Diablo Immortal offers many builds to play your character. Typically, these builds are designed to deal as much damage as possible – making everything easier. However, a YouTuber has come up with a Necro build that deals almost no damage at all, but focuses solely on control effects (“CC”).
What is this build? The YouTuber and Twitch streamer DM: Diablo Immortal has uploaded a video on his channel where he introduces his “zDPS PvP Necromancer”. zDPS stands for “zero DPS”, meaning: 0 damage per second.
Although Necromancers in the tier list of Diablo Immortal are not among the best classes, DM (short for: DarthMicrotransaction) can visibly dominate with his build. This is because he effectively takes away all action possibilities from opponents.
Unlike our recommended build for the Necromancer, the zDPS build aims to continuously control opponents. According to DM, the build should simply be “as annoying as possible”. We have included his video for you here:
This is what makes the build so strong: With the appropriate abilities, opponents can be hindered in movement and actions until your teammates finish them off.
This even helps against annoying opponents like Crusaders or Barbarians with their invulnerability effects, as these do not normally make them immune to control. You can simply wait it out and then take them down.
Additionally, DM’s build focuses on survivability with shields, rather than relying on companions as is typical for Necromancers. With the shields, you can even ignore damage effects that would otherwise prevent you from healing with bandages in PvP.
Know your opponents when playing in PvP! In the video, we showcase gameplay from all classes in Diablo Immortal:
Necromancer with Control Abilities is Just Annoying in PvP
What do I need for the build? Essentially, the build is based on just 4 of the abilities of the Necromancer combined with appropriate legendaries:
- Ghost Form with Intrusive Fear
- deals damage to opponents you move through and causes them to flee in fear
- Bone Spikes with Face Without Mouth
- instead of charging the ability, you fire 3 lines of spikes that launch opponents into the air
- Bone Armor with Weight of the Grave Soil
- also grants immunity to effects that would knock you out of position (“knockbacks”)
- Bone Wall Backbone of the Digger
- summons a pillar of decaying corpses that launches opponents into the air and slows further ones nearby
Your primary attack is freely selectable, although DM uses Soul Fire to make the build a bit more versatile and deal some damage. This isn’t necessary since you’re just focusing on CC, but it’s a useful enhancement.
Accordingly, weapons and shields are also of secondary importance. DM uses the Fascination of the Pyre in his build to ignite the Bone Wall and the Simulcrator to distract opposing pets.
Want to try the build? You can now easily switch classes. In our guide, you will find everything about class switching, and in the video, we explain how it works:
Here’s how to play the build: The gameplay is quite simple; you rotate your abilities to launch opponents into the air. However, keep in mind not to cast the skills too quickly in succession.
You can give enemies one second or less before using the next CC to bait their long cooldowns or better sync your own cooldowns.
Use Ghost Form both for attacking to inflict fear on opponents and for escaping. If you are low on health, retreat and make sure to use Bone Armor before healing. As long as damage effects only affect your shield and not your health points, you can still heal up.
Survival is the top priority; you want to control opponents for as long as possible. Don’t take unnecessary risks and let your teammates deal the damage.
