Meteor

See The Meteor for details about the flaming meteor that falls on the Tristram Cathedral, opening the story of Diablo III.

Meteor in action in the Arena.

Meteor is a Force Wizard skill unlocked at Level 25. This skill is among the Wizard's most damaging, calling down a huge flaming stone that deals massive damage, as well as leaving a burning circle that deals AoE damage to anything in the vicinity.

Background

Calling upon the elements, the Wizard unleashes a fiery meteor from the sky which crushes anything unfortunate enough to be in the way when it hits.

Skill Rune Effects

The following is a very quick summary. See the Meteor rune effects page for a more thorough description of rune effects, or any of the individual rune pages for numbers, screenshots, blue quotes, and much more.

<skill class="Wizard">Meteor</skill>

Skill Design

Meteor returns from Diablo II, with its function largely preserved. Once again it's a falling rock from the sky that deals huge fire damage. The skill is mighty, but the delay between the casting and the rock's arrival requires skill and anticipation on the part of the Wizard to hit accurately with it.

Synergies

The following Wizard passives provide a benefit to Meteor, runed or not:

Skill	Unlocked	Description

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Development

Meteor descends in the Arena.

Meteor was not in the game during 2008 and 2009, though smaller projectile, wider-area, "death from above" skills like Blizzard and Arcane Torrent were. Presumably the team decided that a larger, single hit, smaller-area death from above skill would be a nice addition to the play balance.

Meteor debuted at BlizzCon 2010, where it was one of the Wizard's skills in the Battle Arena. Flux talked about using it in PvP play:[1]

Meteor packed huge damage; the most of any skill in the Arena demo. It was very hard to hit with, though. There were several seconds between the trigger and the arrival, and no one stood still for that long in the Arena. These were worth firing regularly since the Wizard was never low on Arcane Power, the cast only took an instant, and the reward for one hitting was huge. They seldom did, though. Smart players would have seen the circle showing the drop zone and tried to lead the enemy into it; Mongrels at least. Maybe next time.

Skill tiers were removed for the July 2011 Press Event, allowing skills to unlock steadily from levels 1 to 30. Consequently, all skill levels were adjusted and Meteor became a level 24 skill.

Beta

The Diablo III Beta started in September 2011, and while it ran, all of the skills continued to undergo extensive iteration. Skill changes varied from changing the levels the skills are unlocked, to changes in resource cost, damage, and even function. A few skills were removed altogether, and a few new ones were added. Also, the entire skill system received an overhaul with the Beta Patch 13 update in February 2012, with physical runes replaced by rune effects that automatically unlock at various levels for the different skills.

Meteor was moved to level 27 early in the beta. With the Patch 13 changes, it was classified as an Arcane skill and dropped to level 23. For March's Beta Patch 14, Meteor was moved to level 25 and nerfed quite a bit. Also, the category "Arcane" was renamed "Force".

In Earlier Games

This skill (unruned) is essentially the same as Diablo II's Sorceress skill Meteor, just with improved visuals and sound effects.

Media

Meteor can be seen in action on video here:

• Gameplay: Blizzcon 2010 (in the Arena)
• Video: Blizzcon 2010 Arena

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

• Diablo III screenshots and pictures
• Meteor specific gallery contents

• 

  Meteors descending over the Battle Arena.

• 

  Blue circle shows where a blue team's Wizard's meteor is about to strike in the Battle Arena.

• 

  The burn zone left by Meteor impact, once the AoE flames have burned out.

References

• BlizzCon 2010 PvP Hands-on Report
• Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report — IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
• Silva's Wizard Runestone Effects — IncGamers 5th Sep 2011
• Wizard Active Skills — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site

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