Reaper of Souls Highlights: New Class Skills and Visuals
Our latest highlight from Reaper of Souls demonstrates the new skills for each of the vanilla classes, how they look like and a quick gameplay demonstration! Note that some of the skills, especially the Barbarian's Avalanche, currently aren't fully implemented yet. Most of them work though.
Barbarian - Avalanche
The Barbarian's Avalanche is still very much a work in progress. Two of the Runes are not yet implemented and don't do anything. The last Rune uses the first's visual and its cooldown mechanic doesn't seem to work properly. With that said the skill is very useful even in its current state, being very high damage with a relatively short cooldown.
DiabloFans Quote:
Avalanche - Cooldown 30 seconds. Cause a massive deluge of rocks and debris to sweep across an area dealing 1800% weapon damage to all enemies caught in its path. Cooldown is reduced by 1 second for every 25 Fury you spend
Glacier - Giants blocks of ice hit and freeze enemies for 5 seconds
Snow-Capped Mountain - Cave-in from both sides push monsters into a valley in front of you <NYI> (Not Yet Implemented. This Rune still does nothing in-game)
Volcanic Eruption - Chunks of molten lava rain down from the sky <NYI> (Not Yet Implemented. This Rune still does nothing in-game)
Lahar - Cooldown is reduced by 1 second for every 15 Fury spent
Tectonic Rift - Store up to 3 charges of Avalanche at a time
Demon Hunter - Vengeance
Vengeance is everything Demon Hunters want to be - an unstoppable demon-slaughtering machine. The visual is extremely satisfying and it feels really great on the battlefield.
DiabloFans Quote:
Vengeance - Cooldown 90 seconds. Turn into the physical embodiment of Vengeance for 15 seconds. Side Guns: Gain 4 additional piercing shots for 75% weapon damage each on every attack. Homing Rockets: Shoot 4 rockets at nearby enemies for 40% weapon damage each on every attack
Dark Heart - Vengeance pours out of you, continuously dealing 350% weapon damage per second to enemies around you
Personal Mortar - Launch 2 grenades at random enemies outside melee range every attack for 175% weapon damage each
Stimulants - Heal for 6% of maximum Life each second
From the Shadows - Summon allies from the shadows that attack and Stun your enemies for 2 seconds
Monk - Epiphany
The Monk's Epiphany acts as a rapid Spirit generator that lets you demolish enemies with heavy spirit spenders. Besides the effects described below it also seems to do a Seven-Sided Strike when you use Wave of Light. Or I might just be seeing things.
DiabloFans Quote:
Epiphany - Cooldown 90 seconds. Have an Epiphany, increasing your Spirit regeneration per second by 35 and enabling your melee attacks to instantly dash to your target for 15 seconds
Desert Shroud - Infuse yourself with sand, reducing damage taken by 50%
Ascendance - Charge yourself with Lightning, causing your next attack after moving 10 yards to stun for 1.5 seconds
Soothing Mist - Imbue yourself with water, causing your abilities to heal yourself and allies within 30 yards for 13661 Life. Heal amount is increased by 25% of your Health Globe Healing Bonus
Windwalker - Each enemy killed during your Epiphany increases your Attack Speed by 3% for the remaining duration of Epiphany
Inner Fire - Engulf yourself with flames, causing your attacks to assault enemies in front of you for 353% weapon damage as fire.
Witch Doctor - Piranhas
Piranhas is one of the most fun skills to have on a Witch Doctor, which says a lot considering all his other super fun abilities. The pool of Piranhas has a very short cooldown and dishes nice damage, with some of its Runes keeping the monsters in one place for nice AoE spam.
DiabloFans Quote:
Piranhas - Cost 250 Mana. Cooldown is 8 seconds. Summons a pool of deadly piranhas that deals 400% weapon damage as poison over 8 seconds. Affected enemies will also take 15% increased damage
Bogadile - a giant bogadile emerges from the pool of water and bites a monster dealing 840% weapon damage
Zombie Piranhas - Turn the piranhas into zombie piranhas. The piranhas will leap out from the pool savagely at nearby enemies
Piranhado - The pool of piranhas becomes a tornado of piranhas that lasts 4 seconds. Nearby enemies are periodically sucked into the tornado. Increases the cooldown to 16 seconds
Wave of Mutilation - Turn each cast into a wave of alligators that crash forward dealing 50% weapon damage and causing all enemies affected to take 15% increased damage for 8 seconds
Fiery Piranhas - Increase the damage dealt to 400% weapon damage as Fire over 8 seconds
Wizard - Black Hole
The Black Hole isn't a super damaging ability but it has the irresistible mechanic of piling up monsters in one place for a short amount of time. Not to mention it looks absolutely beautiful. Its Runes also change to all the different elements making each a valuable asset to your Elemental builds.
DiabloFans Quote:
Black Hole - Cost 35 Arcane Power. Cooldown 8 seconds. Conjure a Black Hole at the target location that draws enemies to it and deals 376% weapon damage as Arcane over 2 seconds to all enemies within 15 yards.
Supermassive - Increases the Black Hole radius to 20 yards and damage to 583% weapon damage as Lightning over 2 seconds
Absolute Zero - Each enemy you hit grants 12% increased damage for the next Cold spell you cast. Black Hole's damage turns to Cold
Even Horizon - The Black Hole also has a chance to absorb enemy projectiles and objects within 15 yards
Blazar - Conjure a Black Hole at the target location that draws enemies to it and deals 376% weapon damage as Fire over 2 seconds to all enemies within 15 yards. After the Black Hole disappears, an explosion occurs that deals 372% weapon damage as Fire to enemies within 15 yards
Spellsteal - Enemies hit by Black Hole deal 10% reduced damage for 3 seconds. Each enemy hit by Black Hole grants 1% increased damage for 3 seconds
Black hole animation sets it up for an awesome implotion that never happens. In the rune that does happen, it happens too late. Still looks great, though.
Epiphany and Vengeance are nice skills, but animations again looks pretty bad. Same situation as DH's Shadow Power - just make 'em naked, paint with black and add colourful lights. C'mon Blizz... You can do it better.
Anyway thanks for post. Maybe show us all new armor tiers in next news?
Barbarians can make appear boulders and rocks from the sky. Right. Ok blizzard.
At first, it bothered me too. But, think of it this way. All Nephalem can materialize matter. That's never really discussed but all classes do it in one way or another. So, it kinda makes sense that way.
Barbarians can make appear boulders and rocks from the sky. Right. Ok blizzard.
Demon hunters can shoot balls of lightning from their bows which electrocutes everything in their path, but it doesn't effect his/her friends even though they wear heavy metal armor. Right. Ok.
Could someone please show new WD rune for Zombie Charger called Lumbering Cold ? It's supposed to summon polar zombie bears. Or is it not implemented yet?
It's implemented. We'll likely do a separate post for old skills that have changed visually in a major way.
It is sad I have to remind people that barbarians are not supposed to be magic users.
There is no justification for barbarians to materialize boulders from the sky beyond "we thought it was awesome".
You guys defending this are only making the whole d3 situation more weird.
Berserk: A powerful but reckless attack that increases damage and attack rating but decreases defense rating. Attack: +100%, Magic Damage: 150%, Mana cost: 4, Recieves bonuses from Howl (10% Magic Damage per level), Shout (10% Magic Damage per level).
In Diablo 2, barbarians were able to deal magic damage and they used "mana", which is used for magic. There were also barbarian elders who managed to summon a shield around Harrogath. Nihlatak, even though he is shown as a necromancer in game, was one of the barbarian elders.
Even if we ignore these, in Diablo 3, the barbarian character can summon the first barbarians, can cause an earthquake which can freeze or burn, can pull his enemies to himself with by stomping his foot into the ground ect. And he is a descendant of the most powerful race in the world. I think we can say that, even if barbarians as a people don't use magic (and they can, see above), that doesn't mean barbarian in Diablo 3 won't too, as he is a nephalem.
Barbarians can make appear boulders and rocks from the sky. Right. Ok blizzard.
Meteors dropping inside a cave.
Invoked and materialized on the ceiling. No problem whatsoever. It is magic.
You're right, when I'm fighting demons in real life it doesn't look anything like a silly Barbarian making magic boulders rain from the sky. Furthermore,
You guys defending this are only making the whole d3 situation more weird.
"the whole d3 situation"... what.
You know, that situation where clearly the game is going downhill and nothing Blizzard does will ever be good enough and anyone who defends them or their decisions or even so much as says that they kind of sort of like the game is just an ignorant fanboy and doesn't understand why everything Blizzard has done since this game was announced is completely moronic.
And I think you fail to understand that the characters in Diablo 3 are not ordinary humans. They are nephalem, a race more powerful than the angels and demons; and we don't know the limits of their power. So you can't argue what the barbarian in Diablo 3 can't do, because you have no basis for that argument.
And I think you fail to understand that the characters in Diablo 3 are not ordinary humans. They are nephalem, a race more powerful than the angels and demons; and we don't know the limits of their power. So you can't argue what the barbarian in Diablo 3 can't do, because you have no basis for that argument.
So to be sure, you are ok with barbarians materializing hundred of pounds of matter above the ground? (Y/N)
Does the concept of classe archetypes ring any bells?
Am I actually arguing with actual people about this? This is surreal.
If you are arguing that the skill just doesn't feel "barbarian-ish" enough, then we can't really argue since that's an entirely subjective viewpoint. You could say the same thing for Ancient Spear since it's a ranged attack, or Call of the Ancients since a it's a summoning skill. IMO, the barbarian has a heavy, earthy feel to him, so it's not entirely out of the scope of his skillset. No, it doesn't make it any logical sense that the projectiles are materializing from nowhere. Half of the skills in this game, or more, don't make any logical sense.
And I think you fail to understand that the characters in Diablo 3 are not ordinary humans. They are nephalem, a race more powerful than the angels and demons; and we don't know the limits of their power. So you can't argue what the barbarian in Diablo 3 can't do, because you have no basis for that argument.
So to be sure, you are ok with barbarians materializing hundred of pounds of matter above the ground? (Y/N)
Does the concept of classe archetypes ring any bells?
Am I actually arguing with actual people about this? This is surreal.
If you are arguing that the skill just doesn't feel "barbarian-ish" enough, then we can't really argue since that's an entirely subjective viewpoint. You could say the same thing for Ancient Spear since it's a ranged attack, or Call of the Ancients since a it's a summoning skill. IMO, the barbarian has a heavy, earthy feel to him, so it's not entirely out of the scope of his skillset. No, it doesn't make it any logical sense that the projectiles are materializing from nowhere. Half of the skills in this game, or more, don't make any logical sense.
We're not talking logical, b/c that's pointless. We're talking aesthetically, and I have to agree, Avalanche seems too much like a wizard spell. Spear and Weapon Throw, while "magical" still invoke a martial, melee weapon wielding aesthetic. It still "feels" barbaric. Summoning Ancients is borderline, but still, the Ancients do mostly melee damage, or throw martial weapons. Avalanche is different. It's pure elemental spellcasting. It's the perfect Druid spell (and yeah, Druids and Barbs are related, but there was that schism for a reason).
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
Wise ElderOur latest highlight from Reaper of Souls demonstrates the new skills for each of the vanilla classes, how they look like and a quick gameplay demonstration! Note that some of the skills, especially the Barbarian's Avalanche, currently aren't fully implemented yet. Most of them work though.
Previous Highlights:
Enchanting, Transmogrification, Crusader Thorns Build
All Class Changes
Difficulties, Paragon 2.0
Adventure Mode, Bounties, Nephalem Rifts, Blood Shards and Gambling
Barbarian - Avalanche
The Barbarian's Avalanche is still very much a work in progress. Two of the Runes are not yet implemented and don't do anything. The last Rune uses the first's visual and its cooldown mechanic doesn't seem to work properly. With that said the skill is very useful even in its current state, being very high damage with a relatively short cooldown.
Avalanche - Cooldown 30 seconds. Cause a massive deluge of rocks and debris to sweep across an area dealing 1800% weapon damage to all enemies caught in its path. Cooldown is reduced by 1 second for every 25 Fury you spend
Demon Hunter - Vengeance
Vengeance is everything Demon Hunters want to be - an unstoppable demon-slaughtering machine. The visual is extremely satisfying and it feels really great on the battlefield.
Vengeance - Cooldown 90 seconds. Turn into the physical embodiment of Vengeance for 15 seconds. Side Guns: Gain 4 additional piercing shots for 75% weapon damage each on every attack. Homing Rockets: Shoot 4 rockets at nearby enemies for 40% weapon damage each on every attack
Monk - Epiphany
The Monk's Epiphany acts as a rapid Spirit generator that lets you demolish enemies with heavy spirit spenders. Besides the effects described below it also seems to do a Seven-Sided Strike when you use Wave of Light. Or I might just be seeing things.
Epiphany - Cooldown 90 seconds. Have an Epiphany, increasing your Spirit regeneration per second by 35 and enabling your melee attacks to instantly dash to your target for 15 seconds
Witch Doctor - Piranhas
Piranhas is one of the most fun skills to have on a Witch Doctor, which says a lot considering all his other super fun abilities. The pool of Piranhas has a very short cooldown and dishes nice damage, with some of its Runes keeping the monsters in one place for nice AoE spam.
Piranhas - Cost 250 Mana. Cooldown is 8 seconds. Summons a pool of deadly piranhas that deals 400% weapon damage as poison over 8 seconds. Affected enemies will also take 15% increased damage
Wizard - Black Hole
The Black Hole isn't a super damaging ability but it has the irresistible mechanic of piling up monsters in one place for a short amount of time. Not to mention it looks absolutely beautiful. Its Runes also change to all the different elements making each a valuable asset to your Elemental builds.
Black Hole - Cost 35 Arcane Power. Cooldown 8 seconds. Conjure a Black Hole at the target location that draws enemies to it and deals 376% weapon damage as Arcane over 2 seconds to all enemies within 15 yards.
Ha. Bagstone.
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
Wise ElderBarbarians can go around in a circle flailing their weapons for minutes on end. Right. Ok.
Ha. Bagstone.
Demons emerge from a portal in hell and do battle with angels. Humans are the spawn of both forces. Her der.
Anyway thanks for post. Maybe show us all new armor tiers in next news?
At first, it bothered me too. But, think of it this way. All Nephalem can materialize matter. That's never really discussed but all classes do it in one way or another. So, it kinda makes sense that way.
Meteors dropping inside a cave.
Demon hunters can shoot balls of lightning from their bows which electrocutes everything in their path, but it doesn't effect his/her friends even though they wear heavy metal armor. Right. Ok.
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
Wise ElderHa. Bagstone.
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
Wise ElderIt's implemented. We'll likely do a separate post for old skills that have changed visually in a major way.
Ha. Bagstone.
Berserk: A powerful but reckless attack that increases damage and attack rating but decreases defense rating. Attack: +100%, Magic Damage: 150%, Mana cost: 4, Recieves bonuses from Howl (10% Magic Damage per level), Shout (10% Magic Damage per level).
In Diablo 2, barbarians were able to deal magic damage and they used "mana", which is used for magic. There were also barbarian elders who managed to summon a shield around Harrogath. Nihlatak, even though he is shown as a necromancer in game, was one of the barbarian elders.
Even if we ignore these, in Diablo 3, the barbarian character can summon the first barbarians, can cause an earthquake which can freeze or burn, can pull his enemies to himself with by stomping his foot into the ground ect. And he is a descendant of the most powerful race in the world. I think we can say that, even if barbarians as a people don't use magic (and they can, see above), that doesn't mean barbarian in Diablo 3 won't too, as he is a nephalem.
Demon hunters can fire their crossbows endlessly without reloading or running out of ammo. Right. Ok blizzard.
You're right, when I'm fighting demons in real life it doesn't look anything like a silly Barbarian making magic boulders rain from the sky. Furthermore,
You know, that situation where clearly the game is going downhill and nothing Blizzard does will ever be good enough and anyone who defends them or their decisions or even so much as says that they kind of sort of like the game is just an ignorant fanboy and doesn't understand why everything Blizzard has done since this game was announced is completely moronic.
That situation.
If you are arguing that the skill just doesn't feel "barbarian-ish" enough, then we can't really argue since that's an entirely subjective viewpoint. You could say the same thing for Ancient Spear since it's a ranged attack, or Call of the Ancients since a it's a summoning skill. IMO, the barbarian has a heavy, earthy feel to him, so it's not entirely out of the scope of his skillset. No, it doesn't make it any logical sense that the projectiles are materializing from nowhere. Half of the skills in this game, or more, don't make any logical sense.
We're not talking logical, b/c that's pointless. We're talking aesthetically, and I have to agree, Avalanche seems too much like a wizard spell. Spear and Weapon Throw, while "magical" still invoke a martial, melee weapon wielding aesthetic. It still "feels" barbaric. Summoning Ancients is borderline, but still, the Ancients do mostly melee damage, or throw martial weapons. Avalanche is different. It's pure elemental spellcasting. It's the perfect Druid spell (and yeah, Druids and Barbs are related, but there was that schism for a reason).