Difference between revisions of "Ancient Spear"

Revision as of 20:27, 6 February 2011

Ancient Spear is a Barbarian Tier 5 skill unlocked at character level 14. The Barbarian fires a mystical spear to snare his foes and haul them back into melee range.

Background

Diablo III Skill [e]

Ancient Spear Active, 5 ranks
Used by:	Barbarian
Skill Description:
Fire an ancient spear to snare your foes.
Skill Details:
Type:	Grapple
Quantity:	None
Effect:	Target
School:	Physical
Fury cost:	Unknown
Cast time:	Instant
Duration:	None
Cooldown:	Unknown
Synergies:	None
Requires:	N/A
Prereq of:	N/A

The Barbarian throws an ancient spear that sinks into his foes, and he pulls them into his blades.

Skill Design

Spear in flight.

Ancient Spear first appeared at BlizzCon 2010.

The skill, which should obviously be called "Ancient Harpoon," is a ranged attack that spears enemies and pulls them into melee range, where the Barbarian, should he react quickly enough, can chop them to bits.

This skill is highly viable in the Battle Arena where slippery ranged attacking Wizards and Witch Doctors are in desperate need of some "Get over here!" as far as the Barbarian is concerned.

The skill can also be used effectively in PvM, ideally on back row attackers like archers or shaman, who the Barbarian wants to kill but can not reach through their defending meat shields. Enemies all the way to the edge of the visible screen can be skewered and pulled in, when targeted accurately.

Skill Rank Table

Rank 1: Throws a spear with a maximum range of X feet, pulling each target back to the Barbarian, slowing movement speed and dealing X-X damage.

Synergies

None known.

Skill Rune Effects

Only one is known; the runestone socketed in the pre-made, PvP Battle Arena characters at Blizzcon 2010 allowed the spear to skewer multiple targets and pull them both into range. Unfortunately, it's not known if this was the Indigo rune effect, or if it was the Alabaster or Obsidian wildcard rune bonuses.

Crimson is assumed to boost the damage of a successful spearing (or perhaps boost the damage of hits landed on a harpooned enemy for some duration?), and Golden is presumed to lower the Fury cost of using the skill, though these are not confirmed.

Development

Wyatt Cheng briefly discussed the development of Ancient Spear at BlizzCon 2010^[1]:

We knew that he needed a ranged attack so here is an example of Ancient Spear. We don't want to turn the Barbarian into a ranged class so this is something that feels very appropriate for him. We want to sell the theme that he's strong, he's tough, he's melee so we had to come up with something that felt appropriate for that.

Media

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

Barb firing spear.
The spearhead and chain.
A wild shot, flashes off the screen.
A confused Barb nearly skewers his red team Wizard teammate.

References

↑ Diablo 3 Gameplay Panel Transcript - Incgamers 23/10/10

BlizzCon 2010 PvP Hands-on Report

[1] Diablo 3 Gameplay Panel Transcript - Incgamers 23/10/10

[1]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''Ancient Spear''' is a Tier 5 [[Barbarian_skill|skill]] unlocked for the [[Barbarian]] at [[Clvl|character level]] 14. The Barbarian fires a mystical spear to snare his foes and haul them back into [[melee]] range.
+'''Ancient Spear''' is a [[Barbarian]] Tier 5 [[Barbarian_skill|skill]] unlocked at [[Clvl|character level]] 14. The Barbarian fires a mystical spear to snare his foes and haul them back into [[melee]] range.
@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
+{{clear-left}}
 ==Skill Rank Table==
-*'''Rank 1:''' Throws a spear with a maximum range of X feet, pulling each target back to the Barbarian, slowing movement speed and dealing X-X damage.
+* '''Rank 1:''' Throws a spear with a maximum range of X feet, pulling each target back to the Barbarian, slowing movement speed and dealing X-X damage.
-==Trait [[Synergies]]==
+==[[Synergies]]==
-*None known.
+* None known.
 ==[[Rune|Skill Rune]] Effects==
 Only one is known; the [[runestone]] socketed in the pre-made, PvP [[Battle Arena]] characters at Blizzcon 2010 allowed the spear to skewer multiple targets and pull them both into range. Unfortunately, it's not known if this was the [[Indigo rune]] effect, or if it was the [[Alabaster]] or [[Obsidian]] wildcard rune bonuses.
 [[Crimson]] is assumed to boost the damage of a successful spearing (or perhaps boost the damage of hits landed on a harpooned enemy for some duration?), and [[Golden]] is presumed to lower the [[Fury]] cost of using the skill, though these are not confirmed.
 ==Development==
 [[Wyatt Cheng]] briefly discussed the development of Ancient Spear at BlizzCon 2010<ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo-3-gameplay-panel-transcript/P2/ Diablo 3 Gameplay Panel Transcript] - Incgamers 23/10/10</ref>:
@@ Line 94: / Line 91: @@
 ==References==
 <references/>
+* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/hands-on-from-blizzcon-mega-pvp-arena-report/ BlizzCon 2010 PvP Hands-on Report]
 {{Slave navbox Diablo III|D3_Barbarian}}

The Barbarian - Barbarian skills - Barbarian traits - Fury - Barbarian skill archive [e]
Tier One/Clvl 2	Tier Two/Clvl 3	Tier Three/Clvl 6	Tier Four/Clvl 10	Tier Five/Clvl 14	Tier Six/Clvl 20	Tier Seven/Clvl 26
• Bash • Rampage • Cleave	• Ground Stomp • Ignore Pain • War Cry • Weapon Throw	• Frenzy • Revenge • Hammer of the Ancients	• Leap Attack • Sprint • Threatening Shout	• Ancient Spear • Battle Rage • Rend • Seismic Slam	• Furious Charge • Taunt • Whirlwind	• Call of the Ancients • Earthquake • Wrath of the Berserker

The Monk - Monk skills - Auras - Combos - Monk traits - Spirit - Monk skill archive [e]
Tier One/Clvl 2	Tier Two/Clvl 3	Tier Three/Clvl 6	Tier Four/Clvl 10	Tier Five/Clvl 14	Tier Six/Clvl 20	Tier Seven/Clvl 26
• Hands of Lightning • Lashing Tail Kick • Long Reach	• Circle of Wrath • Lethal Decoy • Serenity	• Blinding Flash • Crippling Wave • Holy Aura	• Dashing Strike • Dominate Aura • Way of the Hundred Fists	• Exploding Palm • Inner Sanctuary	• Breath of Heaven • Retribution Aura • Sweeping Wind	• Resist Aura • Seven-Sided Strike • Wave of Light