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September 22nd Hotfixes

The hotfix list has been updated with lots of improvements to the WD Helltooth set lag, among other minor improvements. Read the patch notes below.

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Patch 2.3.0a deployed earlier today, which included a number of hotfixes:

Bounties

• Fixed an issue where Pazuzu would not spawn in the Desolate Sands during the "Kill Pazuzu" bounty (9/22)

Crafting

• The Blacksmith UI now properly displays the number of items that can be crafted when using the "Show All" filter (9/22)
• Kanai's Cube
  
  • Haunt of Vaxo is now able to have his legendary power extracted (9/22)

Items

• It is no longer possible to simultaneously benefit from more than one passive acquired by a Hellfire Amulet (9/22)
• Crafted Legendary off-hands now properly roll with increased damage when they are Ancient (9/22)
• Deadly Rebirth
  
  • Now properly rolls with its Legendary affix at all item levels (9/22)

Witch Doctor

• Wall of Death
  
  • Rune - Fire Wall
    
    • Made some optimization changes to improve game performance (9/22)
  • Rune - Ring of Poison
    
    • Made some optimization changes to improve game performance (9/22)
• Fetish Army
  
  • Rune - Head Hunters
    
    • Pets spawned by this rune no longer have player collision (9/22)

Hellfire Amulet and Bans

Along with the Hellfire Amulet exploit being completely fixed with today's patch, it seems like some players got a temporary suspension for trying out that exploit. Also, there were reports that notable players who were found to be using the Hellfire exploit in excess, and consistently botting too, were permanently banned, with leaderboards being cleansed of tainted placements. Read below.

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

UPDATE - September 22 @ 3:07 p.m. PDT

While this issue has now been resolved, we know a lot of players may be curious about what happened and how we responded. We'd like to take a moment to discuss a few of the details with you.

Following the launch of Patch 2.3.0, players discovered an exploit that, through a series of very specific steps, allowed them to equip more than one additional passive using the Hellfire Amulet. This was not intended and, while in some cases could have potentially happened by accident, there were some who continued to repeat these steps in order to gain an unfair advantage over other players.

As soon as we were able to verify the exploit and identify its underlying cause, we immediately began working on a fix for PC. This wound up being two separate deployments, as part of the issue required a patch to resolve. The original hotfix was deployed late evening on September 11, which made the following change to the game:

• Generate an error if too many passives are active on a character
• Added a check for and regular removal of surplus passives

This fix technically still permitted the exploit to occur, but for an extremely limited period of time that was no longer practical or useful. A fix that fully prevents this exploit from occurring is included in Patch 2.3.0a, which deployed earlier today in all regions.

From there, we looked at the complexity and impact of the exploit and elected to action accounts on a case-by-case basis. One of three situations applied:

• Accounts which were found to have used the exploit excessively were permanently banned. This includes users who actively promoted the use of this exploit.
• Accounts which were found to have used the exploit to a beneficial, but not excessive, degree were suspended with warning.
• Accounts which were likely utilizing this exploit by accident were effectively pardoned.

Regardless of whether penalties were applied, accounts that were found to be utilizing more passive skills than intended had their progress removed from the leaderboards.

We continue to see an overwhelming amount of support from the vast majority of players who value fair play above personal gain. We appreciate that so many of you brought this issue to our attention immediately through channels like hacks@blizzard.com, our online webform and ticket system. We heard your concerns on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and these forums too! On behalf of all of us here at Blizzard, from our development to support teams, thank you for taking the time to notify us, and we apologize for any inconvenience caused as a result.

As noted in our original post, maintaining an enjoyable and fair gameplay experience is very important to us, and we’re going to continue to monitor the game as well as take steps to prevent exploits like this from happening again.

Future Ghost Changes

Tyvalir shared a future change to the Ghost type of enemy, coming in a future patch. Read the blue post below.

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Honestly I think these should count towards a lot more bar progression in Greater Rifts than they currently do, given their utter annoyance and damage. Ideally, killing an elite mob of any of these types should count at almost 2x the progression a regular elite (yellow/blue) mob does. These things separate constantly, either by flying through a wall, or by teleporting right behind you.

Only Xeph ammy helps with Exorcists, but running an immunity amulet takes away from the damage of your top-end amulet (be it Hellfire or whatever). Sure, you could cube it, but I'd say 99% of people have RoRG or CoE as their cubed rings they run, with them being entirely necessary.

Thanks for the constructive feedback on this, folks!

We're planning a few adjustments to ghost-type enemies (particularly their Soul Siphon power) in an upcoming patch. They'll need to be closer to attack, will deal less damage overall, and their channeled attack damage will be spread out over a longer duration.