Diablo 3 lead: Necromancer, other classes could return

by Ross Miller { Aug 8th 2008 at 1:40AM }

When Diablo 3's Witch Doctor class was revealed, many of you -- at least one-fourth, by our estimates -- decried the perceived loss of the D2 Necromancer. Keep hope alive, True Believers, because D3 lead designer Jay Wilson tells MTV Multiplayer that it's still possible he'll rise from the dead.

Wilson admits that the dev team was divided on the topic of bringing back classes. "But after we've established Diablo 3 as its own game with its own type of gameplay and experiences," he said, "I wouldn't be opposed to looking at old classes ... We're looking out ahead of time at what our expansions are going to be, so we've got to keep room open for some of those other classes down the road." Wilson also said they designed the Witch Doctor so there would be room for the Necromancer. Now that we've got that settled, you can go back to complaining over the art style.

Tags: diablo, diablo-2, diablo-3, diablo-iii, necromancer

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Shaq-Fu @ Aug 8th 2008 1:45AM

needs a NecroMartyr class

Ghen @ Aug 8th 2008 7:30AM

With bonus drawn-on wings!

Skunk Ape @ Aug 8th 2008 1:46AM

As long as the token paladins stay the same Im happy. I loved my paladin, Cornelius Bojangles.

Habiib @ Aug 8th 2008 8:43AM

Next character I make, I will name him after your paladin as a testament of how awesome that name is.

Huey2k2 @ Aug 8th 2008 1:50AM

You know, I'll never quite understand why people loved Necro's so much.

Druids and Pallies were always the most fun to play IMO. Also the Witch Doctor seems to have the best things about being a Necro while still managing to do something different... So I can't really see why they would bring them back.

Noshino @ Aug 8th 2008 1:59AM

Same reason as to why series like According to Jim still on air....no freaking idea man

LordKelvin @ Aug 8th 2008 2:06AM

Possibly as an olive branch for the emos. They'll get their necro back, just not in emo black and multiple shades of dark gray...

Psaakyrn @ Aug 8th 2008 2:57AM

No other classes lets you control a whole army (aka 10+ minions) of summons.

(even if they die pathetically easily)

WiNG [Life in a Game] @ Aug 8th 2008 7:03AM

Two words why Necro was fun:

Corpse Explosion.

Ghen @ Aug 8th 2008 7:36AM

Minions, a curse for every occasion, and exploding corpses for same-level damage... how can you go wrong? Druids require godly gear for melee and all their spells are hard to control. Paladins are only good for clearing baal's minions with hammer anymore.

Mr.ESC @ Aug 8th 2008 12:08PM

Well first shut the f*ck up, second it was pretty damn awesome and it had some impressive moves.

My first character was a necro but not for the emo sh*it but because in which Dimension controlling and reanimating the death is not completely awesome?

Also Diablo 2 was the only RPG where we could play as a necro instead of the generic warrior, paladin or Mage. Not even Never winter nights allowed you to do a necro and I like it as much as Diablo 2.

“Corpse Explosion”.

I’m pretty sure this was be done with the Barbarian as well.

(Mai roflbarbarian goez wush wush wush leru leru wush wush splat)

(The druid sucked ass)

PaperbagBoy @ Aug 9th 2008 7:41AM

You just called Diablo an RPG... You kinda loose your credibility there.

Mr.ESC @ Aug 9th 2008 2:17PM

It had RPG element and no I won't call it a hack slash game so GTFO.

Diablo 2 was more than awesome.

(I don't know what you consider a RPG /insert Rocket Propelled grenade joke here, but I don't give a f*ck Diablo was a RPG).

Nytemare @ Aug 8th 2008 2:05AM

I'm excited that they may bring back old classes, but I would love to play new ones. I'm more of a "been there, done that" kind of gamer when it comes to games like this.

Sabi @ Aug 8th 2008 2:18AM

if there is no necromancer.. i may never trust actiblizz again..

carg0 @ Aug 8th 2008 2:21AM

i can't even begin to imagine any Diablo game without a necromancer or paladin. the ninja and amazon were the weakest, from a gameplay and story aspect, lending little to nothing when compared with the others. i'd be stunned if either of those return in place of the former two.

but it's all good no matter who returns or doesn't make the cut because i trust Blizzard implicitly with any decisions they make. i think they've proven by now they know how to make games.

and im sure, like they've done in the past, they'll make an expansion for D3 that will add an additional class or two. good times for all...

Ihavepants @ Aug 8th 2008 3:00AM

So you havn't played Diablo 1 then?

FSK405K @ Aug 8th 2008 12:12PM

Ihavepants:

First, Diablo I did have an expansion that did include new classes.

Second, that expansion was made by Sierra, not Blizzard, which is why it has been patched out of existence and does not come bundled in the Diablo Battle Chest.

Ihavepants @ Aug 8th 2008 12:47PM

FSK405K

What the hell are you talking about? My original post was directed at the first sentence of "cargo"'s post. If you need more of an explanation, well, you're a silly head.

BananaBoat @ Aug 8th 2008 2:53AM

On the contrary..the Amazon were probably the most unbalanced, over powered class of them all. A high level zon is so powerful that finding anyone (other than another zon) to PVP with was almost impossible. Even with my maxed Barbie, I didn't dare, mostly because of the previously mentioned power unbalance (namely that zons can shoot a lag storm of arrows with every click, and they are all lethal at high levels).

The Barb is back, now I hope the Necro is back and that they leave the Sorc/Druid out of it.

BananaBoat @ Aug 8th 2008 3:12AM

and zon*

carg0 @ Aug 8th 2008 3:13AM

not weak 'literally', weak as in 'gameplay' itself. the Amazon was a very mundane, even boring character to play with when compared to all the intricate spells and skills at your disposal with the Necromancer, Paladin, Barbarian and Sorcerer.

if any character should be axed, even if temporarily, it should be the Amazon unless she's completely retooled.

BananaBoat @ Aug 8th 2008 4:40AM

Oh, yeah I absolutely agree with you there. Playing as a zon basically turns Diablo II into a point and click adventure game. Once you get to a high enough level as a zon (I only know this from the non-ranked ladder) you don't even have to successfully click on an actual enemy; clicking in the general area is enough. Battling zons 20 lvls lower than me I was still at a loss for how to take them down with my barb. The only hope I ever had was that they'd get stupid and stand still long enough for me to leap and WW them (which almost never happened).

Ihavepants @ Aug 8th 2008 3:01AM

But the WitchDoctor already is the summoning class by the looks of it. I'd say scratch the Witchdoctor completely and have Necro or don't have Necromancer at all.

Ghen @ Aug 8th 2008 7:39AM

the witch doctor is actually closer to the druid's summoning and magic skills IMO. Why do you insist there can't be more than one summoner?

Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Aug 8th 2008 7:46AM

I never understood such arguments.

There are classical RPG classes. And the classes are all different in some aspects, making gaming experience different.

Of course if they design different special effects for all of the classes, then it might be technically not feasible to implement all classes. But I bet that special effects as usually would be reused between classes.

But I guess, since Diablo is essentially a senseless bashing game, many traditional RPG attributes (e.g. intelligence, without which you can't read scrolls) can be skipped. Without diversity of attributes many classes can be dropped, since they would be not very different in actual game due to lacking use of the attributes.

Mr.ESC @ Aug 8th 2008 12:11PM

I thought the witch doctor replaced the necro. I like the necro as well but Diablo was always known for changing things around not for repeating itself for fanboys who love grinding and repetition so much.

I say screw the fanboys just deliver Blizzard.

Ihavepants @ Aug 8th 2008 12:49PM

Just so you know I don't want the Necro OR the Witch Doctor, but it would SERIOUSLY bother me if they were BOTH in the game.

Paviel @ Aug 8th 2008 1:44PM

THE Summoning class?

In Diablo 2 there were two: the Necromancer and the Druid.

Ihavepants @ Aug 8th 2008 11:10PM

No, in Diablo 2 there was one. In the expansion they added the Druid which I think overlapped abilities, but not to the same degree as the Witch Doctor does.

Mr.ESC @ Aug 9th 2008 2:21PM

No what I'm saying is that they shouldn't lisent to fanboys demands since they are always completly retarded that or they suggest that Diablo should be more like other games.

Basically fanboys demands kill creativity.

(The Druid sucked)

Geno @ Aug 8th 2008 6:24AM

I just want Sorcies back, or something equally fun to play. My tele-happy Lightning/Frozen Orb Sorc was easily my favorite D2 character.

Andrew @ Aug 8th 2008 7:55AM

I think its a shame that they are bringing any classes back. They can spend a little longer thinking of new classes and making the game different rather than just using the exact same ones from D2. D2 was a great game, but it had no classes in common with D1, and that made every class a new experience. When I see the barbarian in the gameplay video, i can't help but yawn a little bit when i see the same old leaps, shouts, and slams. I know people like the old classes, but seriously this is Blizzard, I KNOW they can come up with something even cooler, just give them some credit.

Blazur @ Aug 8th 2008 8:41AM

I agree with you. It's disappointing to see returning characters, or characters that are so similar to previous versions. It would be nice to have 5 completely different classes altogether.

John @ Aug 8th 2008 7:55AM

They need to add... wait for it.... BARDS

Ghen @ Aug 8th 2008 10:29PM

with guitar hero controllers?

Celes @ Aug 8th 2008 8:33AM

It's saddening when you see so many people bludgeoning a game about it's classes, when the original classes didn't stay either. Just let them do their thing, wait and see what they produce, and I'm sure we'll all love it. So what if it's not the same old classes? I'd be annoyed if it was. I don't want re-hash D2, I want a NEW Diablo. Hopefully people begin to understand that instead of complaining about, "My paladin isn't there!" or, "My Necromancer isn't there!" or insert next class name here. Seriously people, stop badgering about the old stuff and let the new stuff come.

(No I haven't read the previous comments, just felt it needed to be said)

VerticalEvent @ Aug 8th 2008 12:14PM

Technically, two of the three classes from Diablo made it back into Diablo 2. The Sorcerer returned as the Sorceress, being the pure magic user, and the Rogue became the Amazon, for pure long range combat. One could make the argument that warriors became barbarians, but I rather see that the warrior was replaced by the Barbarian and Paladin.

However, they re-tooled the Diablo system to include trees, which made them play different from Diablo, however their roles are all the same. That being said, I trust that Blizzard will re-tool all the old classes in Diablo 3 so that they will play dfferently then their Diablo 2 counterparts, much like what happened in Diablo 1 to 2.

Kevin @ Aug 8th 2008 8:24PM

It seems that these people who are complaining need to go to a store and buy a copy of Diablo 2. If you want Diablo 2, go get Diablo 2. Diablo 3 is not Diablo 2 and never should be.

Jfk Aok @ Aug 8th 2008 10:26AM

"Could" return? Just tell us already...this isn't news until they do.

FSK405K @ Aug 8th 2008 12:15PM

+1 point for most reasoned, intelligent comment of the discussion.

Trinian @ Aug 8th 2008 12:06PM

Seriously - it's Diablo. Is anyone honestly concerned that there won't be a Darky McDarksalot character available? Chill out.

Gary Combs @ Aug 8th 2008 12:42PM

I personally loved the Necro, and would miss him. Perhaps if he isn't in D3 he'd make a return in the expansion. I trust blizzard and the staff to make the game great and to decided what character classes fit in with the game. I am so excited about D3 and of course, will get the game.

Dirt @ Aug 8th 2008 12:56PM

I'm just worried that Diablo3 wont be a roguelike anymore. They keep talking about how the gameplay is changing, etc. The first two were roguelikes through and through. Randomized dungeons that you could literally go back and play thousands of times over and over. I really hope the game isn't too linear and scripted to hell and back. The entire randomness of the game is what made the first two so much fun..

And I hope to god they keep the WoW people away from it.

Blazur @ Aug 8th 2008 4:57PM

You have nothing to worry about. This is Blizzard we're talking about...

PaperbagBoy @ Aug 9th 2008 7:47AM

LFM to raid Diablo! Got tank need DPS and healer.

Christopher Tucker @ Sep 12th 2008 5:21AM

they should make it possible to change ur appearence (during game play, like change the color of armor or swords that would be awesome!) i've played the expansion to diablo 2 and loved it my brother had a necro but because it could do shit like bone walls and u could control minions. NOT BECAUSE HE IS EMO rlly he thinks hes black lol... IDK how this game will be, but personaly i didnt like the barbarian.they should bring back the pali,necro, and add other classes or make a create-a-class feature for the expansion or something that would be awesome too