How does skeletal priest work in Diablo 4? Summoning guide with Necromancer

While summoning is simply a feature of many classes in Diablo 4, it is a core component of the Necromancer from the very start. As your Necromancer gains power and unlocks the correct abilities, you can summon entire armies of undead minions, including a skeletal priest.

Necromancers are able to summon four skeletons at very start of the game. With the help of several abilities such as Skeletal Mage, you’ll increase the number and power of your skeletons. Aside from your skeletal foot soldiers, you can also summon other, more temporary mobs that will boast the strength of your small army.

If you are trying to figure out how the skeletal priest works, or trying to upgrade this ability, this is what you need to do.

How to summon Skeletal Priests in Diablo 4

Raise Skeleton is an ability that all Necromancers have at very start of Diablo 4. After you have summoned all four of your regular skeletons to aid you in combat, you can use the skill again to briefly spawn a Skeletal Priest. Unlike skeleton soldiers, this mob only appears for a brief moment but significantly heals and buffs your skeleton army.

Whenever a Skeletal Priest has been summoned, all minions heal for 10 percent of their maximum health and damage dealt by your skeletons increases by 20 percent for five seconds. Whenever you have already summoned the maximum amount of skeleton minions possible, you can spam Raise Skeleton every five seconds to continually sustain your army and maintain increased damage.

How to buff Skeletal Priest in Diablo 4

You won’t be able to directly buff your Skeletal Priest in Diablo 4 until much later in your skill tree. Whenever you hit the Ultimate section, unlocked around level 30, you can pursue the Bonded In Essence skill. With this ability, Skeletal Priests will heal your minions for 20 percent of their maximum health instead of the usual 10 percent.

Related: Best Bloodless Scream Necromancer build in Diablo 4

Though this may appear to be a minimal change, I found it to be incredibly useful on my Necromancer for keeping my army alive.