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For necromancer lore, see necromancer.
Necromancer
Race Human
Faction Undead Scourge
Statistics
Hit points 305
Hit point regeneration Blight
Hit point regeneration rate 2.00 HP/sec.
Mana 200 (Initial 75)
Mana Regeneration rate 0.67 Mana/sec.
Unit Type Undead
Level 2
Gold 145 Gold
Lumber 20 Lumber
Food 2 Food
Produced at Temple of the Damned
Build time 24 sec.
Attacking priority 8
Hotkey N
Collision Size 16
Combat
Weapon(s) Necromancer's Staff
Normal attack 10-11 (10.5 avg)
Range 60
Attack type Magic
Cooldown 1.80 sec.
Weapon type Missile
Armor Type Unarmored
Armor 0
Day Sight 140
Night Sight 90
Movement Speed Average (270)
Sound
Sound Set Necromancer
WC3RoC-logo
This article contains lore taken from Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, the manuals, and/or official bonus maps.

Though they retained their Humanity after making a pact with death, Necromancers became the most terrifying agents of the Scourge. These dark, insidious men were once thought to be aspiring geniuses by the Magocracy of Dalaran. However, their insatiable lust to delve into the secrets of the dark arts drove them to forsake their very souls. Ner'zhul, the Lich King, granted these malevolent sorcerers true power over the dead in exchange for their loyalty and obedience. The shadowy Necromancers have the power to command various types of Undead and even spread the foul undead plague as well.

Information[]

Necromancers are very popular among experienced undead players as they can raise lots of Skeletons to support your existing troops. If the enemy doesn't have Destroyers or Faerie Dragons (the latter of which can be fatal to Necromancers) then the sheer amount of skeletons can overwhelm enemies, though it is also important to take note of the massive collision as a result.

Necromancers work well with 3-4 Meat Wagons and 2 Obsidian Statues. The Meat Wagons provide fresh corpses for the Necromancers to use, while the Obsidian Statues allow them to contribute to the battle for as long as possible. You may want to add more or less Meat Wagons depending on the amount of Necromancers you use, however.

Keep Necromancers in the back and well protected. Good microing skills can allow Necromancers to survive, especially if they get targeted by heavy air or artillery units, who can easily kill them. Skilled players should instead use Necromancers for the purposes of Unholy Frenzy and Cripple, as these are very powerful when used correctly (and also gives more versatility in the player's army), even moreso with an Orc ally using Shamans.

Spells and abilities[]

Raise Dead (Autocast)[]

BTNRaiseDeadOff
Raises 2 Skeletons from a target corpse.
Duration Cooldown Mana Cost Range Allowed Targets Effect
45 sec. 8 sec. 75 60 Dead Raises 2 Skeleton Warriors

Once the Skeletal Mastery upgrade is researched, Raise Dead will raise 1 Skeleton Warrior and 1 Skeletal Mage per corpse. There's a cap to the amount of skeletons that can be summoned, and excess skeletons will automatically die if it goes over this amount, with the oldest ones taking priority.

This spell is not on by default. This is to prevent the Necromancer from raising Skeletons from the Graveyard after he is created wasting his mana if you happen to build your Graveyard next to the Temple of the Damned. It's recommended to keep the spell set off so he can reserve mana for his more powerful spells.

Skeletons initially last 45 seconds. Research Skeletal Mastery to increase their duration by 20 seconds for a total of 65 seconds.

Tip: Raise Dead yields the same result regardless of what type of corpse it is cast on. If you have a Death Knight on your team, save powerful corpses for Animate Dead. You can kill a critter and get the same result from Raise Dead on its corpse as you would on, say, a Tauren, or an Abomination. Raise Dead prioritizes lower-ranked corpses first; for example, a critter corpse will take priority over a Ghoul's.

Skeleton counters

Use Dispel. If not available, target the Necromancers if they can't be reached, or use AoE abilities and skills to clear the skeletons.

Unholy Frenzy[]

BTNUnholyFrenzy
Increases the attack rate of target unit by 75%, but drains 2 hit points per second. Lasts 45 seconds.
Duration Cooldown Mana Cost Range Allowed Targets Effect Requirements
45 sec. 1 sec. 50 50 Air, Ground, Organic +50% attack speed bonus, target unit takes 2 damage/sec. Necromancer Adept Training

Unholy Frenzy is very helpful on Heroes (whose health regeneration can make up for the loss of hit points), Abominations, Frost Wyrms, Tauren, Knights, and Bears. For some units, such as low hit point units, it is not a good idea to cast Unholy Frenzy on them because it will make them so weak they will be easily killed. If an ally has brought shamans into the fray, try to stack Unholy Frenzy on bloodlusted units. This makes them attack slightly over twice as fast, and is particularly vital for the slower but more damaging units.

Unholy Frenzy works very well in combination with the Dread Lord's Vampiric Aura on Abominations and other advanced melee units and on melee heroes such as the Dread Lord. The Vampiric Aura will help heal the damage of the Unholy Frenzy.

Cast Unholy Frenzy on retreating enemy Heroes, or even units that are about to die. It may kill them off.

Counters

Use Dispel.

Cripple[]

BTNCripple
Reduces movement speed by 75%, attack rate by 50%, and damage by 50% of a target enemy unit.
Duration (Hero) Cooldown Mana Cost Range Allowed Targets Effect Requirements
60 (10) sec. 10 sec. 100 60 Air, Ground, Enemy, Organic, Neutral Movement Speed -75%, Attack Rate -50%, Damage -50% Necromancer Master Training

Cripple is the uber slow spell with a significant damage reduction added on top of it. It also requires a lot of mana. You should pick your targets carefully when casting Cripple. Cast it on powerful normal units such as Knights, Tauren, Abominations, Frost Wyrms, or Druids of the Claw. Use it on enemy heroes to prevent them from fleeing or to reduce their damage output.

Cripple Counters

Use Dispel.

Upgrades[]

BTNNecromancerAdept
Necromancer Adept Training
Increases mana capacity by 100, mana regeneration rate by 30%, hit points by 40, and gives them the ability to cast Unholy Frenzy.
Research Cost Researched At Upgrade Time Effect
100 Gold 50 Lumber Temple of the Damned 30 sec. Hit Points: 345
Mana: 300 (Initial 112.5)
Mana Regen Rate: 0.99 Mana/sec.
Spell Learned: Unholy Frenzy
BTNNecromancerMaster
Necromancer Master Training
Further increases mana capacity by 100, mana regeneration rate by 30%, hit points by 40, and gives them the ability to cast Cripple.
Research Cost Researched At Requirements Upgrade Time Effect
100 Gold 150 Lumber Temple of the Damned Necromancer Adept Training, Black Citadel 45 sec. Hit Points: 385
Mana: 400 (Initial 150)
Mana Regen Rate: 1.31 Mana/sec.
Spell Learned: Cripple
BTNSkeletonMage
Skeletal Mastery
Causes one of the two skeletons created by Raise Dead to be a Skeletal Mage and increases the duration of raised Skeleton Warriors and Skeletal Mages by 20 seconds.
Research Cost Researched At Requirements Upgrade Time Effect
150 Gold 100 Lumber Temple of the Damned Necropolis 30 sec. Raises 1 Skeleton Warrior and 1 Skeletal Mage, lasts 65 seconds.
BTNPackBeast
Backpack
Gives the ability to carry up to two items. Items carried by the unit will be dropped upon death.
Units can not use or gain benefits of items that they carry.
Research Cost Researched At Requires Upgrade Time
50 Gold 25 Lumber Townhall-type Structure Player-built Shop 20 sec.

Quotes[]

Trivia[]

Patch changes[]

  • WC3tFT-logo Patch 1.31.0 (2019-05-28):
    • Necromancer reworked.
    • Cripple is now the default spell, with its potency reduced from -50% attack speed to -10% and -50% damage to -25%.
    • Raise Dead is now an adept-tier spell.
    • Unholy Frenzy is now a master-tier spell, and sacrifices an Undead unit to provide its effects. Potency also reduced from 75% attack speed and -4 health per second to 50% attack speed and -3 health per second.
  • WC3tFT-logo Patch 1.19 (2005-09-19):
    • Skeletal Longevity research time reduced to 15 seconds from 30 seconds.
    • Skeletal Mastery research time reduced to 30 seconds from 45 seconds.
  • WC3tFT-logo Patch 1.15 (2004-05-10):
    • Build time reduced to 24 seconds from 30 seconds.
    • Skeletal Longevity now costs 50/75, down from 100/75, and can be researched in 30 seconds, down from 60 seconds.
    • Necromancer Adept and Master training now take 30 and 45 second to research, down from 60 and 75 seconds.
    • Raise Dead cooldown increased to 8 from 5.
    • Unholy Frenzy cooldown increased to 1 from 0.
  • WC3tFT-logo Patch 1.14 (2004-01-07): Fixed an issue that caused a unit to permanently lose 75% of its attack speed if it was Polymorphed while under the effects of Unholy Frenzy.
  • WC3RoC-logo Patch 1.06 (2003-06-03): Most spellcasters (Sorceress, Priest, Shaman, Witch Doctor, Necromancer, Banshee, Druid of the Talon) have been re-balanced. In general, units with piercing damage rip up spellcasters, while basic melee units, such as Ghouls or Footmen, are weak against spellcasters. The specific changes to the units in question are:
    • They have a new armor type, unarmored, which takes bonus damage from siege and piercing attacks.
    • They also have a new damage type, magic, which does reduced damage to fortified and hero armor, but does bonus damage against medium armor.
    • They had their damage adjusted, typically downwards.
    • They no longer gain damage as they go up in level, and gain less hitpoints as they go up in level (but start with more hitpoints when initially built)
    • Many autocast buffs and debuff costs reduced.
    • Casters, including Dryads, have had their mana regeneration rates boosted by 30%.

See also[]

External links[]

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