Watch Us Play The 'Diablo III: Rise Of The Necromancer' Pack (Updated)

Update, 7/5/2017, 11:31 am PDT: You can now watch the replay of last week's stream in the video below.

Yesterday marked the 17th anniversary of the release of Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo II, and it seems appropriate to celebrate the occasion by playing Diablo III for our weekly Twitch livestream. We’ll also use the chance to try out the new Necromancer class, which was added to the game earlier this week.

The class made its first appearance in Diablo II, so it’s only fitting that it made its way to the franchise's latest installment this week. The Necromancer utilizes a power called Essence to control the dead. During combat, it can summon undead beings to help fight enemies; it can also inflict curses and use blood magic as another means of inflicting damage. The character comes as part of the appropriately named “Rise of the Necromancer” pack, which also includes a pet, banner designs, and two additional character slots for $15.

Even if you decide not to purchase the pack, you’ll still benefit from the latest update if you own the Reaper of Soulsexpansion. Patch 2.6.0 also introduces a new gameplay mode called Challenge Rifts. This mode allows you try character builds created by other players, and it’s also a test of how fast you can clear a dungeon. At the end, you can see how your time stacks up on the leaderboard against other players. Those who play the game’s Adventure Mode can also benefit from the update. New zones are available--The Moors and The Temple of the Firstborn--and you can access them through a waypoint on the Act 2 map. Speaking of waypoints, there are four new additions to Adventure Mode called the Realms of Fate. Each of these new areas have additional bounties for you to complete. You can learn more from the full patch notes on the game’s website. 

And, even if you can’t make it to today’s stream, you can still check out our previous coverage of the new Necromancer class. We saw the new character for the first time at GDC earlier this year, and we spent some time learning about its abilities as part of a hands-on demo.

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NameDiablo IIIDiablo III: Reaper of SoulsDiablo III: Rise of the Necromancer
TypeAction/Adventure, Hack and Slash RPGAction/Adventure, Hack and Slash RPGAction/Adventure, Hack and Slash RPG
DeveloperBlizzard EntertainmentBlizzard EntertainmentBlizzard Entertainment
PublisherBlizzard EntertainmentBlizzard EntertainmentBlizzard Entertainment
PlatformsWindows, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox OneWindows, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox OneWindows, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Where To BuyBlizzard StoreAmazon WalmartGameStopBlizzard StorePlayStation StoreXbox StoreAmazonBest BuyTargetWalmartGameStopBlizzard StorePlayStation StoreXbox Store
Release DateMay 5, 2012 (Windows, Mac)August 19, 2014 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)March 25, 2014 (Windows, Mac)August 19, 2014 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)June 27, 2017
  • evil_72
    $15.00 for a single character class with no added content. Blizzard really knows how to milk customers.
    Reply
  • joz
    Hey, that's about par for the course.

    $30 for D2-Expan gave us 2 new character classes...

    And a whole new act...

    New items - sets, runewords, uniques, elite items, new suffixes and prefixes for rares....

    uh....yea....You know what. $15 for just ONE class is kind a a sham.

    Mod Edit for Language
    Reply
  • LORD_ORION
    It's the new stupid thing execs are doing. Hey, X customers will pay this... the rest will wait until a reasonable sale.

    They don't account for the fallout it will cause in the future.

    "Hey why is game X not hitting projections."

    ... because the non-retards who understand the value of a dollar will remember they were priced out for 6 months, and will just wait until everything goes on sale.
    Reply
  • aTomek
    With all my sympathy and years spent in playing Diablo 2 and many months forcing myself to like Diablo 3 I must say this Blizzard had killed it. Check Path of Exile - huge, helpful community, huge complexity and great game mechanics. You can like it or not, but once you try it - you will never return to Diablo.
    Reply
  • evil_72
    I tried Path Of Exile, I did not like the community and the story in it was terrible. Also the bugs that they let go forever, the rubberbanding with certain skills due to network lag killed that game for me. I was completely in love with that game for half a year though.
    Reply
  • NinjaNerd56
    Gave them my $15...

    ...and this character is broken. It's totally fun because you can't die!

    I'm guessing we will see patches next week.
    Reply
  • kinggremlin
    19884719 said:
    Hey, that's about par for the course.

    $30 for D2-Expan gave us 2 new character classes...

    And a whole new act...

    New items - sets, runewords, uniques, elite items, new suffixes and prefixes for rares....

    uh....yea....You know what. $15 for just ONE fucking class is kind a a fucking sham.

    The original game is 5 years old. Blizzard continues to support this game with regular free updates and additional content. I have bought multiple games after Diablo 3 that have long since been abandoned by the developers that really needed further updates just to deliver what they claimed the game would be before release. Diablo 3 now is practically a different game from the day one version after all the major updates, so $45 over 5 years is really not that big a deal and definitely not "par for the course" or milking the customer.
    Reply
  • d_kuhn
    I played every other Diablo for many many months and bought every add-on... but this one lost me at the money grab that was the original game with it's pittance of loot and for profit 'auction houses'. I won't be back. Fool me once and you don't get another chance.
    Reply
  • Jake Hall
    Loved Diablo since the D1 demo, when I was a kid. With what Blizzard has become, they will not get any more of my money. I've put an embarrassing amount of hours into D3 (and money when the AH was in place). The game randomly lost some of my items the other day, due to the new Armory. I've put in a support ticket, and not even a reply. They don't care, they just want your money.
    Reply
  • wifiburger
    I still have the original Diablo 3 and will prob never upgrade, very tired of these DlCs that don't add anything, pass !
    Reply