Personally i think the new set is a blast to play. But, as others have said it would be great if it could buff more skills than just bonespear. I may be in the minority here, but I would love to see some necromancer thorns options. Something that would play nothing like the LOD & Command skeletons build we currently have. Personally, I find it very boring.
This could be accomplished with the new set, or with changes to Inarius; which currently seems a bit lacking in “theme.” Thorns damage multipliers could be added to the Jesseth weapons as well, to encourage build diversity among the other sets.
IE - Jesseth Arms could have the affix
"When your minions deal damage, they also hit enemies with x% of their thorns damage."
Meanwhile, Inarius could roll with thorns on all secondary affixes. It could include a 6 piece bonus affix:
"… in addition, your bone armor converts all thorns damage to poison. They deal an additional x% damage."
This would add more synergy to weapons like Nayr’s Black Death. Having to keep your poison skill multiplier from falling off is more engaging than the current thorns build.
Additional thoughts. Adding corpse explosion back into the mix; an item or set with the affix:
"When you use Kill Command, your skeletons cast corpse explosion instead of dying."
This would address several issues. The new Jesseth set requires command skeletons to receive it’s damage boost. Since your skeletons die with kill command (the only poison rune), the damage multiplier never goes off.
Also, Corpse explosion is difficult to use in endgame builds in comparison to corpse lance. Corpse lance travels automatically to the target, while most CE runes require the enemy to already be positioned near a corpse. Of course, you do not have corpses if you haven’t already killed something; Making LOTD even more crucial for corpse generation. Playing around this skill has been a complaint of many players since the Necromancers launch.
I realize something of this scope may not be obtainable with the current PTR, as it could require an overhaul of too many items and skills. It’s just always seemed odd to me to see several thorns related abilities and items in the game, with otherwise little support. I realize thorns /command skeleton WAS the top necro build for some time. However, the playstyle was terribly boring. And with the nerf to Bone Ringer it also seems, it was never quite intended.
Curious what others think. Thanks for reading.