Necrom is launching soon, and The Elder Scrolls Online team continues previewing the Arcanist. This time, dive into how the team decided on the new class, how to support various roles with consistency, and deep lore ties.
When it comes to creating a new class for ESO, especially in light of combat changes that allow for more flexibility, it’s important that the class supports various roles. An Arcanist’s abilities, aesthetic, and background all had to work with those roles and feel consistent. There are mysterious abilities at work here, someone should be able to choose a damage dealer or even a Healer and still feel like they can get that in this class.
In addition to this, The Arcanist also needed to appeal to both new and returning players and not seem intimidating. The class is a key part of the Necrom content, and has been from the initial announcement. The team was determined to not make The Arcanist feel like it was one of the existing classes with a few new abilities and a fresh look.
All of this also had to support the story that the team was telling in Necrom, and fit into the lore. “The team knew that first and foremost, the Arcanist had to stand apart,” according to Brian Wheeler, ESO’s Lead Combat Designer.
The team decided to tie the Arcanist to the realm of Apocrypha and dive in deeply to all that the class involved. Senior Sound Designer Dylan Hairston described the process of creating just what an Arcanist would sound like:
“Where the Dragonknight might wield fire and poison, the Arcanist wields knowledge, runes, tentacles, etc. This allowed me to develop sounds that don’t have a strong real-world precedent, and I had a blast figuring out how some of the more obscure things would sound”.
The Arcanist also brings a brand new system, the Crux system. Certain abilities generate this new resource, and other abilities will use it. You have the chance to decide how to use it (you have three Crux). Benefits include cheaper resource costs, damage bonuses, and more. If you feel all three slots, you have even more flexibility.
Beyond the cool looking abilities and the mysterious origins, the full preview is a behind the scenes deep dive into creating a brand new class, including a peek into the combat abilities and how things will work.
Necrom will be out on June 5th on PC on Mac and for Xbox and PlayStation on June 20th.
