Impale

Impale is a Secondary Demon Hunter skill unlocked at Level 2, which impales enemies by throwing knives at them.

Background

Impale, dagger-throwing form.

Originally a single target, huge damage bow skill, this one changed to a dagger throwing skill during beta testing.

Skill Effects

The following is a very quick summary. See the Impale 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="DemonHunter">Impale</skill>

Skill Design

Impale's original function.

The initial version of Impale was a Hatred-expensive (40) big-damage, single-shot bow skill. The skill's sound effect was like a cannon being fired, and an instant later a large explosion would light up the target.

There was no tracer or animation between the Demon Hunter and the target, so it could be hard to tell what you were targeting, especially since the skill would hit the first enemy in the line of sight. Impale could thus not be used against enemies in the back row, such as shamans or summoners, unless the player had a clear line to them.

In the Beta v5 patch Impale was changed entirely, switching to a Hatred Generating attack with an animation of a thrown silver dagger. It basically functions as a normal bow shot now, hitting the first enemy it encounters for decent damage, while adding Hatred on every use, whether it hits anything or not.

Synergies

Dual-wielding Hand Crossbows works well with Impale, as Impale can be thrown much more quickly with two bows than with one.

• No synergies with any of the Demon Hunter passives are yet known.

Development

Impale was first seen at the July 2011 Press Event, where it was a level 11 skill. Unfortunately, no information about the skill's function was available, though it seems likely it was the big-damage, one-shot bow skill at that point.
This skill changed drastically during the beta test. In patch 5 it switched from a 40 cost Hatred Spender bow skill to a level 2 Hatred Generating knife throwing skill. Later in the beta it was changed back to Hatred Spending skill but kept its throwing knife aspect. The skill system was once again overhauled for the Beta Patch 13, and Impale was classified as a Secondary skill (but still level 2).

Media

Impale can be seen in action on video here:

• None yet.

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

• Diablo III screenshots and pictures
• Impale specific gallery contents

References

• JudgeHype.com July 2011 Press Event Coverage - The Demon Hunter (Translated by Zediono)
• HardRock's Demon Hunter Skills and Their Rune Effects -- IncGamers 6th Sep 2011
• Demon Hunter Active Skills -- Diablo III 12th Sep 2011

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer primary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer secondary

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Template:Skill navbox Necromancer reanimation

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