Necromancy in Baldur’s Gate 3 has a slightly awkward beginning. You start with dreams of commanding an obedient army of the dead, only to spend the early game casting fairly conventional Wizard spells and wondering when the skeleton workforce is going to arrive.
Stick with it.
Once a Necromancy Wizard reaches the middle of the game, the build starts to become properly unpleasant. You can raise stronger undead, maintain several summons, drain enemies with necrotic magic and control the battlefield while your increasingly questionable collection of corpses does the manual labour.
A pure Necromancy School Wizard is the most straightforward route, and arguably the most satisfying if you actually want to feel like a necromancer rather than a spellcaster who occasionally remembers they can animate corpses.
This guide focuses on building a powerful Necromancer from the early game through to the strongest late-game setup.
Best Necromancer Build at a Glance
| Category | Recommended Choice |
|---|---|
| Class | Wizard |
| Subclass | Necromancy School |
| Levels | Wizard 12 |
| Primary Ability | Intelligence |
| Secondary Abilities | Dexterity, Constitution |
| Background | Sage or Haunted One |
| Key Cantrips | Bone Chill, Fire Bolt, Ray of Frost |
| Core Spells | Animate Dead, Counterspell, Haste |
| Major Late-Game Spell | Create Undead |
| Best Feats | Ability Improvement, Alert, Dual Wielder or War Caster |
| Playstyle | Summoning, control and ranged spellcasting |
The basic philosophy is simple: your undead occupy the battlefield while you remain somewhere considerably safer.
That last part is important. You are a Wizard. Heroically charging into melee is usually just an elaborate method of becoming the next available corpse.
Why Choose the Necromancy School?
Wizards choose their subclass at Level 2, which is when the Necromancy School becomes available.
The subclass is built around two ideas: making necromancy spells more efficient and making your undead summons better.
Level 2: Necromancy Savant
The gold cost for learning Necromancy spells from scrolls is reduced.
It is hardly the sort of ability that makes enemies flee screaming, but BG3 showers Wizards with opportunities to learn spells from scrolls. Saving gold is useful, particularly during the early game when every merchant seems personally determined to bankrupt you.
Level 2: Grim Harvest
When you kill a creature with a spell, you regain hit points based on the spell slot used.
The healing is greater when the killing spell belongs to the Necromancy school.
This gives your Wizard some useful sustain, particularly during longer fights. It should not be treated as your main defensive strategy, but finishing weakened enemies with spells becomes more rewarding.
Level 6: Undead Thralls
This is the defining Necromancer feature.
When using Animate Dead, you gain additional benefits to your undead, including stronger summoned creatures and an additional undead minion.
This is where the build finally becomes what you signed up for.
Level 10: Inured to Undeath
You gain resistance to necrotic damage and your maximum hit points cannot be reduced.
It is a strong defensive ability, especially during the darker sections of BG3 where necrotic damage becomes considerably more common.
Best Race for a Necromancer
BG3’s flexible ability system means you do not need to choose a race purely for Intelligence bonuses. That gives you far more freedom.
Several choices nevertheless work particularly well.
High Elf
A natural thematic fit with an additional cantrip and useful racial abilities.
Half-Elf
Versatile and easy to build around, particularly if you value defensive racial benefits.
Githyanki
An excellent mechanical choice thanks to useful proficiencies and racial abilities. It produces a rather different sort of necromancer aesthetically, but that is hardly a problem.
Drow
Useful racial magic, Darkvision and plenty of unique dialogue interactions.
Ultimately, race matters far less than your spell selection and ability distribution. Pick something you actually want to stare at for the next hundred hours.
Best Ability Scores
Your Necromancer lives and dies by Intelligence.
A sensible starting spread prioritises:
| Ability | Priority |
| Strength | Low |
| Dexterity | High |
| Constitution | High |
| Intelligence | Very High |
| Wisdom | Moderate |
| Charisma | Low |
Aim for 17 Intelligence at character creation if your setup allows it, with solid Dexterity and Constitution.
Dexterity improves Armour Class and Initiative, while Constitution gives you more hit points and helps maintain Concentration.
Strength can generally be sacrificed. If your Wizard is personally moving furniture, something has gone wrong with the division of labour.
Best Cantrips
Bone Chill
The obvious thematic choice and genuinely useful.
Bone Chill deals necrotic damage and prevents its target from regaining hit points. Against undead enemies, it can also impose additional disadvantages.
The healing prevention alone makes it worth keeping available.
Fire Bolt
Necromancers are still Wizards.
Fire Bolt provides reliable ranged damage and interacts with environmental surfaces.
Ray of Frost
Useful damage combined with movement reduction. Slowing an enemy while your summons surround it can be surprisingly effective.
Minor Illusion
Excellent for manipulating enemy positioning outside combat and setting up encounters.
Levels 1 to 4: Surviving Before Your Army Arrives
The weakest stage of the build is the beginning.
You cannot immediately walk out of the Nautiloid with twelve skeletons and a suspicious amount of confidence. Early Necromancers play much like conventional Wizards.
Prioritise spells such as:
- Magic Missile
- Mage Armour
- Shield
- Sleep
- Grease
- Cloud of Daggers
- Misty Step
Magic Missile is especially dependable because it cannot miss under normal circumstances. Shield can save your Wizard from attacks that would otherwise turn them into an educational demonstration of why robes are poor armour.
Control is often more valuable than raw damage.
Grease, Sleep and Cloud of Daggers can dictate where enemies move, allowing the rest of your party to finish them efficiently.
Level 5: Animate Dead Changes the Build
At Wizard Level 5 you gain access to Level 3 spells, including the spell the entire build has been waiting for:
Animate Dead.
You can use a corpse to create an undead servant, with different options providing different battlefield roles.
Skeletons are particularly useful because they can attack from range. Zombies are tougher melee distractions and can help overwhelm enemies through numbers.
Your summons effectively increase the number of actions available to your party every round.
That is enormously powerful in BG3.
A skeleton might not look terrifying beside a heavily optimised Fighter, but every arrow, blocked doorway, threatened enemy and absorbed attack contributes to the fight.
You are essentially weaponising the action economy.
Level 6: The Necromancer Comes Online
Level 6 is arguably the biggest power spike in the entire build because Undead Thralls improves Animate Dead.
From here, the Necromancer becomes much more summon-focused.
Your undead are no longer decorative goth accessories. They are legitimate combat units.
Use them to:
- Occupy dangerous melee enemies
- Block narrow passages
- Pressure enemy spellcasters
- Trigger enemy reactions
- Absorb attacks
- Add consistent damage each round
- Protect your Wizard from direct engagement
Positioning matters enormously.
Do not simply send every summon towards the nearest enemy. Skeletons benefit from good firing positions, while melee undead are useful for creating physical barriers between enemies and your vulnerable party members.
Best Level 3 Spells
Animate Dead is central to the build, but do not neglect the rest of the Wizard spellbook.
Counterspell
One of the best spells in BG3.
Stopping a dangerous enemy spell can be worth considerably more than dealing damage yourself.
Haste
Haste can transform a strong martial companion into an absolute menace.
It requires Concentration, so protect your Wizard carefully.
Fireball
There is no necromantic justification required.
Sometimes the correct magical solution is simply a very large explosion.
Hypnotic Pattern
Excellent crowd control when facing groups.
Fear
Another useful method of disrupting several enemies simultaneously.
A powerful Necromancer should not become obsessed with dealing necrotic damage. The strength of Wizard is access to an enormous spellbook. Use it.
Levels 7 to 9: Control the Battlefield
Your spell options become increasingly powerful during the middle and later stages of the game.
This is where I prefer playing the Necromancer less like a conventional damage caster and more like a battlefield manager with appalling HR policies.
Your summons provide pressure while your Wizard controls movement, disables dangerous targets and removes enemy advantages.
Useful spells include:
- Blight
- Confusion
- Greater Invisibility
- Ice Storm
- Dimension Door
- Wall of Fire
- Hold Monster
- Cloudkill
Cloudkill can be particularly effective when enemies are trapped or funnelled into restricted areas.
The principle is straightforward: make movement difficult, force enemies into bad positions and let your summons exploit the resulting mess.
Level 10: Inured to Undeath
At Level 10, Necromancy Wizards gain Inured to Undeath.
Necrotic resistance becomes increasingly valuable during the late game, while immunity to maximum hit-point reduction removes another potentially dangerous effect.
This does not dramatically change your tactics, but it makes your Wizard harder to kill.
Considering how many unnatural things you have probably done by this point, that seems appropriate.
Best Late-Game Necromancer Spells
Late-game Wizards have access to some absurdly powerful magic.
Create Undead
One of the most thematic additions to the build.
Create Undead allows you to add another powerful undead creature to your collection and reinforces the summon-heavy approach.
Circle of Death
A large-area Necromancy spell capable of damaging groups of enemies.
Its huge area can be useful, although careful positioning is required if allies are nearby.
Eyebite
Provides several debilitating effects and can remain useful across multiple rounds while Concentration is maintained.
Disintegrate
Not necromancy, but extremely powerful single-target damage.
Globe of Invulnerability
One of the strongest defensive spells available in difficult late-game encounters.
Your job is to win fights, not maintain a strict gothic aesthetic.
The Necromancy of Thay
No serious BG3 Necromancer guide can ignore the Necromancy of Thay.
The mysterious tome can be discovered during Act 1 and develops into a much larger quest spanning the game.
Without getting unnecessarily deep into spoilers, pursuing its secrets can eventually provide an extremely valuable necromantic ability.
For a dedicated Necromancer character, this quest is absolutely worth following.
It is also one of those wonderfully BG3 situations where opening an obviously cursed book feels like a terrible idea, so naturally you should investigate immediately.
Danse Macabre
Players who successfully pursue the Necromancy of Thay storyline can eventually obtain Danse Macabre.
This ability summons a group of ghouls, giving your Necromancer another substantial source of battlefield pressure.
Combined with your normal undead summons and other magical creatures, fights can begin to resemble a small-scale invasion.
There is a practical downside.
More summons mean more creatures to position and more turns to manage. A fully developed summoner party can make combat considerably slower.
Power has a price. Apparently that price is waiting for everyone to finish their turn.
Best Feats for a Necromancer
You receive feats at Wizard Levels 4, 8 and 12 if you remain a pure Wizard.
Ability Improvement
Increasing Intelligence should normally be the priority.
Getting to 20 Intelligence improves your spell attack rolls and Spell Save DC.
Alert
An outstanding feat for spellcasters.
Going early allows you to establish control effects before enemies can spread out or attack your party.
War Caster
Useful if your strategy relies heavily on Concentration spells.
Advantage on Concentration saving throws makes spells such as Haste considerably safer to maintain.
Dual Wielder
A more specialised late-game option that can become powerful when you acquire several strong magical staves.
BG3 contains excellent caster equipment, and being able to benefit from two suitable weapons can produce some very strong combinations.
Pure Wizard or Multiclass?
Multiclassing is tempting because BG3 contains some extremely powerful class combinations.
For a dedicated Necromancer, however, I prefer Wizard 12.
You retain:
- Maximum Wizard spell progression
- All Necromancy subclass features
- Three feats
- Level 6 spells
- Maximum flexibility from your spellbook
A Cleric or Sorcerer multiclass can produce interesting alternatives, but every level spent elsewhere delays or sacrifices something from Wizard.
If your goal is specifically to command undead and cast high-level arcane magic, staying pure is wonderfully uncomplicated.
Best Equipment for a Necromancer
Equipment should generally improve one or more of the following:
- Spell Save DC
- Spell attack rolls
- Intelligence
- Concentration
- Armour Class
- Initiative
- Additional spellcasting
- Necrotic damage
BG3 contains several extremely powerful caster items in Acts 2 and 3, so your equipment should evolve rather than being locked to a single set from the beginning.
Look particularly closely at staves and robes that increase spellcasting effectiveness.
Initiative bonuses are also easy to underestimate. A Necromancer who acts before the enemy can establish summons, control spells or defensive effects before the fight develops.
How to Use Corpses Efficiently
Animate Dead requires suitable corpses, which creates one of BG3’s stranger resource-management systems.
After major battles, consider whether useful corpses are available before leaving the area.
You can sometimes move bodies, store them or otherwise plan ahead for future summoning.
Yes, your inventory management has now progressed from deciding which sword to sell to deciding whether you have enough dead people.
This is the Necromancer experience.
Best Party for a Necromancer
Your Necromancer benefits from companions who can exploit the disruption created by summons.
Front-line martial character
A Fighter, Barbarian or Paladin works extremely well.
Undead summons can surround targets while your martial character deals the serious damage.
Cleric
Provides healing, buffs and additional magical support.
There is something mildly awkward about travelling with a holy Cleric while maintaining your personal corpse collection, but BG3 parties have survived stranger ideological disagreements.
Rogue or Ranger
Ranged characters benefit from enemies being occupied by your summons.
Necromancer Wizard
You remain behind the front line, controlling enemies and casting high-impact spells.
The goal is not necessarily to replace party members with undead. Your summons should supplement an already capable group.
Necromancer Combat Strategy
The strongest Necromancer fights often begin before combat starts.
Prepare summons whenever possible rather than spending your opening combat turns creating them.
Enter major encounters with your undead already active.
A typical battle might look something like this:
Before combat: Summon your undead and apply long-duration buffs.
Opening round: Use a control spell such as Hypnotic Pattern, Haste a powerful companion or eliminate a dangerous target.
Undead turn: Move summons into positions that restrict enemy movement and threaten vulnerable opponents.
Following rounds: Use damage spells, Counterspell and further control while your summons gradually overwhelm isolated enemies.
Your Necromancer should rarely be the closest party member to an enemy.
If they are, Misty Step exists for a reason.
Common Necromancer Mistakes
Treating summons as disposable damage spells
Undead become much more useful when positioned intelligently. Blocking movement can sometimes matter more than attacking.
Ignoring non-Necromancy spells
This is probably the biggest mistake.
You are still a Wizard. Fireball, Counterspell, Haste and battlefield-control magic remain extremely powerful.
Neglecting Intelligence
Summons are only part of your arsenal. Your offensive spells still depend heavily on your casting ability.
Entering combat without summons
Whenever possible, prepare your undead beforehand.
Spending valuable combat actions assembling your workforce while everyone else is being stabbed is inefficient management.
Standing too close to enemies
You have summoned an army specifically so other creatures can stand near the dangerous people.
Take advantage of that.
Is Necromancer One of the Strongest BG3 Builds?
A Necromancy Wizard is not necessarily the game’s highest burst-damage build, and players looking purely for devastating single-turn damage can produce more extreme combinations elsewhere.
Its strength comes from action economy, flexibility and battlefield control.
Every additional summon gives you another unit capable of moving, attacking, blocking enemies and absorbing damage.
Meanwhile, your actual character remains a full Wizard with access to some of the strongest spells in BG3.
That combination becomes increasingly powerful as the game progresses.
The main weakness is convenience. Managing a large group of summons can slow exploration and combat, and NPC behaviour around undead can occasionally make travelling with your personal graveyard less elegant than you might hope.
Still, if you want the classic fantasy of gradually transforming from fragile scholar into the deeply concerning commander of an undead warband, BG3 handles it remarkably well.
Best Necromancer Build Summary
For a strong and accessible Necromancer, I would build around:
- Necromancy School Wizard 12
- 20 Intelligence
- Animate Dead as the central summoning spell
- Undead Thralls from Level 6
- Counterspell and battlefield control alongside necromancy
- Create Undead in the late game
- Necromancy of Thay quest progression
- Danse Macabre when available
- Spell Save DC and spell attack equipment
- Alert or War Caster alongside Intelligence improvements
The important thing is not to think of the build as a Wizard who happens to own some skeletons.
You are controlling two layers of the fight at once. Your undead manipulate positioning and consume enemy actions while your Wizard controls the wider battlefield through magic.
By Act 3, you can walk into encounters surrounded by enough dead things to make even the Absolute wonder whether this has all become slightly excessive.
It has.
That is rather the point.
