Blizzard wants each class to have a unique resource system, but I don't think that the Witch Doctor is 'stuck' with mana simply due to lack of attention.
The impression I get is that Blizzard is really pushing the 'flavour' of mana in Diablo 3 as supernatural spiritual energy (as opposed to 'religious' spirit like what the monk might have).
As for the Wizard, she dabbles in the arcane, and there now seems to be a strong distinction between the two types of magic.
From a lore standpoint, the Witch Doctor would be the class who draws the most from this resource.|||Quote:
While Blizzard have discussed some issues with the Witch Doctor (if I recall correctly), I think it may have been a little overblown by the fandom.
Blizzard wants each class to have a unique resource system, but I don't think that the Witch Doctor is 'stuck' with mana simply due to lack of attention.
The impression I get is that Blizzard is really pushing the 'flavour' of mana in Diablo 3 as supernatural spiritual energy (as opposed to 'religious' spirit like what the monk might have).
As for the Wizard, she dabbles in the arcane, and there now seems to be a strong distinction between the two types of magic.
From a lore standpoint, the Witch Doctor would be the class who draws the most from this resource.
1) I suppose the WD's apparent lack of direction may have been exaggerated a bit by fans, but I still can't help but feel as though he's a problem for the devs. Of course, I'm only making that judgement from a standpoint of very limited knowledge. It is this lack of information (i.e. we know much less about many fewer of his spells than that of the Wizard or Barb) that makes me think the devs are having problems, but there could be a number of reasons we know so little about him. I guess we just have to give it time.
2) I don't know if I would call it a "lack of attention." I believe the WD is certainly receiving his fair share of attention from the devs, maybe more. Giving him mana as a resource system would allow the devs to spend a more equal amount of time on all aspects of the game, rather than spending too much time on a single class.
3) I certainly appreciate that they're crafting what mana is in a way that makes it a fitting resource for the WD. It would simply be lazy of them to not explain why only the WD uses mana, why it's a type of energy specific to witch-doctoring.
4) I definitely see the distinction between the Wizard's type of magic and the WD's type of magic, even between the sorc's magic and the WD's. I don't, however, fully understand what it is about the Wizard's "high magic" that makes it so different from the Sorc and WD that it doesn't use mana. I guess that's a question I should take to the Wizard forums, though.
5) I do agree, if mana is being spun as a more spiritual kind of energy that you described. And certainly I would rather see the WD using mana than the Barb
I don't mean to sound like I'm getting down on the D3 team for giving the WD the age-old system of mana. At least we know that it's a system that works well enough. I'd rather have them focus on the WD's skills than on some new resource system anyway.|||The Witch Doctor has come a really long way since I last looked on here (which was a very long time ago) and I have to say, I am really impressed. Too many negative threads on here, so I just wanted to say why I like the Witch Doctor so much.
Firstly, he now feels original. Early on I was worried he would be some kind of cross between a D2 sorceress and a D2 necromancer, and I really wasn't keen on the idea of lots of direct damage spells. Now he has a really different feel to him - he focusses on damage over time spells in a big way, alongside careful mana management.
Which brings me to the second reason I love him - the mana resource. Resource management is what made the necromancer in D2 so good - he used mana, he collected minions, he used corpses and even items to cast his spells, whereas everyone else just used mana. In D3, the Witch doctor uses mana, feeds off enemies to get mana using spells like Soul Harvest, collects minions and uses them to boost spell damage or sacrifice, and even uses health to summon minions.
Mana is [I]perfect[I] for the Witch Doctor, absolutely perfect. He does not really have spammable spells, running out of mana is not a disaster as he can still summon and will probably have DoT spells still active, and 'feeding' off enemies with spells like Soul Harvest just sounds so much fun. Whereas mana for a wizard just made no sense - run out of mana and you're just running away til it comes back.|||Don't really feel let down about anything, yet. I'm just waiting for it to come out now, which hopefully will be early next year.. I'll let Blizzard do what they do best and that's perfect everything they can as best as they can. Jay's policy is, if it's not fun, it'll be scrapped unless there is nothing better they can come up with. What I'm saying is, let it happen (game ships) then complain if you don't like it.
*edit* Sorry it sounds kind of like a troll post, I don't mean it like that, I'm just trying to be caring in that I don't want anyone to feel "let down" by anything yet! My bad.|||Whats wrong with mana? It's the only energy system that ever makes sense to me
|||Sounds to me as if the complaint is not really against the mechanic's, but rather that WD resource name wasn't changed. Doesn't really seem like a big deal to me.D1: Mana uses pots to replenish.
D2: Mana uses pots to replenish, modifiers on items, small amount of skill based modifiers.
D3: No mana pots, replenishment heavily augmented by skills, if not solely. Maybe some weapon modifiers.
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that if your concern is that your stuck with boring old mana...well..it's not even really mana as it was originally conceived. It's new SUPER MEGA-LIGHTNING MANA!
But still called Mana...and not Spirit Juice or Spell Fuel or Popcorn Kernels..
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