Blizzard Quote [source]

The wind blows frozen wisps off snowdrifts, where they’re caught in the decorated grooves of a cold, iron bridge leading to the broken gates of Sescheron. Where once the sights and sounds of a bustling city could be found, now there are only the distant howls of madmen, glimpses of hungry beasts prowling in shadows, and air thick with the palpable weight of shattered hope.

Behold, the Ruins of Sescheron:

The Glory of Past Sescheron

Sescheron was once a living symbol of united Barbarian tribes. Its gates guarded the lone path to Sanctuary’s most precious treasure, the Worldstone, and the Children of Bul-Kathos were tasked with defending those gates. They had done so unerringly for countless generations. It was believed that the city would never fall, and the people of the Northern Steppes would always stand vigilant. In its final days, Sescheron was ruled by Chief Elder Kanai, who was not only loved by the people, but being considered to sit upon the Immortal Throne. Such a high honor had only been bestowed upon two others in the past, including Bul-Kathos himself.

The Day All Hope Was Lost

To this day, all who dare enter the ruins are met with a gruesome reminder—some deeds are so evil that their stains never wash away. . . .         

When Baal, the Lord of Destruction, marched an army of the Burning Hells upon Sescheron, he was met by a lone emissary who denied him passage. Infuriated, Baal took matters into his own hands, and summoned demonic forces to tear the emissary apart. The first blow of the battle had been struck, but more blood would spill before it was over.

Chief Elder Kanai and his people stood their ground against the impossible flood of Baal’s army with every fiber of their being. In the end, however, evil prevailed and the warriors of Sescheron fell. All that was left of the city after Baal’s passage was shattered ruins, the hopeless madness of a failed people, and the cold, empty shadows of a once mighty civilization.

Seek the Ruins and Recover the Cube

The Ruins of Sescheron can be found by opening the Act III Adventure Mode map, and selecting the newly added waypoint in the upper-right corner. Be sure to talk to Zoltun Kulle before you begin your quest to find Kanai’s Cube. A word of advice: Take great care when exploring these dangerous ruins, brave nephalem, for the only thing darker than the suffocating sorrow surrounding these ruins is the shroud of death that hangs over it.

Blizzard Quote [source]

Delsere’s Magnum Opus is the newest Wizard set, added in Patch 2.2.0. Focused on turning the utility-oriented skill Slow Time into a synergistic skill of destruction, many players have found they can integrate aspects of this new set into a Tal Rasha’s Elements build. We’re looking at an equally thematic and effective take on the “DelRasha’s” build today with Corvid#2114’s Bubble Trouble Wizard!

About the Build:

The Delsere’s Magnum Opus set is designed to take a skill normally reserved for utility play and flipping it on its head to bring damage to the table. It’s pretty satisfying to drop a few of these massive bubbles on the map and watch your enemies melt while they shamble hopelessly toward you. The Meteor skill, in and of itself, benefits supremely from the enemy debuffs Slow Time provides and it was only a matter of time before players began to combine Tal Rasha’s Elements and its death from above gameplay with the Delsere’s set. 

Don't burst my bubbles, bro.

While there’s plenty of top end combo builds out there that branch off this style of play, we’re focusing on the more thematic approach that EU player Corvid#2114 sent in. Why stop at Slow Time when you can cover the screen with a variety of bubble-themed skills? 

The Skills:

There’s a major theme in this build and it’s “bubbles everywhere!” Between multiple Slow Time casts and a few other thematic abilities, you’ll be able to keep up a truly bubbly countenance. 

Active Skills:

• Arcane Orb (Frozen Orb)
  • Fits the theme; a “bubble” that you throw
  • Synergizes naturally with the Delsere’s Magnum Opus set, reducing the cooldown of Slow Time
  • Cold element activates one Meteor option of Tal Rasha’s Elements
• Black Hole (Supermassive)
  • Fits the theme; a “bubble” that sucks in and traps your enemies
  • Synergizes well with Slow Time, keeping enemies at bay and frequently locked down
  • Lightning element activates one Meteor option of Tal Rasha’s Elements
• Energy Armor (Force Armor)
  • Fits the theme; this “bubble” protects you at all times
  • Helps combat a Wizard’s inherent squishiness on multiple levels
• Magic Weapon (Force Weapon)
  • Powers up all your abilities, ensuring you’re maximizing your available damage
• Slow Time (Time Warp)
  • The main theme - this is the bubble, and you’ll be casting lots of them!
  • Integral to any Delsere’s Magnum Opus build, offering both damage and utility
  • Stacking either Fire or Arcane bonus damage will activate another Meteor from Tal Rasha’s Elements
• Teleport (Safe Passage)
  • The trusty Wizard go-to for an escape
  • Safe Passage buys you a little more time if things truly turn ugly

Passive Skills:

• Blur
  • Beefs up the build to keep it in the action longer
• Illusionist
  • Helps keep the cooldowns managed on both Teleport and Slow Time
  • Adds a little more mobility to the Wizard by granting you movement speed whenever you’re casting one of these two handy utility spells
• Evocation
  • Reduces all your cooldowns, which is particularly helpful for keeping Black Hole available
• Unstable Anomaly
  • A safety net for when things go awry, granting you a reliable second-life

The Items:

There are a few stiff requirements in this build by virtue of the need to include two sets. However, there’s room for some flexibility with your weapon, ring, and bracer slots to suit your tastes. 

Corvid's still hunting an Ancient Sunkeeper to experiment with in this build. Looking great so far!

Recommended Items:

• Delsere’s Magnum Opus (4-piece bonus)
  • Recommended pieces include Shoulders, Legs, and Boots
  • Turns Slow Time into a sizeable damage dealer
• Tal Rasha’s Elements (6-piece bonus)
  • Recommended pieces include Gloves, Chest, Amulet, Source, and Belt
  • Provides the extra oomph this build needs to progress into higher level Greater Rifts
  • Stacks nicely with Delsere’s Magnum Opus especially when integrating multiple elemental options between Slow Time, Arcane Orb, and Black Hole
• Ring of Royal Grandeur
  • Necessary to acquire the set bonuses from both Delsere’s and Tal Rasha’s

Complementary Items:

• Leoric’s Crown
  • When socketed with a Diamond, provides substantial Cooldown Reduction for skills like Black Hole and Teleport
• Crown of the Primus
  • If you’d prefer to go more Slow Time focused, vastly increases the utility of the skill by providing every rune
  • Great as a more support-oriented option

Recommended Legendary Gems:

• Bane of the Trapped
  • You’ll keep the bonus damage up from this Legendary gem through ample use of your Slow Time ability
• Molten Wildebeest’s Gizzard
  • As all Wizards know, they are super squishy and the Rank 25 shielding ability from this gem helps keep you in the action
• Bane of the Powerful
  • Clear times are pretty quick from pack to pack, allowing you to capitalize on this gem’s benefit

Recommended Stats:

• Cooldown Reduction should be a priority, as you’ll rely on Teleport and Black Hole to keep you out of danger and enemies at bay
• Due to the nature of Delsere’s Magnum Opus, pick one +% Elemental Damage and stick with it; this changes what type of damage your Slow Time will do. Corvid prefers stacking +% Fire damage as a way to proc the Fire Meteor from Tal Rasha’s Elements
• Armor should be your primary Toughness stat to stack, as it complements Intelligence users well and you’ll want to combat your inherent squishiness

Why We Like This Build:

The combination play between these two sets just works, which is why it’s become such a popular build amongst Wizards. What we really dig about Corvid’s build, though, is the extra step taken to combine skills thematically. One realizes pretty quickly how literally well-rounded Wizard skills are when you look at all the ways you can incorporate spheres into your play. Corvid does this thoughtfully and effectively, resulting in a fun iteration on a popular build with room to refine. 

It's hard to be witty about this one — let's just appreciate how great a screenshot this is.

Tell Us What You Think!

How many of you out there run a variation of “DelRasha’s?” Does Corvid’s Bubble Trouble build come close to your take? What tweaks would you make to this build to improve it? We’d love to know in the comments section, so join us and share your thoughts or send your own build in here!

Next week, we’ll brood over a new build with the Demon Hunter. See you then!

Blizzard Quote [source]

Last Updated June 30 at 5:15 p.m. PDT.

Below you'll find the preliminary PTR patch notes for patch 2.3.0. 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 2.3.0 - v2.3.0.32496

To provide feedback on patch 2.3.0, please visit the PTR Feedback forum.
To report any issues you experience while playing, please visit the the PTR Bug Report forum.
For additional information about the PTR, click here.

Table of Contents:

• Patch Features
  • The Ruins of Sescheron
  • Kanai's Cube
  • Season Journey
• General
• Classes
  • Barbarian
  • Crusader
  • Demon Hunter
  • Monk
  • Witch Doctor
  • Wizard
• Items
  • Class-Specific Items
  • New Seasonal Legendary Items
• Adventure Mode
  • Nephalem Rifts
  • Bug Fixes
• Crafting
• Monsters

PATCH FEATURES

New Feature: The Ruins of Sescheron
The frozen wasteland that is the Ruins of Sescheron are now open for exploration! Filled with new enemies, traps, and environmental hazards, you'll be able to explore the region and learn more about what befell the barbarians of Mount Arreat. Explore the Immortal Throne and obtain the ultimate treasure: Kanai's Cube.

To learn more about The Ruins of Sescheron, click here.

New Feature: Kanai's Cube
Kanai's Cube is a new artisan that offers a slew of new recipes to fully customize your items and catalogue your Legendary powers. Several recipes are available to players immediately upon acquiring Kanai's Cube:

• Extract Legendary Power: Destroy an item to add its Legendary power to your catalogue of collected powers. Once a power has been extracted, it can be equipped to your character without the need to equip the item. Players may have one Weapon, one Armor, and one Jewelry power equipped at a time. Players may only equip powers from items that their characters can normally equip and use.
• Reforge a Legendary Item: Completely re-rolls a Legendary item as though it had dropped for the first time. This includes any powers that may have been previously enchanted on the item. Note that reforged items may re-roll as either Ancient or non-Ancient, so reforge at your own discretion!
• Upgrade Rare Item: Upgrades the quality of a level 70 Rare item to Legendary. This item will roll as a randomized Legendary that shares that item's equipment type.
• Convert Set Item: Converts a Set item to a randomized piece of gear from the same Set. For example, if you convert a pair of Asheara's Finders, you could get Asheara's Custodian, Asheara's Pace, or Asheara's Ward in return.
• Remove Level Requirement: Removes the level requirement from an item, allowing it to be equipped by a character of any level.
• Convert Gems: Converts 9 of any color gem to 9 of any other color.
• Convert Crafting Materials: Converts 100 of normal, magic, or rare Crafting Materials to 100 of another type of non-legendary Crafting Material

To acquire Kanai's Cube, visit Zoltun Kulle in New Tristram, Hidden Camp, Bastion's Keep Stronghold, or The Survivor's Enclave in Adventure Mode. He'll be quite pleased to guide you on your way.

To learn more about Kanai's Cube, click here.

New Feature: Season Journey
Each player approaches a new Season a little differently and we wanted to celebrate individual player successes. Beginning in Season 4, you'll be able to track your personal progress through the Season Journey interface.

A player's Season Journey is divided into chapters, each with their own descriptive goals and achievements. The further you advance in your Season Journey, the more difficult the milestones become and you'll find there are challenges for every level of player. Completing the highest level Tiers will unlock new portrait frame rewards to celebrate your accomplishments.

This feature will be available for testing once Season 4 begins on the PTR. To learn more about Season Journey, click here.

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GENERAL

• Torment VII-X difficulty levels have been added to the game
• Experience gained, including all sources of Bonus Experience, is now averaged across all players in a party that are eligible to receive experience
• Crowd control resistance cap has been increased from 65% to 95%
  • This now applies to immobilize effects as well
• Non-elite monsters can now benefit from crowd control resistance
• All monsters other than bosses, Rift Guardians, or certain large monsters (like Mallet Lords) are now vulnerable to knockback effects
  • Knockback effects are now subject to crowd control resistance rules and monsters will become immune to knockback at 65% resistance
• All hard crowd control effects (e.g. blind, charm, fear, knockback, stun) now automatically apply 20% crowd control resistance regardless of the duration
• Lantern Oil and Barrel Stack traps can now deal damage and stun or knockback enemies
• Vendors now only sell Magic amulets and rings
• Gems that drop below level 61 have been condensed into 5 tiers
  • The values of these remaining early gems have been adjusted so they feel more powerful

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CLASSES

• Several skills can now be assigned to Left Mouse Button:
  • Barbarian
    • Battle Rage
    • Ignore Pain
    • Sprint
    • Threatening Shout
    • War Cry
    • Wrath of the Berserker
  • Crusader
    • Akarat's Champion
    • Iron Skin
    • Provoke
  • Demon Hunter
    • Companion
    • Preparation
  • Monk
    • Blinding Flash
    • Breath of Heaven
    • Epiphany
    • Mystic Ally
    • Serenity
  • Witch Doctor
    • Hex
    • Horrify
  • Wizard
    • Diamond Skin
    • Energy Armor
    • Familiar
    • Ice Armor
    • Magic Weapon
    • Storm Armor
• Many pets have received adjustments to their collision so that they more closely match their model
• Barbarian
  • Active Skills
    • Battle Rage
      • Skill Rune - Ferocity
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now increases movement speed by 10%
    • Cleave
      • Skill Rune - Scattering Blast
        • Now knocks enemies up into the air instead of back 10 yards
        • Enemies that land no longer knock other enemies back
    • Frenzy
      • Skill Rune - Vanguard
        • Now grants 5% movement speed per stack of Frenzy
    • Leap
      • Now breaks roots when cast
    • War Cry
      • Skill Rune - Veteran's Warning
        • Dodge chance bonus increased from 15% to 30%
    • Passive Skills
      • No Escape
        • Damage bonus increased from 20% to 30%
        • Minimum distance reduced from 20 to 15 yards

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• Crusader
  • Active Skills
    • Blessed Hammer
      • Skill Rune - Icebound Hammer
        • Damage increased from 380% to 460% weapon damage
        • Chance to explode increased from 10% to 35%
        • Freeze duration reduced from 2 seconds to 1 second
        • Icebound Hammer now goes away when it explodes
    • Judgment
      • Skill Rune - Conversion
        • Has been removed
        • Replaced with:
          • Debilitate
            • Enemies in the judged area deal 40% reduced damage for 6 seconds

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• Demon Hunter
  • Active Skills
    • Spike Trap
      • Initial arming time reduced from 2 to 1.5 seconds
      • Re-arming time reduced from 2 to .5 seconds
      • You should now feel less of a delay when casting Spike Trap
      • Skill Rune - Echoing Blast
        • Damage increased from 420% to 575% weapon damage
        • Enemies hit are now Frozen for 3 seconds
        • Frozen enemies take 20% increased damage
      • Skill Rune - Lightning Rod
        • Trigger range increased from 8 to 10 yards
        • Lighting now arcs from any triggered trap to any armed traps within 75 yards
        • All enemies hit take 880% weapon damage over 10 hits
      • Skill Rune - Long Fuse
        • Now deals all damage in a single explosion for 930% weapon damage
        • Enemies hit will now be Stunned for 2 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Scatter
        • Re-arming time reduced from 2 to .5 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Sticky Trap
        • Damage increased from 800% to 915% weapon damage
        • Arming time reduced from 2 seconds to 1 second
        • Range reduced from 16 to 12 yards
  • Passive Skills
    • Hot Pursuit
      • Duration increased from 2 to 4 seconds
    • Leech
      • New Passive Skill
        • Gain 18,705 Life on Hit
        • Heal amount increased by 75% of your Life per Kill
        • Available at level 60
    • Numbing Traps
      • Duration increased from 3 to 5 seconds

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• Monk
  • Active Skills
    • Dashing Strike
      • Now breaks roots when cast

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• Witch Doctor
  • Active Skills
    • Acid Cloud
      • Skill Rune - Corpse Bomb
        • Damage increased from 525% to 620% weapon damage
    • Corpse Spiders
      • Skill Rune - Blazing Spiders
        • Spiders now return 3 Mana on hit
      • Skill Rune - Widowmakers
        • Now increases the total damage to 700% weapon damage
    • Firebats
      • Skill Rune - Cloud of Bats
        • Damage radius increased from 8 to 12 yards
      • Skill Rune - Plague Bats
        • Final damage increased from 638% to 660% weapon damage
      • Skill Rune - Vampire Bats
        • Damage type changed from Fire to Physical
    • Firebomb
      • Skill Rune - Ghost Bomb
        • Damage type changed from Fire to Cold
    • Hex
      • Now has an animation and summons the Shaman or Toad at your cursor location
      • The summoned Shaman now stands in the location where it was summoned
      • Summoned Shamans' cast range increased from 25 to 50 yards
      • Damage bonus increased from 10% to 15%
      • Skill Rune - Angry Chicken
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Poison
      • Skill Rune - Hedge Magic
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Cold
      • Skill Rune - Jinx
        • Damage bonus increased from 10% to 30%
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Poison
      • Skill Rune - Toad of Hugeness
        • Has been redesigned
          • Every second for 5 seconds, the toad pulls in the farthest enemy within 45 yards, swallows him for 0.5 seconds, then spits him back out, leaving the enemy with a debuff that deals 750% weapon damage over 5 seconds and increases damage taken by 25%
      • Skill Rune - Unstable Form
        • Weapon damage increased from 135% to 500%
    • Mass Confusion
      • Skill Rune - Devolution
        • Chance to summon a Zombie Dog increased from 30% to 100%
      • Skill Rune - Mass Hallucination
        • Weapon damage increased from 195% to 400%
      • Skill Rune - Mass Hysteria
        • Maximum number of enemies Stunned increased from 6 to 10
      • Skill Rune - Unstable Realm
        • Cooldown reduced from 45 to 30 seconds
    • Plague of Toads
      • Skill Rune - Piercing Toads
        • Damage type changed from Poison to Physical
      • Skill Rune - Toad Affinity
        • Damage type changed from Poison to Cold
    • Soul Harvest
      • Gaining additional Soul Harvest stacks will no longer remove all existing stacks and will instead be added to them. Any new stacks over 5 will replace the stack with the shortest remaining duration.
      • Skill Rune - Soul to Waste
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now grants 5% Movement Speed per stack
    • Wall of Zombies
      • Has been removed
      • Replaced with:
        • Wall of Death
          • Raise a wall of Zombies 28 yards wide from the ground that blocks enemies and attacks them for 800% weapon damage as Physical over 6 seconds
          • Skill Rune - Communing with Spirits
            • Summon a 15 yard radius spectral ring that deals 1400% weapon damage as Cold over 6 seconds, Chills all enemies who walk through by 60%, and reduces their damage done by 25%
          • Skill Rune - Fire Wall
            • Summon a fire wall 40 yards wide for 8 seconds that burns enemies who walk through, dealing 1000% weapon damage as Fire over 4 seconds
          • Skill Rune - Wall of Zombies
            • Increase the width of the wall of Zombies to 50 yards and knock all enemies back behind the wall
          • Skill Rune - Ring of Poison
            • Summon a 15 yard radius ring for 5 seconds that poisons nearby enemies, causing them to take 1200% weapon damage as Poison over 8 seconds
          • Skill Rune - Surrounded by Death
            • Raises a circle of zombies from the ground that traps and attacks nearby enemies for 1000% weapon damage as physical over 4 seconds
    • Zombie Charger
      • Skill Rune - Explosive Beast
        • Explosion damage increased from 532% to 580% weapon damage
        • Explosion radius increased from 9 to 12 yards
      • Skill Rune - Lumbering Cold
        • Damage increased from 196% to 200% weapon damage
      • Skill Rune - Zombie Bears
        • Damage increased from 392% to 400% weapon damage
  • Passive Skills
    • Bad Medicine
      • Damage reduction increased from 20% to 25%
      • Duration increased from 3 to 5 seconds
    • Blood Ritual
      • Mana costs taken from Life increased from 10% to 20%
    • Physical Attunement
      • Has been removed
      • Replaced with:
        • Swampland Attunement
          • Grants you and your pets 120 resistance to Physical, Poison, Fire, and Cold per enemy within 20 yards
    • Spiritual Attunement
      • Mana regeneration increased from 1% to 3% per second
  • Bug Fixes
    • Fixed an issue that prevented reapplication of Haunt - Poisoned Spirit from applying the +20% damage taken buff
    • Fixed an issue that prevented Fetishes summoned by The Gidbinn from counting towards the Zunimassa's Haunt (4) Set Bonus
    • Fixed an issue that caused each Firebats - Hungry Bats bat to deal half the listed damage

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• Wizard
  • Active Skills
    • Archon
      • Arcane Strike knockback effect has been removed
      • Arcane Blast cooldown has been removed
      • Skill Rune - Slow Time
        • Now also causes your Arcane Blast and Arcane Strike abilities to Freeze enemies for 1 second
  • Passive Skills
    • Unstable Anomaly
      • Has been redesigned
        • When you receive fatal damage, you instead gain a shield equal to 300% of your maximum Life for 5 seconds and release a shockwave that knocks enemies back and Stuns them for 3 seconds.
        • This effect may occur once every 60 seconds

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ITEMS

• Cooldown Reduction and Resource Cost Reduction can now roll on normal Shields
• Azurewrath
  • Aura damage increased from 30-40% to 500-650% weapon damage per second
  • Aura now also affects Demons
  • Now knocks enemies into the air instead of knocking them back
• Fulminator
  • Lightning rod damage increased from 167-222% to 444-555% weapon damage per second
  • Now rolls with a guaranteed primary stat instead of Attack Speed
• Hellfire Amulet
  • Now rolls with a guaranteed socket
• Stone of Jordan
  • Once again rolls with +Maximum Resource as a secondary stat for all classes
• Thorns of the Invoker
  • This set now only drops for Crusaders
• Class-Specific Items
  • Barbarian
    • Bracers of Destruction
      • New Legendary Bracers
        • Seismic Slam deals 300-400% increased damage to the first two enemies it hits
    • Bracers of the First Men
      • New Legendary Bracers
        • When Hammer of the Ancients hits an enemy, gain 75-100% increased attack speed for 3 seconds
    • Fjord Cutter
      • Chilling aura proc chance increased from 20-30% to 100%
    • Fury of the Ancients
      • New Legendary Shoulders
        • Call of the Ancients gains the effect of the Ancients' Fury rune
  • Crusader
    • Gabriel's Vambraces
      • New Legendary Bracers
        • When your Blessed Hammer hits 3 or less enemies 75-100% of its Wrath cost is refunded
    • Guard of Johanna
      • New Legendary Crusader Shield
        • Blessed Hammer damage is increased by 200-250% for the first 3 enemies it hits
    • Johanna's Argument
      • New Legendary Flail
        • Increases the attack speed of Blessed Hammer by 100%
    • Seeker of the Light
      • New Set
        • (2) Set Bonus
          • Every use of Blessed Hammer that hits an enemy reduces the cooldown of Falling Sword and Provoke by 1 second
        • (4) Set Bonus
          • You take 50% less damage for 8 seconds after landing with Falling Sword
        • (6) Set Bonus
          • Increases the damage of Blessed Hammer by 750% and Falling Sword by 250%
  • Demon Hunter
    • Hunter's Wrath
      • New Legendary Belt
        • Your Hatred generators attack 30% faster and deal 30-40% increased damage
    • Wraps of Clarity
      • New Legendary Bracers
        • Your Hatred generators reduce your damage taken by 30-35% for 5 seconds
    • Yang's Recurve
      • New Legendary Bow
        • Multishot attacks 40% faster
        • Rolls with +30-40% Resource Cost Reduction
  • Monk
    • Binding of the Lost
      • New Legendary Belt
        • Each hit with Seven-Sided Strike grants 3-3.5% damage reduction for 7 seconds
    • Shenlong's Spirit
      • (2) Set Bonus
        • The damage of your Spirit Generators is increased by 1% for each point of Spirit you have
        • When reaching maximum Spirit, all damage is increased by 300%, but you no longer passively regenerate Spirit and 65 Spirit is drained every second until you run out of Spirit
    • Uliana's Strategem
      • New Set
        • (2) Set Bonus
          • Every third hit of your Spirit Generators applies Exploding Palm
        • (4) Set Bonus
          • Your Seven-Sided Strike deals its total damage with each hit
        • (6) Set Bonus
          • Your Seven-Sided Strike detonates your Exploding Palm
  • Witch Doctor
    • Coils of the First Spider
      • While channeling Firebats, gain 60000-80000 Life per Hit
    • Jeram's Bracers
      • New Legendary Bracers
        • Wall of Death can be cast up to twice again within 2 seconds before the cooldown begins
    • Helltooth Harness
      • Has been redesigned
        • (2) Set Bonus
          • Enemies hit by Wall of Death are afflicted by Necrosis becoming Slowed and taking 2500% weapon damage every second for 10 seconds
        • (4) Set Bonus
          • After applying Necrosis to an enemy, you take 50% reduced damage for 10 seconds
        • (6) Set Bonus
          • Enemies afflicted by Necrosis take 800% increased damage from your primary skills, Acid Cloud, Firebats, Grasp of the Dead, Piranhas, Wall of Death, and Zombie Charger
    • Manajuma's Way
      • Has been redesigned
        • (2) Set Bonus
          • Your Hex - Angry Chicken explosion damage is increased by 100% and slain enemies trigger an additional explosion
          • Your Hex - Angry Chicken now lasts 15 seconds and movement speed as a chicken is increased by an additional 100%
    • Spirit of Arachyr
      • New Set
        • (2) Set Bonus
          • Summon a permanent Spider Queen who leaves behind webs that deal 1500% weapon damage per second over 5 seconds and slows enemies. The Spider Queen is commanded to move to where you cast your Corpse Spiders.
        • (4) Set Bonus
          • Hex gains the effect of the Toad of Hugeness rune. While Toad of Hugeness is active, you take 40% reduced damage. After Toad of Hugeness finishes his meal, you will heal for 10% of your maximum Life per second for 10 seconds.
        • (6) Set Bonus
          • The damage of your creature skills is increased by 500%. Creature skills are Corpse Spiders, Firebats, Hex, Piranhas, and Plague of Toads.
    • The Spider Queen's Grasp
      • Now rolls with +45-60% Corpse Spider damage
    • Zunimassa's Haunt
      • Has been redesigned
        • (2) Set Bonus
          • Now also reduces the cooldown of Fetish Army by 80%
  • Wizard
    • Chantodo's Resolve
      • Has been redesigned
        • (2) Set Bonus
          • Every second while in Archon form you expel a Wave of Destruction, dealing 350% weapon damage to enemies within 30 yards
          • Every time you hit with an attack while not in Archon form, 350% weapon damage is added to the Wave of Destruction, stacking up to 20 times
    • Vyr's Amazing Arcana
      • Has been redesigned
        • (2) Set Bonus
          • Archon gains the effect of every rune
        • (4) Set Bonus
          • You automatically start with 50 Archon stacks when entering Archon form
        • (6) Set Bonus
          • You also gain Archon stacks when you hit with an Archon ability
  • 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
      • Arreat's Law
        • Legendary power added
          • Weapon Throw generates up to 15-20 additional Fury based on how far the enemy hit is. Maximum benefit when the enemy hit is 20 or more yards away.
    • Demon Hunter
      • Izzuccob
        • Has been removed
        • Replaced with Valla's Bequest
        • Legendary power added
          • Strafe now pierces
            • Note: Demolition will only pierce once
    • Wizard
      • The Swami
        • The bonuses from Archon stacks now last for 15-20 seconds after Archon expires
  • New Seasonal Legendary Items
    • Note: The following Seasonal items will be not be available to PC players until Season 4 begins and will be available exclusively to Seasonal characters until the conclusion of Season 4
    • Bane of the Stricken
      • New Legendary Gem
        • Each attack you make against an enemy increases the damage it takes from your attacks by 1.0%
        • Gain 25% increased damage against Rift Guardians and bosses at rank 25
    • Barbarian
      • Dishonored Legacy
        • New Mighty Weapon
          • Cleave deals up to 300-400% increased damage based on percentage of missing Fury
    • Crusader
      • Sacred Harness
        • New Legendary Belt
          • Judgment is cast at your landing location when casting Falling Sword
    • Demon Hunter
      • The Demon's Demise
        • New Legendary Hand Crossbow
          • Spike Trap - Sticky Trap spreads to nearby enemies when it explodes
    • Monk
      • Lion's Claw
        • New Legendary Fist Weapon
          • Seven-Sided Strike performs an additional 7 strikes
    • Witch Doctor
      • Henri's Perquisition
        • New Mojo
          • The first time an enemy deals damage to you, reduce that damage by 45-60% and Charm the enemy for 3 seconds
    • Wizard
      • Fazula's Improbable Chain
        • New Legendary Belt
          • Archon stacks also increase your Attack Speed, Armor and resistances by 1%

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ADVENTURE MODE

• Bounties
  • There will now only be 1 bonus act per game
  • Completing a bonus act will now award an extra cache with additional gold and crafting materials
  • Upon completing the bonus act, a new bonus act will be activated
  • The bonus act now changes every hour
  • Horadric Caches now contain an act specific crafting material starting at level 70
  • Horadric Caches now contain a guaranteed Legendary item or Set recipe (if available)
  • Individual bounties no longer award Blood Shards, they are now contained in the Horadric Cache
  • Horadric Caches now contain gold
  • Time until the helpful locator ping for an objective shows up has been reduced from 5 minutes to 1 minute
• Nephalem Rifts
  • Nephalem Rifts no longer require Keystones
  • The Realm of Trials has been removed from the game
  • Generic Greater Rift Keystones now drop and can drop at any difficulty level
  • The amount of progress required to complete a Nephalem Rift or Greater Rift has been increased
  • The option to upgrade a keystone upon successful completion of a Greater Rift has been removed
  • You may now only upgrade Legendary Gems if you complete a Greater Rift before time expires
  • Greater Rift tiers are now selected via a dropdown menu
    • The maximum rift tier that can be selected is:
      • The Greater Rift tier equivalent to the highest difficulty setting Nephalem Rift you have completed
      • One tier higher than the highest Greater Rift tier you have successfully completed
  • Monster damage in Greater Rifts above tier 25 has been significantly reduced
  • The number of Blood Shards dropped in Greater Rifts above tier 42 has been increased
  • The number of guaranteed Legendary items dropped in Greater Rifts starting at tier 50 has been increased
• Keywardens now drop Infernal Machines instead of keys; existing keys will be converted into their corresponding machine types upon login
• Infernal machines only drop for players who are in the same area
• Infernal Machine crafting recipes have been removed from the game
• Bug Fixes
  • Fixed an issue that could sometimes prevent The Hell Portals bounty from being completed

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CRAFTING

• Low level crafting materials have been removed from the game
• Crafting costs and crafting material drop rates have been adjusted to have more parity between the different materials
• Blacksmith
  • Magic and Rare recipes no longer drop
  • Additional Magic and Rare recipes have been added to fill in gaps while leveling
  • A new filter option has been added that displays items relevant to your level and class
  • Crafted Legendary and Set items no longer require a Legendary crafting material
  • Level 70 crafted Legendary and Set items now require act-specific crafting materials instead of a Forgotten Soul
  • Crafting costs have been standardized across slots
  • Cain's Memory and Cain's Insight now have more relevant affixes

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MONSTERS

• Jailer
  • Damaged has been reduced by 50%
  • Duration increased from 1 second to 1.5-2.5 seconds
  • The cooldown between monsters in the same pack casting Jailer has been greatly increased
• Poison Enchanted
  • Monsters in the same pack now have a shared cooldown on casting this ability
  • Monsters now only cast 1 poison bomb at once
  • Individual monster cooldown has been slightly reduced
• Champion packs with the Waller affix can no longer summon a wall within 3 yards of another wall
• The experience and rift progress granted by several monsters has been adjusted to be more in line with the difficulty required to kill them
• Damage inflicted by the Reflects Damage affix has been increased
• Only one monster in a pack can be reflecting damage at a time
• Monsters can no longer reflect damage while afflicted by a Witch Doctor's Hex
• Fire Chains damage radius has been decreased to more closely match the visual effect
• Armor Scavenger
  • Armor mechanic has been redesigned
  • Damage has been slightly increased
  • Health has been slightly reduced
  • Burrow time has been slightly increased
• Corrupted Angels can no longer dash over terrain that cannot be walked on
• Winged Assassins and Executioners can now be killed while casting and recovering from their leap attacks, but cannot be killed while in midair
• Winged Assassins, Urzael, and Executioners no longer deal damage if they are killed during their leap attacks
• Rockworm
  • Now spawn in a burrowed state
  • Must wait a minimum of 4 seconds after surfacing before they may burrow again
• Sand Sharks must wait a minimum of 4 seconds after surfacing before they may burrow again
• Rift Guardians
  • Most monsters are no longer allowed to shoot projectiles at targets in melee range
  • Monsters that shoot projectiles will now always aim them at a player, but projectiles can still collide with pets
  • Some monsters maximum ranges have been reduced to make sure they can no longer shoot players from off screen
  • Monsters that use ranged attacks will now make more of an effort to get to a range where they can use them
  • Monsters that charge now target random players
  • Monsters that run away now only do so when approached by players and can now do so less frequently
  • Rift Guardian life has been significantly lowered
  • Orlash
    • Clones may no longer change direction while using their breath attack
    • Orlash will now summon three clones starting at 50% Life
    • Clones duration has been increased
    • Clones will now use their breath attack as soon as they are summoned
    • Melee attack damage has been slightly reduced
    • Greatly reduced the damage radius of Orlash's breath attack
  • Sand Shaper
    • Cyclone duration has been reduced
    • Cyclone damage radius has been decreased
    • Will now summon Cyclones at random distances from himself
  • Stonesinger
    • No longer spawns clones
    • Now summons stone turrets that fire mortars
    • Now has a charge that does not deal damage
    • Melee attack damage has been significantly reduced
    • Now has a knockback
• Bug Fixes
  • Fixed an issue that prevented Wasp projectiles fired by Elite Sand Wasps from dealing more damage
  • Fixed an issue that prevented Tethrys' ground AoE from dealing reduced damage to pets
  • Fixed an issue that prevented Orlash's breath attack from dealing reduced damage to pets
  • Fixed an issue that could sometimes prevent Corrupted Angels' dash attack from damaging players
  • Fixed an issue that caused the damage from Arcane Sentry to be very slightly out of sync with its visual effect

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Blizzard Quote [source]

Patch 2.3.0 is currently in development and now available for testing on the PTR. To learn about major changes included in 2.3.0, please see the official PTR patch notes. For information on how to participate, copy over characters, and provide feedback, read on below!

• How to Participate
• PTR Character Copy
• Feedback and Bug Reporting

Further details on how to access the PTR and use the Character Copy system can be found in the FAQ.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

To participate in the public test, you must have a Diablo III game license attached your Battle.net account in good standing (i.e. it hasn't been suspended or banned). In addition, you will also need to download and install the Battle.net desktop app if you have not already done so.

Step 1: Create a PTR account. To create a PTR account,  log in to Battle.net Account Management and double-click on your Diablo III game license; this will bring you to the game management page. On this page, click "Create a PTR account." 

If you've participated in any previous Diablo III PTR (including the Reaper of Souls beta), the "Create PTR account" button may not appear. This is because you've already created a PTR account and can therefore skip this step.

Step 2: Once you have created a PTR account, installed the Battle.net desktop, and logged in with your Battle.net credentials, select "Diablo III" from the main menu on the left-hand side of the application.

Step 3: On the Diablo III screen, there is a drop-down menu right above the "Play" button (note that this may say "Install" if you do not have Diablo III currently installed). Select "PTR: Diablo III" from this drop-down menu before proceeding.

Step 4: You should now have the option to install and play the patch 2.3.0 PTR.

The 2.3.0 PTR is available in all supported languages, and accounts from all regions are eligible to participate.

PTR CHARACTER COPY:

The option to copy your existing Diablo III characters from your live account to the PTR will be available and can be done directly through the PTR client. However, only one region per account can be copied at a time. So, if you choose to copy characters from your account in a different region, any previously copied PTR characters will be lost.

Step 1: Log into the live game and then log out.

Step 2: Log into PTR client and create a level 1 character. After you're done, return to the main character screen.

Step 3: Click on the "PTR Copy" button located in the upper right-hand corner. (The PTR Copy button will not appear in-game until you have created a new level 1 character.)

Step 4: Select your region.

Step 5: Click "Copy." This will copy all characters on your account from the selected region.

Step 6: You will be disconnected from the PTR client.

Step 7: Log back in. Your copied characters will be available for play.

Please note that you can only copy characters from one gameplay region at a time. If you choose to copy characters from a different region, any previously copied PTR characters will be lost. In addition, you can only copy characters over to your PTR account once every 24 hours. Attempting to copy characters before this cooldown is up will result in an error.

As a reminder: Any progress made on the PTR will not transfer over to your live account. 

FEEDBACK AND BUG REPORTING:

Once you've had the chance to try things out, be sure to visit the Public Test forums to discuss the patch.

• To provide feedback about content changes in 2.3.0, visit the PTR Feedback forum.
• To report any in-game bugs you find while playing on the PTR, visit the PTR Bug Report forum.

As this is a test server, please anticipate uneven game performance, and note that restarts and downtime may occur without warning. 

Blizzard Quote [source]

The Public Test Realm for Patch 2.3.0 is right around the corner! Are you ready to feast your eyes on all the new goodies that await you in the world of Sanctuary? There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get started.

Table of Contents

• New Zone: Ruins of Sescheron
• New Artifact: Kanai’s Cube
• Crafting System Updates
• Adventure Mode Updates
• New Feature: Season Journey
• New Difficulty Levels
• New Legendary and Set Items
• Combat Changes

As always, please note that this is only a preview. The below information does not reflect all changes available in Patch 2.3.0 and is subject to change. Some images represent works in progress, and may not be representative of the final product.

New Zone: Ruins of Sescheron

In Patch 2.3.0, the frozen wasteland that is the Ruins of Sescheron will open for exploration. Here you’ll face off against strange new enemies and perilous environmental hazards, all while unearthing new mysteries from the lore of the mighty Barbarians. Those brave enough to make it through in one piece will discover curious new points of interest, including the lost Tomb of King Kanai and his ultimate treasure—Kanai’s Cube.

New Artifact: Kanai’s Cube

Those who played Diablo II might remember the Horadric Cube, a unique device which allowed you to combine items. Useful as it was, it was easily surpassed in power by the item from which it originated, Kanai’s Cube. In Patch 2.3.0, players will be able to discover this powerful ancient relic and utilize its incredible potential, including the ability to break down Legendary items and equip their special effects as passive skills (which are separate from your other passive skills), convert crafting materials from one type to another, and so much more.

Crafting System Updates

For those who eagerly gather crafting materials on their journey to level 70, we’ve got good news you’ll especially enjoy. Starting in Patch 2.3.0, the same crafting mats you use at max level will be available as you level up! We’ve also crunched down the number of crafting recipes, making the process easier and more fluid than ever as your results now dynamically adjust to your character’s level. Whether you’re bashing skulls on the highest difficulty or have just started your career and killed your first Champion or Elite pack, your crafting mats will never go to waste.

Adventure Mode Updates

This patch also includes changes designed to improve the pacing of Adventure Mode while encouraging players to explore Bounties across a variety of Acts. In addition to removing the Realm of Trials, we’re improving Bounty rewards by adding new Act-specific crafting mats to Horadric Caches. Completing Bonus Acts in Adventure Mode games will also now grant a bonus Horadric Cache stuffed with crafting materials, gold, and additional Act-specific crafting mats.

New Feature: Season Journey

Every player’s Seasonal journey is different—and so are their accomplishments. Starting in Season 4, you'll be able to track your individual progress through the Season Journey interface. This helpful feature is divided into Chapters, which include major milestones that are achievable by most players, and Tiers, which are designed for advanced players. Completing Tiers unlocks new portrait frame rewards, and the highest Tier includes challenges which will take effort to achieve for even the most powerful nephalem.

New Difficulty Levels

As players continue to discover powerful new gear, the current hardest difficulty level—Torment VI—can begin to feel less challenging. To help keep hardened battle veterans on their toes, we’re adding four new Torment levels with appropriate reward rates, including Torment X. We’ll be iterating on these new difficulties and rewards as the PTR progresses, so we look forward to hearing your feedback!

New Legendary and Set Items

For all you dedicated loot hunters, we’re also adding lots of shiny new Legendary and Set effects to the game. Aside from doing this through introducing new items, we’re also revamping special effects on some existing items, and granting new effects to some items which don’t currently have one. As in other patches, changes to Legendary items are not retroactive, so you’ll need to find them once more to use their updated form. Overall, this should result in more build options for you to explore. 

Combat Changes

Several changes to monsters are coming to the game as well. Along with reducing the amount of crowd control the game’s tougher monsters will tolerate, we’ve adjusted the experience and Rift progress granted by killing monsters so they better reflect the effort required to kill them. For example, monsters that take more time or effort to kill now provide more experience, and those that are especially easy to kill will provide less. We’ve also made changes that create a better balance between the time you spend exploring and clearing Nephalem or Greater Rifts, and the time you spend facing the Rift Guardian. With these changes, more of the emphasis will be on your journey as you explore and clear the Rift.  

Prepare Yourself!

New zone, new Cube, new items, new difficulty levels, new Adventure Mode changes—the list goes on and on! We hope you’re looking forward to trying out all these new features and leaving your valuable feedback once the PTR hits.

Out of all that you’ve seen above, which of these changes are you most excited to experience for yourself? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll see you on the Public Test Realm!