The launch of Diablo 4 is already shaping up to be a more successful foot out of the gate than Diablo 3 had. One of the more successful aspects of Diablo 4 are its starting classes, which follow more familiar archetypes established in Diablo and Diablo 2 as opposed to the third game's deviation from series norms. The Necromancer class returns as a starting option after only being introduced in Diablo 3 via the Reaper of Souls expansion. The early hours of Diablo 4 establish the Necromancer as one of the most powerful classes available and a huge improvement over its appearance in the previous game.
Despite Diablo 3's woes at launch, the Reaper of Souls expansion definitively corrected course toward it becoming the game it was always meant to be. One of the more crowd-pleasing additions to the expansion was the inclusion of the Necromancer class, which had made its debut in Diablo 2 and was then absent from Diablo 3. As one of the more popular classes in the Diablo meta, Diablo 4's Necromancer returns as perhaps the best version of the class across any iteration of Diablo and might be one of the funnest classes to play in the early hours of Diablo 4 thanks to critical improvements to core skills.
Diablo 4's Presentation Gives the Necromancer Added Gravitas
After the dark and quasi-realistic graphics of both Diablo and Diablo 2, the smoothed-out and almost cartoonish graphical style of Diablo 3 was one of the more unpopular changes made to the series formula. When looking at how Diablo 4 could course-correct for the company, Blizzard smartly made the choice to use Diablo 2 (long considered the fan-favorite of the series) as the inspiration for the game's graphic style and aesthetic. That choice pays off most clearly through the appearance of the Necromancer and their minions in Diablo 4.
The return to the darker and photo-realistic style of Diablo 2 (albeit with the benefit of advanced hardware) makes the Necromancer class stand out as one of the cooler-looking of the starting classes. The skeleton minions that players can summon still have the telltale turquoise health bar above their heads, but gone is the appearance of controlling props from a haunted house and in its place the genuine sense of commanding an army of the dead. Diablo 3's version of the Necromancer felt somewhat out of place due to that game's presentation, but in Diablo 4 the class feels right at home.
One of the Best Necromancer Skills is Made Better in Diablo 4
Outside the class' appearance and the appearance of the minions, the changes made to the Necromancer on the gameplay side of things make its appearance in Diablo 4 a huge improvement over Diablo 3. One of the more popular builds for the Necromancer class is built around the Bone Spear and Corpse Explosion abilities. In Diablo 3, Corpse Explosion is granted to players as an early level unlock and is an effective skill but lacks the power it gains later on. Diablo 4 sidesteps this issue by making Corpse Explosion available slightly later but improving its starting power.
The incorporation of Aspects and class specializations in Diablo 4 makes the Corpse Explosion skill even more deadly once players unlock Blood Mist, making the Necromancer one of the most powerful classes in the early game. While this does present some balance issues that will likely be patched during the game's launch window, for now the Necromancer has a very satisfying power creep. Between the updated appearance that more closely matches the tonality of Diablo 2 and the improved slate of skills that players unlock and build their character around, the Necromancer in Diablo 4 might be the best version of the class seen yet in the franchise.
Diablo 4 is available now in early access with its full launch coming June 6 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
