Blizzard Quote [source]

Hey everyone,

I wanted all of you to be some of the first to know that I've made an important decision about my future, and how that decision will affect the future of Diablo.

I recently celebrated my seven-year anniversary working on Diablo III, and while it's been one of the most challenging and rewarding periods of my life, I've reached a point creatively where I'm looking forward to working on something new. The powers that be at Blizzard have been gracious enough to give me that opportunity. Over the course of the next several weeks, I will be moving off of the Diablo III project and transitioning elsewhere within Blizzard. This decision was not an easy one for me, and not one I made quickly, but ultimately it's what I feel is right.

The first thing I want to assure you all is that this will not negatively impact our ongoing support of Diablo III. The game was not made by one person, far from it, and the team that poured their passion and considerable talent into it isn't going anywhere. We have lots of things planned for the future, and those plans will carry forward as normal. I also won't be abandoning the team, and will remain available to them during the transition period while we determine who will take over duties as game director.

To that point, you shouldn't be surprised if you see a job posting for a game director on Diablo III, as we want to make sure we explore every opportunity to find the best possible leadership for the project. We're looking forward to finding this person and hearing what kind of fresh ideas they can bring to the table.

I'm proud of Diablo III, and despite our differences at times I will miss the community that has formed around it. I feel I have made many mistakes in managing that relationship, but my intent was always to provide a great gaming experience, and be as open and receptive as possible, while still sticking true to the vision the Diablo team has for the game.

I know some of you feel we fell short of our promise to release the game "when it's ready." While we're not perfect, we try to make the best decisions we can with the information and knowledge we have at the time. That doesn't mean we always make the right decisions, but if we made a mistake then I feel we've made an exceptional effort to correct it.

This is what you can always count on from Blizzard: that we will stand by our games and make every effort to continually improve them over time. We heard the feedback and suggestions from the community. For example, we agreed that Diablo III's itemization at launch was not good enough, so the team made numerous changes, including changing drop rates, re-tuning legendaries, and adding scores of new items to the game. We also agreed that the end game needed more depth, so the team added new events, and new systems like Monster Power and Paragon levels.

Our commitment to making our games as good as they can be is what has always defined Blizzard as a game studio, and that commitment never ends for us at a ship date. With your help, we'll continue to play, debate, and improve Diablo III, as we've done with every Blizzard game.

To that end, patch 1.0.7 is underway, the PTR is live, and there are many other great things brewing for Diablo in 2013. I'm leaving Diablo III in good hands, and my departure will not jeopardize the progress of the game as we continue to do what we do: listen, play, and improve.

You are the most passionate, dedicated group of gamers a designer could hope to have. I wish you all the best, and want to thank you for making this an amazing experience for me. Keep your axes sharp, your spell books handy, and that crafty devil in check.

--Jay

Blizzard Quote [source]

Below you'll find the preliminary PTR patch notes for 1.0.7. Please note that this isn't the final version of the 1.0.7 notes and that some changes may not be documented or described in full detail.

To provide feedback on these changes, please visit the PTR Feedback forum. To report any issues you experience while playing, please visit the the PTR Bug Report forum. Additional information about the PTR can be found in the PTR FAQ.

PTR Patch 1.0.7 - v.1.0.7.14161

These notes will be updated through the course of the testing process. Please be aware some changes may not go live until a new PTR build is released.

Table of Contents

• Patch Features
• General
• Auction House
• Battle.net
• Bosses
• Classes
• Crafting
• Items
• Monsters
• User Interface
• Bug Fixes

 Patch Features

New Feature: Dueling
For those who wish to test their mettle against fellow Nephalem, your time has come. Players will now be able to duel one another in a new zone designed specifically for this style of combat. This zone can be accessed by speaking with Nek the Brawler located at the inn in New Tristram, and supports 2 to 4 players in a Free-For-All format.

To learn more about dueling, click here!

 General

• Nephalem Valor stacks will now persist through Acts
• Base pick-up radius for all characters has been increased from 1.5 yards to 3 yards
• The resurrection timer will no longer increase if a player is killed multiple times in a row
• Players should no longer play a flinching animation (causing them to briefly lose control of their character) if they are hit by multiple monsters at the same time
• The experience bonus rewarded for killing monsters on Monster Power levels 1-10 in Inferno has been increased:
  • MP 1: 25% (up from 10%)
  • MP 2: 50% (up from 20%)
  • MP 3: 80% (up from 30%)
  • MP 4: 120%(up from 45%)
  • MP 5: 165% (up from 60%)
  • MP 6: 215% (up from 75%)
  • MP 7: 275% (up from 95%)
  • MP 8: 340% (up from 115%)
  • MP 9: 420% (up from 135%
  • MP 10: 510% (up from 160%)
• When resuming a game, players will now be placed in town instead of at the last known checkpoint (a portal will be available to take you to your last known checkpoint, if desired)

 Auction House

• User Interface
  • Cancelled PayPal auctions will now display a UI error
• Bug Fixes
  • Stash Tab Art will now properly update when viewed in the Auction House

 Battle.net

• General
  • Monster Power is now available for Public Games
    • Players can now select their desired Monster Power level from a drop-down when joining Public Games provided that the “Enable Monster Power” box has been checked in the Options menu
  • “Report Botting” has been added to the right-click > report player menus
  • The Battle.net UI now displays how many players are online

 Bosses

• General
  • Izual is now included in the list of bosses that grant an extra reward when you have 5 stacks of Nephalem Valor, and the overall reward for killing him has been increased

 Classes

• Barbarian
  • Bug Fixes
    • Threatening Shout – Grim Harvest should no longer cause monsters to drop loot multiple times
• Demon Hunter
  • Bug Fixes
    • The Reflects Damage affix will now properly reflect damage caused by Bola Shot
• Monk
  • Active Skills
    • Cyclone Strike
      • Weapon damage increased from 100% to 313%
    • Dashing Strike
      • Weapon damage increased from 160% to 303%
    • Exploding Palm
      • Explosion damage increased from 30% to 50% of the target’s maximum health
    • Inner Sanctuary
      • Radius increased from 8 yards to 11 yards
      • Skill Rune – Forbidden Palace
        • Damage bonus increased from 10% to 15%
      • Skill Rune – Sanctified Ground
        • Now reduces enemy movement speed by 80% (up from 60%)
    • Lashing Tail Kick
      • Weapon damage increased from 235% to 470%
    • Mystic Ally
      • The amount of damage a Mystic Ally can take from a single hit is now capped
        • The cap scales with the player's level, and is further reduced by the player's Armor and Resistance
      • Skill Rune – Eternal Ally
        • Weapon Damage increased from 40% to 60%
        • The Eternal Ally now has a 100% chance to be reborn after 3 seconds (up from 50% and down from 5 seconds)
      • Skill Rune – Fire Ally
        • The cooldown of the Fire Ally’s special attack has been reduced from 8 seconds to 4 seconds
      • Skill Rune – Water Ally
        • The Water Ally’s special attack now reduces enemy movement speed by 60% (up from 30%)
        • The cooldown of the Water Ally’s special attack has been reduced from 8 seconds to 4 seconds
    • Sweeping Wind
      • Base weapon damage increased from 15% to 20% per stack
      • Skill Rune – Blade Storm
        • Weapon damage increased from 20% to 26% per stack
      • Skill Rune – Cyclone
        • Weapon damage increased from 20% to 26% per stack
    • Tempest Rush
      • Weapon Damage increased from 85% to 155%
    • Wave of Light
      • Weapon damage increased from 390% to 829%
  • Passive Skills
    • Near Death Experience
      • Dying will now reset the cooldown
  • Bug Fixes
    • Fixed an issue where Sweeping Wind was not actively updating its damage and attributes from the player
• Witch Doctor
  • Active Skills
    • Spirit Barrage
      • Skill Rune – Well of Souls
        • The secondary missiles fired by this rune can now hit the primary target
• Wizard
  • Active Skills
    • Arcane Orb
      • Weapon damage increased from 175% to 200%
      • Skill Rune – Obliteration
        • Weapon damage increased from 228% to 260%
    • Blizzard
      • Weapon damage increased from 210% to 510% over 6 seconds
      • Proc coefficient increased from 0.01 to 0.0125
      • Skill Rune – Grasping Chill
        • Proc coefficient increased from 0.01 to 0.0125
      • Skill Rune – Frozen Solid
        • Proc coefficient increased from 0.01 to 0.0125
      • Skill Rune – Stark Winter
        • Proc coefficient increased to from 0.005 to 0.0125
      • Skill Rune – Snowbound
        • Proc coefficient increased to from 0.01 to 0.0125
      • Skill Rune – Unrelenting Storm
        • Weapon damage increased from 280% to 680%
    • Shock Pulse
      • Weapon damage increased from 105% to 150%
      • Proc coefficient increased from 0.667 to 0.8
      • Skill Rune – Fire Bolts
        • Weapon damage increased from 152% to 195%
        • Proc coefficient increased from 0.667 to 0.8
      • Skill Rune – Explosive Bolts
        • Weapon damage increased from 70% to 105%
        • Proc coefficient increased from 0.5 to 0.8
      • Skill Rune – Lightning Affinity
        • Proc coefficient increased from 0.667 to 0.8
      • Skill Rune – Living Lightning
        • Weapon damage increased from 37% to 52%
  • Passive Skills
    • Critical Mass
      • Critical Mass now affects the cooldowns of Archon: Teleport and Archon: Slow Time while in Archon Form
    • Temporal Flux
      • Now reduces enemy movement speed by 60% for 3 seconds (up from 30% and 2 seconds)
    • Unstable Anomaly
      • Now activates upon receiving fatal damage (changed from when a player is reduced below 30% Life)
      • Dying will now reset the cooldown
  • Bug Fixes
    • Blizzard Critical Hits now correctly have a chance to proc Arcane Power on Crit

 Crafting

• General
  • A new crafting reagent, Demonic Essence, has been added to the game
    • This reagent is account-bound and can be acquired from Elite monsters in Inferno difficulty
    • Nephalem Valor will not be required in order for Demonic Essences to drop
    • However, each level of Monster Power will increase the drop chance of Demonic Essence from Elites according to the following values:
      • MP 0: 20.0000%
      • MP 1: 23.0000%
      • MP 2: 26.4500%
      • MP 3: 30.4175%
      • MP 4: 34.9801%
      • MP 5: 40.2271%
      • MP 6: 46.2612%
      • MP 7: 53.2004%
      • MP 8: 61.1805%
      • MP 9: 70.3575%
      • MP 10: 80.9112%
  • The drop rate for Blacksmithing Plans and Jeweler Designs has been increased by 400%
• Blacksmith
  • Four Rare recipes have been added to the Blacksmith: Archon Spaulders (Shoulders), Archon Gauntlets (Gloves), Archon Armor (Chest Armor), Razorspikes (Bracers)
    • Each crafted item will have the following characteristics:
      • iLevel 63
      • 6 Affixes
      • Account-bound
      • Similar to the Hellfire Ring, it will have four variants, each guaranteeing a fixed core stat which will have the highest range available in the game
    • Crafting the item will require 1 Demonic Essence (other reagent costs will vary per recipe)
• Jeweler
  • A new Rare recipe has been added to the Jeweler for an Amulet
    • This amulet will have the following characteristics:
      • iLevel 63
      • 6 Affixes
      • Account-bound
      • Similar to the Hellfire Ring, it will have four variants, each guaranteeing a fixed core stat which will have the highest range available in the game
    • Crafting the item will require the 1 Demonic Essence as well as:
      • 100,000g
      • 1 Perfect Gem (varied depending on which core stat you select)
      • 1 Fiery Brimstone
  • A new tier of account-bound gems of has been added to the game: Marquise
    • Marquise Gems stats are as follows:
      • Marquise Emerald
        • Weapon: Increased Critical Hit Damage by 110%
        • Helm: +33% Extra Gold from Monsters
        • Armor: +62 Dexterity
      • Marquise Topaz
        • Weapon: Melee attackers take 2200 per hit
        • Helm: 33% Better chance of finding magical items
        • Armor: +62 Intelligence
      • Marquise Amethyst
        • Weapon: Each Hit adds +700 Life
        • Helm: +19% Life
        • Armor: +62 Vitality
      • Marquise Ruby
        • Weapon: +150 Minimum and +150 Maximum Damage
        • Helm: Increases Bonus Experience by 33%
        • Armor: +62 Strength
    • These gems can only be created at the Jeweler and will require the following reagents:
      • 3 Radiant Star Gems
      • 20 million gold
      • 1 Demonic Essence
    • Un-socketing Marquise gems will cost 5 million gold
    • The designs for the Marquise gems will drop randomly from all level 63 monsters
      • Note: The designs are not account-bound

 Items

• General
  • Crafting Plans and Jeweler Designs have been added for all of the new Rare recipes listed above
    • These plans (excluding the chest piece) will drop randomly in the world, but have a 50% chance to drop off the following bosses when you have 5 stacks of Nephalem Valor:
      • Skeleton King
      • Spider Queen
      • Maghda
      • Zoltun Kulle
      • Ghom
      • Cydaea
      • Rakanoth
      • Izual
    • The Archon Armor recipe can be purchased from Squirt the Peddler for 1.5 million gold each
    • Please note that neither the Crafting plans nor the Jeweler Design are account-bound
  • Holding shift while buying health potions will attempt to purchase 5 potions at once
  • Follower items below iLevel 60 will now no longer drop in Inferno
  • Goldskin now has a limit on the number of times it can proc on a single target
• Vendors
  • Squirt the Peddler no longer sells Dyes, but (as noted above) will now sell the plans for the Archon Armor recipe for 1.5 million gold each
• Bug Fixes
  • Goldskin will no longer proc when attacking monsters that drop no loot
  • Plans: Staff of Herding can now be dropped on the ground, or sold to a vendor for 0 gold
  • All Staves of Herding can now be sold to a vendor for 0 gold

 Monsters

• General
  • The Reflects Damage affix has been redesigned:
    • It will now apply a short duration buff to the monster and will only reflect a percentage of damage dealt back to the player while that buff is active
    • A visual effect will display whenever the durational buff is active
  • Damage dealt by pets to monster with Reflects Damage affix will no longer be reflected back to the player
  • Damage dealt by the Molten affix has been reduced by 40%
  • Damage dealt by the Plagued affix has been increased by 120%
  • Fallen Lunatics should now detonate in a more consistent manner
  • The Triune Berserker before Alcarnus should no longer swing faster after a few attacks
  • Keywardens:
    • The Act II Keywarden (Sokahr) should now only use its mortar ability in Inferno difficulty
    • The Act III Keywarden (Xah’Rith) should now only use its rain of corpses ability in Inferno difficulty
    • The Act IV Keywarden (Nekarat) should now only use its earthquake and charge abilities in Inferno difficulty
• Bug Fixes
  • Rare Sand Dwellers will now spawn in The Forgotten Ruins
  • Champion Plague Swarms will now spawn in Cryder’s Outpost
  • Champion Fallen Cur will now spawn in The Storm Halls

 User Interface

• General
  • Legendary items now have a new mini-map icon
    • This icon should now persist properly and be shown on the mini-map so long as the player is in the same zone as the dropped item
    • Note: The icon will only display when Legendary items are dropped by a monster, not a player
• Bug Fixes
  • Fixed an issue causing the Enable Monster Power option to reset
  • Fixed an issue affecting the scroll speed of text
  • Vendors will now properly display an Armor tab when you are in an Inferno game with Monster Power set above 0

 Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where new Hardcore characters were not labeled as Hardcore on the homepage
• Fixed an error that could occur when closing the World of Warcraft client while the Diablo III client was still running

Blizzard Quote [source]

For the patch 1.0.7 PTR, unidentified items cannot be copied over from the live client to the PTR client.

Since there won't be any warning or error messages for this restriction (the stash/inventory slots which held the unindentified items will just appear empty once your character is copied over), we'll be creating a reminder post in the PTR Feedback forum once the PTR is live.

Blizzard Quote [source]

Don't believe that's planned, but one of the new crafted items (the amulet) will require Brimstones as a reagent.

We know that this likely won't resolve the Brimstone surplus completely, and we may end up adding Brimstones as a reagent for some of the other recipes and/or changing the current cost for the amulet. It's something we've discussed, and we're open to your thoughts on the matter.

Even so, the new Rare items already have a fairly high reagent cost, and we don't want to make crafting them too prohibitive, as that will mean we won't see much movement of commodities out of the economy. When it comes to item sinks, it's usually better to have a larger number of players crafting items with a slightly less expensive reagent cost than it is to have a very small number of players crafting items with a much more exorbitant cost.

Speaking of, I feel it's important to note that the crafting costs of items being introduced in 1.0.7 are subject to change, so please keep that in mind before liquidating certain assets (or, conversely, stocking up on others).

Blizzard Quote [source]

The new Rare crafted items currently aren't designed to salvage back into a Demonic Essence. Right now they're set to salvage into Rare crafting materials, just like other Rare items.

We're thinking about allowing the items to have a very small chance to salvage into a Demonic Essence, but that's definitely not a confirmed decision. It won't be something that's available on the first build of the PTR.

Blizzard Quote [source]

Under the current design which is shipping with the PTR, Nephalem Valor will not be required in order for Demonic Essences to drop.