On Wednesday March 8, I had the chance to be invited to Blizzard's offices in Versailles as part of the live US presentation of the future Diablo 3 DLC which announces the arrival of a new playable character, the Necromancer. I still couldn't help but take a few photos of the lobby for your viewing pleasure.
The statues are hyper realistic, full size (yes even the murloc) and have benefited from an exceptional quality of work with a fairly important attention to detail and that I have rarely seen:
But it's time to get to the heart of the matter: the upcoming arrival of the Necromancer in the company of Julian Love, "Lead VFX Artist" and Matthew Berger, "Senior Game Designer" at Blizzard.
They gave us a videoconference from the Blizzard headquarters in the United States on a presentation displayed in the Blizzard Spain offices in Versailles, then we were able to ask a few questions.
The pitch
Flies swirl around the rotting corpses, and the sickening scent of freshly spilled blood has given way to a dreadful smell of death. Arriving from the southern jungles of Kehjistan, a formidable army of undead approaches, led by the new playable hero of Diablo III: the necromancer!
Necromancers are masters of the occult arts who rely on the power of blood and bones harvested from their fallen enemies. These battlefield commanders curse their enemies and revive their corpses to make their army or ... blow them up. Inspired by the hero of Diablo II, the priest of Rathma who preserved the delicate balance between life and death, the Necromancer has been reinvented by the Blizzard teams to fully integrate it into Diablo III and offer a new gameplay that is much more focused on the death.
gameplay
The necromancer will carry on him his magnificent demonic scythe (with one or two hands) which can be accompanied by a left hand. His skills will revolve around 2 abilities, life point sacrifice and life steal. Curses will also be there to unleash the power of blood and bones. Finally, there will be a new companion, the Golem:
- Deadly Scythe: "Describe a wide arc with a huge scythe to deal damage and regain fuel."
- Blood Nova: "Unleash a powerful Nova that deals heavy damage to nearby enemies but is sure to consume a portion of your life."
- Devour: "Consume corpses to instantly regain gasoline and fuel your other skills."
- Blood Golem: "Summon a powerful ally, such as the fearsome Blood Golem, who draws blood from your enemies, inflicts damage and restores your health."
- Surge: "Get rid of your deadly shell to cross physical obstacles and quickly reach a new position."
- Bloodletting: "curse your enemies. When they are attacked, you and your allies absorb their life energy". As a group, this will restore energy to you and your allies.
The arrival of the Necromancer will be accompanied by many rare treasures with supernatural powers as well as new legendary items and, of course, dedicated sets. Its gameplay already seems very interesting to me even if it will be necessary to wait to see in more detail the spells but also the objects and the sets. Blizzard is also eager to see what players will do with it.
Reviews
- pity that a new act is not available at the same time
- we want to know more about its release date and price
- finally a dark character at will
- engaging gameplay
This presentation will have taught us the imminence "in Blizzard sauce" of the release of the Necromancer ("as soon as it's ready") as well as the details of the spells and content of this DLC. It remains to know its price which will have to be attractive to give even more interest to this new character who really makes me want to redo a small campaign and a new season on Diablo III while waiting for more substantial content.
The "Rise of the Necromancer" DLC will be released simultaneously on PC, Xbox One and PS4 (but not on the Switch as Blizzard does not currently plan to port Diablo 3) will include the character in question, a in-game pet, two additional character slots, two chest tabs, a portrait, a banner, and an emblem.
