Warhammer: Vermintide 2's final career option was worth the wait

It has taken years for Sienna players to finally get their DLC subclass for Warhammer: Vermintide 2. While the Bardin players have enjoyed their miniguns, and the Kruber mains have been off serving ze lady, pyromancy enjoyers have been left by the wayside. That is, until now.

Today marks the launch of Sienna's Necromancer career, a subclass fans had expected for a long time. Back at Gamescom, we got to try it our for a few minutes and more recently we've spent even longer with it, seeing how it impacts the horde-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 fresh mechanics to the sorcerer. She's ditching the boring old orange flames for fancy new blue fire and for the first time in Vermintide 2 you're given units to control in the skeletons that Sienna summons using her career skill. In terms of weapons, you have a gnarly scythe that deals damage in big sweeping arcs as well as dishing out some nice AoE with its special attack. Her staff (which is specific to the Necromancer) can smoulder multiple weaker enemies with bouncing blue flames that chain between a group. Or, if you hold the alternate attack button, you can just suck the soul out of an elite enemy.

All of these features sound incredibly strong on paper and it's because in practise they are. Playing on legendary difficulty, we found that the skeletons are more than capable of holding back hordes, chipping away at a monster's health, and just giving you a moment to breathe. They're a great buffer, but can also dish out damage and will really come in handy for solo players. When Sienna does want to get stuck into combat herself, the Necromancer proves to be a great all-rounder, able to deal with lots of enemies with her fire and scythe while also being able to drop the odd elite troop.

Despite the subclass certainly feeling 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 else but those who buy it should feel like they've got some value for their money. The Necromancer definitely feels different and strong enough to be worth the price of entry, adding a lot of fresh mechanics without feeling like this is the only version of Sienna you'll ever need to play. There's also a lot of nuance and build variety available, and you can make your skeletons stronger in combat, give them flaming attacks and more. Perhaps there could've been a bit of variety 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 variety already on display here.

Something that we hope comes in time is more customisation for the skeletons. Perhaps being able to name them 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 it stands right now though, the final career option for Warhammer: Vermintide 2 brings enough game-changing abilities that we're sure to see the meta shift in the coming days, weeks, and months. Right now, it doesn't feel too broken, but I can't say I'm a Sienna main so I probably don't know what I'm doing as much as other players. If you're looking to give Warhammer: Vermintide 2 a last hurrah before rejoining the Rejects in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, Sienna's Necromancer career is a great way to spice up your rat murdering.