Poison isn't like every other source of magic in Diablo 2: Resurrected. Yes, it counts as magic and does damage, but that's where the similarities end. Poison does damage over time and prevents monsters from being able to heal themselves. This makes it a prime candidate for whittling down elites and bosses.
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Unfortunately, selecting all of the poison skills and hoping for the best isn't a winning proposition. This build requires a great deal of foresight and a savvy set of equipment that can boost poison's unique attributes. Doing so makes the Necromancer one of Diablo 2: Resurrected's greatest classes.
Skills
| Bone Armor | 3 |
| Teeth | 1 |
| Corpse Explosion | 1 |
| Poison Dagger | 20 |
| Poison Explosion | 20 |
| Poison Nova | 20 |
| Amplify Damage | 1 |
| Weaken | 1 |
| Terror | 1 |
| Iron Maiden | 1 |
| Life Tap | 1 |
| Decrepify | 20 |
| Lower Resist | 20 |
Most Poison Nova Necromancer builds give up on using Poison Nova and switch to using Corpse Explosion later in the game for damage. They do this because of monsters that resist or are immune to poison. However, Necromancers have one of the best endgame skills for any class in the game with Lower Resist, which, at level 30, breaks immunity. Only 20 levels can get applied traditionally, but with equipment and charms, this build hits 30 and then some.
Attributes
| Strength | 156 |
| Dexterity | Enough to hit 75% Block chance |
| Vitality | All the rest |
| Energy | Nothing |
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Between the equipment and potions, energy is a meaningless attribute for the Poison Nova Necromancer. Remember that, unlike other casters, poison should be cast on top of itself. A strength of 156 allows the Necromancer to equip the Monarch shield, required for the Spirit Runeword. Because the Poison Nova must be cast in the middle of groups for maximum effect, adding enough dexterity to get maximum block is smart. After that, it's all about survivability, so give vitality everything else.
Items
| Weapon | Heart of the Oak |
| Offhand | Spirit |
| Head | Harlequin Crest |
| Body | Enigma |
| Hands | Trang-Oul's Claws |
| Feet | Sandstorm Trek |
| Waist | Arachnid Mesh |
| Neck | Mara's Kaleidoscope |
| Finger 1 | The Stone of Jordan |
| Finger 2 | Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band |
| Unique Charms | Gheed's Fortune, Hellfire Torch, Annihilus |
| Grand Charms | Fungal/Hexing Grand Charms of Balance |
| Small Charms | Stalwart/Shimmering Small Charms of Balance |
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There is a good reason that many of the best Runewords in the game are listed here. Getting that Lower Resist to 30 is imperative to this build; without it, Poison Nova will be unable to damage enemies with immunities. For that reason, many of these items increase skills. That's the best thing to do for most builds, but especially so for this one.
Additionally, please note that Poison Nova gets benefits from Poison Dagger and Poison Explosion, so stacking anything that adds to all skills will be much better than just the flat increase depicted.
Mercenary
| Mercenary | Act 2 Defensive Desert Mercenary |
| Weapon | Reaper's Toll |
| Head | Andariel's Visage |
| Body | Fortitude |
Getting the most out of a mercenary is more important to this build than most. The Poison Nova Necromancer will be doing all the poison damage while the Desert Mercenary will be in charge of physical damage. The Defensive Aura stacks with Decrepify, which slows enemies so much that they might as well be stopped. This makes for easy poisoning and the mercenary won't have to run around to deal damage.
Diablo 2: Resurrected was released on September 23rd, 2021, and is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.