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Necromancer Theorycraft (support/cc + dps)

    • 313 posts
    January 18, 2019 9:51 AM PST

    Overview

    The necromancer is a versatile support/CC/damage class with the ability to CC via fears and strong pet tanking.   The necro has some healing capability for his group but is significantly more effective at healing undead.  Additionally, the necromancer has skills to turn both himself and a slain group member into undead, opening numerous possible strategies for the necro and his group.

    Featured Abilities

    Lich form- Activate to perform a ritual turning yourself into a powerful undead caster.   Dismisses your permanent pet.  Increases your direct damage and damage over time (i.e. non pet damage) by 100% but reduces your healing by 50%.  You gain increased resistance to poison and disease.  You count as undead when applying the effects of any skill or ability.

    Raise Ally- Cast on a defeated party member, raising them as an undead (come back with 66% hp/mana).  Until fully resurrected, they will suffer a 15% movement, attack, cast, and resource generation penalty but will have increased resistance to poisons and diseases.  Additionally, they will count as undead when applying the effects of any skill or ability.  10 minute cooldown, can be cast in combat. 

    Summon Corpse- summons a corpse to you.  

    Summon Skeletal Champion- Summon a skeletal warrior with abilities focused on defending you and your group.  This is a permanent pet and is controlled via its own mini skill-bar.  10 second cast time and large mana cost, but no cooldown.

    Temporary Pets

    Note: all temporary pets are on a shared cooldown.  They are “fire and forget” pets that will assist you whenever you attack enemies, but will also follow the attack/passive/follow commands or hotkeys that you set for permanent pets.

    Summon Skeletal Mage.  Temporarily summons a skeleton mage that attacks with a random magical element.  Lasts 3 minutes.  1 minute cooldown (shared).

    Summon Skeletal Archer.    Temporarily summons a skeleton archer that uses ranged attacks.  Lasts 3 minutes.  1 minute cooldown (shared).

    Summon Zombie- Temporarily summons a zombie that uses melee attacks.  Lasts 1 minute.  1 minute cooldown (shared). 

    Support

    Drain Life- Drains x health per second from your offensive target and transfer it to your defensive target.  Lasts 3 seconds, 10 second cooldown. 

    Bone shield- form a shield of bone around an ally, absorbing 50% of every incoming attack, up to a maximum of X.  Lasts 10 seconds.  If the target is undead, they are healed by 50% of the total damage absorbed at the end of the effect.  5 minute cooldown.

    Heal Undead-  Heal an undead ally for x health instantly, and y health over 10 seconds.  10 second cooldown.

    Fear -  Causes non-mechanical enemies to flee from the necromancer for x seconds.  Damage to the target has a moderate chance to cancel the effect. 

    Terrify- Epic ability.  Causes non-mechanical enemies to cower in fear for 30 seconds.  Damage to the target has a moderate chance to cancel the effect.  45 second cooldown.

    Summon Phantasm- Epic ability.  Summon a phantasm so horrendous that any non-mechanical enemies in the area are feared.  3.5 minute cooldown.

    Bone Armor.  Increases your targets armor class by X for 1 hour. 

    Disease 1-  reduces strength and endurance of enemy. 

    Curse 1- Reduces target’s intelligence and slows the target’s casting speed by X%.

    Curse 2- reduces the target’s resistance to disease and poison effects. 

    DPS

    Disease 2- Damage over time, starts slow but ramps up over time. 

    Curse 3-  Magic damage over time

    Poison 1- Poison damage over time

    Frostbolt-  Requires lich form.  Shoots a ball of frozen mana at the target, doing X cold damage. 

    Curse of Frost- Requires lich form.  Cold damage over time, ramps up.

    Shadowbolt-  Requires lich form.  Does X magic damage. 


    This post was edited by zoltar at January 18, 2019 9:51 AM PST
    • 206 posts
    January 18, 2019 1:50 PM PST

    I really like the idea of a Support Necro. Alot of your ideas are good. I think one extra bit that would make a support necro more viable would be to add some kind of Mana regen. Maybe work that in. 

    (here's an idea maybe...Chains of Ice - Slows movement of all party members by 15% and increase mana regen by 15%) ya know for like when people are sitting and already trying to regen mana. =)

    • 1 posts
    January 20, 2019 8:00 AM PST

    I like it for the most part.  It does seem to be a lot, you would need to be careful that they aren't a one stop shop power house.  

     

    The only part I don't agree with is the pets.  In my opinion, to keep classes feeling unique, the necro shouldn't be able to summon different types of pets.  That is something that should be reserved for the summoner.  

     

    Everything else looks pretty dang good if you can balance it.  I really like the bringing a group member back as a simi-res until they can be fully brought back by the healer.  One thing that would be interesting to the mechanic would be to not allow the heals of Clr / Dru / Sham to be able to land on the undead, requiring the necro to be responsible for this person's life until a res can be done.  

     

    The lich form is also a cool idea, but balancing would have to looked at closely.  It would essentially double your damage and open you up to being a wiz who could also dot.  Again, really cool concept, but it would take some work to make it right, otherwise nobody would ever use a pet in a group because they are capable of so much more as a lich.

    • 313 posts
    January 20, 2019 9:46 AM PST
    Thanks for the feedback. I don't think that this really steps on the toes of a summoner though. This necro only has one permanent pet, a tanking oriented skeleton. I don't think the temporary pets are comparable to what the summoner does. These just auto attack. They have a set duration. They aren't something you need to manage. They would be relatively weak on terms of HP and defenses. They're more comparable to a DOT spell than a true pet.

    Having normal healing be affected by the undead status is an interesting idea. Outright blockiythem would be very punishing, and if you wanted this function to serve as a temporary rez, then I could see that working. I like the idea of it being more than han that though. For example, if I'm friends with a necromancer, it would be an interesting option for me to play as undead most of the time. The penalties I outlined are already pretty significant, but having the ability to get a lot of healing from the necro is also significant. Ultimately there are a lot of potential ways to balance the undead mechanic, and I would want to test various iterations to see how they play out. But Im gald you agree that the basic premise is interesting. :)
    • 200 posts
    January 21, 2019 12:02 PM PST

    good stuff

     

    • 316 posts
    January 21, 2019 11:05 PM PST
    Nice, fresh ideas. Id tweak summoning, though, to center on temporarily raising enemy corpses. Awesome idea for Raise Ally, though. As the necro becomes more powerful he'd be able to control raised corpses for longer periods.
    • 4 posts
    February 25, 2019 10:28 AM PST

    I posted this elsewhere but fits more here:

     

    I really like the idea of temporary pets for Necro's with most of them costing life to summon as the Necro infuses them with their life energy. Only have 1 (or maybe 1 long-term and 1 short-term) at a time

     

    Long-term summons: 

    Summon Mana Ghost -- costs mana to summon. Long duration but not permanent. Feeds mana to the defensive target. Controlled like a pet and so can either deliverr a burst heal of all mana or Heal-over-time. 

    Summon Blood Golem -- costs health and mana to summon. Long duration. Heals defensive target for x amount. ontrolled like a pet and so can either deliverr a burst heal of all health or Heal-over-time. Can deliver partial health pool to one target and then switch to new defensive target (if using heal over time). Or maybe have multiple "burst" charges

     

    Short-term Summons

    Summon Wraith -- costs both mana and health to summon. Short duration. Pet which attacks offensive target with each hit adding a long-duration slow debuff

    Summon Bone Juggernaut -- costs both mana and health. Tank pet with taunt that can absorb X number of hits. The pet taunt leaves on ongoing buff which prevents any other Juggernaut from taunting the mob (to prevent abuse)

    Summon Blood Wasps -- costs health and mana. Short duration. Pet which attacks offensive target and adds stacking DoT damage

    Summon Corporeal Spirit -- costs health and mana. Basis for CC. A spirit with physical form holds the enemy in place (Mez equivalent, maybe shorter duration but with residual debuffs from being overtaken by a spirit)

     

    Other ideas:

    Speak with Dead -- to allow Necros to assist with Lore and Exploration

    Freeze Blood -- Slow spell, maybe only works on creates considered alove

    Control Undead -- charm but only works on undead

    Spirit Pocket -- creates a weightless storage which lasts for 24 hours 

     

    Just some ideas.

    • 172 posts
    March 7, 2019 7:39 AM PST
    Some really fun ideas here, makes me think of a blood magic healer with cc. It would be cool to see the necro fill another cc and support role; straying from the traditional DoT and pet play style.

    Although I'm not opposed to the traditional necro, always loved yo play one.
    • 945 posts
    March 8, 2019 12:36 PM PST

    I've always pictured the Necromancer being similar but opposite to the Druid in regard to accepting the natural order/cycles of life and death; where the druid is more focused on quadreped animals and life, and the necro more focused on bipedal beings and death... the Druid being more nurturing and about the begining of that cycle of life, and the necro being more focused on the end of that cycle.  With that said, I feel that both should be able to contributing to the creation and end of lives whether that means restoring life, or reanimating it.  Perhaps Druids use ancient stones to travel through the overworld, while necros traverse the underworld side of those same ancient stones(?).  I like the idea of the Necro being a support/CC/DPS, in the same fashion as the Druid is a Healer/Utility/Support.  

    • 85 posts
    April 28, 2019 7:57 PM PDT
    I don't know what they have planned for the Necromancer, but I can't wait to find out.


    I want to play a Skar Necro so bad I can taste it.
    • 21 posts
    May 26, 2019 6:21 PM PDT

    I'm hoping that this class is similar but better in the aspect of undead abominations. I can't see this class as a CC class (First time you fear or terror a mob, group kick), to be honest, just a utility/damage dealing class (Dot and direct damage spells + debuffs) and the longer the Necromancer is up throwing out curses/hexes and other nasty, necrotic, death spells, the more dangerous the Necromancer becomes. I think we should have no equal when it comes to ramp damage but not be the king of burst damage (That title should belong to Wizards).

     

    Looking back at how they had given us Litch form in Vanguard, I hope they do it differently this time. I hated becoming a lich as a Gnome with a human's skeleton skin.

     

    Other ideas, they did have Necro specific quests where you had to learn abilities. It was sometimes hard to get them but it was and still is a good concept that Vanguard had (Feign death, Death's touch, Lich form).

    They even had mobs that you skinned in order to have your undead minions take on their looks.


    This post was edited by Graugus at May 26, 2019 6:22 PM PDT
    • 316 posts
    November 13, 2019 4:50 PM PST

    It's been a while since any Necrotheory, and I'd just like to reiterate my great and dark hope the necromancer will be raising medium-long term pets from actual corpses instead of turning a bone chip into a skeleton (which is also cool) like in EQ. The necromancer could retain control for longer periods as he levels, and a minigame of periodically keeping dominance could even be implemented for more advanced (or all!) corpses - as their "essence" struggles against the necromancer's will in its desperation to join the ether.

     

    The pet difference could differentiate them from summoners in a very interesting way.

     

    They could have skills ensuring total control for periods of time, and they could, perhaps with a cabal of other necros, augment corpses through additional sacrifice. The thematic potential for the necromancer is SO STRONG, and there's no reason to dilute their dark nature. 

     

    And please keep necromancers reviled, as they were in EQ - not as they are in GW2 =] 

     Btw, MagniGrey above -- LOVE the idea of Speak With the Dead spell! That is great thinking. The necro could ask with keywords ala EQ, the dead could answer, and ONLY the necro could understand. He'd need to then tell the party. That alone is so f'ing cool! Make the language low and slow, like, "Vuuuz kollllllllll draetttttttthhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..."

     


    This post was edited by Alexander at November 13, 2019 4:58 PM PST
    • 520 posts
    November 14, 2019 7:09 AM PST

    I just wish Necro will have ability to summon small army of skeletons at end game and not just one - make them summon couple of different creatures like flesh golem, lich, zombie, different types (classes) of skellies (with varying ammount depending on level).

    • 2752 posts
    November 14, 2019 2:00 PM PST

    Hegenox said:

    I just wish Necro will have ability to summon small army of skeletons at end game and not just one - make them summon couple of different creatures like flesh golem, lich, zombie, different types (classes) of skellies (with varying ammount depending on level).

    Then you have groups of necromancers blowing up peoples computers. 

    • 520 posts
    November 15, 2019 4:37 AM PST

    Iksar said:

    Hegenox said:

    I just wish Necro will have ability to summon small army of skeletons at end game and not just one - make them summon couple of different creatures like flesh golem, lich, zombie, different types (classes) of skellies (with varying ammount depending on level).

    Then you have groups of necromancers blowing up peoples computers. 

     

    I'm not talking about all those creatures at once, but having either super tanky flesh golem or give or take 6 skellies wouldn't be that bad - if someone is having bad pc he can always tune down graphic quality.

    • 2752 posts
    November 15, 2019 2:37 PM PST

    Hegenox said:

    I'm not talking about all those creatures at once, but having either super tanky flesh golem or give or take 6 skellies wouldn't be that bad - if someone is having bad pc he can always tune down graphic quality.

    So 8 necromancers get together and now there are 56 models cluttering up your screen with all their skeletons etc. 

     

    Why do they need more than 1 of any kind of pet out at a given time? Sounds like a nightmare to balance to me and a liability in even the best of game pathing. 

    • 520 posts
    November 15, 2019 3:07 PM PST

    Iksar said:

    Hegenox said:

    I'm not talking about all those creatures at once, but having either super tanky flesh golem or give or take 6 skellies wouldn't be that bad - if someone is having bad pc he can always tune down graphic quality.

    So 8 necromancers get together and now there are 56 models cluttering up your screen with all their skeletons etc. 

     

    Why do they need more than 1 of any kind of pet out at a given time? Sounds like a nightmare to balance to me and a liability in even the best of game pathing. 

    56 additional models isn't that many - it's like the devs started to balance the game out and increase density of mobs in the zone. Besides some games have number of models on the screen in hundreds and even thousands and PCs manage.

    Well I could ask you why do we need so many classes - 1 tank, 1 healer and 1 dps class would be enough - but having ability to choose from is fun and being able to summon only one skeleton at a time when you and other summoning/controlling classes have the power to have a hold over much mightier being is both unrealistic and weird.

    • 316 posts
    November 18, 2019 3:06 PM PST

    Iksar said:

    Hegenox said:

    I just wish Necro will have ability to summon small army of skeletons at end game and not just one...

    Then you have groups of necromancers blowing up peoples computers. 

    Spell: Comps Explosion

    • 2756 posts
    March 13, 2020 10:15 AM PDT

    Was really pleased to hear Joppa talking about Necromancer is firm terms during the recent PantheonPlusYou stream.

    Makes me think maybe it will be in for release or at least very soon after.

    He did spill the beans that it will be a control class, but more 'selfish' than the control+utility Bard, so I think he means it will be largely control+DPS.

    • 945 posts
    March 13, 2020 6:27 PM PDT

    Darch said:

    I've always pictured the Necromancer being similar but opposite to the Druid in regard to accepting the natural order/cycles of life and death; where the druid is more focused on quadreped animals and life, and the necro more focused on bipedal beings and death... the Druid being more nurturing and about the begining of that cycle of life, and the necro being more focused on the end of that cycle.  With that said, I feel that both should be able to contributing to the creation and end of lives whether that means restoring life, or reanimating it.  Perhaps Druids use ancient stones to travel through the overworld, while necros traverse the underworld side of those same ancient stones(?).  I like the idea of the Necro being a support/CC/DPS, in the same fashion as the Druid is a Healer/Utility/Support.  

    Almost exactly a year anniversary for this post.

    • 7 posts
    July 24, 2020 8:12 AM PDT

    Hopefully some sort of necromancer becomes reality before launch.. Would be annoying to start another character and then have to reroll later if they add it later on.. But if that happens then its worry for that time!