Meteor

See The Meteor for details about the flaming meteor that falls on the Tristram Cathedral, opening the story of Diablo III.

Meteor is a Wizard Tier 6 skill unlocked at level 20. This skill is among the Wizard's most damaging, calling down a huge flaming stone that deals massive damage, as well as leaving a burning circle that deals AoE damage to anything in the vicinity.

Background

Diablo III Active Skill [e]
Meteor
Used by:	Wizard
Enabled at:	Clvl 20
Skill Description
Summons a massive meteor from the sky that causes X-X fire damage to all enemies in the affected area. Also leaves a pool of fire that does X fire damage every second for X seconds.
Type:	Direct Damage/AoE
Resource Use:	Costs Arcane Power
Skill Rune Effects
Alabaster rune:	Unknown
Crimson rune:	Increased damage
Golden rune:	Unknown
Indigo rune:	Unknown
Obsidian rune:	Unknown

Calling upon the elements, the Wizard unleashes a fiery meteor from the sky which crushes anything unfortunate enough to be in the way when it hits.

Skill Design

Meteor returns from Diablo II, with its function largely preserved. Once again it's a falling rock from the sky that deals huge fire damage. The skill is mighty, but the delay between the casting and the rock's arrival requires skill and anticipation on the part of the Wizard to hit accurately with it.

Skill Rank Table

• Rank 5: Hits for 200-250 fire damage.

Trait Synergies

Meteor may benefit from the following traits:

• Beast Hunter: Damage bonus against beasts.
• Demonsbane: Damage bonus against Demons.
• Just...Stay...Dead!: Damage bonus against undead.

Meteor always benefits from the following traits:

• Glass Cannon: Increases damage done by spells and increases armor.
• Intimidation: Increases damage done and reduces vendor costs.
• Quickening: Increases spell casting speed.
• 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Note: The current trait list is very out-of-date and will no doubt be overhauled before game release.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

• Crimson rune: Increased damage.

Development

Meteor descends in the Arena.

Meteor was not in the game during 2008 and 2009, though smaller projectile, wider-area, "death from above" skills like Blizzard and Arcane Torrent were. Presumably the team decided that a larger, single hit, smaller-area death from above skill would be a nice addition to the play balance.

Meteor debuted at BlizzCon 2010, where it was one of the Wizard's skills in the Battle Arena. Flux talked about using it in PvP play:[1]

Meteor packed huge damage; the most of any skill in the Arena demo. It was very hard to hit with, though. There were several seconds between the trigger and the arrival, and no one stood still for that long in the Arena. These were worth firing regularly since the Wizard was never low on Arcane Power, the cast only took an instant, and the reward for one hitting was huge. They seldom did, though. Smart players would have seen the circle showing the drop zone and tried to lead the enemy into it; Mongrels at least. Maybe next time.

In Earlier Games

This skill (unruned) is essentially the same as Diablo II's Sorceress skill Meteor, just with improved visuals and sound effects.

Media

Meteor can be seen in action on video here:

• Diablo 3 Demon Hunter Gameplay - BlizzCon 2010 (2/2) -- Diablo3Inc's Channel (at 5:45)
• Blizzard, Zombie Bears, and Fetish Warriors Revealed -- Incgamers 30th Mar 2011 (at 0:13)

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

• Diablo III screenshots and pictures
• Meteor specific gallery contents

• 

  Meteors descending over the Battle Arena.

• 

  Blue circle shows where a blue team's Wizard's meteor is about to strike in the Battle Arena.

• 

  The burn zone left by Meteor impact, once the AoE flames have burned out.

References

• BlizzCon 2010 PvP Hands-on Report