No resemblance to the Witch Doctor class whatsoever

May 3, 2017 21:49 GMT  ·  By

When everyone expected Blizzard to announce Diablo IV, the Necromancer DLC happened. It's quite unusual for a game like Diablo to get a paid DLC that consists in a single class solely, but there's always a first time for everything.

The Necromancer class is already available for pre-order, but it's not yet ready for prime time. Blizzard is expected to introduce it to Diablo III in the second half of the year. The good news is I've been able to play the beta, so I can now share some thoughts with you.

First off, I'd like to address some concerns over the fact that the new Necromancer might strongly resemble the Witch Doctor class that's already available in the game. My impression after several hours spent in the game is that the Necromancer clearly stands out from the rest of the classes in Diablo III.

If you've played as necromancer in Diablo II, you'll be pleased to know that the new class in the sequel plays and feels quite different. As a matter fact, Blizzard is tweaking the class on a monthly basis, so depending on which build you're using, the gameplay experience can be more or less different.

Diablo III: Rise of the Necromancer DLC
Diablo III: Rise of the Necromancer DLC

Speaking of which, the Necromancer is an extremely versatile class in the current state. You have various builds at your disposal, like melee/ranged caster hybrid or pure caster with an army of skeletons to protect you.

But there's more to take into consideration when building your character than just skills and passives, like gear sets and legendary items. Unfortunately, these have been added to the closed beta as Blizzard is currently focused on the class' abilities.

Unlike the rest of Diablo III classes, I found the Necromancer a bit too squishy the first 5-7 levels, or at least until you get the Corpse Explosion skill, which is basically a powerful AoE spell that allows you to blast off hordes of enemies.

The Necromancer uses Essence instead of Mana for its more powerful abilities. These are split into four categories: Corpses, Reanimation, Curses, and Blood & Bone. Each of these categories has either 3 or 4 spells. I also like that you can mix skills and runes to get different results, so depending on what enemies you're facing, you can choose a slightly different build.

Diablo III: Rise of the Necromancer DLC
Diablo III: Rise of the Necromancer DLC

In order to refill your Essence and continue to use your powerful spells, you will have to use your primary attack, which can be either of the three: Bone Spikes, Grim Scythe or Siphon Blood. Each of these primary skills has its own runes that can augment them with different results.

As far as Passive Skills go, just like the other classes, the Necromancer benefits from 18 possible choices that provide players with even more firepower. Some of them are likely to be tweaked over the coming weeks, so some builds might drastically change.

Overall, I felt that the Necromancer class has great potential, though I'm waiting for Blizzard to add gear sets and legendary items to have a better idea of what's to come. The array of monstrous skills and spells makes the Necromancer a fun class to play, one that shouldn't be missed by Diablo fans.

Diablo III Necromancer closed beta (3 Images)

Diablo III: Rise of the Necromancer DLC
Diablo III: Rise of the Necromancer DLCDiablo III: Rise of the Necromancer DLC
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