Rathma Skeletal Mages Necromancer Speed Farming Variation (2024)

Last updated on Nov 19, 2020 at 09:00by Deadset23 comments

On this page, we explain everything that is specific to the Speed Farming variant ofRathma Skeletal Mages Necromancer. Updated for Patch 2.6.10 andSeason 22.

The Rathma Skeletal MageNecromancer can deal reasonably well with Normal Rift farming all the waythrough the highest Torment difficulties. The build variation suffers fromminor inconveniences compared to top tier speed farming builds (lackingclass-specific items for extra movement, limited skill and passive choicesfor the purpose).

Within the limited scope of regular difficulties, the necessary damage andtoughness to triumph over the enemy is significantly smaller. Thus, your bestcourse of action is to improve utility and speed.

Active Skills
Blood Rush MetabolismSkeletal Mage Skeleton Archer1Devour Devouring Aura2Land of the Dead Frozen Lands3Command Skeletons Freezing Grasp4Frailty Aura of Frailty
Passive Skills
Extended ServitudeSpreading MaledictionDark ReapingFinal Service

In the skill selection, you will accomplish that by:

• Most importantly, changing the slower, controlled pace of Singularity for the weaker, but Essence-efficient Skeleton Archers. The damage drop will not be noticeable in regular Rifts,but the ease of resource management definitely will. Note that this mandatesthe change to Cold damage on gear.
• Swapping the Cannibalize rune on Devour for the farmingconvenience of Devouring Aura. Note the extension of the aura radiusthrough your gold pickup radius — an important factor that you willinfluence through gearing (see below).
• Swapping the defensive Decrepify curse for the automated, offensestaple Frailty Aura of Frailty. Similarly to Devouring Aura, thisrune scales with pickup radius (see below).
• Exchanging your Bone Spikes generator for the mobility of Blood Rush, augmented by the doubled charges of Metabolism.
• In the passives, replacing progression choices like Overwhelming Essence and Life from Death with powerful farmingpassives like Fueled by Death and Final Service.

Progress-oriented jewelry like Haunted Visions and Convention of Elements greatly diminish in usefulness during Normal Riftruns. When doing farming content, the recommended jewelry replacements are an Avarice Band and a Hellfire Amulet of Intelligence. Avarice Band is an Act III cache legendary that, in conjunction with agemmed Boon of the Hoarder and a worn Goldwrap, will render youpractically invulnerable during Normal Riftfarming. Note that it also extends your pickup radius up to the whopping 30 yardsas you pick up gold, enabling a near screen-wide effect to both Devouring Aura and Aura of Frailty, and Spreading Maledictionas a result. While any well-rolled amulet will do, you will ideally finish offthe farming jewelry with a Squirt's Necklace, which greatly augments thedamage of long range, glass cannon builds like this one.

Since the extra DPS from The Witching Hour will be redundant in regularrifts, you can freely drop it in favor of Goldwrap for the convenienceof near-infinite Toughness.

Finish off the farming staple items by dropping Reaper's Wraps' resourceregeneration for the extra elites of Nemesis Bracers, feeding nicely intoyour cubed In-geom.

To help you with farming the gear you need for your builds, we have two veryuseful guides that you can access by clicking the links below: a Salvage Guide tohelp you quickly check whether or not you can safely salvage a piece of gear anda Legendary Farming Guide to help you efficiently farm legendaries and set items.

In speed runs, proper ranged positioning can be left out in favor of fasteradvancement through the rift and looting enemies with reckless abandon; thus,the value of a gem like Zei's Stone of Vengeance diminishes and it is bestreplaced by Boon of the Hoarder, part of the gold utility triumvirateoutlined above.

For more information about gems, please refer to our guide on gems.

It is recommended that you swap out Reilena's Shadowhook from the Weaponslot in Kanai's Cube; its damage multiplication is welcome in the progressionvariant, but it ends up being a slower option to simply cubing In-geom forspeed rifting. This farming staple cuts cooldowns by 10 seconds flat for agenerous 15-second period after killing an elite, ensuring very high uptime onvital Corpse generation cooldowns and resulting in higher damage overall.

During Season 22, you are able to add Trag'Oul's Corroded Fang in thefourth slot of the Cube, and enjoy its damage multiplication benefits via thecurses you spread.

The Kanai's Cube can be used for much more than simply extracting Legendary powers from items. Pleaserefer to our Kanai's Cube guide for more information.