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With Season 8 on the horizon, Diablo 4 players are eager to dive into fresh content and explore new possibilities for their characters. However, if you're one of the many Necromancers who are still in Season 7 and enjoying the potency of your current build, don't worry—you can continue to wreak havoc with the Shadow Bloodwave Necromancer build, which remains powerful well into Season 8.

This article aims to provide a comprehensive guide to optimizing the Shadow Bloodwave Necromancer, especially for those of you who may still be playing the build in Season 7 or want to get ahead of the curve as we transition into the next season. We'll dive into everything from skill choices to Diablo IV Items gear recommendations, as well as how to tweak your build for the upcoming changes in Season 8.

Overview of the Shadow Bloodwave Necromancer

The Shadow Bloodwave Necromancer build revolves around the potent synergy between Bloodwave, Corpse Explosion, and shadow damage. This build is incredibly effective for both mob clearing and boss encounters, allowing players to engage with high DPS while also maintaining sustainability through healing and corpse management.

At the heart of this build is the Bloodwave ability, which, when combined with the right gear and passive bonuses, can dish out insane amounts of damage. However, as powerful as Bloodwave is, it's not the only skill in your arsenal. Let’s break down the skills, gear, and strategies that make this build so effective.

Skill Setup: The Core Components

1. Corpse Explosion (Shadow Skill)

Corpse Explosion is central to this build, as it enables you to consume corpses to deal massive AoE damage. By converting this skill into a Shadow Skill, we maximize its synergy with other shadow abilities. Using Corpse Explosion efficiently allows you to trigger Shadow Damage multipliers that can significantly increase your overall DPS.

Why use Corpse Explosion?

· Shadow synergy: Shadow skills increase damage as long as they are on your bar.

· AoE damage: Consumes corpses to deal burst damage to all enemies in range.

2. Bloodwave (Ultimate Ability)

Bloodwave is the crown jewel of this build, capable of delivering incredible damage to multiple enemies at once. In Season 7, it’s already an exceptional choice due to its ability to scale effectively with other passives. The key to using Bloodwave effectively is ensuring that it is paired with Corpse Explosion to clear large packs of enemies rapidly.

Why use Bloodwave?

· High damage scaling: Even with its nerf in Season 8, Bloodwave remains one of the highest-damaging abilities in the game.

· Corpse consumption: This ultimate skill consumes corpses to amplify damage, making it essential for clearing mobs.

3. Blight (Shadow Skill)

While Blight doesn’t directly deal damage, it serves an important role in enhancing your overall damage output. By applying Blight to enemies—especially elites—you trigger additional damage bonuses, increasing the damage you deal.

Why use Blight?

· Extra damage: Enemies affected by Blight take additional damage from your other skills.

· Shadow synergy: Blight is another shadow skill, contributing to your overall shadow damage bonus.

4. Decompose (For Generating Corpses)

Although it isn't used for damage, Decompose is an essential tool for corpse generation. This allows you to sustain your Bloodwave cycles and Corpse Explosion triggers without relying on external sources of corpses. However, the primary reason to use Decompose is not just corpse generation but the shadow synergy it provides.

Why use Decompose?

· Generate corpses: Helps create the corpses needed for Bloodwave and Corpse Explosion.

· Shadow synergy: Benefits from the shadow damage bonuses associated with shadow skills.

5. The Book of the Dead (Minions Disabled)

Unlike traditional minion-focused builds, this Necromancer build does not rely on summoning minions. Instead, you sacrifice the minions for critical strike chance and overpower bonuses, which enhances your direct damage output. By disabling the Book of the Dead, you gain additional damage bonuses without being bogged down by the micromanagement of minions.

Why use Book of the Dead?

· Increased critical strike chance: A significant boost to your ability to deal more damage.

· Overpower synergy: Maximizes your effectiveness in both mob clearing and boss fights.

Gear and Stats: Maximizing Your Potential

Helmet Slot: Harlequin’s Crest vs. Air of Perdition

The Harlequin’s Crest is a beginner-friendly option, providing substantial cooldown reduction. This is particularly important for triggering your ultimate ability more frequently, allowing you to spam Bloodwave to devastating effect.

On the other hand, Air of Perdition is highly recommended for pushing the highest tiers of content, particularly in Season 8. This helmet boosts damage across all abilities and interactions, including Bloodwave, while scaling effectively with boss powers in the new season.

Recommendation:

· Season 7: Harlequin’s Crest (ideal for cooldown reduction and beginner-friendly playstyle).

· Season 8: Air of Perdition (boosts damage across all abilities, great for boss encounters).

Chest Piece: All Stats and Maximum Life

The chest piece should focus on boosting all stats and maximum life. This is an important stat combination because all stats increase your Paragon bonuses and gear scaling, while maximum life directly boosts your overpower damage, which scales with your health.

Recommended Stats:

· All stats for early Paragon scaling.

· Maximum life for enhanced survivability and damage scaling.

Brawlers Aspect (Behemoth Aspect)

Behemoth Brawlers Aspect is a crucial item for this build. When you activate your ultimate (Bloodwave), it grants a significant damage boost, as well as extra ultimate skill ranks. The synergy here is perfect because you need every bit of damage amplification you can get to ensure Bloodwave’s potency.

Fortification and Damage

One of the key attributes for enhancing your Bloodwave is damage while fortified. With this bonus, Bloodwave will scale even further. Aim to get damage while fortified as much as possible, especially on your rings, gloves, and amulet.

Ring and Amulet: Stat Optimization

Amulet: Your amulet should prioritize cold damage, crit strike chance, and damage while fortified. These stats will maximize your effectiveness during Bloodwave and increase your overall survivability.

Rings: Aim for cooldown reduction, crit chance, and maximum life on your rings. These stats complement your goal of maximizing damage and survivability.

Witchcraft Boss Powers: Vulnerability and Utility

In Season 7, Vampiric Aura and Witchcraft Powers are critical for applying vulnerability to enemies. This increases the damage they take, synergizing with your other abilities, especially when dealing with higher-tier content or bosses.

For Season 8, you'll need to find an alternative method to apply vulnerability since some boss powers may be adjusted. Consider using Vampiric Aura or Witchcraft powers for automatic vulnerability applications.

Paragon Board and Glyphs: Powering Up Your Build

The Paragon Board for this build should focus on increasing overpower damage, crit chance, and damage scaling from Fortified and maximum life bonuses. These attributes are key to scaling the effectiveness of your core skills, especially Bloodwave.

For glyphs, focus on damage amplification and cooldown reduction. Specifically, Vex glyphs are an excellent choice for improving both damage and cooldowns, while Hungry Void glyphs provide some nice extra benefits, such as a pull effect for enemies, making it easier to group them for Bloodwave.

Final Thoughts: Transitioning to Season 8

Although the Shadow Bloodwave Necromancer is getting a slight nerf in Season 8, it remains a formidable choice for players looking to dive into the new content. The core concept of the build—using Bloodwave to deal massive damage while managing corpses and utilizing shadow skills—is still highly effective, even with the balance changes.

Season 8 introduces the possibility of boss powers and corruption mechanics, which will add a layer of complexity to your build. However, the Shadow Bloodwave Necromancer remains incredibly strong, particularly for new players in World Tier 4. You can scale up to higher tiers over time, optimizing your build as you progress.

To maximize your potential in both Season 7 and Season 8, fine-tune your gear, skill rotation, and stat priorities. Whether you're clearing mobs or facing off against elite bosses, this Necromancer build will continue to be a powerhouse, bringing both enjoyment and efficiency to your Diablo 4 experience.

As always, experiment with different skill and gear combinations to find what best suits your playstyle. This guide serves as a foundation for success, but ultimately, your success will come from adapting the build to your preferences and playstyle. Keep farming for better gear, optimize your Paragon board, and get ready for a powerful Season 8 experience with the Shadow Bloodwave Necromancer!