Vault

Vault is a Demon Hunter skill unlocked at level 6. The Demon Hunter vaults forward, moving as a shadow with a flair for acrobatics.

This is the Demon Hunter's movement ability.

Background

Diablo III Active Skill [e]
Vault
Used by:	Demon Hunter
Enabled at:	Clvl 6
Skill Description
Dance through the shadows to escape your enemies.
Type:	Movement
Resource Use:	Costs Discipline
Skill Rune Effects
Alabaster rune:	Unknown
Crimson rune:	Unknown
Golden rune:	Unknown
Indigo rune:	Unknown
Obsidian rune:	Unknown

The Demon Hunter melts into the shadows, using them to spin forward with a series of acrobatic somersaults and flips.

Skill Design

I could do that...if I wanted to.

Every character in Diablo III has a movement ability, and for the Demon Hunter, that would be Vault.
Once activated, the Demon Hunter moves over the ground in a series of flips and such, in a shadow form, until she reaches her destination. The Demon Hunter is assumed to be invulnerable during this time; however, she cannot Vault through doors, walls, or other obstacles.

Skill Rank Table

• Rank 1: Tumble acrobatically 40 feet.

Synergies

Transform and roll out.

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

Skill Rune Effects

• No rune effects for Vault are known.

Development

Vault was first shown at BlizzCon 2010 as one of the originals when the Demon Hunter was unveiled. Wyatt Cheng had this to say about it[1]:

This a movement skill. The Barbarian has Leap Attack, the Wizard has Teleport and we wanted to make sure all our classes had a way to get around the battlefield. In this skill we wanted to sell the Shadow theme. Initially we talked about Shadow Vault and stuff like that, but we decided to just call it Vault and let the art peak for itself. There's no need to have to weave these concepts into every single skill. The artistic representation has some acrobatics and has some shadow themes to it. It's basically a way to take a solid mechanic and wrap it up with the aesthetic we are trying to sell and deliver something we think will be fun for the players.

Flux also weighed in on the skill from his time on the BlizzCon 2010 demo[2]:

Vault was the last Demon Hunter skill the pre-made demo characters had, and it was useful to rush through the dungeon or to escape from boss packs. It was a fast moving cartwheel that covered about 1/2 the screen. It’s seen a few times in the DH cinematic. This skill allows the DH to pass through any monsters in the way, though it’s stopped by obstacles such as walls or doors or the huge, chopping cleaver booby traps that filled this year’s demo dungeon.

Skill tiers were removed for the July 2011 Press Event, and Vault became a level 6 skill.

Media

Vault can be seen in action on video here:

• Gameplay: Blizzcon 2010

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

• Diablo III screenshots and pictures
• Vault specific gallery contents

• 

  The Demon Hunter mid-Vault.

• 

  Another shot of the multiple shadows.

• 

  Each shadow has its own posture.

• 

  By now, you should be sick of the word 'vault'.

References

• BlizzCon 2010 Gameplay Panel Transcript
• BlizzCon 2010 Demon Hunter First Impressions
• BlizzCon 2010 Demon Hunter PvM Hands-on Report
• JudgeHype.com July 2011 Press Event Coverage - The Demon Hunter (Translated by Zediono)