is the following:
- The Legendary Power
This build requires Funerary Pick and Bloodtide Blade to be functional. The first doesn't roll, so we need our Ethereal to roll the second power and cube the other. For some setups you want to keep one with Scythe of the Cycle, which is available. We also want a good roll on our Legendary power if it has a range. For speed content it is always helpful to have Ethereals with Echoing Fury, In-geom or Messerschmidt's Reaver powers, so keep those if you find them. - The Ethereal Itself
There are 3 different weapons available to us, each with its own benefits:- Blackbog's Sharp - This is by far the best Ethereal for this build. The stats are good regardless of its elemental damage stat and it has a stacking damage buff that helps a lot against elites and rift guardians.
- Soul Harvest - This is an alternative option that is significantly weaker due to the lack of the damage stacking effect.
- Blackhand Key - This is a back-up option while you are looking for a better weapon. The fear effect can make pushing very difficult, but it can come in handy when you're trying for farm with this.
- The Ethereal Stat Rolls
Each Ethereal comes with its own fixed set of powerful affixes. While some have a static value, many have a wide stat range. This means the difference between good and bad rolls is significant and something you should look for. - A Useful Passive
This is just icing on the cake because a fifth passive is not going to make or break your build. You're better off hunting for the things above. Check out the Passives section down below to see which ones you're looking for.
Global Stat Priorities
Our offensive priorities are: Death Nova Damage > Critical Hit Damage > Physical Damage > Critical Hit Chance > Area Damage. As a channeling skill, Siphon Blood has specific breakpoints and we want to either have 1.53 APS (12 frames), 1.67 APS (11 frames) or 1.83 APS (10 frames) together with the Swift Harvesting. Keep in mind that Frenzied increases your Attack Speed by 25% with the Altar of Rites. Make sure to stay below 2.02 APS with the buff active.
All remaining stats go towards defense in the following order: Vitality > Armor > Life % > Elite Damage Reduction > All Resistance. Note that Vitality is better than a socketed Flawless Royal Amethyst on a Helm up to ~8000 total Vitality.
Assembling the Build
Item Stat Priorities
Gems
Skills
Passives
Paragon Points
Altar of Rites
Follower
Gameplay
Hardcore
Variants
Nephalem Rifts
GR Solo Speeds
GR Solo Push
GR Group Trash Killer
Concept
We have more than enough damage, so we include extra speed: Steuart's Greaves and Boon of the Hoarder. Wherever possible, stack up more Pickup Radius to increase the size of Aura of Frailty. We don't play around Convention of Elements and just attack whenever we find enemies.
Gameplay
Use Blood Rush to go fast and hunt big packs or elites as much as possible. Keep up Bone Armor and use all damage multipliers (Krysbin's Sentence, Convention of Elements, Funerary Pick) for your nukes. Rejoice as Briggs' Wrath pulls enemies (and their loot) to you!
Setups
To go even faster, you can drop Bone Armor and Spreading Malediction to pick up Devour Devouring Aura and Fueled by Death.
In groups, replace Ring of Royal Grandeur, Mantle of Channeling and Guardian's Jeopardy with Avarice Band, Trag'Oul's Heart, Goldwrap and Nemesis Bracers.
At higher Paragon (2500+), replace Guardian's Jeopardy with Aughild's Authority.
If you don't want to channel and keep up Funerary Pick, you can also run with Scythe of the Cycle to have a more consistent damage bonus. In that case replace Siphon Blood and Mantle of Channeling with Devour Devouring Aura and Krelm's Buff Belt.
Concept
This is a speedier version designed for 2.5-3min runs. We include Steuart's Greaves to run faster and don't try to make large pulls but instead managing Siphon Blood becomes more important. Aim for a GR level where the boss dies in around one CoE rotation.
Gameplay
Keep up Bone Armor and use it on elites for extra damage from Krysbin's Sentence. If you are not just skipping long stretches, tap Siphon Blood regularly to keep up the buff from Funerary Pick. When you find a bigger pack or elites, target them to gain the extra damage bonus. On the boss, time Bone Armor to land during the Physical cycle.
Pay special attention to effects that produce large bursts of damage, such as dying Grotesques or Molten Explosions. These can easily kill your Simulacrums and leave you with a long cooldown before they come up again.
Setups
At higher Paragon (2000+), replace Guardian's Jeopardy with Aughild's Authority.
Concept
This is the main variation described in the other parts of the guide. We play around Bloodtide Blade while getting all of our multipliers up for short, high DPS bursts.
Gameplay
At the start of the run, carefully gather 300 stacks of the Trag'Oul's Avatar (4) Bonus, then summon your Simulacrums to improve their survivability.
Make sure to create large pulls and don't waste your time on small pulls or leftover elites. Instead, try to kite them to another group of enemies. Keep up Bone Armor and use all damage multipliers (Krysbin's Sentence, Convention of Elements, Funerary Pick) for your nukes. Make sure your Simulacrums are positioned well inside the pull. Rinse and repeat. Before the boss, save a pylon or two (not Conduit) to spawn enemies during the Rift Guardian fight after stacking Bane of the Stricken for 1-3 minutes.
Pay special attention to effects that produce large bursts of damage, such as dying Grotesques or Molten Explosions. These can easily kill your Simulacrums and leave you with a long cooldown before they come up again.
Setups
At low Paragon (2500 and below), replace Aughild's Authority with Guardian's Jeopardy.
For a more defensive variant, Blood Rush can be replaced by Leech or Decrepify.
Concept
This variant is very similar to the solo version. The main difference is that we are tankier through party buffs and don't have to kill the boss. We include Bane of the Powerful for more damage.
A slightly stronger but more difficult version is available using Scythe of the Cycle instead of Funerary Pick. For that, switch the Siphon Blood rune to Drain Life and make sure to not channel it too much between your CoE rotations as each Nova reduces the remaining duration of Bone Armor, which has to be refreshed more often. This version is especially useful for more coordinated high-end pushes with a separate Rift Guardian Killer in the party.
Gameplay
At the start of the run, carefully gather 300 stacks of the Trag'Oul's Avatar (4) Bonus, then summon your Simulacrums to improve their survivability.
Coordinate with your team about where to make pulls and when to nuke. Keep up Bone Armor (be careful to not interfere with your Supports making a pull for you) and the Funerary Pick buff, then use all damage multipliers (Krysbin's Sentence, Convention of Elements, Funerary Pick) for your damage phases. Make sure your Simulacrums are positioned well inside the pull. Jump into Oculus Rings when you see them and target elites as much as possible for the bonus from Funerary Pick.
Pay special attention to effects that produce large bursts of damage, such as dying Grotesques or Molten Explosions. These can easily kill your Simulacrums and leave you with a long cooldown before they come up again.
Setups
Once you feel tanky enough, you can replace Dayntee's Binding with Witching Hour for more damage.
At low Paragon (2500 and below), replace Aughild's Authority with Guardian's Jeopardy.
You can swap your chosen curse between Frailty Early Grave, Decrepify Wither or Leech Osmosis depending on what your party needs.
Video Guide
Mechanics
Trag'Oul's Avatar
Iron Rose
Funerary Pick
Simulacrum
Summary
- Gather the full Trag'Oul's Avatar set together with the core items.
- Always keep up Bone Armor.
- Make large pulls to benefit from Bloodtide Blade the most.
- Move your Simulacrums into position before a nuke.
- Prioritize high HP targets and elites with Siphon Blood for the bonus from Funerary Pick.
- Save pylons to kill the Rift Guardian more easily with extra enemies in a solo push.
Good luck!
Credits
Guide and updates by wudijo
Reviewed by Northwar
