Breakfast Topic: Would you play a Necromancer in WoW?
by Dan O'Halloran 
Dec 18th 2007 at 8:00AM
The Necromancer unit in Warcraft 3 is a key player in the game. Granted the ability to raise the dead by the Lich King himself, Necromancers called up armies of skeletal warriors and mages to overrun their enemies. The class is already in the game in the form of an NPC Boss in the Battle of Mount Hyjal.Sounds neat, huh? One player is requesting that class be implemented in WoW. Predictably, Blizz CM Nethaera shot him down.
I'm not sure this class would add anything to the game that the Warlock or Death Knight don't already bring to the table. Players seem to be calling for every type of class ever introduced into Warcraft lore to be playable. But we all know how tricky class balance is, wouldn't adding more classes just make things harder for the devs?
Either way, I put it to you, faithful readers. Would you play a Necromancer class if one was implemented in the game? If so, what's the appeal that the current classes don't already offer?
| Yes, where do I pact with Death for OP lewtness? | |
|---|---|
| No, it's got nothing we don't already have in the game. |
EDIT: Corrected name of Death Knight class.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics, Lore, Classes
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
jrriestra Dec 18th 2007 8:07AM
If such class would be implemented (which most likely never will be) it wouldnt be so much as a necromancer as we remember in Diablo II. Imagine being overrun with freakin skeletons to the point you can barely see the screen.
If it ever became implemented it would end up being like a warlock, only that instead of demons it summons skeletons and the dead. So it wouldnt make much sense for the devs to throw in another "warlock or hunter" style class.
Either way id love to overrun enemies in PvP with an arm of undead!
Tim Dec 18th 2007 8:10AM
Shadow Knight? This isn't EQ... Anyway I see this also just as a Warlock with diff pets... an unnecessary addition.
Bearskunk Dec 18th 2007 8:11AM
Hardly just Hyjal. Ever been to Scholomance?
JaneLame Dec 19th 2007 5:22AM
You're right. Also, the Thuzadin in Stratholme apply to this category as well. They're necromancers by all means.
Mainman Dec 18th 2007 8:09AM
Yes, but for a few reasons:
- I play one character per class anyway.
- The initial version is bound to be OP. If it's initially UP, it'll be made OP in a revision, and so on until the balance is finally found.
- /boggle when you walk past the IF/Org bank, flanked by minions in varying states of decay.
Buuty Dec 18th 2007 8:10AM
What is a Shadow Knight?
Darkharmony Dec 18th 2007 9:51AM
Actually it's not Shadow Knight but Death Knight. Death Knight is going to be the new hero class in the Wrath of the Lich King is released. A class that will have necromantic powers . I believe you'll have to get to level 80 before you can make a Death Knight (I could be wrong). And I am pretty sure they have said you will start at lvl 60 instead of 1.
Ian Dec 18th 2007 8:22AM
Weird. According to this post I would have thought "shot him down" would mean a definitive refusal to even accept the idea from the CM.
However, Nethaera actually said, "The Necromancer is one class that has been in consideration before. Who knows. Perhaps someday the Necromancer will come into play within the World of Warcraft, but that is something for the future to decide."
Does that sound like a refusal to you? It looks more like a "maybe" to me, as if it could appear in a future expansion pack just like Death Knight has in WotLK.
Chris Anthony Dec 18th 2007 11:51AM
I'd agree with the "shot down" characterization, actually. Nethaera is effectively saying "we're not absolutely ruling it out, but it's not in development at the moment and we have no plans at all to develop it in the future."
evestraw Dec 18th 2007 8:26AM
i gues the class is weak in arena 2v2 3v3
because it should require corpses
would be pwnage in av
liked it in wc3
addon base with 2 graveyards and lots of necromancers sending army's of skeletons to the bases:P\
FelDork Dec 18th 2007 8:28AM
I'm not pushing for it but if they for whatever decided to put it in the game then of course I would play it....we've had the same class for over 3 years now lol, itd be something new.
Dah Dec 18th 2007 8:30AM
As a former player of Guild Wars for 2 years, I remember playing a necromancer and having huge armies of minions follow you around (until it got nerfed to 10 maximum), but it was damn fun. However, I don't think it would fit that well into WoW. One of the problems Guild Wars had when it released an expansion allowing big battleground like PvP was that since there were so many bodies, necromancers could easily stand in the back, raise huge armies, then sweep across the enemy like a putrid lawnmower.
Aerei Dec 18th 2007 8:32AM
I agree that necromancers are largely unnecessary, though notto the extent that an archmage class would be. Necromancers would atleast be a synthesis of two (or three, counting shadow priests)existing classes, rather than simply an empowered extension of one. The only new classes I want to see are those that add new, distinctplaystyles, which is something I implicitly trust Blizzard to do.They rock like that. By the way, there are plenty of other necromancers ingame in placeslike Stratholme, Deatholme and Scholomance. I expect there will bemany in Northrend as well, but I don't expect there will ever be areason for them to be playable. Death knights at least have theexcuse that not all of them chose to become what they are, and evenmany that did were under severe duress. A necromancer traineddeliberately to do horrible things to the dead because he or shewanted power. Even a warlock can at least be said to do some good byturning the Legion's tools against it. A necromancer that fightsagainst the Lich King is still fulfilling His agenda. There's actually not a lot of Hero Class ideas that are viable, cometo think of it. Shadow hunters could only be open to trolls, darkrangers are just a cross between death knights and hunters, thewardens are extinct and they were only night elves anyway... I couldsee brewmasters working, the pandaren seem like the types who'd loveto enlighten other races. Demon hunters could work as well, but Ithink Blizzard missed their moment to introduce them. Everything elseI can think of sounds just like a highly specialised version of anexisting class, unfortunately, or is simply a type of demon.
Aerei Dec 18th 2007 8:33AM
Ugh. What the Hell happened to my formatting?
JK Dec 18th 2007 8:37AM
I'd love to play a necromancer - short term "summoned" pets - multiple pets in fact - they'd be great. You could only summon them once things had died :)
I like the idea of a class that "profits" from deaths (mind you, I love the Necromancer class in Guild Wars - exploiting corpses to create minions, scrificing health for various nefarious effects - definitely distinct from Warlocks and Death Knights imo)
Extremitus Dec 18th 2007 8:45AM
Well for me where the warlock deals with demons and Burning Legion magic, the necromancer would be an undead/golem raiser. You could reprise the poison dagger build from D2 pretty well as a different spec, obviously that might overlap with the rogue a bit too much. Problem is that the Lock got the Curse tree from D2, so coming up with a third, relevant spec that's totally different from destruction might be tricky. It'd always be interesting to play something new, but if it's gonna mess around with the already tight balancing act of the game it's probably best to leave it.
jacksonw Dec 18th 2007 8:50AM
As a paladin, I would enjoy my dominance over this class and their minions.
Kikr Dec 18th 2007 8:54AM
ahh-men, brutha :)
sarah Dec 18th 2007 10:14PM
exactly what i was thinking :)
Buckshot Dec 18th 2007 8:54AM
Nope. No more op clothies. How about a non-tanking damage dealer, like a commando.