Wizard Impressions: Zulu

“The wizards. Brilliant practitioners of the arcane arts who deftly wield the energies of fire, ice, lightning, and even time itself in the pursuit of their enigmatic goals. Bedecked in archaic charms, clad in runes, and wrapped in free-flowing robes to allow for the somatic components of their spells, wizards are a veritable thunderstorm of lethal powers who can strike from close or long range. There is no safe way to approach an angry wizard.”

Diablo 3’s Wizard is a much more traditional version of the caster class than the Witch Doctor. Employing well-known spells like Magic Missile, Blizzard and Frost Nova, the Wizard offers caster-minded players an experience they’ve come to expect, but with much more ferocity than they’re used to.

The Wizard video released on Blizzard’s Darkness Falls, Heroes Rise website displays the class’ uncanny firepower. At one point in the video, the Wizard casts Frost Nova, freezing all the enemies around her, and then subsequently casts what looks like Wave of Force, shattering every enemy affected by Frost Nova. The video highlights the Wizard’s ability to do large amounts of damage in an area via spells like Blizzard and Meteor. My beta experience with the Wizard's secondary spells accurately reflected this, but the primary skills weren’t overly exciting.

Prior to level 10 or so, the Wizard has access to Magic Missile and Shock Pulse as primary spells. Primary spells don’t cost Arcane Power and are used mainly to fill in between secondary spells. Since Arcane Power recharges so quickly, these spells actually aren’t used that often. I didn’t care for Shock Pulse, due to its randomness often causing it to miss enemies standing directly in front of me. Magic Missile worked just fine, but it was just as bland as the Witch Doctor’s Poison Dart. The first rune only increased the damage, while Shock Pulse’s rune caused explosions! The explosions were awesome, but the spell’s randomness still caused it to miss targets in melee range.

The secondary spells in the beta were more hit or miss. Ray of Frost required you to be standing still, and the slow lasted 1 second. Therefore, it was difficult to effectively kite, since as soon as you stopped casting, creatures ran at normal speed. Beyond Ray of Frost, the Wizard’s secondary spells left me thoroughly impressed. Arcane Orb felt AWESOME, especially with the rune that increased the damage. If aimed properly, the explosion it caused made quick work of large groups of enemies. Its slow travel time made it rather ineffective against moving targets, but Frost Nova allowed me to freeze enemies in clumps and then destroy them with Arcane Orb before they came unfrozen.

The synergy between these two spells gave me a small taste of how the Wizard will play at higher levels. Her lack of toughness in melee necessitates quick movement and use of support spells so that she can rain death upon her enemies. And let me say, raining death never felt so good. Arcane Orb was more than satisfying, and I can only imagine the nerd happiness that the much flashier Blizzard and Meteor spells will cause for Wizard players.

My experience with the Wizard was an enjoyable one, but I still wasn’t overly fond of the gameplay due to my lack of affinity for casters. Unlike my feelings for the Witch Doctor, though, my thoughts on the Wizard are genuinely positive. The explosive damage output and flashy visuals of the Wizard are sure to draw in many players, and I can definitely see myself playing one when I’m feeling the need for some fireworks.