Diablo 3 skill calculator updated, new skill videos show flaming hydra and meteors

It's getting quite hard to keep up with all of the changes Blizzard have been making to Diablo 3 recently. Rune stones are now rune skills , companion pets are gone and entire character attributes have disappeared as Blizzard trim the fat ahead of D3's planned spring release .

If you're not on the beta, you can get to grips with the new, streamlined systems right now using the updated Diablo 3 skill calculator . It incorporates the new rune system and shows how skills will be divvied up into a left click attack, a right click attack and a series of separate action bar abilities. If you want to see some of those skills in action, a post on the Diablo 3 blog has videos and stats for a bunch of brand new ones that haven't made it into the beta yet.

The blog post lists precise stats and runestone variants for each skill, but which is the best? The Witch Doctor's acid cloud attack summons a demonic head to vomit green goo onto enemies, which is nice, but it surely can't beat the Wizard's flaming hydra, which can be upgraded to a "Mammoth Hydra" that "breathes a river of flame at nearby enemies." There's no picture, but I'm visualising a giant, woolly dragon.

The Wizard looks pretty spectacular at the moment, though the classic meteor ability could be a bit more punchy. The Barbarian also looks like great fun. The rag doll physics and impressive levels of gore make his least showy blows feel meaty and devastating. The Overpower ability is one of the simplest on the list, but the crunch of that impact is deeply satisfying. Which one's your favourite?

Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.