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Rathma Army of the Dead Necromancer Guide

Last Updated: July 9, 2024

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Introduction

Rathma Army of the Dead Solo Push
View all variants

While the Bones of Rathma set gave the name to the famous 'Rat Runs' (and the 'Rat Necro') that have been dominating the XP META almost entirely since the introduction of the class in Season 11, it was reworked for Army of the Dead in Season 23.

The build revolves around summoning a bunch of minions that reset your Army of the Dead cooldown very quickly through the Bones of Rathma (2) Bonus, which you use to mow down enemies. Instead of the 120 seconds cooldown this ability usually has, you are able to cast it once every few seconds to keep up a near continuous stream of damage.

This build is relatively slow, extremely Cooldown-hungry and has little toughness, all of which makes it difficult to play. On the other hand it rewards you with massive damage and works as a formidable Rift Guardian Killer (RGK). This role was further enhanced by the Season 27 update that reworked Funerary Pick, which consolidated the many different variants into pretty straightforward, similar playstyles around Siphon Blood. The core guide describes the solo push variant but you can find all of the variants further below.

Flavorful ✔
Impactful nuke
An army of minions ✔
Good AoE & single target ✔

❌ Very squishy
❌ Pet dependent
❌ Lack of mobility
❌ Cooldown dependent

Core Setup

Core Item Build

Items

  • The Bones of Rathma set adds a total of 29,750% damage bonus to Army of the Dead when you have 17 minions active. 7 come from Command Skeletons and 10 from Revive. Theoretically this can be boosted to 31,500% with Command Golem, although that's impractical. Skeletal Mages don't work for this set bonus.
  • Jesseth Arms gives you a massive 400% damage bonus that synergizes well with the Command Skeletons you're already using.
  • Fate's Vow is the core Army of the Dead item, giving a 250% additive damage bonus to that skill and enabling the Unconventional Warfare rune for all setups, improving single target damage.
  • Bonds of C'Lena give another 100% damage increase and allow Army of the Dead to deal 50% extra damage to a single target.
  • Funerary Pick gives us a 200% bonus multiplier with Siphon Blood Power Shift and another 300% or 600% multiplicative bonus against 1-3 targets.
  • Krysbin's Sentence is a staple in every Necromancer build, adding either 100% when the enemy is slowed or 300% damage when stunned (activated by Bone Armor Dislocation).
  • Captain Crimson's Trimmings give more Cooldown Reduction, toughness and provide extra damage.
  • Ring of Royal Grandeur is required to make the two sets work together.
  • Squirt's Necklace provides up to 100% damage bonus if you haven't taken damage recently.
  • Convention of Elements is a great DPS boost, giving up to 200% damage bonus when abilities are timed correctly.

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:

  1. The Legendary Power
    This build requires Funerary Pick and Trag'oul's Corroded Fang to be functional. Unfortunately, the first power cannot roll, we need exactly the second on our Ethereal so we can cube the other. In addition, for the Group RGK variant, we can run a Poison build with Nayr's Black Death that is much stronger than normal. We also want a good roll on our Legendary power if it has a range. Compared to the regular nonseasonal version, we drop Jesseth Arms but have to keep Command Skeletons in the setup for the set bonuses.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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: Cooldown Reduction > Physical Damage > Critical Hit Chance/Critical Hit Damage > Area Damage > Intelligence > Attack Speed. Attack Speed doesn't have a high priority as it doesn't increase the damage output of Army of the Dead, but it does give faster swings to Command Skeletons, allowing you to reset the cooldown faster. Make sure to reach at least 1.60 Attacks per Second (usually 1-2 rolls, which naturally come on Jesseth Skullscythe and Krysbin's Sentence).

Defensively you want to stack Vitality > Life % > Life per Hit > Armor > Elite Damage Reduction > All Resistance. Getting at least two Crowd Control Resistance rolls really helps when fighting Frozen, Nightmarish or Jailer elites, so keep an eye out for them.

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 RGK
Army of the Dead T16 Rifts

Concept
This setup uses Dead Storm to automatically deal damage around you after casting it. The idea is to run very fast keeping it up all the time to vaporize everything in your path. To achieve this, Messerschmidt's Reaver is included because we have more than enough damage. Stack up extra Pickup Radius where possible to increase the radius of Briggs' Wrath with Aura of Frailty.

Gameplay
Summon all your minions, keep up Command Skeletons at all times and use Army of the Dead Dead Storm to kill all enemies around you. Move quickly from pull to pull to ensure smooth cooldown resets.

Setups
If you are overkilling everything easily and feel comfortable without the extra Cooldown Reduction, replace Captain Crimson's Trimmings with Goldwrap and Steuart's Greaves for invincibility and more speed.

In groups, run the same setup but cube Nemesis Bracers instead of the Boots and wear Avarice Band instead of Briggs' Wrath. Without the Ring you can also replace Frailty with Devour Devouring Aura combined with Fueled by Death for more speed.

Army of the Dead GR Solo Speeds

Concept
This variation is very close to the solo push setup described in the main sections of the guide. The main difference is that we prioritize Area Damage less and Cooldown Reduction more and try to play around Squirt's Necklace as much as possible. Farm GR tiers that you can complete in around 3 minutes and where the Rift Guardian dies in 1-2 casts.

Gameplay
Activate Bone Armor right at the start and carefully kill the first 10 enemies for Revive. Stack up Power Shift and target the biggest enemies in a pull after you released Army of the Dead.

Stay at a safe distance and let your minions tank for you. Right before you pull enemies together with Death Valley, move in for Bone Armor Dislocation to boost your Krysbin's Sentence effect as you start your nuke.

Try to use Rathma's Shield to your advantage whenever it's ready. You can rush in and do a way more powerful nuke while keeping up Squirt's Necklace.

Setups
If you cannot survive at all, replace Zei's Stone of Vengeance with Gogok of Swiftness, Bane of the Powerful or Molten Wildebeest's Gizzard.

At low Paragon (1500 or less) you can consider replacing Captain Crimson's Trimmings with Guardian's Jeopardy. This gives you roughly similar damage, less recovery but more raw toughness to survive oneshots. In that case, put an even bigger focus on Cooldown Reduction rolls on your items to make up for the loss from Crimson.

Army of the Dead GR Solo Push

Concept
This is the setup described in the main sections of the guide. We stack large amounts of Cooldown Reduction and Area Damage to time our nukes around the Physical Convention of Elements cycle. For more information on how to optimize your push attempts, check the Revive entry in the mechanics section further below.

Gameplay
Activate Bone Armor right at the start and carefully kill the first 10 enemies for Revive. Alternatively, you can also open the GR, get back out and teleport to an Adventure Mode zone to get your Revives up quickly. The best minions to revive are small, fast melee monsters such as Accursed or Vile Swarms from Act 2 Desolate Sands.

Stack up Power Shift and target the biggest targets in a pull after you released Army of the Dead. Try to spawn Oculus Rings right before Physical to boost your damage.

Stay at a safe distance from the enemies and let your minions tank for you. Right before you pull enemies together with Death Valley, move in for Bone Armor Dislocation to boost your Krysbin's Sentence effect as you start your nuke.

Try to use Rathma's Shield to your advantage whenever it's ready. You can rush in and do a way more powerful nuke while keeping up Squirt's Necklace.

Setups
If you cannot survive at all, replace Zei's Stone of Vengeance with Gogok of Swiftness or Molten Wildebeest's Gizzard.

At low Paragon (1500 or less) you can consider replacing Captain Crimson's Trimmings with Guardian's Jeopardy. This gives you roughly similar damage and relatively less recovery but more raw toughness to survive oneshots. In that case, put an even bigger focus on Cooldown Reduction rolls on your items to make up for the loss from Crimson.

Army of the Dead RGK

Concept
Thanks to the Ethereal weapon we can run with Nayr's Black Death to play a Poison variant instead. You don't contribute much until the boss spawns. Instead, you assist the team by trying to pull enemies from all directions until the boss spawns and maybe finish off an elite here and there. As a Rift Guardian Killer we run without Area Damage.

Gameplay
Wait for your team to defeat the first enemies, then summon your Revives. Beware that you fear enemies away with every cast, so only use it when none are present or they are already crowd controlled in other ways.

Stack up Power Shift and target the biggest targets in a pull after you released Army of the Dead. Coordinate with your team so that they can apply a stun for your Krysbin's Sentence. On bosses, try to dodge incoming attacks to keep up Squirt's Necklace.

Setups
At low Paragon (1500 or less) you can consider replacing Captain Crimson's Trimmings with Guardian's Jeopardy. This gives you roughly similar damage, less recovery but more raw toughness to survive oneshots. In that case, put an even bigger focus on Cooldown Reduction rolls on your items to make up for the loss from Crimson.

Video Guide

Mechanics

Fate's Vow

Army of the Dead

Blood is Power

Revive

Summary

  • Put together the core items and acquire the full Bones of Rathma set.
  • Keep Jesseth Arms up at all times using Command Skeletons.
  • Tread carefully at the start of a run when you don't have Bone Armor and the damage reduction from the 4-piece bonus.
  • Use Army of the Dead to mow down enemies during the Physical Convention of Elements cycle.
  • Summon 10 Revive minions as soon as possible when you first produce corpses.
  • Use the power of Funerary Pick for more damage and an even bigger boost on single targets.

The Bones of Rathma has a unique playstyle and can be a great change of pace from other builds if you overcome it's main weakness of being very squishy. Just don't get hit, good luck!

Credits

Guide & updates by wudijo

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