Cleave

Cleave is a Barbarian skill unlocked at level 5, which hits all enemies 180 degrees in front of the Barbarian.

Background

Diablo III Active Skill [e]
Cleave
Used by:	Barbarian
Enabled at:	Clvl 5
Skill Description
The Barbarian swings at multiple targets at once, dealing X% of normal damage to all targets in front of him.
Type:	Direct Damage/AoE
Resource Use:	Costs Fury
Skill Rune Effects
Alabaster rune:	Unknown
Crimson rune:	Unknown
Golden rune:	Unknown
Indigo rune:	Unknown
Obsidian rune:	Unknown

The Barbarian swings his weapon with all his might, cleaving in twain any enemies in his path.

Skill Design

A close up of Cleave, notice the red curve representing cleave. The blue "orbs" are from the hits of the frost enchanted axe

Cleave is a good skill to hit multiple enemies, it works with all combination of weapons, including a weapon and a shield, a duel wield combo or one big 2-handed weapon. It is unclear what factors the % damage on Cleave, is it Weapon Damage? or the resulting damage that a normal hit would've done? Make assumptions at your own risk.

With the latest changes in Fury mechanics, this skill would end up generating more Fury than was initially spent.

Here are cleaved Goatmen. You can see the graphic distortion as well as the red lines from swinging a cleave.

Cleave Video

A video of Cleave in use can be seen below, courtesy of the DiabloInc You Tube channel.

Skill Rank Table

• Rank 1: The Barbarian swings at multiple targets at once, dealing 100% of normal damage to each.
• Rank 2: The Barbarian swings at multiple targets at once, dealing 110% of normal damage to each.
• Rank 3: The Barbarian swings at multiple targets at once, dealing 120% of normal damage to each.
• Rank 4: The Barbarian swings at multiple targets at once, dealing 130% of normal damage to each.
• Rank 5: The Barbarian swings at multiple targets at once, dealing 140% of normal damage to each. (A)

(A) = Assumed

Synergies

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

Skill Rune Effects

• No rune effects for Cleave are known.

Development

Cleave was introduced in the WWI 2008 gameplay demo, where it could be found in the Juggernaut Skill Tree at Tier II. At the time, it would hit for 130% weapon damage on 2 enemies at rank 1, with weapon damage and maximum number of targets scaling per rank.

For BlizzCon 2009, Cleave had been slightly re-balanced with slightly less damage, and had also changed appearance slightly between the WWI gameplay video and the later demo. Strangely enough, the animation has been made less overwhelming, only cleaving in one direction, when the older one swung in both directions. Flux still enjoyed using it:[1]

Probably the most useful active attack skill the Barbarian had in the Blizzcon build. I used this one most of the time, especially when I had a group of enemies, and it cut right through them. It dealt enough damage to replenish the fury it cost any time I hit two or more enemies, so I’d usually ignore single small targets, and try to swing towards several enemies, or would do some very simplified herding to group up Fallen Imps or other small targets so that one Cleave would take them all out, and boost my fury as well.

By BlizzCon 2010, the only change to Cleave was the removal of skill trees. Flux shared some new insights on using it in his hands-on report:[2]

Cleave with the spear was extremely effective. It bumped up my damage enough that I began to one-hit kill virtually all of the regular monsters, and that was very fun. I’d usually run up to groups of 4-8 monsters, let them crowd in close, and then cut the whole damn bunch of them down with a single swing. Watching their bodies fly back like eviscerated ragdolls, was, to quote Jay Wilson, “Awesome!” It was all that “make the player feel godly” stuff they’re always talking about during the design panels, come to life. I was putty in their hands, and felt slightly dirty at being so easily manipulated.

Skill tiers were removed for the July 2011 Press Event, and Cleave became a level 5 skill.

Previous Versions

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

In Other Games

Cleave was probably inspired by WarCraft 3, since the modifier that changes to "hit all enemies in front" is called Cleave.

Media

Cleave can be seen in action on video here:

• Gameplay: WWI 2008

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

• Diablo III screenshots and pictures
• Cleave specific gallery contents

• 

  Cleave smash closeup.

• 

  Ghouls being cleaved on a bridge.

• 

  Goatmen being cleaved.

• 

  Improved lighting effects are visible in Aug, 2010.

References

• BlizzCon 2009 Full Barbarian Skill Trees and Stats
• BlizzCon 2010 Barb Hands-on Report
• JudgeHype.com July 2011 Press Event Coverage - The Barbarian (Translated by Zediono)