Skill Animations Videos

The Skill Animations Videos are a set of five videos featuring each class demonstrating a number of skills, and were released (or leaked) in August 2011. The characters are in a featureless black environment without companions or monsters. In every video, the male version of each class is demonstrated first, then the female.

Barbarian Video

The Barbarian Skill Animations video can be seen below, courtesy of the Diablo3Inc channel on YouTube.com.

The skills demonstrated by the male Barbarian:

• 0:03 – 0:06 — Hammer of the Ancients with redesigned graphics, or possibly with an unknown rune.
• 0:07 – 0:11 — Ancient Spear runed to grant multishot.
• 0:13 – 0:27 — Wrath of the Berserker (seen for the first time) with an unknown rune.
• 0:15 – 0:24 — Earthquake(seen for the first time) runed(most likely) for the field of fire.
• 0:18 – 0:22 — Cleave used while the flames continue to burn.

And the female Barbarian:

• 0:34 – 0:35 — Ground Stomp with an aqua-colored rune effect.
• 0:35 – 0:38 — Weapon Throw with an unknown rune.
• 0:39 – 0:43 — Seismic Slam with an unknown rune.
• 0:44 – 0:45 — Possibly Rend. Or maybe Frenzy.
• 0:46 – 0:51 — Whirlwind - With an Indigo Rune creating mini-twisters.

Witch Doctor Video

The Witch Doctor Skill Animations video can be seen below, courtesy of the Diablo3Inc channel on YouTube.com.

The skills demonstrated by the male Witch Doctor:

• 0:03 – 0:09 — Grasp of the Dead with what is most likely an Obsidian Runestone, changing the skill to Unbreakable Grasp. It creates a cemetery of grasping zombie hands.
• 0:05 – 0:10 — Locust Swarm with individual flight patterns visible. Looks like the unruned version seen before.
• 0:11 – 0:20 — Zombie Charger with a Crimson Runestone, changing the skill to Zombie Bears. The bears function as spectral objects, as they run through enemies and deal damage in a straight line; they don’t actually grizzly maul. (Unfortunately.)
• 0:21 – 0:25 — Plague of Toads the Golden Runestone, changing the skill to Toad Affinity, which allows the Witch Doctor to cast the spell at a reduced Mana cost.
• 0:26 – 0:32 — Wall of Zombies with an Obisidian Runestone, changing the skill to Dead Rush. The zombies rot to skeletons as they move outwards. See also Zombie Tower.

And the female Witch Doctor:

• 0:36 – 0:38 — Summon Zombie Dogs, runed to summon red zombie dogs, indicating the Leeching Beasts rune effect.
• 0:38 – 0:40 — Sacrifice, runed to cause the dogs to explode in a flash of blue light. The blue light may indicate the presence of the rune effect such as Pride, which allows the Witch Doctor to recover Mana for each sacrificed Zombie Dog.
• 0:41 – 0:48 — Firebats, possibly unruned.
• 0:43 – 0:50 — Haunt with new and improved graphics. It might be a runestone effect that turns them into hovering helpers, ready to attack enemies on sight. Also, what are they... skeletal baby porpoises?
• 0:55 – 0:59 — Firebomb with an Indigo rune, changing the skill to Roll the Bones. This allows the skull to bounce and deal multiple hits.
• 1:01 – 1:07 — Mass Confusion or a runed version of Horrify.

Wizard Video

The Wizard Skill Animations video can be seen below, courtesy of the Diablo3Inc channel on YouTube.com.

The skills demonstrated by the male Wizard:

• 0:01 – 0:14 — Hydras are cast and fire for a bit.
• 0:06 – 0:10 — Most likely Electrocute.
• 0:12 – 0:16 — Arcane Orb, possibly unruned.
• 0:16 – 0:31 — Archon (seen for the first time). It turns the Wizard into an elemental looking being for a short duration, and greatly increases skill damage.
• 0:17 – 0:18 — Possibly Explosive Blast, possibly modified by the Archon effect.
• 0:19 – 0:28 — Disintegrate, modified by the Archon effect.

And the female Wizard:

• 0:35 – 0:38 — Magic Missile with an Indigo rune.
• 0:39 – 0:42 — Possibly a runed Shock Pulse.
• 0:43 – 0:49 — Energy Twister with a rune that cause the twisters that clash to combine as mentioned in another interview.
• 0:50 – 1:01 — Most likely Arcane Torrent, firing a series of purple spearhead-like projectiles at the targeted spot. It’s not known if this is the default version or a runestone effect, as this skill hasn't been seen or playable at any point since 2009 Blizzcon.

Monk Video

The Monk Skill Animations video can be seen below, courtesy of the Diablo3Inc channel on YouTube.com.

The skills demonstrated by the male Monk:

• 0:02 - 0:05 — Fists of Thunder with an unknown rune.
• 0:06 - 0:08 — Crippling Wave with an unknown rune.
• 0:09 – 0:12 — Dashing Strike, it is unknown if it is runed or not.
• 0:14 – 0:16 — Seven Sided Strike. Probably this is the default, but the skill hasn’t been seen since 2009 so it might be a runestone effect.
• 0:17 – 0:19 — Blinding Flash with as unknown rune providing a green nova-type blast of light.

And the female Monk:

• 0:26 – 0:28 — Most likely Deadly Reach. The only other time we saw this skill is within the recent b-roll movie.
• 0:30 – 0:33 — Way of the Hundred Fists has new graphics. Note the punch delivered while holding a staff.. Whether it is runed or not is unknown.
• 0:34 – 0:37 — Wave of Light. In this version the bell is dropped, then rung, knocking back nearby enemies. It’s seen in use against some Goatmen in the recent b-roll movie.
• 0:38 – 0:40 — Exploding Palm possibly unruned.
• 0:41 – 0:48 — Tempest Rush (seen for the first time). The Monk runs along, spinning a spectral staff before her.

Demon Hunter Video

The Demon Hunter Skill Animations video can be seen below, courtesy of the Diablo3Inc channel on YouTube.com.

The skills demonstrated by the male Demon Hunter:

• 0:02 - 0:04 — Fan of Knives with an unknown rune.
• 0:05 - 0:08 — Multishot with an unknown rune effect giving the arrows a purple gleam.
• 0:09 - 0:12 — Most likely Elemental Arrow runed for electrical orbs.
• 0:13 – 0:17 — Strafe (seen for the first time) giving the Demon Hunter a sort of “Death Blossom” effect, causing the DH to turn black and spin around, emitting much ordnance.
• 0:18 – 0:29 — Shadow Power (seen for the first time) which gives the DH glowing purple wings. It is unknown if it can enhance skills like Archon.
• 0:20 – 0:26 — Rapid Fire showing some amazing machine gun speed. It is unknown if it is runed or not, and as just mentioned, whether Shadow Power is enhancing it or not.

And the female Demon Hunter:

• 0:35 – 0:38 — Bola Shot runed for a green triple arrow effect.
• 0:39 – 0:43 — Most likely Impale. The only other time we saw this skill is within the recent b-roll movie.
• 0:44 – 0:49 — Chakram is the name of this glowing, spinning, giant boomerang ninja star ability. Most likely runed for lightning damage.
• 0:50 – 0:55 — Most likely Rain of Arrows (seen for the first time), which fires shots straight up into the air, and a second later numerous black/invisible meteor type projectiles come smashing down. Possibly a rune effect.
• 0:56 – 1:01 — Vault with a runestone adding a sort of Blaze effect that leaves flaming ground behind the Demon Hunter.