Diablo Wiki - User contributions [en]

Legendary

2011-06-12T02:26:09Z

Leugi:

'''Legendary''' is the term for [[item]]s of the highest quality in [[Diablo III]]. It replaces "unique" in the Diablo game item nomenclature.

It's not known how Legendary item stats will compare to Uniques, but from what Blizzard has said the change seems like just the name, not the type of stats found on the items.

Legendary items will not be super-rare, or [[Bind on Pickup]] or [[Bind on Account]], except perhaps some of the very highest quality ones.

No unique/legendary items (just [[magical]] and [[rare]] items) have yet been seen in any of the Blizzcon demos, so nothing is known about their naming conventions or stat types. Or even if they have different visuals than other items.

==Why the Change?==

Bashiok gave some explanations for the item name change in a forum post in October 2010: [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blue-unique-to-legendary/]

::'''Why else would they rename the Unique items to Legendary?'''
::'''Bashiok:''' Unique items in Diablo II were only “unique” in that only one of them would drop per-game. Using the term “unique” to describe them implies many things, none of which are likely to be true.

::World of Warcraft uses the word a bit more intelligently in that it is indeed unique in that your character can only ever have one of them.

::''Because they will be using the same “Unique” setup that WoW uses''
::'''Bashiok:''' We have no plans to have such a system.

::World of Warcraft uses unique and unique equipped for character balance, so that the designers know what items a character can have equipped at any one time. Balance is important to us, but probably not to the same degree that we would want to restrict use of dual-wielding two of some awesome legendary sword. For instance.

::...I guess I would probably follow that up with the usual, ‘but nothing is set in stone’. I guess if we were to hit a point where dual wielding the most awesome sword in the game completely broke everything, we’d have to do something like unique-equipped.

::But even then, you could still find them, pick them up, and trade them off… so I’m not even sure how unique-equipped kills hoarding.

Fan reaction to this change has been negative to indifferent. Diablo players have come to love Unique items and the golden text that identifies them. The first [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/unique dictionary definition of "unique"] does mean "one of a kind" but the other meanings just mean "special," so it's not that misleading of a term.

The name is created by the usage in the game, and everyone playing soon knows what unique means. Besides, if they're going to be literal, doesn't this mean that they need a whole lore story for every "legendary" item, or else that name is no more accurate than "unique?"

==Known Diablo III Legendary Item Names==

While nothing is yet known about the stats of Legendary items, some of their potential names are known, thanks to a contest Blizzard ran via their @Diablo twitter account in 2009. The contest rewarded 100 of the best Unique name suggestions with a [[Diablo pin]], with five of the best names promised to be used in the game. Which five is not known, and we don't have a full list of all 100 entries, but here are some of the pin winning suggestions. [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo-3-uniques-revealed/]

* Havenrow Skin Peeler, by KarlGrande
* Belial’s Wrath, by Kastrien
* Staff of the Sightless Eye, by Frostblind
* Elzix’s Misfortune, by ChrisEngine357
* Deckard’s Cane, by ClakyDruott
* Archivist’s Scroll, by Maelnison
* Axe of Assimilation, by ScottGallupe
* Que Hegan’s Zeal, by forbrukerombud
* Crown of Divine Right, by MShaneman
* Lord Telrandan’s Hand, by Erignmatic
* Skull Crusher of Demise, by ravenneangelle

[[Category:Items]]
[[category:legendary]]

{{Template:Items navbox}}

Polearms

2011-05-28T13:39:00Z

Leugi:

Polearms are long, two-handed [[melee weapons]] that deal heavy damage, but that swing fairly slowly. It's expected that polearms will only be equippable by [[Barbarians]] and [[Monks]]; they seem too large and heavy for the mage classes to use, though that's not yet been confirmed.
* More details on the ever-changing [[Class-Specific Weapons]].

==Polearm Media==

No polearms have yet been seen in use in Diablo III.

[[category:weapons]]
[[category:items]]
[[category:polearms]]
[[category:Melee Weapons]]

{{Template:Items navbox}}

Burning Tower

2010-06-11T18:01:10Z

Leugi: /* Some possibilities */

[[File:Tower-closeup-monk1.jpg|thumb|right|The massive Burning Tower, under siege?]]
The '''Burning Tower''' is the temporary name given by the fans to the massive tower first seen in a piece of [[Barbarian]] concept art here seen to the right. This article will be renamed when more information is made available about this tower.

==Background==
The significance of this tower was noticed by [[Flux]] as he was writing entries in the [http://diablo.incgamers.com/categories/category/upon-closer-inspection/ Upon Closer Expection] column over at [[Diii.net]]. The main article can be found [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/upon-closer-inspection-2-the-mysterious-burning-tower/ here].

==Description==
It's a tower, or at least some sort of cube-shaped castle, with what looks like steep stairways carved into the sides, up (or down?) which hundreds of people with torches are rushing.

That's kind of odd, but what makes this bit of background art worthy of closer notice is the fact that it turns up in several different images. It's seen in two pieces of [[Barbarian]] art, with a much larger view in one of them, and it’s in a piece of [[Monk]] artwork, drawn from an entirely different angle/perspective.

A background image that shows up that often seems a good bed to be more than just decoration. Will this Burning Tower show up in the game? Is it related to the plot? Could be...

===The Associated Artwork===
[[File:Burning_Tower_feature.jpg|thumb|right|The tower alone.]]
This tower turns up in two Barbarian pieces and one [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1206&title=monk&cat=509 Monk image]. The two Barbarian shots each use the same background drawing, but it's been repositioned behind the Barbarian image, in a way that's fairly interesting in of itself.

This one [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=3481&title=barbarian-tower&cat=509 shows just the ground] beneath the Barbarian and the upper portion of the tower. It’s cropped so that you can’t see any of the bridges or lower city below the tower, and it just looks like some structure far in the distance behind the Barbarian. Perhaps in a desert type area of dry beige stone.

Yet the exact same two images—the same Barbarian concept art and same tower image in the background—[http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1188 look totally different in this picture]. The tower image has been moved to the side, so it’s more behind and beneath the Barbarian, and with all the green-lit undercity in view, the Barbarian now seems to be standing on a perilous ledge, while behind and below him lies a vast city.

Also note how different the people rushing into the entrance to the tower on the right area; in this long shot they appear to be storming a castle over a bridge, while in the first Barbarian shot they were just standing around outside it. The difference it makes to our view, being able to see that they’re crossing a bridge, is considerable.

The other tower shot can be seen here, in the background of [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1206&title=monk&cat=509 a Monk image]. This is not the same drawing of the tower; it’s seen from a lower level, and as with the other shots, the other elements of the shot change how we view it.

In this shot there appears to be a volcano erupting to the right; either that or an unseen army is assaulting the tower, and hurling flaming stones or shots from catapults. Those flying, smoking projectiles make the flames on the tower ramps, which look like torches held by unknown people in the other shots, look instead like burning impact points; as though the tower had taken damage from an attack and is under siege.

It looks like people are massed on the ground to the right of the structure, as though a battle is raging just outside the building. They’re actually too small and indistinct for us to be sure, but that impression is given largely thanks to the burning tower and the flaming projectiles; such are signs of war, thus any jumbled patch of something next to the tower seems a good indication of a battle.

===So What Does It All Mean?===
Aside from demonstrating just how much one’s impression of an image can be changed by the framing and angles and extras added to the sides, it’s not clear what these shots represent. There’s nothing in any of the [[Diablo novels]] that corresponds to this. No climactic scenes of adventurers storming a square tower and burning it in battle, so we don’t think this image represents a past event. Thus it might well represent something we’ll see in the game?

The Diablo 3 team has released a lot of (88, so far) pieces of [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=505 Environmental Concept Art], but none of them show anything like this tower. It’s not like anything in the various views of Caldeum, it’s not part of Ureh, it’s certainly not part of Tristram, and it doesn’t look like any of the structures or cities shown in other concept art that we don’t know much about. Examples:

'''[[Caldeum]]''':
*Early [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1001&title=caldeum-concept&cat=505 Caldeum concept art], with a softer, more European look than the final game version.
*The [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=944&title=caldeum&cat=505" near-final version of the city], from the classic desert beast skeleton.
*Golden view, [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=969&title=caldeum&cat=505 with the mysterious balloons] overhead.
*[http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=941&title=golden-caldeum&cat=505 Golden Caldeum very-polished] concept art.
*There are certainly [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=966&title=caldeum-bandit-camp&cat=505 no square towers in the Caldeum Bandit Camp].

'''[[Ureh]]''': Which will not be a location visited in Diablo 3; at least not the original release. Expansion destination?
*The [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=956&title=the-city-of-ureh&cat=505 classic smoky twin-pillar look]. Totally unlike the square tower.
*Gorgeous vista of Ureh, [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1018&title=ureh&cat=505 as seen in the intro cinematic].

'''Other Locations: '''
*[http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1026&title=gloomy-tristram&cat=505 New Tristram is nothing] like the square tower either. Though the version of [[Tristram]] seen in screenshots and during the [[BlizzCon 2008]] demo is nothing like this version either.

*The [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=959&title=barbarian-city-3f&cat=505 Barbarian city] is very different.
*The [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=958&title=jungle-temples&cat=505 Jungle Temple] is definitely not the same thing.
*Nor would it fit into [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=955&title=water-city&cat=505 the waterfront docks] concept art.

In fact, there’s only one piece of environmental artwork that seems to have anything in common with the burning square tower. And it’s a piece that’s a complete mystery, and was only seen on the initial June 2008 artwork movie. You can see it below; [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=960&title=city-artwork&cat=505 click it for a larger view]. The buildings in the foreground aren’t very reminiscent of anything (though the green-tinged ones in the larger tower view might match; hard to say), but the broken, imposing structure in the background has something in common with the square tower. It’s not an exact match, to be certain, but the stonework is of a similar color, and if the square tower were broken… it might look something like this?

[[File:art-trailer-world07.jpg|600px|center]]

===Some possibilities===
1) The tower is just a decorative flourish that one or more of the Blizzard artists like. That it’s in multiple images doesn’t mean it’ll show up in the game as a real location.

2) The tower is concept art for some object or location, but it’s mostly just a cool object to spice up the background of various pieces of character art. It’s nothing like any known city artwork.

3) The tower is probably a game location, or else we wouldn’t get previews of it in multiple pieces of concept art, but who can say what or where. Much more evidence is needed for more than idle speculation.

4) The tower looks like concept art for a structure we’ll see in the game, and that it’s in multiple different pieces of concept art shows that it’s important to the plot. I fully expect my character to battle their way up those sloping stairways on the edge of the structure come D3’s release.

5) The tower is [[Bastion's Keep]], a keep of the [[Children of Bul-Kathos]] kept to defend the Northern Steppes and Mount Arreat from invasion. The Monk's artwork depicts a fight at Arreat's Crater, making the burning tower actually [[Bastion's Keep]] being attacked. It would also make sense, considering that the Burning Tower was seen on two Barbarian images, and Barbarians are associated with [[Bastion's Keep]] on the writings of [[Abd al-Hazir]]

Pick one that approximates your view, or make up your own. That’s what the comments are for, after all.

Even if the tower isn’t anything significant, it’s fun to speculate about, and any excuse to look through more of the game art is a good thing.

==Reference==
* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/upon-closer-inspection-2-the-mysterious-burning-tower/ Upon Closer Inspection #2: The Mysterious Burning Tower]
* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1206&title=monk&cat=509 Monk Tower image]

{{Sanctuary navbox}}

[[Category:Locations]]
[[Category:Featured_articles]]

Burning Tower

2010-06-11T18:00:07Z

Leugi: /* Some possibilities */

[[File:Tower-closeup-monk1.jpg|thumb|right|The massive Burning Tower, under siege?]]
The '''Burning Tower''' is the temporary name given by the fans to the massive tower first seen in a piece of [[Barbarian]] concept art here seen to the right. This article will be renamed when more information is made available about this tower.

==Background==
The significance of this tower was noticed by [[Flux]] as he was writing entries in the [http://diablo.incgamers.com/categories/category/upon-closer-inspection/ Upon Closer Expection] column over at [[Diii.net]]. The main article can be found [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/upon-closer-inspection-2-the-mysterious-burning-tower/ here].

==Description==
It's a tower, or at least some sort of cube-shaped castle, with what looks like steep stairways carved into the sides, up (or down?) which hundreds of people with torches are rushing.

That's kind of odd, but what makes this bit of background art worthy of closer notice is the fact that it turns up in several different images. It's seen in two pieces of [[Barbarian]] art, with a much larger view in one of them, and it’s in a piece of [[Monk]] artwork, drawn from an entirely different angle/perspective.

A background image that shows up that often seems a good bed to be more than just decoration. Will this Burning Tower show up in the game? Is it related to the plot? Could be...

===The Associated Artwork===
[[File:Burning_Tower_feature.jpg|thumb|right|The tower alone.]]
This tower turns up in two Barbarian pieces and one [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1206&title=monk&cat=509 Monk image]. The two Barbarian shots each use the same background drawing, but it's been repositioned behind the Barbarian image, in a way that's fairly interesting in of itself.

This one [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=3481&title=barbarian-tower&cat=509 shows just the ground] beneath the Barbarian and the upper portion of the tower. It’s cropped so that you can’t see any of the bridges or lower city below the tower, and it just looks like some structure far in the distance behind the Barbarian. Perhaps in a desert type area of dry beige stone.

Yet the exact same two images—the same Barbarian concept art and same tower image in the background—[http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1188 look totally different in this picture]. The tower image has been moved to the side, so it’s more behind and beneath the Barbarian, and with all the green-lit undercity in view, the Barbarian now seems to be standing on a perilous ledge, while behind and below him lies a vast city.

Also note how different the people rushing into the entrance to the tower on the right area; in this long shot they appear to be storming a castle over a bridge, while in the first Barbarian shot they were just standing around outside it. The difference it makes to our view, being able to see that they’re crossing a bridge, is considerable.

The other tower shot can be seen here, in the background of [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1206&title=monk&cat=509 a Monk image]. This is not the same drawing of the tower; it’s seen from a lower level, and as with the other shots, the other elements of the shot change how we view it.

In this shot there appears to be a volcano erupting to the right; either that or an unseen army is assaulting the tower, and hurling flaming stones or shots from catapults. Those flying, smoking projectiles make the flames on the tower ramps, which look like torches held by unknown people in the other shots, look instead like burning impact points; as though the tower had taken damage from an attack and is under siege.

It looks like people are massed on the ground to the right of the structure, as though a battle is raging just outside the building. They’re actually too small and indistinct for us to be sure, but that impression is given largely thanks to the burning tower and the flaming projectiles; such are signs of war, thus any jumbled patch of something next to the tower seems a good indication of a battle.

===So What Does It All Mean?===
Aside from demonstrating just how much one’s impression of an image can be changed by the framing and angles and extras added to the sides, it’s not clear what these shots represent. There’s nothing in any of the [[Diablo novels]] that corresponds to this. No climactic scenes of adventurers storming a square tower and burning it in battle, so we don’t think this image represents a past event. Thus it might well represent something we’ll see in the game?

The Diablo 3 team has released a lot of (88, so far) pieces of [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=505 Environmental Concept Art], but none of them show anything like this tower. It’s not like anything in the various views of Caldeum, it’s not part of Ureh, it’s certainly not part of Tristram, and it doesn’t look like any of the structures or cities shown in other concept art that we don’t know much about. Examples:

'''[[Caldeum]]''':
*Early [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1001&title=caldeum-concept&cat=505 Caldeum concept art], with a softer, more European look than the final game version.
*The [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=944&title=caldeum&cat=505" near-final version of the city], from the classic desert beast skeleton.
*Golden view, [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=969&title=caldeum&cat=505 with the mysterious balloons] overhead.
*[http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=941&title=golden-caldeum&cat=505 Golden Caldeum very-polished] concept art.
*There are certainly [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=966&title=caldeum-bandit-camp&cat=505 no square towers in the Caldeum Bandit Camp].

'''[[Ureh]]''': Which will not be a location visited in Diablo 3; at least not the original release. Expansion destination?
*The [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=956&title=the-city-of-ureh&cat=505 classic smoky twin-pillar look]. Totally unlike the square tower.
*Gorgeous vista of Ureh, [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1018&title=ureh&cat=505 as seen in the intro cinematic].

'''Other Locations: '''
*[http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1026&title=gloomy-tristram&cat=505 New Tristram is nothing] like the square tower either. Though the version of [[Tristram]] seen in screenshots and during the [[BlizzCon 2008]] demo is nothing like this version either.

*The [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=959&title=barbarian-city-3f&cat=505 Barbarian city] is very different.
*The [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=958&title=jungle-temples&cat=505 Jungle Temple] is definitely not the same thing.
*Nor would it fit into [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=955&title=water-city&cat=505 the waterfront docks] concept art.

In fact, there’s only one piece of environmental artwork that seems to have anything in common with the burning square tower. And it’s a piece that’s a complete mystery, and was only seen on the initial June 2008 artwork movie. You can see it below; [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=960&title=city-artwork&cat=505 click it for a larger view]. The buildings in the foreground aren’t very reminiscent of anything (though the green-tinged ones in the larger tower view might match; hard to say), but the broken, imposing structure in the background has something in common with the square tower. It’s not an exact match, to be certain, but the stonework is of a similar color, and if the square tower were broken… it might look something like this?

[[File:art-trailer-world07.jpg|600px|center]]

===Some possibilities===
1) The tower is just a decorative flourish that one or more of the Blizzard artists like. That it’s in multiple images doesn’t mean it’ll show up in the game as a real location.

2) The tower is concept art for some object or location, but it’s mostly just a cool object to spice up the background of various pieces of character art. It’s nothing like any known city artwork.

3) The tower is probably a game location, or else we wouldn’t get previews of it in multiple pieces of concept art, but who can say what or where. Much more evidence is needed for more than idle speculation.

4) The tower looks like concept art for a structure we’ll see in the game, and that it’s in multiple different pieces of concept art shows that it’s important to the plot. I fully expect my character to battle their way up those sloping stairways on the edge of the structure come D3’s release.

5) The tower is [[Bastion's Keep]], a keep of the [[Children of Bul-Kathos]] kept to defend the Northern Steppes and Mount Arreat from invasion. The Monk's artwork depicts a fight at Arreat's Crater, making the burning tower actually [[Bastion's Keep]] being attacked. It would also make sense, considering that the Burning Tower was seen on two Barbarian images, and Barbarians are associated with [[Bastion's Keep]] on the writings of [[Abd-al Hazir]]

Pick one that approximates your view, or make up your own. That’s what the comments are for, after all.

Even if the tower isn’t anything significant, it’s fun to speculate about, and any excuse to look through more of the game art is a good thing.

==Reference==
* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/upon-closer-inspection-2-the-mysterious-burning-tower/ Upon Closer Inspection #2: The Mysterious Burning Tower]
* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1206&title=monk&cat=509 Monk Tower image]

{{Sanctuary navbox}}

[[Category:Locations]]
[[Category:Featured_articles]]

Burning Tower

2010-06-11T17:56:51Z

Leugi: /* Some possibilities */

[[File:Tower-closeup-monk1.jpg|thumb|right|The massive Burning Tower, under siege?]]
The '''Burning Tower''' is the temporary name given by the fans to the massive tower first seen in a piece of [[Barbarian]] concept art here seen to the right. This article will be renamed when more information is made available about this tower.

==Background==
The significance of this tower was noticed by [[Flux]] as he was writing entries in the [http://diablo.incgamers.com/categories/category/upon-closer-inspection/ Upon Closer Expection] column over at [[Diii.net]]. The main article can be found [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/upon-closer-inspection-2-the-mysterious-burning-tower/ here].

==Description==
It's a tower, or at least some sort of cube-shaped castle, with what looks like steep stairways carved into the sides, up (or down?) which hundreds of people with torches are rushing.

That's kind of odd, but what makes this bit of background art worthy of closer notice is the fact that it turns up in several different images. It's seen in two pieces of [[Barbarian]] art, with a much larger view in one of them, and it’s in a piece of [[Monk]] artwork, drawn from an entirely different angle/perspective.

A background image that shows up that often seems a good bed to be more than just decoration. Will this Burning Tower show up in the game? Is it related to the plot? Could be...

===The Associated Artwork===
[[File:Burning_Tower_feature.jpg|thumb|right|The tower alone.]]
This tower turns up in two Barbarian pieces and one [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1206&title=monk&cat=509 Monk image]. The two Barbarian shots each use the same background drawing, but it's been repositioned behind the Barbarian image, in a way that's fairly interesting in of itself.

This one [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=3481&title=barbarian-tower&cat=509 shows just the ground] beneath the Barbarian and the upper portion of the tower. It’s cropped so that you can’t see any of the bridges or lower city below the tower, and it just looks like some structure far in the distance behind the Barbarian. Perhaps in a desert type area of dry beige stone.

Yet the exact same two images—the same Barbarian concept art and same tower image in the background—[http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1188 look totally different in this picture]. The tower image has been moved to the side, so it’s more behind and beneath the Barbarian, and with all the green-lit undercity in view, the Barbarian now seems to be standing on a perilous ledge, while behind and below him lies a vast city.

Also note how different the people rushing into the entrance to the tower on the right area; in this long shot they appear to be storming a castle over a bridge, while in the first Barbarian shot they were just standing around outside it. The difference it makes to our view, being able to see that they’re crossing a bridge, is considerable.

The other tower shot can be seen here, in the background of [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1206&title=monk&cat=509 a Monk image]. This is not the same drawing of the tower; it’s seen from a lower level, and as with the other shots, the other elements of the shot change how we view it.

In this shot there appears to be a volcano erupting to the right; either that or an unseen army is assaulting the tower, and hurling flaming stones or shots from catapults. Those flying, smoking projectiles make the flames on the tower ramps, which look like torches held by unknown people in the other shots, look instead like burning impact points; as though the tower had taken damage from an attack and is under siege.

It looks like people are massed on the ground to the right of the structure, as though a battle is raging just outside the building. They’re actually too small and indistinct for us to be sure, but that impression is given largely thanks to the burning tower and the flaming projectiles; such are signs of war, thus any jumbled patch of something next to the tower seems a good indication of a battle.

===So What Does It All Mean?===
Aside from demonstrating just how much one’s impression of an image can be changed by the framing and angles and extras added to the sides, it’s not clear what these shots represent. There’s nothing in any of the [[Diablo novels]] that corresponds to this. No climactic scenes of adventurers storming a square tower and burning it in battle, so we don’t think this image represents a past event. Thus it might well represent something we’ll see in the game?

The Diablo 3 team has released a lot of (88, so far) pieces of [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=505 Environmental Concept Art], but none of them show anything like this tower. It’s not like anything in the various views of Caldeum, it’s not part of Ureh, it’s certainly not part of Tristram, and it doesn’t look like any of the structures or cities shown in other concept art that we don’t know much about. Examples:

'''[[Caldeum]]''':
*Early [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1001&title=caldeum-concept&cat=505 Caldeum concept art], with a softer, more European look than the final game version.
*The [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=944&title=caldeum&cat=505" near-final version of the city], from the classic desert beast skeleton.
*Golden view, [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=969&title=caldeum&cat=505 with the mysterious balloons] overhead.
*[http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=941&title=golden-caldeum&cat=505 Golden Caldeum very-polished] concept art.
*There are certainly [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=966&title=caldeum-bandit-camp&cat=505 no square towers in the Caldeum Bandit Camp].

'''[[Ureh]]''': Which will not be a location visited in Diablo 3; at least not the original release. Expansion destination?
*The [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=956&title=the-city-of-ureh&cat=505 classic smoky twin-pillar look]. Totally unlike the square tower.
*Gorgeous vista of Ureh, [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1018&title=ureh&cat=505 as seen in the intro cinematic].

'''Other Locations: '''
*[http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1026&title=gloomy-tristram&cat=505 New Tristram is nothing] like the square tower either. Though the version of [[Tristram]] seen in screenshots and during the [[BlizzCon 2008]] demo is nothing like this version either.

*The [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=959&title=barbarian-city-3f&cat=505 Barbarian city] is very different.
*The [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=958&title=jungle-temples&cat=505 Jungle Temple] is definitely not the same thing.
*Nor would it fit into [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=955&title=water-city&cat=505 the waterfront docks] concept art.

In fact, there’s only one piece of environmental artwork that seems to have anything in common with the burning square tower. And it’s a piece that’s a complete mystery, and was only seen on the initial June 2008 artwork movie. You can see it below; [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=960&title=city-artwork&cat=505 click it for a larger view]. The buildings in the foreground aren’t very reminiscent of anything (though the green-tinged ones in the larger tower view might match; hard to say), but the broken, imposing structure in the background has something in common with the square tower. It’s not an exact match, to be certain, but the stonework is of a similar color, and if the square tower were broken… it might look something like this?

[[File:art-trailer-world07.jpg|600px|center]]

===Some possibilities===
1) The tower is just a decorative flourish that one or more of the Blizzard artists like. That it’s in multiple images doesn’t mean it’ll show up in the game as a real location.

2) The tower is concept art for some object or location, but it’s mostly just a cool object to spice up the background of various pieces of character art. It’s nothing like any known city artwork.

3) The tower is probably a game location, or else we wouldn’t get previews of it in multiple pieces of concept art, but who can say what or where. Much more evidence is needed for more than idle speculation.

4) The tower looks like concept art for a structure we’ll see in the game, and that it’s in multiple different pieces of concept art shows that it’s important to the plot. I fully expect my character to battle their way up those sloping stairways on the edge of the structure come D3’s release.

5) The tower is [[Bastion's Keep]], a keep of the [[Children of Bul-Kathos]] kept to defend the Northern Steppes and Mount Arreat from invasion. It has been said that the Monk's artwork depicts a fight at Arreat's Crater, making the burning tower actually [[Bastion's Keep]] being attacked.

Pick one that approximates your view, or make up your own. That’s what the comments are for, after all.

Even if the tower isn’t anything significant, it’s fun to speculate about, and any excuse to look through more of the game art is a good thing.

==Reference==
* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/upon-closer-inspection-2-the-mysterious-burning-tower/ Upon Closer Inspection #2: The Mysterious Burning Tower]
* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1206&title=monk&cat=509 Monk Tower image]

{{Sanctuary navbox}}

[[Category:Locations]]
[[Category:Featured_articles]]

Ureh

2009-11-24T02:04:32Z

Leugi:

[[image:concept-ureh1.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Ureh cinematic art.]]
'''Ureh''' was thought to have a very high probability to be a playable town in Diablo III. A concept art piece, shown on the right, was named Ureh and there are various official concept art pieces of Ureh seen also in the [http://www.diii.net/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=547&page=2 image gallery]. Nevertheless, [[Jay Wilson]] confirmed Ureh was removed Diablo III, as a "setting to try and get the game out sooner". This means Ureh was originally designed to be part of Diablo III, but it was removed to get the game out a bit sooner.

[[Image:Ureh.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Ureh on the [[world map]].]]
Ureh was also a featured in a [[Diablo novel]] by [[Richard A. Knaak]] called [[Diablo: The Kingdom of Shadow]]. Seen in the cover, Ureh was a central town in the story. The connection to the books is important seeing how Diablo III Lead Designer [[Jay Wilson]] commented on a recent interview: "people can expect to see characters -- from some of the books." [http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/08/12/diablo-iii-storyline/]

Ureh has also rich background - it is depicted in the book that in its history, it has worked as a gateway to hell. This has lead to speculation about Ureh's importance and place in the story.

==Location==
Ureh is an ancient city built at the feet of mountain [[Nymyr]], in the midst of the eastern jungles of the world of Sanctuary. The jungles inhabited by the [[necromancer]]s.

==References==
* [[Diablo: The Kingdom of Shadow]]
* [http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/08/12/diablo-iii-storyline/ MTV Interview with Jay Wilson]
* [http://diablofans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23550 DiabloFans Interview with Jay Wilson]

{{Sanctuary navbox}}

[[Category:Settlements]]

Chat Gem

2009-11-24T02:02:02Z

Leugi:

A lovely blue '''gem''' adorns Battle.net, below center in the window of the Diablo II interface or client. The gem is blue, that is, until it is clicked, a which time it turns to a bright lavender. The gem/button is clickable, and each time you click, it gives either a "Gem Activated" or "Gem Deactivated" messages. But what do those messages mean? And what does it do?
{| align="right" width="33%" style="clear:right; margin:20px 0px 10px 10px;"
| This is another page resurrected from the [http://www.diii.net/ Diabloii.net] archives. We all know by now that the Chat Gem doesn't do anything, but back in 2000, shortly after D2's release, players were in a panic and rumors ran wild. We played along a bit, letting people talk themselves into things, as this page demonstrates.
|}

==Introduction==

Rumors began flying when we first saw the interface. Some of the more colourful stories are detailed below. The most common ones are that activating the gem improved your odds of finding gems, Gem Shrines, or just good items in general. Whether or not it actually did any of these things was uncertain in the beginning, but that was almost beside the point. People love to believe in luck, and coincidence and chance, and these fun things are played to by the mysterious gem. It's not as fun to just think you got an item totally by chance. You want to think that it was meant for you, or your destiny, or that you somehow did something special (even if you didn't know you were doing it) that got the game to drop you that skull gem, or Unique sword, or spawn that Gem Shrine.

So human psychology aside, what does the Gem in the Battle.net Chat do? Well, for one thing there are two semi-secret messages that you can get by clicking on it for long enough.

<center>
{|
[[Image:Gem-chat1.jpg]]
|-
[[Image:Gem-chat2.jpg]]
|}
</center>

When most heard of these messages, they suspected a joke. But of course both are true, even the "Mooooo!" one, which has been seen (an reported) by thousands. And of course screenshots don't lie. We have three examples of each, that different people mailed in in the very early days of the game's release. Mooooooo!: Number One, Number Two, and Number Three. And Perfect Gem Activated: Number One, Number Two, and Number Three. The Perfect Gem one feeds the main rumour, that just activating the gem, or especially getting the Perfect Gem Activated, and then creating a game, will cause more gems or Gem Shrines to appear.

==Angry Secret Cow==

[[Image:Gem-chat3.jpg|frame|Milk this.]]The cow sound effect obviously brings to mind thoughts of the [[Secret Cow Level]], a persistent rumor from Diablo I that was embraced by Blizzard in an April Fools screenshot from 1999, a thumbnail of which can be seen to the right. It then was found to have actually gone beyond the rumour and into the "real world," so that upon killing Diablo (or Baal in the Expansion Pack), one can actually visit that Bovine Paradise just a short portal hop away from the Rogue Encampment. (See our Diablo 2 {{iw|Secret_Cow_Level Secret Cow Level}} article.)

But during the Stress Test, most of the speculation revolved about what, if anything, the gem in the chat does in terms of the spawning gems or Gem Shrines in particular. We posted some news about it, and asked for people to test it out and send in their results or thoughts about it. Lots did, the majority thinking, or at least hoping, that it did do something. A few of the many emails are quoted below.

==Blizzard's Official (early) Comment==

Blizzard employees consistently avoided saying much on the record about what the gem in chat does, or doesn't do. Our feeling, from early days, was that it was just a joke, a sort of Easter egg they put in to give people something to poke at while they're in chat. Their early official statement on it can be seen on their Multiplayer FAQ.

:Q: What is the functionality of the Gem in the Diablo II Battle.net Chat room?<br>
:A: While we cannot reveal the purpose or function of the Gem in the Diablo II Battle.net Chat room, we can say that it is working correctly and has more than exceeded our expectations. Also, Blizzard employees cannot confirm or deny any rumors regarding this Gem.

Our take on this somewhat cryptic comment was that it was all a joke. The "exceeded our expectations" part meant their expectations of how interested people would be in the gem and what it might do, and also how many people would spend time poking at it. The fact that all public and private mentions of this gem by Blizzard employees have been sarcastic or sort of snickering seemed to reinforce the idea that it had no real function, other than just as a small Easter egg.

==Expansion Update==

So the consensus for months was that the gem didn't do anything. That it was just a little chat Easter Egg, you can click and play with it, but there's nothing connected to anything on the Realms, it doesn't make more gems drop, or perfect gems drop, or more gem shrines appear, or any of the other numerous theories we still get emailed about all the time. If you get disconnected from Battle.net, but are still showing the chat room (as in no other people appear and you can't get a list of games to join) you can still click to your heart's content on the gem, and get the occasional "Perfect Gem Activated" message.

No one has reported seeing the "Mooooooo!" message (see further down this page) in a long time, so it might have been removed around the time D2X began. There were thoughts that Blizzard would be adding a few new nonsense messages to display in the Expansion, but that didn't come to pass.

The edition of the Blizzard Insider for June 24, 2001, had a question about the Gem in Chat answered by Bill Roper:

: Q: I want to know what the Gem does in the Diablo II Battle.net chat room, and don't tell me you can't say -- just tell me what it does!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br>
: A: After a solid year of silence, we just can't keep the secret anymore. The long awaited answer to one of the most burning questions about Diablo II is simple: It does what it does. When you click on the Gem, it works perfectly every time, and that is what we have always said. To paraphrase Sigmund Freud, "Sometimes a Gem is just a Gem"!

Bill is saying it doesn't do anything, but if you are of the conspiracy mindset, you could just assume he's saying that to try and throw us off the track of what the gem really does! In fact, sure enough, we got e-mails saying just that as people continued to poke at it.

==You Gotta Believe!==

Quotes from players feeding their own dreams.

:I'm about 75% certain I know. If you create a game with that gem lit up, it WILL drop a gem shrine in the game someplace. (least in the stress test) I'm 7/7 so far. Seven times I've done it, all 7 have had gem shrines... 3x not doing it... no gem shrines..."

:"So far, I've tried this on three separate occasions. Each time I tried it, I found at least one gem when I went into the Cave Level 1. Coincidence? Perhaps. But until I read your post regarding this little Easter Egg, I hadn't found a single gem, believe it or not. Thanks alot to the whole team for having the best damn D2 coverage anywhere in the net."

:"When I was playing the stress test I felt like seeing if the little jewel thing on the chat screen did anything. so I activated it and created a game. Little did I know that I found a gem shine where I received a sapphire gem, also when fighting a skeleton champion I received a skull gem... I don't really know if this was just a fluke or the chatroom gem did it, but when it happened I was pretty happy.<br>
:5 new games with gem deactivated.<br>
:5 new games with gem activated.<br>
:10 games, alternating gem activated/deactivated.<br>
:Results: Every game where I had the chat gem activated, I found a(one) gem somewhere before cleaning out all the monsters in the stress test. I didn't find any gems in any game I play with the gem deactivated.

:I ended up with 1 skull, 2 diamond, 1 ruby, 1 topaz, and 5(!) emeralds.

:This is probably one huge set of coincidences, but heck, I figured I'd share my results. ( I wonder what perfect gem activated does)."

:I can't vouch for the "Perfect Gem Activated", since I haven't seen it yet... but I did notice one thing:

:When I started a game with the gem activated, I found 6 gems. That's more gems than I found in all the games it took me to get to level 10.

:I ended up clicking enough to get that perfect gem message and then went through a game by myself. No gem shrine, but I did end up with 10 shrines on the overworld map (not counting dungeon's). Don't know if that's special or not but thought you might like to know.

:It said moooo! when I clicked it 286 times. The next game I found a gem shrine. May work. I dunno. I'll try some more.

:Up until I found out about that little gem, I had only found 1 Gem. When I DID find out about it, I left it on, and found 6 gems in 2 games! I was on a Gem spree, it was amazing. I really do think that if you activate it, the chances of just plain finding Gems on enemies (not just shrines, I still haven't found any of those) will increase. Its my guess that setting it to perfect Gem will place a perfect Gem somewhere in the next game you create. Well, I know I can't prove it, but I really believe it. Good luck, the truth is out there ;)

:"I got the Perfect Gem Activated thing. and in 1 game, I got:
:3 Rings<br>
:1 Amulet<br>
:2 Gem Shrines<br>
:5 Gems<br>
:There were three of us in the game and I had to pay the guys in there to not take the gem shrines (10k each per gem shrine = 40k! Ouch!)<br>
:I have the Flawless Sapphire (soon to be perfect, once I get another gem shrine) to prove it. Thanks."

==Gem Shrine Frequency==

For some actual game info, Gem Shrines are rare, but not all that uncommon. (We have full info on what you do with Gems, and what they do at higher levels on our Gem Stats Page.) The frequency at which they spawned was tweaked a number of times during the Closed Beta, but for the Stress Test they were set back to their least frequent rate, the same rate they spawned at for the start of the Closed Beta. At that rate, which was carried to the actual released game, you'll get one Gem Shrine every three or four games, according to Blizzard North employees. This figure is very rough though, and needs to be leavened with a reflection on how many shrines there are in just one game, and how unlikely you are to actually find each and every one of them. With the Expansion, you have another land in which to find them, but the frequency was not bumped up, to the best of our knowledge.

Another e-mail from a site reader who took part in the Stress Test in Spring of 2000. He talks about some trials with the chat gem, and makes some pretty insightful comments about wishful thinking and superstition in the Gem-hunting business:

:"Well I had it activated early on when I got the stress test and ash000 and I found a gem shrine. That has been my only gem. From then on I have basically forgot about it in my eagerness to jump right in and play. So, without my gem activated I have found ZERO gems, and I search every game I enter throughout the blood mores and the cold plains.

:These gem hunters that I have met use the gem in the chat and they have one of their gems upgraded to flawless and the other up to flawed on their way to three flawless gems for his weapon. It's not an exact test, but it has been done over many games. I know I am now superstitious. Now if it's character specific we'll know about the gem in chat, because I haven't found much, and with the gem activated, if I start finding gems then I will be even more superstitious."

The highest level of gem is "perfect", not "flawless", but you see his point. With this sort of "publicity," and people's willingness to believe, even today there are D2 players who are sure to activate the gem before they play, since it's fun and "you never know". And then if they don't find anything, they tend to not remember, but if they do find something interesting, then the fact that they had the gem activated will stick in their minds, and perception/wishful thinking makes things happen

==No, it Doesn't Do Anything!==

On the other side of the coin are people who tested it and by bad luck didn't find anything cool or notable in the game when they had it activated. Many testers tried it with no results, or no clear results, and we here post a few of their mails. Admittedly, there were a lot fewer "no" mails than "yes" emails. But again, given Bill Roper's comments below, it was clearly all about "wishful thinking." And a person is more likely to write as a believer than as a nay-sayer.

:Yeah I normally turn on the gem, and I have yet to find a gem shrine. ;-)

:I have played with the gem for some time now (more than I should have) and I do not believe it alters the beta in any way… I have a few screenshots while stopping completely when I have gotten Perfect Gem activated and found nothing different playing. I have not felt it gave me any more gems then usual while playing with perfect gem activated. Another anomaly the gem creates though is “Moooo!” which I have a screenshot of. I have not played while stopping on “Mooooo!” But I’m fairly sure that neither while alter the game to make acquiring any item easier as that would be a cheat.

:"It takes forever to get the perfect gem activation. I've found one gem shrine to date and it was in a game without the perfect gem activation message. I've tried it twice with the perfect gem activation and no gem shrines. Ill continue to try it, as I need to make at least as many games as it took to find the first gem shrine for this to be scientific, but so far my impression is as follows: "If it does increase the chance of finding gem shrines it does not increase it so much as to merit the colossal waste of time."

So if we were determining it by majority vote, the "it does... something" crowd would apparently be way ahead. The reporting of it in email is another factor, since a person who thinks they have a exciting new discovery is much more likely to want to email and share the news than someone who has just played half a dozen games and found nothing of any interest.

==Theories and More Theories==

More fun than just whether it does or doesn't give you more gems or Gem Shrines are the semi-wacky theories about other aspects of it. How about a way to get the Perfect Gem Activated more quickly:

:It seems when you click YOUR character then do the gem clicking the perfect gem activated seems to happen right away we tested it and I got it in as little as 4 clicks.

This one is easily tested, and anyone spending more than 30 seconds on Battle.net can establish that a naughty language filter it is not. :-)

:"The gem in the diablo2 chat area filters out curse words. Just thought u might wanna know :)"

The ending quote from a tester who found that it didn't do anything is here, showing that even the skeptics hoped it will do something in the final game.

:I have however heard that the gem may be a way of activating a Trade Screen in the full version but I do not have any real information about that

And there were also wild rumors flying about what it might have been put in place to do in the final. The weakest form of rumour is the old, "My cousin's friend's dad said..." where the attribution is so distant it might as well be a complete fabrication. We don't have any quite that silly, but there are a lot of supposedly "said by a Blizzard employee" type of rumors running around:

:I heard from somebody who has supposedly talked to a customer service rep at Blizzard, and they said the gem is used for trading items in the chat rooms, and will only be included in the final release. This is simply a rumor, but it sounds pretty legit, and would be a cool feature."

There other also rumors quoting Blizzard employees. We heard people say that the gem does or does not do things and they've said they heard it from Geoff Frazier, Max Schaefer, Bill Roper and other well-known Blizzard employees. All hearsay, and no Blizzard employee had said anything about this gem other than vague "It is working perfectly" comments like Bill's above. An example of a fake quote someone mailed us:

:I just happened to meet GFrazier on battle.net (about 07:40 your time), and he told us that the "Perfect Gem Activated" thing is classified until his on-line guide is ready. So I suppose Blizzard will reveal the secret in GFrazier's D2 guide. To quote him, "But when you click it, it currently does not send information to the server." So all you people out there can stop clicking on that stupid gem.

The person who sent this in wasn't trying to trick us, they were fooled into believing the person they were talking to was indeed a real Blizzard employee. You can't trust anyone these days. ;)

==The Chat Gem in Diablo III==

Little is known (obviously) about what will the chat gem do in Diablo III. There's one chat gem at Diablo3.com (official site) which only seems to glow once clicked. When asked in an interview by DiabloFans.com about the Chat Gem, [[Jay Wilson]] simply said: "The Chat Gem... It's working correctly and has more than exceeded our expectations. And nightmares."

==Conclusion==

What does the gem in chat do? Nothing, other than change colours and put up the occasional unusual message. As was explained to us by a Blizzard employee, it was not set up to send data to the server, and that would be necessary in order for it to have any other function than to just "look good."

If you get desynched/disconnected from Battle.net sometime while you are in the channel, try clicking on the Gem. It will still change and give you the very rare "Perfect Gem Activated" message from time to time, even though it's obviously not sending anything to or from the server, since you are disc'ed.

There could be two theories on the original intent: Blizzard put it in there to taunt and amuse us, or it could be that the gem was intended to have a function, but for some reasons that never happened, and they just left the gem in the chat since it's fun to poke at, and they know how people love to run with the wacky rumors and speculation.

Thanks to everyone who sent in the quotes and images used on this page. A partial list of contributors, in no particular order, (we weren't sure if the people would want to be connected directly to their comments at this point ;) includes: ShadowLore, DemonMaelstrom, Reaper49, Foxteeth, Merv, Aerlorn, FluffyDeath, Virgo, Moritz, Nasmodok, and Viscid.

[[category:Speculation]]
[[category:Rumours]]
[[category:battle.net]]

Chat Gem

2009-11-24T02:00:57Z

Leugi:

A lovely blue '''gem''' adorns Battle.net, below center in the window of the Diablo II interface or client. The gem is blue, that is, until it is clicked, a which time it turns to a bright lavender. The gem/button is clickable, and each time you click, it gives either a "Gem Activated" or "Gem Deactivated" messages. But what do those messages mean? And what does it do?
{| align="right" width="33%" style="clear:right; margin:20px 0px 10px 10px;"
| This is another page resurrected from the [http://www.diii.net/ Diabloii.net] archives. We all know by now that the Chat Gem doesn't do anything, but back in 2000, shortly after D2's release, players were in a panic and rumors ran wild. We played along a bit, letting people talk themselves into things, as this page demonstrates.
|}

==Introduction==

Rumors began flying when we first saw the interface. Some of the more colourful stories are detailed below. The most common ones are that activating the gem improved your odds of finding gems, Gem Shrines, or just good items in general. Whether or not it actually did any of these things was uncertain in the beginning, but that was almost beside the point. People love to believe in luck, and coincidence and chance, and these fun things are played to by the mysterious gem. It's not as fun to just think you got an item totally by chance. You want to think that it was meant for you, or your destiny, or that you somehow did something special (even if you didn't know you were doing it) that got the game to drop you that skull gem, or Unique sword, or spawn that Gem Shrine.

So human psychology aside, what does the Gem in the Battle.net Chat do? Well, for one thing there are two semi-secret messages that you can get by clicking on it for long enough.

<center>
{|
[[Image:Gem-chat1.jpg]]
|-
[[Image:Gem-chat2.jpg]]
|}
</center>

When most heard of these messages, they suspected a joke. But of course both are true, even the "Mooooo!" one, which has been seen (an reported) by thousands. And of course screenshots don't lie. We have three examples of each, that different people mailed in in the very early days of the game's release. Mooooooo!: Number One, Number Two, and Number Three. And Perfect Gem Activated: Number One, Number Two, and Number Three. The Perfect Gem one feeds the main rumour, that just activating the gem, or especially getting the Perfect Gem Activated, and then creating a game, will cause more gems or Gem Shrines to appear.

==Angry Secret Cow==

[[Image:Gem-chat3.jpg|frame|Milk this.]]The cow sound effect obviously brings to mind thoughts of the [[Secret Cow Level]], a persistent rumor from Diablo I that was embraced by Blizzard in an April Fools screenshot from 1999, a thumbnail of which can be seen to the right. It then was found to have actually gone beyond the rumour and into the "real world," so that upon killing Diablo (or Baal in the Expansion Pack), one can actually visit that Bovine Paradise just a short portal hop away from the Rogue Encampment. (See our Diablo 2 {{iw|Secret_Cow_Level Secret Cow Level}} article.)

But during the Stress Test, most of the speculation revolved about what, if anything, the gem in the chat does in terms of the spawning gems or Gem Shrines in particular. We posted some news about it, and asked for people to test it out and send in their results or thoughts about it. Lots did, the majority thinking, or at least hoping, that it did do something. A few of the many emails are quoted below.

==Blizzard's Official (early) Comment==

Blizzard employees consistently avoided saying much on the record about what the gem in chat does, or doesn't do. Our feeling, from early days, was that it was just a joke, a sort of Easter egg they put in to give people something to poke at while they're in chat. Their early official statement on it can be seen on their Multiplayer FAQ.

:Q: What is the functionality of the Gem in the Diablo II Battle.net Chat room?<br>
:A: While we cannot reveal the purpose or function of the Gem in the Diablo II Battle.net Chat room, we can say that it is working correctly and has more than exceeded our expectations. Also, Blizzard employees cannot confirm or deny any rumors regarding this Gem.

Our take on this somewhat cryptic comment was that it was all a joke. The "exceeded our expectations" part meant their expectations of how interested people would be in the gem and what it might do, and also how many people would spend time poking at it. The fact that all public and private mentions of this gem by Blizzard employees have been sarcastic or sort of snickering seemed to reinforce the idea that it had no real function, other than just as a small Easter egg.

==Expansion Update==

So the consensus for months was that the gem didn't do anything. That it was just a little chat Easter Egg, you can click and play with it, but there's nothing connected to anything on the Realms, it doesn't make more gems drop, or perfect gems drop, or more gem shrines appear, or any of the other numerous theories we still get emailed about all the time. If you get disconnected from Battle.net, but are still showing the chat room (as in no other people appear and you can't get a list of games to join) you can still click to your heart's content on the gem, and get the occasional "Perfect Gem Activated" message.

No one has reported seeing the "Mooooooo!" message (see further down this page) in a long time, so it might have been removed around the time D2X began. There were thoughts that Blizzard would be adding a few new nonsense messages to display in the Expansion, but that didn't come to pass.

The edition of the Blizzard Insider for June 24, 2001, had a question about the Gem in Chat answered by Bill Roper:

: Q: I want to know what the Gem does in the Diablo II Battle.net chat room, and don't tell me you can't say -- just tell me what it does!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br>
: A: After a solid year of silence, we just can't keep the secret anymore. The long awaited answer to one of the most burning questions about Diablo II is simple: It does what it does. When you click on the Gem, it works perfectly every time, and that is what we have always said. To paraphrase Sigmund Freud, "Sometimes a Gem is just a Gem"!

Bill is saying it doesn't do anything, but if you are of the conspiracy mindset, you could just assume he's saying that to try and throw us off the track of what the gem really does! In fact, sure enough, we got e-mails saying just that as people continued to poke at it.

==You Gotta Believe!==

Quotes from players feeding their own dreams.

:I'm about 75% certain I know. If you create a game with that gem lit up, it WILL drop a gem shrine in the game someplace. (least in the stress test) I'm 7/7 so far. Seven times I've done it, all 7 have had gem shrines... 3x not doing it... no gem shrines..."

:"So far, I've tried this on three separate occasions. Each time I tried it, I found at least one gem when I went into the Cave Level 1. Coincidence? Perhaps. But until I read your post regarding this little Easter Egg, I hadn't found a single gem, believe it or not. Thanks alot to the whole team for having the best damn D2 coverage anywhere in the net."

:"When I was playing the stress test I felt like seeing if the little jewel thing on the chat screen did anything. so I activated it and created a game. Little did I know that I found a gem shine where I received a sapphire gem, also when fighting a skeleton champion I received a skull gem... I don't really know if this was just a fluke or the chatroom gem did it, but when it happened I was pretty happy.<br>
:5 new games with gem deactivated.<br>
:5 new games with gem activated.<br>
:10 games, alternating gem activated/deactivated.<br>
:Results: Every game where I had the chat gem activated, I found a(one) gem somewhere before cleaning out all the monsters in the stress test. I didn't find any gems in any game I play with the gem deactivated.

:I ended up with 1 skull, 2 diamond, 1 ruby, 1 topaz, and 5(!) emeralds.

:This is probably one huge set of coincidences, but heck, I figured I'd share my results. ( I wonder what perfect gem activated does)."

:I can't vouch for the "Perfect Gem Activated", since I haven't seen it yet... but I did notice one thing:

:When I started a game with the gem activated, I found 6 gems. That's more gems than I found in all the games it took me to get to level 10.

:I ended up clicking enough to get that perfect gem message and then went through a game by myself. No gem shrine, but I did end up with 10 shrines on the overworld map (not counting dungeon's). Don't know if that's special or not but thought you might like to know.

:It said moooo! when I clicked it 286 times. The next game I found a gem shrine. May work. I dunno. I'll try some more.

:Up until I found out about that little gem, I had only found 1 Gem. When I DID find out about it, I left it on, and found 6 gems in 2 games! I was on a Gem spree, it was amazing. I really do think that if you activate it, the chances of just plain finding Gems on enemies (not just shrines, I still haven't found any of those) will increase. Its my guess that setting it to perfect Gem will place a perfect Gem somewhere in the next game you create. Well, I know I can't prove it, but I really believe it. Good luck, the truth is out there ;)

:"I got the Perfect Gem Activated thing. and in 1 game, I got:
:3 Rings<br>
:1 Amulet<br>
:2 Gem Shrines<br>
:5 Gems<br>
:There were three of us in the game and I had to pay the guys in there to not take the gem shrines (10k each per gem shrine = 40k! Ouch!)<br>
:I have the Flawless Sapphire (soon to be perfect, once I get another gem shrine) to prove it. Thanks."

==Gem Shrine Frequency==

For some actual game info, Gem Shrines are rare, but not all that uncommon. (We have full info on what you do with Gems, and what they do at higher levels on our Gem Stats Page.) The frequency at which they spawned was tweaked a number of times during the Closed Beta, but for the Stress Test they were set back to their least frequent rate, the same rate they spawned at for the start of the Closed Beta. At that rate, which was carried to the actual released game, you'll get one Gem Shrine every three or four games, according to Blizzard North employees. This figure is very rough though, and needs to be leavened with a reflection on how many shrines there are in just one game, and how unlikely you are to actually find each and every one of them. With the Expansion, you have another land in which to find them, but the frequency was not bumped up, to the best of our knowledge.

Another e-mail from a site reader who took part in the Stress Test in Spring of 2000. He talks about some trials with the chat gem, and makes some pretty insightful comments about wishful thinking and superstition in the Gem-hunting business:

:"Well I had it activated early on when I got the stress test and ash000 and I found a gem shrine. That has been my only gem. From then on I have basically forgot about it in my eagerness to jump right in and play. So, without my gem activated I have found ZERO gems, and I search every game I enter throughout the blood mores and the cold plains.

:These gem hunters that I have met use the gem in the chat and they have one of their gems upgraded to flawless and the other up to flawed on their way to three flawless gems for his weapon. It's not an exact test, but it has been done over many games. I know I am now superstitious. Now if it's character specific we'll know about the gem in chat, because I haven't found much, and with the gem activated, if I start finding gems then I will be even more superstitious."

The highest level of gem is "perfect", not "flawless", but you see his point. With this sort of "publicity," and people's willingness to believe, even today there are D2 players who are sure to activate the gem before they play, since it's fun and "you never know". And then if they don't find anything, they tend to not remember, but if they do find something interesting, then the fact that they had the gem activated will stick in their minds, and perception/wishful thinking makes things happen

==No, it Doesn't Do Anything!==

On the other side of the coin are people who tested it and by bad luck didn't find anything cool or notable in the game when they had it activated. Many testers tried it with no results, or no clear results, and we here post a few of their mails. Admittedly, there were a lot fewer "no" mails than "yes" emails. But again, given Bill Roper's comments below, it was clearly all about "wishful thinking." And a person is more likely to write as a believer than as a nay-sayer.

:Yeah I normally turn on the gem, and I have yet to find a gem shrine. ;-)

:I have played with the gem for some time now (more than I should have) and I do not believe it alters the beta in any way… I have a few screenshots while stopping completely when I have gotten Perfect Gem activated and found nothing different playing. I have not felt it gave me any more gems then usual while playing with perfect gem activated. Another anomaly the gem creates though is “Moooo!” which I have a screenshot of. I have not played while stopping on “Mooooo!” But I’m fairly sure that neither while alter the game to make acquiring any item easier as that would be a cheat.

:"It takes forever to get the perfect gem activation. I've found one gem shrine to date and it was in a game without the perfect gem activation message. I've tried it twice with the perfect gem activation and no gem shrines. Ill continue to try it, as I need to make at least as many games as it took to find the first gem shrine for this to be scientific, but so far my impression is as follows: "If it does increase the chance of finding gem shrines it does not increase it so much as to merit the colossal waste of time."

So if we were determining it by majority vote, the "it does... something" crowd would apparently be way ahead. The reporting of it in email is another factor, since a person who thinks they have a exciting new discovery is much more likely to want to email and share the news than someone who has just played half a dozen games and found nothing of any interest.

==Theories and More Theories==

More fun than just whether it does or doesn't give you more gems or Gem Shrines are the semi-wacky theories about other aspects of it. How about a way to get the Perfect Gem Activated more quickly:

:It seems when you click YOUR character then do the gem clicking the perfect gem activated seems to happen right away we tested it and I got it in as little as 4 clicks.

This one is easily tested, and anyone spending more than 30 seconds on Battle.net can establish that a naughty language filter it is not. :-)

:"The gem in the diablo2 chat area filters out curse words. Just thought u might wanna know :)"

The ending quote from a tester who found that it didn't do anything is here, showing that even the skeptics hoped it will do something in the final game.

:I have however heard that the gem may be a way of activating a Trade Screen in the full version but I do not have any real information about that

And there were also wild rumors flying about what it might have been put in place to do in the final. The weakest form of rumour is the old, "My cousin's friend's dad said..." where the attribution is so distant it might as well be a complete fabrication. We don't have any quite that silly, but there are a lot of supposedly "said by a Blizzard employee" type of rumors running around:

:I heard from somebody who has supposedly talked to a customer service rep at Blizzard, and they said the gem is used for trading items in the chat rooms, and will only be included in the final release. This is simply a rumor, but it sounds pretty legit, and would be a cool feature."

There other also rumors quoting Blizzard employees. We heard people say that the gem does or does not do things and they've said they heard it from Geoff Frazier, Max Schaefer, Bill Roper and other well-known Blizzard employees. All hearsay, and no Blizzard employee had said anything about this gem other than vague "It is working perfectly" comments like Bill's above. An example of a fake quote someone mailed us:

:I just happened to meet GFrazier on battle.net (about 07:40 your time), and he told us that the "Perfect Gem Activated" thing is classified until his on-line guide is ready. So I suppose Blizzard will reveal the secret in GFrazier's D2 guide. To quote him, "But when you click it, it currently does not send information to the server." So all you people out there can stop clicking on that stupid gem.

The person who sent this in wasn't trying to trick us, they were fooled into believing the person they were talking to was indeed a real Blizzard employee. You can't trust anyone these days. ;)

==Conclusion==

What does the gem in chat do? Nothing, other than change colours and put up the occasional unusual message. As was explained to us by a Blizzard employee, it was not set up to send data to the server, and that would be necessary in order for it to have any other function than to just "look good."

If you get desynched/disconnected from Battle.net sometime while you are in the channel, try clicking on the Gem. It will still change and give you the very rare "Perfect Gem Activated" message from time to time, even though it's obviously not sending anything to or from the server, since you are disc'ed.

There could be two theories on the original intent: Blizzard put it in there to taunt and amuse us, or it could be that the gem was intended to have a function, but for some reasons that never happened, and they just left the gem in the chat since it's fun to poke at, and they know how people love to run with the wacky rumors and speculation.

Thanks to everyone who sent in the quotes and images used on this page. A partial list of contributors, in no particular order, (we weren't sure if the people would want to be connected directly to their comments at this point ;) includes: ShadowLore, DemonMaelstrom, Reaper49, Foxteeth, Merv, Aerlorn, FluffyDeath, Virgo, Moritz, Nasmodok, and Viscid.

==The Chat Gem in Diablo III==

Little is known (obviously) about what will the chat gem do in Diablo III. There's one chat gem at Diablo3.com (official site) which only seems to glow once clicked. When asked in an interview by DiabloFans.com about the Chat Gem, [[Jay Wilson]] simply said: "The Chat Gem... It's working correctly and has more than exceeded our expectations. And nightmares."

[[category:Speculation]]
[[category:Rumours]]
[[category:battle.net]]

Ureh

2009-11-24T01:56:39Z

Leugi:

[[image:concept-ureh1.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Ureh cinematic art.]]
'''Ureh''' was thought to have a very high probability to be a playable town in Diablo III. A concept art piece, shown on the right, was named Ureh and there are various official concept art pieces of Ureh seen also in the [http://www.diii.net/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=547&page=2 image gallery]. Nevertheless, [[Jay Wilson]] confirmed Ureh was removed Diablo III, as a "setting to try and get the game out sooner". This means Ureh was originally thought to be part of Diablo III.

[[Image:Ureh.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Ureh on the [[world map]].]]
Ureh was also a featured in a [[Diablo novel]] by [[Richard A. Knaak]] called [[Diablo: The Kingdom of Shadow]]. Seen in the cover, Ureh was a central town in the story. The connection to the books is important seeing how Diablo III Lead Designer [[Jay Wilson]] commented on a recent interview: "people can expect to see characters -- from some of the books." [http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/08/12/diablo-iii-storyline/]

Ureh has also rich background - it is depicted in the book that in its history, it has worked as a gateway to hell. This has lead to speculation about Ureh's importance and place in the story.

==Location==
Ureh is an ancient city built at the feet of mountain [[Nymyr]], in the midst of the eastern jungles of the world of Sanctuary. The jungles inhabited by the [[necromancer]]s.

==References==
* [[Diablo: The Kingdom of Shadow]]
* [http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/08/12/diablo-iii-storyline/ MTV Interview with Jay Wilson]
* [http://diablofans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23550 DiabloFans Interview with Jay Wilson]

{{Sanctuary navbox}}

[[Category:Settlements]]

Ureh

2009-11-24T01:56:01Z

Leugi:

[[image:concept-ureh1.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Ureh cinematic art.]]
'''Ureh''' was thought to be a very high probability to be a playable town in Diablo III. A concept art piece, shown on the right, was named Ureh and there are various official concept art pieces of Ureh seen also in the [http://www.diii.net/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=547&page=2 image gallery]. Nevertheless, [[Jay Wilson]] confirmed Ureh was removed Diablo III, as a "setting to try and get the game out sooner". This means Ureh was originally thought to be part of Diablo III.

[[Image:Ureh.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Ureh on the [[world map]].]]
Ureh was also a featured in a [[Diablo novel]] by [[Richard A. Knaak]] called [[Diablo: The Kingdom of Shadow]]. Seen in the cover, Ureh was a central town in the story. The connection to the books is important seeing how Diablo III Lead Designer [[Jay Wilson]] commented on a recent interview: "people can expect to see characters -- from some of the books." [http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/08/12/diablo-iii-storyline/]

Ureh has also rich background - it is depicted in the book that in its history, it has worked as a gateway to hell. This has lead to speculation about Ureh's importance and place in the story.

==Location==
Ureh is an ancient city built at the feet of mountain [[Nymyr]], in the midst of the eastern jungles of the world of Sanctuary. The jungles inhabited by the [[necromancer]]s.

==References==
* [[Diablo: The Kingdom of Shadow]]
* [http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/08/12/diablo-iii-storyline/ MTV Interview with Jay Wilson]
* [http://diablofans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23550 DiabloFans Interview with Jay Wilson]

{{Sanctuary navbox}}

[[Category:Settlements]]

Skill

2009-11-24T01:48:57Z

Leugi: /* References */

'''Skills''' are what all abilities the character [[class]]es in [[Diablo III]] have are called. A skill includes regular physical abilities like [[Cleave]] or a magical [[spell]] like [[disintegrate]]. 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".

<div style="float:right; clear:right; margin:0px 0px 10px 10px;"><br><br>
__TOC__
</div>
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-barb-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Barbarian skill|Barbarian Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-monk-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Monk skill|Monk Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-wd-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Witch Doctor skill|Witch Doctor Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-wiz-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Wizard skill|Wizard Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]

<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.

* '''[[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.
* '''[[Signature skill]]s''' - Skills that define characters.
* '''[[Active skill]]s''' - Skills where effects are activated by the player.
* '''[[Passive skill]]s''' - Skills where effects are activated automatically, by the computer or by special events.
* Skill [[Rank]]s

==Known Skills==
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.

==Skill Mechanics==
One major change from [[Diablo 2]] is that the various snaking lines of skill prerequisites are gone. In [[Diablo 3]] skills are enabled by spending skill points. In the [[BlizzCon 2009]] build, a character had to place 15 points in various skills before using Tier 4 skills. Which skills you put those points on that tier and below is up to you. This general tier-mechanic has stayed the same since [[BlizzCon 2008]], so will likely carry on to the final game.

==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.

Each tree has about 10-12 skills each, divided into 6 "tiers", of 1-3 skills each.

Although this skill tree system was the official skill system for quite a while on Diablo III, Blizzard is planning to change the skill system removing the tree-type architecture and possibly moving into a purely skill-based system.

==Skill Caps==
Bashiok spoke to this issue in a forum post in May 2009. [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/diablo-iii-skill-trees-innovative-overhaul/]

::''Currently we’re envisioning the majority of skills to be capped at 5 points, to begin with. As a form of progression we're planning for players to be able to increase the point caps of skills. More than likely to a maximum of 15. It's a system that’s still under heavy design, but the fact of choosing and increasing key skills beyond their initial cap is important to this new unified tier system.''

Blizzard has not given any word on how these increased skill caps would be enabled, whether by Clvl requirements, quests/in-game achievements, item bonuses, or something else. Like the other features, it's under construction and will change between now and the game's release.

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==
[[Image:Skill-threatening-shout.jpg|frame|Skill hover, May 2009.]]
The finer points of the skill hover have changed and evolved during the game's development, and will continue to do so. Expect further changes.

Hovering on a skill produces a visual like the one seen to the right. The name of the skill is displayed, along with the current and maximum points that a character may spend in it. The current function is shown, as is the increases you will enjoy with another point.

One prime difference from Diablo II is the slot for a [[skill rune]] that you see below the skill, in the skill tree. Only active skills (as far as is known) have slots for skill runes, and skill runes can be freely socketed and swapped in and out. (Subject to change during further development.) See the skill runes page for more details.

==Active and Passive Skills==
Diablo III skills are either "active" or "passive." There are many more passive skills than active skills. At Blizzcon in October 2008 (a very preliminary build of the game), each skill tree was set up in tiers, with 4 or 5 skills per tier. On each tier, one or two were active and the rest were passive.

Active skills are used by clicking their icon, and are generally direct attacks; things like [[Spirit_Skill_Tree#Soul_Harvest|Soul Harvest]], [[Battlemaster_Skill_Tree#Hammer_of_the_Ancients|Hammer of the Ancients]], or [[Arcane_Skill_Tree#Magic_Missile|Magic Missile]]. Active skills attack, cast a protective armor, stun monsters, etc.

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]. The 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?'''

::'''JW:''' Probably the best way to describe it is that initially, when we're doing skills for a class, we're not thinking anything except "what makes this class awesome? Why do I care about this guy?" Then you say, "Because he can hit the ground and create a small localized earthquake that destroys everything in front of him." That sounds pretty awesome; that sounds like a guy that I'd want to play. So early on, that's really our fixation: What is going to make this class sing? But that only really drives the first half-dozen skills. After that, we start getting into what mechanics have we put in the game that we want this class to take advantage of. For example, with the Wizard, we gave her a passive skill that causes enemies to drop mana orbs -- just like health orbs. So that's a mana-recovery mechanic for her; it plays into her resource and plays into the health-orb system.

::So there, we just said, "We need a recovery mechanism for her -- what would work? Well, we can give her something similar that we already give for health." But then that doesn't mean anything for the Barbarian since he uses a completely different resource. For him, we tend to focus on skills that make him play in a way that's interesting. His "fury resource" is designed to drive the player forward, like a Barbarian, because he's very tough and is a close-quarters combatant. He wants to move forward, because the mechanic is "I have a lot of fury, which helps me deliver a lot of damage, but I'm going to lose it just sitting around." It makes him very aggressive, which is what we wanted out of the character. So that was driven by [the concept of] how do we want this guy to play. Very aggressively, and hence we built this mechanic.

::And lastly, [there's] the monster design. As we get further and further into the game, our goal is to make monsters that we can't figure out how the player can defeat [with the existing skills] and give the player the tools they need to defeat them. So the design of the monsters has a direct relationship to the design of the classes. That's kind of an ongoing thing; we [decide] "Let's create a monster that has really debilitating rooting attacks that just get you stuck when you encounter them." Then we see that this really screws with the Barbarian, so we give him a skill that lets him break out of roots so that he can counter that. Those things are interesting and allow for the player to have a broader, deeper character. On the other hand, we don't want to go too far -- a lot of mechanics of World of WarCraft are based heavily on control, and we want to make sure that Diablo 3 stays mostly a combat game based mostly on attacks.

==School of Skills==
Skills currently lack a lot of information of what type of skill they are. When the game is released, we will be able to decipher a lot more of these. For now, terms such as "schools" of skills (or spells) are generally speculation to make it easier to understand the mechanics behind them.

All abilities, spells etc are classed as "Skills" at the moment, but this could also change. DiabloWiki is simplifying this by talking about three types of skills:
* Magical Skills
* 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.

Extraordinary skills are just that: Extraordinary. Very strong monster/character, someone who can jump very high, use a chemical compound to "breathe fire", etc.

==Development==
[[Image:Barb-berserker-tree.jpg|thumb|150px|Berserker Skill Tree. Oct 2008.]]
The first sighting of skill trees was in the [[BlizzCon 2008]] build where more than 50 skills 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.

At that point there were just 4 tiers of skills. Tier 1 was available at level 1, Tier 2 at level 5, then at 10 and 15. There was a fifth tier at level 20, but no skills were displayed in it. The image to the right is from that era.

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.

[[Image:Skill-tree-berserker.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Berserker Skill Tree]]. April 2009.]]
This layout had changed a great deal by March 2009, when the next skill tree image was released. You see it to the left. The basic form remains, but the skills are staggered out over more tiers. Also note that the tiers are not labelled; they may no longer proceed at 5 point intervals. It's also possible that tiers will grow longer, with higher level skills being added as development proceeds.

[[Image:Wizard_skill_tree.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Barely discernible [[Wizard]] Skill tree at PAX 2009.]]
[[Bashiok]] elaborated on this in a forum post in May 2009 [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/diablo-iii-skill-trees-innovative-overhaul/] saying the trees had been unified to one single page that "allows you to spend wherever you like." This overhaul of the skill system merging the skill trees 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 general theory of skill trees is to encourage character specialization, but not force [[cookie cutter]] style character builds. The removal of individual skill trees means that every character can now pick from all the possible skills; this is great in theory, since players can all use whatever skills they want, Tier conflicts permitting. On the other hand, if the skills aren't very well balanced, every character will end up using the same few skills, since those are the best, and the cookie cutter-ism on [[Battle.net]] could be insane.

[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-barb-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Fan-made representation of how it looked at [[BlizzCon 2009]]. Made by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
Bashiok defended the design saying it "diversifies the types and amounts of builds available to players," and explaining another advantage is that the [[D3 Team]] "don't have to throw in skills that are important, such as damage mitigation, all over the place."

"Every barbarian is probably going to want [[whirlwind]]. And why not? What this tree style allows for, and one reason we’re pretty keen on it, is that we aren’t saying “You’re a ‘berserker’ barbarian, you can’t have whirlwind”. Instead, you’re a [[barbarian]]!, pick the key skills that define you and your character as you want them to be."

Exactly how the D3 Team pulls this off without making every character use the same "best" skills is something worth monitoring as the game continues its development.

The overhaul did also see the removal of many relatively redundant skills, primarily removing [[passive skill]]s.

The whole skill system is being reworked, and Blizzard has said that the skill tree system is being removed completely. [[Bashiok]] mentioned Blizzard is "implementing and will be testing a new system that changes how skills are acquired." (Nov 20, Blizzard’s @Diablo channel at Twitter). Also, on an interview between DiabloFans.com and [[Jay Wilson]], the latter explained a bit about how the new skill system might be. Removing the tree-type architecture and moving into a purely skill-based system. How the skill system will exactly work remains unknown for the time being.

::'''DiabloFans: On the topic of the DiabloWiki.com Monk, can you tell us if the skill trees have been named yet? So far they're listed as "Unnamed Skill Tree 1 - 3". Can we expect to see any more of his skills unveiled soon along with his female counterpart? Also, can tell me a little bit more about the new skill system?'''

::'''Jay Wilson:''' In regards to the female counterpart, she'll be released soon. As far as exact dates go, I really can't talk much about them. A little news about the Skill Tree system should actually go up on our Twitter page pretty soon. About that, we've decided to remove the tree-type architecture and we are moving into a purely skill-based system. This new system is still in the development stages and if it does not work, we still have plenty of options to fall back on. Right now, we're just trying different things and getting a feel for the few ideas in regards to the skill system that we have going on right now. It differs from the World of Warcraft/Diablo II type hierarchical styles and is more of a skill pool/path than a tree per se.'''

==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]]
* [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Skill Tree Graphics Assistance thread at Diii.net]
* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-barbarian-skill-trees-and-stats1/ Full Barbarian Skill Trees and Stats]
* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-monk-skill-tree-discussion-and-status/ Full Monk Skill Tree Stats and Discussion]
* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-witch-doctor-skills/ Full Witch Doctor Skills]
* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-wizard-skill-trees/ Full Wizard Skill Trees]
* [http://diablofans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23550 DiabloFans exclusive interview with Jay Wilson]

{{Skill navbox}}

[[Category:Skills]]
[[Category:Basics]]

User talk:Leugi

2009-11-24T01:42:15Z

Leugi:

==Welcome!==
Nice addition there on [[classes]]. Now that wasn't too hard, was it? ;) What's your next article to edit? --[[User:Leord|Leord]] 12:42, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Modified a bit the [[skill]] wiki page, added the new info about skill trees leaving.

Skill

2009-11-24T01:41:39Z

Leugi: /* Development */

'''Skills''' are what all abilities the character [[class]]es in [[Diablo III]] have are called. A skill includes regular physical abilities like [[Cleave]] or a magical [[spell]] like [[disintegrate]]. 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".

<div style="float:right; clear:right; margin:0px 0px 10px 10px;"><br><br>
__TOC__
</div>
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-barb-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Barbarian skill|Barbarian Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-monk-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Monk skill|Monk Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-wd-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Witch Doctor skill|Witch Doctor Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-wiz-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Wizard skill|Wizard Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]

<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.

* '''[[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.
* '''[[Signature skill]]s''' - Skills that define characters.
* '''[[Active skill]]s''' - Skills where effects are activated by the player.
* '''[[Passive skill]]s''' - Skills where effects are activated automatically, by the computer or by special events.
* Skill [[Rank]]s

==Known Skills==
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.

==Skill Mechanics==
One major change from [[Diablo 2]] is that the various snaking lines of skill prerequisites are gone. In [[Diablo 3]] skills are enabled by spending skill points. In the [[BlizzCon 2009]] build, a character had to place 15 points in various skills before using Tier 4 skills. Which skills you put those points on that tier and below is up to you. This general tier-mechanic has stayed the same since [[BlizzCon 2008]], so will likely carry on to the final game.

==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.

Each tree has about 10-12 skills each, divided into 6 "tiers", of 1-3 skills each.

Although this skill tree system was the official skill system for quite a while on Diablo III, Blizzard is planning to change the skill system removing the tree-type architecture and possibly moving into a purely skill-based system.

==Skill Caps==
Bashiok spoke to this issue in a forum post in May 2009. [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/diablo-iii-skill-trees-innovative-overhaul/]

::''Currently we’re envisioning the majority of skills to be capped at 5 points, to begin with. As a form of progression we're planning for players to be able to increase the point caps of skills. More than likely to a maximum of 15. It's a system that’s still under heavy design, but the fact of choosing and increasing key skills beyond their initial cap is important to this new unified tier system.''

Blizzard has not given any word on how these increased skill caps would be enabled, whether by Clvl requirements, quests/in-game achievements, item bonuses, or something else. Like the other features, it's under construction and will change between now and the game's release.

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==
[[Image:Skill-threatening-shout.jpg|frame|Skill hover, May 2009.]]
The finer points of the skill hover have changed and evolved during the game's development, and will continue to do so. Expect further changes.

Hovering on a skill produces a visual like the one seen to the right. The name of the skill is displayed, along with the current and maximum points that a character may spend in it. The current function is shown, as is the increases you will enjoy with another point.

One prime difference from Diablo II is the slot for a [[skill rune]] that you see below the skill, in the skill tree. Only active skills (as far as is known) have slots for skill runes, and skill runes can be freely socketed and swapped in and out. (Subject to change during further development.) See the skill runes page for more details.

==Active and Passive Skills==
Diablo III skills are either "active" or "passive." There are many more passive skills than active skills. At Blizzcon in October 2008 (a very preliminary build of the game), each skill tree was set up in tiers, with 4 or 5 skills per tier. On each tier, one or two were active and the rest were passive.

Active skills are used by clicking their icon, and are generally direct attacks; things like [[Spirit_Skill_Tree#Soul_Harvest|Soul Harvest]], [[Battlemaster_Skill_Tree#Hammer_of_the_Ancients|Hammer of the Ancients]], or [[Arcane_Skill_Tree#Magic_Missile|Magic Missile]]. Active skills attack, cast a protective armor, stun monsters, etc.

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]. The 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?'''

::'''JW:''' Probably the best way to describe it is that initially, when we're doing skills for a class, we're not thinking anything except "what makes this class awesome? Why do I care about this guy?" Then you say, "Because he can hit the ground and create a small localized earthquake that destroys everything in front of him." That sounds pretty awesome; that sounds like a guy that I'd want to play. So early on, that's really our fixation: What is going to make this class sing? But that only really drives the first half-dozen skills. After that, we start getting into what mechanics have we put in the game that we want this class to take advantage of. For example, with the Wizard, we gave her a passive skill that causes enemies to drop mana orbs -- just like health orbs. So that's a mana-recovery mechanic for her; it plays into her resource and plays into the health-orb system.

::So there, we just said, "We need a recovery mechanism for her -- what would work? Well, we can give her something similar that we already give for health." But then that doesn't mean anything for the Barbarian since he uses a completely different resource. For him, we tend to focus on skills that make him play in a way that's interesting. His "fury resource" is designed to drive the player forward, like a Barbarian, because he's very tough and is a close-quarters combatant. He wants to move forward, because the mechanic is "I have a lot of fury, which helps me deliver a lot of damage, but I'm going to lose it just sitting around." It makes him very aggressive, which is what we wanted out of the character. So that was driven by [the concept of] how do we want this guy to play. Very aggressively, and hence we built this mechanic.

::And lastly, [there's] the monster design. As we get further and further into the game, our goal is to make monsters that we can't figure out how the player can defeat [with the existing skills] and give the player the tools they need to defeat them. So the design of the monsters has a direct relationship to the design of the classes. That's kind of an ongoing thing; we [decide] "Let's create a monster that has really debilitating rooting attacks that just get you stuck when you encounter them." Then we see that this really screws with the Barbarian, so we give him a skill that lets him break out of roots so that he can counter that. Those things are interesting and allow for the player to have a broader, deeper character. On the other hand, we don't want to go too far -- a lot of mechanics of World of WarCraft are based heavily on control, and we want to make sure that Diablo 3 stays mostly a combat game based mostly on attacks.

==School of Skills==
Skills currently lack a lot of information of what type of skill they are. When the game is released, we will be able to decipher a lot more of these. For now, terms such as "schools" of skills (or spells) are generally speculation to make it easier to understand the mechanics behind them.

All abilities, spells etc are classed as "Skills" at the moment, but this could also change. DiabloWiki is simplifying this by talking about three types of skills:
* Magical Skills
* 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.

Extraordinary skills are just that: Extraordinary. Very strong monster/character, someone who can jump very high, use a chemical compound to "breathe fire", etc.

==Development==
[[Image:Barb-berserker-tree.jpg|thumb|150px|Berserker Skill Tree. Oct 2008.]]
The first sighting of skill trees was in the [[BlizzCon 2008]] build where more than 50 skills 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.

At that point there were just 4 tiers of skills. Tier 1 was available at level 1, Tier 2 at level 5, then at 10 and 15. There was a fifth tier at level 20, but no skills were displayed in it. The image to the right is from that era.

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.

[[Image:Skill-tree-berserker.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Berserker Skill Tree]]. April 2009.]]
This layout had changed a great deal by March 2009, when the next skill tree image was released. You see it to the left. The basic form remains, but the skills are staggered out over more tiers. Also note that the tiers are not labelled; they may no longer proceed at 5 point intervals. It's also possible that tiers will grow longer, with higher level skills being added as development proceeds.

[[Image:Wizard_skill_tree.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Barely discernible [[Wizard]] Skill tree at PAX 2009.]]
[[Bashiok]] elaborated on this in a forum post in May 2009 [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/diablo-iii-skill-trees-innovative-overhaul/] saying the trees had been unified to one single page that "allows you to spend wherever you like." This overhaul of the skill system merging the skill trees 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 general theory of skill trees is to encourage character specialization, but not force [[cookie cutter]] style character builds. The removal of individual skill trees means that every character can now pick from all the possible skills; this is great in theory, since players can all use whatever skills they want, Tier conflicts permitting. On the other hand, if the skills aren't very well balanced, every character will end up using the same few skills, since those are the best, and the cookie cutter-ism on [[Battle.net]] could be insane.

[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-barb-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Fan-made representation of how it looked at [[BlizzCon 2009]]. Made by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
Bashiok defended the design saying it "diversifies the types and amounts of builds available to players," and explaining another advantage is that the [[D3 Team]] "don't have to throw in skills that are important, such as damage mitigation, all over the place."

"Every barbarian is probably going to want [[whirlwind]]. And why not? What this tree style allows for, and one reason we’re pretty keen on it, is that we aren’t saying “You’re a ‘berserker’ barbarian, you can’t have whirlwind”. Instead, you’re a [[barbarian]]!, pick the key skills that define you and your character as you want them to be."

Exactly how the D3 Team pulls this off without making every character use the same "best" skills is something worth monitoring as the game continues its development.

The overhaul did also see the removal of many relatively redundant skills, primarily removing [[passive skill]]s.

The whole skill system is being reworked, and Blizzard has said that the skill tree system is being removed completely. [[Bashiok]] mentioned Blizzard is "implementing and will be testing a new system that changes how skills are acquired." (Nov 20, Blizzard’s @Diablo channel at Twitter). Also, on an interview between DiabloFans.com and [[Jay Wilson]], the latter explained a bit about how the new skill system might be. Removing the tree-type architecture and moving into a purely skill-based system. How the skill system will exactly work remains unknown for the time being.

::'''DiabloFans: On the topic of the DiabloWiki.com Monk, can you tell us if the skill trees have been named yet? So far they're listed as "Unnamed Skill Tree 1 - 3". Can we expect to see any more of his skills unveiled soon along with his female counterpart? Also, can tell me a little bit more about the new skill system?'''

::'''Jay Wilson:''' In regards to the female counterpart, she'll be released soon. As far as exact dates go, I really can't talk much about them. A little news about the Skill Tree system should actually go up on our Twitter page pretty soon. About that, we've decided to remove the tree-type architecture and we are moving into a purely skill-based system. This new system is still in the development stages and if it does not work, we still have plenty of options to fall back on. Right now, we're just trying different things and getting a feel for the few ideas in regards to the skill system that we have going on right now. It differs from the World of Warcraft/Diablo II type hierarchical styles and is more of a skill pool/path than a tree per se.'''

==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]]
* [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Skill Tree Graphics Assistance thread at Diii.net]
* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-barbarian-skill-trees-and-stats1/ Full Barbarian Skill Trees and Stats]
* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-monk-skill-tree-discussion-and-status/ Full Monk Skill Tree Stats and Discussion]
* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-witch-doctor-skills/ Full Witch Doctor Skills]
* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-wizard-skill-trees/ Full Wizard Skill Trees]

{{Skill navbox}}

[[Category:Skills]]
[[Category:Basics]]

Skill

2009-11-24T01:36:32Z

Leugi: /* Development */

'''Skills''' are what all abilities the character [[class]]es in [[Diablo III]] have are called. A skill includes regular physical abilities like [[Cleave]] or a magical [[spell]] like [[disintegrate]]. 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".

<div style="float:right; clear:right; margin:0px 0px 10px 10px;"><br><br>
__TOC__
</div>
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-barb-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Barbarian skill|Barbarian Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-monk-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Monk skill|Monk Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-wd-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Witch Doctor skill|Witch Doctor Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-wiz-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Wizard skill|Wizard Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]

<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.

* '''[[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.
* '''[[Signature skill]]s''' - Skills that define characters.
* '''[[Active skill]]s''' - Skills where effects are activated by the player.
* '''[[Passive skill]]s''' - Skills where effects are activated automatically, by the computer or by special events.
* Skill [[Rank]]s

==Known Skills==
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.

==Skill Mechanics==
One major change from [[Diablo 2]] is that the various snaking lines of skill prerequisites are gone. In [[Diablo 3]] skills are enabled by spending skill points. In the [[BlizzCon 2009]] build, a character had to place 15 points in various skills before using Tier 4 skills. Which skills you put those points on that tier and below is up to you. This general tier-mechanic has stayed the same since [[BlizzCon 2008]], so will likely carry on to the final game.

==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.

Each tree has about 10-12 skills each, divided into 6 "tiers", of 1-3 skills each.

Although this skill tree system was the official skill system for quite a while on Diablo III, Blizzard is planning to change the skill system removing the tree-type architecture and possibly moving into a purely skill-based system.

==Skill Caps==
Bashiok spoke to this issue in a forum post in May 2009. [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/diablo-iii-skill-trees-innovative-overhaul/]

::''Currently we’re envisioning the majority of skills to be capped at 5 points, to begin with. As a form of progression we're planning for players to be able to increase the point caps of skills. More than likely to a maximum of 15. It's a system that’s still under heavy design, but the fact of choosing and increasing key skills beyond their initial cap is important to this new unified tier system.''

Blizzard has not given any word on how these increased skill caps would be enabled, whether by Clvl requirements, quests/in-game achievements, item bonuses, or something else. Like the other features, it's under construction and will change between now and the game's release.

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==
[[Image:Skill-threatening-shout.jpg|frame|Skill hover, May 2009.]]
The finer points of the skill hover have changed and evolved during the game's development, and will continue to do so. Expect further changes.

Hovering on a skill produces a visual like the one seen to the right. The name of the skill is displayed, along with the current and maximum points that a character may spend in it. The current function is shown, as is the increases you will enjoy with another point.

One prime difference from Diablo II is the slot for a [[skill rune]] that you see below the skill, in the skill tree. Only active skills (as far as is known) have slots for skill runes, and skill runes can be freely socketed and swapped in and out. (Subject to change during further development.) See the skill runes page for more details.

==Active and Passive Skills==
Diablo III skills are either "active" or "passive." There are many more passive skills than active skills. At Blizzcon in October 2008 (a very preliminary build of the game), each skill tree was set up in tiers, with 4 or 5 skills per tier. On each tier, one or two were active and the rest were passive.

Active skills are used by clicking their icon, and are generally direct attacks; things like [[Spirit_Skill_Tree#Soul_Harvest|Soul Harvest]], [[Battlemaster_Skill_Tree#Hammer_of_the_Ancients|Hammer of the Ancients]], or [[Arcane_Skill_Tree#Magic_Missile|Magic Missile]]. Active skills attack, cast a protective armor, stun monsters, etc.

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]. The 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?'''

::'''JW:''' Probably the best way to describe it is that initially, when we're doing skills for a class, we're not thinking anything except "what makes this class awesome? Why do I care about this guy?" Then you say, "Because he can hit the ground and create a small localized earthquake that destroys everything in front of him." That sounds pretty awesome; that sounds like a guy that I'd want to play. So early on, that's really our fixation: What is going to make this class sing? But that only really drives the first half-dozen skills. After that, we start getting into what mechanics have we put in the game that we want this class to take advantage of. For example, with the Wizard, we gave her a passive skill that causes enemies to drop mana orbs -- just like health orbs. So that's a mana-recovery mechanic for her; it plays into her resource and plays into the health-orb system.

::So there, we just said, "We need a recovery mechanism for her -- what would work? Well, we can give her something similar that we already give for health." But then that doesn't mean anything for the Barbarian since he uses a completely different resource. For him, we tend to focus on skills that make him play in a way that's interesting. His "fury resource" is designed to drive the player forward, like a Barbarian, because he's very tough and is a close-quarters combatant. He wants to move forward, because the mechanic is "I have a lot of fury, which helps me deliver a lot of damage, but I'm going to lose it just sitting around." It makes him very aggressive, which is what we wanted out of the character. So that was driven by [the concept of] how do we want this guy to play. Very aggressively, and hence we built this mechanic.

::And lastly, [there's] the monster design. As we get further and further into the game, our goal is to make monsters that we can't figure out how the player can defeat [with the existing skills] and give the player the tools they need to defeat them. So the design of the monsters has a direct relationship to the design of the classes. That's kind of an ongoing thing; we [decide] "Let's create a monster that has really debilitating rooting attacks that just get you stuck when you encounter them." Then we see that this really screws with the Barbarian, so we give him a skill that lets him break out of roots so that he can counter that. Those things are interesting and allow for the player to have a broader, deeper character. On the other hand, we don't want to go too far -- a lot of mechanics of World of WarCraft are based heavily on control, and we want to make sure that Diablo 3 stays mostly a combat game based mostly on attacks.

==School of Skills==
Skills currently lack a lot of information of what type of skill they are. When the game is released, we will be able to decipher a lot more of these. For now, terms such as "schools" of skills (or spells) are generally speculation to make it easier to understand the mechanics behind them.

All abilities, spells etc are classed as "Skills" at the moment, but this could also change. DiabloWiki is simplifying this by talking about three types of skills:
* Magical Skills
* 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.

Extraordinary skills are just that: Extraordinary. Very strong monster/character, someone who can jump very high, use a chemical compound to "breathe fire", etc.

==Development==
[[Image:Barb-berserker-tree.jpg|thumb|150px|Berserker Skill Tree. Oct 2008.]]
The first sighting of skill trees was in the [[BlizzCon 2008]] build where more than 50 skills 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.

At that point there were just 4 tiers of skills. Tier 1 was available at level 1, Tier 2 at level 5, then at 10 and 15. There was a fifth tier at level 20, but no skills were displayed in it. The image to the right is from that era.

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.

[[Image:Skill-tree-berserker.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Berserker Skill Tree]]. April 2009.]]
This layout had changed a great deal by March 2009, when the next skill tree image was released. You see it to the left. The basic form remains, but the skills are staggered out over more tiers. Also note that the tiers are not labelled; they may no longer proceed at 5 point intervals. It's also possible that tiers will grow longer, with higher level skills being added as development proceeds.

[[Image:Wizard_skill_tree.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Barely discernible [[Wizard]] Skill tree at PAX 2009.]]
[[Bashiok]] elaborated on this in a forum post in May 2009 [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/diablo-iii-skill-trees-innovative-overhaul/] saying the trees had been unified to one single page that "allows you to spend wherever you like." This overhaul of the skill system merging the skill trees 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 general theory of skill trees is to encourage character specialization, but not force [[cookie cutter]] style character builds. The removal of individual skill trees means that every character can now pick from all the possible skills; this is great in theory, since players can all use whatever skills they want, Tier conflicts permitting. On the other hand, if the skills aren't very well balanced, every character will end up using the same few skills, since those are the best, and the cookie cutter-ism on [[Battle.net]] could be insane.

[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-barb-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Fan-made representation of how it looked at [[BlizzCon 2009]]. Made by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
Bashiok defended the design saying it "diversifies the types and amounts of builds available to players," and explaining another advantage is that the [[D3 Team]] "don't have to throw in skills that are important, such as damage mitigation, all over the place."

"Every barbarian is probably going to want [[whirlwind]]. And why not? What this tree style allows for, and one reason we’re pretty keen on it, is that we aren’t saying “You’re a ‘berserker’ barbarian, you can’t have whirlwind”. Instead, you’re a [[barbarian]]!, pick the key skills that define you and your character as you want them to be."

Exactly how the D3 Team pulls this off without making every character use the same "best" skills is something worth monitoring as the game continues its development.

The overhaul did also see the removal of many relatively redundant skills, primarily removing [[passive skill]]s.

The whole skill system is being reworked, and Blizzard has said that the skill tree system is being removed completely

==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]]
* [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Skill Tree Graphics Assistance thread at Diii.net]
* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-barbarian-skill-trees-and-stats1/ Full Barbarian Skill Trees and Stats]
* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-monk-skill-tree-discussion-and-status/ Full Monk Skill Tree Stats and Discussion]
* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-witch-doctor-skills/ Full Witch Doctor Skills]
* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-wizard-skill-trees/ Full Wizard Skill Trees]

{{Skill navbox}}

[[Category:Skills]]
[[Category:Basics]]

Skill

2009-11-24T01:31:58Z

Leugi:

'''Skills''' are what all abilities the character [[class]]es in [[Diablo III]] have are called. A skill includes regular physical abilities like [[Cleave]] or a magical [[spell]] like [[disintegrate]]. 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".

<div style="float:right; clear:right; margin:0px 0px 10px 10px;"><br><br>
__TOC__
</div>
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-barb-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Barbarian skill|Barbarian Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-monk-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Monk skill|Monk Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-wd-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Witch Doctor skill|Witch Doctor Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-wiz-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Wizard skill|Wizard Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]

<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.

* '''[[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.
* '''[[Signature skill]]s''' - Skills that define characters.
* '''[[Active skill]]s''' - Skills where effects are activated by the player.
* '''[[Passive skill]]s''' - Skills where effects are activated automatically, by the computer or by special events.
* Skill [[Rank]]s

==Known Skills==
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.

==Skill Mechanics==
One major change from [[Diablo 2]] is that the various snaking lines of skill prerequisites are gone. In [[Diablo 3]] skills are enabled by spending skill points. In the [[BlizzCon 2009]] build, a character had to place 15 points in various skills before using Tier 4 skills. Which skills you put those points on that tier and below is up to you. This general tier-mechanic has stayed the same since [[BlizzCon 2008]], so will likely carry on to the final game.

==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.

Each tree has about 10-12 skills each, divided into 6 "tiers", of 1-3 skills each.

Although this skill tree system was the official skill system for quite a while on Diablo III, Blizzard is planning to change the skill system removing the tree-type architecture and possibly moving into a purely skill-based system.

==Skill Caps==
Bashiok spoke to this issue in a forum post in May 2009. [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/diablo-iii-skill-trees-innovative-overhaul/]

::''Currently we’re envisioning the majority of skills to be capped at 5 points, to begin with. As a form of progression we're planning for players to be able to increase the point caps of skills. More than likely to a maximum of 15. It's a system that’s still under heavy design, but the fact of choosing and increasing key skills beyond their initial cap is important to this new unified tier system.''

Blizzard has not given any word on how these increased skill caps would be enabled, whether by Clvl requirements, quests/in-game achievements, item bonuses, or something else. Like the other features, it's under construction and will change between now and the game's release.

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==
[[Image:Skill-threatening-shout.jpg|frame|Skill hover, May 2009.]]
The finer points of the skill hover have changed and evolved during the game's development, and will continue to do so. Expect further changes.

Hovering on a skill produces a visual like the one seen to the right. The name of the skill is displayed, along with the current and maximum points that a character may spend in it. The current function is shown, as is the increases you will enjoy with another point.

One prime difference from Diablo II is the slot for a [[skill rune]] that you see below the skill, in the skill tree. Only active skills (as far as is known) have slots for skill runes, and skill runes can be freely socketed and swapped in and out. (Subject to change during further development.) See the skill runes page for more details.

==Active and Passive Skills==
Diablo III skills are either "active" or "passive." There are many more passive skills than active skills. At Blizzcon in October 2008 (a very preliminary build of the game), each skill tree was set up in tiers, with 4 or 5 skills per tier. On each tier, one or two were active and the rest were passive.

Active skills are used by clicking their icon, and are generally direct attacks; things like [[Spirit_Skill_Tree#Soul_Harvest|Soul Harvest]], [[Battlemaster_Skill_Tree#Hammer_of_the_Ancients|Hammer of the Ancients]], or [[Arcane_Skill_Tree#Magic_Missile|Magic Missile]]. Active skills attack, cast a protective armor, stun monsters, etc.

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]. The 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?'''

::'''JW:''' Probably the best way to describe it is that initially, when we're doing skills for a class, we're not thinking anything except "what makes this class awesome? Why do I care about this guy?" Then you say, "Because he can hit the ground and create a small localized earthquake that destroys everything in front of him." That sounds pretty awesome; that sounds like a guy that I'd want to play. So early on, that's really our fixation: What is going to make this class sing? But that only really drives the first half-dozen skills. After that, we start getting into what mechanics have we put in the game that we want this class to take advantage of. For example, with the Wizard, we gave her a passive skill that causes enemies to drop mana orbs -- just like health orbs. So that's a mana-recovery mechanic for her; it plays into her resource and plays into the health-orb system.

::So there, we just said, "We need a recovery mechanism for her -- what would work? Well, we can give her something similar that we already give for health." But then that doesn't mean anything for the Barbarian since he uses a completely different resource. For him, we tend to focus on skills that make him play in a way that's interesting. His "fury resource" is designed to drive the player forward, like a Barbarian, because he's very tough and is a close-quarters combatant. He wants to move forward, because the mechanic is "I have a lot of fury, which helps me deliver a lot of damage, but I'm going to lose it just sitting around." It makes him very aggressive, which is what we wanted out of the character. So that was driven by [the concept of] how do we want this guy to play. Very aggressively, and hence we built this mechanic.

::And lastly, [there's] the monster design. As we get further and further into the game, our goal is to make monsters that we can't figure out how the player can defeat [with the existing skills] and give the player the tools they need to defeat them. So the design of the monsters has a direct relationship to the design of the classes. That's kind of an ongoing thing; we [decide] "Let's create a monster that has really debilitating rooting attacks that just get you stuck when you encounter them." Then we see that this really screws with the Barbarian, so we give him a skill that lets him break out of roots so that he can counter that. Those things are interesting and allow for the player to have a broader, deeper character. On the other hand, we don't want to go too far -- a lot of mechanics of World of WarCraft are based heavily on control, and we want to make sure that Diablo 3 stays mostly a combat game based mostly on attacks.

==School of Skills==
Skills currently lack a lot of information of what type of skill they are. When the game is released, we will be able to decipher a lot more of these. For now, terms such as "schools" of skills (or spells) are generally speculation to make it easier to understand the mechanics behind them.

All abilities, spells etc are classed as "Skills" at the moment, but this could also change. DiabloWiki is simplifying this by talking about three types of skills:
* Magical Skills
* 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.

Extraordinary skills are just that: Extraordinary. Very strong monster/character, someone who can jump very high, use a chemical compound to "breathe fire", etc.

==Development==
[[Image:Barb-berserker-tree.jpg|thumb|150px|Berserker Skill Tree. Oct 2008.]]
The first sighting of skill trees was in the [[BlizzCon 2008]] build where more than 50 skills 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.

At that point there were just 4 tiers of skills. Tier 1 was available at level 1, Tier 2 at level 5, then at 10 and 15. There was a fifth tier at level 20, but no skills were displayed in it. The image to the right is from that era.

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.

[[Image:Skill-tree-berserker.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Berserker Skill Tree]]. April 2009.]]
This layout had changed a great deal by March 2009, when the next skill tree image was released. You see it to the left. The basic form remains, but the skills are staggered out over more tiers. Also note that the tiers are not labelled; they may no longer proceed at 5 point intervals. It's also possible that tiers will grow longer, with higher level skills being added as development proceeds.

[[Image:Wizard_skill_tree.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Barely discernible [[Wizard]] Skill tree at PAX 2009.]]
[[Bashiok]] elaborated on this in a forum post in May 2009 [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/diablo-iii-skill-trees-innovative-overhaul/] saying the trees had been unified to one single page that "allows you to spend wherever you like." This overhaul of the skill system merging the skill trees 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 general theory of skill trees is to encourage character specialization, but not force [[cookie cutter]] style character builds. The removal of individual skill trees means that every character can now pick from all the possible skills; this is great in theory, since players can all use whatever skills they want, Tier conflicts permitting. On the other hand, if the skills aren't very well balanced, every character will end up using the same few skills, since those are the best, and the cookie cutter-ism on [[Battle.net]] could be insane.

[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-barb-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Fan-made representation of how it looked at [[BlizzCon 2009]]. Made by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
Bashiok defended the design saying it "diversifies the types and amounts of builds available to players," and explaining another advantage is that the [[D3 Team]] "don't have to throw in skills that are important, such as damage mitigation, all over the place."

"Every barbarian is probably going to want [[whirlwind]]. And why not? What this tree style allows for, and one reason we’re pretty keen on it, is that we aren’t saying “You’re a ‘berserker’ barbarian, you can’t have whirlwind”. Instead, you’re a [[barbarian]]!, pick the key skills that define you and your character as you want them to be."

Exactly how the D3 Team pulls this off without making every character use the same "best" skills is something worth monitoring as the game continues its development.

The overhaul did also see 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]]
* [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Skill Tree Graphics Assistance thread at Diii.net]
* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-barbarian-skill-trees-and-stats1/ Full Barbarian Skill Trees and Stats]
* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-monk-skill-tree-discussion-and-status/ Full Monk Skill Tree Stats and Discussion]
* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-witch-doctor-skills/ Full Witch Doctor Skills]
* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-wizard-skill-trees/ Full Wizard Skill Trees]

{{Skill navbox}}

[[Category:Skills]]
[[Category:Basics]]

Classes

2009-11-19T18:25:58Z

Leugi:

Three classes have been revealed thus far:

* [[Barbarian]] - Mighty warrior returning from Diablo II.
** [[Barbarian skills]] - Experienced and powerful, a master of physical combat.
* [[Witch Doctor]] - Spellcasting shaman from the jungles of [[Sanctuary]].
** [[Witch Doctor skills]] - Battles with zombies, the plague, and fire.
* [[Wizard]] - Rebellious and powerful, the young magic wielder explores dangerous arcane arts.
** [[Wizard skills]] - Manipulator of time, storms, and conjuring.
* [[Monk]] - Peaceful man from the monasteries of [[Ivgorod]], with the divine quest of destroying evil in all forms.
** [[Monk skills]] - Martial arts, debuffing, defensive skills, and holy magic.
* [[Archivist]] - Spellcasting by the use of scrolls and tomes.
** [[Archivist skills]] - Lorenado, Quest Bolt, Shush

You can also visit the [[:Category:Classes|Class Category]] for all articles related to Diablo III classes.

[[Category:Classes]]

Classes

2009-11-19T18:23:07Z

Leugi:

Three classes have been revealed thus far:

* [[Barbarian]] - Mighty warrior returning from Diablo II.
** [[Barbarian skills]] - Experienced and powerful, a master of physical combat.
* [[Witch Doctor]] - Spellcasting shaman from the jungles of [[Sanctuary]].
** [[Witch Doctor skills]] - Battles with zombies, the plague, and fire.
* [[Wizard]] - Rebellious and powerful, the young magic wielder explores dangerous arcane arts.
** [[Wizard skills]] - Manipulator of time, storms, and conjuring.
* [[Monk]] - Peaceful man from [[Ivgorod]], with the divine quest of destroying evil in all forms.
** [[Monk skills]] - Martial arts, debuffing, defensive skills, and holy magic.
* [[Archivist]] - Spellcasting by the use of scrolls and tomes.
** [[Archivist skills]] - Lorenado, Quest Bolt, Shush

You can also visit the [[:Category:Classes|Class Category]] for all articles related to Diablo III classes.

[[Category:Classes]]

Classes

2009-11-19T18:22:24Z

Leugi:

Three classes have been revealed thus far:

* [[Barbarian]] - Mighty warrior returning from Diablo II.
** [[Barbarian skills]] - Experienced and powerful, a master of physical combat.
* [[Witch Doctor]] - Spellcasting shaman from the jungles of [[Sanctuary]].
** [[Witch Doctor skills]] - Battles with zombies, the plague, and fire.
* [[Wizard]] - Rebellious and powerful, the young magic wielder explores dangerous arcane arts.
** [[Wizard skills]] - Manipulator of time, storms, and conjuring.
* [[Monk]] - Peaceful man, from [[Ivgorod]], with the divine quest of destroying evil in all forms.
** [[Monk skills]] - Martial arts, debuffing, defensive skills, and holy magic.
* [[Archivist]] - Spellcasting by the use of scrolls and tomes.
** [[Archivist skills]] - Lorenado, Quest Bolt, Shush

You can also visit the [[:Category:Classes|Class Category]] for all articles related to Diablo III classes.

[[Category:Classes]]

Classes

2009-11-19T18:19:15Z

Leugi:

Three classes have been revealed thus far:

* [[Barbarian]] - Mighty warrior returning from Diablo II.
** [[Barbarian skills]] - Experienced and powerful, a master of physical combat.
* [[Witch Doctor]] - Spellcasting shaman from the jungles of [[Sanctuary]].
** [[Witch Doctor skills]] - Battles with zombies, the plague, and fire.
* [[Wizard]] - Rebellious and powerful, the young magic wielder explores dangerous arcane arts.
** [[Wizard skills]] - Manipulator of time, storms, and conjuring.
* [[Monk]] - Wise spiritual peaceful man, with the divine quest of destroying evil in all forms.
** [[Monk skills]] - Martial arts, debuffing, defensive skills, and holy magic.
* [[Archivist]] - Spellcasting by the use of scrolls and tomes.
** [[Archivist skills]] - Lorenado, Quest Bolt, Shush

You can also visit the [[:Category:Classes|Class Category]] for all articles related to Diablo III classes.

[[Category:Classes]]