Difference between revisions of "Barbarian skills 2009"

Revision as of 16:06, 24 May 2012

This page archives an older version of the Barbarian skill system. This page is not to be updated with current info; see the Barbarian skills article for the latest information about this classes' skills.

Barbarian Skills

BlizzCon 2009 Berserker Tree

Berserker Skill Tree, August 2009.

Tier I

Battle Rage - Unchanged prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Active Skill
• Max Rank: 1
• Description: The barbarian enters a rage which increases damage done by 100% and increases Critical damage by 30%. Lasts for 15 seconds.
• Fury Cost: 50

This warcry boosts damage substantially. The amount of Fury required sounds considerable, but in the BlizzCon demo a Barbarian of around lvl 6 or 7 had about 100 Fury, and could fill the bulb in a battle with just 4 or 5 enemies. The duration at level 1 wasn't long enough to last between battles, so players had to remember to cast this one as soon as they had enough Fury, just after a battle started. Remembering to recast it during longer battles was trickier.

The Perseverence skill increases the duration of this and other warcries, so more points in this one would presumably increase the damage bonuses.

Bad Temper - Changed to a trait prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Passive Skill
• Rune Sockets: 0
• Max Rank: 15
• Description: Reduces Fury degeneration by 3%.
• Fury Cost: None

This skill causes the Barbarian's built up Fury to reduce less slowly, (theoretically) enabling the character to carry enough over from one fight to be able to use skills immediately at the start of the next battle.

Tier II

Sprint - Unchanged prior to BlizzCon 2010.

Double Strike - Removed prior to BlizzCon 2009.

• Passive Skill
• Rune Sockets: 1
• Max Rank: 1
• Description: Grants a dual wielding Barbarian the chance to strike nearby enemies with both weapons.
  • Rank 1: Gives a 6% chance of striking with both weapons.
  • Rank 2: Gives a 7% chance of striking with both weapons.
• Fury Cost: None

This one was also hard to read in our notes, so the figures are suspect. They were single numbers though, so the odds are clearly pretty low for this skill to trigger.

The Barbarian uses both weapons to attack when dual wielding; the attack just isn't much faster than it would be while holding a single weapon. This skill gives a % chance to hit an individual enemy twice, very quickly, once with each weapon.

Tier III

Frenzy - Changed prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Active Skill
• Rune Sockets: 1
• Max Rank: 1
• Description: When attacking with Frenzy, the Barbarian's weapon damage and attack speed are increased. Frenzy can be used repeatedly, stacking the speed bonus up to three times.
  • Rank 1: Deals 120% weapon damage. In addition, attack speed is increased by 6% for 10 seconds. (Up to 18%, with stacking.)
• Fury Cost: None

The popular D2 Barbarian skill returns, with much the same function. The particulars are tweaked a bit, in terms of the damage, attack speed bonus, duration, and stacking, but the function is similar. The biggest change is the Clvl: Frenzy was a level 24 skill in D2, and only worked while dual wielding. It's level 1 in D3, and it apparently works with any type of weapon or weapons.

Higher levels in this skill (which were not enabled at BlizzCon 2008) will presumably increase the bonuses to damage and other properties as well.

Threatening Shout - Unchanged prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Active Skill
• Rune Sockets: 1
• Max Rank: 5
• Description:
• Rank 2: Shout with great ferocity, reducing damage done by enemies within 24 feet by 60% for 15 seconds.
• Rank 3: Shout with great ferocity, reducing damage done by enemies within 24 feet by 70% for 18 seconds.

Tier IV

Leaping over a chasm.

Leap Attack - Unchanged prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Active Skill
• Rune Sockets: 1
• Max Rank: 1
• Description: The Barbarian makes a mighty leap, causing ? damage to enemies when he lands.
  Damage of Leap Attack increases with strength.
• Fury Cost: None

Leap Attack is not much changed from D2, and has been demonstrated repeatedly in the gameplay movies. The main difference with the D3 version of this skill is that minor damage is dealt to everything nearby when the Barbarian lands, rather than big damage to one particular monster.

This skill enables the barbarian to leap a considerable distance, and quite quickly too. When landing the barbarian drives her weapons down from overhead, creating a blue shockwave that damages and knocks back any enemies within several yards. It appears to combine the powers of the d2 skills leap and leap attack, and seems to deal quite a bit of damage, as rapidly as it dispatches multiple ghouls with every Leap, in the WWI movie, although this may have been due to the barbarian revisiting an old area in the movie.

Slashing Strike - Removed prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Passive Skill
• Rune Sockets: 1
• Max Rank: 1
• Description: Your melee attacks have an X% chance to hit all nearby enemies.
  • Rank 1: 12% chance to hit all nearby enemies.
• Fury Cost: None

Sounds like a very powerful skill, granting a chance to hit all nearby enemies with every attack. This would be hugely valuable when taking on large packs. On the other hand this probably won't affect some skills (like whirlwind or furious charge), making slashing strike less tempting for those specialized in those attacks.

Berserker State - Removed prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Passive Skill
• Rune Sockets: 0
• Max Rank: 15
• Description: Increases the duration of Frenzy and Onslaught by 1 second.
• Fury Cost: None

A typical D3 passive skill; boosting one aspect of two other skills from the same skill tree.

Tier V

Whirlwind - Unchanged prior to BlizzCon 2010.

Whirling up some goat jerky.

• Active Skill
• Rune Sockets: 1
• Max Rank: 1
• Description: Become a cyclone, delivering multiple hits to everything in your path.
  • Rank 1: Each hit deals 25% of weapon damage.
  • Rank 2: Each hit deals 30% of weapon damage.
• Fury Cost: None

Everyone's favorite spinning, multi-hitting tornado of a skill returns in D3. As it did in D2, Whirlwind lands multiple hits to anything in the barbarian's path, and it can strike multiple monsters per use. The whirling graphic is much improved in D3, with the weapon visible tracking around in a circle, leaving a glowing light as it spins and pausing an instant when it makes contact with a hapless enemy.

The damage values listed above were seen in the WWI 2008 gameplay movie. Updated values at BlizzCon 2008 in October were not recorded, so regard these numbers with suspicion.

Tier VI

Wrath of the Berserker - Unchanged prior to BlizzCon 2010.

Onslaught - Removed prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Active Skill
• Rune Sockets: 0
• Max Rank: 1
• Description: Increases attack speed by X%. Drains Fury while in use. Lasts for X seconds.
• Fury Cost: None

This was another description that was very hard to read, so no values are available. The skill's function is clear, though. It increases the Barbarian's attack speed for a few seconds, and drains Fury all the while. It runs for the allowed duration (around 10 seconds per use) or until the Fury runs out. (More Fury can be added while this skill is in use, of course. Hitting things with a super speed Barbarian is a great way to add Fury, after all.)

BlizzCon 2009 Juggernaut Tree

Juggernaut Skill Tree, August 2009.

Tier I

Bash - Unchanged prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Active Skill
• Rune Sockets: 1
• Max Rank: 1
• Description: Bash the enemy for 100% of weapon damage.
• Fury Cost: 3 (?)

Like all the active skills in the BlizzCon demo, Bash could only have one point added to it. This was not the case with skills when D3 debuted at the WWI in Paris, and it will almost certainly not be the case with active skills in the final game.

Scavenge - Removed prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Passive Skill
• Max Rank: 15
• Description: Increases the chance that a monster will drop a health globe.
  • Rank 1: +7% increased chance
• Fury Cost: None

This would not only help the Barbarian; it would make him more popular in parties, since the healing from health globes is shared to all nearby characters.

Tier II

Cleave.

Cleave - Unchanged prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Active Skill
• Max Rank: 1
• Description: The Barbarian swings at multiple targets, dealing 130% of weapon damage at up to 2 targets.
• Fury cost: 1 orb

This slashing melee strike that can hit multiple targets at once, Cleave leaves a streak of bright red light behind. It is a fast hit but has a slight delay between uses, making it slightly slower than normal attack. Cleave can be delivered with one hand, seems to alternate forehand and backhand when used repeated with a single weapon, and can be used while dual wielding.

This skill was a handy way to hit multiple enemies in the Blizzcon build. More points in this skill will likely increase the damage and perhaps the number of hittable targets as well.

Tier III

Revenge - Unchanged prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Active Skill
• Max Rank: 1
• Description: Smash the ground dealing 100% weapon damage to nearby enemies. You gain 2% of your maximum health for each enemy hit. Revenge has a % chance to be usable when hit by an enemy.
  • Rank 1: 10% chance, deals 100% damage and returns 2% of maximum health for each enemy hit.
• Fury cost: None

Apparently this one is an active skill. The description isn't clear, but it sounds like you can use it whenever you want as a sort of war cry. It deals your full weapon damage to all enemies in range, and works as a sort of life leech as well.

The first line about a 10% chance to be usable isn't clear. Is being hit a requirement before this may be used? Or does the skill trigger automatically on 10% of the times the Barbarian is hit? Triggering automatically would make it very powerful; giving the barbarian a free hit on and plenty of life from every enemy in range during every battle.

Invigorated - Removed prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Passive Skill
• Max Rank: 15
• Description: Picking up a health globe increases strength by 15% for 10 seconds.
• Fury cost: None

A boost to strength every time the Barbarian heals, or just picks up a health globe (if he's already at full strength). It's unknown if more points will raise the strength increase, the duration, or both.

Ground Stomp - Unchanged prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Active Skill
• Max Rank: 1
• Description: Stomp the ground, knocking back and stunning all nearby enemies for X second.
  • Rank 1: Knocks back and stuns enemies for 3 seconds. 5 second cool down.
• Fury cost: None

This foot stomping skill has a function much like the War Cry skill, from Diablo II. It stuns and renders motionless monsters in a small radius around the barbarian, though it does not seem to deal any damage. Stars can be seen circling around the heads of stunned monsters, and their defense is greatly reduced for the duration of the effect. Skeletal Shieldman, for instance, drop their shields while stunned.

This skill has an impressive and very powerful graphic. The earth trembles when the Barbarian stomps, and glowing yellow lines radiate out from the impact point, like pavement cracking under the weight of a dropped safe.

The figures are suspect on this one, since they were heard to read from our notes. The function is clear though, and in fact this skill has been seen in use in gameplay movies. It's a simple war cry-like skill that knocks back and stuns nearby monsters. It would presumably not work on bosses and other larger enemies, but that's not clear yet. As of June it was said to have no cost to Fury reserves but would be subject to a cooldown[1].

Tier IV

Taunt - Removed prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Active Skill
• Max Rank: 1
• Description: Taunt monsters to attack you at close range.
• Fury cost: None

No other description of this one was provided in the Blizzcon build. Range, % of working, effect on monsters, rage cost, etc. Presumably it would be useful to bring running enemies in close, but aside from some very low damage bats, there weren't any monsters seen in the BlizzCon demo who didn't do this anyway. Perhaps the skill causes ranged attackers and monster mages to move into melee range? Or could it be useful in multiplayer games to lure dangerous foes away from weaker party members?

Bloodthirst - Removed prior to BlizzCon 2010.

Tier V

Shock waves travel forward.

Seismic Slam - Unchanged prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Active Skill
• Max Rank: 1
• Description: Slam the ground causing a wave of destructive fire death. 100% of your weapon damage in front of the Barbarian.
• Fury cost: None

This transcribed description is not quite right, due to our indecipherable BlizzCon notes. There was no Fury cost listed on the skill, though it's hard to believe that will be the case in the final game, as powerful and useful as this skill is.

When launching a Seismic Slam, the barbarian lifts one foot and brings it down with her weapon, slamming them into the ground and sending a wave of energy forward, dealing heavy damage to anything directly in front of her. Multiple monsters can be hit by each use, and the ground is torn and fractured by this skill.

During the WWI 2008 Denizens of Diablo panel, The D3 team spoke at length about the creation of this essential skill, and how it was used to focus the design of the character.

This is a skill where the Barbarian raises his weapon overhead and slams it down into the ground. Anything in front of him, in a sort of cone-shape, gets rocked and destroyed. This skill was first skill we made for Barb, and one of the first we did in the game. Getting it right took longer than it did with most skills. We did many iterations. Animation especially. Had to make barb feel physically powerful. Traditionally we associate big bold movements with power. But if you want a game that feels fast and responsive, you want the movements to be really fast. Getting balance of fast movements and powerful feel. It's a big challenge in many ways to get that animation right.

Once we got through all that, we didn't still didn't really like the skill. We got programming done and wasn't that great. Got effects done, and still not that great. Somehow didn't quite sing to us. Wasn't until we got sound that it was really awesome. Really fun. Key to that was faith to get through process. Once you do get through it, all the skills that come after that come much quicker. What's the Barbarian about? Look at Seismic Slam. With that he rocks the world with power. Next few skills we did almost required no communication between art and programming, since art knew what the barb was about. Knew what we were designing for, since we had a great example.

Recovery - Removed prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Passive Skill
• Max Rank: 0/15
• Description: Increases the amount of health gained from health globes by 12%
• Fury cost: None

Health globes heal 25% of a character's max hit points as of October 2008. This figure may go up or down during further game balancing, but as of now 12% bonus is impressive, essentially increasing the healing by 50%.(Unless the 12% is calculated from what a health globe heals, instead of how much of the Barbarian's total hit points, which would be a far smaller bonus.) It's not clear if this increase will share to other players in the party, but it seems unlikely.

The tier 2 skill Scavenge in the Battlemaster Skill Tree increases the odds of health globes dropping. Points in both would certainly make for a healthier Barbarian.

Tier VI

Earthquake - Unchanged prior to BlizzCon 2010.

Strong Constitution - Removed prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Passive Skill
• Rune Sockets: 0
• Max Rank: 15
• Description: Enables health regeneration.
  • Rank 1: Regenerates 10 health per second.
• Fury Cost: None

A skill that sounds like it will be mandatory for most every Barbarian, unless equipment with health regeneration is common. The amount of regeneration was hard to read in our notes, but it is a low double digit number. Something like 10 or 12. Most likely one point will be enough for regenerating to full health while you are away from keyboard or in any way staying out of combat for a long time. Regeneration is usually not that handy in the middle of intense combat, since it works quite slowly, even at high levels.

BlizzCon 2009 Battlemaster Tree

Battlemaster Skill Tree, August 2009.

Tier I

Battle Cry - Changed to War Cry prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Active Skill
• Max Rank: 1
• Description: A battle cry that increases the armor of the Barbarian and all other party members.
  • Rank 1: +80% armor. 60 second duration.
• Fury Cost: None

This warcry is basically Shout, from Diablo II. It increases the defense of the Barbarian and any party members in range. The defense and duration increase with additional skill points.

The skill hover was shown in the WWI gameplay movie, and that text is reproduced in the table below.

• 

  Battlecry

Second Wind - Changed to a trait prior to BlizzCon 2010.

Tier II

Stubborn - Removed prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Passive Skill
• Max Rank: 15
• Description: Resist all slowing effects by 27%.
• Fury cost: None

As with all of these skills, the values will likely change during development. This skill lets the Barbarian be less slowed by enemy slowing effects, which may be a huge bonus, depending upon how common such effects are and how common equipment with such resistances are. We have no idea, at this early point, but clearly there will be some, to make this skill useful.

Enrage - Removed prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Active Skill
• Rune Sockets: 1
• Max Rank: 1
• Description: Enter a reckless rage, increasing Fury gained but also damage taken.
  • Rank 1: Increases Fury gained by 100% and damage taken by 25%, for 10 seconds.
• Fury Cost: None

An interesting skill, grants the Barbarian an orb of Fury and enables him to increase Fury generation, but taking more damage while doing so. This would be a useful skill to power up just before entering battle; the Barbarian would fill up one of his Fury orbs very quickly against one or two initial attackers, and by the time the main mob was in range his Fury would be full and the increased damage penalty would have worn off.

Tier III

Hammer of the Ancients - Unchanged prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Active Skill
• Max Rank: 1
• Description: A massive attack that deals bonus weapon damage plus additional physical damage. It also increases the damage from critical hits.
  • Rank 1: Deals 100% weapon damage, an additional 2 physical damage, and increases critical hit damage by 20%
• Fury cost: None

This massive damage attack is dealt with an overhead slam; the Barbarian brings his weapon down straight overhead, like a man driving a railroad spike with a sledgehammer. The Barbarian's weapon vanishes when he uses this skill, the graphic replaced by a giant golden mace.

It's a huge attack, and hits quickly, but the Barbarian takes a second to recover after the strike, leaving him vulnerable to nearby enemies. This looks like a skill that's best used against single large targets, rather than while swarmed. It's not clear if the strike will hit multiple enemies, or just the one targeted.

• 

  Hammer time!

• 

  Squashed Gnarled Walker!

Ignore Pain - Unchanged prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Active Skill
• Max Rank: 15
• Description: Reduce all damage taken for X seconds.
  • Rank 1: Reduce all damage taken by 79% (?) for 10 seconds.
• Fury Cost: 50

The image of this one is very hard to read, so the % damage reduction is dubious. Seventy-nine percent seems too high, though. At any rate, the figure is subject to tweaking in later development. It's not known if more points would increase the damage reduction, duration, or both.

However much it reduces damage by, it would clearly be a valuable skill for most Barbarians, especially for Hardcore players. If the duration remains this short even with more points, it's an indication that the D3 team wants Barbarian combat to be a very busy, intense activity. Most of his skills, including the war cries, require Fury to cast, Fury can only be built up during combat, and most of the skills have a fairly short duration. It looks like barbarians are going to be very busy clickers, constantly cycling through their skills and adding buffs, and rebuffing, right in the middle of intense combat. In fact, that's the only time they can add buffs, since they don't last very long, and they require rage to cast.

Tier IV

Weapon Throw - Unchanged prior to BlizzCon 2010.

Inspiration - Removed prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Passive Skill
• Max Rank: 15
• Description: Increases the damage of critical hits and added hits. Can stack up to three times.
  • Rank 1: Increases critical hit damage by 3% and increases the damage of added hits by 5% for 15 seconds.
• Fury cost: None

The figures on this one are suspect, since our notes were very hard to decipher. The function is clear though. This mastery boosts all critical hit damage, and increases the damage of other hits as well. It's not clear what "added hits" are, though. Possibly a mis-transcription of the skill hover text.

Tier V

Furious Charge

Furious Charge - Unchanged prior to BlizzCon 2010.

• Active Skill
• Max Rank: 1
• Description: Charge directly at an enemy, dealing weapon damage to the target and to enemies in the area.
  • Rank 1: Deal 120% of weapon damage to the target and 80% to enemies in the area.
• Fury cost: None

A dashing attack that is improved over the Paladin version. In Diablo 3 this one works almost like teleportation, moving the Barbarian to the targeted monster in a blink, leaving a blue streak behind and hitting every monster he seems to pass through on his way to the target. It also deals damage to other monsters in the area of the target.

Retaliation - Removed prior to BlizzCon 2010.

Tier VI

Cripple - Removed prior to BlizzCon 2010.