Corpse Lance Necromancer Group Progression Variation

In groups, the Pestilence Corpse Lance build assumes the role of an elite hunting, Rift Guardian killing menace. Note that this variation of the build is strictly meant to be played with Support teammates and an accompanying AoE DPS player. This variation is no longer the preferred Rift Guardian Killer for groups, but we leave this page up for archival purposes.

Active Skills
Grim Scythe Cursed Scythe Command Skeletons Enforcer 1 Devour Voracious 2 Corpse Lance Brittle Touch 3 Blood Rush Potency 4 Land of the Dead Frozen Lands
Passive Skills
Swift Harvesting Final Service Blood is Power Eternal Torment

In this group variant you will be scaling off Curse application instead of the solo progression's Essence scaling. Thus, you should drop Simulacrum from the soloing build, and use Grim Scythe Cursed Scythe in its stead. This alteration will allow you to more easily stack Bane of the Stricken, while simultaneously enjoying the benefits of the base effects of all three curses: Decrepify, Leech and Frailty.

Since you will not need the sustain from Dark Mending due to the presence of Support teammates, you should alter your Command Skeletons rune to the cheaper Enforcer. The same logic applies to your Blood Rush rune; you will no longer need the emergency Corpses of Molting, so you can alter to the added safety of Potency.

Final Service and Blood is Power remain just as useful as they are for soloing Lance builds. Swift Harvesting should replace the solo-oriented Fueled by Death, as faster Grim Scythe attacks will stack Bane of the Stricken faster. Since you alter your damage scaling from Essence-based to Curse-based, will should alternate Overwhelming Essence from the soloing build into Eternal Torment, turning your 30 second curses into an indefinite debuff on affected enemies.

Due to the 4th Kanai's Cube slot in Season 33 and the ability to include an extra damage multiplier in the form of Reilena's Shadowhook, you will focus on expanding your Essence reserve alongside the usual recommendations for this build. Skill-wise, this means changing the base recommendation for the passive Eternal Torment for Overwhelming Essence.

Taking the easily stacking Crit Chance of the Brittle Touch rune one step further from the following spec, the group variation eschews all Crit Chance from gear in favor of full investement in Crit Damage, Cooldown Reduction and Increased Attack Speed.

To help you with farming the gear you need for your builds, we have two very useful guides that you can access by clicking the links below: a Salvage Guide to help you quickly check whether or not you can safely salvage a piece of gear and a Legendary Farming Guide to help you efficiently farm legendaries and set items.

The former Season 28 theme, the Altar of Rites, has been revised and re-added to Diablo 3 as a permanent character progression mechanic. — For virtually all builds and players of all skill levels — from casual to advanced — we recommend progressing through the Altar tree using the path outlined below. The suggested path is geared towards maximum quality of life first, then amplifying damage, and then mopping up the tree with defensive and edge case utility nodes.

Note that while they require reaching them with a Seal, Legendary Potion Powers are not part of the Seal cost system; Potions unlock with a separate resource called Primordial Ashes, obtained from salvaging Legendary or Set items of Primal (red bordered) quality. Upgrade them as soon as possible, and in the order shown below (courtesy of Caleko's Altar of Rites planner).

You can read more on the Altar of Rites, Seals and Legendary Potion Powers in our dedicated Altar of Rites Mechanics guide.

Relying entirely on Support teammates for his health sustain, the group variant of the Pestilence Lancer spec uses Bane of the Stricken in place of Gogok of Swiftness. The former is a staple for builds that specialize in taking down the Rift Guardian in groups, which is your exact role in this setup.

For more information about gems, please refer to our guide on gems.

You will introduce Curse-based damage amplification via Trag'Oul's Corroded Fang, as well as maintain Corpsewhisper Pauldrons as a Corpse Lance-dedicated legendary, and a Ring of Royal Grandeur to tie the bonuses of Pestilence and Cpt. Crimson sets together.

During Season 33, you are able to add Reilena's Shadowhook in the fourth slot of the Cube, and passively enjoy its damage multiplication benefits from the various sources of Essence increase spread across your gear.

Your recommended potion is Bottomless Potion of the Tower, whose Armor-increasing properties complement the naturally high All Resistances stat of Necromancers (due to Intelligence scaling Resistances) for optimal survivability.