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Each of '''Skills''' are what all abilities the character [[class]]es in [[Diablo III]] have a set of class '''skills'''. There are a lot of skills for each character; more than 50 were shown for the Wizard and Barbarian at Blizzcon in October, 2008called. Skills are roughly grouped by type and are slotted into three A skill trees... though this arrangement is subject to change during ongoing developmentincludes regular physical abilities like [[Cleave]] or a magical [[spell]] like [[disintegrate]].
While <div style="skillsfloat:right; clear:right; margin:0px 0px 10px 10px;" is the official name, players often refer to "skills" as "spells," "talents," "abilities," and other such terms. These are just synonyms, and are frequently interchangeable in use.><br><br>__TOC__</div>
Worth noting is that [[monster]]s can also use skills, even though they are not necessarily Character skill. Primarily [[caster]] monsters, but others as well.
Also, more information about the tree structure of <u>'''Useful skill links:'''</u>* '''[[Rune|Skill rune]]s'''* '''[[Barbarian skills]]''' - [[Barbarian]]-specific skill design.** [[Berserker Skill Tree]] - Berserker skills.** [[Juggernaut Skill Tree]] - Juggernaut skills.** [[Battlemaster Skill Tree]] - Battlemaster skills.** [[Barbarian skill archive]] - Removed Barbarian skills.* '''[[Monk skills]]''' - Monk-specific skill design.** [[Skill Tree A]] - A skills.** [[Skill Tree B]] - B skills.** [[Skill Tree C]] - C skills.<!--** [[Monk skill archive]] - Removed Monk skills (none yet).-->* '''[[Wizard skills]]''' - [[Wizard]]-specific skill design.** [[Conjuring Skill Tree]] - Conjuring skills.** [[Arcane Skill Tree]] - Arcane skills.** [[Storm Skill Tree]] - Storm skills.** [[Wizard skill archive]] - Removed Wizard skills.* '''[[Witch Doctor skills]]''' - Witch Doctor-specific skill design.** [[Zombie Skill Tree]] - Zombie skills.** [[Spirit Skill Tree]] - Spirit skills.** [[Voodoo Skill Tree]] - Voodoo skills.** [[Witch Doctor skill archive]] - Removed Witch Doctor skills can be found in .* '''[[Signature skill]]s''' - Skills that define characters.* '''[[Active skill]]s''' - Skills where effects are activated by the player.* '''[[Passive skill tree]] articles''' - Skills where effects are activated automatically, by the computer or by special events.
New information as of May 2009 [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/diabloEach tree has about 10-iii-skill-trees-innovative-overhaul/] indicates that the three-trees format is gone. There is now just one skill menu per 12 skills each character, allowing players to pick from any divided into 6 "tiers", of the many 1-3 skills in each tree. This means there will be an overall decrease in skills, since many were largely redundant (adding damage for just skills in a given tree, for instance), and that players can now pick and choose almost exactly the skills they want from the total menu.
===Earlier Info===
Prior to the huge skill array change announced in May 2009:
Skills in Diablo III are organized into skill trees. The form and function of these trees has evolved (and continues to do so) during development. Each character has three skill trees, and the game design (currently) favors specializing in one tree; a certain number of points are required to be spent in a tree before higher level skills become available, and the [[D3 Team]] is also experimenting with higher caps on certain skills, though what a character would do to enable this is unknown. It could be Clvl based, item based, points spent in a tree-based, or something else entirely.
Structurally the trees are similar to the skill trees found in World of Warcraft. They are displayed in tall rectangular boxes with lower level skills on top. The skills are arrayed on "tiers," each of which requires some amount of skill points spent in that tree to access. How many points and how many skills are on which tier is subject to ongoing change.
* See the [[Skill tree]] page for many more details.
==Signature Skills==
Skills lie at the core of the characters and propel all combat in Diablo III. For the D3 Team, the skills literally define the character. The team sets out to create what they call "[[WWI_2008:_Denizens_of_Diablo_Panel#Signature_Skills|signature skills]]" -- click that link to read much more about this topic from a panel discussion from the WWI in Paris, when Diablo III was announced. Signature skills are active skills that are very distinctive and evocative of the character. For instance, the design goal of the Diablo III Barbarian is to make a huge, powerful, thundering brute of a melee fighter. So his signature skills are things that crush hordes of enemies in front of him, shake the entire screen, rip holes in the earth, etc. Wizards are deadly, reckless mages, so their signature skills are spells that wreak massive havoc upon monsters with fire, cold, and other elements.
Passive skills are never "signature skills." Even though passive skills can be essential and powerful, they're not visually impressive enough to be named a "signature skill."
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==Overview==
While '''skills''' is the official name, players often refer to them as '''spells''', '''talents''', '''abilities''', and similar terms. These are just synonyms, and are frequently interchangeable in use.
Worth noting is that [[monster]]s can also use skills, but often not a Character skill. Primarily [[caster]] monsters have skills/spells, but others as well. Monster skills include all their abilities besides their "auto attack".
Skills are roughly grouped by type and are slotted into three skill trees. Also, more information about the tree structure of skills can be found in the [[skill tree]] article.
==Known Skills==
We know a fair number of skills from seeing them in demonstrations, and from taking notes of them at Blizzcon BlizzCon in October [[BlizzCon 2008|2008]] and [[BlizzCon 2009|2009]]. More than 50 30 skills each are known for the [[Barbarian ]], [[Wizard]] and Wizard[[Witch Doctor]], while fewer of the Witch Doctor[[Monk]]'s skills have yet been revealed. Click to the appropriate pages to learn the names and functions of all known skills.
* [[Barbarian skills]]
* [[Witch Doctor skills]]
* [[Wizard skills]]
* [[Monk skills]]
==Skill Trees==
The skills of each character [[class]] is divided into three skill trees. They were originally [[Skill#Development|much more individual]], but is now primarily a way to categorise skills for each class. There is now just one skill menu per each character, allowing players to pick from any of the three skill trees on that page, depending on how many skill points they have spent in total, rather than per individual tree.
This is, of course, subject to further change as the development process grinds on.
There has been talk of [[rune]]s affecting the skill caps, or perhaps a secondary limited "skill point" system that lets you increase the cap of individual skills further.
==Skill Display==
Passive skills grant the character some sort of bonus that is always in effect. Passive skills do not need to be cast to activate them; they give a bonus all the time, as soon as points are placed into them. These are skills and spells like [[Arcane_Skill_Tree#Efficient_Magics|Efficient Magics]] or [[Battlemaster_Skill_Tree#Power_of_the_Battlemaster|Power of the Battlemaster]]. (No passive Witch Doctor skills have yet been named.) Passive skills boost the damage of other spells, lower the mana cost of casting them, increase their duration, etc. Passive skills were often called "masteries" in Diablo II, and that term is still applicable to many of them in Diablo III.
==Skills Define Characters==
D3 Lead Designer [[Jay Wilson ]] discussed how skills drive game development, and vice versa, in a December 2008 interview with 1up.com[http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?pager.offset=1&cId=3172030&p=1 interview with 1up].comThe D3 team later coined the expression "[[signature skill]]s" to express this further. Skills that truly guides the rest of the development of a class.
::'''1UP: In creating this game, would you say that the character classes and their powers drive the rest of the game, or are their powers created as a result -- or solution -- to problems presented by the game?'''
* Supernatural Skills
* Extraordinary Skills
Magical skills are all types of skills that use [[mana]] or is of a magical nature, like a monster being able to summon allies, despite not having mana, or being a traditional [[caster]].
Supernatural skills are the type of feats a [[Barbarian]] typically would do. They are not magical as such, but they don't ''really'' follow traditional physical laws.
==Development==
At [[BlizzCon 2008|Blizzcon in October, 2008]] more than 50 were shown for the [[Wizard]] and [[Barbarian]], and placed in three individual trees, similar to how the system worked in [[Diablo II]] and [[World of WarCraft]]. Each 5 points spent in a tree opened a new tier to put skill points in. That game design favoured specializing in one tree, and did not have any prerequisites, instead totally based on points spent in each tree.
The [[D3 Team]] mentioned that they were experimenting with allowing certain skills to have higher skill caps, but did not give details such as if it would be [[Clvl]] based, item based, points spent or something completely different.
In May 2009 [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/diablo-iii-skill-trees-innovative-overhaul/] an overhaul of the skill system was made, merging the skill trees to one skill page, but the group of skills kept their skill tree names. The skill requirement still opened up in tiers, but opened up to all trees at the same time, enabling a player to pick low level skills in one tree, continuing with medium level skills in another and high level skills in the third.
The overhaul also saw the removal of many relatively redundant skills, primarily removing [[passive skill]]s.
==References==
* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/diablo-iii-skill-trees-innovative-overhaul/ Diii.net Skill Trees Innovative Overhaul]
* [http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?pager.offset=1&cId=3172030&p=1 1UP interview with Jay Wilson]
* [[WWI_2008:_Denizens_of_Diablo_Panel#Signature_Skills|WWI 2008: Denizens of Diablo Panel]]
[[Category:Skills]]
[[categoryCategory:basicsBasics]]
