Difference between revisions of "Ice Armor"

Latest revision as of 21:34, 12 June 2012

Ice Armor being cast.

Ice Armor is a Conjuration Wizard skill unlocked at Level 14, freezing or slowing movement of enemies attacking the character.

Unlike Storm Armor's effects, which are all damage-adding and not defensive, the benefits of Ice Armor and its rune effects are more defensive in nature. Most of them add damage, though not as much as Storm Armor, but they generally include defensive bonuses as well. Also note that cold damage chills and slows (and sometimes freezes) attackers, providing an added benefit to the Wizard's survival in the form of slowed enemies.

This is an Armor spell. Only one Armor spell can be active at a time.

Background[edit | edit source]

Lacking physical armor, a Wizard needs magical protection in dangerous places. This Ice Armor will have a chilling impact upon anyone striking her, cooling them to the point where their movements becomes slower, and limiting their ability to move.

Skill Rune Effects[edit | edit source]

The following is a very quick summary. See the Ice Armor 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.

Name	Level	Description

<skill subcat="Armor spell" class="Wizard">Ice Armor</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Chilling Aura">Ice Armor</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Crystallize">Ice Armor</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Jagged Ice">Ice Armor</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Ice Reflect">Ice Armor</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Frozen Storm">Ice Armor</skill>

Skill Design[edit | edit source]

Pretty straightforward skill. Useful especially when trying to run away from things, but also if the Wizard is overwhelmed in melee combat, it will briefly Chill or Freeze enemies attacking her. With some rune effects, it will damage enemies as well.

Appearance[edit | edit source]

The initial casting graphic is pretty cool, as a sort of hexagonal scaled globe rises up from the ground and vanishes over the Wizard’s head. After that though, there’s just a sort of blueish mist around her feet, which isn’t real impressive.

Synergies[edit | edit source]

The following Wizard passives provide a benefit to Ice Armor, runed or not:

Name	Level	Description

<skill class="Wizard">Galvanizing Ward</skill>

Development[edit | edit source]

Ice Armor was first shown in August 2009 at GamesCom, seen in the gameplay demo. It was then not known if the spell was a Wizard skill or a shrine effect. The spell was seen more clearly at BlizzCon 2009, where it was a Tier I skill on the Storm Skill Tree. Unfortunately, this skill was unnecessary in the PvP demo, as Flux explained:[1]

As with the other defensive skills, this was just not needed at Blizzcon. I cast it a few times between battles, but never took any hits when I had it active.

It was still in the game as of BlizzCon 2010, but moved to Tier 2 in the new tree-less skill system. 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 Ice Armor became a level 2 skill.

Beta[edit | edit source]

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.

Ice Armor remained at level 2 when the beta started. Flux was able to try it out, but it remained unnecessary:[2]

Like all defensive skills, the only reason to use this in the beta is out of curiosity or thoroughness. I did it for both those reasons, and was underwhelmed. It does chill melee attackers that get to you, but so few do that it’s hardly of need. The dangers to a Wizard in the beta come from exploding bosses and ranged attackers. Obviously the utility of Ice Armor may differ in other areas of the game, but those aren’t available for testing just yet, alas.

With the Patch 13 changes, Ice Armor was classified as a Conjuration skill and bumped all the way up to level 14, out of reach of beta players. For March's Beta Patch 14, Cold damage was removed from skill, and several rune effects were tweaked.

Media[edit | edit source]

Ice Armor can be seen in action on video here:

Video: Blizzcon 2010 Rune Effects

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

Ice Armor active.
Just being cast.

References[edit | edit source]

BlizzCon 2009 Full Wizard Skill Trees
Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report — IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
Silva's Wizard Runestone Effects — IncGamers 5th Sep 2011
Wizard Beta Skills Mega-report: Part One — IncGamers 4th Oct 2011
Wizard 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

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[File:IconIceArmor.png|left]]
-'''Ice Armor''' is a Utility [[Wizard skill]] unlocked at [[clvl|Level]] 2, slowing movement and attack speeds of enemies attacking the character and damaging them a little as well.
+[[File:Ice-armor-zoom2.jpg|thumb|350px|Ice Armor being cast.]]
+'''Ice Armor''' is a Conjuration [[Wizard skill]] unlocked at [[clvl|Level]] 14, freezing or slowing movement of enemies attacking the character.
-This is an [[Armor spell]]. Only one Armor spell can be active at a time.
+Unlike [[Storm Armor]]'s effects, which are all damage-adding and not defensive, the benefits of Ice Armor and its rune effects are more defensive in nature. Most of them add damage, though not as much as Storm Armor, but they generally include defensive bonuses as well. Also note that cold damage chills and slows (and sometimes freezes) attackers, providing an added benefit to the Wizard's survival in the form of slowed enemies.
+* This is an [[Armor spell]]. Only one Armor spell can be active at a time.
-<br><br>__TOC__
 ==Background==
-[[File:Ice-armor-zoom2.jpg|thumb|200px|Ice Armor being cast.]]
+Lacking physical armor, a Wizard needs magical protection in dangerous places. This Ice Armor will have a chilling impact upon anyone striking her, cooling them to the point where their movements becomes slower, and limiting their ability to move.
-Lacking physical armor, a Wizard needs magical protection in dangerous places. This Ice Armor will have a chilling impact upon anyone striking her, cooling them to the point where their movements becomes slower, and limiting their ability to move around as well as delivering some pain from the cold.
-==Runestone Effects==
+==Skill Rune Effects==
-The following is a very quick list. See the [[Ice Armor rune effects]] page for a more thorough summary of rune effects, or any of the individual rune pages for numbers, screenshots, blue quotes, and much more.
+The following is a very quick summary. See the [[Ice Armor 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.
-{{Active skills header}}
+{{skill description header}}
-{{Wizard Skill Ice Armor}}
+<skill subcat="Armor spell" class="Wizard">Ice Armor</skill>
-{{Wizard Skillrune Ice Reflect}}
+<skill class="Wizard" rune="Chilling Aura">Ice Armor</skill>
-{{Wizard Skillrune Jagged Ice}}
+<skill class="Wizard" rune="Crystallize">Ice Armor</skill>
-{{Wizard Skillrune Crystallize}}
+<skill class="Wizard" rune="Jagged Ice">Ice Armor</skill>
-{{Wizard Skillrune Chilling Aura}}
+<skill class="Wizard" rune="Ice Reflect">Ice Armor</skill>
-{{Wizard Skillrune Frozen Storm}}
+<skill class="Wizard" rune="Frozen Storm">Ice Armor</skill>
-{{center|Note: Information is based on a level 60 character and rank 7 runestones.}}
 ==Skill Design==
-Pretty straightforward [[skill]]. Useful especially when trying to run away from things, but also if the Wizard is occupied in [[melee]] combat, it will lower the damage she takes in a fray. It likely won't increase Armor or any other defensive stat.
+Pretty straightforward [[skill]]. Useful especially when trying to run away from things, but also if the Wizard is overwhelmed in [[melee]] combat, it will briefly [[Chill]] or [[Freeze]] enemies attacking her. With some rune effects, it will damage enemies as well.
-The duration of the spell was shown as almost exactly 3/8 duration with 2 minutes left so it's safe to assume the duration is 6-8 minutes, but we do not know what the exact duration of the spell is.
+===Appearance===
+The initial casting graphic is pretty cool, as a sort of hexagonal scaled globe rises up from the ground and vanishes over the Wizard’s head. After that though, there’s just a sort of blueish mist around her feet, which isn’t real impressive.
 ==Synergies==
-Ice Armor benefits from the following [[Wizard passives]]:
+The following [[Wizard passives]] provide a benefit to Ice Armor, runed or not:
+{{skill description header}}
+<skill class="Wizard">Galvanizing Ward</skill>
-{{Passive skills header}}
-{{Wizard Passive Galvanizing Ward}}
 ==Development==
@@ Line 40: / Line 41: @@
 <blockquote>''As with the other defensive skills, this was just not needed at Blizzcon. I cast it a few times between battles, but never took any hits when I had it active.</blockquote>
-It was still in the game as of [[BlizzCon 2010]], but moved to Tier 2 in the new tree-less skill system. Skill tiers were removed for the [[July 2011 Press Event]], and Ice Armor became a level 2 skill.
+It was still in the game as of [[BlizzCon 2010]], but moved to Tier 2 in the new tree-less skill system. 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 Ice Armor became a level 2 skill.
+===Beta===
+{{Beta skill notes}}
+Ice Armor remained at level 2 when the beta started. [[Flux]] was able to try it out, but it remained unnecessary:[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/wizard-beta-skills-mega-report-part-one]
+<blockquote>''Like all defensive skills, the only reason to use this in the beta is out of curiosity or thoroughness. I did it for both those reasons, and was underwhelmed. It does chill melee attackers that get to you, but so few do that it’s hardly of need. The dangers to a Wizard in the beta come from exploding bosses and ranged attackers. Obviously the utility of Ice Armor may differ in other areas of the game, but those aren’t available for testing just yet, alas.</blockquote>
+With the Patch 13 changes, Ice Armor was classified as a Conjuration skill and bumped all the way up to level 14, out of reach of beta players. For March's [[Beta Patch 14]], Cold damage was removed from skill, and several rune effects were tweaked.
@@ Line 62: / Line 72: @@
-<!--
-==Related Articles==
--->
 ==References==
 * [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/full-wizard-skill-trees/ BlizzCon 2009 Full Wizard Skill Trees]
-* [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://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8007624#post8007624 Silva's Wizard Runestone Effects] -- IncGamers 5th Sep 2011
+* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8007624#post8007624 Silva's Wizard Runestone Effects] — IncGamers 5th Sep 2011
-* [http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/active/ Wizard Active Skills] -- Diablo III 12th Sep 2011
+* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/wizard-beta-skills-mega-report-part-one Wizard Beta Skills Mega-report: Part One] — IncGamers 4th Oct 2011
+* [http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/active/ Wizard Active Skills] — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site
-{{Skill navbox Diablo III|Wizard}}
+{{Skill navbox Diablo III|Wizard|conjuration}}
+[[category:Active skills]]
 [[category:Wizard skills]]
-[[category:Active skills]]
+[[category:Wizard active skills]]
+[[category:Armor spells]]

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