Just before the weekend on 27th June, Blizzard released the Rise of the Necromancer pack for Diablo III (D3). After a a good weekend of playing, here are some thoughts for those caught in between whether to buy the pack or not.
What is The Rise of the Necromancer pack?
The Rise of the Necromancer pack introduces a new class, the Necromancer, 2 pair of wings (one as purchase gift, one as Necromancer Achievement reward), Necromancer banner, Pennant, Portrait Frame, a new pet, and additional character slots and stash tabs.
The Necromancer Class
The Necromancer class features a new unique mechanic, corpses. Asides from Essence, which is equivalent to Wizard’s Arcane and Barbarian’s Fury, Necromancers uses corpses to activate skills, from bloody explosions to reviving enemies as minions.
The Necromancer at launch features 4 exclusive six-piece legendary sets and a two-piece legendary set. Each set does drive players towards a different playstyle.
Thoughts
If you previously didn’t quite enjoy Blizzard’s take on D3, the necromancer pack doesn’t introduce anything that would change your mind.
D3’s Necromancer stay true to Diablo II’s Necromancers. The general feel would be familiar to D2’s Necromancer players, but with quality over quantity. Whilst D2 necromancers could literally raise an army, D3 Necromancers summons less minions in general, but the minions are much more versatile that those of D2.
The necromancer’s minions builds give players a unique experience. Whilst the idea is similar to Witch Doctor’s pet builds, Necromancers allow players to actively target which monsters they want to go for first. This significantly alters the playstyle, making Necromancer minion builds a lot more active than Witch Doctor’s pet builds. The other Necromancer sets stays true to the Necromancer lore, focusing on spells relating to blood, bones, and corpses, but in terms of end game viable builds, unfortunately, it appears that only the Inarius set seems viable.
Similar to the other classes in D3, though players can choose between different builds, there is currently one build that dominates late game and higher Greater Rifts (GR).
All-in-all, the Necromancer is a great class to play. The new corpse mechanic and gory skill visuals is both stunning and impressive, and does open new experiences to Diablo III.
Is it Worth it?
Personally, I think the Necromancer pack is worth the US$15 (14.99). The new class alone adds several interesting aspects to the game. For Diablo III players, another important feature the pack includes is the additional Character slots and Stash tabs. Even if you’re not interested in the Necromancer class, the additional Stash tabs is a great improvement to the quality-of-life. For those thinking that the introduction of Necromancer in Diablo III will bring the game closer to the glories of Diablo II, they wouldn’t be entirely wrong, but the main problems of Diablo III lies within the core of the game, so for those who didn’t exactly love Diablo III you’re not missing much.
Additionally, when the Necromancer Pack launched, the new Challenge Rift was also introduced to the game. Every now-and-then the challenge rift changes to feature a different class. Necromancers will be available even to those who don’t buy the Necromancer pack. So if you’re not desperate to the try new class, you can always wait until the Necromancer is featured then try it out first in the Challenge Rifts.
Let us know if you’ll be interested in seeing more Necromancer contents (builds etc.)!