Diablo 3 Necromancer Beta Impressions


Diablo III 1

So I finally got into the Necromancer Beta Test for Diablo 3! I don’t know what I was expecting, but without a doubt, without hyperbole, I’m happy with what I’ve played so far. The class itself has been an absolute blast. Before I talk about it, let’s talk about the supposed controversy. The Necromancer will not be a free update/addon to Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls. It will be paid, fifteen bucks I believe for the Necromancer Update. It’s not a full expansion, not a full update with new chapters, tons of new content. It’s a new class that you have to pay for. Now, this doesn’t bother me. Especially now that I’ve played it, I’m willing to spend the money to level one all the way, gear it up, etc. I can see though why some people might be upset. The people that spend most of their time playing Diablo 3, they will be able to max and gear one probably within a half hour or so. Drop into a Greater Rift or something with some friends, come out dripping in exp and equipment. Then what? You keep playing it, of course. It has an incredibly fun moveset, and I think they can do things that other classes can’t, or at least shouldn’t. So is Blizzard being greedy? I don’t think so. They have to keep making money off of Diablo 3 to justify working on it, you know? Just because they have properties that make money doesn’t mean they should just… stop trying to make money. They’re a business, guys. If you don’t want it or don’t think it’s worth it, don’t do it. But me? I think it is.

Diablo III 2

The next thought was, “Is Witch Doctor going to feel similar to the Necromancer?” and I don’t think so either. Your pets are mostly controllable, to some level or another. Such as when you get your first summon Skeleton, you get 7 of them that run around being assholes, killing stuff. If you hit the button it’s bound to, they’ll focus your target, doling out damage to them. You use Essence as your resource, and use it to summon Skeletal Mages, throw spears of doom for tons of damage, and so much more. They feel similar to the old-style Necro, but do a whole lot of very new, very horrifying things. Killing things creates corpses on the ground, as old Necro did, and of course, Corpse Explosion is back. Though one explosion does not consume it, two or three did seem to. This is where I see a drawback in the early going. Some abilities consume vitality, some consume essence, some are just free beatdowns. Though you will have no shortage of health in the right builds. However, you can Rune Corpse Explosion to have the corpses drift towards enemies before they detonate, but this costs 3% of your health. However.. Necromancers can live forever if you build right and play smart. One of the drawbacks for me is that in fights that are just one on one, no summoned minions? It’s a rough time. Sure, you have Bone Spear and other one-on-one skills,

Diablo III 3

Necromancer is absolutely fun. There are so many cool builds I’ve seen online, like Meleemancer, built around the Scythe and stuff like that. Speaking of which, the Scythe weapon IS back, and the offhand/shield item is a pulsating heart. Very grimdark. Thematically, they are similar to the D2 Necromancer and are in my eyes, incredibly powerful. I can imagine some people saying that they’re a “pay to win” class, but this is a PVE game, so that’s absolutely ridiculous. Sure, it’s strong, but all classes in Diablo are strong. That’s nothing new. But I do think that this is a great way to get lapsed fans back in who were fans of Diablo 2. Yes, you have to pay for the class, I’m pretty sure it requires Reaper of Souls also, but hot damn if it isn’t worth it. They have a whole host of skills that both make sense and are very satisfying. Watching a chain of corpses explode, one after another? Glorious. Once you have one corpse on the ground within a pile of enemies, you can watch them erupt, one after another, literal waves of blood erupting across the ground. Golems, Skeletons, Corpse Explosion, everything you could want, you’ll find. Except for Iron Maiden. Pretty sure that’s gone, but I didn’t use it anyway! If you aren’t in the beta or aren’t sure, I’m no shill. It’s amazing, it was enough to make me reinstall Diablo 3.

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