Season 27 Compendium for Diablo 3

Patch 2.7.4 for Diablo 3 entered PTR testing phase on Tuesday, July 12th and lasted over the course of 4 weeks, showcasing all the new changes to Diablo 3. This content hub article will guide you through the most important changes in the patch and will show you the best, strongest builds to take into the new Season 27.

Diablo 3's Season 26 ended on August 21th 2022 at 5pm PDT (NA servers), 5pm CEST (EU servers), and 5pm KST (Asian servers).

Patch 2.7.4 will be applied to on Non-Seasonal servers on August 23rd, and Season 27 will start on August 26th 2022 at 5pm PDT (NA servers), 5pm CEST (EU servers), and 5pm KST (Asian servers).

The Public Test Realm runs for a period of two weeks (extended to 4 for Season 27 specifically!), with periods of scheduled maintenance and possible hotfixes, minor patches, and server outages. Should you decide to participate in the PTR, you can expect the following alterations to the normal state of the game:

• There will be PTR-specific buffs that will assist with accelerated testing of changes. Legendary drop rate is increased, Experience gain is boosted, and Blood Shards (currency used for gambling) are doubled. Additionally, there is a PTR-only vendor, Djank Mi'em, who will exchange Blood Shards for class-specific bags full of Legendary items, greatly increasing the pace at which you acquire any and all items you may need for testing.
• There will be a test run of the new Season 27 theme, along with all of its season-specific items and gameplay alterations.

Season 27 introduces a new type of consumable item called Angelic Crucibles. Beyond the quick overview below, we also have a massive Angelic Crucible Effects and Mechanics article, where we go in-depth over the effects of this seasonal addition. If you are interested in the particulars of these bonuses and how they can affect your build, delve right in!

Once uncovered by the player, Angelic Crucibles can be used to Sanctify any equippable Legendary item. Sanctifying an item reforges it to have perfect Ancient-level stats on all affixes while also preserving the item's Legendary Power. In addition, this process adds one of three new powers unique to each class.

As season-specific consumable items, Angelic Crucibles share the following traits:

• Angelic Crucibles and Sanctified Items can only be acquired in Seasonal play and will not transfer to your non-Seasonal character when Season 27 ends.
• Angelic Crucibles can drop anywhere in Sanctuary at level 70.
• Players can obtain as many Sanctified items as they would like, however, only one Sanctified item can be equipped at a time.
• Sanctified items can be Sanctified again using another Angelic Crucible.
• No stats are preserved when Sanctifying an item.
• Only level 70 equippable items can be Sanctified—crafted items cannot be Sanctified.
• Followers cannot equip Sanctified items.

The following is an overview and commentary of the new class-specific Sanctified Powers, on a class-by-class basis:

Barbarians have a reasonably useful of array of Sanctification outcomes, making them one of the "winners" of this Seasonal power. The Whirlwind Sanctification is by far the strongest outcome for Barbarians, and will be taken almost universally for high-end GR-pushing builds. The ability to continuously drag monsters from pull to pull will amplify the benefits of your Area Damage stats on gear, resulting in a boatload of extra damage for no additional effort. On top of that, dragging monsters cannot be understated as a source of indirect survivability; every second wasted by the monster in its displacement state is a second not spent damaging you, effectively turning it into hard Crowd Control. The Hammer of the Ancients power is reasonably strong, as the omni-directional hits allow you to cover much larger ground than expected for HotA. This power is very build-specific however, locking it into the HotA-centric playstyles and making it unusable anywhere else. Wrath of the Berserker's Sanctification is the least flavorful of the three Barbarian powers. While Wrath of the Berserker is an omnipresent self-buff in endgame Barbarian builds, the extra damage multiplier is dwarfed by the ability to pixel-stack monsters with a Whirlwind pull. Nevertheless, a WotB damage bonus is almost never going to waste, and is much more build- and content-agnostic compared to the Whirlwind and HotA Sanctifications.

• Whirlwind pulls in and holds all enemies within 25 yards.
• Hammer of the Ancients hits in all directions around the Barbarian. Every tenth cast of Hammer of the Ancients unleashes a powerful shockwave.
• Hitting enemies generates stacks of Tempest Rhythm. Activating Wrath of the Berserker consumes 50 stacks of Tempest Rhythm and startles enemies within 16 yards, causing them to take 2% increased damage per stack for 20 seconds. Max 50 stacks.

Crusader sanctifications ended up somewhat underwhelming, and many of the class' builds don't have a proper way to utilize them — especially for high-end Greater Rift progression. The Blessed Hammer Sanctification produces a "crackling energy" addition to the Blessed Hammer effect; this adds considerable damage to the Seeker of the Light set-based "Hammerdin" build, but does not remedy the set's mechanical clunkiness. The Seeker of the Light set needs a rework that no amount of straight numerical buffs can remedy. The Fist of the Heavens Sanctification produces a fun and evocative visual, and with the Steed Charge-based addition it got in the last PTR patch, it ended up being a fresh take on the classic Bombardment-based speed farming builds. You will not see it much outside of speed farming, but it is undeniably effective at what it does. The Angelic summons provided by the Falling Sword Sanctification are quite powerful and capable aides, and you can expect most Crusader players to adapt Falling Sword in their builds for Greater Rift solo pushing.

• Blessed Hammer now crackles with energy damaging enemies within 15 yards of its path. All runes but Dominion now throw the hammer in a direct path in front of the Crusader.
• Every two seconds, call down Fist of the Heavens on a random nearby enemy. After casting Steed Charge, this effect occurs more rapidly for five seconds.
• After casting Falling Sword, you descend from the sky with two Archangels that can cast Consecration and Condemn.

The Sanctifications available to Demon Hunters have decent potential, and most of their bugs were fixed by the end of the PTR. The Strafe Sanctification is by far the most fun of the bunch, and produces several viable Strafe alterations to popular builds — most notably, the Impale and Multishot playstyles. The rocket barrage of the Vengeance Sanctification deals significant amounts of damage and contribute massively to Greater Rift progression clears, especially on the Rift Guardian fight (despite the reduced effectiveness, as per the tooltip). This power is useful to Demon Hunters both in solo DPS builds and group Support builds, adding a Rift Guardian Killer aspect to an unlikely candidate. Similarly to the Hammer of the Ancients Sanctification, the Cluster Arrow Sanctification is locked onto its namesake build, and will not show up anywhere else — but enhances its dedicated spec greatly.

• Strafe now casts the last non-channeled Hatred spending ability casted.
• Casting Vengeance unleashes a barrage of rockets that deal damage equal to a percentage of the maximum life enemies possess. The number of rockets fired increases over 30 seconds. Elites and Bosses receive less damage per rocket.
• Firing Cluster Arrow no longer drops explosive ordinance. Instead, it concentrates its explosive force into piercing rays of light.

Monks have an outstandingly powerful sanctification for Wave of Light, and a moderately powerful effect for Seven-Sided Strike Uliana Monks. Sadly, the "pure punching" Generator Monk fantasy is left by the wayside again. The Wave of Light Sanctification is by far the strongest power available to Monks, and potentially the strongest Sanctification overall. The additional bells summoned by this power multiply the already vast damage potential of Wave of Light, resulting in massive waves of AoE destruction that clear entire screenfuls of enemies. The same cannot be said about the Way of the Hundred Fists Sanctification. The unconditional nature of this power allows you to make use of it practically every engagement, but that is about all of its upsides. Unfortunately, this power simply does not do all that much to overcome the underwhelming Raiment of a Thousand Fists set — a necessary inclusion for a generator-oriented Monk. Unless the set itself is updated, this power will linger in obscurity. The Seven-Sided Strike Sanctification is, of course, a targeted buff for the Uliana set-based Monk, contributing significantly to its single-target damage potential. The Sanctification is especially noticeable against Rift Guardians and high-health yellow Elites.

• Casting Wave of Light now summons a bell at the target location that deals damage when the caster attacks the bell. Up to five bells can be active at one time.
• All Way of the Hundred Fists combo punches use the second stage combo punch. Consecutive hits from Way of the Hundred Fists increases its damage by 2%. Max 350 stacks.
• The target of your Seven-Sided Strike is barraged with spiritual punches for 15 seconds. This can only affect one enemy at a time.

Necromancers have some of the most flavorful sanctifications of the bunch, with each enhancement providing a distinct and instantly recognizable effect. While functional, the esoteric Command Golem Sanctification is hard to place within the Necromancer arsenal. Corpse consumption-based builds churn a lot more than 30 corpses during their burst cycles, greatly reducing the impact of the Golem storage. The Army of the Dead Sanctification is easily the highlight of Necromancers, producing a powerful and visually evocative effect that tramples enemies in Greater Rifts with ease. This power is excellent in both progression and speed farming, and is just fun to use all around. Following a theme present in all the classes, the Death Nova Sanctification is a targeted buff to its own brand of builds, and will not show up anywhere else.

• Your Command Golem now picks up corpses within 20 yards. Each corpse it stores allows you to cast any corpse spending ability with the max number of corpses consumed per cast. Up to 30 corpses can be stored.
• Enemies within 50 yards are constantly assaulted by the Army of the Dead Unconventional Warfare while this item is equipped.
• Hitting enemies with Death Nova five consecutive times adds a spirit that afflicts an enemy every fifth cast of Death Nova. Up to three spirits can be sent at a time.

Initially underwhelming in the PTR, Witch Doctor Sanctifications found redemption in the massive buffs received over the patch's testing cycle. The Haunt Sanctification is easily the highlight of the class, producing a signature Bogadile summon at the end of its chain of interactions — a summon that hilariously one-shots everything in its path. This power alone puts the Witch Doctor back on the radar for some of the strongest damage output in Season 27. Much more tame and subdued, the Horrify Sanctification produces an aura-like effect and hefty damage buff for Horrify, making it an easy inclusion in builds that cannot find synergy with the other two Sanctifications. Lastly, the summon-oriented Gargantuan Sanctification provides a decent damage boost to pet-oriented Witch Doctors, but is pulled back by the lacking state of summoner sets. While not at fault, this Sanctification might not see a lot of play in S27.

• Enemies affected by Locust Swarm are also Haunted. When you cast Piranhas, all Haunted enemies within 60 yards are pulled into the pool. A lesser enemy stunned by Bogadile is instantly killed. Elites and Bosses stunned by Bogadile take massive damage.
• Horrify becomes an aura that causes enemies to receive 100% more damage and deal 15% less damage in addition to its other effects.
• You summon two Gargantuans and three Summon Zombie Dogs periodically. Gargantuans gain the effect of the Restless Giant rune. Summon Zombie Dogs gain the effect of all runes. Enemies hit by Sacrifice are Immolated, causing them to take 100% more damage from your Pets.

Exploitative issues aside, Wizard Sanctifications were among the strongest of the bunch throughout the PTR, both thematically and mechanically. The Storm Armor Sanctification was, quite expectedly, fixed into a non-exploitable state, and is one of the easiest inclusions across Wizard builds — considering the nearly omnipresent Halo of Karini. The Arcane Orb Sanctification feels almost as a targeted buff for DMO-using builds; when used in conjunction with the newly reworked Delsere's Magnum Opus set, it results in some fairly impressive Arcane Orb-based GR pushes. The most extravagant of the new Wizard powers however is, without a doubt, the Magic Missile Sanctification. While it will remain tied to Firebird builds for GR pushing (and LoD for speed farming), the sheer spectacle of the dozen projectiles — spewing off in every direction and covering the screen in flames — simply cannot be denied. I hope Wizards get to keep this power in some form in the future.

• Your Storm Armor charges over 30 seconds. Casting Storm Armor at full charge releases a powerful thunderbolt, instantly killing a random enemy within 30 yards. Bosses and Elites are not killed but take significant damage.
• Arcane Orb now periodically spawns up to four orbiting charges that will generate an additional orb when cast. All charges from the Arcane Orbit rune now detonate at the same time.
• Magic Missile fires 10 missiles and gains the effect of the Seeker rune.

• Adventure Mode is now unlocked for all accounts by default. Players are no longer required to complete the Campaign to access Adventure mode.
• Default difficulty selection has been updated to be consistent for all players and platforms.
• All players now have access to Normal-Torment 6 difficulties by default, and upon reaching level 70 with a character, players gain access to Torment 7–Torment 16.
• Uber Boss Realms now automatically close 60 seconds after the Uber Bosses have been defeated. Additional portals to the same Uber Boss Realm can now be opened in a single game session.
• The Experience rewarded upon completion of an Echoing Nightmare has been reduced by 83%.

Patch 2.7.4 made a bunch of changes to class sets and legendary items, most notably reworking the Tal Rasha set for Wizards, the Armor of Akkhan for Crusaders, and Trag'Oul's Avatar for Necromancers.

• Guardian's Jeopardy (2-piece bonus): Your melee damage reduction is increased by 1% per 1000 base Vitality from equipped items. Your missile damage reduction is increased by 1% per 1000 base Strength, Dexterity, or Intelligence from equipped items depending on your class.
• Guardian's Jeopardy (3-piece bonus): You gain an additional 100% of your base Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality attributes from equipped items.

• Armor of Akkhan (2-piece bonus): Judgment has no cooldown and gains the effect of every rune.
• Armor of Akkhan (4-piece bonus): Attacks from Phalanx Avatars reduce the cooldown of Akarat's Champion by 0.5 seconds, and also apply Condemn when attacking enemies that are affected by Judgment.
• Eternal Union: Increases the duration of summoned Phalanx Bowmen and Bodyguard indefinitely.

• Trag'Oul's Avatar (2-piece bonus): Blood Rush and Siphon Blood gains the effect of every rune. Your Life-spending abilities no longer cost Essence.
• Trag'Oul's Avatar (4-piece bonus): While at full Life, your healing from skills is added to your maximum Life for 45 seconds, up to 300% more.
• Trag'Oul's Avatar (6-piece bonus): Your Life-spending abilities deal 10,000% increased damage and your healing from skills is increased by 100%.
• Iron Rose: Attacking with Siphon Blood has a 100% chance to cast a free Blood Nova. After cumulatively losing 10% of your maximum Life, your Death Nova deals 40% increased damage for 60 seconds. This effect stacks up to 10 times.
• Bloodtide Blade: Death Nova deals 300-400% increased damage for every enemy within 25 yards, up to 25 enemies.
• Funerary Pick: Siphon Blood drains blood from 2 additional targets. Each target takes 250-300% increased damage from you unless there is only 1 target, then it gains double the increased damage. The bonus from Siphon Blood Power Shift is now 20% per stack and benefits all skills.

• Delsere's Magnum Opus (2-piece bonus): Casting Arcane Orb, Energy Twister, Magic Missile, Shock Pulse, Spectral Blade, Electrocute, or Arcane Torrent also casts Slow Time at them. This effect will not trigger if the target is already inside a Slow Time bubble. The cooldown of Teleport will reset while you are inside bubbles generated from this set or cast by you.
• Delsere's Magnum Opus (4-piece bonus): You take 75% reduced damage while you have a Slow Time active. Allies inside your Slow Time gain half benefit.
• Delsere's Magnum Opus (6-piece bonus): Enemies affected by your Slow Time and for 5 seconds after exiting take 12,500% increased damage from your Arcane Orb, Energy Twister, Magic Missile, Shock Pulse, Spectral Blade, Electrocute, or Arcane Torrent abilities.
• Crown of the Primus: Slow Time gains the effect of every rune except Point of No Return and permanently follows you.
• Tal Rasha's Elements (2-piece bonus): Damaging enemies with Arcane, Cold, Fire, or Lightning will grant immunity to that element and cause a Meteor of the same damage type to fall from the sky. The same meteor cannot happen twice in a row.
• Tal Rasha's Elements (4-piece bonus): Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each increase all of your resistances by 50% for 8 seconds.
• The Smoldering Core: Lesser enemies are now lured to your Meteor impact areas. Meteors deals 40-50% increased damage on consecutive hits to the same target. This stacks up to 10 times.
• Mirrorball: Magic Missile fires 2 extra missiles and deals 400-500% increased damage.
• Mempo of Twilight: Meteor Shower rune is now applied to all casted Meteors and deals 300–400% increased damage.

• Inna's Mantra (6-piece bonus): Gain the passive abilities of the five runed Mystic Allies at all times. Attacking enemies creates your chosen Mystic Ally that lasts 15 seconds, up to 10 Mystic Allies. The damage of your Mystic Allies is increased by 900% for each Mystic Ally you have out.
• Bindings of the Lesser Gods: Enemies hit by your Cyclone Strike take 150-200% increased damage from your Mystic Ally for 5 seconds. Split Fire Allies gain 3 times this bonus.

• Strafe: Updated base skill to allow any equipped weapon, rather than requiring a Bow.

• Fixed a bug that prevented the Legendary Spear Empyrean Messenger from dropping.
• Captain Crimson's Trimmings: Fixed a bug that caused the 3-piece set bonus to occasionally drop off.
• Updated Bone Spikes and Siphon Blood tooltips to reflect the appropriate damage values.
• Fixed a bug that caused Sanctified items to not always roll with Ancient-level stats.
• Fixed a bug where Slow Time and Archon Slow Time stacked.