D1 Spellbooks

Unlike Diablo II with its skill trees of unique abilities for each character, Diablo featured no special attack skills at all. In Diablo and Hellfire all of the characters can cast the same spells from scrolls, charges on staffs, or from memory, after learning the spells by reading spell books.

Spell Basics

• Spellbooks have magic requirements to read, which increase 20% with each level of the spell. (Maxing out at 255.)
  • Reading a spell book adds a small amount of mana to the available pool. (The amount is equal to the magical requirement to read level 1 of that book.)
• Casting spells costs mana, an amount that's different for every spell, and which (generally) decreases (to a pre-set hard cap) at higher levels of the spell.
  • Casting spells from scrolls and charges on items does not cost mana.
• Spell levels max out at 15 from reading books.
  • Various unique and magical items add 1 or 2 to all spell levels.
    • The most possible with legitimate equipment is +5, and the highest possible spell level is 20. +1 Naj's Light Plate, +2 Archangel's Staff, +2 Thinking Cap.)
• Most spells can be found on scrolls, which have magic requirements to cast, but do not cost mana. Casting a spell from a scroll casts it at the level your character has learned up to (or level 1 if it's not a spell you have read a book for). Scroll magic requirements are always the same, regardless of what level the spell is being cast at.
  • Some spells can only be found on scrolls and not in spell books.
• Most spells can be found in charges on items; on staffs and some unique items. Some Hellfire spells can only be found on staffs.

The Spellbook

Opening up your character's spellbook (S = hotkey) pulls up a menu on the right side of the screen. Every spell your character has learned (by reading a spellbook), is listed in the spell menu. There are four pages of spells in Diablo, and five in Hellfire. Spells are arranged (roughly) by increasing strength, with the spells with the lowest requirements on page one, and the highest on page four. The table below replicates the spellbook.

Page One	Page Two	Page Three	Page Four	Page Five (Hellfire)
Inherent Skill	Resurrect	Phasing	Nova	Lightning Wall
Firebolt	Fire Wall	Mana Shield	Golem	Immolation
Charged Bolt	Telekinesis	Elemental	Teleport	Warp
Holy Bolt	Lightning	Fireball	Apocalypse	Reflect
Healing	Town Portal	Flame Wave	Bone Spirit	Ring of Fire
Inferno	Stone Curse	Guardian	--	Search

• Only found in multiplayer games: Heal Other, Resurrect.
• Scrolls only: Identify, Infravision.
• Scrolls/Staffs only: Resurrect, Apocalypse, Nova. (Apocalypse and Nova exist in book form in Hellfire.)
• Spells added in Hellfire: Lightning Wall, Immolation, Warp, Reflect, Berserk, Ring of Fire, Search, Jester, Magi, Mana.
  • Staffs only: Jester, Magi, Mana.

Spell Listing

Information about every spell in the game. Calculations from Jarulf's Guide.

Spell Damage

Determining your character's spell damage is notoriously difficult in Diablo and Hellfire, since the values scale up with character level. Determining the damage requires some math, which Jarulf explains in section 4.1.2 of his guide. How much good this explanation does you depends largely on how closely you're willing to embrace algebra. Since most readers feel their eyes glaze at the first equation, the calculation explanations are not reproduced here.

The calculations are presented for each skill below, if you're mathematically-inclined type who can find some use from them.

Apocalypse

Apocalypse is the ultimate spell in Diablo. It creates a blossom of fire beneath a monster's feet, but is not fire damage. Apoc is a special type of damage that can not be resisted, and that no monster is immune to. In Diablo it hits everything on the screen, even over walls, and is frequently used to decimate the creatures inside of Diablo's square before the bone levers are thrown. In Hellfire the spell is nerfed a bit, and does not hit things over walls. Type: Special Min. Damage: Clvl Max. Damage: 6·clvl Real damage: Itt(clvl, Rnd[6] + 1) Speed: Hits everything in range when cast. Blockable: Yes Available: Scrolls and staffs only in Diablo. On books as well in Hellfire, but the only way to get a book is to kill Na-Krul.

Blood Star

A projectile spell most commonly seen being cast by Witches. Each Blood Star moves relatively slowly and in a straight line. There is no splash damage. This is the only viable, magic-type skill to kill targets at a distance, but the fact that it does so much less damage than comparable fire or lightning spells means it is very seldom used, except in special circumstances. (There are no monsters who are immune to Fire and Lightning in but not Magic in Diablo. There are a few in Hellfire.)

Blood Star has a special extra cost to cast; draining 5 life along with the mana cost. When cast with a Mana Shield active, it costs 5 extra mana. This cost is applied even if it's cast from charges. Type: Magic Damage: 3·slvl + [Mag/2] - [Mag/8] Speed: 16 Blockable: Yes

Bone Spirit

Fires a pink, ghostly creature that moves relatively slowly, but that can home in on the target. The damage is percentage based, making this skill very damaging to monsters with full hit points, but virtually useless on ones nearer death. The damage is resisted, just like any other magic-based spell, if the monster has magic resistance.

Like Blood Star, Bone Spirit costs life as well as mana to cast, draining 6 life along with the mana cost. This cost is applied even if the spell is cast from charges on a staff. It costs 6 extra mana if you have Mana Shield active. Type: Magic Damage against monster: 1/3 of targets HP Damage against player: 1/6 of targets life Speed: 16 Blockable: Yes

Chain Lightning

The biggest killing lightning type spell in the game, and a spell that can deal the most damage per cast. Chain Lightning sends one bolt where your cursor points, and another one for each target in range (range is calculated irrelevant of walls and other obstacles), each time it is cast. The range increases with more points in the spell, as does the damage per bolt. This spell would clear entire levels in a single use if not for the "sprite limit" in Diablo/Hellfire. The game's engine will only display 255 sprites at once, and since each bolt from the Chain Lightning creates quite a few sprites, numerous "gaps" appear in the bolts. As a result, some strategy is required to use Chain Lightning effectively.

Players need to know where the monsters are around them, whether they are on the other side of a wall or not. For instance, it's wise to standing beside a wall so not many sprites will appear in that direction when you want to fire them forward. Alternatively, hordes of monsters on the other side of a wall can be very useful if you maneuver so that the nearby monsters are between you and that wall with the monsters past it.

The damage from each bolt is calculated multiple times per bolt, as they appear to move past. According to Jarulf's Guide, each bolt does a hit check each 0.05 seconds, for a total of [slvl/2] + 6 times per bolt. Spell: Chain Lightning Type: Lightning Min. Damage: 4 Max. Damage: 4 + 2·clvl Real Damage: Rnd[clvl] + Rnd[2] + 2 Bolts: 1 + numbers of monsters in range Range: 2 + slvl (max 18) Speed: 32 Duration: ([slvl/2] + 6)/20 seconds Blockable: No

Charged Bolt

Charged Bolt sends out several small squares of electricity per use. These squares move semi-randomly in the direction the caster is facing, spreading out and usually bouncing off of walls. They are not especially damaging, but can be useful to "wake up" all of the non-lightning immune monsters in a room, bringing them out to fight while leaving the other monsters in the area undisturbed.

This spell can be quite annoying when used by mages; not for the tiny damage, but because it causes characters with a shield to stop to block. Spell: Charged Bolt Type: Lightning Min. Damage: 1 Max. Damage: 1 + [Mag/4] Number of bolts: 4 + [slvl/2] Speed: 8 Blockable: Yes

Elemental

Elemental fires a running, target-homing human-shaped fire elemental. This one is far less useful than it would seem, for while the damage displays the same as Fireball, Fireball is boosted by a buggy, non-displayed splash damage. Elemental does not deal that splash damage, and as a result it's less than half as damaging as Fireball. Even though it doesn't "splash" like a Fireball, each Elemental can hit two targets if they are very close together.

Elemental splash damage is 1/64th of the total damage. It is applied each .05 seconds for .7 seconds (14 tries) and is not blockable. Thus, as is the case with Fireball, the splash damage from an Elemental will deal damage even if the spell itself is blocked. Spell: Elemental Type: fire Min. Damage: Rec(slvl, 4 + 2·clvl) Max. Damage: Rec(slvl, 40 + 2·clvl) Quick Min. Damage: (4 + 2·clvl) · (9/8)^slvl Quick Max. Damage: (40 + 2·clvl) · (9/8)^slvl Real Damage: Rec(slvl, 2·(Rnd[10]+Rnd[10]+clvl) + 4)/2 Speed: 16 Blockable: Yes

Fireball

The most popular fire spell in the game, and a hugely damaging spell against single targets or tightly-packed groups. Fireball moves very quickly (increasing with Slvl) and its damage increases with Slvl and Clvl, making it indispensible for all Sorcerers and many other character builds as well. Each fireball deals a splash of damage that's equal to the damage of the spell itself. The fireball or the splash can be blocked, but not both, and monsters that can't block always take both, making this one basically double damage against most enemies.

Like all projectiles in Diablo and Hellfire, Fireball is best fired at targets approaching in straight lines. It's extremely accurate against stationary targets, whatever their orientation to the caster. Spell: Fireball Type: fire Min. Damage: Rec(slvl, 4 + 2·clvl) Max. Damage: Rec(slvl, 40 + 2·clvl) Quick Min. Damage: (4 + 2·clvl) · (9/8)^slvl Quick Max. Damage: (40 + 2·clvl) · (9/8)^slvl Real Damage: Rec(slvl, 2·(Rnd[10]+Rnd[10]+clvl) + 4) Speed: 16 + 2·slvl (max 50) Blockable: Yes

Firebolt

A fire projectile spell that's quite handy early in the game. It's basically a Fireball, but with much lower damage and no splash.

The fire damage dealt by the dragons of the Guardian spell is determined by the Firebolt spell, so characters will want to max this one out, even if they never cast Firebolt itself. Spell: Firebolt Type: fire Min. Damage: 1 + slvl + [Mag/8] Max. Damage: 10 + slvl + [Mag/8] Real Damage: Rnd[10] + slvl + [Mag/8] + 1 Speed: 16 + 2·slvl Blockable: Yes

Fire Wall

An extremely damaging spell to any target foolish enough to stand still in it. Multiple Firewalls can be stacked on top of each other, increasing the damage proportionally. Very useful early and mid-game, especially against monsters stuck on the other side of an obstacle. Most monsters will not advance into the flames, but this AI can be used against them. Simply cast a Firewall in front of them, and then cast one on top of them. They will stand and roast since they're not smart enough to move backwards out of the fire. This is a very popular way to kill Diablo himself.

The central sprite of the firewall does double damage. Unlike most spells, Firewall can damage the player who casts it, and this damage is treated as fire from a trap (thus "of thieves" item will half it). Each space in the flame hits every .05 second for the duration. Spell: Fire Wall Type: fire Min. Damage: 4 + 2·clvl Max. Damage: 40 + 2·clvl Real Damage: (Rnd[10] + Rnd[10] + clvl + 2)/8 Duration: 8 + 8·slvl seconds (12 + 8·slvl in Hellfire) Number of flames: 11 Blockable: No

Flame Wave

This spell basically creates a moving firewall, one that moves across the level until it hits a wall. The extend of the Flame Wave increases with more points in the spell, and it can be wider than the visible screen at high levels. The killing power of this one is far less than Fireball, but it's a useful way to wake up all of the monsters in an area and bring them out to fight without disturbing the fire immunes in the area.

This spell can hit the player who casts it, (if you teleport quickly into it) and the fire is counted as damage from a trap. Spell: Flame Wave Type: fire Min. Damage: 6 + 6·clvl Max. Damage: 60 + 6·clvl Real Damage: Rnd[10] + clvl + 1 Speed: 16 Number of flames: 5 + [slvl/2] Blockable: Yes

Flash

Flash is a sort of 1-space radius Nova spell, hitting anything in melee range with magical damage. This appears to be a powerful spell, by the damage display, but it's hampered by bugs and does far less damage than displayed. As most players have noticed, when basking in the ineffective version of it cast by monster mages.

There are actually two spells cast; the first hits targets in front of and to the sides of the character, while the second covers the three rear spaces. Like other timed spells, Flash hits once every .05 seconds, for a total of 19 attempts in just less than a second. Spell: Flash Type: magic Min. Damage: [3·Rec(slvl, clvl)/2] Max. Damage: 2·[3·Rec(slvl, clvl)/2] Quick Min. Damage: 3·clvl/2 · (9/8)^slvl Quick Max. Damage: 3·clvl · (9/8)^slvl Real Damage 1: [3·Rec(slvl, Itt(clvl, Rnd[20] + 1))/2]/64 Real Damage 2: [3·Rec(slvl, Itt(clvl, Rnd[2] + 1))/2]/64 Duration: 0.95 seconds Blockable: No

Golem

A summonable stone man, the Golem is a slow moving but fairly damaging companion, most commonly used by sorcerers against triple immune monsters. Golems can also be helpful to distract enemies, and to kill targets on the other side of a wall. They benefit greatly from the stone curse spell, since if their targets are stationary and helpless, the golem hits with every strike and takes no damage during the battle. Golems are not useful against higher level melee monsters, who will kill them quickly. A single golem can terrorize entire levels in the Church, though.

Golems are primarily useful against Advocates, since they can withstand a lot of damage from Flash spells, and are not touched by the Advocates' Fireballs. They are less successful against Witches, and take damage from Bloodstar. Also, due to a bug in the Golem's light radius (it's set to infinite) every witch on the level sees the golem the moment he's cast, and will fire at him if they have a line of sight. Golems home in on nearby enemies. If nothing is nearby, they will walk in the direction their caster is facing.

Only one golem may be active at once. If the spell is cast again, an active golem will crumble to gravel. Players gain full experience for kills made by their golem. Golems are hostile to each other, and will fight if there are two of them (from two players) in the same area. Yes, this can be funny to watch. Spell: Golem Type: Physical damage. Stated damage: 11-17 (meaningless figure) Golem stats:

• HP: 2·maxmana/3 + 10·slvl
• AC: 25
• To Hit: 40 + 2·clvl + 5·slvl
• Min. Damage: 8 + 2·slvl
• Max. Damage: 16 + 2·slvl
• mlvl: 12 (modified for difficulty)
• HP regeneration: 1.9, 4.1 and 6.6 each second on normal, nightmare and hell difficulty (same as for normal monster)
• Resistances: None
• Immunities: Apocalypse, Stone Curse and Telekinesis

Guardian

A three-headed, firebolt-spitting dragon is summoned, tunneling up from the ground in the location targeted with the spell. Guardians can only be cast in the line of sight, and not over walls or through doors. These are not especially useful to kill with, on higher levels, but are such fun to cast that many players enjoy using them anyway. They can be useful to shoot into a room you have not yet entered, but they are inefficient. The Guardians only shoot at whatever target is nearest, and if it's fire immune their shots will pass harmlessly.

The damage from a Guardian is equal to the damage of the casting character's Firebolt spell; the damage listed on the Guardian spell itself is meaningless. Higher levels of Guardian affect only the duration of the dragon, not the damage. Players gain full experience for kills made by their Guardians. Spell: Guardian Type: fire Min. Damage: Rec(slvl, 1 + [clvl/2]) Max. Damage: Rec(slvl, 10 + [clvl/2]) Quick Min. Damage: (1 + clvl/2) · (9/8)^slvl Quick Max. Damage: (10 + clvl/2) · (9/8)^slvl Duration: 4·slvl/5 + 2·clvl/5 seconds (maximum 24 seconds, minimum 0.8 seconds) Fire frequency: every 0.8 second Blockable: Yes

Healing

An essential skill for all non-mana shield using characters, and even those types enjoy it, from time to time. Higher levels (Slvl and Clvl) lower the mana cost and increase the healing, so it's useful to build this one up even for Warriors, Barbarians, and other rock-headed melee fighters.

Healing is cast when the spell is triggered, but only grants the healing effect if the casting animation is completed. Warriors and other slow casting characters might find this one impossible to use when in melee combat, since the monsters will keep hitting them and interrupting their casting animation. Spell: Healing Type: n/a Mana Cost: 8 + 2·clvl - 3·slvl Min. Healing: bonus·(1 + clvl + slvl) Max. Healing: bonus·(10 + 4·clvl + 6·slvl) Real Healing: bonus·(Rnd[10] + Itt(clvl, Rnd[4]+1) + Itt(slvl, Rnd[6]+1) + 1)

• Bonus: Characters with higher bonuses gain more hit points per heal, generally speaking. {See the D1_Potions_and_Elixirs#Partial_Potion_Calculations Partial potion calculations information for more details on how these bonuses are integrated into the formula.)
  • Warrior, Monk and Barbarian: 2.0
  • Rogue and Bard: 1.5
  • Sorcerer: 1.0

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