Hello, I'm hoping someone can help me figure out whats best for my WD. Today I found a Thunderfury, and rerolled the useless stat to 7% attack speed. Thinking that with the way Pets and Dots interact best with weapon damage, i rerolled the 7% AS to 8% Wep Dmg. When i did that, my estimated damage droped about 30k. Is that still the right choice, or should i try to reroll the AS on it again?

What does weapon items do for Wizards in Diablo 3? Does weapon item DPS matter? Do item qualities such as steal/+damage etc. transfer to actual spell damage? Can I use a regular attack? and more will be answered in this article!

Unlike in D2, a wizard should care deeply about his weapon in Diablo 3. It isn't just a “stat stick” with bonuses on it anymore. No longer are casters fairly equipment independent. All offensive skills have their damage based on the weapon item you have equipped. For example Magic Missile does 110% of your weapon damage, as arcane damage.
Weapon damage is used for spell damage. And weapon attack speed factors into your casting speed. Faster weapons will cast faster spells too.

How does Damage WORK?

Base Damage
Lets take a look at Magic Missile, and a wand (weapon or axe) with a 8-12 damage range, once per second, this results in an average 10 DPS. This is what your weapon reports as DPS, the other stats are there, but in the small print.

The weapon damage is the actual damage the weapon has, not DPS. This is why 2 hand weapons are often favored. They do more damage, but slower. So they may do 15 damage, but only 0.65 times per second. That’s still 10 DPS. But the spell amplifies the damage more, as it starts with more.
+damage items, such as rings, increase this base damage. This is a key factor to increasing your total damage output, as it gets magnified by all other damage multipliers (spells, int, skills).
Intelligence Bonus
The intelligence percentage works like this. Each point of intelligence boosts damage by 1%. So 110 int, increases damage by 110%. That is a 2.1 multiplier (shifting it from % to decimals, and treating it as a 100% increase).
Spell Bonus
Magic Missile then comes into effect, and deals damage specified it by its spell effect, listed as 110% under the skill. So it takes the damage listed in your inventory screen, and does 110%. If you did 100 damage, MM will hit for 110 damage.
Putting it all together
To determine the spell damage you take your:
(Weapon Damage with +damage from items) * Intelligence % * Spell Effect
So, if we start with a wand that averages 10 damage we get:
Weapon Damage (10) * Intelligence (2.10) * Spell Effect (1.10) for: 23.1 damage.
Now, if you increase the weapon damage, the effect grows. Not only does the weapon provide a bigger base damage to start with, but the % increase from intelligence and the spell have a bigger impact. 10% of 15, is larger than 10% of 10 for example.
So if we use a weapon that does 15 damage (the extra 5 damage from the weapon, or +damage items) we get: 15*2.1*1.1 = ~34.6 Damage.
That 5 additional damage gave us a head start, but the int and spell effect also gave us ~19.6 damage from intelligence and spell effect, while the 10 damage weapon only gained us 13.1 from our base.
This means, especially at low levels, that an increase in weapon damage, either from the weapon, or +damage rings etc, can have a huge effect on your damage output. That +damage is added to your base weapon damage, so it’s also amplified by your intelligence and your spell effects. If you have to choose between +damage or +int, go for the damage.
At higher levels, when adding 5 or 6 damage to your base isn’t that big an increase the need to prefer damage over intelligence boosts evens out a lot more.
So where do I see spell DPS?
The short version of this is that the damage reported on your inventory screen is the damage the skills boost when you cast them. If you get that number up, through whatever combination of items, your spell damage will go up. It factors in all items and modifiers before the spell automatically.
The damage increase listed in the stat summary of the items, when you compare them, is accurate, as best as I can determine. If it says your damage will increase 10 points by swapping the items, it appears accurate when I test by monitoring Hydra damage.
There is only one catch. For the time being, when comparing a 2H weapon to a 1H weapon, the game only reports the damage increase from swapping the weapons only. It does not factor in the loss of any bonuses from your offhand item. After you swap out a 1H item for a 2H, check the inventory screen for the final result, listed on the left side of the inventory window. When comparing a 1h to a 1h or a 2h to a 2h, the item reports the correct change in stats.
Elemental or Bonus Damage on a weapon:
So you have a 10dps sword, with +2 cold damage…why don’t you strike for 12 damage?
--The damage listed on the weapon is already integrated into the weapons base damage. The DPS takes it into account. You can confirm this by socketing a Ruby into your weapon. The base damage jumps, AND it lists the rubies bonus…so it does the math for you, but lets you know in case you have any +Cold damage % skills, which will only effect the +2 cold damage (not the entire weapon damage).
--The spells you cast usually replace the elemental damage type with their own. +2 cold damage from a physical blow will chill or freeze an enemy. From Magic missile, it’s converted to arcane, and will not chill your target. The damage is still there, in the base damage. It just isn’t cold damage anymore. Some spells retain the damage type. Spectral blades IIRC will deal cold damage if using a cold weapon.
2H vs 1H weapons
Now, does this mean that bigger base damage (i.e. 2H weapons) are always better than 1H? First, that’s gear dependent. If you get a nice off hand item you may end up doing more damage if you factor in it’s bonuses. Second you give up any other perks the off hand item provides. So no blocking from shields, less magical abilities (only one items worth in the 2H, vs the two items worth in the 1h & offhand). That can factor into decisions.
Weapon Speed
Wizards still care about this, as many spells casting time is linked to the weapon speed. If you have a faster weapon you can cast more spells per second. This is really good if you rely on signature (free) spells, or have abilities that you want to trigger. This, btw, is often refered to as a 'proc' for programmed random occurance. For example the lightning rune on magic weapon can trigger extra lightning strikes. Faster casts mean more chances for it to proc. (Thanks Leetnoob)
However if you like big burst damage spells (arcane orb) you may just want more damage. The limiting factor for them is not how fast you can cast them, but that you can only cast 3 or so before you are out of AP. Some spells, like Hydra, are extreme examples. You only get 1 hydra….doesn’t matter how fast you cast it, so more damage outweighs faster weapons, so 2H weapons win there. (Thanks Morphos)
For channeled spells (rays and torrent) the 2H weapons can still out perform faster 1H weapons, and this comes down, again, to mana cost. The two weapon types will have similar DPS, but the 1H weapons trigger more often (as seen by a 'pulse' in the beams), draining AP more often. So you spend more AP per damage point, for the same DPS. Unless you have some abilities you want to proc, this may be to inefficient for some builds & gear sets. (Thanks Dedna & JumpSec)
This doesn't mean 1H weapons (with a good offhand) are automatically worse. It is possible to make up for the AP 'inefficiency' of 1H weapons. Faster casting essentially costs more AP per second, meaning a fast caster will be out of AP and have to wait for the recharge. The advantage of the 1H is that they won't just wait during this phase. A skilled player will spam the 'free' signature spells during this time. This may be enough to close the damage gap between the weak AP spells of faster casts, compared to the strong AP spells of slow casts.
It can also be argued that it allows more flexibility and control. A fast caster will throw out 3 weaker Arcane Orbs (AO) really fast to smash the front ranks of a crowd, then fire off some chain lightning to catch stragglers, or try to get the back ranks (where summoners like to hide). If you throw in some other abilities triggered on each hit (paralysis, AP on crit) you may make up for the AP inefficiency in other ways (signature spells runed for AP gain)
Whether or not it's worth the extra work is up to the user, the available gear and their playstyle.
Damage Boosting Skills (MAGIC WEAPON)
Magic Weapon boosts your weapon damage, which increases spell damage. This bonus is applied alongside the intelligence and spell effect boosts. So a 10% boost from magic weapon on a 100 damage item, makes it a 110 damage item. If you have a 200% intelligence boost, and spell effect (to make the math easy) that gives you 440 damage output. Without the magic weapon, you would get 400 damage.
Note: Magic weapon may be bugged, and providing a 20% damage boost instead of the 10% reported on the skill.
These skills all stack, so if you get 10% from MW, 20% from the slow time rune, those both multiply your base damage. So the 100 damage item is run through:
100 damage * 2 (200% intelligence) * 2(spell effect %) * 1.1 (10% MW) *1.2 (slow time rune) = 528 damage
Some skills, like Familiar, do not boost the damage, as they fire their own bolt of energy at your target. The end effect is the enemy takes more damage (at the 20% familiar reports) it’s just not from your arcane orb, or other spells. That is unless you select a specific rune.

Quick FAQ to sum all this up:
1) Do Weapons MATTER for a wizard?
Yes. All damage dealing skills are based off of weapon damage.
Want to know how much your weapon damage is boosted by spell?
--Hold 'ctrl' while hovering over the skill.
--Or select 'advanced tooltips' from the 'gameplay' option menu.
But wizards shouldn’t use axes!
If you say that doesn't make sense...I say it's MAGIC!
If you think it makes wands/staffs obsolete…they get comparable DPS to other weapons (compare wands to 1h ranged, and staffs to 2h weapons), and get wizard desired bonuses (+AP on crit, etc).
2) Want more spell damage?
In general order of effectiveness:
--Equip a weapon that has a higher base damage.
--Equip items with +damage bonus (this is added to base weapon damage).
--Equip items with +intelligence bonus (this multiplies base weapon damage).
--Use skills that boost weapon DPS. (Magic Weapon). Boosting weapon damage, boosts spell damage.
--Higher attack speeds affect cast rate…this one is a bit more complicated, but all other things being equal, higher attack rates win.
3) Do Weapon effects transfer to spells?
Yes. Life steal, experience gain, damage, it all transfers to your spells.
4) Where is the regular attack? I want to shoot my bow!
Your signature spells (your 'primary' skills) are free to cast, and will do more damage than your base attack, plus other nifty status effects. There is no real reason I can imagine to want your basic attack. Other classes don't use their basic attacks either, and even in D2 it usually fell to the wayside.
If you want it: Merely drag your selected skill off of the primary or secondary skill slot. The default is a normal weapon attack.
If it's because you want a close range spell, like spectral blades, and a long range, like magic missle at the same time, but can't set it up...you can!
5) Want two defense spells? Two signature spells?
Turn on 'Elective Mode' in the gameplay options menu and you can now map any skill to any hotbar slot. So you can have both slow time and diamond skin, or spectral blades and magic missile.

For more in-depth guides for Wizards I would check out the Diablo 3 Gold Secrets By Peng Joon guide.

• Lvl1 30 Builds
• Lvl30 50 Builds
• Lvl50 69 Builds
• Lvl70 Builds

Stat Priority | Patch 2.1.2

Managing Primary (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Vitality) and Secondary (Critical Chance, Critical Damage, Attack Speed, Weapon Damage, Armor, etc.) stats is critical for maximizing your Crusader. Below are listed the two stat priorities for both max damage and max survivability.

Max DPS

Weapon Damage > Strength > Crit Chance >= Crit Damage > Attack Speed

Max Survivability

Resists = Armor > Strength = Vitality

DPS Stats Breakdown

Weapon Damage
Increases the damage dealt by skills. Higher top end weapon damage and a smaller damage range will produce stronger attacks.

Strength
Multiplies all Crusader damage.

Crit Chance
Increases the base chance of obtaining a critical hit. Crit Chance is best stacked with Crit Damage at a ratio of about 1:8. For example, if you have 10% Crit Chance then you should have +80% Crit Damage. As a note, Crit Damage is much easier to obtain than Crit Chance so you may end up with more Crit Damage than is optimal for your amount of Crit Chance.

Crit Damage
Increases the damage done by critical hits. See the Crit Chance definition for more information on how to best stack Crit Damage with Crit Chance.

Attack Speed
Increases the frequency of your attacks and reduces the duration of the combat animation for each attack. A faster attack speed produces more attacks in less time and increases your mobility by reducing the time of combat animations.

Survival Stats Breakdown

Resists
Reduces the amount of damage received from specific types of attacks. Resists are offered for Physical, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Poison, Arcane/Holy, and All damage. Resist All is preferred over individual Resist types.

Armor
Reduces the amount of damage received from all attacks.

Strength
Increases Armor rating.

Vitality
Increases your maximum amount of Health.

Crusader Stats

The following stats are specific to a Crusader:

Diablo 3 Damage Or Attack Speed

Max Wrath
Increases your maximum amount of Wrath.

Crusader Skill Bonus
These bonuses increase the damage of certain Crusader skills. The skills that can be modified by skill bonuses found on armor and weapons are listed below:

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Diablo 3 Attack Speed Breakpoints

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