Seismic Slam

Seismic Slam is a Tier V skill from the Barbarian's Juggernaut Skill Tree, which causes a shockwave to erupt from the Barbarian. It's a signature skill of the Barbarian.

Background

Diablo III Skill [e]
Seismic Slam Active, 5 ranks
Used by:	Barbarian
Skill Description:
Slam the ground causing a wave of destruction that deals X% of your weapon damage in front of the Barbarian and causes a small amount of knockback.
Skill Details:
Type:	Direct Damage
Quantity:	% of weapon dmg.
Effect:	Line AoE
School:	Physical
Fury cost:	1 Orb
Cast time:	None
Duration:	None
Cooldown:	None
Synergies:	None
Requires:	N/A
Prereq of:	N/A

The Barbarian slams the ground with such power that a shockwave erupts forth from him, annihilating everything in its path.

Skill Design

This is one tough walnut...

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.

Seismic Slam is a strong and fun skill to use, causing damage to the environment as well as to enemies. The skill can cause wooden ornaments to be destroyed or can cause walls to collapse. This skill should be aimed to hit multiple enemies at once, as the damage is good and will keep the fury rolling in for the use of other skills.

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.

Skill Rank Table

(A) = Assumed

• Rank: 1/5
  • Slam the ground causing a wave of destruction that deals 120% of your weapon damage in front of the Barbarian and causes a small amount of knockback.
  • Fury Cost: 1 Fury Orb
• Rank: 2/5
  • Slam the ground causing a wave of destruction that deals 140% of your weapon damage in front of the Barbarian and causes a small amount of knockback. (A)
  • Fury Cost: 1 Fury Orb
• Rank: 3/5
  • Slam the ground causing a wave of destruction that deals 160% of your weapon damage in front of the Barbarian and causes a small amount of knockback. (A)
  • Fury Cost: 1 Fury Orb
• Rank: 4/5
  • Slam the ground causing a wave of destruction that deals 180% of your weapon damage in front of the Barbarian and causes a small amount of knockback. (A)
  • Fury Cost: 1 Fury Orb
• Rank: 5/5
  • Slam the ground causing a wave of destruction that deals 200% of your weapon damage in front of the Barbarian and causes a small amount of knockback. (A)
  • Fury Cost: 1 Fury Orb

Synergies

Skill Synergies

• Bloodthirst: You will gain a good amount of health when using Seismic Slam within the timeframe of Bloodthirst, especially if hitting multiple targets.

General Synergies

• Items with high damage will make this skill much stronger.

Skill Rune Effects

• None known.

Development

Seismic Slam was first introduced in the WWI 2008 gameplay demo. During the WWI 2008 Denizens of Diablo Panel, the development team talked at length about Seismic Slam and how it affected the Barbarian class, which can be read by following the link above.

The Seismic Slam from BlizzCon 2008 only did 100% weapon damage on rank one, but was increased to 120% in the BlizzCon 2009 demo.

Media

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

• Diablo 3 screenshots and pictures
• Seismic Slam-specific gallery contents

• 

  Seismic Slam in the WWI 2008 demo.

References

• Full Barbarian Skill Trees and Stats
• WWI 2008 Denizens of Diablo panel