Blizzard Quote [source]

Updates to patch notes can be found in red. Last updated July 9, 2014 @ 2:00 p.m. PDT.

Below you'll find the preliminary PTR patch notes for patch 2.1.0. 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 2.1.0 - v2.1.0.25014

To provide feedback on patch 2.1.0, 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:

• PTR-Only Changes
• Patch Features
  • Seasons
  • Greater Rifts
  • Leaderboards
  • The Cesspools
• General
• Classes
  • Barbarian
  • Crusader
  • Demon Hunter
  • Monk
  • Witch Doctor
  • Wizard
• Items
  • Class-Specific Items
  • New Seasonal Legendaries
  • Bug Fixes
• Achievements
• Adventure Mode
  • Bounties
  • Nephalem Rifts
  • Bug Fixes
• Crafting
  • Blacksmith
  • Mystic
• Events
  • Infernal Machine
• Monsters
• User Interface
  • Chat
  • Bug Fixes
• Bug Fixes

PATCH FEATURES

New Feature: Seasons
Seasons are an optional, recurring game mode that offers players the opportunity to periodically start fresh, leveling Normal or Hardcore characters from scratch without gold, resources, or previously earned Paragon experience. Similar to the separation between Normal and Hardcore game modes, Seasonal characters will have their own shared stash and artisan progression as well. Any items, gold, or Paragon experience earned during a Season will be rolled over to a player's non-Seasonal characters once the Season concludes.

Seasons offer unique rewards and new challenges for players, including new Legendaries, an exclusive Transmogrification set only available to those who compete in each Season, and new achievements called Conquests. Progress within a given Season will be tracked in our new Leaderboard system. 

To learn more about Seasons, click here. 

Please note that Seasons are not yet available for testing on the PTR. This feature will be enabled at a later date.  

New Feature: Greater Rifts
Formerly referred to as Tiered Rifts, Greater Rifts are a special type of timed Nephalem Rift. There are an infinite number of Greater Rift levels, and each Greater Rift level will be progressively more difficult than the last. 

Completing a Greater Rift within its alloted time will allow players to progress to the next level (and if your time is exceptionally good, you may even skip multiple levels at once). Players can continue progressing through Greater Rift levels so along as they complete the Rift before its timer expires. Once a timer expires, players will reach the end of their current Greater Rift journey and their best results will be tracked in our new Leaderboard system. 

To learn more about Greater Rifts, click here. 

New Feature: Leaderboards
With the addition of Seasons and Greater Rifts, we want to provide players with a way to measure their progress within each of those environments. To do so, we've created Leaderboards. 

Leaderboards will track a variety of competitive player data including Greater Rifts clear times, Seasonal achievement point totals, and Seasonal Conquest completion ranking across several different game styles. Designed to be informative and detailed, Leaderboards will also allow you to compare your progress to that of players within your gameplay region, on your friends list, and in your clan roster.

To learn more about Leaderboards, click here. 

New Feature: The Cesspools
In patch 2.1.0 and moving forward, players will now have a chance to spawn a new level environement while in a Nephalem Rift or Greater Rift: The Cesspools.  

Originally designed as the sewers of Westmarch, we weren't quite able to include the Cesspools in the list of playable environments in Reaper of Souls by the time the expansion launched. Still, we loved the look and feel of this festering, dank underworld and have spent some time polishing it up for use in Nephalem Rifts and Greater Rifts. We hope you enjoy this new randomized landscape!

To learn more about the Cesspools, click here. 

Return to Top

PTR-ONLY CHANGES

• Greater Rifts
  • The Greater Rift difficulty curve has been adjusted
• Items
  • Depth Diggers
    • The damage bonus provided by this item's Legendary Power no longer includes Witch Doctor and Wizard Signature Spells
  • Madstone
    • The Exploding Palm applied by this item will now use the Skill Rune you're currently using
    • Fulminating Onslaught will now only apply Exploding Palm to the primary target of each strike
  • Ramaladni's Gift
    • Bug Fixes
      • Players will now properly be prompted with a confirmation dialog before using Ramalandi's Gift
• User Interface
  • Greater Rifts now have a unique icon that displays when a Greater Rift is open or when a player is inside a Greater Rift
  • Greater Rift completion times should now always be broadcast to your chat window
  • Bug Fixes
    • Fixed an issue that caused the Greater Rift countdown timer to continue to display after the rift guardian was killed
• Bug Fixes
  • Fixed an issue that prevented players from changing the difficulty of a game after a Greater Rift had been completed
  • Fixed an issue that was causing monsters in Greater Rifts to grant more Experience than intended
  • Player pets no longer improperly gain bonuses based on the difficulty of a Greater Rift
  • Fixed an issue preventing players from upgrading Legendary gems located in their Stash

Return to Top

GENERAL

• An additional Stash Tab is now available for all players with Reaper of Souls
• Players will now be disconnected from Diablo III upon being inactive for 30 minutes while outside of a game
• Healing Changes
  • The amount of Life restored by Health Globes from Rare monsters has been reduced from 30% to 15%
  • The amount of Life restored by Health Globes from Champion and Minion monsters has been reduced from 20% to 15%
  • The amount of Life Regeneration and Life On Hit granted by items has been increased
    • These changes apply to all items from level 1 to 70
    • These changes are retroactive and will apply to existing gear
  • Life on Hit is no longer affected by proc coefficients and will now only be triggered once per attack, as long as that attack dealt damage
    • Channeled attacks will provide an amount of healing over any given period of time that is equivalent to a non-channeled attack

Return to Top

CLASSES

• Made a number of improvements to the AI of several pets:
  • Pets that belong to other players will now be less visible
  • Fixed a number of issues which could sometimes cause pets to not attack a nearby enemy or stand still and stop attacking the enemy they were currently attacking
    • Pets affected by these improvements include:
      • Call of the Ancients
      • Companion
      • Fetish Army
      • Gargantuan
      • Mystic Ally
      • Phalanx
      • Zombie Dogs

• Barbarian
  • Active Skills
    • Bash
      • Skill Rune - Clobber
        • Has been removed
        • New skill rune added: Frostbite
          • Each hit freezes the enemy for 1.5 seconds, enemies can only be frozen once every 5 seconds
          • Deals Cold damage
      • Skill Rune - Onslaught
        • Has been redesigned
          • The enemy hit has a 10% increased chance to be Critically Hit for 3 seconds
          • Damage type changed from Physical to Lightning
    • Call of the Ancients
      • Ancients should now more reliably hit moving targets
      • Korlic's Furious Charge ability now deals damage to enemies he passes through
      • Mawdawc's Seismic Slam ability now has a small knock up effect instead of the knock back
      • Skill Rune - Duty to the Clan
        • Has been redesigned
          • Enemies hit are now chilled reducing Movement Speed by 30% for 2 seconds
          • Chilled enemies have a 10% increased chance to be critically hit
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Cold
      • Bug Fixes
        • Fixed an issue that could sometimes cause the ancients to never use their bonus abilities
        • Fixed an issue that allowed the Ancients to snapshot attack speed when summoned
    • Cleave
      • Damage area has been increased from 120 to 180 degrees to more closely match the visual
      • Skill Rune - Broad Sweep
        • Now hits all enemies around you
      • Skill Rune - Gathering Storm
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now Chills all enemies hit and causes them to take 10% increased damage from all sources for 3 seconds
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Cold
    • Earthquake
      • Weapon damage increased from 2600% to 4200%
      • Skill Rune - Giant's Stride
        • Secondary tremor weapon damage increased from 160% to 200%
      • Skill Rune - Molten Fury
        • Weapon damage increased from 4500% to 5100%
    • Furious Charge
      • Weapon damage increased from 360% to 540%
      • Furious Charge should now more reliably move around obstacles and corners
      • Maximum charge distance increased from 35 to 60 yards
      • Radius of final damage cone increased from 15 to 20 yards
      • The travel speed has been significantly increased
      • The ending animation time has been significantly reduced and will now scale down with your attack speed
      • No longer alternates between using main hand and off-hand weapons
      • Skill Rune - Battering Ram
        • Weapon damage increased from 760% to 900%
      • Skill Rune - Bull Rush
        • The stun has been replaced with a freeze
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Cold
        • Has been renamed "Cold Rush"
      • Skill Rune - Dreadnought
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Lightning
    • Ignore Pain
      • Now grants immunity to all crowd control effects while active
      • Skill Rune - Bravado
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now increases your run speed by 40% and knocks back enemies as you run
      • Skill Rune - Contempt for Weakness
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now instantly heals you for 35% of your maximum Life
    • Rend
      • Skill Rune - Mutilate
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now causes enemies Chilled by Rend to take 10% increased damage from all sources
    • Seismic Slam
      • Will now lock on to an enemy you targeted with your mouse if you hold down the button
    • Rend
      • Weapon damage increased from 1000% to 1100% over 5 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Lacerate
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Lightning
      • Skill Rune - Mutilate
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Cold
      • Skill Rune - Ravage
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Fire
    • Whirlwind
      • Weapon damage increased from 275% to 340%
      • Significantly increased proc coefficient
      • Skill Rune - Dust Devils
        • Tornado weapon damage increased from 80% to 120%
        • Tornadoes now travel approximately the same direction you are traveling
        • Increased duration and movement speed of the tornadoes
      • Skill Rune - Hurricane
        • Doubled the frequency at which enemies are pulled in
      • Skill Rune - Volcanic Eruption
        • Weapon damage increased from 325% to 400%
    • Wrath of the Berserker
      • Skill Rune - Slaughter
        • Damage caused by this rune can now trigger procs

Return to Top

• Crusader
  • Active Skills
    • Phalanx
      • Avatar run speed increased from 100% to 200%
      • Skill Rune - Bowmen
        • Bug Fixes
          • Fixed an issue that caused the Bowmen to stop attacking when an enemy was in range, but out of line of sight

Return to Top

• Demon Hunter
  • Dexterity no longer grants Dodge chance
  • Dexterity now grants 1 Armor per point
  • Active Skills
    • Cluster Arrow
      • Skill Rune - Maelstrom
        • Tendrils have been replaced with Rockets
        • Tendril Rocket weapon damage increased from 220% to 450%
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Cold
      • Skill Rune - Shooting Stars
        • Rocket weapon damage increased from 400% to 600%
    • Companion
      • Skill Rune - Boar Companion
        • Now cleaves enemies in front of him
    • Entangling Shot
      • Skill Rune - Chain Gang
        • Damage type changed from Poison to Physical
    • Fan of Knives
      • Weapon damage increased from 450% to 620%
      • Skill Rune - Assassin's Knives
        • Weapon damage increased from 450% to 620%
        • Removed cast delay on the long-range knives
        • Long-range knives now seek out targets within a larger radius
      • Skill Rune - Bladed Armor
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Cold
      • Skill Rune - Fan of Daggers
        • Stun duration increased from 2.5 to 3 seconds
        • Damage type changed from Lightning to Fire
        • Removed Knockback
      • Skill Rune - Knives Expert
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Fire
      • Skill Rune - Pinpoint Accuracy
        • Weapon damage increased from 1200% to 1600%
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Lightning
    • Impale
      • Weapon damage increased from 620% to 750%
      • Skill Rune - Chemical Burn
        • Weapon damage increased from 220% to 500% over 2 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Grievous Wounds
        • Additional damage on Critical Hit increased from 130% to 330%
      • Skill Rune - Impact
        • Stun chance increased from 50% to 100%
      • Skill Rune - Overpenetration
        • Damage type changed from Poison to Cold
    • Multishot
      • Skill Rune - Arsenal
        • Rocket weapon damage increased from 160% to 300%
      • Skill Rune - Burst Fire
        • Initial explosion radius increased from 12 to 15 yards
        • Damage type changed from Poison to Cold
    • Preparation
      • Skill Rune - Punishment
        • The Discipline cost has been removed
        • Now has a 20 second cooldown
    • Rain of Vengeance
      • Weapon damage increased from 1250% to 1500% over 5 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Anathema
        • Weapon damage increased from 5400% to 5800% over 5 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Dark Cloud
        • Weapon damage increased from 2650% to 3500% over 8 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Flying Strike
        • Weapon damage increased from 3200% to 3800% over 5 seconds
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Cold
      • Skill Rune - Shade
        • Weapon damage increased from 2400% to 2800% over 5 seconds
      • Sill Rune - Stampede
        • Weapon damage increased from 4200% to 4600% over 6 seconds
    • Rapid Fire
      • Weapon damage increased from 525% to 685%
      • Skill Rune - Bombardment
        • Weapon damage increased from 465% to 545%
      • Skill Rune - High Velocity
        • Pierce chance increased from 40% to 50%
        • Damage type changed from Poison to Lightning
      • Skill Rune - Web Shot
        • Slow duration increased from 1 to 2 seconds
    • Sentry
      • Weapon damage increased from 200% to 280%
      • Skill Rune - Aid Station
        • Has been removed
        • New skill rune added: Polar Station
          • Chills all enemies within 16 yards, reducing their movement speed by 60%
          • Deals Cold damage
      • Skill Rune - Chain of Torment
        • Weapon damage increased from 240% to 300% per second
      • Skill Rune - Impaling Bolt
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Lightning
      • Skill Rune - Spitfire Turret
        • Weapon damage increased from 70% to 120%
    • Shadow Power
      • Skill Rune - Gloom
        • Damage reduction increased from 15% to 35%
      • Skill Rune - Well of Darkness
        • Cooldown reduced from 14 to 10 seconds
    • Smoke Screen
      • Skill Rune - Special Recipe
        • Cooldown has been removed
        • Now reduces the Discipline cost to 10
    • Spike Trap
      • Weapon damage increased from 250% to 340%
      • Skill Rune - Echoing Blast
        • Weapon damage increased from 250% to 420% per explosion
      • Skill Rune - Lightning Rod
        • Weapon damage increased from 280% to 500%
      • Skill Rune - Long Fuse
        • Weapon damage increased from 300% to 520% per explosion
      • Skill Rune - Sticky Trap
        • Weapon damage increased from 680% to 800%
    • Strafe
      • Weapon damage increased from 400% to 575% 675%
      • Skill Rune - Demolition
        • Weapon damage increased from 340% to 400% 460%
      • Skill Rune - Drifting Shadow
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Lightning
      • Skill Rune - Emberstrafe
        • Weapon damage increased from 80% to 185% 220% over 2 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Rocket Storm
        • Weapon damage increased from 90% to 110% 130%
        • Damage type changed from Fire to Cold
      • Skill Rune - Stinging Steel
        • Extra damage on Critical Hit increased from 130% to 140%
    • Vault
      • Skill Rune - Acrobatics
        • Cooldown reduced from 8 to 6 seconds
    • Vengeance
      • Skill Rune - From the Shadows
        • Damage type changed from Poison to Cold
  • Passive Skills
    • Awareness
      • Has been redesigned
        • Now when you receive fatal damage, you instead vanish for 2 seconds and regenerate 50% of maximum life
          • This effect has a 60 second cooldown
    • Perfectionist
      • No longer increases your Life by 10%

Return to Top

• Monk
  • Dexterity no longer grants Dodge chance
  • Dexterity now grants 1 Armor per point
  • Active Skills
    • Crippling Wave
      • Weapon damage increased from 143% to 175%
      • Skill Rune - Mangle
        • Weapon damage increased from 216% to 265%
      • Skill Rune - Rising Tide
        • Spirit generated on Critical Hit increased from 4 to 6
      • Skill Rune - Tsunami
        • Every third hit now also Freezes enemies for 1.5 seconds
    • Cyclone Strike
      • Skill Rune - Wall of Wind
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now Freezes enemies for 1.5 seconds after pulling them in
    • Dashing Strike
      • Skill Rune - Barrage
        • Weapon damage increased from 489% to 750% over 2 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Flying Side Kick
        • Has been removed
        • New skill rune added: Radiance
          • Gain 15% increased Attack Speed for 3 seconds after using Dashing Strike
          • Deals Fire damage
      • Skill Rune - Quicksilver
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Lightning
      • Skill Rune - Way of the Falling Star
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Holy
    • Deadly Reach
      • Weapon damage increased from 109% to 120%
      • Skill Rune - Foresight
        • Buff duration increased from 3 to 5 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Keen Eye
        • Has been removed
        • New skill rune added: "Searing Grasp"
          • Increases weapon damage dealt to 200%
      • Skill Rune - Piercing Trident
        • Chance to knock enemies up on the third hit increased to 100%
      • Skill Rune - Scattered Blows
        • Third hit weapon damage increased from 156% to 185%
      • Skill Rune - Strike from Beyond
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now reduces the Spirit cost of your next Spirit spender by 8% for each enemy hit by the third hit
    • Exploding Palm
      • Weapon damage increased from 1179% to 1685% 1200% over 9 seconds
      • Explosion damage has been changed from a percentage of the enemy's maximum Life to % Weapon Damage
      • Now deals 2770% weapon damage as Physical if an enemy dies while bleeding
      • Skill Rune - Creeping Demise
        • Has been removed
        • New skill rune added: Shocking Grasp
          • Exploding Palm now arcs to another target up to 15 yards away
      • Skill Rune - Essence Burn
        • Weapon damage increased from 1623% to 2620% 1875% over 9 seconds
        • Weapon damage of the explosion DoT effect increased from 258% to 640% 3260% over 3 seconds
        • This effect can no longer happen multiple times
      • Skill Rune - Impending Doom
        • Weapon damage increased from 2149% to 3265% over 12 seconds
        • Has been redesigned
          • Explosion now deals 6305% weapon damage
          • Now only deals damage if the target is killed
      • Skill Rune - Strong Spirit
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Holy
    • Fists of Thunder
      • First and second hit weapon damage increased from 122% to 255%
      • Third hit weapon damage increased from 183% to 510%
      • Skill Rune - Bounding Light
        • Weapon damage increased from 195% to 240%
      • Skill Rune - Quickening
        • Spirit generated on Critical Hit increased from 4 to 6
      • Skill Rune - Static Charge
        • Additional weapon damage dealt to enemies affected by Static Charge increased from 125% to 180%
      • Skill Rune - Thunderclap
        • Shockwave weapon damage increased from 95% to 105%
      • Skill Rune - Wind Blast
        • Freeze duration increased from 1 to 2 seconds
    • Mystic Ally
      • Skill Rune - Earth Ally
        • Boulder weapon damage increased from 333% to 380%
      • Skill Rune - Fire Ally
        • Explosion weapon damage increased from 149% to 290%
      • Skill Rune - Water Ally
        • Wave attack weapon damage increased from 190% to 625%
        • Wave attack now Freezes enemies hit for 3 seconds
    • Seven-Sided Strike
      • Significantly increased proc coefficient
      • Skill Rune - Fulminating Onslaught
        • Explosion weapon damage reduced from 977% to 877% per hit
        • Significantly increased proc coefficient
      • Skill Rune - Pandemonium
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now removes the Spirit cost and Freezes all enemies hit for 7 seconds
        • Significantly increased proc coefficient
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Cold
      • Skill Rune - Several-Sided Strike
        • Has been removed
        • New skill rune added: Incinerate
          • Seven-Sided Strike causes enemies to burn for 630% weapon damage as Fire over 3 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Sudden Assault
        • Weapon damage increased from 6477% to 8285%
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Lightning
        • Significantly increased proc coefficient
      • Skill Rune - Sustained Attack
        • Cooldown reduced from 17 to 14 seconds
        • Significantly increased proc coefficient
    • Sweeping Wind
      • Weapon damage increased from 30% to 60% per stack
      • Skill Rune - Blade Storm
        • Weapon damage increased from 40% to 85% per stack
      • Skill Rune - Cyclone
        • Tornado weapon damage increased from 23% to 35%
      • Skill Rune - Master of Wind
        • Has been redesigned
          • Enemies damaged by Sweeping Wind for 3 consecutive seconds while the vortex is at 3 stacks will now be Frozen for 2 seconds
            • Enemies cannot be Frozen by Sweeping Wind more than once every 3 seconds
    • Tempest Rush
      • Weapon damage increased from 240% to 260% 390%
      • Initial resource cost removed
      • Channeling resource cost increased to 30 Spirit (up from 10)
      • Skill Rune - Flurry
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now creates an icy blast that deals 135% weapon damage as cold to all enemies within 15 yards when you stop channeling
          • While channeling you periodically build stacks that increase the damage of the blast
          • Each stack increases the weapon damage of the blast by 135% up to a maximum of 100 stacks
      • Skill Rune - Northern Breeze
        • Weapon damage increased from 285% to 310% 500%
        • Reduces the channeling cost to 25 Spirit
    • Wave of Light
      • Skill Rune - Numbing Light
        • Has been removed
        • New skill rune added: "Shattering Light"
          • Frozen targets have a 20% increased chance to be critically hit by Wave of Light
      • Skill Rune - Wall of Light
        • Now has a 40% chance to stun enemies
        • Removed knockback
    • Way of the Hundred Fists
      • Weapon damage increased from 192% to 220%
      • Removed the target cap on the third hit
      • Skill Rune - Hands of Lightning
        • Weapon damage increased from 429% to 490%
      • Skill Rune - Spirited Salvo
        • Has been removed
        • New skill rune added: "Assimilation"
          • Each enemy hit by the third hit increased your damage by 5%
      • Skill Rune - Windforce Flurry
        • Wave of wind weapon damage increased from 191% to 285%
  • Passive Skills
    • One With Everything
      • Has been removed
      • New passive added: "Harmony"
        • 30% of your single elemental resistances from items instead increases your resistance to all elements
    • Provocation
      • Has been removed
      • New passive added: "Determination"
        • Your damage is increased by 4% for each enemy within 12 yards of you up to a maximum of 20%
    • Relentless Assault
      • New passive skill
      • Available at Level 30
      • You deal 20% more damage to enemies that are Blind, Frozen, or Stunned
    • Resolve
      • Duration increased to 4 seconds
      • Added a spell effect for enemies that are affected by the debuff
    • Seize the Initiative
      • Has been removed 
      • Will be replaced by another passive skill in the future
      • Has been redesigned
        • Damage dealt to enemies above 80% Life will now increase your Attack Speed by 15% for 4 seconds

Return to Top

• Witch Doctor
  • The collision boxes for the following pets have had their radii reduced
    • Zombie Dogs
    • Gargantuan
    • Fetishes
  • Active Skills
    • Acid Cloud
      • Skill Rune - Corpse Bomb
        • Damage type changed from Posion to Fire
      • Skill Rune - Slow Burn
        • Damage type changed from Poison to Cold
    • Corpse Spiders
      • Weapon damage increased from 324% to 576%
      • Skill Rune - Blazing Spiders
        • Weapon damage increased from 400% to 700%
      • Skill Rune - Leaping Spiders
        • Weapon damage increased from 383% to 646%
      • Skill Rune - Spider Queen
        • Weapon damage increased from 1575% to 2625%
    • Fetish Army
      • Skill Rune - Fetish Ambush
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Cold
    • Locust Swarm
      • You will now move into range before casting if you are targeting an enemy that is out of range
      • Skill Rune - Devouring Swarm
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now grants 25 mana per second as long as the first enemy hit is still alive
        • Damage type changed from Poison to Cold
      • Skill Rune - Cloud of Insects
        • Damage type changed from Poison to Physical
    • Mass Confusion
      • Skill Rune - Devolution
        • Chance to summon a Zombie Dog reduced from 50% to 30%
    • Poison Dart
      • Skill Rune - Flaming Dart
        • Weapon damage increased from 425% to 565% over 4 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Numbing Dart
        • Damage type changed from Poison to Cold
      • Skill Rune - Spined Dart
        • Damage type changed from Poison to Physical
    • Sacrifice
      • Has been redesigned
        • Now sacrifices a single dog at a time
        • The dog will now be thrown to you cursor location and detonates on impact
      • Weapon damage increased from 185% to 1090%
        • If you're wearing The Tall Man's Finger, the damage is tripled to 3270% weapon damage for sacrificing your dog
          • You do not gain additional damage if your giant dog represents more than 3 normal dogs
      • Skill Rune - Black Blood
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now stuns enemies in the impact area for 3 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Pride
        • Mana gained increased from 60 to 280 per dog
      • Skill Rune - For the Master
        • Has been redesigned
          • All your dogs will now be sacrificed in a single cast for 1090% weapon damage each
      • Skill Rune - Provoke the Pack
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now gain 20% increased damage for 5 seconds when you sacrifice a dog
            • This buff gains a stack with each cast and has a maximum of 5 stacks
    • Spirit Barrage
      • Skill Rune - Well of Souls
        • Damage type changed from Cold to Fire
  • Passive Skills
    • Circle of Life
      • Chance to summon a Zombie Dog has been reduced from 30% to 15%

Return to Top

• Wizard
  • Active Skills
    • Arcane Orb
      • Weapon damage increased from 381% to 435%
      • Skill Rune - Arcane Orbit
        • Explosion weapon damage increased from 236% to 265%
      • Skill Rune - Obliteration
        • Weapon damage increased from 509% to 700%
    • Arcane Torrent
      • Now has an initial cost of 30 Arcane Power
      • Weapon damage increased from 573% to 670%
      • Now initially deals 370% weapon damage and increases by 105% weapon damage every second up to a maximum of 895%
      • Skill Rune - Arcane Mines
        • Weapon damage increased from 688% to 825%
      • Skill Rune - Death Blossom
        • Weapon damage increased from 1452% to 1725%
        • Now initially deals 1215% weapon damage and increases by 370% weapon damage every second up to a maximum of 3065%
    • Blizzard
      • Weapon damage increased from 807% to 910%
      • Skill Rune - Unrelenting Storm
        • Weapon damage increased from 1296% to 1360%
    • Disintegrate
      • Now has an initial cost of 30 Arcane Power
      • Weapon damage increased from 511% to 580%
      • Now initially deals 360% weapon damage and increases by 100% weapon damage every second up to a maximum of 860%
      • Skill Rune - Entropy
        • Weapon damage increased from 649% to 745%
        • Now initially deals 465% weapon damage and increases by 145% weapon damage every second up to a maximum of 1190%
    • Energy Twister
      • Weapon damage increased from 1000% to 1525%
      • Skill Rune - Raging Storm
        • Weapon damage increased from 1935% to 3200%
    • Explosive Blast
      • Weapon damage increased from 616% to 945%
      • Skill Rune - Chain Reaction
        • Weapon damage increased from 320% to 520%
      • Skill Rune - Obliterate
        • Weapon damage increased from 760% to 990%
      • Skill Rune - Time Bomb
        • Weapon damage increased from 1039% to 1655%
      • Skill Rune - Unleashed
        • Weapon damage increased from 970% to 1485%
    • Familiar
      • Weapon damage increased from 179% to 240%
    • Hydra
      • Weapon damage increased from 66% to 195%
      • Skill Rune - Arcane Hydra
        • Weapon damage increased from 111% to 245%
      • Skill Rune - Blazing Hydra
        • Weapon damage increased from 108% to 185% over 3 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Frost Hydra
        • Weapon damage increased from 108% to 275%
      • Skill Rune - Lightning Hydra
        • Weapon damage increased from 138% to 305%
      • Skill Rune - Mammoth Hydra
        • Weapon damage increased from 178% to 400%
    • Ice Armor
      • Skill Rune - Frozen Storm
        • Weapon damage increased from 28% to 80%
    • Magic Missile
      • Weapon damage increased from 170% to 230%
      • Skill Rune - Charged Blast
        • Weapon damage increased from 240% to 325%
      • Skill Rune - Conflagrate
        • Has been redesigned
          • Magic Missile pierces through enemies and causes them to burn for 130% weapon damage over 3 seconds
          • Burn damage stacks up to 3 times and any Fire damage you deal to burning enemies refreshes all stacks to their maximum duration
      • Skill Rune - Seeker
        • Weapon damage increased from 211% to 285%
    • Meteor
      • Impact weapon damage increased from 501% to 610%
      • Molten fire weapon damage increased from 167% to 190% 195% over 3 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Comet
        • Freezing mist weapon damage increased from 197% to 224% over 3 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Molten Impact
        • Molten fire weapon damage increased from 549% to 625% over 3 seconds
    • Ray of Frost
      • Now has an initial cost of 30 Arcane Power
      • Weapon damage increased from 510% to 605%
      • Now initially deals 380% weapon damage and increases by 115% weapon damage every second up to a maximum of 955%
      • Skill Rune - Sleet Storm
        • Weapon damage increased from 375% to 455%
        • Now initially deals 285% weapon damage and increases by 90% weapon damage every second up to a maximum of 735%
    • Storm Armor
      • Weapon damage increased from 147% to 175%
      • Skill Rune - Shocking Aspect
        • Electrocute weapon damage increased from 51% to 425%
      • Skill Rune - Thunder Storm
        • Weapon damage increased from 194% to 315%
  • Passive Skills
    • Astral Presence
      • Arcane Power generation increased from 2 to 2.5 per second
    • Cold Blooded
      • Bug Fixes
        • Fixed an issue that could sometimes prevent skills from refreshing this skill when their Chilled duration was refreshed

Return to Top

ITEMS

• A new Legendary consumable has been added
  • Ramaladni's Gift
    • Use on an unsocketed weapon to add the maximum number of sockets that item type allows
    • Additional information can be found here
• Mad Monarch's Scepter
  • Now counts assists in addition to kills
• Several existing Legendary items have been updated to include a unique Legendary power 
  • General
    • Depth Diggers
      • Legendary Power added
        • All resource generators deal 80-100% more damage
    • Kymbo's Gold
      • Legendary Power added
        • Picking up gold heals you for an amount equal to the gold that was picked up
          • Note: This power has not yet implemented
    • Sash of Knives
      • Legendary Power added
        • Chance on attack to throw a dagger at a nearby enemy for 275-350% weapon damage
  • Barbarian
    • Lamentation
      • Legendary Power added
        • Allows Rend to be applied twice
    • Bastion's Revered
      • Legendary Power added
        • Increases maximum number of Frenzy stacks to 10
  • Crusader
    • Angel Hair Braid
      • Legendary Power added
        • Allows Punish to gain the effect of all runes
    • Eternal Union
      • Legendary Power added
        • Increases the duration of all Phalanx Avatars by 200%
  • Demon Hunter
    • Flint Ripper Arrowheads
      • Legendary Power added
        • Ball Lightning now travels at 50% speed
  • Note: Existing items will not be affected by these changes. Only new versions of the items will roll with the added Legendary power. 
• Class-Specific Items
  • Barbarian
    • Added a +% Furious Charge item affix
      • Can now roll on 2H Mighty Weapons, Chest Armor, and Shoulders
    • Added a +% Call of the Ancients item affix
      • Can now roll on 2H Mighty Weapons, Chest Armor, and Shoulders
    • Might of the Earth
      • Earthquakes caused by the Might of the Earth set will once again generate Fury through the Earthen Might Passive Skill
    • The Legacy of Raekor
      • (5) Set Bonus
        • The damage type dealt by Furious Charge will now be based on the element of the Skill Rune you're currently using
  • Crusader
    • Blade of Prophecy
      • The text on this item no longer improperly states that all enemies hit by Condemn will trigger another explosion
    • Fate of the Fell
      • Extra Fires of Heaven hits will now be able to generate procs
    • Jekangbord
      • Extra Blessed Shield hits will now be able to generate procs
• Demon Hunter
  • Embodiment of the Marauder
    • (6) Set Bonus
      • Fixed an issue that caused Hatred spenders cast by the Sentries to have a slower attack speed than intended
  • Natalya's Vengeance
    • (4) Set Bonus
      • Cooldown reduction increased from 1 to 2 seconds per kill
      • Now also triggers on assists
  • The Shadow's Mantle
    • (2) Set Bonus
      • Now, upon receiving fatal damage you instead automatically cast Smoke Screen and are healed to 25% Life
        • This effect may only occur once every 120 seconds
    • (4) Set Bonus
      • Has been redesigned
        • Now causes Shadow Power to last forever
  • Wojahnni Assaulter
    • New Crossbow
    • Rapid Fire deals 40-50% more damage per second, stacks up to 4 times
• Monk
  • The Fist of Az'Turrasq
    • Has been redesigned
      • Now increases Exploding Palm's on-death explosion damage by 75-100%
• Wizard
  • Firebird's Finery
    • (6) Set Bonus
      • Weapon damage increased from 300% to 2000% over 5 seconds
      • Has been redesigned
        • 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
  • Mirrorball
    • Extra Magic Missile hits will now be able to generate procs
• Several existing class-specific Legendary items have also been updated to include a unique Legendary power (please see above)

• New Seasonal Legendaries
  • General
    • Bottomless Potion of Rejuvination
      • New Legendary Potion
      • Restores 15% of your primary resource when used below 25% Life
    • Krelm's Buff Belt
      • New Legendary Belt
      • Grants a 20% Movement Speed bonus
      • Taking damage causes you to lose this effect for 15 seconds
    • Krelm's Buff Bracers
      • New Legendary Bracers
      • Grant you immunity to Knockback and Stun effects
    • x1_FollowerItem_Legendary_03 (Name still TBD)
      • New Legendary Follower item
      • Equip on Follower: Reduces the cooldown of all Follower skills by 50%
  • Barbarian
    • Remorseless
      • New Legendary one-handed Mighty Weapon
      • Grants Hammer of the Ancients a 25-30% chance to summon an Ancient for 20 seconds
  • Crusader
    • Amazonian Parma
      • New Legendary Shield
      • Allows Phalanx to summon twice as many Avatars
      • Applies to all rune variants
    • P1_CruShield_norm_unique_01 (Name still TBD)
      • New Legendary Crusader Shield
      • Removes the cooldown of Condemn
      • Condemn now costs 40 Wrath
  • Demon Hunter
    • Leonine Bow of Hashir
      • New Legendary Bow
      • Grants Bola Shot a 15-20% chance on explosion to pull in all enemies within 24 yards
  • Monk
    • Alabaster Gloves
      • New Legendary Gloves
      • Increases the duration of Sweeping Wind to 1 minute
  • Witch Doctor
    • Seasonal Legendary not yet implemented
  • Wizard
    • p1_Wand_norm_unique_01 (Name still TBD)
      • New Wand
      • Removes the cooldown of Teleport
      • Teleport now costs 25 Arcane Power
• Bug Fixes
  • Legendary items that directly deal damage should now all properly benefit from the appropriate +% Elemental Damage item affix, including:
    • Blackfeather - +%Physical Damage
    • Bul-Kathos's Oath (2) Set Bonus - +%Physical Damage
    • Cinder Switch - +%Fire Damage
    • Death's Bargain - +%Physical Damage
    • Death Watch Mantle - +%Physical Damage
    • Fulminator - +%Lightning Damage
    • Odyn Son - +%Lightning Damage
    • Maximus - +%Fire Damage
    • Moonlight Ward - +%Arcane Damage
    • Schaefer's Hammer - +%Lightning Damage
    • Scourge - +%Fire Damage
    • Shenlong's Spirit (2) Set Bonus - +%Fire Damage
    • Stalgard's Decimator - +%Physical Damage
    • Storm Crow - +%Fire Damage
    • Thunderfury - +%Lightning Damage
  • Fixed an issue that caused Nemesis Bracers to only spawn Fallen Champions when used inside Nephalem Rifts
  • Fixed an issue that prevented players from purchasing class-specific Legendary items for other classes from Kadala

Return to Top

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Bad Time to Be a Beast
  • Number of kills required has been reduced from 500,000 to 250,000
• Bouncing from Bounty to Bounty
  • Number of bounties required has been reduced from 50,000 to 5,000
• Bounty Hunter Extraordinaire
  • Number of bounties required has been reduced from 100,000 to 7,500
• Bounteous Maximus
  • Number of bounties required has been reduced from 150,000 to 10,000
• Death Death and More Death
  • Number of kills has been reduced from 2,500,000 to 750,000
• The Million Monster Mortality
  • Has been renamed to "Killin' It"
  • Number of kills required has been reduced from 1,000,000 to 500,000
• Some Hordes
  • Number of kills required has been reduced from 5,000,000 to 1,000,000
• Splinter is Coming
  • Number of kills required has been reduced from 25,000 to 1,000
• Ten Grand and Counting
  • Has been renamed to "Bountiful Bounties"
  • Number of bounties required has been reduced from 10,000 to 2,500

Return to Top

ADVENTURE MODE

• Bounties
  • The following Bounties have had their gold and XP reward values decreased:
    • Act I - Clear Khazra Den
    • Act II - Complete event: A Miner's Gold
    • Act III - Clear Cryder's Outpost
    • Act III - Clear Forward Barracks
    • Act IV - Clear Hell Rift level 2
    • Act V - Complete event: The Miser
• Nephalem Rifts
  • The cost to open a Nephalem Rift has been reduced from 5 Rift Fragments (total) to 1 Rift Fragment (per player)
    • Each player must pay the 1 Rift Fragment cost in order to enter a Nephalem Rift
  • You can no longer click the Rift Obelisk to open a new rift while one is already open
  • Conduit Pylon duration reduced from 30 to 15 seconds only while in a Greater Rift
• Bug Fixes
  • Fixed an issue that allowed the matchmaking system to place players in games with open Rifts where the Rift Guardian has already been killed
  • Rift Keystone Fragments should no longer be improperly consumed from your Stash if you have more than one stack in your inventory

Return to Top

CRAFTING

• Blacksmith 
  • The number of Magic materials required to craft Legendary and set Bracers has been reduced from 120 to 72
• Mystic
  • When Transmogrifying an item with existi

Blizzard Quote [source]

If you're headed to San Diego Comic-Con this July, you won't want to miss out on visiting the Blizzard booth! Blizzard is raiding SDCC once again, and we're excited to give you a sneak peek at this year's exclusives and premiere merchandise. 

Our San Diego Comic-Con exclusives are a limited run produced only for the convention, so make sure to grab them early. If you can't join us in San Diego, don't worry! We'll have several different items featured on the Blizzard Gear Store (gear.blizzard.com) after the event.

Whimsyshire Treasure Goblin Plush

Trapped among the rainbows and unicorn meadows of Whimsyshire, this Treasure Goblin's gone (adorably) native! Catch one for a lifetime of snuggles . . . or don't and regret it forever. 

The Whimsyshire variant is limited to 3,500 pieces. (Standard Treasure Goblin coloring coming to the Blizzard Gear Store soon™!)

Funko POP! Vinyl—Primal Kerrigan 

Back from her vacation on Zerus, Kerrigan has got her groove back and gone primal! 

Primal Kerrigan is an SDCC-exclusive variant of her POP! Vinyl figure and is limited to 2,500 pieces. (The non-exclusive variant Funko POP! Vinyl Kerrigan is available now.)

Nether Faerie Dragon Plush

Catch one if you can! This soft and huggable fey friend is made of premium plush materials and features wings you can pose and a tail with over 50 points of articulation. 

The exclusive Comic-Con Nether variant is limited to 2,000 pieces. (Standard Faerie Dragon coloring coming to the Blizzard Gear Store soon™!)

Cute But Deadly Cloaking Zeratul

He's cute. He's deadly. He's invisible-ish (and so is his box). Blizzard’s Cute But Deadly figure line continues with this comical cloaked variant of the not-so-comical Dark Templar.

Cloaking Zeratul is limited to 2,500 pieces and will only be available for purchase at San Diego Comic-Con. 

Premiere Merchandise:

• Cute But Deadly Shirt for Men and Women
• StarCrafts Zergling Plush Keychain
• Hearthstone Plush with Light and Sound Effects
• Blizzard Heroes and Villains Lanyard
• . . . and More!

All premiere items will be available on the Blizzard Gear store after San Diego Comic-Con concludes. 

Blizzard Quote [source]

Below you'll find the preliminary PTR patch notes for patch 2.1.0. 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 2.1.0 - v2.1.0.25014

To provide feedback on patch 2.1.0, 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
  • Seasons
  • Greater Rifts
  • Leaderboards
  • The Cesspools
• General
• Classes
  • Barbarian
  • Crusader
  • Demon Hunter
  • Monk
  • Witch Doctor
  • Wizard
• Items
  • Class-Specific Items
  • New Seasonal Legendaries
• Achievements
• Adventure Mode
  • Bounties
  • Nephalem Rifts
  • Bug Fixes
• Crafting
  • Blacksmith
  • Mystic
• Events
  • Infernal Machine
• Monsters
• User Interface
  • Chat
  • Bug Fixes
• Bug Fixes

PATCH FEATURES

New Feature: Seasons
Seasons are an optional, recurring game mode that offers players the opportunity to periodically start fresh, leveling Normal or Hardcore characters from scratch without gold, resources, or previously earned Paragon experience. Similar to the separation between Normal and Hardcore game modes, Seasonal characters will have their own shared stash and artisan progression as well. Any items, gold, or Paragon experience earned during a Season will be rolled over to a player's non-Seasonal characters once the Season concludes.

Seasons offer unique rewards and new challenges for players, including new Legendaries, an exclusive Transmogrification set only available to those who compete in each Season, and new achievements called Conquests. Progress within a given Season will be tracked in our new Leaderboard system. 

To learn more about Seasons, click here. 

Please note that Seasons are not yet available for testing on the PTR. This feature will be enabled at a later date.  

New Feature: Greater Rifts
Formerly referred to as Tiered Rifts, Greater Rifts are a special type of timed Nephalem Rift. There are an infinite number of Greater Rift levels, and each Greater Rift level will be progressively more difficult than the last. 

Completing a Greater Rift within its alloted time will allow players to progress to the next level (and if your time is exceptionally good, you may even skip multiple levels at once). Players can continue progressing through Greater Rift levels so along as they complete the Rift before its timer expires. Once a timer expires, players will reach the end of their current Greater Rift journey and their best results will be tracked in our new Leaderboard system. 

To learn more about Greater Rifts, click here. 

New Feature: Leaderboards
With the addition of Seasons and Greater Rifts, we want to provide players with a way to measure their progress within each of those environments. To do so, we've created Leaderboards. 

Leaderboards will track a variety of competitive player data including Greater Rifts clear times, Seasonal achievement point totals, and Seasonal Conquest completion ranking across several different game styles. Designed to be informative and detailed, Leaderboards will also allow you to compare your progress to that of players within your gameplay region, on your friends list, and in your clan roster.

To learn more about Leaderboards, click here. 

New Feature: The Cesspools
In patch 2.1.0 and moving forward, players will now have a chance to spawn a new level environement while in a Nephalem Rift or Greater Rift: The Cesspools.  

Originally designed as the sewers of Westmarch, we weren't quite able to include the Cesspools in the list of playable environments in Reaper of Souls by the time the expansion launched. Still, we loved the look and feel of this festering, dank underworld and have spent some time polishing it up for use in Nephalem Rifts and Greater Rifts. We hope you enjoy this new randomized landscape!

To learn more about the Cesspools, click here. 

Return to Top

GENERAL

• An additional Stash Tab is now available for all players with Reaper of Souls
• Players will now be disconnected from Diablo III upon being inactive for 30 minutes while outside of a game
• Healing Changes
  • The amount of Life restored by Health Globes from Rare monsters has been reduced from 30% to 15%
  • The amount of Life restored by Health Globes from Champion and Minion monsters has been reduced from 20% to 15%
  • The amount of Life Regeneration and Life On Hit granted by items has been increased
    • These changes apply to all items from level 1 to 70
    • These changes are retroactive and will apply to existing gear

Return to Top

CLASSES

• Made a number of improvements to the AI of several pets:
  • Pets that belong to other players will now be less visible
  • Fixed a number of issues which could sometimes cause pets to not attack a nearby enemy or stand still and stop attacking the enemy they were currently attacking
    • Pets affected by these improvements include:
      • Call of the Ancients
      • Companion
      • Fetish Army
      • Gargantuan
      • Mystic Ally
      • Phalanx
      • Zombie Dogs

• Barbarian
  • Active Skills
    • Call of the Ancients
      • Ancients should now more reliably hit moving targets
      • Korlic's Furious Charge ability now deals damage to enemies he passes through
      • Mawdawc's Seismic Slam ability now has a small knock up effect instead of the knock back
      • Skill Rune - Duty to the Clan
        • Has been redesigned
          • Enemies hit are now chilled reducing Movement Speed by 30% for 2 seconds
          • Chilled enemies have a 10% increased chance to be critically hit
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Cold
      • Bug Fixes
        • Fixed an issue that could sometimes cause the ancients to never use their bonus abilities
        • Fixed an issue that allowed the Ancients to snapshot attack speed when summoned
    • Cleave
      • Damage area has been increased from 120 to 180 degrees to more closely match the visual
      • Skill Rune - Gathering Storm
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now Chills all enemies hit and causes them to take 10% increased damage from all sources for 3 seconds
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Cold
    • Earthquake
      • Weapon damage increased from 2600% to 4200%
      • Skill Rune - Giant's Stride
        • Secondary tremor weapon damage increased from 160% to 200%
      • Skill Rune - Molten Fury
        • Weapon damage increased from 4500% to 5100%
    • Furious Charge
      • Weapon damage increased from 360% to 540%
      • Skill Rune - Battering Ram
        • Weapon damage increased from 760% to 900%
      • Skill Rune - Bull Rush
        • The stun has been replaced with a freeze
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Cold
      • Skill Rune - Dreadnought
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Lightning
    • Ignore Pain
      • Now grants immunity to all crowd control effects while active
      • Skill Rune - Bravado
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now increases your run speed by 40% and knocks back enemies as you run
      • Skill Rune - Contempt for Weakness
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now instantly heals you for 35% of your maximum Life
    • Rend
      • Skill Rune - Mutilate
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now causes enemies Chilled by Rend to take 10% increased damage from all sources
    • Seismic Slam
      • Will now lock on to an enemy you targeted with your mouse if you hold down the button
    • Rend
      • Weapon damage increased from 1000% to 1100% over 5 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Lacerate
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Lightning
      • Skill Rune - Mutilate
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Cold
      • Skill Rune - Ravage
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Fire
    • Wrath of the Berserker
      • Skill Rune - Slaughter
        • Damage caused by this rune can now trigger procs

Return to Top

• Crusader
  • Active Skills
    • Phalanx
      • Avatar run speed increased from 100% to 200%
      • Skill Rune - Bowmen
        • Bug Fixes
          • Fixed an issue that caused the Bowmen to stop attacking when an enemy was in range, but out of line of sight

Return to Top

• Demon Hunter
  • Dexterity no longer grants Dodge chance
  • Dexterity now grants 1 Armor per point
  • Active Skills
    • Cluster Arrow
      • Skill Rune - Maelstrom
        • Tendril weapon damage increased from 220% to 450%
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Cold
      • Skill Rune - Shooting Stars
        • Rocket weapon damage increased from 400% to 600%
    • Companion
      • Skill Rune - Boar Companion
        • Now cleaves enemies in front of him
    • Entangling Shot
      • Skill Rune - Chain Gang
        • Damage type changed from Poison to Physical
    • Impale
      • Weapon damage increased from 620% to 750%
      • Skill Rune - Chemical Burn
        • Weapon damage increased from 220% to 500% over 2 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Grievous Wounds
        • Additional damage on Critical Hit increased from 130% to 330%
      • Skill Rune - Impact
        • Stun chance increased from 50% to 100%
      • Skill Rune - Overpenetration
        • Damage type changed from Poison to Cold
    • Multishot
      • Skill Rune - Arsenal
        • Rocket weapon damage increased from 160% to 300%
    • Preparation
      • Skill Rune - Punishment
        • The Discipline cost has been removed
        • Now has a 20 second cooldown
    • Rain of Vengeance
      • Weapon damage increased from 1250% to 1500% over 5 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Anathema
        • Weapon damage increased from 5400% to 5800% over 5 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Dark Cloud
        • Weapon damage increased from 2650% to 3500% over 8 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Flying Strike
        • Weapon damage increased from 3200% to 3800% over 5 seconds
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Cold
      • Skill Rune - Shade
        • Weapon damage increased from 2400% to 2800% over 5 seconds
      • Sill Rune - Stampede
        • Weapon damage increased from 4200% to 4600% over 6 seconds
    • Rapid Fire
      • Weapon damage increased from 525% to 685%
      • Skill Rune - Bombardment
        • Weapon damage increased from 465% to 545%
      • Skill Rune - High Velocity
        • Pierce chance increased from 40% to 50%
        • Damage type changed from Poison to Lightning
      • Skill Rune - Web Shot
        • Slow duration increased from 1 to 2 seconds
    • Sentry
      • Weapon damage increased from 200% to 280%
      • Skill Rune - Chain of Torment
        • Weapon damage increased from 240% to 300% per second
      • Skill Rune - Impaling Bolt
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Lightning
      • Skill Rune - Spitfire Turret
        • Weapon damage increased from 70% to 120%
    • Shadow Power
      • Skill Rune - Gloom
        • Damage reduction increased from 15% to 35%
      • Skill Rune - Well of Darkness
        • Cooldown reduced from 14 to 10 seconds
    • Smoke Screen
      • Skill Rune - Special Recipe
        • Cooldown has been removed
        • Now reduces the Discipline cost to 10
    • Spike Trap
      • Weapon damage increased from 250% to 340%
      • Skill Rune - Echoing Blast
        • Weapon damage increased from 250% to 420% per explosion
      • Skill Rune - Lightning Rod
        • Weapon damage increased from 280% to 500%
      • Skill Rune - Long Fuse
        • Weapon damage increased from 300% to 520% per explosion
      • Skill Rune - Sticky Trap
        • Weapon damage increased from 680% to 800%
    • Strafe
      • Weapon damage increased from 400% to 575%
      • Skill Rune - Demolition
        • Weapon damage increased from 340% to 400%
      • Skill Rune - Emberstrafe
        • Weapon damage increased from 80% to 185% over 2 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Rocket Storm
        • Weapon damage increased from 90% to 110%
      • Skill Rune - Stinging Steel
        • Extra damage on Critical Hit increased from 130% to 140%
    • Vault
      • Skill Rune - Acrobatics
        • Cooldown reduced from 8 to 6 seconds
    • Vengeance
      • Skill Rune - From the Shadows
        • Damage type changed from Poison to Cold
  • Passive Skills
    • Awareness
      • Has been redesigned
        • Now when you receive fatal damage, you instead vanish for 2 seconds and regenerate 50% of maximum life
          • This effect has a 60 second cooldown
    • Perfectionist
      • No longer increases your Life by 10%

Return to Top

• Monk
  • Dexterity no longer grants Dodge chance
  • Dexterity now grants 1 Armor per point
  • Active Skills
    • Crippling Wave
      • Weapon damage increased from 143% to 175%
      • Skill Rune - Mangle
        • Weapon damage increased from 216% to 265%
      • Skill Rune - Rising Tide
        • Spirit generated on Critical Hit increased from 4 to 6
      • Skill Rune - Tsunami
        • Every third hit now also Freezes enemies for 1.5 seconds
    • Cyclone Strike
      • Skill Rune - Wall of Wind
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now Freezes enemies for 1.5 seconds after pulling them in
    • Deadly Reach
      • Weapon damage increased from 109% to 120%
      • Skill Rune - Foresight
        • Buff duration increased from 3 to 5 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Keen Eye
        • Has been removed
        • New skill rune added: "Searing Grasp"
          • Increases weapon damage dealt to 200%
      • Skill Rune - Piercing Trident
        • Chance to knock enemies up on the third hit increased to 100%
      • Skill Rune - Scattered Blows
        • Third hit weapon damage increased from 156% to 185%
      • Skill Rune - Strike from Beyond
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now reduces the Spirit cost of your next Spirit spender by 8% for each enemy hit by the third hit
    • Exploding Palm
      • Weapon damage increased from 1179% to 1685% over 9 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Essence Burn
        • Weapon damage increased from 1623% to 2620% over 9 seconds
        • Weapon damage of the explosion DoT effect increased from 258% to 640% over 3 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Impending Doom
        • Weapon damage increased from 2149% to 3265% over 12 seconds
    • Fists of Thunder
      • First and second hit weapon damage increased from 122% to 255%
      • Third hit weapon damage increased from 183% to 510%
      • Skill Rune - Bounding Light
        • Weapon damage increased from 195% to 240%
      • Skill Rune - Quickening
        • Spirit generated on Critical Hit increased from 4 to 6
      • Skill Rune - Static Charge
        • Additional weapon damage dealt to enemies affected by Static Charge increased from 125% to 180%
      • Skill Rune - Thunderclap
        • Shockwave weapon damage increased from 95% to 105%
      • Skill Rune - Wind Blast
        • Freeze duration increased from 1 to 2 seconds
    • Seven-Sided Strike
      • Significantly increased proc coefficient
      • Skill Rune - Fulminating Onslaught
        • Explosion weapon damage reduced from 977% to 877% per hit
        • Significantly increased proc coefficient
      • Skill Rune - Pandemonium
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now removes the Spirit cost and Freezes all enemies hit for 7 seconds
        • Significantly increased proc coefficient
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Cold
      • Skill Rune - Sudden Assault
        • Weapon damage increased from 6477% to 8285%
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Lightning
        • Significantly increased proc coefficient
      • Skill Rune - Sustained Attack
        • Cooldown reduced from 17 to 14 seconds
        • Significantly increased proc coefficient
    • Sweeping Wind
      • Weapon damage increased from 30% to 60% per stack
      • Skill Rune - Blade Storm
        • Weapon damage increased from 40% to 85% per stack
      • Skill Rune - Cyclone
        • Tornado weapon damage increased from 23% to 35%
      • Skill Rune - Master of Wind
        • Has been redesigned
          • Enemies damaged by Sweeping Wind for 3 consecutive seconds while the vortex is at 3 stacks will now be Frozen for 2 seconds
            • Enemies cannot be Frozen by Sweeping Wind more than once every 3 seconds
    • Tempest Rush
      • Weapon damage increased from 240% to 260
      • Skill Rune - Northern Breeze
        • Weapon damage increased from 285% to 310%
    • Wave of Light
      • Skill Rune - Numbing Light
        • Has been removed
        • New skill rune added: "Shattering Light"
          • Frozen targets have a 20% increased chance to be critically hit by Wave of Light
      • Skill Rune - Wall of Light
        • Now has a 40% chance to stun enemies
        • Removed knockback
    • Way of the Hundred Fists
      • Weapon damage increased from 192% to 220%
      • Removed the target cap on the third hit
      • Skill Rune - Hands of Lightning
        • Weapon damage increased from 429% to 490%
      • Skill Rune - Spirited Salvo
        • Has been removed
        • New skill rune added: "Assimilation"
          • Each enemy hit by the third hit increased your damage by 5%
      • Skill Rune - Windforce Flurry
        • Wave of wind weapon damage increased from 191% to 285%
  • Passive Skills
    • One With Everything
      • Has been removed
      • New passive added: "Harmony"
        • 30% of your single elemental resistances from items instead increases your resistance to all elements
    • Provocation
      • Has been removed
      • New passive added: "Determination"
        • Your damage is increased by 4% for each enemy within 12 yards of you up to a maximum of 20%
    • Relentless Assault
      • New passive skill
      • Available at Level 30
      • You deal 20% more damage to enemies that are Blind, Frozen, or Stunned
    • Seize the Initiative
      • Has been removed
      • Will be replaced by another passive skill in the future

Return to Top

• Witch Doctor
  • The collision boxes for the following pets have had their radii reduced
    • Zombie Dogs
    • Gargantuan
    • Fetishes
  • Active Skills
    • Corpse Spiders
      • Weapon damage increased from 324% to 576%
      • Skill Rune - Blazing Spiders
        • Weapon damage increased from 400% to 700%
      • Skill Rune - Leaping Spiders
        • Weapon damage increased from 383% to 646%
      • Skill Rune - Spider Queen
        • Weapon damage increased from 1575% to 2625%
    • Fetish Army
      • Skill Rune - Fetish Ambush
        • Damage type changed from Physical to Cold
    • Locust Swarm
      • Skill Rune - Devouring Swarm
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now grants 25 mana per second as long as the first enemy hit is still alive
        • Damage type changed from Poison to Cold
      • Skill Rune - Cloud of Insects
        • Damage type changed from Poison to Physical
    • Mass Confusion
      • Skill Rune - Devolution
        • Chance to summon a Zombie Dog reduced from 50% to 30%
    • Poison Dart
      • Skill Rune - Flaming Dart
        • Weapon damage increased from 425% to 565% over 4 seconds
    • Sacrifice
      • Has been redesigned
        • Now sacrifices a single dog at a time
        • The dog will now be thrown to you cursor location and detonates on impact
      • Weapon damage increased from 185% to 1090%
        • If you're wearing The Tall Man's Finger, the damage is tripled to 3270% weapon damage for sacrificing your dog
          • You do not gain additional damage if your giant dog represents more than 3 normal dogs
      • Skill Rune - Black Blood
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now stuns enemies in the impact area for 3 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Pride
        • Mana gained increased from 60 to 280 per dog
      • Skill Rune - For the Master
        • Has been redesigned
          • All your dogs will now be sacrificed in a single cast for 1090% weapon damage each
      • Skill Rune - Provoke the Pack
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now gain 20% increased damage for 5 seconds when you sacrifice a dog
            • This buff gains a stack with each cast and has a maximum of 10 stacks
    • Spirit Barrage
      • Skill Rune - Well of Souls
        • Damage type changed from Cold to Fire
  • Passive Skills
    • Circle of Life
      • Chance to summon a Zombie Dog has been reduced from 30% to 15%

Return to Top

• Wizard
  • Active Skills
    • Arcane Torrent
      • Now has an initial cost of 30 Arcane Power
      • Weapon damage increased from 573% to 670%
      • Skill Rune - Arcane Mines
        • Weapon damage increased from 688% to 825%
      • Skill Rune - Death Blossom
        • Weapon damage increased from 1452% to 1725%
    • Blizzard
      • Weapon damage increased from 807% to 910%
      • Skill Rune - Unrelenting Storm
        • Weapon damage increased from 1296% to 1360%
    • Disintegrate
      • Now has an initial cost of 30 Arcane Power
      • Weapon damage increased from 511% to 580%
      • Skill Rune - Entropy
        • Weapon damage increased from 649% to 745%
    • Energy Twister
      • Weapon damage increased from 1000% to 1525%
      • Skill Rune - Raging Storm
        • Weapon damage increased from 1935% to 3200%
    • Familiar
      • Weapon damage increased from 179% to 240%
    • Hydra
      • Weapon damage increased from 66% to 195%
      • Skill Rune - Arcane Hydra
        • Weapon damage increased from 111% to 245%
      • Skill Rune - Blazing Hydra
        • Weapon damage increased from 108% to 185% over 3 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Frost Hydra
        • Weapon damage increased from 108% to 275%
      • Skill Rune - Lightning Hydra
        • Weapon damage increased from 138% to 305%
      • Skill Rune - Mammoth Hydra
        • Weapon damage increased from 178% to 400%
    • Magic Missile
      • Weapon damage increased from 170% to 230%
      • Skill Rune - Charged Blast
        • Weapon damage increased from 240% to 325%
      • Skill Rune - Seeker
        • Weapon damage increased from 211% to 285%
    • Meteor
      • Molten fire weapon damage increased from 167% to 190% over 3 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Comet
        • Freezing mist weapon damage increased from 197% to 224% over 3 seconds
      • Skill Rune - Molten Impact
        • Molten fire weapon damage increased from 549% to 625% over 3 seconds
    • Ray of Frost
      • Now has an initial cost of 30 Arcane Power
      • Weapon damage increased from 510% to 605%
      • Skill Rune - Sleet Storm
        • Weapon damage increased from 375% to 455%
  • Passive Skills
    • Cold Blooded
      • Bug Fixes
        • Fixed an issue that could sometimes prevent skills from refreshing this skill when their Chilled duration was refreshed

Return to Top

ITEMS

• A new Legendary consumable has been added
  • Ramalandi's Gift
    • Use on an unsocketed item to add the maximum number of sockets that item type allows
• Several existing Legendary items have been updated to include a unique Legendary power 
  • General
    • Depth Diggers
      • Legendary Power added
        • All resource generators deal 80-100% more damage
    • Kymbo's Gold
      • Legendary Power added
        • Picking up gold heals you for an amount equal to the gold that was picked up
          • Note: This power has not yet implemented
    • Sash of Knives
      • Legendary Power added
        • Chance on attack to throw a dagger at a nearby enemy for 275-350% weapon damage
  • Barbarian
    • Lamentation
      • Legendary Power added
        • Allows Rend to be applied twice
    • Bastion's Revered
      • Legendary Power added
        • Increases maximum number of Frenzy stacks to 10
  • Crusader
    • Angel Hair Braid
      • Legendary Power added
        • Allows Punish to gain the effect of all runes
    • Eternal Union
      • Legendary Power added
        • Increases the duration of all Phalanx Avatars by 200%
  • Demon Hunter
    • Flint Ripper Arrowheads
      • Legendary Power added
        • Ball Lightning now travels at 50% speed
  • Note: Existing items will not be affected by these changes. Only new versions of the items will roll with the added Legendary power. 
• Class-Specific Items
  • Crusader
    • Blade of Prophecy
      • The text on this item no longer improperly states that all enemies hit by Condemn will trigger another explosion
  • Demon Hunter
    • Embodiment of the Marauder
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Fixed an issue that caused Hatred spenders cast by the Sentries to have a slower attack speed than intended
    • Natalya's Vengeance
      • (4) Set Bonus
        • Cooldown reduction increased from 1 to 2 seconds per kill
        • Now also triggers on assists
    • The Shadow's Mantle
      • (2) Set Bonus
        • Now, upon receiving fatal damage you instead automatically cast Smoke Screen and are healed to 25% Life
          • This effect may only occur once every 120 seconds
      • (4) Set Bonus
        • Has been redesigned
          • Now causes Shadow Power to last forever
  • Wizard
    • Firebird's Finery
      • (6) Set Bonus
        • Weapon damage increased from 300% to 2000% over 5 seconds
  • Several existing class-specific Legendary items have also been updated to include a unique Legendary power (please see above)
• New Seasonal Legendaries
  • General
    • Bottomless Potion of Rejuvination
      • New Legendary Potion
      • Restores 15% of your primary resource when used below 25% Life
    • Krelm's Buff Belt
      • New Legendary Belt
      • Grants a 20% Movement Speed bonus
      • Taking damage causes you to lose this effect for 15 seconds
    • Krelm's Buff Bracers
      • New Legendary Bracers
      • Grant you immunity to Knockback and Stun effects
    • x1_FollowerItem_Legendary_03 (Name still TBD)
      • New Legendary Follower item
      • Equip on Follower: Reduces the cooldown of all Follower skills by 50%
  • Barbarian
    • Remorseless
      • New Legendary one-handed Mighty Weapon
      • Grants Hammer of the Ancients a 25-30% chance to summon an Ancient for 20 seconds
  • Crusader
    • Amazonian Parma
      • New Legendary Shield
      • Allows Phalanx to summon twice as many Avatars
      • Applies to all rune variants
    • P1_CruShield_norm_unique_01 (Name still TBD)
      • New Legendary Crusader Shield
      • Removes the cooldown of Condemn
      • Condemn now costs 40 Wrath
  • Demon Hunter
    • Leonine Bow of Hashir
      • New Legendary Bow
      • Grants Bola Shot a 15-20% chance on explosion to pull in all enemies within 24 yards
  • Monk
    • Alabaster Gloves
      • New Legendary Gloves
      • Increases the duration of Sweeping Wind to 1 minute
  • Witch Doctor
    • Seasonal Legendary not yet implemented
  • Wizard
    • p1_Wand_norm_unique_01 (Name still TBD)
      • New Wand
      • Removes the cooldown of Teleport
      • Teleport now costs 25 Arcane Power

Return to Top

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Bad Time to Be a Beast
  • Number of kills required has been reduced from 500,000 to 250,000
• Bouncing from Bounty to Bounty
  • Number of bounties required has been reduced from 50,000 to 5,000
• Bounty Hunter Extraordinaire
  • Number of bounties required has been reduced from 100,000 to 7,500
• Bounteous Maximus
  • Number of bounties required has been reduced from 150,000 to 10,000
• Death Death and More Death
  • Number of kills has been reduced from 2,500,000 to 750,000
• The Million Monster Mortality
  • Has been renamed to "Killin' It"
  • Number of kills required has been reduced from 1,000,000 to 500,000
• Some Hordes
  • Number of kills required has been reduced from 5,000,000 to 1,000,000
• Splinter is Coming
  • Number of kills required has been reduced from 25,000 to 1,000
• Ten Grand and Counting
  • Has been renamed to "Bountiful Bounties"
  • Number of bounties required has been reduced from 10,000 to 2,500

Return to Top

ADVENTURE MODE

• Bounties
  • The following Bounties have had their gold and XP reward values decreased:
    • Act I - Clear Khazra Den
    • Act II - Complete event: A Miner's Gold
    • Act III - Clear Cryder's Outpost
    • Act III - Clear Forward Barracks
    • Act IV - Clear Hell Rift level 2
    • Act V - Complete event: The Miser
• Nephalem Rifts
  • The cost to open a Nephalem Rift has been reduced from 5 Rift Fragments (total) to 1 Rift Fragment (per player)
    • Each player must pay the 1 Rift Fragment cost in order to enter a Nephalem Rift
  • You can no longer click the Rift Obelisk to open a new rift while one is already open
  • Conduit Pylon duration reduced from 30 to 15 seconds only while in a Greater Rift
• Bug Fixes
  • Fixed an issue that allowed the matchmaking system to place players in games with open Rifts where the Rift Guardian has already been killed

Return to Top

CRAFTING

• Blacksmith 
  • The number of Magic materials required to craft Legendary and set Bracers has been reduced from 120 to 72
• Mystic
  • When Transmogrifying an item with existing visual effects into a Legendary item, the original item's visual effects will no longer be displayed in addition to the Legendary item's visual effects
  • Torment-only Set items can now be restored to their original appearance after being transmogrified

Return to Top

EVENTS

• Infernal Machine
  • A new reward has been added: The Hellfire Amulet
    • New Legendary amulet
    • Will randomly roll a passive appropriate to your class
    • Recipe is available for purchase from Squirt in Act II for 5 million gold 
    • Requires the same materials to craft as the Hellfire Ring plus 10 additional Forgotten Souls

Return to Top

MONSTERS

• The Skeleton King will now drop the Leoric's Crown the first time you kill him from level 11 to level 65
• Larvas will now also drop loot
• Bug Fixes
  • Fixed an issue that could prevent some DoTs from dealing damage while Treasure Goblins were running

Return to Top

USER INTERFACE

• Character "Minis" have been added to Profiles
• Added a text box to the friends list that will filter the list as you type
• Filter settings on the Clan News pane will now be saved even if you log out
• The Achievements drop down filter will now save your selection as long as you remain logged in
• Holding down Shift when comparing items will now exclude bonuses provided by sockets from the comparison
• Chat
  • Messages will now convert to a whisper after space is pressed when entering a player name
  • New messages will now prioritize your whisper targets if you are currently whispering someone
  • A new hotkey has been added to display the chat window
    • You can now force the chat window to be displayed by holding down the X key
• Bug Fixes
  • Players will now properly be notified when the Party Leader changes the games difficulty setting
  • Fixed an issue that could sometimes prevent the last few monsters required to clear a bounty from displaying on the minimap
  • Fixed an issue preventing Paragon levels and portraits from displaying on the Heroes Profile tab for offline players
  • Fixed an issue causing Paragon portrait award toasts to pop up before a new portrait was actually earned
  • Fixed an issue that was improperly limiting Community news posts to a character limit that was lower than intended

Return to Top

BUG FIXES

• Fixed an issue that was causing frame rate to cap at 60 FPS with Vertical Sync enabled

Return to Top

Blizzard Quote [source]

It's almost here, nephalem! The first major content patch for Reaper of Souls™ is right around the corner and we're preparing a Public Test Region to give you a hands-on look at the upcoming changes. Before the PTR goes live, let's get started with a high-level overview of what you can expect from patch 2.1.0.

Table of Contents:

• Seasons
• Greater Rifts
• Leaderboards
• Combat Changes
• The Cesspools

Please note that this is only a preview. The below information does not reflect all changes available in patch 2.1.0 and is subject to change. Some images represent works in progress, and may not be representative of the final product.

Seasons:

Similar to Ladders in Diablo® II, Seasons will offer players in Diablo® III a chance to periodically start fresh, leveling their level 1 characters and artisans from scratch. Season participation benefits include exclusive rewards and unique Legendaries as well as the the thrill of climbing all-new Leaderboards by completing achievements, earning Conquests, or running Greater Rifts.

Left: A Seasonal Hardcore Crusader gets ready to hop into the action. Right: A full overview of your Seasonal characters will be available in your Character Profile.

Conquests:

With the start of each Season, players will have the opportunity to earn Conquests. Conquests are special Season-only achievements (offered in addition to the suite of non-Seasonal achievements already available in the game) that represent a variety of challenging goals. These goals can vary in terms of gameplay and difficulty, and some might be easier to complete than others. With tasks ranging from killing Malthael at level 70 on Torment VI to finishing Acts I-V in an hour or less, Conquests are designed to encourage and promote an array of different playstyles. 

Conquests are considered "first come, first served," and the first 1000 individuals to complete a Conquest within a given Season will be immortalized on that Season's regional Leaderboard. Right now, we're looking to provide between 10-15 unique Conquests each Season, and each Conquest will have its own Leaderboard. Conquests will also provide achievement points and will count toward your Seasonal point total. These points will be provided regardless of whether your character placed in the regional Leaderboard. 

No Seasons? No Problem!

Not in the mood to start from scratch? You’ll still benefit from Seasons. New Seasonal Legendaries will roll over to non-Seasonal loot pool after a Season concludes. In addition, Greater Rift leaderboards will also become available to non-Seasonal characters, so you can compare the progress of your friends and clanmates with that of your most veteran heroes!

Greater Rifts:

Formerly referred to as Tiered Rifts, Greater Rifts are a special type of Nephalem Rift that are designed to provide players way to measure their gear progression and efficiency.

How to Access Greater Rifts:

To access a Greater Rift, simply complete a regular Nephalem Rift in any difficulty. When you defeat the Rift Guardian, they'll have a chance to drop a Greater Rift Key. You can then use this new key at the Nephalem Obelisk, similar to other Rift Fragments—this will open a Greater Rift. If you have members in your party, each player will be prompted to use one of their own Greater Rift keys to join the fun!

Entering a Greater Rift requires its own type of Rift Keys.

How Greater Rifts Work:

While Greater Rifts are a type of Nephalem Rift, there are some key differences between the two features. In Greater Rifts:

• You'll race against a clock to fill a progress bar by accruing monster kills.
• Most monsters do not drop loot; rewards have been completely shifted to the Rift Guardian.
  • This removes conflicting pressure from attaining a better time versus picking up all your loot.
• Monsters grant differing amounts of progress for your progress bar; the tougher the monster, the more they fill up your progress bar.
• You cannot resurrect at your corpse or in town while in a Greater Rift—only at the last checkpoint.
• You cannot use player banners or the Teleport option if the target player is in a Greater Rift.
• Higher Greater Rifts levels are progressively more difficult. 
  • This difficulty is separate from the standard difficulty settings (Master, Torment I-VI, etc.)

If you complete a Greater Rift before time expires you'll advance to the next difficulty level. Should your time be exceptionally good, you might even skip a few levels! If time instead expires, you'll have reached the end of your current Greater Rift journey and your best results will be posted to the appropriate Leaderboards.

Your progress bar is a little different inside a Greater Rift, to allow you to gauge your completion compared to your efficiency.

Legendary Gems:

Greater Rifts are truly a challenge, and conquering such challenges should be met with great reward. To provide a unique and upgradable incentive, we're introducing Legendary Gems.

Legendary Gems are still undergoing significant iteration at this time, so you won't see them available on the PTR right away. The gist is that these gems are infinitely upgradeable, and provide special Legendary powers when socketed into the appropriate gear slot. They can only be socketed into Rings and Amulets, and can be upgraded by completing additional Greater Rifts. The higher you place in a Greater Rift, the more likely your gem will be successfully upgraded. We'll have more details in the future as we continue development on these powerful baubles, so stay tuned!

Coming to a Nephalem Rift Near You:

Some of the changes in Greater Rifts are also coming to regular Nephalem Rifts—like the way the completion bar will advance based on monster difficulty. In addition, we're slightly modifying the entry mechanism for all Rifts. All players will need to have a Rift Fragment in order to enter a Nephalem Rift; however, we’ve reduced the cost for entering a Nephalem Rift down to one Rift Fragment per character to compensate.

Leaderboards:

With so many ways to compete, we want to provide players with a quick and easy way to measure their progress. Enter our next big feature for patch 2.1.0: Leaderboards.

Leaderboards will track progress for Greater Rifts, Seasonal achievement points, and Seasonal Conquests across a variety of game styles. Designed to be informative and detailed, Leaderboards will allow you to compare your progress to that of your gameplay region, friends, and clan members, and each type of board will track progress a little differently.

Leaderboards offer a variety of ways to compare your accomplishments to your friends and clanmates.

Greater Rift Leaderboards:

Greater Rift leaderboards will be split between both Hardcore and Normal gameplay modes as well as Seasonal and Non-Seasonal characters. To help encourage a variety of play styles and allow you to measure yourself against similar competitors, we've also broken up Greater Rift leaderboards into the following categories:

• Solo play for each class (e.g. top players for Barbarian, Demon Hunter, Crusader, etc.)
• 2-Player Groups
• 3-Player Groups
• 4-Player Groups

Season-Only Leaderboards:

Some Leaderboards will be Season-only. For example, Conquests are only tracked on Seasonal characters, so these Leaderboards won't have a non-Season equivalent. The same will be true for Seasonal achievement points. In addition, because Conquests and achievements are account-wide, their associated Leaderboards will not be split between Normal and Hardcore (even though some tasks may require playing a particular mode). 

Combat Changes:

Of course, with so many competitive elements hitting the PTR, we're also reviewing each class thoroughly to ensure no matter what you play, you have a fair chance at reaching your Seasonal goals. While we won't be getting into class specific details here, we wanted to share with you a few examples of overarching adjustments we plan on experimenting with during the Public Test phase.

Dexterity & Survivability:

A major change is coming to Dexterity to benefit Demon Hunters and Monks. Each point of Dexterity will grant 1 point of Armor instead of Dodge chance. Dodge isn’t as reliable as Armor or Resistances and doesn’t protect you from some of the most dangerous monster affixes like Plagued or Thunderstorm. In light of this buff, the existing passives that grant 30% of your Dexterity as Armor (Seize the Initiative and Awareness) will be completely redesigned.

Healing:

The next change will be to Healing. Currently, Healing provided by gear isn't very valuable because you receive the vast amount of your healing from Health Globes. During internal testing, we discovered that as you reached higher Greater Rift levels, you really wanted more of your healing to come from your gear in order to survive. To facilitate this, we are reducing the amount of healing Health Globes provide, but buffing Life on Hit and Life Regeneration on gear to compensate. This change should make a more consistent experience when you turn up the difficulty (or reach a higher tier in a Greater Rift) in situations where you’re not killing as quickly and actually require the increased Healing.

The Cesspools:

While Seasons and Greater Rifts are definitely taking center stage with this patch, we're also providing some additional content to add more variety and flavor to your Adventure Mode exploration.

Originally designed as the sewers of Westmarch, we weren't quite able to include the Cesspools in the list of playable environments in Reaper of Souls by the time the expansion launched. 

  
Expect to encounter (and slaughter) a variety of creatures in the Cesspools!

Still, we loved the look and feel of this festering, dank underworld and we've spent some time polishing it up for use in Nephalem Rifts and Greater Rifts. You'll have a chance to spawn Cesspool levels while in a Rift, and we hope you enjoy this new randomized landscape!

We may have additional treats on the horizon, but let's not get too Greedy. . . . You'll have your hands on the PTR soon enough to find out more.

We are incredibly excited to share patch 2.1.0 with you and can't wait to see your reactions once the PTR goes live. Be sure let us know what you think of the changes and features, and send any bug reports our way as you explore Seasons, Greater Rifts, Leaderboards, and more.

What new feature are you most excited about? Are you going to climb the Greater Rifts leaderboard, or will you race to be the first to complete as many Conquests as you can? Let us know in the comments below, and we'll see you soon™ on the PTR!