Diablo 4 Season 12 PTR: What Paladin and Necromancer Players Need to Know
Season 12 of Diablo 4 is shaping up to be one of the most interesting balance passes we've seen in a long time. Between the removal of Sanctification, a wave of bug fixes, and targeted adjustments to legendary nodes, Blizzard is clearly trying to reset expectations for endgame power while smoothing out some long-standing mechanical pain points.
This analysis breaks down the biggest Season 12 PTR takeaways for Paladin and Necromancer, with a focus on what actually changes for real gameplay-not just patch-note theorycrafting. If you're wondering how hard builds were truly hit by the loss of Sanctification, which archetypes quietly gained power, and where the meta is likely to land, this is the big-picture overview you're looking for.
Understanding the Loss of Sanctification
Before diving into class-specific changes, it's important to level-set expectations around Sanctification. On paper, Sanctification looked like an enormous power spike, and in extreme edge cases, it absolutely was. Players who landed perfect outcomes-such as a Grandfather mythic slam on boots paired with Starless Skies on an amulet and ideal offensive rolls-could see as much as a 10-11 Pit tier difference.
However, that scenario represented a tiny fraction of the player base.
For the average player, the real impact of losing Sanctification is closer to 2-5 Pit tiers. Even doubling your damage with something like a Grandfather slam typically translated to only two or three tiers of real endgame progress. Defensive, utility, and cooldown-based Sanctifications mattered even less.
In short: Season 12 power loss is noticeable, but it's not catastrophic-especially once you factor in the buffs and fixes coming elsewhere.
Paladin Season 12: Power Rebalanced, Gameplay Improved
Paladin saw some of the most visible changes this PTR, starting with a long-awaited nerf.
Castle Legendary Node Nerf
The Castle legendary node was finally brought back in line.
Previously, it scaled damage aggressively with armor, often acting as a 14-15x multiplier when fully optimized. In Season 12, it's reduced to roughly a 110% damage multiplier, much closer to what other Paladin legendary nodes provide.
This change has massive ripple effects. There's far less incentive to stack armor to extreme levels, meaning we're likely to see:
More diverse tempering choices
Greater use of alternative defensive aspects
Less reliance on armor-stacking pants and gear
On average, Castle will now provide around a 100% damage multiplier, still strong, but no longer defining the entire class.
Aura and Holy Light Fixes
One of the most impactful quality-of-life changes is the fix to Holy Light Aura (Oriden) scaling. It was always intended to scale with attack speed, but now that scaling is clearly reflected in the tooltip and works correctly.
Snapshotting issues were also addressed, allowing buffs like Fanaticism Aura to properly apply their benefits. This alone makes aura-based Paladin builds feel smoother and more consistent.
The Sundered Knight two-handed axe also received a significant buff, now increasing aura skill ranks instead of healing received. This opens the door for it to reclaim best-in-slot status for certain builds.
Judgment, Thorns, and Zenith Builds
Judgment builds were clearly toned down, but with an important upside: the rotation is far less punishing on the hands. You may not push quite as high, but gameplay is less clunky and more enjoyable.
Thorns Retribution builds quietly gained massive value. Several long-standing bugs prevented thorns multipliers from scaling correctly, and with those fixed, the build is gaining 300-400% effective damage scaling. While it may not dominate the meta, it's now genuinely competitive and extremely strong for speed farming.
Zenith ultimate builds, unfortunately, went the other direction. Bug fixes removed unintended synergies that previously made Zenith feel fluid and powerful. While one Sunder-based variant now deals its intended damage, the core Zenith playstyle feels clunkier. Hopefully, this gets revisited post-PTR, because variety in Paladin ultimates is sorely needed.
Necromancer Season 12: Stronger, but Still Frustrating
Necromancer changes are more nuanced. Many builds gain small but meaningful power increases, while long-standing design issues remain unresolved.
Overall Power Outlook
Most Necromancer builds should feel slightly stronger in Season 12. Clearing Pit 100 becomes more accessible, and pushing deeper into Tower content is easier across the board.
The biggest winner? Golemmancer.
Golemmancer Bug Fix = Meta Shift
A single bug fix dramatically changed the Golem's damage profile. Previously, Fell Gluttony only applied to one of the Golem's hits. Now it correctly applies to both, effectively granting an entire Tower tier worth of power.
This also revealed that using a shield instead of a focus actually increases both base Golem damage and Fell Gluttony scaling, while massively improving survivability. Expect optimized Golemmancer setups to:
Move Fell Gluttony to the amulet
Swap to shields
Compete directly with Shadow Blade for top leaderboard spots
Post-PTR, Golemmancer may even surpass Shadow Blade depending on tuning.
Updated Necromancer Meta Ranking
Based on PTR changes, the projected top builds are:
1.Shadow Blade
2.Golemmancer
3.Blood Wave
4.Mage Minions
That's a huge leap for Golem builds and a refreshing shake-up of the hierarchy.
Legendary Node Changes: Hits and Misses
Blood Begets Blood (Big Win)
The duration increase and improved stacking make this node far more reliable, especially for damage-over-time builds that previously struggled to maintain uptime against bosses. It's still awkward, but no longer actively punishing.
Flesh-Eater (Strictly Better, Still Weird)
Flesh-Eater now provides a 60% multiplier for consuming a corpse every eight seconds instead of 40% for consuming three corpses. This is undeniably better-but it highlights a deeper design issue: why does a legendary node duplicate a passive skill with slightly different timing?
The mismatch between Flesh-Eater and Fueled by Death durations remains clunky, even if the overall effect is stronger.
Scent of Death (Identity Crisis)
Scent of Death now offers a 45% multiplier with added damage reduction, but poor rare nodes and weak synergy leave it overshadowed. It's weaker than Blood Begets Blood, less reliable, and awkward for DOT builds.
Blood Bath (Major Miss)
Blood Bath's redesign limits it to physical damage after overpowering, effectively removing it from Blood Wave and Bone builds that rely on shadow conversion. Worse, Blood Surge and Blood Lance-the builds it supposedly helps-only gain about 3% damage, while others lose up to 17%.
This change reduces build diversity without meaningfully empowering its intended audience.
Wither: Bigger Numbers, Same Old Problem
Wither's multiplier increased from 300% to 400%, translating to roughly a 13% real damage gain. The problem? It still only triggers 20% of the time, with no way to influence that chance.
For competitive content like Tower pushing, this adds yet another layer of RNG to an already RNG-heavy system. While the numbers are higher, the design still clashes with the thematic identity of shadow damage over time, which should reward ramping and consistency-not lottery rolls.
Final Thoughts: Season 12 Sets the Stage
Season 12 PTR doesn't reinvent Diablo 4, but it meaningfully reshapes class balance. Paladin gameplay is smoother and less oppressive, while Necromancer gains power in unexpected places-especially Golemmancer.
There are still design frustrations, particularly around RNG-based damage multipliers and awkward legendary node identities, but overall, builds feel more coherent and approachable.
As always, PTR numbers aren't final. But heading into Season 12, players can expect a meta that's slightly less explosive, more consistent, and-most importantly-more enjoyable to play. At the start of the new season, be sure to prepare sufficient Diablo IV Gold and Diablo 4 Items to handle the resources needed for various builds.
If these changes hold, Season 12 could quietly become one of Diablo 4's strongest balance patches yet.
MMOexp Diablo 4 Team