Thanks to Zenimax Online Studios, we were recently given the opportunity to have an early look at the Arcanist class, and play with the abilities that you'll have access to if you purchase the Necrom Chapter later in the year.
We are now able to reveal everything we learned about the Arcanist, including all of the skills. In this article we will reveal the skills and passives that the Arcanist Class will offer you (morphs are not included for the time being). In the coming days we'll be taking a more in-depth look at each skill line, as well as some of the other things we learned about Necrom, such as Mythics and item sets.
It's important to note that the Preview Build of Necrom that we got to see was fairly old, so it's possible that a couple of these skills will have changed when we get to the PTS on the 17th of April, but you should be able to get a very good idea of how the Arcanist Class will look and play from this article and hopefully begin theorycrafting some builds.
Without further ado, below are the skill lines of the Arcanist, including the unmorphed versions of the skills, and the passives.
Arcanist Herald of the Tome Skill Line
The first skill line of the Arcanist is called Herald of the Tome.
Herald of the Tome is focused on dishing out damage to enemies, so DPS players who choose to play the Arcanist will likely be getting very familiar with it before too long.
The skills are as follows:
- Unblinking Eye (Ultimate) - Summons a scion of Hermeaus Mora. The scion casts a beam which deals magic damage to an enemy. You can activate the skill again to retarget the beam.
- Runeblades - Launch three projectiles at an enemy. Using the skill generates 1 Crux Point. The skill does X% more damage for each Crux you have.
- Fatecarver - Channel a beam to damage an enemy. Consumes all of your crux, and buffs the damage of the skill by X% for reach Crux you consumed.
- Abyssal Impact - Infuse your arm with tentacular magic and lash out, dealing magic damage to an enemy and stunning them. The enemy is also debuffed with Abyssal Ink, causing them to take X% more damage from attacks.
- Tome-bearer's Inspiration - Once every 5 seconds your class abilities will deal additional damage and will generate Crux if you don't have any. While slotted, gain Major Brutality and Major Sorcery.
- The Imperfect Ring - Place an AOE DoT under an enemy. Allies can activate a synergy to deal additional damage.
The Herald of the Tome skill line also contains the following passives:
- Fated Fortune - You deal X% more critical damage and critical healing when you gain or spend Crux.
- Harnessed Quintessence - Increased weapon and spell damage when you regain Magicka or Stamina.
- Psychic Lesion - Your status effects deal X% more damage.
- Splintered Secrets - You gain X Offensive Penetration for each Herald of the Tome skill slotted.
Arcanist Soldier of Apocrypha Skill Line
The second Arcanist skill line is called Soldier of Apocrypha.
Soldier of Apocrypha is primarily focused on tanking, mitigating damage, buffing yourself and allies and debuffing enemies. We learned from Zenimax that they tried to make the Arcanist capable of tanking at a high level without needing to use skills from other skill lines (for example not needing to get a taunt from One Hand & Shield or Minor Brittle from Destruction Staff).
The Soldier of Apocrypha skills are:
- Gibbering Shield (Ultimate) - Summon protective tentacles which absorb X% of incoming damage, up to a limit. The absorbed damage is then reflected to all enemies within 5 metres, over a 10 second duration.
- Runic Jolt - Taunt an enemy and give them Minor Maim
- Runespite Ward - Grants a damage shield which damages enemies who attack you. Consumes Crux to increase the strength of the shield by X%.
- Fatewoven Armor - Gives you Major Resolve. Enemies who attack you recieve Minor Breach.
- Runic Defense - Gives you Minor Protection. Gives allies Minor Resolve. When active, you are automatically healed when at low health.
- Rune of Eldritch Horror - You fear nearby enemies and afflict them with Minor Vulnerability. This cannot be dodged.
The Soldier of Apocrypha skill line contains the following passives:
- Aegis of the Unseen - Your Armor is increased while a Soldier of Apocrypha ability is active on you.
- Wellspring of the Abyss - You have increased health, stamina and magicka recovery for each Soldier of Apocrypha ability slotted.
- Circumvented Fate - You and your group get Minor Evasion when you cast an Arcanist Skill.
- Implacable Outcome - When you consume Crux, you gain X Ultimate. This effect can occur every 8 seconds.
Arcanist Curative Runeforms Skill Line
The third and final Arcanist skill line is called Curative Runeforms.
Curative Runeforms is focused on healing and buffing yourself and your allies. Arcanist healers will likely be using this skill line quite a lot, and there are definitely some abilities in here that sound like they may shake up the meta for organized groups in both PvE and PvP.
The Curative Runeforms skills are:
- Vitalising Glyphic (Ultimate) - Summons a glyph which can be healed by yourself and allies. The glyph starts at X% of its maximum health. The glyph pulses, granting healing and weapon and spell damage to allies, with the values scaling from the health of the glyph.
- Runemend - Targeted healing ability that can be used on yourself or allies.
- Remedy Cascade - Summons a healing beam targeted at an ally. Consumes Crux to also grant Magicka and Stamina regeneration to the target.
- Chakram Shields - Cast a damage shield on yourself or allies, with priority given to low-health targets.
- Arcanist's Domain - Spawns a ground AOE that gives Minor Courage, Minor Fortitude, Minor Intellect and Minor Endurance to yourself and allies who stand within.
- Apocryphal Gate - Summons a gate at the target location and teleports you to it. You can return to the gate to teleport back to your original location.
The Curative Runeforms skill line also contains the following passives:
- Healing Tides - Gain X% more healing done for each active Crux.
- Hideous Clarity - Regain X Magicka or Stamina (whichever has the highest maximum) when you generate Crux.
- Erudition - Increases your magicka and stamina regen by X%
- Intricate Runeforms - Your damage shields are X% stronger and cost X% less to cast.
