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Wizard

Revision as of 08:29, 13 November 2018 by Hawki (talk | contribs) (→‎Known Wizards)
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"Since my youth, I have been told that I was special, a prodigy of vast potential. I came to the Yshari Sanctum, seeking what knowledge I could glean from the masters. But I found them fearful of the truth. I would learn nothing from them. But the old books, the prophecies they contained, showed me all that might come to pass, and all that I might become. Then, a star fell from the heavens -- the sign that my moment had come. I will go west to Tristram to stop the darkness that the star portends...and fulfill the destiny that beckons me."

- A Wizard(src)

Female Wizard

A Xian Wizard

The Wizard was the third Diablo III character class revealed.

Lore

"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."

- Abd al-Hazir's views on Wizards(src)

Li-Ming (FULL-SIZE)

A Wizard

Magic-users hail from academies throughout Sanctuary – from Xiansai to Caldeum – bearing monikers like "Sorcerer" and "Mage," but those who refer to themselves with the derogatory epithet "wizard" are as similar to their fellow spellcasters as a lion is to a kitten. Wizards and Sorcerers both wield the hidden mysteries of the arcane; there, the commonalities end.

Renegade spellcasters,[1] many Wizards are obsessed with power,[2] and are known for a number of qualities: not only rebelliousness and flair, but also disdain for the endless lessons and prattling about caution and safety that echo from academic schools of magic. Wizards’ superior attitudes seem to stem from their natural talent – their ability to wrestle the ambient force of magic into submission and direct it to their ends by will and instinct. Any accidents that might occur due to their lack of finesse are unfortunate...but that rarely stops wizards from indulging in their unstable magic power.[1]

Abilities

"People feared the mages they named wizards. Wizards drove the world to the brink of destruction time and time again, mages of such untamed power that the earth trembled at their machinations. They treated with the demons of the Burning Hells and made pacts to give us all to ruin. They cheated death and tore the very fabric of creation."

- Valthek(src)

Wizard-top

A Wizard using Disintegrate

Wizards use their bodies as vessels for arcane energy, forsaking the more careful path favored by other magic users. Because of this use, wizards rarely find themselves without the power of magic. They can nearly always afford to cast their weaker spells thanks to their swiftly-regenerating arcane power, and they invoke certain powers more easily as their experience grows. They are only in danger of depleting their stores of energy when attempting a number of invocations at once. However, Arcane Power can ravage wizards’ bodies if its use is not carefully paced.

Wizard concept 3

A female Wizard

Wizards manipulate all manner of forces to disintegrate, burn, and freeze their foes, claiming dominion over Sanctuary's natural elements, and they can control time and light to teleport, create powerful illusions, and deflect oncoming attacks. Wizards grip wands and staves to focus their less potent magics, blasting at their enemies while gathering the energy or time necessary to destroy them in a dazzling hail of arcane might. Though all material items serve as channels for a wizard’s immense power, orbs have special uses, in that they provide them with visions and knowledge to aid their spellcasting, or serve as reservoirs of power.

With few exceptions, wizard attacks are conducted at a distance, away from danger. As living artillery, wizards are well suited to relying on long-range destructive power. Though not as physically agile or strong as some other heroes, wizards cloak themselves in defensive magics. They can encase their skin in diamonds, create mirror images to befuddle their enemies, and harm or slow those foolish enough to strike at them directly.[1]

Gameplay

File:Escudow.png

Wizard icon

The Wizard is a long-range caster, and is a glass cannon-type class.[3] It is similar to the Sorceress class of Diablo II, as well as the Sorcerer from Diablo I. With the proper skill combinations the Wizard also has quite extensive Crowd Control abilities while simultaneously still being a heavy damage class.

Wizards have three class-specific item types: Wands, Sources and Wizard Hats. They rely on Intelligence as their primary core stat, and use Arcane Power as a resource. Important Wizard attributes: Intelligence, all resistances, reduced cooldowns, bonus elemental damage for skills, critical hit / critical damage, Arcane Power on critical hit, Area Damage.

Clever use of some of the Wizard's skills can put significant damage on enemies at a range that other classes can't even begin to target. Hydra can be cast almost anywhere within sight, including a far away area several layers below yours which is completely beyond the attack range of any normal skill of any class, and can attack enemies up to a further 60 yards away from it.

Wizards have five class sets in game:

Followers

The Wizard's damage output is significantly greater than any of the Followers, unless provided with better gear than the Wizard itself. As such, it is generally redundant to base a Follower around damage output (e.g. Lyndon).

Kormac is an excellent choice as a companion for the Wizard due to his multiple healing abilities, his AoE stun with Charge and his power regeneration with Inspire (if chosen over the also useful Guardian ability) to directly counter the squishy nature of the Wizard.

Eirena is also quite viable due to her multiple crowd-control abilities and her buffs that can boost both the attack and the defense of the Wizard.

Skills

Wizards do not have internal healing abilities, but can conjure shields of force or encase themselves in diamonds to absorb damage.

They also have a very limited ability to enhance their allies, but some of their attacks make enemies more vulnerable to damage, benefitting all members of the group. Almost all Wizard skills are oriented at maximum damage output; even defensive skills may be turned into damage boosters. In a group, Wizards rely heavily on other classes for protection, but when uninterrupted by enemies' counterattacks, can devastate large areas in a blink of an eye.

Many Cold, Fire and Lightning damaging skills are variants or remakes of those of the Sorceress class: barrages of molten fire, deadly storms and freezing icefalls. Hydra, Blizzard, Teleport, Meteor, Frozen Orb and many other skills make their return. The Arcane skill branch is entirely new, focusing on Arcane damage, illusions, uncontrolled energy and temporal manipulations. Only these four damage types are used by Wizards, which makes them highly favor the gear that can increase damage done by specific damage types. Moreover, Wizards are the only class to use the Arcane damage for their skills. The pinnacle of the Wizard's mastery over the arcane energy are their Archon form of the star-aligned energy, and cosmic Black Holes.

Most, if not all of the Wizards' skills can hit more than one enemy at once, making Wizards lethal for hordes of lesser enemies. Many of their skills also become more potent as they are continuously cast against the same target, and many are channeled: while sustained, they grow in power, compensating for the danger of standing in one place. In return, Wizards' Crowd Control capabilities are tied closely to elemental damage: Stun effects for Lightning skills, Chill or Freeze for Cold, and Slow for Arcane.

Many defensive abilities of the Wizard grow in power and are released more often if the Wizard is under fire, making enemy's own attacks help hero survive.

Popular Wizard Skill combinations include[4]:

For detailed guides, visit Icy Veins Wizard section

Development

The Wizard was the second class developed for Diablo III. The term "Wizard" was used as a means to "get out of our [Blizzard's] comfort zone," rather than primarily trying to distinguish the class from the Sorceress. Specifically, the developers wanted to do something from the fire/ice/lighting combo of the Sorceress, and making a different class was part of the mental shift. Inspiration was taken from magical abilities from Dungeons and Dragons, hence the existence of abilities such as Disintegrate and Magic Missile. The Wizard went through many artistic concepts before a final version was settled upon.[5]

The Wizard made its debut at Blizzcon 2008. Only the female version of the Wizard was playable at Blizzcon 2008 along with both versions of the Barbarian and Witch Doctor.

During Blizzcon 2010, Blizzard stated that the meteor skill of Sorceress would return as a Wizard skill.

Known Wizards

Portrait Wizard Female

A Wizard

Images

Videos

Trivia

WikiLogoSmall
This section contains facts and trivia relevant to this article.
  • The female Wizard is voiced by Grey DeLisle, while the male Wizard is voiced by Troy Baker.
  • The Wizard's dodge animation shows them waving their hands to the left, implying they use telekinesis to avoid the attack.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Wizard, Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed on 2014-01-18
  2. ↑ Diablo III, Fazula's Improbable Chain
  3. ↑ 2013-12-05, BlizzCon 2013 – Diablo III: Gameplay Systems + Crusader Panel Transcript. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2014-02-24
  4. ↑ 2014, Most Popular Wizard Builds The top Diablo III Wizard builds and skills at level 70 in Reaper of Souls. Diablo Somepage, accessed on 2014-06-25
  5. ↑ 2017-01-25, Diablo 3 Post-mortem with Jay Wilson Part 3. Diablo.net, accessed on 2017-02-19
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