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ESO Necromancer class and skills overview

ESO Necromancer class and skills overview

Learn about the newest playable class in Elder Scrolls Online

Necromancer
Class and Skills detailed overview
[Elsweyr Chapter]

 

Class Overview

Everybody dies. This is the indisputable fact, but there are individuals who do not accept it. Many magickly talented inhabitants of the Elder Scrolls World have tried to circumvent the death itself, and some of them succeeded... sort of.

Necromantic practices are strictly forbidden, but the promise of great power and immortality entices many. Most of the would-be Necromancers die quickly, killed by the very undead creatures that they sought to study. However, those who survive and learn, become immensely powerful. The most talented of them become able to control armies of undead abominations and call upon the powers of the death itself to their aid. Necromancers are able to reanimate dead bodies, siphon life essences out of their enemies, revive fallen comrades (whether they like it or not...), and protect themselves with bone and flesh. 

The Necromancer Class is a part of the Elsweyr Expansion of the Elder Scrolls Online and will be available from the 4th of June 2019.

In this guide, we will cover all currently known Necromancer's Skills and Passives. We have decided to divide them into four main categories:

  • Offensive Skills - focused around dealing Damage, and raising Undead Minions that then fight in the Necromancer's stead.
  • Healing Skills - focused around keeping allies and Necromancers themselves alive
  • Defensive/Utility Skills - skills that boost Necromancer's and his ally's capabilities (both defensive and offensive), or otherwise help them in battle. Resurrection skills will also be included in this category.
  • Passive Skills - all skills that boost Necromancer's power passively are featured in this category.
Necromancer Class Features
 Commands the powers of Frost, Fire, and Lightning elements
 Raises Undead Minions that then fight his battles
 Able to transform himself into a Bone Colossus
 Can keep his allies alive, and "resurrect" multiple characters at a time
 Utilizes the Living Death magic to buff himself and his allies
 Becomes more powerful with every fallen enemy
 Can break and bend corpses to his will, and use their remains to create barriers, and control the battlefield

 

Necromancer's Skill Trees

Living Death
Living Death
Call upon the powers of life and death to reinforce and heal allies, resurrect the fallen, and siphon vital energies from enemies.
Bone Tyrant
Bone Tyrant
Use the remains of enemies to your advantage. Break and Bend corpses to create unpenetrable obstacles. Cover yourself with the armor made of bone and flesh, and raise in power with every fallen enemy.
Reaper
Grave Lord
Draw from the power of the Lightning, Frost, and Fire elements to bring despair upon your enemies. Raise undead minions, bend them to your will, force them to fight your battles, and convert every fallen enemy into your mindless servant.

 

Offensive Skills

Death Scythe
Death Scythe (Bone Tyrant)

You Cleave enemies in front of you with a Death Scythe, Dealing 615 Magic Damage, and Healing yourself for 25% of your Max HP  for the first Target Damaged, and an additional 3% Max HP for each additional Damaged enemy (up to 5 enemies are counted for the additional Heal). Costs 2970 Magicka

This skill has the following morphs:

  • Ruinous Scythe - Cleaves enemies for 616 Physical Damage, negates next 2000 Healing received by Damaged enemies for 2 seconds and Heals you for 25% of your Max HP  for the first Target Damaged, and an additional 3% Max HP for each additional Damaged enemy (up to 5 enemies are counted for the additional Heal).
  • Swift Scythe - Death Scythe's effect + You additionally Heal for 10% of your Max HP over 5 seconds after dealing Damage.

Offensive Area of Effect ability combined with rather strong self-Heal. This will increase Necromancer's survivability greatly, and thanks to Ruinous Scythe's resource requirement change will be used by both Magicka and Stamina-based builds.

Frozen Colossus
Ultimate: Frozen Colossus (Grave Lord)

Unleashes a Flesh Colossus on nearby enemies, dealing 1232 Frost Damage three times. Each hit increases all damage taken by affected enemies by 30% for 3 seconds. Costs 150 Ultimate.

This skill has the following morphs:

  • Pestilent Colossus - Deals increased Disease Damage instead of Frost Damage.
  • Glacial ColossusFrozen Colossus's effect + The last hit stuns all affected enemies.

This is a solid AoE Ultimate that synergizes with all other AoE nuke abilities in the game by providing a window in which all Damage received by enemies is greatly increased. This will excel when timed well with Ultimates of other group members, and provide unbelievable AoE burst Damage potential to Necromancer's groups.

Flame Skull
Flame Skull (Grave Lord)

Throws an explosive skull at your Target, dealing 739 Flame Damage. Every Third Flame Skull cast deals Damage increased by 20%. Costs 2700 Magicka.

This skill has the following morphs:

  • Venom Skull - Costs Stamina instead of Magicka, Deals Poison Damage instead of Flame Damage, and every Necromancer ability cast while in combat counts towards the third Cast's 20% Damage bonus (this means that every third ability used should be the Venom Skull).
  • Ricochet Skull Flame Skull's effect + The Skull bounces to other nearby enemies up to two times.

Both Flame Skull's morphs are solid DPS abilities. Ricochet Skull deals Cleave Damage to two additional Enemies, while Venom Skull has 20% increased Damage if used as an every third Necromancer ability cast (this gives Necromancer's abilities an additional internal synergy), and will excel when combined with enough other Necromancer's skills.

Blastbones
Blastbones (Grave Lord)

2.5 Second after casting this, a Skeleton will raise from the ground and run towards the Target. When it reaches its destination, it explodes, dealing 1335 Flame Damage to all enemies within the 6-meter radius. The Skeleton leaves a Corpse after exploding. Costs 2700 Magicka.

This skill has the following morphs:

  • Blighted Blastbones - Costs 2295 Stamina instead of Magicka, deals Disease Damage, and reduces the Health Recovery and Healing Received of all affected enemies by 30% for 5 seconds.
  • Stalking BlastbonesBlastbones's effect + Damage from Skeleton's explosion is increased by 10% for every second it spends chasing the Target (for a maximum of 70% bonus Damage).

An AoE Skill with quite interesting mechanics. The Stalking Blastblades have a large potential, especially in PvP, when they will often gain a maximum 70% Damage bonus. The PvE viability of  Stalking Blastblades sort of depends on the Skeleton's speed (weirdly, the slower it is the better, as it will spend more time running towards the Target, and gain more Damage Bonus thanks to this). Blighted Blastbones can be used as AoE skill by Stamina Necromancers and will be useful in negating Boss's regenerative abilities.

Boneyard
Boneyard (Grave Lord)

Creates a desecrated area under your Target's feet, dealing 2244 Frost Damage over 10 seconds, the damage is increased by 20% if a Corpse is consumed on the cast. Ally standing within the Skill's area of influence can activate the Grave Robber Synergy, dealing additional 1193 Frost Damage to all Targets in range, and healing the Necromancer for an amount equal to the additional Damage Done. Costs 3510 Magicka.

This skill has the following morphs:

  • Unnerving BoneyardBoneyard's effect + Reduces Physical and Spell Resistances of all enemies hit by 5280.
  • Avid BoneyardBoneyard's effect + Necromancer can activate the Grave Robber Synergy by himself.

A potent ground-based AoE skill with a self-heal attached. The Avid Boneyard morph is especially useful for solo content, as it enables the Necromancer to activate the Synergy by himself, while the Unnerving Boneyard provides a DPS increase to Necromancer's group by offering a 10-second AoE resistance debuff that affects all enemies in the 6-meter radius.

Skeletal Mage
Skeletal Mage (Grave Lord)

Rises a Skeletal Mage that fights against Necromancer's enemies for 16 seconds. The Mage deals 245 Shock Damage to the closest Target every 2 seconds and creates a Corpse on death. Costs 2700 Magicka.

This skill has the following morphs:

  • Skeletal Archer - Costs Stamina instead of Magicka, deals Physical  Damage instead of Shock Damage, and has a stacking Damage buff that increases Skeletal Archer's Damage Done by 10% each time it deals Damage.
  • Exploding MageSkeletal Mage's effect + If the Mage survives for the whole 16-second duration it explodes, inflicting 397 Shock Damage to all Targets around it.

A very efficient offensive skill that deals almost 2000 Damage over 16 seconds when unmorphed. Skeletal Archer morph increases the Priority-Target Damage, while Exploding Mage adds a low-damaging AoE effect to the skill. This skill also synergizes with Necromancer's Corpse-requiring abilities.

Shocking Siphon
Shocking Siphon (Grave Lord)

Tears the last spark of life out of a Corpse, dealing 2880 Shock Damage to all Targets between the Necromancer and the targetted Corpse. Costs 3240 Magicka.

This skill has the following morphs:

  • Mystic SiphonShocking Siphon's effect + You restore 2880 Magicka over 12 seconds while siphoning the Corpse.
  • Detonating Siphon - Costs Stamina instead of Magicka, deals Physical Damage instead of Shock Damage, and after the siphoning is fully complete, it causes a Corpse to explode, dealing 397 Damage to nearby enemies.

A strong offensive AoE skill with positioning requirements (the Skeletal Mage can be utilized to create a Corpse in the right spot for easier and more effective Shocking Siphon cast). The Mystic Siphon refounds itself almost completely, which greatly contributes towards Magicka Necromancer's Sustainability, while Detonating Siphon is suited for a Stamina-Based Melee Necromancer Build, thanks to its added AoE Damage.

Healing Skills

Render Flesh
Render Flesh (Living Death)

Repairs damaged flesh by sacrificing a part of your power. This ability heals you or one of your allies for 1232 Health and applies a Minor Defile debuff on you. This debuff reduces your health recovery rate and healing received by 15% for 4 seconds. Costs 4320 Magicka.

This skill has the following morphs:

  • Resistant Flesh - Render Flesh's Effect + Grants healed Target a Resistance equal to the half of the hitpoints restored.
  • Bereft Flesh - Render Flesh's Effect + Heals a second Target using a nearby Corpse (this requires a Corpse to be present nearby).

When morphed, this skill brings a solid Multi-Heal/Resistance-boosting Heal to Necromancer's toolkit. The Debuff can prove to be problematic, however, and will require some good timing in order to minimize its effect.

Life Amid Death
Life Amid Death (Living Death)

Heals you and your allies for 821 Health by releasing soul fragments from the nearby corpses. Costs Magicka.

This skill has the following morphs:

  • Enduring DeathLife Amid Death's effect + Consumes a Corpse to you and your allies for 795 Health over 5 seconds, and up to 5 Corpses and increases the Heal over Time duration by 5 seconds per corpse.
  • Renewing Undeath Life Amid Death's effect + Removes up to three negative effects if a Corpse is consumed, and continues to heal you and your allies for 795 Health over 5s.

This AoE HoT ability has much potential, but it requires multiple Corpses to be present in the area to unlock a large portion of its capabilities. It will work especially great in situations when a lot of adds are dying frequently and lose much of its power during Single-Target engagements. This skill has some synergy with the Spirit Mender and its morphs (the Intensive Mender especially), as well as with the Bone Armor, Skeletal Mage, and Blastbones.

Life and Death
Spirit Mender (Living Death)

Summons a Ghost that stays by your side for 16s, and heals you and your allies for 245 Health during that time every 2 seconds. Ghost creates a corpse when it dies. Costs 2700 Magicka.

This skill has the following morphs:

  • Spirit Ward - Spirit Mender's effect + 10% of your Damage received is transferred to the Ghost.
  • Intensive Mender Spirit Mender's effect  + Ghost lasts half as long, but his healing effect is tripled.

An AoE Heal ability that synergizes with Life Amid Death and Restoring Tether, because of the Corpse generation. The Intensive Mender morph looks especially promising and has a chance to become a staple of Necromancer's Healing builds (unless its cost will be unreasonably high).

Restoring Tether
Restoring Tether (Living Death)

Siphons the remaining life force from a Corpse, and uses it to Heal you and allies located between the corpse and yourself for 2880 Health over 12 seconds. Costs 3240 Magicka.

This skill has the following morphs:

  • Braided Tether - Restoring Tether's effect + Increases the Healing Done by 5% for each Ally between the Corpse and the Caster (for a maximum of 30% additional Healing).
  • Adjacent TetherRestoring Tether's effect  + The closer you stay to the Corpse, the more Health you siphon (up to 30% more if you stay next to the Corpse).

This is a versatile Healing over Time spell that synergizes with the Spirit Mender, Blastbones, Skeletal Mage and Bone Armor. However, it has a positioning requirement that makes it somewhat tricky to use to its full potential.

Curing Cadaver
Curing Cadaver (Bone Tyrant)

You absorb sparks of life still lingering in nearby Corpses, Healing yourself for 2970 Health. This effect is increased by 75% per additional Corpse.

This skill has the following morphs:

  • Mortuary MendingCuring Cadaver's effect + Your Damage Taken is reduced by 30% for each additional Corpse consumed.
  • Curative BoomCuring Cadaver's effect + You gain 5 Ultimate for each additional Corpse consumed.

When the Corpse requirements are met, this Ability and both of its morphs become very powerful. Mortuary Mending can make you almost invulnerable if enough Corpses are present, while Curative Boom has the potential to considerably boost your Ultimate generation.

Defensive/Utility Skills

Reanimate
Ultimate: Reanimate (Living Death)

Bring up to 3 allies back to life, reanimating them at the target location. Costs 200 Ultimate.

This skill has the following morphs:

  • Renewing Animation - Reanimate's effect + Restore 5000 of your Stamina and Magicka for each of the reanimated allies.
  • Animate Blastbones - Reanimate's effect + summon Blastbones by consuming up to three other nearby corpses. One Blastbone is Summoned for each consumed Corpse.

This skill certainly has the potential to become one of the most powerful Ultimates in the game, as the mass resurrection effect with a bonus attached to it can swing the tide of any engagement.

Expunge
Expunge (Living Death)

Removes up to 3 negative effects from the caster, and restores  3090 Magicka or Stamina over the next 5 seconds (the higher stat is always chosen).

This skill has the following morphs:

  • Expunge & Vivify - Expunge's effect + Restore 1020 Stamina or Magicka (the lower stat is always chosen).
  • Expunge $ Modify Expunge's effect + Restore 10 % more resources for each removed debuff.

A self-cleaning ability, that might be very useful in the right circumstances. This provides a Self-Sustain tool for a Necromancer, and the triple cleanse is powerful by itself.

Bone Goliath Transformation
Ultimate: Bone Goliath Transformation (Bone Tyrant)

Transform yourself into a Bone Goliath, immediately restoring 30000 Health and increasing your Maximum Health by 30000 for 20 seconds. While in Goliath form, your Fully Charged Heavy Attacks restore 5280 Health and your Light Attacks restore 2640 Health. Costs 300 Ultimate.

This skill has the following morphs:

  • Pummeling GoliathBone Goliath Transformation's effect + Your Bash attacks hit multiple enemies in front of you.
  • Ravenous GoliathBone Goliath Transformation's effect + You deal 5% of your Maximum HP in Damage to nearby Targets every second. You restore Health equal to all Damage dealt that way.

A very powerful Ultimate that lets you withstand unbelievable amounts of incoming Damage, and serves as an emergency button in near-death situations. This becomes even more powerful if a lot of Targets are present in the melee range.

Bone Armor
Bone Armor (Bone Tyrant)

You cover yourself with Hardened Bones, gaining Major Ward and Major Resolve, which increase your Spell and Physical Resistances by 5280 for 18 seconds. A Corpse is created when this ability fades. Costs 4050 Magicka.

This skill has the following morphs:

  • Beckoning Armor - Bone Armor's effect + Pulls Ranged Enemies towards you every 3 seconds.
  • Beneficient Armor - Bone Armor's effect + Reduces the cost of your Skeletal Mendor, Skeletal Mage, and Skeletal Bomber by 12% while active.

This ability provides Necromancers with some additional survivability. The Beckoning Armor is especially promising, as it pulls scattered Ranged Enemies into melee range which enables faster AoE clears. The Corpse that is created after this ability expires synergizes with the Restoring Tether and the  Life Amid Death.

Bone Totem
Bone Totem (Bone Tyrant)

Places a Bone Totem at your feet that reduces all your Damage taken by 8%. 2 seconds after its placement, the Totem instills Fear in nearby enemies, holding them in place for 4 seconds. Costs 4050 Magicka.

This skill has the following morphs:

  • Remote TotemBone Totem's effect + You can place the Totem up to 28 meters away from you.
  • Agony TotemBone Totem's effect + Allies can activate Pure Agony Synergy, dealing 150 Magic Damage to nearby Targets over 5 seconds, and increasing Damage taken by nearby Targets by 8%.

A very solid CC/Defensive ability. Remote Totem morph provides extra flexibility by giving Necromancer access to ranged CC effect, while Agony Totem serves as a minor AoE Damaging spell combined with a noticeable DPS-increasing effect.

Grave Grasp
Grave Grasp (Bone Tyrant)

Three patches of skeletal claws spring from the ground in front of you, reducing the movement speed of all enemies in range by 50% and reducing their Damage Done by 15% for 5 seconds. Costs 3780 Magicka.

This skill has the following morphs:

  • Clutching GraspGrave Grasp's effect + Each of the three summoned patches can immobilize a single enemy for 3.1 seconds.
  • Empowering GraspGrave Grasp's effect + Your Allies hit by the patches benefit from 40% increased effect of their next Light Attack (this effect lasts for 5 seconds or until used), and hitting your Spirit Mender or a Skeletal Mage increases their effectiveness by 40% for 5 seconds.

Very interesting CC ability combined with a Damage Reduction. Clutching Grasp will be especially interesting in PvP while Empowering Grasp can prove to be a staple of Necromancer builds based on the summons.

Passives

Death Gleaning Death Gleaning (Bone Tyrant) - Every enemy that dies within a 28-meter radius around you restores you some Stamina and Magicka if you have a Bone Tyrant ability slotted. This effect has a 2-second internal Cooldown.
Disdain Harm Disdain Harm (Bone Tyrant) - You take 10% less Damage from DoT effects if you have a Bone Tyrant ability active.
Health Avarice Health Avarice (Bone Tyrant) - Each Bone Tyrant ability slotted increases your Healing Received by 2%.
Last Gasp Last Gasp (Bone Tyrant) - Increases your maximum Health by 2000.
Reusable Parts Reusable Parts (Grave Lord) - If an Enemy dies within 4 seconds after being damaged by one of your Necromancer skills, your next Spirit Mender, Blastbones or Skeletal Mage cast if free.
Death Knell Death Knell (Grave Lord) - Each Grave Lord ability slotted increases your Critical Strike Chance against Targets below 25% Health by 10%.
Dismember Dismember (Grave Lord) Increases your Physical and Spell Penetration by 1500 when a Grave Lord ability is active.
Rapid Rot Rapid Rot (Grave Lord) Your Damage Over Time effects now deal 10% increased Damage.
Curative Curse Curative Curse (Living Death) Your Healing Done is increased by 8% while you have a Negative Effect active on you.
Near-Death Experience Near-Death Experience (Living Death) Your Critical Strike with Healing Skills is increased in proportion to the severity of your Target's wounds (up to 20% bonus Critical Chance) if you have a Living Death ability slotted.
Corpse Consumption Corpse Consumption (Living Death) You generate 10 Ultimate when you use an ability on a Corpse. This effect has a 16-second internal Cooldown.
Undead Confederate Undead Confederate (Living Death) - Your Stamina and Magicka recovery is increased by 300 when you have a Necromancer summon active.


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END NOTE

This is an early version of our guide. We plan to upgrade upon it and add further information, including the Builds section. Please remember that the Necromancer Class is not yet released, and all specific Costs/Effects in above-mentioned Skills and Passives are subject to change. If you have any suggestions, please write them down in the comments section.

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Bethesda Softworks