Ignore my lack of lakes, I was farming Expansion Orbs in this screenshot.
If you’re playing Loop Hero and looking for the best Necromancer traits, we’ve got a tier list for you. These are my personal opinions based on research and playing the game. If you think a trait should be a different spot, feel free to comment below the article. Keep in mind, you can often create strong builds using traits from multiple tiers. Below the tier list has trait definitions alongside explanations for why or why not to use them.
As far as Golden Cards go, I recommend Ancestral Crypt over Arsenal for the Necromancer. You’ll benefit more from the +3 max health per soul kill. Also, this offsets using Dune/Desert tiles. However, you can still get away with Arsenal for skeleton buffs. One last point, for some reason I couldn’t add the Skilled Architect trait. This provides eight times the loop number in experience when placing tiles. While I haven’t used it, this can help get traits early, but the experience gain seems minimal.
Permanent +0.5 Magic HP for every summoned skeleton.
Stacks up significantly and helps mitigate health losses from Desert/Dunes. Best used early on, but still worth it later too.
Field Practice
+.25 to skeleton level for every loop from when you get the trait.
Another great trait early on that helps keep your skeletons strong with each loop level.
A Tier Traits
Residual Heat
Receive three times the current loop in HP every time a skeleton summon dies.
This helps keep you alive especially in the early game when your Magic HP is lower.
Art of Control
+1 maximum number of skeleton summons.
This helps offset the RNG trying to get more skeletons. You’ll always benefit from the extra summons.
Laying Down One’s Life
Spread damage to your health evenly across your skeletons.
This trait helps keep you alive for those rough hits, especially against bosses.
B Tier Traits
Edge of Impossible
20% chance to summon an extra skeleton on the last summon for your max amount.
More skeletons mean more damage and potentially summons to take a beating.
Horde
Three strengthened skeletons start each loop with you.
These are extremely strong early on, sometimes lasting an entire loop. Not sure how they scale late game.
Ambitions of the Dead
When an enemy dies, a skeleton fully heals itself and gains an additional 10% damage and health until the battle ends.
Useful for keeping your skeletons going strong. However, this isn’t as useful later since skeletons often get one-hit. Also, it reduces benefits from Unseen Care.
C Tier Traits
Omicron’s Technique
+1 resurrection charge.
Lower tier since it doesn’t help you unless you die. However, this is a decent trait to have if you’re not completely focusing on Loop Hero.
Preparation For a Ceremony
The first two skeletons summoned daily are strengthened.
Remember, this is per day, not loop. You’ll gain a bigger advantage using this with Temporal Beacons. I’m not sure how strong this trait actually is.
Lightning Fast
Skeletons have a 20% chance for a 3-hit combo that deals 50% damage per hit.
I haven’t tested this, but it seems like a low chance to trigger. However, you’d theoretically get 150% damage total from it.
D Tier Traits
Counterattack
15% chance of skeletons countering when the hero takes damage.
Doesn’t seem worth it, you may have situations where there aren’t as many skeletons if you’re getting hit.
Blissful Ignorance
Gain a full hand of Oblivion cards, gaining 10% max HP for each Oblivion card used.
This is useful for customizing your run if you’re trying to remove tiles like Goblin Camps, Bandits, and Lich buildings.
Card-Sharp
10% chance to keep a card after placing it.
This helps primarily with building your river using Thickets/Forests. But, it’s a low chance to trigger.
Surveyor
0.5 times the loop number in health whenever passing road-side tiles.
This trait isn’t worth getting since it relies on a lot of road-side tiles for it to have any major benefit. Surveyor is especially weak early on and only benefits your health, not magic shield.
Shield of Faith
When an enemy dies, the Hero receives a Stained Glass charge that has a 20% chance to protect them. Max of 3 can stack.
This trait mainly benefits larger fights if you’re trying to farm Orbs of Expansion, for example. However, you may benefit from using it against spiders as well. D tier isn’t a dead-set spot for this trait.
Treasure Hunter
5% chance for a chest to spawn on top of a killed enemy.
I haven’t used this trait, but the percentage is so low you’re better off with other traits.
N/A Traits
Second Thoughts
Get a new set of 3 traits to choose. Only can use once during a run.
Useful when you get a bad set of traits to choose from.
Axis Tilt
Time flies 25% faster.
Could work well with Preparation For a Ceremony, spawning more enemies, or Meadow health gains.
Gift of Blood
20% chance on hit for the hero or a skeleton to summon blood lightning.
I haven’t used this trait to know how blood lightning works. Feel free to comment with thoughts. Also, the trait description may have been changed by the developer.
Supplies
The hero leaves 10% of findings in the camp when passing a campfire.
Doesn’t make you stronger or help with staying alive.
Awakened Fragment
2% chance t get a whole resource sphere.
Only worth getting if you’re farming resources.
Deep Pockets
Resource cap increased by 50%.
Only useful for farming chapters 1-3, since 4 doesn’t have a cap.
If you have any Loop Hero questions or thoughts on these traits, be sure to drop a comment below. And if you’re looking for other useful guides to learn more tips, we have some listed below.
Jeff is a journalist with over 10 years of experience writing, streaming, and making content about video games. With an associate degree in journalism, he’s a sucker for RPGs, survival games, roguelikes, and more.
Treasure Hunter is great for the later chapters. Treasure Chests later drop as many equipment as there were enemies in that battle, all of which are generally yellow or orange rarity. Considering a majority of the Necromancer's equipment doesn't care about level once at mid-game (I kept a level 7 ring all the way to loop 20 before I found a slightly better one), the chests are a great way to shuffle in new gears to check.
Jeffrey Lerman
Sunday 14th of March 2021
Just to get things started, I think my ideal traits for a build would be this: Unseen Care, Field Practice, Art of Control, Residual Heat or Laying Down One's Life. Residual Heat would keep me alive in the early game, while Laying Down One's Life would pay off against bosses if my Magic HP was low.
snorca
Tuesday 16th of March 2021
Treasure Hunter is great for the later chapters. Treasure Chests later drop as many equipment as there were enemies in that battle, all of which are generally yellow or orange rarity. Considering a majority of the Necromancer's equipment doesn't care about level once at mid-game (I kept a level 7 ring all the way to loop 20 before I found a slightly better one), the chests are a great way to shuffle in new gears to check.
Jeffrey Lerman
Sunday 14th of March 2021
Just to get things started, I think my ideal traits for a build would be this: Unseen Care, Field Practice, Art of Control, Residual Heat or Laying Down One's Life. Residual Heat would keep me alive in the early game, while Laying Down One's Life would pay off against bosses if my Magic HP was low.