Those Necro armor sets look very cool.
So, is anybody going to talk about how the Book of the Dead is some miles ahead of any other class specialty? Why is that?
Dual wield for barb? Slot 3 skills to become passives for sorc?
All other specialties are some passive bull****, while the necro one has some sophistication.
it looks like these systems were just becoming better with each new class
the rogue already made the barb look like a freaking loser
The Necromancer looks cool just like all the classes do. Have they ever said what the Druidās special feature/system is? Is it honestly just the shapeshifting, thatās fine if it is. Would love clarity on that much though.
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I am looking forward to the necromancer even more now. I love how you can make a death knight style necromancer with board and sword and plate armor who fights in the middle of the fray, or a spellcaster necromancer who attacks from a distance and commands an army of undead.
The customization options through the Book of the Dead look great. I hope they do even more and allow for more customization options. Right now it looks like you pick between two different upgrades for each type of skeleton. I would like to see even more options.
Does the Summon Skeleton skill take up one of the 6 spell slots or is it an extra skill? I read the quarterly update a couple times that was not clear to me. I think making the summon skeleton skill not take up one of your 6 spell slots could be interesting. I always loved having all the summons I could but then I would be left with no other skills. And even if only 2 slots are taken up, that isnāt too bad.
I do hope the next class is the paladin. It is such an iconic archetype character and it feels strange not to have a divine warrior to fight against the demons.
Yes. Golem also takes a skill slot. So 2 slots to have all the summons.
Hey guys thanks for the update. Iām excited about the necromancer. I just like the dark history/culture revolving around the character.
First of all, I must say you completely killed it with the character design. The Art is a m a z i n g. The art itself makes me want to play that character right this instant.
I hope sets play a less important role in D4 than it does in D3 and that your character can really look badass without necessarily wearing a whole set (It should really be a very good option but not bis). I also am not a big fan of transmog which can make any item look like any item. So I hope the gear has beautiful aesthetic and thus can keep itās unique look.
Iāve never been much of a summoner fan myself. I would love to be able to play a Death Knight, but I donāt suppose the freedom of playstyle will stretch as far as that. As long as I can kick butts without summons Iām fineā¦ Not to say that I wonāt try the summoner build.
While I like that all classes draw power from their unique source of energy, I was never (at all) a fan of the process : base attack to gain energy to spend energy to repeat. Rotation to me is a nuisance and it seems like the energy buildup and the skills cooldown are pulling D4 more toward the D3 playstyle that I really didnāt like. Hopefully thereās less of this mania in D4. Having an attack that empties all your energy is just encouraging that crazed cycle. Not a fan.
Good for giving us an option for generating corpses.
I donāt like the class specific itemsā¦ Itās not like you canāt limit itās use some other type of way. Some items may be more tailored to a class, thatās fineā¦ But making it class specific removes the option of having a class wield an item that creates a new build opportunity or just offers even a temporary option (suicide branch for example for hammerdin). Idk, what if a scythe brings ancestors back to life and a Barb is accompanied by the ancients when wielding the weapon? Or even cooler, makes you become possessed by one random ancient for a period of time on striking, gaining their powers.
So, whatās up with curses? You missed an opportunity to tell us how theyāll make a come back.
Iām not mad about trading poison skills for shadow skills, but I hope itāll have a very different feel compared to the blood tree in terms of playstyle. Also youāll have to show me how a channeling skill is viable and fun to play. I donāt HATE the idea, but it always felt a bit dumb to stay put while taking damage in D3. I mean in D2 you could do it but then D3 made the fights so compulsorily dynamic (which is good to some extent, but became too intense imo) that it did not feel viable.
On a video of the necromancer running the ice dungeon, I didnāt like the scythe attack that ranged cartoonishly far. I think D2 had something nice with weapon size versus range and that sort should be maintained in D4. Iām not against aoe, but it should be tuned down quite a bit. Make it more realistic.
Would it break the game or be totally crazy to make the surface on which you stand interact with your hero? I just saw the mirror like ice surface of the dungeon and the necro stopping on command. Iām from Canada, I know that stuffās unreal. You canāt just stop dead on ice. If you run, it takes time to accelerate and decelerate. Just throwing it out there. That would add a whole new dimension to the game : how to handle fights in different environments. Unstable scree slopes, slippery ice, oceanās waves tossing you around, waist deep water slowing your walking speed but not your attack speed, mud sucking in your feet, etc. It could make the game more challenging, while adding a realistic twist without having to throw in lazer sentries, puddles of poison etc. generated from monster packs. The monsters native to the area would have an advantage over youā¦ Like goatman being stable and quick on slopes and screeā¦
More comments :
In the Xbox presentation you mentioned something about the gear becoming useless and having to replace it. Hate it. That part of the game should very much be based on D2. Some level 21 items or 42 or 63 are still bis at level 99.
I hate the extractible legendary essence and even more if itās interchangeable. D2 made very few blue items, some yellow items and crafted items so good that you didnāt care for unique abilities. Thatās the way to goā¦ But for crafting Iād make the process more difficult but a better chance of success. Iād also extend the principle to chests and their content. Fewer chests with higher probability of having a good item. Makes every occasion more thrilling instead of having that blazĆ© slot machine feeling.
Still not sure how Paragon will affect your character and its powers, hopefully marginally.
Not sure how Paragon will articulate with raising level caps in future expansions.
Not sure how raising level cap with expansion will work with keeping your gear relevant (works in a D2 model, not in a D3 model).
Curious about the paragon board or whatever itās calledā¦ I kind of feel like the system doesnāt work but weāll see. Paragon level should not give significant power. But each point invested needs to be significant for it to be any interestingā¦ Itās wack to put points in +2dex sorry. It also needs to be simple. My solution? No Paragon systemā¦ Or make it a skill altering system.
To sum up, the necromancer seems cool and Iām glad itās coming back but itās hard to comment in detail. I donāt have much to say on summoning or PvP since itās a part of the game that interests me less. Lots of other elements are also pulling the focus away because they remain a cause for worry and need to be clarified/addressed.
Thanks and to the next update.
Skill stoppers
First of all you canāt superpower anytime (without destroying game balance), so gameplay need Skill stoppers (ex: cooldown, spenders, combos, gauge limits breaker, ā¦etc.).
To be fair it is better handled in D3 than in Wolcen.
Channeling / Interruption / DoT
I agree.
Channeling Skill:
- Casting animation must be interrupted when player is hit
- Game should reward channeling player with Damage-over-Time
Rather than having on one side a channeling skill and on the other side a spell that produces a puddle doing Damage-over-Time, I would combine both into one skill :
Player channels on enemy, and it produces an area effect that deals Damage-over-Time.
Or rather than targeting an enemy, why not directly target an area ?
Ex: See this Necro Damage-over-Time Area Channeling Proposal:
https://i.ibb.co/5r4zsJS/funerary-pick.jpg
In any case, patient players investing into interruptable channeling skills must be rewarded somehow.
Channeling + exponential Damage-over-Time (restarting from zero if interrupted) seems a good combo.
The mechanic of not being interrupted to maximize Damage-over-Time would incentive players to spend some points into its Skeletons Army in order to occupy monsters, while players would still need to interrupt their casting to avoid some boss attacks.
Ground / Natural CC
Interesting idea.
Crowd control effect on players must not be too pronounced, but a slight inertia effect when walking on raw iced ground could be fun.
Ex: Snow ground should be easier to walk in VS slippery ice, but it depends on snow height, that could slow down players a little bit.
Sadly i agree, based on current info which they shared, the necromancer is more of an attacking debuffing type dark magican, than a summoner class even though s/he has that book for pets.
Doesnāt feel like the pets are primary damage dealers, or at least that is what comes though the gameplay videos.
Even though i didnāt like the Witch Doctor at first, i like it better D3ās Necro, and this is very much like it.
I hope Summoner Druids also get some love, like they did in D2R.
I would rather spend my primary resource recasting weaker summons than using spells for my pet build, though iām not against the idea of a bone or blood or shadow spellcaster type build.
If saw it right weāll have very limited number of minions. 4 skely warriors, 3 mages, and a golem. Thatās 8 in total, I would not call that an army.
I guess this decision was made because of, sometimes playing togeather whit others and 20-25 minions total would be annoyeing, and even lagging and crashing the game?
I can understand that scenario, but at the same time iām dissapointed a bit that we wonāt see/have a massive undead horde, like in D2. Unless there are skill upgrades or legendary powers, that doubles them atleast.
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While it costs a lot in terms of network, spawning a 80 minions massive army like in Diablo 2 Resurrected is indeed fun, but the game is at risk to become a RTS rather than an ARPG.
In the RPG optic, letās say a Necro player can give a specialty to each skeleton/mage/golem, to each member of its 8-minions squad (skeleton 1 does this, skeleton 2 does that)ā¦ It becomes interesting.
it canāt be
thatās not a system itās just a mechanic of the game dealing with simple skills the druid uses
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Ehhhā¦ Not realy, no. But I guess I understand what you try to say. In D2 your army is a permanently active skill that you canāt controll directly. In D3 you have some direct controll over some of them, but still canāt realy overly strategic, whit them because they are not strong enough, and still single target.
I want a necro that can complety rely on itās army if they would like to. Thatās what makes it a summoner class, that itās summons can be the primary dmg dealers. And not just stat sticks.
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So where the hell is my crusader/paladin warrior arch type? I guess we canāt have a dark templar for Diablo 4? My desire for D4 has dwindled even further.
probably class DLC 
i guess the most ādark templarā you are going to get right now is the necro
Necro is your dark pala. Enyoj. 
player: āi want a dark knight!ā
blizzard: āwe have a dark knight at homeā
dark knight at home:
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Honestly, what a freakinā joke of an āupdateā that was? Where are the systems, Blizzard? The items? Anything on crafting? Skills? Trading? The things that make Diablo, Diablo!!
Iām just in awe on how badly this is going. Other than the bots in here that āfeelā this was a good āupdateā, most of us have no desire in sugar coating this for you. The Diablo fans are not stupid.
However, if the player wishes to generate Corpses via other means, they can just as easily take a nostalgia trip to the year 2000 and just chuck Bone Spears at their enemies from a distance while opting for all of the Bone skill synergies that the Necromancer has to offer.
this specific statement lets me hope that also other classes will have very various playstyles that are not dictated by the idea of how you think classes āshould be playedā in D4
let people play a druid as a bear only without transforming back to a human in the middle of combat
let a barb or a rogue only use 1 weapon without being at a massive disadvantage
and most importantly just let people pick up random weapons and use them even if itās only for basic attacks
Doesnāt matter. As long as they can extract that and paste it to another equipment piece, which item type it spawns on has no meaning.
However in this game Legendaries play the role of skill runes in D3. Uniques is actually the highest and most powerful equipment rank.