Necromancer Needs Priority

Radiate77 · February 16

Residential Necromancer here; just want to remind people that our class is still in an abysmal place, and I would appreciate if the priority list of reworks were shaken up a bit.

Necromancer needs higher priority, and I don’t believe I am alone in this sentiment. Everywhere I look, it seems the majority of people are in shock with how late into the Reworks this class will finally be improved.

Last year I did a poll on what Class people felt needed a Rework most, and Necromancer unanimously won. This was before any reworks were announced, now seeing how great Dragonknight has spun out I can’t help but feel envy. I want my Necromancer to look that cool.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/685625/class-rework-2025/p1

I’m not saying Necromancer needs to be next, but it should certainly not be one of the last classes looked at.

Faltasë · February 16

Like others have said in the forums it's probably later because it'll take the most work to get right. I wouldn't force them to break rhythm right now because then all the classes will end up getting the *** end of the stick.

tomofhyrule · February 16

...I feel like I just saw this thread.

Posted today. Seven hours ago.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/688827/necromancer-vs-warden#latest

As I said there,

tomofhyrule wrote: »

They aren't doing the reworks based on "who needs the most love." It's based on "what's the easiest to do first."

By your own admission, Necro needs a lot of help. So... you want them to do it as a rush job? Instead of giving it the time it needs?

DK was obviously first because a) it wasn't in a really bad place, b) all of the lines were mostly on theme already, and c) it needed mostly animation updates, and then they could fiddle with balance. Warden second also makes a lot of sense since it's a) the first DLC class with delineated lines already, but b) the 'tank' line already had a lot done to make it into a damage line, so half of the work was already done. As such, DK is the proof-of-concept for the basegame classes (which need a lot more muddling together) and Warden is the proof-of-concept for the DLCs (which almost need full rebuilds, but not animation changes).

Necro and Arc also have a unique mechanic that needs to be worked through as well. The reason they're so late in the game is because they're trying to give them to most amount of time to cook. If it was all based on balance, then it would have been in a totally different order.

Radiate77 · February 16

@tomofhyrule I did not see that thread!

Point still stands, Necromancer needs higher priority, a rush job insinuates that work has already began on ALL classes in which that is not the case, @ZOS_BrianWheeler said that each class could take roughly 6 months to complete, so it could easily just grab the 3rd or 4th spot, no reason to be the 6th.

I am not asking for Necromancer to take Warden’s spot that is unrealistic as they are likely around 3 months into the class.

DenverRalphy · February 16

Necromancers are in such a state right now, that I'd speculate they're that far down the list because as of yet they likely have little (if any) idea how to fix them. There's so much wrong and so much to fix with the class. I wouldn't be surprised if it requires scrapping the entire class mechanic and replacing it with something completely new.

Or maybe a complete redux of the original vision and taking another crack at it.

Radiate77 · February 16

Necromancer is going to need two new Skill Lines.

With every Skill Line working for every role, each line will be way too similar.

I could see a new line focusing on Soul Magic, and another one that did with Frost or Bleed, maybe that’s why we’re after Nightblade?

Are they giving Siphoning to Necromancer in favor of adding a Poison line to Nightblade?

Erickson9610 · February 16

tomofhyrule wrote: »

...I feel like I just saw this thread.

Posted today. Seven hours ago.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/688827/necromancer-vs-warden#latest

As I said there,

tomofhyrule wrote: »

They aren't doing the reworks based on "who needs the most love." It's based on "what's the easiest to do first."

By your own admission, Necro needs a lot of help. So... you want them to do it as a rush job? Instead of giving it the time it needs?

DK was obviously first because a) it wasn't in a really bad place, b) all of the lines were mostly on theme already, and c) it needed mostly animation updates, and then they could fiddle with balance. Warden second also makes a lot of sense since it's a) the first DLC class with delineated lines already, but b) the 'tank' line already had a lot done to make it into a damage line, so half of the work was already done. As such, DK is the proof-of-concept for the basegame classes (which need a lot more muddling together) and Warden is the proof-of-concept for the DLCs (which almost need full rebuilds, but not animation changes).

Necro and Arc also have a unique mechanic that needs to be worked through as well. The reason they're so late in the game is because they're trying to give them to most amount of time to cook. If it was all based on balance, then it would have been in a totally different order.

From the Developer Deep Dive on ESO's Class Identity Refresh:

The order is based on what Classes need the most modernization and balance work. The order is subject to change based on ongoing needs.

nightbringer1993 · February 16

Reminder that necromancer is a paid class. A looking at the fact that the class looks like a scam nowadays should force devs to act on this class as a priority.
If they don’t I’ll remind them that they have the duty to provide a product that is working and usable.

They released that class in 2019, for four years in a row we have been nerfed again and again, the buff they provided were found to be insignificant compared to what other classes has had over those years. With DK and warden being refreshed first I have concerns whether my necro tank will be viable/accepted in the future months.

ZOS you released this class now, even if you hate that class you have duty to make it playable as respect to your customers who paid the elsweyr DLC or the 12.99€ for the class. Otherwise you should never have released it, so assume your duty towards your customers.

Schlaflos · February 16

think the Necromancer should have more active abilities that summon temporary companions. The ultimate ability from the healing skill line, where you summon ghouls, could also be reworked so that it’s not just used for a single burst of damage, but instead summons active ghouls for a certain duration.

Similar to the Verses in the Endless Archive, where you can summon a frost, a fire, and two other skeletons to fight alongside you — something like that would feel amazing on a Necromancer.

I think the Necromancer has some of the coolest ultimate abilities in the game, but one of them being in the healer tree doesn’t really feel like the right place for it, even though the core idea behind it is great. It would be exciting to see how they could implement something like this.

Ideally, that ultimate should be in a DPS skill line — but then you’d have to give up Colossus or Bone Goliath, which wouldn’t really be acceptable.

Snaggel · February 16

nightbringer1993 wrote: »

Reminder that necromancer is a paid class. A looking at the fact that the class looks like a scam nowadays should force devs to act on this class as a priority.
If they don’t I’ll remind them that they have the duty to provide a product that is working and usable.

They released that class in 2019, for four years in a row we have been nerfed again and again, the buff they provided were found to be insignificant compared to what other classes has had over those years. With DK and warden being refreshed first I have concerns whether my necro tank will be viable/accepted in the future months.

ZOS you released this class now, even if you hate that class you have duty to make it playable as respect to your customers who paid the elsweyr DLC or the 12.99€ for the class. Otherwise you should never have released it, so assume your duty towards your customers.

I'd rather not assume that it would be the duty of ZOS to make a paid class disproportionally more powerful than classes that game with the game that we, oh wait, already paid for. Oh wait again, it already happened with Arcanist... and with Necromancer and Warden before that (have you ever seen non-warden healers ever being not wanted?). They had their spotlight moment in the past. There's always going to be a "season of class X" and some favoritism, whether intentional or not and then the meta shifts.

I do agree however that Necromancer does need some changes to be more balanced, viable (especially in support roles and pvp as a pure class option) but so does every other class barring maybe arcanist because it's the most recent release and suits the most recent eso design philisophy. I do not however disagree that despite Necromancer's age and separate buyout that it should be prioritized above every else class. In the meantime, let the still power of Gravelord carry you.

Radiate77 · February 16

Here’s the thing, we’ve been begging for Necromancer help for near half a decade now.

Even before Harmony got switched up, Necromancer saw horrible pick rates outside of tanking in trials.

Rearranging the list, like they said they could, would not only make sense based on their stated goals for making the list in the first place, it would be giving us what we’ve been asking for.

DenverRalphy · February 16

While I'd like to see a different priority order, especially as I really really want my Necro to see some love, I dunno that it was entirely random in how the order played out.

When they said that the order was not set in stone and is subject to change, I don't think they meant that it could be changed should the players desire it enough to convince them otherwise. Moreso that they built a roadmap based on internal development criteria, but that roadmap may need to be redrawn as unforseen or unanticipated delays, conflicts, or compatibility issues between design elements come into play.

It was likely more of a safety net to fall back on should the next class in line need to be pushed back just before zero hour.

Kilthor69 · February 16

Nightblade needs more love and attention. For using dual-weapons the DPS is pretty bad and nerfed.

Orbital78 · February 16

Maybe necros graspy arms can get turned into a large aoe circle that ramps up in disease damage. Necros recently got quite a bit of love though. Channels, channels for everyone!

Radiate77 · February 16

Orbital78 wrote: »

Maybe necros graspy arms can get turned into a large aoe circle that ramps up in disease damage. Necros recently got quite a bit of love though. Channels, channels for everyone!

What? None of the changes met the mark.

Necromancer as a class is fundamentally flawed in ESO. You’re still left with a Class that does not reach anywhere near the fantasy one would expect from a Necromancer.