Diablo 4 2.0 Now Live on PTR What You Need to Know
Sep. 4, 2024Diablo 4 2.0 Now Live on PTR What You Need to Know
TheDiablo IV 2.0 Public Test Realm (PTR)is opened up fromSeptember 4 to 11, giving you the chance to try out the new changes and features coming with the nextSeasonand theVessel of HatredExpansion.
The PTR is all about testing these updates beforeSeason 6officially drops. Your feedback is key—it helpsBlizzardfine-tune the balance, squash bugs, and make sure the final release is as polished as possible.
Blizzard has sedt up servers for the PTR in major regions like North America, Europe, Korea, Japan, South America, and Australia. To get things rolling, your characters have been copied over in advance, although some of their items might not match their current in-game setup. When you log in through Battle.net, you’ll see your account-based progress, which includes your campaign completion, mounts, skill points, Fog of War, and Altar of Lilith stat bonuses.
Since many changes in this PTR are systematic, there will be a range of features to help players test everything effectively. At the Boost NPC in Kyovashad, you’ll have several options available to you, including leveling up to Max. You can choose to increase your character to Level 50 or 60, complete the map, which includes the campaign, strongholds, waypoints, and Fog of War, and unlock all torment tiers.
Additionally, you can fully upgrade your potion, max out all Aspects and Paragon Glyphs, generate Legendaries, and grant yourself all uniques, runes, temper manuals, materials, gold, and Obols. You’ll also have access to upgraded potions and fully unlocked Paragon Glyphs. You can run these commands all at once or individually, and the Boost NPC will be available starting September 6. During the early part of the 2.0 PTR, the goal is to collect information and feedback about players’ natural experiences without any modifiers.
Joining the PTR is a straightforward process. First, open the Blizzard Battle.net App and select Diablo IV from your Games list. Above the Play button, you’ll find a game version dropdown menu. Click on that and select the Public Test Realm option.
Next, click Install to download the PTR client; once it’s ready, the Install button will change to a Play button. When that’s done, click Play to log in to the PTR, where you can choose any of the available test servers. From there, you’ll need to create a new test character. If you’re planning to test anything related to seasonal themes, be sure to create a Seasonal Mechanic.
Once you’re all set, enter the game and dive into the 2.0 PTR! If you’re a PC Game Pass or Game Pass Ultimate user, don’t worry—you can access the PTR just like other Battle.net users. Simply open the Battle.net client through the Xbox App, and then follow the same steps to access the PTR. Happy testing!
To start,Paragon Pointsare getting a revamp. Now, instead of being tied to individual characters, Paragon Points will be linked to your Realm’s overall level. This means that any Paragon Levels you earn will be shared across all your characters in the same Realm. To make this change work, we’ve tweaked the leveling process, adjusted other stats, and rebalanced monster levels. Plus, the numbers and values are now easier to understand.
Paragon and character levels are now separated, with Levels 1–60 representing your character’s level. This change lets you earn an extra 10 Skill Points, giving you more options for customizing your character. Once you hit Level 60, you’ll start earning Paragon Levels, which can be used to unlock Paragon Nodes.
For characters above Level 50, all experience-based Paragon Points will be converted to Paragon Levels. For example, if your character is currently Level 100, after the update, their level will drop to 50, and all 200 Paragon Points will be converted to Realm-wide Paragon Levels. Characters at Level 50 or below won’t see any changes.
Developer’s Note:The changes to leveling and Paragon were made with the intent of getting you to endgame activities and gear at a more rapid pace and making it easier to ramp up your alt characters for the fight ahead.
Along with separating character and Paragon levels, they’ve also taken a fresh look at key stats like Health, Armor, andCore Stats.
Developer’s Note:We’ve received player feedback stating that the numbers used to depict stats and damage have gotten out of control. We’ve adjusted stats in a way that makes the information more consumable. This change has no bearing on the strength of your character.
The Difficulties system has also seen some changes, with Tiers now being referred to as Difficulites and the introduction of a new set of Difficullties called Torments. This new set of Difficulties helps increase the chance of getting Legendary and Ancestral items.
The game’s difficulty levels, now calledDifficulties instead of World Tiers, have been revamped to give players more control over how tough they want their experience to be. The first four levels—Normal, Hard, Expert, and Penitent—are called Standard Difficulties, and they’re all about getting your character ready as you work your way up to the new max level of 60.
If you’re into a more laid-back vibe, the Normal difficulty is a slower-paced option that won’t stress you out too much. But if you’re looking to step up your game, Hard and Expert crank up the challenge and speed, giving you a real test. Then there’s Penitent—this one’s for the hardcore players who aren’t afraid to take on some serious risks. It’s tough, so if you choose this mode, be ready for a rough ride as you head toward the even tougher Torment Difficulties.
As you increase the Difficulty, you’ll also earn more Gold and experience. Here’s how to unlock each level:
Developer’s Note:Much of what drove these changes was noticing that it was more fun to be able to control your difficulty and reward pacing using Profane Mindcages and Tormented versions of bosses.
In the new Torment Difficulties, your progression is closely tied to the Pit. As you advance through higher Pit Tiers, you’ll unlock access to tougher Torment Difficulties. The higher the Torment Difficulty, the better your chances of finding Legendary and Ancestral items. Here’s how to unlock each Torment Difficulty:
But there’s more to worry about than just tougher enemies—Torment Difficulties introduce a new challenge: Curses. When playing in these difficulties, your armor and resistances are reduced as follows:
With these added Difficulties, players now have even more control over how they balance risk and reward in Diablo IV.
Additionally, monster levels will no longer be displayed and will instead scale with the Difficulty you’re playing on.
Glyphshave seen changes in how they are upgraded, with higher tiers offering better upgrade chances. They can now reach Level 100, and Rare Glyphs can be upgraded to Legendary at Level 45 using Gem Fragments. Each class also has a new Paragon Board and Legendary Node, and the Paragon Point cap has increased from 200 to 300.
Developer’s Note:There were a few issues with Paragon Glyphs, the Pit, and Nightmare Dungeons. We received feedback that the Pit rewards were feeling lackluster. We wanted to make the action of upgrading Glyphs more satisfying, while simultaneously offering better rewards for pushing deep into the Pit.
Our desire was to give Glyphs more power, but the Glyph upgrading experience system did not scale well and was needlessly grindy. So, to achieve this goal, we moved Paragon Glyphs upgrading out of Nightmare Dungeons and into the Pit, and also redesigned the system to give more control over how quickly Glyphs can be upgraded.
Glyphs have also undergone some significant changes to better fit with the new systems that was introduced.
Instead of using experience to upgrade Glyphs, you now get attempts to boost a Glyph’s Rank by completing Pit Tiers. Successfully achieving Artificer’s Mastery gives you three upgrade attempts, with an extra attempt if you manage to do it without dying.
You can use these attempts to upgrade any Glyph that isn’t already maxed out. The chances of an upgrade depend on the Glyph’s level and the Pit Tier you complete. For example, completing a Pit Tier that’s 10 levels higher than your Glyph’s Rank will guarantee an upgrade.
If you complete a Pit Tier significantly higher than your Glyph’s current Rank, you’ll earn bonus upgrade ranks. Every 20-level difference between the Pit Tier and Glyph Rank gives you an extra upgrade per attempt. Here’s how it works in practice:
Imagine you complete three deathless runs at Pit Tier 30. This could take a Glyph all the way up to Rank 19, quickly unlocking the additional Radius Size increase:
First Pit Run
Second Pit Run
Third Pit Run
The maximum level of a Glyph has been raised from 21 to 100. Once a Rare Glyph reaches Level 45, it can be upgraded to a Legendary Glyph using Gem Fragments, with the following bonuses:
Each Class has received 1 new Paragon Board. These Paragon Boards each come with a new Legendary Node as well. Additionally, only 5 Paragon Boards can be equipped, including your starting board.
The number of Paragon Points that can be earned by leveling has increased from 200 to 300.
Developer’s Note:We felt Sacred and Ancestral Items lost their specialness and flair due to how common they became. These changes transform Ancestral items into mighty endgame items worth the chase.
Ancestralitems become available starting at Torment 1, and they always drop with a base Item Power of 800, the maximum possible. What sets these items apart is that they are the only ones that can have Greater Affixes, and every Ancestral item comes with at least one of these powerful affixes.
Sacred Items will no longer drop, and any Sacred Items you currently have will be marked as “Legacy.” While you can still use them, they can’t be upgraded. Non-Ancestral items now have an Item Power cap of 750, meaning Legendary items that drop at Level 60 will always have an Item Power of 750. These items can now be Masterworked up to four times. Additionally, with the new Realm-wide Paragon system and character level adjustments, items with Item Power above 540 will be scaled down to 540, but their affixes will be rerolled at the highest possible values within their ranges.
The new skills introduced for each class significantly enhance their versatility, adding more depth to class builds. In addition to these new abilities, the developers have expanded the connections for certain Passives in each class’s skill tree. This change provides more pathways to unlock these Passives, offering greater flexibility and creativity when leveling up your character.
TheBarbarian classgains theMighty Throwskill, which is a Weapon Mastery Skill with a 12-second cooldown. With this ability, you hurl your weapon to deal 60% weapon damage upon impact, and it sticks in the ground. While embedded, the weapon pulses, dealing an additional 20% weapon damage every second for 4 seconds. The skill can be further enhanced with upgrades:
Druidsget to harness the power of the earth withStone Burst, an Earth Core Skill that costs 30 Spirit. This ability allows you to gather stones beneath your enemies and detonate them, dealing 80% weapon damage. Channeling the skill increases the damage area by up to 400% after 1 second and deals an extra 20% weapon damage. This skill also has a few enhancements:
ForNecromancers, theSoulriftskill is a Darkness Ultimate Skill with a 50-second cooldown. It corrupts nearby enemies for 8 seconds, dealing 65% weapon damage per second. Additionally, every 0.25 seconds, you absorb the soul of an enemy, generating 2 Essence and granting a Barrier for 2% of your maximum life for 5 seconds. The upgrades make this skill even more formidable:
Roguesget a swift and deadly skill calledDance of Knives, a Cutthroat Agility Skill with 6 charges and a 1-second charge cooldown. While channeling, you gain 20% increased movement speed, 10% dodge chance, and you launch knives at nearby enemies, each dealing 42% weapon damage. The skill can be upgraded to enhance its effects:
Sorcererscan summon aFamiliarwith theirConjuration Skill. This skill has 3 charges with a 12-second cooldown. When summoned, the Familiar adopts the element of your last cast skill and chases enemies, periodically exploding and dealing 40% of its element’s damage in an area. You can have up to 6 Familiars active at a time, and there are several upgrades available:
The Barbarian has several powerful abilities that enhance its combat effectiveness.Belligerenceis a skill that increases your damage by 3%, 6%, or 9% for 4 seconds after damaging an enemy with a Basic Skill.Heavy Hitterboosts your Ultimate Skills, making them deal 15%, 30%, or 45% more damage. After Overpowering an enemy,Warpathgrants you a 4% increase in damage for 4 seconds. Additionally,Irrepressiblefortifies you for 10% of your Maximum Life whenever you cast a Weapon Mastery Skill. TheBarbed Carapacekey passive further enhances your defense and offense by giving you 10% additional Thorns for 8 seconds for every 25 Fury spent, stacking up to 120%. Moreover, casting a skill with a cooldown grants you Unhindered for 5 seconds, during which time you deal 100% of your Thorns as physical damage to nearby enemies every second.
For the Druid,Humanityincreases your damage by 5%, 10%, or 15% while in Human form. After casting an Ultimate Skill,Catastropheboosts your damage by the same percentages for 8 seconds.Feral Aptitudegrants you a 3% damage increase while Healthy and another 3% increase while your Movement Speed is above 100%, with these bonuses stacking. TheBacklashskill enhances your damage by 4% for 5 seconds after casting a Defensive Skill. TheOne with Naturekey passive is particularly potent, giving your Companion Skills an additional companion and increasing their damage by 50%. It also grants you the Passive Effects of Ravens, Wolves, and Poison Creeper.
Necromancerscan utilizeNecrotic Fortitude, which has a Lucky Hit effect that gives your damage up to a 5%, 10%, or 15% chance to grant a Barrier for 5% of your Maximum Life for 6 seconds.Finalityincreases your damage by 5%, 10%, or 15% for 8 seconds after casting an Ultimate Skill, whileTitan’s Fallboosts your damage by 6%, 12%, or 18% against Elites when you’re Fortified.Precision Decayenhances your Lucky Hit chance by 5%, 10%, or 15%. TheAfflictionkey passive is especially deadly, as it makes enemies affected by Vulnerable, Crowd Control, or Shadow Damage over Time take 15% increased damage from you and your Minions. Additionally, your Curse Skills deal 80% weapon damage as Shadow damage to enemies with Affliction, which increases by 30% of your combined damage to Crowd Control, Vulnerable, and Shadow Damage over Time.
Roguesbenefit fromTarget Practice, which increases your Critical Strike Chance with Marksman and Cutthroat Skills by 3%, 6%, or 9%.Balestragrants a 4%, 8%, or 12% damage increase for 4 seconds after usingEvade. After dodging an attack,Evasiveprovides a 2%, 4%, or 6% Damage Reduction for 4 seconds. TheUnto Dawnskill enhances your Ultimate Skills, increasing their damage by 15%, 30%, or 45%. TheAlchemical Admixturekey passive amplifies the Potency of your Imbuement Skills by 40% for 5 seconds after dealing three different types of non-physical damage. This Potency is further increased by 20% of your total Bonus Damage to Poison, Shadow, and Cold.
Sorcerers can utilizeEvocationto gain a 4% Cooldown Reduction, andEnergy Focusgenerates a Barrier for 0.5%, 1.0%, or 1.5% of your Maximum Life every second, up to 30%. However, this effect is lost for 5 seconds after taking damage.Dampen Layerprovides a 2%, 4%, or 6% Damage Reduction while you have an active Barrier.Elemental Synergiesincreases your Frost, Shock, and Pyromancy damage by 1%, 2%, or 3% for each skill you have equipped of that type. TheEnlightenmentkey passive is particularly powerful, granting you 1 stack of Enlightenment each time you cast a skill, or 15 stacks if your previous cast skill was of a different element. After gaining 100 stacks, you become Enlightened, combining the Bonus Damage from Fire, Lightning, and Cold, while also gaining 25% increased damage, 45% Mana Regeneration, and 20% increased Attack Speed.
Runewordsare an exclusive feature available only with the Vessel of Hatred Expansion, outside of the 2.0 PTR. These Runewords allow you to elevate your character’s power by crafting custom abilities. In Sanctuary, you’ll come across two types of Runes: Ritual and Invocation. Runes of Ritual outline the actions you need to perform to activate them, while Runes of Invocation provide a powerful effect once the specified trigger is met.
Let’s take theBac Rune of Ritualas an example. Its condition is for your character to move 5 meters.
And then there’s theJah Rune of Invocation. Its effect is: Replace your next Evade with the Sorcerer’s Teleport (2 sec cooldown).
Runeswork on a resource system called Offering, which you generate by meeting the conditions set by Runes of Ritual. Once you’ve built up enough Offering, it’s used by Runes of Invocation to trigger their powerful effects. The harder the condition for a Rune of Ritual, the more Offering it creates. On the flip side, the stronger the effect of a Rune of Invocation, the more Offering it needs to activate.
Sometimes, you might generate more Offering than you actually need. That’s where theOverflowmechanic kicks in. Many Runes of Invocation get a boost when you’ve got extra Offering, making their effects even stronger for a short time.
To create a Runeword, you just need to socket a Rune of Ritual and a Rune of Invocation into an item with two Sockets, like a Chest, Legs, or a Two-Handed weapon. Helmets have also gotten an extra Socket now, so you can slot a Runeword there too. The cool thing is, any Rune of Ritual can pair with any Rune of Invocation, so you’ve got plenty of options. Runes come in three rarities—Magic, Rare, and Legendary—and the rarer they are, the more powerful their effects.
Here’s an example of how two Runes could combine into a Runeword:
Let’s use the Bac Rune of Ritual as an example again: While equipped, every 5 meters your character moves will generate 50 Offering.
And we’ll pair it again with the Jah Rune of Invocation, which has an effect of: Replace your next Evade with the Sorcerer’s Teleport (2 sec cooldown). Requires 500 Offering.
Having both the Bac and Jah Runes equipped to an item you’re wearing created the BacJah Runeword. It also means that every time your character travels 5 meters, they will generate 50 Offering. Once they have generated at least 500 Offering, their next Evade is replaced with the Sorcerer’s Teleport.
Runewords offer a unique way to access skills from other classes and can also provide temporary boosts to things like movement speed and abilities. With 17 Runes of Ritual and 28 Runes of Invocation available, there are endless possibilities for creating powerful combinations. Here’s a breakdown of the Runes and how they work together:
Ritual Runes:
Keep in mind a few important aspects about Runes: they are tradeable and can stack, with all Runes stored in a new socketable inventory tab. You can equip a maximum of two Runewords, which means you can use four Runes in total, but you can’t equip the same Rune twice.
Runes open up some cool crafting options. If you have three Runes with the same name, you can combine them to create a new one that’s guaranteed to be different from the originals. Plus, when you craft with non-Legendary Runes, there’s a chance you might end up with a higher rarity Rune. You can also take your Runes to the Jeweler to craft Mythics, but you’ll need one Resplendent Spark and ten Runes of each rarity (Legendary, Rare, and Magic) with a specific name to make it happen.
You can find Runes of any rarity as drops from monsters all over Sanctuary. If you’re testing during the PTR, you can grab two caches containing every Rune from the ‘PTR boost’ NPC in Zarbinzet—just choose the right dialogue option. Take note that Runes won’t be available in the PTR untilSeptember 6, so you’ll have plenty of time to try out everything the 2.0 PTR has to offer.
Party Finder is designed to help you connect with the right allies for your needs. With this feature, you can specify the type of party you’re looking for, choose the game type or activity you want to participate in, and indicate your preferred location.
Utilize Party Finder to search for or create parties for a variety of activities within Sanctuary. From battling through Nightmare Dungeons and selecting Wings to conquer in the Dark Citadel to teaming up with others to gather materials for summoning Endgame Bosses or completing your Codex of Power, Party Finder has you covered. You can access this feature easily through the Map, in-game Menu, or a dedicated action on your emote wheel.
Let’s move on to the updates for the base game. Blizzard introduced Hybrid Targeting, a handy new feature that lets you select items nearby even when you can’t move your mouse. It’s perfect for those moments when targeting with the cursor feels a bit tricky.
The devs have made some updates toGems. The drop quantity of Gem Fragments now increases as you progress through higher Difficulties. A new Gem Tier, Grand, has been added, requiring 100,000 Gem Fragments to craft and providing a 50% power increase over the previous tier, Royal. Some Gem effects have also been reworked: the Ruby armor effect now adds +Strength instead of % Max Life, the Amethyst armor effect has changed from +Strength to +% Barrier Generation, and the Diamond armor effect now boosts +All Stats rather than +% Barrier Generation.
Many Gem stat bonuses have been adjusted to better reflect Patch 2.0 numbers, with updates as follows: Ruby, Emerald, Topaz, and Sapphire provide +25/50/75/100/150 based on their tier, Amethyst gives +2/4/6/8/12 for % Barrier Generation, and Diamond offers +8/16/24/32/50 for All Stats. Lastly, the Skull now provides a +% Healing Received bonus of +4/6/8/10/15.
Let’s dive into the new content Blizzard has added to the game. From Mythic Unique Items to Paragon Boards, there are plenty of fresh features to explore. Let’s break them all down.
New Recipe Sharpened Finesse
Elemental Surge Tempering Recipe has been split into two recipes
Active Skill
Mighty Throw – Weapon Mastery Skill – 12 second Cooldown
Mighty Throwis a Weapon Mastery Skill with a 12-second cooldown. When used, it hurls your weapon, dealing 60% Weapon Damage on impact and causing the weapon to stick in the ground, where it pulses to deal 15% Weapon Damage every second for 4 seconds.
The skill can be enhanced in various ways:Enhanced Mighty Throwincreases your Attack Speed by 25% [+] while the weapon is out;Fighter’s Mighty Throwcreates an additional pulse when swapping weapons near the thrown weapon, with each pulse generating 3% of your Maximum Life as a Barrier for 6 seconds; andWarrior’s Mighty Throwincreases the impact damage by 200%[x] and stuns enemies for 2 seconds.
The Barbarian also gains new Passive Skills.Barbed Carapaceis a Key Passive that grants 10%[+] Thorns for 8 seconds, up to a maximum of 120%, for every 25 Fury spent. Casting a Skill with a cooldown grants you Unhindered for 5 seconds, during which you deal 100% of your Thorns as physical damage to nearby enemies each second.Belligerenceboosts your damage by 3/6/9%[x] for 4 seconds after damaging an enemy with a Basic Skill.Heavy Hitterincreases the damage of your Ultimate Skills by 15/30/45%[x].Warpathgives you 4/8/12%[x] increased damage for 4 seconds after Overpowering.Irrepressiblefortifies you for 10/20/30% of your Maximum Life when you cast a Weapon Mastery Skill.
TheUgly Bastard Helmis a Unique Helm with the following affixes: +X% Resistance to All Elements, X% Wrath of the Berserker Cooldown Reduction, and a Lucky Hit chance of up to 40% to deal +X Fire Damage. It also grants +X to Prolific Fury. The helm’s power allows you to explode when activating Wrath of the Berserker, dealing [100-300% Weapon Damage] as Fire Damage to enemies. While Berserking, any damage you deal is converted to Fire Damage and increased by 10-30%[x].
TheAspect of Shattering Steelis an Offensive Aspect that causes Steel Grasp and Iron Maelstrom to launch up to 10 metal shards, each dealing 80-280% of Weapon Damage as Physical Damage. TheAspect of the Flaming Rampagegrants Charge an additional use, with each target hit exploding for 69-129% of Weapon Damage as Fire Damage to surrounding enemies.
Several new Utility Recipes have been introduced.Bleed Innovationenhances Rend and Rupture with increased effect sizes and grants +X Skill Ranks to the Hamstring Passive.Barbarian Breachadds +X Skill Ranks to the Expose Vulnerability and Pressure Point Passives, along with increased Kick Vulnerable Duration.Brute Innovationboosts the effect sizes of Hammer of the Ancients and Upheaval, and also increases the size of Mighty Throw.
New Weapon Recipes includeCore Augments, which provide a chance for Hammer of the Ancients, Whirlwind, Upheaval, and Double Swing to deal double damage or hit twice.Brawling Augmentsoffer similar chances for Charge, Kick, Leap, and Ground Stomp to deal double damage or hit twice.Weapon Augmentsspecifically enhance Mighty Throw, Steel Grasp, Death Blow, and Iron Maelstrom with chances to deal double damage or hit twice.
The Paragon Board has been updated with new nodes. TheLegendary Node: Force of Naturegives your Earthquakes a 75% chance to spawn a Dust Devil every second that deals 180% Weapon Damage. Earthquake damage is also increased by 30% of your Damage vs. Close bonus, up to a maximum of 150%. Rare Nodes includeSquall(+10.0% Dust Devil Damage, +10 Strength),Catalyst(+45.0% Earthquake Damage, +10.0% Physical Damage),Alloyed(+45.0% Earthquake Duration, +20 Armor),Raw Power(+10.0% Physical Damage, +10 Strength),Denial(+3.0% Resistance to All Elements, +20 Armor), andTenacity(4.0% Maximum Life, +20 Armor).
Active Skill
Stone Burst – Earth Core Skill – 30 Spirit Cost
Stone Burstis an Earth Core Skill that costs 30 Spirit. It allows you to gather stones beneath your enemies and detonate them, dealing 80% Weapon Damage. As you channel the skill, it deals 20% Weapon Damage and increases the size of the affected area, up to a 400% increase after 1 second.Enhanced Stone Burstincreases the final explosion damage by 25%[x] within the initial radius.Primal Stone Burstgrants you 30% [+] Attack Speed while channeling and for 2 seconds afterwards.Raging Stone Burstincreases the Spirit cost by 66%[x] and boosts the final explosion damage by 50%[x].
The Druid also gains several new Passive Skills.One With Natureis a Key Passive that grants each of your Companion Skills an additional companion and increases their damage by 50%[x], while also giving you the passive effects of Ravens, Wolves, and Poison Creeper.Humanityincreases your damage by 5/10/15%[x] while in Human form.Calamityboosts your damage by 5/10/15%[x] for 8 seconds after casting an Ultimate Skill.Feral Aptitudeprovides a 3%[x] increased damage bonus while Healthy and another 3%[x] bonus when your Movement Speed is above 100%, with these bonuses stacking.Backlashincreases your damage by 4%[x] for 5 seconds after casting a Defensive Skill.
TheStone of Vehemenis a Unique Totem with the following affixes: Inherent +X% Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies, +X Willpower, +X% Critical Strike Damage, +X% Chance for Stone Burst Projectiles to cast twice, and +X to Stone Burst. Its power grants a 15% Damage Reduction while channeling Stone Burst and for 2 seconds afterward. Additionally, the final explosion of Stone Burst deals 10-15%[x] increased damage, with further increases of 10-15%[x] for each size increase.
TheAspect of the Agile Wolfis a Utility Aspect that adds a 4th attack to Shred, hitting all surrounding enemies, dealing 20-60%[x] increased damage, and knocking them down for 2 seconds. TheAspect of the Rabid Bearis an Offensive Aspect that applies Rabies when Skills critically strike while Grizzly Rage is active, and it increases Poison Damage by 30-90%[x].Stormcrow’s Aspectconverts Ravens’ damage to Lightning, increases it by 30-50%[x], halves the time needed for Ravens’ Active to deal its full damage, and stuns enemies inside it. TheAspect of Shattered Defensescauses enemies hit by Stone Burst to take 30-50%[x] increased damage from your other Skills for 5 seconds and reduces Stone Burst’s Spirit cost by 10. TheAspect of Anticline Burstincreases Stone Burst’s damage by 15-35%[x] and, when cast at or above 75 Spirit, instantly maximizes its size.
The newLightning Augmentsrecipe adds the following effects: +X% chance for Stormstrike to hit twice, +X% chance for Lightning Storm to deal double damage, and +X% chance for Cataclysm to deal double damage.
The Paragon Board introduces new nodes for the Druid. TheLegendary Node: Untamedgrants +4 Ranks to all Companion Skills for 5 seconds when casting a Companion Skill. Rare Nodes includeApex(+25.0% Companion Damage, +6.5% Damage Reduction from Elites),Ferocity(+2.5% Companion Cooldown Reduction, +20 Armor),Fortune(+5.0% Lucky Hit Chance, +10 Willpower),Resolve(+3.0% Resistance to All Elements, +10 Willpower),Tempest(+10.0% Vulnerable Damage, +15.0% Critical Strike Damage), andSuperiority(+15.0% Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies, +4.0% Maximum Life).
Active Skill
Soulrift – Darkness Ultimate Skill – 50 second Cooldown
Soulriftis a Darkness Ultimate Skill with a 50-second cooldown. For 8 seconds, it corrupts surrounding enemies, dealing 65% Weapon Damage per second.Supreme Soulriftincreases your damage by 1% for every soul absorbed, up to 30%, with this bonus persisting for 5 seconds after Soulrift ends.Prime Soulriftmakes enemies whose souls are absorbed become Vulnerable for 2 seconds, and you have a 5% chance to absorb their souls when damaging them during Soulrift.
The Necromancer also has new Passive Skills.Afflictionis a Key Passive that causes enemies affected by Vulnerable, Crowd Control, or Shadow Damage over time to be infected with Affliction, making them take 15%[x] increased damage from you and your Minions. Your Curse Skills deal 30% Weapon Damage as Shadow Damage to enemies with Affliction, with this damage increasing by 30%[x] of your combined damage to Crowd Control, Vulnerable, and Shadow Damage over time.Titan’s Fallincreases your damage to Elites by 6/12/18% while Fortified.Precision Decayincreases your Lucky Hit chance by 5/10/15%.Finalityboosts your damage by 5/10/15%[x] for 8 seconds after casting an Ultimate Skill.Necrotic Fortitudeoffers a Lucky Hit chance of up to 5/10/15% to grant yourself a Barrier for 5% of your Maximum Life for 6 seconds.
The Unmakeris a Unique Helm with the following affixes: X% Damage Reduction while you have a Barrier, X% Resource Generation, +X to Soulrift, and +X to Imperfectly Balanced. Its power extends Soulrift’s duration by 0.5 seconds for every 30 Essence spent while active, up to 8 seconds. Soulrift also deals 100-200% of its Shadow Damage per second to surrounding enemies for every 30 Essence gained while active.
TheReaping Lotus’ Aspectis an Offensive Aspect where Sever no longer returns, instead splitting into 3 specters that expand out and back from its apex, dealing 80-120% of normal damage. ThePhasing Poltergeist’s Aspectis another Offensive Aspect that causes Bone Spirit to spawn 3 spirits upon explosion, each seeking nearby enemies and dealing 20-40% of its damage, but this effect only occurs once per cast.Aspect of Fel Gluttonyis also an Offensive Aspect, causing your Golem Active to erupt and deal 200-400% Weapon Damage as Physical damage to surrounding enemies. Your Golem also consumes Corpses to reduce its remaining cooldown by 1 second.
TheBone Innovationrecipe adds X% Bone Storm Duration, X% Bone Spirit Explosion Size, and X% Bone Prison Duration.Blood Innovationprovides X% Blood Surge Nova Size, X% Hemorrhage Explosion Size, and X% Blood Lance Duration.Decay Innovationoffers X% Blight Size, X% Decompose Explosion Size, and X% Soulrift Duration.Execution Innovationincreases X% Sever Effect Size, X% Reap Effect Duration, and X% Skeleton Priest Effect Duration.
The Paragon Board introduces new nodes for the Necromancer. TheLegendary Node: Frailtycauses cursed enemies to take 10%[x] increased damage from you and your Minions, with this damage increasing by 10%[x] each second they are cursed, up to 40%[x]. Rare Nodes includeLingering Shadow(+10% Shadow Damage Over Time, +10% Shadow Damage),Shadow Resilience(+10% Shadow Resistance, +4% Maximum Life),Calculated(+15% Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies, +20 Armor),Preservation(+10 Intelligence, +20 Armor),Eradicate(+10% Vulnerable Damage, +10 Intelligence), andRelentless(+2.5% Attack Speed, +4% Maximum Life).
Active Skill
Dance of Knives – Cutthroat Agility Skill – 6 Charges, 1 second Charge Cooldown
Dance of Knivesis a Cutthroat Agility Skill with 6 Charges and a 1-second Charge cooldown. Channeling the skill launches knives at surrounding enemies, consuming one Charge per second, with each knife dealing 42% damage. While channeling, you gain 20%[+] Movement Speed and 10% Dodge Chance.Enhanced Dancegrants 4 Charges if you move 30 meters while channeling.Methodical Dancedrops up to 12 Stun Grenades, each dealing 20% Weapon Damage, when you stop channeling, with the number of grenades depending on the channeled duration.Disciplined Danceslows enemies by 25% for 3 seconds and gives a 20% chance for each knife to pierce.
The Rogue also has new Passive Skills.Alchemical Admixtureis a Key Passive that increases the Potency of your Imbuement Skills by 40% for 5 seconds when you deal 3 different types of Non-Physical damage. This Potency is further increased by 20% of your total Bonus Damage to Poison, Shadow, and Cold.Target Practiceprovides a 3/6/9% [+] Critical Strike Chance with Marksman and Cutthroat Skills.Balestraincreases your damage by 4/8/12%[x] for 4 seconds after using Evade.Evasivegrants 2/4/6% Damage Reduction for 4 seconds after Dodging an attack.Unto Dawnboosts your Ultimate Skills’ damage by 15/30/45%[x].
Pitfighter’s Gullis a Unique Ring with the following affixes: Inherent +X% Shadow Resistance, Inherent +X% Resistance to All Elements, +X% Critical Strike Chance, +X% Damage on Next Attack After Entering Stealth, X% Smoke Grenade Cooldown Reduction, and +X to Mending Obscurity. Its power increases your Critical Strike Damage by 33[x] for 3-6 seconds when casting Smoke Grenade, leaving behind a cloud of shadows that grants Stealth once per second while within it.
TheAspect of Poisonous Cloudsis an Offensive Aspect that creates a cloud dealing 600-780% of Weapon Damage as Poison Damage over 6 seconds when entering Stealth.Aspect of Splintering Shardsis also an Offensive Aspect, giving a Lucky Hit chance of up to 100% to create an ice splinter when hitting or killing a Frozen enemy, dealing 25-50% Weapon Damage as Cold Damage and Chilling for 20-30%.Aspect of Star Shardsis another Offensive Aspect where knives from Dance of Knives have a 50% chance to shatter into 6 shards of metal on hit, dealing 100-120% Physical Damage. Dance of Knives also spends Combo Points, granting up to 3 additional Charges that can exceed the maximum.
TheAgile Augmentsrecipe includes X% Chance for Flurry to Hit Twice, X% Chance for Dance of Knives Projectiles to cast twice, and X% Chance for Dash to deal double damage. TheAssassin Augmentsrecipe adds Shadow Step Cleaves for X% Damage, X% Chance for Blade Shift to deal double damage, and X% Chance for Smoke Grenade to deal double damage. TheWarped Augmentsrecipe provides X% Chance for Twisting Blades to hit twice, X% Chance for Rain of Arrows Waves to cast twice, and Invigorating Strike Cleaves for X% Damage.
The Paragon Board introduces new nodes for the Rogue. TheLegendary Node: Danse Macabreincreases the damage of your next Skill by 50%[x] when casting a Mobility or Subterfuge Skill. Rare Nodes includeAssassin(+25% Damage to Healthy Enemies, +4% Maximum Life),Acrobat(+2.5% Mobility Cooldown Reduction, +10 Dexterity),Skulker(+2.5% Subterfuge Cooldown Reduction, +10 Dexterity),Giant Killer(+16% Damage to Elites, +3% Resistance to All Elements),Brawler(+4.5% Damage reduction from Close Enemies, +12% Damage to Close Enemies), andRanger(+6% Damage Reduction from Distant Enemies, +15% Damage to Distant Enemies).
Familiar – Conjuration Skill – 3 Charges, 12 second Charge Cooldown
TheFamiliarskill is a Conjuration ability with 3 charges and a 12-second cooldown. This skill allows you to summon a familiar matching the element of your last cast skill for 8 seconds. The familiar seeks out enemies and periodically explodes, dealing 40% of its element’s damage. You may have up to six familiars active at a time. TheEnhancementversion of the skill causes familiars to apply their elemental effects every 0.5 seconds: Fire familiars apply 94% Burning damage over 4 seconds to enemies, Cold familiars apply 15% Chill to enemies, and Lightning familiars stun enemies for 1 second.
With theSummoned Familiarupgrade, your familiars’ elements no longer depend on your previous cast skill and instead follow a set sequence: Fire to Cold, Cold to Lightning, and Lightning to Fire. While you have at least two different elemental familiars active, you gain 3% Damage Reduction. TheInvoked Familiarenhancement increases your damage by 10% of the active familiar’s element type.
Enlightenmentis a Key Passive that grants you 1 stack of Enlightenment when casting any skill, or 15 stacks if your previous cast skill was a different element. After gaining 100 stacks, you become Enlightened, at which point you can no longer gain stacks and lose 10 stacks per second. While Enlightened, your bonus damage with Fire, Lightning, and Cold is equal to their combined amount, and you gain 25% increased damage, 45% Mana Regeneration, and 20% Attack Speed.
Evocationis a passive that reduces all cooldowns by 4/8/12%.Energy Focusgenerates a 6-second Barrier for 0.5/1.0/1.5% of your Maximum Life every second, up to 30%. However, this effect is lost for 5 seconds after losing health.Dampen Layerprovides 2/4/6% Damage Reduction while you have an active Barrier.Elemental Synergiesincreases the damage of your Frost, Shock, and Pyromancy skills by 1/2/3% for each skill of their type that you have equipped.
TheSidhe’s Bindingsare Unique Gloves that offer affixes including increased Non-Physical Damage, increased Familiar Explosion Size, increased Chance for Familiars to Hit Twice, and a bonus to the Familiar skill itself. When wearing these gloves, casting Familiar will summon all three elemental variants at once. Additionally, the Familiar’s duration is increased by 25-50%, and its cooldown is reduced by 2 seconds, but its maximum charges are reduced by 1.
Aspect of Charged Flashis an Offensive Legendary Aspect that enhances Charged Bolts; after hitting enemies 50 times, your next 3 casts of Charged Bolts become waves that pierce and deal 200-240% Weapon Damage as Critical Shock Damage.
Aspect of Elemental Constellationis another Offensive Aspect that conjures a matching Elemental Dagger around you after casting Pyromancy, Shock, and Frost skills. This dagger pierces through enemies, dealing 50-70% Weapon Damage after 3 seconds, with the damage increasing by 100% per matching elemental skill cast.
Aspect of Overheatinggrants a bonus where, after channeling Incinerate for 2 seconds, it deals 30-70% Weapon Damage as Critical Fire Damage per second for 5 seconds. Casting Incinerate refreshes and maintains this bonus.
Pyromancy Augments – Fieryis a weapon recipe that adds a chance for Incinerate, Firewall, and Meteorites to do double damage.Frozen Augments – Frozenis another weapon recipe that adds a chance for Blizzard, Ice Spike, and Deep Freeze to do double damage.Sorcerer Innovation – Utilityis a utility recipe that increases the size of Frost Nova, Blizzard, and Teleport Nova.
The Paragon Board for Sorcerer includes theFundamental ReleaseLegendary Node, which increases the damage enemies take from your attacks by 10% per Fire, Lightning, and Cold attack you make, up to a maximum of 30%. The Rare Nodes provide various bonuses, including +10% Vulnerable Damage, +10 Intelligence, +10% Non-Physical Damage, 5% Damage Reduction from Burning Enemies, +20 Armor, 5% Damage Reduction from Vulnerable Enemies, +4% Maximum Life, +10% Damage to Burning Enemies, 16% Damage to Elites, 6.5% Damage Taken Over Time Reduction, and +3% Resistance to All Elements.
General
Ultimate skills can now have additional ranks, allowing players to invest up to 5 skill points into their Ultimate Skill. Bonus ranks of Ultimate Skills also exist, though the limitation of having only one Ultimate Skill remains. Additionally, bonuses to all skill ranks, such as those from Harlequin’s Crest, will only grant ranks to the Ultimate Skill the player has learned. Life Generation affixes will now trigger when at Full Life, contributing to Overhealing effects. All Weapon Tempering affixes grant multiplicative damage, with more details available in each class’s section. All classes now have an innate 15% Blocked Damage Reduction, while the inherent Blocked Damage Reduction of shields has been reduced by 15%.
Legendary Aspects
Aspect of the Deflecting Barrier
Aspect of Slaughter
Starlight Aspect
Skills
Several skills have been updated.Frenzynow generates 7 Fury, up from 4, and its damage has been increased from 13% to 15%.Enhanced Frenzyhas been reworked; instead of generating 3 additional Fury while granting 60% bonus Attack Speed, it now reduces the Fury costs of your Core Skills by 25% when the same condition is met.Combat Frenzypreviously provided an 8% Damage Reduction per stack of Frenzy, but it now grants 5% Damage Reduction and 5% Movement Speed per stack. Additionally,Battle Frenzyhas seen an increase in Attack Speed per stack from 5% to 6%.
Ground Stomphas undergone significant changes. Its damage has been increased from 9.5% to 20% Weapon Damage.Enhanced Ground Stompnow generates 60 Fury and has a 1-second increased Stun duration, replacing its previous effect of extending Ground Stomp’s duration by 1 second.Tactical Ground Stompnow classifies Ground Stomp as a Brawling Skill, increases its damage to Bosses by 800%, and applies Vulnerable for 4 seconds, instead of just generating 60 Fury. Finally,Strategic Ground Stompnow reduces the cooldown of your Ultimate Skill by 4 seconds per enemy hit, up to a maximum of 12 seconds, a significant improvement from the previous 2-second reduction per enemy.
Passives
Several passives have been modified.Hamstringnow gives your Bleeding effects a 15% chance to Slow Healthy and Injured enemies by 70% each time they deal damage, replacing the former 20% Slow effect on Healthy enemies only.Slaying Strikehas seen its damage to Injured enemies reduced from 8% to 5%.Unconstrainednow increases Berserking’s damage bonus to 60%, and while below 65% Life, you are always Berserk and gain a 25% Physical Damage Reduction bonus, instead of simply extending Berserking’s maximum duration by 5 seconds and increasing its damage bonus.
Tempering
Weapon Tempering recipes have been updated with several new affixes.Bleed Augmentsnow offer bonuses such as additional Skill Ranks to Cut to the Bone, a chance for Rend to hit twice, or for Rupture to deal double damage.Furious Augmentsnow include a chance for Frenzy to hit twice, Lunging Strike to deal double damage, and an extended Flay Duration, which has been moved from Bleed Augments.Berserking Augmentshas been renamed toBerserking Innovationand changed to a Utility recipe.Berserking Finessenow includes a bonus for Dust Devil Damage, previously part of Sandstorm Augments. TheBarbarian InnovationUtility Recipe now offers bonuses for Earthquake Size, Frenzy Duration, and Stun Duration, the latter being moved from Barbarian Control.Wasteland Augmentshas also been changed to a Utility recipe, with bonuses for Ground Stomp Size, Leap Size, and Dust Devil Size.Sandstorm Augmentshas been renamed toNatural Augments, with some additive damage bonuses removed and new chances for Dust Devils and Earthquakes to cast twice.Demolition Finesseoffers new bonuses for Brawling Skill Damage, Weapon Mastery Damage, and Damage While Iron Maelstrom is Active, with some additive damage recipes for Death Blow, Charge, and Kick being replaced in new Weapon Tempering recipes.
Legendary Aspects
Several Legendary Aspects have been adjusted. TheAspect Of Giant Strideshas had its cooldown per enemy hit reduced from 2.5-5.0 seconds to 1.3-2.5 seconds, with the maximum reduction decreased from 9 to 7 seconds.The AspectOf Bul-KathosandOf Earthquakeshave both seen a 30% increase in Earthquake damage.
Paragon
The Paragon system has been revised with numerous updates. TheHemorrhage Boardhas replacedFlayerwithGrit, now providing +10% Vulnerable Damage and +10 Strength. TheBlood Rage Boardhas seenEnragedreplaced withGrit, now offering 4% Damage Reduction from Bleeding and +4% Healing Received.Carnage BoardreplacesBrashwithBerserker, which now gives +16% Damage to Elites and +10 Strength. TheDecimator Boardnow hasArrogancereplaced withDestroyer, offering +10% Physical Damage and +10 Strength. TheBone Breaker BoardreplacesVigorwithBludgeoner, providing +10% Damage with Two-Handed Bludgeoning Weapons and +10 Strength.Flawless Technique BoardhasWild Forcereplaced withBrash, now giving 4% Damage Reduction from Close Enemies and +10% Fire Resistance. Finally, theWarbringer BoardreplacesConditionedwithGuarded Advance, offering +10% Damage while Fortified and +10 Strength. TheWeapons Master Boardnow hasIron Strengthreplaced, providing +16% Damage to Elites and +10 Strength.
Skills
Several Druid have undergone significant updates.Innate Debilitating Roarhas been reworked; instead of slowing enemies by 65%, it now increases your damage by15%for its duration.Preserving Debilitating Roar‘shealing effect has been increased from4%to6%of your Maximum Life per second while active. The damage ofInnate Earthen Bulwarkhas been increased from30%to60%Weapon Damage.Tramplehas been updated to more consistently reach its target destination rather than stopping immediately upon hitting terrain.Cataclysmhas seen an increase in Lightning Strike damage from95%to115%Weapon Damage, with a new limitation that strikes cannot hit the same target more than once every0.5 seconds.Ursine Strengthhas had its damage bonus while Healthy reduced from30%to15%, while its Maximum Health bonus has been increased from20%to30%, and the Overpower damage bonus has been increased from30%to45%.Grizzly Ragenow extends its duration by5 secondswhen overpowering bosses.
Passives
Passives have also seen adjustments.Quickshiftnow grants increased damage when Shapeshifting into a new animal form, up to6/12/18%, with the bonus lost after3 secondsin Human form.Heightened Senseshas been altered so that both Damage Reduction and Movement Speed bonuses persist as long as you remain in either animal form and are doubled if both forms are active, but these bonuses are lost after3 secondsin Human form.Bestial Rampagehas been reworked so thatWerebeargrants30%increased damage andWerewolfgrants20%Attack Speed while Shapeshifting, with these bonuses lost after3 secondsin Human form.
Unique Items
Several unique items have also been adjusted.Fleshrenderhas seen its damage increased from100-300%to200-400%of Weapon Damage, and the damage increase per100 Willpowerhas been increased from30%to50%.Dolmen Stonehas been adjusted to allow Boulders rotating in your Hurricane to Knockback enemies less, ensuring more consistent hits within melee range.Wildheart Hungernow increases the value of your Bestial Rampage bonuses by2.0-5.0%when Shapeshifting, up to20-50%, with the bonus decaying by2%per second.Hunter’s Zenithnow guarantees that your next Core Skill is guaranteed to Overpower and Critically Strike, dealing30-60%increased damage every30 secondsspent in animal form. Casting Shapeshifting Skills reduces this timer by1 second, or2 secondsif you change to a new animal form.
Tempering
Weapon Tempering recipes have been updated across several categories.Storm Augmentsnow offer bonuses such as a chance forWind Shear,Tornado, andHurricaneto cast twice or deal double damage.Lightning Augmentsprovide chances forStormstrike,Lightning Storm, andCataclysmto hit twice or deal double damage.Earth Augmentsinclude bonuses forLandslide,Earth Spike, andBoulderto cast twice.Werewolf Augmentshave been revised to include chances forShredto hit twice andLacerate Durationto increase.Werebear Augmentsnow offer bonuses forMaulandPulverizeto hit twice.Companion Augmentsprovide chances forWolves,Poison Creeper, andRavento deal double damage. Additionally, specific damage bonuses have been removed or moved from various Finesse recipes, such asHurricaneandCataclysm DamagefromStorm FinesseandGrizzly Rage DurationfromWerebear AugmentstoShapeshifting Finesse.
Paragon
The Paragon systemhas also been significantly revised. TheStarter Boardhas replacedResolvewithReclaim, now providing+16% Damageto Elites and+10 Willpower. Other boards have been adjusted similarly. TheThunderstruck Boardnow featuresConcentrated, replacingHubris, with the shift from damage reduction to+16% Damageto Elites and+10 Willpower. TheCrushing Earthnode on theEarthen Devastation Boardnow offers+15% Damageto Crowd Controlled Enemies, while theBattleworn Hidenode on theSurvival Instincts Boardnow provides+16% Damageto Elites. Similar adjustments have been made across other boards, such asLust for Carnage,Heightened Malice,Inner Beast,Constricting Tendrils, andAncestral Guidance, reflecting shifts in damage, resistance, healing, and life bonuses, as well as the movement or replacement of specific nodes and their effects.
Skills
Several skills have undergone updates.Blighthas seen changes, withEnhanced Blightno longer slowing enemies by25%. Instead, it now increasesBlight‘s radius by15%.Paranormal Blighthas been reworked, replacing its previous30%chance to immobilize enemies for2.5 secondson impact with a new effect that chills enemies by15%every second.
Blood Lancehas also been adjusted. Now, it always pierces through enemies who are currently lanced, dealing10%reduced damage to subsequent enemies beyond the first.Enhanced Blood Lancehas been reworked; instead of simply piercing through enemies and reducing damage, after castingBlood Lance8 times, the next cast is guaranteed to overpower and spawns aBlood Orbunder the first enemy hit.Supernatural Blood Lancehas been reworked as well, and now it deals15%increasedCritical Strike Damageand15%increasedOverpower Damage.
Blood Wavehas changes too.Prime Blood Waveno longer slows enemies by50%for4 secondsbut now grants20% Damage Reductionfor10 seconds. Additionally,Supreme Blood Wavenow spawns6 Blood Orbs, up from3.
Passives
The passiveTransfusionhas been updated, reducing the cooldown for spawning a Blood Orb from 4 to 2 seconds.Death’s Approachnow increases Movement Speed from 4/8/12% to 5/10/15%.
Legendary Aspects
TheAspect of Cursed Auratooltip has been updated to clarify that curses are not cast, so they do not benefit from Tempering. TheTidal Aspecthas also been modified, with additional Blood Waves now dealing 100-120% of normal damage instead of the previous 50-30% reduced damage.
Unique Items
Unique items have seen changes as well.The Mortacruxhas been significantly altered. Previously, it offered +50% Damage, +126-180 Intelligence, +98-125% Critical Strike Damage, +70-85% Vulnerable Damage, and +3-5 Ranks of the Hewed Flesh passive. Now, it provides +100% Macabre and Corpse Damage, +126-180 Intelligence, a 36.5-50% chance for Corpse Explosion to deal double damage, and a new effect where Hewed Flesh grants a Barrier for 8-10% of Maximum Life for 4 seconds, along with the same +3-5 Ranks of Hewed Flesh.Black Riverhas also been updated, replacing its +126-180 Intelligence affix with a 36.5-50% chance for Corpse Explosion to deal double damage.
Tempering
Weapon Tempering recipes have been updated across several categories:
Other updates include the removal of specific damage bonuses from theShadow FinesseandBone Finessetempering recipes, and changes to theProfane Cageaffix, which now boosts Blight’s Chill Potency instead of its Slow Potency.
Paragon
The Paragon system has been revised with numerous updates. TheStarter Boardhas replaced thePreservationnode withGrasp, now providing +16% Damage to Elites and +10 Intelligence. Various other boards have been adjusted:
Skills
Several skills have undergone significant updates. ForEnhanced Blade Shift, the movement speed boost of20%remains, but the duration is now refreshed when moving through enemies.Fundamental Blade Shifthas seen a change from dazing enemies after passing through three of them to empowering the nextBlade Shiftto deal100%more damage when a different skill is cast.Disciplined Shadow Stepnow deals200%more damage, while still reducing its cooldown by3 secondswhen cast.
TheConcealmentskill has been improved to also grant theUnhinderedstatus.Subverting Concealmenthas been upgraded so that the skill breakingConcealmentis always aCritical Strike, while still making enemiesVulnerablefor6 seconds.Countering Concealmentnow provides a10% Dodge Chanceand boosts the movement speed bonus to60%for5 secondswhen castingConcealment.Prime Shadow Clonenow grants bothStealthandUnstoppablefor5 secondsafter castingShadow Clone.Death Trapnow has a baseline cooldown reduction of10 secondsif it kills an enemy. TheSupreme Death Trapaspect has been enhanced to hit enemies again for120%ofDeath Trap‘s damage if they resist the pull-in.Rain of Arrowsretains its baseline effect of knocking down enemies for3 secondswith the first wave, while theSupreme Rain of Arrowsnow deals40%increased damage to crowd-controlled enemies.
Passives
The passive abilitieshave also seen significant revisions.Weapon Mastery‘stooltip has been updated to clarify that it now provides a bonus based on the weapons used in your attack.Close Quarters Combathas been enhanced, now scaling from15%of damage dealt at close range instead of the previous10%against crowd-controlled enemies.Adrenaline Rushhas been improved, increasing energy regeneration while moving from5/10/15%to7/14/21%.Impetusnow grants additional damage to basic skills along with agility and subterfuge when the buff is active.Victimizehas been modified so that the lucky hit now causes an explosion dealing80% weapon damage, with the damage being further increased by120%of your Vulnerable Damage Bonus.Momentumnow counts forChanneled Cutthroat Skillsand only removes stacks when castingMarksmanskills.
Legendary Aspects
Several legendary aspectshave been altered.The Aspect of True Sightnow not only deals70-100% Critical Strike Damageto enemies marked by Inner Sight but also grants an additional21-30%increased damage while Inner Sight is full.The Resistant Assailant’saspect has been adjusted to grant resistance when casting Concealment instead of when breaking stealth.Uncanny Treacheryhas been revised so that dealing direct damage with a non-Agility skill after casting an Agility skill now grants Stealth for2 seconds. When Stealth breaks, you gain a10-18%dodge chance for2 seconds. Finally,Opportunistshas been updated to cause grenades to drop on your target if you exit Stealth withShadow Step.
Tempering and Augments
Weapon tempering and augmentshave received numerous updates. Allweapon tempering recipesnow include new stats such as a chance forCaltropsto consume no charges, a chance forDeath Trapto deal double damage, and increasedPoison Trapduration. Additionally, variousprojectile-based skillslikePuncture,Heartseeker, andForceful Arrownow have chances to cast twice. Similar updates have been applied to other skills, includingBarrage,Rapid Fire,Penetrating Shot, andFlurry. Furthermore, skills likeDance of Knives,Invigorating Strike,Dash,Shadow Step,Blade Shift, andTwisting Bladeshave received new chances to hit or deal double damage. Notably,Smoke Grenadedamage has been removed from theSubterfuge Expertise Recipe.
Paragon
Skills
Severalskillshave undergone significant updates. ForEnhanced Charged Bolts, thelightning surgenow hits both the original target and surrounding enemies.Enhanced Fireballhas been modified; while it still increasesFireball‘s radius by 50%, it now also causes enemies toburnfor 10% damage over 6 seconds. TheChain LightningEnchantment has had its cooldown reduced from 4 seconds to 1 second, and theHydraEnchantment duration has been increased from 5 to 10 seconds.Arc LashEnchantmentnow has astun durationof 1 second, up from 0.5 seconds. Additionally, theIncinerateEnchantmentcooldown has been reduced from 14 seconds to 8 seconds.
Passives
TheEndless Pyrepassive has been revised. It now provides 6/12/18% increased burning damage, with the bonus rising to 25/50/75% when enemies are affected by more damage over time than their total life. TheConjuration Masterypassive has been capped, with bonuses limited to 30 active conjurations. Its tooltip has also been updated for clarity.
Legendary Aspects
Several legendary aspects have been altered. TheStorm Swell Aspectnow increases damage by 15-35% while Ice Armor is active, with an additional 15% increase against frozen enemies. TheAspect of Engulfing Flameshas been adjusted to deal 6% increased burning damage for each second enemies remain burning, up to 30% after 5 seconds, with additional damage bonuses against enemies below 50% life. TheAspect of Armageddonnow causes more meteorites to drop, and these meteorites, along with those from theAspect of Shattered Stars, will more consistently land around or on enemies near the cast target.
Unique Items
Unique items have also seen changes.Tal Rasha’s Iridescent Loopnow increases damage by 10-25% for 5 seconds when casting Pyromancy, Shock, or Frost skills, stacking once per element. Casting again refreshes all bonuses if the previous skill was a different element. TheAxial Conduitaffix has been changed from a chance for Chain Lightning projectiles to cast twice to a chance for Chain Lightning to hit twice. TheGloves of the Illuminatornow cause Fireball to bounce as it travels, exploding each time it hits the ground, with explosions dealing 70-100% of normal damage.
Tempering
Weapon temperinghas received numerous updates. All weapon tempering recipes now include specific stats, such asPyromancy augmentsthat grant chances for fire-based projectiles to cast twice or for spells likeMeteorto deal double damage.FrostandShock augmentshave similar updates, focusing on ice and lightning abilities, respectively. Other updates include theremoval of specific size and damage increasesfrom augment recipes and therelocationof certain size effects to a newSorcerer Innovation Utility recipe. Additionally, some existing bonuses have been replaced with new effects, such asfamiliar lucky hit chancesbeing added to theConjuration Fortune Utility recipe.
Paragon
The Paragon systemhas also been overhauled. TheStarting Boardnow featuresStudiedinstead of Erudite, providing +16% damage to elites and +10 Intelligence. Various other boards, such as theSearing Heat Boardand theBurning Instinct Board, have been updated to offer increased critical strike damage, damage reduction, or bonuses to fire and cold damage. TheFrigid Fate Boardnow includesElemental Favorfor a non-physical damage boost, while theIcefall Boardhas shifted to provide better damage reduction and life bonuses. TheStatic Surge BoardandCeaseless Conduit Boardhave also seen changes, focusing on damage, life, and armor bonuses, while theElemental Summoner BoardandEnchantment Master Boardadjustments offer boosts to elemental damage and resistance. These changes emphasize adaptability and improved damage output across various situations, reinforcing the strategic depth of the Paragon system.
The number of available character slots has been increased from 12 to 13. Additionally, dodge chance can no longer reach 100% through any means, as the dodge chance bonuses from related aspects have been adjusted from additive to inverse multiplicative, aligning them with typical dodge chance modifiers. The Gauntlet will also be disabled for Season 6 to allow the meta to settle with the introduction of the Spiritborn and other system updates.
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Castielle
Senior Editor at Fextralife. I enjoy gaming, playing and watching sports, cooking yummy food, watching a good movie and hanging out with Fex.
