'''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].]]
<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==Characters now have six [[active skill slots]], which are unlocked at Clvl 1, 2, 6, 12, 18, and 24. Active skills become available to assign to these slots regularly, one every level or every other level, until the highest level skills are unlocked at around Clvl 29 (the number of skills and max level varies slightly from class to class). There are no skill points in Diablo III; skills are either selected or not; on or off.
[[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-monk-muldricWith 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.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Monk Very quickly, as soon as the character reaches Clvl 2, another two skills are enabled, and a second active skill|Monk Skill Tree]] interpretation by [http://forumsslot is unlocked.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric].]]We know This gives the player a fair number choice of three skills from seeing them in demonstrations, and from taking notes two of them which can be usable at BlizzCon in October a time. For example, a Wizard starts off with [[BlizzCon 2008|2008Magic Missile]] , and [[BlizzCon 2009|2009]]no other skills available. More than 30 At level 2, a second active skill slot comes online, and the skills each are known for the [[Barbarian]], [[WizardFrost Nova]] and [[Witch DoctorIce Armor]], while fewer are enabled. Either of the [[Monk]]'s skills have yet been revealed. Click those can then be assigned to the appropriate pages second slot, or both can be used if one is swapped in the links above to learn the names and functions of all known skillsfor Magic Missiles.
==The Skill Design Team===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.
[[Jay Wilson]] revealed View the key images below to see a character at level 1, level 2 with the second active skill designer guys on the Daiblo 3 team in an October 2009 interviewslot unlocked, and level 13, with 4 active skills slots, to see this progression. * The icons of skills that are available but not currently active are bright and colorful. [http://diablo* The icons of skills that are not yet available (due to a character not being high enough level) are dimmed out.incgamers* The icons of skills that are currently selected have a small silver border around them, for ease of identification.com/blog/comments/jay-wilson-exclusive-full-transcript]
<gallery>File:Skills-beta-lvl1.jpgFile:'''''DiiiSkills-beta-lvl2.net: '''Can you place your heads into the lion’s jaws and name the 3 of you who work on skills?jpgFile::'''Jay Wilson:''' Myself, [[Wyatt Cheng]], and [[Julian Love]], our lead technical artist. Oh actually 4. [[Chris Haga]] does a lot of skill work as wellSkills-beta-lvl13. jpg</gallery>
===How Many Passive Skills?===
There will be around 35 [[File:Skills-passive-beta1.jpg|thumb|300px|Passive skills per character in Diablo 3for a Witch Doctor, as confirmed by Jan 2012.]]The [[Jay WilsonPassive Skill]] in an October 2009 interview: [http://diablosystem has undergone numerous changes as well, but it also seems mostly finalized as of January 2012, during the beta test.incgamers.com/blog/comments/jay-wilson-exclusive-full-transcript/]
::'''''Diii.net: '''We saw 30-35 skills for In the Wizard (30), Barbarian (35), and Witch Doctor (34)current system, at Blizzcon. Can you give us an idea how close to the final skill trees those are?::'''Jay Wilson: '''In terms of the number of players can choose from 3 passive skills, that’s about right. In terms of the skill tree we’re um... we’re still playing around with the actual layouts of their [[passive skill trees slots]] becoming available at level 10, 20, and the working of the skill system30. The skills for the Wizard Switching these in and Barbarian their skill trees were very solid. We like their out works much as it does with active skills, though there except that passive skills are a few still missing. Especially for the Wizardfirst available at Clvl 10, there when 2 of them are enabled. Additional passive skills we didn’t put into her tree that we’re still definingcome online every level or two thereafter, especially at the high end. The same for the Barbarian; we’ve got a few until each class has around 15 passive skills on the way for him. But for the most part, the content of those trees is more or less correctto choose by level 30.
You can see full lists of all passive skills on the appropriate class skill pages.
==Skill Mechanics==* [[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]]
[[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].]]
One major change from [[Diablo 2]] is that the various snaking lines of skill prerequisites are gone. In [[Diablo 3]] skills are enabled by spending skill points. In the [[BlizzCon 2009]] build, a character had to place 15 points in various skills before using Tier 4 skills. Which 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]], so will likely carry on to the final game.
==Skill TreesRespecs==The skill tree format we'll see in Diablo 3 has undergone many design changes, and is still in flux. The form seen at Blizzcon 2009 (represented by images on this page) was thought to be fairly final, but in November 2009 Blizzard let it be known that the UI had been entirely reworked, and was now quite different. No further details have since been revealed.
The first word came on November 21st. [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/skill[Respecs]] are readily-trees-gone1 Skill trees gone]available in Diablo III, and players are encouraged to experiment with a wide variety of skills, via two Twitter postsas well as swapping them around between situations.* The skill This system revision is has undergone much change during development, and remains in full force. Trees begone! I think it might be a winner.* We’re implementing and will be testing a new flux, with the final system that changes how of skills are acquired. That’s all I’ll sayand runestones not yet finalized.
While the developers initially shrugged off player complaints that total [[Image:Skill-tree-blizzcon09-wiz-muldric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Wizard skill|Wizard Skill Treefreespecs]] interpretation 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 limit respecs, first by the [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=739038 Muldric[Nephalem Altar].]]Much player speculation ensued, some of it [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/more-no-skill-trees-speculation/ was shot down], and then with a bit more explanation (without details) was offered 30 second cooldown on the 25th. [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/non-using or changing any skill-trees-discussion-evolves/]:: Can you say why you guys decided to drop the skill tree? What deficiencies did slot after it have that you felt another system could do better? --by JeffKamo::: Focus's been swapped. --by @Diablo
:: That is hard, so many games rely on skill trees. My guess would have to be… “skill” items that you find or even create for skills. -by CaptainCasey
::: Sounds like you’re talking about our skill rune system, which is still very much a part of the game. --by @Diablo
Jay Wilson provided some overview of the concept behind the changes in an interview in late November. [http://diablofans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23550]=Skill Points==
::'''Jay Wilson:''' This new system is still in Skill points were removed from the game during development stages and if it does not work. The developers felt that skill points were a max skill cap by another definition, we still have plenty of options since most skills had to be maxed out to fall back onretain high utility. Right nowSkill points also proved difficult to balance, we're just trying different things and getting a feel for the few ideas as additional points in regards to the skill system that we have going on right now. It differs from the World some skills were of Warcraft/Diablo II type hierarchical styles and is more of a skill poolminimal importance, while they were essential in combat/path than a tree per sedamage skills.
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.
===Diablo 2 in Style===
One thing we do know about the skill trees in Diablo 3 is that they'll be fairly similar to those of Diablo 2, in terms of how quickly characters acquire new skills to play with. [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/jay-wilson-exclusive-full-transcript/]==Skill Requirements?==
[[File::'''''DiiiPatch10-skill-swap-cooldown-sml.net:''' Another follow up jpg|thumb|350px|[[Cooldown]] on that issueskill switching, Beta v10. People are wondering if the skills will be like ]]Diablo 2 III has no skill requirements or more like World of Warcraft. Will we see more skills foreverprerequisites, or get the top level at level 30ish? ::'''Jay Wilson: '''Diablo 2other than minimum Clvls. We’re following the same model. Here essentially our Nightmare and Hell difficulties Skills are an extension of normal difficultyno longer arranged in trees or grouped by tiers, not and a continuation of more content. So normal difficulty ends our core game, and then nightmare and hell are replays of them on higher skills levelsnew skill becomes available nearly every level up until Clvl 29 or 30. So we are going to allow you to continue and develop your skills into (The numbers vary between the higher difficulty levelsclasses. )
This system, along with respecs and several other changes, is designed to let players freely experiment with skills and different builds.
===There are requirements on how many skills can be used at once. Characters start out with one skill, and unlock additional [[Active Skill Tree Changes During Development===Slot]]s at Clvl 2, 6, 12, 18, and 24. [[Passive Skill Slot]]s are enabled at Clvl 10, 20, and 30.
Only Blizzard knows exactly how many versions of the skill tree format they've gone through, but they've alluded to dozens of different major forms, and countless smaller varieties during their development period. At the skill panel during Blizzcon 2008 numerous different skill tree mock-up forms were shown on the powerpoint presentation.
* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?si=&limit=&thumbsonly=0&perpage=18&cat=611&ppuser=&thumbcheck=0&page=1&sortby=&sorttime=&way=&cat=611 Skill trees] in the image gallery.
==Resource Costs and Cooldowns==
====2008 Early Form====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 first skill tree shown point in resource costs and cooldowns is to fans was revealed give Diablo III's skills greater variety in the Blizzcon demo in late 2008effect and usage. No official screenshots were released, though it was seen in [[http:File:Barb//diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzard-calms-the-masses-on-juggernautskill-tree08.jpg|many photos cooldowns] In Diablo II there were very minimal cooldowns and videosresources costs became irrelevant to high level characters with lots of [[leech]] taken from the event. Only the Barbarian's can be judged, since the Witch Doctor only had 11 skills spread over his three treesregeneration, or [[potions]]. Of the Barbarian's 50+ skillsAs a result, they were arranged much like Diablo 2's every player could use their best skillsconstantly, with three distinct skill trees, displayed on tabs in the same interface window. Each row had 3-4 skillswithout delay, and thus there were was no prerequisite reason to use lower level skills linked by columns. To move down a row in the tree, 5 points had to be spent on each rowat all.
The skills were not as discrete as those in Diablo 2III has been designed to encourage a wider mixture of skill types, and there was considerable overlap between with [[spammable]] skills mixed in different trees. It appeared that the D3 team intended players to specialize in one tree per characterwith big damage/big delay skills, and thus included others that fall inbetween. Lower level skills with redundant basic functions, such are meant to remain useful as +their damage, +defense, etcand effectiveness scales up with the character level.
* See the [[cooldowns]] article for more detail, [[Blue]] quotes, and specific skill examples.
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====2009 Evolution====
A new style for skill trees was revealed in early 2009, when several screenshots were released along with BlizzCast 8. This was an evolutionary change, and there were still 3 tabs/trees per character, though each tree was more open and a fair number of column-style prerequisite lines had been added.* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php==How Many Skills At Once?photo=2649&cat=611 Screenshot example].
Only 6 skills can be active at once, with the number available increasing as a character levels up. Characters start out with one skill and gain an additional [[active skill slot]]s at Clvl 2, 6, 12, 18, and 24.
This style The maximum number of skills changed entirely by Blizzcon 2009 in August, with the individual skill tree tabs removedrepeatedly during development. All characters now possessed one big The first word that there would be any skill tree with limit at all 30+ skills arranged came in rowsSeptember, 2010. <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers. There were a few columncom/blog/comments/diablo-on-skills-party-help-and-beta-confirmation/ @Diablo] -style prerequisitesIncGamers, but for the most part it was September 2010</ref>::You can spend into seven skills at a large skill "menutime," with only prerequisites of 5 points per column required to move down to the more powerful total. These are active skillsand don’t include passives. --Diablo
No official images of this This was at a time when skills were releasedarranged in trees with tiers, but numerous exact recreations which were mocked arranged at Clvl 1, 2, 6, 10, 14, 20, and 26. Characters could activate multiple skills from any tier -- not just one from each tier -- and gained an additional skill point every level up by talented community artists. * [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=3526&cat=611 Barbarian Skills].* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=3528&cat=611 Witch Doctor Skills].* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=3542&cat=611 Wizard Skills].* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=3527&cat=611 Monk Skills].
It's known The final game system bears almost no resemblance to that the skill trees were largely reworked in late 2009, but no images or further details have yet been revealedearly design.
==Skill Caps==
Bashiok spoke to this issue in a forum post in May 2009. [http://www.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.''==Skill Tooltips==
Blizzard has not given any word on how these increased skill caps would [[File:Skill-tooltip-simplified-beta.jpg|thumb|350px|Simplified [[tool tips]].]]Skill tooltips were changed to be enabled, whether by Clvl requirements, quests/short and lacking in-details (such as numbers) during late game achievements, item bonusesdevelopment. Players reacted poorly to this change, or something else. Like but the other features, developers insisted it's under construction and will change between now 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 game's releaseControl key.
There has been talk of [[rune]]s affecting An side-by-side example can be seen to the skill caps, or perhaps a secondary limited "skill point" system that lets you increase the cap of individual skills furtherright.
==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.
One prime difference from Diablo II is the slot for a [[skill rune]] that you see below the skill, in the skill tree. Only active skills (as far as is known) have slots for skill runes, and skill runes can be freely socketed and swapped in and out. (Subject to change during further development.) See the skill runes page for more details.
==Active and Passive Skills==
Diablo III skills are either "active" or "passive." There are many more passive skills than active skills. At Blizzcon in October 2008 (a very preliminary build of the game), each skill tree was set up in tiers, with 4 or 5 skills per tier. On each tier, one or two were active and the rest were passive.
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 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.
==Abilities==
[[Abilities]] are actions all characters can perform, such as [[throw]], [[attack]], [[unsummon]], and [[resurrect]]. Just how many of these we'll see in Diablo 3 is not yet known, and this coverage is somewhat speculative, but we're assuming that at least the ones from Diablo 2 will return.
==Skills Define Characters==
D3 Lead Designer [[Jay Wilson]] discussed how skills drive game development, and vice versa, in a December 2008 interview with 1up.com[http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?pager.offset=1&cId=3172030&p=1]. The D3 team later coined the expression "[[signature skill]]s" to express this further. Skills that truly guides the rest of the development of a class.
::'''1UP: In creating this game, 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?'''
::'''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? 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 lastly, [there's] the monster design. As we get further and further into the game, our goal is to make monsters that we can't figure out how the player can defeat [with the existing skills] 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 an ongoing thing; we [decide] "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 Barbarian, 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 broader, deeper character. On the other hand, we don't want to go too far -- a lot of mechanics of World of WarCraft are based heavily on control, and we want to make sure that Diablo 3 stays mostly a combat game based mostly on attacks.
==School of Skills==
Skills currently lack a lot of information of what type of skill they are. When the game is released, we will be able to decipher a lot more of these. For now, terms such as "schools" of skills (or spells) are generally speculation to make it easier to understand the mechanics behind them.
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 Skills
Magical skills are all types of skills 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]].
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.
==Development==
[[Image:Barb-berserker-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 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 tree.
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 [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/skill-trees-gone1/ 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.
::'''Jay Wilson:''' ...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]]
