Season 7 saw 
Blood Wave Necromancers on top of the meta, thanks in large part to the power of 
Kessime’s Legacy and its great scaling. Blizzard will now take action to cap Blood Wave’s power, bringing it in line with other builds. While still a strong option in Season 8, it will no longer overshadow every other Necromancer or other classes playstyles.
Meanwhile, 
Blood Lance is receiving a significant buff. Previously, it was effective in many situations but fell short against bosses. In Season 8, hitting an already-lanced enemy will trigger additional damage, making it much more viable for single-target fights and boss encounters.
New Unique and Legendary Aspect: A Buff for Minion Builds
Necromancer minions are also getting some love in season 8 with a new unique sword and legendary aspect designed to boost summoner playstyles.
Sanguivor, Blade of Zir, Unique Two-Handed Sword:
- +60% Skeleton Mage and Golem Damage
- +32-50% Chance for Army of the Dead to Deal Double Damage
- +160-188 Intelligence
- +1,060-1,142 Maximum Life
- +2 Ranks of Skeleton Warrior Mastery, Skeleton Mage Mastery, and Golem Mastery
Unique Power:
- Your minions’ damage now afflicts enemies with Vampiric Curse.
- Consuming a corpse contributes a soul to Vampiric Curse, which can now stack up to 20 souls.
Army of the Dead can now unleash these souls, dealing 5-10% increased damage per soul unleashed.
This item seems quite powerful for minion-based Necromancers. The more corpses you consume, the stronger your Army of the Dead will become, making minion builds far more interesting.
Aspect of Service and Sacrifice:
- Skeleton Warriors explode on death, dealing 100-200% Physical damage to surrounding enemies.
- Warriors now lose 20% of their life per second while in combat.
- Skeleton Mages take 90% reduced damage and deal 50-100% increased damage.
This new aspect ensures that Skeleton Warriors are in a constant cycle of death and resummoning, providing steady AoE damage. Meanwhile, Skeleton Mages stay alive longer and deal significantly more damage, making sure you still keep a constant damage source in minion-heavy builds.
Other Necromancer Changes in Season 8
Blood Wave Nerfs
Blizzard is taking some action to make Blood Wave build less interesting next season. Here are the few changes that are important to note:
- Supreme Blood Wave: Blood Orbs reduced from 6 to 3.
Tidal Aspect: Extra Blood Waves bonus damage nerfed from 200-240% to 40-100%.- Kessime’s Legacy Nerf:
- Blood Wave Fortify reduced from 85% to 30%.
- Removed Blood Wave’s increasing damage per hit.
- Blood Wave Explosion damage buffed from 100-200% to 200-300%.
Other Notable Adjustments
Iron Maiden: Now has 5% Lucky Hit Chance and can critically strike.- Blood Lance Buff:
- Now deals 100% increased damage when hitting a lanced enemy.
- Hitting a lanced enemy spreads the lanced effect to a nearby target.
Kalan’s Edict (Passive): - Minions now gain 3% Attack Speed and 3% increased damage per active minion.
- When a minion dies, the rest enrage and deal 20% increased damage for 3 seconds.
The Blood Wave nerfs prevent it from being the dominant playstyle, while Blood Lance gets a much-needed buff for boss fights. However, minion-focused builds gain a powerful new scaling mechanic with Sanguivor, Blade of Zir, and the Aspect of Service and Sacrifice. Season 8 might just be the best time yet to embrace the power of the undead!
