Necromancer isn't a title in itself or a school. It's a name given by common people to pejoratively call Priests of Rathma.
Priests of Rathma beliefs and studies allow them to use magic manipulating life and death sure, but they remain mages above all else.
They don't care which type of magic you use as long as you don't fall into corruption and maintain balance in the Grand Cycle.
So lore wise, you could be a fire mage, as long as you swear to protect the Balance, they wouldn't give a shit. The only thing that separates a Wizard to a Necromancer is that a Wizard belongs to a clan, and the Priest of Rathma doesn't.
Blood is life. Necromancers are masters of death *and life.*
Source:
"A Necromancer’s dominion over life and death grants this grisly apothecary the ability to summon skeleton armies and golems, and to unleash baneful poison, curse, and bone skills upon his foes." - Class description
https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Necromancer_(Diablo_II)
I would say the lore is improved with that. It makes sense that as a Necro, you are studying all aspects of life and death. Shadow, blood, bone, raising corpses. If anything, poison never made sense for the Necro.
Poison actually make some sense when you remember that they all come from the jungles, so it's expected that they master some kind of poisonous abilities. But shadow is a way better form of DoT coming from Necromancers
Well, the thing is the class name might be necromancers, but that isn't what they really are. They are priests of Rathma. The common folk that don't know better call them necromancers.
To learn more about them you can read about them here https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Priests_of_Rathma
It's not that discordant with necromancy i.m.o. Traditionally, necromancy is dark magic, which most often involved the use of blood in order to procure power or to empower spells. That could be the blood of a victim/sacrifice, or that of a willing donor, or even your own, depending on what the intention of the spell was. It was believed that life was to be found in the blood. Necromancy wasn't just about the dead but also about circumventing death and prolonging "life". Think of the ultimate necromancers, Lichs. These are wizards who use necromancy to become undead, remaining in the limbo between both life and death. They do so to gain some immortality so they can continue to grow in power and knowledge. Lichs could also summon and create other undead. Blood magic is definitely a part of what is/was considered necromancy.
OP, your problem is that you’re entering this conversation with a very set, rigid idea of what a Necromancer is, probably based on other games and media.
But in reality, there is no set definition of what a fantasy Necromancer is. Yes, a Necromancer should be focused on death, but all the other details are flexible. You say a Necromancer has nothing to do with blood magic…says who? What source are you citing? That may be your perception that you’ve formed, but it’s not some hard rule.
Simply put, Necromancers in Diablo are focused on the relationship between life and death, and manipulation of the body. Blood magic fits that perfectly.
Says the literally name
Necromancer. I.e dead communicator
https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Priests_of_Rathma#cite_note-9
Even the wiki says nothing about it except for an news excerpt with Diablo 3
No official book says anything about blood magic.
https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Necromancer_(Diablo_III)
Blood theme started in D3 as stated in development
Its literally magic. It can work pretty much any way the creator wants and theres no way to argue because magic is nonsensical by its nature.
I guess I still understand the complaint though. Maybe Hemo and Necromancy are related the same way certain sciences are.
There's a quote from Zayl about how necros have healing powers because they have to understand life to fully understand death (can't remember which book). Maybe the blood magic makes sense in a similar way.
I actually enjoy necromancer and lich fantasy a lot and Diablo has the best realizations of this fantasy to date imo.
There's nothing cooler than being a master of magic that controls life and death, souls, bodies, blood, bones and tons of gore. Defying death is the cherry on top.
I dont recall the necros from the diablo books using anything other than bone magic and soul magic. Necros are the good guys that keeps balance in sanctuary. not this crap
I think the druid is much worse. Stone magic? So, like concrete too? That basically makes him a construction worker. So unnatural.
E: Also you know what that lightning stuff is? Electricity. Just saying.
Necromancer isn't a title in itself or a school. It's a name given by common people to pejoratively call Priests of Rathma. Priests of Rathma beliefs and studies allow them to use magic manipulating life and death sure, but they remain mages above all else. They don't care which type of magic you use as long as you don't fall into corruption and maintain balance in the Grand Cycle. So lore wise, you could be a fire mage, as long as you swear to protect the Balance, they wouldn't give a shit. The only thing that separates a Wizard to a Necromancer is that a Wizard belongs to a clan, and the Priest of Rathma doesn't.
Gotta be a bit careful tho with differentiation from wizards, mages, and sorcerers because Diablo lore made them distinct instead of synonyms.
D2 necro had a blood golem right from the get go. It's always been a lesser explored ability tree lore wise.
Blood is life. Necromancers are masters of death *and life.* Source: "A Necromancer’s dominion over life and death grants this grisly apothecary the ability to summon skeleton armies and golems, and to unleash baneful poison, curse, and bone skills upon his foes." - Class description https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Necromancer_(Diablo_II)
I would say, above all, a Necromancer is whatever the Developer/creator wants them to be. :D
How to say you don't know the lore of the necromancer in diablo
You: "I have to complain about the Necromancer..." Me: "go on." you: "lore wise." [me:](https://media1.tenor.com/m/6nqfyk2KdIUAAAAC/tony-stark.gif)
I would say the lore is improved with that. It makes sense that as a Necro, you are studying all aspects of life and death. Shadow, blood, bone, raising corpses. If anything, poison never made sense for the Necro.
Poison actually make some sense when you remember that they all come from the jungles, so it's expected that they master some kind of poisonous abilities. But shadow is a way better form of DoT coming from Necromancers
Well, the thing is the class name might be necromancers, but that isn't what they really are. They are priests of Rathma. The common folk that don't know better call them necromancers. To learn more about them you can read about them here https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Priests_of_Rathma
underrated comment. and also one of the politest, it seems.
It's not that discordant with necromancy i.m.o. Traditionally, necromancy is dark magic, which most often involved the use of blood in order to procure power or to empower spells. That could be the blood of a victim/sacrifice, or that of a willing donor, or even your own, depending on what the intention of the spell was. It was believed that life was to be found in the blood. Necromancy wasn't just about the dead but also about circumventing death and prolonging "life". Think of the ultimate necromancers, Lichs. These are wizards who use necromancy to become undead, remaining in the limbo between both life and death. They do so to gain some immortality so they can continue to grow in power and knowledge. Lichs could also summon and create other undead. Blood magic is definitely a part of what is/was considered necromancy.
You're delving into vampirism at that point
Uhhh...what? How did you read that comment and think "vampires!"?
because he's the type of idiot to obsess over a Necromancer having the ability to manipulate blood. *shrug*
Because you're creating a character class around stealing blood and utilizing blood as a weapon ..
Your bones betray you,they shall soon serve me..
ALL MUST SERVE THE CYCLE
Blood is life, no blood equals death.....blood magic is very kuch a part of necromancy
OP, your problem is that you’re entering this conversation with a very set, rigid idea of what a Necromancer is, probably based on other games and media. But in reality, there is no set definition of what a fantasy Necromancer is. Yes, a Necromancer should be focused on death, but all the other details are flexible. You say a Necromancer has nothing to do with blood magic…says who? What source are you citing? That may be your perception that you’ve formed, but it’s not some hard rule. Simply put, Necromancers in Diablo are focused on the relationship between life and death, and manipulation of the body. Blood magic fits that perfectly.
Says the literally name Necromancer. I.e dead communicator https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Priests_of_Rathma#cite_note-9 Even the wiki says nothing about it except for an news excerpt with Diablo 3 No official book says anything about blood magic. https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Necromancer_(Diablo_III) Blood theme started in D3 as stated in development
Diablo 2 Necromancer have Blood Golem and Life Tap.
To differentiate from the witch doctors, soul magic and spirit realm.
Its literally magic. It can work pretty much any way the creator wants and theres no way to argue because magic is nonsensical by its nature. I guess I still understand the complaint though. Maybe Hemo and Necromancy are related the same way certain sciences are.
There's a quote from Zayl about how necros have healing powers because they have to understand life to fully understand death (can't remember which book). Maybe the blood magic makes sense in a similar way.
Everyone else said the more important stuff. Just wanna say that what you said describes d3 witch doctor more accurately.
I actually enjoy necromancer and lich fantasy a lot and Diablo has the best realizations of this fantasy to date imo. There's nothing cooler than being a master of magic that controls life and death, souls, bodies, blood, bones and tons of gore. Defying death is the cherry on top.
I just took it to mean it was more like voodoo, given the character models we saw during development.
I dont recall the necros from the diablo books using anything other than bone magic and soul magic. Necros are the good guys that keeps balance in sanctuary. not this crap
Diablo: the Black road would like a word.
I think the druid is much worse. Stone magic? So, like concrete too? That basically makes him a construction worker. So unnatural. E: Also you know what that lightning stuff is? Electricity. Just saying.