Difference between revisions of "Cleave"

Revision as of 18:22, 28 August 2011

Cleave is a Barbarian skill enabled at level 5, which hits all enemies 180 degrees in front of the Barbarian.

Background

Diablo III Active Skill [e]

Cleave
Used by:	Barbarian
Enabled at:	Clvl 5
Skill Description
The Barbarian swings at multiple targets at once, dealing X% of normal damage to all targets in front of him.
Type:	Direct Damage/AoE
Resource Use:	Costs Fury
Skill Rune Effects
Alabaster rune:	Unknown
Crimson rune:	Unknown
Golden rune:	Unknown
Indigo rune:	Unknown
Obsidian rune:	Unknown

The Barbarian swings his weapon with all his might, cleaving in twain any enemies in his path.

Skill Design

A close up of Cleave, notice the red curve representing cleave. The blue "orbs" are from the hits of the frost enchanted axe

Cleave is a good skill to hit multiple enemies, it works with all combination of weapons, including a weapon and a shield, a duel wield combo or one big 2-handed weapon. It is unclear what factors the % damage on Cleave, is it Weapon Damage? or the resulting damage that a normal hit would've done? Make assumptions at your own risk.

With the latest changes in Fury mechanics, this skill would end up generating more Fury than was initially spent.

Here are cleaved Goatmen. You can see the graphic distortion as well as the red lines from swinging a cleave.

Cleave Video

A video of Cleave in use can be seen below, courtesy of the DiabloInc You Tube channel.

Skill Rank Table

Rank 1: The Barbarian swings at multiple targets at once, dealing 100% of normal damage to each.
Rank 2: The Barbarian swings at multiple targets at once, dealing 110% of normal damage to each.
Rank 3: The Barbarian swings at multiple targets at once, dealing 120% of normal damage to each.
Rank 4: The Barbarian swings at multiple targets at once, dealing 130% of normal damage to each.
Rank 5: The Barbarian swings at multiple targets at once, dealing 140% of normal damage to each. (A)

(A) = Assumed

Synergies

No synergies with any of the passive skills are yet known.

Skill Rune Effects

No rune effects for Cleave are known.

Development

Cleave was introduced in the WWI 2008 gameplay demo, where it could be found in the Juggernaut Skill Tree at Tier II. At the time, it would hit for 130% weapon damage on 2 enemies at rank 1, with weapon damage and maximum number of targets scaling per rank.

For BlizzCon 2009, Cleave had been slightly re-balanced with slightly less damage, and had also changed appearance slightly between the WWI gameplay video and the later demo. Strangely enough, the animation has been made less overwhelming, only cleaving in one direction, when the older one swung in both directions. Flux still enjoyed using it:[1]

Probably the most useful active attack skill the Barbarian had in the Blizzcon build. I used this one most of the time, especially when I had a group of enemies, and it cut right through them. It dealt enough damage to replenish the fury it cost any time I hit two or more enemies, so I’d usually ignore single small targets, and try to swing towards several enemies, or would do some very simplified herding to group up Fallen Imps or other small targets so that one Cleave would take them all out, and boost my fury as well.

By BlizzCon 2010, the only change to Cleave was the removal of skill trees. Flux shared some new insights on using it in his hands-on report:[2]

Cleave with the spear was extremely effective. It bumped up my damage enough that I began to one-hit kill virtually all of the regular monsters, and that was very fun. I’d usually run up to groups of 4-8 monsters, let them crowd in close, and then cut the whole damn bunch of them down with a single swing. Watching their bodies fly back like eviscerated ragdolls, was, to quote Jay Wilson, “Awesome!” It was all that “make the player feel godly” stuff they’re always talking about during the design panels, come to life. I was putty in their hands, and felt slightly dirty at being so easily manipulated.

Skill tiers were removed for the July 2011 Press Event, and Cleave became a level 5 skill.

Previous Versions

See the Barbarian skill archive for more details on previous versions of Cleave and other Barbarian skills.

In Other Games

Cleave was probably inspired by WarCraft 3, since the modifier that changes to "hit all enemies in front" is called Cleave.

Media

Cleave can be seen in action on video here:

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

Cleave smash closeup.
Ghouls being cleaved on a bridge.
Goatmen being cleaved.
Improved lighting effects are visible in Aug, 2010.

References

BlizzCon 2009 Full Barbarian Skill Trees and Stats
BlizzCon 2010 Barb Hands-on Report
Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report -- IncGamers 1st Aug 2011

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer primary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer secondary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer corpses

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer bloodandbone

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer reanimation

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer curses

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[File:Cleave.jpg|left]]
-'''Cleave''' is a [[Barbarian skill]] unlocked at [[clvl|level]] 5, which hits all enemies 180 degrees in front of the Barbarian.
+'''Cleave''' is a [[Barbarian skill]] enabled at [[clvl|level]] 5, which hits all enemies 180 degrees in front of the Barbarian.
+<br><br><br>__TOC__
 ==Background==
@@ Line 92: / Line 92: @@
 Cleave can be seen in action on video here:
 * [[Gameplay WWI2008|Gameplay: WWI 2008]]
+* [[Gameplay: July 2011]]
+* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRM2UJ0PYFE Diablo 3 Barbarian Skill Animations]
 You can find pictures in the Diablo III screenshot and picture gallery:
@@ Line 114: / Line 116: @@
 * [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/full-barbarian-skill-trees-and-stats1/ BlizzCon 2009 Full Barbarian Skill Trees and Stats]
 * [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/hands-on-from-blizzcon-mega-pvm-report-barbarian BlizzCon 2010 Barb Hands-on Report]
-* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7962606#post7962606 JudgeHype.com July 2011 Press Event Coverage - The Barbarian (Translated by Zediono)]
+* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7960229#post7960229 Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report] -- IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
 {{Skill navbox Diablo III|Barbarian}}

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