Difference between revisions of "Wizard"

Latest revision as of 04:10, 8 June 2017

The Wizard is a pure spellcaster, harnessing arcane and elemental magic to do his/her bidding via a devastating array of offensive spells. While the Wizard is thought to be quite similar to the Sorcerer and Sorceress of previous Diablo games in design, the play style is quite different. Diablo 3's end game Wizard play puts a much greater emphasis on defensive skills and crowd control spells, and has much less movement speed due to the cooldown limitations on teleport.

Other major gameplay differences stem from equipment changes (weapon damage and Critical hit Chance / Critical hit Damage matter for all classes), the removal of skill points, and especially the fact that monsters do not have varying resistances to different types of elemental damage.

The resource system, Arcane Power differs greatly as well. AP refills very quickly, and Wizard skills use both AP cost and cooldown time as limiting factors. Both can be circumvented by other skills and item affixes. The "Arcane Power on Crit" ("APoC") affix is a build-changer for most end game wizards.

Class Design[edit | edit source]

Diablo III Class

The Wizard
Skills:	Wizard Skills
Passives:	Wizard Passives
Resource:	Arcane Power
Common builds:
Caster, Battle mage.
Background
Origin:	Xiansai
Affiliation:	None current. Vizjerei (former), Zann Esu (former)
Friends:	None known
Foes:	Vizjerei, Yshari Sanctum, Valthek

The Wizard is a fast-action, fast-casting, primarily-ranged attacker. The class is not really a "glass cannon," despite having a Passive skill actuall called Glass Cannon. In fact, that is one of the main complaints about the class; that they are more of a mage tank than anything else, who must rely on defensive skills or strong crowd control and enemy debuffs to survive.

This is in stark contrast to the Sorcerer and Sorceress from previous games in the series, who could be a bit tanky with the right gear, but who mostly relied on speedy attacks and evasion (mostly via unlimited use of the Teleport skill). (The Demon Hunter actually plays much more like the glass cannon fast-movement mage seen in previous Diablo titles.)

See the Wizard skills page for a full list of all Wizard skills and rune effects. As with all classes, the skills are sorted into six categories. Enabling Elective Mode in the Game Options allows players to choose any skills from any category, rather than being stuck with one from each in the default, noob-friendly design.

Refer to Diablo3Ladders.com for a listing of all Wizard passive skills ranked by popularity.

Primary • Magic Missile (1) • Shock Pulse (3) • Spectral Blade (11) • Electrocute (15)	Secondary • Ray of Frost (2) • Arcane Orb (5) • Arcane Torrent (12) • Disintegrate (21)	Defensive • Frost Nova (4) • Diamond Skin (8) • Slow Time (16) • Teleport (22)
Force • Wave of Force (9) • Energy Twister (13) • Hydra (21) • Meteor (25) • Blizzard (27)	Conjuration • Ice Armor (14) • Storm Armor (17) • Magic Weapon (20) • Familiar (22) • Energy Armor (28)	Mastery • Explosive Blast (19) • Mirror Image (25) • Archon (30)

Wizard Passive Skills[edit | edit source]

Male Wizard using Wave of Force.

See the Wizard passive skills article for a full listing with descriptions and more details. These skills focus more on utility, variety, and defense than on boosts to the Wizard's offensive attacks or damage.

By far the most used and most build-changing passive is Critical Mass which grants critical hits a chance to reduce the cooldown of Wizard skills by 1 second. Numerous Wizard builds rely entirely on "CM" in order to repeatedly use skills with 6, 8, 10 second, or even longer cooldowns. Blizzard has adjusted (lowered) the proc coefficient values of numerous Wizard skills several times since launch, since some skills (especially Energy Twister) that caused many, many hit checks were procing so often that Critical Mass was triggering almost constantly and effectively reducing cooldowns to nothing.

Refer to Diablo3Ladders.com for a listing of all Wizard passive skills ranked by popularity.

Wizard Traits[edit | edit source]

During early design passive skills were called "traits" and were set to allow 1-5 points to be spent in each. This system was scrapped and simplified shortly before the beta test began. See the Wizard traits page for full info on what the traits system looked like.

Diablo 3 Wizard Lore and Story[edit | edit source]

Like all of the characters in Diablo 3, the Wizard has a unique in-game backstory that gives insight into the character's personality and mannerisms. The male and female versions of each class are essentially interchangeable in these non-gendered fictions.

The Diablo III Wizard hails from the far northern island of Xiansai, which lies in a region culturally and ethnically similar to Asia. The Wizards are anything but aged Dumbledore types; in the game fiction the Wizards (male and female) are portrayed as rebellious, impudent, headstrong, and cocky young mages who were too impatient to follow the rules and wait to learn slowly from the elders at the mage academy in Caldeum.

Abd al-Hazir, the scholar and historian responsible for most of the in-game lore released pre-game, wrote about the wizard's time in a mage academy in Caldeum in his seventh entry.

This wizard was sent here to spend her formative years under the tutelage of the best mages in the world. Well, it seems they neglected to teach our wizard manners on her native island of Xiansai, for she was a rude and uncooperative student from the very beginning. Originally under the guidance of the Zann Esu mage clan, she was eventually handed over to the Vizjerei in the hopes that their strict and unbending discipline would break her anarchic spirit. Yet even the esteemed Vizjerei instructors were unable to rein her in. She was continually being caught seeking out dangerous and forbidden magics, heedless of the consequences to herself or anyone around her.

Although there is no truth to the tales that she actually ventured into the infamous Bitter Depths below the Sanctum, she was caught in the Ancient Repositories, where the most dangerous incantations are housed for the safety of the public. When confronted by the great Vizjerei mage Valthek and demanded to account for herself, she brazenly attacked him rather than face the punishment merited by her acts.

Exaggerated stories of the battle are already being inflated to mythic proportions by the more rebellious of our city's youth, but suffice it to say that she did not actually best Yshari's most powerful mage in single, honorable combat. The details of the encounter remain unclear, as Valthek has yet to regain consciousness, but it has been verified by reliable sources that she relied on trickery and deceit to bring the great man low. I have also been assured that the extensive property damage was chiefly the result of Valthek's magical prowess, not the upstart wizard's. As to where she is now, no one rightly knows, for she fled the city immediately after the encounter.

This story built fan expectations that the Wizard would be quite unruly and reckless. Unfortunately, those character traits do not really come through in the game, and even when the game action moves to Caldeum in Act Two, the Wizard does not show any concern or heightened attention in returning to that city.

Wizard Style and Appearance[edit | edit source]

Female wizard: concept art to final in-game.

The female wizard's appearance was widely-accepted and non-controversial. She looks quite a bit like her original concept art.

Male Wizard Controversy[edit | edit source]

The male wizard, on the other hand, had a very controversial reveal. No one thought much of his concept art or paid much attention to his appearance when he debuted as a playable character in the BlizzCon 2009 demo. However, some months later when Blizzard added his in-game model to their official wizard page, there was a curious eruption of fan rage. [1]

The primary complaints were that he looked too effeminate, and while there was arguably a homophobic edge to the complaints, the class design was more metrosexual and less masculine than some fans were expecting. People especially hated his "starfish" hat.

Male Wizard gear set, October 13, 2010, set off the biggest debate of all, about his huge "starfish" hat.
- Many fan complaints and revisions of his starfish hat.
- And yet more fan remakes.
- A vote found very mixed opinions about the helm, in contrast to the overwhelmingly negative fan comments.

Male Wizard concept vs. in-game.

Blizzard made no substantive comments over the fan reaction to the male wizard's appearance and if the character changes any in appearance during the rest of the development cycle, no one noticed. A poll on Diablo.IncGamers.com found fan opinions widely split on the character's look.[2]

What do you think of the look of the Male Wizard?
2) It's good, but could be improved. 243 votes, 28.79%

4) Ugh. I'll be playing the female Wiz. 220 votes, 26.07%

5) Hate it. J-pop boy-band reject. 140 votes, 16.59%

1) I love the male Wizard look. 137 votes, 16.23%

3) I'm indifferent. M'eh. 104 votes, 12.32%
Total Votes: 844

This entire controversy stemmed from the look of the character in some artwork and renders; no one objected to the look when playing him in the BlizzCon 2009 demo. That trend continued, and the controversy did not reappear when the beta test began and the look of the character is a non-issue post-release.

Sorceress Redux?[edit | edit source]

Some fans initially criticized the Wizard for just being the Sorceress with a new look. Jay Wilson commented on that in an interview with 1up.com in December 2008.

Wizard using Disintegrate.

Jay Wilson: "I would respond, "Yeah, you're right; the Wizard is basically a re-skinned Sorceress." What we couldn't do with the Sorceress very well was break into what I'd call the old-school pen-and-paper magic user. You know the old magic user who could do a variety of things, like conjure up animals out of midair or create clouds of fog and acid or control time or disintegrate things or use death spells. They had this wide variety of magic that they could use compared to the more traditional elementalist -- which is what the Sorceress is, meaning fire, ice, and lightning -- who was just more limited.

What we really wanted to do is break into this area, while if we just did the Sorceress again, we'd be like, "OK, you have to do fire, ice, and lightning, but where does Disintegrate fit? Where does Slow Time fit in?" So we decided [that we'd] just take the same class mechanics, and [that we'd] change the basic concept and name and just have a throwback to that old-school magic user to give ourselves a broader range of magic skills. But there was never a huge desire to go away from the basic gameplay of the Sorceress; there's a lot of repeated skills, and that's intentional."

Spell Damage and Weapon Damage[edit | edit source]

One major change from Diablo 2, seen during the development cycle, was the addition of spell damage item affixes. Unlike the skill point system in Diablo 1 and Diablo 2, Diablo 3 had no skill points, and thus weapon damage became as important for mages as for combat classes. The developers made this change partially to even out the classes, after the Sorceress and Necromancer were extremely good at Magic Find in Diablo 2 since they did not need to worry about boosting damage with equipment. (Just boosting skill level.) This allowed those characters to stack up much more Magic Find and Resistance on their gear, while still retaining a rapid killing speed.

The early effort in Diablo 3 to correct this imbalance used +%spell damage modifiers. As seen in Blizzcon 2008 and 2009 demos, caster weapons had bonuses to spell damage which modified the flat damage figures on spells, in much the same way that equipment and skills interacted for non-mage classes. A quote from a 2009 Blizzcon demo report details the system:

When viewing the listed damage on each spell, it’s important to keep in mind that those are not absolute numbers, in D3. They’re much like weapon damage; modified by your wizard’s attributes, your character level, by other skills, and also by your equipment. Lots of types of items in D3 carry modifiers that boost spell damage, usually by a percentage.

I found numerous wands, staves, and even pieces of armor with values between +5-25% spell damage, and that was just in the early stages of the game.

That system did not survive through to launch, and after further experimentation the Wizard and Witch Doctor were slotted into the same pool of affixes and weapon functions that the other three classes got. This made the game more accessible and consistent across the classes, but it's not a universally-popular design with many fans wishing the spell casters had different priorities in equipment and affixes than the combat characters.

Wizard Development Pace[edit | edit source]

The Wizard was the third class to be revealed, making her debut at BlizzCon 2008, several months after the game's initial reveal in June at the Paris WWI. Later in development Blizzard admitted that the Barbarian and Wizard were by far the most polished classes at launch. Despite that they chose to debut with the Barbarian and Witch Doctor since the WD was more of an original character type. This was a mixed blessing since many fans were unhappy that the Necromancer was not coming back, but when the Wizard debuted just months later, the class was clearly far more developed than the WD, with many more functional skills.

The Wizard's resource took longer to nail down. The class used Mana as a placeholder resource in the Blizzcon 2008 and 2009 demos, even after Blizzard had announced, in late 2009, that Mana was not going to be the final version of the class' resource. The system evolved further over the next couple of years, with Instability the resource for a time, until Arcane Power was implemented and perfected.[3]

Trivia[edit | edit source]

The female Wizard is voiced by Grey DeLisle, a veteran of voice acting. She's done many film and television roles, including Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender, and roles in Afro Samurai, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Wolverine and the X-Men, and many more. She's also had many roles in video games, including a lot of the Star Wars series, Mass Effect, Metal Gear Solid, Baldur's Gate, Fallout, Doom 3, Batman: Arkham City (as Catwoman/Selina Kyle), and she also played Nova in StarCraft II.

The male Wizard is voiced by Crispin Freeman, also a veteran voice actor. He's done a gluttonous amount of English dubs for anime, and also many video games including the .hack series, BioShock 2, God of War III, Metal Gear Solid 4, Xenosaga, Saints Row: The Third, and many more.

Media[edit | edit source]

Wizard Profile Video[edit | edit source]

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

Female Wizard.
Male Wizard.
Wizard vs King Leoric.
Wizard casting Disintegrate.
disintegrate used on Zombies.
Slow Time with Wave of Force to throw spells back at casters.
Casting Electrocute out of a Slow Time bubble.
Mana Globe in a level-up explosion.
The male Wizard in the game.
Male Wizard concept by Glowei.

References[edit | edit source]

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

Fan-made Classes			Fan-made Skills [e]
• Alchemist • Arcane Warrior • Artisan • Aurian Mage • Bard • Channeller • Dragon Warrior	• Flagellant • Giant (U) • Hollow Man • Nomad • Onaga Manji • Phase Knight	• Ranger • Slayer (U) • Techpriest (U) • Telepath • Untainted (U) • Zealot	Dragon Warrior Skills • Bow and Throwing Skill Tree • Dragon Disciplines Skill Tree • Martial Arts Skill Tree	Untainted Skills • Divine Skill Tree	Aurian Mage Skill • Holy Power Skill Tree • Shadow Spells Skill Tree • Nature Forces Skill Tree
(U) = Unfinished				Untainted Skills • Divine Skill Tree

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-The '''Wizard''' is a pure [[caster|spellcaster]], harnessing arcane and elemental magic to do his/her bidding via a devastating array of offensive spells. The Wizard is quite similar to the [[Sorcerer]] and [[Sorceress]] of previous Diablo games, in design and concept.
+The '''Wizard''' is a pure [[caster|spellcaster]], harnessing arcane and elemental magic to do his/her bidding via a devastating array of offensive spells. While the Wizard is thought to be quite similar to the [[Sorcerer]] and [[Sorceress]] of previous Diablo games in design, the play style is quite different. Diablo 3's [[end game]] Wizard play puts a much greater emphasis on defensive skills and crowd control spells, and has much less movement speed due to the cooldown limitations on [[teleport]].
+Other major gameplay differences stem from equipment changes (weapon damage and [[Critical hit Chance]] / [[Critical hit Damage]] matter for all classes), the removal of skill points, and especially the fact that monsters do not have varying resistances to different types of elemental damage.
-==Background==
+The resource system, [[Arcane Power]] differs greatly as well. AP refills very quickly, and Wizard skills use both AP cost and cooldown time as limiting factors. Both can be circumvented by other skills and item affixes. The "Arcane Power on Crit" ("APoC") affix is a build-changer for most [[end game]] wizards.
-{|cellpadding="2" width="250px" align="right" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; background: #2D0606; clear:left; margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 10px; line-height: 10px; font-size: 10px;"
+==Class Design==
+{|cellpadding="2" width="250px" align="right" style="border-collapse: collapse; float: right; border: none; background: #2D0606; clear:left; margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 10px; line-height: 10px; font-size: 10px;"
 !colspan="2" style="text-align: center; line-height: 12px; font-size: 14px;"|'''[[Diablo III Class]]'''
 |-
@@ Line 42: / Line 46: @@
 |}
-[[Image:Male Wizard2.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Male Wizard using [[Wave of Force]].]]
-The word "wizard" is used derogatory for rogue [[Sorcerer]]s and magi that are dangerous to the world at large in the world of [[Sanctuary]].
-The female Wizard character in [[Diablo III]] is from the island [[Xiansai]], an island to the far north with a culture similar to Asia in our world. [[Abd al-Hazir]] writes about a 'wizard' wreaking havoc in [[Caldeum]] in his [[Writings of Abd al-Hazir: Entry no. 0007|seventh entry]] of the [[Writings of Abd al-Hazir]].
+The Wizard is a fast-action, fast-casting, primarily-ranged attacker. The class is not really a "glass cannon," despite having a Passive skill actuall called [[Glass Cannon]]. In fact, that is one of the main complaints about the class; that they are more of a mage tank than anything else, who must rely on defensive skills or strong [[crowd control]] and enemy [[debuffs]] to survive.
-This 19 year old female wizard was sent to the [[Zann Esu]] [[mage clan]], but later handed over to the powerful [[Vizjerei]] since she was a "rude and uncooperative student," that the smaller mage clan could not control. They hoped the harsh discipline at Vizjerei "would break her anarchic spirit." Yet even the Vizjerei instructors were unable to rein her in. She was continually being caught seeking out dangerous and forbidden magics without care for herself or anyone around her.
+This is in stark contrast to the Sorcerer and Sorceress from previous games in the series, who could be a bit tanky with the right gear, but who mostly relied on speedy attacks and evasion (mostly via unlimited use of the Teleport skill). (The [[Demon Hunter]] actually plays much more like the glass cannon fast-movement mage seen in previous Diablo titles.)
-It was rumoured in Caldeum that she ventured into the infamous [[Bitter Depths]] below the [[Sanctum]], but the truth is she was caught in the [[Ancient Repositories]], where the most dangerous incantations are housed for the safety of the public.
+See the [[Wizard skills]] page for a full list of all Wizard skills and rune effects. As with all classes, the skills are sorted into six categories. Enabling [[Elective Mode]] in the Game Options allows players to choose any skills from any category, rather than being stuck with one from each in the default, noob-friendly design.
-[[Valthek]], a great Vizjerei mage confronted her and she attacked him. She relied on trickery and deceit to render Valthek unconscious and then proceeded to flee the city immediately after the encounter. The extensive property damage was assumed to be the result of Valthek's [[magic]]al prowess, not the young wizard.
+* Refer to Diablo3Ladders.com for a listing of [http://www.diablo3ladders.com/skills/mostused/wizard#softcore all Wizard passive skills ranked by popularity].
-Abd al-Hazir is concerned about the young, rebellious and inexperienced wizard wandering the world, using magics she does not understand. He mentioned that certain schools of magic were too dangerous and "those wiser than you or I determined long ago [to forbid] their practice." Primal forces including time warps include the secrets he suspects she gathered from the Ancient Repositories.
-==Wizard Active Skills==
+{|
+|
+'''Primary'''<br>
+• [[Magic Missile]] (1)<br>
+• [[Shock Pulse]] (3)<br>
+• [[Spectral Blade]] (11)<br>
+• [[Electrocute]] (15)
+|
+'''Secondary'''<br>
+• [[Ray of Frost]] (2)<br>
+• [[Arcane Orb]] (5)<br>
+• [[Arcane Torrent]] (12)<br>
+• [[Disintegrate]] (21)
+|
+'''Defensive'''<br>
+• [[Frost Nova]] (4)<br>
+• [[Diamond Skin]] (8)<br>
+• [[Slow Time]] (16)<br>
+• [[Teleport]] (22)
+|-
+|
+'''Force'''<br>
+• [[Wave of Force]] (9)<br>
+• [[Energy Twister]] (13)<br>
+• [[Hydra]] (21)<br>
+• [[Meteor]] (25)<br>
+• [[Blizzard]] (27)
+|
+'''Conjuration'''<br>
+• [[Ice Armor]] (14)<br>
+• [[Storm Armor]] (17)<br>
+• [[Magic Weapon]] (20)<br>
+• [[Familiar]] (22)<br>
+• [[Energy Armor]] (28)
-The [[Wizard skills]] were arranged in three trees prior to 2010. The [[skills]] and [[skill tree]] systems were entirely revised in 2010, and the active skills were arranged into one large list. At [[BlizzCon 2010]] in October Blizzard revealed the new skill system, with all [[passive skills]] moved to [[traits]]. However, At the [[July 2011 Press Event]], it was revealed that [[traits]] had been changed back to [[passive skills]].
+|
+'''Mastery'''<br>
+• [[Explosive Blast]] (19)<br>
+• [[Mirror Image]] (25)<br>
+• [[Archon]] (30)
+|}
-The following is a very quick list. See the [[Wizard skills]] page for a more thorough summary, or any of the individual skills pages for full information.
+==Wizard Passive Skills==
-===Signature===
+[[Image:Male Wizard2.jpg|thumb|300px|Male Wizard using [[Wave of Force]].]]
-[[Image:Magic_Missile_impact.jpg‎|thumb|right|250px|[[Magic Missile]].]]
+See the [[Wizard passive skills]] article for a full listing with descriptions and more details. These skills focus more on utility, variety, and defense than on boosts to the Wizard's offensive attacks or damage.
-* [[Magic Missile]] - Launch a missile of magic energy.
-* [[Shock Pulse]] - Release a pulse of unpredictable charges of electricity.
-* [[Spectral Blade]] - Summon a spectral blade that strikes all enemies in your path.
-* [[Electrocute]] - A solid bolt of lightning locks onto a target and deals damage over time.
-===Offensive===
-* [[Wave of Force]] - Emits a nova-like wave of force that damaged and knocks back enemies, as well as repelling projectiles.
-* [[Arcane Orb]] - Fires a slow-moving orb of Arcane energy that explodes on contact and deals [[AoE]] damage.
-* [[Energy Twister]] - Summons an energy twister that deals arcane damage to everything in its erratic path.
-* [[Disintegrate]] - The Wizard fires a laser-like beam of Arcane energy, striking all enemies in a straight line and disintegrating those it kills.
-* [[Explosive Blast]] - A physical damage nova that casts a short time after its triggered.
-* [[Hydra]] - Summons a multi-headed hydra that spits firebolts at nearby enemies.
-* [[Ray of Frost]] - The Wizard fires a beam of cold that chills and slows attackers.
-* [[Arcane Torrent]] - Arcane meteorites pelt the targeted region dealing Arcane damage to a small radius.
-* [[Meteor]] - Summons a meteor which crashes down from above, dealing huge fire damage, and leaving a field of flames that deal AoE fire damage for a short duration.
-* [[Blizzard]] - Shards of ice crash down on a large radius, dealing cold damage to all enemies in the vicinity.
-===Utility===
+{|
-* [[Frost Nova]] - An explosion of ice deals cold damage and freezes all enemies in range.
+|
-* [[Ice Armor]] - A protective spell that surrounds the Wizard with a barrier of ice. It increases armor, freezes attackers, and damages them with cold.
+* [[Blur]] (10)
-* [[Magic Weapon]] - Imbues the Wizard's weapon with magical energy, granting increased damage.
+* [[Power Hungry]] (10)
-* [[Diamond Skin]] - Turns the Wizard's skin to diamond for a duration, absorbing a set amount of damage from incoming attacks.
+* [[Evocation]] (13)
-* [[Storm Armor]] - A lighting armor that periodically zaps nearby enemies for highly-variable lightning damage.
+* [[Glass Cannon]] (16)
-* [[Mirror Image]] - Creates an illusionary duplicate of the Wizard that lasts for a short duration.
+* [[Prodigy]] (20)
-* [[Slow Time]] - Warps space and time, slowing nearby monsters and projectiles for a limited duration.
+* [[Astral Presence]] (24)
-* [[Teleport]] - Teleport instantly to the selected location.
+* [[Illusionist]] (27)
-* [[Energy Armor]] - A protective barrier that absorbs damage, draining [[Arcane Power]] in its place.
+* [[Cold Blooded]] (30)
-* [[Familiar]] - Creates a companion that accompanies the Wizard and attacks enemies. This companion cannot be targeted or damaged by enemies.
+|
-* [[Archon]] - Transforms the Wizard into a being of superior power and grants new, modified version of her skills. Duration is prolonged when an enemy is killed.
+* [[Conflagration]] (34)
+* [[Paralysis]] (37)
+* [[Galvanizing Ward]] (40)
+* [[Temporal Flux]] (45)
+* [[Critical Mass]] (50)
+* [[Arcane Dynamo]] (55)
+* [[Unstable Anomaly]] (60)
+<br>
+|}
-==Wizard Passive Skills==
+By far the most used and most build-changing passive is [[Critical Mass]] which grants [[critical hits]] a chance to reduce the [[cooldown]] of Wizard skills by 1 second. Numerous Wizard builds rely entirely on "CM" in order to repeatedly use skills with 6, 8, 10 second, or even longer cooldowns. Blizzard has adjusted (lowered) the [[proc coefficient]] values of numerous Wizard skills several times since launch, since some skills (especially [[Energy Twister]]) that caused many, many hit checks were [[proc]]ing so often that Critical Mass was triggering almost constantly and effectively reducing cooldowns to nothing.
-This is a very quick listing. See the [[Wizard Passives]] article for more details, or click on any of the individual passive skills for full stats and info. Skills are listed in the order they are unlocked through level progression.
+* Refer to Diablo3Ladders.com for a listing of [http://www.diablo3ladders.com/skills/mostused/wizard#softcore all Wizard passive skills ranked by popularity].
-* [[Blur]] - Level 10. Reduces melee damage taken by 20%.
-* [[Power Hungry]] - Level 10. Gain 30 [[Arcane Power]] whenever you are healed by a health globe.
-* [[Evocation]] - Level 13. Reduces all cooldowns by 15%.
-* [[Glass Cannon]]  - Level 16. Increases all damage done by 15%, but decreases the Wizard's armor and resistances by 10%.
-* [[Prodigy]] - Level 20. When you deal damage with a Signature Spell, you gain 4 [[Arcane Power]].
-* [[Astral Presence]] - Level 24. Increases maximum [[Arcane Power]] by 20 and Arcane Power regeneration by 2 per second.
-* [[Illusionist]] - Level 27. Whenever you suffer more than 15% of your Life in a single hit, the cooldowns on [[Mirror Image]] and [[Teleport]] are automatically reset.
-* [[Cold Blooded]] - Level 30. Cold damage dealt to chilled and frozen targets is increased by 20%.
-* [[Conflagration (Passive)|Conflagration]] - Level 34. Fire damage dealth to enemies applies a burning effect, increasing all damage done to them by 10% for 3 seconds.
-* [[Paralysis]] - Level 37. Lightning damage dealt to enemies has up to a 8% chance to Stun the target for 2 seconds.
-* [[Galvanizing Ward]] - Level 40. Increases the duration of your Armor spells by 120 seconds. As long as an Armor Spell is active, you gain 310 Life per second.
-* [[Temporal Flux]] - Level 45. Whenever you deal Arcane damage, enemies are slowed by 30% for 2 seconds.
-* [[Critical Mass]] - Level 50. Critical hits have a chance to reduce the cooldown of your spells by 1 second.
-* [[Arcane Dynamo]] - Level 55. When you deal damage with a signature spell you gain a Flash of Insight. After 5 stacks, your next non-signature spell deals 75% additional damage.
-* [[Unstable Anomaly]] - Level 60. When reduced below 20% Life, release a shockwave that knocks all enemies back. This effect cannot occur more than once every 60 seconds.
 ===Wizard Traits===
-Many [[traits]] were preserved as [[passive skills]], but a lot them were dropped. See the [[Wizard traits]] page for full info on what the traits system looked like.
+During early design passive skills were called "[[traits]]" and were set to allow 1-5 points to be spent in each. This system was scrapped and simplified shortly before the beta test began. See the [[Wizard traits]] page for full info on what the traits system looked like.
+==Diablo 3 Wizard Lore and Story==
-==Class Design==
+Like all of the characters in Diablo 3, the Wizard has a unique in-game backstory that gives insight into the character's personality and mannerisms.  The male and female versions of each class are essentially interchangeable in these non-gendered fictions.
-The Wizard is an aggressive archetypal magic wielder founding his powers on the aggressive fierceness of the storm, the arcane and conjuration. Both the male and female wizards are rebellious, headstrong, impulsive, and brilliant. Too smart and arrogant to fit into the authority of the sorcerer schools of the [[mage clan]]s. Always on top of their skills and even smarter than their teachers, cocky and self assured.
+The Diablo III Wizard hails from the far northern island of [[Xiansai]], which lies in a region culturally and ethnically similar to Asia. The Wizards are anything but aged Dumbledore types; in the game fiction the Wizards (male and female) are portrayed as rebellious, impudent, headstrong, and cocky young mages who were too impatient to follow the rules and wait to learn slowly from the elders at the mage academy in [[Caldeum]].
-===Resource System===
+[[Abd al-Hazir]], the scholar and historian responsible for most of the in-game lore released pre-game, wrote about the wizard's time in a mage academy in [[Caldeum]] in his [[Writings of Abd al-Hazir: Entry no. 0007|seventh entry]].
-After an interview, Jay Wilson said that the Wizard will not use [[Instability]], it will be using a new kind of resource pool, Arcane Power, which is not dissimilar to [[mana]] in a lot of ways.
-The arcane power regenerates quicker than [[mana]] but it is a flat amount it cannot be increased statistically or by items, some [[Skills]] empower it.
-At Blizzcon 2010, Jay Wilson stated that mana might probably be going back to the Wizard, because they are all but convinced by Arcane Power.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzcon-2010-hand-on-blascid/]
+<blue>This wizard was sent here to spend her formative years under the tutelage of the best mages in the world. Well, it seems they neglected to teach our wizard manners on her native island of Xiansai, for she was a rude and uncooperative student from the very beginning. Originally under the guidance of the Zann Esu mage clan, she was eventually handed over to the Vizjerei in the hopes that their strict and unbending discipline would break her anarchic spirit. Yet even the esteemed Vizjerei instructors were unable to rein her in. She was continually being caught seeking out dangerous and forbidden magics, heedless of the consequences to herself or anyone around her.
+<br>
+Although there is no truth to the tales that she actually ventured into the infamous Bitter Depths below the Sanctum, she was caught in the Ancient Repositories, where the most dangerous incantations are housed for the safety of the public. When confronted by the great Vizjerei mage Valthek and demanded to account for herself, she brazenly attacked him rather than face the punishment merited by her acts.
+<br>
+Exaggerated stories of the battle are already being inflated to mythic proportions by the more rebellious of our city's youth, but suffice it to say that she did not actually best Yshari's most powerful mage in single, honorable combat. The details of the encounter remain unclear, as Valthek has yet to regain consciousness, but it has been verified by reliable sources that she relied on trickery and deceit to bring the great man low. I have also been assured that the extensive property damage was chiefly the result of Valthek's magical prowess, not the upstart wizard's. As to where she is now, no one rightly knows, for she fled the city immediately after the encounter.</blue>
-===Sorceress Redux?===
-Some fans have criticized the Wizard for just being the [[Sorceress]] with a new look. [[Jay Wilson]] commented on that [http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?pager.offset=1&cId=3172030&p=1 in an interview with 1up.com] in December 2008.
-[[Image:Wiz-disintegrate1.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Wizard using [[Disintegrate]].]]
+This story built fan expectations that the Wizard would be quite unruly and reckless. Unfortunately, those character traits do not really come through in the game, and even when the game action moves to Caldeum in Act Two, the Wizard does not show any concern or heightened attention in returning to that city.
-<blue>
-Jay Wilson: "I would respond, "Yeah, you're right; the Wizard is basically a reskinned Sorceress." What we couldn't do with the Sorceress very well was break into what I'd call the old-school pen-and-paper magic user. You know the old magic user who could do a variety of things, like conjure up animals out of midair or create clouds of fog and acid or control time or disintegrate things or use death spells. They had this wide variety of magic that they could use compared to the more traditional elementalist -- which is what the Sorceress is, meaning fire, ice, and lightning -- who was just more limited. What we really wanted to do is break into this area, while if we just did the Sorceress again, we'd be like, "OK, you have to do fire, ice, and lightning, but where does disintegrate fit? Where does slow time fit in?" So we decided [that we'd] just take the same class mechanics, and [that we'd] change the basic concept and name and just have a throwback to that old-school magic user to give ourselves a broader range of magic skills. But there was never a huge desire to go away from the basic gameplay of the Sorceress; there's a lot of repeated skills, and that's intentional."
-</blue>
-==Appearance==
+==Wizard Style and Appearance==
 [[File:Wiz-fem-02.jpg|thumb|250px|Female wizard: concept art to final in-game.]]
@@ Line 144: / Line 163: @@
 ===Male Wizard Controversy===
-The male wizard, on the other hand, had a very controversial reveal. No one thought much of his concept art or paid much attention to his appearance when he debuted as a playable character in the [[BlizzCon 2009]] demo. However, some months later when Blizzard added his in-game model to their official wizard page, there was an eruption of fan rage. [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/male-wizard-in-game-animation-and-ss/]
+The male wizard, on the other hand, had a very controversial reveal. No one thought much of his concept art or paid much attention to his appearance when he debuted as a playable character in the [[BlizzCon 2009]] demo. However, some months later when Blizzard added his in-game model to their official wizard page, there was a curious eruption of fan rage. [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/male-wizard-in-game-animation-and-ss/]
+The primary complaints were that he looked too effeminate, and while there was arguably a homophobic edge to the complaints, the class design was more metrosexual and less masculine than some fans were expecting.  People especially hated [[Gear_sets#Retractions_and_Changes|his "starfish" hat]].
-The primary complaints were that he looked too effeminate, and while there was arguably a homophobic edge to the complaints, anyone can see that the male wizard is far from the strongest-looking character in the game. The character lore stresses how headstrong, confident, and haughty the wizard is in his/her arrogant youth, and in matching that description the male wizard falls short. He's just not an imposing, powerful looking individual [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/the-wimpy-male-wizard-and-posturing/], though as some fans pointed out,[http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=7461233&postcount=14] he's very much typical of the current look of many heroic males in popular anime; wearing an indifferent, too-cool-for-school meterosexual look. It's not known if that "look" played any part in Blizzard's design of the character, but it's clear that Blizzard wants to provide a variety of different character looks so that all fans will have someone they can enjoy playing. And that tastes vary.
+* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/male-wizard-gear-set-preview/ Male Wizard gear set], October 13, 2010, set off the biggest debate of all, about his huge "starfish" hat.
+** [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/more-on-the-male-wizard-gear-set/ Many fan complaints and revisions] of his starfish hat.
+** [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/male-wizard-gear-set-remixes-keep-on-coming/ And yet more fan remakes].
+** [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/vote-the-wizards-starfish-hat.-yes-or-no/ A vote found very mixed opinions] about the helm, in contrast to the overwhelmingly negative fan comments.
 [[File:Wiz-male-comparison1.jpg|frame|thumb|200px|Male Wizard concept vs. in-game.]]
-Blizzard made no substantive comments over the fan reaction to the male wizard's appearance, so it's assumed that they're making no changes and are fine with the way fans have greeted the character's look. A poll on Diii.net found fan opinions widely split on the character, with almost equal numbers of fans to loved and hated it, with very few undetermined votes.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/male-wizards-look-your-opinion/]
+Blizzard made no substantive comments over the fan reaction to the male wizard's appearance and if the character changes any in appearance during the rest of the development cycle, no one noticed. A poll on Diablo.IncGamers.com found fan opinions widely split on the character's look.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/male-wizards-look-your-opinion/]
 <blockquote>What do you think of the look of the Male Wizard?
@@ Line 159: / Line 183: @@
 Total Votes: 844</blockquote>
-It is worth stressing that there was no fan outcry to the look of the male wizard after he was first shown in-game, at the [[BlizzCon 2009]] demo. It was only when his head-on view was added to the official website that he became objectionable, and since this is a view players will never have in the isometric, top-down game view, (barring some sort of "zoom in to look at your character's armor" option) this controversy is likely to be a non-factor in the final game.
+This entire controversy stemmed from the look of the character in some artwork and renders; no one objected to the look when playing him in the [[BlizzCon 2009]] demo. That trend continued, and the controversy did not reappear when the beta test began and the look of the character is a non-issue post-release.
+===Sorceress Redux?===
+Some fans initially criticized the Wizard for just being the [[Sorceress]] with a new look. [[Jay Wilson]] commented on that [http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?pager.offset=1&cId=3172030&p=1 in an interview with 1up.com] in December 2008.
-==Spell Damage==
+[[Image:Wiz-disintegrate1.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Wizard using [[Disintegrate]].]]
+<blue>Jay Wilson: "I would respond, "Yeah, you're right; the Wizard is basically a re-skinned Sorceress." What we couldn't do with the Sorceress very well was break into what I'd call the old-school pen-and-paper magic user. You know the old magic user who could do a variety of things, like conjure up animals out of midair or create clouds of fog and acid or control time or disintegrate things or use death spells. They had this wide variety of magic that they could use compared to the more traditional elementalist -- which is what the Sorceress is, meaning fire, ice, and lightning -- who was just more limited.
+<br>
+What we really wanted to do is break into this area, while if we just did the Sorceress again, we'd be like, "OK, you have to do fire, ice, and lightning, but where does Disintegrate fit? Where does Slow Time fit in?" So we decided [that we'd] just take the same class mechanics, and [that we'd] change the basic concept and name and just have a throwback to that old-school magic user to give ourselves a broader range of magic skills. But there was never a huge desire to go away from the basic gameplay of the Sorceress; there's a lot of repeated skills, and that's intentional."
+</blue>
-One of the key changes to spell casters in Diablo III is the addition of +% spell damage modifiers. These sorts of modifiers were found on many skills in Diablo 2, and on a few uniques and runewords, but they were uncommon, and not necessary to kill effectively. As a result, casters in Diablo 2 were much less item-dependent than the combat classes, and found it easier to concentrate on [[Magic Find]], resistances, hit points, and other non-damage bonuses.
-This will not be the case in Diablo 3, where mages must add considerable +% spell damage from modifiers to stay ahead of the monster hit point curve. A high level Wizard or [[Witch Doctor]] in Diablo 3 will no more be able to kill quickly with no +spell damage than a [[Barbarian]] or [[Monk]] could succeed with a junk weapon. A quote from Flux's post-Blizzcon 2009 Wizard write up explains this in more detail:
-::When viewing the listed damage on each spell, it’s important to keep in mind that those are not absolute numbers, in D3.  They’re much like weapon damage; modified by your wizard’s attributes, your character level, by other skills, and also by your equipment. Lots of types of items in D3 carry modifiers that boost spell damage, usually by a percentage.
+==Spell Damage and Weapon Damage==
-::I found numerous wands, staves, and even pieces of armor with values between +5-25% spell damage, and that was just in the early stages of the game. We know nothing about higher level equipment bonuses, and it’s entirely possible that the D3 team is projecting high level characters to have +100%, +200%, or who knows, +500%, spell damage. If so they’ll be adjusting the base spell damage accordingly, which might make it look very low to our untrained eyes.
+One major change from Diablo 2, seen during the development cycle, was the addition of spell damage item affixes. Unlike the skill point system in Diablo 1 and Diablo 2, Diablo 3 had no skill points, and thus weapon damage became as important for mages as for combat classes.  The developers made this change partially to even out the classes, after the Sorceress and Necromancer were extremely good at Magic Find in Diablo 2 since they did not need to worry about boosting damage with equipment. (Just boosting skill level.) This allowed those characters to stack up much more Magic Find and Resistance on their gear, while still retaining a rapid killing speed.
-::Here’s an example from early in the game, that was mentioned in the [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-witch-doctor-skills/ Witch Doctor skills report]. The skill tree listed damage on my level 2 Skull of Flame spell was 6-9, yet with a level 12 Witch Doctor my Inventory screen showed 19-29 for that spell.  I don’t think I had more than +50% spell damage from equipment, so assuming the display values aren’t wrong (in [http://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Lying_Character_Screen D2’s infamous LCS] style), there are considerable bonuses added to damage from character attributes, which are then further boosted by the spell damage bonuses on your equipment.
+The early effort in Diablo 3 to correct this imbalance used +%spell damage modifiers. As seen in Blizzcon 2008 and 2009 demos, caster weapons had bonuses to spell damage which modified the flat damage figures on spells, in much the same way that equipment and skills interacted for non-mage classes.  A quote from a 2009 Blizzcon demo report details the system:
-::This is all part of the D3 team’s plan to make all of the attributes useful to all characters, and to make more types of modifiers useful/essential to spell casters.  We don’t know enough yet to judge how well it’s working, but it should be a substantial change from how spell damage was calculated and scaled up (or not) in D2.
+::When viewing the listed damage on each spell, it’s important to keep in mind that those are not absolute numbers, in D3.  They’re much like weapon damage; modified by your wizard’s attributes, your character level, by other skills, and also by your equipment. Lots of types of items in D3 carry modifiers that boost spell damage, usually by a percentage.
-==Wizard Lore and Story==
-Like all of the characters in Diablo 3, the Wizard has an in-game backstory that gives insight into the character's personality and mannerisms. The tale is written from the perspective of [[Abd al-Hazir]], the scholar and historian responsible for most of the game lore thus far released.  The following is [[Writings of Abd al-Hazir: Entry no. 0007|the 7th entry from his journal]].
-[[Image:Male_Wizard.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Male Wizard concept art.]]
+::I found numerous wands, staves, and even pieces of armor with values between +5-25% spell damage, and that was just in the early stages of the game.
-<blockquote>''Owing to my lack of tolerance for those who would use [[magic]] towards their own nefarious ends, many have assumed that I am averse to the practice of the magical arts on a philosophical level. Nothing could be farther from the truth. My quarrel is with those sorcerers who dismiss the ancient traditions and teachings – teachings that have been honed over millennia in order to preserve respect for authority and the rule of law.
-<br><br>
-''Recently the youth of [[Caldeum]] have fallen prey to the overblown stories of just such a delinquent [[wizard]]. That is correct: I used the uncouth term wizard, not [[sorcerer]]. It seems that even the title of a civilized magic wielder is too restrictive for this young upstart. Through my contacts at the [[Yshari Sanctum]] of the [[mage clan]]s, I am one of the few who actually know the truth behind the rumors now sweeping our streets regarding this hellion who flaunts her magic irresponsibly.
-<br><br>
-''This wizard was sent here to spend her formative years under the tutelage of the best mages in the world. Well, it seems they neglected to teach our wizard manners on her native island of [[Xiansai]], for she was a rude and uncooperative student from the very beginning. Originally under the guidance of the [[Zann Esu]] mage clan, she was eventually handed over to the [[Vizjerei]] in the hopes that their strict and unbending discipline would break her anarchic spirit. Yet even the esteemed Vizjerei instructors were unable to rein her in. She was continually being caught seeking out dangerous and forbidden magics, heedless of the consequences to herself or anyone around her.
-<br><br>
-''Although there is no truth to the tales that she actually ventured into the infamous [[Bitter Depths]] below the [[Sanctum]], she was caught in the [[Ancient Repositories]], where the most dangerous incantations are housed for the safety of the public. When confronted by the great Vizjerei mage [[Valthek]] and demanded to account for herself, she brazenly attacked him rather than face the punishment merited by her acts. Exaggerated stories of the battle are already being inflated to mythic proportions by the more rebellious of our city's youth, but suffice it to say that she did not actually best [[Yshari]]'s most powerful mage in single, honorable combat. The details of the encounter remain unclear, as Valthek has yet to regain consciousness, but it has been verified by reliable sources that she relied on trickery and deceit to bring the great man low. I have also been assured that the extensive property damage was chiefly the result of Valthek's magical prowess, not the upstart wizard's. As to where she is now, no one rightly knows, for she fled the city immediately after the encounter.
-<br><br>
-''It is not my goal to alarm, but I find this situation disturbing. We now have a rebellious [[wizard]], young and inexperienced, wandering the world, dabbling in powerful magics she does not understand. Those wiser than you or I determined long ago that certain schools of magic were too dangerous and forbade their practice. It is those magics that this wizard seems determined to explore – magics centered on manipulating the primal forces from which reality is constructed. Imagine, a headstrong nineteen-year-old youth, able to warp time itself to her will! The thought is truly terrifying. It is my honest hope that this self-styled wizard chooses never to return to [[Caldeum]].</blockquote>
+That system did not survive through to launch, and after further experimentation the Wizard and Witch Doctor were slotted into the same pool of affixes and weapon functions that the other three classes got. This made the game more accessible and consistent across the classes, but it's not a universally-popular design with many fans wishing the spell casters had different priorities in equipment and affixes than the combat characters.
-==Development==
-The Wizard was the third [[class]] revealed by Blizzard, debuting at [[BlizzCon 2008]]. It's in essence a re-make of the [[Sorceress]], but with a slightly different set of skills.
-In the [[GamesCom 2009 demo]], we saw the male version of the in-game wizard the first time.
+==Wizard Development Pace==
+The Wizard was the third [[class]] to be revealed, making her debut at [[BlizzCon 2008]], several months after the game's initial reveal in June at the [[Paris WWI]]. Later in development Blizzard admitted that the Barbarian and Wizard were by far the most polished classes at launch. Despite that they chose to debut with the [[Barbarian]] and [[Witch Doctor]] since the WD was more of an original character type. This was a mixed blessing since many fans were unhappy that the Necromancer was not coming back, but when the Wizard debuted just months later, the class was clearly far more developed than the WD, with many more functional skills.
-Also in the [[GamesCom 2009 demo]], The Wizard was using [[Mana]] as a placeholder resource pool.
+The Wizard's resource took longer to nail down. The class used Mana as a placeholder resource in the Blizzcon 2008 and 2009 demos, even after Blizzard had announced, in late 2009, that Mana was not going to be the final version of the class' resource. The system evolved further over the next couple of years, with [[Instability]] the resource for a time, until [[Arcane Power]] was implemented and perfected.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzcon-2010-hand-on-blascid/]
-On 22nd September 2009, [[Bashiok]] announced the Wizard will not be using traditional [[Mana]], but a [[resource pool|resource]] more specialized for the class.  This resource was later revealed to be [[Arcane Power]].
 ==Trivia==
-The female Wizard is voiced by Grey DeLisle, a veteran of voice acting. She's done many film and television roles, including Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender, and roles in ''Afro Samurai'', ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'', ''Wolverine and the X-Men'', and many more. She's also had many roles in video games, including a lot of the ''Star Wars'' series, ''Mass Effect'', ''Metal Gear Solid'', ''Baldur's Gate'', ''Fallout'', ''Doom 3'', ''Batman: Arkham City'' (as Harley Quinn), and she also played Nova in [[StarCraft II]].
+The female Wizard is voiced by Grey DeLisle, a veteran of voice acting. She's done many film and television roles, including Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender, and roles in ''Afro Samurai'', ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'', ''Wolverine and the X-Men'', and many more. She's also had many roles in video games, including a lot of the ''Star Wars'' series, ''Mass Effect'', ''Metal Gear Solid'', ''Baldur's Gate'', ''Fallout'', ''Doom 3'', ''Batman: Arkham City'' (as Catwoman/Selina Kyle), and she also played Nova in [[StarCraft II]].
 The male Wizard is voiced by Crispin Freeman, also a veteran voice actor. He's done a gluttonous amount of English dubs for anime, and also many video games including the ''.hack'' series, ''BioShock 2'', ''God of War III'', ''Metal Gear Solid 4'', ''Xenosaga'', ''Saints Row: The Third'', and many more.