Necromancer Class Concept - The Modern Necromancer

[Golden Yak]

The idea of a Necromancer class has been around for a while naturally, it being a classic WC3 unit, but Shadowlands has injected a lot more lore and concepts into the whole 'Death' element of Warcraft for good or ill, and Maldraxxus in particular brought a lot of new design flair to classic Warcraft 'undead' aesthetics.

This isn't going to be nearly as in-depth as some of the other class concepts that folks have put together, and is more of a style guide/general theme post rather than diving deep into mechanics.

Necromancer
"You'd better call this necroman 'sir'."

After the events of Shadowlands, the great rift above Icecrown has collapsed, but the energies of Death have nevertheless saturated Azeroth to a degree not seen since the Undead Scourge rampaged under the command of Arthas. No longer focused exclusively under the purview of the Scourge, death magic and necromancy have risen in potency across the world. The dead rise. Spirits are restless. The plague of undeath festers and mutates into new strains throughout the blighted and poisoned lands of Azeroth. Many new necromancers have arisen to tap into this power, some to banish it and protect their people, others to exploit it for their own ends.

Necromancers are, visually, very 'summon' oriented, calling a lot of undead creatures and monsters to the battlefield with their spells. Whether stitched-up undead constructs, slimy oozes, or howling phantoms, a necromancer is always surrounded with a lot of undead to highlight their roles as practitioners of Death magic.

Plagueshifter (Slime Spec - Healer)


Plagueshifters are necromancers that are attuned to the power of Death magic in its form as the Plague of Undeath. Conceived of by the House of Plagues in Maldraxxus and appropriated by the Undead Scourge to blight the lands of Azeroth, the Plague of Undeath kills the living and reanimates them as undead. Chemists and sorcerers across Azeroth have brewed all manner of deadly strains of the plague, one of the more notorious being the deadly Blight concocted by the Forsaken that devastates the living and the undead alike. The plague infests not only fauna, but flora as well, polluting entire regions and turning them into rotting, undead bogs festering with the power of Death, power waiting to be tapped by those with the ability and the will.

Plagueshifters can draw upon the plague of undeath that blights surrounding environments, using the power of nature tainted and twisted by Death. Their powers manifest the plague as a putrid slime, conjuring blobs of ooze, curling tendrils of slime, and even lumbering ooze giants. Swarms of blighted insects and infected undead wildlife also answer their call.



Plagueshifters can use this power to disgusting but potent effects of protection, transferring the damage received by their allies to effigies of slime and ooze. Blows that land upon a Plagueshifter's allies instead damage nearby oozes. A conjured slime giant can absorb the damage of an entire party, erupting on death to shower the foe with debilitating ooze and rejuvenating the party with invigorating slime.



Plagueshifters can even embrace the plague to its utmost degree, becoming incarnations of the plague themselves, a 'slime form' that massively magnifies their abilities.

Gameplay Concepts: Plagueshifters are healers with a lot of tools that can be used to debilitate the enemy. Their spells coat their allies in slime and ooze to heal their wounds and absorb incoming damage. Clouds of plagued insects form swarms and shields that allies can shelter in to diffuse incoming area damage. Slime Tentacles are summoned with various abilities to act as damage sponges, transferring damage from allies to the tentacles, and the Plagueshifter's abilities can be augmented by them 'sacrificing' tentacles for a boost before casting a spell. Plague Giants can soak up a ton of damage from the party and deal it back to the enemy, erupting on death or sacrifice to coat the enemy in debuffs and DoTs while buffing the party. Slime pools can buff and heal allies while also greasing up their movement speed or slowing the enemy. Their temporary slime form augments all of their abilities and spawns a full host of tentacles.

Stitchmaster (Construct Spec - 'Pet' Melee DPS)


Students of the art of stitch-crafting, the creation of undead constructs made by assembling various corpses, limbs, and organs into new forms and animating the resulting construct with necromantic power and bound souls. Whereas other users of necromancy simply animate corpses as-is, resulting shambling zombies or clattering skeletons, the Stitchmaster is an artist and innovator, creating entirely new and unique undead constructs from the fallen flesh of their enemies. Every battle yields fresh materials to use in the creation of new and deadlier constructs, which can be saved into the archival Necronomicon of the Stitchmaster and brought forth as the situation demands.



Each Stitchmaster can tailor their personal army of constructs, animating a gaggle of smaller constructs to shred the foe by degrees, or a single massive construct to soak up damage and devastate the enemy. The Stitchmaster directs their creations from nearby, supporting them with necromantic powers to enhance their abilities and repair any damage they suffer.



Gameplay Concepts - Similar to the Hunter or Warlock, the Stitchmaster is a 'pet class' damage dealer, with a large focus on the created constructs doing the actual damage while the Stitchmaster protects and augments them. While the Stitchmaster has a smaller selection of pet types, choosing between small and large constructs, they use their 'Necronomicon' interface to 'build' their own pet, using parts acquired from defeating enemies to equip their constructs with various abilities, and saving multiple load-outs for use in battle. Stitchmasters can bring out three smaller constructs each with a limited selection of powers, or a single giant construct with a host of customized abilities as the situation demands. A giant construct with the right load-out of parts can make an effective tank when properly supported by their creator. Stitchmasters must remain at a closer range to support their constructs and keep them intact to fight, necessitating them getting closer to the action than hunters or warlocks.

Spirit Walker (Ghost Spec - Ranged DPS)


With the destruction of the Jailer, countless spirits formerly enslaved to his will have spilled out from the Shadowlands, lost and deranged by torments unfathomable to mortals. The Spirit Walker is a necromancer who attunes their powers to these unquiet spirits, conjuring and binding ghosts and wraiths to their will. Whether to bring peace to these restless dead or enslave them for their own ambitions, Spirit Walkers have one foot in the realms of the dead.



The Spirit Walker is surrounded by spectral hosts that answer their will. Chained wraiths hurl necromantic bolts at the foe, clouds of screaming spirits spread chaos among enemy ranks, and grasping ectoplasmic reach from beyond the veil of death to drag the Spirit Walker's enemies to some terrible fate. The Spirit Walker can become like a ghost themselves, walking between the veil of death and the mortal realm, untouchable as a phantom.



Gameplay Concepts: Ghosts are the name of the game. A Spirit Walker's abilities are ghost themed, conjuring spectral undead to represent the Spirit Walker's offensive abilities. Spirit Walkers are exceptional at area damage, as many of their abilities have area and template effects, while requiring precise positioning and aiming to be effective at fewer targets, ensuring that single targets receive the full brunt of their attack. As the battle beings, the Spirit Walker will slowly call more ghosts to their side, building up their damage with increasing amounts of ranged-attacking spirits and doubling the effects of some spells by sacrificing ghosts to empower them. Ranged attacks send screaming ghost skulls howling through the air to impact on the enemy. Area of effect attacks are swarms of shrieking spirits like ragged banshees. Geysers of howling ghosts explode from underfoot, and hideous shades can possess the enemy to direct their movements or simply deal massive damage. Spirit Walkers can take on spectral forms to avoid damage and open rifts to the veil of death to hide from the enemy or rejuvenate their powers.

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This take on the Necromancer draws on lore both new and old to expand the nature of what a 'death-magic caster' can do, with visuals and themes distinct from the Warlock and Death Knights classes. I think the Necromancer has plenty of potential to explore, especially in the aftermath of the Shadowlands.

[cocomen2]

Spirit Walker as part of Necromancer, never thought about this, sounds cool so i very much enjoyed reading it all. TY
Best part of it would be to see Tauren's stray further from (god) their shamanistic roots, and to see their dark side -r.i.p.Baine-