Vermintide 2’s latest career option was worth the wait

It took years for Sienna players to finally get their DLC subclass for Warhammer: Vermintide 2. While Bardin players have enjoyed their miniguns and Kruber mains have served them lady, pyromancy enthusiasts have been left by the wayside. That is, until now.

Today marks the launch of Sienna’s Necromancer career, a subclass that fans have long expected. Back at Gamescom we got to try it out for a few minutes, and more recently we spent even longer with it, seeing how it impacts the hordes-based rat-killing bonanza that is Warhammer: Vermintide 2.

As you’ve probably seen in the trailers, Sienna’s Necromancer career brings a lot of new mechanics to the wizard. She discards the boring old orange flames for nice new blue fire, and for the first time in Vermintide 2 you get units to control in the skeletons that Sienna summons using her career skill. In terms of weapons, you have a gnarly scythe that does damage in big sweeping arcs and deals out some nice AoE with its special attack. Her staff (which is specific to the Necromancer) can smolder multiple weaker enemies with bouncing blue flames chained between a group. Or, if you hold down the alternate attack button, you can simply suck the soul out of an elite enemy.

All of these features sound incredibly strong on paper, and that’s because they are in practice. Playing on legendary difficulty, we discovered that skeletons are more than capable of stopping hordes, chopping away at a monster’s health and just giving you a moment to breathe. They are a great buffer, but can also do damage and will really come in handy for solo players. When Sienna wants to step into the fray herself, the Necromancer proves to be a great all-rounder, able to take on many enemies with her fire and scythe while also dropping the odd elite troop.

Although the subclass certainly felt strong, it didn’t necessarily come across as broken. It’s often hard to balance a DLC subclass because you don’t want to break the game for everyone, but those who buy it should feel like they got value for their money. The Necromancer definitely feels different and strong enough to be worth the price of admission, adding a lot of new mechanics without feeling like the only version of Sienna you’ll ever have to play. There is also a lot of nuance and build variation available, and you can make your skeletons stronger in battles, give them flaming attacks and more. Perhaps there could have been a little variation in how the skeletons function, such as being able to make one super strong skeleton to fight monsters, but we can’t complain given the amount of variation already on display here.

Something we hope comes in time is more customization for the skeletons. Perhaps being able to name or equip them with specific cosmetics would bring another level of personality to this distinct subclass and give players even more reason to delve into the dark arts.

As things stand, though, the latest career option for Warhammer: Vermintide 2 brings with it enough game-changing skills that we’re sure to see the meta shift in the days, weeks and months to come. Right now it doesn’t feel too broken, but I can’t say I’m a Sienna major, so I probably don’t know what I’m doing as well as other players. If you want to give Warhammer: Vermintide 2 one last hurrah before you rejoin the Rejects in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, Sienna’s Necromancer career is a great way to spice up your rat killing.