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For the Necromancer skill that raises a Skeleton Mage, see Raise Skeletal Mage.
For the Diablo III enemy type, see Skeletal Guardian.
For the Diablo III skill, see Skeletal Mage (skill).
SkeletalMageSummon

A Skeleton Mage

Skeleton Mages (a.k.a. Skeletal Mages or Returned Mages) are skeletons that utilize magic.

Lore[]

RisenMageP

A Mage's visage

Skeleton Mages are the animated remains of slain Sorcerers. They wield the forces of elemental magic as they sow death throughout the land. Able to deliver considerable damage from a distance, these undead Mages can be exceptionally dangerous when congregating in large pacts or under the direction of the remains of a particularly powerful caster.[1] Skeleton Mages sometimes lead groups of other skeletons, but in truth, they're no more intelligent than any normal skeleton—it is only their ability to wield magic that distinguish them.[2]

The Priests of Rathma are likewise able to summon Skeleton Mages from the corpses of long dead Wizards. The priests feel that this is the proof of the dominance of their particular branch of the mystic arts.[3]

At least some Skeletal Mages are capable of speech.[4]

In-game[]

Diablo II[]

Skeleton Mages first appear in Diablo II. They attack their enemies by shooting elemental energies from their hands. Skeleton Mages can only wield one type of elemental magic: fire, lightning, cold, or poison. By looking at glow of their hands, one can tell which element they wield.

Skeleton Mages are first found in the latter part of Act I. Like with Skeleton Archers, mages are most deadly when they appear in large groups. Maximizing Resistances will greatly decrease damage taken from their attacks. Skeleton Mages themselves do not appear as enemies. However, four variations exist: Returned Mages, Bone Mages, Burning Dead Mages, and Horror Mages. With the exception of Burning Dead Mages, each Skeleton Mage has four different variations: Fire, Cold, Lightning, and Poison.

Burning Dead Mages have no Cold variation, because they were repurposed as Death Mages of Achmel. Returned and Bone Mages wielding Cold and Poison elements aren't used anywhere.

Necromancers can raise their own magical skeletons via the Raise Skeletal Mage ability.

Stats[]

Returned Mage
Returned Mage
Property Normal Nightmare Hell
Type Undead Undead Undead
Act(s) found in 1 1 1
Monster Level 8 39 71
Experience
Health points 15–22 344–501 344–501
363–528 344–501
1791–3473 1791–3473
1838–3565 1885–3657
Damage 1
Attack Rating 1
Damage 2
Attack Rating 2
Defense 40 507 507
518 507
1233 1233
1248 1264
% to Block 9 9 9
Damage Resist 0 0 33
Magic Resist 0 0 0
Fire Resist 30 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 100 0 0 0
Cold Resist 0 30 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 140 0 15
Lightning Resist 0 0 30 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 100 0
Poison Resist 50 50 50 70 60 60 60 60 75 75 75 75
Drain Effectiveness 0 0 0
Immunities Fire Cold
Lightning None
Chill Effectiveness 50 40 25
Walk/Run Speed 4
Group/Minion Size 1-2
Bone Mage
Bone Mage
Property Normal Nightmare Hell
Type Undead Undead Undead
Act(s) found in 1 1 1
Monster Level 10 41 75
Experience
Health points 19–28 363–528 363–528
382–556 382–556
1838–3565 1838=3565
1885–3657 2075–4025
Damage 1
Attack Rating 1
Damage 2
Attack Rating 2
Defense 50 518 518
529 529
1248 1248
1264 1327
% to Block 11 11 11
Damage Resist 0 0 33
Magic Resist 0 0 0
Fire Resist 30 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 105 0 0 0
Cold Resist 0 30 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 150 0 15
Lightning Resist 0 0 30 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 105 0
Poison Resist 50 50 50 70 60 60 60 60 75 75 75 75
Drain Effectiveness 0 0 0
Immunities Fire Cold
Lightning None
Chill Effectiveness 50 40 25
Walk/Run Speed 4
Group/Minion Size 1-3
Burning Dead Mage
Burning Dead Mage
Property Normal Nightmare Hell
Type Undead Undead Undead
Act(s) found in 2 2 2
Monster Level 14 44 79
Experience
Health points 27–38 438–637 2075–4025
2218–4301 2265–4393
Damage 1
Attack Rating 1
Damage 2
Attack Rating 2
Defense 70 561 1327
1375 1391
% to Block 15 15 15
Damage Resist 0 0 33
Magic Resist 0 0 0
Fire Resist 70 50 50 0 100 50 50 0 110 75 0 0
Cold Resist 0 30 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 160 0 15
Lightning Resist 0 0 30 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 110 0
Poison Resist 50 50 50 70 60 60 60 60 75 75 75 75
Drain Effectiveness 0 0 0
Immunities Fire Cold
Lightning None
Chill Effectiveness 50 40 25
Walk/Run Speed 5
Group/Minion Size 2-3
Horror Mage
Horror Mage
Property Normal Nightmare Hell
Type Undead Undead Undead
Act(s) found in 2 2 2
Monster Level 14 44 78
Experience
Health points 33–48 495–720 495–720
495–720 514–748
2218–4301 2218–4301
2265–4393 2218–4301
Damage 1
Attack Rating 1
Damage 2
Attack Rating 2
Defense 85 594 594
604 594
1375 1375
1391 1375
% to Block 30 30 30
Damage Resist 0 0 33
Magic Resist 0 0 0
Fire Resist 30 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 115 0 0 0
Cold Resist 0 30 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 170 0 15
Lightning Resist 0 0 30 0 0 0 50 0 0 0 115 0
Poison Resist 50 50 50 70 60 60 60 60 75 75 75 75
Drain Effectiveness 0 0 0
Immunities Fire Cold
Lightning None
Chill Effectiveness 50 40 25
Walk/Run Speed 5
Group/Minion Size 2-4

Uniques[]

Diablo Immortal[]

Skeleton Mage-DI

The 'lesser' variant of the Skeleton Mage in Diablo Immortal

A Skeletal Mage boss appears in Diablo Immortal.

Lesser skeletons also appear as Mage enemies, but are likewise referred to as "Skeletal Mages" or "Returned Mages."

Diablo III[]

In Diablo III, the Skeletal Guardian takes on a similar role as the Skeletal Mage. Necromancers retain the Skeletal Mage skill.

Development[]

Skeleton Mages in Diablo II have four casting sounds titled firemage, castice, castelectric, castpoison.wav but all of them use only firemage.wav.

In v1.00 a Cold Burning Dead Mage could be seen near Radament, however it was replaced by a Cold Horror Mage in the Expansion as the Cold Burning Dead Mage has been repurposed into Death Mage of Achmel The Cursed.

References[]

  1. Skeleton Mage, The Arreat Summit. Accessed on 2017-04-08
  2. Diablerie
  3. Summoning Skills, The Arreat Summit. Accessed on 2017-04-08
  4. Diablo Immortal, The Tomb of the Queen
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