RS3 Necromancy Conjuration Guide

Conjuration is one of the defining mechanics of Necromancy in RuneScape 3. You can maintain up to three active spirits at once, each contributing damage or utility throughout a fight. Managing your spirits effectively — knowing when to conjure, when to command, and which spirits suit each situation — significantly increases your DPS and survivability.

How Conjuration Works

Each spirit requires:

1. A Conjure incantation cast from the Necromancy ability book
2. A bone conduit placed in your pocket slot
3. 1 Ectoplasm from your inventory (2 for Conjure Undead Army)

Spirits persist until dismissed or until they’re killed. They don’t need to be re-summoned between kills — they follow you from enemy to enemy. Each spirit has a Command ability in addition to its passive behavior.

Ectoplasm is crafted via the Manifest Ectoplasm ritual (level 95 Necromancy) from Buckets of Slime, or purchased from the Grand Exchange. Always keep a supply on you before entering combat.

The Four Spirits

Skeleton Warrior

Unlock: Tier 1 talent (1 Necromancy), conjure at level 2 Gear: Requires bone conduit, 1 Ectoplasm

The Skeleton Warrior is your first spirit. It rushes at enemies and attacks them in melee, building Rage stacks (up to 5) that increase its damage by 3% each. The fifth stack triggers Inner Rage, dealing additional damage.

Command Skeleton Warrior (Tier 2 talent) activates the warrior’s rage mode, causing it to deal rapid attacks over 6 seconds regardless of how many Rage stacks it has built. Use this as a damage cooldown during your own ability rotations.

The Skeleton Warrior is primarily a damage dealer. It’s weaker than other spirits in terms of total damage contribution but is the only conjurable spirit available in the early game. It doesn’t interfere with tank setups or healing.

Vengeful Ghost

Unlock: Tier 3 talent (40 Necromancy + Rune Mythos) Conjure level: Requires Tier 3 talent to use

The Vengeful Ghost is the most universally useful spirit. It haunts enemies, applying a debuff that causes the target to take increased damage from all sources — not just from you. In group content, this debuff benefits your whole team. In solo content, it amplifies every ability you use.

The Haunted debuff from the ghost’s passive attack deals damage that scales off your Necromancy level.

Command Vengeful Ghost (Tier 4 talent) manually activates the Haunted effect for 4.8 seconds (up to 10% increased damage taken on that enemy). This command has a 30-second cooldown, so weave it into your rotation on cooldown.

The Vengeful Ghost is your highest-priority spirit for most content. Keep it active whenever possible.

Putrid Zombie

Unlock: Tier 3 talent, conjure at level 40 Gear: Requires bone conduit, 1 Ectoplasm

The Putrid Zombie attacks enemies with ranged attacks that apply poison dealing 8–12% ability damage every 1.8 seconds. It prioritises your current target and will spread to nearby enemies when its current target dies.

Command Putrid Zombie (Tier 4 talent) causes the zombie to explode in a cloud of toxic gas, dealing immediate AoE damage to all nearby enemies and refreshing the poison on multiple targets.

The Putrid Zombie is best in multi-target situations — Slayer tasks with multiple enemies, dungeon groups, or AoE boss phases. In single-target fights, its contribution is lower than the Vengeful Ghost.

Phantom Guardian

Unlock: Tier 5 talent (70 Necromancy), conjure at level 70 Gear: Requires bone conduit, 1 Ectoplasm

The Phantom Guardian is a defensive spirit. Rather than maximising your damage output, it reduces damage you take. Each hit the Guardian blocks generates a Valour stack (up to 25 stacks maximum).

Command Phantom Guardian (Tier 6 talent) releases the stored Valour stacks in a blast at the enemy. The damage scales with the number of stacks used — at 25 stacks, it deals approximately 300% ability damage. Use this as a large damage ability after building up stacks during a fight.

The Phantom Guardian is most valuable at:

• Hard-hitting bosses where damage reduction matters
• Tank builds where the Valour stacks provide a meaningful burst window
• Ironman accounts with less access to expensive food and potions

In full best-in-slot DPS setups with high sustain, you may prefer the Vengeful Ghost over the Phantom Guardian in the third spirit slot.

Spirit Slot Management

You can have all three conjured spirit types active simultaneously: Skeleton Warrior, Vengeful Ghost, and either Putrid Zombie or Phantom Guardian (depending on content). To change your active third spirit, you dismiss one and conjure another.

Dismissing and re-conjuring costs 1 Ectoplasm each time, so swap spirits only when switching between significantly different content types, not during a fight.

Conjure Undead Army

Unlock: Tier 7 talent (90 Necromancy), cast at level 99

Conjure Undead Army summons all of your conjurable spirits at once, consuming 2 Ectoplasm total. It replaces the need to cast three separate conjure abilities at the start of a fight. Use it at the beginning of every major encounter once unlocked.

The Undead Army is an ability, not a passive — it goes on cooldown after use, but individual spirits conjured by it can still be individually re-conjured if they die.

Spirit Pact Talents

The Spirit Pact talents (unlocked in tiers 4, 5, and 6) passively increase the damage dealt by all your conjured spirits. They are free talent points that permanently benefit you regardless of which spirits you have active. Always unlock them before buying Command abilities in the same tier.

Tips for Using Spirits Effectively

1. Always conjure before combat — Spirits don’t slow you down to summon outside of a fight.
2. Use Command abilities on cooldown — They’re free damage with moderate cooldowns.
3. Keep Ectoplasm stocked — Running out mid-fight means losing spirit contributions for the rest of the encounter.
4. Vengeful Ghost in all single-target content — The Haunted debuff is a consistent damage amplifier.
5. Putrid Zombie for AoE, Guardian for survivability — Switch based on content, not preference.
6. Life Transfer incantation (Tier 5, level 76) — Use it to extend spirit lifespans during long fights by sacrificing your own HP.

Spirit Bonuses with Quest Completion

Some quests increase spirit interactions. Completing Tomes of the Warlock (level 75 Necromancy) unlocks additional incantations that affect spirit behaviour, including Greater Bone Shield and Life Transfer. The Invoke Lord of Bones incantation (level 78, Tomes of the Warlock) summons a powerful Lord of Bones to fight alongside your spirits temporarily.