Ground Stomp

Ground Stomp is a Barbarian Tier 2 skill unlocked at level 3, which stuns enemies around the Barbarian for a limited period of time.

Background

Diablo III Skill [e]
Ground Stomp Active, 5 ranks
Used by:	Barbarian
Skill Description:
Stomp the ground, stunning all nearby enemies for X Seconds.
Skill Details:
Type:	Direct
Quantity:	Cast
Effect:	Circular AoE
School:	Physical
Fury cost:	Unknown
Cast time:	None
Duration:	None
Cooldown:	14 seconds
Synergies:	None
Requires:	N/A
Prereq of:	N/A

The Barbarian stomps the ground with such fury, that enemies around him are left bedazzled and cannot move.

Skill Design

These boots are heavier than they look...

Ground Stomp is a useful skill, it will buy the Barbarian precious time should the need arise. However, it is unknown if it will work on bosses.

On regular enemies, stars can be seen circling around the heads of stunned monsters.

The skill has unique properties as well, Skeletal Shieldmen for example, have a shield that blocks most if not all damage, but a well placed Ground Stomp will cause them to drop their shields, making these skeletons easy pickings.

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.

Skill Rank Table

• Rank 1: Stomp the ground, stunning all nearby enemies for 3.0 Seconds. Cooldown is 14 seconds.
• Rank 2: Stomp the ground, stunning all nearby enemies for 3.5 Seconds. Cooldown is 13 seconds. (A)
• Rank 3: Stomp the ground, stunning all nearby enemies for 4.0 Seconds. Cooldown is 12 seconds. (A)
• Rank 4: Stomp the ground, stunning all nearby enemies for 4.5 Seconds. Cooldown is 11 seconds. (A)
• Rank 5: Stomp the ground, stunning all nearby enemies for 5.0 Seconds. Cooldown is 10 seconds. (A)

(A) = Assumed

Synergies

Ground Stomp receives synergy bonuses from the following traits:

• Intimidation: Increases damage done and reduces vendor costs.
• Cruelty: Increases your chance of dealing critical strikes.
• Weak Spot: Increases critical strike damage.

Ground Stomp may benefit from the following traits:

• Frenzied Attacks: Increases the chance to deal critical strikes and increases critical strike damage when the Barbarian is wielding two weapons.
• Thunderous Blows: Increases damage done when the Barbarian is wielding a two-handed weapon.
• Beast Hunter: Damage bonus against Beasts.
• Demonsbane: Damage bonus against Demons.
• Just...Stay...Dead!: Damage bonus against Undead.
• Massive Blow: You have a chance to hit all nearby targets with a single hit. Requires a two-handed weapon.
• Pig Sticker: Increases damage done when the Barbarian is wielding a polearm, spears or when he throws weapons.
• Die by the Sword: Increases damage done when the Barbarian is wielding swords.
• Axe Murderer: Increases damage done when the Barbarian is wielding axes.
• Brain Basher: Increases damage done when the Barbarian is wielding maces.

Note: The current trait list is very out-of-date and will no doubt be overhauled before game release.

Skill Rune Effects

The following rune effects for Ground Stomp are known:

• Unknown Rune: Adds damage and knockback.

Development

Ground Stomp was first introduced in the WWI 2008 gameplay video, as a Tier III skill in the Juggernaut Skill Tree. The original Ground Stomp gave enemies a slight knockback and had a very short cooldown. In June 2009 Bashiok said it was to cost no Fury reserves but would be subject to a much longer cooldown[1].

Ground stomp is an exception mainly because of the nature of its use. A cooldown allows it to be used as an “oh crap I’m overwhelmed” ability without also requiring you to have fury built up.

At BlizzCon 2009, Ground Stomp was shown with the longer cooldown, no knockback, and moved to Tier II. Flux discovered another use for it:[2]

The radius of attack is very limited, just a few meters, so while this one worked to knock Dune Dervishes out of their invulnerable (to melee attacks) Whirlwind mode, you had to get quite close to use it, and time it just right.

In the BlizzCon 2010 gameplay demo, Flux was able to try it out with a rune that added knockback:[3]

I can imagine high level Barbs having fun with GS and knockback. If you had gear to lengthen the duration of the stun, it might be fun to torture monsters, banging them around like shuffleboards and trying to push them in various directions. You’d need high hit point enemies though, so you didn’t prematurely kill them during the maneuvers.

Previous Versions

See the Barbarian skill archive for more details on previous versions of Ground Stomp and other Barbarian skills.

Ground Stomp in Other Games

Ground Stomp is similar to Diablo II's Barbarian skill War Cry, which does damage to monsters, in addition to stunning them.

The name and mechanic of this skill is possibly directly inspired by the Tauren Chieftain hero in WarCraft 3. The Tauren racial in World of WarCraft called "War Stomp" is also very similar.

Media

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

• Diablo III screenshots and pictures
• Ground Stomp specific gallery contents

• 

  Stomp a-hoy!

References

• Bashiok on the Barbarian's Fury -- Incgamers 10th Jun 2009
• BlizzCon 2009 Full Barbarian Skill Trees and Stats
• BlizzCon 2010 Barbarian Hands-on Report