Blizzard Quote [source]

Diablo III Season 6 is now live in all gameplay regions! To create a Seasonal hero, select your class, gender, and name as usual, then select the "Seasonal Hero" checkbox on the lower left of the screen.

What Are Seasons?

Seasons are an optional, recurring game mode that offers PC players the opportunity to periodically start fresh, leveling new Normal or Hardcore heroes from level 1 without any currency, resources, items, or previously earned Paragon experience. Similar to the separation between Normal and Hardcore game modes, Seasonal heroes will also have their own shared stash and Artisan progression. Any currency, materials, recipes, items, Paragon experience, and Artisan progression earned during a Season will be rolled over to a player's non-Seasonal profile once the Season concludes.

Season 6 will offer unique rewards and new challenges for players, including new cosmetic items, pieces of an exclusive Transmogrification set only available to those who participate in Seasons, and Season-only achievements called Conquests. Progress within a given Season will also be tracked on the Leaderboard system, and in the Seasons Journey interface.

To learn more about Season 6, check out Diablo's Journey and Rewards previews.

Good luck, nephalem! May Kadala be generous and your deeds of valor always be remembered.�

Blizzard Quote [source]

Last updated April 5 @ 4:00 p.m. PT.

Below you'll find the preliminary PTR patch notes for patch 2.4.1. Please note that this isn't the final version of the patch notes and that some changes may not be documented or described in full detail.

PTR PATCH 2.4.1 - v2.4.1.36510

To provide feedback on patch 2.4.1, please visit the PTR Feedback forum.
To report any issues you experience while playing, please visit the PTR Bug Report forum.
For additional information about the PTR, click here.

Table of Contents:

• PTR-Only Changes
• General
• Classes
  • Barbarian
  • Crusader
  • Demon Hunter
  • Monk
  • Witch Doctor
  • Wizard
  • Bug Fixes
• Items
  • Class-Specific Items
  • Bug Fixes
• Adventure Mode
  • Bounties
  • Nephalem Rifts
  • Set Dungeons
  • Bug Fixes
• Crafting
• Monsters
• User Interface

PTR-ONLY CHANGES

• The following cosmetic items will no longer drop:
  • Dark Bat
  • Lord Culsu's Wings
  • Osseous Grasp
  • Wings of Kokabiel
• Bug Fixes
  • Fixed an issue that prevented Bakuli Jungle Wraps from dropping
  • Fixed an issue that caused the Thorns of the Invoker (2) Set Bonus to be lower than intended
  • Fixed an issue that prevented Esoteric Alteration from increasing its effect after gaining a rank
  • Fixed an issue that caused Taeguk to increase Armor by a lower amount than intended
  • Fixed an issue that caused the Mirinae, Teardrop of the Starweaver to list an incorrect value in its tooltip

Return to Top

GENERAL

• Several changes have been made to improve server performance
• Bug Fixes
  • Fixed an issue that prevented Massacre bonus experience from being calculated correctly

Return to Top

CLASSES

• Barbarian
  • Active Skills
    • Hammer of the Ancients
      • Skill Rune - Birthright
        • Now heals for 3% of your maximum Life on Critical Hits
        • No longer has a chance to drop a Health Globe
    • Ignore Pain
      • Skill Rune - Mob Rule
        • Damage reduction granted to allies has been reduced from 50% to 25%
  • Passive Skills
    • Tough as Nails
      • Thorns damage bonus increased from 50% to 100%

Return to Top

• Crusader
  • Active Skills
    • Akarat's Champion
      • The damage bonus granted is now multiplicative with other sources of bonus damage
    • Laws of Hope
      • Skill Rune - Hopeful Cry
        • Now reduces Physical damage taken by 25%
        • No longer has a chance to drop a Health Globe

Return to Top

• Demon Hunter
  • Active Skills
    • Companion
      • Skill Rune - Boar Companion
        • The Life per second and resistance bonuses are also granted to your allies
      • Skill Rune - Wolf Companion
        • The damage bonus granted is now multiplicative with other sources of bonus damage
  • Passive Skills
    • Steady Aim
      • The damage bonus granted is now multiplicative with other sources of bonus damage

Return to Top

• Monk
  • Bug Fixes
    • Fixed an issue that caused player Life to sometimes drop when Mystic Ally - Earth Ally was active

Return to Top

• Witch Doctor
  • Active Skills
    • Grasp of the Dead
      • Skill Rune - Death is Life
        • Chance to summon a Zombie Dog increased to 70%
        • No longer has a chance to drop a Health Globe

Return to Top

• Wizard
  • The Firebird's Finery (2) Set Bonus will now activate before Unstable Anomaly
  • Active Skills
    • Archon
      • Damage bonus increased from 20% to 30%
      • Armor and resistance bonuses increased from 20% to 150%
      • Damage bonus for each enemy killed is now multiplicative
      • Skill Rune - Improved Archon
        • Damage bonus increased from 22% to 50%
          • Note: This bonus is now multiplicative
      • Skill Rune - Teleport
        • Cooldown reduced from 3 to 2 seconds

Return to Top

• Bug Fixes
  • Fixed an issue that could sometimes prevent Hammer of the Ancients - Birthright from healing the player
  • Fixed an issue that prevented some skills from being cast after casting Shield Bash or Furious Charge
  • Fixed an issue that caused the Demon Hunter Wolf Companion to benefit from its active bonus twice

Return to Top

ITEMS

• Legendary potions can now be salvaged and will yield a Forgotten Soul
• Legendary Gems
  • Bane of the Powerful
    • Rank 25 now also reduces damage taken from Elites by 15%
    • The damage bonus granted is now multiplicative with other sources of bonus damage
  • Enforcer
    • Pet damage reduction increased from 25% to 90%
    • The damage bonus granted to pets is now multiplicative with other sources of bonus damage
  • Gem of Efficacious Toxin
    • Poisoned enemies now also deal 10% reduced damage
  • Gogok of Swiftness
    • Has been redesigned
      • Now applies swiftness with every attack
      • Now also grants 0.50% chance to dodge per stack
      • Dodge chance increases by 0.01% per rank
  • Mirinae, Teardrop of the Starweaver
    • Smite damage increased from 2000% to 3000% weapon damage
    • Additional damage per rank increased from 40% to 60% weapon damage
    • Duration between bonus Smite casts at rank 25 reduced from 5 to 3 seconds
    • Smite now also heals you for 3% of your maximum Life each time it hits an enemy
  • Moratorium
    • Chance to clear staggered damage increased from 10% to 20% per kill
  • Pain Enhancer
    • Bleed increased from 1200% to 2500% weapon damage
    • Additional damage per rank increased from 30% to 50% weapon damage
  • Simplicity's Strength
    • The damage bonus granted is now multiplicative with other sources of primary skill bonus damage
    • Heal amount increased from 2% to 4% of maximum Life
  • Taeguk
    • Has been redesigned
      • Now only gains stacks when you spend resource on a channeled skill
      • Now stacks up to 10 times
      • Stacks now expire after 1.5 seconds
      • Grants 2.0% damage per stack
      • Damage increases by 0.04% per rank
      • Grants 2% Armor per stack at rank 25
  • Wreath of Lightning
    • Lightning damage increased from 600% to 1250% weapon damage
    • Additional damage per rank increased from 10% to 25% weapon damage
  • Zei's Stone of Vengeance
    • Damage bonus per rank increased from 0.05% to 0.08% for every 10 yards between you and the enemy
• Depth Diggers
  • The damage bonus granted is now multiplicative with other sources of primary skill bonus damage
• Oculus Ring
  • Will now also be activated by your kills if equipped on your follower
• Sanguinary Vambraces
  • Now benefit from all sources of bonus damage
• Solanium
  • Can now only drop a Health Globe once every 8 seconds
• Several existing Legendary items have been updated to include a unique Legendary power
  • Note: Existing items will not be affected by the following changes. Only new versions of the items will roll with the added Legendary power.
  • Frostburn
    • Now has Cold skills deal +15-20% increased damage and have a 50% chance to Freeze enemies as a Legendary Power
  • Magefist
    • Now has Fire skills deal +15-20% increased damage as a Legendary Power
• Class-Specific Items
  • Barbarian
    • Immortal King's Call
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus increased from 250% to 400%
    • The Legacy of Raekor
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus per stack increased from 300% to 750%
    • Might of the Earth
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus increased from 800% to 1200%
    • Skull Grasp
      • Has been redesigned
        • Your Whirlwind deals 250-300% additional damage
          • Note: This bonus is multiplicative with other sources of Whirlwind damage
    • Wrath of the Wastes
      • (4) Set Bonus
        • Damage reduction gained during Whirlwind increased from 40% to 50%
        • Your applied Rends deal triple damage
  • Crusader
    • Flail of the Ascended
      • New Legendary Two-Handed Flail
        • Your Shield Glare deals damage equal to up to your last 5 Shield Bash casts
    • Johanna's Argument
      • Now also increases the damage of Blessed Hammer by 100%
    • Thorns of the Invoker
      • (2) Set Bonus
        • Damage per stack increased from 25% to 35%
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Bonus Thorns damage dealt increased from 600% to 800%
    • Roland's Legacy
      • (4) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus increased from 600% to 750%
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Duration increased from 5 to 8 seconds
  • Demon Hunter
    • Embodiment of the Marauder
      • (4) Set Bonus
        • Sentry damage bonus increased from 300% to 400%
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus for each active Sentry increased from 600% to 800%
    • Lord Greenstone's Fan
      • Damage bonus increased from 80-100% to 160-200% per stack
    • Meticulous Bolts
      • No longer drops
      • Replaced with:
        • Augustine's Panacea
          • New Legendary Quiver
            • Ball Lightning travels at 30% speed
            • Frost Arrow damage and chill duration increased by 200-250%
            • Immolation Arrow damage over time increased by 200-250%
            • Lightning Bolts damage and Stun duration increased by 200-250%
            • Nether Tentacles damage and healing increased by 200-250%
    • Natalya's Vengeance
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus increased from 400% to 500%
    • The Shadow's Mantle
      • (2) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus increased from 600% to 1200%
    • Unhallowed Essence
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus per point of Discipline increased from 20% to 40%
    • Wojahnni Assaulter
      • Rapid Fire damage bonus increased from 30-40% to 60-75% per stack
      • Channeling time required to gain a stack decreased from 1 second to 0.5 seconds
      • Now gains the first stack immediately
  • Monk
    • The Flow of Eternity
      • Now also increases your Seven-Sided Strike damage by 100%
    • Monkey King's Garb
      • (4) Set Bonus
        • Decoy damage increased from 500% to 1000% weapon damage per stack
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus increased from 1500% to 3000%
    • Raiment of a Thousand Storms
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Dashing Strike now also increases the damage of your Spirit Generators by 300% for 6 seconds
    • Shenlong's Spirit
      • (2) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus after reaching maximum Spirit increased from 100% to 150%
    • Uliana's Stratagem
      • (4) Set Bonus
        • Your Seven-Sided Strike deals double its total damage with each hit
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Now also increases your Exploding Palm damage by 250%
  • Witch Doctor
    • Bakuli Jungle Wraps
      • New Legendary Belt
        • Firebats deals 150-200% increased damage to enemies affected by Locust Swarm or Piranhas
    • Helltooth Harness
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus increased from 900% to 1400%
    • Raiment of the Jade Harvester
      • (2) Set Bonus
        • Instant Haunt damage dealt increased from 60 to 120 seconds worth
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Instant damage dealt when consuming DoTs increased from 150 to 300 seconds worth
    • Spirit of Arachyr
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus increased from 1200% to 1500%
    • Zunimassa's Haunt
      • (4) Set Bonus
        • Damage reduction per Fetish increased from 2% to 3%
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus increased from 800% to 1500%
  • Wizard
    • Delsere's Magnum Opus
      • (4) Set Bonus
        • Has been redesigned
          • You take 50% reduced damage while you have a Slow Time active
          • Your allies gain half this benefit
    • Halo of Karini
      • New Legendary Ring
        • You take 45-60% less damage for 3 seconds after your Storm Armor electrocutes an enemy more than 30 yards away
    • Firebird's Finery
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus for each enemy burning increased from 25% to 40%
        • Damage bonus when an Elite is burning increased from 600% to 2000%
    • Nilfur's Boast
      • Meteor damage bonus increased from 100% to 200%
      • Damage when hitting 3 or fewer enemies increased from 150-200% to 275-350%
    • Tal Rasha's Elements
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus increased from 500% to 750% per stack
    • The Twisted Sword
      • Can now only benefit from a maximum of 8 Energy Twisters
  • Several existing class-specific Legendary items have been updated to include a unique Legendary power
    • Note: Existing items will not be affected by the following changes. Only new versions of the items will roll with the added Legendary power.
    • Monk
      • Crystal Fist
        • Legendary power added
          • Dashing Strike reduces your damage taken by 40-50% for 6 seconds
        • Level requirement has been reduced
      • Fleshrake
        • Legendary power added
          • Dashing Strike increases the damage of Dashing Strike by 75-100% for 1 second, stacking up to 5 times
        • Level requirement has been reduced
    • Witch Doctor
      • Swamp Land Waders
        • Legendary power added
          • Sacrifice deals 350-400% additional damage to targets affected by Locust Swarm or Grasp of the Dead
        • Can now roll with a bonus to any elemental damage type available to Witch Doctors
  • Bug Fixes
    • Fixed an issue that caused Lakumbra's Ornament from granting the correct damage reduction value
    • Fixed an issue that prevented the Raiment of a Thousand Storms (6) Set Bonus from being applied while under the effects of a Chaneling Pylon
    • Fixed an issue that prevented Sacrifice from triggering the Focus portion of the Bastions of Will (2) Set Bonus
    • Fixed an issue that prevented projectiles from piercing while Vengeance was active with a Buriza-Do Kanyon equipped
    • Fixed an issue that could cause the damage from Moratorium to kill a player in a Set Dungeon
    • Fixed an issue that caused extra Fires of Heaven casts from Ivory Tower to trigger the Wrathful Passive Skill
    • Fixed an issue that caused The Twisted Sword stacks to be consumed when using Energy Twister - Storm Chaser
    • Fixed an issue that prevented the Norvald's Fervor (2) Set Bonus from being granted while using Steed Charge
    • Fixed an issue that could sometimes prevent Ice Armor from triggering the Tal Rasha's Elements (2) Set Bonus with Halo of Arlyse equipped
    • Fixed an issue that caused Tal Rasha's Elements (2) Set Bonus to behave inconsistently with Etched Sigil casts
    • Fixed an issue that caused the Firebird's Finery (6) Set Bonus to grant its Elite bonus damage when a Rare monsters minions were ignited

Return to Top

ADVENTURE MODE

• Bounties
  • In the event that both Act III and Act IV bounties are complete, the bonus act will now always be turned in first
  • A Plague of Burrowers
    • Significantly reduced Burrowers' health
• Nephalem Rifts
  • Greater Rifts
    • The amount of incoming damage in Greater Rift 70 and above has been reduced
    • The amount of Experience granted in Greater Rift 70 and above has been reduced
    • The cost required to empower, and gold awarded by a Greater Rift above rank 70 has been reduced, but the ratio of gold earned to empower cost remains the same
• Set Dungeons
  • Barbarian
    • Immortal King's Call
      • Objective 2 now requires you to kill 150 enemies while Wrath of the Berserker is active
    • The Legacy of Raekor
      • Enemies hit by a Furious Charge that didn't hit 15 enemies are no longer prevented from counting toward the objective on future casts
    • Might of the Earth
      • Elites now appear in fixed locations
    • Wrath of the Wastes
      • Enemies hit by a Rend that didn't hit 10 enemies are no longer prevented from counting toward the objective on future casts
  • Crusader
    • Armor of Akkhan
      • The total number of monsters has been increased
      • Enemies hit by a Condemn that didn't hit 10 enemies are no longer prevented from counting toward the objective on future casts
  • Demon Hunter
    • Embodiment of the Marauder
      • Objective 1 now requires you to kill 140 enemies with 3 or more Sentries active
      • The total number of monsters has been increased
      • Rockworms now appear in fixed locations
      • Rockworms will now take longer to spring from the ground
    • The Shadow's Mantle
      • You no longer break the consecutive hit chain if you hit a target that has already been added to the chain
    • Unhallowed Essence
      • Enemies hit by a Multishot that didn't hit 20 enemies are no longer prevented from counting toward the objective on future casts
  • Witch Doctor
    • Raiment of the Jade Harvester
      • Deceivers will no longer use their Invisibility
      • Enemies hit by a Soul Harvest that didn't harvest 15 souls are no longer prevented from counting toward the objective on future casts
  • Wizard
    • Delsere's Magnum Opus
      • Enemies hit by a Slow Time that didn't initially hit 30 enemies are no longer prevented from counting toward the objective on future casts
    • Firebird's Finery
      • Objective 2 now requires you to Ignite or kill 20 enemies
• Bug Fixes
  • Fixed an issue that caused Urshi to always introduce herself to players
  • Fixed an issue that could, under certain conditions, prevent players from being able to finish a Set Dungeon

Return to Top

CRAFTING

• Bug Fixes
  • Fixed an issue that prevented the quantity of items to be crafted from being properly updated when a new value was entered
  • Fixed an issue that prevented the list of affixes available when an item was being enchanted from being updated dynamically

Return to Top

MONSTERS

• Pet attacks will now also break Primordial Scavengers' armor in the same way player attacks do
• The amount of gold dropped by Gilded Barons has been reduced
• The Merciless Witch
  • Removed her shields in both the Realm of Discord and Realm of Fright
  • Significantly increased her health in the Realm of Discord

Return to Top

USER INTERFACE

• Holding shift while comparing an item will now also remove the benefit of Caldesann's Despair from the comparison
• When viewing a player's profile in game, it will now indicate whether or not you are looking at the current profile
• The Inventory button no longer flashes for level 70 characters when a new item is picked up
• Your highest damage numbers will now also be displayed in orange when shortened combat numbers are disabled
• A shadow has been added to stack and charge counts on the hotbar, and buff icons
• Several new Stash Tab icons have been added
• Bug fixes
  • Fixed an issue that prevented the Legendary Potion icon from being removed from the Hotbar after being salvaged
  • Fixed an issue that prevented profiles from being properly updated when inspecting a player in-game after they have enchanted an item or socketed a gem

Return to Top

Blizzard Quote [source]

Introduced in Patch 2.1.0, Legendary Gems are one of the many methods by which players can vastly improve their character's strength through perseverance and dedication. Obtained by defeating Greater Rift Guardians, these socketable facets of raw power grow alongside your nephalem with each new tier of difficulty you conquer.

In Patch 2.4.1, we'll be making notable changes to a handful of Legendary Gems. Before we get into those changes and the reasoning behind them, we want to take a deep dive into the design structure behind Legendary Gems.

Gems and Their Purposes

Some gems have much more broadly defined roles than others. For example, gems like Esoteric Alteration or Molten Wildebeest's Gizzard are meant to buff up your defensive capabilities. These gems might serve the same role, but they each do so in a different way. Overlap isn't always a bad thing, as we want players to have choices that can suit different needs.

Others serve particular playstyle niches rather than generalized purposes. Enforcer, Boyarsky's Chip or Zei's Stone of Vengeance are all gems with clearly defined specializations. These are the gems you think of first when you are pursuing a particular playstyle. If you're exploring a Thorns build, Boyarsky's Chip should be a no-brainer. If you like the kite-and-fight style, then Zei's Stone of Vengeance should be a go-to. Builds should have some reliable choices that reinforce their general gameplay.

Some gems are less focused on overall character power and more on enhancing different gameplay activities. Boon of the Hoarder and Gem of Ease support specific goals, farming gold and leveling characters, respectively. While these aren't the kinds of gems you're likely to find on a build that's pushing high level Greater Rifts, they serve their purposes well.

We also have gems that are considered more utility oriented. These types of gems often provide multiple types of benefits or focus on specific stats, though perhaps at lower values than a gem that is more specialized for damage or defense. Which gems filled these roles was a little muddier in the past than we liked, so in Patch 2.4.1 we're creating more that fall into this category and making their utility shine through more clearly.

Finally, there are gems that might fall into more than one of the above categories. These are often good everyman's gems or general options that are great for beginners or those who don't want to fuss too much over their gem choice. Bane of the Powerful and Wreath of Lightning are prime examples, as they are both reliable, straight forward, and useful in virtually any build.

---

Patch 2.4.1 Overhauls

As we mentioned, some gems simply weren't falling into one of the above categories or, if they were, weren't serving their function as well as they could be. While we aren't updating every Legendary Gem that might need a little help (and it's possible we'll re-examine other gems in the future), there are quite a few that stuck out to us as either needing more clearly defined roles or just that layer of new polish to keep them up to date in a Sanctuary that's evolved over time.

You'll find more details in our PTR patch notes, including the most recent updates and a more comprehensive list, but we'd like to dig into some specific changes and the philosophy behind them.

Enforcer

We're making the following changes to Enforcer:

• Increasing the amount of damage reduction for pets
• The bonus damage is now multiplicative with other, similar bonuses (such as from Tasker and Theo)

In addition to giving a bump in power to pet builds, we wanted to add more survivability to pets overall. This gem should be the obvious choice to players who run a pet build, but the benefit wasn't always worth the socket. This should be a much clearer choice now.

You may be wondering why the Rank 25 bonus doesn't make pets invulnerable. While we've seen this suggestion frequently, part of the Diablo experience is a sense of unpredictability and needing to adapt in dire situations. Extremes where your pets are always dead or permanently alive are much less interesting gameplay experiences than making a conscious effort to monitor your pets' health and re-summon them if they're in danger.

Gogok of Swiftness

We're making the following changes to Gogok of Swiftness:

• Every attack now applies a stack of Swiftness
• Each stack of Swiftness also grants a bonus chance to Dodge
• Dodge chance increases with each rank

When we originally designed Gogok of Swiftness, it was built around the assumption that this buff would be constantly dropping on and off. The goal was to have a higher total potential that we knew wouldn't always be present. Ultimately, we decided against that design and instead opted to tune its values around Swiftness more or less always being up. This assumption allows us more control over number tuning.

Gogok of Swiftness provides very specific buffs and serves as a utility gem. However, it was lacking multi-purpose functionality, so we've added a Toughness component in the form of a Dodge bonus. This should make Gogok a more competitive choice for players who are either looking specifically to stack Attack Speed or Cooldown Reduction (or both!) while providing extra Toughness in the process.

Mirinae, Teardrop of the Starweaver

We're making the following changes to Mirinae, Teardrop of the Starweaver:

• Smite damage has been increased
• Additional damage per rank has been increased
• Duration between bonus Smite casts at Rank 25 has been decreased
• Smite now also heals you for a percentage of your maximum Life each time it strikes an enemy

Like Gogok of Swiftness, Mirinae had a slightly different goal in mind when it was first designed. Its concept was to be the "single-target"� gem, ideal for builds who focused more on area of effect abilities and needed a boost on single targets (like Rift Guardians). When we introduced Bane of the Stricken, Mirinae fell to the wayside and needed a tweak to breathe new life into it. So why not make it breathe life into the player?

Rather than have Mirinae compete with Bane of the Stricken (and wind up creating a math problem for players), we added defense to the gem in the form of a bonus heal to create a different incentive to use it. This lands this gem in a more utility-driven area, providing a new and interesting option that may be appealing for builds that need both extra regeneration and single-target damage.

Simplicity's Strength

We're making the following changes to Simplicity's Strength:

• The bonus damage is now multiplicative with other, similar bonuses (such as Depth Diggers)
• Increased the amount of heal provided by the Rank 25 bonus

Similar to the changes coming to Enforcer, Simplicity's Strength should just feel like the right choice for builds that want to focus on primary skills. From the beginning, that's precisely what this gem was meant to do; it just needed some additional tweaks to ensure it really owned that role.

Taeguk

We're making the following changes to Taeguk:

• Has been completely redesigned
• Stacks are now only gained when spending resources on a channeled skill
• Stacks are now capped at 10
• Stacks now expire more quickly
• Base damage bonus has been increased
• Bonus damage now increases per rank
• Base Armor bonus has been increased at Rank 25

As we've already discussed, Taeguk too often felt like the right choice no matter which build you were running. It had no particular niche or role and, it was mechanically awkward to use and gain the most benefit. It was meant to work best for builds running channeling skills like Whirlwind or Strafe, and we didn't want to encourage players to spam skills like Multishot or Hammer of the Ancients into empty space just to maintain the buff.

That said, we recognize a lot of classes feel as though they've lost a tool in their kit with the above changes; this is why so many other gems have been revisited and will be gaining similar components to those that made Taeguk so desirable. The goal wasn't just to create a clearer, more communicated identity for Taeguk, but to also provide many builds a variety of options that represent different strengths and preferences.

---

A Gem Cannot Be Polished Without Friction

We hope you've enjoyed this insight into the changes coming to Legendary Gems in Patch 2.4.1. These aren't the only changes coming, so if you haven't already, be sure to log into the PTR, try out some (or all) of these changes, and let us know your thoughts. It's important to us that the community has a chance to get their hands on these shiny baubles and give them a go. Your feedback is some of the most valuable loot we could hope to have drop, and we look forward to hearing what you have to say!

Blizzard Quote [source]

To work in software development, whether it's for business, entertainment, or your favorite video game company, is to know that simple problems don't always have simple solutions. Game development is, in a word, complicated. There are thousands of moving parts where the smallest iteration can cause weeks of reversions and backtracking. On the outside looking in, it's tempting to ask, Why not just fix it?” That's a bit like asking a baker why they can't just substitute sugar for sucralose. The answer is similar across the board; It's not that simple.�

Numbers - How Do They Work?

In Diablo III, there's lots of information thrown at the player. Let's talk numbers. You see them everywhere! They're on your gear, they're in your character profile, and they float around your nephalem's head while you're in combat. Behind each of those digits is a huge amount of tech that makes them behave the way that they do.

We heard a lot of player feedback that combat numbers were starting to be overwhelming or difficult to comprehend in moment-to-moment gameplay. In the past, large numbers were exciting to see because they stood out above the rest. How do you bring back that emotional appeal without making players feel like they have lost power?

Patch 2.4.0 introduced a couple of new features to address this. First, we've introduced a new in-game option to truncate numbers and display them using abbreviations. Second, we've added an entirely new feature that highlights some of your largest damage numbers in a new color. Each of these additions presented their own challenges when we went to implement them; some were design issues, others created localization concerns, and at the end of all these decisions, the result needed to look good.

Initially, we had the idea of highlighting the top 5% of numbers you've generated in the last few seconds. The first problem with this approach was that every build is different, especially when it comes to how each dishes out damage. Some pump out small bursts of floating numbers over time while others barrage your screen with a constant stream of information. In our first pass, another issue that arose was that the new system didn't accommodate expected fluctuations in damage dealt. Take a Power Pylon, for example, where your damage is temporarily augmented. After the Pylon ends, you'll still want to know when you're dealing notable damage.

We developed our algorithm over time to account for these outliers, settling on the following rules for which numbers appear in orange:

• Damage numbers must be over 10,000 to be considered
• If the damage number to be displayed is larger than the last that was displayed in orange, then display this new number in orange
• Decay the value of the largest number by 3% every second
  • This reduces the likelihood that you'll go on too long without seeing any highlighted numbers
• Ignore the first 10 large numbers
  • This allows for the system to calibrate itself
• If no damage has been dealt for 10 seconds, reset the system

Where Are My Billions? - Challenges in Localization

If you've played the latest patch, you may have already seen our new damage abbreviations. We've seen a lot of questions, primarily from our English-speaking audiences, about why we measure in millions, but skip counting in billions.

There are a few reasons, but one of the most important is localization. Diablo III is a global game, published in 13 different languages, so when we make a design decision that affects the written word (or, in this case, written number), we have to remain cognizant of what that change will mean in every iteration of the game. While you might think numbers would be the easiest thing to translate, that couldn't be any less true.

Left: English language numbers. Right: Korean language numbers.

Here's an example where what might look like a simple translation can get complicated. Some languages, like Spanish or French, do not commonly use a unique term for billion.� They instead refer to that amount as what literally translates to "one thousand million"� rather than having their own word. In terms of etymology, this is a result of both American and British English evolving the word "billion"� to mean "one thousand million"� rather than the "one million million"� it originally represented.

It gets even more complex when looking at languages like Korean or Chinese, where large numbers are grouped on a different scale. For instance, in English, the nomenclature of a number changes with every third place, such as thousands, millions, billions and so forth. In Korean, the naming convention of a number instead changes every fourth place, using a method called myriad squared. This is because in Korean, numbers are grouped every ten-thousand fold instead of thousand fold.

This issue is compounded by punctuation use. Not every language uses commas as breaks in numbers. Some use periods instead, which is very common in Europe, and others don't use any punctuation at all.

Left: Korean gold count. Right: French gold count.

As numbers in Diablo III grew and we decided to add in numerical punctuation, we needed a way to elegantly translate� where and when this punctuation would appear for each localization. Our code uses a library called ICU, or International Components for Unicode, which provides a great amount of support for localizing software. ICU can be used in a number of ways, but for this feature, we took advantage of its ability to take a number and a locale (such as United States English, French, or Korean) as input and give back a properly formatted number for that locale as output, complete with any periods or commas. Our Localization team also keeps a table that shows what numbers each region chooses to publish and the end result.

An example of one of our localization tables, designating which language truncates at what point.

Some localizations opted to abbreviate more or less, mostly out of cultural preferences. There's a real psychology behind player satisfaction and the actual length of the numbers you're seeing, and player preference varies on both personal and cultural levels. For example, in English, we opted not to abbreviate in the low millions because seeing 1,000,000� is much more satisfying than 1M.� Skipping the billions place also helped with this, as seeing 1,000M tells a much more exciting story than 1B. Of course, number size isn't the only consideration; the visuals, colors, and movement all play a key role as well.

Making Numbers Pop - Refining Visuals

It's important to make sure that when a player sees a number, they can quickly understand the implication behind it and what it means to them at that precise instant. In Patch 2.4.0, we aimed to provide even more in-combat information than ever before. This is where those Critical Hit highlight numbers come into play.

Look at that beautiful crit!

Simply changing the color was one of many ways we could have presented this information. We asked ourselves a lot of questions about how was best to communicate these big hits. Do we make these numbers bigger? Have them path differently? Make them flash? Do they hang on the screen longer? Or do we just give them a different color? How do you decide which of these options is the right one?

We gravitated towards color because we could present this new information to our players in a drastically different way that passed other user accessibility concerns. Orange numbers stand out; they're not something you've seen before, so subconsciously you pay close attention to them.

Orange also passes the colorblindness-friendly test. When you're looking at a color wheel, orange is in a different realm than the other colors we currently use for other information. This way players that are colorblind can tell something's new, too!

When we look at changing colors in our interface, our artists take a look a three options for variation: Hue, Saturation, and Lightness. This is part of what's called the HSL color space, a common digital standardization for the color wheel. Each aspect is key to adjusting a different emotion or evoking a new response from the player. Do we want to change the mood? Then we adjust hue. If we're shifting an image from being juicy to more flat, then saturation becomes key. How about drawing attention or driving it away? Lightness becomes the go-to.

As an example, some of the most critical information in the game is how much healing you're receiving. Healing is literally your life force, and we want it to be very visible. That's why that information is some of the brightest in the game. We wanted critical hit information to be extremely visible as well, so we played a lot with its lightness levels to make sure you always know when your next big damage spike occurs.

Bring It All Together

When we talk about the Diablo III team, it's easy to first think of our developers who tweak the way a class or an item functions, or put cool, new features in to explore. However, there's so much more going on beyond what your hero is wearing or wielding, and our artists, engineers, localization experts, and so many more help us ensure everything comes together smoothly for all of our players around the world.

We hope you've enjoyed this in-depth peek behind the scenes of a small feature that, under the hood, is deceptively gargantuan! It's a privilege to come in every day and work on this game, even when it's on the little details. Thanks for reading!

Blizzard Quote [source]

Diablo III patch 2.4.0 is now live in the Americas for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One! Check out the full PC patch notes below to learn all about the latest changes. To view our console patch notes, click here.

Important: Please note that you will not be prompted to download patch 2.4.0 until the patch is live in your home region. If you are logging in from a European or Asian client, you will need to wait for this patch to release in that region before it can be installed. Additionally, if your home region is in the Americas, you will be unable to log into Europe or Asia using Global Play after patch 2.4.0 is live until those regions have also patched.

Diablo III Patch 2.4.0 - v2.4.0.35057

Visit our Bug Report forum for a list of known issues.

If you are experiencing technical issues with the patching process, connecting to Battle.net after installing the patch, or errors while playing a newly-patched game, please visit our support site or post in the Technical Support forum for assistance.

Table of Contents:

• Patch Features
  • Greyhollow Island
  • Expanded Zones
  • Set Dungeons
  • Empowered Rifts
  • Season Rebirth
  • Revised Buff Bar
  • Action Combat
• General
• Classes
  • Barbarian
  • Crusader
  • Demon Hunter
  • Monk
  • Witch Doctor
  • Wizard
  • Bug Fixes
• Items
  • Class-Specific Items
  • Bug Fixes
• Adventure Mode
  • Bounties
  • Nephalem Rifts
  • Bug Fixes
• Crafting
• Monsters
• User Interface

PATCH FEATURES

New Feature: Greyhollow Island
The mysterious forested locale of Greyhollow Island is now open for exploration! Inhabited by new enemies and steeped in intrigue, brave the wilds and unravel the enigma behind the isle's mysterious inhabitants. Be forewarned, however; the land itself is hungry for blood.

To learn more about Greyhollow Island, click here.

Return to Top

New Feature: Expanded Zones
The Sanctuary you know grows larger. Two existing zones are receiving new, fully explorable additions, featuring new bounties and events. Survive the hunting grounds of the fierce yeti in the Eternal Woods, a new branch of The Ruins of Sescheron zone. The cultists have finally gotten around to clearing up the debris on those stairs in Leoric's Manor, opening up the Royal Quarters for curious treasure hunters.

Return to Top

New Feature: Set Dungeons
Test your mettle against one of twenty-four custom designed set dungeons! Each dungeon features a pre-generated, static course designed entirely around a specific class set. Don all six pieces of your chosen set and visit Leoric's Library to obtain a clue on where these hidden trials are located. Hunt down your dungeon of choice and master it to unlock exclusive cosmetic rewards!

Return to Top

New Feature: Empowered Rifts
Spend your gold to empower a Greater Rift, granting a fourth opportunity to upgrade a Legendary Gem. Gold costs vary based on the tier of Greater Rift level attempted, and bonus upgrades are granted only to those who successfully complete the rift, so spend wisely!

Return to Top

New Feature: Season Rebirth
Transition seamlessly from Season to Season with the new Season Rebirth feature! This option allows you to instantly transform a non-Seasonal hero to a fresh level 1 Season hero, maintaining their name and hours played. All gear is removed and automatically mailed to you in the non-Season, providing up to thirty days to reclaim the items at a later time. Paragon level, completed achievements, and other accomplishments also remain behind with your non-Seasonal heroes.

Return to Top

New Feature: Revised Buff Bar
A cleaner, clearer user interface makes its way to all platforms with our revised buff bar. Static buffs have been removed from the buff bar area, replaced by new indicators and timers that have been added to the skill bar. We've also included a collapsible buff-holder, which condenses party and group buffs and can be expanded by moving your cursor over the indicator or by assigning a hotkey via the Heads Up Display section of the Key Bindings option menu, revealing all your buffs at a moment's glance.

Return to Top

New to PC: Action Combat
The popular console version of Action Combat makes its way to PC! Massacre, Destruction, and Trap Mastery bonuses are now granted to players who chain together death, destruction, and clever maneuvers. Earn bonus experience, a temporary boost to movement speed, or a buff to your resource generation through tactical play.

Return to Top

GENERAL

• Stash Tabs
  • A sixth Stash tab is now purchasable for 500,000 gold
  • One additional Stash tab per season (up to 4) will also be available to unlock by completing the Conqueror level of the Season Journey
  • Cosmetic pets now pick up gold for you
• At level 70, +% Bonus Experience is reduced to 10% effectiveness

Return to Top

CLASSES

• Taunt now causes monsters to consistently attack you
• Barbarian
  • Active Skills
    • Ancient Spear
      • Skill Rune - Boulder Toss
        • Should now reach its target more quickly
    • Avalanche
      • Damage increased from 1600% to 2400%
      • Skill Rune - Glacier
        • Damage increased from 1600% to 2400%
      • Skill Rune - Snow-Capped Mountain
        • Damage increased from 1800% to 2800%
      • Skill Rune - Volcano
        • Damage increased from 4400% to 6600%
    • Battle Rage
      • Skill Rune - Ferocity
        • Movement speed bonus increased from 10% to 15%
    • Earthquake
      • Damage increased from 4200% to 4800%
      • Skill Rune - Cave-In
        • Damage increased from 4200% to 4800%
      • Skill Rune - Chilling Earth
        • Damage increased from 4200% to 4800%
      • Skill Rune - Giant's Stride
        • Damage increased from 200% to 300% per tremor
      • Skill Rune - Molten Fury
        • Damage increased from 5100% to 6000%
      • Skill Rune - Mountain's Call
        • Cooldown reduced from 50 to 30 seconds
    • Furious Charge
      • Skill Rune - Dreadnought
        • Maximum number of charges increased from 2 to 3
    • Ground Stomp
      • Skill Rune - Deafening Crash
        • Now also reduces the cooldown to 8 seconds
    • Leap
      • Skill Rune - Iron Impact
        • Has been redesigned
          • Gain 150% increased Armor for 4 seconds when you land
    • War Cry
      • Duration increased from 60 to 120 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Hardened Wrath
        • Has been redesigned
          • For the first five seconds, gain an additional 60% Armor
      • Skill Rune - Invigorate
        • Life regeneration granted increased from 8315 to 13411
    • Whirlwind
      • Skill Rune - Dust Devils
        • Increased the movement speed of the tornadoes
  • Passive Skills
    • Inspiring Presence
      • Group Life regeneration increased from 2% to 3%
    • Juggernaut
      • Crowd Control reduction amount increased from 30% to 50%
    • No Escape
      • Now also affects Seismic Slam
    • Pound of Flesh
      • Has been redesigned
        • When you are healed by a health globe, gain 2% of your maximum Life per second and 4% increased movement speed for 15 seconds. This bonus stacks up to 5 times.
    • Sword and Board
      • Has been redesigned
        • While wielding a shield, reduce all damage taken by 30% and all Fury costs by 20%

Return to Top

• Crusader
  • Active Skills
    • Blessed Hammer
      • Skill Rune - Icebound Hammer
        • Has been removed
        • Replaced with
          • Brute Force
            • The hammer Slows enemies it passes through and has a 35% chance to explode on impact, dealing 460% weapon damage as Physical and Stunning enemies within 6 yards for 1 second
    • Bombardment
      • Skill Rune - Barrels of Tar
        • Has been removed
        • Replaced with
          • Barrels of Spikes
            • The damage of each barrel is increased by 200% of your Thorns
    • Consecration
      • Skill Rune - Frozen Ground
        • Has been removed
        • Replaced with
          • Bed of Nails
            • Enemies in the area of the Consecration also take damage equal to 100% of your Thorns every second
    • Iron Skin
      • Skill Rune - Reflective Skin
        • Has been redesigned
          • Your Thorns damage is increased by 300%
            • Note: This bonus is now in the same category as the Thorns of the Invoker (6) Set Bonus
    • Steed Charge
      • Skill Rune - Ramming Speed
        • Has been removed
        • Replaced with
          • Spiked Barding
            • Deals 500% of your Thorns damage every second as you run
    • Sweep Attack
      • Skill Rune - Frozen Sweep
        • Has been removed
        • Replaced with
          • Inspiring Sweep
            • Every use of Sweep Attack increases your Armor by 20% for 3 seconds
  • Passive Skills
    • Hold Your Ground
      • Block chance granted increased from 15% to 30%
  • Bug Fixes
    • Fixed an issue that prevented monsters from targeting players while mounted using Steed Charge
    • Fixed an issue that prevented the extra hammers created by Blessed Hammer - Limitless from benefitting from the Guard of Johanna damage bonus
    • Fixed an issue that caused enemies hit by the extra hammers created by Blessed Hammer - Limitless to be counted toward the Drakon's Lesson damage bonus
    • Fixed an issue that could sometimes prevent the increased Thorns value from Iron Maiden from updating

Return to Top

• Demon Hunter
  • Demon Hunters may now use Quivers while wielding a melee weapon
  • Active Skills
    • Bolas
      • Hatred generated increased from 3 to 4
      • Skill Rune - Thunder Ball
        • Hatred generated increased from 6 to 7
    • Chakram
      • Skill Rune - Shuriken Cloud
        • Duration increased from 2 to 10 minutes
        • Now has a 10 second cooldown
    • Cluster Arrow
      • Explosion damage increased from 550% to 650% weapon damage
      • Skill Rune - Cluster Bombs
        • Grenade damage increased from 525% to 650% weapon damage
      • Skill Rune - Dazzling Arrow
        • Explosion damage increased from 550% to 650% weapon damage
        • Grenades damage increased from 220% to 250% weapon damage
      • Skill Rune - Loaded for Bear
        • Explosion damage increased from 770% to 850% weapon damage
        • Grenades damage increased from 220% to 250% weapon damage
      • Skill Rune - Maelstrom
        • Explosion damage increased from 550% to 650% weapon damage
        • Number of rockets decreased from 5 to 3
        • Healing per rocket increased from 1% to 2%
      • Skill Rune - Shooting Stars
        • Explosion damage increased from 550% to 650% weapon damage
        • Number of rockets decreased from 3 to 2
    • Entangling Shot
      • Hatred generated increased from 3 to 4
      • Skill Rune - Justice is Served
        • Hatred generated increased from 6 to 7
    • Grenade
      • Hatred generated increased from 3 to 4
      • Skill Rune - Tinkerer
        • Hatred generated increased from 6 to 7
    • Hungering Arrow
      • Hatred generated increased from 3 to 4
      • Skill Rune - Serrated Arrow
        • Hatred generated increased from 6 to 7
    • Multishot
      • Skill Rune - Burst Fire
        • Has been removed
        • Replaced with
          • Wind Chill
            • Enemies hit are Chilled and have a 15% chance to be Critically Hit for 3 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Full Broadside
        • Damage increased from 460% to 500% weapon damage
      • Skill Rune - Suppression Fire
        • Number of enemies affected increased from 2 to 4
    • Preparation
      • Skill Rune - Invigoration
        • Maximum Discipline bonus increased from 15 to 20
    • Sentry
      • Skill Rune - Guardian Turret
        • Damage reduction increased from 15% to 25%
    • Shadow Power
      • Life per Hit increased from 16093 to 26821
      • Life per Hit is now increased by 25% of your Life on Kill
      • Skill Rune - Blood Moon
        • Now doubles the total Life per Hit granted by Shadow Power
      • Skill Rune - Well of Darkness
        • Discipline cost reduced from 10 to 8
    • Smoke Screen
      • Skill Rune - Special Recipe
        • Discipline cost reduced from 10 to 8
    • Vengeance
      • Duration increased from 15 to 20 seconds
      • Number of rockets reduced from 4 to 2
      • Rocket damage increased from 40% to 80% weapon damage
      • Now also increases your damage done by 40%
      • Skill Rune - Dark Heart
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now reduces all damage taken by 50%
      • Skill Rune - From the Shadows
        • Freeze duration increased from 2 to 3 seconds
  • Passive Skills
    • Tactical Advantage
      • Now also triggers from Shadow Power
    • Thrill of the Hunt
      • Has been redesigned
        • Enemies hit by your Hatred spenders are slowed by 80% for 2 seconds
  • Bug Fixes
    • Fixed an issue that prevented Cold attacks from applying Numbing Traps the first time they damaged an enemy with Iceblink equipped
    • Fixed an issue that prevented special attacks made by Sentries with the Embodiment of the Marauder (4) Set Bonus from applying Numbing Traps
    • Fixed an issue that prevented Numbing Traps visual effect from being displayed on monsters
    • Fixed an issue that prevented Shadow Power from applying the lockout period before the cooldown begins when cast by Lianna's Wings

Return to Top

• Monk
  • Active Skills
    • Blinding Flash
      • Skill Rune - Soothing Light
        • Has been removed
        • Replaced with
          • Crippling Light
            • Enemies that are Blinded deal 40% reduced damage for 5 seconds after the Blind wears off
    • Ephiphany
      • Skill Rune - Soothing Mist
        • Health Globe healing bonus contribution reduced from 25% to 10%
    • Fists of Thunder
      • Skill Rune - Static Charge
        • Damage reduced from 180% to 40% weapon damage
        • Now only has a chance to proc when the Monk that applied the effect hits an affected enemy
    • Inner Sanctuary
      • Skill Rune - Safe Haven
        • The Life per Second contribution has been reduced from 30% to 7%
    • Mantra of Healing
      • Skill Rune - Sustenance
        • The passive Life per Second contributed to your group has been reduced from 30% to 7%
    • Mystic Ally
      • Should now more consistently attack targets closer to you
      • Skill Rune - Enduring Ally
        • The passive Life per Second contributed to your group has been reduced from 30% to 7%
      • Skill Rune - Fire Ally
        • Explosion damage increased from 290% to 480% weapon damage
        • Number of allies reduced from 10 to 5
  • Bug Fixes
    • Fixed an issue that caused Exploding Palm to sometimes retain bonuses to its damage for longer than intended
    • Fixed an issue that could sometimes prevent Sweeping Wind - Master of Wind from Freezing enemies
    • Fixed an issue that caused Exploding Palm - Impending Doom to overwrite other players' Exploding Palms
    • Fixed an issue that prevented the Exploding Palms applied by the Uliana's Stragegem (2) Set Bonus from benefitting from Way of the Hundred Fists - Assimilation's damage bonus
    • Fixed an issue that caused the Life per Second contribution from Inner Sanctuary - Safe Haven, and Mystic Ally - Enduring Ally to be increased by the Life per Second from other skills

Return to Top

• Witch Doctor
  • Active Skills
    • Firebats
      • Skill Rune - Cloud of Bats
        • Radius increased from 12 to 15 yards
    • Gargantuan
      • Damage increased from 100% to 450% weapon damage
      • Skill Rune - Big Stinker
        • Poison cloud damage increased from 45% to 135% weapon damage
      • Skill Rune - Restless Giant
        • Enrage cooldown reduced from 120 to 45 seconds
    • Grasp of the Dead
      • Skill Rune - Rain of Corpses
        • Duration in which the total damage is dealt reduced from 8 to 3 seconds
        • The effects of this rune can now stack
    • Haunt
      • Skill Rune - Draining Spirits
        • Damage type changed from Cold to Physical
    • Hex
      • Skill Rune - Toad of Hugeness
        • Will now lick and slow enemies, rather than swallow them, while you have the Spirit of Arachyr (4) Set Bonus equipped
    • Horrify
      • Cooldown reduced from 12 to 10 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Frightening Aspect
        • Armor bonus increased from 35% to 50%
    • Locust Swarm
      • Skill Rune - Diseased Swarm
        • Increased from 75% to 750% weapon damage
    • Mass Confusion
      • Skill Rune - Paranoia
        • Damage amplification increased from 20% to 30%
    • Soul Harvest
      • Cooldown reduced from 15 to 12 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Languish
        • Now grants 10% Armor per stack, up to a maximum of 5 stacks
    • Spirit Barrage
      • Weapon damage increased from 425% to 600%
      • Skill Rune - Phlebotomize
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now grants 6437 Life each time Spirit Barrage hits
      • Skill Rune - Manitou
        • Damage increased from 2900 to 6000% weapon damage over 20 seconds
    • Spirit Walk
      • Cooldown reduced from 12 to 10 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Severance
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now increases movement speed by an additional 100%
    • Summon Zombie Dogs
      • Damage increased from 30% to 120% weapon damage
      • Skill Rune - Burning Dogs
        • Fire damage deal to nearby enemies increased from 20% to 80% weapon damage
      • Skill Rune - Rabid Dogs
        • Bite DoT damage increased from 30% to 120% weapon damage
    • Wall of Death
      • Damage increased from 1000% to 1200% weapon damage
      • Skill Rune - Surrounded by Death
        • Duration increased from 4 to 5 seconds
        • Damage increased from 1000% to 1250% weapon damage
  • Passive Skills
    • Creeping Death
      • DoT duration increased from 300 to 3600 seconds
    • Spirit Vessel
      • No longer reduces the cooldown of Spirit Walk, Horrify, and Soul Harvest by 2 seconds
        • Note: The cooldowns of these skills have been reduced to compensate

Return to Top

• Wizard
  • Active Skills
    • Diamond Skin
      • Damage absorbed changed from 93337 to 40% of your Life
      • Skill Rune - Crystal Shell
        • Damage absorbed changed from 186675 to 80% of your Life
    • Magic Weapon
      • Skill Rune - Deflection
        • Damage absorbed changed from 10728 to 4% of your Life
    • Spectral Blade
      • Skill Rune - Barrier Blades
        • Damage absorbed changed from 10728 to 4% of your Life
      • Skill Rune - Flame Blades
        • Duration reduced from 10 to 5 seconds
        • Now has a maximum stack count of 30
    • Slow Time
      • Skill Rune - Point of No Return
        • Stun duration increased from 3 to 5 seconds
  • Passive Skills
    • Dominance
      • Damage absorbed changed from 16093 to 2% of your Life
    • Galvanizing Ward
      • Damage absorbed changed from 81536 to 60% of your Life
  • Bug Fixes
    • Fixed and issue that prevented the internal cooldown on Magic Weapon - Deflection from updating with changes to Attack Speed
    • Fixed an issue that caused the effect of Wave of Force - Debilitating Force to stack from multiple sources
    • Fixed an issue that prevented Arcane Torrent, Disintegrate, and Ray of Frost's damage from updating if your attack speed changed while channeling
    • Fixed an issue that caused Meteor - Star Pact to gain the damage bonus for spending Arcane Power when automatically cast by Tal Rasha's (2) Set Bonus, or Etched Sigil

Return to Top

• Bug Fixes
  • Fixed an issue that could prevent you from clicking on some portals while you had certain skills bound to Left Mouse Button

Return to Top

ITEMS

• Thorns damage granted by socketing a Marquise rank or higher Topaz gem in a weapon has been greatly increased
• The damage range of the Thorns affix on items has been increased
  • Note: This change is retroactive for existing gear
• Life per Hit granted by socketing an Amethyst into a weapon has been greatly increased for all ranks
• Band of Hollow Whispers
  • The duration of the Haunt cast by this item has been increased
  • This item will now cast Haunt more often
  • The cast range of this item has been increased
  • Note: These changes will apply retroactively to existing items
• Born's Defiance
  • (2) Set Bonus
    • Has been changed from Monster Kills grant +20 Experience to Increases bonus Experience by 20%
• Boyarsky's Chip
  • New Legendary Gem
    • Adds 16000 Thorns damage
    • Thorns damage increased by 800 per rank
    • At rank 25 your Primary skills Taunt the first enemy hit or 2 seconds
• Cain's Fate
  • (2) Set Bonus
    • The Experience bonus has been increased from 30% to 50%
• Corruption
  • Now rolls with guaranteed Increased Gold and Health Globe Pickup Radius, and Increased Health Globe and Potion Healing
• Depth Diggers
  • Can now drop for Wizards
• Endless Walk
  • Has been redesigned
    • (2) Set Bonus
      • While moving, damage taken is reduced by up to 50%
      • While standing still, damage dealt is increased by up to 100%
• Halcyon's Ascent
  • Replaced the guaranteed Cooldown Reduction roll with a socket
• Istvan's Paired Blades
  • Each stack now also increases your damage and Armor
• Legacy of Nightmares
  • These rings now roll with a guaranteed socket rather than guaranteed Critical Hit Chance or Attack Speed
  • Has been redesigned
    • (2) Set Bonus
      • While this is your only item Set Bonus your damage dealt is increased by 100% and damage taken is reduced by 4% for every Ancient item you have equipped
• Mantle of Channeling
  • New Legendary Shoulders
    • While channeling Whirlwind, Rapid Fire, Strafe, Tempest Rush, Firebats, Arcane Torrent, Disintegrate, or Ray of Frost, you deal 20-25% increased damage and take 25% reduced damage
• Moratorium
  • Damage staggered increased from 25% to 35%
• Mutilation Guard
  • Life threshold required to activate the secondary effect increased from 30% to 50%
• Nagelring
  • Level required for this to drop has been raised from 11 to 40
• Oculus Ring
  • No longer rolls with guaranteed Attack Speed, Reduced Damage from Elites, or Resistance to All Elements
  • Now rolls with a guaranteed socket
  • Bonus damage increased from 30-40% to 70-85%
  • The damage bonus provided by this item is now multiplicative with other sources of damage
  • The damage bonus provided by this item no longer stacks with overlapping zones
  • Damage zone now spawns at a random location near the monster that was killed
  • The chance to summon a zone is now 100%
• Profane Pauldrons
  • No longer drop
• Steady Strikers
  • No longer drop
• Several existing Legendary items have been updated to include a unique Legendary power
  • Note: Existing items will not be affected by the following changes. Only new versions of the items will roll with the added Legendary power.
  • Aquila Cuirass
    • Legendary Power added
      • While above 90-95% primary resource, all damage taken is reduced by 50%
  • Justice Lantern
    • Legendary Power added
      • Gain damage reduction equal to 45-55% of your Block chance
        • Note: This power can now benefit from the Block chance provided by Punish
  • String of Ears
    • Legendary Power added
      • The melee damage reduction is now a Legendary Power and has been increased from 20-25% to 25-30%
• Class-Specific Items
  • Barbarian
    • Band of Might
      • New Legendary Ring
        • After using Furious Charge, Ground Stomp, or Leap, gain 50-60% damage reduction for 8 seconds
    • Blade of the Tribes
      • New Legendary Mighty Weapon
        • War Cry and Threatening Shout cause an Avalanche and Earthquake
        • Rolls with +150-200% Earthquake damage
    • Blade of the Warlord
      • New Legendary Mighty Weapon
        • Bash consumes up to 40 Fury to deal up to 400-500% increased damage
    • Dread Iron
      • Now rolls with +150-200% Avalanche damage
    • Fury of the Vanished Peak
      • Now rolls with 100-125% Seismic Slam damage
    • The Gavel of Judgment
      • Now rolls with 75-100% Hammer of the Ancients damage
    • The Legacy of Raekor
      • Has been redesigned
        • (2) Set Bonus
          • Furious Charge refunds a charge if it hits only 1 enemy
        • (4) Set Bonus
          • Furious Charge gains the effect of every rune and deals 300% increased damage
        • (6) Set Bonus
          • Every use of Furious Charge grants a stacking effect that increases the damage of your next Fury-spending attack by 300%
          • Every use of a Fury-spending attack consumes up to 5 stacks
    • Might of the Earth
      • (2) Set Bonus
        • Reduce the cooldown of Earthquake, Avalanche, Leap, and Ground Stomp by 1 second for every 30 Fury you spend
      • (4) Set Bonus
        • Leap causes an Earthquake when you land
        • Leap gains the effect of the Iron Impact rune and the duration and Armor bonus is increased by 150%
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Increases the damage of Earthquake, Avalanche, Leap, Ground Stomp, Ancient Spear, and Seismic Slam by 800%
    • Oathkeeper
      • New Legendary Mighty Weapon
        • Your primary skills attack 50% faster and deal 150-200% increased damage
    • Skular's Salvation
      • New Legendary Bracers
        • Increases the damage of Ancient Spear - Boulder Toss by 100%
        • When your Boulder Toss hits 5 or fewer enemies the damage is increased by 120-150%
    • Vambraces of Sescheron
      • New Legendary Bracers
        • Primary skills heal you for 5-6% of your missing Life
  • Crusader
    • Akkhan's Addendum
      • Akarat's Champion gains the effects of the Prophet, and Embodiment of Power runes
    • Armor of Akkhan
      • (2) Set Bonus
        • Reduce the cost of all abilities by 50% while Akarat's Champion is active
      • (4) Set Bonus
        • Reduce the cooldown of Akarat's Champion by 50%
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • While Akarat's Champion is active, you deal 450% increased damage
    • Akkhan's Manacles
      • New Legendary Bracers
        • Blessed Shield damage is increased by 400-500% for the first enemy it hits
    • Akkhan's Leniency
      • New Legendary Two-Handed Flail
        • Each enemy hit by your Blessed Shield increases the damage of your Blessed Shield by 15-20% for 3 seconds
    • Blade of Prophecy
      • Now rolls with +75-100% Condemn damage
    • Bracers of Fury
      • New Legendary Bracers
        • Heaven's Fury deals 150-200% increased damage to enemies that are Blinded, Immobilized, or Stunned
    • Drakon's Lesson
      • Shield Bash damage bonus increased from 150-200% to 300-400%
    • Frydehr's Wrath
      • Now rolls with +150-200% Condemn damage
    • Golden Flense
      • Now rolls with +150-200% Sweep Attack damage
    • Jace's Hammer of Vigilance
      • Now rolls with guaranteed primary attribute
    • Jekangbord
      • Now rolls with +150-200% Blessed Shield damage
    • Norvald's Fervor
      • New Set
        • (2) Set bonus
          • Increases the duration of Steed Charge by 2 seconds
          • Every enemy killed while Steed Charge is active reduces the cooldown by 1 second
          • Gain 100% increased damage while Steed Charge is active and for 5 seconds after Steed Charge ends
    • Pride of the Invoker
      • No longer roll with guaranteed Critical Hit Chance
    • Renewal of the Invoker
      • Now roll with guaranteed sockets
    • Roland's Legacy
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Attack speed bonus increased from 30% to 50%
        • Each stack now also reduces damage taken by 10%
        • Duration increased from 3 to 5 seconds
    • Seeker of the Light
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Blessed Hammer damage bonus increased from 750% to 1250%
    • Shield of Fury
      • New Legendary Crusader Shield
        • Each time and enemy takes damage from your Heaven's Fury, it increases the damage they take from your Heaven's Fury by 15-20%
    • Thorns of the Invoker
      • Has been redesigned
        • (2) Set Bonus
          • Your Thorns damage now hits all enemies within a 15 yard radius around you
          • Each time you hit an enemy with Punish, or Slash, or block an attack your Thorns damage is increased by 25% for 2 seconds
        • (4) Set Bonus
          • You take 50% less damage for 20 seconds after casting Bombardment
        • (6) Set Bonus
          • Attack speed of Punish, and Slash increased by 50% and deal 600% of your Thorns damage to the first enemy hit
    • Unrelenting Phalanx
      • Now rolls with +45-60% Phalanx damage
    • Warhelm of Kassar
      • New Legendary Helm
        • Reduce the cooldown and increase the damage of Phalanx by 45-60%
  • Demon Hunter
    • Bombardier's Rucksack
      • Now rolls with +75-100% Sentry damage
    • Chain of Shadows
      • New Legendary Belt
        • After using Impale, your Vault costs no resource for 2 seconds
    • Danetta's Hatred
      • (2) Set Bonus
        • Now also increases the damage of Vault by 800%
    • Dead Man's Legacy
      • Now rolls with +75-100% Multishot damage
    • Elusive Ring
      • New Legendary Ring
        • After using Vault, Shadow Power, or Smoke Screen, take 50-60% reduced damage for 8 seconds
    • Embodiment of the Marauder
      • (4) Set Bonus
        • Now also increases the damage of Sentries by 300%
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus per active Sentry increased from 100% to 600%
        • Damage bonus now also applies to Companion and Vengeance
    • Fortress Ballista
      • New Legendary Hand Crossbow
        • Attacks grant you an absorb shield for 2-3% of your maximum Life, stacking up to 10 times
    • Hellrack
      • Now rolls with guaranteed primary attribute
    • K'mar Tenclip
      • Now rolls with +75-100% Strafe damage
    • Karlei's Point
      • New Legendary Dagger
        • Impale returns 15-20 Hatred if it hits an enemy that has already been Impaled
    • Lianna's Wings
      • New Legendary Hand Crossbow
        • Shadow Power also triggers Smoke Screen
          • Note: This item adds a 2.5 second cooldown to Shadow Power
    • Lord Greenstone's Fan
      • New Legendary Dagger
        • Every second gain 80-100% increased damage for your next Fan of Knives
          • This effect can stack up to 30 times
    • Natalya's Vengeance
      • (2) Set Bonus
        • Rain of Vengeance cooldown reduction increased from 2 to 4 seconds
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Damage reduction increased from 30% to 60%
        • Duration increased from 6 to 10 seconds
    • The Shadow's Mantle
      • Helm and Shoulder pieces have been added to this set
      • Has been redesigned
        • (2) Set Bonus
          • Your damage is increased by 600% while you have a melee weapon equipped
        • (4) Set Bonus
          • Shadow Power gains the effect of all runes and lasts forever
        • (6) Set Bonus
          • Impale deals an additional 40,000% weapon damage to the first enemy hit
    • Sword of Ill Will
      • New Legendary Sword
        • Chakram deals 1.0-1.4% increased damage for each point of Hatred you have
    • Unhallowed Essence
      • (2) Set Bonus
        • Generators now also generate 2 additional Hatred
      • (4) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus and damage reduction increased from 20% to 60%
        • Duration increased from 4 to 8 seconds
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus increased from 15% to 20% per point of Discipline
        • Damage bonus now also applies to Vengeance
    • Valla's Bequest
      • Now rolls with +75-100% Strafe damage
    • Visage of Gunes
      • New Legendary Helm
        • Vengeance gains the effect of the Dark Heart rune
    • Wojahnni Assaulter
      • Now rolls with guaranteed primary attribute
    • Zoey's Secret
      • New Legendary Belt
        • You take 8-9% less damage for each Companion you have active
  • Monk
    • Bindings of the Lesser Gods
      • New Legendary Bracers
        • Enemies hit by your Cyclone Strike take 150-200% more damage from your Mystic Ally for 5 seconds
    • Cesar's Memento
      • New Legendary Bracers
        • Enemies take +300-400% increased damage from your Tempest Rush for 5 seconds after you hit them with a Blind, Freeze, or Stun
    • The Fist of Az'Turrasq
      • Exploding Palm's on-death explosion bonus damage has been increased from 75-100% to 250-300%
    • Gyana Na Kashu
      • Now rolls with +75-100% Lashing Tail Kick damage
    • Inna's Mantra
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Has been redesigned
          • Gain the effects of every Mystic Ally rune at all times and your damage is increased by 50% for each Mystic Ally you have
    • Inna's Reach
      • Bonus Mystic Ally damage increased from 20-25% to 90-120%
    • Kyoshiro's Blade
      • New Legendary Fist Weapon
        • When the initial impact of your Wave of Light hits 3 or fewer enemies, the damage is increased by 200-250%
        • Increases the damage of your Wave of Light by 150%
    • Kyoshiro's Soul
      • New Legendary Belt
        • Sweeping Wind gains 2 stacks every second it does not deal damage to any enemies
        • Rolls with 100-125% Sweeping Wind damage
    • Lefebvre's Soliloquy
      • New Legendary Shoulders
        • Cyclone Strike reduces your damage taken by 40-50% for 5 seconds
    • Monkey King's Garb
      • Has been redesigned
        • (2) Set Bonus
          • Your damage taken is reduced by 50% while Sweeping Wind is active
        • (4) Set Bonus
          • Every Second Sweeping Wind spawns a decoy next to the last enemy you hit that taunts nearby enemies and then explodes for 500% weapon damage for each stack of Sweeping Wind you have
        • (6) Set Bonus
          • Lashing Tail Kick, Tempest Rush, and Wave of Light consume a stack of Sweeping Wind to deal 1500% increased damage
    • Pinto's Pride
      • New Legendary Bracers
        • Wave of Light also Slows enemies by 80% for 3 seconds and deals 125-150% increased damage
    • Raiment of a Thousand Storms
      • (2) Set Bonus
        • Spirit generator damage bonus reduced from 300% to 100%
    • Rivera Dancers
      • New Legendary Boots
        • Lashing Tail Kick attacks 50% faster and deals 250-300% increased damage
    • Tzo Krin's Gaze
      • Wave of Light bonus damage increased from 20-25% to 125-150%
    • Vengeful Wind
      • Number of Sweeping Wind stacks increased from 3 to 6-7
  • Witch Doctor
    • Lakumbra's Ornament
      • New Legendary Bracers
        • Reduces all damage taken by 6% for each stack of Soul Harvest you have
    • Manajuma's Way
      • (2) Set Bonus
        • Hex - Angry Chicken bonus damage increased from 200% to 400%
    • Mordullu's Promise
      • New Legendary Axe
        • Firebomb generates 100-125 Mana
    • Raiment of the Jade Harvester
      • (2) Set Bonus
        • Instant Haunt damage dealt increased from 10 to 60 seconds worth
      • (4) Set Bonus
        • Now also reduces the cooldown of Soul Harvest by 1 second when you cast Haunt or Locust Swarm
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Increased the amount of DoT damage detonated by Soul Harvest to 150 seconds worth
    • Ring of Emptiness
      • New Legendary Ring
        • You deal 75-100% increased damage to enemies affected by both your Haunt and Locust Swarm
    • The Short Man's Finger
      • The damage bonus granted to each Gargantuan has been tripled
        • This change will apply retroactively to existing items
    • Staff of Chiroptera
      • New Legendary Staff
        • Firebats attacks 100% faster and costs 70-75% less Mana
        • Now rolls with +45-60% Firebats damage
    • Spirit of Arachyr
      • (4) Set Bonus
        • Bonuses are now applied immediately after summoning the Toad
        • Damage reduction increased from 40-50%
        • Duration increased from 10 to 15 seconds
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus increased from 800% to 1200%
    • The Tall Man's Finger
      • The damage bonus granted to the single Zombie Dog has been doubled
        • This change will apply retroactively to existing items
    • Vile Hive
      • New Legendary Mojo
        • Locust Swarm gains the effect of the Pestilence rune and deals 45-60% increased damage
    • Voo's Juicer
      • New Legendary Dagger
        • Spirit Barrage gains the effects of the Phlebotomize and The Spirit is Willing runes
        • Rolls with +45-60% Spirit Barrage damage
    • Wilken's Reach
      • New Legendary Mojo
        • Removes the cooldown of Grasp of the Dead
        • Rolls with +45-60% Grasp of the Dead
    • Zunimassa's Haunt
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus increased from 275% to 800%
        • Duration increased from 4 to 8 seconds
  • Wizard
    • Ashnagarr's Blood Bracers
      • New Legendary Bracers
        • Increase the potency of your shields by 75-100%
    • Deathwish
      • New Legendary Sword
        • While channeling Arcane Torrent, Disintegrate, or Ray of Frost, all damage is increased by 30-35%
    • Delsere's Magnum Opus
      • Explosive Blast, Spectral Blade, and Wave of Force are now affected by this set
      • (4) Set Bonus
        • Has been redesigned
          • You take 50% reduced damage while inside your Slow Time. Allies gain half this benefit
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Damage bonus increased from 750% to 2000%
    • Etched Sigil
      • New Legendary Source
        • Your Arcane Torrent, Disintegrate, and Ray of Frost also cast your other damaging Arcane Power Spenders every second
    • Fazula's Improbable Chain
      • Number of Archon stacks you automatically start with increased from 15-20 to 40-50
    • Firebird's Finery
      • (2) Set Bonus
        • Cooldown reduced from 300 to 60 seconds
      • (4) Set Bonus
        • Dealing Fire damage causes the enemy to take the same amount of damage over 3 seconds, stacking up to 3000% weapon damage as Fire per second. After reaching 3000% damage per second, the enemy will burn until they die.
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Your damage is increased by 25% for each enemy that is burning. Elites that are burning increase your damage by 600%. You can only have one Elite damage bonus active at a time.
    • Firebird's Talons
      • Replaced the guaranteed Attack Speed roll with Critical Hit Chance
    • Hergbrash's Bindings
      • New Legendary Belt
        • Reduces the Arcane Power cost of Arcane Torrent, Disintegrate, and Ray of Frost by 50-65%
    • Orb of Infinite Depth
      • New Legendary Source
        • Each time you hit an enemy with Explosive Blast your damage is increased by 4-5% and your damage reduction is increased by 15% for 6 seconds. This effect can stack up to 4 times.
    • Primordial Soul
      • New Legendary Source
        • Elemental Exposure's damage bonus per stack is increased to 10%
    • The Shame of Delsere
      • New Legendary Belt
        • Your Signature Spells attack 50% faster and restore 9-12 Arcane Power
    • Tal Rasha's Allegiance
      • No longer rolls with guaranteed Vitality
    • Tal Rasha's Elements
      • (4) Set Bonus
        • Has been redesigned
          • Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each increase all of your resistances by 25% for 8 seconds
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Increased duration from 6 to 8 seconds
        • Has been redesigned
          • Attacks increase your damage by 500% for 8 seconds. Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each add one stack. At 4 stacks, each different elemental attack extends the duration by 2 seconds, up to a maximum of 8 seconds.
    • Triumvirate
      • Arcane Orb damage bonus increased from 75-100% to 150-200%
    • The Twisted Sword
      • New Legendary Sword
        • Energy Twister damage is increased by 125-150% for each Energy Twister you have out
    • Unstable Scepter
      • New Legendary Wand
        • Arcane Orb's explosion triggers an additional time
        • Rolls with 50-65% Arcane Orb damage
    • Wand of Woh
      • Now rolls with +75-100% Explosive Blast damage
  • Several existing class-specific Legendary items have been updated to include a unique Legendary power
    • Note: Existing items will not be affected by the following changes. Only new versions of the items will roll with the added Legendary power.
    • Barbarian
      • Standoff
        • Legendary Power added
          • Furious Charge gains increased damage equal to 200-250% of your bonus movement speed
      • The Three Hundredth Spear
        • Legendary Power added
          • Increase the damage of Weapon Throw and Ancient Spear by 45-60%
    • Crusader
      • Heart of Iron
        • Legendary Power added
          • Gain Thorns equal to 250-300% of your Vitality
      • Hammer Jammers
        • Legendary Power added
          • Enemies take 300-400% increased damage from your Blessed Hammers for 10 seconds after you hit them with a Blind, Immobilize, or Stun
    • Demon Hunter
      • Dawn
        • Legendary Power added
          • Reduces the cooldown of Vengeance by 50-65%
      • Manticore
        • Legendary Power added
          • Reduces the cost of Cluster Arrow by 40-50%
        • Now rolls with 60-80% Cluster Arrow damage
      • Sin Seekers
        • Legendary Power added
          • Rapid Fire no longer has a channel cost
        • Now rolls with +45-60% Rapid Fire damage
    • Monk
      • Balance
        • Legendary Power added
          • When your Tempest Rush hits 3 or fewer enemies, it gains 100% Critical Hit Chance
          • Now rolls with +150-200% Tempest Rush damage
    • Witch Doctor
      • Last Breath
        • Legendary Power added
          • The 15-20 second Mass Confusion cooldown reduction is now a Legendary Power
      • Thing of the Deep
        • Legendary Power added
          • The 20 yard Pickup radius is now a Legendary Power
    • Wizard
      • Fragment of Destiny
        • Legendary Power added
          • Spectral Blade attacks 50% faster and deals 150-200% increased damage
  • Bug Fixes
    • Fixed an issue that prevented some sources of Attack Speed, which only benefit specific skills, from reducing the internal cooldown of Bane of the Stricke