The Reaper Has Arrived!

Its been over 24 hours now since the newest expansion was released for Diablo 3 - Reaper of Souls. I will try to avoid spoilers on the post below.

Mathael

I will tell you what it has been a struggle to pull myself away from it to write up this post but it has certainly delivered on rejuvenating the game and making it fun to play. Act 5 where Westmarch lies certainly has a much darker tone then usual for even Diablo when you see Mathael's plans unfolding for Sanctuary. A particularly disturbing place is imaged below in the early part of Act 5...

Bodies

After Mathael is stopped however a new adventure mode is accessible and it is certainly an adventure. Travel to any act, collect bounties on some more well known monsters and some not so well known. Complete events or cleanse chests and shrines. It is very open ended on what can be done.  For your troubles be rewarded with XP, Gold and a chance for blood shards that will allow you to feel like Gheed has come back to the game for each bounty you complete. If you complete all of the bounties in a single act in the game, a small treasure box with even more loot will be given to you by our favorite Mortal Angel.

Bounties

So after you collect all your bounties and you find several rift shards in your inventory as part of that.. you can join up with some friends and enter one of the Nephalem Rifts (friends not required, but helpful!) These rifts defy the normal game mechanics in terms of the environments, monsters you find, even shrines. As a small taste of what you can find, imagine a shrine that removes all resource costs... For you barbarian fans out there that is SIX (yes 6) Avalanches in less then a minute.

So if you have not yet picked up the game or have been teetering on the edge based on the bad rep that D3 classic has gotten, don't think, just buy it and get playing. You will not be disappointed and find that while it took a bit longer then usual, Blizzard has delivered another spectacular experience. Now, back to reaping the souls!

It's almost time... for Death!

Path 2.0.1 has been released for Diablo 3 which is the gateway patch to the newest expansion Reaper of Souls. Check out the patch notes below. There are quite a bit of changes, much more then even what Blizzard themselves posted so login and start gathering some new toys to defeat Mathael.

 

GENERAL

  • Pools of Reflection have been added to the game
    • Pools of Reflection provide a 25% bonus to experience
    • This bonus persists until you reach a set amount of bonus experience (equal to approximately 10% of the current amount of Paragon experience needed to reach the next Paragon level) or your character dies
    • Gathering additional Pools of Reflection bonuses increases the amount of total experience bonus a character can receive until character death, stacking up to 10 times
    • This experience bonus persists on logout
  • Nephalem Glory has been added to the game
    • Occasionally during battle, monsters will drop Power Globes when damaged or killed
    • Power Globes grant the Nephalem Glory buff, which causes players to deal additional damage in the form of golden lightning bolts and increases their movement speed for a short time
    • This buff can stack up to three times
  • New hero stats have been added to the game
    • These include Toughness, Healing, Splash Damage, Cooldown Reduction, and Resource Cost Reduction
    • Life Steal has been redesigned and is now less effective at higher character levels
      • At level 60, Life Steal is reduced to 10% effectiveness
  • Players now have the ability to resurrect in multiple places when they die in Normal (non-Hardcore) games
    • You may choose to either resurrect at your body, in town, or at the last checkpoint you encountered
    • Players may not resurrect at their body during a Boss encounter
    • Players may only resurrect at their body a maximum of three times in a row
  • Player hit boxes have been adjusted to more closely represent character models
    • Both male and female models of the same class share the same size hit box
  • Followers now automatically level with characters
  • Quests now occasionally grant item rewards when completed during the leveling process
  • Gold can no longer be traded
  • Graphics engine has been updated to support reflections
    • Reflections can be turned on in the Options > Video menu
    • Note: This setting is not recommended for players running minimum system specifications

 

BOSSES

  • Many bosses have had their mechanics revisted and retuned
    • The following bosses have received the largest changes to their encounters:
      • Maghda
      • Siegebreaker
      • Azmodan
      • Iskatu
    • In addition, the enrage timers for the following Bosses will only be enabled in Torment I and above:
      • The Butcher
      • Zoltun Kulle
      • Belial
      • Ghom
      • Siegebreaker
      • Rakanoth

 

CLASSES

  • All classes have undergone significant revision. Additional details and patch notes will be available in the near future. In the meantime, we encourage you to log in and explore the new changes for yourself!

 

CRAFTING AND ARTISANS

  • Crafting has received several quality of life changes
    • Crafting materials have been condensed into two item level tiers: 1-60 and 60-70
      • This change is to reduce the amount of stash space consumed by crafting materials and simply older crafting recipes
      • All crafting materials currently in character inventories and stash have been converted accordingly
    • All crafted items will now roll with stats appropriate to the character crafting them, using the Loot 2.0 Smart Drop system
      • Please note that items designed to roll specific stats, such as the Archon Armor patterns, are exempt from this system
    • Items purchased from vendors are now flagged as such, and cannot be salvaged

 

DIFFICULTY

  • The difficulty system has been completely revised
    • Nightmare, Hell, and Inferno modes have been removed
    • Difficulty is now dynamic and monsters will level up with your characters
    • There are now five difficulty settings to choose from: Normal, Hard, Expert, Master, and Torment (1-6)
      • Normal, Hard, and Expert are immediately available
      • Master unlocks upon completing Act IV
      • Torment unlocks upon reaching level 60
      • Torment level also includes a difficulty slider, offering an additional six adjustments with increasing rewards and more powerful monsters
      • Each level offers new bonuses and rewards, visible in the difficulty selection menu
    • You can now lower your difficulty setting in-game
      • However, increasing your difficulty still requires exiting your current game
      • This option is disabled in Hardcore mode
    • To account for these changes, monster density has been adjusted across all Acts

 

EVENTS

  • Cursed Objects
    • Chests and Shrines around Sanctuary now have a chance to be cursed, starting an event once they are inspected
    • Like other events, completing a Cursed Chest or Shrine provides a small gold and experience reward, as well as either a Radiant Chest or a random Shrine buff
    • These events offer a variety of challenges, including endless monster waves and timed events
  • Infernal Machines
    • Torment level difficulty is now required to use Infernal Machines

 

ITEMIZATION (LOOT 2.0)

  • Itemization has undergone a major overhaul:
    • Legendary and Set items are now Bind on Account
      • Players in multiplayer games may trade Legendaries and Set Items they find with others who were present for the drop for up to 2 hours after the item is acquired
    • The Smart Drop system has been implemented
      • All items that drop have a chance to roll as "Smart Loot"
      • Smart Loot items roll intelligently based on the character being played (example: A Wizard is more likely to find items with Intelligence or bonuses to Wizard skills than a Barbarian)
      • Class specific items will no longer roll stats inappropriate to their class (example: Intelligence will no longer appear on Mighty Weapons or Belts)
    • New item affixes have been added to the game
      • This include Splash Damage, Cooldown Reduction, Resource Cost Reduction, +% damage to Physical damage skills, and specific Class Skill Bonuses
    • Item properties have been separated into two categories: Primary and Secondary
      • Primary Stats include: Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Vitality, Critical Hit Damage, Critical Hit Chance, Attack Speed, Life per Second, Armor, +% Life, Bonus Damage to Elites, Bleed Damage, All Resistance, Sockets, and all new affixes listed above
      • Secondary Stats include: Gold Find, Thorns, Bonus Experience per Monster Kill, Chance for (Fear, Stun, Blind, Freeze, Chill, Slow, Immobilize and Knockback), Ignore Durability Loss, Bonus Healing to Health Globes and Potions, Bonus Pickup Radius, Single Resist, Life After Kill, and Level Requirement Reduction
      • This is to prevent stats that directly and indirectly increase character power from competing with one another
    • Stat ranges on items have been narrowed significantly (example: instead of an item having a stat range of 1-200 Strength, its range might now be something like 140-200)
    • Legendary powers now roll in a range, instead of a static amount
      • Example: The Legendary Spirit Stone “The Laws of Seph” has the legendary affix “Using Blinding Flash restores [75-100] spirit”
    • Players can now view the stat ranges of items by pressing and holding CTRL while an item's tooltip is open
    • All Legendary items have been reworked with one or all of the above points in mind
    • Potions have been condensed to a single type; they now provide 60% of your total health when consumed
      • All Potions currently in character inventories or stashes will be converted to the new Potion type

 

MONSTERS

  • Monster affixes have been revisited and retuned
    • Arcane Enchanted
      • Spawn effect now shows which direction it will start rotating
    • Desecrator
      • Damage now begins low, but quickly ramps up to its maximum damage
    • Frozen
      • Increased the number of Frozen crystals spawned by monsters with this affix
      • Frozen no longer increases how many crystals are spawned based on the number of players in the game
      • Frozen crystals now deal area of effect damage over time to players as they build up to their explosion
    • Jailer
      • Now does a small amount of damage when applied to the player
    • Vortex
      • Now does a small amount of damage when applied to the player
    • Mortar
      • Now has an outer impact area that does less damage than the center of impact
      • Now detonates if they vertically hit a wall
    • Plagued
      • Monsters with this affix now sometimes drop a pool under players as well as under themselves
    • Reflects Damage
      • No longer reflects a portion of incoming damage
      • Now reflects a fixed amount of damage per attack
    • Elite and Champion monsters now have five new possible affixes
      • Frozen Pulse: A shard of ice follows targets around before freezing in place and pulsing cold damage in a small area
      • Orbiter: A nexus of electrical energy appears, surrounded by additional balls of lightning that orbit in a large area
      • Poison Enchanted: Summons globules of poison matter that spread in a cross pattern, dealing damage to those caught in their wake
      • Thunderstorm: A powerful bolt of lightning strikes the ground, emanating a small wave of electrical energy
      • Wormhole: A pair of portals appears, dealing damage as it tears unfortunate targets from their location and transports them elsewhere
  • Monster density has been revisited
    • Density has been retuned around the new difficulty system
    • Elite and Champion packs can now spawn in a larger variation of pack sizes
  • Wasp projectiles can now be dodged and blocked

 

PARAGON (PARAGON 2.0)

  • The Paragon leveling system has been completely revamped
    • There is no longer a cap on the number of Paragon levels a player can gain
    • Paragon levels are now account-wide and shared across all characters
      • Note that Paragon levels are tracked independently between Hardcore and Normal modes
    • Players no longer gain static bonuses upon achieving Paragon Levels and bonuses currently earned by players have been removed
    • Players now earn Paragon points each level to spend in one of four separate categories: Core, Offense, Defense, and Utility
      • Players with existing Paragon levels have been granted the appropriate number of points to distribute amongst these categories
    • With these changes in mind, the Paragon leveling curve has been updated
    • Note that all Paragon experience earned across all characters prior to this patch has been totaled and recalculated into your new account-wide Paragon level
      • Paragon points can be allocated by clicking the Paragon button in the Character Paper Doll and Inventory screen (Default Hotkey C)

 

SOCIAL FEATURES

  • Clans and Communities have been added to the game
    • Clans
      • Anyone may create a Clan, and doing so gives access to the Clan window (default hotkey N)
      • Joining or creating a clan displays your clan tag next to your name
      • Clan members can view the Members Roster, a private chat channel, and a News & Info tab for Clan affairs and information in the Clan window
      • Clans support up to 120 members and require an invitation to join
      • Players may only be a member of one Clan at a time
    • Communities
      • Anyone may create a Community, and can view their Community details in the Social tab (default hotkey SHIFT + O)
      • Community members have access to their Members Roster, a dedicated chat channel, and a News & Info tab for sharing stories and Community information
      • Players may join any number of Communities they wish
      • Communities do not have a membership limit; however, if the number of members exceeds 100, only Officers and above will be displayed in the Members Roster
      • Communities can be designated as Private or Public; Private Communities require invitation to join
      • Communities are organized by categories, including but not limited to Classes, Regional, and Game Type

 

USER INTERFACE

  • Several quality of life changes have been applied to the User Interface
    • The Difficulty and Game Creation menus have been completely redone
    • The in-game Menu has been revised
    • The waypoint list has been replaced with a waypoint map
    • Skill tooltips now show damage type if Advanced Tooltips are enabled
    • Several new social options have been added to support Clans and Communities
      • These can be accessed in the Options > Gameplay menu
    • New chat colors associated with Clans and Communities have been added
    • There is now an option to enable icons for dropped items instead of text
      • This can be enabled in the Options > Gameplay menu
    • There is now an option to automatically skip all cut scenes
      • This can be enabled in the Options > Gameplay menu
    • Item labels for Gold piles are no longer displayed
      • This is to reduce visual clutter; values are still displayed when gold is picked up

Blizz News 1/23/14

The last two weeks have brought a lot of info and fun things to the wonderful worlds Blizzard has made for us.

We start out with Starcraft II. Patch 2.1 launched this week bringing a lot of changes and some pretty awesome features. Full patch notes can be found here, but there are some very nice changes to be aware if you aren't one of those patch note readers. First Blizzard has changed the StarCraft II arcade system to be completely free. All that is required is an account for the free Starcraft II Starter Edition.

New extension mod capabilities have been added for those developer types to add some interesting features to standard melee maps. The best way to see exactly what fun things you can do with this would be to take a look at the preview.

Any Carbot fans out there? Want to show of your StarCraft II profile with one of those awesome characters? Well get to leveling because now we have new rewards and new levels to achieve in Heart of the Swarm. Helped along by a quadrupling of the amount of XP gained with the First Win of the Day XP bonus.

My personal favorite out of the 2.1 patch is an addition of the classic Starcraft soundtrack in Starcraft II. To get that awesome music from the original, check out the sound tab in the options menu and choose between Starcraft II, Starcraft/Brood War music or both.

In the World of Warcraft we have our first look at Artcraft by Chris Robinson, senior art director for WoW. In his first article posted we have the reveal of our new human female character model. The model honestly looks great even for it being Alliance. Check out the full post here. However we did catch a small little detail which if followed through on would make a lot of people happy –

“We’re looking at these model revamps as a sort of “spiritual update” to the art content that currently exists in-game—except we’re completely redoing them from scratch. That includes the base model, skin tone variations, customization options (e.g. wrinkles, scars, moles, earrings, etc.), hairstyles, and any skin variations for NPCs you see out in the world, like Iron Dwarves or Leper”

Mag’har and Grimtotem skins anyone?

The Lunar Festival started in WoW this week on Monday and lasts until February the 3rd. Get out into the world and help honor your elders in Azeroth. Complete all the in game achievements and get rewarded with your own title of Elder.

For all the mount collectors out there the Iron Skyreaver has been released and is available in the blizzard store. Want to feel like a member of the Iron Horde already invading Azeroth? This may be right up your alley. Take a look at the preview below.

In the World of Diablo Blizzard has already enabled the background downloader for Reaper of Souls. Models and other data that is already confirmed and ready to go for the expansion will be put on the downloader which has been estimated to be about 6GB in size. Coming along with this, those that have not yet upgraded to the desktop app for Battle.net will get the update automatically when patch 2.0.1 launches at some point before March 25th. The app can be downloaded anytime if you want to try it out now.  Check it out.