Noticed a topic about the Overwatch announcement but not about this.

Having trouble linking articles but you can find info easily through google. Blizzard announced the new/old necromancer class for Diablo III to be released sometime in 2017. They also announced what seems like the entirety of Diablo I to be put into the game (16 floors, 4 bosses) for a limited time (This coming January and recurring once per year).

It all seems cool, however the idea of adding the necromancer is odd since the witch doctor exists. I wonder how they're going to make the two classes feel drastically different. The character will also cost money even with the expansion.

The new dungeon also seems interesting, however we've already fought three of the four bosses in the main game.

Excited for new content nonetheless!

How the Necromancer differs from the Witch Doctor is explicitly addressed in the official FAQ.

Q: How is the Necromancer different from the Witch Doctor?

A: The Necromancer and Witch Doctor are quite different in both theme and play style!

Witch Doctors draw their magic from their spiritual connection to a realm they call the Unformed Land. This more light-hearted take on supernatural powers allows them to command creepy crawly denizens of the jungle and summon mindless zombified pets.

Necromancers can expect darker, more controlled gameplay centered around the raw materials of life: blood and bone. 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.

Man this is awesome. I played Diablo 3 on ps3 when it came up but picked it up again on ps4 recently with a huge sale on and I've just started to get into it.

The Necro was my favorite class in D2, but I agree that it's odd. I'd rather see a new class.

Never could get a grasp of the Necromancer in D2, but still super excited about this! I'm truly hoping for another expansion soon with more systems/mechanics to add to waht we already have. Not really sure I want D4 yet.

Curious as to the cost of the Necromancer DLC. I could see myself playing some more Diablo 3 and would like to play as a necro, but if the new class is more than $5 that doesn't seem like a great deal.

What I really want is a full new expansion. Or better yet a Diablo IV. I know it would be very quick turn around for Blizzard but Diablo III came out over 4 years ago. Diablo II was only 4 years after Diablo 1, so it's not like it's totally unprecedented.

@bigsocrates: I think at this point diablo 4 is more likely than another expansion. The necromancer isn't even scheduled to release until somewhere in the second half of 2017, and its unlikely they would release an expansion anywhere near that necromancer pack. Otherwise why not just have him and the armory in the expansion to sell copies. When I start thinking that way, 2018 or 2019 sounds more like the point of moving away from diablo 3 and onto diablo 4.

Alright, Blizzard. I'll play some more Diablo 3.

Wait, did they announce a price or will these be free add-ons?

@dgtlty: Character will definitely cost some money, but they haven't specified an amount yet. Also comes with new character slots and stuff, I believe. As for the Diablo 1 remake thing, pretty sure that's just a free event, although it will only be available in January of every year.

i think blizzard are more interested in games as services nowadays, so theyre probably just updating d3 for the forseeable future.

Diablo III doesn't have microtransactions (anymore) though, so unless they are planning to make some significant changes to the game or support it with more than just an additional class It's not really a games as services model. Games as services need some kind of hook. For WoW it's monthly subs plus expansions. For Heroes of the Storm its microtransactions. For Overwatch its loot boxes (supplemented by 'limited time' loot box opportunities). Diablo has nothing. It seems to me that they would be better off building a new Diablo IV that was built from the ground up as games as services. Maybe an Overwatch model. Sell the base game, then supplement by selling cosmetics (Diablo players would not accept pay to win, as we saw with the money auction house) and maybe a constant drip of additional microtransaction content, like new quest areas, new classes, that sort of thing. If done right it could be okay.

Pretty sure all this stuff will be free. Remember, they were still updating Diablo 2 even after 3 came out. I'm sure we'll see 4 eventually, but they're probably just doing this because it's a beloved franchise within the company. Ain't like they're hurting for cash.

Their announcement very much implies that they plan to charge for the Necromancer.

Q: When will the Necromancer be available for purchase/in-game?

A: Sometime in 2017—we’ll provide more details as we near release!

Q: How much will the pack cost?

A: We’re not ready to announce a price just yet. Stay tuned!

I always hoped for a Diablo II remaster, but this'll do. Give me a druid and I'll play Diablo III forever.

@cageysquid: Yeah I wish they would have added the Druid. They even mention them in some of the game's audio journals.

So weird. The game is how old at this point? I mean it's a good game, but I don't understand how this game has such a long tail. It's like Bethesda coming out and adding a couple of new dungeons to base Skyrim instead of Special Edition.

Meh, all this hype from Blizzard about how this year at BlizzCon will blow the minds of Diablo fans but the end result is something completely underwhelming.

All we're getting is a half-baked "Diablo 1 Remake" which is less a remake and more just a themed rift/special event that's using existing tile-sets from vanilla D3 and then including minor tweaks and filters over top it. To add more salt in the wound, the Diablo 1 event willonly be around for the month of January and then it'll be gone for the year.

Then the Necromancer stuff... Which is coming a few years too late (and not early 2017 either), is behind a pay wall, and is packed in with a bunch of other highly requested stuff that should be free which only the die hard fans still care about such as extra stash tabs and character slots.

I'm torn about the announcements. The community for Diablo 3 is pretty much dead, including all the Giant Bomb clans. If you come into a new season a day late, it's impossible to find a public game until you reach level 70. And even then, once you hit 70 there is little to motivate you to keep playing the same tired grind that hasn't changed in years. A new character class isn't gonna change the way the game is played at this point. If it's $5 I might get it but knowing the way how Blizzard tends to price everything at a premium, it won't be that and I'll probably be out for good.

@rotnac: Your views are pretty much my stance save that I really don't mind them putting the Necro behind a pay wall. They have done enough good free content over the years. My decision to pass on it simply due to lack of interest. Necromancer should have been here sooner.

Like you said. Community is pretty much dead at this point and seasons to me are pointless. Good way of keeping hardcore fans playing but pointless.

They should be moving forward with this franchise but it seems they are more interested in staying still.

@mordukai: I don't have an issue of them making the Necromancer paid content. It's not like they could do the same with the Crusader and RoS given the team's status is pretty much in maintenance mode but it's something new that takes a bunch of time to balance and voice and put together. They should charge for it. The issue I have is more a combination of timing of its release and them bundling in the other stuff with the Necro DLC that should be free like the character slots and extra stash tabs.

My expectations for what they had planned were pretty low to begin with but hopeful based on a bunch of teases from Blizz which (now falsely) hinted at a completely new Diablo thing. I just kinda feel used when Blizzard over hypes something and then under delivers. This isn't the first time they've done that with their IPs lately either. For them to say "WE'RE REMAKING DIABLO 1 IN DIABLO 3!" is an outright lie or rather completely misleading cause that's not exactly what they're doing, especially when it isn't even going to be permanent.

Which is part of why I'm torn. I want that new stuff and would've gladly paid for it on day 1 given the proper circumstances. On the other hand, it seems like paying for that DLC is giving them permission to be gross and get away with some bullshit I don't agree with. Not that it really makes a difference for them either way with what I do with my money. It is what it is.

As a HotS player, I can almost guarantee you that the Necromancer pack will cost at least 20$.

I should probably pick up Diablo III one of these days.

Well put and agree completely.

Necro seems cool and the Diablo 1 GRift thing seems dumb to me but this seems like life support content at best, they are obviously full steam ahead on something else (Diablo 4 surely?) judging by recent job postings.

BONÉ SPEAAARRRRRRRR

Diablo 3 is still best in class as far as action RPGs go, it looks fine and plays well, so a systems upgrade for a full sequel seems unimportant to me. New maps, heroes and story beats are more than enough to keep it going, but they would need to offer more than they are.

Yeah, I would be perfectly happy with a new expansion the same size as the last one, but they're not offering anything at that level. This thread is making me nervous about the cost of the Necromancer too. If it's $20 that's just highway robbery, and $15 would still be too rich for my blood. I hate the pricing model of DLC. It's almost all objectively a rip-off.

I get the impression that the more into Diablo you are, the more disappointing this 'news' was. As a hardcore Diablo fan, the impressions I've gotten and seen from my friends and people I've played a bunch with (including @rotnac !) are heavily negative.

I didn't really expect any Diablo news from Blizzcon, but as far as wishful thinking went, here's a list of things I would've wanted, in order:

1. Diablo II HD/Remaster/Whatever. All they need to do is make it run at 1080 and integrate the in-game friends list with the battle.net app friends list and I would pay for it.
2. Diablo IV. Much of Diablo III's design is fundamentally flawed, to the point that it would be easier to start from scratch than try to salvage it.
3. Diablo III Expansion. If nothing else an expansion would at least add some more bosses and environments and shake things up for a bit.

Instead, what we got:

1. A standalone paid-DLC character class, that I can nearly guarantee won't actually play like the D2 Necromancer, for a game that Blizzard has displayed they are incapable of balancing. Not even due out until the second half of 2017.
2. A dungeon using Diablo III assets with a filter applied to make it look like Diablo I that you play with your Diablo III character. If I had to guess, this will be fun exactly 0-2 times, depending on how it's implemented. Only available to play in January of every year for some reason.

Note: I am absolutely not complaining that the Necro is paid DLC, which is what I've seen most of the Blizzard apologists saying. I want them to make something more substantial so that I can pay for it. The game needs to be ripped apart and redesigned from the ground up in a way that Blizzard has shown they're generally more prone to do with a new expansion or sequel. Paying to play as a rough approximation of a Necro through the same poorly-designed loot grind for one of the two sets that actually make the class viable using the cookie-cutter skill build that the set dictates just so that I can be less effective than a guy running a bot who has four times as many Paragon levels as I do is not my idea of news intended to placate the hardcore playerbase for the next 10 months.

They would've been better off announcing nothing at all; at least then it would've been less disappointing. After the press conference, I reinstalled both Diablo II and Path of Exile after coming off of several hundred hours of Titan Quest Anniversary Edition. I've had more fun with all three of those games than I've had with Diablo III over the past year.

So basically: one has dogs and the other skeletons

More Diablo 3 is good. It's my go to chill game. I'll play it while I'm in-between games or I have a backlog of podcast to get through. Blizzard's been pretty good about adding new free content so if they want to charge for a new character then I'll throw them some money. I would love a new expansion but hopefully they are busy working on a Diablo 4.

@onarum: I know youre probably just making a joke, but there is more than that if you are really interested.

Their mana resource is different for one. Necromancer drains it from enemies with skills that drain/absorb essence and blood from the enemies whereas wd auto regenerates like the wizard. The necromancer also always has his pets when they are on the skill bar. They are passively just there. You don't have to summon them or worry about them dying from damage as far as I have seen. Instead, when you hit the skill button it activates the ability to focus their attacks on one enemy. They'll jump to attack whatever you are clicking on until it dies. Which was one of the BIGGEST complaints about WD pets. Everything that dies also drops corpses that the necromancer can then use for obvious reasons (corpse explosion being the showcased skill here).

That's just what they've shown so far, but mechanically that is significantly different. Their sets will likely distinguish this further.

@mezza: I just thought their FAQ thing is very silly, they're just explaining in lore terms pretty much. "one conjures the happy energies of the forest! while the other is a dark arts practitioner :O"

@onarum: Yeah that's what I figured. Just wanted to make sure someone gave a better answer than that faq just in case. They're presentation of the whole thing in general is pretty bad sadly.

Wait, really? They announced a new character class and a weird gimmick mode? That's underwhelming, especially since I don't really want to play any more Diablo III. Honestly, I would've been more enthusiastic about an uprezzed version of the first two games.