Dungeons & Dragons' Best School of Necromancy Wizard Build (2024)

The wizard class in is the quintessential spellcaster that can easily fit into any adventurer team in a D&D one-shot or campaign. Wizards may not have fancy Eldritch Invocations of warlocks or the Metamagic of sorcerers, but they do enjoy an enormous spell list that makes wizards far more flexible and customizable than other casters. In fact, wizards focus so much on spellcasting, their subclasses just provide variations on how their spells are cast, and little else. That includes the School of Necromancy subclass.

Many wizard subclasses are centered around certain schools of magic, such as defensive School of Abjuration wizards and offense-oriented School of Evocation wizards. Meanwhile, D&D players who want to tap into the noxious, sinister side of wizardly ought to build a School of Necromancy wizard and bring swift death to all their enemies.

School of Necormancy Wizard Build Summary

Perks of a Necromancy Wizard Build

The School of Necromancy has some strong roleplay flavor for wizards who tap into the power of undeath, since such a character can be anything from an to a more neutral spellcaster who must put up with societal taboos concerning necromancy. Players may also enjoy playing a School of Necromancy wizard if they like "puppetmaster" characters who control a handful of minions to do their bidding for them. That's a common theme for necromancers and the like in fiction, and in gameplay terms, those undead thralls also serve as excellent bodyguards and meat shields against melee-oriented enemies.

The School of Necromancy also has some healing aspects to it, even if actual healing spells like Cure Wounds aren't used. That's because School of Necromancy wizards don't just kill things -- they utilize the never-ending cycle of life and death, the flow of vital energy between corpses and the living. This makes the School of Necromancy subclass surprisingly balanced between taking life and healing it, with these wizards using harvested vital energy to replinish their own health. That's essential, because like all wizards, School of Necromancy wizards are rather squishy and need all the protection they can get. Between undead meat shields and harvesting life energy, School of Necromancy wizards can be surprisingly tough to take down.

Necromancy Savant is a simple, obligatory subclass feature that makes Necromancy spells faster and cheaper to copy into the character's spellbook. Meanwhile, Grim Harvest allows a School of Necromancy wizard to regain hit points whenever they kill a creature that's not undead or a construct. The wizard will gain HP equal to twice the spell's level if it's level 1 or higher. Or, if the spell was a Necromancy spell, the wizard gains triple HP instead.

Undead Thralls automatically adds the Animate Dead spell to the character's spellbook if they don't already have it. Casting Animate Dead lets the character target one additional corpse or bone pile to make an undead minion, making that spell more efficient on top of its normal scaling when upcast. Undead Thralls also boosts an undead minion's HP equal to the character's wizard levels, and the character's proficiency bonus is added to a minion's damage rolls.

Inured to Undeath is situational, but may prove helpful now and then. The School of Necromancy wizard gains resistance to Necrotic damage, and the character's HP max cannot be reduced. Only a handful of monsters can reduce a player character's HP max, but it's lethal to have the HP max drop to 0, so at least a School of Necromancy wizard won't have to worry about that.

Command Undead is a resourceful, opportunistic subclass feature that lets the wizard take command of an undead creature, even an undead creature that another spellcaster has already summoned. The target must make a Charisma saving throw, and failing means they are now under the School of Necromancy wizard's control. An undead with Intelligence 8 or higher has advantage on that saving throw.

Best Stats For a School of Necromancy Build

Intelligence is a School of Necromancy wizard's best stat by a wide margin, and the same is true for nearly all wizard builds, no matter the subclass. A high INT score makes the wizard's spell stronger and more effective, while also allowing a wizard to use some much-needed skills that other classes will certainly lack. Every party needs one brainy scholar type to enjoy skill proficiencies like History, Arcana, and Investigation, and a School of Necromancy wizard will deliver on that front.

Constitution isn't quite as important for this wizard subclass as it is for others, since a School of Necromancy wizard's undead thralls can serve as meat shields, and Grim Harvest can restore HP. But even so, wizards are famously squishy with their lack of armor and their modest d6 hit dice, so a decent CON score is a must. A +2 modifier in CON is ideal, though a School of Necromancy wizard might get away with +1 if the player knows what they're doing.

Dexterity comes in third, and if the player is careful, they might a actually swap CON and DEX on the ability score priority list. In either case, a decent DEX score has near-universal perks such as an AC boost, improved DEX saving throws to dodge things, and a stronger initiative roll. That said, School of Necromancy wizards don't urgently need to go first the way barbarians and other martial characters do.

Wisdom, Charisma, and Strength are far less important for the School of Necromancy, and the same applies for many wizard subclasses. A +1 to WIS should be fine to help with various saving throws against monster spells and abilities, but WIS skills like Perception are best left to the perfect rogue build or rangers. Charisma matters little aside from the saving throws of certain spells, so it's a dump stat. And, as expected, STR is a total dump stat for this subclass.

The Best Species and Background For a School of Necromancy Wizard

The psionically gifted githyanki species is a fine pick for School of Necromancy wizards, or indeed any wizard subclass. They may be associated with sheer martial prowess, but they also make good spellcasters since they have innate spells that allow a wizard to expand their spell list further. Githyanki can cast Mage Hand innately, so a wizard can pick something else for a slot that would normally be used for Mage Hand. Starting at 3rd level, Githyanki can innately cast Misty Step once per long rest, or use spell slots to cast it some more. School of Necromancy wizards may sometimes rely on their undead thralls to serve as meat shields, but short-range teleportation is still an important plan B to stay safe.

Variant humans are always a strong option for various classes, wizards included. Variant humans trade the +1 to all ability scores buff typical of humans for two +1 boosts, but that loss is easily balanced by this species' other perks. Variant humans get one skill of their choice, and best of all, they get a feat at level 1 to gain an early advantage. So, a School of Necromancy wizard can pick from among the best wizard feats right away to hit the ground running in a campaign.

Fairies make wonderful spellcasters since they can use their flying speed to avoid melee attacks from monsters. They can easily reposition without anyone getting in their way, and their innate spellcasting like Faerie Fire is a helpful buff for the party. School of Necromancer wizards might use Faerie Fire to help their clumsy zombie and skeleton warriors hit more accurately and thus get more bang for their buck when casting Animate Dead.

Eladrin make good spellcasters because they can use Fey Step to innately cast Misty Step, an essential escape option if a wizard is getting bullied by a strong monster or getting mobbed by several weaker ones. This is even more important at the lowest levels, before a School of Necromancy wizard can learn Animate Dead to assemble their meat shield squad. Fey Step can be used a number of times equal to the character's proficiency bonus as a bonus action, making it immensely useful. For flavor reasons, School of Necromancy wizards can choose the winter variant of Eladrin to scare their enemies when using Fey Step.

When choosing a background, wizard characters often choose scholarly and intellectual backgrounds such as sage and investigator, and a school of necromancy wizard might choose those backgrounds if they want to play a neutral wizard who has an objective, scholarly approach to necromancy. Archaeologist and anthropologist may also make for fun School of Necromancy wizards if the player wants to put a sinister spin on them. Controlling the dead means understanding anatomy, after all, and an archaeologist won't just study the dead -- they control the dead, too. Thus, the past comes to life in ways other wizards can only imagine.

Best Feats For Necromancy Wizards

Metamagic Adept is a strong feat for any wizard, allowing them to borrow the incredible power of the Metamagic class feature for sorcerers. School of Necromancy wizards can use Twinned Spell for ranged attacks such as Ray of Sickness, Chromatic Orb, and Blight, which may heal the wizard even more with Grim Harvest if they kill two creatures in one turn. At the very least, the wizard will deal more damage to the monster team and thus get closer to killing and harvesting many targets. Quickened Spell is also great for casting a leveled spell and then a cantrip.

Fey Touched is a solid feat for spellcasters that allows them to cast Misty Step once per long rest, and cast it some more with spell slots as desired. If the character can't innately cast Misty Step as a Githyanki or Eladrin, then this feat is an even stronger option. Fey Touched also lets the wizard choose a +1 INT boost.

Tough is a fine option if the wizard is in a challenging campaign and they often take damage despite their meat shields guarding them. Tough adds 2 HP for every level the character has, and that includes all previous levels, too. A level 4 wizard will get an extra 8 HP, for example, and if they take Tough at level 8, then they're getting 16 more HP.

The Best Spells For a School of Necromancy Wizard

As expected, School of Necromancy wizards are encouraged to focus mostly on Necromancy spells to make Grim Harvest more effective, but they should also pick up more conventional, must-have wizard spells if the party lacks another spellcaster who knows them. Shield is great on defense as a last resort if the enemy gets too close, while Detect Magic is a vital sensor spell while performing a dungeon crawl or investigating something. At level 3, a School of Necromancy wizard should pick up class staples like Counterspell and Dispel Magic to disrupt an enemy caster's plans. Mage Armor is a good defensive option if Elven Chain isn't being worn.

The remaining spells focus on three particular areas: dealing necrotic/poison damage, creating undead thralls, and bringing people back to life. On offense, Ray of Sickness deals decent damage and poisons the target, making them less effective. Notably, Ray of Sickness synergizes with Grim Harvest despite dealing poison damage, since it's still a School of Necromancy spell. Also, while Chromatic Orb isn't an absolute must-have, its flexibility with its damage type might sometimes come in handy when dealing with a monster's damage resistances and immunities. That makes Chromatic Orb a decent backup option, though it's not vital for this subclass's spell kit.

Vampiric Touch is a fine spell to use if the enemy gets too close and teleporting isn't an option, and the healing is helpful, too. Blight deals serious damage to a target, anad so does Finger of Death. Those spells are great when used on a single, tough target, but if the party faces several weaker foes, then Circle of Death is like a necromancer's Fireball, with a gigantic area. It's best used outdoors so the party isn't caught in the massive area of effect.

As for summoning the undead, Animate Dead is the School of Necromancy subclass's staple, and it works well with the Undead Thralls class feature, so it may stay relevant for many levels. if the wizard wants to summon something stronger, then the Create Undead spell is a fine pick, creating three ghouls that outclass zombies and skeletons with their stat blocks.

For resurrection purposes, if the party lacks a cleric who can bring back the dead, then spells like Raise Dead, Revivify, Resurrection, and True Resurrection are excellent options. However, D&D 5e is pretty generous with keeping player characters alive and cheating death, so unless the party is in a tough campaign where death is a serious risk, spells like these are surprisingly low-priority and may see very little use in easier campaigns. That's something the player should keep in mind when alotting their precious spells for the day's adventures. Clone, meanwhile, allows the wizard to cheat death and return in another body if the threat of death becomes serious at some point.

Multiclassing as a School of Necromancy Wizard

For the most part, wizards don't want to multiclass at all, since their INT focus doesn't overlap with what other classes do, and they urgrently need to maximize their spell slots and spell levels to stay relevant. That's a symptom of how intensely wizards focus on spellcasting to the exclusion of almost everything else. Still, a skilled and experienced player can do some modest dipping into other classes to toughen up their School of Necromancy wizard if they so choose.

Artificers are the only other casters who care about INT, so stat-wise, this is an easy multiclass for a School of Necromancy wizard. The payoffs arrive right at level 1, including proficiency in medium armor for boosted durability, along with some new spells such as Cure Wounds, if desired. Proficiency in CON saving throws might also come in handy.

Clerics are a moderately popular multiclass option for wizards, since they get heavy armor proficiency, along with some of the best cleric spells at level 1, such as Sacred Flame, Guidance, Bless, and Guiding Bolt, among others. The tricky part is that multiclassing into cleric requires a WIS score of 13 or higher, and wizards may treat WIS as a borderline dump stat. This multiclass works best if the player plans to dip into cleric ahead of time and sets their WIS score to 13. Or, they can start with 12 WIS and get +1 to WIS via feats or ability score buffs at levels 4, 8, 12, and beyond.

The Best Equipment For a Necromancy Wizard Build

School of Necromancy wizards don't need weapons like magical greatsword and longbows, but their zombie and skeleton minions may enjoy using such weapons. Thus, a School of Necromancy wizard can acquire some shortswords for their zombie or skeleton thralls and let them use two-weapon fighting to boost their damage output by another 50%. Proficiency bonuses aren't used for the second weapon's attack, but it's still more damage, and that will add up over time. A player might double-check with their Dungeon Master to confirm that their zombies and skeletons are considered proficient with shortswords and can use two-weapon fighting. Similarly, the wizard should get medium armor for their undead thralls and boost their AC to 16 or so.

As for other magic items, a School of Necromancy wizard will probably seek out the same items that most other wizard subclasses like to use, starting with the Broom of Flying. This is a highly effective item for its rarity, allowing the user to fly above the battlefield and stay out of harm's way. If a School of Necromancy wizard already has their undead thralls on hand and doesn't need to get close to any corpses to reanimate them in battle, then staying aloft on the Broom of Flying is essential. An Arcane Grimoire is a book of varying rarity that provides a +1, +2, or +3 boost to the user's spell attack rolls and the DC of their wizard spells. A Pearl of Power, meanwhile, is effective for spell slot management during a dungeon crawl or other lengthy event.

For stat-boosting at lower levels, a wizard may look for an Amulet of Health to set their CON score to 19, which may be helpful if the wizard prioritized DEX over CON or if they don't have the Tough feat. At lower levels, a Headband of Intellect will set the wizard's INT to 19, which is great, but that will be far less important at later levels, so the wizard may unattune to that item and trade it away at some point.

On defense, a School of Necromancy wizard might indulge in items such as Elven Chain to boost their AC if they don't plan on using the Mage Armor spell, and items like Bracers of Defense, a Ring of Protection, Cloak of Protection, or Cloak of Displacement can also help keep the School of Necromancy wizard safe. The latter creates an illusionary double of the wearer, imposing disadvantage on any creature making attack rolls against them.

Dungeons and Dragons

A fantasy roleplaying tabletop game designed for adventure-seekers, the original incarnation of Dungeons & Dragons was created by Gary Gygax in 1974.

Franchise

Dungeons & Dragons

Original Release Date

January 26, 1974

Publisher

Wizards of the Coast , TSR Inc.

Designer

E. Gary Gygax , Dave Arneson

Player Count

4-8 Players Recommended

Age Recommendation

12+

Length per Game

3 hours +

Expansions

Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition , Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition , Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition , Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

Summary

Dungeons & Dragons is the fantasy tabletop role-playing game that has persevered for nearly 50 years and continues to grow strong. Created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, the game first made publication in 1974 and now falls under the Wizards of the Coast publishing wing. A typical game of DnD consists of 4-6 players, with one player acting as the Dungeon Master. Players can take a sheet and by consulting the various rule books and expansions, can create their own character with weapons, skills, and physical appearance. Once all characters are created, the Dungeon Master sets them off in a campaign of their choosing or design, where players will have to follow the rules of the DM as they roleplay their way through storylines. The characters will level up, find equipment, and experience permanent changes based on the way the story plays out. A roll of the dice can mean the difference between a successful hit, and a painful end. The most recent edition of Dungeons & Dragons is the 5th edition rule book.