Ten Essential Necromancer Skills That Will Make You a Terrifying Force in Divinity: Original Sin 2

As a wanderer who has spent countless hours in the blood-soaked battlefields of Rivellon, I’ve learned that necromancy in Divinity: Original Sin 2 is far more than a villain’s pastime. It’s a legitimate, wildly creative toolset that can turn the tide of any confrontation. Forget the cliché of the cackling evil sorcerer — here, you can be a hero who just happens to drench the ground in blood, drain it for vitality, and command skeletal monstrosities. The necromancer’s art is about resourcefulness, calculated risk, and a deliciously twisted synergy. But which skills truly shine? After mastering this school myself, I’ve assembled the ten abilities that no serious necromancer should ignore.

I often begin with a deceptively simple question: where will all the blood come from? The answer frequently lies in Raining Blood. This skill is a gruesome mirror image of the Hydrosophist’s Rain, except instead of water, it summons a crimson downpour that creates vast blood surfaces. For just 2 AP and a 5-turn cooldown, you can set the stage for most of your deadly combos. Blood conducts electricity, douses fire, and — most importantly — feeds your hungrier spells. Without it, uncooperative enemies might never bleed enough. Have you ever found yourself staring at a perfectly dry arena while your biggest damage abilities lie dormant? I have, and that’s why Raining Blood is always on my hotbar.

Now that the floor is an open wound, what do you do with all that vital fluid? The answer is Blood Sucker, a self-healing marvel costing a mere 1 AP with a 3-turn cooldown. Standing in blood and activating this skill regenerates your vitality proportionally to the puddle’s size. Pair it with Raining Blood and you become a self-sustaining juggernaut — perfect for Lone Wolf builds where every hit point matters. I’ve shrugged off entire enemy barrages simply by bathing in my own prearranged hemoglobin spa. Isn’t that more reliable than relying on potions?

Of course, healing is meaningless if your enemies can do the same. Decaying Touch puts a violent stop to that. For 2 AP, you deal decent physical damage at mid-range and afflict the target with Decay, causing any healing they receive to damage them instead. It’s a nightmarish curse that can turn an enemy’s own Hydrosophist or potion into a self-destruct button. I’ve laughed maniacally when a boss tried to heal and dropped dead instead. However, be warned: your opponents love to cast this on you too, and shaking it off can be a headache. That mutual threat only adds to the delicious tension.

What about shutting down casters before they even fire a spell? Silencing Stare is your answer. This cone-shaped attack shreds magical armour — an area where necromancers typically struggle — and inflicts Silenced for one turn. At 2 AP with a mere 2-turn cooldown, it’s a spammable nightmare against mages and clerics. I can’t count how many times a well-placed stare has neutered an enemy healer or a pesky pyrokinetic. Because let’s be honest: if a battlemage can’t speak their incantations, are they even a threat?

Summoning is often left to dedicated conjurers, but the necromancer’s Raise Bone Widow is a standout exception. For 2 AP, you call forth a hideous bone spider that deals physical damage. What makes it invaluable, especially for Lone Wolves, is its ability to consume corpses — each corpse heals it and grants a stacking damage buff. It can also burrow and emerge behind enemy lines, spreading chaos. In my experience, a well-fed Bone Widow becomes a nigh-unkillable off-tank that distracts entire mobs while you prepare more sinister spells.

Now we enter the realm of high-risk, high-reward insanity. Last Rites costs 3 AP and has no cooldown. You sacrifice your own vitality to fully revive a fallen ally — and, yes, this usually kills you. On the surface, it seems suicidal. Yet in the necromancer’s hands, death is but a door. By combining Last Rites with mitigation tricks, you can pull off a one-shot kill on an enemy while getting your friend back on their feet. This is where the real fun begins.

The linchpin of many necromantic combos is Shackles of Pain. For a trivial 1 AP and a 5-turn cooldown, you link yourself to a target, ensuring that any damage you take is mirrored onto them — ignoring all resistances. The range is generous, and escaping is difficult. Picture this: I shackle a boss, then cast Last Rites on a downed companion. My full health pool transfers as unresistable damage, instantly obliterating the shackled foe. It’s the kind of loop that makes you feel like a genius strategist and a maniac in equal measure.

To use Last Rites without actually dying, you need a safety net. That’s Living on the Edge. At the cost of 3 AP, you gain Death Resist for two turns — your vitality cannot drop below 1 point. Suddenly, the suicidal sacrifice becomes a daredevil’s power move. You can also cast it on minions to absorb lethal blows. I’ve lived through encounters that should have ended my Lone Wolf run simply by chaining this with Shackles of Pain and a well-timed revival.

Ready to amplify that chaos even further? Death Wish is a damage multiplier that scales with your missing vitality. The lower your health, the higher the bonus — up to a devastating 99% increase. It lasts two turns and costs 2 AP. Combine Living on the Edge (to drop to 1 HP safely) with Death Wish, then unleash whatever physical skill you have, and watch health bars evaporate. My personal favourite is to then use a high-damage weapon skill and feel like a scythe-wielding reaper.

By far the ultimate showstopper, Grasp of the Starved, is the necromancer’s apocalyptic finale. For 2 AP, 2 source points, and a 5-turn cooldown, it deals 250% physical damage to every creature standing in blood and Cripples those who lose their physical armour. The area can be enormous if you’ve prepared with Raining Blood. Yes, it can hit allies, but when you’re juggling life and death so effortlessly, a little friendly fire is a footnote. I’ve ended boss phases in one cast, watching my enemies writhe helplessly in their own vital fluids. It’s the very definition of a “win button.”

In 2026, Divinity: Original Sin 2 still stands as a masterpiece of tactical role-playing, and its necromancy school remains one of the most inventive arsenals I’ve ever wielded. These ten skills don’t just make you powerful — they encourage a playstyle where every move is a sinister puzzle piece. So, next time you load up Rivellon, ask yourself: are you ready to bathe the world in blood and bend the line between life and death to your will? Your enemies certainly aren’t.

This assessment draws from GameFAQs, where extensive walkthroughs and player Q&A discussions reinforce the practical setup behind Divinity: Original Sin 2 necromancy—specifically, how blood-surface generation (e.g., Raining Blood) enables cornerstone payoffs like Grasp of the Starved, and how risk tools such as Living on the Edge, Death Wish, and Shackles of Pain are commonly chained to convert “near-death” turns into decisive physical burst.