Diamond Skin

Diamond Skin is a Wizard skill enabled at level 9, protecting the caster from incoming damage.

Background

Diablo III Active Skill [e]
Diamond Skin
Used by:	Wizard
Enabled at:	Clvl 9
Skill Description
Turns the Wizard's skin to diamond for x seconds absorbing up to y damage from incoming attacks.
Type:	Self Buff
Resource Use:	Costs Arcane Power
Skill Rune Effects
Alabaster rune:	Unknown
Crimson rune:	Unknown
Golden rune:	Unknown
Indigo rune:	Unknown
Obsidian rune:	Unknown

Calling upon Arcane forces, the Wizard can make her skin hard as diamond for short period of time.

Skill Design

Diamond Skin in the Arena.

Diamond skin absorbs all types incoming damage. The skill expires after the duration runs out, or it absorbs the maximum possible damage. There is a substantial cool down before it can be recast, and the short duration makes it wise to cast just before damage is to be taken.

Skill Rank Table

• Rank 1: Absorbs 20 damage of any type. Lasts for 8 seconds. (A)
• Rank 2: Absorbs 40 damage of any type. Lasts for 8 seconds. (A)
• Rank 3: Absorbs 60 damage of any type. Lasts for 8 seconds. (A)
• Rank 4: Absorbs 80 damage of any type. Lasts for 8 seconds. (A)
• Rank 5: Absorbs 100 damage of any type. Lasts for 8 seconds.

(A) = Assumed

Synergies

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

Skill Rune Effects

The following rune effects for Diamond Skin are known:

• Unknown rune: Grants 50% more damage absorption.

Development

Diamond Skin was first shown at BlizzCon 2008 when the Wizard debuted. It was originally named Stone Skin and was at Tier II on the Conjuring Skill Tree. It absorbed 30 damage at rank 1, and appeared as a rough textured sort of graininess.

For BlizzCon 2009, Stone Skin was at Tier III and sported much improved damage reduction, as well as improved visuals. Flux discussed the new look:[1]

[Stone Skin] didn’t show up well on the slender Wizard. The new version is quite different and impossible to miss. The wizard is now sheathed in glowing blue crystals, almost like some superhero made from sapphires. In fact, the skill is so different in look that the team is probably going to rename it, though they’ve not settled on a change from Stone Skin, yet.

Soon afterwords, the development team did indeed change the name to Diamond Skin to better fit the new visuals.

Diamond Skin was one of the Wizard's skills in the BlizzCon 2010 PvP demo, where it was occasionally a life saver, but only if used properly, as Flux explained:[2]

At level 5 with a rune it absorbed 150 damage of any type, but the duration was quite short, so you had to cast it just before you needed it. Also, 150 sounded like a lot, but a Meteor or grinding Barb could do double that in a second, and Wizards with Diamond Skin on tended to feel invulnerable, and stuck around in dangerous, melee situations longer than they should have.

Skill tiers were removed for the July 2011 Press Event, and Diamond Skin became a level 9 skill.

Previous Versions

See the Wizard skill archive for more details on previous versions of Diamond Skin (or Stone Skin) and other Wizard skills.
Or see Stone Skin for the original version of this skill.

Media

Diamond Skin can be seen in action on video here:

• Gameplay: Blizzcon 2008 (original Stone Skin appearance)
• Gameplay: Blizzcon 2010 (in the Arena)

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

• Diablo III screenshots and pictures
• Diamond Skin specific gallery contents

• 

  Diamond skin in use in the Battle Arena.

References

• BlizzCon 2008 Wizard Gameplay Report
• BlizzCon 2009 Character Panel, Skill Improvements
• BlizzCon 2009 Full Wizard Skill Trees
• BlizzCon 2010 PvP Hands-on Report
• Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report -- IncGamers 1st Aug 2011

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