Wizard skills
An ongoing listing of Wizard skills, as seen on the Blizzard site and transcribed from footage during Blizzcon 2008 demo gameplay.
Contents
Storm Tree
Tier I Skills
Charged Bolt
Rank 1/1: Launch a volley of 3 electric bolts that deal 1-8 lightning damage each. Mana cost: 8. Critical hits from lightning damage stun targets for 2 sec.
Thunderstruck
Rank 2/15: Increases the critical hit chance of all lightning spells by 10%. Critical hits from lightning damage stun targets for 2 sec.
Empowered Magic
Rank 2/15: Increases the effect of willpower on your spell damage by 20%.
Lightning Speed
Rank 0/15: Increases casting speed by 3%
Tier II Skills (5 points req.)
Storm Armor
Rank 0/1: Surround yourself in electrical energy. Electrical bolts are automatically fired at attackers for 1 to 8 damage. Mana cost: 15
Frost Nova
Official Skill Description: (Rank 0/1) An explosion of ice pelts nearby enemies for 1-3 cold damage. Has an additional 25% chance of a critical hit. Critical hits from cold damage freeze targets.
Mana cost: 25.
Cooldown: 12 sec.
A long cooldown on this skill may prevent it from being a staple of a Wizard's arsenal, and more of a panic button when things get a little too close for comfort, since cold damage will slow or freeze enemies in their tracks. This skill has been borrowed from the DII Sorceress, but with some added features, including an increased chance of critical strikes. Storm Power and Lethal Energy will both add to this skill's lethality by adding to its critical strike chance and damage.
Deep Freeze
Rank 0/15: Increases the critical hit chance of all cold spells by 5%. Critical hits from cold damage freeze targets.
Power Armor
Rank 0/15: Increases the damage dealt by your storm armor charged bolts by 10%.
Static Charge
Rank 0/15: Convert 5% of all damage taken into mana.
Tier III Skills (10 point req.)
Electrocute
Official Skill Description: (Rank 0/1) Lightning arcs from the wizard’s fingertips towards enemies, electrocuting them for 4-5 damage. Electrocute affects up to 2 targets. Critical hits from lightning damage stun targets for 2 sec.
Mana cost: 8.
This skill is reminiscent of the Sorceress's Chain Lightning from Diablo II. Most useful for taking down groups of closely packed enemies since the lightning will hop from one target to the next. During one of the videos at Blizzcon 2008, it was shown that Electrocute can be enhanced with a Multi-Strike Rune, upping the amount of targets that the Electrocute's Chain Lightning effect will hit. A Lethality Rune was also shown in conjunction with Electrocute, which caused some enemies to explode in an AoE electric Nova upon death.
Ray of Frost
Official Skill Description: (Rank 0/1) Project a beam of cold energy that deals 6 cold damage per sec. Critical hits from cold damage freeze targets. Requires 10 points in Storm tree.
Mana cost: 16 mana per sec.
This skill is similar to the fire-based Disintegrate spell; however, it does not pass through targets or increase damage over time. This spell seems useful for freezing and keeping enemies at bay, adding to the Wizard's arsenal of offensive spells that double as insurance against melee creatures.
Static Residue
Rank 0/15: Enemies damaged by your lightning spells discharge an additional 1 to 3 lightning damage per sec to nearby enemies for 3 seconds. Requires 10 points in Storm tree.
Lethal Energy
Rank 0/15: Increases the chance to score critical hits with melee and spell attacks by 5%. Requires 10 points in Storm tree.
Improved Charged Bolt
Rank 0/15: Increase the number of bolts released by your charged bolt spell by 1. Requires 10 points in Storm tree.
Tier IV Skills (15 points req.)
Tornado
Official Skill Description: (Rank 0/1) Summon a large tornado that damages everything in its path.
Mana cost: 15.
Akin to the Druid's Twister skill from Diablo II, however these tornadoes are formed from pure energy. In the released 5-1/2 minute gameplay trailer of the Wizard, multiple tornadoes are cast one after another, each lasting for close to 5 seconds. Their path seems to take random lefts and rights as it moves away from the casting point, stopping only when its timer has expired. Expect some interesting Rune uses with this spell, as by itself, it seems a little too sporadic and short-lived to be of much useful combative use.
As in DII with the Druid, the best use of the tornadoes will likely be multiple, concentrated casts in a small area packed with enemies, to ensure the most damage in the shortest period of time. Higher levels of the skill may increase their size or may simply increase raw damage. Epic Storm will increase the number of simultaneous tornadoes you can cast, and Lethal Energy will increase the chance to score critical strikes.
Blizzard
Rank 0/1: Call down shards of ice to pelt an area dealing 6-10 cold damage per sec for 3 sec. Mana cost: 70. Critical hits from cold damage freezes targets. Requires 15 points in Storm tree.
Storm Power
Rank 0/15: Increase damage of all lightning and ice spells. Requires 15 points in Storm tree.
Epic Storms
Rank 0/15: Increases size of Blizzard and number of twisters you can have for your energy twister.
