The Necromancer Rules Solo Play in Diablo 2

When starting a solo self-found (SSF) journey through Sanctuary, no class makes it easier to complete the Normal difficulty campaign than the Necromancer. Through powerful curses and an army of undead minions, they can grind their way through acts while avoiding direct confrontation. For Diablo 2 newcomers, summoners represent the most beginner friendly playstyle as well.

Why the Necromancer Crushes Solo Progression

Here‘s a deeper look at the key advantages Necromancer players enjoy that allow them to easily handle Normal difficulty solo:

Strong Minions Distract and Destroy

• Raise Skeleton, Skeleton Mastery, Clay Golem, and Revives provide increasing minion support
• Summons draw monster aggro while dishing out damage
• Allow safer range to utilize curses and drain life abilities

Devastating Curses Weaken Foes

• Amplify Damage makes enemies take substantially increased physical damage
• Dim Vision blinds spell casters
• Attract pulls in monsters from a distance
• Decrepify is great for slowing champion packs

Tons of Survivability with Life Steal

• Curses like Life Tap steal life from enemies to heal
• Clay Golem‘s slow aura controls enemy hordes
• Cleanse magic from the Necromancer‘s Strike skill
• Items with life steal add comfort through progression

Compared to more offensively-focused classes like the Barbarian and Amazon that need to be in the thick of battle, the Necromancer has an inherently easier time handling solo play by keeping his distance while minions wreak havoc.

Leveling Build and Early Skill Order

When first starting out in single player, here is solid skill order to progress smoothly through Normal:

1. Raise Skeleton
2. Skeleton Mastery
3. Clay Golem
4. Amplify Damage
5. Life Tap or Dim Vision

With each point in Skeleton Mastery, your main minion damage dealers get bonuses to health, damage, quantity, and resistances. Rush for Clay Golem next to add a slower and tank option. Boost your skeletons‘ killing speed with Amplify Damage. And steal life or blind enemies with your choice of curse for more control. Fill out any leftover points into Blood Golem for extra life.

Essential Gearing While in Normal

The Necromancer sets himself up nicely for SSF gearing early on. Prioritize these stats on items found throughout normal:

• Life and mana to sustain longer away from town
• Faster Cast Rate for quickly reacting with spells
• Faster Hit Recovery to avoid interruptions
• ANY +skills affixes to boost your main spells
• Resistances as they become available

Normal difficulty features some excellent early rune word gearing options:

And Unique/Set piece options like Vidala‘s Rig and the Sigon set provide strong summoner bonuses.

Having your mercenary equip items like Bonehew or Kelpie Snare will further support your army. The Act 2 Defensive merc is generally best for boosting minions.

Smooth Sailing into Nightmare & Hell

Once you complete Normal difficulty solo, the Necromancer has built the foundation to continue progressing through Nightmare and Hell. Consider respecting skills points to focus more heavily on poison and corpse explosion spells for faster clearing. The Act 2 Offensive mercenary can also boost poison damage with an aura. Revives become more important for their auras/bonuses from tougher enemies.

And while partying up is highly encouraged in late difficulties, the Necromancer remains one of the best solo class choices if opting to go alone with preparation and skill.

The majority of other Diablo 2 classes have a tougher time defeating all 5 acts by themselves for a first playthrough. Melee classes like the Barbarian and Paladin need to get up close to do damage, leaving them vulnerable. Bow users aren‘t as gear dependent but lack minion protection.

Here‘s a brief comparison highlighting why other classes generally require more ARPG experience and gear to smoothly solo on Normal:

• Barbarian – Extremely gear dependent for survivability and damage as pure melee
• Paladin – Auras help but still struggles against magic immunes
• Amazon/Assassin – Squishy without items; mercs die more easily
• Druid – Starts slower than Necromancer; gear dependent shapeshifting

Does this mean other classes can‘t complete solo Normal games? Of course not with proper leveling and careful play. But the Necromancer‘s blend of powerful minions and siphoning life is perfectly designed for safely overcoming that initial difficulty hurdle.

In summary, the Necromancer dominates as the premiere class choice for easily conquering Diablo 2‘s Normal difficulty in solo self found conditions. Both veteran and completely new ARPG players benefit from the Necromancer‘s:

✔️ Army of minions to distract and dish damage
✔️ Devastating curses that debilitate enemies from safety
✔️ Innate life stealing capabilities
✔️ Flexibility to specialize further into epidemics and explosives

These proficient reapers can absolutely shred apart the denizens of Sanctuary. While late difficulties call for adjustments and possible party grouping, Necromancers own early solo play.

So for those looking to begin their Diablo 2 journey alone, claim at your service an undead swarm and begin reaping your bloody victory across the land. Diablo awaits! Let this guide set you on the path…