The Necromancer - Harbingers of Death!

Immortality is a phenomenon that may never be fully understood but that does not hinder those who seek to comprehend this mysterious occurrence. There are many that merely want to understand its cause but there are others that choose to dig further, seeking to replicate it. The methods utilized to accomplish this vary however, as time moves on, one sect seems to becoming much more prevalent – Necromancy.” - Asterius’s Encyclopedia

Today, we’re excited to present the Necromancer, Aelion’s personal harbinger of death! Preferring to take personal control of their own inevitable demise the Necromancer is more than capable of twisting the hands of fate in their favor.

Necromancers are no stranger to death, embracing their own miraculous gift of immortality to better control the life force of all beings. Their weapon of choice, a massive yet elegant scythe, is more than a mere blade – it serves as both as a tool of intimidation, striking much desired fear into their enemy, and as a conduit for their supernatural magic. Spreading storms that constantly linger over enemies or calling upon ghostly hands to grasp at the living, the Necromancer is a master of continuous damage and crowd control.

These reapers walk confidently across the field of battle, filling the air with dread, striking terror into their enemies and even a sense of unrest among his comrades. Nevertheless, Necromancers do not falter in the face of danger and stand steadfast in defiance of those seeking to end their life. In fact one could surmise that the Necromancer chooses to gamble with their very essence, using their own life force to cast powerful spells or summon allies to assist. As the Necromancer’s life force dwindles, so does that of their unfortunate prey, and it’s only a matter of time until one falls. When the Necromancer reaches death’s warm embrace they receive direct control over the essence of death via their final gambit – The Lich Form. It is in this temporary state of misconstrued bliss that the Necromancer’s basic attacks are used to regenerate their health. As the form dissipates and their head clears, the Necromancer continues their relentless assault to all left standing.

Necromancers themselves are rather complex classes requiring a certain finesse to master and use appropriately. They lack a common resource like other classes and instead use their own health pool to cast the most damaging abilities in their arsenal. Gambling one’s own life away is, as is to be expected, extremely risky. To assist in combating this, the Necromancer has a variety of tools available to slow, immobilize, push back, or overall weaken any approaching threats. Even so, a good Necromancer knows that keeping the enemy at bay forever is not always a possibility and certain precautions must be taken to confirm they are safe. The Shadow of the Past ability, for instance, provides the Necromancer with the ability to create a temporary statue which, after a few seconds, pulls the caster back to it. When this occurs, the health the user had at the time of casting will be restored.

Basic Abilities

Ghostly Strike (LMB): First strike in the basic combo which inflicts damage.

Cursed Land (RMB): Creates a field of ghostly hands which grasp at the living, attempting to pull them down below. Enemies caught within this area have their movement speed reduced by 50%. Enemies that die in the area of Cursed Land turn into Carrions and fight alongside the Necromancer.

Necromancer’s Tip: Using the Cylcone Talent, Cursed land can cause any enemy attempting to leave its area of effect to be pulled back to the center.

These basic attacks are used in the following combos:

Hellfire (LMB + RMB): Sends a tremor towards the target which erupts in the flames of hell itself around them. Enemies within an 8 yard radius are damaged for its duration.

Plague (LMB + LMB + RMB): Causes a vengeful storm to hover over the target, inflicting damage over time. If an enemy dies while this effect is active, their body will be picked up into the nether and can be dropped onto another opponent to inflict additional damage.

Other Abilities

Skull Throw: Deals a significant amount of damage at the cost of 10% of the Necromancer’s health. Additionally, Skull Throw has a 20% chance to be instantly restored after use.

Necromancer’s Tip: Due to the potential to use Skull Throw in rapid succession, it’s a good idea to use Shadow of the Past before unleashing your volley of skulls so that large amounts of health are not lost.

Wall of Souls: Sends out a ghastly wall of the fallen towards the enemy which inflicts damage and reduces the damage inflicted to the Necromancer by all afflicted targets.

Ghostly Allies: Activating this skill provides a list of three summons, each costing 15% of the Necromancer’s Health.

• Ghostly Vipers – Three vipers which absorb a portion of the health intended for the Necromancer and pull the attention of enemies.
• Ghost Mantide – Inflicts damage to multiple enemies every 5 seconds
• Ghostly Carrion – Inflicts significant damage to a single target.

Necromancer’s Tip: In combination with the Cursed Viper Talent, Ghostly Vipers can prove to be a great addition to a PvP loadout as vipers will now slow the enemy by 70%, inflicts 300% more damage if they attempt to move after being bitten, and have a 75% chance to respawn after dying.

Lich: Manually activates the Necromancer’s Lich Form, providing them with abilities that allow them to restore health. The more Necrotic Energy available at the time of transformation, the longer the form can be maintained.

Ghostly Flow (Ultimate): Summons the souls of the fallen towards the target, unleashing their hateful fury upon everyone in their path. The cooldown on the Lich Form is reduced by 6 seconds for each affected enemy.

We have listed only a few of the Necromancer’s abilities. A full detailed list can be found within the Classes tab on the Aelinet.

The Necromancer provides an interesting style of play that encompasses Damage over time abilities, fantastic crowd control, and very demanding resource management. Players that choose a necromancer will be literally playing with their life to ensure they’re victorious. Regardless, the Necromancer provides exceptional damage for extended fights and provides their allies with much needed crowd control during large conflicts. As long as the Necromancer is on your side it is suggested to accept death for it is your ally. Those that oppose these dark beings may not overcome this fear and this is natural – Death incarnate is waiting.

Damage-over-time, high survivability, and effective group management ensures that the Necromancer is a class that should not go overlooked. Where it lacks in burst abilities, the Necromancer dominates extended battles, wearing the enemies down without breaking a sweat. Anyone seeking an engaging and rewarding playstyle should seek out the Necromancer. Be warned, studying Necromancy, as rewarding as it may be, can prove too much for those weak of mind and spirit. Life is always a question of balance and the deeper you go into the darkness, the less of you returns…

Play Skyforge for free now and discover the dark secrets of the Necromancer for yourself!