Blizzard Quote [source]

One year ago this week, we launched Diablo III in over 10 languages and 30 countries around the world. Since then, we've made significant improvements to the game, shipping upwards of 15 patches and implementing numerous hotfixes to make your battle against the forces of the Burning Hells that much more epic. 

In celebration of Diablo III's anniversary, we wanted to take a look at the road so far -- recapping some of the major changes made to the game since release and providing players quick access to all the latest updates. 

(If you haven't played in a while or are new to the realm of Sanctuary, definitely stay a while and listen.)

- PARAGON LEVELS -

When a hero reaches level 60, experience earned from quests, monsters, and massacre bonuses will begin to count toward Paragon levels. There are 100 Paragon levels in total, and each level will reward players with a permanent bonus to Gold Find and Magic Find, as well as core stat increases (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality). For every 10 Paragon levels, players will also earn a new hero portrait border which will display in the in-game party frame. This border will not only become more impressive as you level up, it will also display your Paragon level in any place where your normal hero level is shown.

For more information on Paragon levels, click here or check out the game guide.

- INFERNAL MACHINE -

The Infernal Machine is a device that will allow level 60 players to battle "uber" versions of some of Sanctuary’s most nefarious bosses. While the rewards for defeating these bosses will be great, some assembly is required. Only the most powerful Nephalem can unlock the secrets to building the Infernal Machine,  but once forged the device can be used to open portals to special encounters featuring not one, but two bosses which have been augmented from their original versions, both in terms of difficulty and appearance. Defeating each boss pair will provide players with extra items and gold, as well as a chance to find components for a new Legendary: the Hellfire Ring!

For more information about the Infernal Machine event, click here or check out the game guide.

- LEGENDARY ITEM IMPROVEMENTS - 

In patch 1.0.4, we made significant changes to Legendary items to make them more powerful, more memorable, and ultimately more fun to use. Through the addition of spell procs, many Legendary items now have a chance to activate rare and unique abilities, such as summoning an angel to fight with you, conjuring an icy projectile, or igniting the very ground you walk on. Legendary items are also far and away more powerful, possessing higher damage and affix values than their predecessors. In addition, many Legendary items have had visual effects added to their original models, giving them a distinct and detailed flair. 

For more information about these improvements, click here.

- BRAWLING -

For those who wish to test their mettle against fellow Nephalem, head on over to the Scorched Chapel! This zone can be accessed by speaking with Nek the Brawler in any of the four Act hubs, and supports 2 to 4 players in a Free-For-All format.

For more information about Brawling, click here or check out the game guide.

- MONSTER POWER -

Similar to the "Players X" command in Diablo II, Monster Power is a system designed to give players more control over how challenging enemies are in each difficulty. With this system, players can choose to increase the health and damage of monsters according to different "power levels" and in return they'll receive scaling bonuses to experience as well as boosts to Magic Find and Gold Find which will stack above the 300% cap. The option to increase Monster Power is available to all players starting at level 1 in the Quest Selection window, and can be adjusted separately for Normal, Nightmare, Hell, and Inferno difficulties.

For more information about Monster Power, click here or check out the game guide. 

- MULTIPLAYER IMPROVEMENTS -

In patch 1.0.8, we made several improvements to the multiplayer experience in Diablo III, including a special bonus for multiplayer games that grants +10%  Magic Find, Gold Find, and Experience for each additional player in the party, combat alerts for whenever a player is engaged with an Elite monster or treasure goblin, multi-user conversations (a new chat option that allows players to chat privately with up to 98 of their friends), and matchmaking tags for Public Games. 

These changes focused on buffing existing social features, making it easier for players to find one another online, and providing bonuses when playing in our cooperative mode. 

For more information about these improvements, click here. 

- MONSTER DENSITY - 

More demons, more fun! As of patch 1.0.8,  players in Inferno difficulty at Monster Power 1 and higher will find an increased number of enemies across Acts I, II, and IV. By adjusting density in these areas, all four Acts should now be more comparable in terms of difficulty vs. reward, giving players more options for farming (and more monsters on which to enact their revenge). 

For more information, click here. 

- OFFICIAL PATCH NOTES -

But that's not all! Be sure to check out our official patch notes for updates to Diablo III in all their gory details.

Looking for more retrospectives? Head on over to Diablo Fans and Diablo Somepage for their 2012/2013 recaps!

Blizzard Quote [source]

One year ago today, the gates of the Burning Hells opened and Diablo III was unleashed onto the world. Since then, millions of heroes have been created, billions of hours have been spent in games, and trillions of demons have been slaughtered without mercy. We've grown and improved a lot since release, both as a game team and as a community, and thanks to your feedback, passion, and unquenchable bloodlust, we expect the next year to be even more epic.

To celebrate this milestone and the community that made it possible, we're giving away free buffs! (Who doesn't like free buffs?) Players who log in to defend Sanctuary between May 15 and May 21 will receive a 25% boost to their Magic Find and +EXP stats. The buff is only available while logged in to the game, but it will apply to all characters as well as stack with other similar bonuses -- the +EXP bonus will stack multiplicatively and the Magic Find bonus will stack above the 300% cap!

Happy demon-hunting, Nephalem. Thank you for your continued support, and we wish you the best of adventures in the coming year!

Blizzard Quote [source]

General

• Made improvements to address "rubberbanding" issues encountered when using movement-based abilities like Tempest Rush, Strafe, and Whirlwind

Auction House

• The stack size of gold on the real-money auction house has been increased again to 10 million (up from 1 million)

Classes

• Barbarian
  • Passive Skills
    • Inspiring Presence
      • Will once again be displayed under Life per Second on the character sheet

User Interface

• Bug Fixes
  • Fixed an issue introduced in Patch 1.0.8 that prevented Item Label Display preferences from being saved

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue introduced in Patch 1.0.8 causing dungeon exits to sometimes be placed in abnormally close proximity to the entrance
• Fixed an issue introduced in Patch 1.0.8 that prevented players with Starter Edition accounts from being upgraded when playing in an IGR

Blizzard Quote [source]

Heroes of Sanctuary, heed our call!

May 15^th marks the one-year anniversary of Diablo III. Help us celebrate the Lord of Terror's rebirth (and contribute to an awesome community project in the process) by submitting your very own birthday greeting!

To participate, simply print out one of the birthday images below (or create your own), take a photo of you and/or your friends, and then tweet the picture to @Diablo using the hashtag #D3BDAY or email it to BlizzardContest@Blizzard.com. In addition to re-tweeting our favorites and uploading them to our Diablo Facebook page throughout the week, we'll also be compiling the most impressive greetings to show off here on the official community site after the festivities have concluded.

To kick off this shindig, here are a few festive photos from the Diablo III development and community teams:

What are you waiting for, Nephalem? Grab a sign, take a picture, submit your photo, and join in on the diabolical birthday bash! Also, be sure to stay tuned to diablo3.com all this week, as the party is just beginning.