Necromancer

The Median XL necromancer class can summon a wall of minions, create totems to fight for him and has access to powerful melee and crossbow skills.

Background of the Median XL Necromancer

Contrary to popular opinion among the unwashed mashes, necromancers are not power-hungry maniacs. They may in fact be the only ones who know what is truly at stake.

Historically, the first mortal necromancer was the edyrem Mendeln. Sensitised by the presence of the nephalem warrior-mage Uldyssian, he heard the calling of an ancient being from the dawn of Creation – the dragon Trang-Oul, ruler of the Plane of the Dead.

Trang-Oul explained that Sanctuary was not meant to be. A fallen angel and wayward demon, tired of the never-ending war, had created their own kingdom to rule and humanity to serve them. But if either the High Heavens or the Burning Hells found out about the mortal plane, the Eternal War would descend upon it and tear it to pieces.

Trang-Oul and his pupil, the nephalem Rathma, were powerful beings, but not powerful enough. The two had to watch as first the Hells and then the angelic legions discovered Sanctuary. Only the vote of the archangel Tyrael prevented the avenging angels of Heaven from immediately destroying the traitor Inarius’ impure creations. Both sides signed a blood pact to keep humanity out of the war and allow them to develop, grow and perhaps make their own choice between good and evil.

Before his final voyage to the Plane of the Dead, Mendeln recorded the events in what would become the necromancer’s holy book, the foundation of the cult of Rathma.

The priests of Rathma strive to uphold the balance between the High Heavens and the Burning Hells, for if the balance swings too much, the fate of the mortal plane itself would be in jeopardy. A victory of the forces of chaos would mean hell on earth, whereas if the angelic legions win the Eternal War, their likely next step would be to get rid of the last taint on Creation and annihilate the mortal world.

In times when the forces of Light are strong, this earns them the disdain of the masses. For this reason, the Cult hides underground, only surfacing in times of need...

Preferred Weapons

The Cult of Rathma created a vast arsenal of exotic weapons to augment the magic and combat abilities of their zealots.

The Rathma priests are known as magical experts, not mighty warriors. But with the right mixture of alchemical ingredients, even a necromancer can turn into a slavering scythe-wielding
maniac. Death Knights, the warrior branch of the Cult, are commonly seen wielding wicked hexblades or enchanted scythes capable of slicing through steel and demon scales.

Due to the high clergy's ban on crossbow development in the overworld and the low quality of black market weapons, the heavy crossbows and trebuchets of the Dark Rangers are the most powerful in the world. Although they are not known for being exceptionally brave or tough in combat, the arbalists of Rathma use the sheer damaging power of their advanced weapons to great effect.

Summoners and totemcrafters use wands or the ancient Rathman bone staves, which require both hands to wield and offer little protection in combat - but an army of the dead and his voodoo powers are all the protection a necromancer ever needs.

Base cast rate increased when wielding a staff.

Preferred Armour

The necromantic skull shields are not the best at blocking arrows or blades, but augment the magical abilities of the wielder. Some say the spirit of the former owner of the skull is bound within the item and slowly drained to power the necromancer's magic.

Skills

The Necromancer's skills by tree. Each skill's page shows its values per level.

Innate skill

Skill	Required level	Requires	Effect
Burning Veil	1		wall of rage that increases damage of allies that cross it

Totems I

Skill	Required level	Requires	Effect
Death's Fury Totem	1		Totem effect: adds fire, cold and lightning damage
Frostclaw Totem	6	Death's Fury Totem	Totem effect: casts homing waves of ice flame
Fireheart Totem	12	Frostclaw Totem	Totem effect: casts explosive fireballs at multiple targets
Howling Totem	18	Fireheart Totem	Totem effect: increases physical damage and causes targets to flee
Stormeye Totem	24	Howling Totem	Totem effect: casts a continuous stream of lightning

Totems II

Skill	Required level	Requires	Effect
Embalming	1		die
Sacrifices	6	Embalming	summons prisoners and kills them for corpses
Bend the Shadows	12	Sacrifices	teleport to target minion, taking other minions with you
Bane	18	Bend the Shadows	curses enemies near target minion, lowering physical resist
Talon's Hold	24	Bane	Passive effect: slows targets and reanimates the dead as Rathma Priests

Battle

Skill	Required level	Requires	Effect
Massacre	1		multiple rapid attacks
Angel of Death	6	Massacre	leap attack that adds damage and inflicts lethal poison
Famine	12	Angel of Death	Passive effect: increases damage and grants life steal
Parasite	18	Famine	melee attack that unleashes a worm that bounces between targets
Deathlord	24	Parasite	morph into a death knight

Suppression

Skill	Required level	Requires	Effect
Buckshot	1		fires a short ranged crossbow blast
Flametail Shot	6	Buckshot	fires a rocket that pierces and stuns enemies
Dragonfire Oil	12	Flametail Shot	Passive effect: adds fire damage to your attacks
Fragmentation Shot	18	Dragonfire Oil	fires a potion that explodes on the ground
Voodoo Shot	24	Fragmentation Shot	target minion spits out a barrage of homing crossbow bolts

Summoning

Skill	Required level	Requires	Effect
Summon Shadows	1		shadow minions with an aura that increases life and regeneration
Summon Rampagor	6	Summon Shadows	large and tough minions with a poison attack
Summon Lamia	12	Summon Rampagor	flying minions with a curse that adds points to damage
Summon Veil King	18	Summon Lamia	single minion that may use a lethal strike and spawns undead fiends
Summon Void Archon	24	Summon Veil King	single minion with a crippling aura and an area effect attack

Uberskills

Skill	Required level	Requires	Effect
Summon Jinn	90		summons fiery spirits that increase your spellpower
Rathma's Chosen	90		target minion is invulnerable and deals massive magic damage
Death Ward	90		Passive effect: increases defence and grants a chance to avoid damage
Black Mass	90
Graveyard	90

From Brother Laz's Median XL documentation, used with permission.