Highlights
- World of Warcraft: Dragonflight introduces the Evoker class, paving the way for future classes like the Necromancer.
- RuneScape 3's new combat skill, Necromancy, could serve as inspiration for a potential Necromancer class in World of Warcraft.
- The Necromancer class in RuneScape combines tank and power specializations, making it a unique addition to World of Warcraft and offering potential for healing and support abilities.
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight has given players a brand-new class in the Evoker, one which embraces a more complex style of gameplay. This is good news for any upcoming classes that previously eluded the realm of possibility within the game. One such idea for a future class in World of Warcraft is the Necromancer, and this is a concept other games have already played with.
RuneScape 3 is similar to WoW in a number of ways, even predating the latter by several years. The charming world of Gielinor may have had its heyday, but the modern version of RuneScape has recently incorporated a new combat style, Necromancy, an act that's unprecedented since the game’s release.
World of Warcraft Could Use RuneScape's Necromancy As Inspiration For a New Class
If World of Warcraft ever wanted to create a necromancer class, RuneScape 3’s newest combat skill could provide the foundation for inspiration. The lore behind this skill is that the player needs help from Death himself to defeat the first necromancer, Rasial. The spirits of the deceased initially refuse to cooperate, since they don’t want to be enslaved to another’s will. The way around this inherent tyranny is for the player to simply ask the dead for help, instead of demanding it.
In this way, the player can remain the hero without the need for morally ambiguous action. While World of Warcraft may not have to take the same route, given some playable classes already walk a razor’s edge between good and evil, it’s an intriguing lore prospect. Necromantic power is obtained in RuneScape by engaging in rituals, a specific activity within the Underworld that collects souls the player can use to unlock abilities.
The actual combat aspect of necromancy in RuneScape 3 involves a choice between tank and power, essentially two specializations that each bring a unique benefit to the table. This duality in roles is exactly what World of Warcraft needs for its classes. The necromancer in RS3 is a ranged class that wears cloth like a mage would, albeit fabric that's been imbued with the souls of the dead. They dual-wield a gauntlet-looking weapon called a Death Guard along with a skeleton lantern, both of which have significant lore functions.
Despite being capable of ranged attacks, the necromancer, particularly when tanking, functions best when surrounded on all sides by enemies. They can drain the health from multiple foes, infecting them with diseases and sending ghostly minions to heal the necromancer for the damage they deal. This means that, theoretically, a necromancer in World of Warcraft could also heal other players by summoning spirits to mend their wounds or give them buffs.
There are, of course, some drawbacks to the necromancer concept. Summoning fearsome minions or spreading diseases is something World of Warcraft’s death knights and warlocks already excel at, so the necromancer would have to find another avenue to be truly unique. As previously mentioned, using the powers of undeath as a healing specialization would really shake things up, not to mention a caster class that can actually tank using spells, minions, and self-heals.
With the advent of the Augmentation Evoker specialization in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, players were met with spells that could intelligently target other players. This meant that Augmentation, while acting as a damage-dealer, benefits teammates by enhancing others’ abilities. This opened the door for a whole host of possible support classes, each using their own flavor of power to help teammates in a variety of creative ways. Here, necromancers could easily fit in as a hybrid support spec.
Necromancy as a concept has existed in World of Warcraft since its conception, and seeing it fleshed out in its very own versatile class would be an exciting prospect. However, alongside similar kinds of power like the Unholy Death Knight or Demonology Warlock, a necromancer class would need to bring something fresh and engaging to the table. Either way, if WoW’s story ever took another turn for the undead, necromancers could have their day in the sun.
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is available now for PC.