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The newly announced class at BlizzCon.
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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]].  
  
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{{stub|Flux is still gathering intel at BlizzCon}}
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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.
  
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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.
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==Class Design==
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{|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;"
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!colspan="2" style="text-align: center; line-height: 12px; font-size: 14px;"|'''[[Diablo III Class]]'''
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|-
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|colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"|[[File:Wizards.jpg|200px]]
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|-
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!colspan="2" style="text-align: center; line-height: 14px; font-size: 16px;"| The Wizard
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|-
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| [[Skills]]:
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| [[Wizard Skills]]
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|-
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| [[Passives]]:
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| [[Wizard Passives]]
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|-
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| [[Resource]]:
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| [[Arcane Power]]
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|-
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! colspan="2" | Common [[builds]]:
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|-
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| colspan="2" | [[Caster]], [[Battle mage]].
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|-
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! colspan="2" |
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<center>Background</center>
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|-
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| Origin:
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| Xiansai
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|-
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| Affiliation:
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| None current.<br>
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[[Vizjerei]] (former),<br>
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[[Zann Esu]] (former)
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|-
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| Friends:
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| None known
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|-
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| Foes:
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| [[Vizjerei]], [[Yshari Sanctum]], [[Valthek]]
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|}
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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.
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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.)
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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.
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* Refer to Diablo3Ladders.com for a listing of [http://www.diablo3ladders.com/skills/mostused/wizard#softcore all Wizard passive skills ranked by popularity].
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{|
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|
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'''Primary'''<br>
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• [[Magic Missile]] (1)<br>
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• [[Shock Pulse]] (3)<br>
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• [[Spectral Blade]] (11)<br>
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• [[Electrocute]] (15)
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|
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'''Secondary'''<br>
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• [[Ray of Frost]] (2)<br>
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• [[Arcane Orb]] (5)<br>
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• [[Arcane Torrent]] (12)<br>
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• [[Disintegrate]] (21)
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|
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'''Defensive'''<br>
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• [[Frost Nova]] (4)<br>
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• [[Diamond Skin]] (8)<br>
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• [[Slow Time]] (16)<br>
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• [[Teleport]] (22)
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|-
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|
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'''Force'''<br>
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• [[Wave of Force]] (9)<br>
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• [[Energy Twister]] (13)<br>
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• [[Hydra]] (21)<br>
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• [[Meteor]] (25)<br>
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• [[Blizzard]] (27)
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|
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'''Conjuration'''<br>
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• [[Ice Armor]] (14)<br>
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• [[Storm Armor]] (17)<br>
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• [[Magic Weapon]] (20)<br>
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• [[Familiar]] (22)<br>
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• [[Energy Armor]] (28)
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|
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'''Mastery'''<br>
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• [[Explosive Blast]] (19)<br>
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• [[Mirror Image]] (25)<br>
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• [[Archon]] (30)
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|}
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==Wizard Passive Skills==
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[[Image:Male Wizard2.jpg|thumb|300px|Male Wizard using [[Wave of Force]].]]
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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.
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{|
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|
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* [[Blur]] (10)
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* [[Power Hungry]] (10)
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* [[Evocation]] (13)
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* [[Glass Cannon]] (16)
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* [[Prodigy]] (20)
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* [[Astral Presence]] (24)
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* [[Illusionist]] (27)
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* [[Cold Blooded]] (30)
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|
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* [[Conflagration]] (34)
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* [[Paralysis]] (37)
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* [[Galvanizing Ward]] (40)
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* [[Temporal Flux]] (45)
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* [[Critical Mass]] (50)
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* [[Arcane Dynamo]] (55)
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* [[Unstable Anomaly]] (60)
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<br>
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|}
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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.
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* Refer to Diablo3Ladders.com for a listing of [http://www.diablo3ladders.com/skills/mostused/wizard#softcore all Wizard passive skills ranked by popularity].
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===Wizard Traits===
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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.
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==Diablo 3 Wizard Lore and Story==
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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.
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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]].
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[[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]].
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<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.
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<br>
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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.
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<br>
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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>
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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.
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==Wizard Style and Appearance==
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[[File:Wiz-fem-02.jpg|thumb|250px|Female wizard: concept art to final in-game.]]
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The female wizard's appearance was widely-accepted and non-controversial. She looks quite a bit like her original concept art.
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===Male Wizard Controversy===
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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/]
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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]].
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* [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.
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** [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/more-on-the-male-wizard-gear-set/ Many fan complaints and revisions] of his starfish hat.
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** [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/male-wizard-gear-set-remixes-keep-on-coming/ And yet more fan remakes].
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** [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.
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[[File:Wiz-male-comparison1.jpg|frame|thumb|200px|Male Wizard concept vs. in-game.]]
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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/]
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<blockquote>What do you think of the look of the Male Wizard?
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* 2) It's good, but could be improved. 243 votes, 28.79%
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* 4) Ugh. I'll be playing the female Wiz. 220 votes, 26.07%
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* 5) Hate it. J-pop boy-band reject. 140 votes, 16.59%
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* 1) I love the male Wizard look. 137 votes, 16.23%
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* 3) I'm indifferent. M'eh. 104 votes, 12.32%
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Total Votes: 844</blockquote>
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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.
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===Sorceress Redux?===
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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.
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[[Image:Wiz-disintegrate1.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Wizard using [[Disintegrate]].]]
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<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.
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<br>
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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."
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</blue>
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==Spell Damage and Weapon Damage==
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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.
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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:
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::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.
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::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.
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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.
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==Wizard Development Pace==
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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.
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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/]
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==Trivia==
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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]].
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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.
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==Media==
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===Wizard Profile Video===
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<youtube>4BHKcR8P7wg</youtube>
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<youtube>uTvQ5FMnrG0</youtube>
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You can find pictures in the Diablo 3 screenshot and picture gallery:
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* [http://www.diii.net/gallery/ Diablo 3 screenshots and pictures]
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* [http://www.diii.net/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=all&si=Wizard Wizard-specific gallery contents]
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<gallery>
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Image:Ss71 hires.jpg|Female Wizard.
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Image:Male_Wizard.jpg|Male Wizard.
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Image:Wizard vs King Leoric.jpg|Wizard vs [[King Leoric]].
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Image:Wizard disintegrate.jpg|Wizard casting [[Disintegrate]].
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Image:Wiz-disintegrate2.jpg|[[disintegrate]] used on [[Zombie]]s.
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Image:Skill_wizard_slowtime.jpg|[[Slow Time]] with [[Wave of Force]] to throw spells back at [[caster]]s.
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Image:Wiz-slow-time1.jpg|Casting [[Electrocute]] out of a [[Slow Time]] bubble.
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Image:Mana-orb1.jpg|[[Mana Globe]] in a [[Experience#Level_Up_Bonus|level-up]] explosion.
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Image:Male_Wizard2.jpg|The male Wizard in the game.
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Image:Mwiz_concept.jpg|Male Wizard concept by [[Glowei]].
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</gallery>
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==References==
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* [[Writings of Abd al-Hazir: Entry no. 0007|Writings of Abd al-Hazir: Entry no. 0007: Wizard]]
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* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/bashiok-on-non-mana-resources-and-cinematics/ Bashiok on non-mana Resources and Cinematics]
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{{Skill_navbox_Diablo_III|Wizard}}
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[[Category:Classes]]
 
[[Category:Basics]]
 
[[Category:Basics]]
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[[Category:Classes]]
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[[category:Wizard]]
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[[Category: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
Wizards.jpg
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.


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.


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 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:


References[edit | edit source]


Classes of the
Diablo games 		Skills - Active skills - Skill runes - Passives - Resource - Movement ability [e] Barbarian Demon Hunter Monk Necromancer Witch Doctor Wizard   Followers Other Classes Fan-made
The Barbarian Fury - Barbarian Active Skills (Archive) Barbarian Passive Skills (Archive) [e]

Primary attribute:
• Strength


Skill specialties:
• Shouts

Primary
• Bash (1)
• Cleave (3)
• Frenzy (11)


Might
• Ancient Spear (9)
• Revenge (13)
• Furious Charge (21)
• Overpower (26)

Secondary
• Hammer of the Ancients (2)
• Rend (5)
• Seismic Slam (12)
• Whirlwind (20)

Tactics
• Weapon Throw (14)
• Threatening Shout (17)
• Battle Rage (22)
• War Cry (28)

Defensive
• Ground Stomp (4)
• Leap (8)
• Sprint (16)
• Ignore Pain (22)

Rage
• Earthquake (19)
• Call of the Ancients (25)
• Wrath of the Berserker (30)

Pound of Flesh (10)
Ruthless (10)
Nerves Of Steel (13)
Weapons Master (16)
Berserker Rage (20)
Inspiring Presence (20)
Bloodthirst (24)
Animosity (27)

Superstition (30)
Tough as Nails (30)
No Escape (35)
Relentless (40)
Brawler (45)
Juggernaut (50)
Unforgiving (55)
Boon of Bul-Kathos (60)

(X) = the level at which the skill becomes unlocked.
Barbarian skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Might Tactics Rage

Bash
• Clobber (6)
• Onslaught (13)
• Punish (26)
• Instigation (44)
• Pulverize (52)

Cleave
• Rupture (9)
• Reaping Swing (18)
• Scattering Blast (30)
• Broad Sweep (47)
• Gathering Storm (55)

Frenzy
• Sidearm (17)
• Triumph (22)
• Vanguard (34)
• Smite (51)
• Maniac (59)

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Hammer of the Ancients
• Rolling Thunder (7)
• Smash (15)
• The Devil's Anvil (27)
• Thunderstrike (39)
• Birthright (53)

Rend
• Ravage (11)
• Blood Lust (19)
• Lacerate (33)
• Mutilate (45)
• Bloodbath (56)

Seismic Slam
• Stagger (18)
• Shattered Ground (25)
• Rumble (35)
• Strength from Earth (48)
• Cracking Rift (57)

Whirlwind
• Dust Devils (24)
• Hurricane (29)
• Blood Funnel (37)
• Wind Shear (44)
• Volcanic Eruption (59)

 [e]

Ground Stomp
• Deafening Crash (12)
• Wrenching Smash (18)
• Trembling Stomp (28)
• Foot of the Mountain (40)
• Avalanche (54)

Leap
• Iron Impact (14)
• Launch (21)
• Toppling Impact (32)
• Call of Arreat (44)
• Death from Above (60)

Sprint
• Rush (23)
• Run Like the Wind (29)
• Marathon (38)
• Gangway (46)
• Forced March (53)

Ignore Pain
• Bravado (26)
• Iron Hide (31)
• Ignorance is Bliss (36)
• Mob Rule (43)
• Contempt for Weakness (58)

 [e]

Ancient Spear
• Grappling Hooks (15)
• Skirmish (23)
• Dread Spear (32)
• Harpoon (39)
• Rage Flip (49)

Revenge
• Vengeance Is Mine (19)
• Best Served Cold (25)
• Retribution (36)
• Grudge (41)
• Provocation (52)

Furious Charge
• Battering Ram (27)
• Merciless Assault (33)
• Stamina (38)
• Bull Rush (47)
• Dreadnought (56)

Overpower
• Storm of Steel (29)
• Killing Spree (34)
• Crushing Advance (42)
• Momentum (48)
• Revel (59)

 [e]

Weapon Throw
• Mighty Throw (21)
• Ricochet (25)
• Throwing Hammer (33)
• Stupefy (42)
• Dread Bomb (54)

Threatening Shout
• Intimidate (23)
• Falter (28)
• Grim Harvest (37)
• Demoralize (43)
• Terrify (57)

Battle Rage
• Marauder's Rage (26)
• Ferocity (31)
• Swords to Ploughshares (38)
• Into the Fray (46)
• Bloodshed (54)

War Cry
• Hardened Wrath (32)
• Charge! (35)
• Invigorate (41)
• Veteran's Warning (49)
• Impunity (60)

 [e]

Earthquake
• Giant's Stride (24)
• Chilling Earth (29)
• The Mountain's Call (39)
• Aftershocks (50)
• Path of Fire (56)

Call of the Ancients
• The Council Rises (31)
• Duty to the Clan (37)
• Korlic's Might (45)
• Madawc's Madness (51)
• Talic's Anger (58)

Wrath of the Berserker
• Arreat's Wail (36)
• Insanity (40)
• Slaughter (46)
• Striding Giant (52)
• Thrive on Chaos (60)

 [e]
The Demon Hunter Hatred/Discipline - Demon Hunter Active Skills (Archive) Demon Hunter Passive Skills (Archive) [e]

Primary attribute:
• Dexterity


Skill specialties:
• Discipline spells
• Bow skills
• Rockets

Primary
• Hungering Arrow (1)
• Entangling Shot (3)
• Bola Shot (11)
• Grenades (15)

Hunting
• Vault (9)
• Preparation (13)
• Companion (17)
• Marked for Death (21)

Secondary
• Impale (2)
• Rapid Fire (5)
• Chakram (12)
• Elemental Arrow (20)

Devices
• Evasive Fire (14)
• Fan of Knives (17)
• Spike Trap (17)
• Sentry (25)

Defensive
• Caltrops (4)
• Smoke Screen (8)
• Shadow Power (16)


Archery
• Strafe (19)
• Multishot (22)
• Cluster Arrow (27)
• Rain of Vengeance (30)

Tactical Advantage (10)
Thrill of the Hunt (10)
Vengeance (13)
Steady Aim (16)
Cull the Weak (20)
Night Stalker (20)
Brooding (25)
Hot Pursuit (27)

Archery (30)
Numbing Traps (30)
Perfectionist (35)
Custom Engineering (40)
Grenadier (45)
Sharpshooter (50)
Ballistics (55)

(X) = the level at which the skill becomes unlocked.
Demon Hunter skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Hunting Devices Archery

Hungering Arrow
• Puncturing Arrow (6)
• Cinder Arrow (17)
• Shatter Shot (26)
• Devouring Arrow (42)
• Spray of Teeth (52)

Entangling Shot
• Chain Gang (9)
• Shock Collar (18)
• Heavy Burden (34)
• Justice is Served (47)
• Bounty Hunter (54)

Bola Shot
• Volatile Explosives (14)
• Thunder Ball (24)
• Acid Strike (37)
• Bitter Pill (51)
• Imminent Doom (57)

Grenades
• Tinkerer (22)
• Cluster Grenades (32)
• Fire Bomb (40)
• Stun Grenades (48)
• Gas Grenades (60)

 [e]

Impale
• Impact (7)
• Chemical Burn (15)
• Overpenetration (28)
• Awareness (53)
• Grievous Wounds (58)

Rapid Fire
• Withering Fire (11)
• Web Shot (19)
• Fire Support (32)
• High Velocity (45)
• Bombardment (56)

Chakram
• Twin Chakrams (18)
• Serpentine (26)
• Razor Disk (34)
• Boomerang (48)
• Shuriken Cloud (57)

Elemental Arrow
• Ball Lightning (24)
• Frost Arrow (29)
• Screaming Skull (36)
• Lightning Bolts (43)
• Nether Tentacles (59)

 [e]

Caltrops
• Hooked Spines (12)
• Torturous Ground (18)
• Jagged Spikes (28)
• Carved Stakes (41)
• Bait the Trap (54)

Smoke Screen
• Displacement (14)
• Lingering Fog (23)
• Breathe Deep (33)
• Special Recipe (44)
• Choking Gas (59)

Shadow Power
• Night Bane (21)
• Blood Moon (29)
• Well of Darkness (37)
• Gloom (51)
• Shadow Glide (58)

 [e]

Vault
• Action Shot (16)
• Rattling Roll (23)
• Tumble (33)
• Acrobatics (38)
• Trail of Cinders (49)

Preparation
• Invigoration (19)
• Punishment (25)
• Battle Scars (35)
• Focused Mind (44)
• Backup Plan (52)

Companion
• Spider Companion (22)
• Bat Companion (29)
• Boar Companion (41)
• Ferret Companion (46)
• Wolf Companion (59)

Marked for Death
• Contagion (27)
• Valley of Death (31)
• Grim Reaper (39)
• Mortal Enemy (48)
• Death Toll (60)

 [e]

Evasive Fire
• Hardened (21)
• Parting Gift (26)
• Covering Fire (34)
• Displace (42)
• Surge (53)

Fan of Knives
• Crippling Razors (23)
• Retaliate (32)
• Hail of Knives (38)
• Fan of Daggers (44)
• Assassin's Knives (59)

Spike Trap
• Echoing Blast (27)
• Sticky Trap (30)
• Long Fuse (39)
• Lightning Rod (46)
• Scatter (55)

Sentry
• Spitfire Turret (28)
• Vigilant Watcher (36)
• Chain of Torment (45)
• Aid Station (52)
• Guardian Turret (60)

 [e]

Strafe
• Emberstrafe (24)
• Drifting Shadow (29)
• Stinging Steel (37)
• Rocket Storm (50)
• Demolition (56)

Multishot
• Fire at Will (26)
• Burst Fire (31)
• Suppression Fire (39)
• Full Broadside (46)
• Arsenal (55)

Cluster Arrow
• Dazzling Arrow (33)
• Shooting Stars (36)
• Maelstrom (41)
• Cluster Bombs (49)
• Loaded for Bear (58)

Rain of Vengeance
• Dark Cloud (35)
• Beastly Bombs (40)
• Stampede (47)
• Anathema (54)
• Flying Strike (60)

 [e]
The Monk Spirit - Monk Active Skills (Archive) Monk Passive Skills (Archive) [e]

Primary attribute:
• Dexterity


Skill specialties:
• Spirit Generators
• Mantras

Primary
• Fists of Thunder (1)
• Deadly Reach (3)
• Crippling Wave (11)
• Way of the Hundred Fists (15)

Techniques
• Dashing Strike (9)
• Exploding Palm (13)
• Sweeping Wind (21)

Secondary
• Lashing Tail Kick (2)
• Tempest Rush (5)
• Wave of Light (12)


Focus
• Cyclone Strike (14)
• Seven-Sided Strike (17)
• Mystic Ally (22)

Defensive
• Blinding Flash (4)
• Breath of Heaven (8)
• Serenity (16)
• Inner Sanctuary (22)

Mantras
• Mantra of Evasion (19)
• Mantra of Retribution (21)
• Mantra of Healing (26)
• Mantra of Conviction (30)

Fleet Footed (10)
Resolve (10)
Exalted Soul (13)
Transcendence (16)
Chant of Resonance (20)
Seize the Initiative (20)
The Guardian's Path (24)

Sixth Sense (27)
Pacifism (30)
Beacon of Ytar (35)
Guiding Light (40)
One With Everything (45)
Combination Strike (50)
Near Death Experience (58)

(X) = the level at which the skill becomes unlocked.
Monk skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Techniques Focus Mantras

Fists of Thunder
• Thunderclap (6)
• Lightning Flash (14)
• Static Charge (30)
• Quickening (42)
• Bounding Light (52)

Deadly Reach
• Piercing Trident (9)
• Keen Eye (18)
• Scattered Blows (34)
• Strike from Beyond (47)
• Foresight (54)

Crippling Wave
• Mangle (17)
• Concussion (26)
• Rising Tide (36)
• Tsunami (51)
• Breaking Wave (57)

Way of the Hundred Fists
• Hands of Lightning (24)
• Blazing Fists (32)
• Fists of Fury (40)
• Spirited Salvo (48)
• Windforce Flurry (60)

 [e]

Lashing Tail Kick
• Vulture Claw Kick (7)
• Sweeping Armada (15)
• Spinning Flame Kick (28)
• Scorpion Sting (38)
• Hand of Ytar (52)

Tempest Rush
• Northern Breeze (11)
• Tailwind (20)
• Flurry (33)
• Slipstream (45)
• Bluster (56)

Wave of Light
• Wall of Light (18)
• Explosive Light (25)
• Empowered Wave (35)
• Blinding Light (49)
• Pillar of the Ancients (57)

 [e]

Blinding Flash
• Self Reflection (12)
• Blinded and Confused (19)
• Blinding Echo (28)
• Searing Light (41)
• Faith in the Light (55)

Breath of Heaven
• Circle of Scorn (14)
• Circle of Life (21)
• Blazing Wrath (32)
• Infused with Light (44)
• Penitent Flame (59)

Serenity
• Peaceful Repose (23)
• Reap What Is Sown (29)
• Tranquility (39)
• Ascension (47)
• Instant Karma (54)

Inner Sanctuary
• Safe Haven (26)
• Sanctified Ground (31)
• Consecration (37)
• Circle of Protection (43)
• Forbidden Palace (58)

 [e]

Dashing Strike
• Way of the Falling Star (15)
• Flying Side Kick (23)
• Quicksilver (32)
• Soaring Skull (39)
• Blinding Speed (49)

Exploding Palm
• The Flesh is Weak (18)
• Strong Spirit (25)
• Creeping Demise (36)
• Impending Doom (44)
• Essence Burn (51)

Sweeping Wind
• Master of Wind (27)
• Blade Storm (33)
• Fire Storm (38)
• Inner Storm (46)
• Cyclone (56)

 [e]

Cyclone Strike
• Eye of the Storm (21)
• Implosion (25)
• Sunburst (34)
• Wall of Wind (41)
• Soothing Breeze (55)

Seven-Sided Strike
• Sudden Assault (23)
• Several-Sided Strike (29)
• Pandemonium (37)
• Sustained Attack (43)
• Fulminating Onslaught (60)

Mystic Ally
• Water Ally (27)
• Fire Ally (31)
• Air Ally (39)
• Eternal Ally (46)
• Earth Ally (53)

 [e]

Mantra of Evasion
• Hard Target (24)
• Divine Protection (33)
• Wind through the Reeds (40)
• Perseverance (50)
• Backlash (58)

Mantra of Retribution
• Retaliation (28)
• Transgression (36)
• Indignation (41)
• Against All Odds (56)
• Collateral Damage (59)

Mantra of Healing
• Sustenance (31)
• Circular Breathing (38)
• Boon of Protection (42)
• Heavenly Body (48)
• Time of Need (53)

Mantra of Conviction
• Overawe (35)
• Intimidation (44)
• Dishearten (47)
• Reclamation (55)
• Submission (60)

 [e]
The Necromancer Intelligence - Necromancer Active Skills (Archive) Necromancer Passive Skills (Archive) [e]

Primary attribute:
• Intelligence


Skill specialties:
• Cursess
• Life Steal

Primary
• Bone Spikes (-)
• Siphon Blood (-)
• Grim Scythe (-)


Corpses
• Corpse Explosion (-)
• Corpse Lance (-)
• Devour (-)
• Revive (-)

Secondary
• Death Nova (-)
• Bone Spear (-)
• Skeleton Mage (-)


Blood and Bone
• Bone Armor (-)
• Bone Spirit (-)
• Blood Rush (-)
• Simulacrum (-)

Reanimation
• Land of the Dead (-)
• Command Skeletons (-)
• Command Golem (-)
• Army of the Dead (-)

Curses
• Decrepify (-)
• Frailty (-)
• Leech (-)

Fueled by Death (-)
Life from Death (-)
Stand Alone (-3)
Bone Prison (-)
Commander of thr Dead (-)
Swift Harvesting (-)
Aberrant Animator (-)
Eternal Torment (-)
Blood for Blood (-)

Blood is Power (-)
Draw Life (-)
Extended Servitude (-)
Final Service (-)
Grisly Tribute (-)
Overwhelming Essence (-)
Rathma's Shield (-)
Reaping (-)
Rigor Mortis (-)
Separation (-)

(X) = the level at which the skill becomes unlocked.
Necromancer skill categories: Primary Secondary Corpses Blood and Bone Reanimation Curses
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
The Witch Doctor Mana - Witch Doctor Active Skills (Archive) Witch Doctor Passive Skills (Archive) [e]

Primary attribute:
• Intelligence


Skill specialties:
• Pets
• Physical realm spells
• Spirit spells

Theorycrafting

• Skill Proc Rates

Primary
• Poison Dart (1)
• Corpse Spiders (3)
• Plague of Toads (11)
• Firebomb (21)

Terror
• Soul Harvest (9)
• Sacrifice (13)
• Mass Confusion (22)

Secondary
• Grasp of the Dead (2)
• Firebats (5)
• Haunt (12)
• Locust Swarm (21)

Decay
• Zombie Charger (14)
• Spirit Barrage (17)
• Acid Cloud (22)
• Wall of Zombies (28)

Defensive
• Summon Zombie Dogs (4)
• Horrify (8)
• Spirit Walk (16)
• Hex (22)

Voodoo
• Gargantuan (19)
• Big Bad Voodoo (25)
• Fetish Army (30)

Circle of Life (10)
Jungle Fortitude (10)
Spiritual Attunement (13)
Gruesome Feast (16)
Bad Medicine (20)
Blood Ritual (20)
Zombie Handler (24)
Pierce the Veil (27)

Fetish Sycophants (30)
Spirit Vessel (30)
Rush of Essence (36)
Vision Quest (40)
Fierce Loyalty (45)
Grave Injustice (50)
Tribal Rites (55)

(X) = the level at which the skill becomes unlocked.
Witch Doctor skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Terror Decay Voodoo

Poison Dart - Rune effects
• Splinters (6)
• Numbing Dart (13)
• Spined Dart (25)
• Flaming Dart (43)
• Snake to the Face (52)

Corpse Spiders
• Leaping Spiders (9)
• Spider Queen (18)
• Widowmakers (33)
• Medusa Spiders (45)
• Blazing Spiders (55)

Plague of Toads
• Explosive Toads (17)
• Toad of Hugeness (24)
• Rain of Toads (35)
• Addling Toads (51)
• Toad Affinity (54)

Firebomb
• Flash Fire (28)
• Roll the Bones (31)
• Fire Pit (38)
• Pyrogeist (47)
• Ghost Bomb (60)

 [e]

Grasp of the Dead
• Unbreakable Grasp (7)
• Groping Eels (15)
• Death Is Life (25)
• Desperate Grasp (28)
• Rain of Corpses (53)

Firebats
• Dire Bats (11)
• Vampire Bats (19)
• Plague Bats (29)
• Hungry Bats (45)
• Cloud of Bats (56)

Haunt
• Consuming Spirit (18)
• Resentful Spirit (23)
• Lingering Spirit (35)
• Grasping Spirit (48)
• Draining Spirit (57)

Locust Swarm
• Pestilence (27)
• Devouring Swarm (33)
• Cloud of Insects (37)
• Diseased Swarm (42)
• Searing Locusts (59)

 [e]

Summon Zombie Dogs
• Rabid Dogs (12)
• Final Gift (19)
• Life Link (28)
• Burning Dogs (40)
• Leeching Beasts (54)

Horrify
• Phobia (14)
• Stalker (21)
• Face of Death (34)
• Frightening Aspect (44)
• Ruthless Terror (56)

Spirit Walk
• Jaunt (23)
• Honored Guest (29)
• Umbral Shock (38)
• Severance (47)
• Healing Journey (53)

Hex
• Hedge Magic (26)
• Jinx (31)
• Angry Chicken (36)
• Painful Transformation (43)
• Unstable Form (58)

 [e]

Soul Harvest
• Swallow Your Soul (15)
• Siphon (21)
• Languish (32)
• Soul to Waste (39)
• Vengeful Spirit (49)

Sacrifice
• Black Blood (18)
• Next of Kin (24)
• Pride (36)
• For the Master (41)
• Provoke the Pack (51)

Mass Confusion
• Unstable Realm (26)
• Devolution (34)
• Mass Hysteria (43)
• Paranoia (46)
• Mass Hallucination (54)

 [e]

Zombie Charger
• Leperous Zombie (21)
• Undeath (27)
• Wave of Zombies (33)
• Explosive Beast (42)
• Zombie Bears (54)

Spirit Barrage
• The Spirit Is Willing (23)
• Well of Souls (32)
• Phantasm (37)
• Phlebotomize (44)
• Manitou (59)

Acid Cloud
• Acid Rain (26)
• Lob Blob Bomb (30)
• Slow Burn (39)
• Kiss of Death (46)
• Corpse Bomb (55)

Wall of Zombies
• Barricade (32)
• Unrelenting Grip (35)
• Creepers (41)
• Pile On (49)
• Dead Rush (60)

 [e]

Gargantuan
• Humongoid (22)
• Restless Giant (29)
• Wrathful Protector (39)
• Big Stinker (48)
• Bruiser (56)

Big Bad Voodoo
• Jungle Drums (31)
• Rain Dance (37)
• Slam Dance (44)
• Ghost Trance (50)
• Boogie Man (58)

Fetish Army
• Fetish Ambush (34)
• Devoted Following (40)
• Legion of Daggers (46)
• Tiki Torchers (52)
• Head Hunters (60)

 [e]
The Wizard Arcane Power - Wizard Active Skills (Archive) Wizard Passive Skills (Archive) [e]

Primary attribute:
• Intelligence


Skill specialties:
• Signature spells
• Armor spells

Primary
• Magic Missile (1)
• Shock Pulse (3)
• Spectral Blade (11)
• Electrocute (15)

Force
• Wave of Force (9)
• Energy Twister (13)
• Hydra (21)
• Meteor (25)
• Blizzard (27)

Secondary
• Ray of Frost (2)
• Arcane Orb (5)
• Arcane Torrent (12)
• Disintegrate (21)

Conjuration
• Ice Armor (14)
• Storm Armor (17)
• Magic Weapon (20)
• Familiar (22)
• Energy Armor (28)

Defensive
• Frost Nova (4)
• Diamond Skin (8)
• Slow Time (16)
• Teleport (22)

Mastery
• Explosive Blast (19)
• Mirror Image (25)
• Archon (30)

Blur (10)
Power Hungry (10)
Evocation (13)
Glass Cannon (16)
Prodigy (20)
Astral Presence (24)
Illusionist (27)
Cold Blooded (30)

Conflagration (34)
Paralysis (37)
Galvanizing Ward (40)
Temporal Flux (45)
Critical Mass (50)
Arcane Dynamo (55)
Unstable Anomaly (60)

(X) = the level at which the skill becomes unlocked.
Wizard skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Force Conjuration Mastery

Magic Missile
• Charged Blast (6)
• Split (13)
• Penetrating Blast (31)
• Attunement (42)
• Seeker (52)

Shock Pulse
• Explosive Bolts (9)
• Fire Bolts (18)
• Piercing Orb (33)
• Lightning Affinity (47)
• Living Lightning (54)

Spectral Blade
• Deep Cuts (19)
• Impactful Blades (24)
• Siphoning Blade (35)
• Healing Blades (51)
• Thrown Blade (57)

Electrocute
• Chain Lightning (22)
• Forked Lightning (29)
• Lightning Blast (36)
• Surge of Power (44)
• Arc Lightning (59)

 [e]

Ray of Frost
• Numb (7)
• Snow Blast (15)
• Cold Blood (28)
• Sleet Storm (38)
• Black Ice (53)

Arcane Orb
• Obliteration (11)
• Arcane Orbit (20)
• Arcane Nova (32)
• Tap the Source (45)
• Celestial Orb (55)

Arcane Torrent
• Disruption (18)
• Death Blossom (25)
• Arcane Mines (34)
• Power Stone (49)
• Cascade (57)

Disintegrate
• Convergence (26)
• Chaos Nexus (30)
• Volatility (39)
• Entropy (48)
• Intensify (59)

 [e]

Frost Nova
• Shatter (12)
• Cold Snap (18)
• Frozen Mist (28)
• Deep Freeze (41)
• Bone Chill (51)

Diamond Skin
• Crystal Shell (14)
• Prism (20)
• Mirror Skin (32)
• Enduring Skin (44)
• Diamond Shards (56)

Slow Time
• Miasma (23)
• Time Warp (29)
• Time Shell (39)
• Perpetuity (47)
• Stretch Time (53)

Teleport
• Safe Passage (26)
• Wormhole (31)
• Reversal (37)
• Fracture (43)
• Calamity (59)

 [e]

Wave of Force
• Impactful Wave (15)
• Force Affinity (22)
• Forceful Wave (32)
• Teleporting Wave (39)
• Exploding Wave (49)

Energy Twister
• Mistral Breeze (19)
• Gale Force (24)
• Raging Storm (36)
• Wicked Wind (41)
• Storm Chaser (52)

Hydra
• Arcane Hydra (26)
• Lightning Hydra (33)
• Venom Hydra (38)
• Frost Hydra (46)
• Mammoth Hydra (56)

Meteor
• Molten Impact (29)
• Star Pact (34)
• Meteor Shower (43)
• Comet (48)
• Liquefy (58)

Blizzard
• Grasping Chill (35)
• Frozen Solid (42)
• Snowbound (47)
• Stark Winter (54)
• Unrelenting Storm (60)

 [e]

Ice Armor
• Chilling Aura (21)
• Crystallize (31)
• Jagged Ice (42)
• Ice Reflect (49)
• Frozen Storm (53)

Storm Armor
• Reactive Armor (23)
• Power of the Storm (33)
• Thunder Storm (37)
• Scramble (43)
• Shocking Aspect (58)

Magic Weapon
• Electrify (27)
• Force Weapon (35)
• Conduit (38)
• Venom (46)
• Blood Magic (55)

Familiar
• Sparkflint (30)
• Vigoron (40)
• Ancient Guardian (44)
• Arcanot (50)
• Cannoneer (57)

Energy Armor
• Absorption (32)
• Pinpoint Barrier (41)
• Energy Tap (48)
• Force Armor (54)
• Prismatic Armor (60)

 [e]

Explosive Blast
• Unleashed (24)
• Time Bomb (29)
• Short Fuse (39)
• Obliterate (50)
• Chain Reaction (56)

Mirror Image
• Simulacrum (31)
• Duplicates (37)
• Mocking Demise (45)
• Extension of Will (51)
• Mirror Mimics (58)

Archon
• Arcane Destruction (36)
• Teleport (40)
• Pure Power (46)
• Slow Time (52)
• Improved Archon (60)

 [e]
Followers Kormac the Templar Lyndon the Scoundrel Eirena the Enchantress [e]

• Followers FAQ
• Hirelings
• The Caravan
• Diablo III NPCs

Level 5:
• Heal
• Intervene

Level 10:
• Intimidate
• Loyalty

Level 15:
• Charge
• Onslaught

Level 20:
• Guardian
• Inspire

Level 5:
• Crippling Shot
• Poison Bolts

Level 10:
• Dirty Fighting
• Vanish

Level 15:
• Multishot
• Powered Shot

Level 20:
• Anatomy
• Hysteria

Level 15:
• Charm
• Forceful Push

Level 20:
• Powered Armor
• Missile Ward

Level 25:
• Disorient
• Erosion

Level 30:
• Focused Mind
• Mass Control

Diablo III Other Classes Diablo II Classes Diablo I Classes [e]

Archetypes:
• Caster
• Melee
• Ranged

Archetype sub-types:
• DPS
• Healer
• Summon/Spawn
• Tank
• Utility

Other classes:
• Archivist (April Fool's)
    • Book Vision
    • Lorenado
    • Quest Bolt
    • Shush
• Dervish (rejected)

Diablo II:
• Amazon
• Barbarian
• Necromancer
• Paladin
• Sorceress

Expansion:
• Assassin
• Druid

Diablo I:
• Rogue
• Sorcerer
• Warrior

Hellfire:
• Barbarian
• Bard
• Monk

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
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