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Upcoming Changes In Next Patch

A lot of upcoming changes have been announced on the official forums - Paragon leveling speed, smart drops and crafting materials are just a part of the bug update posted by the CMs today.

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker/ Official Forums)

Happy Friday! I have lots of text and info to share, so this is not for the faint of heart. ;P

Part of the reason was how relatively low the experience gain is in RoS, but I´ve read a blue response recently stating that experience gain and paragon leveling was being revised, so we´ll see.

That sounds like one of my posts. ;P The short version is you will see significant changes in the speed of Paragon leveling next Beta patch and it will be more noticeable at higher Paragon levels than lower levels. So let's set that aside from this conversation, as that is really part of a different discussion. 

I guess your so-called "Smart Loot" must be broken because it gave me two Vit HF rings (no Str/Dex/Int) and my friend got one today without Str, Dex, Int or Vit.

There seems to be a misunderstanding of what Smart Loot really entails. Here are the basics:

• Smart Loot doesn't ensure you get completely 100% optimized gear with every drop, nor does it guarantee that you will receive a primary stat on an item
• What it does is limit the pool of affixes to stats appropriate for your class so that you are more likely to get something you can use. It also prevents rolls from occurring on gear that your class can't benefit from at all, such as seeing bonus Electrocute damage on a Fist weapon or Intelligence on a Mighty Weapon.

The item is still randomly rolled, which has always been and will continue to be a core mechanic of Diablo. In the case of the new Hellfire Ring, you know going into it that it will be a ring, have a strong proc, high bonus experience, and won't roll stats you cannot use at all. If you get something that's close to what you’re looking for, you can then refine it with the Mystic. That's really quite a lot of control.

I do want to clarify that this is a bit different from the old ring, which did roll with a specific main stat, like Strength. For the new ring, we condensed the recipes down to one because it previously felt a little clunky, and instead applied Smart Loot to the crafting experience. Ensuring a main stat on top of that would have also resulted a fewer number of random rolls available on the ring, because a stat would have been basically decided for you. 

Ultimately, what this provides is more freedom and variety in what can roll on the item (so you have five chances for some juicy Critical Strike rather than 4, for example), while also adding a little risk to the process. And as I said above, the Mystic is always there to fill gaps for the stats you want.

On an unrelated note, I'm still seeing a lot of Dex Staves and Int Bows. *yawn*

Monks are able to equip staves, and both Wizards and Witch Doctors can equip bows. They might not be the more commonly used options by those classes, but they are able to be equipped and usable by those classes. If, however, you are seeing something like Hand Crossbows dropping with Intelligence, we definitely want to hear about it and I recommend you post your findings in our Bug Report forum. 

It’s also important to note that not all drops will be Smart Drops. Rather, items have a chance to be a Smart Drop. This means that you will still encounter items that are pure random rolls and not specifically tailored to your character. 

As to some content being restricted to Torment, it is necessary to force players to push themselves forward and try higher difficulties. It's supposed to be a challenge.

This is the intent! I'm glad it shows. We want players to have a clear goal with appreciable rewards. I'd like to see what you all think after the next Beta patch, but it's something we'll keep an eye on and I'll continue to gather and pass on feedback for it.
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Any word on whether this is related at all to legendary material drops, or whether the two are separate issues?

It's possible that these erroneous Demonic Essences could be pushing the other items off of the loot table, but that's just an educated guess. For what its worth, there have been a lot of tweaks to the acquisition rates of crafting materials across the board, and you should see these in the next patch. Even if its totally broken in beta right now, at this point that build of the game is so old and changes are being made so rapidly that it isn't a huge concern.  (Blue Tracker/ Official Forums)

Design a Legendary: Part 5: Choose Your Name Results

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker/ Official Forums)

Over 20,000 players participated in last week's Choose Your Name vote. And although there were many who championed "Spine of the Father, "Rancor, "Malevolence," and "Sankekur's Sorrow" admirably as the rightful moniker for our Mephisto-themed sword, their rallies were not enough to sway the majority and unseat the early frontrunner of this particular poll.

Our Legendary has at last been christened. Taking an overwhelming 36% of the global vote, meet Shard of Hate.

And, with that, our final community vote has concluded! As always, thank you to everyone who voted, posted, commented, shared, and tweeted. <3 

While the voting aspect of the Design a Legendary project has ended, we'll still be sharing updates on the item's progress as well as showcasing some behind-the-scenes shots of the item's visual design process over the next few weeks. Stay tuned to diablo3.com for those insights, and definitely keep an eye out for this special Legendary hitting test servers soon™!

"Diablo III, the Buddy Cop Film" by Robert A. Wing

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker/ Official Forums)

In a world ravaged by the risen dead, legions of demons, snake people disguised as royal guards, and pottery, Sanctuary's only solace rests with two mortal heroes: a merciless Demon Hunter, sworn to avenge the death of his loved ones. . .and a Wizard. Who apparently had a bad experience with ceramics as a child.  

But don't worry. They've got the law on their side. (And, you know, that whole nephalem thing.)

This summer In this edition of Artisan Showcase, get ready for some cheesy dialogue and almost every buddy cop trope in the book. Check out "Diablo III, the Buddy Cop Film" -- a hilarious short story which I hope is just the first in a very long series (wink wink, nudge nudge) -- by Robert A. Wing below.

Diablo III, the Buddy Cop Film

"Okay then, let me see if I follow here. You two single handedly slew thousands of royal guards-"

"Snake people disguised as guards," the Demon Hunter interjected, pointing a finger at the report. "Thousands of snake people disguised as guards."

"Fine, snake people. However, according to your Wizard friend here, you originally did not know they were snake people."

"..They wouldn't let us pass," the Demon Hunter replied, more question than statement.

"And at no point did you think to yourself, 'oh, you know what I should do? Call my superiors, maybe explore some diplomatic channels.' You guys jumped straight to ethnic cleansing," the bulbous constable replied, scowling. "This is on top of assisting a rogue Horadrim, letting Deckard Cain's niece get kidnapped, and, cherry on top, breaking every single piece of pottery from Arcanus to Caldeum."

"That last part, I didn't even want to do that. I thought breaking all the pottery was a waste of time. This one though, the bloodlust, once it gets in her? No vase is safe."

"The people of Caldeum were so thankful for our assistance that they left us gold and trinkets, carefully hidden so as to avoid detection." The lanky wizard responded, eyeing the Demon Hunter suspiciously. "It would've been rude not to accept their assistance!"

The constable stared, blinking.

"Assuming we go with that, which, let's be honest, we're not going with that because it's ridiculous, you two are a pair of loose crossbows. You managed to slay Belial, and for that reason alone I'm not kicking you two off the force. However, considering your rash behavior, along with the 400,000,000 gold pieces worth of damage you two racked up, I'm taking you off the case. You will under no circumstances journey to Mount Arreat to track down Azmodan. Are we clear?"

"We're so close to cracking this case, captain! We just need a little bit more time!" the Demon Hunter protested, slamming both of his hands down on the wooden desk.

"Absolutely not. You two have done enough," the constable replied, rising to her feet. "You'll both be buried under paperwork until I have reason to believe you've stopped believing genocide to be the primary method of conflict resolution. You two disgust me, get out of my office! And, so help me Tyrael, if either of you vaults, it'll be suspension without pay! Is that understood?"

"Yes, Captain," the pair murmured in unison, appearing dejected as they left the spartan office.

"We're going to Arreat, right?" The Demon Hunter asked once out of earshot of the other glaring members of the force.

"I've already booked our caravan. We leave at first light," the Wizard replied casually, conjuring a pair of sunglasses from the ether. "There's pottery in Arreat, and I won't stand for it."

Click here to read the story on deviantART.

Looking for more pulpy prose by Robert A. Wing? I don't blame you! Check out his collection of work on deviantART and BlizzPro (for which he's a contributing author). If you're in the mood for somewhat succinct entertainment -- say, in the 140 character territory -- then be sure follow @RobertAWing on Twitter.

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