Fanmade:Phase Knight

The Phase Knight is heavy Melee/Ranged warrior that is cursed (or blessed) with partially existing in the Ethereal plane. He uses this connection to draw out raw elemental energies he can use in combat. He is also able to extend himself into the Ether, giving him unnatural strength and abilities.

Background

Diablo III Class [e]
Phase Knight  Fan-made Class
Role:	Melee/Ranged/Caster hybrid
Primary Attributes:	Strength Willpower
Class Skills
Skills and Traits
Background
Origin:	Westmarch
Affiliation:	Knights of Westmarch, Paladin
Friends:	Sisters of the Sightless Eye
Foes:	Cultists, Vizjerei

A former soldier of rank from Westmarch trained in the arts of war. He was a devout follower of the Light, and while always admiring the mighty Zakarum Paladins, he was unable to meet their strict standards. During a mission with his unit and a Paladin, they were decimated by a powerful gathering of cultists. He was the only surviver, but only because he was behind the Paladin as he tried to ward off the dark magic, but failed. He lost consciousness and was rescued by Sisters of the Sightless Eye that had been observing the cultists and witnessed the whole thing. He was unconscious for nearly a week. Their leader, an old woman named Akara, told him she thought his soul had been disjointed and had a hard time finding it's way back. After he made a full recovery, he felt stronger, or more correctly, everything else felt lighter and less resistive. He could see things floating in what seemed like mist all around him, and could reach out and touch them. He even felt like he could draw things out of the mist. He told Akara about this, and she theorized that what he was really experiencing was the Ethereal plane, a plane of mystical forces. It was beyond her, but she theorized that the clashing of Light and Dark magicks somehow created a rift that had lodged him partially into the Ether.

He left the Rogues and returned to Westmarch to tell them what befallen his comrades and himself. In the following days he shared his story with others and even demonstrated some of his unnatural abilities. He thought they were a blessing from the Light and was why he survived. Many were impressed, but some were frightened, and eventually he was 'detained' by the Zakarum. He couldn't believe what happening, and in his anger, he reached into the ethereal and drew out 'something' reflecting his feelings and he suddenly burst into flames! It didn't burn him, but burned anything else near him. After setting a building on fire, he was able to stop it, but the damage was done. Everyone began accusing him of witchcraft, and he was exiled from Westmarch forever. With nowhere else to go he returned to Akara and told her his story. She wished she could guide him further, but this was beyond her, so she told him that the mage-clans of the East may have more answers for him. There was a caravan some Sisters were escorting that way, and she offered to let him go along with them. He accepted.

He was torn about his situation. Had the Light abandoned him? Was his condition a curse? He traveled with the Sisters and made himself useful. He was a very competent warrior afterall. During an attack by wild creatures, his hand and blade burst into flames and he made short work of them. Could he control this? The Rogues remarked how it was similar to magic they used to enchant arrows, and while he never picked up their form of magic, he learned a good deal about missile weapons from them, and how to enchant them in his own way. He had learned basic archery early on as a soldier, but his new abilities of control and perception allowed him to perfect advanced techniques very quickly.

He arrived in Caldeum and sought out the Vizjerei. They were curious about his story and started magically researching him. They confirmed that he simultaneously existed in this realm and the Ethereal and was able to draw raw magical energies from it. He had no aptitude for traditional magic, but they researched him still. He gained greater control of his 'gift' and was able to draw different elements out from the Ether. He was also able to reach further into it and affect things in this realm through it. That was the source of his unnatural strength, when he reaches into the Ether, he can produce more leverage on things in this realm.

The Vizjerei kept running more and more intensive experiments on him, and when he tried to make them stop, they wouldn't. A friend he had made among them secretly helped him escape, but he was discovered and in desperation, was able to turn himself completely Ethereal and dash through a wall to the outside. He found his way back to the Rogues. He decided it was time to return home. Finally having a grasp on what he was now capable of, he decided this was a gift, given to him by the Light, and it was his obligation to use it for good. He was going to return West to uncover the truth of these cultists that caused this chain of events and avenge his friends and the Paladin who gave his life for his. They would not die in vain.

Class Design

Many pf the Phase Knight's powers are drawn directly from the Ether. He exists in both realms simultaneously, and can draw forces from the Ether or extend himself into it. He is a powerful, well-trained warrior and uses his abilities to augment his formidable fighting skills. Some skills are referred to as spells, but are not traditional magic, for his abilities are natural and don't require any special rituals, just willpower and mana.

He is accustomed to heavy arms and armor, but also picked up advanced archery from the Sisters of the Sightless Eye while traveling with them. He was able to make incredible progress as his sight into the Ether gave him uncanny aiming abilities at a distance. As a soldier, he was trained in many weapons, but spent a great deal of time training with spears and polearms. Along with his new strength, he is able to wield them with one hand and can use a shield with them. He cannot dual-wield.

Attributes and Skills

The Phase Knight's Channeling Skills include the skills Burn, Jolt, and Frostbite. These skills add the appropriate Elemental damages to ANY other attacks made by the character, even other Elemental skills. For example, if Burn is active, it's damage would be directly added to any damages caused Heatwave or Firestorm.

Phase Knight Skills

The Phase Knight skills are arranged into to three distinctive skill tree categories:

• Phasing
• Channeling
• Warfare

All three trees have a combination of active and passive skills. Active skills are used in combat, while the passive skills boost or change the behaviour of the active skills.

Phasing Skills

These skills generally deal with 'phasing' the character, his equipment, or enemies in and out of the Ethereal Plane or using it's properties to his advantage.

Tier I:

• Displace: Active. Melee attack. Turns Ethereal and attacks target while moving through to the opposite side of them. During and for a short duration after the attack, defense(evasion) is increased.
• Ghostform: Active. Spell. Causes the character to fade into the Ethereal Plane and become insubstantial enough to move through enemies and obstacles for a short period of time. He cannot move through walls or closed doors. Still vulnerable to attack.
• Stability: Passive. Anchors the character to the Ether, decreasing the chance he can be moved against his will, ie. knockback, etc.
• Extension: Passive. Decreases the mana cost of all Phasing skills.

Tier II:

• Unstoppable Missile: Active. Missile attack. Missile weapon shot is partially Ethereal and can travel through obstacles and creatures. It can't pass through walls, but otherwise goes right through any targets, damaging them along the way.
• Phase Door: Active. Spell. If standing near a wall or obstacle, can shift into the Ether, jump through, and reform on the other side.
• Reduce Weight: Passive. Allow the character, through Ethereal leverage, to reduce the strength requirements for any equipment by a certain percentage, allowing him to wear heavier gear with less strength.
• Penetration: Passive. Able to bypass some of foes defenses Ethereally. Decreases foe's defense to character's attacks.

Tier III:

• Summon: Active. Spell. Reaches through the Ether, grabs target, and teleports them right next to caster. Doesn't work on bosses or other characters.
• Draw Out: Active. Spell. Causes any foes within range that exist in both planes to be forced into this plane, making any invisibility, resistances, or abilities based on Etherealness to be canceled out while in area of effect. Lasts xx seconds.
• Ethereal Anchor: Passive. Attacks have a chance of anchoring a foe in place, unable to move. They can still attack normally. Skills that cause movement still work, but they are the only possible means of transportation. Doesn't work on bosses.
• Leverage: Passive. Allows character to reach into the Ether, providing greater force and leverage here. Increases the effect of strength on attacks and any other skills by a certain percentage.

Tier IV:

• Shift Strike: Active. Melee attack. Quickly teleport next to an enemy, attack, then zip back to original location.
• Projection: Active. Spell. When cast, while mouse button is down, the character's body stays in place, vulnerable to attack, while his spirit can move around within range, like Ghostform, able to see from his spirits location, but can take no other actions. His spirit can be seen and attacked by foes that are partially Ethereal or can see invisible. The skill drains mana while in use and when mana runs out or button is released, the spirit goes back to body and the character is back to normal.
• Phase Reaction: Passive. By subconsciously shifting more into the Ethereal when attacked, he is able to reduce physical damage. When attacked, has a chance to increase physical resistance for that attack.
• Vulnerability: Passive. Decreases foes' physical resistance to character's attacks.

Channeling Skills

These skills focus on drawing elemental forces out of the Ether or draining them into it. These elemental powers are used in combat to enhance his already formidable battle prowess. Note: Between Burn, Jolt, and Frostbite, only one may be active at a time. Casting one will override the others.

Tier I:

• Burn: Active. Spell. Adds fire damage to attacks (and fire attacks) and increases accuracy. Lasts for xxx seconds.
• Jolt: Active. Spell. Adds electrical damage to attacks (and electrical attack) and increases attack speed. Lasts for xxx seconds.
• Heatsink: Passive. On being hit, has a chance of draining heat into the Ether from the surrounding area, chilling all foes within a given radius, increasing with rank.
• Enhanced Channeling: Passive. Increases the damage done by all Channeling skills.

Tier II:

• Frostbite: Active. Spell. Adds cold damage to attacks (and cold attacks) and chilling effect. Lasts for xxx seconds.
• Discharge: Active. Spell. Causes the character to store an ever increasing electric charge drawn from the Ether. On being hit (melee only), the charge is released causing lightning damage. The longer the time in between attacks, the more power is charged and released. Lasts for xxx seconds.
• Drain Heat: Passive. Increases the cold duration of all cold based skills.
• Efficient Channeling: Passive. Decreases the mana cost of all skills in this tree.

Tier III:

• Heatwave: Active. Spell. Sends out ripples of heat/fire that damages enemies within radius. Last while attack is activated, drains mana per second.
• Frost Shot: Active. Melee and Missile attack. When the attack button is pressed, this skill starts to drain heat from the surrounding area, chilling enemies in an expanding circle and channeling cold power into the attack. The area of cold and the power accumulated increases the longer the button is pressed, then the attack is launched when the button is released. The attack causes intense cold damage on the target hit and causes cold splash damage to nearby foes, chilling all of them. More ideal as a missile attack so you're not being attacked while charging.
• Ball Lightning: Passive. Adds a chance on attack (Missile or Melee) that a ball of electricity will surge forth in the direction of the attack that will deal electrical damage to any foes passing near it.
• Fast Charging: Passive. Increases the charge speed of Discharge.
• Elementary Strength: Passive. Increases the damage of Burn, Jolt, and Frostbite.

Tier IV:

• Firestorm: Active. Melee attack. Leaps into the air, bursts into flames and dives at enemy, doing increased Melee damage and exploding on impact, causing fire damage to any foes nearby and igniting the ground.
• Enhanced Cooling: Passive. Increases the radius of Heatsink and increases the charge speed of Frost Shot.
• Surge: Passive. Increases the size and damage of Ball Lightning.
• Attunement: Passive. Allows the character to divert elemental energies back into the Ether, increasing resistances to fire, cold, and electricity.

Warfare Skills

These skills are centered around combat and warfare, taking advantage of years of training in heavy arms and armor as well missile weapons. After adjusting to his 'condition', he has been able to augment his battle skills tremendously.

Tier I:

• Lunge: Active. Melee attack. Forceful attack that hits target and any foes in front of or behind them, within weapon range. Long melee weapons like polearms have an advantage of potentially reaching farther.
• Rebuff: Passive. When attacked in Melee, has a chance of lashing out at attacker with shield, knocking him back and doing damage.
• Unnatural Nerve: Passive. Allows the character to steady himself and mentally slow down time, increasing the accuracy of all attacks.
• Melee Mastery: Passive. Increases Melee damage and Critical hit rate.

Tier II:

• Twin Shot: Active. Missile attack. Due to his unique condition, he can focus and fire two missiles at the same time. When shooting a missile with this skill, one shot is fired at target and another missile is fired at the closest, other, target simultaneously. If only one target is in range, both missiles launch at main target. Only the primary missile may trigger any special affects.
• Shield Crash: Active. Melee attack. With this attack, the character jumps forward a short distance and hits all foes in range with his shield, knocking them all back and dealing damage. On Crit., attacks with weapon instead, still with bonus from Shield Proficiency
• Slash: Passive. When attacking in melee, has a chance of making a slashing attack, hitting all foes in front of character. Additional targets struck don't trigger any special effects.
• Steel Tower: Passive. When standing still, increases defense and, if using a shield, increases blocking and absorption of the shield.
• Missile Mastery: Passive. Increases Missile damage and Critical hit rate.

Tier III:

• Forceful Blow: Active. Melee attack. Powerful strike that does increased damage and knocks foe flying back many spaces, breaking any barrels, baskets, etc. and busting open any doors in the way. Skill won't launch any foes that are immune to knockback, but still does additional damage.
• Twitch: Passive. When attacking with missiles, has a chance of sending an additional missile right behind the first. Each time this is triggered, it is checked again, with several missiles firing at the same target possible with higher ranks. This happens very quickly, having little impact on character's movement or attack rate. Also, subsequent missiles don't have any special properties like enchantments or Ricocheting.
• Shield Proficiency: Passive. Increases the damage done by Rebuff and Shield Crash.
• Unnatural Speed: Passive. Increases attack speeds.

Tier IV:

• Catastrophic Blow: Active. Melee attack. Focusing the entirety of his physical and meta-physical prowess into an attack, he is able to perform a devastating melee attack on one enemy. Damage done is greatly increased, but the skill has a 4 second cooldown.
• Ricochet: Active. Missile attack. When a target is struck, the arrow jumps to the nearest target. Everytime a target is struck, the arrow keeps retargetting up to a skill based maximum or until it misses one.
• Flying Foe: Passive. The flying target from Forceful Blow that hits any other enemies, causes and takes damage based on an increasing percentage of the original damage done to the flying foe.
• Second Sight: Passive. His years of battle experience mixed with sensing ripples in the Ether give him an uncanny sense for expecting and reacting to danger. Increases the effect of Steel Tower and applies it to moving defenses as well.
• Explosive Power: Passive. Slightly decreases the cooldown period of Catastrophic Blow and increases the damage of Ricochet.

Development

The Phase Knight was first posted on 4 July 2009 [1] by Technomancer on the Diii.net forums. It was posted as a wiki article by Technomancer on 17 August 2009.

Technomancer Notes

This is a new class I've been working on for a while. It is a highly altered variant of my Arcane Warrior. I've largely done away with enchantments and expanded in different directions fairly drastically. Some skill names may be the same, but in most cases these skills are rather different, may have changed from active to passive, have entirely different affects, etc. Only a handful are untouched, like Shift Strike and Ricochet. Hope you like!