Wizard Class

Last updated on Jun 03, 2023 at 12:44 by Deadset 1 comment

Choose the Wizard class if you want to bend the elements to your will, wielding the might of fire, ice, lightning and pure arcane power into the singular purpose of annihilating your enemies. While weaving Arcane Power into storms, twisters and explosions, the Wizard remains safe behind by mighty shields of ice and energy — whether fighting from afar, or into fierce melee. With an ascending Archon form that dominates any remaining opposition, the Wizard is the embodiment of elemental powers in Diablo 3.

To go in-depth with the possible playstyles of the Wizard class, refer to our specific build guides below. If you are looking for some quick tips and tricks on learning the Wizard, please keep on reading.

Looking for the best builds in Diablo 4? Follow one of the links below!

1.

The Big Spenders

In general, Diablo 3 builds revolve around a certain highly damaging skill or alternate form to slaughter hordes of monsters with. In the case of the Wizard, this is an amalgamation of Secondary skills (more notably Arcane Orb Arcane Orb and Arcane Torrent Arcane Torrent), Force skills (such as Meteor Meteor and Energy Twister Energy Twister) and Mastery skills (like Explosive Blast Explosive Blast and Archon Archon). Get a feel for these skills — do you like the way they play out? Do you sense the pattern in their resource management? Can you predict the positioning required to deliver the most damage possible from your selected skill?

Pick one of the listed skills above that you like the most, then take a peek at our endgame build for said skill; try to play out in your head how the full rotation works. Early on, you might have to take an endgame build and adapt it a little — lacking the necessary legendary and set bonuses, you might suffer from lacking Arcane Power and long cooldowns. Taking out a utility skill and adding a generator like Electrocute Electrocute Surge of Power Surge of Power might be a better route.

2.

Archon

Archon Archon falls into the category of transformational skills in the game, but is perhaps the most transformative of them all; not only does it change your character visual and ramps up your power, but it also changes your skill loadout into an Archon Archon-specific setup. In practice, this means you can take the skill, but you have to dedicate your entire playstyle to it — changing your standard form skills into a loadout that is meant to reset Archon Archon's cooldown and protect you in your weaker form. Take a look at our endgame Archon guide for in-depth guidance on how to construct a Wizard like that.

In short, Archon Wizards make great use of the synergy between the barrage of small hits from Arcane Torrent Arcane Torrent Static Discharge Static Discharge and the cooldown reduction-per-hit powers of the Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac, along with a slew of synergistic items like The Swami The Swami, Fazula's Improbable Chain Fazula's Improbable Chain and the Chantodo's Resolve set.

3.

Magic Weapons and Armors

Wizards possess a trio of conjured armor spells — all useful in their own way, and applicable in different situations. Energy Armor Energy Armor has the strongest protective base, and is item independent — a very potent starting point, especially with the burst damage safety net of the Force Armor Force Armor rune. Ice Armor Ice Armor works best in melee spellcasting builds, forming a synergistic trio between the Crystallize Crystallize rune, the Halo of Arlyse Halo of Arlyse ring and Ancient Parthan Defenders Ancient Parthan Defenders bracer that will render you near-invincible as you dive into the thick of the fight. Storm Armor Storm Armor mirrors this protective utility for ranged builds, triggering Halo of Karini Halo of Karini. Pick an armor spell that befits your playstyle, and learn how to maximize their benefits!

Magic Weapon Magic Weapon is another frequent inclusion, since it is able to combine its base damage buff effect with the strong protective layer of the Deflection Deflection rune. See if you have any space left in your build, and you will do no wrong to fill it with Magic Weapon Magic Weapon.

4.

Teleport

Much like the other classes, Wizards need a tool to dive in, out and around the fray. Teleport Teleport fills that exact niche, and can be adjusted for additional utility — Safe Passage Safe Passage in progression, Wormhole Wormhole in speedfarming, or even Calamity Calamity for synergy with the Tal Rasha set (refer to our builds for further explanation).

Teleport Teleport is rather demanding with its cooldown, but it can be worked around for content that demands high mobility (like speed GRs or bounties). Either through Illusionist Illusionist, In-geom In-geom or Aether Walker Aether Walker, you can become one of the most mobile classes in the game, while sacrificing little of your offensive capabilities.

5.

Learn the Arsenal of Items

Builds and skill choices are obviously important, but at the end of the day Diablo is a game about farming and equipping the right items. Learning which items will benefit your class the most, and then target farming them through gambling, upgrading rares into legendaries at the Cube and even reforging them into better rolls is crucial.

All 6-piece class sets (Tal Rasha, Firebird, Delsere's Magnum Opus, Vyr), as well as the 2-piece weapon set Chantodo's Resolve, bring a valuable and powerful playstyle to the class. Wizards also have class-specific wands, staves and orbs, which are suitably valuable for the class — the Chantodo set (Chantodo's Will Chantodo's Will and Chantodo's Force Chantodo's Force), The Grand Vizier The Grand Vizier, Unstable Scepter Unstable Scepter, Starfire Starfire, Wand of Woh Wand of Woh, Orb of Infinite Depth Orb of Infinite Depth, Triumvirate Triumvirate and Etched Sigil Etched Sigil are notable examples. Wizards also have powerful one-handed swords like Deathwish Deathwish and Etched Sigil Etched Sigil to complement their arsenal.

The numerous Wizard playstyles rely on legendaries scattered across several gear slots; Archon Wizards depend on The Swami The Swami and Fazula's Improbable Chain Fazula's Improbable Chain, Meteor Wizards prioritize Nilfur's Boast Nilfur's Boast and Mantle of Channeling Mantle of Channeling, and certain DMO builds rely on The Shame of Delsere The Shame of Delsere or Ranslor's Folly Ranslor's Folly to complete their builds.

As mentioned above, Wizard jewelry largely hinges on the protective powerhouses Halo of Arlyse Halo of Arlyse and Halo of Karini Halo of Karini, as well as the cooldown resetting powers of Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac.

6.

A Final Tip

Much like your armor spells, you have to consider your passive choices to synergize with the range at which you fight. The Wizard can accommodate both melee spellcasting (with Audacity Audacity and Unwavering Will Unwavering Will) as well as ranged sorcery (with Power Hungry Power Hungry and Glass Cannon Glass Cannon). Regardless of your preferred range, you have universal passive building blocks to start with — from a cheat death with Unstable Anomaly Unstable Anomaly, through a mobility tool via Illusionist Illusionist, to percentage-based damage reduction from Blur Blur.

7.

Changelog

  • 29 Oct. 2019: Page added.
Show more
Show less