I'm agaisnt the Necromancer's Blastbones change wholeheartedly.

The Necromancer class in ESO is designed to embody this identity by being masters of elemental damage, protecting themselves with bone and flesh shields, and buffing themselves and others with powerful Living Death magic. The three skill lines, namely Grave Lord Skills (Elementalist), Bone Tyrant Skills (Bone Armor), and Living Death Skills (Soul Mending), are integral to this identity:

- Grave Lord Skills (Elementalist) focus on imbuing the dead with Frost, Fire, and Lightning to bring ruin upon enemies, as well as raising relentless hordes of the undead and intensifying the assault with fallen enemies.

- Bone Tyrant Skills (Bone Armor) center around bending and breaking the dead to the Necromancer's will, using their remains to create impenetrable barriers, and extending the Necromancer's own life by controlling the battlefield with the bones of the departed.

- Living Death Skills (Soul Mending) enable the Necromancer to draw from the power of life and death to replenish and restore allies, resurrect defeated comrades, and keep them in the fight.

By refining and adjusting these skill lines, We aim to enhance the Necromancer's thematic and gameplay coherence, ensuring that the class truly embodies the essence of mastering death, manipulating the dead, and balancing the forces of life and death to achieve their goals. These changes will likely bring the Necromancer closer to the envisioned identity of the class, providing players with a more immersive and engaging gameplay experience that resonates with the essence of the Necromancer in the Elder Scrolls Online.

Here are some better alternatives.
Necrotic Potency

Target: Area
Duration: 4 seconds

Skill description
Embrace the power of collected souls to bolster your dark arts. For each soul absorbed, increase your Weapon and Spell Damage by 50. Sapping the lingering life from fresh corpses, grants you 6 Ultimate while healing 682 Health every 1 second for 4 seconds per additional corpse.


This ability scales off your Max Health. While slotted, your damage taken is reduced by 3%.

Change Notes:
Embrace the power of collected souls to bolster your dark arts. For each soul absorbed, increase your Weapon and Spell Damage by 50. The duration of this buff stacks dynamically with each additional soul collected, extending its remaining time to empower your necromantic abilities.

The revamped Necrotic Potency skill introduces a dynamic and engaging mechanic that aligns with the thematic essence of the Necromancer class. By harnessing the power of collected souls, the Necromancer gains a tangible boost to their damage potential, promoting strategic and immersive gameplay.

This change addresses the need for the Necromancer class to have a damage-buffing skill, bringing it up to par with other classes in the game. The dynamic stacking of the buff's duration encourages players to actively collect souls, fostering a sense of mastery and rewarding skilled play. Additionally, the increase in Weapon and Spell Damage per collected soul provides a meaningful and impactful boost to the Necromancer's abilities, enhancing their role in combat scenarios.

Overall, the revised Necrotic Potency skill not only enriches the gameplay experience for Necromancer players but also contributes to a more balanced and engaging class dynamic within the game.


Stalking legion (Stalking Blastbones)

Target: Enemy
Range: 28m
Cost: 2700

Skill description: Summon a flaming skeleton from the ground. After 2.5 seconds, the skeleton runs after the target and explodes when it gets close to them, dealing 1600 Flame Damage to all enemies nearby. Every second the skeleton spends chasing its target increases the damage of the explosion by 10%, up to a maximum of 50% more damage. Up to 3 corpses can be active at a time with only 1.5 seconds cooldown between each skeleton summoning. Creates a corpse on death.

Change Notes:
The reworked skill "Stalking Legion" has undergone significant changes that impact its functionality and potential in combat. Here's a brief explanation of why this change is beneficial and needed:

Improved balance: The reduction in the initial damage dealt by the exploding skeleton from 3600 to 1600 Flame Damage, coupled with the cap on the maximum damage increase, helps to balance the skill's potential burst damage.

Enhanced versatility: Allowing up to three corpses to be active at a time and reducing the cooldown between skeleton summonings to 1.5 seconds significantly enhances the skill's versatility, enabling more strategic and frequent deployment in combat situations.

Strategic depth: With the ability to have multiple explosive skeletons active and in play, players can now employ more strategic and tactical approaches to engagements, adding depth to the skill's gameplay mechanics.

Overall, these changes to "Stalking Legion" aim to promote a more balanced and versatile use of the skill while adding a layer of strategic depth to the Necromancer's toolkit thematically.


Blighted Blastbones

Target: Enemy
Range: 28m
Radius: 6m
Duration: 4 second
Cost: 2295

Skill description
Summon a decaying skeleton from the ground after 2.5 seconds. The skeleton runs after the target and explodes when it gets close to them, dealing 3600 Disease Damage to all enemies nearby and applying Major Defile to them for 4 seconds, reducing their healing received and Health Recovery by 16%.

Creates a corpse on death, causing a putrid area of decay in a 6-meter radius. Enemies within the area suffer from a potent Disease affliction, taking 1500 Disease damage over 4 seconds. Only 2 blighted corpes may persist at at time.

Change Notes:
This reworked ability offers the Necromancer a strategic and thematic AoE damage option, leveraging the theme of decay and disease that is central to the class. By incorporating damage over time effects, the skill aligns with the Necromancer's identity and provides a valuable addition to their arsenal. The rework also addresses the need for more diverse damage over time abilities within the Necromancer's skill set, enhancing gameplay options and synergies for players who prefer this playstyle.

This reworked Blighted Blastbones skill not only adds thematic depth to the Necromancer class but also introduces a valuable AoE damage-over-time option, aligning with the class's identity and providing players with a more diverse and strategic skill set.


Spirit Guardian

Target: Self
Cost: 4320

Skill description
Conjure a ghostly spirit to do your bidding and stay by your side for 16 seconds. The spirit heals you or the lowest Health ally around you every 2 seconds, restoring 718 Health. While active 50% of the damage you take is transferred to the spirit instead. Creates a corpse on death.

Chane Notes:
The enhanced Spirit Guardian skill now offers a more robust defensive mechanism for Necromancers by transferring 50% of the damage they receive to the conjured spirit. This change addresses the absence of a traditional damage shield for the class while maintaining a unique thematic identity. The skill's continued healing effect ensures that players benefit from both damage mitigation and periodic restoration, offering a versatile and strategic tool for managing combat situations effectively. This adjustment not only aligns the Necromancer with other classes in terms of defensive capabilities but also reinforces its distinct playstyle as a summon and discard class within the game.


Intensive Mender

Target: Self
Cost: 2160
Radius: 4m

Skill description
Conjure a ghostly spirit to do your bidding and stay by your side for 8 seconds. The spirit heals you or the lowest Health ally around you every 2 seconds, restoring 1438 Health.

Creates a corpse on death that release a 4m pool of soul plasm that heals 1 ally for the total amount the spirit healed while active.


Skeletal Archer

Target: Self
Cost: 2525
Duration: 20

Skill description
Unearth a skeletal archer from the dirt to fight by your side for 20 seconds. The archer attacks the closest enemy every 2 seconds, dealing 463 Physical Damage. Each time the archer deals damage, its next attack will do 15% more damage than the previous attack. Additionally, the type of damage the archer deals depends on which corpse is summoned. The Khajiiti archer deals bleed damage, while the Argonian archer deals poison damage. Creates a corpse on death.

Change Notes:
This change is a significant and necessary improvement as it adds depth and versatility to the Necromancer gameplay. By introducing specific damage types based on the summoned corpse, players will now have the option to adapt their combat strategy and tactics to various situations. This thematic change allows for a more immersive and engaging experience, aligning with the concept of a Necromancer utilizing their undead legion for strategic advantage.

Only one archer can be controlled at a time.


Skeletal Arcanist

Target: Area
Cost: 2970

Skill Description:
Unearth a skeletal mage from the dirt to fight by your side for 20 seconds. The mage attacks the closest enemy every 2 seconds, dealing 478 frost damage to them and all other enemies nearby. Additionally, the type of damage the mage deals depends on which corpse is summoned. The khajiti mage deals shock damage, while the argonian mage deals fire damage.

The mage also creates a corpse on death.

Change Notes:
This change is beneficial as it introduces thematic gameplay of a Necromancer utilizing their undead legion for versatility. By allowing the mage to deal damage based on the type of corpse summoned, it adds strategic depth to the skill and aligns with the class's identity of commanding and empowering undead allies. This enhancement not only enhances the thematic elements of the Necromancer class but also provides players with more strategic options during combat, making the skill more engaging and rewarding to use.

Only one mage can be conteoles at a time.


Summoner's Armor

Target: Self
Cost: 2700
Radius: 4meters

Skill description
With Namira's embrace wrap yourself in hardened bone, granting you Major Resolve, increasing your Physical Resistance and Spell Resistance by 5948 for 20 seconds. While active, when attacked by an enemy a bone shard is summoned to the enemy's location releasing noxious fluids around itself dealing 1800 poison damage in a 4m Radius.

Also reduces the cost of Blastbones, Skeletal Mage, and Spirit Mender by 15%. Creates a corpse when the effect completes.

The updated Summoner's Armor skill represents a significant improvement for both PvP and PvE scenarios, offering a unique blend of defensive and offensive capabilities. Here's why this change is advantageous:

PvP and PvE Benefits:

• PvP: In player versus player encounters, the skill's ability to summon bone shards and release noxious fluids upon being attacked adds a layer of unpredictability and area denial, making it an effective defensive and crowd control tool. The reduction in the cost of other abilities also enhances the Necromancer's resource management during prolonged engagements.

• PvE: Within player versus environment content, the skill's defensive properties, in conjunction with the offensive potential of the summoned bone shards, provide valuable support in mitigating incoming damage and contributing to group combat dynamics. The cost reduction for other abilities further amplifies the Necromancer's efficiency in sustaining prolonged engagements, thereby increasing their overall effectiveness in PvE encounters.

By comparing the updated Summoner's Armor skill with these specific examples from other classes in ESO:Dragonknight's Hardened Armor, Sorcerer's Bound Aegis, Templar's Restoring Focus, and Arcanist's Unbreakable Fate, it becomes evident that the revision was necessary to bring the Necromancer's defensive capabilities more in line with the diverse and multifaceted armor-granting skills available to other classes. The enhancements to Summoner's Armor ensure that the Necromancer class remains competitive and balanced in terms of defensive, offensive, and strategic utility, aligning it more closely with the capabilities provided by similar skills from other classes while keeping its thematic game play.


Remote Decay Totem (remote totem)

Target: Ground
Range: 28m
Radius: 6m
Cost: 3240

Skill description
Summon an effigy of bone for 11 seconds that bestows Minor Protection to you and your allies, reducing damage taken by 5%. After a 2-second delay, the totem initiates resource drainage from nearby enemies, siphoning 3% of their resources per tick within a 6-meter radius. Siphoned targets are snared by 20%. Additionally, allies within the 6-meter radius gain 1% of the total resource siphoned per tick.

Explanation:"Remote Decay Totem (Remote Totem)" skill offers a versatile and strategic utility to the Necromancer's repertoire. By summoning an effigy of bone, the skill provides Minor Protection to the caster and their allies, mitigating incoming damage. Furthermore, the totem's resource-draining effect places a burden on nearby enemies, siphoning their resources and applying a snare effect. Notably, allies within the totem's radius benefit from the siphoned resources, enhancing their own reserves. This skill serves as a valuable addition, offering both defensive support and resource manipulation in combat scenarios.

Change Notes:
Moderate Resource Drain: Setting the resource drain at 3% and the resource gain at 1% of the total per tick strikes a balance between providing a meaningful effect for allies and maintaining a degree of challenge in resource management during PvE encounters.

Skill Description and Benefits:
The reworked "Remote Decay Totem (Remote Totem)" introduces a valuable and much-needed supportive skill for the Necromancer class. By combining defensive capabilities with resource manipulation, this skill enhances the Necromancer's role in group engagements. The provision of Minor Protection to the caster and their allies promotes survivability, while the totem's resource-draining effect creates strategic opportunities by siphoning resources from nearby enemies and snaring them. Furthermore, the ability for allies to benefit from the siphoned resources adds a layer of tactical synergy within group dynamics. These changes aim to enrich the Necromancer's supportive capabilities, making "Remote Decay Totem (Remote Totem)" a crucial and beneficial addition to the class's skill set.

Enhanced Strategic Support:
By incorporating these changes, the Remote Totem becomes a strategic support ability for tanks that provides protection to allies in danger while exerting pressure on enemies through resource drain, enhancing its effectiveness in both PvE and PvP scenarios.


Agony Totem
Target: Area
Cost: 4050

Skill Description:
Summon an effigy of bone at your feet for 13 seconds that grants Minor Protection to you and your allies, reducing damage taken by 5%. After 2 seconds, the totem begins fearing nearby enemies every 2 seconds, causing them to cower in place for 4 seconds. Consumes a corpse on cast to enable you or your allies to activate the Pure Agony synergy, causing enemies to take 2100 Magic Damage over 5 seconds and applying Minor Vulnerability to them, increasing their damage taken by 5%.

Explanation:
This change introduces a meaningful requirement for the caster or allies to utilize the Pure Agony synergy, adding strategic depth and thematic consistency to the skill. By tying the activation of the synergy to the consumption of a corpse, the skill aligns more closely with the Necromancer class's theme of manipulating the deceased. This alteration also addresses potential balance concerns and ensures that the skill remains powerful while introducing a meaningful limitation.


Bone Goliath Transformation

Target: Self
Cost: 250
Duration: 20 seconds

Skill Description:
Transform into a horrific Bone Goliath, increasing your Max Health by 30000 for 20 seconds and immediately restoring 30000 Health. While transformed, all attacks apply Major Mangle and Major Force. Reducing targets Maximum Health and Increases Critical Damage against them 20%. Your damaging Light Attacks restore 319 Health, and your fully-charged Heavy Attacks restore 800 Health. This ability scales off your Max Health.

Change Notes:
This change is essential as it brings the Necromancer's transformation ability in line with other transformations, such as those available to vampires and werewolves. It provides a significant increase in survivability and offensive potential, ensuring that the Bone Goliath Transformation is a competitive debuff choice for tank players while maintaining thematic consistency with the Necromancer class.

The changes to the Necromancer skill line in ESO are aimed at aligning the class more closely with the developers' vision for the Necromancer identity. The developers have described Necromancers as "Masters of death" who can call upon corpses to serve as undead thralls, weave ghastly spells to harm and heal, and manipulate the dead to empower themselves, damage enemies, and heal allies. @ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_Kevin @ZOS_BrianWheeler @ZOS_RichLambert