Necromancer class/skill line suggestions.

zedich · February 2016

Necromancy, one of the most used forms of magic by NPC enemies in the game pretty much in every zone. However, we as players cannot use this form of magic. We mighty adventurers, masters of magic and melee combat. Those of us who Roleplay ((Omg Roleplay nerd.)) Have been wishing for Necromancy since we first booted ESO up at launch. Sure we can 'RP' as a Necromancer, but with no real abilities or skills to back it up with.
"But @Zedich, Necromancers are bad guys. Why would we want to play as bad guys? Why would The Prophet want a Necromancer as his companion when Necromancers messed everything up?"
First off, Not all Necromancers are instantly bad guys. Necromancy gets a bad rap like guns do. Just because some lunatic decides to kill a bunch of people with a gun, suddenly anyone who has a gun is a serial killer waiting to happen.
In every Elder Scrolls game I have personally played. ((Oblivion and Skyrim.)) You are given the tools, told a general direction to go and then let loose to do whatever you want. You can be a flame throwing mage who raids villages for no reason. ((all flame users are evil!))
You can be a sword and shield using tank who fights the entire city guard because you kicked a chicken. ((Sword and Shield is a symbol of Evil.))
See where I am going with this?
It's not the weapons or spells that make someone 'Evil'. It's -how- you use them. Infact, within Elder Scrolls Online, there are -Vampire- NPCs in the Fighter's guild.
The Fighter's guild, you know that guild skill line that gives you all the abilities to 3 shot Vampire players in PvP? Yea them.
I personally think Necromancy is long overdue. If not as a Class, then maybe as a skill line through a Worm Cult guild or maybe a new staff type. ((Conjuration Staff))
Hell, most of these abilities already have in-game names. If you have an addon that shows you what damage you take, it tells you the names of the spells used against you by NPC Necromancers.
Below I have listen some of my own thoughts of what a few skills could be and what they do. I'm doing some of the work for you Bethesda/Zenimax, I'm giving you names and effects and even the morphs. I won't claim that it's hard, I'm very sure that programing them into the game and all that is -far- more difficult.

Ability 1: Necro Blast
Initial ability fires a concentrated blast of necrotic magick at your foes. Dealing X damage and stunning them for X seconds.
Morph 1: Necrotic Burn
Ability now applies a DoT that deals X damage and an additional X damage over X seconds.
Morph 2: Necrotic Force
Ability now stuns longer and deals increased damage for every DoT on your target.

Ability 2: Corpse Explosion - Cause nearby corpses to explode, dealing X amount of damage to nearby foes.
Morph 1: Cannabalism - Cause nearby corpses to explode, consuming parts to heal yourself for X.
Morph 2: Disease pool - Cause nearby corpses to explode, dealing X Damage to nearby foes and leaving a pool of disease on the ground, dealing X damage per second to anyone within the radius.

Ability 3: Drain life: - Emit a beam of necromantic energy to drain the life of your enemies, dealing X damage per second and healing you for X% of damage caused.
Morph 1: Drain soul - Ability now restores Ultimate/Stam/MAgicka. Pick one or two.
Morph 2: Shared pain - Ability now affects multiple targets.

Ability 4: Grasp Soul - Grasp your enemies soul, stunning them for X seconds or damage is taken.
Morph 1: Soul Cleave - Cleave your foes' souls' asunder, deal X damage to target and stun for X seconds.
Morph 2: Soul Chains - Entrap your foe in spectral chains. Enemies caught this way are unable to perform actions for X seconds and are rooted in place. While rooted enemies take X damage over X seconds.

Ability 5: Zombie - Summon a reanimated corpse to fight alongside you.
Morph 1: Flesh Atronach - Summons a Flesh Atronach that deals increased damage and gains heavy attacks.
Morph 2: Necro Fiend - Summons a Necro Fiend, Necro Fiend infects your targets for X disease damage over X seconds with each strike and can leap X meters at foes.

Ability 6: Force - Emit a shockwave outward from your body, pushing enemies back X meters and knocking them down for X seconds and dealing X damage.
Morph 1: Concussion - Ability additionally slows affected targets by X%.
Morph 2: Reject - Ability now fires in a forward cone in front of the caster, additionally pushes the caster back X meters.

Ultimate: Graveyard
Initial ability creates a death field X meters in size lasting for X seconds. Targets inside of the field take X damage every X seconds and are slowed by X%.
Morph 1: Cemetery
Skeletal hands reach from the cursed ground and entrap your enemies, holding enemies caught within the field for X seconds and causing X damage over X seconds. Enemies are slowed by X% when effect ends.
Morph 2: Necropolis
The dead rise from their graves to follow your cold command. X zombies rise from the cursed ground and assault anyone caught within the field. Each zombie deals X damage and reduces enemy armor and spell resistance by X percent. Enemies caught within the field are slowed by X%.

GreenGhostMan · February 2016

Would love to see Necromancer become a class.

Have they ever mentioned adding classes in the future?

DemonicSpirit · May 2016

+1

Talongar · May 2016

I'D MAIN THIS CLASS IF SO.... +111111

Psyonico · May 2016

Not saying it is necessarily a bad idea, but just don't counterpoints:

1. In Oblivion, necromancy is outright banned and the entire mage's guild story line is about rooting out necromancy
2. Although not banned in Skyrim, the lore says that it is still shunned and highly frowned upon

In ESO necromancy is more or less deemed evil in all lore. I don't remember for sure, but was Mannimarco known to be a necromancer when he joined the companions?

Like I said, I'm not against the idea of a necromancer class (or, really any new class). But in terms of lore, you've got quite a bad reputation to fight.

AugustoCP · May 2016

It's not just reputation: When you raise undead, you enslave it. It's like enslaving a person.

Sure, one could argue that soul trapping people and using them to fuel enchantments is the same thing, but necromancy goes far beyond that. Several necromantic rituals require sacrifice of innocents, murdering of Arkay priests, deliberately causing suffering... it just wouldn't fit ESO.

"Oh hey King Emeric, need some help with facing those necromancers?"

"Sure thing, my favorite necromancer friend!"

Not to mention how closely tied necromancy is to Molag Bal/Mannimarco, the latter being called the "God of Necromancy" (not yet, only after the 4th century of the 3rd era, but you get the point).

Rohamad_Ali · May 2016

Dark Majic DLC . Available only to characters after main quest is finished . That might solve the lore problem . Raise the dead , play with dead body parts . Craft new exciting potions . Meh , why not .

Lynx7386 · May 2016

Tbh I would rather have them reinstate the warden class. For those not in the know, the warden was a nature magic based class, like a druid or shaman, with healing and support abilities. The warden was replaced in early development by the templar.

crashen17b14_ESO · May 2016

Heres what i have been thinking. Why bother creating a new skill line when you already have the perfect framework, both lore-wise and concept wise?

Soul magic. Its got a decent ultimate (in theory) and an okay starter spell (that could be imlroved.) Rather than raise zombied, summon soul shriven. Base spell summons a feral shriven, that morphs into either a shriven knight (2h/heavy armor) or shriven mystic (resto or destro staff).

A couple other abilities of utility nature (maybe some sort of soul-twisting that temporarily forces an enemy to be an ally), a cast time nuke that maybe interacts with soul trap and summoned shriven.

Change the passives to not be useless, and youve got a lore friendly, uniquely flavored necromancer like skill line that any class can use.

Interesting addendums:
1. Possibly use filled soul gems as a resource, mainly for summoning the shriven.
2. This actually makes sense as its implied throughout the main quest that the vestige is learning more about the unique form of magic they possess, and you interact with a fair amount of necromancy on behalf of tharn.
3. And finally, to justify necromancers being playable, we have the second most powerful (and most overt) necromancer on our side. Tharn. If the prophet is willing to work with him, there is no reason a vampire blood mage cant learn some form of necromancy from Tharn.