We received notice today of two forums closing on the official website. One for feedback on Website Features and the other for reporting Website Bugs. They are being only being closed because there is a proper form to report bugs and suggest changes - check it out on the screenshots below!
This is a friendly heads up that Website Features forum will be shutting down in two weeks. The forum will be marked as "read only" next week on Monday, February 9 and will be closed the following week on Monday, February 16.
Moving forward, if you'd like to suggest a feature for our website, we encourage you to use our embedded feedback form. To access this form, follow these simple steps:
Scroll down to the bottom of any page on the Diablo III website
Click the Send Website Feedback button next to the red Blizzard logo
Enter a subject relevant to your feedback
Leave your suggestion in the box below
Click Submit
The form will record the page you're on at the time you made your suggestion, so (if you can) be sure to submit your feedback from the page that's relevant to your suggestion. To leave feedback about our forums, please note that you'll first need to navigate to the forum index to access the suggestion form.
Thanks for helping us keep our website awesome!
Tyrael Painting
Tomcii posted over at reddit a cool stylized Tyrael fanart. I wish he would also paint an Imperius, the most badass of all angels. Check it out!
Lightning Monk on 2.1.2
Rhykker has put together a Lightning-focused Monk guide to one of the strongest builds in Patch 2.1.2. It uses Wave of Light with its lightning rune as the main damage source and no spirit generator. Particularly strong with the Gungdo Gear bracers. He also goes over skill, rune and item choices, as well as alternatives to the more popular choices. Definitely check it out!
A few days ago, there was an alleged leak on Blizzard's games statistics and development teams for current and future games, from Yahoo Finance contributor Tae Kim, who says he has an insider source. While the post had some crazy information, one caught our eye - that the Diablo 3 developer team had been entirely removed to another project. A game similar to Warframe inside the Starcraft universe, with elements from Left 4 Dead, DayZ, Smite and other MOBAs. Yes, we know how that sounds. Blizzard's official reply reassures that is not the case. Read below.
The insider says the members of the Diablo III team have been moved to a new project set in the Starcraft universe. The game will be similar to Warframe and contain gameplay aspects from Left4Dead, DayZ, Smite, and other MOBAs. It is in early pre-production, which means late 2016 or later.
The Diablo III team “is on continuing to support the game with patch content. We generally don’t comment on rumors or speculation, but I do want to make sure it’s clear that they’re not working on a secret project in the StarCraft universe.”
Witch Doctor Early Concept
An art piece with an early Witch Doctor concept has been posted on reddit by Anthony Rivero, a former Blizzard senior artist. Shows the starting point for the development of a class, lore and feeling wise, and how much work and iteration goes until they reach the final version of it. Check it out!
Jade Witch Doctor Guide
We used to feature content from TryHardEnmity here at DiabloFans in the past, until he took a break from the game. He recently started making D3 related content again, and his first guide is on an updated Jade WD. You can either check the build on our tool, or his video guide, which is quite complete, where goes over skill and item choices, preferred stats, among other useful comments. Check them out!
Earlier today we got news of on when Season 2 starts - on Friday, February 13th. Click the banner to see it.
Update to 4-Piece Sets
When replying to a thread on people's favorite Pet Builds, Tyvalir gave us some exciting information: that the developers plan to tweak all current 4-piece sets (like Tal Rasha's and Immortal King's), hopefully for Patch 2.2. Hopefully it allows them to compete with 6-piece sets and bring more end-game gear choices to RoS. Read below.
Right now, my favorite pet build uses Fetish Army with Zunimassa's Haunt - mostly because it's fun to watch dozens of my minions swarm and topple a monster twenty (or even thirty) times their size. They pack a mean punch as it is, and they'll become even more powerful when the set gets a 6 piece bonus in a future patch.
That said, there are plenty of viable options for other classes (as others have said): Barbs have Immortal King's Call for potentially constant Call of the AncientsI've seen Monks do cool stuff with Mystic Ally (plusMonkey King's Garb)Demon Hunters have Sentry and Companion (as in today's Play Your Way)Wizards have Hydra to bolster their Firebird's Finery set bonus damageCrusaders have some pretty awesome builds using variations of Phalanx Like you, I'm curious to know what people's favorites are in different scenarios. Which are the coolest looking? Which are the best (or three best, even) for fastest T6 Rift clear speeds? Which require you to be super active or less active? There are lots of options, and plenty of room for individual interpretation…
Future patch?
That's right. Our current plan is to release updated versions of the 4 piece sets, along with the new 6 piece sets shown at BlizzCon (Delsere's Magnum Opus, Wrath of the Wastes and Unhallowed Essence), in patch 2.2.0.
I prefer the WD with 23 fetishes, but it has a big downside. They scatter instead of staying close by. I would like to see aggressive, passive and defensive toggles put in for the various pet classes.
I have the same problem: while my Fetishes are generally pretty smart, they tend to scatter all over the place. Having a way to direct them (like you described) might add a layer of challenge - and hopefully reward - to playing a Witch Doctor running Zunimassa's Haunt and Fetish Army.
I’ll be sure to pass your idea on to the development team. Thanks for this, Grumm!
Carnevil Build Tip
KirkLucKhan made a post over at reddit comparing, with math (!), what is better for a Carnevil Witch Doctor - a Swamp Land Waders or a Cain's Habit (with the set bonus attackspeed). Check the snippet below, or the full post. The short answer is that in most cases the Cain's set attackspeed benefits the build more. Check it out!
Which is better for a "standard" [DoD / Zunis / Aughild's / Unity / RoRG] Carnevil / DoD build: Swamp Land Waders (SLW) and random good legendary gloves, or Cain's gloves / pants set? Relevant to the discussion is the fact (discussed elsewhere on this forum) that Fetishes' Carnevil poison dart damage has IAS baked into every shot. Because they shoot at the rate you shoot, this means any IAS bonus double dips. For example, if you have zero IAS on your gear but a Gogok of Swiftness, then going from 0% to 15% IAS increases your effective damage output by ~32% (1.15x damage per dart x 1.15x darts / second = 1.3225x).
With that in mind, let's consider the following (admittedly BiS-geared) situation: You have 40% Poison damage from Bracers and Amulet, and are using lvl 40 enforcer (27% pets damage). This puts your elemental bonus at 67%. Let's also say you have 21% IAS on your gear ([EDIT: forgot Gloves! Kids, don't post at 2:30am.] , RoRG and Witching Hour), and an additional 15% from Gogok, (EDIT: forgot paragon 10%), plus 7% on weapon for an effective 8% IAS. [Note: the weapon IAS is multiplicative, not additive, with other gear IAS, so your attack speed bonus here is 1.07 * 1.46 = 1.5622.] In this situation, 20% poison from SLW boosts elemental damage from 167% to 187%, for a damage boost of 11.98%.
In comparison, using the pants and glove slot for Cain's 8% IAS bonus increases your attack speed bonus from 56.22% (1.07 x 1.46 = 1.5622) to 64.78% (1.07 x 1.54 = 1.6478). As mentioned before, IAS double dips with Carnevil builds, because darts damage has IAS baked in, but you also fire more shots per second. Hence, the raw damage increase from this Cain's bonus would be (1.6478 / 1.5622)2 , or 11.3% more damage. ... (continues) ... TL;DR: For a standard, well-geared Carnevil / DoD build, Cain's is almost always superior to Swamp Land Waders. If you run more IAS than on Gloves, RoRG, Belt, and Paragon; or less elemental than on Amulet and Bracers, it becomes more favorable to use SLW. [Edited since posting; I forgot gloves originally!]
Fire Raekors
Barbarian has arguably two good elements for his Raekor set in Patch 2.1.2: Fire and Physical. While the latter is generally considered better at higher GRs, while you are still perfecting your gear Fire can be a good alternative, and very strong in T6. With that in mind, MeatHeadMikhail has put together a video showcasing some gameplay, and explaining skill and item choices. Watch below!
Season 1 is about to draw to a close, and we wanted to give players an opportunity to prepare for the start of the new season with some dates and times to plan around.
Season 1 End Times:
Season 1 will be ending at the following dates and times for each region:
North America: Tuesday, February 3 @ 4:00 p.m. PST
Europe: Wednesday, February 4 @ 4:00 p.m. CET
Asia: Wednesday, February 4 @ 4:00 p.m. KST
Season 2 Start Times:
Season 2 will be starting at the following dates and times for each region:
North America: Friday, February 13 @ 6:00 p.m. PST
The build from the Play Your Way post two weeks ago had a pretty interesting concept and entry-level gear requirement. It's a return-damage Crusader but with no Thorns on gear, and it might come in handy once Season 2 starts, until you are running with a full well rolled end-game set. Check the snippet below, or the full build here.
The Crusader is a stalwart defender, batting aside endless hordes of demonic and undead foes with their massive signature shields. Foes best beware a Return Fire Crusader, as striking this iron wall isn’t just going to sting—it’s going to burn.
About the Build:
Shields, blocking, and generally being a walking impenetrable bastion are at the heart of the Crusader class. Meeting one of these devout warriors on the battlefield implies a certain kind of story. With an unflinching reaction to just about anything that evil can throw their way, they are just as likely to send a packed punch that pays its dues in droves. It’s divine retribution at its best. Greater groups mean plentiful procs mean multiplicative massacres. Intrigued and inspired by the concept of Thorns,SilverAce99#1196 was determined to find a way to embody this form of retaliation. The Return Fire Crusader is the fruit of his efforts, “essentially a fire-based Thorns build that does not use Thorns at all.” The key to achieving this is with the Primary skill Punish (Roar) and pumping your Block Chance through the roof. Enemies will regret the day they chose you as a target, finding themselves on the receiving end of endless punishment.
The Skills:
This robust build focuses on a whole lot of self- (and coincidentally group-) buffing that makes a few commonly overlooked Runes shine. Active Skills:
Should a one-handed weapon suit your needs best, this passive is a must
The Items:
As previously mentioned, this is a flexible build with a lot of room for variation and customizing to fit your needs. It can equally be tailored to the items you happen to have around, and many of the most beneficial items are easy to come by. All the basics are here, along with some crafted items to temporarily fill out Demetrius' defense.
Angels vs Demons Chess Set
Back at last year's Blizzcon you could purchase a Diablo 3 Chess Set. Someone messaged the official Diablo twitter account with screenshots from that awesome set, and they retweeted it - check them below. I've been away from chess for a while, but in order for Angels to beat the Demons what's the best opening? Back when I played it was the Queen's Gambit. Or should we call it Imperius' Gambit here?
D3 Lore Poem
Holy Hermit uploaded an awesome homage to the Diablo franchise - a 7 minute song-poem hybrid going through most of its lore. The rhymes are pretty amazing, check it out!
February 2015 Ranked Card Back Revealed: Lunar New Year
Beta Key Giveaway Concluded, Into the Nexus #36 - Taking on the Temples
Blackrock Foundry Opens this Week
