In the fantasy MMORPG Guild Wars 2 the new elite specialization of the Necromancer, the “Reaper,” has been introduced.
The classes of Guild Wars 2 receive a kind of advancement opportunity with the first expansion “Heart of Thorns”: They can specialize, retrain to a new “idea” of their class, so to speak. Initially, there will be “only” one specialization for each class. However, this is a system that they want to expand in the future.
For now, they are having fun with various “What could we make out of this?” scenarios. From the Mesmer, they have crafted a time mage and from the Guardian, they have formed a kind of dragon hunter. For the Necromancer, a different approach is offered: Let’s just make a real monster out of this!
Inspirations come from such “horror villains” as Pyramid Head from the Silent Hill series or “Jason Voorhees” from Friday the 13th: Unstoppable, stoic killers. For this, the Necromancer has been given a great sword and the resource “Life Force.” When it is full, the Reaper transforms into an “Avatar of Destruction.”
The design idea behind the Reaper is a tough opponent who strikes slowly, but whose blows really hurt. Every time he lifts the sword, his enemies should feel: Oh dear, not good.
Against a group of already weakened enemies, he is supposed to thrive especially well, mowing them down like a reaper mowing young grass. Those who are already with one foot in the grave should fear him the most. As a running gag in the presentation of the Reaper, ArenaNat references the 70s song “Don’t Fear the Reaper.” The number was composed by the lead singer of the Blue Oyster Cult back in his late 20s, expecting an early death. That’s almost 40 years ago. He is still alive.
