http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzDmHCqslP8
Ummm.... What? That is the berserker form? BADASSS!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQg2urHcdIg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sn3SmYfdLw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOtk5DmdhUg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y9Mtb8YJeo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHFlkhqyYZk
- LordofChaos88
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Aug 24, 2011Uldyssian posted a message on New Class Skill AnimationsPosted in: Diablo III General Discussion
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theSkaBoss posted a message on Create the NEXT class(es)*ahem, hem*Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion
Submitted for your consideration,
the Phantom Battlemage.
From the writings of Abd al-Hazir Entry no: 0074
I have been many places on my travels, but I have been to many more places in between places by far. One which I would visit again, but have been unable to locate upon leaving it, is the ruined city of Bel-Allith.
Bel-Allith lives in the words of the old storytellers of the region; a city, long since destroyed by fearsome evils, that can no longer be found, but survives thanks to the memory of the very earth that held it. It was in a small village where I first heard of Bel-Allith, from a gnarled woman with no more young children to scare with such tales. But a traveler is wise to listen to folklore, especially in times such as these. Bel-Allith had once been a city -- not a large city, she said -- where scholars and witches and mages, druids and alchemists, young and old magicians alike all came together to learn from and to teach one another the secrets of their respective crafts. Bel-Allith represented a dream in which all that was known could be known by all. But dreams can become nightmares, and it is only the fortunate who can wake quickly from nightmares. One witch in particular took it upon herself to try and resurrect her dead lover. Nobody knows if she may have succeeded, for a druid -- druids, she reminded me, are not fond of things which befoul the sanctity of nature -- interfered at a critical moment in her incantations. The spell, magnified by the inherent magic in the very earth beneath Bel-Allith from years of magic practiced upon it, backfired and destroyed everything. The people of Bel-Allith, poisoned with magic meant to blur the lines between life and death, survived as phantoms in a phantom city which disappeared from the face of the world, and only reappeared when the threads of magic within the earth converged and the city could find root.
I left that village with a wary eye and a heavy heart. Indeed, it seemed that the very ground was mingled with magic, and the memories of a monstrous tragedy. I supposed it must be in my head; at least, I supposed so until the reality of it became more and more apparent to me. As I walked through the woods, it seemed to me that the very trees were shifting and breathing. The flora and fungi shuddered as my footsteps passed by. Deeper and deeper the forest path went, and more and more sinister the forest itself became. Unfortunately, the imaginings of my mind were not playing tricks, and I realized I was in real danger. I began to flee, running full bore along the path. The trees themselves began to uproot and to ruin the path ahead and close it behind me. I could hear the groans of their trunks as they twisted and bent, trying to reach after me. I didn't dare look back, but I was sure that their twisted branches were grasping after me, and that if I slowed, they would catch me in no time.
After what seemed like hours of running, and after my desperate breath had clawed my throat, and after my heart had pounded upon every other organ within me, I saw a light ahead. A house? No, much smaller. A small cottage. I reached it, and I beat upon the door in desperation. It fell open in short order and I stumbled inside. I tried to cry out about the trees, but my voice was ragged and hoarse from my flight. Nevertheless, I saw the dim shape of a slender man walk across his threshold to face the incoming horrors. As he stepped into the moonlight, I saw that he was pale -- paler than any man I have had fortune to meet. And the trees... now that I could look at them, were truly unnerving to behold. Glowing at the roots from whatever magic had animated them, they crawled across the ground. Their branches snatched like claws at the air around them. Their leaves had been tossed aside like a cumbersome cloak.
The man, however, was somehow more unnerving still. He drew a sword, slender and sharp, and began to whisk it around in the air before him. He traced careful patterns with it, as if he was carefully cutting the air the way a seamstress cuts patterns from a bolt of cloth. When he had completed this strange dance, the trees were nearly upon him. He took one deep breath, and then slashed his sword furiously toward a large group of the knotted fiends. A bright, shining pattern -- the shape he had carefully traced only moments ago -- lit up and rushed through the group of walking trees. The lines cut through them remorselessly, flecks of bark spraying out behind. When the light faded and the shape had vanished, the hapless trees who had been in the way fell apart like so much firewood. This seemed to give the other trees temporary pause, but it became clear that this was not wisdom. The man only needed a moment. He traced another pattern, this time all about him, and in moments he was encased in shining armor. I could see through it, but it was sturdy indeed. The trees slashed at him with their raking limbs, smashed at him with their heavy boughs, but all strikes glanced off the warrior's magical armor. One more traced pattern, this time with his finger across his own blade, and his sword was limbed in white fire, dripping sparks of burning fury. He slashed with terrifying speed at one, and then another. His sword burned them, and I will never be able to forget the sound of a tree screaming, but I'm afraid it is something that I cannot properly describe. His dance of death continued in an awesome display of prowess and skill. His burning sword left trailing swirling after-images in my eyes, and I would later recount that when I closed my eyes, the entire battle was written upon them. The man, apparently an expert in fighting, soon proved to also be a flawless calculator in his own magic arts: even as the last tree fell apart, his glowing sword and armor faded back their pale, unremarkable dimness. He breathed deeply once more and sheathed his sword. He traced one last image in the air with his hands. The image lit up, but rather than destroy, this one fell peaceably to the ground and soaked into it. It was meant to help the land rest in peace, he later explained to me.
The man came back into his cottage, sat down at a wooden table and bade me sit with him. There was so much to be known about this man, but I in my foolishness did not have the presence of mind to ask him. This much, however, I did learn. He was a phantom; as much ghost as man. He could be killed like any other man, he explained, but time would not be his assassin. He explained to me that if I should ever meet another phantom such as he in this region, I could wager that he would be a battle mage just like my new friend.
The ruined Bel-Allith, he explained, used to be home to all who were caught in the witch's calamity. But over time, a war of rage and frustration brought man against man. The magically tainted elements arose and attacked. And some, horrified with their new state of being, would eventually lose their lives in a war against themselves. Battle mages were a brand of warrior built to survive. Their best defense was a good offense, and when attacked by any and all malicious forces, they survived by making sure their foes did not. In the days of Bel-Allith's living glory, he said, there were few warriors who could match the skill of his clan. Hired by magicians to protect their city, his people naturally became privy to magic of their own. The only successful attack on Bel-Allith came from the inside, from magics a sword cannot parry. So all that remained of Bel-Allith were a few scattered huts and cottages, home to the remainder of the guards of a magical city. The phantoms could not leave this place, for their souls were rooted in this magical ground.
I wanted to know more, but I was weary, and could press him no further for information. He instead asked me of what the world was like. I told him of each city he could remember that still stood. I told him of the increasing evil in the world thanks to the corruption wrought by the Prime Evils. I told him all that I had energy to tell him, and after some time, he nodded. He stood and offered his hand to me. I took it in mine, to thank him for his shelter and hospitality, but even as my skin touched his cold flesh, I felt something depart from me. He thanked me for his freedom and walked out the door. I went to look after him, but he had vanished.
I don't know that I'll ever know what it was he took from me. A few heartbeats? A year off the end of my life? Perhaps a few drops of mortal blood. But of this I am sure: he has left Bel-Allith, and I provided him with a mortal root for his soul. I imagine the demons of this world have a new enemy to fear, and whether he can save one man or a thousand, it doesn't really matter to me. I just know that I need only close my eyes and remember to have the imprint of that battle splayed out before me.
The Phantom Battlemage is primarily a sword fighter.
His three specialties as far as skills go are:
Enchantment: the modifying of his gear with abilities.
- Enchanted Weaponry can infuse the Battlemage's attacks with extra magic damage.
- Cutting Edge can increase his attack speed.
- Fire Sabre replaces his current weapon with a sword made out of fire (essentially provides an aoe to his attack.)
Battle Magic: destructive magic abilities that operate independent of gear.
- Battle Writing creates a destructive force that flies through enemies a short ways in front of the caster.
- Burning Insignia creates a circle on the ground at a targeted location, burning for X seconds.
- Shining Arrows summons a rain of arrows made of light from the air above a target location.
- Dragon Call can summon a wyvern from the fiery earth to attack the Battlemage's enemies for X seconds before returning to the earth.
Ghost Lore: the Battlemages of Bel-Allith have gained new power in their ghostly bodies
- Step Lightly increases the movement speed of the Battlemage.
- Will o' the Wisp wreaths the caster's body in fire for X seconds (think along the lines of Thorns with fire damage.)
- Haunt causes you to curdle your foes blood with a ghostly scream that lowers enemy defense by N% for X seconds.
- Possess is a skill with a heavy cooldown in which you possess the body of a foe. Other foes will attack host until host is dead, or until you come out. You take no damage while inside a host. You can temporarily control host and attack other enemies with it. Possess can only last for X seconds, and you do N damage upon leaving the host's body.
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Magistrate posted a message on When Will Beta Begin?May nineth's conference call left us with just enough beta information to drive us crazy but not enough to mark our calendars (if you missed the coverage, see May 9th Conference Call.) The aforementioned beta is being "targeted" to hit testing audiences sometime in Q3 (third quarter) of this year. But just what does "targeted" mean? Today, we'll take a look at instances in which Blizzard has not been on time, and then we'll see what these delays mean for eager Diablo III beta testers.Posted in: News & Announcements
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPWoj58Xwqc
If there's any one game developing company known for delays...Well, let's just take a look at the facts. The Diablo franchise, itself, is no spring chicken. There's the ten years we've been patiently awaiting Diablo III, and the seven years we had to wait for even the announcement during the final Worldwide Invitational (see Diablo III Announced). But how far back to delays go in Diablo's history?
Did you know that Diablo II was originally slated for a 1999 release date? According to a very archaic passage from the reputed ShackNews game news network, the second installment was delayed an entire year.
But the delays don't stop there. The Starcraft franchise has had its share of shortcomings, even establishing a hallmark among ghosted games. Starcraft: Ghost has been on what Blizzard calls an "indefinite hold" since 2006, with a game announcement reaching as far back as 2002. Guess the game was dead before it even hit shelves.
For a more modern gaming audience, the delays of Starcraft II might be a source for more sorrow. In 2009, GossipGamer reported that the game was being delayed due to Battle.net conflictions (and the game still launched with Battle.net problems.) Before even that delay, it was further put off track due to the taskforce needed to push out Wrath of the Lich King.
As for the much-loved Warcraft RTS franchise, which is often differentiated by fans as being entirely separate from World of Warcraft, Warcraft III was delayed by as much as a year, with a purported release set for 2001 and later delayed to 2002.
Major game releases haven't been the only victims. The hit-or-miss Diablo II Patch 1.10 (Diablo II) faced some sluggishness from it's announcement when it finally hit the scenes in 2003. Patch 1.13 (Diablo II), which we covered extensively from inception to implementation, suffered numerous delays due to patch work on Warcraft III and other unspecified reasons (see WCIII Patch is Up- Diablo II Patch 1.13 Soon to Follow?).
How should these details factor in to our beta date hopes, if at all? To be fair, several things should be taken into consideration with regards to the past. Diablo II was, of course, being developed under a much smaller team than the more modern one led by Jay Wilson. In addition to creating an entirely new game engine from the ground up for Diablo III, Blizzard has undergone several employment revamps since Blizzard North's time, making their last ten years nothing to scoff at.
Starcraft: Ghost was being developed entirely by third-party developers until Blizzard simply bought out the latest company, Swingin' Ape Studios, in 2004. Maybe there's something to be said for it not being directly developed by Blizzard Entertainment. And perhaps to Starcraft II's credit, the game was entirely finished and ready for release, but structural details with the latest rendition of the Battle.net system caused some unforeseen problems.
Years later, Blizzard now boasts dedicated development teams for each franchise, as well as a Battle.net team and a budget that would make most developers envious. With relatively little else going on for Blizzard development-wise, perhaps we can place more faith in "targeted" dates. Let's hear what you think! - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
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