Diablo 3 Wizard Builds

As a successor to the most popular class in Diablo 2 (Sorcerer), the Wizard has a lot to live up to. However, if you played Diablo 2 you will know by now that the Wizard is likely to be incredibly strong with the right Diablo 3 Wizard builds and very weak with the wrong builds.

For that reason, I have created this page which is designed to give you the best D3 Wizard builds that you can use in a variety of situations. You might be wondering what those situations are. If you want to maximize the effectiveness of your Wizard, you will need to plan for the follow situations:

  • Boss Fights
  • Leveling Up
  • Farming
  • PvP

These different areas need very different Diablo 3 Wizard builds. Let’s look at each area below:


Diablo 3 Wizard Builds – Boss Fights

When you are planning out your builds for boss fights, you need to worry about two things: maximizing single-target damage (i.e. damage versus the boss) and maximizing avoidance (so you do not get hit by the boss).

The reason you maximize single-target damage is because bosses have a lot of HP and Wizards tend not to have a lot of HP. As a result, you need to take them out quick. If you remember from Diablo 2 for example, the Firewall and Frozen Orb spells had really high single-target damage if you landed direct hits on bosses.

Additionally, you need to be able to avoid getting too close to the boss. In Diablo 2 for example a Sorcerer which used close-range abilities like Static Shock could farm really well but struggled against bosses. This will be the case with the Wizard as you have to avoid getting hit. You will want to favor long-ranged attacks so you can stay out of melee range.

You will also want a single AoE spell which does light damage to take out any monsters which might attack you. This depends on the boss though as not every boss will summon minions (though a lot might). Evaluate this on a boss-by-boss

We will add some builds for boss fights soon, so come back to our Diablo 3 builds guide often!


Leveling Up

Leveling up will the the focus of many while playing their Wizard once Diablo 3 comes out. The best Diablo 3 Wizard builds for leveling up will be a mix of talents. As you are leveling and going through the game, odds are you will encounter a lot of different situations. You will have to fight through tough monsters when completing quests yet will still want to take out a lot of enemies in order to earn a lot of experience points.

Your build should maximize area of effect damage with a slight emphasis on survivability so you can take more damage. If you are doing a quest and die in the middle of it, it can really slow you down. You want to have a good amount of HP and Wizard talents that support surviving in order to effectively navigate this portion of the game.


Diablo 3 Wizard Builds – Farming

For your Diablo 3 Wizard builds that are designed for farming items, the answer to that depends on exactly what you are farming. In Diablo 2, rapidly blowing through high level but normal enemies worked well, as did fighting bosses in the shortest amount of time possible.

If your plan is to defeat a lot of enemies quickly, your build should focus on maximizing the damage or one or two AoE techniques, and keep a single-target ability around in order to take out named monsters or bosses that you might run into.

If you are a boss killer as a Wizard, odds are you will want to max out HP and a single-target ability. This way you can teleport past everything and then just burn down the boss quickly. Having a lot of health can help you survive as you teleport past hordes of monsters.


Diablo 3 Wizard Builds – PvP

PvP will certainly be one of the funnest and most competitive aspects of Diablo 3. The best D3 Wizard builds for PvP will focus on maximizing range, snaring opponents, and mobility. You want to be able to stay as far away as possible from other classes so they cannot get direct hits on you.

At the same time, you will want to be able to snare your opponent. This means getting frost spells which slow down your enemies so they cannot get too close to you.

Diablo 3 Wizard Builds Conclusion

There are four different types of builds you need to have ironed out if you want to partake in all aspects of Diablo 3. Be sure to come back often as we will be adding Wizard builds to this page!