As one of the best classes in Project 1999, building a successful Necromancer revolves around resource management. Because your core mechanics constantly convert health into mana via Lich spells and drain life from enemies via Lifetaps, optimizing your setup requires the right balance of gear and spell selection.
This guide will break down the best Necromancer Builds: the Fear Kiting Build, the Root Rotting Build, and the Undead Charming Build, each with different spell selections.
The Best Spell Builds
The three most powerful spell configurations for a Necromancer are the Fear Kiting Build, Root Rotting Build, and Undead Charming Build. Because you can only have 8 spells memorized at one time, optimizing your spell bar layout for specific scenarios dictates your efficiency.
The Fear Kiting Build
This is the standard, safest, and most mana efficient way to Solo Leveling in wide open, outdoor zones. Your pet deals entirely free melee damage while the enemy flees in terror.
- Summon Line: Use your highest
Summoning Spell to bring Skeleton Warrior fighting with you. - Darkness Line (Snare): Keeps the fleeing monster moving at a slow crawl so your pet can constantly hit it from behind. Use
Clinging,
Engulfing, or
Cascading Darkness. - Fear Line: Forces the target to run away, preventing it from attacking you or your pet. Use
Fear or
Invoke Fear.
Screaming Terror: A short duration crowd control spell used as an emergency button if Fear resists or breaks early.- Primary DoT: One strong Poison or Blood DoT (e.g.,
Heat Blood,
Asystole,
Venom of the Snake) to tick down the health bar. - Lifetap: A reactive health siphon (e.g.,
Drain Soul) kept on the bar in case you take stray damage or after using
Lich Spell to restore your mana. - Lich Spell Line: use spell like
Lich at level 49 to convert your health into mana.
Feign Death: Your ultimate reset button. If you pull too many enemies or a high level roamer adds, cast this to instantly wipe aggro.
The Root Rotting Build
When you do not have space to let an enemy run around, such as inside cramped dungeon corridors or when killing city guards, you must anchor them in place.
- Summon Line: Use your highest
Summoning Spell to bring Skeleton Warrior as a pet. - Snare: Use
Clinging,
Engulfing, or
Cascading Darkness. - Root Line: Keeps the mob completely stationary. Use
Root,
Enstill, or
Paralyzing Earth (which lasts up to 3 minutes).
Splurt: The holy grail of Necromancer DoTs (Level 51). Its damage ramps up sequentially over time, providing the highest Damage Per Mana (DPM) efficiency in the game.- Disease/Poison DoTs: Stacking long duration DoTs like
Scourge,
Plague, or
Chilling Embrace alongside your darkness snare. - Lifetap: A reactive health siphon (e.g.,
Drain Soul) kept on the bar in case you take stray damage or after using
Lich Spell to restore your mana. - Lich Spell Line: use spell like
Lich at level 49 to convert your health into mana.
Gather Shadows: Keeps you invisible so you can safely sit down and meditate while the enemy wastes away from your diseases.
The Undead Charming Build
The Undead Charm build provides high experience gains. You charm a powerful undead creature, use it to attack another mob, and break the charm right before they die to kill both.
- Summon Line: Use your highest
Summoning Spell to bring Skeleton Warrior as a pet. - Undead Charm Line: Use
Thrall of Bones to Charm the undead target and make it your pet.
Screaming Terror /
Root: Essential to lock down your pet immediately when charm randomly breaks so it does not murder you.
Invisibility to Undead: Used to intentionally break your own charm at the perfect second when both monsters are at 1% health.
Banish Undead: High burst nukes used to instantly finish off both targets simultaneously for maximum experience allocation.
Splurt: Its damage ramps up sequentially over time, providing the highest Damage Per Mana (DPM) efficiency in the game.- Lifetap: A reactive health siphon (e.g.,
Drain Soul) kept on the bar in case you take stray damage or after using
Lich Spell to restore your mana. - Lich Spell Line: use spell like
Lich at level 49 to convert your health into mana.
Best in Slot (BiS) Gear
| Gear Slot | Item Name | Key Stats Provided |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Scythe of the Shadowed Soul | STR: +5 STA: +10 CHA: +5 INT: +20 HP: +20 MANA: +80 Your Epic Weapon. It acts as a free, mana less Damage Over Time (DoT) and snare spell, saving you thousands of mana over long fights. |
| Off Hand | Encyclopedia Necrotheurgia | A secondary slot book that acts as a pet focus item, making your summoned minions significantly stronger. |
| Head | Circlet of Summer | +10 Wisdom, +70 Mana, +70 Hp |
| Face | Akkirus` Mask of Warfare | STR: +10 DEX: +10 STA: +10 CHA: +10 WIS: +10 INT: +10 AGI: +10 HP: +100 MANA: +100 |
| Chest | Manna Robe | A situational chest piece. Its clicky effect sacrifices 60 HP to instantly give you 20 mana. It stacks with your |
| – | Sal`Varae`s Robe of Darkness | STR: +15 DEX: +15 STA: +25 CHA: +25 WIS: +25 INT: +25 AGI: +25 HP: +100 MANA: +100. It features massive health and mana stats, along with Flowing Thought I for passive mana regeneration. |
| Back | Shroud of Veeshan | STR: +8 DEX: +8 STA: +8 CHA: +8 WIS: +12 INT: +12 AGI: +8 HP: +55 MANA: +110 |
| Shoulders | Shawl of Perception | STA: +10 WIS: +10 INT: +10 HP: +30 MANA: +30 |
| Waist | Belt of Dwarf Slaying | STR: +15 WIS: +15 INT: +15 HP: +100 MANA: +100 |
| Arms | Kelsiferous’ Armband of Artistry | STR: +10 DEX: +15 STA: +15 CHA: +15 INT: +15 MANA: +40 |
| Hands | Ancient Shissar Gauntlet | STR: +10 STA: +10 INT: +20 |
| Wrist | Camii`s Bracer of Vigor | STR: +15 STA: +20 WIS: +15 INT: +15 HP: +50 MANA: +50 |
| Legs | Shining Metallic Pantaloons | STA: +10 INT: +15 MANA: +80 |
| Feet | White Dragonscale Boots | +17 Wisdom, +17 INT, +110 Mana, +85 HP. Highly sought after because they carry Flowing Thought II, further stacking your passive mana regen. |
| Neck | Medal of Deep Thought | +9 Wisdom, +9 Intelligence, +75 HP, +30 Mana |
| Rings (x2) | Ring of Dain Frostreaver IV | STR: +10 STA: +10 HP: +100 (per ring). Increasing your regeneration rate, attack rating, and causes damage to anyone who attacks you. |
| Earrings (x2) | Solist`s Earring of Insight | INT: +15 HP: +90 MANA: +90 (per Earring) |
Final Thoughts
The Necromancer in Project 1999 represents the gold standard of self sufficient class design, blending unrivaled safety with immense solo potential. While it does not require millions of platinum pieces to dominate the leveling landscape, the journey from a naked Iksar to a fully geared, raiding powerhouse provides a deeply rewarding progression loop where player skill and game knowledge truly shine.