Storm Armor (25 Arcane Power): For the next 120 seconds, you are surrounded by crackling electricity that strikes nearby (~20 yards or closer) enemies who attack you for 70% weapon damage as Lightning damage. You can only have one Armor spell active at a time.
Storm Armor is pretty much a mirror to Ice Armor- where the latter skill is a reflexive defense triggered by being hit, Storm Armor is an automatic offense triggered by proximity. It’s not going to have much, if any, effect on how much damage you take because it doesn’t actually do anything about keeping you alive. There is the minor benefit that always goes with Lightning damage- that enemies critically hit by it get briefly Stunned- but without a massive investment in critical hit chance this really isn’t going to do a lot about incoming damage. Because of that, this armor is best used by a long-range Wizard as a way of increasing the damage dealt to enemies that close with you to reach their optimal range.
Reactive Armor (25 Arcane Power): For the next 120 seconds, you are surrounded by crackling electricity that strikes nearby (~20 yards or closer) enemies who attack you for 70% weapon damage as Lightning damage. Additionally, when you are struck, you have a chance (~30%) to be wreathed in lightning for the next 6 seconds which frequently lashes out at nearby enemies and deals 50% weapon damage as Lightning damage. You can only have one Armor spell active at a time.
A pure enhancement to the offense of Storm Armor, Reactive Armor remains a skill for the long-range Wizards, improving on Storm Armor’s ability to squeeze out that last bit of damage against enemies who close with you or possibly even topple the weakest enemies on its own so that you can worry less about them.
Power of the Storm (25 Arcane Power): For the next 120 seconds, you are surrounded by crackling electricity that strikes nearby (~20 yards or closer) enemies who attack you for 70% weapon damage as Lightning damage, and reduces the Arcane Power cost of all your skills by 3. You can only have one Armor spell active at a time.
For those who never seem to have enough Arcane Power, this rune is a great help. Long-range Wizards will love Power of the Storm, as it lets them spam their more powerful attacks more frequently, reducing the number of enemies that survive to reach close or melee range. Generally speaking, this is the best offensive rune for Storm Armor.
Strike Back (25 Arcane Power): For the next 120 seconds, you are surrounded by crackling electricity that strikes nearby (~20 yards or closer) enemies who attack you for 91% weapon damage as Lightning damage. You can only have one Armor spell active at a time.
This rune is, frankly, unimpressive. While the increased damage isn’t bad, having Reactive Armor is going to pump out far more additional damage, and the increased number of attacks provided by the earlier rune gives a much larger chance of Stunning any given enemy. You probably shouldn’t even bother considering this rune.
Scramble (25 Arcane Power): For the next 120 seconds, you are surrounded by crackling electricity that strikes nearby (~20 yards or closer) enemies who attack you for 70% weapon damage as Lightning damage. Additionally, whenever you are hit with a melee attack, your movement speed is increased by 25% for 3 seconds, but this boost does not stack. You can only have one Armor spell active at a time.
Scramble is, like most forms of Storm Armor, a great help to long-range Wizards. The movement boost is a great way to reposition when your previous location is getting overwhelmed with melee attackers, and as a wizard, overwhelming you in melee isn’t hard to do thanks to your lack of reliance on an attribute that improves your defenses to weapon attacks. Generally, long-range Wizards will be choosing between this, Reactive Armor, and Power of the Storm.
Shocking Aspect (25 Arcane Power): For the next 120 seconds, you are surrounded by crackling electricity that strikes nearby (~20 yards or closer) enemies who attack you for 70% weapon damage as Lightning damage. Additionally, when you score a critical hit, a nearby enemy will be struck by the armor for 35% weapon damage as Lightning damage. You can only have one Armor spell active at a time.
If you happen to be a close-range Wizard with a heavy investment in critical hits who doesn’t find the other two armors more useful on account of their ability to enhance your survival, I guess you could use Shocking Aspect. But it’s really not advisable- while it improves your damage output a bit, it just doesn’t do anything to keep you on your feet and you need that more out of your Armor effect than you need added damage. That makes this skill pretty meh.
