FinneyOwnzU wrote:
You think the only play style available to a necromancer is the one-many army approach where they use controlled pets (previously animated pets) to overwhelm their enemies with massive damage. Of course, this play style is going to get changed because it is not balanced - unfortunately, it will get nerfed in the wrong way. Part of that is because the people that play necromancers are so determined to employ a particular play style that the refuse to objectively look at the strengths and weaknesses of the class.
No, you're wrong. Completely wrong. I rolled Surrit with the intention of being a spell flinging maledictor, much like Antiira was, my deep-elf crucie sorcerer, who typically killed people by bashing them/taunting them with one charm and then using acid blast/damage wands/dispel/damage scrolls to kill people. That's why I rolled a sprite, because I knew that while sprites had lower INT (And thus a smaller "army" on account of concentration) that I wanted to be able to be more survivable so I could have more time to cast maledictions, finger of death, and use damage wands/scrolls/staves. I also trained art instead of mana, which made it very difficult for me to hold multiple controls as my mana regen went down the tubes.
All that said, despite building my character for the purpose of being a spell flinger, I quickly found out that because holy word deals double damage to undead, BoG instantly kills undead, and that you have no way of locking people in the room with you and keep them from running around and murdering you with ranged combat or your group with aoe spell damage, you simply can't afford to cast spells in fights against skilled opponents if you're evenly matched unless you have an extremely sturdy tank line: And if you have an extremely sturdy tank line, you're better off as a sorcerer, hellion or shaman. If you want to be a maledictor, a hellion or shaman is an infinitely better choice because you don't get bursted down by anyone who looks at you the wrong way.
I don't -think- that the only good playstyle available for necros is through overwhelming burst damage. I know it, because I learned it. I -did- look objectively at the strengths and weaknesses of the class, and that's how my playstyle was formed. Necros are the glassiest of glass cannons with zero ranged options, and if they don't bring overwhelming damage (or utility in the form of fear) to the table to make up for their squishiness, then they're not a strong class in PvP.
Finney wrote:
You can group for PK as a necromancer, like everyone else, and their skill set is very effective - on par with a priest or shaman at the very least (better IMO). On top of that, they still have the option to employ the one-man army approach.
The only unique thing that a necro's skillset brings to the table in group PvP is fear. And yes, fear is a sick, nasty, awesome spell. But frankly, fear isn't worth playing a cloth-armor class with no defensive spells that gets room-locked by BoG. You're better off as a sorcerer at that point, because sorc charms can taunt and don't get one-shotted by BoG, and sorcs can enchant, use magical devices, scribe petrification, and cast dispel, which is all you really need anyway.
Dalamar, I've played as and against necros for a very long time. I haven't had trouble fighting a necro in the last 2 years, and I've taken out plenty. I beat the living crap out of Trag's incarnation before this current one without a scratch in neutral territory when he even knew I was coming, and he's the one you're snooping right now that you think is so crazy OP. The only thing that a necro can bring to the table that makes them more useful than a sorcerer, shaman or hellion is fear and controls, now that animates are useless in PvP. Lowering the strength of controls on top of their already in-place buffs is just going to put them even deeper in the dumpster.
And Dalamar, it takes less than 3 combat rounds to kill 3 shadowy wights with BoG, 2 rounds if the paladin has the brains to alias "c bolt shadowy" to a key on his keyboard. It takes 3-4 combat rounds to cast dispel/cancellation on three shadowy wights in order to make them turn on the necro. Ultimately, this means that against an opponent with access to dispel, cancellation, or BoG, that wight damage is going to continously drop until the 4th combat round, at which point your wight damage will be zero and all that the necro can do is die.
But whatever. If you guys want to just keep putting nails into the coffin of a class that used to be really cool and has already gotten the harshest treatment by Dulrik balance-wise, go ahead. They're just not going to ever be played to any effectiveness ever again except against people who have no idea what they're doing.