A "Shout" is the term for the Barbarian's Warcry skills in Diablo III. "Warcry" or "Warcries" are words often used as generic terms for this type of skill, but since there is an actual skill called War Cry the term "Shout" is preferred for the sake of clarity.
There is a wide variety of different Shout skills, though all the base skills offer buffs of various types, for the Barbarian and his party members and minions. While none of the Runestone effects have yet been revealed, the developers have said[1] that these will add a wide variety of offensive and defensive bonuses, recreating and surpassing the variety of Warcry options that Barbarians had in Diablo III.
- The Diablo II skill called Shout can be seen here.
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What are Shouts?
Bashiok provided a short, basic definition in a forum post in April 2011.[2]
The barbarian shouts are powerful, limited duration buffs that you must re-cast once they wear off. Monk auras are very similar.
While there are only a few Shouts in the Barbarian Skills listing, each of them has an additional five effects from Runestones, providing a wide variety of skill effects.
Shouts vs. Auras
The Monk's Aura skills work in much the same fashion in Diablo III, with Diablo II's system of setting an Aura to the right mouse button to activate it having been replaced. The difference between Diablo III Shouts and Auras seems to be that Shouts are activated at one time, have an effect that lasts for X seconds, and may or may not share to party members if they are in range when the spell is cast. On the other hand, while Auras are activated like a Shout, (at the cost of some Spirit) they then stay active and share (in most cases) to party members the same way they did in Diablo II as long as they are active.
Presumably, both Auras and Shouts can be recast while they are still active, in order to extend the duration of the effect. (Cooldown time permitting.)
Barbarian Shout Skills
The known Shouts, with descriptions and stats taken from the Barbarian Skills as seen in the BlizzCon 2010 PvE demo. Expect big and small changes in the final game, and note that none of the Shout runestone effects have yet been revealed.
Rampage
Tier One: This shout provides a buff that allows the Barbarian to hit additional targets per swing, as well as increasing the attack speed.
- Description: Strikes X additional targets with each attack and increases attack speed by X%.
Ignore Pain
Tier Two:
A shout, this skill reduces all damage taken and grants immunity to most debuffs.
- Description: Reduces all damage taken by X% and grants immunity to root, snare and stun effects for X seconds.
War Cry
Tier Two: This shout boosts the Barbarian's Fury, as well as the armor of the Barbarian and all nearby party members.
- Description: A terrifying cry that provides X fury and increases the armor of the Barbarian and all party members within X feet by X% for X seconds.
Sprint
Tier Four: A shout that buffs the Barbarian with extra movement speed.
- Description: Grants X% speed boost for X seconds.
Threatening Shout
Tier Four: A shout that debuffs enemies, lowering their damage.
- Description: Shouts with great ferocity, reducing damage done by enemies within X feet by X% for X seconds.
Battle Rage
Tier Five: A shout that provides a damage boost and critical hit improvement for a short duration.
- Description: Enter a rage which provides a X% damage boost and X% critical hit bonus for X seconds.
Taunt
Tier Six: A shout that overrides monster AI, causing them to rush towards the Barbarian and launch weakened melee attacks.
- Description: Taunt monsters to attack you at close range for X seconds. Taunted monsters do X% less damage while taunted.
Wrath of the Berserker
Tier Seven: This shout grants higher stats and enables the Barbarian to partially break monster immunities.
- Description: Enter a heightened sense of fury, raising several stats (Critical Hit, Attack Speed, Dodge Chance, Movement Speed) for X seconds. Monsters with damage immunities will take X% less damage from the Barbarian's attacks rather than being immune.
Stomps
The Barbarian has several stomp skills that could well be classified as offensive Shouts, since they have a similar function. All are triggered by the Barbarian stomping down on the ground and creating an AoE shockwave of varying radius that damages, stuns, or incapacitates monsters in its range.
Ground Stomp
Tier Two: This defensive skill causes the Barbarian to stomp his foot, crushing the earth and stunning all nearby enemies. With runestones it can add damage, knockback, and more.
- Description: Shakes the ground, stunning all enemies within X feet for X seconds.
Seismic Slam
Tier Five: A more powerful version of Ground Stomp, this skill deals higher damage and knocks back enemies, rather than stunning them.
- Description: Slam the ground causing a wave of destruction that deals X% weapon damage in front of the Barbarian and causes knockback.
Earthquake
Tier Seven: This stomp causes massive damage to all nearby enemies.
- Description: Shakes the earth violently, causing massive damage to all nearby enemies.