Necromancy
| Necromancy | ||
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Basic Necromancy: 10% of enemy creatures killed are resurrected (5 % in HotA)  .
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Advanced Necromancy: 20% of enemy creatures killed are resurrected (10 % in HotA) .
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Expert Necromancy: 30% of enemy creatures killed are resurrected (15 % in HotA) .
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Necromancy is a secondary skill that enables the hero to raise killed enemy creatures as Skeletons (or Skeleton Warriors). All Death Knights and Necromancers start with basic Necromancy skill, except Isra the Death Knight and Vidomina the Necromancer, who both start with advanced Necromancy. Other hero classes cannot learn Necromancy, but they can acquire it from Scholars, Events or Witch Huts (while it's strongly undesirable).
In Horn of the Abyss, the skill percentages are decreased to 5%, 10% and 15%.
Bug: AI heroes always raise exactly 1 Skeleton (or Lich), even if it should've raise 100% of the creatures slain. In Horn of the Abyss this bug was fixed but another bug appeared: AI somehow raises more Skeletons than it should be.
Heroes with a specialty in Necromancy:
Isra the Death Knight
Vidomina the Necromancer
Skill affecting factors:
Amulet of the Undertaker – Artifact increases Necromancy skill +5 %. (2,5 % in HotA) 
Vampire's Cowl – Artifact increases Necromancy skill +10 %. (5 % in HotA) 
Dead Man's Boots – Artifact increases Necromancy skill +15 %. (7,5 % in HotA) - Necromancy Amplifier – Structure increases Necromancy skill +10 %. (bonus stacks if you have multiple towns with this building) (5 % in HotA)
- Soul prison – Structure increases Necromancy skill +20 %
Additionally, with Cloak of the Undead King it is possible to raise other undead creatures instead of Skeletons. However, the cloak does not affect the skill percentages.
How it works
All killed enemy creatures can be raised as skeletons. This includes sacrificed creatures, cloned creatures, summoned elementals and even war machines. If the victorious hero's army contains only Skeleton Warriors and there are no empty slots available, the killed enemy creatures are raised as Skeleton Warriors instead of Skeletons. However, in this case only 66.6% of Skeleton Warriors are raised compared to Skeletons. If there are no available slots and no skeletons (either kind) in the army, none of the killed enemy creatures are raised, thus it's strongly recommended to keep an empty slot prior to the battle, or have at least one Skeleton/Skeleton Warriors stack.
The number of skeletons brought back at the end of the combat depends on three main factors:
- Number of creatures in killed stacks
- Amount of health of killed stacks
- Level of Necromancy skill
First, the total number of raised Skeletons can never exceed the number of creatures slain in combat. Second, the total health of raised Skeletons can never exceed the total health of killed creatures. Third, the level of Necromancy skill used in calculations can never be more than 100%. Although it is technically possible for a hero to have Necromancy skill above 100%. These rules are applied to every killed stack individually, and always rounded down. In addition, at least one creature is always received from the combat where the winning hero has Necromancy skill of any level and creatures are killed.
The health of the enemy creature killed affects the efficiency that it is revived as per table:
1 hp = 16.6% efficiency
2 hp = 33.3%
3 hp = 50% efficiency
4 hp = 66.6% efficiency
5 hp = 83.3% efficiency
6 hp or higher = 100% efficiency
So a hero with 50% necromancy, who killed 100 creatures with 6 hp or higher will obtain 50 skeletons, whereas if he were to kill 100 peasants (who have only 1 hp) he would only obtain about 8 skeletons
Additionally, with Cloak of the Undead King these same rules apply to Walking Dead, Wights and Liches. As they have more health, less is raised. And if the hero only has upgraded versions, the "two thirds rule" is applied.
Importance
User commentary
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Necromancy is the basis of Necropolis faction. By default there cannot be a Necropolis hero without this skill, so if a very important basic skill like Wisdom or Earth Magic is offered together with improving Necromancy, ignore Necromancy. You will get it sooner or later, while an ability to learn Animate Dead and caste it properly won't appear for every level. For heroes from other towns, the Necromancy skill is undesirable as Skeletons are weak, slow and will spoil morale, and getting somewhat 5 Skeletons after a minor battle will be a total nonsense. Thus, if Necromancy came to a non-Necropolis hero, a better decision is to reload the game and avoid the source of it, unless your game is dedicated to Necropolis - if yes, you may hire a supplying hero regardless of the class, and Skeletons raised by this hero will go to one of the main armies.
Chance to get
| Town | Class | Chance to learn |
|---|---|---|
 Castle |
Knight | 0 |
| Castle |
Cleric | 0 |
 Rampart |
Ranger | 0 |
| Rampart |
Druid | 0 |
 Tower |
Alchemist | 0 |
| Tower |
Wizard | 0 |
 Inferno |
Demoniac | 0 |
| Inferno |
Heretic | 0 |
 Necropolis |
Death Knight | 10 |
| Necropolis |
Necromancer | 10 |
 Dungeon |
Overlord | 0 |
| Dungeon |
Warlock | 0 |
 Stronghold |
Barbarian | 0 |
| Stronghold |
Battle Mage | 0 |
 Fortress |
Beastmaster | 0 |
| Fortress |
Witch | 0 |
 Conflux |
Planeswalker | 0 |
| Conflux |
Elementalist | 0 |
 Cove |
Captain | 0 |
| Cove |
Navigator | 0 |
 Factory |
Mercenary | {{{21}}} |
| Factory |
Artificer | {{{22}}} |
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See also:
- How does the necromancy skill work exactly? Heroes Community thread started by angelito.
- Secondary skills