De tre burkarna kan grovt delas upp genom sin skola eller status inom mage-klanen.
Magi kan tillämpas som en generisk term eller, mer korrekt, till en av mage-klanerna i öst.
Sorcerers har inte den officiella anknytningen, men delar magiens träning och använder magi på ett liknande sätt. De kan anses vara vandrande magi.
Trollkarlar är oseriösa magiska användare, födda av sin egen talang istället för att skola i mage-klanen och deras magiska skolor. De respekterar inte samma normer som magi och trollkarlar.
Från Diablo I manualen:
Although practitioners of the mystic arts are scarce within the often superstitious and religious lands of the West, many magi have made the pilgrimage from the Far East to see for themselves what horrors lie beneath the ruined Cathedral of Khanduras. The veiled Brotherhood of the Vizjerei, one of the eldest and most dominant mage-clans of the East, has sent many of its acolytes to observe the dark events unfolding in Khanduras first hand.
The Vizjerei, known for their brightly colored turinash -or spirit-robes have taken a keen interest in both gathering knowledge of demons and seeing them slain. The Vizjerei elders hope that their acolytes will learn the secrets of the dark evil that they sense growing in the West and can destroy it. The possibility of discovering long-lost tomes of magical knowledge within the confines of the labyrinth has also captured the interest of many wandering Sorcerers.
Från Blizzards klassbeskrivning av guiden i Diablo III:
Magic-users hail from academies throughout Sanctuary – from Xiansai to Caldeum – bearing monikers like "sorcerer" and "mage," but those who would refer to themselves with the derogatory epithet "wizard" are as similar to their fellow spellcasters as a lion is to a kitten. Wizards and sorcerers both wield the hidden mysteries of the arcane; there, the commonalities end.
Wizards are known for a number of qualities: not only rebelliousness and flair, but also disdain for the endless lessons and prattling about caution and safety that echo from academic schools of magic. Wizards’ superior attitudes seem to stem from their natural talent – their ability to wrestle the ambient force of magic into submission and direct it to their ends by will and instinct. Any accidents that might occur due to their lack of finesse are unfortunate…but that rarely stops wizards from indulging in their unstable power.