Blizzard
Heroes of Sanctuary, Happy New Year! At the end of last year, we gave you a glimpse of exciting new balance changes coming to Diablo II: Resurrected. We’re pleased to announce the upcoming gameplay additions to the PTR (PC-only) which will be implemented starting Tuesday, January 25, PST!
PLEASE NOTE: Character progression on the current PTR will be wiped on Tuesday when we push the Patch 2.4 Balance build onto the test realm.
This will be our community’s first opportunity to experience these changes and share their feedback from their playthroughs. From the very beginning, we’ve acknowledged that our collaboration with our community helps us craft a better game for all. We hope you participate in the PTR and continue to share your feedback. With your help, we can continue the legacy of making Diablo II: Resurrected the ARPG we all cherish.
If you missed that Developer Update Stream, you may watch it below. Our Design Director, Robert Gallerani, and Senior Game Producer, Matthew Cederquist, joined community content creator, MrLlamaSC, to highlight our philosophies and improvements being made to our seven unique classes.
PTR Focus & Details
We’re ecstatic to make balance changes that will improve the viability of each class while retaining the class fantasy of our favorite heroes. It has been more than eleven years since we’ve made changes like this to the game! So, when we started making balance adjustments, we wanted to focus on expanding more skill build variety and adding more viable possibilities with playing each class. The game is built around completing the Acts on each difficulty and we wanted our players to be empowered to play their heroes in the ways they preferred. A key opportunity we saw was improving the effectiveness of lesser-used skills.
As we progress in this PTR, please be aware there may be periodic maintenances, outages, hotfixes, or minor patches. All the changes implemented in this PTR are not in stone. We want to gauge reception and feedback on these changes before we make them final for Live. We encourage our PTR participants to explore and play the following new content:
- New Class Balance Changes: To ensure that the most significant class changes receive an ample amount of attention, we'd love feedback on changes affecting our seven unique classes.
- New Rune Words: We encourage you to experience the new Rune Words that can be created and inserted into correlating socketed gear. Please share your feedback on these new items.
- New Horadric Cube Recipes: New Horadric Cube Recipes have been implemented to complement Set items, we encourage you to craft these and share your feedback; especially in tandem with new improvements being made to Set items that are generally underused by players.
- And much more: Mercenary changes, Set Item Bonus Changes, New Level Area changes, Item Tooltip changes, and other changes to gameplay have been implemented for testing in this PTR. Your impressions and insights on how these changes affect your experience would be very appreciated.
Please leave your feedback in the PTR Feedback forum. If you discover any bugs, please report them in the PTR Bug Report forum. So, without further ado, let’s dive into these new changes!
PLEASE NOTE: Game content discussed in this blog is not final and subject to change.
PATCH NOTES
Below you will find patch notes for the upcoming update for Diablo II: Resurrected, Patch 2.4 PTR. Ranked Ladder Play will not be included in the PTR, as the primary focus of this test will be trialing the new balance changes, new Rune Words, new Horadric Cube Recipes, Set Item Bonus changes, and other gameplay improvements (I.e., Casting Delays).
Developer Comments: We are re-evaluating Casting Delays by individualizing each of their cooldowns. This means that using a skill with a Casting Delay will no longer add the cooldown to all other skills that have Casting Delays. This will allow players to use more varieties of skills and promote more gameplay.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- CLASS CHANGES
- MERCENARIES
- RUNE WORDS
- NEW HORADRIC CUBE RECIPES
- SET ITEM BONUS CHANGES
- LEVEL AREA CHANGES
- GENERAL GAMEPLAY CHANGES
- ITEM TOOLTIP CHANGES
- HOW TO PARTICIPATE & PTR CHARACTER COPY
CLASS CHANGES
Javelin And Spear Skills
Impale
- This skill is now an uninterruptible attack
- Attack Rating modification has been removed. Now this skill will always hit the target
- This skill now slows the target by a percentage for a duration
Fend
- Attack Speed increased by 100% (Reduced the rollback frames value between each attack)
Power Strike
- Removed synergy from Lightning Fury skill
- Lightning Bolt synergy increased from +10% to +14%
- Critical Strike synergy increased from +10% to +14%
- Charged Strike synergy increased from +10% to +14%
Charged Strike
- Removed synergy from Lightning Fury skill
- Power Strike synergy increased from +10% to +14%
- Lightning Bolt synergy increased from +10% to +14%
- Charged Strike synergy increased from +10% to +14%
Lightning Strike
- Removed synergy from Lightning Fury skill
- Power Strike synergy increased from +8% to +11%
- Lightning Bolt synergy increased from +8% to +11%
- Charged Strike synergy increased from +8% to +11%
Poison Javelin
- This skill’s damage scaling at high levels has been slightly adjusted
- Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
- Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
Plague Javelin
- Poison duration is now fixed at 3 seconds
- Poison Javelin synergy increased from +10% to +14%
- Casting Delay reduced from 4 seconds to 1 second
- Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
- Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
Developer Comments: We wanted to give more advantages for using Amazon melee skills, so we are freeing up skill synergy reliance on “Lightning Fury”, which will make the lightning melee skills a cheaper skill point alternative to build around. Also, we are improving the power of the lesser-used melee skills such as “Impale” and “Fend.” Lastly, “Plague Javelin” has received improvements with Casting Delay, damage synergy, and duration scaling, to further diversify its usage compared to “Poison Javelin.”
Passive And Magic Skills
Inner Sight
- This skill’s radius has increased by 35%
Slow Missiles
- Missile slow now scales instead of staying at a flat base of 33%
- This skill’s radius has increased by 35%
- This skill will now reduce enemy missile damage based on skill level
Valkyrie
- Casting Delay reduced from 6 seconds to 0.6 seconds
- Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
- Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
Dodge
- The animation can now be interrupted and will no longer lock out the Amazon from performing other actions
Avoid
- The animation can now be interrupted and will no longer lock out the Amazon from performing other actions
Developer Comments: We wanted to add some quality-of-life changes to certain Passive and Magic Skills. We improved the radius for “Inner Sight” and “Slow Missiles”, and we gave more reason to invest skill points for “Slow Missiles.” Also, we wanted to alleviate the disadvantage of the animation lockout from using the “Dodge” and “Avoid” skills so that players are more willing to spend points on these skills.
Bow And Crossbow Skills
Freezing Arrow
- Mana Cost per level reduced from +0.5 to +0.25
Magic Arrow
- Increased the amount of physical damage converted to magic damage for the base level and per level
Guided Arrow
- Damage bonus per level increased from +5% to +7%
Strafe
- Removed the 25% weapon damage reduction from this skill
- Now also gives increased Attack Rating with +30% baseline and +9% per level
Fire Arrow
- Mana Cost no longer increases per level
Exploding Arrow
- Damage scaling increased by about 50% for higher skill levels
- Fire Arrow synergy increased from +12% to +14%
- Mana Cost per level reduced from +0.5 to +0.25
Immolation Arrow
- Average Fire Damage per second scaling increased by about 100%
- Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
- Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
- Mana Cost per level reduced from +0.5 to +0.25
Developer Comments: Fire bow skills are receiving damage scaling improvements at higher levels so that they consistently fulfill their fire elemental damage type roles for their level tier. Also, mana costs were reduced for the elemental arrow skills to give them more general usage. “Strafe” will no longer have weapon damage reduction and will also provide Attack Rating so that it can have distinctive advantages over the other physical bow skills.
Martial Arts
Fist of Fire
- Attack Rating bonus increased from +15% to +25% baseline, and from +7% to +10% per level
Claws of Thunder
- Attack Rating bonus increased from +15% to +25% baseline, and from +7% to +10% per level
Blades of Ice
- Attack Rating bonus increased from +15% to +25% baseline, and from +7% to +10% per level
Tiger Strike
- Attack Rating bonus increased from +15% to +25% baseline, and from +7% to +10% per level
Cobra Strike
- Attack Rating bonus increased from +15% to +25% baseline, and from +7% to +10% per level
Phoenix Strike
- Attack Rating bonus increased from +15% to +25% baseline, and from +7% to +10% per level
Dragon Talon
- Now consumes only 1 of each Martial Arts charge when cast
- Now always hits the target only if the Assassin has any Martial Arts charges
Dragon Claw
- Now consumes only 1 of each Martial Arts charge when cast
- Now always hits the target only if the Assassin has any Martial Arts charges
- Damage bonus per level increased from 5% to 15%
Dragon Tail
- Now consumes only 1 of each Martial Arts charge when cast
- Now always hits the target only if the Assassin has any Martial Arts charges
- Damage bonus per level increased from 10% to 20%
Dragon Flight
- Now consumes only 1 of each Martial Arts charge when cast
- Now guarantee hits the target only if the Assassin has any Martial Arts charges
- Casting Delay removed
- Damage bonus per level increased from 25% to 35%
Developer Comments: Martial Arts skills are receiving a significant change with having Finishing Moves (including the Attack skill) only consume 1 of each charge at a time instead of all 3 at once. We feel like this will allow Martial Arts to perform smoother during combat by better maintaining current charges instead of having to re-acquire charges too often. In addition to this, we are increasing Attack Rating for Charge-up skills to compliment the smoothness of gaining and spending charges Lastly, we wanted to improve damage payoff for the lesser used Finishing Move skills.
Shadow Disciplines
Fade
- Tooltip updated to now show the physical damage resist reduction
Venom
- Buff Duration scaling per level changed from 4 seconds to 12 seconds (matching Burst of Speed and Fade)
Shadow Warrior
- Casting Delay reduced from 6 seconds to 0.6 seconds
- Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
- Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
Shadow Master
- Casting Delay reduced from 6 seconds to 0.6 seconds
- Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
- Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
Developer Comments: We felt that Shadow Disciplines are generally widely used and effective, but we wanted to add some quality-of-life changes, so we added tooltip clarity, buff duration consistency improvements, and casting delay changes.
Traps
Shock Web
- Removed synergy from Death Sentry skill
- Charged Bolt Sentry synergy increased from +11% to +17%
- Lightning Sentry synergy increased from +11% to +17%
- Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
- Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
Charged Bolt Sentry
- Removed synergy from Death Sentry skill
- Fire Blast synergy increased from +6% to +9%
- Lightning Sentry synergy increased from +6% to +9%
Lightning Sentry
- Removed synergy from Death Sentry skill
- Shock Web synergy increased from +12% to +18%
- Charged Bolt Sentry synergy increased from +12% to +18%
Fire Blast
- Removed synergy from Death Sentry skill
- Shock Web synergy increased from +9% to +11%
- Charged Bolt Sentry synergy increased from +9% to +11%
- Wake of Fire synergy increased from +9% to +11%
- Lightning Sentry synergy increased from +9% to +11%
- Wake of Inferno Sentry synergy increased from +9% to +11%
Wake of Fire
- Fire Blast synergy increased from +8% to +10%
- Wake of Inferno synergy increased from +8% to +10%
Wake of Inferno
- Removed synergy from Death Sentry
- Fire Blast synergy increased from +10% to +18%
- Wake of Fire synergy increased from +7% to +18%
Blade Sentinel
- Casting Delay reduced from 2 seconds to 1 second
- Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
- Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
- Missile speed increased by 20%
- Weapon Damage increased from 37% to 75%
- Blade Fury synergy added: +10% Damage per level
- Blade Shield synergy added: +10% Damage per level
Blade Fury
- Blade Sentinel synergy added: +10% Damage per level
- Blade Shield synergy added: +10% Damage per level
Blade Shield
- Duration baseline value increased from 20 seconds to 120 seconds (matching Burst of Speed and Fade)
- Duration scaling per level increased from 5 seconds to 12 seconds (matching Burst of Speed and Fade)
- Weapon Damage increased from 25% to 75%
- Blade Sentinel synergy added: +10% Damage per level
- Blade Fury synergy added: +10% Damage per level
- Tooltip updated to now display Radius
Developer Comments: With Trap skills, there are multiple underused skills that can be more effective or have improved synergy distribution. For Lightning and Fire Traps, we are freeing up synergy reliance on “Death Sentry” to give more build possibilities elsewhere. Also, Fire traps are receiving damage synergy improvements to make them more effective at higher difficulties. Lastly, the Blade skills are receiving multiple improvements to make them more viable to dedicate builds around these skills.
Warcries
Howl
- Tooltip updated to now display Radius
Battle Cry
- Tooltip updated to now display Radius
War Cry
- Damage increased by about 30%
- Tooltip updated to now display Radius
Shout
- Duration baseline increased from 20 seconds to 30 seconds (matching Battle Orders)
- Tooltip updated to now display Radius
Battle Orders
- Tooltip updated to now display Radius
Battle Command
- Duration baseline increased from 5 seconds to 30 seconds (matching Battle Orders)
- Tooltip updated to now display Radius
Grim Ward
- Radius baseline value increased
- Now also Slows and increases Damage Taken for nearby enemies.
- Find Potion synergy added: +5% Damage Taken per level
Developer Comments: We are adding more tooltip descriptions to Warcries for clarification on hidden skill mechanics. “Shout” and “Battle Command” durations were updated to be consistent with each other for quality-of-life purposes. For “War Cry,” we want to make it more effective and rewarding to use at higher difficulties. Lastly, with “Grim Ward”, we are adding a new functionality and synergy to give more reason to use the skill, which also gives more reason to spend skill points on “Find Potion.”
Combat Masteries
Throwing Mastery
Developer Comments: We added pierce chance to “Throwing Mastery” so that the Barbarian can better handle groups of enemies with Throwing skills.
Combat Skills
Leap
- Baseline minimum distance increased
- Speed of the leap motion increased by 75%
- Tooltip updated to now display Knockback Radius
Leap Attack
- Speed of the leap motion increased by 75%
- Damage baseline increased from 100% to 200%
- Attack Rating baseline increased from 50% to 100%
- Attack Rating per level increased from 15% to 20%
- Leap synergy increased from +10% to +15% Damage per level
Berserk
- Shout synergy replaced with Battle Orders
Double Throw
- Added damage bonus with 16% baseline and 8% damage increase per level
Frenzy
- Increased Stamina synergy added: +0.4 Seconds per Level
Developer Comments: We want to make the Leap skills move a lot faster so that they are less awkward to use. “Leap Attack” is receiving better level scaling to make it a more reliable damage skill to build around. For “Berserk”, the existing “Shout” synergy is changing to “Battle Orders,” because the Defense loss from the skill contradicts the usage of “Shout,” and this will better connect with other skill synergy build possibilities. “Double Throw” will now have a baseline damage increase so that it will not purely rely on synergies for damage. Lastly, “Frenzy” is receiving a new synergy from the lesser-used “Increased Stamina” skill to give more reasons to invest skill points there and add new build diversity.
Elemental Skills
Firestorm
- Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
- Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
Molten Boulder
- Missile speed increased by 100%. Missile range decreased by 100% (The overall travel length remains the same)
- Casting Delay reduced from 2 seconds to 1 second
- Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
- Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
- Volcano synergy increased from 10% to 12%
Fissure
- Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
- Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
Volcano
- Molten Boulder synergy increased from 12% to 16%
- Tooltip updated to now show Volcano duration
- Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
- Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
Armageddon
- Casting Delay has been removed for this skill
- Physical Damage significantly increased
- Tooltip updated to now display Physical Damage
- Volcano synergy changed to increase Physical Damage instead of Fire Damage, and increased from 14% to 18%
Arctic Blast
- Removed synergy from Hurricane
- Base damage and level scaling increased by ~100% (also to compensate for the incorrect damage calculation in the past)
- Controls are updated so that the skill now casts in free form and no longer locks onto one target at a time
Cyclone Armor
- Can now be cast while in Werewolf or Werebear form
Twister
- Damage scaling increased by 50%
- Arctic Blast synergy added: +20% Stun Duration per level
Hurricane
- Casting Delay removed
- Can now be cast while in Werewolf or Werebear form
Developer Comments: With the Casting Delay changes, Druid Fire skills are generally going to be more widely used. In addition, we are increasing the physical damage scaling for Fire skills to be a reliable alternative damage source. We felt that “Arctic Blast” is generally lacking power, so we are increasing the damage scaling, reducing the synergy requirements to free up skill points, and improving the general player controls to allow for smoother freeform targeting. In addition, we wanted to complement the “Arctic Blast” changes with improvements to “Twister” to add more build possibilities. Lastly, we are allowing Shapeshift forms to cast each of the elemental buff skills to avoid the current hassle of having to change forms to continuously maintain these active buffs.
Shape Shifting Skills
Werewolf
- Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
Rabies
- Attack Rating bonus increased from +7% to +10% per level
- Poison Creeper synergy increased from 18% to 20%
Fury
- Attack Rating bonus increased from +7% to +10% per level
Werebear
- Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
Maul
- Damage bonus per level increased from 20% to 30%
- Attack Rating bonus increased from +20% to +40% baseline, and +10% to +15% per level
- Tooltip Stun value will now properly cap at 10 seconds, which follows the core game's Stun duration cap
Shock Wave
- Maul synergy increased from 5% to 10%
Fire Claws
- Damage increased by 75%
- Removed synergy from Fissure
- Removed synergy from Volcano
Developer Comments: Werewolf skills are receiving Attack Rating improvements to help melee gameplay. For “Fire Claws,” we wanted to reduce the heavy skill point synergy costs to open more build possibilities. Werebear skills are receiving damage improvements to make them more viable for higher difficulties.
Summoning Skills
Oak Sage
- Min Life and Max Life values are averaged to always be the same, accurate to the tooltip
- Physical Damage Resist in Normal Difficulty increased from 0% to 25%
- Physical Damage Resist in Nightmare Difficulty reduced from 100% to 25%
- Physical Damage Resist in Hell Difficulty increased from 0% to 25%
Heart of the Wolverine
- Min Life and Max Life values are averaged to always be the same, accurate to the tooltip
- Physical Damage Resist in Normal Difficulty increased from 0% to 25%
- Physical Damage Resist in Nightmare Difficulty reduced from 100% to 25%
- Physical Damage Resist in Hell Difficulty increased from 0% to 25%
Spirit of Barbs
- Min Life and Max Life values are averaged to always be the same, accurate to the tooltip
- Aura no longer returns a percentage of damage when hit. Now the aura will deal a flat amount of damage when the aura-effected targets are attacked.
- Physical Damage Resist in Normal Difficulty increased from 0% to 25%
- Physical Damage Resist in Nightmare Difficulty reduced from 100% to 25%
- Physical Damage Resist in Hell Difficulty increased from 0% to 25%
Raven
- Number of hits per Raven reduced from 12 to 5, and no longer increases per level
- Attack Rating bonus per level increased from 15% to 30% (now also displays in the tooltip)
- Modified the AI so that the Ravens attack more often
- Damage level scaling significantly increased
- Summon Spirit Wolf synergy added: +12% Damage per level
- Summon Dire Wolf synergy added: +12% Damage per level
- Summon Grizzly synergy added: +12% Damage per level
Summon Spirit Wolf
- Min Life and Max Life values are averaged to always be the same, accurate to the tooltip
- Attacks now deal cold damage and chill for a duration (Provides utility with chilling and acts as an alternative damage type compared to Dire Wolves)
- Damage level scaling increased by 10%
- Base Life increased by about 80%
- Life now increases by 10% per level
- Updated the tooltip to display each synergy bonus value
Summon Dire Wolf
- Min Life and Max Life values are averaged to always be the same, accurate to the tooltip
- Damage level scaling increased by 30%
- Base Life increased by about 90%
- Life synergy reduced from 25% to 15% (This is because the base life was increased, and Spirit Wolf and Grizzly now gain Life per level)
- Updated the tooltip to display each synergy bonus value
Summon Grizzly
- Min Life and Max Life values are averaged to always be the same, accurate to the tooltip
- Base Life increased by ~15%
- Life now increases by 10% per level
- Updated the tooltip to display each synergy bonus value
Poison Creeper
- Min Life and Max Life values are averaged to always be the same, accurate to the tooltip
- Poison damage level scaling significantly increased
- Life scaling increased by 100%
- Rabies synergy added: +10% Poison Damage per level
Carrion Vine
- Min Life and Max Life values are averaged to always be the same, accurate to the tooltip
- Life recovery has been reworked to be +1% Healing per level, instead of using a diminishing calculation ranging from 3%-12%
Solar Creeper
- Min Life and Max Life values are averaged to always be the same, accurate to the tooltip
- Mana recovery has been reworked to be +3% Mana baseline with +1% Mana per level, instead of using a diminishing calculation ranging from 1%-8%
Developer Comments: There are plenty of Druid summons that could be improved to better build around. In general, all summons will no longer have hidden randomized health values so that the tooltip is more accurate and so summons perform more consistently. Ravens are getting significant changes to help them function as a spell-like skill for summoning Druids to use, and this includes damage scaling buffs and new synergies from other summons to fuel their damage. Wolves are getting improvements to give them more of an identity as damage-dealing summons. The spirit summons are receiving a physical damage resist change across each difficulty to make them survive more consistently. ”Spirit of Barbs” is receiving changes to Thorns to make it a more reliable source of damage. Lastly, each of the creeper summons are receiving improvements to give more reason to invest skill points and to have them perform better at higher levels.
Summoning Skills
Raise Skeletal Mage
- Percentage HP per level increased from 7% to 10%
- Poison total damage scaling increased by about 750%. Poison duration no longer scales and now lasts 4 seconds
- Cold damage scaling increased by about 50%
- Lightning damage scaling increased by about 5%
- The tooltip will now properly display the Life scaling per level
Blood Golem
- Now gains Max Life per level
- Damage scaling per level has been increased
Iron Golem
- Thorns no longer return a percentage of damage when hit. Now thorns will deal a flat amount of damage when the aura-effected targets are attacked.
Fire Golem
- Holy Fire level bonus per level increased from 1 to 2
Developer Comments: We saw a good opportunity to improve lesser-used summons for the Necromancer. Skeletal Mages have received significant damage scaling improvements so that their elemental damage values are more consistent. This means that Cold damage is more effective but still slightly weaker than Fire damage because of its chill utility, and Poison damage is much more reliable with a fixed duration and better damage scaling. “Blood Golem“ and “Fire Golem” are receiving damage improvements to make them more competitive with the other Golems. For “Iron Golem,” we are changing the “Thorns” aura to deal more reliable damage to improve its source of effectiveness (See Paladin changes below for more details).
Poison And Bone Skills
Bone Armor
- Damage Absorbed per level increased from 10 to 15
Bone Spear
- Teeth synergy increased from 7% to 8%
- Bone Wall synergy increased from 7% to 8%
- Bone Spear synergy increased from 7% to 8%
- Bone Prison synergy increased from 7% to 8%
Bone Spirit
- Teeth synergy increased from 6% to 8%
- Bone Wall synergy increased from 6% to 8%
- Bone Spear synergy increased from 6% to 8%
- Bone Prison synergy increased from 6% to 8%
Developer Comments: Bone skills are generally well performing but we saw an opportunity to improve synergy bonuses to better scale in the late game and to make their heavy skill point investment more valuable. Additionally, “Bone Armor” is receiving better damage absorb scaling to make it more rewarding to spend points on the skill itself instead of relying too heavily on its synergies.
Curses
Weaken
- Damage reduction now scales based on level, from just 33%, to now 33% and +1% per level
Decrepify
- Tooltip updated to now show the status changes
Developer Comments: For the “Weaken” skill, we added new damage reduction scaling to give more reason to spend additional points on the skill and to give it a more powerful identity.
Defensive Auras
Resist Fire
- Tooltip now displays max resist bonus
Resist Cold
- Tooltip now displays max resist bonus
Resist Lightning
- Tooltip now displays max resist bonus
Developer Comments: We added more information to tooltips to describe hidden functionality for certain Defensive Auras.
Offensive Auras
Blessed Aim
- Tooltip now displays passive Attack Rating bonus
Holy Fire
- Area damage now scales based on the distance of the enemy to the caster. It will now deal a range from 100% damage to 200% based on the furthest distance to the closest distance to the caster.
- Damage level scaling increased by about 90%
- Resist Fire synergy increased from 18% to 24%
- Salvation synergy increased from 6% to 10%
Holy Freeze
- Area damage now scales based on the distance of the enemy to the caster. It will now deal a range from 100% damage to 200% based on the furthest distance to the closest distance to the caster.
Holy Shock
- Area damage now scales based on the distance of the enemy to the caster. It will now deal a range from 100% damage to 200% based on the furthest distance to the closest distance to the caster.
Thorns
- Aura no longer returns a percentage of damage when hit. Now the aura will deal a flat amount of damage when the aura-effected targets are attacked.
Sanctuary
- Area damage now scales based on the distance of the enemy to the caster. It will now deal a range from 100% damage to 200% based on the furthest distance to the closest distance to the caster.
Developer Comments: We wanted to add more potential to the AoE (Area of Effect) Damage auras since they are a capable way for the Paladin to handle groups of monsters. By increasing damage based on distance to the caster, each AoE damage aura will have increased effectiveness while still maintaining the same cadence of visual VFX on the screen. Also, we saw that “Holy Fire” should scale better at higher skill levels to be consistent with general Fire Damage power compared to the other elements. For “Thorns”, we want to improve the gameplay around getting hit to deal damage, so we are making the skill deal flat damage based on attack attempts rather than returning damage after getting hit. This will allow Thorns to have a more consistent combat performance instead of unpredictable and riskier results.
Combat Skills
Sacrifice
- Damage to self now reduces per level, from 8% to 8%-1%
Conversion
- Maximum conversion chance increased from 50% to 90%
Smite
- Tooltip now shows that the skill always hits
Holy Bolt
- Removed synergy Blessed Hammer
- Damage increased by 50%
- Now pierces targets (Undead and Allies)
- Prayer synergy increased from 15% to 20%
Fist of the Heavens
- Casting Delay reduced from 1 second to 0.4 seconds
- Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
- Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
- Holy Bolts now pierce targets (Undead and Allies)
- No longer forces you to attack when out of mana
- Improved targeting functionality for auto acquiring enemies
Developer Comments: We wanted to improve the lesser-used Combat skills to give more viable build options. “Holy Bolt” will now pierce to increase its combat use cases and will have less skill point synergy investment to open more possibilities to spend skill points elsewhere. “Fist of the Heavens” is also getting the same “Holy Bolt” pierce changes and will now have less Casting Delay and improved controls to help make it a more effective Level 30 skill to use.
Cold Skills
Frost Nova
- Damage level scaling increased by about 25%
Blizzard
- Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
- Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
Frozen Orb
- Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
- Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
Frozen Armor
- Base duration increased from 120 seconds to 144 seconds
Shiver Armor
- Damage level scaling increased by about 25%
- Base duration increased from 120 seconds to 144 seconds
Chilling Armor
- Damage level scaling increased by about 200%
- Duration bonus per level increased from 6 seconds to 12 seconds
- Chill length bonus per level for level 16+ increased from 1 second to 2 seconds (matching Shiver Armor)
- Defense baseline increased from 45% to 60%
- Defense bonus per level increased from 5% to 7%
- Frozen Armor damage synergy increased from 7% to 9%
- Chilling Armor damage synergy increased from 7% to 9%
Developer Comments: With the cold armor skills, we want to further diversify them by ensuring that each has distinctive advantages. After these changes, “Chilling Armor” will have the greatest Defense bonus and damage potential while still only triggering on ranged attacks. Also, “Frost Nova” is receiving damage scaling improvements to give it more power where it was lacking in the later game.
Lightning Skills
Nova
- Static Field synergy added: +5% Lightning Damage per level
Thunder Storm
- Static Field synergy added: +7% Lightning Damage per level
- Duration baseline increased from 32 seconds to 144 seconds
- Duration bonus per level increased from 8 seconds to 24 seconds
- Tooltip updated to now display Radius
Energy Shield
- Tooltip updated to display more information about the Mana consumed and the Telekinesis synergy
Developer Comments: We saw an opportunity to add new synergies for lesser used Lightning skills to increase their damage potential and create new skill build possibilities.
Fire Skills
Inferno
- Base damage and level scaling increased by about 75% (also to compensate for the incorrect damage calculation in the past)
- Warmth synergy increased from 13% to 16%
- Controls are updated so that the skill now casts in free form and no longer locks onto one target at a time
- Mana Cost baseline reduced from 7 Mana per second to 4 Mana per second
- Range baseline increased by 75%
Blaze
- Damage scaling increased by about 60%
- Warmth synergy increased from 4% to 6%
- Removed synergy from Fire Wall
- Now also increases Run/Walk Speed by 2% per level
- Tooltip now also displays Blaze duration
Fire Wall
- Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
- Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
Meteor
- Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
- Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
Hydra
- Casting delay removed
- Limited max number of Hydra groups to 6
- Fire Bolt synergy increased from +3% to +5%
- Fire Ball synergy increased from +3% to +5%
Developer Comments: We wanted to improve the lesser used Fire skills and give more reasons to use them. Inferno is receiving player control improvements with free form casting, like Arctic Blast, and better damage scaling. Blaze is an often-ignored skill so we wanted to free up synergy requirements and provide more utility and power with damage increases and a new Run/Walk Speed buff for extra utility. Lastly, with Hydra, we wanted to improve the gameplay of summoning Hydras to make it easier to use to skill in combat situations. The removal of Casting Delay and the new limitation on max Hydras will match the maximum Hydra count achievable from before the changes, but now players will have a much easier time to summon that amount.
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MERCENARIES
Hiring a Mercenary in Expansion mode will now always offer mercenaries that match your character's Level, instead of having a randomized Level difference from your character's Level.
Act 1 - Rogue Archer
- Updated each stat/skill gains in each difficulty to match so that there is no disadvantage of leveling up a Hell difficulty mercenary versus a Normal difficulty mercenary.
Cold Arrow
Fire Arrow
Developer Comments: The Rogue Archer is getting new flavored ranged skills that will scale as she levels up. These new skills should improve her AoE (Area of Effect) damage effectiveness and thus make her a more effective ranged damage dealer.
Act 2 - Desert Mercenary
- Updated each stat/skill gains in each difficulty to match so that there is no disadvantage of leveling up a Hell difficulty mercenary versus a Normal difficulty mercenary.
- Nightmare and Hell difficulty now have all 6 different aura types available from the Hire menu, instead of separating them out by 3 per difficulty. Normal is unchanged.
Thorns (Combat - Nightmare)
- Thorns aura level scaling increased and will now continue scaling up beyond the highest-level threshold up to max level.
Developer Comments: The Desert Mercenary is already popular, but we saw an opportunity to add some quality-of-life improvements by allowing players to hire all six different Aura types in Nightmare and Hell difficulty, rather than having to switch between modes. With the general improvements to “Thorns,” we wanted to improve the level scaling to make this aura mercenary type more meaningful.
Act 3 - Iron Wolf
- Updated each stat/skill gains in each difficulty to match so that there is no disadvantage of leveling up a Hell difficulty mercenary versus a Normal difficulty mercenary.
- Life baseline and scaling increased by about 25% (Now has Life similar to the Rogue Archer)
- Defense baseline and scaling increased by about 40% (Now has defense closer to the Rogue Archer)
- Resistances baseline and scaling increased by about 20% (Now has the highest resistances baseline compared to other mercenaries)
Cold
- Now casts Glacial Spike more often
- Glacial Spike level scaling increased
- Frozen Armor level scaling increased
Fire
- Removed Inferno
- Added Fire Bolt
- Increased chance of the Iron Wolf casting Fire Ball
- Added Enchant - Now the Iron Wolf will cast Enchant on himself, the player, and nearby allies
Lightning
- Added Static Field
- Charged Bolt level scaling increased
- Increased chance of the Iron Wolf casting Lightning
Developer Comments: The Iron Wolves are great elemental sorcerers, but we saw they have been underperforming in higher difficulties. We improved their core stats so that they are more in line with other mercenaries while also having a distinct advantage with having the most resistance values. For skills, we wanted to embrace their elemental fantasies, so we decided to give new flavorful utility skills, to further incentivize reasons to want to use these mercenary types.
Act 5 - Barbarian Warrior
- Updated each stat/skill gains in each difficulty to match so that there is no disadvantage of leveling up a Hell difficulty mercenary versus a Normal difficulty mercenary.
- Life baseline scaling increased (Now has the most life compared to other mercenaries)
- Defense baseline and scaling increased and the scaling at higher levels was reduced (Now has the highest defense baseline compared to other mercenaries)
- Bash level scaling increased and will no longer be capped at level 80
- Stun level scaling increased and will no longer be capped at level 80
- Added Battle Cry
Developer Comments: We want to give the Barbarian Warrior more identity while still maintaining his Barbarian fantasy. So, we decided to give him the “Battle Cry” skill as a new way for him to debuff enemies, which should prove to be a useful utility for players. In addition, we wanted to increase his Life and Defense scaling to ensure that he is the tougher mercenary type.
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RUNE WORDS
Insight
- Now can also be used with Bows and Crossbows
Developer Comments: Insight is a popular Rune Word, and we feel that allowing it on ranged weapons will promote more build possibilities that complement the skill and mercenary changes seen above.
New Rune Word
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Allowed Items
|
Rune Order
|
Completed Stats
|
|
Plague
|
Sword
|
Cham + Shael + Um
|
- 20% Chance to cast level 12 Lower Resist when struck
- 25% Chance to cast level 15 Poison Nova on striking
- Level 13-17 Cleansing Aura When Equipped (varies)
- +1-2 All Skills
- +20% Increased Attack Speed
- +220-320% Enhanced Damage (varies)
- -23% To Enemy Poison Resistance
- 0.3% (0-29.7) Deadly Strike (Based on Character Level)
- +25% Chance of Open Wounds
- Freezes Target +3
|
|
Pattern
|
Claw
|
Tal + Ort + Thul
|
- +30% Faster Block Rate
- +40-80% Enhanced Damage (varies)
- 10% Bonus to Attack Rating
- Adds 17-62 Fire Damage
- Adds 1-50 Lightning Damage
- Adds 3-14 Cold Damage
- +75 Poison Damage Over 5 Seconds
- +6 to Strength
- +6 to Dexterity
- All Resistances +15
|
|
Unbending Will
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Sword
|
Fal + Io + Ith + Eld + El + Hel
|
- 18% Chance to cast Level 18 Taunt on striking
- +3 To Combat Skills (Barbarian Only)
- +20-30% Increased Attack Speed (varies)
- +300-350% Enhanced Damage (varies)
- +9 To Maximum Damage
- +50 To Attack Rating
- +75% Damage to Undead
- +50 Attack Rating Against Undead
- 8-10% Life Stolen Per Hit (varies)
- Prevent Monster Heal
- +10 To Strength
- +10 To Vitality
- Damage Reduced By 8
- +1 Light Radius
- Requirements -20%
|
|
Wisdom
|
Helm
|
Pul + Ith + Eld
|
- +33% Piercing Attack
- +15-25% Bonus to Attack Rating (varies)
- 4-8% Mana Stolen Per Hit (varies)
- +30% Enhanced Defense
- +10 Energy
- 15% Slower Stamina Drain
- Cannot Be Frozen
- +5 Mana After Each Kill
- 15% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
|
|
Obsession
|
Staff
|
Zod + Ist + Lem + Lum + Io + Nef
|
- Indestructible
- 24% Chance to cast level 10 Weaken when struck
- +4 To All Skills
- +65% Faster Cast Rate
- +60% Faster Hit Recovery
- Knockback
- +10 To Vitality
- +10 To Energy
- Increase Maximum Life 15-25% (varies)
- Regenerate Mana 15-30% (varies)
- All Resistances +60-70 (varies)
- 75% Extra Gold from Monsters
- 30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
|
|
Flickering Flame
|
Helm
|
Nef + Pul + Vex
|
- Level 4-8 Resist Fire Aura When Equipped (varies)
- +3 To Fire Skills
- -10-15% to Enemy Fire Resistance (varies)
- +30% Enhanced Defense
- +30 Defense Vs. Missile
- +50-75 To Mana (varies)
- Half Freeze Duration
- +5% To Maximum Fire Resist
- Poison Length Reduced by 50%
|
|
Mist
|
Bow & Crossbow
|
Cham + Shael + Gul + Thul + Ith
|
- Level 8-12 Concentration Aura When Equipped (varies)
- +3 To All Skills
- 20% Increased Attack Speed
- +100% Piercing Attack
- +325-375% Enhanced Damage (varies)
- +9 To Maximum Damage
- 20% Bonus to Attack Rating
- Adds 3-14 Cold Damage
- All Resistances +40
- Freeze Target +3
- +24 Vitality
- All Resistances +40
|
Developer Comments: For new Rune Words, we focused on complementing the skill and mercenary changes seen above, along with giving underused runes more usage. “Plague” and “Pattern” Rune Words previously existed in data but were never enabled, so we made some additional tweaks, and they are finally now available to be used in game.
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NEW HORADRIC CUBE RECIPES
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1 Ral Rune + 1 Sol Rune + 1 Perfect Emerald + Normal Set Weapon
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Exceptional Version of Set Weapon
|
|
1 Lum Rune + 1 Pul Rune + 1 Perfect Emerald + Exceptional Set Weapon
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Elite Version of Set Weapon
|
|
1 Tal Rune + 1 Shael Rune + 1 Perfect Diamond + Normal Set Armor
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Exceptional Version of Set Armor
|
|
1 Ko Rune + 1 Lem Rune + 1 Perfect Diamond + Exceptional Set Armor
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Elite Version of Set Armor
|
Developer Comments: We felt that players enjoy the current Horadric Cube recipes for upgrading Unique items, so we decided to offer the same capability for upgrading Set items. This can add more possibilities by using lower-level Set items for more character builds.
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SET ITEM BONUS CHANGES
Arcanna's Tricks
- Increased +25 Mana to +50 Mana (2 Items)
- Added Regenerate Mana 12% (3 Items)
- Added +1 to All Skills (Full Set)
Arctic Gear
- Changed 6-14 Cold Damage to +2-198 to Maximum Cold Damage (+2 Per Character Level) (Full Set)
Bul-Kathos' Children
- Increased +20 Fire Damage to +200 Fire Damage (Full Set)
- Increased +25 Defense to +200 Defense (Full Set)
- Added 10% Life Stolen Per Hit (Full Set)
- Added +20% Deadly Strike (Full Set)
Cathan's Traps
- Added Regenerate Mana 16% (2 Items)
Civerb's Vestments
- Increased Fire Resist +15% to Fire Resist +25% (2 Items)
- Added 25% Bonus to Attack Rating (Full Set)
- Added 4-396 Defense (+4 Per Character Level) (Full Set)
Cow King's Leathers
- Added 5-495 Defense (+5 Per Character Level) (2 Items)
- Added +100 to Life (Full Set)
- Added +1 To All Skills (Full Set)
Infernal Tools
- Added Maximum Mana 20% (Full Set)
- Added Cannot Be Frozen (Full Set)
Iratha's Finery
- Added +24% Piercing Attack (3 Items)
Milabrega's Regalia
- Added Cannot Be Frozen (3 Items)
- Added +2-198 To Lightning Damage (+2 Per Character Level) (2 Items)
Naj's Ancient Vestige
- Added 1-148% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (+1.5 Per Character Level) (2 Items)
- Increased Replenish Life +10 to Replenish Life +20 (Full Set)
- Added +2 To Fire Skills (Full Set)
- Added Increased Maximum Life 12% (Full Set)
Sazabi's Grand Tribute
- Added Poison Length Reduced by 75% (2 Items)
- Added +1 To All Skills (Full Set)
- Added Damage Reduced by 16% (Full Set)
Vidala's Rig
- Added 7% Mana Stolen Per Hit (2 Items)
- Changed Adds 15-20 Cold Damage to +1-148 to Maximum Cold Damage (+1.5 Per Character Level) (Full Set)
Developer Comments: Many improvements have been made to Set items that are generally underused by players. These will offer more reasons to equip multiple of these Set pieces and to give some Sets new capabilities to make them stand out more, which further fuels more build diversity.
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LEVEL AREA CHANGES
- Players now must smash the Compelling Orb to enter the Durance of Hate, instead of killing the Council. This means the “Khalim's Will” quest needs to be completed to use the Durance of Hate Level 2 waypoint.
Developer Comments: We saw that due to a logic glitch, players often chose to skip required content within Act III by bypassing “Khalim's Will” quest and not experiencing much of what Act III has to offer. We decided to make the “Khalim's Will” quest a proper requirement to complete Act III, much like how players need to assemble the Horadric Staff to enter Tal Rasha’s Chamber in Act II.
- Monster Levels in the following areas have been increased for Hell Difficulty:
Area
|
Previous Hell Level
|
New Hell Level
|
|
Act 1 – Underground Passage Level 2
|
83
|
85
|
|
Act 2 – Stony Tomb Level 1
|
78
|
85
|
|
Act 2 – Stony Tomb Level 2
|
79
|
85
|
|
Act 3 – Arachnid Lair
|
79
|
85
|
|
Act 3 – Swampy Pit Level 1
|
80
|
85
|
|
Act 3 – Swampy Pit Level 2
|
81
|
85
|
|
Act 3 – Swampy Pit Level 3
|
82
|
85
|
|
Act 3 – Disused Fane
|
84
|
85
|
|
Act 3 – Ruined Temple
|
84
|
85
|
|
Act 3 – Forgotten Reliquary
|
84
|
85
|
|
Act 3 – Sewer Levels 1
|
84
|
85
|
|
Act 5 – Abaddon
|
81
|
85
|
|
Act 5 – Pit of Acheron
|
82
|
85
|
|
Act 5 – Infernal Pit
|
83
|
85
|
|
Act 5 – Drifter Cavern
|
84
|
85
|
|
Act 5 – Icy Cellar
|
83
|
85
|
Developer Comments: We felt that certain optional areas in Diablo II often get ignored on Hell difficulty, so we decided to increase their monster levels to add more incentives with risk vs reward gameplay. We hope this provides more reasons to find loot in these areas.
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GENERAL GAMEPLAY CHANGES
- Character hit block will no longer apply while your character is playing a skill pre-cast animation (Block will still trigger for the skill's post-cast animation).
- Character hit recovery will now have diminishing returns when being hit by another player.
Developer Comments: We want to fix some of the awkward lockouts that reject player input from casting skills. For PVP, we added a way to reduce hit recovery spam to prevent edge cases of characters being locked out for too long.
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ITEM TOOLTIP CHANGES
Old Tooltip
|
New Tooltip
|
|
Piercing Attack
|
+X% Piercing Attack
|
|
Quantity: [CURRENT STACK]
|
Quantity: [CURRENT STACK] of [TOTAL]
|
|
X% Chance of Open Wounds
|
+X% Chance of Open Wounds
|
|
X% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
|
+X% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
|
|
X% Chance of Crushing Blow
|
+X% Chance of Crushing Blow
|
|
Fire Absorb X%
|
Fire Absorb +X%
|
|
Cold Absorb X%
|
Cold Absorb +X%
|
|
Lightning Absorb X%
|
Lightning Absorb +X%
|
|
Magic Absorb X%
|
Magic Absorb +X%
|
|
X% Deadly Strike
|
+X% Deadly Strike
|
|
Hit Causes Monster to Flee X%
|
Hit Causes Monster to Flee +X%
|
Developer Comments: The Piercing Attack tooltip now will display its pierce chance value in the tooltip. The quantity value of throwing weapons, ammo, and tome item tooltips will now always show the total amount to be clearer for players. Also, consistency improvements have been made to existing item modifier tooltips so that it is clearer that they can stack with themselves.
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HOW TO PARTICIPATE
To participate in the public test, you must have a Diablo II: Resurrected game license attached to a Battle.net account in good standing (i.e. one that hasn't been suspended or banned). In addition, you will also need to download and install the Blizzard Battle.net desktop app if you have not already done so.
Step 1: Restart the Battle.net desktop app.
Step 2: Navigate to the Diablo II: Resurrected tab on the left-hand menu.
Step 3: On the Diablo II: Resurrected screen, there is a drop-down menu right above the "Play" button (note that this may say "Install" if you do not have Diablo II: Resurrected currently installed). Select "PTR: Diablo II: Resurrected" from this drop-down menu before proceeding.
Step 4: Click Install to begin the installation process.
Your PTR account will be created automatically if you do not already have one. The PTR is available in all supported languages, and accounts from all regions are eligible to participate. For additional assistance with installing and launching the PTR, click here.
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THANK YOU TO THE COMMUNITY
Our team is so grateful for your support. Last year we launched Diablo II: Resurrected, now it’s 2022 and we’re stoked to implement these new changes into our game. Thank you for playing and thank you for your continued collaboration. As we get closer to the launch of Patch 2.4, we plan to reveal more details surrounding Ladder Rank Play. So, for now, please stay tuned!
If you want to learn more about Diablo II: Resurrected, check out our website here, or for real-time updates, follow our official Twitter @Diablo.
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