Getting started with pet classes in Diablo 4

Diablo 4 features two pet-empowered classes at release: the Necromancer with their undead Minions, and the Druid with their Companions. And there are enough similarities between the two classes’ pet systems that learning one is a solid foundation for the other. So let’s explore getting started with playing a pet class in Diablo 4.

How to unlock and use pets

First, pets are incredibly simple for both classes to start with. Necromancers have their Raise Skeleton ability at level 1. This same button is used for all minion summons until level 25 when the Necro starts a short quest chain to learn how to summon Golems. Necromancers also have multiple passive skills in the Skill Tree to improve their pet army. Remember to keep Raise Skeletons and Golem on your ability bar if you’re using your pets, as they won’t appear from the ether. The only exception is when you sacrifice them for buffs through the Book of the Dead.

Conversely, new Druids don’t open up the Companion section of the skill tree until they’ve invested 11 points. That said, Druid Companions are solely a skill point investment — pop up to five points into your Wolves, Ravens, and Poison Creepers, and you are ready to go! But you’re more limited in improving your Companions — you’re limited to the Skill Tree nodes in the Companion group and your Packleader Wolf Spirit Boon for passive buffs.

Both classes have a considerable similarity — if you don’t have the pet’s button on your Action Bar, you’re getting zero benefits. This may sound obvious, but the Necromancer’s Golem quest does not automatically add the button, so you can easily run around without noticing that you’re missing the hulking undead. Similarly, if you rearrange where your Druid’s skill points are spent, the buttons get removed from your Action bar and may need to be manually re-added. You won’t receive any passive benefits otherwise, and when you go to trigger their active ability — oops. Neglecting this is an excellent way to die quickly.

The exception to the button rule is found in the Necromancer’s Book of the Dead. If you’ve sacrificed your Golem, the associated buff is applied to you — no button required.

How to get the most out of your pets

The easiest way to get value from your pets is to ensure you are using them — double check that those buttons are on your Action Bar as soon as you unlock them. There are passive capabilities — your pet exists in the world and defends you — and active capabilities — push the button to have your pet take their tooltip-defined deliberate action — for Druid Companions and the Necromancer Golem. If, more likely when, your pets die, you need to wait out the cooldown (14-20 seconds, depending on the pet) for them to re-appear in the world.

The Necromancer raising a Skeleton from a corpse is considered the action there. Necros do not passively have skeletons running around with them at all times, which is incredibly evident if you die and need to start your bone army again from scratch. Summoner builds include corpse-generating capabilities, so you’re not wholly dependent on killing an enemy to re-summon your little undead helpers. However, Skeletal minions can receive a buff from Raise Skeleton when summons are currently maxed out; hit the button to call on the Skeletal Priest, who blesses your Skeletal minions with buffs to healing and damage for 5 seconds.

Understanding the associated cooldowns is genuinely the best way to leverage your pets. Using the Golem’s Slam on cooldown speeds up how quickly a boss gets Staggered. The Poison Creeper’s Immobilize can prevent your foe from fleeing while actively taking them down with Poison Damage. Experiment with your Abilities early and often.

Diablo 4‘s pet classes are enjoyable to play and can bring your class a lot of power. Pets can take an enemy’s focus off of you, giving you a little breathing room to heal, or provide a handy boost to your damage output. Make sure you’re set up to get the best use out of them and burn your way through the demonic denizens of Sanctuary.