Difference between revisions of "Charged Bolt"

Revision as of 23:25, 7 February 2011

Charged Bolt is a Wizard Tier 1 skill unlocked at level 2, launching electric charges that travel randomly on the floor, dealing lightning damage.

Background

Diablo III Skill [e]

Charged Bolt Active, 5 ranks
Used by:	Wizard
Skill Description:
Launch a volley of 3 electric bolts that deal X-Y lightning damage each.
Skill Details:
Type:	Direct Damage
Quantity:	1-2 damage
Effect:	Random bolt
School:	Lightning
Arcane Power cost:	2
Cast time:	Instant
Duration:	None
Cooldown:	1.5 sec
Synergies:	None
Requires:	N/A
Prereq of:	N/A

The true essence of Electromagnetism exists on the threshold of the Ethereal and the Physical Realms. While it is very efficient to transform Mana into electrical energy, it is extremely difficult to control. This spell calls into being multiple pockets of lightning which seem to have a will of their own.

The Wizard has not only the fancy illegal spells at her disposal. Charged Bolt, something even the newest of Vizjerei neonytes learn, is one of the few spells she picked up in actual classes at the old mage clan, or possibly at Zann Esu before they kicked her out.

Skill Design

The Wizard and her carpet.

The spell familiar from Diablo I and Diablo II returns in Diablo III. As previously, Charged Bolt send out a smattering of randomly-scattering charges, each of which deal minor damage to any enemy that passes over them. The strength of Charged Bolt comes not from the damage of each bolt, but from the carpeting effect of repeated casts, since it's a spell with very low mana cost. These can turn the floor into a field of death for any enemy without lightning immunity.

The spell summons three little crackling bits of lightning that zig and zag a bit, but move in a more or less straight line away from the Wizard. It seemed that the bolts spread out quite a bit more than they did in D2, and that made it hard to hit anything in front of me with more than one bolt.[1] That's not how it looks in more recent screenshots though, where the bolts seem to carpet the dungeon floor quite nicely. More testing will be required.

At BlizzCon 2009 the damage had been lowered from 1-8 to 1-2, but the mana had also gone down significantly (to 2). Using this spell together with high spell crit would likely stun enemies a lot, considering lightning crits now stun targets.

Skill Rank Table

Rank 1: 1-2 damage per bolt.
Rank 2: 2-4 damage per bolt. (A)
Rank 3: 3-6 damage per bolt. (A)
Rank 4: 4-8 damage per bolt. (A)
Rank 5: 5-10 damage per bolt. (A)

(A) = Assumed

Synergies

Charged Bolt benefits directly from the following traits:

Glass Cannon: Increases damage done by spells and increases armor.
Intimidation: Increases damage done and reduces vendor costs.
Quickening: Increases spell casting speed.
Beast Hunter: Damage bonus against beasts.
Demonsbane: Damage bonus against Demons.
Just...Stay...Dead!: Damage bonus against undead.
Power Surge: Increase critical strike damage.
Penetrating Spells: Reduces the resistances of your target to your spells by 20%.

Skill Rune Effects

None known.

Development

Charged Bolt was first shown at BlizzCon 2008, and was still in the game at BlizzCon 2009. In 2009 it had a much lower mana cost, and significantly lower damage than in 2008, indicating the spell is now more used for the "carpet effect" of previous games. At BlizzCon 2010, it was still in the game but wasn't one of the Wizard's starting skills.

Previous Games:
Charged Bolt was introduced in Diablo I, where it was, as it is now, a very cheap spell to cast multiple times in hopes of killing many enemies with a carpet of lightning. The Diablo I Manual describes "true essence of Electromagnetism exists on the threshold of the Ethereal and the Physical Realms. While it is very efficient to transform Mana into electrical energy, it is extremely difficult to control." The spell calls in pockets of lightning that just crawls around randomly, in a general direction.

This first version of the spell increased number of charges as well as damage when higher levels of the spell have been found.

The second iteration of Charged Bolt was a Sorceress spell in Diablo II, and is basically identical in design. It's one of few Tier 1 spells in the skill trees that scale well even at higher levels, being quite useful at max level.

Media

You can find pictures in the Diablo 3 screenshot and picture gallery:

References

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''Charged Bolt''' is a Tier 1 [[skill]] unlocked for the [[Wizard]] at level 2, launching electric charges that travel randomly on the floor, dealing [[lightning]] damage.
+'''Charged Bolt''' is a [[Wizard]] Tier 1 [[Wizard skills|skill]] unlocked at [[clvl|level]] 2, launching electric charges that travel randomly on the floor, dealing [[lightning]] damage.
@@ Line 17: / Line 18: @@
 |effect= Random bolt
 |school= [[Lightning]]
-|resource= [[Mana]]
+|resource= [[Arcane Power]]
 |cost= 2
 |cast-time= Instant
@@ Line 30: / Line 31: @@
 The [[Wizard]] has not only the fancy illegal spells at her disposal. Charged Bolt, something even the newest of [[Vizjerei]] [[neonyte]]s learn, is one of the few spells she picked up in actual classes at the old [[mage clan]], or possibly at [[Zann Esu]] before they kicked her out.
@@ Line 38: / Line 40: @@
 At [[BlizzCon 2009]] the damage had been lowered from 1-8 to 1-2, but the mana had also gone down significantly (to 2). Using this spell together with high spell crit would likely [[stun]] enemies a lot, considering lightning [[critical hit|crits]] now stun targets.
 ==Skill Rank Table==
 * '''Rank 1:''' 1-2 damage per bolt.
-* '''Rank 2:''' 2-4 damage per bolt. (projected)
+* '''Rank 2:''' 2-4 damage per bolt. (A)
-* '''Rank 3:''' 3-6 damage per bolt. (projected)
+* '''Rank 3:''' 3-6 damage per bolt. (A)
-* '''Rank 4:''' 4-8 damage per bolt. (projected)
+* '''Rank 4:''' 4-8 damage per bolt. (A)
-* '''Rank 5:''' 5-10 damage per bolt. (projected)
+* '''Rank 5:''' 5-10 damage per bolt. (A)
+(A) = Assumed
-==Synergies==
+==[[Synergies]]==
 Charged Bolt benefits directly from the following traits:
 * [[Glass Cannon]]: Increases damage done by spells and increases armor.
 * [[Intimidation]]: Increases damage done and reduces vendor costs.
@@ Line 60: / Line 64: @@
 * [[Power Surge]]: Increase critical strike damage.
 * [[Penetrating Spells]]: Reduces the resistances of your target to your spells by 20%.
 ==[[Rune|Skill Rune]] Effects==
 * None known.
 ==Development==
+Charged Bolt was first shown at [[BlizzCon 2008]], and was still in the game at [[BlizzCon 2009]]. In 2009 it had a much lower mana cost, and significantly lower damage than in 2008, indicating the spell is now more used for the "carpet effect" of previous games. At [[BlizzCon 2010]], it was still in the game but wasn't one of the Wizard's starting skills.
+'''Previous Games:'''<br>
 {{iw|D1_Spellbooks#Charged_Bolt Charged Bolt}} was introduced in [[Diablo I]], where it was, as it is now, a very cheap spell to cast multiple times in hopes of killing many enemies with a carpet of lightning. The [[Diablo I Manual]] describes "true essence of Electromagnetism exists on the threshold of the Ethereal and the Physical Realms. While it is very efficient to transform [[Mana]] into electrical energy, it is extremely difficult to control." The spell calls in pockets of lightning that just crawls around randomly, in a general direction.
@@ Line 71: / Line 81: @@
 The second iteration of {{iw|Sorceress_Lightning_Spells#Charged_Bolt Charged Bolt}} was a [[Sorceress]] spell in [[Diablo II]], and is basically identical in design. It's one of few Tier 1 spells in the skill trees that scale well even at higher levels, being quite useful at max level.
-The [[Diablo 3]] version of the Charged Bolt was first shown at [[BlizzCon 2008]], and was still in the game by [[BlizzCon 2009|2009]]. In 2008 it had a much higher mana cost, and significantly higher damage than in 2009, indicating the spell is now more used for the "carpet effect" of previous games. It's is assumed to still be available in Blizzard's internal game build today.
-'''Previous Versions:'''
-* [[Charged Bolt (BlizzCon 2008)]]
@@ Line 81: / Line 86: @@
 <!--
 ==Trivia==
-''Hide this section unless there really is some trivia about the skill. Add the skill to the [[:Category:Easter Eggs|Easter Eggs]] category as well if the article contains Easter
+''Hide this section unless there really is some trivia about the skill. Add the skill to the [[:Category:Easter Eggs|Easter Eggs]] category as well if the article contains Easter Egg information.''
-Egg information.''
 -->
 ==Media==
 You can find pictures in the Diablo 3 screenshot and picture gallery:
-* [http://www.diii.net/gallery/ Diablo 3 screenshots and pictures]
+* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/ Diablo 3 screenshots and pictures]
-* [http://www.diii.net/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=all&si=Charged+Bolt Charged Bolt-specific gallery contents]
+* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/search.php?keywords=Charged+Bolt&cat=all&x=10&y=8 '''Charged Bolt''' specific gallery contents]
 <!--
@@ Line 104: / Line 106: @@
 * {{iw|D1_Spellbooks#Charged_Bolt Diablo I Charged Bolt}}
 * {{iw|Sorceress_Lightning_Spells#Charged_Bolt Diablo II Charged Bolt}}
+* [[Charged Bolt (BlizzCon 2008)]]
@@ Line 111: / Line 115: @@
 * [[Diablo II Manual]]
 * [[Diablo I Manual]]
 {{Slave navbox Diablo III|Wizard}}

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