What is it about necromancy in games? Thematically, it’s pretty dark; reanimating recently dead bodies and skeletons to fight your enemies is not the kind of thing the guys in the white hats are supposed to do. But mechanically, it’s pretty much always my favorite class in any RPG that has it. It turns out The Elder Scrolls Online is no exception. Not even a week after launch, and I already have three Necros. I had planned for a stam DPS and a healer, but when I got into it I really wanted to make a tank as well (even though I’ve decided that I don’t really like tanking in ESO, but maybe this time will be different?).

I’m no min/maxer, but it seems like this class is legitimately built to be viable for any of the four main build types (stamina DPS, magicka DPS, healer, and tank). Sure, it’s always been possible to build any class any of those ways, but let’s be honest, templars make better healers than dragonknights, dragonknights make better tanks than nightblades, etc. I also like that the META builds I’m seeing for tanks actually use a fairly even split of magicka, health, and stamina, rather than “just dump everything into stam, maybe a little into health if you don’t have at least X” like many of them. The hybrid build idea is what initially attracted me to the Warden tank, and, while the Warden didn’t ultimately hold my interest, I’m hoping this will be more like what I thought Warden was going to be.

I’m liking the Necro’s healing style, which is even more positional/directional than the Warden before it. For instance, one of the heals is a line between the healer and a corpse. As long as this extra complexity is rewarded, this could be a really fun healing class. If there’s a lot more complexity involved and about the same healing as a templar, who basically can’t miss with a heal unless the target is just out of range, then it’ll be hard to justify. It’s hard to know intuitively at this point, and I haven’t sought out anyone who’s doing parses or anything, so we’ll see.

The stam DPS Necro feels really good. I love the scythe slash that hits everything in a melee-ranged arc in front of you and heals you based on the number of targets you hit. Also, while I know some people find it annoying, I enjoy managing summons and DoTs, which is exactly what this playstyle is built around. It’s just about everything I wanted from this class.

As fun as the new class is, it’s also the new story that keeps me coming back. Khajiit have always made for some of the most unique and entertaining NPCs, so a whole zone filled with them, including the various less humanoid breeds we’ve never seen before, is pretty great. Dragons neither excite nor repulse me — they’ve overdone, but what fantasy creature or plot device isn’t? — but at least this game has a unique twist on them. They certainly make for interesting world bosses that amount to something more than just a pure zergfest. And it’s not just the main story that’s great; I’ve been enjoying many of the side quests just as much. For instance, I loved the Mizzik Thunderpaws sidequest line, which plays like a corny private eye novel, but with cat people.

Overall, this expansion feels a lot more whimsical than the previous ones, with less focus on backstabbing politics or apocalyptic daedric plots, which is a welcome change. It’s been a while since a game had me thinking all day about how I can’t wait to get home and play it, let alone one that’s been around for five years, but ESO’s Elsweyr expansion has done it.