Difference between revisions of "Ancient Spear"

Revision as of 20:01, 19 April 2012

Ancient Spear in action.

Ancient Spear is a Might Barbarian skill unlocked at Level 9. 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

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

Skill Rune Effects

The following is a very quick summary. See the Ancient Spear rune effects page for a more thorough description of rune effects, or any of the individual rune pages for numbers, screenshots, blue quotes, and much more.

<skill class="Barbarian">Ancient Spear</skill>

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.

Synergies

The following Barbarian passives provide a benefit to Ancient Spear, runed or not:

Bloodthirst - The Barbarian gains life based on the amount of damage he deals always.
Weapons Master - Provides a damage bonus when the Barbarian is wielding a sword or dagger.
Berserker Rage - Inflicts additional damage while the Barbarian is at maximum Fury.
No Escape - Increases the damage of Ancient Spear and generates Fury.
Brawler - Increases the Barbarian's damage when he is swarmed.

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, allowing skills to unlock steadily from levels 1 to 30. Consequently, all skill levels were adjusted and Ancient Spear became a level 21 skill.

Beta

The Diablo III Beta started in September 2011, and while it ran, all of the skills continued to undergo extensive iteration. Skill changes varied from changing the levels the skills are unlocked, to changes in resource cost, damage, and even function. A few skills were removed altogether, and a few new ones were added. Also, the entire skill system received an overhaul with the Beta Patch 13 update in February 2012, with physical runes replaced by rune effects that automatically unlock at various levels for the different skills.

Ancient Spear was moved to level 22 for the beta. With the Patch 13 changes, it was classified as a Might skill and moved to level 28. For Beta Patch 14, it was dropped down to level 9, making it available in the beta.

Media

Ancient Spear can be seen in action on video here:

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
Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report — IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
Barbarian Active Skills — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer primary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer secondary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer corpses

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer bloodandbone

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer reanimation

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer curses

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

[1]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[File:IconAncientSpear.png|left]]
-'''Ancient Spear''' is a Might [[Barbarian skill]] unlocked at [[clvl|Level]] 28. The Barbarian fires a mystical spear to snare his foes and haul them back into [[melee]] range.
+[[File:As1.jpg|thumb|300px|Ancient Spear in action.]]
+'''Ancient Spear''' is a Might [[Barbarian skill]] unlocked at [[clvl|Level]] 9. 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 6: / Line 7: @@
 <br>__TOC__
 ==Background==
-[[File:As1.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Ancient Spear in action.]]
+The [[Barbarian]] throws an ancient spear that sinks into his foes, and he pulls them into his reach.
-The [[Barbarian]] throws an ancient spear that sinks into his foes, and he pulls them into his blades.
-==Skillrune Effects==
+==Skill Rune Effects==
 The following is a very quick summary. See the [[Ancient Spear rune effects]] page for a more thorough description of rune effects, or any of the individual rune pages for numbers, screenshots, blue quotes, and much more.
@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 ==Development==
-'''Ancient Spear''' made its first public appearance at [[BlizzCon 2010]], where [[Wyatt Cheng]] briefly discussed its development:<ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo-3-gameplay-panel-transcript/P2/ Diablo 3 Gameplay Panel Transcript] -- Incgamers 23rd Oct 2010</ref>
+'''Ancient Spear''' made its first public appearance at [[BlizzCon 2010]], where [[Wyatt Cheng]] briefly discussed its development:<ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo-3-gameplay-panel-transcript/P2/ Diablo 3 Gameplay Panel Transcript] — Incgamers 23rd Oct 2010</ref>
 <blue>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.</blue>
@@ Line 48: / Line 48: @@
 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, and was soon changed to level 22. The skill system was once again overhauled for the [[Beta Patch 13]], and Ancient Spear was classified as a Might skill and moved to level 28.
+Skill tiers were removed for the [[July 2011 Press Event]], allowing skills to unlock steadily from levels 1 to 30. Consequently, all skill levels were adjusted and Ancient Spear became a level 21 skill.
+===Beta===
+{{Beta skill notes}}
+Ancient Spear was moved to level 22 for the beta. With the Patch 13 changes, it was classified as a Might skill and moved to level 28. For [[Beta Patch 14]], it was dropped down to level 9, making it available in the beta.
 <!--
 ==Trivia==
-Fun facts. If you add a trivia fact, also add the it to the Category: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 Egg information.''
 -->
 ==Media==
@@ Line 74: / Line 79: @@
-<!--
-==Related Links==
-List any links that would be useful for further reading on this particular skill. Try to avoid double links with the "References" section below.
--->
 ==References==
 <span style="font-size: 10px;"><references/></span>
 * [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/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=7960229#post7960229 Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report] -- IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
+* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7960229#post7960229 Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report] — IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
-* [http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/ Barbarian Active Skills] -- Diablo III 13th Sep 2011
+* [http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/ Barbarian Active Skills] — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site
-{{Skill navbox Diablo III|Barbarian}}
+{{Skill navbox Diablo III|Barbarian|Might}}
 [[category:Barbarian skills]]
 [[category:Active skills]]

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