Re-imagining of archetypal spells

[NKlint]

Since I'm hoping that there will be a Sorcerer-like playable character in Diablo III I thought I'd list a few skills that I think deserve a change in the way they apply damage.

Inferno - In both Diablo I and 2 inferno was a "flamethrower" like spell which caused damage via a jet of fire in a line in front of you.

I'd like to see inferno become something similar to a combination of Flame Wave (from Diablo I) and Fire Wall or Meteor. Resulting in a wave of fire dealing a burst of initial damage leaving a blaze behind it igniting the ground causing D.o.T. (damage over time) Fire damage in a cone shaped area in front of the caster.

Lightning and Chain Lightning - In previous games they were cast in a line in front of the caster, in chain lightning's (Diablo 2) case it would arc between foes causing a single jolt of damage.

I imagine a new Lightning and Chain Lightning becoming an electrified version of Inferno once you cast it you can maintain casting the spell with a chance to stun your enemies and causing damage over time. Imagine "Force Lightning" from Star Wars or Diablo's Lightning attack (Diablo 2) if it makes things easier. In chain lightning's case it would arc to other enemies near your target instead of shooting in a straight line in front of the caster. Foes killed by Lightning/Chain Lightning could even possibly explode causing moderate damage to surrounding enemies.

No doubt there will be cold damage spells in the game. Who knows which ones will return, but I'd like to see Blizzard become an environmental spell, meaning it would area visible to the sorcerer at the time at which he/she cast the spell. This could cause the enemies to be blown around/away from the sorcerer and suffer cold damage, possibly freezing the foes which can be effected.

Mana Shield currently drains mana as you are attacked. I'd like it to work more like Bone Armor or Cyclone armor. Consuming Mana to cast initially and how much Mana was used to cast it determines how much damage it will prevent before running out. You could cast the spell, holding down the mouse button until you see your mana gauge deplete part or all of your mana and when let go would finish casting. I'd also like to see the mana shield form a transparent shell around the sorcerer triggering a splash or ripple effect when damage is done to the shield.

These aren't changes that need to be made. This is just how I imagine I'd design spells :)

How would you guys design your sorcerer's spells.

[5zigen]

Your description of lightning / chain lightning sounds more like how I would like the spell "thunderstorm" implemented.

The inferno note was cool. I would like to see it a more of an inverse cosine wave of damage, say, be an aoe attack, begin at 0 dps, peak at say X dps and end at 0 dps, with a smooth transition over time. IT could even last longer as you get more skill points in it. Even cooler would be to make it a Pbaoe damage over time program.

Just working from the names, I Would like to see Glacial Spike be much cooler, like a giant ice spike coming out of the ground and impaling an enemy, or poking him gently, depending on your skill level of course.

I would like Blaze to be changed slightly. Basically, make it a dash, like the barbarian charge that will go through enemies, and then have it leave damaging fire streak from the point of origin to the end point. This could also replace teleport as the sorceress' escape skill.

I would like to see nova have a similar radial damage effect, but also push enemies away from you. Frost nova should be the same in that it slows enemies greatly, but it should be slow moving from center to it's dissipation point. Mostly because I think that would make the combo for my pbaoe inferno with nova be really cool.

I would also have all frost spells do half physical damage and half ice damage. I mean really, a big chunk of ice hitting you is not only going to make you cold, it's going to hurt kind of like a rock hitting you, but that's only the projectile ice spells.

Frozen orb now just makes a orb, that's frozen, and rolls into enemies, but perhaps after rolling it could explode still in fragments of ice. I think that would retain a bit of coolness.

I think teleport should be a skill learnable by any character that can transport you to any city or game hub.

[NKlint]

Just working from the names, I Would like to see Glacial Spike be much cooler, like a giant ice spike coming out of the ground and impaling an enemy, or poking him gently, depending on your skill level of course.

The Spike that juts up from the ground could explode into shards causing secondary damage to the surrounding enemies :)

[NKlint]

Ice Bolt could be a spell which lets your sorcerer fire shards of ice from his hands. Small ones that on their own cause inconsequential damage but you can launch dozens at a time. Like charged bolt (d2) and Blade Fury (assassin shuriken skill). Maybe renamed to Ice Fury, or Shard Storm.

[konfeta]

I would like Blaze to be changed slightly. Basically, make it a dash, like the barbarian charge that will go through enemies, and then have it leave damaging fire streak from the point of origin to the end point.

The caster should turn into that fire elemental from Diablo 1 while using this. Think how freakin hilarious it would be to see 6+ flaming figures running around setting everything on fire.

[AlexanderM]

The caster should turn into that fire elemental from Diablo 1 while using this. Think how freakin hilarious it would be to see 6+ flaming figures running around setting everything on fire.

Imagine it, dashing, on fire, through a group of baddies and having them explode as you pass through them! A group of mages would look like a marathon with napalm!

[mince pies]

I personally prefer the Chain lightning attack from DI. But I suppose it was a bit overpowered :)

[Chard]

I want a parabola of damage. Only one skill point required.

[Dwovar]

Well, I thought Bone Spear was a little flashy. I'd kind of like to see it be more of a bright white but thin projectile that zips across the screen.

[Arbedark]

Well, I thought Bone Spear was a little flashy. I'd kind of like to see it be more of a bright white but thin projectile that zips across the screen.

I always thought that the Necro was packing a mini Railgun whenever I saw Bone Spear...

[RawBanana]

Burn.

That always made me wonder why Bone Spear looked the way it did. I can see any bone in there. A cool new look for Bone Spear would be like a bone shrapnel spell where u see a volley of bone shards big and small fly from the caster. Some shards hit and get stuck in the ground along the way. It should be pointy and scary looking and make u be glad u weren't standing there.

I totally agree about the ignite effects though. It looks cool and makes fire more than just a damage effect. The ignite/burn effects could be very useful against summoners who can't summon while being burnt with fire!

I'm not sure about the charging spell though. Would a weak sorceress really want to charge into a group of enemies who aren't even stunned? Although nova sorcs are dangerous and fun to play for that very reason. Makes more sense to just summon a crazy fire elemental to do the dirty work for u.

[ill logic]

I want to see a spell that initially moves in a straight line, but at certain points during the flight of the spell the bolt itself emits a nova of sorts. When this nova strikes monsters that are to the left and right of the original flight path, it procs another bolt which flies parallel to the original bolt but slightly behind ofc given the time it takes the nova to act.

----------------Oxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-----O----------O----------O
-----O----------O----------O
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
-----O----------O----------O
-----O----------O----------O

The O's are the novas emitted from the initial bolt, the X's are the path of the initial bolt. The small x's are the secondary bolt that fires when the second nova strikes monsters (The hyphens are for formatting). Ideally, this would be a lightning damage spell (perhaps the replacement to Chain Lightning). I'd think it'd excel at killing monsters when shot through a doorway in, say, Tal Rasha's tomb or in wide open areas like the Cow Level. In any case, it would be easier to aim than BHammers were initially, or Meteor for that matter. Since the novas are, um, Novas then it would randomize the damage less since Nova damage is tighter and doesn't ranged from 1-godly.