Melee Wizard - Page 2

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if (attribute auto) then (not melee wizard)




I don't think that is correct. The skills for a melee type wizard are there and since there are NO attribute requirements on items you could get items that boost the needed attributes.|||Also the Wizard has a skill that increases her health by a %, so she could potentially be a tank (especially against slowed enemies).|||A "Tank" Wizard could be feasable. Especially if they specialize in the Conjuring Tree and with the aid of the Arcane Armor skill from the Arcane Tree...


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Arcane Armor

While your Storm Armor, Stone Armor, Stone Skin or Temporal Armor spells are active, your armor is increased by 20%.

* Rank: 0/15

Another interesting mastery; this one boosts the armor, but only while one (or more) of the other protective spells are active.




I wonder if one could use multiple + armor spells... IIRC Frozen Armor and Chilling Armor and Shiver Armor canceled each other out if used together... I wonder though if a spell like Stone Skin, and Storm Armor stack. Since they don't actually do the same thing; Stone Skin repels damage up to a point while Storm Armor damages the enemy slightly. Arcane Armor does increase the armor bonus if you have Stone Skin up, like it does Storm armor and Temporal armor however. So this leads me to believe that they probably don't stack. Unless the armor bonus from Arcane armor is separate from the armor bonus from Storm armor - meaning that it only triggers while the armor spell is active and it doesn't add to the armor bonus on the spell, rather multiplies the base armor then adds the multiplier from a spell like storm armor.

Armor Spells may stack and remain balanced if the equation is...

Base armor * Storm Armor = X

Base Armor * Arcane Armor bonus = Y (while armor spell is active)

Base Armor * Stone Skin = A

Base Armor * Temporal Armor = B

Base armor +X +Y +A +B = Total Armor

Arcane Armor may stack but would probably be imbalanced if the equation is...

(Armor Spell > 0 = Base armor + Arcane Armor Bonus = B

(Base armor * Storm Armor) = X *B

(Base armor * Stone Skin) = Y *B

(Base armor * Temporal Armor) = A *B

Base armor +X*B+Y*B+A*B = (Total Armor)B�

Meaning that you'd get the armor bonus from Storm armor and the benefits of Stone Skin and Temporal armor plus the armor bonus from Arcane Armor three times resulting in an exponential increase in your bonus armor rating if you have only two armor spells active...

The Arcane Armor bonus should only apply once, but It would be interesting if the Armor spells could stack. Though from what I'm foreseeing that probably won't be the case, since the armor spells could render the Wizard virtually invulnerable to harm. Since the stacking of armor bonuses from Arcane Armor along with the Base Damage reduction from Stone Skin and Temporal Armor would result in a steady stream of 0 damage to the Wizard and the Combination with Storm Armor would deal a steady amount of Damage to the Wizards assailant, if the base armor is high enough. It basically means that Arcane Armor would be abused as a skill and may give the Wizard Greater armor class than the Actual "Tanks" built into the game. It would definetly be a Broken PVP skill so Arcane Armor should only Trigger Once only if at least one Armor Spell is active and not give bonus armor for each armor spell active.

At least my hopes are that Blizzard will be Balancing game play not only for PVE but for PVP also.|||Just thought I would add that the interview with JW on the front page confirms beyond a shadow of a doubt that melee wizard will not only be feasible, but is actually a build that Blizzard specifically designed the Wizard to utilize. I think we probably all knew that by looking at the skill tree, but with Jay Wilson flat out saying it, it really gives me confidence that not only will the build be available, but it will actually be good, even untwinked.

For me, that is exciting news. This will be the first build I play, unless something amazing presents itself via the two unannounced classes or release of skills for Doc and Barb.|||I agree with NKlint here. Stacking armors would possibly overpower the wizard gameplay or some kind of drawbacks would have to be added when multiple armors are active, which then kind of defeats the purpose and only adds more things that need to be considered about the balance of skills and balance of the different character classes.

And thankyou Sylvanite for sharing this very good piece of information out of the videos Good to hear, that once again the caster class will be able to go melee as well!|||will be cool if they put on d3

i actually built sword sorc (which nobody did) on d2, maxed lvl enchant, and maxed lvl on shileld defence so that sorc won die easily. it was however useless cuz it couldnt kill single monster in hell level lol.

so what i did was increasing her strenght an gave her better sword. I think I gave her grandfathersword, which she finally started killing hell monsters, yet slowly |||and the life??? with auto stat i think that life is poor|||No auto-stat means that you will be required to obtain life in some part from your equipment. Hopefully there's a lot of equipment that satisfies this, or we'll quickly see cookie-cutter builds.|||Quote:








and the life??? with auto stat i think that life is poor




wiz has a skill that boosts total hp, i see no problems with a melee wiz now, infact like i said before i think they will be even better in d3 as the devs have given alot of skills to support a battlemage build|||Look into the First build ideas for some ideas for a melee wizard and see for yourself, that this will be quite possible. even just look at the skills in the conjuring tree. Most of those skills are laid out for melee wizard builds.

Stats will need to be aquired through items. Since there are NO stat requirements for items, wearing heavy plate won't be a problem, unless this is restricted by class, which might pose a problem then.

Melee Wizard

Will this be a viable build? Between the time distortion skills, teleport, the close range "magic blade" attack she keeps using in the demo and the as yet unseen "enchant weapon" skill, it seems like it could be a really cool light melee character. I do wonder whether it will fit in the design philosophy they are going for. It might be the case that characters are designed to be generalists and not focus on certain skill trees. Also issues with stat distribution could come up, since we dont get to decide any more and the Wizard could be extremely fragile in later areas of the game.

Maybe it would be a good PvP build. Anyway, thoughts?|||I really hope so. I've always liked builds that are the antithesis of the typical archetypes. A melee wizard. The Singer in D2, or the Ranger.

My hope is that Blizzard is doing everything they can to allow people to have true freedom with making their character truly unique. I think going with a lot of passives and masteries is a good way towards encouraging this. I think it will not only allow fringe builds but also allow some interested hybrid classes.|||http://www.shacknews.com/featuredart...id=1020&page=3

This forum needs a sticky already? My CTRL-V key is tiring itself out.

Short version: yes, if the Conjuration tree is anything to go by, a melee Wizard will be viable.|||We also have a complete list of the Wizard skill trees, much the same as with Shacknews in the Diablo3 Wiki I will assemble a thread with viable information and make it worthwhile for a sticky.

• Wizard basic information


• Wizard Skills

I will dig for more information that relates to the Wizard and can either be found in the Wiki or elsewhere.


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This forum needs a sticky already?




There ya go -> The Wizard Knowledge & Guide Library [1st Edition]|||i gotta say at first i thought they were killing the melee wizards but after seeing the wizard tree i think they will be better than ever. i myself will make one but probably will not be my first char(though right now a casting wizard will be)|||I think that Blizzard is purposefully making a melee wizard viable. The lack of attribute requirements on all items will be awesome too.....Sword and shield wizard? Wizard with a giant hammer? Should be doable.

On another note, I see melee wizards playing out the best by having longer term buffs up, but then debuffing groups of enemies before going into melee range.

A string of magic missiles that slow, creatures, reduce their armor, and increase their damage taken? As well as adding a percent of weapon damage to your Magic Missile? Then teleport in, drop a slow time, and start mowing things down.....

Who knows what will be possible or not based on mana and game play, but I could see it playing out like that and being totally awesomesauce.|||I like the way these ideas are going. Combined with Magic Weapon, Lethal Energy, Stone Skin, Slowing Strikes and Mirror Image and there are even more options open.

There are many ways to build a Melee wizard from the skills we see available at the moment. I think it even more simple to come up with an idea for a melee wizard, than other builds. Would that imply that its an intention to not only use spells, but melee attacks too, possibly to bridge mana recovery?|||if (attribute auto) then (not melee wizard)|||Can we get over this already?

Items + Skills = Melee Casters, auto-attributes or not.|||Quote:








Will this be a viable build? Between the time distortion skills, teleport, the close range "magic blade" attack she keeps using in the demo and the as yet unseen "enchant weapon" skill, it seems like it could be a really cool light melee character. I do wonder whether it will fit in the design philosophy they are going for. It might be the case that characters are designed to be generalists and not focus on certain skill trees. Also issues with stat distribution could come up, since we dont get to decide any more and the Wizard could be extremely fragile in later areas of the game.

Maybe it would be a good PvP build. Anyway, thoughts?




Looking at the current skill trees it seems like making hybrids is still going to be pretty tough, as each skill has like 4 - 6 "synergies" that you'd like to use within the same tree. A pure melee wizard looks like a viable build by just looking at the skill trees. I wonder if you'll be able to enchant other players with magic weapon skill.

As for PvP I'm afraid that with auto-stats system a melee wizard may be at a disadvantage against other melee chars in terms of life/chance to block/chance to dodge/chance to hit, but it's kind of hard to tell yet.

I was thinking about making melee/electrocute hybrid build and calling him with some cool sith name

Mirror image awesome? - Page 4

Maybe everyone already figured this out and I'm just slow, but this demo review says that the MIs do damage.

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/diabl...&mode=previews|||Yes I do believe that the mirror images will be dishing out damage/spells unlike the variation in Baldur's Gate.

Apparently the game will be tough, very tough. Slow Time is one other evidence that the game will not be easy.|||I think, though, that if you're careful/slow enough, Wizards can pretty much solo any area with Slow Time/Mirror Image and whatever else utility spells they show.|||wizards, mages, sorcerors, you name em have always been too easy to play. They can stand at a distance and dish out overpower spells and take no damage at all|||Quote:








wizards, mages, sorcerors, you name em have always been too easy to play. They can stand at a distance and dish out overpower spells and take no damage at all




Imo pre-LOD sorc took some skills to use her efficiently.

Mirror image awesome? - Page 3

Runes people. Runes!

Why does everyone forget the new rune/skill system?

Mirror Image may not do any damage by itself, but hey, insert a Striking Rune and suddenly they do damage, just like that video where putting a Striking Rune in Teleport causes it to do damage.

MI + Striking Rune = Damaging images

MI + Multistrike = More copies

MI + Power = More HP per copy

etc.

RUNE SKILLS FTW!|||I've watched the Wizard trailer and Blizzcon B-Roll a dozen times each, and here's what I've concluded:

1. Mirror Images do no damage.

2. Whenever you cast a spell, your mirror images will cast the same spell at the same target. If you are not casting a spell, they will still run about casting the last spell you did. Whether all spells work like this or just some remains to be seen.

3. When you teleport, your images are left behind. However, Teleport with Multistrike creates one or more copies. I believe that whnever you produce an effect that creates a mirror image, all previous images dis-appear.

4. Images have hit-points and can be killed. They also fade away after a certain period of time.|||Well if mirror images themselves deal damage, then the damage done should be less than the damage dealt by the real wizard. Example, if the real wizard deals 100 damage, then the images may only deal 20 each. Also the images should take more damage than the real one. That way during pvp, players will still be able to work out which ones are images and who is the real deal.|||It would have to be far less than 20% to be fair.|||its just to act as a distraction...and doubt it would pose any problem in pvp with all the AoE everyone as now...you would need tons of hp so that your image dont die to fast....which im suspecting take alots more dmg....

and being a dota player make it really easy to see who isnt the image...image left uncontrolled and just thrown in there with the basic AI are just easy to spot compared to a player that move,act and overall play differently

also knight_wolf....potion arent in D3 like in D2 you have to kill stuff to make potion pop up and they can't be saved in your inventory they are used on the spot....THIS ISNT D2!! :P(he keep saying this all the time lol i had to do it)|||Quote:








ly

also knight_wolf....potion arent in D3 like in D2 you have to kill stuff to make potion pop up and they can't be saved in your inventory they are used on the spot....THIS ISNT D2!! :P(he keep saying this all the time lol i had to do it)




Those aren't potions you are talking about, those are health and mana globes which are dropped by enemies and used on the spot, potions, while supposedly rare and with cooldown effects, are still in D3.|||Yeah, Psycho. Potions are still in, just with a cooldown.|||oh really?...well didint know that thx...i though it was just basicly the dropped ground one and the old one totally removed O_o sorry bout that....DAMN IT|||it will probably act the same exact way it does for mages in WoW, they move around a little and copy the spell that the actual player is casting. The WoW one can actually do things to other players though which i think should not happen.|||Quote:








I did just have a look at the wizard trailer. She does use mirror image there. In the current implementation though you can clearly see, which are the mirror images and which is the real wizard. The mirror images are slightly transparent.




Have you never played Warcraft 3? The mirror image was blue for you and looked regular for your opponent, that way you could tell easily who was in danger, thy couldn't, same with halucinations in Starcraft, I have a feeling the system will be rather similar, do damge done from the images, but they still attack, and of course we all have runes, add som striking damage, or poison damage. I agree though, they do certainly have some pottential.

Mirror image awesome? - Page 2

The high level part of D3 must be insanely hard, looking at all the defense skills they prepared for the wizard.|||I really don't like this skill... because it's a defensive one :P

Anyway, for PvP, Warcraft III showed that miror image can be countered with micro and experience. For exemple, miror images might not take same damage and might be recongnizable this way, and if only the player and not the images do damage, then you can target the one you see doing damage, or even easier, the only one casting a spell! So wiz with this spell will kinda need to be kept from using spells while dueling. I'm sure this won't be a thread in PvP.

As for me, I'll be going strictly PvE without many defensive spells... So miror image = bleh.|||Well I can see how greatly effective this will be in PvM. Imagine what those 3 mirrors, if that's the stock level, would by in amount of time. In d2, being a completely different game almost, 4-7 seconds is enough to clear a screen espicially those meanies like the minions of destruction or a boss. In d3, I see it being a great help in the boss fights. For example, king Leroic fight where you start off surrounded. This would buy you enough time to get out of danger, and depending on the mirror images life span/stats, it may give you enough time to wipe out those minions.

I have a feeling that d3 is going to be less of high damage as fast as possible and more of startegy given by the class. Barb, tanker with damage. Wizard, offensive from a distance with some effect spells (slow time, mirror). Witch doctor, all round damge (fire), defensive (zombie wall and summons).

EDIT: of course we won't know any permanent stats or balances until later, much much later.|||Why is it that you assume Mirror Images won't do any damage?

Sure, Mirror Images in WC3 didn't do any, but there are several custom maps (including DotA, which Blizzard employees have recognized) in which they do a percentage of your character's damage.

It should make for a lot of interesting builds, as you can choose to buff your image damage in different ways.|||I pray to every god that there will be a skill rune to have your mirror images to cast the same spell as you simultaneously even at a tiny fraction of the damage.

I mean, damn, Imagine 10 Distingerate Beams flying all over the place! Even better, imagine a PvP battle between 3 such Wizards?|||Mirror Image doesn't seem to have any offensive synergies, of course we don't know what the synergy system will be but looking at the other skills, they seem to be increasing numbers and defensive capabilities of the images.

However, if they did have some offensive power, I think it'd be a particularly useful PVM skill as well as PVP. We can't assume much yet but, imagine if they could cast the basic spells too Mirror Image + Magic Missle? Cha Ching!

KT|||I like the fact that the wizard has more defensive options than in DII. And let's face it, the way the diablo series is, the wizard will need it, because high level game play is always insanely hard in the diablo series. And I sure hope it will be no different in DIII. And hopefully there will be hardcore mode (haven't heard much about this myself).

Mirror image seems like a very good confusion/escape/defense tactic. As was said before, if there's a way to become invisible, the combo of invisibility and mirror image would be an excellent escape tactic.

I don't think the images deal any damage though, I believe they are there purely for defensive purposes, or escape, distraction etc. Even if they don't deal any damage at all or don't cast spells, there are still many uses for the images, too many even.

Distraction, confusion, escape, defense, even scouting (let the image peek around that corner).|||Quote:








I pray to every god that there will be a skill rune to have your mirror images to cast the same spell as you simultaneously even at a tiny fraction of the damage.

I mean, damn, Imagine 10 Distingerate Beams flying all over the place! Even better, imagine a PvP battle between 3 such Wizards?




That would be crazzyyy awesome. Perhaps they'd have to limit the skills your MI's could duplicate, like...not Disintegrate |||I have been looking at the wizard video and i think i know how the mirror will work: it will copy the spells you have currently selected. In the video we see the images that are close to the monsters use the melee magic attack while the real wizard is seen using some kind of cold magic, HOWEVER another mirror image is seen at the left side using cold magic too! So the wizard must have as melee option ability the melee magic attack and on the other click the cold magic.|||i want my "mirror image" warrior to do damage, and be based youre atleast half youre skill levels like the assasins shadow does now somewhat.

id also like her to do the damage and spawn with whatever weapon you are holding and use it also.

Mirror image awesome?

Looking at the video it seems the images attack, most people speculated about wether they did damage, which in my opinion isnt whats important. Whats important is that in pvp the enemy wont know whos the real one and it doesnt stop you from attacking him while he wastes his time with the copies; unlike the amazon skill which forced you to stay put or he would know who was real instantly. Thus if the images all copy the current attack that your char uses they will be awesome, if each attacks in a different way it would make it easier to decide which was the real one ( one using arcane, one using frost nova and one using electrocute...not so difficult to guess no?). Doesnt someone see their potential in pvp if they copy your attack at the same time?|||AoE attacks.|||Hopefully, the images can will replicate the real image's spells and attacks ( but does 0 damage ) It'll confuse other people so much. Would be nice if you can give them commands too|||I did just have a look at the wizard trailer. She does use mirror image there. In the current implementation though you can clearly see, which are the mirror images and which is the real wizard. The mirror images are slightly transparent. Unless this changes, there might still be a slight advantage in PvP, but its possibly negelectable, unless the opponent loses his target focus when the wizard casts "Mirror image".

The mirror images actually replicate both the casting animation of the wizard body as a whole, as well as the spell animation. Whether those spells cast from the mirror images do damage or not, is not something i could decern through watching the wizard gameplay video.

Between, the video i watched is the Wizard trailer on the official Diablo III site.|||Maybe for AoE, the images will spread out a lot, so the PvPer would have to pick one if casting a spell like meteor. Or, maybe they will all be animated to look chilled, hurt, stunned, etc.|||Quote:








I did just have a look at the wizard trailer. She does use mirror image there. In the current implementation though you can clearly see, which are the mirror images and which is the real wizard. The mirror images are slightly transparent.




That might just be for the player, though. So you don't get confused as to which avatar is the real wizard. When you cast Hallucinations in SC, the units were all blue and obviously not real units, but they looked like normal units to your opponent.

I wonder if, when MI is cast, your position in relation to mirror images is fixed. From the image in the wiki, it looks like they form a ring, with your character as a part of the ring. It would make sense if it was randomized so sometimes your character was at 4 o'clock (if you think of the ring as a clock) or at 9 o'clock. If you were always at the 12 o'clock that would hurt the deception factor in PvP.

For that matter, I wonder what happens when you teleport with mirror images. Do they poof, do they follow you? Hmm I just had a thought, it would be cool if teleporting caused your mirror images to teleport off screen in random directions before poofing. Major misdirection.|||Quote:








That might just be for the player, though. So you don't get confused as to which avatar is the real wizard. When you cast Hallucinations in SC, the units were all blue and obviously not real units, but they looked like normal units to your opponent.




Good point.|||Unless they intend to use MI as a defense mechanism like Baldur's Gate, the skill must not be overpowered and have to be balanced.

As seen in the video, the images actually cast spells and attack.

I believed the skill is still under progress?|||I usually play Undead or Night Elf in War3 TFT, and those pisky Blade Masters always bother me with the Mirror Image trick. However, they can't use other abilities so they can only attack. Yeah it sucks to fight, and sometimes it'll screw you up, however the majority of the time You can single the real one out in a matter of seconds and then focus fire on him. You can single them out by; seeing the damage each one is dealing, which ones are playing like a human and aren't instantly running straight towards your characters, and which ones are using some strategy to get the most damage to you until times up. Pretty much, yeah it's a nifity little trick, but it's not impossible to counter. It's an escape plan or a 3 second delay of damage.

PS- all IMO, granted this is Diablo and not an RTS, the same strategy is involved with single units.|||Quote:








I usually play Undead or Night Elf in War3 TFT, and those pisky Blade Masters always bother me with the Mirror Image trick. However, they can't use other abilities so they can only attack. Yeah it sucks to fight, and sometimes it'll screw you up, however the majority of the time You can single the real one out in a matter of seconds and then focus fire on him. You can single them out by; seeing the damage each one is dealing, which ones are playing like a human and aren't instantly running straight towards your characters, and which ones are using some strategy to get the most damage to you until times up. Pretty much, yeah it's a nifity little trick, but it's not impossible to counter. It's an escape plan or a 3 second delay of damage.

PS- all IMO, granted this is Diablo and not an RTS, the same strategy is involved with single units.






Hahaha ... i understand how you felt, those mirror images always frustrated me, but the fact they don't do damage and that you could find out which one is real ( by seeing which one is doing actual damage if each one is attacking a diff target or by tracking the critical attack red text ) kinda made it balanced.

A very good escape and distraction would be casting your images then instantly casting invisibility, let the enemy try hard to find out which one is real while you stand still laughing until your mana recharges or you escape far away.

As for how this could be used in D3, if there is some way to go invisible it would make a very nice escape method that saves your neck from tight spots ( since if you try to escape while visible you will be spotted instantly ), only if you can go invisible for few seconds, bring up a potion or two to refill you HP and MP, while the other player wastes his energy attacking fake images then you lunch a surprise attack against him before your invisibility wears off ( of course once you attack the invisibility is canceled )

Screenshot of Male Wizard? - Page 2

Maybe, but it just doesn't have the female HAIR.

And this is one thing I don't think they can change (without wearing helmets).

And considering ALL of the screenshots and videos we've seen of the female Wizard showed here with the same type of outfit (including another picture from that batch), I don't see why this picture would have her wearing a different one.

P.S- The "fire" in the picture can be by an Arcane Orb spell too|||or... may be it's the new class, in the NPC form they are using for the 4th one...

or... the fire is just the corpe of the fallen shaman|||Quote:








Actually, seeing as that "male wizard" seems to sport small boobs, v-neck and cleavage, i am not so sure that this is the male version of a wizard.

More like another version of the female wizard if so.




Thats because the male wizard is like a punk metrosexual ().

About those guys falling down, makes me think that a good fatality (to our hero) would be pushing him just a little bit|||Quote:








Actually, seeing as that "male wizard" seems to sport small boobs, v-neck and cleavage, i am not so sure that this is the male version of a wizard.

More like another version of the female wizard if so.




lols, go watch the vids of the male wizard on the Wizard D3 page, it is the Male wizard |||Huh, I've missed the previous pictures of the male wizard and my reaction to this picture when I viewed it on the news-page was that "Cool, she is dressed in rags instead of the usual dress. Perhaps that is how lesser/damaged/cracked gear will look.".

I just bumped into this thread by mistake and got pretty surprised.

Still think this dude looks like a chick though. ^_^

+1 to PReP.