AoC: Necromancers in line for radical changes
FunCom system designer Jayde has announced the next step in the retooling of some of Age of Conan's more gimped classes. After Demonologists got a survivability and damage boost, many players thought Assassins would be the next in line. They still might be - there's no clue to the content of this Thursday's patch - but it's the Necromancers whose future looks intriguing right now.
The focus is squarely on pets: the Necromancer looks set to become a true pet class, reminiscent of the Mastermind from City of Villains. 'The balance and progression of the class is being altered to introduce 2 pet points every 5 levels after level 5, resulting in all 8 base pet points being available at level 20 instead of at level 70.' Access to ad hoc bonus pet points is also being improved, with a rework to the Nightfall feat tree. For those unacquainted with the Necromancer, this means they will have a lot more undead at their command throughout their careers than they used to. Age of Conan deals with Necromancer pets on a point-based system, allowing players to choose whether they want a lot of weaker pets, a few strong ones, or a mix.
Naturally, none of this comes without cost. With the emphasis shifting on to pets as the primary source of Necromancer damage, their offensive spells are in line for a review; and we all know what that means. There will still be some leeway for tweaking a character towards damaging with spells for those who want to, but it's clear which way the necrotic winds are blowing.
The rationale behind all this is to bring Necromancers into line with what they were originally designed to be: 'Given the importance of pet damage in the overall design of the Necromancer class, we feel that this will introduce lower-level players to the nature of the class in a better way.'
