Hi everyone, Mander here.
I like the Necromancer class. Or at least, I like the idea of it: it was my second main class, but as many of you I feel it’s one of the less loved and less welcomed, especially in PvE/dungeon content (the place I belong to, and I admit it without shame). And it doesn’t feel right… one class shouldn’t be labeled as selfish by default, or struggle to achieve teamwork.
I know that the emotions are running wild at the moment, especially after the last patch, but I hope we can have a civil discussion about it.
Next are some simple changes I would like to see implemented for the necromancer class, in order of priority: I would like to know what you think about them.
1)Cleave? Yes please.
Aoe damage (via some wells: corruption and suffering for instance) is the best raw damage necromancers possess atm. The problem, imo, is that all wells share a very long cooldown (even 40 seconds, more than half the CD time of an elite skill!).
This means we’re naturally born nuker with little sustained DPS via weapons skills.
Our weapons of choice are less than adequate for what we do, or what we should be able to do: so at least, give us cleave please. It would still feel a little… strange to go in the face of mobs with daggers (we aren’t elementalists, or thieves), but at least we would be less spikes junkies and more balanced as class.
Necromancer is the only class without cleave: something I struggle badly to comprehend. Even warriors have at least one aoe damage, and cleave by default. Why the reverse isn’t true? There aren’t many others alternatives to achieve a decent balance: other than buff weapon damage 10 times (which would be ridiculous and farfetched).
2) Shorter CD on wells
As adressed in point 1) without a viable alternative to optimal raw damage (instead of subpar) to wells, I think we need shorter CD on them to be… not better, but just balanced and competitive with other class. What’s the point of having classes struggling to reach average performance, while other dominate the scene just because?
Another option could be to move the blood magic trait: ritual mastery in the adept section and buffing it, balancing a little better the toll we pay for using wells.
3) Stability
Necromancers do not possess stability boons. And the only necro’s stunbreak viable for combat is well of power (the others are useful while skipping mobs). Necros lack stability badly: per se, this isn’t a problem. It becomes a dire shortcoming when it’s combined with the lack of mobility in general: as necro, we don’t have vigor, stance or any way to refill our endurance.
So let’s change this: totally. Let’s add some nice teamplay to necros and make us useful, especially after the general buff to condition removals. We’ve to gain something for all that we’ve lost.
So I would like very much to see at least one of the following implemented:
a) Signet of Locust- passive: you run faster. Active: stunbreak (life siphon of SoL is minor at best: we can live without it).
b) Spiteful Spirit (Spite traits): grant stability while entering death shroud, 3 seconds duration.
c) Ritual Protection (Death Magic Traits): Wells grant stability when cast, 3 seconds duration. At most, this will give 9 seconds of stability: reasonable, imo, and finally some oriented teamplay traits for necro too.
Another way to achieve decent mobility could be to put together life force and endurance via one grandmaster trait, something like: every time you gain life force, you gain endurance. But this would need to be balanced wisely, otherwise necros on speed would be the new normal.
That’s all folks. Ideas? Opinions? Constructive discussion?
(edited by Mander.6924)