ANAHEIM--Blizzard CEO and co-founder Mike Morhaime welcomed thousands of fans to Blizzcon 2008 today, and in his opening remarks he revealed the third class to Diablo III. Morhaime introduced the world to the Wizard class, which joins the Barbarian and the Witch Doctor classes that were revealed when the game was announced at Blizzard’s Worldwide Invitational in Paris earlier this year.
While Morhaime didn’t give any details regarding the Wizard class, Blizzard is holding a Diablo III class panel later today. Morhaime did show off a new video that highlighted the classes’ ability. In it, a female wizard saunters confidently into a dark and gloomy dungeon. As the undead begin to surround her, she unleashes a fury of magical attacks that strike them down.
Her magic attacks ranged from lightning spells, freeze spells, some type of bubble shield, the ability to call down bolts from the sky, flame strikes, and more. She’s going to be a veritable whirlwind of magical destruction, judging by the video.
Blizzcon is also the first opportunity for fans and the media to actually play the game. We’re going to play it later today and have our impressions up soon afterwards, but the Wizard will be playable. Morhaime said that Blizzcon attendees will be able to play the game cooperatively with others, and that we’ll encounter an old nemesis from the original game. Keep an eye open for our impressions, and for more from Blizzcon 2008.
At the 2008 BlizzCon in Anaheim, Blizzard was ready and willing to dole out new details on its upcoming lineup. Perhaps the most well received game at the opening ceremony was Diablo III, which was welcomed with roaring applause when Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime announced the new wizard class. Aside from the revelation of a new class, Blizzard had a few other tricks up its sleeve when it came to the third installment of the Diablo series. At the Diablo III class panel, game director Jay Wilson, lead technical artist Julian Love and technical game designer Huai Ching discussed just a of what’s to be included in the upcoming game, and the philosophy behind it.
Huai Ching kicked things off when he discussed some of the new inclusions for the various clases in the game. More specifically, Ching dove deep into the marquee skills found in the newly announced wizard class of Diablo III. First off, Blizzard had to make sure that the wizard had a skill set suited to her personality. She’s a super ambitious and powerful sort. Someone who was smarter than her teachers during her studies, so she never put in the effort to learning her craft, but she aced everything. Ching described her in more contemporary terms as someone who would have dropped out of college today to start up a successful dot com company. Tired of being held back, she dove straight into her adventures, and the staff at Blizzard made sure she had an appropriate arsenal to accompany it.
The wizard class is inspired by old-school pen and paper games, as she’s able to manipulate high magic. That is, she’s able to manipulate the forces of the universe – time, physics, and the basic elements of reality. Her first marquee skill is the magic missile, where it serves the same function as a firebolt. Simply click on a target and she’ll hurl a projectile to nuke some baddies, which sets the tone for the rest of her skill set. Her next marquee skill is electrocute, which is reminiscent of chain lightning found in Diablo II. This particular power comes from the weather control tree, which is just one of the disciplines for the wizard, and they’re hoping this new branch will feel epic to players.
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