Patch 2.1 Developer Stream

This is a work in progress post, we are updating it in real time as the stream goes on, keep checking back.

  • Update 2:00 PM - stream started
  • Update 2:35 PM - some highlights added
  • Update 3:09 PM - more points added
  • Update 3:36 PM - stream over, last few points added. They're giving a 50% Gold Find buff starting tonight (region based)!
  • Update 4:47 PM - added Gold Buff blue post.

Patch 2.1 Stream Highlights

Below is a summary with the highlights of the Patch 2.1 Developer Stream. Check them out!

DiabloFans Quote:

  • Devs started by talking about what are the expected features for Patch 2.1, for those who haven't seen them first hand on the PTR, or haven't been following news.
  • As usual, release date not set in stone. Soon™
  • There will be a temporary, multiplicative 50% Gold Find Buff, starting at midnight today (region based).
  • Seasons
    • "One of the cool features of Leaderboards is that even if you're not in the top players of a server, you can still see how well you're doing amongst clanmates or friends", so you can check your performance on your own social circle.
    • The progress made on Seasons are transferred to your "Non Seasonal" profile/characters after it's over - so that gold collected, xp gained, items found are not a waste of time.
    • Adventure Mode will already be unlocked for Seasons. As a feature that incentivizes people to come back to the game, most of these players probably already experienced story mode, and they don't want to force players to have to play Campaign to unlock it every time.
    • They're looking to make seasons last about 2-3 months. (Chat)
    • "Why not have a leveling ladder?" (for paragon levels) - they didn't want to promote the exact same gameplay of grinding one level after another. Greater Rifts require you to think about your gear and specs, and they want to promote that.
  • Class Balance and Tweaks
    • There's a misconception that each developer only works on one class. The entire team works as one on class changes and tweaks.
    • The commons complaints for Barbarians, that "not enough resource is generated" and "spenders don't deal enough damage" are seen by the devs as very similar - aka "my damage isn't high enough".
    • Some skills feel really good when a player hits 70, has better resource/dmg ratio, but when you take into account big Class Set bonuses, that's when some skills start going way out of line.
    • So they believe the way of solving some skill complaints (that say, Frozen Orb or Shield Bash aren't strong enough) is to introduce new items that make those skills as strong as the other "buffed by items" skills.
    • Sacrifice is getting a redesign in Patch 2.1 - once you push the Sacrifice button, one of your dogs go to where your mouse cursor is pointing and blows up. Each Dog represents a "charge" of the skill. Big sinergy with Homunculus.
    • In Patch 2.1, they are trying to bring down each class to 4 or 5 elements at most, to improve build variety and choice. If you have two Lightning runes on a skill, instead of having one obvious choice based on which element you're focused, you can choose between those.
    • Dev's thoughts on the Raiment Set - "It's a 1 button wonder right now, but they want to have Legendaries in the future which synergize with that set".
    • Would Barbarians get a Second-Life type ability? - They've been wanting to add one for some time now. It would either replace Nerves of Steel or Relentless
    • Changes to how Block works - talked internally about changing block to a % instead of a flat amount. Wasn't a priority before Patch 2.1, because it generally works well, but with Greater Rifts it's a mechanic they want to revisit.
    • Long term goal for Wizard Armors and Enchant Weapon is to have a passive and an active component, but that needs new art which takes time.
    • Wall of Zombies does not do its job, does not trap enemies. They would be interested in changing it to be similar to how it is in Heroes of the Storm, where it is a circle and traps enemies inside.
    • On Crit Hit Chance and Crit Hit Damage - Wyatt Cheng said that the problem is CHC and CHD together.
      • Crit Chance on its own isnt too bad, and Crit Dmg isn't either (if you had a fixed chance to crit), but together they are too strong. and take 2 affixes on a few gear slots, whereas things like cooldown reduction take only one affix.
      • Some Legendary Gems are meant to put some tension on the affix choice on Amulet and Rings. Make the player "want everything".
      • They don't want to just change player's previous gear, they want to introduce mechanisms that slowly change that situation. They don't want players to log in and find out they're a lot less powerful than they were yesterday.
      • In an internal build, in the past, they had Rings/Amulets without Crit Chance/Dmg, but that lead to people using lvl-60 gear which had that affix combo.
  • Miscellaneous
    • The developers would rather put more time into making new content, like the Greed Realm and Cesspools, instead of only revisiting old content (like the Infernal Machine).
    • They want to increase the social clan and community features and interaction, now that trading is gone, but no specifics to share now.
    • They reiterated that they want every legendary to have a cool power as time goes on, like the Grand Vizier on the PTR (which makes Meteor pulls enemies to its drop location).
    • Gear Swap on Greater Rifts wasn't in place because of The Furnace and Rimeheart. It was because the clear time of the rift should be based on your item build and spec. Allowing gear switch could lead to a situation where switching an item at a certain time could improve your performance by "x" seconds, and is not something they want to incentivize.
    • No plans to allow people to target specifically legendary items. They agree people need to have a way to target specific items, but they added Kadala for that. They're happy with how things are for now.
    • Smart Drops and Followers - that's already how it works, there's a chance that an item drop will be custom tailored for your follower.
    • Legendary Gem XP Bar - suggestion that they have talked about. They are concerned about a system where people can overly predict where their power level will be in "x" amount of time.
    • Also, they want players to have a reason to go for a Greater Rift one level higher than what they're comfortable with. If the reward is xp-based, it's more efficient to do a lower level. With the current system, if you try and succeed in going for a more difficult level, the chance of upgrading your gem is two times as high.
  • Console Related
    • On bringing future patches to PS3/Xbox360 - "The architecture of old-gen systems makes it really difficult for us to bring large patches over to console. Thankfully, both Sony and Microsoft rocked it with the PS4 and Xbox One, so now it's much easier (and much more viable) for us to bring PC patches to those platforms". (Chat)
    • No plans to bring the Gift system to PC. (Chat)

Temporary Gold Buff

With Patch 2.1 release getting closer, players will be getting a temporary +50% Gold Find buff until August 26th. Check the details below!

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Our first major content update for Reaper of Souls is almost here! In preparation for patch 2.1.0 and the new content it brings, all players who log into Diablo III this weekend will receive a +50% bonus to Gold Find.

This bonus Gold Find period begins in the Americas region tomorrow, August 22, at 12:00 a.m. PDT and ends on Tuesday, August 26, at 3:00 a.m. PDT (when maintenance begins). Please note that this buff will stack multiplicatively with existing bonuses including those provided from items and Paragon points.

Thank you so much for your feedback, your patronage, and for being a part of our community. We hope you have fun this weekend, and we'll see you in patch 2.1.0!
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