'''Skills''' are what all abilities refers to the Active Skills, the class-specific character [[abilities in Diablo III. There are around 25 skills per class]]es , (down from 30+ in earlier versions<ref>[[Diablo IIIhttp://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/jay-wilson-exclusive-full-transcript/ Jay Wilson Interview @ Diii.net]] have - IncGamers, October 2009</ref> of the game) and they are called. A skill includes regular wildly-varied, ranging from physical abilities like [[Cleave]] or a magical strikes to [[spell]] like [[disintegrate]]. While '''skills''' is the official name, players often refer attacks to them as '''spells'''buffs, '''talents'''debuffs, '''mind control abilities''', and similar terms. These are just synonyms, and are frequently interchangeable in usemany more.
Diablo III divides skills into [[Active]] and [[Passive]]. The skills selected to use are all Active, and these are attacks, debuffs, auras and other such abilities that only have an effect while they are being actively used. Passive skills (initially called [[traits]]) are limited to 3 per character, and they remain in effect indefinitely once they are enabled. (Though it may take special circumstances to trigger their effect, such as using a ranged attack.) There are dozens of passive skills per class, they vary widely between the classes, and add bonuses such as +damage to ranged attacks, faster movement speed, increased chance of critical strike, faster resource regeneration, improved healing, and many more.
Worth noting is that In Diablo III, skills are seldom used in their basic form, since the five types of [[monsterrunestones]]s can also greatly modify every skill, always in beneficial fashion. There is thus no good reason to ever use skillsthe base skill once a runestone is available. (Some players dislike this design, but often the developers have said that at least one runestone in each skill will not a Character skill. Primarily [[caster]] monsters have skills/spellsmodify the basic function, but others as well. Monster skills include all their abilities besides their "auto attack"and will only add damage or some other improvement that doesn't change the basic function.)
==Essential Skill Links==
* [[Rune|Skill rune]]s
* [[Barbarian skills]]
* [[Demon Hunter skills]].
* [[Monk skills]].
* [[Wizard skills]].
* [[Witch Doctor skills]]
* [[Signature skill]]s - Skills that define characters.
* [[Active skill]]s - Skills where effects are activated by the player.
* [[Passive skill]]s - Skills where effects are activated automatically, by the computer or by special events.
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[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-barb-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Barbarian skill|Barbarian Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-monk-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Monk skill|Monk Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-wd-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Witch Doctor skill|Witch Doctor Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-wiz-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Wizard skill|Wizard Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
<u>'''Useful skill links:'''</u>* '''[[Rune|Skill rune]]s'''* '''[[Barbarian skills]]''' - [[Barbarian]]-specific skill design.** [[Berserker Skill Tree]] - Berserker skills.** [[Juggernaut Skill Tree]] - Juggernaut skills.** [[Battlemaster Skill Tree]] - Battlemaster skills.** [[Barbarian skill archive]] - Removed Barbarian skills.* '''[[Monk skills]]''' - Monk-specific skill design.** [[Skill Tree A]] - A skills.** [[Skill Tree B]] - B skills.** [[Skill Tree C]] - C skills.<!--** [[Monk skill archive]] - Removed Monk skills (none yet).-->* '''[[Wizard skills]]''' - [[Wizard]]-specific skill design.** [[Conjuring Skill Tree]] - Conjuring skills.** [[Arcane Skill Tree]] - Arcane skills.** [[Storm Skill Tree]] - Storm skills.** [[Wizard skill archive]] - Removed Wizard skills.* '''[[Witch Doctor skills]]''' - Witch Doctor-specific skill design.** [[Zombie Skill Tree]] - Zombie skills.** [[Spirit Skill Tree]] - Spirit skills.** [[Voodoo Skill Tree]] - Voodoo skills.** [[Witch Doctor skill archive]] - Removed Witch Doctor skills.* '''[[Signature skill]]s''' - Skills that define characters.* '''[[==Active skill]]s''' - Skills where effects are activated by the player.* '''[[Passive skill]]s''' - Skills where effects are activated automatically, by the computer or by special events.* Skill [[Rank]]s==
This skill system has changed as often as any game feature during development, but seems at least semi-finalized as of January 2012. (See the archived skills page for details about the numerous earlier skill systems, many of which varied wildly from the final form.)
==Known Skills==We know a fair number of skills from seeing them in demonstrations, and from taking notes of them at BlizzCon in October Characters now have six [[BlizzCon 2008|2008active skill slots]] , which are unlocked at Clvl 1, 2, 6, 12, 18, and [[BlizzCon 2009|2009]]24. More than 30 Active skills become available to assign to these slots regularly, one every level or every other level, until the highest level skills each are known for unlocked at around Clvl 29 (the [[Barbarian]], [[Wizard]] and [[Witch Doctor]], while fewer number of the [[Monk]]'s skills have yet been revealedand max level varies slightly from class to class). Click to the appropriate pages There are no skill points in the links above to learn the names and functions of all known Diablo III; skillsare either selected or not; on or off.
With the current system, a new character starts off wit one skill that they can not change or switch out, since only one skill is available at that level. Very quickly, as soon as the character reaches Clvl 2, another two skills are enabled, and a second active skill slot is unlocked. This gives the player a choice of three skills, two of which can be usable at a time. For example, a Wizard starts off with [[Magic Missile]], and no other skills available. At level 2, a second active skill slot comes online, and the skills [[Frost Nova]] and [[Ice Armor]] are enabled. Either of those can then be assigned to the second slot, or both can be used if one is swapped in for Magic Missiles.
Additional active skill slots come in at level 6, 12, 18, and 24, with new skills available every level or two until about Clvl 29. At that point each class has about 24 active skills, of which six can be active at once.
==Skill Mechanics==One major change from [[Diablo View the images below to see a character at level 1, level 2]] is that with the various snaking lines second active skill slot unlocked, and level 13, with 4 active skills slots, to see this progression. * The icons of skill prerequisites skills that are available but not currently active are gonebright and colorful. In [[Diablo 3]] * The icons of skills that are enabled by spending skill points. In the [[BlizzCon 2009]] build, not yet available (due to a character had to place 15 points in various skills before using Tier 4 skillsnot being high enough level) are dimmed out. Which * The icons of skills you put those points on that tier and below is up to you. This general tier-mechanic has stayed the same since [[BlizzCon 2008]]are currently selected have a small silver border around them, so will likely carry on to the final gamefor ease of identification.
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File:Skills-beta-lvl1.jpg
File:Skills-beta-lvl2.jpg
File:Skills-beta-lvl13.jpg
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==Passive Skills==
==Skill Trees==The skills of each character [[classFile:Skills-passive-beta1.jpg|thumb|300px|Passive skills for a Witch Doctor, Jan 2012.]] is divided into three skill trees. They were originally The [[Passive Skill#Development|much more individual]]system has undergone numerous changes as well, but is now primarily a way to categorise skills for each class. There is now just one skill menu per each characterit also seems mostly finalized as of January 2012, allowing players to pick from any of during the three skill trees on that page, depending on how many skill points they have spent in total, rather than per individual treebeta test.
Each tree has about In the current system, players can choose from 3 passive skills, with their [[passive skill slots]] becoming available at level 10-12 , 20, and 30. Switching these in and out works much as it does with active skills each, divided into 6 "tiers"except that passive skills are first available at Clvl 10, when 2 of 1-3 them are enabled. Additional passive skills come online every level or two thereafter, until eachclass has around 15 passive skills to choose by level 30.
Although this skill tree system was the official skill system for quite a while You can see full lists of all passive skills on Diablo III, Blizzard is planning to change the skill system removing the tree-type architecture and possibly moving into a purely appropriate class skill-based systempages.
* [[Barbarian_skills#Passive_Skills|Barbarian Passive Skills]]
* [[Demon_Hunter_skills#Passive_Skills|Demon Hunter Passive Skills]]
* [[Monk_skills#Passive_Skills|Monk Passive Skills]]
* [[Witch_Doctor_skills#Passive_Skills|Witch Doctor Passive Skills]]
* [[Wizard_skills#Passive_Skills|Wizard Passive Skills]]
==Respecs==
[[Respecs]] are readily-available in Diablo III, and players are encouraged to experiment with a wide variety of skills, as well as swapping them around between situations. This system has undergone much change during development, and remains in flux, with the final system of skills and runestones not yet finalized.
==Skill Caps==Bashiok spoke While the developers initially shrugged off player complaints that total [[freespecs]] were an exploit that would prevent players from getting any sense of "ownership" or "identity" to their characters, the skills system during the beta has gradually changed to this issue in limit respecs, first by the [[Nephalem Altar]], then with a forum post in May 2009. [http://www30 second cooldown on using or changing any skill slot after it's been swapped.diii.net/blog/comments/diablo-iii-skill-trees-innovative-overhaul/]
::''Currently we’re envisioning the majority of skills to be capped at 5 points, to begin with. As a form of progression we're planning for players to be able to increase the point caps of skills. More than likely to a maximum of 15. It's a system that’s still under heavy design, but the fact of choosing and increasing key skills beyond their initial cap is important to this new unified tier system.''
Blizzard has not given any word on how these increased skill caps would be enabled, whether by Clvl requirements, quests/in-game achievements, item bonuses, or something else. Like the other features, it's under construction and will change between now and the game's release.==Skill Points==
There has been talk of [[rune]]s affecting Skill points were removed from the game during development. The developers felt that skill caps, or perhaps points were a secondary limited "max skill point" system that lets you increase the cap by another definition, since most skills had to be maxed out to retain high utility. Skill points also proved difficult to balance, as additional points in some skills were of individual minimal importance, while they were essential in combat/damage skills further.
Without skill points players can experiment by regularly swapping skills ([[respec]]) in and out, low level skills can scale up to remain useful long term, and equipment becomes much more important, as skill damage comes largely from equipment bonuses such as +attributes.
==Skill Display==
[[Image:Skill-threatening-shout.jpg|frame|Skill hover, May 2009.]]
The finer points of the skill hover have changed and evolved during the game's development, and will continue to do so. Expect further changes.
Hovering on a skill produces a visual like the one seen to the right. The name of the skill is displayed, along with the current and maximum points that a character may spend in it. The current function is shown, as is the increases you will enjoy with another point. ==Skill Requirements?==
One prime difference from Diablo II is the slot for a [[File:Patch10-skill rune-swap-cooldown-sml.jpg|thumb|350px|[[Cooldown]] that you see below the on skillswitching, in the Beta v10.]]Diablo III has no skill treerequirements or prerequisites, other than minimum Clvls. Only active skills (as far as is known) have slots for skill runesSkills are no longer arranged in trees or grouped by tiers, and a new skill runes can be freely socketed and swapped in and outbecomes available nearly every level up until Clvl 29 or 30. (Subject to change during further developmentThe numbers vary between the classes.) See the skill runes page for more details.
This system, along with respecs and several other changes, is designed to let players freely experiment with skills and different builds.
==Active and Passive Skills==Diablo III skills are either "active" or "passive." There are requirements on how many more passive skills than active skillscan be used at once. At Blizzcon in October 2008 (a very preliminary build of the game)Characters start out with one skill, each skill tree was set up in tiersand unlock additional [[Active Skill Slot]]s at Clvl 2, 6, 12, 18, with 4 or 5 skills per tierand 24. On each tier [[Passive Skill Slot]]s are enabled at Clvl 10, 20, one or two were active and the rest were passive30.
Active skills are used by clicking their icon, and are generally direct attacks; things like [[Spirit_Skill_Tree#Soul_Harvest|Soul Harvest]], [[Battlemaster_Skill_Tree#Hammer_of_the_Ancients|Hammer of the Ancients]], or [[Arcane_Skill_Tree#Magic_Missile|Magic Missile]]. Active skills attack, cast a protective armor, stun monsters, etc.
Passive skills grant the character some sort of bonus that is always in effect. Passive skills do not need to be cast to activate them; they give a bonus all the time, as soon as points are placed into them. These are skills ==Resource Costs and spells like [[Arcane_Skill_Tree#Efficient_Magics|Efficient Magics]] or [[Battlemaster_Skill_Tree#Power_of_the_Battlemaster|Power of the Battlemaster]]. (No passive Witch Doctor skills have yet been named.) Passive skills boost the damage of other spells, lower the mana cost of casting them, increase their duration, etc. Passive skills were often called "masteries" in Diablo II, and that term is still applicable to many of them in Diablo III.Cooldowns==
Skills in Diablo III vary greatly in their resource costs. Some low level skills and [[signature skills]] have a low or even zero cost to cast, thus allowing players to [[spam]] them in all circumstances. More powerful skills have higher resource costs, to make using them more of a strategic choice. The highest level skills have very high resource costs, and/or cooldowns, forcing players to wait considerable times (up to 120 seconds for the highest level skills[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzard-on-high-level-barbarian-skill-cooldowns]) between uses.
The point in resource costs and cooldowns is to give Diablo III's skills greater variety in effect and usage.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzard-calms-the-masses-on-skill-cooldowns] In Diablo II there were very minimal cooldowns and resources costs became irrelevant to high level characters with lots of [[leech]], regeneration, or [[potions]]. As a result, every player could use their best skills constantly, without delay, and thus there was no reason to use lower level skills at all.
==Skills Define Characters==D3 Lead Designer Diablo III has been designed to encourage a wider mixture of skill types, with [[Jay Wilsonspammable]] discussed how skills drive game development, and vice versa, mixed in a December 2008 interview with 1up.com[http:big damage//wwwbig delay skills, and others that fall inbetween.1up.com/do/previewPage?pager.offset=1&cId=3172030&p=1]. The D3 team later coined the expression "[[signature skill]]s" Lower level skills are meant to express this further. Skills that truly guides remain useful as their damage and effectiveness scales up with the rest of the development of a classcharacter level.
::'''1UP: In creating this game* See the [[cooldowns]] article for more detail, [[Blue]] quotes, would you say that the character classes and their powers drive the rest of the game, or are their powers created as a result -- or solution -- to problems presented by the game?'''specific skill examples.<br>
::'''JW:''' Probably the best way to describe it is that initially, when we're doing skills for a class, we're not thinking anything except "what makes this class awesome? Why do I care about this guy?" Then you say, "Because he can hit the ground and create a small localized earthquake that destroys everything in front of him." That sounds pretty awesome; that sounds like a guy that I'd want to play. So early on, that's really our fixation: What is going to make this class sing? But that only really drives the first half-dozen skills. After that, we start getting into what mechanics have we put in the game that we want this class to take advantage of. For example, with the Wizard, we gave her a passive skill that causes enemies to drop mana orbs -- just like health orbs. So that's a mana-recovery mechanic for her; it plays into her resource and plays into the health-orb system.
::So there, we just said, "We need a recovery mechanism for her -- what would work==How Many Skills At Once? Well, we can give her something similar that we already give for health." But then that doesn't mean anything for the Barbarian since he uses a completely different resource. For him, we tend to focus on skills that make him play in a way that's interesting. His "fury resource" is designed to drive the player forward, like a Barbarian, because he's very tough and is a close-quarters combatant. He wants to move forward, because the mechanic is "I have a lot of fury, which helps me deliver a lot of damage, but I'm going to lose it just sitting around." It makes him very aggressive, which is what we wanted out of the character. So that was driven by [the concept of] how do we want this guy to play. Very aggressively, and hence we built this mechanic.==
::And lastlyOnly 6 skills can be active at once, [there's] with the monster designnumber available increasing as a character levels up. As we get further and further into the game, our goal is to make monsters that we can't figure Characters start out how the player can defeat [with the existing skills] one skill and give the player the tools they need to defeat them. So the design of the monsters has a direct relationship to the design of the classes. That's kind of gain an ongoing thing; we additional [decide[active skill slot]] "Let's create a monster that has really debilitating rooting attacks that just get you stuck when you encounter them." Then we see that this really screws with the Barbarianat Clvl 2, so we give him a skill that lets him break out of roots so that he can counter that. Those things are interesting and allow for the player to have a broader6, deeper character. On the other hand12, we don't want to go too far -- a lot of mechanics of World of WarCraft are based heavily on control18, and we want to make sure that Diablo 3 stays mostly a combat game based mostly on attacks24.
The maximum number of skills changed repeatedly during development. The first word that there would be any skill limit at all came in September, 2010. <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo-on-skills-party-help-and-beta-confirmation/ @Diablo] - IncGamers, September 2010</ref>
::You can spend into seven skills at a time, total. These are active skills and don’t include passives. --Diablo
==School of Skills==Skills currently lack This was at a lot of information of what type of skill they are. When the game is releasedtime when skills were arranged in trees with tiers, which were arranged at Clvl 1, 2, 6, 10, 14, 20, we will be able to decipher a lot more of theseand 26. For now, terms such as "schools" of Characters could activate multiple skills (or spells) are generally speculation to make it easier to understand the mechanics behind themfrom any tier -- not just one from each tier -- and gained an additional skill point every level up.
All abilities, spells etc are classed as "Skills" at the moment, but this could also change. DiabloWiki is simplifying this by talking about three types of skills:* Magical Skills* Supernatural Skills* Extraordinary SkillsMagical skills are all types of skills The final game system bears almost no resemblance to that use [[mana]] or is of a magical nature, like a monster being able to summon allies, despite not having mana, or being a traditional [[caster]]early design.
Supernatural skills are the type of feats a [[Barbarian]] typically would do. They are not magical as such, but they don't ''really'' follow traditional physical laws.
Extraordinary skills are just that: Extraordinary. Very strong monster/character, someone who can jump very high, use a chemical compound to "breathe fire", etc.==Skill Tooltips==
[[File:Skill-tooltip-simplified-beta.jpg|thumb|350px|Simplified [[tool tips]].]]
Skill tooltips were changed to be short and lacking in details (such as numbers) during late game development. Players reacted poorly to this change, but the developers insisted it was for the best and would be more [[accessible]] to new players. Slightly more detailed skill information (showing damage types, some functions, numbers, etc) can be viewed by hovering on a skill while holding down the Control key.
==Development==[[Image:BarbAn side-berserkerby-tree.jpg|thumb|150px|Berserker Skill Tree. Oct 2008.]]The first sighting of skill trees was in the [[BlizzCon 2008]] build where more than 50 skills were shown for the [[Wizard]] and [[Barbarian]] and placed in three individual trees, similar side example can be seen to how the system worked in [[Diablo II]] and [[World of WarCraft]]. Each 5 points spent in a tree opened a new tier to put skill points in. That game design favoured specializing in one tree, and did not have any prerequisites, instead totally based on points spent in each treeright.
At that point there were just 4 tiers of skills. Tier 1 was available at level 1, Tier 2 at level 5, then at 10 and 15. There was a fifth tier at level 20, but no skills were displayed in it. The image to the right is from that era.
The [[D3 Team]] mentioned that they were experimenting with allowing certain skills to have higher skill caps, but did not give details such as if it would be [[Clvl]] based, item based, points spent or something completely different.
[[Image:Skill-tree-berserker.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Berserker Skill Tree]]. April 2009.]]
This layout had changed a great deal by March 2009, when the next skill tree image was released. You see it to the left. The basic form remains, but the skills are staggered out over more tiers. Also note that the tiers are not labelled; they may no longer proceed at 5 point intervals. It's also possible that tiers will grow longer, with higher level skills being added as development proceeds.
[[Image:Wizard_skill_tree.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Barely discernible [[Wizard]] Skill tree at PAX 2009.]]
[[Bashiok]] elaborated on this in a forum post in May 2009 [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/diablo-iii-skill-trees-innovative-overhaul/] saying the trees had been unified to one single page that "allows you to spend wherever you like." This overhaul of the skill system merging the skill trees but the group of skills kept their skill tree names.
The skill requirement still opened up in tiers, but opened up to all trees at the same time, enabling a player to pick low level skills in one tree, continuing with medium level skills in another and high level skills in the third.
The general theory of skill trees is to encourage character specialization, but not force [[cookie cutter]] style character builds. The removal of individual skill trees means that every character can now pick from all the possible skills; this is great in theory, since players can all use whatever skills they want, Tier conflicts permitting. On the other hand, if the skills aren't very well balanced, every character will end up using the same few skills, since those are the best, and the cookie cutter-ism on [[Battle.net]] could be insane.
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-barb-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Fan-made representation of how it looked at [[BlizzCon 2009]]. Made by [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]
Bashiok defended the design saying it "diversifies the types and amounts of builds available to players," and explaining another advantage is that the [[D3 Team]] "don't have to throw in skills that are important, such as damage mitigation, all over the place."
"Every barbarian is probably going to want [[whirlwind]]. And why not? What this tree style allows for, and one reason we’re pretty keen on it, is that we aren’t saying “You’re a ‘berserker’ barbarian, you can’t have whirlwind”. Instead, you’re a [[barbarian]]!, pick the key skills that define you and your character as you want them to be."
Exactly how the D3 Team pulls this off without making every character use the same "best" skills is something worth monitoring as the game continues its development.
The overhaul did also see the removal of many relatively redundant skills, primarily removing [[passive skill]]s.
The whole skill system is being reworked, and Blizzard has said that the skill tree system is being removed completely. [[Bashiok]] mentioned Blizzard is "implementing and will be testing a new system that changes how skills are acquired." (Nov 20, Blizzard’s @Diablo channel at Twitter). Also, on an interview between DiabloFans.com and [[Jay Wilson]], the latter explained a bit about how the new skill system might be. Removing the tree-type architecture and moving into a purely skill-based system. How the skill system will exactly work remains unknown for the time being.
::'''DiabloFans: On the topic of the DiabloWiki.com Monk, can you tell us if the skill trees have been named yet? So far they're listed as "Unnamed Skill Tree 1 - 3". Can we expect to see any more of his skills unveiled soon along with his female counterpart? Also, can tell me a little bit more about the new skill system?'''
::'''Jay Wilson:''' In regards to the female counterpart, she'll be released soon. As far as exact dates go, I really can't talk much about them. A little news about the Skill Tree system should actually go up on our Twitter page pretty soon. About that, we've decided to remove the tree-type architecture and we are moving into a purely skill-based system. This new system is still in the development stages and if it does not work, we still have plenty of options to fall back on. Right now, we're just trying different things and getting a feel for the few ideas in regards to the skill system that we have going on right now. It differs from the World of Warcraft/Diablo II type hierarchical styles and is more of a skill pool/path than a tree per se.'''
==References==
* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/diablo-iii-skill-trees-innovative-overhaul/ Diii.net Skill Trees Innovative Overhaul] * [http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?pager.offset=1&cId<font size=3172030&p=1 1UP interview with Jay Wilson]* [[WWI_2008:_Denizens_of_Diablo_Panel#Signature_Skills|WWI 2008: Denizens of Diablo Panel]]* [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Skill Tree Graphics Assistance thread at Diii.net]* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-barbarian-skill-trees-and-stats1/ Full Barbarian Skill Trees and Stats]* [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-monk-skill-tree"-discussion-and-status/ Full Monk Skill Tree Stats and Discussion]3">* [http:<references//www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-witch-doctor-skills/ Full Witch Doctor Skills]>* [http:<//www.diii.net/blog/comments/full-wizard-skill-trees/ Full Wizard Skill Trees]* [http://diablofans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23550 Diablofans interview with Jay Wilson]font>
{{Skill navboxSkill_navbox_Diablo_III|Barbarian}}
[[Category:Skills]]
[[Category:Basics]]
