Difference between revisions of "Blizzard"

Latest revision as of 17:58, 16 April 2015

'Were you looking for Blizzard Entertainment, Blizzard North or the Blizzard category?

Blizzard is a Force Wizard skill unlocked at Level 27, calling down shards of ice on opponents.

Blizzard is a spell found in every Blizzard game, and the function in Diablo 3 is about what you'd expect. Ice rains down from above, over a large area, damaging and slowing enemies below.

Background[edit | edit source]

Blizzard in action.

Calling upon the elements, drawing huge amounts of cold energy to the physical plane, a torrent of icy shards pelt an area directed by the Wizard.

Skill Rune Effects[edit | edit source]

Refer to the Blizzard 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

<skill class="Wizard">Blizzard</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Lightning Storm">Blizzard</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Frozen Solid">Blizzard</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Snowbound">Blizzard</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Apocalypse">Blizzard</skill> <skill class="Wizard" rune="Unrelenting Storm">Blizzard</skill>

Skill Design[edit | edit source]

Like a lot of other neat high level skills (most of them owned by the Barbarian) this one has been seen in videos, but never used by anyone other than at Blizzard.

Visually, a large cloud forms above the Wizard's enemies, from which large chunks of ice crash down to earth.

Video[edit | edit source]

A video of Blizzard can be seen below, courtesy of the DiabloInc You Tube channel.

Synergies[edit | edit source]

The following Wizard passives provide a benefit to Blizzard, runed or not:

Name	Level	Description

<skill class="Wizard">Glass Cannon</skill> <skill class="Wizard">Arcane Dynamo</skill>

Development[edit | edit source]

A Diablo II Blizzard spell.

Blizzard was first shown at BlizzCon 2008 when the Wizard debuted, at that point a Tier IV skill in the Storm Skill Tree. It was a Tier V skill in the BlizzCon 2009 demo, which made it too high-level for players to select it.

Blizzard was again present in the BlizzCon 2010 demo, but still too high-level to play. 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 Blizzard became a level 26 skill.

Beta[edit | edit source]

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.

Blizzard remained at level 26 when the beta started. With the Patch 13 changes, it was classified as an Arcane skill and moved to level 27. For March's Beta Patch 14, Blizzard was somewhat nerfed. Also, the category "Arcane" was renamed "Force".

Previous Versions[edit | edit source]

See the Wizard skill archive for more details on previous versions of Blizzard and other Wizard skills.

In Other Games[edit | edit source]

Blizzard is a spell with a lot of heritage. The first version of this spell is seen in the classic WarCraft I from 1994 as a human Wizard spell (irony), and has been present in any Blizzard game (bar Diablo I) since. WarCraft II has it as a human mage spell, StarCraft doesn't have it, but has a very similar psionic storm, Diablo II has it as a Sorceress spell, WarCraft III has it as an Archmage hero ability and World of WarCraft has it as a Mage spell.

The principle is the same, with frozen shards dealing AoE damage, and is a staple spell in Blizzard Entertainment games that is unlikely to change any time soon.

Media[edit | edit source]

Blizzard can be seen in action on video here:

Video: Blizzcon 2010 Arena

You can find pictures in the Diablo III screenshot and picture gallery:

Low-quality first look at Blizzard.
Blizzard without a rune.

References[edit | edit source]

BlizzCon 2009 Full Wizard Skill Trees
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

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer primary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer secondary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer corpses

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer bloodandbone

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer reanimation

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer curses

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-: ''Where you looking for '''[[Blizzard Entertainment]]''', '''[[Blizzard North]]''' or the '''[[:Category:Blizzard|Blizzard category?]]'''''<br><br>
+* 'Were you looking for '''[[Blizzard Entertainment]]''', '''[[Blizzard North]]''' or the '''[[:Category:Blizzard|Blizzard category?]]'''''
-'''Blizzard''' is a [[Wizard]] Tier 6 [[Wizard skills|skill]] unlocked at [[clvl|level]] 20, calling down shards of ice on opponents.
-It's a [[signature skill]] of the Wizard.
+[[File:IconBlizzard.png|left]]
+'''Blizzard''' is a Force [[Wizard skill]] unlocked at [[clvl|Level]] 27, calling down shards of ice on opponents.
+Blizzard is a spell found in every Blizzard game, and the function in Diablo 3 is about what you'd expect. Ice rains down from above, over a large area, damaging and slowing enemies below.
+<br><br><br>__TOC__
 ==Background==
-{{Skillbox D3
+[[File:Diablo_III_Logo.jpg|thumb|200px|Blizzard in action.]]
-<!-- |portrait= -->
-<!-- |portrait-width= -->
-|name= Blizzard
-|user= Wizard
-|tier= 6
-|clvl= 20
-|description= Call down shards of ice to pelt an area dealing X-Y cold damage per second for 3 seconds.
-|type= [[AoE]] [[DoT]]
-|resource= Costs [[Arcane Power]]
-|alabaster= Unknown
-|crimson= Unknown
-|golden= Unknown
-|indigo= Unknown
-|obsidian= Unknown
-}}
 Calling upon the elements, drawing huge amounts of cold energy to the physical plane, a torrent of icy shards pelt an area directed by the [[Wizard]].
+==Skill Rune Effects==
+Refer to the [[Blizzard rune effects]] article for thorough descriptions of all five rune effects in this skill, including screenshots, videos, strategy tips, and other related information.
+{{skill description header}}
+<skill class="Wizard">Blizzard</skill>
+<skill class="Wizard" rune="Lightning Storm">Blizzard</skill>
+<skill class="Wizard" rune="Frozen Solid">Blizzard</skill>
+<skill class="Wizard" rune="Snowbound">Blizzard</skill>
+<skill class="Wizard" rune="Apocalypse">Blizzard</skill>
+<skill class="Wizard" rune="Unrelenting Storm">Blizzard</skill>
 ==Skill Design==
@@ Line 32: / Line 30: @@
 Visually, a large cloud forms above the Wizard's enemies, from which large chunks of ice crash down to earth.
+===Video===
+A video of Blizzard can be seen below, courtesy of [http://www.youtube.com/Diablo3Inc the DiabloInc You Tube channel].
+<youtube>3j4n5gDK4m8</youtube>
-==Skill Rank Table==
-* '''Rank 1:''' 6-10 damage per second for 3 seconds.
-==Trait Synergies==
-Blizzard benefits directly from the following [[Wizard traits]]:
-* [[Black Ice]]: Frozen targets take 25% more damage from all sources.
-* [[Glass Cannon]]: Increases damage done by spells and increases armor.
-* [[Intimidation]]: Increases damage done and reduces vendor costs.
-* [[Quickening]]: Increases spell casting speed.
-* [[Beast Hunter]]: Damage bonus against beasts.
-* [[Demonsbane]]: Damage bonus against Demons.
-* [[Just...Stay...Dead!]]: Damage bonus against undead.
-* [[Power Surge]]: Increase critical strike damage.
-* [[Penetrating Spells]]: Reduces the resistances of your target to your spells by 20%.
-'''Note:''' The current [[trait]] list is very out-of-date and will no doubt be overhauled before game release.
-==Skill Rune Effects==
-* No [[rune]] effects for Blizzard are known.
+==Synergies==
+The following [[Wizard passives]] provide a benefit to Blizzard, runed or not:
+{{skill description header}}
+<skill class="Wizard">Glass Cannon</skill>
+<skill class="Wizard">Arcane Dynamo</skill>
@@ Line 63: / Line 47: @@
 '''Blizzard''' was first shown at [[BlizzCon 2008]] when the Wizard debuted, at that point a Tier IV skill in the [[Storm Skill Tree]]. It was a Tier V skill in the [[BlizzCon 2009]] demo, which made it too high-level for players to select it.
-Blizzard was again present in the [[BlizzCon 2010]] demo, but still too high-level to play.
+Blizzard was again present in the [[BlizzCon 2010]] demo, but still too high-level to play. 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 Blizzard became a level 26 skill.
+===Beta===
+{{Beta skill notes}}
+Blizzard remained at level 26 when the beta started. With the Patch 13 changes, it was classified as an Arcane skill and moved to level 27. For March's [[Beta Patch 14]], Blizzard was somewhat [[nerf]]ed. Also, the category "Arcane" was renamed "Force".
 ===Previous Versions===
@@ Line 72: / Line 61: @@
 The principle is the same, with frozen shards dealing [[AoE]] damage, and is a staple spell in [[Blizzard Entertainment]] games that is unlikely to change any time soon.
@@ Line 81: / Line 69: @@
 ==Media==
 Blizzard can be seen in action on video here:
-* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzard-zombie-bears-and-fetish-warriors-revealed/ Blizzard, Zombie Bears, and Fetish Warriors Revealed] -- Incgamers 30th Mar 2011 (at 0:42)
+* [[Video: Blizzcon 2010 Arena]]
 You can find pictures in the Diablo III screenshot and picture gallery:
@@ Line 88: / Line 76: @@
-<!--
 <gallery>
-Image:Diablo_III_Logo.jpg|Skill use 1
+File:Arenarunes-2010-04.jpg|Low-quality first look at Blizzard.
-Image:Diablo_III_Logo.jpg|Skill use 2
+File:Blizzard_unruned.jpg|Blizzard without a [[rune]].
-Image:Diablo_III_Logo.jpg|Skill use 2
-Image:Diablo_III_Logo.jpg|Skill use 3
 </gallery>
--->
-<!--
-==Related Articles==
-''Articles that are related, but not emphasised enough in any other section, or articles that just need further attention.''
--->
 ==References==
 * [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/full-wizard-skill-trees/ BlizzCon 2009 Full Wizard Skill Trees]
+* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7960229#post7960229 Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report] — IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
+* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8007624#post8007624 Silva's Wizard Runestone Effects] — IncGamers 5th Sep 2011
+* [http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/active/ Wizard Active Skills] — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site
+{{Skill navbox Diablo III|Wizard|force}}
-{{Slave navbox Diablo III|Wizard}}
+[[category:Active skills]]
+[[category:Wizard skills]]
+[[category:Wizard active skills]]

Fan-made Classes			Fan-made Skills [e]
• Alchemist • Arcane Warrior • Artisan • Aurian Mage • Bard • Channeller • Dragon Warrior	• Flagellant • Giant (U) • Hollow Man • Nomad • Onaga Manji • Phase Knight	• Ranger • Slayer (U) • Techpriest (U) • Telepath • Untainted (U) • Zealot	Dragon Warrior Skills • Bow and Throwing Skill Tree • Dragon Disciplines Skill Tree • Martial Arts Skill Tree	Untainted Skills • Divine Skill Tree	Aurian Mage Skill • Holy Power Skill Tree • Shadow Spells Skill Tree • Nature Forces Skill Tree
(U) = Unfinished				Untainted Skills • Divine Skill Tree