Patch 2.6.4 PTR Preview
Blizzard has shared a preview of the upcoming PTR changes, which include quality-of-life changes, class set balancing, and seasonal buffs.
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment (Official Post)
We’re launching the Patch 2.6.4 PTR later this week for some rapid-paced testing, and we want you to have the full download before you jump in to provide feedback. Between long-requested quality of life changes, class set balancing, and a new game-changing seasonal buff, Season 16 is going to be quite the journey.
PTR Details
We will be conducting the Patch 2.6.4 PTR over the course of one week, starting Wednesday, November 21. During the course of the PTR, there may be periodic maintenances, outages, hotfixes, or minor patches.
There will be two buffs active to help you on your PTR journey: increased Legendary drop rate and double Blood Shard drops. This should allow everyone to acquire any class set items (or supplemental items) that might be needed!
Feedback should be provided in the PTR Feedback forum while bug reportsshould be provided in the PTR Bug Report forum; clearly separating these tracks allows our designers and quality assurance testers to hone in on the information they need most!
PTR Goals
With a huge number of class set changes and a game-breaking Seasonal buff, we know it will be very tempting to get your hands on as much as you can! To help guide your focus, we’d like to offer our insight behind what we’d most like to see tested.
- Players pushing Greater Rifts as high as possible in both Seasonal and Non-Seasonal play
- Experimentation with class set mix-and-matches, as made possible by the Season of Grandeur buff
PTR Tips
This PTR is a little different from ones we have conducted in the past (and it’s been a while since we last had one). Whether you’re a seasoned PTR veteran or this is your first go around, here are a few tips to get you started.
- Because of the limited duration of this PTR, we ask that participants pick a particular portion of this update to focus on testing.
- For example, if you’re primarily a Monk player, consider what changes impact the Monk specifically. What you like best, what you think may still need adjustment, and what you may want to see in the future (even if that may be beyond the scope of this patch) are all good questions to ask yourself.
- Prior to the start of PTR, consider stocking up on items like Puzzle Rings and Bovine Bardiches. Having these available after you import your character can make any necessary PTR farming much faster!
- Try to break things! Just tell us when you do so we can make sure the 2.6.4 launch is as smooth as possible for all our fans.
- When providing feedback, focus less on a solution and more on your experience. How did the changes make you feel? Was there something off you noticed? Did something seem wrong or insufficient? Suggestions are always welcome but identifying the issues themselves is most important.
Patch Notes
Last updated November 19 @ 10:00 p.m. PST.
Below you'll find the preliminary PTR patch notes for patch 2.6.4. Please note that this isn't the final version of the patch notes and that some changes may not be documented or described in full detail.
PTR PATCH 2.6.4 - v2.6.4.49286
To provide feedback on patch 2.6.4, please visit the PTR Feedback forum.
To report any issues you experience while playing, please visit the PTR Bug Report forum.
For additional information on how to participate in the PTR, click here.
- General
- Quality of Life
- Philosophy
- For this patch, we wanted to include a few frequently requested Quality of Life changes and focused on better celebrating and indicating Primal Legendary drops.
- Five (5) additional Armory tabs have been added for all characters, bringing the total to 10
- Greater Rift Keystones are now stored in the Materials tab
- Any existing Greater Rift Keystones in both inventory and stash have been automatically moved
- Primal Legendaries are now marked by a red beam when they drop
- Primal Legendaries on the ground are now indicated by a red pentagram icon on the mini-map
- Primal Legendaries now have a red border and updated background on their icons
- Greater Rifts
- Philosophy
- The gameplay of micro-managing Paragon points during the course of a Greater Rift doesn't feel like especially engaging gameplay, nor was it consistent with the other existing rules of entering a Greater Rift. In addition, the below change to matchmaking is to make it much easier for all players to find groups for Greater Rifts, as the previous window (only between Greater Rifts) is typically very small.
- Paragon points can no longer be swapped while a Greater Rift is open
- Players can now be matched into public games where a Greater Rift is open
- Players who join in this manner will not be able to enter the active Rift
- Players inside the Rift will be able to continue with no additional difficulty scaling until the run has been completed
- Seasons
- Season 16: Season of Grandeur
- The buff for Season of Grandeur has been implemented
- This buff gives all Seasonal players the legendary power from Ring of Royal Grandeur
- This buff does not stack with additional Ring of Royal Grandeur (either equipped or in Kanai's Cube)
- Unlike previous Seasonal buffs, this buff will not apply to Non-Seasonal players
- When completing a Greater Rift level 70 solo for the first time in a Season, a Primal Legendary is guaranteed to drop from the Rift Guardian
- Class Set Changes
- Philosophy
- We are taking another tuning pass across all class sets to improve class and set diversity at higher level Greater Rifts. Please note that these values are not final and we anticipate some adjustments to occur during the course of PTR.
- All Classes
- Legacy of Nightmares
- The (2) Set bonus has been increased from 100% to 500%
- Barbarian
- The Legacy of Raekor
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 2800% to 7000%
- Immortal King's Call
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 1500% to 4000%
- Might of the Earth
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 5600% to 20000%
- Wrath of the Wastes
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 3000% to 10000%
- Crusader
- Thorns of the Invoker
- The (2) Set bonus has been increased from 140% to 350%
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 5400% to 15000%
- Roland's Legacy
- The (4) Set bonus has been increased from 3300% to 13000%
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 50% increased Attack Speed to 75%
- Seeker of the Light
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 2000% Blessed Hammer damage to 12000%
- Demon Hunter
- Embodiment of the Maruader
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 3000% to 12000%
- Unhallowed Essence
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 100% to 350%
- Natalya's Vengeance
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 3500% to 14000%
- The Shadow's Mantle
- The (2) Set bonus has been increased from 1200% to 6000%
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 50000% to 75000%
- Monk
- Uliana's Strategem
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 2100% to 9000%
- Inna's Mantra
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 150% to 1500%
- Monkey King's Garb
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 1000% to 1500%
- Raiment of a Thousand Storms
- The (2) Set bonus has been increased from 100% to 400%
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 13000% Dashing Strike damage to 60000%
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 1300% Spirit Generator damage to 6000%
- Necromancer
- Trag'Oul's Avatar
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 3300% to 3800%
- Witch Doctor
- Spirit of Arachyr
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 4500% to 9000%
- Helltooth Harness
- The (2) Set bonus has been increased from 1500% to 3000%
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 4400% to 9000%
- Raiment of the Jade Harvester
- The (2) Set bonus has been increased from 560 seconds to 3500 seconds
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 1650 seconds to 10000 seconds
- Zunimassa's Haunt
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 5500% to 15000%
- Wizard
- Tal Rasha's Elements
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 750% to 3000%
- Delsere's Magnum Opus
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 3800% to 8500%
- Vyr's Amazing Arcana
- The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 50% bonus damage to 100%
How to Particpate
To participate in the public test, you must have a Diablo III game license attached your Battle.net account in good standing (i.e. one that hasn't been suspended or banned). In addition, you will also need to download and install the Blizzard Battle.net desktop app if you have not already done so.
Step 1: Create a PTR account. To create a PTR account, log in to Blizzard Battle.net Account Management and double-click on your Diablo III game license; this will bring you to the game management page. On this page, click "Create a PTR account.
If you've participated in any previous Diablo III PTR, the "Create PTR account" button may not appear. This is because you've already created a PTR account and can therefore skip this step.
Step 2: Once you have created a PTR account, installed the Blizzard Battle.net desktop, and logged in with your Blizzard Battle.net credentials, select "Diablo III" from the main menu on the left-hand side of the application.
Step 3: On the Diablo III screen, there is a drop-down menu right above the "Play" button (note that this may say "Install" if you do not have Diablo III currently installed). Select "PTR: Diablo III" from this drop-down menu before proceeding.
Step 4: You should now have the option to install and play the patch.
The PTR is available in all supported languages, and accounts from all regions are eligible to participate.
PTR Character Copy
The option to copy your existing Diablo III characters from your live account to the PTR will be available and can be done directly through the PTR client. However, only one region per account can be copied at a time. So, if you choose to copy characters from your account in a different region, any previously copied PTR characters will be lost.
Step 1: Log into the live game and then log out.
Step 2: Log into PTR client and create a level 1 character. After you're done, return to the main character screen.
Step 3: Click on the "PTR Copy" button located in the upper right-hand corner. (The PTR Copy button will not appear in-game until you have created a new level 1 character.)
Step 4: Select your region.
Step 5: Click "Copy." This will copy all characters on your account from the selected region.
Step 6: You will be disconnected from the PTR client.
Step 7: Log back in. Your copied characters will be available for play.
Please note that you can only copy characters from one gameplay region at a time. If you choose to copy characters from a different region, any previously copied PTR characters will be lost. In addition, you can only copy characters over to your PTR account once every 24 hours. Attempting to copy characters before this cooldown is up will result in an error.
You know when games are ending service and they just buff things to the moon. That's what this seems like to me. If that's all they are doing, just crap. The community manager said some cool stuff is coming for season 16, im still waiting. Why dont you just have your minion pick up the essences, dust, etc. Not even that... quality of life changes is to tell us diablo 4 is coming officially then I'll believe this dumpster fire of patch.
This will at least bring more builds into the viable tier. LON could also open up more builds now. The RoG buff will also help make builds feel better this season. I don't like the mandatory nature of sets in D3, but I am happy that we get more options for once. Same meta for multiple seasons has felt awful. This isn't as ideal as what they hyped for season 16, but we should be used to Blizzard Diablo hype not panning out.
LOL wtf is this patch?! Is this an out of season April Fools joke?
when they said there were working on new stuff for d3 and the game "we are waiting on" I hope they didn't mean tiny patches like this, and actual new content, classes, expansion etc.
Hmmm this season's theme sounds interesting. Defiantly going to roll multiple class for a change. I wonder if they're gauging returning players for something....
big changes would be things with some kind of impact. new game mode with new rules, revamped mechanics like the paragon system, another option for your endgame other than bounty/rift/bounty. but that would mean that you'd have to open pandora's box with a lot of devs to try and take apart what the old crew left behind.
which i think isn't that far off. they guys who did the paragon system back in the day as some quick fix probably aren't there anymore. what with all the "changes" we see, it gives off the vibe that this game is rather closed to any devs currently working near it. sure, buffing things or implementing other small things might work. but just for adding the already existing necro as a playable character took them quite some money.
personally, i find most of 2.6.4 rather lazy just to put something out there.
Finally something changing in D3 world I don't care much about huge buffs or minor visual improvements whats important they are back to business! They are showing that D3 is not in maintenance mode I'am trying to calm down myself what happened at Blizzcon it's okay they need money but thats another story...
If I'm reading the Armory tab line correctly, this sounds like there'll be nothing to gain in the Season Journey? I suspect this might be the last season.
Those damage numbers cannot possibly be final. They will tone them back down as the PTR goes on like they do every patch to more reasonable numbers.
It's sad when u think that at Blizzcon the community dev said "big things are coming to D3 next season, but we're not ready to talk about that yet". And that big thing was an always-on unique and bigger numbers... This is like 5min work? They already have a Kanui Cube so the tech to give characters a unique affix without having it equipped already exists and otherwise there just making the numbers bigger.
This is what they "wasn't ready" to talk about yet? Again making out there's some big stuff coming and then we get something that looks like a private server patch.
/e Also I presume we're gonna go up to T20 now? :'D
Y'all must be new here - historically, they only buff things into the heavens and never really nerf anything in D3.
I was surprised when they stopped buffing everything every other patch. At least now I have a reason to hop back on D3.
Nah. To give you perspective, originally Marauders was the best set for Demon Hunter with a whopping 0% damage increase per sentry, but your sentries cast your hatred spenders. Gradually it got buffed over time, to the point that it was at 1200% damage increase, then 3000%, and now 12000%. Not even absurd, by their standards.
Their philosophy for balance passes in D3 are to buff everything an insane amount and try to bring them closer in line.
That's just sad. I wasn't ready for this.
well the buffs to sets are just meh. boring. i hope they will increse the GR cap then, ... I guess? otherwise it would make zero sense.
however the grandeur theme hit me by surprise. that's really a cool idea.
QoL: Health Potion in Inventory? How about fixing that too? Pets that actualy pick up different mats, gold we have already, what about one for dust, one for jewelry, one for DBs, or even one that picks up everything? Follower items to equip more? Scoundrel misses offhand...make legendary powers of rings and amulets also active on followers, maybe? For solo, would be nice to have. (Some are, some not)
I had a good laugh when I saw the Necromancer changes. Hopefully, the 4 player meta will change big time. Will be fun playing with other classes instead of necro's.
Buff Blackthrone Set!
Oh man! I said I won't touch any Blizz games until they get their shit together ..
But this patch is .. pretty decent and I love D3. The Grandeur ring event is .. seriously opening some very interesting builds and I believe is the most important "thing" from all this patch notes.
So .. yeah! Will be playing this season, but i'm still very pissed at Blizzard.
There was a point where patch notes like this would upset me and get me saying "look at those other guys, they are giving their clients much cooler updates, why is blizzard not doing the same". Right now, and after what happened at blizzcon, i just settled , accepted this game is in maintenance mode and left to die, and let go.
1st off i want to lol at people that cant read.
If you dont like the numbers its YOUR job to test them in the PTR and give your feedback, Not be oin here and bicth about it.
I for one love these updates, For a player who plays solo content and only rolls not meta builds these buffs are amazing. Tho the numbers are not set in stone i hope some of them stay like LoN. I have 3 builds that use that and the new change to PA's is nice.
At this point ill take anything i can get. There's nobody saying anything about " No more " or " last pacth " I expect more, Alot more.