Explosive Blast
Explosive Blast is an Mastery Wizard skill unlocked at Level 19, blasting a small area for high damage.
This skill works differently than almost all other Wizard abilities. It's a Nova-type attack that radiates out from the Wizard, and it's triggered like a time bomb, with a delay between the trigger and the detonation. A Wizard will need to learn to use it strategically, by lighting the fuse and then moving into close proximity for the explosion.
Of course it's dangerous to be close to monsters, which makes this something of a specialty ability -- great fun for some players, but ignored and dreaded by most.
Contents
Background
The Wizard conjures volatile gasses into the physical realm, which ignite with oxygen and create a powerful blast in a very limited space.
Skill Rune Effects
Refer to the Explosive Blast rune effects article for thorough descriptions of all five rune effects in this skill, including screenshots, videos, strategy tips, and other related information.
Name | Level | Description |
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<skill class="Wizard">Explosive Blast</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Unleashed">Explosive Blast</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Time Bomb">Explosive Blast</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Short Fuse">Explosive Blast</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Obliterate">Explosive Blast</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Chain Reaction">Explosive Blast</skill>
Skill Design
This skill is basically a short-range nova centered around the Wizard, on a short time delay. Since the Wizard can move after activating it, she can select it, run into the midst of a pack of monsters, then laugh when they go boom. The spell's delay (about 1.5 seconds) makes it unsuitable for emergency use, and its short range makes it difficult to use without getting pounded on.
Synergies
The following Wizard passives provide a benefit to Explosive Blast, runed or not:
Name | Level | Description |
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<skill class="Wizard">Evocation</skill> <skill class="Wizard">Glass Cannon</skill> <skill class="Wizard">Critical Mass</skill> <skill class="Wizard">Arcane Dynamo</skill>
Development
Explosive Blast was first seen at BlizzCon 2009 in the gameplay demo, where it was on the Conjuring Skill Tree at Tier III. Originally, the Wizard targeted a specific location, and after a short delay, the blast went off.
By BlizzCon 2010, the mechanics had changed; the blast was focused on the Wizard. It was also moved to Tier 2 after skill trees were removed. It was one of the Wizard's starting skills in the gameplay demo, and Flux found it entertaining:[1]
It’s basically a short-range nova, on a time delay. You click it, and after 1.5 seconds (at level one) it blew up, dealing fairly substantial physical damage. The time delay made it unsuitable for emergency situations, but if you got used to the timing it was fun to click midway through a battle, knowing it would blast a moment later and finish off the enemy.
Skill tiers were removed for the July 2011 Press Event, allowing skills to unlock steadily from levels 1 to 30. Consequently, all skill levels were adjusted and Explosive Blast became a level 14 skill.
Beta
The Diablo III Beta started in September 2011, and while it ran, all of the skills continued to undergo extensive iteration. Skill changes varied from changing the levels the skills are unlocked, to changes in resource cost, damage, and even function. A few skills were removed altogether, and a few new ones were added. Also, the entire skill system received an overhaul with the Beta Patch 13 update in February 2012, with physical runes replaced by rune effects that automatically unlock at various levels for the different skills.
Explosive Blast was moved to level 15 during the beta. With the Patch 13 changes, it was classified as a Mastery skill and bumped to level 19. For March's Beta Patch 14, the damage done by this skill and its rune effects was reduced quite a bit.
Previous Versions
See the Wizard skill archive for more details on previous versions of Explosive Blast and other Wizard skills.
Media
Explosive Blast can be seen in action on video here:
You can find pictures in the Diablo III screenshot and picture gallery:
References
- BlizzCon 2009 Full Wizard Skill Trees
- BlizzCon 2010 Wizard Hands-on Report
- Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report — IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
- Silva's Wizard Runestone Effects — IncGamers 5th Sep 2011
- Wizard Active Skills — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site
Classes of the Diablo games |
Skills - Active skills - Skill runes - Passives - Resource - Movement ability [e] Barbarian Demon Hunter Monk Necromancer Witch Doctor Wizard Followers Other Classes Fan-made |
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The Barbarian | Fury - Barbarian Active Skills (Archive) | Barbarian Passive Skills (Archive) [e] | |||
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|
Primary Might |
Secondary Tactics |
Defensive Rage |
Pound of Flesh (10) |
Superstition (30) |
(X) = the level at which the skill becomes unlocked. |
Barbarian skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Might Tactics Rage |
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Bash |
Cleave |
Frenzy |
[e] |
Hammer of the Ancients |
Rend |
Seismic Slam |
Whirlwind |
[e] |
Ground Stomp |
Leap |
Sprint |
Ignore Pain |
[e] |
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Revenge |
Furious Charge |
Overpower |
[e] |
Weapon Throw |
Threatening Shout |
Battle Rage |
War Cry |
[e] |
Earthquake |
Call of the Ancients |
Wrath of the Berserker |
[e] |
Demon Hunter skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Hunting Devices Archery |
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Hungering Arrow |
Entangling Shot |
Bola Shot |
Grenades |
[e] |
Impale |
Rapid Fire |
Chakram |
Elemental Arrow |
[e] |
Caltrops |
Smoke Screen |
Shadow Power |
[e] |
Vault |
Preparation |
Companion |
Marked for Death |
[e] |
Evasive Fire |
Fan of Knives |
Spike Trap |
Sentry |
[e] |
Strafe |
Multishot |
Cluster Arrow |
Rain of Vengeance |
[e] |
Monk skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Techniques Focus Mantras |
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Fists of Thunder |
Deadly Reach |
Crippling Wave |
Way of the Hundred Fists |
[e] |
Lashing Tail Kick |
Tempest Rush |
Wave of Light |
[e] |
Blinding Flash |
Breath of Heaven |
Serenity |
Inner Sanctuary |
[e] |
Dashing Strike |
Exploding Palm |
Sweeping Wind |
[e] |
Cyclone Strike |
Seven-Sided Strike |
Mystic Ally |
[e] |
Mantra of Evasion |
Mantra of Retribution |
Mantra of Healing |
Mantra of Conviction |
[e] |
Necromancer skill categories: Primary Secondary Corpses Blood and Bone Reanimation Curses |
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Witch Doctor skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Terror Decay Voodoo |
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Poison Dart - Rune effects |
Corpse Spiders |
Plague of Toads |
Firebomb |
[e] |
Grasp of the Dead |
Firebats |
Haunt |
Locust Swarm |
[e] |
Summon Zombie Dogs |
Horrify |
Spirit Walk |
Hex |
[e] |
Soul Harvest |
Sacrifice |
Mass Confusion |
[e] |
Zombie Charger |
Spirit Barrage |
Acid Cloud |
Wall of Zombies |
[e] |
Gargantuan |
Big Bad Voodoo |
Fetish Army |
[e] |
Wizard skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Force Conjuration Mastery |
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Magic Missile |
Shock Pulse |
Spectral Blade |
Electrocute |
[e] |
Ray of Frost |
Arcane Orb |
Arcane Torrent |
Disintegrate |
[e] |
Frost Nova |
Diamond Skin |
Slow Time |
Teleport |
[e] |
Wave of Force |
Energy Twister |
Hydra |
Meteor |
Blizzard |
[e] |
Ice Armor |
Storm Armor |
Magic Weapon |
Familiar |
Energy Armor |
[e] |
Explosive Blast |
Mirror Image |
Archon |
[e] |
Followers | Kormac the Templar | Lyndon the Scoundrel | Eirena the Enchantress [e] | |||
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Level 10: |
Level 5: Level 10: |
Level 15: |
Level 15: Level 20: |
Level 25: Level 30: |
Diablo III Other Classes | Diablo II Classes | Diablo I Classes [e] | ||||
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Archetypes: |
Archetype sub-types: |
Other classes: |
Diablo II: |
Fan-made Classes | Fan-made Skills [e] | ||||
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• Alchemist |
• Flagellant |
• Ranger |
Dragon Warrior Skills |
Aurian Mage Skill | |
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