Diablo III's 20th season is rapidly approaching, bringing a new theme and challenges, as well as the usual bunch of balance tweaks. We already discussed the theme and rewards for the season in an article earlier today, which you can catch up on here. But what about the pre-season patch and all it's balance tweaks? We've got plenty of changes coming our way, so let's get into it. Beginning with the classes, the Crusader has had a seemingly small change in that the animation for the Fires of Heaven rune within Heaven's Fury can no longer be cancelled. The developers note that they're working to reign in the performance of Crusaders to be more in line with the other classes, and will be keeping a close eye on the Crusader through the season. The Witch Doctor had a change to their Spirit Barrage (Phantasm) ability reverted, as it was causing a myriad of bugs and issues. They intend to explore changes to the ability again in the future but are letting it rest now. Three of the classes are receiving new class sets! We'll get into this in another article as the sets are quite extensive and unique, with each providing a new feel of playstyle for the classes in question. The Barbarians have received the Horde of the Ninety Savages, the Witch Doctors received Mundunugu's Regalia, and the Wizards are getting The Typhon's Veil. There are a handful of changes to some legendary items as well. The Mantle of Channeling now gives its bonus a full second after channeling has begun, which will serve as a bit of a nerf and certainly slow down some runs. Changes hit some class-specific legendaries as well, including the Undisputed Champion, Bastion's Revered, The Barber, Glazing Demise, Ring of Emptiness, Serpent's Sparker, The Magistrate, Etched Sigil, and Deathwish. Many of these are nerfs, but there are a handful of buffs around as well, such as the Barber's Spirit Barrage explosion now dealing 400-500% damage instead of the previous 225-250%. Plenty of bugs have been squashed as well. Issues with adding/removing players to groups and starting games as a group have been resolved, and issues stopping Captain Crimson's Trimmings from increasing damage reduction have been fixed as well. Other than those general changes, the rest are class-specific bug fixes or quality control. Blizzard corrected the spelling of Imperius on the flavor text for pieces of the Aegis of Valor set, which is obviously the most important change of all. The new season begins March 13th, so make sure that you're prepared for all the upcoming changes! You can read the full patch notes here if you want to dive a bit deeper. Until then, see you in Hell!
Diablo III's 20th season is rapidly approaching, bringing a new theme and challenges, as well as the usual bunch of balance tweaks. We already discussed the theme and rewards for the season in an article earlier today, which you can catch up on here. But what about the pre-season patch and all it's balance tweaks? We've got plenty of changes coming our way, so let's get into it. Beginning with the classes, the Crusader has had a seemingly small change in that the animation for the Fires of Heaven rune within Heaven's Fury can no longer be cancelled. The developers note that they're working to reign in the performance of Crusaders to be more in line with the other classes, and will be keeping a close eye on the Crusader through the season. The Witch Doctor had a change to their Spirit Barrage (Phantasm) ability reverted, as it was causing a myriad of bugs and issues. They intend to explore changes to the ability again in the future but are letting it rest now. Three of the classes are receiving new class sets! We'll get into this in another article as the sets are quite extensive and unique, with each providing a new feel of playstyle for the classes in question. The Barbarians have received the Horde of the Ninety Savages, the Witch Doctors received Mundunugu's Regalia, and the Wizards are getting The Typhon's Veil. There are a handful of changes to some legendary items as well. The Mantle of Channeling now gives its bonus a full second after channeling has begun, which will serve as a bit of a nerf and certainly slow down some runs. Changes hit some class-specific legendaries as well, including the Undisputed Champion, Bastion's Revered, The Barber, Glazing Demise, Ring of Emptiness, Serpent's Sparker, The Magistrate, Etched Sigil, and Deathwish. Many of these are nerfs, but there are a handful of buffs around as well, such as the Barber's Spirit Barrage explosion now dealing 400-500% damage instead of the previous 225-250%. Plenty of bugs have been squashed as well. Issues with adding/removing players to groups and starting games as a group have been resolved, and issues stopping Captain Crimson's Trimmings from increasing damage reduction have been fixed as well. Other than those general changes, the rest are class-specific bug fixes or quality control. Blizzard corrected the spelling of Imperius on the flavor text for pieces of the Aegis of Valor set, which is obviously the most important change of all. The new season begins March 13th, so make sure that you're prepared for all the upcoming changes! You can read the full patch notes here if you want to dive a bit deeper. Until then, see you in Hell!
