Weapon Normalization

[Bolty]

So I have so far not read much in the way of theorycraft at all... weapon damage counts on spells? Is there a nice summary about how damage is calculated?

I don't have numbers to throw at you, but the main basic point to skill usage in Diablo III is that your gear factors in to all skills. A level 60 Wizard wearing level 1 gear will do quite poorly. This is a stark difference to Diablo 1 and Diablo 2, where your skills had innate damage statistics - thus leading to fun variants like naked or "beyond naked" mages.

Diablo III is insanely gear-centric. Your weapon speed directly controls your skill speed, even for casters.