Fresh off the presses at BlizzCon (dont go looking for the presses, they dont exist) comes a healthy dose of information about the newly announced Wizard class for Diablo III. Joining the already announced Barbarian and Witchdoctor, the Wizard fills the leather-clad shoes of the Sorceress from Diablo II as the official "Blaster Class" of the game. Want to deliver high amounts of damage from a comfortably safe distance? This is definitely the class for you.
Unlike the Sorceress's elemental fire and ice approach to magic, the Wizard is a master of what they like to call "High Magic", which is the manipulation of time, space, and the arcane. The first spell she starts off with is the staple of old school D&D mages, the Magic Missile. This arcane projectile starts off fairly simplistic, but as you rank up the ability will become more impressive in various ways, such as launching multiple missiles at once or possibly even missiles that home in on targets automatically.
Another spell in the Wizard's catalog of arcanery is entitled Electrocute, which allows her to throw long bolts of lightning out at her opponents with a mere gesture. Factor in some additional skill ranks and a modified rune or two, and you will find the lightning arcing from foe to foe like the Chain Lighting ability made famous by the Shaman in WoW.
Disintegrate is "the real face melter" of the bunch (their words, not mine) that will allow you to click and hold the mouse button down and sweep a beam of pure energy across the screen. The longer a monster is in the beam's path, the more damage it takes per second, soon reducing the creature to a pile of dust.
The most impressive spell yet, though, is the Wizard's ability to Slow Time. This spell creates a bubble of time distortion rooted to the ground, and anything that enters that bubble - monsters, projectiles, other players - slows down to a fraction of their normal speed. This is sure to be a big hit during multiplayer games.
All in all, the Wizard is shaping up to be an incredibly enjoyable class, complimenting the melee smash 'n' bash of the Barbarian and the plague 'n' pet gameplay of the Witchdoctor. Anyone care to take a guess as to what the next class to be revealed may be?
