World of Warcraft Needs Its Own Take on a Beloved Diablo Class

Over the years, World of Warcraft seems to have tackled practically every major fantasy archetype through its many classes. Magic wielders can dabble in the Mage or Warlock classes, those looking to have nature course through them can mess around with the Druid, anyone that wants to take down their enemies with devastating attacks can try their hand at Warriors or Death Knights, and even ranged fans have their time in the sun thanks to the Hunter class. Whatever players are looking for, World of Warcraft seems to offer it. But, there is still one popular archetype that seems to have been left out of the fun.

While World of Warcraft‘s Death Knight may have a few necromancy-related spells, the game has yet to add a full Necromancer class to the mix. At the same time, the Diablo franchise has been playing around with the concept for years, and it has quickly become a fan favorite. So, although it does not seem like the Worldsoul Saga will include a death-related expansion, letting players experience a summoner of death feels long overdue.

World of Warcraft Has Room for One Iconic Fantasy Archetype

WoW Has Come Close to Delivering a Necromancer

As of now, World of Warcraft has only briefly touched the concept of a Necromancer through its Death Knight class. Introduced in Wrath of the Lich King, the game’s first hero class can unleash devastating undead-based abilities upon their enemies. Specifically, the Unholy specialization is built around that concept, with the majority of its abilities involving spreading infection, disease, and death. Additionally, it has the ability to have an undead Ghoul follow it into battle, which operates much like Hunter’s many pets.

That blend has given World of Warcraft players the ability to master undeath, but it only really goes so far. While the entire class is built around being an undead soldier, they cannot really control armies of the undead like Diablo‘s Necromancer can. Instead, that ability seems to be relegated to their old master, the Lich King. And even though other characters like the Jailer have also displayed a similar ability, players have yet to be able to do the same.

Even though the next three expansions do not seem to be dealing with the world of the undead, it still feels like a good time to finally give players the ability to truly master it. Years ago, they defeated the vile Lich King, and recently, they also defeated the Jailer and his forces.

Along with that, the Forsaken have spent years exploring what it means to be undead, and players have gone to the literal afterlife in Shadowlands and somehow lived to tell the tale. So, throughout all of those trials and tribulations, it would only make sense that someone on Azeroth would have figured out how to bend death to their will.

A Necromancer class feels well overdue for World of Warcraft, and if it followed in Diabo‘s footsteps, then it could easily be one of the best classes in Azeroth. Blizzard could take the best parts of the Mage, Warlock, and Death Knight classes and blend them all together to make something truly special.

While the studio may have missed the perfect opportunity with Shadowlands, there is still time to rectify that in the next couple of expansions. Fans already know that The War Within will not be adding a new class, but that just means that Midnight likely will. And even though there is a strong chance it will be void-based, it also sounds like a great time to finally deliver on this long-requested addition. Because if Diablo can do it successfully, then there is seemingly nothing stopping WoW from doing the same.

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight was developed by Blizzard Entertainment and is the ninth expansion pack for the iconic massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft.

Dragonflight features an overhauled user interface, raises the level cap to 70, and introduces a new race and class. 

Released

November 28, 2022

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