Difference between revisions of "Ancient Spear"

Revision as of 19:56, 5 August 2011

Ancient Spear is a Barbarian skill unlocked at level 21. The Barbarian fires a mystical spear to snare his foes and haul them back into melee range.

This skill is commonly referred to[1] as "Ancient Harpoon" for fairly obvious functional reasons. Spears are not barbed and do not have ropes or chains attached to them. Harpoons, on the other hand, are barbed and tethered, since they are used to reel in aquatic life forms. Why Blizzard didn't just call the skill "harpoon" isn't known; perhaps they didn't like the maritime connotation, since the Barbarians are not seafaring folk in the official game lore?

Background

Diablo III Active Skill [e]

Ancient Spear
Used by:	Barbarian
Enabled at:	Clvl 21
Skill Description
Fires a harpoon to snag an enemy and pull it into melee range.
Type:	Debuff
Resource Use:	Costs Fury
Skill Rune Effects
Alabaster rune:	Unknown
Crimson rune:	Unknown
Golden rune:	Unknown
Indigo rune:	Unknown
Obsidian rune:	Unknown

The Barbarian throws an ancient spear that sinks into his foes, and he pulls them into his blades.

Skill Design

Spear in flight.

Ancient Spear first appeared at BlizzCon 2010.

The skill is a ranged attack that spears enemies and pulls them into melee range, where the Barbarian, should he react quickly enough, can chop them to bits.

This skill is highly viable in the Battle Arena where slippery ranged attacking Wizards and Witch Doctors are in desperate need of some "Get over here!" as far as the Barbarian is concerned.

The skill can also be used effectively in PvM, ideally on back row attackers like archers or shaman, who the Barbarian wants to kill but can not reach through their defending meat shields. Enemies all the way to the edge of the visible screen can be skewered and pulled in, when targeted accurately.

Skill Rank Table

Rank 1: Throws a spear with a maximum range of X feet, pulling each target back to the Barbarian, slowing movement speed and dealing X-X damage.

Synergies

No synergies with any of the passive skills are yet known.

Skill Rune Effects

Ancient Spear runed for extra harpoons.

Only one is known; the runestone socketed in the pre-made, PvP Battle Arena characters at Blizzcon 2010 allowed the spear to skewer multiple targets and pull them both into range. Unfortunately, it's not known if this was the Indigo rune effect, or if it was the Alabaster or Obsidian wildcard rune bonuses.

Crimson is assumed to boost the damage of a successful spearing (or perhaps boost the damage of hits landed on a harpooned enemy for some duration?), and Golden is presumed to lower the Fury cost of using the skill, though these are not confirmed.

Development

Ancient Spear made its first public appearance at BlizzCon 2010, where Wyatt Cheng briefly discussed its development:^[1]

We knew that he needed a ranged attack so here is an example of Ancient Spear. We don't want to turn the Barbarian into a ranged class so this is something that feels very appropriate for him. We want to sell the theme that he's strong, he's tough, he's melee so we had to come up with something that felt appropriate for that.

Flux found it difficult to use in the Battle Arena:[2]

...Ancient Harpoon for ranged attacks (though I never actually saw this successfully used, since hitting moving targets was tough)...

He did, however, suggest that it could be useful against Wizards who rely too much on Disintegrate.

Skill tiers were removed for the July 2011 Press Event, and Ancient Spear became a level 21 skill.

Media

Ancient Spear can be seen in action on video here:

Gameplay: Blizzcon 2010 (in the Arena)
Video: Blizzcon 2010 Rune Effects

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

Barb firing spear.
The spearhead and chain.
A wild shot, flashes off the screen.
A confused Barb nearly skewers his red team Wizard teammate.

References

↑ Diablo 3 Gameplay Panel Transcript -- Incgamers 23rd Oct 2010

BlizzCon 2010 PvP Hands-on Report
15 More Minutes of Arena Ninja-Cam from BlizzCon -- Incgamers 10th Jan 2011
JudgeHype.com July 2011 Press Event Coverage - The Barbarian (Translated by Zediono)

[1] Diablo 3 Gameplay Panel Transcript -- Incgamers 23rd Oct 2010

[1]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''Ancient Spear''' is a [[Barbarian]] Tier 5 [[Barbarian_skill|skill]] unlocked at [[Clvl|level]] 14. The Barbarian fires a mystical spear to snare his foes and haul them back into [[melee]] range.
+'''Ancient Spear''' is a [[Barbarian skill]] unlocked at [[clvl|level]] 21. The Barbarian fires a mystical spear to snare his foes and haul them back into [[melee]] range.
 This skill is commonly referred to[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/15-more-minutes-of-arena-ninja-cam-from-blizzcon/] as "Ancient Harpoon" for fairly obvious functional reasons. Spears are not barbed and do not have ropes or chains attached to them. Harpoons, on the other hand, are barbed and tethered, since they are used to reel in aquatic life forms. Why Blizzard didn't just call the skill "harpoon" isn't known; perhaps they didn't like the maritime connotation, since the Barbarians are not seafaring folk in the official game lore?
@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 |name= Ancient Spear
 |user= Barbarian
-|tier= 5
+|clvl= 21
-|clvl= 14
 |description= Fires a harpoon to snag an enemy and pull it into melee range.
 |type= [[Debuff]]
@@ Line 43: / Line 42: @@
-==Trait Synergies==
+==Synergies==
-Ancient Spear benefits directly from the following [[Barbarian traits]]:
+* No [[synergies]] with any of the [[passive skill]]s are yet known.
-* [[Intimidation]]: Increases damage done and reduces vendor costs.
-* [[Cruelty]]: Increases your chance of dealing critical strikes.
-* [[Weak Spot]]: Increases critical strike damage.
-Ancient Spear may benefit from the following traits:
-* [[Frenzied Attacks]]: Increases the chance to deal critical strikes and increases critical strike damage when the Barbarian is wielding two weapons.
-* [[Thunderous Blows]]: Increases damage done when the Barbarian is wielding a two-handed weapon.
-* [[Beast Hunter]]: Damage bonus against Beasts.
-* [[Demonsbane]]: Damage bonus against Demons.
-* [[Just...Stay...Dead!]]: Damage bonus against Undead.
-* [[Massive Blow]]: You have a chance to hit all nearby targets with a single hit. Requires a two-handed weapon.
-* [[Pig Sticker]]: Increases damage done when the Barbarian is wielding a polearm, spears or when he throws weapons.
-* [[Die by the Sword]]: Increases damage done when the Barbarian is wielding swords.
-* [[Axe Murderer]]: Increases damage done when the Barbarian is wielding axes.
-* [[Brain Basher]]: Increases damage done when the Barbarian is wielding maces.
-'''Note:''' The current [[trait]] list is very out-of-date and will no doubt be overhauled before game release.
@@ Line 82: / Line 65: @@
 He did, however, suggest that it could be useful against Wizards who rely too much on [[Disintegrate]].
+Skill tiers were removed for the July 2011 Press Event, and Ancient Spear became a level 21 skill.
@@ Line 116: / Line 101: @@
 * [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/hands-on-from-blizzcon-mega-pvp-arena-report/ BlizzCon 2010 PvP Hands-on Report]
 * [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/15-more-minutes-of-arena-ninja-cam-from-blizzcon/ 15 More Minutes of Arena Ninja-Cam from BlizzCon] -- Incgamers 10th Jan 2011
+* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7962606#post7962606 JudgeHype.com July 2011 Press Event Coverage - The Barbarian (Translated by Zediono)]
 {{Slave navbox Diablo III|D3_Barbarian}}

The Barbarian - Barbarian skills - Barbarian traits - Fury - Barbarian skill archive [e]
Tier One/Clvl 2	Tier Two/Clvl 3	Tier Three/Clvl 6	Tier Four/Clvl 10	Tier Five/Clvl 14	Tier Six/Clvl 20	Tier Seven/Clvl 26
• Bash • Rampage • Cleave	• Ground Stomp • Ignore Pain • War Cry • Weapon Throw	• Frenzy • Revenge • Hammer of the Ancients	• Leap Attack • Sprint • Threatening Shout	• Ancient Spear • Battle Rage • Rend • Seismic Slam	• Furious Charge • Taunt • Whirlwind	• Call of the Ancients • Earthquake • Wrath of the Berserker

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• Hands of Lightning • Lashing Tail Kick • Long Reach	• Circle of Wrath • Lethal Decoy • Serenity	• Blinding Flash • Crippling Wave • Holy Aura	• Dashing Strike • Dominate Aura • Way of the Hundred Fists	• Exploding Palm • Inner Sanctuary	• Breath of Heaven • Retribution Aura • Sweeping Wind	• Resist Aura • Seven-Sided Strike • Wave of Light