The Diablo 3 Wizard, Wizard in Diablo 3
I have always been attracted to high damage characters with low tanking ability the thrills that come with destroying my enemies in an instant or being easily destroyed myself has always led me to choose this class over even the most bad ass of alternate characters with little hesitation, whether it was a Mage Sorcerer Sorceress Elementalist Magi or Wizard the hugely offensive play style makes my hair stand on end and the possibility of destroying multiple foes an undeniable joy.
Diablo 3 being the sequel to my favorite game of all time - Diablo 2 - obviously has me all gitty and happy inside especially with the coming beta, anyways before Blizzard even released a Mage class my heart mind and body was set on playing just that character type as my main and from what we have been shown of the Wizard my glass cannon massive DPS desires are going to be fulfilled ten fold.
History of the "Mage Class" in the Diablo Games
In Diablo 1 we were given the Sorcer
Diablo 2 the Sorceress whose fire ice and lightning skills along with teleport accumulated into being my favorite playable class/character/hero of any game series and of all time. Massive damage speed and a unique mana trumps health character that excelled in PvP and was the mistress of PvM as the most popular MF character who could say no to this green robbed ladie. I personally had every type of Sorceress in D2 completely pimped out with the best of items and coolest of names o how proud i was back in 10th and 11th grade
Diabo 3 we see the rise of the Wizard whose abilities are no longer at the whim of the amount of mana (we will address this later on) you have but still from what iv seen very capabe of colossus DPS and movements that are just as nimble as ever.
The Wizard - Everything you need to know from Lore to PvP to PvM in Diablo 3
A powerful class bent on mastering the arcane ways which are seen as highly unpredictable and uncontrolable and therefore dangerous to the inhabitants of Sanctuary and the world itself. What players who are familiar with this character type will notice immediately in Diablo 3 is the replacement of mana with "arcane power" which from what iv gathered is like mana but regenerates at a higher and much differently affected rate as well as not being increased by item bonuses or auras this can cause some very big changes in how the class is played but not its glass cannon nature or reliance on speed to survive.
Official Blizzard Lore
From the writings of Abd al-Hazir
Owing to my lack of tolerance for those who would use magic towards their own nefarious ends, many have assumed that I am averse to the practice of the magical arts on a philosophical level. Nothing could be farther from the truth. My quarrel is with those sorcerers who dismiss the ancient traditions and teachings – teachings that have been honed over millennia in order to preserve respect for authority and the rule of law.
Recently the youth of Caldeum have fallen prey to the overblown stories of just such a delinquent wizard. That is correct: I used the uncouth term wizard, not sorcerer. It seems that even the title of a civilized magic wielder is too restrictive for this young upstart. Through my contacts at the Yshari Sanctum of the mage clans, I am one of the few who actually know the truth behind the rumors now sweeping our streets regarding this hellion who flaunts her magic irresponsibly.
Although there is no truth to the tales that she actually ventured into the infamous Bitter Depths below the Sanctum, she was caught in the Ancient Repositories, where the most dangerous incantations are housed for the safety of the public. When confronted by the great Vizjerei mage Valthek and demanded to account for herself, she brazenly attacked him rather than face the punishment merited by her acts. Exaggerated stories of the battle are already being inflated to mythic proportions by the more rebellious of our city's youth, but suffice it to say that she did not actually best Yshari's most powerful mage in single, honorable combat. The details of the encounter remain unclear, as Valthek has yet to regain consciousness, but it has been verified by reliable sources that she relied on trickery and deceit to bring the great man low. I have also been assured that the extensive property damage was chiefly the result of Valthek's magical prowess, not the upstart wizard's. As to where she is now, no one rightly knows, for she fled the city immediately after the encounter.
Clearly the Wizard comes equipped with a very interesting background and a far eastern culture that i can not wait to learn more about! Just like Anikan Skywalker the Wizard is both arragant brilliant and surpasses their teacher accumulating massive power and prestige as if it were the only plausable life course before them.
Killing Monsters and Other Players with the Wizard, Skills and abilities at your disposal and the havoc they can unleash:
Skills
Tier One
Magic Missile -- Fires an Arcane bolt.
Spectral Blade -- Casts a matrix of spectral blades that strike enemies at melee range.
Charged Bolt -- Launches a ground-hovering volley of erratically-moving electric bolts.
Tier Two
Explosive Blast -- A physical damage nova that casts a short time after its triggered.
Mirror Image -- Creates an illusionary duplicate of the Wizard that lasts for a short duration.
Wave of Force -- Emits a nova-like wave of force that damaged and knocks back enemies, as well as repelling projectiles.
Ice Armor -- A protective spell that surrounds the Wizard with a barrier of ice. It increases armor, freezes attackers, and damages them with cold.
Tier Three
Frost Nova -- An explosion of ice deals cold damage and freezes all enemies in range.
Electrocute -- A solid bolt of lightning locks onto a target and deals damage over time.
Tier Four
Arcane Orb -- Fires a slow-moving orb of Arcane energy that explodes on contact and deals AoE damage.
Energy Twister -- Summons an energy twister that deals arcane damage to everything in its erratic path.
Diamond Skin -- Turns the Wizard's skin to diamond for a duration, absorbing a set amount of damage from incoming attacks.
Hydra -- Summons a multi-headed hydra that spits firebolts at nearby enemies.
Tier Five
Disintegrate -- The Wizard fires a laser-like beam of Arcane energy, striking all enemies in a straight line and disintegrating those it kills.
Ray of Frost -- The Wizard fires a beam of cold that chills and slows attackers.
Energy Shield -- A protective barrier that absorbs damage, draining Arcane Power in its place.
Slow Time -- Warps space and time, slowing nearby monsters and projectiles for a limited duration.
Tier Six
Arcane Torrent -- Arcane meteorites pelt the targeted region dealing Arcane damage to a small radius.
Blizzard -- Shards of ice crash down on a large radius, dealing cold damage to all enemies in the vicinity.
Magic Weapon -- Imbues the Wizard's weapon with magical energy, granting increased damage.
Meteor -- Summons a meteor which crashes down from above, dealing huge fire damage, and leaving a field of flames that deal AoE fire damage for a short duration.
Storm Armor -- A lighting armor that periodically zaps nearby enemies for highly-variable lightning damage.
Tier Seven
Familiar -- Creates a companion that accompanies the Wizard and attacks enemies. This companion cannot be targeted or damaged by enemies.
Teleport -- Teleport instantly to the selected location.
These skills are all on one page or tab unlike in Diablo 2 where you had "skill trees" which you built up as you leveled and were for the most part confiend to a single one of the three the only requirement to put points into skills now is character level. Replacing the multiple skill trees in some ways is what Blizzard has dubbed a "Traits" system which provide passive abilities to your character these can make you tank more put out more damage with specific skills or even help you regenerate life/energy. In Diablo 3 it seems that your skills will be heavily bolstered by correctly leveling up these passive Traits allowing for what's always been a main attraction of the Diablo games, diversity in builds.
Traits
Level Required: Under 10
Arcane Channeling -- Increases the regeneration of Arcane Power.
Toughness -- Increases vitality.
Unbreakable Will -- Increases willpower.
Prismatic Cloak -- Increases the effect of Ice Armor and Storm Armor.
Glass Cannon -- Increases damage done by spells while reducing the Wizard's armor.
Lucky -- Causes monsters to drop larger amounts of gold.
Level requirement: 11
Energy Reserves -- Health globes restore 10% of the Wizard's Arcane Power.
Intimidation -- Increases damage done and reduces vendor costs.
Level requirement: 15
Staff Specialization -- Increases damage done by spells and weapons when the Wizard is wielding a staff.
Wand Specialization -- Increases damage done by spells and weapons when the Wizard is wielding a wand.
Weapon Master -- Increases damage done by spells and weapons when the Wizard is wielding a sword, an axe or a mace.
Level requirement: 19
Blur -- Reduces damage taken while in melee.
Quickening -- Increases spell casting speed.
Level requirement: 23
Beast Hunter -- Damage bonus against Beasts.
Demonsbane -- Damage bonus against Demons
Just... Stay... Dead! -- Damage bonus against Undead.
Level requirement: 27
Cruelty -- Increases your chance of dealing critical strikes.
Superior Skill -- Increases your dexterity.
Level requirement: 31
Ball of Lightning -- Periodically strikes a nearby enemy for 1 to 120 damage.
Soul Split -- When your health goes under 50%, an image of the Wizard appears to distract enemies for 3 seconds. This effect cannot happen more than once every 14 seconds.
Temporal Flux -- Enemies that have been hit by your Arcane spells are slowed down by 25% for 3 seconds.
Level requirement: 35
Drain Power -- You regenerate health and Arcane power equal to 10% of melee damage you deal.
Power Surge -- Increases critical strike damage by 10%.
Level requirement: 39
Conjured Armor -- Increases your armor by 25%. If Ice Armor or Storm Armor is active, your armor is instead increased by 50%.
Natural Leader -- Not yet known.
Level requirement: 43
Expanded Mind -- Increases your Arcane Power.
Telekinesis -- Increases your chance to dodge projectiles.
Flight Before Fight -- Increases your movement speed when you are blocked in melee.
Level requirement: 47
Black Ice -- Frozen targets take 25% more damage from all sources.
Anti-Magic Shield -- Reduces magical damage taken by 15%.
Penetrating Spells -- Reduces the resistances of your target to your spells by 20%.
**The lists of skills/traits are from blizzcon 2010 and are therefore undoubtedy going to be changed up removed or added to before the games release however i thought these skills/traits provide a very clear picture for anyone trying to gain a better understanding of the Wizard's workings. *Also wanted to note i got the above list from DiabloWiKi a great resource for the game and i left each skill linked to their description pages!!
Player vs Player: Tactics to dominate every class on the battle field through the implication of raw player skills, properly built characters, classy moves and tricks that will make your opponent secound guess themselves and send them packing back to PvM
*******************PvP Coming Soon Upon Game Release***********
In the mean time here are some videos from various live events sponsored/run by Blizzard where people were able to duel eachother in the new arena system. Enjoy!!
Very informative, alot of stuff I have seen but also stuff I haven't. Out of curiosity where did you get all that info about the skills and traits for the wizard this is the first place I've seen it so extensive are there similar details for the other classes?
haha that image is something i came across!
its just some fan made stuff figured id showcase how committed people are to fantising about the game and its content
glade some of you liked the site and thanks to the critics for well being critical im working hard on making the site a worthwhile and high end resource mostly covering PvP and hopfully going to have a "PvP Cam" which is basically me showcasing matches between great players on my stream!
thanks again and im always working hard and looking for suggestions!
<3<3
I have always been attracted to high damage characters with low tanking ability the thrills that come with destroying my enemies in an instant or being easily destroyed myself has always led me to choose this class over even the most bad ass of alternate characters with little hesitation, whether it was a Mage Sorcerer Sorceress Elementalist Magi or Wizard the hugely offensive play style makes my hair stand on end and the possibility of destroying multiple foes an undeniable joy.
Diablo 3 being the sequel to my favorite game of all time - Diablo 2 - obviously has me all gitty and happy inside especially with the coming beta, anyways before Blizzard even released a Mage class my heart mind and body was set on playing just that character type as my main and from what we have been shown of the Wizard my glass cannon massive DPS desires are going to be fulfilled ten fold.
History of the "Mage Class" in the Diablo Games
In Diablo 1 we were given the Sorcer
Diablo 2 the Sorceress whose fire ice and lightning skills along with teleport accumulated into being my favorite playable class/character/hero of any game series and of all time. Massive damage speed and a unique mana trumps health character that excelled in PvP and was the mistress of PvM as the most popular MF character who could say no to this green robbed ladie. I personally had every type of Sorceress in D2 completely pimped out with the best of items and coolest of names o how proud i was back in 10th and 11th grade
Diabo 3 we see the rise of the Wizard whose abilities are no longer at the whim of the amount of mana (we will address this later on) you have but still from what iv seen very capabe of colossus DPS and movements that are just as nimble as ever.
The Wizard - Everything you need to know from Lore to PvP to PvM in Diablo 3
A powerful class bent on mastering the arcane ways which are seen as highly unpredictable and uncontrolable and therefore dangerous to the inhabitants of Sanctuary and the world itself. What players who are familiar with this character type will notice immediately in Diablo 3 is the replacement of mana with "arcane power" which from what iv gathered is like mana but regenerates at a higher and much differently affected rate as well as not being increased by item bonuses or auras this can cause some very big changes in how the class is played but not its glass cannon nature or reliance on speed to survive.
Official Blizzard Lore
From the writings of Abd al-Hazir
Owing to my lack of tolerance for those who would use magic towards their own nefarious ends, many have assumed that I am averse to the practice of the magical arts on a philosophical level. Nothing could be farther from the truth. My quarrel is with those sorcerers who dismiss the ancient traditions and teachings – teachings that have been honed over millennia in order to preserve respect for authority and the rule of law.
Recently the youth of Caldeum have fallen prey to the overblown stories of just such a delinquent wizard. That is correct: I used the uncouth term wizard, not sorcerer. It seems that even the title of a civilized magic wielder is too restrictive for this young upstart. Through my contacts at the Yshari Sanctum of the mage clans, I am one of the few who actually know the truth behind the rumors now sweeping our streets regarding this hellion who flaunts her magic irresponsibly.
Although there is no truth to the tales that she actually ventured into the infamous Bitter Depths below the Sanctum, she was caught in the Ancient Repositories, where the most dangerous incantations are housed for the safety of the public. When confronted by the great Vizjerei mage Valthek and demanded to account for herself, she brazenly attacked him rather than face the punishment merited by her acts. Exaggerated stories of the battle are already being inflated to mythic proportions by the more rebellious of our city's youth, but suffice it to say that she did not actually best Yshari's most powerful mage in single, honorable combat. The details of the encounter remain unclear, as Valthek has yet to regain consciousness, but it has been verified by reliable sources that she relied on trickery and deceit to bring the great man low. I have also been assured that the extensive property damage was chiefly the result of Valthek's magical prowess, not the upstart wizard's. As to where she is now, no one rightly knows, for she fled the city immediately after the encounter.
Clearly the Wizard comes equipped with a very interesting background and a far eastern culture that i can not wait to learn more about! Just like Anikan Skywalker the Wizard is both arragant brilliant and surpasses their teacher accumulating massive power and prestige as if it were the only plausable life course before them.
Killing Monsters and Other Players with the Wizard, Skills and abilities at your disposal and the havoc they can unleash:
Skills
Tier One
Magic Missile -- Fires an Arcane bolt.
Spectral Blade -- Casts a matrix of spectral blades that strike enemies at melee range.
Charged Bolt -- Launches a ground-hovering volley of erratically-moving electric bolts.
Tier Two
Explosive Blast -- A physical damage nova that casts a short time after its triggered.
Mirror Image -- Creates an illusionary duplicate of the Wizard that lasts for a short duration.
Wave of Force -- Emits a nova-like wave of force that damaged and knocks back enemies, as well as repelling projectiles.
Ice Armor -- A protective spell that surrounds the Wizard with a barrier of ice. It increases armor, freezes attackers, and damages them with cold.
Tier Three
Frost Nova -- An explosion of ice deals cold damage and freezes all enemies in range.
Electrocute -- A solid bolt of lightning locks onto a target and deals damage over time.
Tier Four
Arcane Orb -- Fires a slow-moving orb of Arcane energy that explodes on contact and deals AoE damage.
Energy Twister -- Summons an energy twister that deals arcane damage to everything in its erratic path.
Diamond Skin -- Turns the Wizard's skin to diamond for a duration, absorbing a set amount of damage from incoming attacks.
Hydra -- Summons a multi-headed hydra that spits firebolts at nearby enemies.
Tier Five
Disintegrate -- The Wizard fires a laser-like beam of Arcane energy, striking all enemies in a straight line and disintegrating those it kills.
Ray of Frost -- The Wizard fires a beam of cold that chills and slows attackers.
Energy Shield -- A protective barrier that absorbs damage, draining Arcane Power in its place.
Slow Time -- Warps space and time, slowing nearby monsters and projectiles for a limited duration.
Tier Six
Arcane Torrent -- Arcane meteorites pelt the targeted region dealing Arcane damage to a small radius.
Blizzard -- Shards of ice crash down on a large radius, dealing cold damage to all enemies in the vicinity.
Magic Weapon -- Imbues the Wizard's weapon with magical energy, granting increased damage.
Meteor -- Summons a meteor which crashes down from above, dealing huge fire damage, and leaving a field of flames that deal AoE fire damage for a short duration.
Storm Armor -- A lighting armor that periodically zaps nearby enemies for highly-variable lightning damage.
Tier Seven
Familiar -- Creates a companion that accompanies the Wizard and attacks enemies. This companion cannot be targeted or damaged by enemies.
Teleport -- Teleport instantly to the selected location.
These skills are all on one page or tab unlike in Diablo 2 where you had "skill trees" which you built up as you leveled and were for the most part confiend to a single one of the three the only requirement to put points into skills now is character level. Replacing the multiple skill trees in some ways is what Blizzard has dubbed a "Traits" system which provide passive abilities to your character these can make you tank more put out more damage with specific skills or even help you regenerate life/energy. In Diablo 3 it seems that your skills will be heavily bolstered by correctly leveling up these passive Traits allowing for what's always been a main attraction of the Diablo games, diversity in builds.
Traits
Level Required: Under 10
Arcane Channeling -- Increases the regeneration of Arcane Power.
Toughness -- Increases vitality.
Unbreakable Will -- Increases willpower.
Prismatic Cloak -- Increases the effect of Ice Armor and Storm Armor.
Glass Cannon -- Increases damage done by spells while reducing the Wizard's armor.
Lucky -- Causes monsters to drop larger amounts of gold.
Level requirement: 11
Energy Reserves -- Health globes restore 10% of the Wizard's Arcane Power.
Intimidation -- Increases damage done and reduces vendor costs.
Level requirement: 15
Staff Specialization -- Increases damage done by spells and weapons when the Wizard is wielding a staff.
Wand Specialization -- Increases damage done by spells and weapons when the Wizard is wielding a wand.
Weapon Master -- Increases damage done by spells and weapons when the Wizard is wielding a sword, an axe or a mace.
Level requirement: 19
Blur -- Reduces damage taken while in melee.
Quickening -- Increases spell casting speed.
Level requirement: 23
Beast Hunter -- Damage bonus against Beasts.
Demonsbane -- Damage bonus against Demons
Just... Stay... Dead! -- Damage bonus against Undead.
Level requirement: 27
Cruelty -- Increases your chance of dealing critical strikes.
Superior Skill -- Increases your dexterity.
Level requirement: 31
Ball of Lightning -- Periodically strikes a nearby enemy for 1 to 120 damage.
Soul Split -- When your health goes under 50%, an image of the Wizard appears to distract enemies for 3 seconds. This effect cannot happen more than once every 14 seconds.
Temporal Flux -- Enemies that have been hit by your Arcane spells are slowed down by 25% for 3 seconds.
Level requirement: 35
Drain Power -- You regenerate health and Arcane power equal to 10% of melee damage you deal.
Power Surge -- Increases critical strike damage by 10%.
Level requirement: 39
Conjured Armor -- Increases your armor by 25%. If Ice Armor or Storm Armor is active, your armor is instead increased by 50%.
Natural Leader -- Not yet known.
Level requirement: 43
Expanded Mind -- Increases your Arcane Power.
Telekinesis -- Increases your chance to dodge projectiles.
Flight Before Fight -- Increases your movement speed when you are blocked in melee.
Level requirement: 47
Black Ice -- Frozen targets take 25% more damage from all sources.
Anti-Magic Shield -- Reduces magical damage taken by 15%.
Penetrating Spells -- Reduces the resistances of your target to your spells by 20%.
**The lists of skills/traits are from blizzcon 2010 and are therefore undoubtedy going to be changed up removed or added to before the games release however i thought these skills/traits provide a very clear picture for anyone trying to gain a better understanding of the Wizard's workings. *Also wanted to note i got the above list from DiabloWiKi a great resource for the game and i left each skill linked to their description pages!!
Player vs Player: Tactics to dominate every class on the battle field through the implication of raw player skills, properly built characters, classy moves and tricks that will make your opponent secound guess themselves and send them packing back to PvM
*******************PvP Coming Soon Upon Game Release***********
In the mean time here are some videos from various live events sponsored/run by Blizzard where people were able to duel eachother in the new arena system. Enjoy!!
What is this image of? I sure hope it's not Diablo III because it looks horrible.
its just some fan made stuff figured id showcase how committed people are to fantising about the game and its content
glade some of you liked the site and thanks to the critics for well being critical im working hard on making the site a worthwhile and high end resource mostly covering PvP and hopfully going to have a "PvP Cam" which is basically me showcasing matches between great players on my stream!
thanks again and im always working hard and looking for suggestions!
<3<3
=)