Difference between revisions of "Magic Missile"

Latest revision as of 19:46, 15 July 2017

Magic Missile in action.

Magic Missile is a Primary Wizard skill unlocked at Level 1, invoking a bolt of arcane magic thrown against an opponent.

This is a Signature spell. Signature spells are free to cast.

Magic Missile is a basic projectile attack that costs nothing to use and deals decent damage. Higher level spells do more interesting and powerful effects, but MM can be a useful component of any Wizard build.

Background[edit | edit source]

The Magic Missile is a bolt-type spell much like the classical Firebolt but using Arcane energies instead of Elemental (like Fire).

Skill Rune Effects[edit | edit source]

Refer to the Magic Missile rune effects article for thorough descriptions of all five rune effects in this skill, including screenshots, videos, strategy tips, and other related information.

Name	Level	Description

<skill subcat="Signature spell" class="Wizard">Magic Missile</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Charged Blast">Magic Missile</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Split">Magic Missile</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Conflagrate">Magic Missile</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Glacial Spike">Magic Missile</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Seeker">Magic Missile</skill>

Skill Design[edit | edit source]

Magic Missile impact on Zombie.

Magic Missile is basically a Firebolt that deals Arcane Damage. In early levels, Magic Missile might be the Wizard's bread and butter. Using this skill fires a small purple projectile that moves across the screen in a straight line and at a fairly fast pace, and it can be cast repeatedly without any cooldown or resource cost.

When an enemy dies at the hands of an Arcane spell, a purple glow is left on the corpses.

This was the default ranged spell at BlizzCon 2008, but with Arcane Orb and Electrocute available right from the start in 2009, Magic Missile was hardly touched. It didn't seem to have changed in function since 2008.

Video[edit | edit source]

A video of Magic Missile can be seen below, courtesy of the DiabloInc You Tube channel.

Synergies[edit | edit source]

The following Wizard passives provide a benefit to Magic Missile, runed or not:

Name	Level	Description

<skill class="Wizard">Glass Cannon</skill> <skill class="Wizard">Prodigy</skill> <skill class="Wizard">Temporal Flux</skill> <skill class="Wizard">Arcane Dynamo</skill>

Development[edit | edit source]

Double missiles.

Quadruple missiles.

Magic Missile first appeared at BlizzCon 2008 when the Wizard debuted, where it did 7-13 arcane damage at level 1. By BlizzCon 2009, it had been nerfed slightly, doing less damage and costing a little less mana (later changed to Arcane Power). This skill was on the Arcane Skill Tree until skill trees were disbanded.

At BlizzCon 2010, Magic Missile was one of the Wizard's starting skills, and a very useful one, according to Flux:[1]

The level five MMs were quite powerful, capable of killing almost any normal monster with a single shot. The casting rate wasn’t that fast though, which was good and bad. Good because you could cast MMs forever, since they weren’t fast or expensive enough to deplete your Arcane Power. Bad because I wanted to kill faster. Faster!

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 Magic Missile became a level 1 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.

Magic Missile remained at level 1 when the beta started. Flux tried it out again, and reported on it:[2]

Naturally, the base version of Magic Missile isn’t all that powerful. It’s great for single targets, and has nice range and quite respectable damage, but with just a single projectile per cast the Wizard can not keep up with fast spawning enemies, and MM isn’t much good for bosses either. I’m not just estimating about that either, since I actually put it to the test. MM was fine for 95% of the beta areas, including the lower levels of the Cathedral, but when I got boss packs, or set event areas of summoners, there were too many fish for my skillets, and I got overrun and had to retreat or use other skills.

With the Beta Patch 8 of December 2011, all signature spells became free to cast at any level. With the Patch 13 changes, Magic Missile was classified as a Primary skill (but remained at level 1).

Previous Versions[edit | edit source]

See the Wizard skill archive for more details on previous versions of Magic Missile and other Wizard skills.
Or see Magic Missile (BlizzCon 2008) for the original version of this skill.

In Other Games[edit | edit source]

Magic Missile is much like Diablo II's Sorceress skill Fire Bolt, only doing Arcane damage instead of Fire damage.

Trivia[edit | edit source]

In Diablo III, Blizzard seems to have gone back to games like Dungeons & Dragons for inspiration. A spell called Magic Missile is a staple low-to-mid level magic bolt in the traditional pen & paper RPG. The Magic Missile also increases number of missiles, as does the original. Wikipedia describes D&D Magic Missile like this.^[1]

A bolt of pure energy from the caster's fingertips, which in most editions of the game never misses its target unless prevented by magical means. The number of bolts one can cast increases with practice.

Media[edit | edit source]

Magic Missile can be seen in action on video here:

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

Magic Missile cast by female Wizard.
Killed Zombie glowing.
Female Wizard "missiling".
Magic Missile multi-shot.

References[edit | edit source]

↑ D&D Arcane Spells — Wikipedia

BlizzCon 2008 Wizard gameplay report
BlizzCon 2009 Full Wizard Skill Trees
BlizzCon 2010 Wizard Hands-on Report
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

[1] D&D Arcane Spells — Wikipedia

[1]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''Magic Missile''' is a Tier 1 [[skill]] from the [[Wizard]]'s [[Arcane skill tree]], invoking a bolt of arcane magic thrown against an opponent.
+[[File:IconMagicMissile.png|left]]
+[[File:Wiz-magic-missile1.jpg|thumb|350px|Magic Missile in action.]]
+'''Magic Missile''' is a Primary [[Wizard skill]] unlocked at [[clvl|Level]] 1, invoking a bolt of arcane magic thrown against an opponent.
+* This is a [[Signature spell]]. Signature spells are free to cast.
+Magic Missile is a basic projectile attack that costs nothing to use and deals decent damage. Higher level spells do more interesting and powerful effects, but MM can be a useful component of any Wizard build.
 ==Background==
-{{Skillbox
+The Magic Missile is a bolt-type spell much like the classical {{iw|Sorceress_Fire_Spells#Fire_Bolt Firebolt}} but using [[Arcane]] energies instead of [[Elemental]] (like [[Fire]]).
-|game= Diablo III
-|portrait= Wiz-magic-missile1.jpg
-<!-- |portrait-width= -->
-|active= Active
-<!-- |name= -->
-|ranks= 1
-|user= Wizard
-|tree= Arcane
-|description= Fire 1 missile(s) of energy at your enemies causing 7-13 arcane damage to them. Critical hits from arcane damage silence targets for 4 secs.
-|type= Damage
-|effect= Bolt
-|school= Arcane
-|resource= Mana
-|cost= 8
-|cast-time= Instant
-|duration= 4 sec
-|cooldown= Unknown
-|synergies= [[Arcane Damage]], [[Arcane Distortion]], [[Arcane Speed]], [[Arcane Weakness]], [[Efficient Magics]], [[Improved Magic Missile]], [[Mana Burst]], [[Penetrating Spells]]
-}}
-The Magic Missile is a bolt-type spell much like the classical [[Firebolt]] but using [[Arcane]] energies instead of [[Element]]al damage like [[Fire]].
+==Skill Rune Effects==
+Refer to the [[Magic Missile rune effects]] article for thorough descriptions of all five rune effects in this skill, including screenshots, videos, strategy tips, and other related information.
+{{skill description header}}
+<skill subcat="Signature spell" class="Wizard">Magic Missile</skill>
+<skill class="Wizard" rune="Charged Blast">Magic Missile</skill>
+<skill class="Wizard" rune="Split">Magic Missile</skill>
+<skill class="Wizard" rune="Conflagrate">Magic Missile</skill>
+<skill class="Wizard" rune="Glacial Spike">Magic Missile</skill>
+<skill class="Wizard" rune="Seeker">Magic Missile</skill>
 ==Skill Design==
-In early levels, Magic Missile might be the Wizard's bread and butter.  In later levels, it might prove invaluable as a cheap and direct means of silencing a monster for 4 seconds -- plenty of time to dispatch of them before they can cast a nasty spell on you, or raise the fallen to fight again.  The difficulty will be in hitting the shaman behind the minions, since Magic Missile will strike another monster if it's between the Wizard and the targeted boss.
+[[Image:Magic_Missile_impact.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Magic Missile impact on [[Zombie]].]]
+Magic Missile is basically a {{iw|Sorceress_Fire_Spells#Fire_Bolt Firebolt}} that deals Arcane Damage. In early levels, Magic Missile might be the Wizard's bread and butter. Using this [[skill]] fires a small purple projectile that moves across the screen in a straight line and at a fairly fast pace, and it can be cast repeatedly without any [[cooldown]] or resource cost.
-Magic Missile's effectiveness is increased by a variety of spells, the most noteworthy of which is Improved Magic Missile, which increases both the damage and number of missiles released on a cast.  The range and spread of higher levels of Magic Missile is reminiscent of the D2 [[Necromancer]]'s Teeth.  When an enemy dies at the hands of an Arcane spell, a purple glow is left on the corpses.
+When an enemy dies at the hands of an Arcane spell, a purple glow is left on the corpses.
+This was the default ranged spell at [[BlizzCon 2008]], but with [[Arcane Orb]] and [[Electrocute]] available right from the start in [[BlizzCon 2009|2009]], Magic Missile was hardly touched. It didn't seem to have changed in function since 2008.
-===Hands on Report===
-Flux offered a detailed description of the utility of Magic Missile in his [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/wizard-gameplay-report/P2/ BlizzCon Wizard report].
-::''Magic Missile is basically a Firebolt that deals Arcane Damage. Using this skill fires a small purple projectile that moves across the screen in a straight line and at a fairly fast pace, and it can be cast repeatedly without any cool down time. It deals 7-15 damage, which seems like a lot compared to [[Spectral Blade]]’s 1-5, but not when you realize that Spectral can hit up to 3 times, that it costs 1 less mana, that it’s very unlikely to miss entirely, that it can hit multiple targets at once, and that it’s got a slower casting rate, thus making it less mana expensive, whether you like it or not.''
+===Video===
+A video of Magic Missile can be seen below, courtesy of [http://www.youtube.com/Diablo3Inc the DiabloInc You Tube channel].
-[[Image:Magic_Missile_impact.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Magic Missile impact on [[Zombie]].]]
+<youtube>HhdkXcQNPvQ</youtube>
-::''At low levels against basic monsters, MM is just a simple projectile. It’s got some interesting properties later on though, since each point you place in the Tier 3 skill Improved Magic Missile adds 1 to the number of missiles fired, and increases the damage of each by 8%. (You can also add to the number of shots, their damage, and more, with Skill Runes.) [[Improved Magic Missile]] was too high level to be used at BlizzCon, but Wizards have been seen firing multiple Magic Missiles in screenshots and gameplay movies, and the projectiles seem to be aimed like Multishot, or the Necromancer's Teeth; they spread out more or less, depending on how far away from your character you aim when you click them. Furthermore, it looks like multiple Magic Missiles can hit a single target, which could keep this one useful even late in the game, if fired at point blank range.''
-::''A last property of Magic Missile comes from its damage type. Arcane is a new type of damage in D3, and critical hits scored with Arcane Damage "silence" monsters for 4 seconds. This property hasn't been explained yet, but the consensus is that a silenced monster will be unable to use some of its [[spell]]s, such as [[Skeletal Summoner|Skeletal Mages]] losing the ability to [[resurrect]] their slain minions.''
+==Synergies==
+The following [[Wizard passives]] provide a benefit to Magic Missile, runed or not:
+{{skill description header}}
+<skill class="Wizard">Glass Cannon</skill>
+<skill class="Wizard">Prodigy</skill>
+<skill class="Wizard">Temporal Flux</skill>
+<skill class="Wizard">Arcane Dynamo</skill>
-==Skill Rank Table==
+==Development==
-* 1 Missile, 7-13 arcane damage, 8 mana
+[[Image:Wiz-magic-missile1.jpg|thumb|350px|Double missiles.]]
+[[image:runeeffects-2010-06d.jpg|thumb|350px|Quadruple missiles.]]
+'''Magic Missile''' first appeared at [[BlizzCon 2008]] when the Wizard debuted, where it did 7-13 arcane damage at level 1. By [[BlizzCon 2009]], it had been [[nerf]]ed slightly, doing less damage and costing a little less [[mana]] (later changed to [[Arcane Power]]). This skill was on the [[Arcane Skill Tree]] until skill trees were disbanded.
+At [[BlizzCon 2010]], Magic Missile was one of the Wizard's starting skills, and a very useful one, according to [[Flux]]:[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/hands-on-from-blizzcon-mega-pvm-report-wizard]
+<blockquote>''The level five MMs were quite powerful, capable of killing almost any normal monster with a single shot. The casting rate wasn’t that fast though, which was good and bad. Good because you could cast MMs forever, since they weren’t fast or expensive enough to deplete your Arcane Power. Bad because I wanted to kill faster.  Faster!</blockquote>
-==[[Synergies]]==
+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 Magic Missile became a level 1 skill.
-[[Image:Magic_Missile_corpse.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Corpses made from Magic Missile glows eerily.]]
-*'''[[Arcane Damage]]''' - Increases arcane damage by a percentage
-*'''[[Efficient Magics]]''' - Reduces mana cost
-*'''[[Penetrating Spells]]''' - Reduces enemy
-*'''[[Arcane Weakness]]''' - Causes victims of you spell to take additional damamge from arcane spells for a time
-*'''[[Arcane Speed]]''' - Reduces cooldown of this skill
-*'''[[Arcane Distortion]]''' - Causes victims of you spell to be slowed for a time
-*'''[[Improved Magic Missile]]''' - Increases the number of missiles per cast, and the damage per missile
-*'''[[Mana Burst]]''' - Increases the damage, if mana is full before the cast.
+===Beta===
+{{Beta skill notes}}
+Magic Missile remained at level 1 when the beta started. [[Flux]] tried it out again, and reported on it:[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/wizard-beta-skills-mega-report-part-one]
-==[[Rune|Skill Rune]] Effects==
+<blockquote>''Naturally, the base version of Magic Missile isn’t all that powerful. It’s great for single targets, and has nice range and quite respectable damage, but with just a single projectile per cast the Wizard can not keep up with fast spawning enemies, and MM isn’t much good for bosses either. I’m not just estimating about that either, since I actually put it to the test. MM was fine for 95% of the beta areas, including the lower levels of the Cathedral, but when I got boss packs, or set event areas of summoners, there were too many fish for my skillets, and I got overrun and had to retreat or use other skills.</blockquote>
-* [[Hydra rune]] increases the number of missiles fired with each use of the skill.
+With the [[Beta Patch 8]] of December 2011, all [[signature spell]]s became free to cast at any level. With the Patch 13 changes, Magic Missile was classified as a Primary skill (but remained at level 1).
+===Previous Versions===
+See the [[Wizard skill archive]] for more details on previous versions of Magic Missile and other Wizard skills.<br>
+Or see [[Magic Missile (BlizzCon 2008)]] for the original version of this skill.
-==Development==
-Magic Missile was first shown at [[BlizzCon 2008]] in Anaheim as one of the first skills for the [[Wizard]]. It was designed as a base level ranged skill, and is still assumed to be part of the repertoire as of 6th July 2009. This was the only information originally available about the skill:
-* Active Skill
-* '''Description:''' Fire 1 missile(s) of energy at your enemies causing 7-13 arcane damage to them. Critical hits from arcane damage silence targets for 4 secs.
-*'''Rank:''' 0/1
-*'''Mana cost:''' 8
+===In Other Games===
+Magic Missile is much like [[Diablo II]]'s {{iw|Sorceress Sorceress}} skill {{iw|Fire_Bolt Fire Bolt}}, only doing Arcane damage instead of Fire damage.
 ==Trivia==
-In Diablo III, Blizzard seems to have gone back to games like Dungeons & Dragons for inspiration. A spell called Magic Missile is a staple low-to-mid level magic bolt in the traditional pen & paper RPG. The Magic Missile also increases number of missiles, as does the original. Wikipedia describes D&D Magic Missile like this: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_of_Dungeons_&_Dragons#Arcane_spells]
+In Diablo III, Blizzard seems to have gone back to games like Dungeons & Dragons for inspiration. A spell called Magic Missile is a staple low-to-mid level magic bolt in the traditional pen & paper RPG. The Magic Missile also increases number of missiles, as does the original. Wikipedia describes D&D Magic Missile like this.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_of_Dungeons_&_Dragons#Arcane_spells D&D Arcane Spells] — Wikipedia</ref>
 :: ''A bolt of pure energy from the caster's fingertips, which in most editions of the game never misses its target unless prevented by magical means. The number of bolts one can cast increases with practice.''
+==Media==
+Magic Missile can be seen in action on video here:
+* [[Gameplay: Blizzcon 2008]]
+* [[Video: Blizzcon 2010 Rune Effects]]
+* [[Gameplay: July 2011]]
+* [[Skill Animations Videos#Wizard Video|Video: August 2011 Wizard Skill Animations]]
-==Media==
+You can find pictures in the Diablo III screenshot and picture gallery:
-You can find pictures in the Diablo 3 screenshot and picture gallery:
+* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/ Diablo III screenshots and pictures]
-* [http://www.diii.net/gallery/ Diablo 3 screenshots and pictures]
+* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/search.php?keywords=Magic+Missile&cat=all '''Magic Missile''' specific gallery contents]
-* [http://www.diii.net/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=all&si=Magic+Missile Magic Missile-specific gallery contents]
@@ Line 94: / Line 97: @@
 Image:Magic_Missile_corpse.jpg|Killed [[Zombie]] glowing.
 Image:Magic_Missile_impact.jpg|Female [[Wizard]] "missiling".
+Image:runeeffects-2010-06d.jpg|Magic Missile multi-shot.
 </gallery>
-<!--
 ==Related Articles==
-''Articles that are related, but not emphasised enough in any other section, or articles that just need further attention.''
+* [[Improved Magic Missile]] is a retired skill whose only purpose was to increase the efficiency of Magic Missile. Skill runes made it unnecessary.
--->
 ==References==
-* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/wizard-gameplay-report/P2/ Wizard gameplay report]
+<span style="font-size: 10px;"><references/></span>
+* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/wizard-gameplay-report/P2/ BlizzCon 2008 Wizard gameplay report]
+* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/full-wizard-skill-trees/ BlizzCon 2009 Full Wizard Skill Trees]
+* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/hands-on-from-blizzcon-mega-pvm-report-wizard BlizzCon 2010 Wizard Hands-on Report]
+* [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/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|primary}}
-{{Skill_navbox_arcane}}
+[[category:Active skills]]
-{{Skill_navbox}}
+[[category:Wizard skills]]
+[[category:Wizard active skills]]
+[[category:Signature spells]]

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