Classes
Necromancer
Pet caster + DoT specialist — top solo class in the era and the deepest evil-side caster utility kit.
Necromancer summons undead pets, casts damage-over-time curses, lifetaps enemies for HP, and feign-deaths to split pulls. The class is the top solo class in Classic-through-PoP EverQuest — a well-played Necromancer can duo content the game shouldn't allow them to touch. The Necromancer identity is sustained-DoT, pet-support, utility caster. In groups, the Necro DoT-stacks every mob, lifetaps to sustain mana via the Lich line, and uses Feign Death to pull. In raids, the Necro is a sustained-DPS seat, a backup puller, and the aggro-dump insurance policy that catches teammates before they wipe.
Role and identity
A Necromancer exists to extract value from a fight from start to finish. DoTs ticking, pet hitting, lifetap returning HP, Lich converting HP to mana, Feign Death splitting the next pull. There is no downtime in a Necro's combat loop — every second the mob is alive, the Necro is profiting from it.
Identity is the patient predator. Necromancers don't burst — they layer. By the third tick of a triple-DoT stack on a snared mob, the math has tilted permanently in the Necro's favor. The class rewards patience, mana management, and a willingness to spend HP to gain mana to spend HP again.
Strengths
- Top solo class in era — fear-snare-DoT kite or root-rot indoor
- Lich line: HP-to-mana conversion, infinite mana economy
- Feign Death: pull, split, recover from mistakes
- DoT stacking across schools (Disease, Poison, Magic, Chaotic) for huge per-mob damage
- Pet (Summoned Skeleton/Ghoul) tankable with Necro buffs
- Coffin / Gather Corpse (AA) for raid corpse retrieval
Weaknesses
- DoT damage is gradual, not burst — bad for short fights
- Vulnerable to magic-resist debuffs on the mob
- Pet pathing is fragile in tight zones
- Faction-fragile in good-aligned cities
- Heavy-undead zones resist most DoT schools
Solo, group, and raid
Solo
Top-tier. Fear-snare-DoT-kite outdoors, tap-DoT-pet indoors. The Necro is rarely in danger of dying solo — they just run out of things to kill nearby. Lich line for sustained mana, Coffins for emergency self-rez bypass, Death Peace for aggro dumps.
Group
Fits any group. The Necro's pull-and-feign utility, sustained DoT contribution, and aggro insurance (Death Peace, Tap line) make the class universally welcomed outside of heavy-undead zones where DoT types resist. Lich keeps the Necro mana bar full while everyone else meditates.
Raid
Sustained DPS seat plus utility insurance. Necros parse high on long fights where DoT stacks have time to mature. AA priority is Mana Conservation, Spell Casting Reinforcement, and the Necromancer-specific Hastened Lich. Fundament: First Spire and Mind Wrack rounds out the kit.
The Last Camp any-race-class combos
The Last Camp opens Necro to canonically forbidden races. Wood Elf Necromancer is the headline corruption build — the Faydark druid-tradition broken by Innoruuk worship, faction-hostile to every other Wood Elf in the game. High Elf Necromancer of Innoruuk is the absolute inversion: a Felwithe-born Teir'Dal sympathizer running the Coldain factions in reverse.
Halfling Necromancer is the comic-horror build — the smallest body in the game raising skeleton armies, faction-hostile in Misty Thicket. Vah Shir Necromancer brings Safe Fall to the dark caster line. Barbarian Necromancer is the largest cold-resist Necromancer in the game, with Halas starting and a Coldain-faction-friendly path through Velious. Ogre Necromancer is the slowest-thinking but highest-mana-pool Necromancer thanks to STA-driven mana on a melee-build race.
Spell / discipline highlights
Defining spells: Lich line (HP-to-mana), Feign Death (skill, also Death Peace spell), Snare / Engulfing Darkness, Fear (kite tool), Drain Spirit / Vampiric Curse (lifetap), Engorging Roots (root for solo), Disease/Poison/Magic/Chaotic DoTs (the four schools to stack), Pet summon line, and Gather Shadows (improved invis). Late-game adds Funeral Pyre (boss-tier DoT) and Splurt (uncurable DoT). No disciplines.
AAs to prioritize
Mana Conservation, Spell Casting Reinforcement, and Hastened Lich first. Then Spell Casting Subtlety, Innate Intelligence, and the Necromancer-specific Hastened Death Peace. Mind Wrack, Body and Mind Rejuvenation, and Hastened Splurt round out late-tier picks.
Leveling path summary
- 1-15: Newbie yard. Learn pet management plus first DoT.
- 15-30: Paineel, Neriak, or Cabilis outskirts. Fear-kite a lot.
- 30-45: Oasis, Cazic-Thule, Karnor's Castle outskirts. Root-rot efficiency.
- 45-60: Chardok (charm-pet), Kaesora, Sebilis, Overthere. Solo duos.
- 60-65: PoP. Plane of Fire sustained-DPS; Plane of Time mana-dump rotations.
Notable gear by tier
Early Necromancers prize Black Tome with Silver Runes (focus item), Bone-Splinter Staff, and any cloth piece with INT. Kunark adds Sceptre of Destruction, Black Acrylia Sceptre, and Iksar necromancer-themed weapons. Velious provides Coldain Necromancer gloves and the Plane of Hate revamp gear. PoP endgame is the Time-tier caster set and Staff of the Forsaken. Epic 1.0 Scythe of the Shadowed Soul carries a corpse-bound clicky and a unique aggro-dump effect.