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* '''[[Rune|Skill rune]]s'''
* '''[[Barbarian skills]]''' - [[Barbarian]]-specific skill design.
** '''[[Berserker Skill TreeBarbarian traits]] - Berserker skills.** [[Juggernaut Skill Tree]] - Juggernaut skills.** [[Battlemaster Skill Tree]] - Battlemaster skills.
** [[Barbarian skill archive]] - Removed Barbarian skills.
* '''[[Demon Hunter skills]]''' - Monk-specific skill design.
** '''[[Demon Hunter traits]].
* '''[[Monk skills]]''' - Monk-specific skill design.
** '''[[Skill Tree A]] - A skills.** [[Skill Tree BMonk traits]] - B skills.** [[Skill Tree C]] - C skills.<!--** [[Monk skill archive]] - Removed Monk skills (none yet).-->
* '''[[Wizard skills]]''' - [[Wizard]]-specific skill design.
** '''[[Conjuring Skill TreeWizard traits]] - 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 TreeWitch Doctor traits]] - Zombie skills.** [[Spirit Skill Tree]] - Spirit skills.** [[Voodoo Skill Tree]] - Voodoo skills.
** [[Witch Doctor skill archive]] - Removed Witch Doctor skills.
* '''[[Signature skill]]s''' - Skills that define characters.
We know a fair number of skills from seeing them in demonstrations, and from taking notes of them at BlizzCon in October [[BlizzCon 2008|2008]] and [[BlizzCon 2009|2009]]. More than 30 skills each are known for the [[Barbarian]], [[Wizard]] and [[Witch Doctor]], while fewer of the [[Monk]]'s skills have yet been revealed. Click to the appropriate pages in the links above to learn the names and functions of all known skills.
==Traits==
[[Traits]] were introduced into the game in 2010. They function chiefly as a replacement for passive skills, which are no longer in the skill menu. Character earn a trait point every other level up (each odd-numbered level), and have a wide variety of traits to choose from. Like skills, traits have no pre-reqs other than Clvl. Unlike skills, traits are not all available at a fairly low level; new traits are available every 4th level, and they proceed almost all the way to the max level, with blocks of traits available at level 1, 3, 5, and so on, up to much higher levels. Later blocks of traits come online at Clvl 39, 43, 47, 51, and 55.
As of Blizzcon 2010 there were more than 30 traits per character, a fairly bewildering number that the developers said was likely to be decreased and refocused through further development.
::'''Jay Wilson: '''In terms of the number of skills, that’s about right. In terms of the skill tree we’re um... we’re still playing around with the actual layouts of skill trees and the working of the skill system. The skills for the Wizard and Barbarian their skill trees were very solid. We like their skills, though there are a few still missing. Especially for the Wizard, there are skills we didn’t put into her tree that we’re still defining, especially at the high end. The same for the Barbarian; we’ve got a few skills on the way for him. But for the most part, the content of those trees is more or less correct.
===Skill Requirements?===
With the redesigned non-tree skill trees, as of October 2010 at Blizzcon there are no skill prerequisites at all, other than the Clvl requirement for each tier of skills. These are set at Character level 2, 3, 6, 10, 14, 20, and 26.
===How Many Skills At Once?===
Early development builds of Diablo III had a handy menu that popped up above the belt interface. It's not known if this menu will still be in the final game, with the other changes to skills (limiting chars to using 7 at once) that have taken place during development.
==Skill Mechanics==
One major change from [[Diablo II]] is that the various snaking lines of skill prerequisites are gone. Skills in Diablo III are arranged in tiers, with few no dependency lines between them. This , along with easy [[respec]]ing, gives characters much more freedom in mixing and matching the skills they wish to use. As of October 2010, there are no skill spending point requirements to use other skills. The listing is entirely a menu; any can be chosen at will provided the Clvl requirements are met. This was not the case in earlier versions of the game. In 2008 there were numerous prereq lines between skills, and characters had to spend a certain number of points in a skill tree in order to unlock access to the higher tiers in that tree. This feature remained in 2009, though most of the prereq lines were gone.
==Skill Trees==
The skill tree format we'll see in Diablo 3 has undergone many design changes, and is still in flux. The form seen at Blizzcon 2009 (represented by images on this page) was thought to be fairly final, but in November 2009 Blizzard let it be known that the UI had been entirely reworked, moving away from trees and to a more menu/tier system. As of Blizzcon 2010 there were no "tree" elements in the skill trees. They were purely a listing of skills, grouped by tiers without any requirements other than Clvl.
* See the [[skill trees]] article for much more detail and full citations for these changes.
==Active and Passive Skills==
Diablo III skills are either "[[active skills|active]]" or "[[passive skills|passive]]." A huge change was made to the skill trees during development in 2010, when all the passive skills were removed from the Diablo III [[skill trees]]. Passive skills remain in the game, but they are accessed in some undisclosed way, not through placing skill points into them. More information is promised at Blizzcon 2010. [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo-3-has-no-passive-skills/] [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo-iiis-maximum-level-announced-60/]from the Diablo III [[skill trees]] and moved to the [[traits]].
Earlier in the game, the skill trees were much as they'd been in Diablo II, with a mixture of passive and active skills.
===Balancing Passives and Actives===
::'''''Diii.net: '''Based on playing those two characters and examining their trees, the Wizard has tons and tons of active attack skills and very few passives, while the Barbarian has an awful lot of defensive passives. Early on he didn’t have very many active skills. So fans were thinking we’d still see a lot of changes, and especially that the Wizard would be getting some more interesting passives.
::The fact that the Barbarian has a lot of passive defense is because he’s supposed to be tough. While I think that the Wizard probably doesn’t have enough passives, I would agree with that statement, keep in mind that they are two different classes.
==Abilities==
[[Abilities]] are actions all characters can perform, such as [[throw]], [[attack]], [[unsummon]], and [[resurrect]]. Just how many of these we'll see in Diablo 3 is not yet known, and this coverage is somewhat speculative, but we're assuming that at least the ones from Diablo 2 will return.
==Skills Define Characters==
::'''''Diii.net: '''Do you guys work and plan in advance to plan multiple potential builds for each character? Or do you just throw in as many cool skills as you can and see how players find ways to use them?
::'''Jay Wilson: '''A little bit of both. We try to anticipate what we think will be good builds. For example, there’s lots of things we put into the wizard, to try to make a battle mage more viable. But sometimes we put in skills that we’re not 100% sure is an awesome skill, but that we think somebody will find an awesome use for. We try to plan things ahead of time, but we’re not foolish enough to believe that the three of us who work on skills can come up with as many possibilities and variations as the millions of players who will take the work we’ve done and have fun building stuff with it. We mostly try to make sure they have the tools to have a lot of freedom and create a lot of cool stuff.
