Blizzard versus Frozen Orb
Prodded by some players in USWEST to use Blizzard over Frozen Orb, I did some testing on Blizzard versus Frozen Orb to see which one I thought was better and came up with some interesting results I thought I might share.
Blizzard General Information:
The Blizzard spell drops shards of ice down on your opponents. Its area of effect is a three-yard radius on screen (about two mouse pointers from your character in either direction). Each Blizzard lasts four (4) seconds. Once the monster exits the storm, a typical Blizzard cold length lasts about three seconds in Normal, two seconds in Nightmare, and one second in Hell . Blizzard has a casting delay of two (2) seconds.
Number Crunch: After repeated testing on Normal difficulty Anderial with a level 1 Blizzard, Blizzard scored an average of 2.5 attacks per storm. A level 20 Blizzard with synergies maxed does an average damage of 2,378. That amounts to 5,945 damage per cast, however because Blizzard can also be cast every two seconds over the same area, you will be effectively be doing (Total Damage x 2), or in this case 11,890 damage.
Blizzards Weak Points:
Blizzard has an apparent area of affect in a 3-yard radius. This means a very small number of creatures would be affected by your blizzard, which could lead to a lot more running or death. Frozen orb by contrast shoots ice bolts that pretty much cover ½ to ¾ an entire visible screen.
A level 20 Blizzard consumes 42 mana per cast. A level 20 Frozen Orb by contrast consumes 34 mana per cast. Over the course of 10 casts in a row â which is pretty common â Blizzard will consume 420 mana whereas Frozen Orb will consume 340 mana; 80 more points of mana! Those 80 points of mana do add up, but could be recovered in a single mana potion.
Frozen Orb General Information:
The spell Frozen orb shoots out shards of Ice Bolts in a straight line. Its maximum range seems to be a little further than past the edge of the screen. Frozen Orb has a variable cold length. Frozen Orb has a casting delay of two (2) seconds.
Number Crunch: After repeated testing in Act 4 and Act 5 of Normal difficulty, I surmised that an average of four 4-ice bolts strike a single target being aimed for per casting. Each Frozen Orb shoots four lairs of bolts about a half a second apart each with the final lair containing the most densely packed lair of bolts striking everything on in the area of effect multiple times (sometimes allowing up to 6 ice bolts to strike a single target). A level 20 Frozen Orb with synergies maxed out does an average of 376.5 damage per Ice Bolt. This amounts to 1,506 damage per casting.
Frozen Orb Weak Points:
Frozen Orb does a mediocre amount of damage overall. Against monsters in hell, it may take awhile to kill them if they have decent cold resist and that could result in your death.
Summation:
Obviously, Frozen Orb suffers from a serious lack of damage when compared to Blizzard, however it is easier to control and has a WAY longer cold length (27 seconds at level 20) making it a safe weapon to use in unexplored areas. It also affects more monsters because of its larger area of effect possibly doing a comparable amount of total damage to Blizzard because of the sheer amount of monsters affected.
After doing these test, I wouldnât say one was better than the other, rather different in their own ways. I would recommend Frozen Orb if survival or relaxation is your goal. I would recommend Blizzard if destruction is your goal.
Thoughts and comments welcome!
Prodded by some players in USWEST to use Blizzard over Frozen Orb, I did some testing on Blizzard versus Frozen Orb to see which one I thought was better and came up with some interesting results I thought I might share.
Blizzard General Information:
The Blizzard spell drops shards of ice down on your opponents. Its area of effect is a three-yard radius on screen (about two mouse pointers from your character in either direction). Each Blizzard lasts four (4) seconds. Once the monster exits the storm, a typical Blizzard cold length lasts about three seconds in Normal, two seconds in Nightmare, and one second in Hell . Blizzard has a casting delay of two (2) seconds.
Number Crunch: After repeated testing on Normal difficulty Anderial with a level 1 Blizzard, Blizzard scored an average of 2.5 attacks per storm. A level 20 Blizzard with synergies maxed does an average damage of 2,378. That amounts to 5,945 damage per cast, however because Blizzard can also be cast every two seconds over the same area, you will be effectively be doing (Total Damage x 2), or in this case 11,890 damage.
Blizzards Weak Points:
Blizzard has an apparent area of affect in a 3-yard radius. This means a very small number of creatures would be affected by your blizzard, which could lead to a lot more running or death. Frozen orb by contrast shoots ice bolts that pretty much cover ½ to ¾ an entire visible screen.
A level 20 Blizzard consumes 42 mana per cast. A level 20 Frozen Orb by contrast consumes 34 mana per cast. Over the course of 10 casts in a row â which is pretty common â Blizzard will consume 420 mana whereas Frozen Orb will consume 340 mana; 80 more points of mana! Those 80 points of mana do add up, but could be recovered in a single mana potion.
Frozen Orb General Information:
The spell Frozen orb shoots out shards of Ice Bolts in a straight line. Its maximum range seems to be a little further than past the edge of the screen. Frozen Orb has a variable cold length. Frozen Orb has a casting delay of two (2) seconds.
Number Crunch: After repeated testing in Act 4 and Act 5 of Normal difficulty, I surmised that an average of four 4-ice bolts strike a single target being aimed for per casting. Each Frozen Orb shoots four lairs of bolts about a half a second apart each with the final lair containing the most densely packed lair of bolts striking everything on in the area of effect multiple times (sometimes allowing up to 6 ice bolts to strike a single target). A level 20 Frozen Orb with synergies maxed out does an average of 376.5 damage per Ice Bolt. This amounts to 1,506 damage per casting.
Frozen Orb Weak Points:
Frozen Orb does a mediocre amount of damage overall. Against monsters in hell, it may take awhile to kill them if they have decent cold resist and that could result in your death.
Summation:
Obviously, Frozen Orb suffers from a serious lack of damage when compared to Blizzard, however it is easier to control and has a WAY longer cold length (27 seconds at level 20) making it a safe weapon to use in unexplored areas. It also affects more monsters because of its larger area of effect possibly doing a comparable amount of total damage to Blizzard because of the sheer amount of monsters affected.
After doing these test, I wouldnât say one was better than the other, rather different in their own ways. I would recommend Frozen Orb if survival or relaxation is your goal. I would recommend Blizzard if destruction is your goal.
Thoughts and comments welcome!
"The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self." -Albert Einsetin