The release date for the Necromancer, a new class in Diablo III, is June 27th, PDT.

In Diablo II, the Necromancer was a class that controlled corpses, bones, poison, and curses, and was beloved for its unique play style and charisma.

The Necromancer was reborn with the concept of corpses and blood being the main focus, although it does not have all its past features, as poison is already one of Witch Doctor’s trait and curse is a category geared towards passive gameplay. The Rise of the Necromancer pack will be sold for $14.99 USD, and will include a Half-formed Golem, Wings of the Crypt Guardian, two additional character slots, two additional stash tabs, a Necromancer Portrait Frame, and a Necromancer-themed Banner Shape, Sigil, and Accent.

In the midst of Diablo fans growing even more anxious from the reveal of the Necromancer set and legendary items, we had the chance to interview Senior Game Designer Joe Shely and Lead Technical Artist Julian Love from Blizzard regarding updates on the Necromancer and future content.

Before the interview, Joe Shely expressed his feelings about the Rise of the Necromancer pack release, saying that “The Necromancer was suppose to be released in the later part of this year, but we worked hard day and night for our fans, and so we were able to release it earlier than we expected.” He also noted that “The Necromancer was a class that many fans were waiting for, and we are also happy that we were able to release our beloved Necromancer in the year of the 20th anniversary of Diablo”.

Q. The next update is obviously focused on the Necromancer. How can fans enjoy playing this new class?

Joe - As a Diablo fan, the Necromancer was my most favorite. We changed his style from Diablo II to Diablo III, so fans will be able to enjoy gameplay that suits Diablo III.

Julian - The new Necromancer provides a greater variety of play styles than it did in Diablo II. Players will be able to speed up or slow down the battle phases by their own choice. They can change their play style by using up their own Life or by using enemy corpses.

Q. The period between the Diablo II and III releases was quite long. There has been quite a bit of change in the things that fans want; what was it that you differentiated as you brought the Necromancer into Diablo III from II?

There have been many changes to the Necromancer in Diablo III. The biggest change would be the combat style. There have been improvements in convenience issues; like in Diablo II, you had to click on each corpse to control it, but in III, you can just control all the corpses at once.

Q. Was there anything you focused on as you tried to make it better via the Public Test Realm (PTR)?

We tested the Necromancer with PTRs for a pretty long time. We needed a lot of time to test as the new update included a patch on several new things like maps, items, and the Challenge Rifts.
It was hard to come up with a new character, and reimagining an old character from the previous title was even harder.

We had to consider many things in order to design the Necromancer to fit the style of Diablo III, while keeping the vibe from Diablo II. We especially kept an eye on the community feedback during the PTR period to come up with a perfect Necromancer.

An example of player feedback would be, ‘Bones of Rathma’, the build which revolves around summoning minions; we had to tweak it since there was some feedback saying that the Skeletal Mages are kept for time too short a time compared to the pain it takes to summon them.

Q. There are fans who demand mass updates almost as big as an expansion pack. Will we able to look forward to such massive updates after the Necromancer release?

For now, we are concentrating on the Necromancer release. Our development team is doing all they can for a more perfect release, so it’s hard to tell of the plan afterwards right now.

Q. Some have been saying that it is hard to manage the resources for the Necromancer since there are 3 types - Life, Essence, and corpses. What are your thoughts on that?

The Necromancer provides various play styles because there are many resources it uses. You can choose what resource to use- light players can choose to play using one certain resource or you could choose a really hard play style by spending several resources. The difficulty level when playing the Necromancer is entirely up to you.

Q. All the armor for the Necromancer sets that were revealed are for the same parts (Head, shoulders, torso, hands, legs, feet). In the case of other classes, there are items for other body parts like amulets or belts that you can choose to use from other set, why is it not the same for the Necromancer?

We did that on purpose so that players can focus on finishing the set they chose. We hope that your play can bring the best out of the set you chose.

Q. Both PC and console versions will be released together. Was there any feedback on the in-game controls taken into account? And are there any separate actions you will be taking for the high-performance consoles like the PS4 Pro?

We tried our best to bring the experience of the console versions as close to that of the PC. In the case of the Necromancer, it will be upgraded to be closer to that of the PC version. As for the high-performance consoles, we have nothing to tell in detail, as we’re focusing on the Necromancer updates.

Q. New Challenge Rifts will be added as a part of new content. Will it be updated at the same time as the Necromancer release?

The Challenge Rifts will be added along with the 2.6 Patch where the Rise of the Necromancer pack will be added. You can still enjoy this new content even if you don’t purchase the Rise of the Necromancer pack, and players who did not purchase the pack can play in the same party with those who did.

You can get various builds and items from the Challenge Rifts. Personally, I found them fun to play as I had the chance to try out unique builds and item combinations.

Q. How are players for the Challenge Rifts selected?

The Skills, item builds, and the Rift compositions from the player with the highest record in the Challenge Rifts are copied. The records of the player who cleared the fastest will be saved and provided to other players to compete against.

Q. After the early part of the season passes, all the content that fans have left to play are trying out the Greater Rifts with better items over and over again. Aside from the Challenge Rifts, are there any plans to add unique modes like Heroes Brawl from Heroes of the Storm or Heroic Tavern Brawl from Hearthstone?

Brawls are excellent content, but for now we plan to focus on the Challenge Rifts.

Q. It’s unusual for Blizzard to release something earlier than the planned date. Was there any special reason you were able to do that?

We tried very hard to deliver the new Necromancer to our fans as fast as we could. I think the early release became possible because of all the effort and feedback from our fans. We are very happy to release it on the date we have aimed for.

Our development team is satisfied with the overall completion of the Necromancer.

Q. Do you plan to bring back the past content like the one you had for Diablo I for the 20th anniversary?

We are still focusing on a perfect release of the Necromancer update. We’ll do our best to provide you with greater content.

Q. Lastly, is there anything you’d like to say to Diablo fans?

Joe - I’m so happy that we are able to present the Necromancer. Hope you all look forward to it!

Julian - The Necromancer is my favorite character. I’m delighted to present you with the Necromancer, and it has been a very special experience for me. I look forward to playing the Necromancer with you all.