Build Introduction
This guide is a collaboration between GhazzyTV and community member Garm Z. The Shattered Spirit build is a high-performance and extremely gear-dependent build with the harshest conditions to meet just to function.
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To see how this build compares to the other builds on our site, you can check out our build tier lists.
Strengths and Weaknesses
- Fun and easy to play
- High performing build
- Extreme Gear requirements to make the build function (Don’t play it without proper preparations!)
Build Requirements
Blood Moon Breeches
Shattered Spirit’s Aspect- The new unique Gospel of the Devotee is also a mandatory unique item for the build to function!
- It’s required that you are at or close to 100% chance to critical hit.
- Cooldown Reduction to bring the
Bone Spirit Cooldown to below 7 seconds.
Quick Navigation
Want to skip ahead? Use the table below to jump to the sections you are looking for.
Skill Bar and Skill Tree Points
Decompose
Bone Prison
ReapBone Spirit
Corpse Tendrils
Bone StormFollow the points allocated in the Skill Tree above for the complete 71-point build. The additional 12 skill points are completed using the Renown system.
Necromancer Class Mechanic – Book of the Dead
We will be sacrificing all our minions to further scale the efficiency of the build.
- Melee Skeletons: Reaper [Sacrifice] – Increased Shadow Damage. (If you lack critical strike chance you can sacrifice Skirmishers to help out).
- Mage Skeletons: Cold [Sacrifice] – Increased Damage against Vulnerable targets.
- Golem: Iron [Sacrifice] – Increased Critical Strike Damage.
Gear, Stats, Gems, and Runes
The following sections cover the important systems that are essential to improving the power of your character in the endgame of Diablo 4.
Legendary Aspects
Each aspect is listed with its matching gear slot. Do your best to keep each aspect in the assigned slot. Additionally, if you are trying to farm a specific item, we recommend using your Obols to target farm them! Other recommendations for Legendary Aspect farming would be to do the Seasonal mechanic, and to some extent, you can farm them in Helltides as well.
| Gear Slot | Gems | Aspect / Unique | Legendary Aspect / Unique Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| Helm |  Poc +  Qax |  Crown of Lucion Aspect of Hardened Bones can be used till you get the unique! | Each time you use a Skill with a Resource Cost, gain 15%[x] [5 – 15]% increased damage and Resource Cost is increased by 30%[+] [30]% for 4 seconds, stacking up to 5 times. |
| Chest |  Feo +  Ner |  Aspect of the Cursed Aura | A dark aura surrounds you, inflicting  Decrepify and  Iron Maiden on enemies who touch it. Curses inflicted this way spread to surrounding targets every 2.5-0.3 seconds and last 4 seconds outside the aura. |
| Gloves | n/a |  Paingorger’s Gauntlets Sacrificial Aspect can be used till you get the unique! | Lucky Hit: Up to a +32.6% Chance to Stun for 2 Seconds [19.6 – 32.6]% Damaging enemies with a Non-Basic Skill cast marks them for 3 seconds. When a Basic Skill first hits a marked enemy, the Basic Skill’s damage is echoed to all marked enemies, dealing 125%[x] [75 – 125]% increased damage. |
| Pants |  Royal Topaz |  Blood Moon Breeches | Your Summons have a 7.0% [3.0 – 7.0]% chance to randomly inflict Decrepify or Iron Maiden when they deal damage. You deal 50%[x] [20 – 50]% increased Critical Strike Damage to enemies affected by your Curses. |
| Boots | n/a |  Path of Trag’Oul Aspect of Metamorphosis can be used till you get the unique! | Bone Prison traps a larger area and fires 30 [10 – 30] Bone Splinters at enemies trapped within. Increase your Maximum Essence by 2 for 10 seconds each time these Bone Splinters hit an enemy. |
| Weapon 1H (Sword) |  Royal Emerald |  Shard of VerathielAspect of Serration can be used till you get the unique! | Basic Skills deal 150%[x] [50 – 150]% increased damage but additionally cost 25 Primary Resource. +48.0% Critical Strike Damage |
| Off-hand (Focus) | Royal Emerald | Gospel of the Devotee | Your Basic Skills are empowered. Damaging an enemy with a Basic Skill causes them to take 30%[x] [10 – 30]% increased damage from your other Basic Skills for 10 seconds. Reap attacks 10% faster. Decompose now spawns a Corpse every 0.5 seconds. Hemorrhage triggers an additional burst on the initial target. Bone Splinters pierce through enemies. +48.0% Critical Strike Damage |
| Amulet (50% Scaling) |  Royal Skull | Shattered Spirit’s Aspect | Casting Bone Spirit also launches 18  Bone Splinters in all directions, dealing 900%[x] [300 – 900]% increased damage and generating 6 Essence per enemy hit. (Necromancer Only) |
| Ring | Royal Skull | Aspect of Adaptability | Basic Skills generate 5 additional Primary Resource, once per Skill. Basic Skills deal 0.60%[x] [0.40 – 0.60]% increased damage for each point of Primary Resource you have, up to 500 Resource. |
| Ring | Royal Skull | Aspect of the Moonrise | Damaging an enemy with a Basic Skill grants you 4% Attack Speed for 10 seconds, stacking up to 5 times. Upon reaching maximum stacks, you enter a Vampiric Bloodrage, gaining 60%[x] [40 – 60]% Basic Skill damage and 15% Movement Speed for 10 seconds. |
Curious how this build compares to other endgame options? Take a look at our Endgame Build Tier List.
Stat Priority and Tempering Affixes
Below are the affixes to prioritize on gear. Each line of affixes is listed in order of importance. Tempering Manuals and their recommended affixes are provided in the second column, and the bolded affixes are the most important targets for Masterworking upgrades. The main priority for Greater Affixes are marked with a “*”, secondary would be anything providing Intelligence or Life. Be sure to check our Tempering and Masterworking guides for more details about these topics.
| Slot | Targeted Gear Affixes | Tempering Affixes |
|---|---|---|
| Helm | * 1. Cooldown Reduction 2. Maximum Essence 3. Maximum Life Note: With the unique helmet you’ll want to prioritize Cooldown Reduction |  Worldly Endurance # Maximum LifeBone Innovation #% Bone Storm Duration |
| Chest | * 1. Ranks to Macabre Skills 2. Maximum Life 3. All Resistance | Worldly Endurance #% Total ArmorBone Innovation #% Bone Storm Duration |
| Gloves | * 1. Attack Speed 2. Critical Strike Chance 3. Maximum Life Note: With the unique glove you’ll want to prioritize + Ranks to Basic Skills | Bone Finesse #% Bone Critical Strike DamageBone Finesse #% Bone Storm Duration |
| Pants | Blood Moon Breeches * 1. Critical Strike Chance | n/a |
| Boots | Path of Trag’Oul * 1. + Ranks to Bone Skills | n/a |
| Amulet | * 1. Intelligence 2. + Ranks to Evulsion 3. + Ranks to Compound Fracture Note: If you don’t have an amulet with + ranks to 2 different passives you go for either Cooldown Reduction or Critical Strike Chance. You could also use + Ranks to Terror. | Necromancer Efficiency Bone Spirit Cooldown ReductionBone Finesse #% Bone Critical Strike Damage |
| Ring | * 1. Attack Speed 2. Critical Strike Chance 3. Intelligence 4. Maximum Life | Necromancer Invigoration Casting Macabre Skills Restore # EssenceBone Finesse #% Bone Critical Strike Damage |
| 1H (Sword) | * 1. Intelligence 2. Maximum Life 3. Critical Strike Damage Note: Once you get the unique sword you’ll want to prioritize + Ranks to Basic Skills. | Bone Finesse #% Bone Critical Strike Damage.Bone Augments #% Chance for Bone Splinters to Cast Twice. |
| Off-hand (Focus) | Gospel of the Devotee * 1. Chance for Basic Skills to Deal Double Damage. If you get this as a Chaos version you’ll want a rare focus with the following stat priority: * 1. Maximum Resource 2. Critical Strike Chance 3. Intelligence | Temper only applies to the rare version:Bone Finesse #% Bone Critical Strike Damage.Bone Augments #% Chance for Bone Splinters to Cast Twice. |
Keep in mind that the maximum Resistance is 70% by default for each element and can be increased to 85% by various sources.
Make sure to achieve and maintain armor cap of 1,000 as soon as possible! For that purpose, helm or chest temporary tempering can be Total Armor %.
Uniques and Mythic Uniques
Below you will find information on Uniques and Uber Uniques that are useful for this build. Moreover, if you are interested in target farming Uber Uniques, check out our How to Farm Uber Uniques guide.
Uniques
- Path of Trag’Oul – You’ll want a high-rolled aspect on this item so you get more maximum essence from Bone Prison for
Ossified Essence. - Crown of Lucion – High damage multiplier without drawbacks as we don’t care about the increased cost and it gives Cooldown reduction.
- Paingorger’s Gauntlets – Basic skill area of effect.
- Blood Moon Breeches – Critical Strike Chance and a massive damage multiplier.
- Shard of Verathiel – Basic skill damage multiplier and maximum essence for Ossified Essence.
- Gospel of the Devotee – Empowers your basic skills and provides a piercing effect to your Bone Splinters.
Mythic Uniques
Shroud of False Death – Replaces Aspect of Hardened Bones or the Chaos Armor version of Paingorger’s Gauntlets. Greater Affix and Masterworking priority on this item will be All Stats. 
Heir of Perdition – To equip this you’ll need to change your Feo + Ner to 
Igni + 
Wat to make use of automated curse application. For Masterworking priority you’re mainly looking for Critical Strike Chance. You can give up Paingorger’s Gauntlets or the Chaos Armor version of it.
Gems and Runewords
See below for a more detailed explanation of the best Gems to socket into your gear for each category.
| Weapon Gems | Armor Gems | Jewelry Gems |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Emerald For increased Critical Strike Damage Damage. | Recommended Runewords then Royal Topaz For increased Intelligence. | Royal Skull For increased Armor.  Royal Diamond Can be used to help resistance if your armor has reached the cap. |
- Make sure to convert not used gem-fragments to Skull fragments to obtain 3xRoyal Skull as early as possible.
The following Runewords are recommended to be used for this build.
| Runeword Combination | Effect |
| Poc + Qax | Gain: 5 Offering by spending 5% of your Maximum Essence. Requires: 400 Offering. (Overflow: Further increased Damage). Cooldown 1 second. Casting a Skill other than a Basic or Defensive spends all your Primary Resource to increase your damage up to 100% for 1 second. |
| Feo + Ner | Gain: 1000 Offering. Become Injured or Crowd Controlled. Cooldown 10 seconds. Requires: 600 Offering. (Overflow: Increased Duration). Cooldown 6 seconds. Invoke the Rogue’s  Countering Concealment, gaining Dodge Chance, Movement Speed, Unstoppable and Stealth. |
Paragon board
Below you’ll find the entire end-game paragon board set-up for this build in detail!
Season of Infernal Chaos (Season 10)
In Season 10, we get access to Chaos Perks as well as Chaos Armor. Below you’ll find a list of our recommended items to look out for.
Chaos Perks
| Power | Description |
| A Beast Cornered | For every 10% Life you are missing, you gain x20% increased damage and 5% Damage Reduction. Spending Resources also drains a percentage of your Life equal to 30% the Resources spent, refunding those Resources. This cannot reduce you to below 10% Life. |
| Marred Guard | You can no longer be healed above 50% Life. You gain 10% Maximum Resistance to All Elements, x20% Armor, and 100% increased Barrier and Fortify Generation. |
| Crazy Brew | Your Healing Potion is infused with the power of Chaos, granting you 100% Resource Cost Reduction, +80% increased Attack Speed and +80% increased Movement Speed for 5 seconds. Your Healing Potion has a 15 second Cooldown and you can drink it at full Life. Cooldown is affected by Cooldown Reduction. |
| Unstable Power | Chaotic magics erupt from your Basic Skills, making them guaranteed to Critically Strike and Overpower for 100% increased damage, but the power is unstable, giving them a 3 second Cooldown. |
Chaos Armor
Chaos Armor is seasonal corrupted unique gear that can take the form and slots of other armor pieces. An amulet can become boots or a helmet, a shield can become gloves, and so on. Chaos pieces carry their original implicit affixes, like All Resistances from Jewelry or weapon damage multiplier from the shield, regardless of the form they take. They always have increased AND top roll unique aspect value.
Below you’ll find a list of unique items that would do very well for this build as a Chaos Armor:
- Gospel of the Devotee – Ideally, on our helmet slot, this will open up your off-hand slot for other items.
- Paingorger’s Gauntlets – Gives Bone Splinters Area of Effect and is ideally placed on your armor or helmet, so you can replace it with
Shroud of False Death or 
Heir of Perdition if you get one. - Crown of Lucion – Moved away from the head slot to increase its damage multiplier aspect effect as a chaos version.
Fists of Fate – Big damage multiplier and useful stats.
Lidless Wall – High priority chaos armor. Provides 2 damage multipliers and cooldown reduction.
Mercenaries
During the Vessel of Hatred campaign, you will unlock Mercenaries to assist you. While you can choose freely early on, we recommend Raheir as your main merc, and Aldkin as a Reinforcement once you reach endgame.
For the reinforcement, stick with Aldkin, utilizing his Flame Surge skill being cast when the player casts Bone Spirit.
Build Mechanics
Rotation and Playstyle
Make sure to group enemies up with Corpse Tendrils and follow up with Bone Prison for optimal damage output. Position yourself near the grouped enemies to maximize your efficiency as you’ll shotgun Bone Splinters projectiles by casting Bone Spirit. Consistently have Bone Storm up to scale your damage, defenses, and most importantly, have your critical strike chance capped.
Poc + Qax Is utilized to provides a double damage multiplier for a short time-window.Feo + Ner Brings us well needed defensive scaling via Unstoppable.Igni + Wat Will be used with Chaos Armors later to help automate our Decrepify after we lose Aspect of the Cursed Aura.
Which Elixirs Should You Use?
Visit the Alchemist and craft 
Elixir of Resourcefulness II to help increase multiplier from Ossified Essence if you have less than 200 Essence. Another option would be 
Strong Assault Elixir for increased attack speed. If you happen to lack resistances you could use an elixir to compensate that as well. Some Elixirs cannot be crafted and only drop from things like Helltides or Nightmare Dungeons. Additionally, make sure to keep your health potion upgraded!
Season 10 Updates
For a complete overview of Season 10, mechanics and theme, new leveling activity, and other changes coming, please take a look at our comprehensive season hub here.
- New Unique item (Gospel of the Devotee)
- Chaos Armors allows us to switch items around, having massive impact on the build with new unique combinations.
Obol Gambling
Obol gambling is a great way to potentially find item upgrades or items missing from your build. Check out the new tool guide from Icy Veins for gambling Obols in the link below:
Changelog
- September 18th, 2025: Guide updated for Season 10. Essentially, a complete rework making the build a Shattered Spirit build compared to the previous version being a regular Bone Spirit build.
- July 17th, 2025: Skill-tree & action-bar changes.
- June 29th, 2025: Guide updated for Season 9.
- May 5th, 2025: Optimized and updated post launch for Season 8.
- April 26th, 2025: Guide updated for Season 8.
- January 19th, 2025: Guide updated for Season 7.
- October 12th, 2024: New Paragon tool.
- October 9th, 2024: Paragon board added.
- October 2nd, 2024: Guide updated for Season 6.
- August 5th, 2024: Guide updated for Season 5, Infernal Hordes.
- May 23rd, 2024: Finalized tempering modifiers.
- May 16th, 2024: Gem updates.
- May 10th, 2024: Guide updated for Season 4 Loot Reborn.
- January 22nd, 2024: Guide updated for Season 3 Season of the Construct.
- October 15th, 2023: Guide updated for Season of Blood Patch 1.2.
- August 7th, 2023: Guide updated for Patch 1.1.1.
- July 19th, 2023: Guide updated for Season 1 including Malignant Hearts.
