I posted on the PTS my idea for a Blastbones rework that would address all of the pain points that were mentioned. A less demanding rotation, while leaning into the DoT direction and providing ranged corpses. My main is dead for the time being, but I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents for changes that I believe will make the class feel more cohesive thematically and practically while granting an engaging playstyle.
Grave Lord TreeFlame Skull I'll start by saying I love the animation for this skill, and hope it never goes away. The GLS boost to this skill should honestly be a part of the Flame Skull skill itself have the 3rd cast create a corpse and deal AoE damage, but I'd also tack on
undodgeable to the base skill like Warden's Cliff Racer dive used to have.
Sacrificial Bones Would perform like the old skill where it runs and explodes on the target enemy. After the initial AoE blast all enemies hit will be afflicted with a 10 second DoT that will have two larger ticks. Each of the larger ticks will create a corpse and in total will deal 10800 damage over its duration which is the equivalent of 3 blastbones so over the course of 12.5 seconds you'd have 4 "blastbones" with one cast. For 10 seconds after Sacrificial Bones hits increase all damage from Necromancer skills and DoTs by 5%. Increased Magicka cost to 4500 if the DoT doesn't find a target the bone fragments return to the caster restoring 1500 Magicka.
- Grave Lord's Possession This morph would also apply Minor Cowardice to targets in the AoE blast while granting the caster Minor Courage for 10 seconds. If the DoT is cleansed prematurely one of the larger ticks will automatically trigger.
Boneyard I'd keep this skill the same with one exception. Desecrate the ground at target location for 10 seconds applying
"Touch of the Grave" a sticky DoT that attaches to all enemies who enter the desecrated ground dealing 3080 Frost Damage over 10 seconds. If a corpse was consumed on cast Touch of the Grave deals 30% more damage. An ally standing in the graveyard can activate the Grave Robber synergy, dealing 2249 Frost Damage to enemies in the area and healing for the damage done.
Skeletal Mage First thing I would do is increase the tooltip damage by 50% from 462 to
693Shock Damage every 2 seconds I'd do the same for both morphs. The second thing is adding
Major Brutality/Sorcery to the skill in one of two ways while the minion is active, or when slotted on either bar. The final is adding this skill to the list of controllable pets.
Shocking Siphon This is probably my most controversial idea for a Necromancer rework. I like the idea of the tethers and think they are visually great, but hamper mobility immensely unless the Necromancer becomes the focal point of the skill. So I would remove this skill and replace it with:
Flesh Atronach Created to do your bidding the Flesh Atronach will deal 500 Shock Damage to an enemy (Will be controllable). If this ability is recast while active the Atronach will do a slam attack on targeted enemy dealing 1000 damage and an stunning the target for 2 seconds (unblockable). While slotted on either bar increases your damage done by 3%. Requires three corpses to cast and remains until killed or dismissed. Does not leave a usable corpse.
- Conductive Stitching This morph will turn the slam into an AoE giving a 4 second snare to additional enemies around the target, and will increases the duration of the stun and snare by 10% per corpse in the area up to 30%. While the minion is active increases your Health, Magicka, and Stamina Recovery by 75
- Putrid Flesh Converts the Shock damage to 600 Poison Damage. When killed or recast instead of the stun ability the Atronach will explode for 3000 Disease Damage. The explosion can consume up to 2 corpses within 8 meters, each corpse increasing the damage by 25%. If recast you will be able to direct where the Atronach goes to explode.
Bone Tyrant TreeDeath Scythe I'd add a scaling execute to this skill and its morphs to deal up to
300% increased damage to enemies under 40% Health.
Summoner's Armor I'd increase the duration of this morph from
20 seconds up to 30 seconds. Recasting corpse generating abilities after they have been active for 10 seconds drops a corpse regardless, and Necromancer already has so many short timers to juggle. So in a minion centered playstyle it will alleviate the feeling of being a buff simulator.
Disdain Harm While a Bone Tyrant ability is active
gain Minor Resolve and reduce the damage you take from DoT abilities by 15%.
Bone Totem I would move the buff to
increase your minion's damage and healing by 500 from Empowering Grasp to the Totem and its morphs while active and lower the potency from 1000 to 500. Thematically the totem is there to enhance yourself and allies while cursing your enemies so if a move is going to buff your minions this should be the one to do it. My other reason is getting your minions in the Empowering grasp effect is extremely difficult and unreliable, but taking the difficulty into account I cut the buff in half for the totem.
Grave Grasp Another really cool visual skill, but not very useful in application. I would change the ability to be placed manually, and have a larger consolidated area split into 3 zones. The Outer ring will snare, immobilize in the middle ring, and stun in the center. Applying Minor Main to enemies in all 3 zones.
- Ghostly Embrace Skeletal hands stun target for 3 seconds and immobilize enemies within 3 meters of the target. Enemies in the area are afflicted with Minor Maim and Minor Mangle. If the target is immune to cc it takes 1200 Frost Damage instead.
- Empowering Grasp Still grants Empower and reduces the cost, but the minion buff is moved to Bone Totem.
Living Death TreeExpunge Give the ability cost reduction of 3% the
on either bar treatment for this skill and its morphs.
Spirit Mender Increase the healing of mender and both morphs by
30% and change the duration for the base skill and the Spirit Guardian morph from
16 seconds to 20 seconds.
Restoring Tether I would change how the tether works. Either it ignores LoS between the corpse and the caster as it's a spiritual construct not a physical one, or if it must break from LoS the heal will radiate from the corpse and caster each at 50% reduced potency and will automatically reconnect once LoS is established again.
Thank you for reading and if you see any errors or have feedback on something please share it. In this situation no attention is bad attention and the more interaction the higher the chance a Silent Watcher will read this.