Teleport, Familiar and Archon videos

[HardRock]

All of these videos were recorded on an emulated server, so the skills may look different in the final game.

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The transformation into Archon form doesn't work yet, but since we didn't see this effect previously I thought that it was worth recording.

[melianor]

I guess there is no cooldown on Teleport, since its executed on the emulated server?
Otherwise it looks instant and powerful, like a little wormhole beiing opened, sucking the wizard in and spitting her out again.

So the familiar is a little wisp :)

Exploding archon animation. Is there a hint that the actual transformation will knock back enemies?

[HardRock]

I guess there is no cooldown on Teleport, since its executed on the emulated server?

Cooldowns are not implemented in the version I used to record these videos.


Exploding archon animation. Is there a hint that the actual transformation will knock back enemies?

Well, it's tooltip doesn't say anything about a knockback effect, but of course it's possible that it will have one.

[Ice Mistress Freya]

That Teleport looks much better than the one we've been shown previously.

It also looks like it is going off much faster, though that may just be the difference in the animation. Certainly seems more instantaneous.

I imagine the Familiar will look considerably different depending on the rune you choose.

[Questo]

I guess there is no cooldown on Teleport, since its executed on the emulated server?
Otherwise it looks instant and powerful, like a little wormhole beiing opened, sucking the wizard in and spitting her out again.

The skill has a 16 second cooldown, but the Alabaster rune can prevent the cooldown from triggering for 2 seconds after cast, so it will be possible to chain cast teleport in that regard anyhow. The only other thing I can think of that might limit it is cast speed.

[melianor]

The skill has a 16 second cooldown, but the Alabaster rune can prevent the cooldown from triggering for 2 seconds after cast, so it will be possible to chain cast teleport in that regard anyhow. The only other thing I can think of that might limit it is cast speed.

Forgot about that one. Currently it even reads 1.2 seconds, before cooldown kicks in. Still there should be time enough to chain cast it, unless you get interrupted, like say, by beiing hit. Makes it feel a lot more real, with a little twist unlike the Diablo II version.

[Questo]

Forgot about that one. Currently it even reads 1.2 seconds, before cooldown kicks in.

I'm guessing that's because they changed the runestones used in the talent calculator from rank 7 to rank 4. I'm pretty sure it was 2 seconds with the rank 7 runestone.

For all intents and purposes it shouldn't matter all that much as you should be able to spam cast it with either rank. I suppose the max rank would allow a little additional time for pausing between casts to determine the best place to teleport to next or to regenerate a little more AP.

[konfeta]

Well, depends on whenever the grace period resets with every casts. If not, higher skill runes allow more teleports overall. If yes, higher skill runes more other spell casts between teleports (which, combined with something like a golden rune signature spell sounds humorously overpowered).

[Wolfpaq777]

Well, depends on whenever the grace period resets with every casts.

You seriously think that a skill rune may not apply to every cast of a skill?

:doh:

[Ice Mistress Freya]

I don't think you'll be able to chain cast it. Until recently, I was of the opinion you could.

Since they changed the rune level on the skill calculator to level 4 runes (from 7), I think the rune description for alabaster teleport has changed. Previously, it clearly stated that EVERY CAST delayed the cooldown. Now it just says "after casting teleport there is a x.x second delay before the cooldown begins."

That still leaves open the possiblity for endless chain casting ("after casting teleport"), but the nature of the change to the description leads me to believe that once that initial grace period is up, you have to wait (so maybe 2-4 teleports at rank 7 or so).

I just wish I could remember the exact wording from before. I strongly remember it saying something along the lines of "Every time you cast Teleport there is a x.x second delay before the cooldown begins."

Edit: Nevermind, did some digging. Description is the same as before. Still somewhat ambiguous, but in and of itself, seems to be implying perpetual chain-casting within the grace period.

[konfeta]

You seriously think that a skill rune may not apply to every cast of a skill?
Yes, because otherwise a Wizard with Teleport with AP Restoring Electrocute is going to be physically impossible to kill.

[Questo]

Yes, because otherwise a Wizard with Teleport with AP Restoring Electrocute is going to be physically impossible to kill.

To be fair, it's not exactly doing a lot of killing while it's teleporting around all willy nilly, not to mention what happens when it gets stunned, feared, or otherwise snared.

At worst, having the ability to endlessly spam teleport makes the Wizard the preferred class to do boss runs, and that uses the assumption that there are a lot of similarities to Diablo 2.

[Wolfpaq777]

Yes, because otherwise a Wizard with Teleport with AP Restoring Electrocute is going to be physically impossible to kill.

LoS?
Fear?
Hex?
Stun?
Knockback?
Pull forward?
Freeze?

Also teleport does absolutely nothing to prevent ranged damage from connecting, so even if you forget how to use CC, a wizard spamming teleport every other second is extremely kill-able.

Finally, 150% weapon damage every other second is absolutely atrocious damage, so there is zero concern that this will become prevalent at all in the higher difficulties as far as PvM is concerned.


I don't think you'll be able to chain cast it. Until recently, I was of the opinion you could.

Since they changed the rune level on the skill calculator to level 4 runes (from 7), I think the rune description for alabaster teleport has changed. Previously, it clearly stated that EVERY CAST delayed the cooldown. Now it just says "after casting teleport there is a x.x second delay before the cooldown begins."

That still leaves open the possiblity for endless chain casting ("after casting teleport"), but the nature of the change to the description leads me to believe that once that initial grace period is up, you have to wait (so maybe 2-4 teleports at rank 7 or so).

I just wish I could remember the exact wording from before. I strongly remember it saying something along the lines of "Every time you cast Teleport there is a x.x second delay before the cooldown begins."

Edit: Nevermind, did some digging. Description is the same as before. Still somewhat ambiguous, but in and of itself, seems to be implying perpetual chain-casting within the grace period.

I quoted the exact line in my thread on the subject a few weeks ago... let me try to dig it up.

Here it is, even better than a quote I have a screenshot:

http://i.imgur.com/P0KkF.jpg

http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=810633

[HardRock]

Also teleport does absolutely nothing to prevent ranged damage from connecting

What do you mean? How does zipping around not prevent ranged damage from connecting?


so even if you forget how to use CC, a wizard spamming teleport every other second is extremely kill-able.

This is not about PvP. Although Wormhole can be a life saver even there by allowing you to escape farther away from danger, since Teleport (http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/active/teleport) has a range of only 35 yards. There are better Teleport runes for PvP however.

This is about skipping PvE content. If the delay resets after every cast, then it would make the Wizard hands-down the best runner yet again, and it wouldn't matter if boss runs, chest runs, repeating quests or area clears are your thing, the Wizard would become the best choice for it.

What I didn't really show off in the Teleport video is how fast can you really use it, even with the base casting speed. You can Teleport 2 times per second (I admit though, that this could be an artifact of the emulator). Even if Wormhole's delay doesn't reset it's quite a powerful rune. If you take Teleport's cast speed into consideration and compare Wormhole to the Vault (http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/class/demon-hunter/active/vault) runes, then you will see that this way it would be in-line with Tumble or Acrobatics (actually, it would be already better due to Vault's limitations and cost), while with your proposed mechanic it would be far better than everything else in the game.

EDIT: Someone should ask the devs about this at BlizzCon.


Finally, 150% weapon damage every other second is absolutely atrocious damage, so there is zero concern that this will become prevalent at all in the higher difficulties as far as PvM is concerned.

In this case, Electrocute's damage is irrelevant. It would be used only to fuel Teleport or AP heavy spells. Even with level 4 runes it can return 12 AP per cast (assuming its tooltip indeed means +2 targets, like testers reported), and you can cast it insanely fast. With a level 7 rune and the Virtuoso passive it can returns 26 AP per cast. Equip some AP on crit gear and you're golden. I think it's fair to assume that it will be a staple for Meteor, Blizzard and Hydra based PvE builds at the very least.

[Questo]

This is about skipping PvE content. If the delay resets after every cast, then it would make the Wizard hands-down the best runner yet again, and it wouldn't matter if boss runs, chest runs, repeating quests or area clears are your thing, the Wizard would become the best choice for it.

This really assumes that level design is similar to Diablo 2 where there are a lot of twisty corridors such as the Durance of Hate or the Catacombs that prevent direct movement towards the goal. If the areas are more open and linear, it's not as much of a big deal as other classes will be able to run past enemies and use their own movement skills to get passed the large packs that block routes.

There are other solutions to this issue such as limiting the items that bosses can drop and ensuring that areas exist where you can farm monsters for those items. At that point, the character that can kill the fastest is preferable.

[Ice Mistress Freya]

...and the Wizard is clearly going to be the fastest killer. Whether or not the frailness of the class balances this fact somewhat remains to be seen. I'm fairly convinced the Wizard will be the strongest softcore PvM class (which is incidental to my wanting to play one).

It's not even really debatable between the Wizard and the DH/Monk/WD. The only one that looks like it might have a chance to stay competitive in raw damage is the Barb and even then he won't be as good at clearing rooms. And it's a pretty bad chance.

The biggest difference between the Wizard and all these others is that the Wizard's spells are full strength right from the get go... there is no resource building and spending. It's all on all the time. Especially once you're at a level where you have +AP from Crit and raw +AP bonuses on gear. And she has the best options for ranged area damage.

[Wolfpaq777]

I have to say as of the blizzcon pvp demo i was wrong. Wormhole is literally 2 seconds of 0 cd teleport. Still usefulish but not as awesome as i was hoping :-(

level 60 skills we have include archon, teleport, diamond skin, arcane torrent arcane missilee frost nova ( which freezes in pvp. The pve demo is just beta.

Max health is around 9-10k for all classes.

[Ice Mistress Freya]

Not surprising about Teleport honestly. Though the wording could be cleaned up.

Could you list all the skills available in the PvP demo? Blizzard? Ray of Frost?

Most of the level 60 class sets we've seen have items/bonuses with like +60-80% health. But who knows if those are still in.

[Wolfpaq777]

You were locked into the 6 i listed. The items you are wearing are clearly placeholder so cant really tell much from them.

[melianor]

Guys, you can either keep a conversation going in a polite manner, or not keep it going. This is a nice place for some really good discussion and theory crafting among others. Let's keep it that way.

That goes for konfeta with the "laugh" video and Wolfpaq777 with returning responses. Got a problem? bring it to my attention. Among other things, that is something i am here for.

[smurphys]

How does turning into an Archon work with your skills? Functionally, where do the old powers go and where do the new powers go? Can you customize where the Archon powers appear?

[TheMythe]

How does turning into an Archon work with your skills? Functionally, where do the old powers go and where do the new powers go? Can you customize where the Archon powers appear?

You get a new set of Archon skills depending on which rune you take. Details can be found here (http://www.diablowiki.net/Archon).

[smurphys]

That you for answering the first question. However, I am solely interested in the other questions. Now that the skill was able to be used at Blizzcon I was hoping that these other parts could be answered.

[Wolfpaq777]

How does turning into an Archon work with your skills? Functionally, where do the old powers go and where do the new powers go? Can you customize where the Archon powers appear?

Old powers vanish off your hotbar.

Right click is archon disintegrate.
Left click is melee range arcane blast.
1 is archon arcane explosion.
5 is cancel archon form.

[smurphys]

Can those be customized?

[Wolfpaq777]

Can those be customized?

I don't think I was able to customize any hotkeys at Blizzcon (at least in death match) but I didn't make a concerted effort to.

If I had to guess I'd say that will be able to in live, but it's just a guess.

[Scorch Hellfire]

Exploding archon animation. Is there a hint that the actual transformation will knock back enemies?

There is a rune that makes the transformation trigger an arcane nova-ish effect... it does not knock back enemies...

I'm guessing that teleport in that video is a rune version since the normal version we have seen in past videos had more of a whitish yellowish effect to it, not purple... perhaps it is wormhole?

[HardRock]

Until the skills work in the way they're supposed to, it's hard to say which version it was. I don't think that it was Wormhole, since in the ninja footage of the latest PvP demo that also had a yellow effect.