Knockback

Knockback is an effect in Diablo III that causes the target of a successful hit to be shoved backwards for some distance. There are numerous skills, items, monster abilities, and more that cause knockback, and the distance of the knockback varies greatly between different sources and targets.

Knockback often includes a short stun effect, so targets are briefly debuffed after being knocked back.

Knockback is often found as a modifier on items, though in very small amounts. A +1-2% chance of knockback is the usual amount.

Character Skills that Knockback

The following skills have some percent chance of knockback. This will shove monsters back some set distance (often specified in the skill description) which varies by the skill or rune effect from just a few yards up to 30 or 40 yards in distance.

Barbarian:

• Bash
• Seismic Slam
• Toppling Impact, a rune effect in Leap.

Demon Hunter:

• None.

Monk:

• Fists of Thunder
• Lashing Tail Kick
• Tempest Rush

Witch Doctor:

• The Pile On rune effect in Wall of Zombies.

Wizard:

• Wave of Force
• Impactful Blades rune effect in Spectral Blades.
• Unstable Anomaly -- This passive skill causes a Wave of Force-like effect to discharge when the Wizard drops below 20% health.

Monsters with Knockback

Various monsters have the potential of dealing knockback with some of their attacks. This is not equivalent to the Knockback provided by the special Boss Modifier, which causes a much greater effect. That affix is covered further down this article.

A partial list:

• Grotesque can cause knockback with their body spike attack.
• Cultist Berserkers knockback with their huge hammer strikes.

Knockback Boss Modifier

Knockback is a Boss Modifier available to Champions and Bosses, as well as their minions. During testing it was just a short stumble back hit, but upon release Knockback became a very powerful hit that would hurl a character or pet back nearly to the edge of the screen, a good 30 or 40 yards in the game's scale of distance.

In addition to the movement, knockback causes a short disorienting debuff to hit targets, which slows their movement for a second or so after the strike.

This property is amusing early on, when a Witch Doctor can watch his Mongrels get repeatedly launched across the entire screen by some tiny boss with this property. It can also be somewhat helpful to ranged attackers, as the boss will knock them so far back that it's almost as if they used some sort of movement skill themselves. It's more dangerous in dungeons and tight areas where the knockback doesn't actually create a safe space between the character and monsters.

Knockback

• Monster Level Minimum: 1
• Available to: Champions, Bosses, and boss minions.
• Damage Type: Standard.
• Additional Resistances: None.