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 [[Wizard]] Tier 1 [[Wizard skills|skill]] unlocked at [[clvl|level]] 2, 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= 200px
-|active= Active
-|name= Magic Missile
-|ranks= 5
-|user= Wizard
-|tree= Tier 1
-|description= Fire 1 missile(s) of energy at your enemies causing 3-5 arcane damage to them. Critical hits from arcane damage silence targets for 4 secs.
-|type= Damage
-|effect= Bolt
-|school= [[Arcane]]
-|resource= [[Arcane Power]]
-|cost= 8
-|cast-time= Instant
-|duration= 4 sec
-|cooldown= Unknown
-|synergies= None
-<!-- |catexclude= -->
-}}
-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 [[Element]]al (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==
 [[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]].
+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.
-In later levels, it might prove invaluable as a cheap and direct means of [[silence|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. This property hasn't been explained yet, but the consensus is that a silenced [[monster]] will be unable to use some of its skills or abilities, such as [[Skeletal Summoner|Skeletal Mages]] losing the ability to [[resurrect]] their slain minions. 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.
 When an enemy dies at the hands of an Arcane spell, a purple glow is left on the corpses.
@@ Line 38: / Line 30: @@
 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.
-Note that [[Improved Magic Missile]] and other related skills are. Perhaps permanently, perhaps just for now. It seemed a bit redundant in 2008, since the listed function was to increase the number of missiles and boost their damage. And since there are [[rune|skill runes]] that do both of those things to skills, and equipment that boosts the damage, Improved MM seemed sort of pointless.
+===Video===
+A video of Magic Missile can be seen below, courtesy of [http://www.youtube.com/Diablo3Inc the DiabloInc You Tube channel].
+<youtube>HhdkXcQNPvQ</youtube>
-==Skill Rank Table==
-[[Image:Magic_Missile_corpse.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Corpses made from Magic Missile glows eerily.]]
-* '''Rank 1:''' Fires a missile of energy, doing 3-5 Arcane damage.
+==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>
-==[[Synergies]]==
+==Development==
-Magic Missile benefits directly from the following [[Wizard traits]]:
+[[Image:Wiz-magic-missile1.jpg|thumb|350px|Double missiles.]]
-* [[Glass Cannon]]: Increases damage done by spells and increases armor.
+[[image:runeeffects-2010-06d.jpg|thumb|350px|Quadruple missiles.]]
-* [[Intimidation]]: Increases damage done and reduces vendor costs.
+'''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.
-* [[Quickening]]: Increases spell casting speed.
-* [[Beast Hunter]]: Damage bonus against beasts.
-* [[Demonsbane]]: Damage bonus against Demons.
-* [[Just...Stay...Dead!]]: Damage bonus against undead.
-* [[Temporal Flux]]: Enemies that have been hit by your Arcane spells are slowed down by 25% for 3 seconds.
-* [[Power Surge]]: Increase critical strike damage.
-* [[Penetrating Spells]]: Reduces the resistances of your target to your spells by 20%.
-'''Note:''' The current [[trait]] list is very out-of-date and will no doubt be overhauled before game release.
+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>
-==[[Rune|Skill Rune]] Effects==
+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:Wiz-magic-missile1.jpg|thumb|350px|Double missiles.]]
-* [[Indigo rune]]: Increases the number of missiles fired with each use of the skill.
-* [[Alabaster rune]]: Makes the Magic Missile a homing missile.
-* [[Crimson rune]]: Increases the damage of each missile.
+===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]
-==Development==
+<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>
-'''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]]. This skill was on the [[Arcane Skill Tree]] untill 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]
+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).
-<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>
 ===Previous Versions===
@@ Line 82: / Line 71: @@
 Or see [[Magic Missile (BlizzCon 2008)]] for the original version of this skill.
-===Magic Missile in Other Games===
+===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<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_of_Dungeons_&_Dragons#Arcane_spells D&D Arcane Spells] -- Wikipedia</ref>:
+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:
 * [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/ Diablo III screenshots and pictures]
@@ Line 103: / 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==
+* [[Improved Magic Missile]] is a retired skill whose only purpose was to increase the efficiency of Magic Missile. Skill runes made it unnecessary.
-<!--
-==Related Articles==
--->
 ==References==
-<font size="-3"><references/></font>
+<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}}
-{{Slave navbox Diablo III|Wizard}}
+[[category:Active skills]]
+[[category:Wizard skills]]
+[[category:Wizard active skills]]
+[[category:Signature spells]]

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