Diablo IV Quarterly Update: February 2020
Season 20: The Season Of The Forbidden Archives
Season 20 is the Season of the Forbidden Archives! For the duration of Season 20, the slots in Kanai's Cube that allow you to equip three additional legendary powers will not be restricted to their usual categories. A player can normally equip one Weapon, one Armor, and one Jewelry power through Kanai's Cube; however, for Season 20, players can mix and match between all three. For example, this allows players to run two Weapon powers and one Armor power, or even three Jewelry powers!
Season 20 begins on Friday, March 13 at 5:00pm in each region. Season 20 goes live on all Consoles world wide at 5:00pm PDT, the same time as PC in North America. For timezone conversion, visit this site!
Table of Contents
- Season of the Forbidden Archives
- Discord Server
- Haedrig's Gift & Seasonal Rewards
- Seasonal Conquests
- Season 20 Starter Guides
- Best Builds From Season 19
- Level With A Cause
- Solo Self Found League
- Challenge Rift Week 142
- Patch 2.6.8 Notes
DiabloFans Discord
Join us on our Discord server! It's the perfect place for finding people to group with, get your questions answered, and stay up to date on the latest news! You can join our server by clicking on the banner below, or by going here!
If you don't use Discord you're missing out, but you can also find people to play with by using our forums!
Haedrig's Gift & Seasonal Rewards
Completing Chapters 2, 3, and 4 of the Seasonal Journey will reward you with three of Haedrig’s Gifts. Each Gift contains a few pieces from one of your Class Sets. Players can only unlock one Class Set in this manner per Season across Hardcore and Non-Hardcore, so choose wisely!
The set you will receive depends on the class of the character you’re playing when you open each Haedrig’s Gift. To collect a full Class Set, you’ll need to open all three on the same character.
Here are the sets granted by Haedrig’s Gift in Season 19:
- Barbarian – Immortal King's Call
- Crusader – Seeker of the Light
- Demon Hunter – Natalya's Vengeance
- Monk – Uliana's Stratagem
- Necromancer – Trag'Oul's Avatar
- Witch Doctor – Spirit of Arachyr
- Wizard – Vyr's Amazing Arcana
In Season 17, Blizzard began re-introducing previous Seasonal rewards to make them available to players who may have missed them the first time around. This means that for Season 20, awards originally available from Season 8 are returning to the Season Journey.
Blizzard is continuing to provide new End of Journey rewards as was introduced in Season 17, with two new cosmetic rewards for those who complete the entirety of the Season Journey. These rewards will be the Teganze Warrior Portrait Frame and the Bat pet!
Seasonal Conquests
Want to prepare your Conquests plans for Season 20? Here are all the conquests you'll face this season!
- Curses!/Stars Align - Kill 350 or more monsters during a Cursed Chest event at level 70 on Torment X or higher.
- Years of War/Dynasty - Complete Greater Rift 55 solo with the full bonuses of six class sets.
- Masters of the Universe/Masters of Sets - Master 8 different set dungeons.
- Divinity/Lionhearted - Complete Greater Rift 75 solo.
- Boss Mode/Worlds Apart - Eliminate the following bosses at level 70 on Torment X or higher in under twenty minutes:
- The Skeleton King
- The Butcher
- Zoltun Kulle
- Ghom
- Cydaea
- Rakanoth
- Diablo
- Adria
- Queen Araneae
- Maghda
- Belial
- Siegebreaker Assault Beast
- Azmodan
- Izual
- Urzael
- Malthael
Season 20 Starter Guides
Any players looking to level quickly and get the best start to Season 20 should browse the selection of starter guides from various content creators below! If you're looking for a level 1 blood shard gambling guide, AlexRaEU posted a comprehensive spreadsheet last season on the r/Diablo Subreddit!
Season 20 Class Starter Guides from Bluddshed:
Ultimate Seasonal Starter Guide:
Seasonal Leveling Guides:
Master theory-crafter sVr recently uploaded a very advanced leveling strategy that utilizes Necromancers, Cursed Chests, and huge killstreaks to reach level 70 in just over 50 minutes. We do not suggest this method for new players, and only players looking to min-max their leveling experience with like-minded players should try this. Additionally, diabloseasons.com is a great resource for any average player looking reach level 70 quickly!
Best Builds From Season 19
We recently analyzed the top performing Greater Rift pushing builds from Season 19, and you can find the best solo and group builds below! Keep in mind that Season 19 provided players with a seasonal buff which had powerful effects at specific tiers during a killstreak. This seasonal buff and paragon levels played a large part in how builds preformed, and simply copying the build will not yield the same results. These builds are still powerful, and were certainly worthy of the top spots from last season!
Level With A Cause
The Level With a Cause charity event is returning for Season 20! Level With a Cause is a recurring charity event that occurs at the start of each new season in Diablo 3. Level With a Cause was created by Wolfcryer as a way to unite the Diablo community in an effort to raise money for various charities.
The first Level With a Cause was held on Thursday, July 20, 2017 with the release of Season 11 and continued throughout the weekend. Twitch streamers and YouTubers from the Diablo community played and directed viewers to donate to St.Jude's Hospital. In that first Level With a Cause, the Diablo community raised over seven thousand dollars and cemented this as a recurring event.
As Level With a Cause continues to grow and the community generates more and more funds for charity, all streamers are encouraged to join the cause and be a part of something awesome!
You can donate to the Level With a Cause charity event here!
Solo Self Found League
The Solo Self Found League is a player made and enforced league that allows players who do not wish to play in groups a competitive ladder of purely solo players! If you have found yourself without a group for Season 20, then consider participating in this community lead league!
Challenge Rift - Week 142
Challenge Rift Week 142 is live! Because Season 20 begins this Friday, we advise that you DO NOT complete the challenge rift until after you've made your seasonal character! This week the Challenge Rift features three different Necromancer builds! If you are curious how Challenge Rift builds are chosen each week, you can view this official blog post!
Patch 2.6.8 Changes
Patch 2.6.8 added three new class sets to the game! Horde of the Ninety Savages is a new Barbarian set with a focus on Shouts and Frenzy. The Mundunugu's Regalia is a new Witch Doctor set with a focus on Spirit Barrage, and The Typhon's Veil is a new Wizard set that focuses on Hydras!
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment (Official Post)
Below you will find the final patch notes for the most recent update for Diablo III, Patch 2.6.8. Changes specifically from the last version of the PTR have been highlighted in RED.
Last updated February 28 @ 10:00 a.m. PST.
Below you will find the patch notes for the most recent update for Diablo III, Patch 2.6.8.
Table of Contents:
Note: The following changes apply to both PC and Console versions of Diablo III unless otherwise noted.
- Infernal Machines and Organs are now subject to vacuum pick-up
- Crafting plans from Bounty Caches are now guaranteed to drop unless all plans have been learned
- A new Season Theme has been added for Season 20, the Season of the Forbidden Archives:
- For the duration of Season 20, all slots in Kanai's Cube will be able to select Legendary powers from Weapon, Armor, or Jewelry
- This means you could select three Armor powers, three Weapon powers, three Jewelery powers, or any other combination thereof across all categories
- Items are not self-additive or multiplicative (meaning, you cannot stack multiples of the same item's power)
- Once the Season has ended and characters roll over to Non-Season, players will have all currently active powers in their Kanai's Cube reset
- Developer's Note: As we outlined in our Developer Insight blog, we want to continue to get creative (and maybe a little crazy) with the Season Themes and powers we add to the game. We heard from some players that they preferred themes that made your character directly feel more powerful rather than needing to focus on the environment around you. If that describes you, then the Season of Forbidden Archives should be right up your alley, and we're really interested to see how this changes the game for Season 20.
- Two new Seasonal rewards are available for players who fully complete the Season 20 Journey, including a new portrait frame and pet
- Crusader
- Developer's Note: We're not convinced that this change has fully reigned in Crusader performance to be more in line with other classes. We'll be continuing to keep an eye on overall Crusader performance (as well as performance among the other classes) in 2.6.8 and beyond.
- Heaven's Fury
- The animation for the Fires of Heaven rune can no longer be cancelled early.
Witch Doctor
Spirit Barrage (Phantasm)
The periodic attacks from Spirit Barrage (Phantasm) are now twice as slow, but twice as powerful- Developer's Note: We rolled this change back between PTR and Live as it was creating additional bugs. We may consider re-exploring this option in the future if we find this adjustment is still needed.
- Developer's Note: With Patch 2.6.8, we're adding three(!) new class sets with similar goals to those we included in the previous patch. Each set was designed primarily with boosting long-requested skills and play styles we lifted directly from community feedback. Frenzy, Spirit Barrage, and Hydra were requests that offered a lot of opportunity for gameplay exploration, and we're looking forward to seeing what players do with these new tools at their disposal. Additional changes to associated supplemental Legendaries have been included to round out these builds.
- Mantle of Channeling
- The bonus granted by this item now occurs 1 second after channeling has begun
- Barbarian
- New Class Set: Horde of the Ninety Savages
- 2-Piece Bonus: Double the effectiveness of all Shouts. Feared, Frozen, or Stunned Enemies take double damage.
- Developer's Note: The callout that Stun may be the best fit for this set bonus was definitely heard, but we didn't want to take away other potential builds enabled by experimenting with Fear or Frozen. We hope this opens up a variety of options for Barbarians to explore!
- 4-Piece Bonus: Each stack of Frenzy reduces damage taken by 6%. Frenzy lasts twice as long.
- 6-Piece Bonus: Frenzy deals 1000% increased damage per stack.
- Undisputed Champion
- Frenzy gains the effect of every rune and deals 300-400% increased damage.
- Bastion's Revered
- Frenzy now stacks up to 10 times and hits an additional time per stack. Each additional hit will chain to any enemies within 15 yards and the damage is split between all affected enemies.
- Witch Doctor
- New Class Set: Mundunugu's Regalia
- 2-Piece Bonus: Big Bad Voodoo now follows you and lasts twice as long.
- 4-Piece Bonus: Gain 60% damage reduction for 30 seconds when you enter the Spirit Realm.
- 6-Piece Bonus: Spirit Barrage deals 20000% increased damage plus an additional % equal to 5 times your Mana Regeneration/Second.
- Developer's Note: We found this set was overperforming at the highest end, but we also wanted to maintain its capabilities at early gearing stages. The addition of a base multiplier and reducing the effectiveness of the Mana Regeneration bonus should accomplish this goal.
- The Barber
- Instead of dealing direct damage, your Spirit Barrage now accumulates on the target. When you stop casting, it explodes dealing
225-250%400-500% of the accumulated damage to all enemies within 15 yards.- Is now classified as a Ceremonial Knife, with a base 1.4 attack speed
- Gazing Demise
- Spirit Barrage gains the Phantasm rune. Each active Phantasm lasts twice as long, increases the damage of Spirit Barrage by
40-50%100-150%, and also increases the attack rate from Manitou spectres.- Ring of Emptiness
- You deal 250-300% increased damage to enemies affected by
botheither your Hauntandor Locust Swarm.- Wizard
- New Class Set: The Typhon's Veil
- 2-Piece Bonus: Double the duration of Hydras and increase the number of heads on multi-headed Hydras by two.
- 4-Piece Bonus: Damage taken is reduced by 8% for each Hydra head alive as long as there is one available. Each time you take damage, a Hydra heads dies. Heads cannot die more than once every 2 seconds
- 6-Piece Bonus: Hydras deal
1200%1300% increased damage for each Hydra head alive.
- Developer's Note: We've continued to tilt more of the power for Hydra in favor of the 6-piece set bonus and away from the supplemental Legendary items.
- Serpent's Sparker
- You may have one extra Hydra active at a time and they deal
450-600%250-300% increased damage.- The Magistrate
Frost HydraYour Hydras now periodically cast Frost Nova and deal450-600%250-300% increased damage.- Etched Sigil
- The bonus granted by this item now occurs 1 second after channeling has begun.
- Deathwish
- The bonus granted by this item now occurs 1 second after channeling has begun.
- Several issues with adding/removing players to group and starting new games as a group have been resolved
- Captain Crimson's Trimmings
- Fixed an issue where the set bonus did not increase damage reduction when using Devour - Voracious
- Barbarian
- Fixed a bug where Threatening Shout (Grim Harvest) would not activate when enhanced by the Horde of the Ninety Savages set bonus
- Crusader
- Corrected the spelling of “Imperius” on the flavor text for several pieces of the Aegis of Valor set
- Fixed an issue where the bolts cast by Fist of the Heavens - Divine Well failed to zap enemies
- Demon Hunter
- Fixed an issue where In-geom was not properly dropping for Demon Hunters
- Wizard
- Fixed a bug where Arcane Torrent would get an extra damage multiplier from Etched Sigil and Deathwish
- Fixed a bug where Hydra (Frost Hydra) was getting a damage bonus instead of Attack Speed bonus from its owner's Attack Speed; this rune now benefits from Attack Speed in the same manner as other Hydra runes
- PTR Specific
- Note: The following issues were only live on the PTR, but we're including the fixes here for visibility and to indicate intended functionality on live.
- Fixed a bug with Bastion's Revered where it would not properly benefit from Convention of Elements
- Fixed a bug where Big Bad Voodoo would not properly follow its owner through zones when utilizing the new 2-Piece set bonus
- Fixed a bug where Hydras would have a short delay after being summoned
