Warning: As of Season 31 (April 2024), this guide is no longer maintained and unlisted as better versions of this playstyle exist. Instead, check out our LoD Poison Scythe Necromancer Guide.
Introduction
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Welcome to the Grace of Inarius Grim Scythe Necromancer! This is a budget version of the LoD Poison Scythe build but still brings a gigantic amount of damage and survivability in both solo and group play.
In the early days, shortly after Necromancer's release in Season 11, the set was used with a broken interaction between the (6) Bonus Bone Storm and Mirinae, Teardrop of the Starweaver that caused the gem to proc at ridiculous rates and destroy everything on its own without the need to do much. This was quickly nerfed and left Inarius unused for a long time, as typically Legacy of Dreams-based setups tended to perform better on the Necromancer. It was later buffed with bigger numbers to its current form.
Even though Grace of Inarius is not part of any META setup right now and is slightly dragging behind another build using the same set - Inarius Corpse Explosion - it sees use especially for solo pushing on the Inarius solo leaderboards. Grim Scythe is an iconic Necromancer skill and makes you feel like a true Reaper of Souls as you swing your weapon against the demons of Hell!
Simple rotation ✔
Great AoE damage ✔
No cooldown required ✔
Rewards good positioning✔
❌ Lacks clear speed
❌ Positioning is critical
❌ Low single target damage
❌ Simulacrums do all damage
Core Setup
Items
- Grace of Inarius grants our Bone Armor 1000% damage as well as granting our character 6% damage reduction (instead of 3%) per enemy hit. The (6) Bonus makes enemies take 19,000% increased damage from the Necromancer while under the effect and for 3 seconds afterwards.
- Wisdom of Kalan improves this damage reduction effect by quadrupling our toughness (10 x 6% = 60% reduction --> 15 x 6% = 90% reduction).
- Haunted Visions allows Simulacrum to cast Grim Scythe and last forever.
- Nayr's Black Death for up to 500% increased damage to our Poison Grim Scythe.
- Trag'Oul's Corroded Fang for a 200% separate damage multiplier and to apply Curses.
- Dayntee's Binding provides us with 50% damage reduction when an enemy is affected by a Curse.
- Krysbin's Sentence for the 300% damage to stunned enemies, coming from Bone Armor Dislocation.
- Convention of Elements for 200% damage during our Poison cycle.
- Depth Diggers for 100% damage to Grim Scythe.
- Leger's Disdain for 80% damage increase per point of Essence restored.
Global Stat Priorities
Our offensive priorities are: Poison Damage > Critical Hit Chance/Critical Hit Damage > Area Damage along with as much Grim Scythe damage as possible. Attack Speed is helpful, especially for stacking Bane of the Stricken in solo, but you don't need to aim for any specific breakpoint. No cooldown is needed for this build as you will only cast Simulacrum at the beginning of a rift and if they die along the way.
Assembling the Build
Item Stat Priorities
Gems
Skills
Passives
Paragon Points
Follower
Gameplay
Hardcore
Variants
Concept
For speed content we're pumping up our movement speed with Steuart's Greaves, Warzechian Armguards, Blood Rush Metabolism, Devour Devouring Aura and Fueled by Death. The combination of Goldwrap + Avarice Band + Boon of the Hoarder will make us invincible once we kill an enemy and pick up some gold.
Gameplay
For speed content this build is easy to play as we don't have to time anything with Convention of Elements. Summon your Simulacrum Blood and Bone at the start, use Blood Rush Metabolism to move and finally use Bone Armor Dislocation when encountering elites to activate Krysbin's Sentence before cutting them down.
Setups
In groups, swap Warzechian Armguards with Nemesis Bracers and Stone of Jordan with Avarice Band.
Concept
This is the standard setup we covered above. Bane of the Stricken is needed as the third gem to kill the Rift Guardian. In solo it's all about getting as many enemies together as you can so you can do insane damage during your Poison cycle on Convention of Elements.
Gameplay
As usual in solo we have to pull everything, stay alive, and kill everything all on our own. Your Simulacrum will move with you, so position them well so they don't die and can do maximum damage. If they die you can re-summon them, but your damage will drop significantly if they die again before the cooldown is back up.
Cast each Poison skill once every 15 seconds to build your Nayr's Black Death up, and use Bone Armor Dislocation on your Poison cycle of Convention of Elements. Make sure to save a pylon for the boss so you can use Nemesis Bracers after stacking Bane of the Stricken for a minute or two to have extra targets for Area Damage and Leger's Disdain.
Setups
At high Paragon (4000+) it makes sense to run Flawless Royal Ruby in your armor sockets if you can compensate the lost Vitality. At that point you can also consider dropping Wisdom of Kalan + Krelm's Buff Bracers for Ring of Royal Grandeur + Aughild's Authority.
Concept
In groups, we have supporters to do most of the job for us. We just need to make sure to curse everything, position our Simulacrum well and swipe at the right moment.
Gameplay
Similar to the solo version, except we don't have to gather the monsters and staying alive is much easier thanks to the zBarb's pulling and stomping and the zDH's buffs (or zMonk if you have one). Just move to the zBarb's Ground Stomp and cut everything down.
Make sure that your first swing in Poison has every buff up (using Bone Armor last for the stun) and correct positioning as all the little trash will die instantly, costing us Area Damage on successive swings. In other words, don't swing your scythe randomly, swing with purpose! If there is an Oculus Ring nearby, stand in it for 85% increased damage.
Setups
You can take Blood Rush instead of Death Nova for speed farming in groups.
If you feel too squishy, you can replace Ring of Royal Grandeur + Aughild's Authority with Wisdom of Kalan, Ancient Parthan Defenders and a 6th set piece.
Video Guide
Mechanics
Simulacrum
Leger's Disdain
Nayr's Black Death
Summary
- Put together the core items and acquire the full Grace of Inarius set.
- Learn to position your Simulacrum Blood and Bone in density, activate your Poison skills in order, and stun with Bone Armor Dislocation on your Poison Convention of Elements cycle to activate Krysbin's Sentence.
- Gather large groups of enemies with Bone Spear Blighted Marrow to slash them down with Area Damage.
- Keep your Bone Armor stacks high and stay within the enemies to get the most of your damage reduction from Grace of Inarius.
Town Is Lava!
Credits
Original guide by Raxxanterax
Rework & updates by wudijo