Changes

{{BC}}The '''Wizard''' is a pure [[caster|spellcaster]], harnessing arcane and elemental magic to do his/her bidding via a devastating array of offensive spells. The While the Wizard is to be quite similar to the [[Sorcerer]] and [[Sorceress]] of previous Diablo games, in design , the play style is quite different. Diablo 3's [[end game]] Wizard play puts a much greater emphasis on defensive skills and conceptcrowd control spells, and has much less movement speed due to the cooldown limitations on [[teleport]].

The resource system, [[Arcane Power]] differs greatly as well. AP refills very quickly, and Wizard skills use both AP cost and cooldown time as limiting factors. Both can be circumvented by other skills and item affixes. The "Arcane Power on Crit" ("APoC") affix is a build-changer for most [[end game]] wizards.  ==BackgroundClass Design==

[[Image:Male Wizard2.jpg|thumb|left|250px300px|Male Wizard using [[Wave of Force]].]]The word Wizard is a fast-action, fast-casting, primarily-ranged attacker. The class is not really a "wizardglass cannon," is used derogatory for rogue despite having a Passive skill called actually [[SorcererGlass Cannon]]. In fact, that's and magi one of the main complaints about the class; that they are dangerous to the world at large in the world more of a mage tank than anything else, who must rely on defensive skills or strong [[Sanctuarycrowd control]]and enemy [[debuffs]] to survive.

The female Wizard character This is in [[Diablo III]] is stark contrast to the Sorcerer and Sorceress from previous games in the island [[Xiansai]]series, who could be a bit tanky with the right gear, an island to but who mostly relied on speedy attacks and evasion (mostly via unlimited use of the far north with a culture similar to Asia in our worldTeleport skill). (The [[Abd al-Hazir]] writes about a 'wizard' wreaking havoc in [[Caldeum]] in his [[Writings of Abd al-Hazir: Entry no. 0007|seventh entryDemon Hunter]] of actually plays much more like the [[Writings of Abd alglass cannon fast-Hazir]]movement mage seen in previous Diablo titles.)

This 19 year old female wizard was sent to See the [[Zann Esu]] [[mage clanWizard skills]]page for a full list of all Wizard skills and rune effects. As with all classes, but later handed over to the powerful skills are sorted into six categories. Enabling [[VizjereiElective Mode]] since she was a "rude and uncooperative student," that the smaller mage clan could not control. They hoped in the harsh discipline at Vizjerei "would break her anarchic spirit." Yet even the Vizjerei instructors were unable Game Options allows players to rein her choose any skills from any category, rather than being stuck with one from each in. She was continually being caught seeking out dangerous and forbidden magics without care for herself or anyone around herthe default, noob-friendly design.

It was rumoured in Caldeum that she ventured into the infamous [[Bitter Depths]] below the [[Sanctum]], but the truth is she was caught in the * Refer to Diablo3Ladders.com for a listing of [[Ancient Repositorieshttp://www.diablo3ladders.com/skills/mostused/wizard#softcore all Wizard passive skills ranked by popularity]], where the most dangerous incantations are housed for the safety of the public.

{| |'''Primary'''<br>• [[Magic Missile]] (1)<br>• [[Shock Pulse]] (3)<br>• [[Spectral Blade]] (11)<br>• [[Electrocute]] (15)| '''Secondary'''<br>• [[Ray of Frost]] (2)<br>• [[Arcane Orb]] (5)<br>• [[Arcane Torrent]] (12)<br>• [[Disintegrate]] (21)| '''Defensive'''<br>• [[Frost Nova]] (4)<br>• [[Diamond Skin]] (8)<br>• [[Slow Time]] (16)<br>• [[ValthekTeleport]], a great Vizjerei mage confronted her and she attacked him. She relied on trickery and deceit to render Valthek unconscious and then proceeded to flee the city immediately after the encounter. The extensive property damage was assumed to be the result (22)|-| '''Force'''<br>• [[Wave of ValthekForce]] (9)<br>• [[Energy Twister]] (13)<br>• [[Hydra]] (21)<br>• [[Meteor]] (25)<br>• [[Blizzard]] (27)|'''Conjuration''s '<br>• [[Ice Armor]] (14)<br>• [[Storm Armor]] (17)<br>• [[Magic Weapon]] (20)<br>• [[Familiar]] (22)<br>• [[magicEnergy Armor]]al prowess, not the young wizard.(28

Abd al-Hazir is concerned about the young, rebellious and inexperienced wizard wandering the world, using magics she does not understand. He mentioned that certain schools of magic were too dangerous and "those wiser than you or I determined long ago | '''Mastery'''<br>• [to forbid[Explosive Blast]] (19)<br>• [[Mirror Image]] (25)<br>• [[Archon]] their practice." Primal forces including time warps include the secrets he suspects she gathered from the Ancient Repositories.(30)|}

==Wizard Active Passive Skills==

The See the [[Wizard passive skills]] were arranged in three trees prior to 2010article for a full listing with descriptions and more details. The [[These skills]] and [[skill tree]] systems were entirely revised in 2010focus more on utility, variety, and the active skills were arranged into one large list. At [[BlizzCon 2010]] in October Blizzard revealed the new skill system, with all [[passive skills]] moved defense than on boosts to [[traits]]. However, At the [[July 2011 Press Event]], it was revealed that [[traits]] had been changed back to [[passive skills]]Wizard's offensive attacks or damage.

===Signature==={| | * [[Blur]] (10)* [[Power Hungry]] (10)* [[Evocation]] (13)* [[Image:Magic_Missile_impact.jpg‎|thumb|right|250pxGlass Cannon]] (16)* [[Prodigy]] (20)* [[Astral Presence]] (24)* [[Illusionist]] (27)* [[Cold Blooded]] (30)|* [[Conflagration]] (34)* [[Magic MissileParalysis]].(37)* [[Galvanizing Ward]](40)* [[Magic MissileTemporal Flux]] - Launch a missile of magic energy.(45)* [[Shock PulseCritical Mass]] - Release a pulse of unpredictable charges of electricity.(50)* [[Spectral BladeArcane Dynamo]] - Summon a spectral blade that strikes all enemies in your path.(55)* [[ElectrocuteUnstable Anomaly]] - A solid bolt of lightning locks onto a target and deals damage over time.(60)<br>|}

===Offensive===* By far the most used and most build-changing passive is [[Wave of ForceCritical Mass]] - Emits a nova-like wave of force that damages and knocks back enemies, as well as repelling projectiles. * which grants [[Arcane Orbcritical hits]] - Fires a slow-moving orb of Arcane energy that explodes on contact and deals chance to reduce the [[AoEcooldown]] damageof Wizard skills by 1 second.* [[Energy Twister]] - Summons an energy twister that deals arcane damage Numerous Wizard builds rely entirely on "CM" in order to everything in its erratic pathrepeatedly use skills with 6, 8, 10 second, or even longer cooldowns.* Blizzard has adjusted (lowered) the [[Disintegrateproc coefficient]] - The values of numerous Wizard fires a laser-like beam of Arcane energyskills several times since launch, striking all enemies in a straight line and disintegrating those it kills.* since some skills (especially [[Explosive BlastEnergy Twister]] - A physical damage nova ) that casts a short time after it is triggered.* caused many, many hit checks were [[Hydraproc]] - Summons a multi-headed hydra ing so often that spits firebolts at nearby enemies.* [[Ray of Frost]] - The Wizard fires a beam of cold that chills and slows attackers.* [[Arcane Torrent]] - Arcane meteorites pelt the targeted region dealing Arcane damage to a small radius.* [[Meteor]] - Summons a meteor which crashes down from above, dealing huge fire damage, Critical Mass was triggering almost constantly and leaving a field of flames that deal AoE fire damage for a short duration.* [[Blizzard]] - Shards of ice crash down on a large radius, dealing cold damage effectively reducing cooldowns to all enemies in the vicinitynothing.

===Utility===* [[Frost Nova]] - An explosion of ice deals cold damage and freezes all enemies in range.* [[Ice Armor]] - A protective spell that surrounds the Wizard with a barrier of ice. It increases armor, freezes attackers, and damages them with cold.* [[Magic Weapon]] - Imbues the Wizard's weapon with magical energy, granting increased damageRefer to Diablo3Ladders. * [[Diamond Skin]] - Turns the Wizard's skin to diamond com for a duration, absorbing a set amount listing of damage from incoming attacks. * [[Storm Armor]] - A lighting armor that periodically zaps nearby enemies for highly-variable lightning damagehttp://www.* [[Mirror Image]] - Creates an illusionary duplicate of the Wizard that lasts for a short durationdiablo3ladders.* [[Slow Time]] - Warps space and time, slowing nearby monsters and projectiles for a limited duration. * [[Teleport]] - Teleport instantly to the selected location.* [[Energy Armor]] - A protective barrier that absorbs damage, draining [[Arcane Power]] in its place.* [[Familiar]] - Creates a companion that accompanies the com/skills/mostused/wizard#softcore all Wizard and attacks enemies. This companion cannot be targeted or damaged passive skills ranked by enemies. * [[Archonpopularity]] - Transforms the Wizard into a being of superior power and grants new, modified version of her skills. Duration is prolonged when an enemy is killed.

Many During early design passive skills were called "[[traits]] " and were preserved as [[passive skills]], but a lot them were droppedset to allow 1-5 points to be spent in each. This system was scrapped and simplified shortly before the beta test began. See the [[Wizard traits]] page for full info on what the traits system looked like.

===Resource System=Diablo 3 Wizard Lore and Story==

After an interviewLike all of the characters in Diablo 3, Jay Wilson said that the Wizard will not use [[Instability]], it will be using has a new kind of resource pool, Arcane Power, which is not dissimilar to [[mana]] unique in a lot of ways-game backstory that gives insight into the character's personality and mannerisms. The arcane power regenerates quicker than [[mana]] but it is a flat amount it cannot be increased statistically or by items, some [[Skills]] empower itmale and female versions of each class are essentially interchangeable in these non-gendered fictions.

At Blizzcon 2010The Diablo III Wizard hails from the far northern island of [[Xiansai]], Jay Wilson stated that mana might probably be going back which lies in a region culturally and ethnically similar to Asia. The Wizards are anything but aged Dumbledore types; in the game fiction the WizardWizards (male and female) are portrayed as rebellious, impudent, headstrong, because they are all but convinced by Arcane Power.and cocky young mages who were too impatient to follow the rules and wait to learn slowly from the elders at the mage academny in [[http://diabloCaldeum]].incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzcon-2010-hand-on-blascid/]

===Sorceress Redux?===Some fans have criticized the Wizard for just being the [[SorceressAbd al-Hazir]] with , the scholar and historian responsible for most of the in-game lore released pre-game, wrote about the wizard's time in a new look. mage academy in [[Jay WilsonCaldeum]] commented on that in his [http[Writings of Abd al-Hazir://wwwEntry no.1up.com/do/previewPage?pager.offset=1&cId=3172030&p=1 in an interview with 1up.com0007|seventh entry]] in December 2008.

[[Image:Wiz-disintegrate1.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Wizard using [[Disintegrate]].]]<blue>Jay Wilson: "I would respondThis wizard was sent here to spend her formative years under the tutelage of the best mages in the world. Well, "Yeahit seems they neglected to teach our wizard manners on her native island of Xiansai, you're right; for she was a rude and uncooperative student from the Wizard is basically a reskinned Sorceressvery beginning." What we couldn't do with Originally under the guidance of the Sorceress very well Zann Esu mage clan, she was break into what I'd call eventually handed over to the Vizjerei in the old-school pen-hopes that their strict and-paper magic userunbending discipline would break her anarchic spirit. You know Yet even the old magic user who could do a variety of thingsesteemed Vizjerei instructors were unable to rein her in. She was continually being caught seeking out dangerous and forbidden magics, like conjure up animals out heedless of midair the consequences to herself or create clouds of fog and acid or control time or disintegrate things or use death spellsanyone around her. They had this wide variety of magic <br>Although there is no truth to the tales that they could use compared to she actually ventured into the more traditional elementalist -- which is what infamous Bitter Depths below the Sorceress isSanctum, meaning fireshe was caught in the Ancient Repositories, icewhere the most dangerous incantations are housed for the safety of the public. When confronted by the great Vizjerei mage Valthek and demanded to account for herself, and lightning -- who was just more limitedshe brazenly attacked him rather than face the punishment merited by her acts. What we really wanted <br>Exaggerated stories of the battle are already being inflated to do is break into this areamythic proportions by the more rebellious of our city's youth, while if we just but suffice it to say that she did the Sorceress again, wenot actually best Yshari'd be likes most powerful mage in single, "OKhonorable combat. The details of the encounter remain unclear, you have as Valthek has yet to do fire, ice, and lightningregain consciousness, but where does disintegrate fit? Where does slow time fit in?" So we decided [it has been verified by reliable sources that we'd] just take the same class mechanics, she relied on trickery and [that we'd] change deceit to bring the basic concept and name and just great man low. I have a throwback to also been assured that old-school magic user to give ourselves a broader range of magic skills. But there the extensive property damage was never a huge desire to go away from chiefly the basic gameplay result of the Sorceress; thereValthek's a lot of repeated skillsmagical prowess, and thatnot the upstart wizard's intentional."As to where she is now, no one rightly knows, for she fled the city immediately after the encounter.

 ==Wizard Style and Appearance==

The male wizard, on the other hand, had a very controversial reveal. No one thought much of his concept art or paid much attention to his appearance when he debuted as a playable character in the [[BlizzCon 2009]] demo. However, some months later when Blizzard added his in-game model to their official wizard page, there was an a curious eruption of fan rage. [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/male-wizard-in-game-animation-and-ss/]

The primary complaints were that he looked too effeminate, and while there was arguably a homophobic edge to the complaints, anyone can see that the male wizard is far from the strongest-looking character in the game. The character lore stresses how headstrong, confident, and haughty the wizard is in his/her arrogant youth, and in matching that description the male wizard falls short. He's just not an imposing, powerful looking individual [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/the-wimpy-male-wizard-class design was more metrosexual and-posturing/], though as less masculine than some fans pointed out,[http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=7461233&postcount=14] he's very much typical of the current look of many heroic males in popular anime; wearing an indifferent, too-cool-for-school meterosexual look. It's not known if that "look" played any part in Blizzard's design of the character, but it's clear that Blizzard wants to provide a variety of different character looks so that all fans will have someone they can enjoy playing. And that tastes varywere expecting.

Blizzard made no substantive comments over the fan reaction to the male wizard's appearance, so it's assumed that they're making no and if the character changes and are fine with any in appearance during the way fans have greeted rest of the character's lookdevelopment cycle, no one noticed. A poll on DiiiDiablo.net IncGamers.com found fan opinions widely split on the character, with almost equal numbers of fans to loved and hated it, with very few undetermined votes's look.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/male-wizards-look-your-opinion/]

It is worth stressing that there was This entire controversy stemmed from the look of the character in some artwork and renders; no fan outcry one objected to the look of the male wizard after he was first shown when playing him in-game, at the [[BlizzCon 2009]] demo. It was only That trend continued, and the controversy did not reappear when his head-on view was added to the official website that he became objectionable, beta test began and since this is a view players will never have in the isometric, top-down game view, (barring some sort look of "zoom in to look at your the character's armor" option) this controversy is likely to be a non-factor in the final gameissue post-release.

One of ===Sorceress Redux?===Some fans initially criticized the key changes to spell casters in Diablo III is Wizard for just being the addition of +% spell damage modifiers. These sorts of modifiers were found on many skills in Diablo 2, and on [[Sorceress]] with a few uniques and runewords, but they were uncommon, and not necessary to kill effectivelynew look. As a result, casters in Diablo 2 were much less item-dependent than the combat classes, and found it easier to concentrate on [[Magic FindJay Wilson]], resistances, hit points, and other non-damage bonusescommented on that [http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?pager.offset=1&cId=3172030&p=1 in an interview with 1up.com] in December 2008.

This will not be the case in Diablo 3, where mages must add considerable +% spell damage from modifiers to stay ahead of the monster hit point curve[[Image:Wiz-disintegrate1. A high level jpg|thumb|right|250px|Wizard or using [[Witch DoctorDisintegrate]] in Diablo 3 will no .]]<blue>Jay Wilson: "I would respond, "Yeah, you're right; the Wizard is basically a re-skinned Sorceress." What we couldn't do with the Sorceress very well was break into what I'd call the old-school pen-and-paper magic user. You know the old magic user who could do a variety of things, like conjure up animals out of midair or create clouds of fog and acid or control time or disintegrate things or use death spells. They had this wide variety of magic that they could use compared to the more traditional elementalist -- which is what the Sorceress is, meaning fire, ice, and lightning -- who was just more limited. <br>What we really wanted to do is break into this area, while if we just did the Sorceress again, we'd be able like, "OK, you have to kill quickly with no +spell damage than a do fire, ice, and lightning, but where does Disintegrate fit? Where does Slow Time fit in?" So we decided [[Barbarianthat we'd]] or just take the same class mechanics, and [[Monkthat we'd]] could succeed with change the basic concept and name and just have a throwback to that old-school magic user to give ourselves a junk weaponbroader range of magic skills. A quote But there was never a huge desire to go away from Fluxthe basic gameplay of the Sorceress; there's post-Blizzcon 2009 Wizard write up explains this in more detail:a lot of repeated skills, and that's intentional."</blue>

::This is all part of One major change from Diablo 2, seen during the development cycle, was the D3 team’s plan to make all addition of spell damage item affixes. Unlike the attributes useful to all charactersskill point system in Diablo 1 and Diablo 2, Diablo 3 had no skill points, and to make more types of modifiers useful/essential to spell castersthus weapon damage became as important for mages as for combat classes. We don’t know enough yet The developers made this change partially to judge how well it’s workingeven out the classes, but it should be a substantial change from how spell after the Sorceress and Necromancer were extremely good at Magic Find in Diablo 2 since they did not need to worry about boosting damage was calculated and scaled up with equipment. (or notJust boosting skill level.) in D2This allowed those characters to stack up much more Magic Find and Resistance on their gear, while still retaining a rapid killing speed.

==Wizard Lore and Story== Like all of ::When viewing the characters listed damage on each spell, it’s important to keep in Diablo 3mind that those are not absolute numbers, the Wizard has an in-game backstory that gives insight into the D3. They’re much like weapon damage; modified by your wizard’s attributes, your character's personality level, by other skills, and mannerismsalso by your equipment. The tale is written from the perspective Lots of types of [[Abd al-Hazir]]items in D3 carry modifiers that boost spell damage, the scholar and historian responsible for most of the game lore thus far released. The following is [[Writings of Abd al-Hazir: Entry no. 0007|the 7th entry from his journal]]usually by a percentage.

[[Image:Male_Wizard.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Male Wizard concept art.]]<blockquote>''Owing to my lack of tolerance for those who would use [[magic]] towards their own nefarious ends, many have assumed that I am averse to the practice of the magical arts on a philosophical level. Nothing could be farther from the truth. My quarrel is with those sorcerers who dismiss the ancient traditions and teachings – teachings that have been honed over millennia in order to preserve respect for authority and the rule of law.<br><br>''Recently the youth of [[Caldeum]] have fallen prey to the overblown stories of just such a delinquent [[wizard]]. That is correct: I used the uncouth term wizardfound numerous wands, not [[sorcerer]]. It seems that even the title of a civilized magic wielder is too restrictive for this young upstart. Through my contacts at the [[Yshari Sanctum]] of the [[mage clan]]sstaves, I am one of the few who actually know the truth behind the rumors now sweeping our streets regarding this hellion who flaunts her magic irresponsibly.<br><br>''This wizard was sent here to spend her formative years under the tutelage of the best mages in the world. Well, it seems they neglected to teach our wizard manners on her native island of [[Xiansai]], for she was a rude and uncooperative student from the very beginning. Originally under the guidance even pieces of the [[Zann Esu]] mage clanarmor with values between +5-25% spell damage, she was eventually handed over to the [[Vizjerei]] in the hopes that their strict and unbending discipline would break her anarchic spirit. Yet even the esteemed Vizjerei instructors were unable to rein her in. She was continually being caught seeking out dangerous and forbidden magics, heedless of the consequences to herself or anyone around her.<br><br>''Although there is no truth to the tales that she actually ventured into the infamous [[Bitter Depths]] below the [[Sanctum]], she was caught just in the [[Ancient Repositories]], where the most dangerous incantations are housed for the safety of the public. When confronted by the great Vizjerei mage [[Valthek]] and demanded to account for herself, she brazenly attacked him rather than face the punishment merited by her acts. Exaggerated stories of the battle are already being inflated to mythic proportions by the more rebellious of our city's youth, but suffice it to say that she did not actually best [[Yshari]]'s most powerful mage in single, honorable combat. The details of the encounter remain unclear, as Valthek has yet to regain consciousness, but it has been verified by reliable sources that she relied on trickery and deceit to bring the great man low. I have also been assured that the extensive property damage was chiefly the result early stages of Valthek's magical prowess, not the upstart wizard's. As to where she is now, no one rightly knows, for she fled the city immediately after the encounter.<br><br>''It is not my goal to alarm, but I find this situation disturbing. We now have a rebellious [[wizard]], young and inexperienced, wandering the world, dabbling in powerful magics she does not understand. Those wiser than you or I determined long ago that certain schools of magic were too dangerous and forbade their practice. It is those magics that this wizard seems determined to explore – magics centered on manipulating the primal forces from which reality is constructed. Imagine, a headstrong nineteen-year-old youth, able to warp time itself to her will! The thought is truly terrifying. It is my honest hope that this self-styled wizard chooses never to return to [[Caldeum]]game.</blockquote>

In ==Wizard Development Pace==The Wizard was the third [[GamesCom 2009 democlass]]to be revealed, we saw making her debut at [[BlizzCon 2008]], several months after the game's initial reveal in June at the [[Paris WWI]]. Later in development Blizzard admitted that the Barbarian and Wizard were by far the most polished classes at launch. Despite that they chose to debut with the [[Barbarian]] and [[Witch Doctor]] since the male version WD was more of an original character type. This was a mixed blessing since many fans were unhappy that the Necromancer was not coming back, but when the Wizard debuted just months later, the wizard in-game for class was clearly far more developed than the first timeWD, with many more functional skills.

Also The Wizard's resource took longer to nail down. The class used Mana as a placeholder resource in the Blizzcon 2008 and 2009 demos, even after Blizzard had announced, in late 2009, that Mana was not going to be the final version of the class' resource. The system evolved further over the next couple of years, with [[GamesCom 2009 demoInstability]]the resource for a time, The Wizard was using until [[ManaArcane Power]] as a placeholder resource poolwas implemented and perfected.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzcon-2010-hand-on-blascid/]