Diablo 3 Wizard Beta Gameplay and Overview

I have had the privilege of checking out the Wizard class in the Diablo 3 beta over the past couple of weeks, and I have to say it one of my favorite classes (tied with the Barbarian).

Since there are a lot of would-be players out there that are interested to know some specifics about each class, I will be putting together an overview of what each class is like so far and how they compare to one another and posting it to this blog.

You should of course take everything with a proverbial grain of salt at least some things will change between now and release. Additionally, since you can only play up to level 13 and many features are not in the game, we are only seeing a small slice of Diablo 3 at the present moment.

Now that we have that out of the way, on to the good part!

Wizard Beta Overview

The Wizard is the natural successor to the Sorceress of Diablo 2. While the Sorceress was one of my favorite classes in D2 (wasn’t it near the top of everyone’s list?), the Wizard definitely brings some welcome progress.

Whereas the Sorceress from Diablo 2 primarily specialized in a single spell or two, players are able to get a wide range of spells in Diablo 3. The obvious reason for this is that as soon as you can unlock a spell in Diablo 3, you can use it at full power (there are no talent points in Diablo 3 – you just can only equip 6 spells at once and you can change anytime). There is no need to level up 20 times in order to max out a skill.

However, on top of that change, there are also three types of attacks for the Diablo 3 Wizard: rapid cast, offensive, and utility spells.

• Rapid Cast spells are also called Academic Spells. Every time you level up in Diablo 3, each Academic Spell costs 1 less Arcane Power (energy for spells that fills up over time). This means that when you reach a certain level, they will cost no Arcane Power and can be casted indefinitely (hence the name “rapid cast”).

• Offensive spells tend to be more powerful (at least they should be with runes) than Academic Spells, but these will actually cost you a bit of Arcane Power. If you use a few of these in a row, you can run out of power pretty quick.

• Utility spells include various types of armor, buffs, snares, and other unusual spells (such as Teleport and the ability to turn into an Archon).

About Arcane Power (AP)

As mentioned above, a new power source called Arcane Power has replaced Mana. Arcane Power regenerates much faster than Mana from Diablo 2 does, but it also runs out a lot quicker.

You have 100 Arcane Power by default and you will recover a full bar in just 8 seconds. You increase both regeneration rates and your max Arcane Power through gear and the Astral Presence skill.

Different spells cost different amounts of Arcane Power. For example, according to the Battle.net Wizard Skill Calculator, Hydra and Meteor both cost 60 Arcane Power. Since you can recast Hydra instantly, if you want to summon 2 Hydras to your aid, you will use up all your Arcane Power immediately.

Fortunately, while you are out of Arcane Power you can use your Academic Skills while your AP regenerates.

I really like this new system and welcome the change from Diablo 3. This way, you actually use more than a single spell or two as a Wizard and you have to pick your favorite powerful spells wisely. This allows them to make meaningful, powerful spells for the Wizard, yet also gives you the Academic Spells to use if you run out of Arcane Power.

Wizard Strengths and Weaknesses

In the beta, I would have to say the Wizard has no real weakness. It is simply good at everything. By level 13, the Electrocute spell can be used repeatedly, chains to multiple targets, and take down any weak enemy in 1-2 hits.

For single targets, the Shock Pulse spell (also Academic so can be chain-casted) deals 150+ damage non-crit when all three pulses hit. This is comparable to any other classes’ strongest hit, and since you can use it over and over again it becomes really good.

It should be noted that in the beta, no enemy seems to do too much damage, especially if you have a piece or two of gear with +Vitality. I would assume in higher acts that the Wizard will not be able to tank so easily (at least without speccing and gearing for it – there are definitely melee Wizard active and passive skills). This would make standing on top of a powerful enemy and using Shock Pulse over and over again much more difficult.

The only real “downside” is you have no point to use up all your Arcane Power, though I suspect as soon as we are able to unlock Hydra and some of the better Offensive spells that will change. Right now you are best off using Electrocute and Shock Pulse, both of which are Academic Spells.

Diablo 3 Wizard Beta Skills List

In the beta test, the Wizard has access to In this last section, I will be going over each of the 13 skills (out of 25 total) that players have access to. This may seem like a lot of the abilities, but remember you can equip 1 of 6 runes to an ability, each one modifying that ability differently (sometimes quite drastically). Runes are not in the beta at the time of this post.

Rapid Cast / Academic Spells

• Magic Missile – This spell is a single-target attack which fires off much like a normal wand shot, except dealing more damage. By level 15 it only costs 1 Arcane Power, so it effectively replaces your auto-attack for Wand users.
• Shock Pulse – Releases 3 pulses of electricity which move randomly across the ground for a moderate distance. This is just like Static Charge from Diablo 2, except it seems that you stay at 3 charges even as you level up. Given that the “3″ is written in green, I seem to think this may be modifiable. Perhaps there will be gear which will boost the number of charges this spell can be release. This spell is currently the top single-target DPS spell for the Wizard – you just have to stand at melee range to ensure all the bolts hit.
• Spectral Blade – This spell hits all enemies 3 times for 35% of weapon damage. It has a small cone effect, kind of like a cleave but not as wide and reaching out a little further forward in front. This ability was built as the Academic Spell of choice for melee Wizards. Normal Wizards will not use this much.
• Electrocute – Sends a bolt of lightning towards your enemy, which can jump to multiple enemies. It can jump to up to two other enemies, but since you can cast it so quickly it feels like even more than that. This is a great spell to attack groups of enemies with, as it does a decent amount of damage, hits many enemies, and the travel time through the air is practically instant.

Offensive Spells

• Wave of Force – Fires off a wave that knocks back all enemies within about 10-15 yard radius and deals a significant amount of damage. It has a 15 second cooldown but only costs 25 Arcane Power. This is actually a really neat ability – I managed to get a 27 kills in 1-hit while testing this out, check out the video below:

• Arcane Orb – Fires off an orb of energy which will explode when it hits, dealing AoE damage. It costs 35 Arcane Power, so you will run out of AP by the 5th cast if you chain-cast it. It is not very good in beta, but that is simply due to the fact that runes seem to make this much better, and we do not have access to them. It does not pierce through targets without runes and does not deal very much damage. It also travels really slowly, which allows enemies to occasionally dodge it.
• Energy Twister – Launches a twister which moves randomly for quite a long distance and deals damage per second to anything standing on it. Also fairly useless as the damage is pretty low. It looks like it is getting a damage buff in the next patch. The Alabaster Rune also makes it look like this will be a great spell to use against bosses – it will deal a lot of damage to any powerful stationary target.
• Disintegrate – Fires out a straight beam of energy which pierces all targets. Does not deal much damage to a single target, but it can be useful if your enemies are lined up due to the piercing effect. Perhaps the “Intensify” version will be more viable against single targets.

Utility Spells

• Frost Nova – Freezes (stuns) all enemies in a small radius for 4 seconds and deals a small amount of damage. Costs no Arcane Power but has a 12 second cooldown. Useful for escaping from a crowd of tough enemies. Seems to have a shortened duration or weakened effect versus bosses (i.e. Skeleton King). Looks like it will be a solid spell with Cold Snap (runed ability), which reduces the spells cooldown to 5 seconds. This means you can use it repeatedly against tough bosses since it costs no AP to cast.
• Ice Armor – Ice Armor is the first of several armor spells that Wizards get. It gives you 50% bonus armor, slows attackers for 2 seconds, and causes a small amount of damage. Good for any situation where the enemies are tough and you need more armor or want to kite them. It lasts for two minutes so you can keep it active all the time.
• Magic Weapon – Increases your physical damage by 20% for 60 seconds. This buff can be kept up all the time. You cannot use this spell unless you have an actual melee weapon. This is for a melee Wizard build that is using Spectral Blade.
• Diamond Skin – Absorbs damage (up to a limit) over 5 seconds. Costs no Arcane Power but has a 25 second cooldown. In the beta, the damage is very small so it is not very useful. It looks like Runes will make it a lot better (absorbing 6900 damage with an Obsidian Rune, for example).
• Storm Armor – Deals lighting damage to all attackers. Lasts two minutes so it can be kept active at all times. You can only choose 1 armor spell at a time, so you have to pick between Storm Armor and Ice Armor. Since you can only access Normal mode in the beta, the enemies are fairly weak, so Storm Armor is my armor of choice. Weaker enemies usually take themselves out in one hit when they swing against it!

Diablo 3 Wizard Beta Overview – Wrapping it Up

So far, the Diablo 3 Wizard is an awesome class to play in the beta. It handles both single-target enemies and packs of enemies with ease. It is a lot of fun to play the class and it seems to be great at everything, even with very little equipment.

Since caster classes typically work very well even with bad gear, this is definitely a good first choice for anyone – at a bare minimum you could always use this class to gear up another class.

Have a Question About the Beta or Diablo 3?

If there is something you want to know about Diablo 3 or if there is some footage from the beta you are interested in, let me know in the comments below and I will answer your question or grab some in-game footage as soon as I can!

Related posts:

1. Diablo 3 Wizard vs Witch Doctor – The Key Differences
2. Diablo 3 Wizard Guide – Class Preview
3. Diablo 3 Monk Gameplay Guide and Beta Overview
4. Diablo 3 Barbarian Gameplay Guide & Beta Overview
5. Diablo 3 Demon Hunter Guide – Beta Overview