LoD Thorns Skeletons Necromancer Skills and Runes

Active Skills
Leech Cursed Ground Devour Satiated 1 Frailty Scent of Blood 2 Command Golem Bone Golem 3 Command Skeletons Dark Mending 4 Bone Armor Thy Flesh Sustained
Passive Skills
Spreading Malediction Eternal Torment Aberrant Animator Draw Life

The build begins its runs by summoning its two core pet components, Command Skeletons and Command Golem. Note that the build itself is purely focused on delivering Thorns damage through those summons, so you will not be using the minion-killing Final Service cheat death. Your primary role during the Rift will be to continuously pull mobs, and ideally elites, into huge packs — ideally in the dozens — for the Thorns pets' convenience, and to maximize their damage during the Physical Convention of Elements rotation with a Krysbin's Sentence proc via the Bone Golem. Spread as many Frailty effects over as many mobs as you can; their upkeep will be taken care of by Eternal Torment. In the meantime, protect yourself with Bone Armor, and heal through regular usage of Devour and Leech.

Most of your damage will come from Command Skeletons, turned into a Thorns-dealing shield wall via the passive Aberrant Animator and empowered by the Skeleton Build staple Bone Ringer. The latter allows you to drop Bane of the Stricken with minimal drawbacks to solo pushing. Rune-wise, you will be taking the healing rune Dark Mending to assist you with sustain during massive enemy pulls.

Your other summon, while still applying his share of Thorns, is far more utility oriented. Through a duo of excellently synergistic items (discussed in the Gear page), Command Golem will both reduce incoming damage and provide you with a source of steady Corpses to Devour. The suggested rune here is Bone Golem for the stun proc for Krysbin's Sentence.

Your main occupation during the rift will be to spread Frailty over an ever-growing pull of monsters; the application of the curse will trigger a chain of effects, including the Thorns buff of Spear of Jairo, the general buff of Trag'Oul's Corroded Fang, and the passive bonus of Spreading Malediction. Since your damage is strictly delivered via minions, you will be taking the summon-buffing rune Scent of Blood. Always keep in mind that curses drop off after a certain distance (roughly a screen and a half away from the enemy), and so does your damage along with them — curse upkeep is your primary job throughout the run.

To protect yourself during Greater Rift pushes, you will be using a combination of Bone Armor and Devour. The former will reduce incoming damage and improve your sustain through an increase of Life Regeneration from the rune Thy Flesh Sustained. The latter will encase you in a literal health shield with the constant buildup of the rune Satiated from nearby Corpses.

As you are getting used to the build, you can opt to move throughout the Rift with the solitary movement skill of Necromancers, Blood Rush. To better protect you from burst damage affixes, especially as you jump into a pack, you will be taking the rune Potency. When pushing the upper limits of the build however, this slot should be altered to an extra curse — Leech Cursed Ground, which brings a powerful source of healing to the build, while still fuelling Spear of Jairo.

As a Thorns build that relies on pet application of the effect, you naturally need to include Aberrant Animator as a baseline.

Half of your passive selection will be dedicated to enhancing the effect of your curse. Eternal Torment will ensure that spreading Frailty does not tax your Essence, and its effect stays permanent on afflicted enemies. Conversely, Spreading Malediction will increase your — and your minions' — damage on those monsters.

Finally, to compensate for your lacking sustain, as well as to play into the density-dependent nature of the build, you will be taking the Draw Life passive. It will also synergize nicely with your Bone Armor rune and your Molten Wildebeest's Gizzard.