Diablo 3 Showcases Elusive Necromancer Class Ahead of PTR Debut

"The PTR for the Necromancer will be a little different from other PTRs."

After a significant amount of teasing, Diablo 3 formally announced the incoming arrival of its Necromancer class at last year's BlizzCon. Blizzard has now revealed more on what to expect from the "reimagining" of Diablo 2's supernatural beings.

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"Necromancers can expect darker, more controlled gameplay centered around the raw materials of life: blood and bone," reads the Necromancer overview that landed last year. "Grounded in a philosophical, pragmatic approach to life and death, they’re more like a calculated conductor of the darkest arts. Deadly serious in their practice, they are the experts of curses and reanimation—and their pets obey their every command."

By way of GIF form, Blizzard now wants to "share a glimpse" of how that looks in motion. Here's a brief look at some of the new Necromancer's skills:

Skill: Grim Scythe

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"Grim Scythe summons a huge scythe in a wide arc, dealing damage and restoring Essence. As a generator ability, this will be your bread and butter ability for building up to your more powerful damage dealing spells."

Skill Rune: Death Nova (Blood Nova)

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"Blood Nova is one of the five skill runes for the base Death Nova skill. Blood Nova does impressive damage, but this comes at a cost—using this rune requires spending both Essence and some of your Health."

Skill Rune: Devour (Cannibalize)

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"Devour is a resource-regeneration skill, allowing you to regain Essence by consuming the corpses of your slain foes. As one of the runes for Devour, Cannibalize also allows you to regain Health, which is handy for fueling costly spells like Blood Nova."

Skill Rune: Raise Golem (Blood Golem)

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"We showed a sneak peek of the Blood Golem at BlizzCon, but now he’s outfitted with animations, skills, and clever tricks! The Blood Golem is a burly companion who can sacrifice himself to heal you. Don’t worry—he’ll reconstruct himself right away, and deal sizeable amounts of damage to surrounding foes in the process."

Skill: Leech

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"Joining Decrepify in the Necromancer’s repertoire of curses, Leech is a dastardly spell that allows you to transfer some of the health of attacked enemies to yourself and your allies. It’s great not only for keeping yourself healthy, but offering support to your party members as well."

Blizzard says those interested should "stay tuned" for more information on the Necromancer's upcoming PTP—"the PTR for the Necromancer will be a little different from other PTRs"—and that it's expect to reach full release as part of a premium "content pack" in the second half of 2017.

No price as yet, however Blizzard points you towards the following Necromancer Q&A it launched in January:

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Source: PC Gamer