D2R 2.4.3 Patch Notes & Release Date

D2R 2.4.3 Release Date

The release date of D2R 2.4.3 is June 29, 2022. We introduce a variety of new features and improvements set to elevate multiplayer lobbies for console and PC. Accompanying these new features are quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes. Partying up with like-minded demon slayers is a cornerstone of the Diablo experience. Because of this, we‘ve been closely monitoring your feedback around multiplayer lobbies, and the changes highlighted below are a direct result of this. Sanctuary wasn’t built in a day—while we have made great strides in refining various aspects of Diablo II: Resurrected, we are dedicated to enhancing your pursuit of the Dark Wanderer even further. As always, we want to make the flames of this beloved classic burn hotter and brighter than ever before and invite your feedback to help aid us in this communal effort.

BACKEND IMPROVEMENTS

One common issue among players is that their Game List did not populate with enough games, even when they felt it should have. When you create a game in D2R, it gets hosted on one of many game sites in your region. Prior to ladder's launch, the Game List would only populate with games from just one single game site in your region—whichever you had the best connection to. This was done to preserve a high-quality gameplay experience in any game you may join through the lobby, but we found our criteria to be overly aggressive. When ladder launched, we expanded this to provide players games from up to three game sites. This helped players see more games in their Game List without a cost to connection quality, but players still weren't seeing enough games. We've decided to broaden it even further in Patch 2.4.3. Now, any number of game sites in your region that you have a strong enough connection to can contribute to the results in your Game List. To provide even more options for those looking to join a game, we've also doubled the maximum number of games that can appear in the Game List at a given time from 20 to 40. Plus, we've fine-tuned game details to refresh in almost real time. You still must manually refresh your Game List, which is something we decided to keep so the Game List would not shift while players select a game. These improvements have been applied to both the console and PC lobby experiences.

CONSOLE LOBBY UPDATES

Following the successful launch of Ladder Season One, the team has turned their focus to features that required the most attention. Console Party Finder was the top item on our list by a large margin. Patch 2.4.3. brings multiple improvements to the console multiplayer experience, providing new and improved ways to create and find games by replacing Party Finder with Game Creator and Game List.

Three Options Lie Before You

Three Options Lie Before You

Selecting the “Play” button on the main menu with your selected online hero will now present three options for online play:

Private: Enter a private game that will not populate to the Game List. The only way for others to join your game is through the Friends List or by being invited.

Game Creator: Create a public game that will populate on the games list.

Game List: View the games list, use the search feature, or join a public game.

Cheap Diablo II: Resurrected Items

Game Creator

Game Creator will equip you with the ability to quickly create the type of game you desire. To aid you in doing so, all previous game categories that were available in Party Finder have returned in the Game Creator. Selecting and confirming one of these game categories will generate a pre-made name for your game, accompanied by an assigned number—this is to prevent games with duplicate names from being created. Level Difference, which was previously only available as a Game Creation option for PC players, has been added as a game creation option.

D2R Game Creator

We have also added an additional category called Custom—this category consists of two options:

Public Game: Create a public game to populate in the games list with a name of your choice.

Password-Protected Game: Create a public game with a password that must be entered to join. Just like in the PC lobby, a password-protected game will not appear in the games list but can be joined through a separate “Join Game” button found by pressing the “Search Game Name” button on the Game List menu and going to the Custom category.

A preview of your Custom or generated game name is displayed on the top-right portion of your screen. Once you are comfortable with your selections and confirm them, your journey to Sanctuary can begin.

Game List

D2R Game List

Selecting the “Game List” button will display up to 40 matching games created by other players that your selected character is able to join. To aid in finding specific games, you can use the search feature to locate a specific game or filter games displayed using keywords. Within the filtering options you can set the following parameters:

Difficulty: Filter to display only Normal, Nightmare, Hell, or any combination of the three options.

Ping: Restrict your results to only display games of a particular connection quality or better.

Game Name: Pressing the Triangle button on a PlayStation controller, Y button on an Xbox controller, or X button on a Nintendo Switch controller while on the Game List menu will open the Search Game Name menu. Here, you can search for both Custom and pre-made game names using the same familiar layout you would use during Game Creation. Searching for a game name using the Custom category will only return game results that were created using the Custom category. Searching using one of our pre-made categories will only return game results that were created using that same pre-made category. For example, selecting the pre-made Den of Evil search option will only yield pre-made game results. Inversely, searching “Den of Evil” under the Custom category will yield Custom game names with those phrases within them. Custom games, with or without a password, can be joined directly through the Search Game Name menu.

Modifying any of these filters will refresh your list of games and return a new list of games (up to 40) based on the criteria you selected. Players also have a refresh button available to them to manually refresh the list at any time.

PC LOBBY UPDATES

D2R PC LOBBY UPDATES

We want Multiplayer lobbies to be the bridge to many hours of slaying demons, collecting loot, and memorable moments with friends. Unfortunately, many players have experienced difficulties in finding specific types of games they would like to join. To solve this, we added a search functionality in the lobby—specific keywords or game names can now be typed in to return a list of games based on that search term.

With Patch 2.4.3., the Game List will now display each game’s connection quality in a tooltip that pops up when you hover your mouse over a specific game. Games will populate into the Game List based on their connection quality, offering you expanded knowledge when deciding which game to join.

We cannot stress enough how appreciated and crucial your feedback is. We’re always looking for opportunities to iterate or reshape aspects of Diablo II: Resurrected so your trip to Sanctuary continues to be memorable.

MAGIC FIND BONUS

You feel an intense rush of energy coursing through your veins, a faint internal humming overriding your own pulse. From June 30–July 4, a mysterious energy source will grant you a 50% buff to Magic Find, providing an increased chance to receive Magic, Rare, Set, or Unique loot as a drop from slain foes. This bonus stacks with any additional increases to Magic Find provided by your items.

D2R MAGIC FIND BONUS

QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVEMENTS

Gameplay

  • Players can now start a new Whirlwind, Leap, or Leap Attack immediately after a Whirlwind ends.
  • Changed the logic for determining how often Whirlwind attacks occur. Whirlwind now incorporates Increased Attack Speed (IAS) from all equipment. The frames between each Whirlwind attack are equal to the attack frame of a basic attack for that character (modified by increased attack speed). While dual wielding, the attack frame for each weapon will be averaged (rounding up). Overall, Whirlwind attacks should be at least as fast as they were before. Slower weapons will attack notably faster.
  • Added a new "Loot to Cube" skill for controllers in the general skills menu. Using this skill on an item will pick it up and place it in your Horadric Cube, if there is space.
  • Added a bindable hotkey for mouse and keyboard to directly open the Horadric Cube if it is in your inventory.
  • Added a new button shortcut to open the Horadric Cube from the inventory menu.
  • Players can now bulk assign stat points using a controller.
  • A confirmation prompt will now appear when bulk assigning all remaining stat points on both PC and console. This option is unavailable while using legacy graphics.
  • Added an Automap Auto Open setting to allow players to set their preferred Automap position.

Online

  • You can now double click on a game to join it in the PC lobby.
  • Players on Switch can now join a friend's game via the in-game Friends List.
  • Game List size has been doubled from 20 to 40.
  • Game list details in both the details panel and in the Game List now load faster upon selecting a game.
  • Friends playing D2R are now sorted to the top of the Friends List.
  • Console players now have an option in the options menu to toggle Game Name visibility.

BUG FIXES

Gameplay

  • Fixed an issue where Deckard Cain was not able to identify items in the Horadric Cube. Now he will do so when the Cube is in your main inventory.
  • Fixed an issue where short-distance whirlwinds could end without executing a single attack.
  • Fixed an issue where Whirlwind would still apply properties and damage from a broken weapon.
  • Fixed an issue where the first attack of Whirlwind was treated different from the rest. When dual wielding, the first attack will choose two targets, just like all the other attacks.
  • Fixed an issue where resurrect costs were inconsistent for high-level mercenaries.
  • Fixed an issue where corpse skills were not auto-targeting corpses when using just right click.

Online

  • Fixed an issue where you couldn't select and join lobby games on PC with a controller.
  • Fixed an issue where players could impersonate developers by mimicking the chat font color used to display system messages.
  • Fixed an issue where lobby figurines would disappear while whispering.
  • Fixed an issue that would rarely prevent players from joining a private game.
  • Fixed an issue in Hardcore where both players had to mutually flag each other to be able to loot a corpse, even if the dead player had the other player flagged.
  • Fixed an issue where ladder rankings with six or more digits would begin to overlap the character name.

Character Select

  • Fixed an issue that would sometimes cause the most recently played characters to not sort to the top of the list.
  • Fixed an issue where an off-hand flail could fail to animate on the front end.

Language

  • Fixed miscellaneous localization bugs.

Stability and Performance

  • Fixed a performance issue that could occur when spamming refresh at a vendor for an extended period.
  • Miscellaneous crash and stability fixes.

D2R Patch 2.4 & Class Changes

1.D2R 2.4 Release Date & Patch Notes
3. Mercenary Changes & New Rune Words

1.D2R Ladder Release Date & Patch Notes

The release date of the D2R Ladder is April 28 at 5PM PDT, 2022.

Ladder Launch Timing:

Region Release Time
North America

April 28 at 5PM PDT

Europe

April 29 at 2AM CEST

Asia

April 29 at 9AM KST

We are excited to invite you the Diablo II: Resurrected competitive Ladder system starting on April 28, PT. The Ladder launch represents an optional ranked competitive system of the game through a series of modes available to select from with a fresh Ladder-specific character. Each mode will have their own leaderboard where players compete to strategically gain experience within a limited timeframe while having access to Ladder-specific content. When the Ladder season ends, leaderboard rankings will reset, transitioning characters to non-ladder mode, giving players an opportunity to store their hard-earned treasured loot as a new Ladder season awaits them.

D2R Ladder Rank Play

Ladder Rank Play Modes

Like Diablo II Legacy, Diablo II: Resurrected will feature four different Ladder modes, including:

Mode Description
Classic Ladder The normal version of Ladder play that encompasses playing with four acts.
Hardcore Classic Ladder The hardcore (only 1 life) version of Ladder play that encompasses playing with four acts.
Expansion Ladder The normal version of Ladder play that encompasses playing five acts, as it includes the “Lord of Destruction” expansion content.
Hardcore Expansion Ladder The hardcore (only 1 life) version of Ladder play that encompasses playing five acts, as it includes the “Lord of Destruction” expansion content.

Feature details:

  • Select Diablo II: Resurrected content will be exclusively for Ladder modes
  • Players can use /ladder and /helpladder chat commands to retrieve season start and end information
  • Ladder information is made available in the leaderboard UI, and for console, players will be updated upon loading into each game
  • At the end of a season, your Ladder character will be converted to a non- Ladder character, along with any Ladder -exclusive items your character has equipped or in their inventory
  • Once a season ends, you will have until the start of the season after next to retrieve items from your seasonal Ladder shared stash tab to bring into your normal online play
    • For example, once Season 1 ends, you have until Season 3 begins to retrieve items from your Season 1 stash. Any items not retrieved will be lost forever

2. D2R Class Balance Changes 2.4

After so many requests from the community, we’re thrilled to share new balance changes are coming to your favorite heroes in Diablo II: Resurrected! As fans ourselves, we’re just as eager as you to find new ways to play. This is incredibly special, as the last patch to make balance changes to classes in Diablo II was Patch 1.13c, which was released back on March 23, 2010! Now, eleven years later, we’re making new changes to expand character build diversity, and retain class fantasy and specialty! These goals are crucial. We’re reviewing underused skills, assessing casting delays, making tooltip quality-of-life changes, and more to fulfill these goals.

We want to empower you to be creative with the builds you want to play, but we don’t want to “reinvent the wheel” and steer classes from their core purposes. Without diving into the specifics, let’s take a peek at the philosophies behind various Class changes.

2.1 Amazon

The Amazon’s agility and versatility are profound. Generally, we like the current state of the Amazon class and believe her to be quite balanced. Nonetheless, we see an opportunity to improve the Amazon’s melee skills. We want to buff the strengths of certain underused melee skills such as Impale and Fend to give more reasons to use them. We are also looking into freeing up synergy requirements for melee skills to give more skill point freedom for other possibilities.

Additionally, we are also considering buffing certain skills in the Bow and Crossbow tree to help improve bow gameplay in higher difficulties.

D2R Amazon Balance Changes

2.1.1 Javelin And Spear Skills

Impale

  • This skill is now an uninterruptible attack
  • Attack Rating modification has been removed, now this skill will always hit the target
  • This skill now slows the target by a percentage for a duration
  • Animation speed increased by 30%

Fend

  • Attack Speed increased by 100% (Reduced the rollback frames value between each attack)

Power Strike

  • Removed synergy from Lightning Fury skill
  • Lightning Bolt synergy increased from +10% to +14%
  • Charged Strike synergy increased from +10% to +14%
  • Lightning Strike synergy increased from +10% to +14%

Charged Strike

  • Removed synergy from Lightning Fury skill
  • Power Strike synergy increased from +10% to +14%
  • Lightning Bolt synergy increased from +10% to +14%
  • Lightning Strike synergy increased from +10% to +14%

Lightning Strike

  • Removed synergy from Lightning Fury skill
  • Power Strike synergy increased from +8% to +11%
  • Lightning Bolt synergy increased from +8% to +11%
  • Charged Strike synergy increased from +8% to +11%

Poison Javelin

  • This skill’s damage scaling at high levels has been slightly adjusted
  • Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
  • Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay

Plague Javelin

  • Plague Javelin poison duration and damage has been adjusted. This should net out to a 20% damage-per-second increase at level 1 and up to a 33% damage-per-second increase at max level
  • Poison Javelin synergy increased from +10% to +14%
  • Casting Delay reduced from 4 seconds to 1 second
  • Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
  • Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
Developer Comments: We wanted to give more advantages for using Amazon melee skills, so we are freeing up skill synergy reliance on “Lightning Fury”, which will make the lightning melee skills a cheaper skill point alternative to build around. Also, we are improving the power of the lesser-used melee skills such as “Impale” and “Fend.” Lastly, “Plague Javelin” has received improvements with Casting Delay, damage synergy, and duration scaling, to further diversify its usage compared to “Poison Javelin.”

2.1.2 Passive And Magic Skills

Inner Sight

  • This skill’s radius has increased by 35%

Slow Missiles

  • Missile slow now scales instead of staying at a flat base of 33%
  • This skill’s radius has increased by 35%
  • This skill will now reduce enemy missile damage based on skill level

Valkyrie

  • Casting Delay reduced from 6 seconds to 0.6 seconds
  • Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
  • Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay

Dodge

  • The animation can now be interrupted and will no longer lock out the Amazon from performing other actions

Avoid

  • The animation can now be interrupted and will no longer lock out the Amazon from performing other actions

Developer Comments: We wanted to add some quality-of-life changes to certain Passive and Magic Skills. We improved the radius for “Inner Sight” and “Slow Missiles”, and we gave more reason to invest skill points for “Slow Missiles.” Also, we wanted to alleviate the disadvantage of the animation lockout from using the “Dodge” and “Avoid” skills so that players are more willing to spend points on these skills.

2.1.3 Bow And Crossbow Skills

Freezing Arrow

  • Mana Cost per level reduced from +0.5 to +0.25

Magic Arrow

  • Increased the amount of physical damage converted to magic damage for the base level and per level

Multiple Shot

  • Added synergy from Guided Arrow: +12% physical damage per level

Guided Arrow

  • Damage bonus per level increased from +5% to +7%
  • Added synergy from Multiple Shot: +12% physical damage per level

Strafe

  • Removed the 25% weapon damage reduction from this skill
  • Now also gives increased Attack Rating with +30% baseline and +9% per level
  • Added Synergy from Multiple Shot: +5% physical damage per level
  • Added Synergy from Guided Arrow: +10% physical damage per level

Fire Arrow

  • Mana Cost no longer increases per level

Exploding Arrow

  • Damage scaling increased by about 50% for higher skill levels
  • Fire Arrow synergy increased from +12% to +14%
  • Mana Cost per level reduced from +0.5 to +0.25

Immolation Arrow

  • Average Fire Damage per second scaling increased by about 100%
  • Cooldown reduced by 40%
  • Mana Cost per level reduced from +0.5 to +0.25
  • Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
  • Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
Developer Comments: Fire bow skills are receiving damage scaling improvements at higher levels so that they consistently fulfill their fire elemental damage type roles for their level tier. Also, mana costs were reduced for the elemental arrow skills to give them more general usage. “Strafe” will no longer have weapon damage reduction and will also provide Attack Rating so that it can have distinctive advantages over the other physical bow skills. Finally, we believe it felt odd that the physical bow skills don't have any synergies like the cold and fire bow skills do. We hope that giving some synergies to the physical bow skills help them remain viable.

2.2 Assassin

The Assassin vanquishes evil from the darkness with great ease. However, for this class, we see an opportunity for the Martial Arts builds to shine brighter. Martial Arts skills can become increasingly challenging to perform in higher difficulties, so we are re-evaluating how to improve generating and spending Combo Points.

Furthermore, various Trap skills are not often used. So, we’re re-evaluating synergy requirements to promote more trap builds and damage scaling buffs.

D2R Assassin Balance Changes

2.2.1 Martial Arts

Fist of Fire

  • Attack Rating bonus increased from +15% to +25% baseline, and from +7% to +10% per level

Claws of Thunder

  • Attack Rating bonus increased from +15% to +25% baseline, and from +7% to +10% per level

Blades of Ice

  • Attack Rating bonus increased from +15% to +25% baseline, and from +7% to +10% per level

Tiger Strike

  • Attack Rating bonus increased from +15% to +25% baseline, and from +7% to +10% per level

Cobra Strike

  • Attack Rating bonus increased from +15% to +25% baseline, and from +7% to +10% per level

Phoenix Strike

  • Attack Rating bonus increased from +15% to +25% baseline, and from +7% to +10% per level

Dragon Talon

  • Now consumes only 1 of each Martial Arts charge when cast
  • Now always hits the target only if the Assassin has any Martial Arts charges

Dragon Claw

  • Now consumes only 1 of each Martial Arts charge when cast
  • Now always hits the target only if the Assassin has any Martial Arts charges
  • Damage bonus per level increased from 5% to 15%

Dragon Tail

  • Now consumes only 1 of each Martial Arts charge when cast
  • Now always hits the target only if the Assassin has any Martial Arts charges
  • Damage bonus per level increased from 10% to 20%

Dragon Flight

  • Now consumes only 1 of each Martial Arts charge when cast
  • Now guarantee hits the target only if the Assassin has any Martial Arts charges
  • Casting Delay removed
  • Damage bonus per level increased from 25% to 35%

Developer Comments: Martial Arts skills are receiving a significant change with having Finishing Moves (including the Attack skill) only consume 1 of each charge at a time instead of all 3 at once. We feel like this will allow Martial Arts to perform smoother during combat by better maintaining current charges instead of having to re-acquire charges too often. In addition to this, we are increasing Attack Rating for Charge-up skills to compliment the smoothness of gaining and spending charges Lastly, we wanted to improve damage payoff for the lesser used Finishing Move skills.

2.2.2 Shadow Disciplines

Fade

  • Tooltip updated to now show the physical damage resist reduction

Venom

  • Buff Duration scaling per level changed from 4 seconds to 12 seconds (matching Burst of Speed and Fade)

Shadow Warrior

  • Casting Delay reduced from 6 seconds to 0.6 seconds
  • Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
  • Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay

Shadow Master

  • Casting Delay reduced from 6 seconds to 0.6 seconds
  • Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
  • Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay

Developer Comments: We felt that Shadow Disciplines are generally widely used and effective, but we wanted to add some quality-of-life changes, so we added tooltip clarity, buff duration consistency improvements, and casting delay changes.

2.2.3 Traps

Shock Web

  • Removed synergy from Death Sentry skill
  • Charged Bolt Sentry synergy increased from +11% to +17%
  • Lightning Sentry synergy increased from +11% to +17%
  • Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
  • Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay

Charged Bolt Sentry

  • Removed synergy from Death Sentry skill
  • Fire Blast synergy increased from +6% to +9%
  • Lightning Sentry synergy increased from +6% to +9%

Lightning Sentry

  • Removed synergy from Death Sentry skill
  • Shock Web synergy increased from +12% to +18%
  • Charged Bolt Sentry synergy increased from +12% to +18%

Fire Blast

  • Removed synergy from Death Sentry skill
  • Shock Web synergy increased from +9% to +11%
  • Charged Bolt Sentry synergy increased from +9% to +11%
  • Wake of Fire synergy increased from +9% to +11%
  • Lightning Sentry synergy increased from +9% to +11%
  • Wake of Inferno Sentry synergy increased from +9% to +11%

Wake of Fire

  • Fire Blast synergy increased from +8% to +10%
  • Wake of Inferno synergy increased from +8% to +10%

Wake of Inferno

  • Removed synergy from Death Sentry
  • Fire Blast synergy increased from +10% to +18%
  • Wake of Fire synergy increased from +7% to +18%
  • Added yards calculation to the Wake of Inferno tooltip

Blade Sentinel

  • Casting Delay reduced from 2 seconds to 1 second
  • Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
  • Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
  • Missile speed increased by 20%
  • Weapon Damage increased from 37% to 75%
  • Blade Fury synergy added: +10% Damage per level
  • Blade Shield synergy added: +10% Damage per level

Blade Fury

  • Blade Sentinel synergy added: +10% Damage per level
  • Blade Shield synergy added: +10% Damage per level
  • Attack rating increased by 10% per level

Blade Shield

  • Duration baseline value increased from 20 seconds to 120 seconds (matching Burst of Speed and Fade)
  • Duration scaling per level increased from 5 seconds to 12 seconds (matching Burst of Speed and Fade)
  • Weapon Damage increased from 25% to 75%
  • Blade Sentinel synergy added: +10% Damage per level
  • Blade Fury synergy added: +10% Damage per level
  • Tooltip updated to now display Radius

Developer Comments: With Trap skills, there are multiple underused skills that can be more effective or have improved synergy distribution. For Lightning and Fire Traps, we are freeing up synergy reliance on “Death Sentry” to give more build possibilities elsewhere. Also, Fire traps are receiving damage synergy improvements to make them more effective at higher difficulties. Lastly, the Blade skills are receiving multiple improvements to make them more viable to dedicate builds around these skills.

2.3 Barbarian

The brawn of the Barbarian is unmatched. Nonetheless, we see opportunities to add more diversity to Combat skills. We’re looking into adding more possibilities with Combat Skills such as Leap Attack and Grim Ward, while also re-evaluating skill synergy requirements to promote more reasons to spend points on certain Combat Skills.
Additionally, we think Throwing Barbarians can be more viable, so we are looking into enhancing the Double Throw and Throwing Mastery skills.
D2R Barbarian Balance Changes

2.3.1 Warcries

General

  • Tooltip updated to now display Radius

Howl

  • Tooltip updated to now display Radius

Battle Cry

  • Tooltip updated to now display Radius

War Cry

  • Damage increased by about 30%
  • Tooltip updated to now display Radius
  • War Cry's mana cost now increases by only 0.75 per level instead of 1

Shout

  • Duration baseline increased from 20 seconds to 30 seconds (matching Battle Orders)
  • Tooltip updated to now display Radius

Battle Orders

  • Tooltip updated to now display Radius

Battle Command

  • Duration baseline increased from 5 seconds to 30 seconds (matching Battle Orders)
  • Tooltip updated to now display Radius

Grim Ward

  • Radius baseline value increased
  • Now also Slows and increases Damage Taken for nearby enemies.
  • Find Potion synergy added: +5% Damage Taken per level

Developer Comments: We are adding more tooltip descriptions to Warcries for clarification on hidden skill mechanics. “Shout” and “Battle Command” durations were updated to be consistent with each other for quality-of-life purposes. For “War Cry,” we want to make it more effective and rewarding to use at higher difficulties. Lastly, with “Grim Ward”, we are adding a new functionality and synergy to give more reason to use the skill, which also gives more reason to spend skill points on “Find Potion.”

2.3.2 Combat Masteries

Sword Mastery

  • Renamed to Blade Mastery
  • Now affects daggers in addition to swords
  • Increased base attack rating bonus to 40% (from 28%)

Axe Mastery

  • Increased base attack rating bonus to 40% (from 28%)

Mace Mastery

  • Increased base attack rating bonus to 40% (from 28%)

Polearm Mastery

  • Increased base attack rating bonus to 40% (from 28%)

Spear Mastery

  • Increased base attack rating bonus to 40% (from 28%)

Throwing Mastery

  • Increased base attack rating bonus to 44% (from 30%)
  • Added chance to not consume quantity per level up to 55% chance at level 20
  • Critical strikes with throwing weapons now replenish quantity
  • Added chance to pierce

Developer Comments: Barbarians run out of throwing weapon quantity far too quickly. Adding chances to not consume as well as chance to replenish will allow a throwing barbarian to be viable without having to return to town frequently.

2.3.3 Combat Skills

Whirlwind

  • When targeting an enemy with Whirlwind, the Barbarian will move to the initial position of the enemy - it will not track them as they move
  • Whirlwind will be performed even when targeting adjacent enemies (used to perform a basic attack)

Leap

  • Baseline minimum distance increased
  • Speed of the leap motion increased by 75%
  • Leap now has a minimum jump height and duration
  • Tooltip updated to now display Knockback Radius

Leap Attack

  • Speed of the leap motion increased by 75%
  • Leap attack now has a minimum jump height and duration
  • Damage baseline increased from 100% to 200%
  • Attack Rating baseline increased from 50% to 100%
  • Attack Rating per level increased from 15% to 20%
  • The Barbarian now deals extra physical damage to surrounding enemies within a range of 4.6 yards when landing from a Leap Attack. Damage scales per level – increased scaling compared to the PTR implementation
  • Leap synergy bonus applies to the AoE damage in addition to the attack
  • Increased mana cost of Leap Attack from 9 to 10
  • Leap Attack will be performed even when targeting adjacent enemies (used to perform a basic attack)

Developer Comments: Leap Attack has received a lot of changes: increased movement speed, smoother trajectory, improved controls, and increased attack rating and damage. Perhaps the biggest change is that Leap Attack now deals AOE damage to surrounding enemies when landing. This gives the Barbarian a strong multi-target skill as early as level 18. This damage does not scale with your weapon, so it's perfect for leveling up a Barbarian in Normal and Nightmare difficulties. The AOE damage won't make as much of an impact on Hell difficulty, but Leap Attack's primary attack and mobility will remain valuable.

Berserk

  • Shout synergy replaced with Battle Orders

Double Throw

  • Added damage bonus with 16% baseline and 8% damage increase per level

Frenzy

  • Increased Stamina synergy added: +0.4 Seconds per Level

Developer Comments: For “Berserk”, the existing “Shout” synergy is changing to “Battle Orders,” because the Defense loss from the skill contradicts the usage of “Shout,” and this will better connect with other skill synergy build possibilities. “Double Throw” will now have a baseline damage increase so that it will not purely rely on synergies for damage. “Frenzy” is receiving a new synergy from the lesser used “Increased Stamina” skill to give more reasons to invest skill points there and add new build diversity.

2.4 Druid

The bestial ferocity of the Druid makes all tremble. With that said, we see exciting opportunities to level up certain aspects of this class. From our perspective, Druid Fire skills are underperforming. We’re re-evaluating Casting Delays for Fire skills, exploring improvements to some of their Physical Damage components, and improving synergies. We’re also looking at potential tweaks affecting other Elemental skills that are underused. We want to improve the controls for Arctic Blast too, such as allowing more free form while channeling and no longer locking your targeting onto one enemy at a time.

Regarding Summon skills, we believe Summons are weak in high difficulty. On this front, we’re evaluating health gains per level, quality-of-life improvements, damage output, and new synergies for Ravens, Wolves, and Vines.

Lastly, we’re evaluating improvements to the Werebear skills, primarily focused on synergy improvements.

D2R Druid Balance Changes

2.4.1 Elemental Skills

Firestorm

  • Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
  • Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay

Molten Boulder

  • Missile speed increased by 100%. Missile range decreased by 50% (The overall travel length remains the same)
  • Casting Delay reduced from 2 seconds to 1 second
  • Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
  • Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
  • Volcano synergy increased from 10% to 12%

Fissure

  • Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
  • Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay

Volcano

  • Molten Boulder synergy increased from 12% to 16%
  • Tooltip updated to now show Volcano duration
  • Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
  • Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay

Armageddon

  • Casting Delay has been removed for this skill
  • Physical Damage significantly increased
  • Tooltip updated to now display Physical Damage
  • Volcano synergy changed to increase Physical Damage instead of Fire Damage, and increased from 14% to 18%
  • Removed the Hurricane skill requirement
  • Increased the missile damage radius by 33% (from 3 to 4)
  • Increased the missile drop rate by about 30% (from ~3 per second to ~4)"

Arctic Blast

  • Removed synergy from Hurricane
  • Base damage and level scaling increased by ~100% (also to compensate for the incorrect damage calculation in the past)
  • Controls are updated so that the skill now casts in free form and no longer locks onto one target at a time

Cyclone Armor

  • Can now be cast while in Werewolf or Werebear form

Twister

  • Damage scaling increased by 50%
  • Arctic Blast synergy added: +20% Stun Duration per level

Hurricane

  • Casting Delay removed
  • Can now be cast while in Werewolf or Werebear form

Developer Comments: With the Casting Delay changes, Druid Fire skills are generally going to be more widely used. In addition, we are increasing the physical damage scaling for Fire skills to be a reliable alternative damage source. We felt that “Arctic Blast” is generally lacking power, so we are increasing the damage scaling, reducing the synergy requirements to free up skill points, and improving the general player controls to allow for smoother freeform targeting. In addition, we wanted to complement the “Arctic Blast” changes with improvements to “Twister” to add more build possibilities. Lastly, we are allowing Shapeshift forms to cast each of the elemental buff skills to avoid the current hassle of having to change forms to continuously maintain these active buffs.

2.4.2 Shape Shifting Skills

Werewolf

  • Werewolf now only uses the new attack speed calculation that was originally introduced in the PTR
  • Raised Werewolf attack speed cap from +75% to +150%
  • Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay

Rabies

  • Attack Rating bonus increased from +7% to +10% per level
  • Poison Creeper synergy increased from 18% to 20%

Fury

  • Attack Rating bonus increased from +7% to +10% per level
  • Attack Speed increased by 40% (Reduced the rollback frames value between each attack)

Werebear

  • Werebear now only uses the new attack speed calculation that was originally introduced in the PTR
  • Raised Werebear attack speed cap from +75% to +150%
  • Damage bonus per level increased from 8% to 15%
  • Base defense value increased from 25% to 40%
  • Defense bonus per level increased from 6% to 10%
  • Cannot be interrupted while performing attacks or skills
  • Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay

Maul

  • Now grants +3% attack speed per charge
  • Damage bonus per level increased from 20% to 30%
  • Attack Rating bonus increased from +20% to +40% baseline, and +10% to +15% per level
  • Tooltip Stun value will now properly cap at 10 seconds, which follows the core game's Stun duration cap

Shock Wave

  • Maul synergy increased from 5% to 10%

Fire Claws

  • Damage increased by 75%
  • Removed synergy from Fissure
  • Removed synergy from Volcano

Developer Comments: We've debated on the best way to bring shapeshifting Druids forward. Both forms use a new attack speed calculation that allows more weapons to be used effectively and properly incentivizes IAS gear. With the improved Fury, the Werewolf can reach even faster attack speeds than it could previously. As for werebear - we want to deliver on the fantasy of a powerful, unstoppable, killing machine. We've introduced uninterruptible attacks and skills, as well as increased damage and defense. While this will change the way players have played the Werebear in the past, we feel like it is more in line with the intended fantasy. For players who loved their fast werebear builds, we’ve added attack speed bonuses to Maul, but we also hope the new Werewolf changes will offer them the same style of play, as it is now the faster form.

2.4.3 Summoning Skills

General

  • Druids can now have spirit wolves, dire wolves, and bears all summoned at the same time

Oak Sage

  • Min Life and Max Life values are averaged to always be the same, accurate to the tooltip
  • Physical Damage Resist in Normal Difficulty increased from 0% to 25%
  • Physical Damage Resist in Nightmare Difficulty reduced from 100% to 25%
  • Physical Damage Resist in Hell Difficulty increased from 0% to 25%

Heart of the Wolverine

  • Min Life and Max Life values are averaged to always be the same, accurate to the tooltip
  • Physical Damage Resist in Normal Difficulty increased from 0% to 25%
  • Physical Damage Resist in Nightmare Difficulty reduced from 100% to 25%
  • Physical Damage Resist in Hell Difficulty increased from 0% to 25%

Spirit of Barbs

  • Min Life and Max Life values are averaged to always be the same, accurate to the tooltip
  • Aura no longer returns a percentage of damage when hit. Now the aura will deal a flat amount of damage when the aura-effected targets are attacked.
  • Physical Damage Resist in Normal Difficulty increased from 0% to 25%
  • Physical Damage Resist in Nightmare Difficulty reduced from 100% to 25%
  • Physical Damage Resist in Hell Difficulty increased from 0% to 25%

Raven

  • Attack Rating bonus per level increased from 15% to 30% (now also displays in the tooltip)
  • Modified the AI so that the Ravens attack more often
  • Damage level scaling significantly increased
  • Summon Spirit Wolf synergy added: +12% Damage per level
  • Summon Dire Wolf synergy added: +12% Damage per level
  • Summon Grizzly synergy added: +12% Damage per level

Summon Spirit Wolf

  • Min Life and Max Life values are averaged to always be the same, accurate to the tooltip
  • Attacks now deal cold damage and chill for a duration (Provides utility with chilling and acts as an alternative damage type compared to Dire Wolves)
  • Damage level scaling increased by 10%
  • Base Life increased by about 80%
  • Life now increases by 10% per level
  • Updated the tooltip to display each synergy bonus value

Summon Dire Wolf

  • Min Life and Max Life values are averaged to always be the same, accurate to the tooltip
  • Damage level scaling increased by 30%
  • Base Life increased by about 90%
  • Life synergy reduced from 25% to 15% (This is because the base life was increased, and Spirit Wolf and Grizzly now gain Life per level)
  • Updated the tooltip to display each synergy bonus value

Summon Grizzly

  • Min Life and Max Life values are averaged to always be the same, accurate to the tooltip
  • Base Life increased by ~15%
  • Life now increases by 10% per level
  • Updated the tooltip to display each synergy bonus value

Poison Creeper

  • Min Life and Max Life values are averaged to always be the same, accurate to the tooltip
  • Poison damage level scaling significantly increased
  • Life scaling increased by 100%
  • Rabies synergy added: +10% Poison Damage per level

Carrion Vine

  • Min Life and Max Life values are averaged to always be the same, accurate to the tooltip
  • Life recovery has been reworked to be +1% Healing per level, instead of using a diminishing calculation ranging from 3%-12%

Solar Creeper

  • Min Life and Max Life values are averaged to always be the same, accurate to the tooltip
  • Mana recovery has been reworked to be +3% Mana baseline with +1% Mana per level, instead of using a diminishing calculation ranging from 1%-8%

Developer Comments: The restriction of the Druid being allowed only one type of summonable at a time has restricted the viability of this build and has hampered the fantasy of a Druid Summoner from living up to its full potential. We feel that a druid being able to summon all of his allies at once will make for a more interesting and fun playstyle. In general, all summons will no longer have hidden randomized health values so that the tooltip is more accurate and so summons perform more consistently. Ravens are getting significant changes to help them function as a spell-like skill for summoning Druids to use, and this includes damage scaling buffs and new synergies from other summons to fuel their damage. Wolves are getting improvements to give them more of an identity as damage-dealing summons. The spirit summons are receiving a physical damage resist change across each difficulty to make them survive more consistently. ”Spirit of Barbs” is receiving changes to Thorns to make it a more reliable source of damage. Lastly, each of the creeper summons are receiving improvements to give more reason to invest skill points and to have them perform better at higher levels.

2.5 Necromancer

The commander of death sends his foes to an early grave. Like the Amazon, we like the current state of the Necromancer class. Nonetheless, we see an opportunity to improve specific Summons we believe are underused. We’re balancing elemental damages of Skeletal Mages and making lesser used Golems more effective.

Additionally, we see opportunities for Bone skill improvements in high difficulty. We’re tweaking synergies on this front.

D2R Necromancer Balance Changes

2.5.1 Summoning Skills

Raise Skeletal Mage

  • Percentage HP per level increased from 7% to 10%
  • Poison total damage scaling increased by about 750%. Poison duration no longer scales and now lasts 4 seconds
  • Cold damage scaling increased by about 50%
  • Lightning damage scaling increased by about 5%
  • The tooltip will now properly display the Life scaling per level

Blood Golem

  • Attack damage increased by about 20%
  • 20% reduction in mana cost applied per level
  • Now gains Max Life per level
  • Damage scaling per level has been increased

Iron Golem

  • Thorns no longer return a percentage of damage when hit. Now thorns will deal a flat amount of damage when the aura-effected targets are attacked

Fire Golem

  • 20% reduction in mana cost applied per level
  • Holy Fire damage increased by an average of 50%
  • Fire attack damage increased by an average of 30%
  • Fixed a bug which caused the Fire Golem’s Holy Fire damage max value to display as half of its true value

Developer Comments: We saw a good opportunity to improve lesser-used summons for the Necromancer. Skeletal Mages have received significant damage scaling improvements so that their elemental damage values are more consistent. This means that Cold damage is more effective but still slightly weaker than Fire damage because of its chill utility, and Poison damage is much more reliable with a fixed duration and better damage scaling. “Blood Golem“ and “Fire Golem” are receiving damage improvements to make them more competitive with the other Golems. For “Iron Golem,” we are changing the “Thorns” aura to deal more reliable damage to improve its source of effectiveness (See Paladin changes below for more details).

2.5.2 Poison And Bone Skills

Bone Armor

  • Damage Absorbed per level increased from 10 to 15

Bone Spear

  • Teeth synergy increased from 7% to 8%
  • Bone Wall synergy increased from 7% to 8%
  • Bone Spear synergy increased from 7% to 8%
  • Bone Prison synergy increased from 7% to 8%

Bone Spirit

  • Teeth synergy increased from 6% to 8%
  • Bone Wall synergy increased from 6% to 8%
  • Bone Spear synergy increased from 6% to 8%
  • Bone Prison synergy increased from 6% to 8%

Developer Comments: Bone skills are generally well performing but we saw an opportunity to improve synergy bonuses to better scale in the late game and to make their heavy skill point investment more valuable. Additionally, “Bone Armor” is receiving better damage absorb scaling to make it more rewarding to spend points on the skill itself instead of relying too heavily on its synergies.

2.5.3 Curses

Weaken

  • Damage reduction now scales based on level, from just 33%, to now 33% and +1% per level

Decrepify

  • Tooltip updated to now show the status changes

Developer Comments: For the “Weaken” skill, we added new damage reduction scaling to give more reason to spend additional points on the skill and to give it a more powerful identity.

2.6 Paladin

The wrath of the holy zealot is glorious. Despite this, we believe certain Combat skills are underused. We’re exploring ways to make lesser-used skills (I.e., Fist of the Heavens) more utilized, so players have more reasons to spend skill points to unlock these skills.

We also see an opportunity to scale Offensive Aura skills as well. This includes making improvements to AoE Damage auras to make them more effective at closer range. We also want to improve Thorns so that it can scale better and deal more reliable damage at higher levels.

D2R Paladin Balance Changes

2.6.1 Defensive Auras

Resist Fire

  • Tooltip now displays max resist bonus

Resist Cold

  • Tooltip now displays max resist bonus

Resist Lightning

  • Tooltip now displays max resist bonus

Developer Comments: We added more information to tooltips to describe hidden functionality for certain Defensive Auras.

2.6.2 Offensive Auras

Blessed Aim

  • Tooltip now displays passive Attack Rating bonus

Holy Fire

  • Damage scales based on distance to the caster. Aura will deal double damage at melee range and linearly scale to normal damage at maximum range
  • Tooltip: The maximum Area Damage values now incorporate the maximum proximity damage bonus
  • Resist Fire Synergy increased from 18 to 21%
  • Damage level scaling increased to 70%
  • Salvation synergy increased from 6% to 10%

Holy Freeze

  • Damage scales based on distance to the caster. Aura will deal double damage at melee range and linearly scale to normal damage at maximum range
  • Tooltip: The maximum Area Damage values now incorporate the maximum proximity damage bonus

Holy Shock

  • Damage scales based on distance to the caster. Aura will deal double damage at melee range and linearly scale to normal damage at maximum range
  • Tooltip: The maximum Area Damage values now incorporate the maximum proximity damage bonus

Sanctuary

  • Damage scales based on distance to the caster. Aura will deal double damage at melee range and linearly scale to normal damage at maximum range
  • Tooltip: The maximum Area Damage values now incorporate the maximum proximity damage bonus

Thorns

  • Now deals a flat amount of damage when attacked in addition to returning a percentage of damage taken to the enemy when hit

Developer Comments: We wanted to add more potential to the AoE (Area of Effect) Damage auras since they are a capable way for the Paladin to handle groups of monsters. By increasing damage based on distance to the caster, each AoE damage aura will have increased effectiveness while still maintaining the same cadence of visual VFX on the screen. Also, we saw that “Holy Fire” should scale better at higher skill levels to be consistent with general Fire Damage power compared to the other elements. For “Thorns”, we want to improve the gameplay around getting hit to deal damage, so we are making the skill deal flat damage based on attack attempts in addition to returning damage after getting hit. This will allow Thorns to have a more consistent combat performance instead of unpredictable and riskier results.

2.6.3 Combat Skills

Sacrifice

  • Damage to self now reduces per level, from 8% to 8%-1%

Conversion

  • Maximum conversion chance increased from 50% to 90%

Smite

  • Tooltip now shows that the skill always hits

Holy Bolt

  • Now damages Demons in addition to Undead
  • Removed synergy Blessed Hammer
  • Damage increased by 50%
  • Now pierces targets (Friendly and Hostile)
  • Prayer synergy increased from 15% to 20%

Fist of the Heavens

  • Now damages Demons in addition to Undead
  • Casting Delay reduced from 1 second to 0.4 seconds
  • Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
  • Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay
  • Holy Bolts now pierce targets
  • No longer forces you to attack when out of mana
  • Improved targeting functionality for auto acquiring enemies

Developer Comments: We wanted to improve the lesser-used Combat skills to give more viable build options. “Holy Bolt” will now pierce to increase its combat use cases and will have less skill point synergy investment to open more possibilities to spend skill points elsewhere. “Fist of the Heavens” is also getting the same “Holy Bolt” pierce changes and will now have less Casting Delay and improved controls to help make it a more effective Level 30 skill to use. By allowing both Holy Bolt and Fist of the Heavens to damage Demons in addition to Undead, we hope to open it up as a viable build to use in more situations.

2.7 Sorceress

There is no greater master of elemental magic than these mages. We’re very satisfied with the Sorceress’s current state, but we see a few of opportunities for improvements.

Regarding Cold Skills, we believe there can be more diversity with the armor skills (I.e., Frozen Armor, Shiver Armor, and Chilling Armor) for distinctive advantages.

We are also looking into adding more build possibilities around lesser used Lightning skills by exploring more skill synergies.

Lastly, we’re also revisiting Fire skills, to improve underused ones, like Hydra. Similar to Arctic Blast, we’re exploring making player control improvements to the Inferno skill so that it is less clunky to use.

D2R Sorceress Balance Changes

2.7.1 Cold Skills

Frost Nova

  • Damage level scaling increased by about 25%

Blizzard

  • Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
  • Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay

Frozen Orb

  • Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
  • Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay

Frozen Armor

  • Base duration increased from 120 seconds to 144 seconds

Shiver Armor

  • Damage level scaling increased by about 25%
  • Base duration increased from 120 seconds to 144 seconds

Chilling Armor

  • Damage level scaling increased by about 200%
  • Duration bonus per level increased from 6 seconds to 12 seconds
  • Chill length bonus per level for level 16+ increased from 1 second to 2 seconds (matching Shiver Armor)
  • Defense baseline increased from 45% to 60%
  • Defense bonus per level increased from 5% to 7%
  • Frozen Armor damage synergy increased from 7% to 9%
  • Chilling Armor damage synergy increased from 7% to 9%

Developer Comments: With the cold armor skills, we want to further diversify them by ensuring that each has distinctive advantages. After these changes, “Chilling Armor” will have the greatest Defense bonus and damage potential while still only triggering on ranged attacks. Also, “Frost Nova” is receiving damage scaling improvements to give it more power where it was lacking in the later game.

2.7.2 Lightning Skills

Nova

  • Static Field synergy added: +5% Lightning Damage per level
  • Nova mana cost reduced. The initial mana cost is now 13 from 15

Thunder Storm

  • Static Field synergy added: +7% Lightning Damage per level
  • Duration baseline increased from 32 seconds to 144 seconds
  • Duration bonus per level increased from 8 seconds to 24 seconds
  • Tooltip updated to now display Radius

Energy Shield

  • Tooltip updated to display more information about the Mana consumed and the Telekinesis synergy

Developer Comments: We saw an opportunity to add new synergies for lesser used Lightning skills to increase their damage potential and create new skill build possibilities.

2.7.3 Fire Skills

Inferno

  • Base damage and level scaling increased by about 75% (also to compensate for the incorrect damage calculation in the past)
  • Warmth synergy increased from 13% to 16%
  • Controls are updated so that the skill now casts in free form and no longer locks onto one target at a time
  • Mana Cost baseline reduced from 7 Mana per second to 4 Mana per second
  • Range baseline increased by 75%

Blaze

  • Damage scaling increased by about 60%
  • Warmth synergy increased from 4% to 6%
  • Removed synergy from Fire Wall
  • Now also increases Run/Walk Speed by 2% per level
  • Tooltip now also displays Blaze duration

Fire Wall

  • Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
  • Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay

Meteor

  • Casting Delay will no longer share its cooldown with other skills that have Casting Delays
  • Tooltip updated to now display Casting Delay

Hydra

  • You can now spawn multiple hydras on controller when holding the button down
  • Casting delay removed
  • Limited max number of Hydra groups to 6

Developer Comments: We wanted to improve the lesser used Fire skills and give more reasons to use them. Inferno is receiving player control improvements with free form casting, like Arctic Blast, and better damage scaling. Blaze is an often-ignored skill, so we wanted to free up synergy requirements and provide more utility and power with damage increases and a new Run/Walk Speed buff for extra utility. Lastly, with Hydra, we wanted to improve the gameplay of summoning Hydras to make it easier to use to skill in combat situations. The removal of Casting Delay and the new limitation on max Hydras will match the maximum Hydra count achievable from before the changes, but now players will have a much easier time to summon that amount.

3. Mercenary Changes & New Rune Words

Hiring a Mercenary in Expansion mode will now always offer mercenaries that match your character's Level, instead of having a randomized Level difference from your character's Level.

Act 1 - Rogue Archer

  • Updated each stat/skill gains in each difficulty to match so that there is no disadvantage of leveling up a Hell difficulty mercenary versus a Normal difficulty mercenary
  • Can now use Amazon Bows
  • Can now gain + Amazon skill bonuses from gear

Cold Arrow

  • Added Freezing Arrow

Fire Arrow

  • Added Explosion Arrow

Developer Comments: The Rogue Archer is getting new flavored ranged skills that will scale as she levels up. These new skills should improve her AoE (Area of Effect) damage effectiveness and thus make her a more effective ranged damage dealer.

Act 2 - Desert Mercenary

  • Updated each stat/skill gains in each difficulty to match so that there is no disadvantage of leveling up a Hell difficulty mercenary versus a Normal difficulty mercenary
  • Nightmare and Hell difficulty now have all 6 different aura types available from the Hire menu, instead of separating them out by 3 per difficulty. Normal is unchanged

Thorns (Combat - Nightmare)

  • Thorns aura level scaling increased and will now continue scaling up beyond the highest-level threshold up to max level

Developer Comments: The Desert Mercenary is already popular, but we saw an opportunity to add some quality-of-life improvements by allowing players to hire all six different Aura types in Nightmare and Hell difficulty, rather than having to switch between modes. With the general improvements to “Thorns,” we wanted to improve the level scaling to make this aura mercenary type more meaningful.

Act 3 - Iron Wolf

  • Updated each stat/skill gains in each difficulty to match so that there is no disadvantage of leveling up a Hell difficulty mercenary versus a Normal difficulty mercenary
  • Life baseline and scaling increased by about 25% (Now has Life similar to the Rogue Archer)
  • Defense baseline and scaling increased by about 40% (Now has defense closer to the Rogue Archer)
  • Resistances baseline and scaling increased by about 20% (Now has the highest resistances baseline compared to other mercenaries)

Cold

  • Now casts Glacial Spike more often
  • Glacial Spike level scaling increased
  • Swapped Frozen Armor for Chilling Armor

Fire

  • Removed Inferno
  • Added Fire Bolt
  • Increased chance of the Iron Wolf casting Fire Ball
  • Added Enchant - Now the Iron Wolf will cast Enchant on himself, the player, and nearby allies

Lightning

  • Added Static Field
  • Charged Bolt level scaling increased
  • Increased chance of the Iron Wolf casting Lightning

Developer Comments: The Iron Wolves are great elemental sorcerers, but we saw they have been underperforming in higher difficulties. We improved their core stats so that they are more in line with other mercenaries while also having a distinct advantage with having the most resistance values. For skills, we wanted to embrace their elemental fantasies, so we decided to give new flavorful utility skills, to further incentivize reasons to want to use these mercenary types.

Act 5 - Barbarian Warrior

  • Can now gain + Barbarian skill bonuses from gear
  • Updated each stat/skill gains in each difficulty to match so that there is no disadvantage of leveling up a Hell difficulty mercenary versus a Normal difficulty mercenary
  • Life baseline scaling increased (Now has the most life compared to other mercenaries)
  • Defense baseline and scaling increased and the scaling at higher levels was reduced (Now has the highest defense baseline compared to other mercenaries)

Dual Wielding

  • A new ferocious Barbarian is available for hire from Qual-Kehk. These warriors cannot use two-handed swords, but are well trained in the art of dual wielding. Utilizing the Frenzy, Taunt, and Iron Skin abilities, they lure enemies in and unleash a fierce barrage of attacks

Two-handed

  • Bash level scaling increased and will no longer be capped at level 80
  • Stun level scaling increased and will no longer be capped at level 80
  • Added Battle Cry

Developer Comments: We want to give the Barbarian Warrior more identity while still maintaining his Barbarian fantasy. So, we decided to give him the “Battle Cry” skill as a new way for him to debuff enemies, which should prove to be a useful utility for players. In addition, we wanted to increase his Life and Defense scaling to ensure that he is the tougher mercenary type. By adding a new dual wielding Barbarian Mercenary, we hope to provide a powerful, fast-hitting merc that challenges the status-quo of common mercenary choice among players.

D2R 2.4 New Rune Words

For the first time, players will have the chance to unlock a host of new Rune Words in the Ladder system! These will be exclusive to Ladder like the previous set of Ladder-only Rune Words in the original Diablo II experience. At the end of a Ladder season, players who successfully made these Rune Words will have their Ladder characters be moved into a “non-Ladder” version of the game.

Insight

  • Now can also be used with Bows and Crossbows

Infinity

  • Can now be used by Spears and Amazon Spears

Obedience

  • Can now be used by Spears and Amazon Spears

Pride

  • Can now be used by Spears and Amazon Spears

Developer Comments: Insight is a popular Rune Word, and we feel that allowing it on ranged weapons will promote more build possibilities that complement the skill and mercenary changes seen above.

New Rune Word Allowed Items Rune Order Completed Stats

Plague

Sword, Claws, Daggers

Cham + Shael + Um

  • 20% Chance to cast level 12 Lower Resist when struck
  • 25% Chance to cast level 15 Poison Nova on striking
  • Level 13-17 Cleansing Aura When Equipped (varies)
  • +1-2 All Skills
  • +20% Increased Attack Speed
  • +220-320% Enhanced Damage (varies)
  • -23% To Enemy Poison Resistance
  • 0.3% (0-29.7) Deadly Strike (Based on Character Level)
  • +25% Chance of Open Wounds
  • Freezes Target +3

Pattern

Claw

Tal + Ort + Thul

  • +30% Faster Block Rate
  • +40-80% Enhanced Damage (varies)
  • 10% Bonus to Attack Rating
  • Adds 17-62 Fire Damage
  • Adds 1-50 Lightning Damage
  • Adds 3-14 Cold Damage
  • +75 Poison Damage Over 5 Seconds
  • +6 to Strength
  • +6 to Dexterity
  • All Resistances +15

Unbending Will

Sword

Fal + Io + Ith + Eld + El + Hel

  • 18% Chance to cast Level 18 Taunt on striking
  • +3 To Combat Skills (Barbarian Only)
  • +20-30% Increased Attack Speed (varies)
  • +300-350% Enhanced Damage (varies)
  • +9 To Maximum Damage
  • +50 To Attack Rating
  • +75% Damage to Undead
  • +50 Attack Rating Against Undead
  • 8-10% Life Stolen Per Hit (varies)
  • Prevent Monster Heal
  • +10 To Strength
  • +10 To Vitality
  • Damage Reduced By 8
  • +1 Light Radius
  • Requirements -20%

Wisdom

Helm

Pul + Ith + Eld

  • +33% Piercing Attack
  • +15-25% Bonus to Attack Rating (varies)
  • 4-8% Mana Stolen Per Hit (varies)
  • +30% Enhanced Defense
  • +10 Energy
  • 15% Slower Stamina Drain
  • Cannot Be Frozen
  • +5 Mana After Each Kill
  • 15% Damage Taken Goes to Mana

Obsession

Staff

Zod + Ist + Lem + Lum + Io + Nef

  • Indestructible
  • 24% Chance to cast level 10 Weaken when struck
  • +4 To All Skills
  • +65% Faster Cast Rate
  • +60% Faster Hit Recovery
  • Knockback
  • +10 To Vitality
  • +10 To Energy
  • Increase Maximum Life 15-25% (varies)
  • Regenerate Mana 15-30% (varies)
  • All Resistances +60-70 (varies)
  • 75% Extra Gold from Monsters
  • 30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Flickering Flame

Helm

Nef + Pul + Vex

  • Level 4-8 Resist Fire Aura When Equipped (varies)
  • +3 To Fire Skills
  • -10-15% to Enemy Fire Resistance (varies)
  • +30% Enhanced Defense
  • +30 Defense Vs. Missile
  • +50-75 To Mana (varies)
  • Half Freeze Duration
  • +5% To Maximum Fire Resist
  • Poison Length Reduced by 50%

Mist

Bow & Crossbow

Cham + Shael + Gul + Thul + Ith

  • Level 8-12 Concentration Aura When Equipped (varies)
  • +3 To All Skills
  • 20% Increased Attack Speed
  • +100% Piercing Attack
  • +325-375% Enhanced Damage (varies)
  • +9 To Maximum Damage
  • 20% Bonus to Attack Rating
  • Adds 3-14 Cold Damage
  • Freeze Target +3
  • +24 Vitality
  • All Resistances +40

Developer Comments: For new Rune Words, we focused on complementing the skill and mercenary changes seen above, along with giving underused runes more usage. “Plague” and “Pattern” Rune Words previously existed in data but were never enabled, so we made some additional tweaks, and they are finally now available to be used in game.

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