Blizzard Quote [source]

Many of you will have seen this screen when trying to access the Battke.net website;

We've been following these problems that have resurfaced in recent days.

Clicking on the "Retry" button above set off a redirect that took us to this Twitter post;

Here's the discussion we found;

Diablo 3 Server Status? General Discussion Conners 4 days ago Diablo 3 Servers down at 12:57 PM on a Friday? Why can't Blizzard do server maintenance at like 3 am on a monday instead? When will the Diablo 3 servers be back up? I'm guessing the Diablo 3 servers are 100% down right now? If I'm wrong someone please post here, or post in this thread when the servers are back up? Rnclock 4 days ago @BlizzardCS 1h1 hour ago We apologize once again for the inconvenience caused by today's outages. We're working to resolve this as quickly as possible! @BlizzardCS 3h3 hours ago We're currently investigating an issue affecting our authentication servers, which may result in failed or slow login attempts.

Here's what else we uncovered;

BlizzardCS- the Americas tweet on 29th of May "We're currently investigating an issue affecting our authentication servers, which may result in failed or slow login attempts." As a result of the authentication servers having issues, players may have trouble logging into their Blizzard-related accounts. Players may be placed in a virtual "queue" to log in. And due to the issues, these queue times are enormous and not accurate whatsoever. Some Overwatch players were notified of estimated queue times ranging from three hours to nearly eight hours. r/Overwatch - 7.5+ hour wait to log-in? Just say the servers are down, Blizzard. r/Overwatch: Subreddit for all things Overwatch, the team-based shooter from Blizzard Entertainment. Initial reports of server outages began appearing at approximately 11:30pm CT on Reddit and other social media outlets. Predictably, within the hour, frustrated players had made some pretty good memes about the server issues. BlizzardCS- the Americas tweet We apologize once again for the inconvenience caused by today's outages. We're working to resolve this as quickly as possible! At 1:50pm CT, Blizzard apologized for the outages and reminded players that the company is working on a resolution. For now, players can keep attempting to log into games, but it may be a lengthy delay before the servers are working as intended. Update June 7, 3:00pm CT: Blizzard Entertainment has released another statement apologizing for the outages and offers no estimated time that they will be resolved. Update June 7, 5:00pm CT: Blizzard Entertainment announced the server issues have been resolved for most customers. They recommend restarting the Battle.net app for optimal performance. The outages lasted upwards of five hours in some areas.

Many people suspect that the login problems are due to DDOS attacks that have taken the server down.

We had a look at some server checkers and found the following;

Clearly Blizzard are having server problems that they are struggling to resolve. Let us know your thoughts!

Blizzard Quote [source]

Legendary: An Ancient & Primal Guide

Ancient items play a pivotal role in Season 17.

Each Ancient you kit out will yield a huge 750% increase to damage inflicted and a 4% decrease in damage sustained.

First, for those of you who've taken a rest from collecting loot, let's step back and take a refresher to clear up any mis-understandings regarding the differences between Legendary, Ancient and Primal Ancient items.

Essentially, Ancient Items and Primal Ancient items are more powerful variations of Legendary items. They are equivalent to Legendary items but for the fact that their essential attributes (damage or armor) and all their potential values can yield boosted results for lowest and highest possible rolls.

Ancient & Primal Ancient Items

• The stats on these items will (generally) be tailored to the character class you are playing when the item drops
• Set items are also able to roll as both Ancient and Primal Ancient
• You can't equip more than one item with the same name, even if one is Ancient and the other isn't
• Any percentage-based affix will not be boosted (such as Attack Speed, bonus % to skills or % Critical Hit Chance/Damage)

Ancient Items

• Only drop for characters who have reached level 70, and only on Torment level difficulties
• When dropped, Ancient items share the same orange glow as regular Legendaries
• You must identify the item to see if it's an Ancient
• Once identified, Ancient items have an orange border (or green for Set items) around the item tooltip and say "Ancient" in the item description.
• They drop from all sources including monsters, chests, Kadala, Horadric Caches, Kanai's Cube, and even crafting at the Blacksmith or Jeweler

Primal Ancient Items

• When dropped, Primal Ancient items have a red beam and glow
• Drops from any source of Legendary item in the game, including Horadric Caches, Kadala, and Kanai's Cube, but only after having successfully completed at least a level 70 Greater Rift solo
• These items are much rarer than Ancient items and have perfect Ancient-level stats on all affixes, including the item's Legendary Power

Primal Ancients & Developer Philosophy

Primal Ancients are intended for Diablo III players who have mostly finished their build or finished their Season 17 Journey but want to carry on in this Season. They're also intended for non-Seasonal players who have awesome kit and spend most of their time gaining Paragon Levels and upgrading Legendary Gems. We wanted to extend the excitement of seeing gear drop or spending Blood Shards at Kadala beyond obtaining Ancients in every slot. Primals provide an avenue for dedicated players to complete a build, without feeling like required upgrades. We hope that answers any questions you may have about Ancients and Primal Ancients.

Now off you go!

Blizzard Quote [source]

eSports betting Starter

eSports have grown tremendously over the past one decade and are also bet upon excessively these days. In fact, competitive gaming has never been this popular. It's no longer only a pastime activity, but has transformed into a million-dollar industry, actively indulged-in in every part of the world.

If you're someone who is planning to bet on eSports, you must first ascertain if it is really for you. Are you ready to accept the wins and losses that come inevitably with it? You'd need to learn a great deal about sports betting odds, and how to use them to your advantage. Here's a brief introduction to the world of eSports betting for you.

What is eSports betting?

Simply put, placing bets on the various outcomes of eSports matches is referred to as eSports betting. As highlighted above, with the massive popularity of eSports, eSports betting has also grown tremendously over the past one decade.

eSports are no longer only about playing to win, but are also about banking on other people's plays. A great number of reputed bookmakers today offer attractive odds on outcomes of eSports matches, and a huge number of punters bet actively on them. In fact, there are millions of people out there, who although don't play eSports, are constantly fixated on the online video gaming portals, as they have bets on the digital sportsmen.

Top bookmakers to bet on eSports

Not every bookmaker offers eSports bets, but there are some who are seasoned campaigners in this domain. We have done all the hard work and research for you, and have figured out some of the bookmakers you must definitely check out. Bet365, Sports Interaction, Betway and PowerPlay are a few that definitely deserve a mention.

ESports betting strategy

Betting on eSports is a lot of fun, as there's plenty of cash on the table. However, as is the case in any betting endeavour, you must know about some important things before starting to place your punts. These are:

Some of the most popular eSports games that people actively bet on are:

• Dota 2
• League of Legends
• Hearthstone
• CS:GO
• Counter Strike
• StarCraft
• Call of Duty

Read up well about the teams and players before putting your money on them. You should constantly stay on top of the latest news stories related to the eSport and become a part of the social network gaming communities on platforms like Reddit, Facebook, Twitter etc. For instance, Saahil Arora is a well-known eSports player who nets around $ 1 million per year and travels all over the world. You can reap great rewards by following him online and betting on his matches.

It will become very hard to predict the outcomes of the eSports matches if you're not much of a gamer yourself. Please note, you don't necessarily need to be a top-notch gamer; all you need is a good knowledge of the basics. The idea is to not feel completely lost when you see the live streams on Youtube or Twitch.

Blizzard Quote [source]

Diablo III PATCH 2.6.5 Notes

Patch 2.6.5 has been released for the start of Season 17. Here are some of the new features:

• To match Greater Rift, 75, 70 and 65, Damage and Health of the enemies in Torment 16, 15 and 14 respectively have been adjusted.
• From time to time, players will spawn somewhere unusual when using portals dropped by Treasure Goblins.
• Look out for new effects in Kanai's Cube after using Primal Puzzle or Ancient Rings.
• Players using PC's will now be able to find out if they used their Cheat Death buff in Party portraits.
• Permanent pings will appear on spots where bosses fell in the Nephalem Rift until that Rift's closure.
• PC Players get an improved Boss Notification screen.
• PC Players get an improved Greater Rift Notification screen.
• PC Players get an improved Greater Rift Completion screen.
• Players will not be prevented from entering the game due to matchmaking, uring a Greater Rift.
• However, it is impossible to join an active Greater Rift after entering a game.
• Improvements have been made to rewards for Greater Rift Keys, Organs and Infernal Machines.

Patch 2.6.5 Quality of Life

New Patch 2.6.5 Items

• 5-7 are affected after consuming the Bottomless Potion of the Unfettered.
• Akkhan's Leniency : Three-second 75- to 100-percent 35- to 40-percent damage increase of Blessed Shield when used to hit enemy.
• Bloodtide Blade: Enemies in a 25-yard radius suffer 300- to 400% damage with Death Nova.
• Chantodo's Will: Release Wave of Destruction in Archon form; enemies within a 30-yard radius suffer 4000-percent damage per second; Wave of Destruction damage increased by 4000-percent for all non-Archon form attacks (can be multiplied 20x); Attack speed increase also speeds up Wave of Destruction ticks.
• The Dagger of Darts: Poison Darts of the player and their Fetish deal 400- to 500-percent more damage and pierce enemies
• Iron Rose: Blood Nova has 40- to 50-percent 100-percent chance of being casted after using a Siphon Blood to attack
• Jekangbord: Damage increment of 225- to 300-percent and six extra ricochets on enemies for Blessed Shield.
• Sage's Set: Dropped Death's Breaths amount doubled.
• Carnevil : You will shoot a powerful Poison Dart every time you do(10 Fetishes).
• Grace of Inarius :6-piece Bonus.; A swirling tornado of bone will now be activated by the Bone Armour, which will increase the Necromancer's damage by 10000-percent and deal weapon damage of 1000-percent to all enemies in proximity.
• Sin Seekers: Rapid Fire will now also get a damage increase of 250- to 300-percent.
• Wojahnni Assaulter : Every 0.5 seconds you channel Rapid Fire, it will deal an addition 75- to 100-percent damage; and it can multiply up to 4x. Wojahnni Assaulter-acquired stacks will stack at a faster pace

Patch 2.6.5 Bug Fixes

Blizzard Quote [source]

New Season 17 Theme

Season 17 (The Season of Nightmares) launches today simultaneously with the latest Diablo III patch. There are also legendary item updates, new levels of Torment, and a host of quality of life changes along with a ghoulish Seasonal buff!

The other great news is that Diablo III Season 17 players will benefit from the Set bonus provided by the previous season's Legacy of Nightmares. In other words, all can enjoy the advantages of the "no Set" Set and all Ancient Legendary you come across becomes a lot more valuable.

Any classes with particularly strong Legacy of Nightmare builds will have the ability to test new combinations, and especially combinations focussed on the Ring Slots.

At the same time, classes that have historically relied extensively on survivability from their ring slots, will have more leeway to test building-altering Legendaries that don't depend on a given Class Set.

Season 17 Cosmetic Rewards

In a first, Blizzard are re-introducing legacy Seasonal Rewards for players who might have missed them the first time. Awards that were previously exclusive to Season 5 will become available to Season 17 participants who progress through this Season journey.

Also, as well as the Pants and Boots slots of the select, Conqueror Set, Diablo III participants will be able to gain a series of portrait frames based on the ghoulish Greyhollow Island.

For pet collectors, in Season 17 you will be able to add the scary but cute Wickerman to your collection.

Players who complete all nine chapters of the Season Journey will be rewarded with a new cosmetic item, which means the Galactic Wings could be yours!

Season Journey Rewards

• Guardian of Sanctuary: Finish a level 70 Nephalem Rift on Torment XIII within five minutes
• Gem of My Life: Level three Legendary Gems to level 55
• All I Do IS Win: Complete two Conquests this Season
• Show Me What You Got: Kill Diablo at level 70 in under 1 minute and 30 seconds on Torment XIII difficulty
• Money Ain't a Thang: Slay Greed on Torment XIII difficulty
• Take U There: Reach Greater Rift level 60 Solo
• Power Amplification: Use Kanai's Cube to augment an Ancient Legendary item with a level 50+ gem
• Cubic Reconfiguration: Use Kanai's Cube to reforge a Legendary item

Seasonal Conquests

For people in a hurry, the Sprinter and Speed Racer characters return in this season, challenging you to complete all 5 Acts of the campaign in under 1 hour. Greedy Nephalem might be more suited to completing Avarice or Avaritia, where you'll need to rack up a gold streak of 50,000,000 outside of The Vault. The Thrill and Superhuman request that you complete a Greater Rift Level 45 without the assistance of any equipped Set Bonus. It'll be a Season for alt-aholics, as Years of War and Dynasty requires completing a Greater Rift Level 55 with the set bonuses of six different Class sets, while Masters of the Universe and Masters of Sets ask you to complete eight different Set Dungeons.

Haedrig's Gift

If you complete Chapters 2, 3, and 4 of the Season Journey, you will be rewarded with three of Haedrig's Gifts. Each Gift contains a few pieces from one of your Class Sets. Players can only unlock one Class Set in this manner per Season across Hardcore and Non-Hardcore.

Here are the sets granted by Haedrig's Gift in Season 17:

• Barbarian - Might of the Earth
• Crusader - Thorns of the Invoker
• Demon Hunter - The Shadow's Mantle
• Monk - Monkey King's Garb
• Necromancer - Grace of Inarius
• Witch Doctor - Raiment of the Jade Harvester
• Wizard - Firebird's Finery

Quality of Life Changes

First, three new Torment levels are added to the game, so that there's more variety and efficiency in farming for players deep in late-game content.

Higher Torment levels means more experience, gold, and Blood Shards, along with improved rewards from activities like Bounties and Nephalem Rifts. New search functionality added to the Stash (on PC only).

There are a few other small changes coming, such as an Expand/Collapse All button for recipes on Crafters (PC only), most Bounty indicators appearing immediately after entering the Bounty area, and Death's Breath now dropping from Horadric Caches. Season 17 is sure to be the greatest Season yet!