How to Use The Book of the Dead in Diablo 4

The next entry in the long-running ARPG series, Diablo 4, is finally here. After offering everyone a sizeable taste of what to expect through betas earlier this year, many people have various queries about the abilities of certain classes in Diablo 4. One of them is the Book of the Dead, a unique skill tree of the Necromancer class. Unfortunately, the game does not mention how to access and use it properly. Thus, in this article, we explore how to effortlessly use the Book of the Dead for curious players trying out Necromancer in Diablo 4.

How to Access the Book of the Dead In Diablo 4

The Book of the Dead is a unique mechanic that the Necromancer class in Diablo 4 can use at their disposal. This mechanic opens them up to unleash their full potential on the battlefield. To use this mechanic in the game, follow the steps below.

• First, ensure that you have a Necromancer character and have reached level 7 with it. This is the point where players can access the Book of the Dead at full potential.
• Open up the abilities page by pressing A on the keyboard and select the Book of the Dead option from the middle.
• Alternatively, you can press Left-Shift and C keys together to open up the mechanic.

Following the above steps will open up the mechanic. This will allow players to select summons that will help Necromancer to fight against the enemies.

Summon Options in Book of the Dead in Diablo 4

Skeletal Warriors

These are the warriors that Necromancers can summon to fight against their enemies. They fight at close-range and have three categories.

Skirmishers

Necromancer can summon skeletons during the fight, allowing them to deal 30% damage. However, they’ll have a 15% reduced life. These are the melee-based minions. Skeletal Warriros path has the following options:

• Perk 1: Allows you to summon an additional skeleton skirmisher.
• Perk 2: Critical strike cause skirmishers to deal criticals with 50% bonus critical damage. It happens once every three seconds.
• Sacrifice: +5 critical rate. Removes the ability to summon any skeletal warriors.

Defenders

Using the Book of the Dead, Necromancer can summon shield-bearing skeletons that act as a defense against oncoming attacks in Diablo 4. These skeletons have a 15% increased life. Defenders come in the following options:

• Perk 1: Every eight seconds, defenders can nullify an instance of direct damage that they take once.
• Perk 2: Defenders gain 50% of Necromancer’s Thorn’s value.
• Sacrifice: 15% physical resistance. Removes the ability to summon any skeletal warriors.

Reapers

Reapers are scythe-wielding skeletons that deal a high-damage and equip themselves with a strong wind-up attack every ten seconds. These look eerily similar to the grim reapers. Reapers come in the following options:

• Perk 1: Reaper attacks versus immobilized, slowed, stunned, or vulnerable enemies reduce the cooldown of their wind-up attacks by two seconds.
• Perk 2: +15% chance to create a corpse by their attacks.
• Sacrifice: +10% shadow damage. Removes the ability to summon any type of skeletal warrior.

Skeletal Mages

Summoned with the Book of the Dead, Skeletal mages use magic to deal damage against enemies in Diablo 4. There are three categories of them available:

Shadow

These are the spirit casters that deal shadow damage to the enemies. Shadow comes in the following options:

• Perk 1: +10% chance to stun for two seconds. It can happen to the same enemy every five seconds.
• Perk 2: For every sixth attack, fire an additional shadow bolt
• Sacrifice: +15% maximum essence at the cost of being unable to summon any skeletal mages.

Cold

These are the spirit casters that use ice to chill and freeze targets. There are three categories of them available:

• Perk 1: Get +2 essence when cold mages damage enemies with normal attacks.
• Perk 2: Enemies frozen or damaged when they are frozen by the mages will become vulnerable for three seconds.
• Sacrifice: +15% damage against vulnerable enemies, at the cost of being unable to summon any skeletal mages.

Bone

These mages deal damage after using a part of their own HP. There are three categories of them available:

• Perk 1: The health lost per attack gets reduced by 5%. Additionally, +40% damage if the bone mage is alive after five seconds.
• Perk 2: Gain a percentage of fortify, leaving behind a corpse when the bone mage dies. Players can use that corpse later to their advantage.
• Sacrifice: +30% overpower damage, at the cost of being unable to summon any skeletal mages.

Golems

The strongest type of summons Necromancer can perform through the Book of the Dead. These are unlocked after players reach level 25, where they will receive a class-specific quest. They are subdivided into three types:

Bone

These golems are made out of bones and are tanky. Hence, they can take a lot of damage. They come with the following option:

• Perk 1: Gain a corpse whenever a bone golem incurs a 20% loss of its max HP.
• Perk 2: The bone golem receives a +10% max HP and 50% of Necromancer’s thorn value.
• Sacrifice: +10% attack speed at the cost of being unable to summon any golems.

Blood

These are assist-based golems, that can absorb damage, or reduce damage. Comes with the following options:

• Perk 1: The blood golems absorb 15% of the damage Necromancer takes.
• Perk 2: The blood golems receive 25% damage reduction and 25% increased damage when it’s healthy.
• Sacrifice: +10% max HP, at the cost of being unable to summon all types of golems.

Iron

These golems accessible through the Book of the Dead in Diablo 4 have the ability to perform AoE slams and attacks. Comes in the following options:

• Perk 1: Every fifth iron golem attack creates a frontal shockwave.
• Perk 2: The iron golem’s slam will make enemies vulnerable for three seconds.
• Sacrifice: +30% critical damage, at the cost of being unable to summon any golems.