Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

Interview With Vanguard  Producer, Thom Terrazas

by Dalmarus
January 15th, 2008

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Interviews

• Part 1: The Riftway System
• Part 2: Flying Mounts
• Part 3: Necromancers
• Part 4: The Ancient Port Warehouse Riftway System

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Part 3: Necromancers

Dalmarus: With the recent changes in the Vanguard developer staff and location, are individual developers still assigned to specific classes? If so, who is currently assigned to the Necromancer class?
 
Thom: Currently we have two designers assigned to all classes. Darrin McPherson and Michael Mann are our current resident experts when it comes to our classes but we are looking towards diversification within the team by assigning classes to more than just Darrin and Michael so that we can take advantage of their talents in other areas while we get our other talented designers more intimate with the class systems.
 

Dalmarus: One of the long standing issues/bugs for Dark Elf Necromancers since the early release of the game revolves around their racial ability. If the racial pet is cast for the damage buff and dismissed, Necromancers currently have to cast their abomination pet twice to have their pet grafts load correctly. Can we expect to see a solution to this sometime in the near future?
 
Thom: A fix for this is currently not high on the radar but it is there. We are currently looking at our priorities when it comes to fixes that require code changes and we are hoping this falls somewhere in there.
 

Dalmarus: The addition of new graft types have been a welcome gift to the Necromancer community. Will there be an increase to the number of grafts a pet can have to allow a level 50 pet to have one of each type (heart, legs, ribcage, etc.) or will players continue to be required to pick and choose?
 
Thom: There are currently no plans to change this functionality, but since we have not gotten to the Necro’s evaluation I cannot say that there wont be plans made in the future.
 

Dalmarus: In the Producer Letter, Thom mentioned a Class Diversity pass. Is there anything you can tell us about this in regards to the Necromancer class?
 
Thom: Necromancers, like all classes, will receive an evaluation and we will determine where they fall in regards to the overall vision of the class. At that point, should there be any changes or tweaks we feel we need to make (aside of the standard bug fixes, which will always be ongoing) we will make them. Its really too early to give specifics at this point though.
 

Dalmarus: In regards to the Necropsy ability, is there any formula for how often you can get a graft, or is it an equal opportunity on a table chart every time you cast the spell? There seems to be a large difference in the amount of grafts some necromancers pull over others. Is it just a luck of the draw, or over a given amount of mobs, each necromancer should have relatively the same amount of grafts?
 
Thom: The necromancer grafts are very similar to a loot table when you kill a mob. The loot table for grafts has a certain percent chance to be rolled on every time and every time it is rolled on you will receive a graft. The division of the grafts that you get is divided into different rarities that allow you to get different results each time and each of these rarities are also set up in additional levels within each rare category. The difference you are seeing from one necromancer to another is just the result of chance. Nothing more or less than that.
 

Dalmarus: Thom's producer letter also mentioned that AA's were currently being discussed. Can you tell us any of the possible AA's available for Necromancers? Will those AA's begin being attained early in the game, as in EQ2, or near the end game, as in EQ1?
 
Thom: It's way too early to give any details about what the AA system may or may not contain. Sorry! More information to follow in the near future.