In fact, I could be wrong, but the melee wizard may actually be the "tank" class that everyone is angry won't be in the original game. (People are saying barb is meant to dual or two handed weapon, and he is not a heavy armor class) Now, I haven't paid complete attention, and I know they have said there will be some item restrictions based on class, but if the wizard can wear heavy armor and use shields even (or just go sword and orb, which would look pretty awesome I bet), then I think the wizard may just be the tank.
I'm looking forward to giving it a shot, and, barring crazy surprises with the fifth class, this will be the first thing I play.|||A wizard who wants to focus on melee combat is easy to do. The current list of skills that will be beneficial are Energy Shield, Slow Time, Mirror Image, Stone Skin, Magic Weapon, Ice Armor, Frost Nova, Empowered Armor, and Storm Armor. Of course other skills can be used but some obviously won't work well such as mana/second skills like Disintegrate.|||Say you do want to support a melee wiz build with gear: are you going to have weapons and armor that can still support that kind of gameplay? i.e., if you are looking for melee modifiers that generally appear on 2H weapons, and you can't equip a 2H weapon, will some kind of similar modifier show up on a 1H that the wiz can equip?
Blizzard Quote: (Source)Our intention isn't to limit build potential by limiting what weapon types each class can use, and I attempted to explain that in my original post. So yes, we want to have a large variation of stats on all weapons to allow for experimentation and "off-build" customization.
Are you planning on restricting armor choices similarly?
Blizzard Quote: (Source)There still aren't any armor restriction planned. Armor is a different issue as it's shown in much the same was as Diablo II, so more types don't actually increase the animation/modeling costs like weapon types would.
First: Will the cutting out of certain weapon types only relate to those weapons which are really antithetical to the archetype of the class, but still leave some wriggle-room? For example, will my wizard be unable to wield the massive two-hander, but still be able to swing a longsword?
Blizzard Quote: (Source)The list of what weapon types are or aren't allowed for each class aren't final and could change. They're fairly logical choices and what is most commonly seen as closely tied to the hero archetypes. In our current game the wizard can't wield a two-handed sword for instance, but can still use a one handed sword and shield if so desired.
Second: Would it be possible that this restriction may be removed in later patches or expansions?
Blizzard Quote: (Source)Anything is possible. Dare to dream!|||I think it'd be really cool to have an enchant type move, but with magic damage. I always really like magic damage in general, but there was never enough ways to use it, except for Hammers, really.|||Quote:
I think it'd be really cool to have an enchant type move, but with magic damage. I always really like magic damage in general, but there was never enough ways to use it, except for Hammers, really.
You mean like the skill "Magic Weapon" that has already been linked to once already in this thread?|||Ladies and Gentlemen, the melee wizard is officially a go! They don't do Skill Runes until the finalized the character, and the Wizard has Skill Runes galore.
http://d3db.com/pc/wizard
Let's count the goods:
The Essentials: Armor Spells, Energy Shield, and Enchant (Magic Weapon) are still there. This means that melee Wizards have a choice between 15 different Armor spells (you can only have 1 armor up at a time), 5 different Energy Shields variants, and 5 different Enchants!
Arcane Power actually greatly expands on usefulness of Energy Shield, because it no longer prohibits regular spell casting due to the nature of high regeneration rate AP has. But it does mean that it is probably no longer inherently as powerful at mitigating damage.
The Expanding of Defensive Options: Mirror Image, Slow Time. With above 3 goodies and these 2 abilities you now a hilarious fortress in terms of not getting your frail body eaten. We have damage mitigation, damage avoidance, projectile/enemy slowdown, and a whacking stick.
Still two slots open for offensive abilities that are perfectly usable for a melee Wizard set up!
The Kablooey: The stand outs seem to be Hydra and Familiar spells. Plop them down, and you now have 3 separate damage sources that don't interrupt you pointy stick swinging.
Honorable Mentions: Teleport - Duh. Spectral Blade, Explosive Blast, Frost Nova, and Wave of Force also seem like viable candidates to substitute into the above, but these spells seem to be more fitting to a close range caster rather than a spellsword (as they interrupt swinging time to use). Still, there seem to be plenty of substitutes if you want to vary up the Kablooey section or go easier on the defense to put in some mobility or boomey.
While Traits are not yet listed, we do know two: Ball of Lightning and Prismatic Cloak
http://www.diablowiki.net/Traits
Ball of Lightning gives us another free source of damage and Prismatic Cloak is obviously hand tailored to boost the primary spellsword spells.
Looking good!|||Yes, yes, and even more YES!
Glad to see Magic Weapon still there. I'm wondering if it's Enchant, or if it is an actual attack that channels magic through your weapon each time you swing, rather than a timed buff. I'm guessing it's like enchant, but it seems something like that would be better suited to a trait...?
Also, I'm guessing that the real make-or-break for a Spellsword will happen in the traits selection. I'm hoping that they keep the stuff they showed a long time, with Magic Missile adding debuffs and such. I'm seeing a ton of variant ways to even make a good ol' melee wizard already, and I don't even know the 25-30 traits possible. That's a sweet deal.
P.S. Familiar sounds totally awesome. Can't wait to see the different creatures it takes the form of with skill runes. SO COOL.|||Is Spectral Blade affected by weapon damage?
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