As Season 10 closes, we look ahead to Season 11 and the new Necromancer class. Outside of the class, there are several fixes that have been implemented by Blizzard that may cause a shift in the current 4-man meta. With the big break between Season 10 and 11, the meta will become more clear as we approach July 20.
Rift Guardian Killer
In the beginning of Season 10, there were 3 possible contenders for the rift guardian killer spot in the 4 man meta: the Wizard, Monk, and Demon Hunter. In the end, the Wizard came out on top especially with the cow level exploit. This was where Wizards could hop in a pre-pulled cow level, gain a ton of archon stacks, and hop back in the rift to kill the RG. However, this was fixed in the PTR. With this fix, the Wizard will no longer be ways ahead of the other 2, and may possibly even be behind the Demon Hunter, as the class was ahead in the rankings until the exploit became popular. All things the same, the rift guardian killer spot will be up for grabs again.
New Necromancer Class
The biggest thing to change Season 11 is the addition of a new class, the Necromancer. While it is still unclear what the Necro's role will be in the group meta (or if it will even be in the group meta), there is one thing the addition of this class may result in: it could lead to a possible shift back to the 3 support 1 DPS meta, last seen in Season 6. Comps like this are only possible if the DPS can fulfill both the rift clear (currently held by the LoN WD) and rift guardian kill roles. Whether this happens or not remains much of a mystery, but with the Necromancer releases and the huge break between Season 10 and Season 11, its role - or lack of one - will become clear.
Season 10 Recap
Season 10 was an exciting season, bringing with it 2 major changes. While the WD remained in the meta, its build did change into one that I felt was more fun to play. Additionally, the gen Monk was also replaced by the lightning Wiz for the rift guardian clear, and we almost saw rift clears as high as we did in Season 6.
Frequ (twitch.tv/zpassionfruit) currently writes content for Diablo Fans. After taking his part in high end GRing, he has decided to take a more casual approach to the game while remaining up-to-date with the meta.
Season 10 is just around the corner, starting in less than a week on March 31. Following Patch 2.5.0, which introduced the Armory and Quality of Life changes such as crafting materials storage, Season 10 will offer players a smoother Diablo 3 experience. For console players, this will be their first time experiencing Seasons.
As always, there are the cosmetic rewards that each season offers: a portrait, pennant, and some transmogs, in addition to giving you another chance at an extra stash tab if you're not already capped. This will be the first season we see Primal Ancients in play, albeit they don’t really shake up the current meta that much.
Season 10 will have more group-viable builds than the previous seasons (with the exception of Season 6). Let’s look at the two new builds shaking up the 4 Player meta in Season 10.
Impale Demon Hunter
With the addition of the affix buffing Impale to the item Holy Point Shot, Demon Hunters received a huge buff to their Rift Guardian damage potential. With this buff, the Demon Hunter now offers enough damage to challenge the Generator Monk for its spot as RG killer in groups. While it yet remains to be seen if the Demon Hunter can overthrow the Monk for this spot, it will remain very competitive in group play, and, at the very least, kills RGs faster than the Monk does in speeds (fast lower GR clears for gem upgrades/paragon).
While we’ve already seen the Lightning Wizard in Season 9, it wasn’t very competitive, and it was pretty much just used for speeds. However, that's all changing in Patch 2.5.0. Manald Heal now allows pets to proc the damage of Manald Heal, which boosts the damage potential of the Wizard. With this change, the damage output of the Wizard rivals - and even outpaces - the Generator Monk. While it’s clear that the Wizard definitely beats the Demon Hunter and the Monk in lower GRs, it’s still unsure if it will come out on top, as the Monk stacks stricken better than the other two can. Either way, there will definitely be a spot for the Wizard in most groups.
Season 10 is fast approaching, bringing with it a new season in which all but 1 class will see competitive group play (with the Crusader being nowhere in sight since Season 6). Outside of the competitive scene, Patch 2.5.0 brings along with it many changes that allow for more builds to be viable, and I highly recommend looking at some of our user submitted builds and giving them a try. Once again, Season 10 will begin on the 31st of March at 5 PM PDT for NA, 5 PM CEST for EU, and 5 PM KST in Asia.
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Written by Frequ
Possible Meta Changes
As Season 10 closes, we look ahead to Season 11 and the new Necromancer class. Outside of the class, there are several fixes that have been implemented by Blizzard that may cause a shift in the current 4-man meta. With the big break between Season 10 and 11, the meta will become more clear as we approach July 20.
Rift Guardian Killer
In the beginning of Season 10, there were 3 possible contenders for the rift guardian killer spot in the 4 man meta: the Wizard, Monk, and Demon Hunter. In the end, the Wizard came out on top especially with the cow level exploit. This was where Wizards could hop in a pre-pulled cow level, gain a ton of archon stacks, and hop back in the rift to kill the RG. However, this was fixed in the PTR. With this fix, the Wizard will no longer be ways ahead of the other 2, and may possibly even be behind the Demon Hunter, as the class was ahead in the rankings until the exploit became popular. All things the same, the rift guardian killer spot will be up for grabs again.
New Necromancer Class
The biggest thing to change Season 11 is the addition of a new class, the Necromancer. While it is still unclear what the Necro's role will be in the group meta (or if it will even be in the group meta), there is one thing the addition of this class may result in: it could lead to a possible shift back to the 3 support 1 DPS meta, last seen in Season 6. Comps like this are only possible if the DPS can fulfill both the rift clear (currently held by the LoN WD) and rift guardian kill roles. Whether this happens or not remains much of a mystery, but with the Necromancer releases and the huge break between Season 10 and Season 11, its role - or lack of one - will become clear.
Season 10 Recap
Season 10 was an exciting season, bringing with it 2 major changes. While the WD remained in the meta, its build did change into one that I felt was more fun to play. Additionally, the gen Monk was also replaced by the lightning Wiz for the rift guardian clear, and we almost saw rift clears as high as we did in Season 6.
Frequ (twitch.tv/zpassionfruit) currently writes content for Diablo Fans. After taking his part in high end GRing, he has decided to take a more casual approach to the game while remaining up-to-date with the meta.
1
Credit: Frequ
Season 10 Meta Changes
Season 10 is just around the corner, starting in less than a week on March 31. Following Patch 2.5.0, which introduced the Armory and Quality of Life changes such as crafting materials storage, Season 10 will offer players a smoother Diablo 3 experience. For console players, this will be their first time experiencing Seasons.
As always, there are the cosmetic rewards that each season offers: a portrait, pennant, and some transmogs, in addition to giving you another chance at an extra stash tab if you're not already capped. This will be the first season we see Primal Ancients in play, albeit they don’t really shake up the current meta that much.
Season 10 will have more group-viable builds than the previous seasons (with the exception of Season 6). Let’s look at the two new builds shaking up the 4 Player meta in Season 10.
Impale Demon Hunter
With the addition of the affix buffing Impale to the item Holy Point Shot, Demon Hunters received a huge buff to their Rift Guardian damage potential. With this buff, the Demon Hunter now offers enough damage to challenge the Generator Monk for its spot as RG killer in groups. While it yet remains to be seen if the Demon Hunter can overthrow the Monk for this spot, it will remain very competitive in group play, and, at the very least, kills RGs faster than the Monk does in speeds (fast lower GR clears for gem upgrades/paragon).
[S10] Impale DH for groups (RG-Killer)
Lightning Hydra Wizard
While we’ve already seen the Lightning Wizard in Season 9, it wasn’t very competitive, and it was pretty much just used for speeds. However, that's all changing in Patch 2.5.0. Manald Heal now allows pets to proc the damage of Manald Heal, which boosts the damage potential of the Wizard. With this change, the damage output of the Wizard rivals - and even outpaces - the Generator Monk. While it’s clear that the Wizard definitely beats the Demon Hunter and the Monk in lower GRs, it’s still unsure if it will come out on top, as the Monk stacks stricken better than the other two can. Either way, there will definitely be a spot for the Wizard in most groups.
S10 Hydra COE Push Build
Season 10 is fast approaching, bringing with it a new season in which all but 1 class will see competitive group play (with the Crusader being nowhere in sight since Season 6). Outside of the competitive scene, Patch 2.5.0 brings along with it many changes that allow for more builds to be viable, and I highly recommend looking at some of our user submitted builds and giving them a try. Once again, Season 10 will begin on the 31st of March at 5 PM PDT for NA, 5 PM CEST for EU, and 5 PM KST in Asia.