Community Manager Brandy Camel, aka Nevalistis, is leaving Blizzard Entertainment. She explains in her post and on Twitter that this move is not for any ill reason, and she will in fact be joining Wizards of the Coast to be the new Community Manager for Dungeons & Dragons! Brandy has always been a beacon of light to our community, and she will be dearly missed; however, we know that she is undoubtedly the perfect person for the job! From all of us at DiabloFans, we wish Brandy the best of luck with this amazing new opportunity!
This is, undoubtedly, one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to write. Not gonna lie, it took me a few tries.
March 27, 2020 will be my final day as Diablo Community Manager, and at Blizzard Entertainment. I’m not leaving for any ill reasons; my team here has always been understanding and kind, every developer I’ve had the honor of interacting with has been delightfully passionate, and the decision to leave was ultimately mine alone. I have an opportunity to explore a new and very different adventure, and if you’re curious about that, I’ll share more about it on my personal channels. Sometimes, opportunity presents itself and you just gotta roll the dice.
What I want to focus on is expressing my gratitude to this community. For welcoming me when I stumbled in at the announcement of Reaper of Souls. For making me feel at home as I was trembling on livestream, fighting stage fright while introducing the expansion to the world. For all the smiles, high-fives, hugs, and selfies at conventions (especially BlizzCon). For the absolute conviction and passion for Sanctuary that I see in every player’s post, whether it’s excitement over the latest Season or constructive criticism for your favorite class. Regardless of highs and lows, this is one of the best communities out there, and the heart of it is warm, caring, and filled with people who just want more Diablo.
Thank you for permitting me to be a part of your community. Thank you for reading my weird blogs and tolerating my terrible puns and memes. And thank you for staying awhile to listen. I’ve had an incredible opportunity learn and grow as person that I’ll carry with me the rest of my life, and I can’t wait to delve the depths of the Burning Hells and face down the mother of Sanctuary alongside the rest of you.
Lastly, rest assured that the Diablo community will be left in good hands. I’ve spent a fair amount of my final weeks here preparing to pass the torch to those who will follow in my footsteps and working with the team here to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible. You won’t be left unheard or unacknowledged, but please be understanding while the next folks get settled in. We’re all here to battle the demons of Hell together, after all!
Challenge Rift Week 144 is live! This week the Challenge Rift features the new Typhon's Veil Wizard set with Hydra builds! If you are curious how Challenge Rift builds are chosen each week, you can view this official blog post!
It has now been one week since the start of Season 20, and we are already seeing the meta being shaken up due to the addition of three new class sets. Our meta analysis this week will focus on the Wizard, which was given the new Hydra focused Typhon's Veil set. This new set is widely regarded as the weakest of the three new additions; however, the solo Wizard leaderboard has seen the rise of two different Hydra builds. At this time it's still unclear which build has the most potential, but most players seem to favor the Legacy of Dreams version.
The top represented build on the leaderboards for all three regions is by far the Vyr's Archon Wizard, which is not entirely a surprise seeing as it was the Haedrig's Gift for Wizards this season. Having Vyr's has allowed Wizards to push high solo rifts early, and has proven to be relatively easy to gear for in comparison to the other rising builds. With that said, we expect to see Vyr's slowly drop off the top solo Wizard clears as players are able to find the necessary pieces for one of the two Hydra builds.
The Typhon's Veil Frost Hydra has the potential for an exceptional amount of damage output, but the set tends to be rather fragile. Forgetting to place Hydra's down when entering a new level in a rift can lead to players getting obliterated by enemies before they have a chance to react, and the finicky nature of the sets damage reduction mechanic can lead to a lot of frustration. Players who wish to use Cold damage will find a lot to love with the Typhon's Veil set, and those who master its mechanics can possibly rival the alternative Hydra build.
The Legacy of Dreams Mammoth Hydra build is hard to gear for, as all Legacy of Dreams builds are, seeing as it requires a full set of particular ancient items to be the most effective. On top of that, leveling the Legacy of Dreams gem to 99 is necessary to extract all of the potential performance from the build. The use of Mammoth Hydras provides an exceptional amount of clearing potential for large groups of enemies, and the build doesn't struggle with most Rift Guardians either. The LoD Hydra is also quite a bit more tanky than the Typhon's Veil version, and many players will prefer its playstyle to the the alternative.
It's still too early to say which Wizard build will top the solo leaderboards for Season 20, but at this point there are two fun Hydra builds available for Wizard players who wish to change things up. Vyr's provides a strong start for anyone looking to play Wizard; however, its potential does not quite live up to other potential Wizard builds. It's worth mentioning that Season 20 is still fresh, and the meta for the solo Wizard has the potential to shift greatly in a few weeks time.
Have you been playing the Wizard during Season 20? What build have you been playing and what class would you like us to cover next week? Let us know in the comments!
Challenge Rift Week 143 is live! This week the Challenge Rift features the new Horde of the Ninety Savages Barbarian set with Frenzy builds! If you are curious how Challenge Rift builds are chosen each week, you can view this official blog post!
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!
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.
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!
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!
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 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.
Note: The following changes apply to both PC and Console versions of Diablo III unless otherwise noted.
General
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
Seasons
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
Classes
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.
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.
Items
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
You deal 250-300% increased damage to enemies affected by both either your Haunt and or 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.
The bonus granted by this item now occurs 1 second after channeling has begun.
Bugs
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
Check out the complete Ashes of Outland Card List, with release date and expansion details!
