Last night in the wee small hours here in Europe, Blizzard held their second Diablo 3 Necromancer Q&A.
If you were in bed like most sensible people, then you can watch the session below which covered numerous topics concerning the current state of the new class on the PTR. Everything from skills to why the Necromancer has white hair.
We have also sifted through the questions and put together a transcript to save everyone time. You can find those below the video which was streamed on their Diablo 3 channel.
Diablo 3 Necromancer Q&A Transcript
What is included in the Necromancer pack besides legendary items and set dungeons?
Two character slots, two stash tabs, pennant, banner, pet, wings, portrait frame.
What elements does the Necromancer use?
Te Necro’s kit is primarily Physical damage and also cold and poison.
The Interaction between LotD, Corpse Lance, and the Plague set – was this intended? If so, how does it make Bone Spear moot?
It was intended, but not the way some players discovered the way tey could use it. “Abusive” or “degenerate” cases will be addressed. They are going to fix it.
Will there be a Blood Mage/Dracula type of Necromancer build?Â
There will be. The Blood Necromancer set is reminiscent of Brahm Stoker’s Dracula. The set is tied heavily to the health mechanic.
Was there a lot of internal debate about the skills “X% chance to instantly kill enemy below Y% HP?
No, there wasn’t. The chance it happens is relatively low.
What was the thought behind the pet set? It seems cool but dictates many of your skills going against the freedom you wanted.
Giving the sets as much freedom as possible was a goal. Not dictate too many skills on your bar. Pet set is an exception. It’s the core fantasy for the class.
Are there any new skill sets for a type of Meleemancer line in Diablo 2?
The Saint set works that way.
Will we need to purchase the Necromancer across both the Xbox and PC.
Yes. They are separate products.
Why is it none of the curses have a rune that is direct damage applications towards party members?
They went back and looked at Diablo 2 curses but wanted the curses in D3 to be more succinct and clear. Wanted the runes to be more gameplay defining. Frailty is a damage amp for everyone. They thought this was a cooler way to implement amplify damage curse that had more flavour to it but functionally it’s an apply damage curse.
Will there be a melee thorn pet build?
We didn’t want to make Iron Maiden a curse because thorns is not the same as in Diablo 2. There are some passives that support that. Tehy made a legendary recently that any curse will increase thorns damage base don the number of enemies that are cursed. You can pout togeth er a pet-centric thorns build that’ s got some support. Thorns is tricky to get right on Diablo 3.
Each class has a two-piece weapons set. Do you plan to give a weapon / offhand set to the Necromancer?
Yes, there’s one coming in the next PTR patch. It’s main-hand scythe offhand shield.
How will you address the Season when it will be full of players just playing the Necro?
They don’t see that as a problem.
Does Resource Cost Reduction reduce health cost of Blood Skills, since health is a resource for them?
RCR will not affect health on Necros.
Can we expect items that increase our army size or make out minions more permanent?
Currently, no items that will increase caps or take timed minions that make them permanent. Items are coming that will help reach those caps quicker or extend duration.
Plague set seems lackluster compared to other sets. Any plans to add other skills like Bone Spirit to the 6-piece bonus?
Yes. The set balance on the PTR is “wildly disparate”. Plague set has powerful items coming. Coming next week.
Have you considered the place of the Necromance in the 4 man (and 3 and 2 man) Greater Rifts?
The Necro was not designed with Rifts in mind but more around what the class should be and wanted it to be flexible.
I’m having really severe survivibility issues, especially with the melee specs but also as a summoner. Can we expect some items addressing this?
They are squishy. Strong survivability legendaries are coming. Bone Armour and skills are being changed.
Are there any skills that will be reworked during the beta?
Happy for the most part. Blood is Power is being redesigned. Bone Armor Invulnerability rune for invincibility will have the cooldown start after the skill ends. They forgot to do that with the rune.
Plan to give a tracker on how many corpses Decay Golem consumes?
No plans for that.
How many pieces of Necro only equipment will there be?
The short answer is two. Scythes and phylacteries for the off-hand. No class-specific armor.
Could we possibly see any of the Necromancer sets get a 7th piece to allow combining the set bonuses with Ring of Royal Grandeur?
Necromancer sets won’t have a seventh piece. Sets are meant to feel powerful, interesting and different.
The class feels really locked into a Generator / Spender / Corpse Skil build style. Any plans to shake this up?
It was a conscious effort to make it a core of the class. It was deliberate.
Will there be any armor pieces that are not set based?
There are a lot of armor pieces that are not set related. All coming next Tuesday.
Blood-based skills are creating weird behaviour, especially with blood set, Are there any plans to address this?
There absolutely are. The Blood is Power was being used in a way to get 100% in immunity. They are changing that. They are tweaking the Blood Set so healing mechanics don’t drain the stacks so quickly. You get more healing out of the stacks. Players will have more control over the stacks.
Land of the Dead, Army of the Dead, and Simacrulum seem like really long cooldowns for little impact. What are your feelings on these skills?
Long two minute cooldowns will be made to feel very powerful but they want to see how they will with the different sets. They should feel impactful and get better with Legendaries and sets.
What has been the most challenging part about bringing the Necromancer to Diablo 3?
Corpses. Corpses was the most challenging thing by far. They never intended to have the mechanic from the star so they had to find a way to shoehorn it in.
Will Revive be able to raise a fallen ally in a party? Even if it’s temporary.
No.
For the purposes of Obsidian ring of the Zodiac, do Skeleton Mages and Command Skeleton count as resource spending attacks?
Yes, if they do not it’s a bug.
Are you going to implement the Iron Golem from Diablo 2?
No.
Why is their hair white?
There is a legitimate reason for this that is explained by lore. That is going to be answered in the future through media still to be released.
Do you plan to fix the number tracker for pets?
Yes. You should have everything tracked. If it’s not there now it’s coming.
Why not just add Poison Nova to the game?
For some classes the damage type is the fantasy. They didn’t want to bring poison back as a fantasy for the Necro, it wasn’t that deep in Diablo2. They didn’t think there was much depth the way it was presented in Diablo 2. They wanted to push the Necromancer and With Doctor classes apart. Fantasy first, damage type second.
What are the rewards for completing the Necro set dungeons?
Two pennants. The Necromancer set dungeons are not tied to the other set dungeons at all. To get the wings, only the original dungeons need to be completed.
Thanks Diabloii.Net.
