Although many "Diablo" fans have expressed fondness for the Necromancer from "Diablo II," lead "Diablo III" designer Jay Wilson confirmed to MTV Multiplayer that the character class will not appear in the initial release of the game.
When the team was choosing which classes to include in the long-awaited sequel for Blizzard's best-selling action-RPG series, they decided to create a brand-new one -- the Witch Doctor. And with only five classes in the game, "Diablo III" just didn't have room for two curse-dealing, pet-wielding classes.
Here's Blizzard's explanation for why the Witch Doctor replaced the Necromancer:
"Our approach for classes in 'Diablo III' is that we don't have a strong desire to bring back classes from the previous game," Wilson told me. "The goal is to try and give people new gameplay and not just re-hash old gameplay. We're not just making a 'Diablo II' with updated 3D graphics."
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Though the Witch Doctor will have similar abilities to the Necromancer, Wilson didn't want to "have to live by any Necromancer rules." One of the big differences between the two classes is how damage is actually dealt.
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However, for those who are really passionate about the Necromancer, there's still hope to see the class in a "Diablo III" expansion. In fact, Wilson thought that expansions might be a great place to bring back any of the old classes not included, particularly since the team itself had passionate debates on the topic -- almost as much as the game's art direction.
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Wilson added, "It's one of those things where, unless we put like 30 classes in the game, people are going to be unhappy. But if we put 30 classes in the game, we'd hurt the game. I think that of the classes that we've chosen, there will be something for everyone. I'm not worried that people won't be able to find a class that they like to play."
"Diablo" fans, does Blizzard's explanation appease you? How do you feel about the Witch Doctor replacing the Necromancer?
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