d3 Patch 2.6.4 PTR Preview

[Stan 5,240]

The long wait is over and the Sanctuary is finally getting an update with set changes and various quality of life improvements. Patch 2.6.4 will be available for playtesting on Wednesday.

Patch 2.6.4 Highlights

• Patch 2.6.4 will be deployed to test realms on November 21. It will be available one week for testing.
• 5 Armory tabs have been added for all characters.
• Greater Rift Keystones will be stored in the Materials tab.
• Primal Legendaries are marked with a red beam when they drop. They now have an updated background on their icons and are indicated by a red pentagram icon on the mini-map.
• Season 16 buff has been implemented and all Seasonal players will receive the legendary power from Ring of Royal Grandeur.
  • This buff doesn't stack with additional Ring of Royal Grandeur.
• In order to improve class & set diversity at higher level Greater Rifts, Blizzard's adjusting some sets.
• Paragon points can't be swapped while a Greater Rift is open.
• Completing a Greater Rift level 70 solo for the first time in a Season will yield a Primal Legendary from the Rift Guardian.

Blizzard (Source)

We’re launching the Patch 2.6.4 PTR later this week for some rapid-paced testing, and we want you to have the full download before you jump in to provide feedback. Between long-requested quality of life changes, class set balancing, and a new game-changing seasonal buff, Season 16 is going to be quite the journey.

Table of Contents

• PTR Details
  • PTR Goals
  • PTR Tips
• Patch Notes
  • General
  • Greater Rifts
  • Seasons
  • Class Set Changes
    • All
    • Barbarian
    • Crusader
    • Demon Hunter
    • Monk
    • Necromancer
    • Witch Doctor
    • Wizard
• How to Participate in PTR
• PTR Character Copy

Please note that this is a preview for PTR content and subject to change.

PTR Details

We will be conducting the Patch 2.6.4 PTR over the course of one week, starting Wednesday, November 21. During the course of the PTR, there may be periodic maintenances, outages, hotfixes, or minor patches.

There will be two buffs active to help you on your PTR journey: increased Legendary drop rate and double Blood Shard drops. This should allow everyone to acquire any class set items (or supplemental items) that might be needed!

Feedback should be provided in the PTR Feedback forum while bug reports should be provided in the PTR Bug Report forum; clearly separating these tracks allows our designers and quality assurance testers to hone in on the information they need most!

PTR Goals

With a huge number of class set changes and a game-breaking Seasonal buff, we know it will be very tempting to get your hands on as much as you can! To help guide your focus, we’d like to offer our insight behind what we’d most like to see tested.

• Players pushing Greater Rifts as high as possible in both Seasonal and Non-Seasonal play
• Experimentation with class set mix-and-matches, as made possible by the Season of Grandeur buff

PTR Tips

This PTR is a little different from ones we have conducted in the past (and it’s been a while since we last had one). Whether you’re a seasoned PTR veteran or this is your first go around, here are a few tips to get you started.

• Because of the limited duration of this PTR, we ask that participants pick a particular portion of this update to focus on testing.
  • For example, if you’re primarily a Monk player, consider what changes impact the Monk specifically. What you like best, what you think may still need adjustment, and what you may want to see in the future (even if that may be beyond the scope of this patch) are all good questions to ask yourself.
• Prior to the start of PTR, consider stocking up on items like Puzzle Rings and Bovine Bardiches.  Having these available after you import your character can make any necessary PTR farming much faster!
• Try to break things! Just tell us when you do so we can make sure the 2.6.4 launch is as smooth as possible for all our fans.
• When providing feedback, focus less on a solution and more on your experience. How did the changes make you feel? Was there something off you noticed? Did something seem wrong or insufficient? Suggestions are always welcome but identifying the issues themselves is most important.

Patch Notes

Last updated November 19 @ 10:00 p.m. PST.

Below you'll find the preliminary PTR patch notes for patch 2.6.4. Please note that this isn't the final version of the patch notes and that some changes may not be documented or described in full detail.

PTR PATCH 2.6.4 - v2.6.4.49286

To provide feedback on patch 2.6.4, please visit the PTR Feedback forum.
To report any issues you experience while playing, please visit the PTR Bug Report forum.
For additional information on how to participate in the PTR, click here.

• General
  • Quality of Life
    • Philosophy
      • For this patch, we wanted to include a few frequently requested Quality of Life changes and focused on better celebrating and indicating Primal Legendary drops.
    • Five (5) additional Armory tabs have been added for all characters, bringing the total to 10
    • Greater Rift Keystones are now stored in the Materials tab
      • Any existing Greater Rift Keystones in both inventory and stash have been automatically moved
    • Primal Legendaries are now marked by a red beam when they drop
    • Primal Legendaries on the ground are now indicated by a red pentagram icon on the mini-map
    • Primal Legendaries now have a red border and updated background on their icons
• Greater Rifts
  • Philosophy
    • The gameplay of micro-managing Paragon points during the course of a Greater Rift doesn't feel like especially engaging gameplay, nor was it consistent with the other existing rules of entering a Greater Rift. In addition, the below change to matchmaking is to make it much easier for all players to find groups for Greater Rifts, as the previous window (only between Greater Rifts) is typically very small.
  • Paragon points can no longer be swapped while a Greater Rift is open
  • Players can now be matched into public games where a Greater Rift is open
    • Players who join in this manner will not be able to enter the active Rift
    • Players inside the Rift will be able to continue with no additional difficulty scaling until the run has been completed
• Seasons
  • Season 16: Season of Grandeur
    • The buff for Season of Grandeur has been implemented
      • This buff gives all Seasonal players the legendary power from Ring of Royal Grandeur
      • This buff does not stack with additional Ring of Royal Grandeur (either equipped or in Kanai's Cube)
      • Unlike previous Seasonal buffs, this buff will not apply to Non-Seasonal players
    • When completing a Greater Rift level 70 solo for the first time in a Season, a Primal Legendary is guaranteed to drop from the Rift Guardian
• Class Set Changes
  • Philosophy
    • We are taking another tuning pass across all class sets to improve class and set diversity at higher level Greater Rifts. Please note that these values are not final and we anticipate some adjustments to occur during the course of PTR.
  • All Classes
    • Legacy of Nightmares
      • The (2) Set bonus has been increased from 100% to 500%
  • Barbarian
    • The Legacy of Raekor
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 2800% to 7000%
    • Immortal King's Call
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 1500% to 4000%
    • Might of the Earth
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 5600% to 20000%
    • Wrath of the Wastes
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 3000% to 10000%
  • Crusader
    • Thorns of the Invoker
      • The (2) Set bonus has been increased from 140% to 350%
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 5400% to 15000%
    • Roland's Legacy
      • The (4) Set bonus has been increased from 3300% to 13000%
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 50% increased Attack Speed to 75%
    • Seeker of the Light
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 2000% Blessed Hammer damage to 12000%
  • Demon Hunter
    • Embodiment of the Maruader
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 3000% to 12000%
    • Unhallowed Essence
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 100% to 350%
    • Natalya's Vengeance
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 3500% to 14000%
    • The Shadow's Mantle
      • The (2) Set bonus has been increased from 1200% to 6000%
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 50000% to 75000%
  • Monk
    • Uliana's Strategem
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 2100% to 9000%
    • Inna's Mantra
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 150% to 1500%
    • Monkey King's Garb
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 1000% to 1500%
    • Raiment of a Thousand Storms
      • The (2) Set bonus has been increased from 100% to 400%
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 13000% Dashing Strike damage to 60000%
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 1300% Spirit Generator damage to 6000%
  • Necromancer
    • Trag'Oul's Avatar
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 3300% to 3800%
  • Witch Doctor
    • Spirit of Arachyr
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 4500% to 9000%
    • Helltooth Harness
      • The (2) Set bonus has been increased from 1500% to 3000%
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 4400% to 9000%
    • Raiment of the Jade Harvester
      • The (2) Set bonus has been increased from 560 seconds to 35000 seconds
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 1650 seconds to 10000 seconds
    • Zunimassa's Haunt
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 5500% to 15000%
  • Wizard
    • Tal Rasha's Elements
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 750% to 3000%
    • Delsere's Magnum Opus
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 3800% to 8500%
    • Vyr's Amazing Arcana
      • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 50% bonus damage to 100%

How to Particpate

To participate in the public test, you must have a Diablo III game license attached your Battle.net account in good standing (i.e. one that hasn't been suspended or banned). In addition, you will also need to download and install the Blizzard Battle.net desktop app if you have not already done so.

Step 1: Create a PTR account. To create a PTR account, log in to Blizzard Battle.net Account Management and double-click on your Diablo III game license; this will bring you to the game management page. On this page, click "Create a PTR account.

If you've participated in any previous Diablo III PTR, the "Create PTR account" button may not appear. This is because you've already created a PTR account and can therefore skip this step.

Step 2: Once you have created a PTR account, installed the Blizzard Battle.net desktop, and logged in with your Blizzard Battle.net credentials, select "Diablo III" from the main menu on the left-hand side of the application.

Step 3: On the Diablo III screen, there is a drop-down menu right above the "Play" button (note that this may say "Install" if you do not have Diablo III currently installed). Select "PTR: Diablo III" from this drop-down menu before proceeding.

Step 4: You should now have the option to install and play the patch.

The PTR is available in all supported languages, and accounts from all regions are eligible to participate.

PTR Character Copy

The option to copy your existing Diablo III characters from your live account to the PTR will be available and can be done directly through the PTR client. However, only one region per account can be copied at a time. So, if you choose to copy characters from your account in a different region, any previously copied PTR characters will be lost.

Step 1: Log into the live game and then log out.

Step 2: Log into PTR client and create a level 1 character. After you're done, return to the main character screen.

Step 3: Click on the "PTR Copy" button located in the upper right-hand corner. (The PTR Copy button will not appear in-game until you have created a new level 1 character.)

Step 4: Select your region.

Step 5: Click "Copy." This will copy all characters on your account from the selected region.

Step 6: You will be disconnected from the PTR client.

Step 7: Log back in. Your copied characters will be available for play.

Please note that you can only copy characters from one gameplay region at a time. If you choose to copy characters from a different region, any previously copied PTR characters will be lost. In addition, you can only copy characters over to your PTR account once every 24 hours. Attempting to copy characters before this cooldown is up will result in an error.

As this is a test server, please anticipate uneven game performance, and note that restarts and downtime may occur without warning. Thank you, and we look forward to your feedback!

A new Diablo patch will hit test realms this week. Check out the official patch notes!

[Calin 50]

Well I'm amazed that they are actually changing something this time around. 
But just increasing damage seems to be a bad choice. 

[Hotpants 5]

52 minutes ago, Clindberg said:

Well I'm amazed that they are actually changing something this time around. 
But just increasing damage seems to be a bad choice. 

I guess they want people to push higher grifts in addition to makeing more builds viable, and evening them out a bit.

[Rhondis 148]

2 hours ago, Stan said:

Legacy of Nightmares

• The (2) Set bonus has been increased from 100% to 500%

It's about damn time they buffed LoN. I have been asking them to buff it ever since Primal Legendaries and the revamped class sets became a thing! Now if only they implemented more legendaries that can further build diversity.

Quote

But just increasing damage seems to be a bad choice.

I actually agree with this sentiment... I don't think the answer of making some builds viable compared to others is to increase their damage by a huge amount. Judging by these changes it seems like Barbarian is getting a rather ludicrous buff. And while I know these are not final, I feel as though they have better way of going about this. 

 

[Kaelos 74]

46 minutes ago, Rhondis said:

It's about damn time they buffed LoN. I have been asking them to buff it ever since Primal Legendaries and the revamped class sets became a thing! Now if only they implemented more legendaries that can further build diversity.

And that just buffs single Witch Doctor build which will not be even played in season cuz of perma RoRG.

Edited November 19, 2018 by Kaelos

[Filson 5]

The (2) Set bonus has been increased from over 9000% to 500000000%. As usual.

[Boothyp 48]

Season of Grandeur might actually make some interesting builds and gameplay, quite interesting. Makes choosing a single class tricky, looks like a multiple class season!!

Not sure about all the buffs, seems to be getting (even more) silly now!!

(and I played Barb this season, now ya buff them stupidly.........)

[Notoriousthf 19]

I like what they're trying to do, but I don't think this is the right direction. If anything, adding few more legendary affixes to branch out to new playstyles would have been a better option, as well as updating a few others (looking at you, Phalanx items).

Kinda strange Akkhan wasn't buffed, unless they're still working on it.

Edited November 19, 2018 by Notoriousthf

[Kaelos 74]

13 minutes ago, Notoriousthf said:

I like what they're trying to do, but I don't think this is the right direction. If anything, adding few more legendary affixes to branch out to new playstyles would have been a better option, as well as updating a few others (looking at you, Phalanx items).

Kinda strange Akkhan wasn't buffed, unless they're still working on it.

Akkhan Condemn is top tier build and their aim was to buff other builds closer to it so I wouldn't expect it

[Frogspoison 63]

To better explain these changes, currently, the top pushing build is Akkhan's Condemn crusader, with some Necro (All but Inarius builds, which is the pet build, are up there) mixed in, leading the season at GR 123. Barbarian (I think Raekor HOTA) and Wizard (Firebirds-Twister) are up there, at 121. I don't understand WHY we are even seeing a Raekor buff, especially one so significant, but expect Raekor HOTA to become the new "top" due to this.

Coming up, we have Monk, which are ALL Sunwuko's Wave of Light build. Then Witch Doctor, which is straight up Arachyr's Firebats. Then, quite a bit behind, we have Demon Hunter UE Multishot.

So, in terms of pure class distribution, we have Crusaders and Necros, with Barbs and Wiz close behind. However, Monk, WD, and Demon Hunter all have HALF the output of the mentioned.

For why Blizz isn't buffing damage reduction, it's because almost EVERYONE at the top uses Ancient Parthian Defenders, which grant you huge damage reduction gains for any "stunned" mobs nearby (Which includes blinded, frozen, and even mobs that are being knocked up), which pretty much covers any set. Thus, in order to close the gap at the top, they are having to increase most set's damage by roughly 2.5x, with a few outliers going to 6, and one, Jade Harvester, has it's single target damage increased by 50x! (It's also considered one of the weakest WD sets too, so it needs it)

 

Really though, the LoN buff completely makes it pointless - We won't have Akkhan's Condemn, we will have Crusader LoN Condemn, which will be able to push ~15 GRs higher then current! Akkhans will jsut go back to where it was pre-necro - Completely outclassed by LoN in EVERY way. On the plus side, people can take out their old LoN Bombard gear.

 

At least all of the other sets will be MUCH closer together, no such thing as Raiment being 20 GRs below Sunwukos, barely able to do T13 without having decked out gear.

 

[inteus 10]

Seems firebird getting shafted. to bad , favorite set.  even sunwuko and trang'oul got buffs. ( akkhan missing to )

[eXQQ2 0]

 

Quote

 

Raiment of the Jade Harvester

• The (2) Set bonus has been increased from 560 seconds to 35000 seconds

 

• Based on the source linked in the Header, the correct value is only 3500 seconds and not nearly 10 hours worth of time :D

[Notoriousthf 19]

10 hours ago, Frogspoison said:

To better explain these changes, currently, the top pushing build is Akkhan's Condemn crusader, with some Necro (All but Inarius builds, which is the pet build, are up there) mixed in, leading the season at GR 123. Barbarian (I think Raekor HOTA) and Wizard (Firebirds-Twister) are up there, at 121. I don't understand WHY we are even seeing a Raekor buff, especially one so significant, but expect Raekor HOTA to become the new "top" due to this.

Coming up, we have Monk, which are ALL Sunwuko's Wave of Light build. Then Witch Doctor, which is straight up Arachyr's Firebats. Then, quite a bit behind, we have Demon Hunter UE Multishot.

So, in terms of pure class distribution, we have Crusaders and Necros, with Barbs and Wiz close behind. However, Monk, WD, and Demon Hunter all have HALF the output of the mentioned.

For why Blizz isn't buffing damage reduction, it's because almost EVERYONE at the top uses Ancient Parthian Defenders, which grant you huge damage reduction gains for any "stunned" mobs nearby (Which includes blinded, frozen, and even mobs that are being knocked up), which pretty much covers any set. Thus, in order to close the gap at the top, they are having to increase most set's damage by roughly 2.5x, with a few outliers going to 6, and one, Jade Harvester, has it's single target damage increased by 50x! (It's also considered one of the weakest WD sets too, so it needs it)

 

Really though, the LoN buff completely makes it pointless - We won't have Akkhan's Condemn, we will have Crusader LoN Condemn, which will be able to push ~15 GRs higher then current! Akkhans will jsut go back to where it was pre-necro - Completely outclassed by LoN in EVERY way. On the plus side, people can take out their old LoN Bombard gear.

 

At least all of the other sets will be MUCH closer together, no such thing as Raiment being 20 GRs below Sunwukos, barely able to do T13 without having decked out gear.

 

I can see lon bombard, but it might get outclassed by akkhan 5 / invoker 3 with base RoRG in place, add to that the steed set weapons. Can be made even tankier by taking unity as last ring, or go invoker 2 and take compass/pledge set. The other two slots will be a justice lantern (you'll need the blocks for 2p invoker) and cubed CoE. I managed to hit 100 with this setup at around 1.1k paragon with 91s augments and 96s on gems.

 

Condemn damage is so high is because the 2 condemn items having such high scaling together. It shouldn't punish other builds that require akkhan set.

Edited November 20, 2018 by Notoriousthf

[Lawrenz 105]

Super excited. I let the last 2 seasons just pass, and waited for a Seasonal Affix that changes up some gameplay, and it is finally here. Its more simple than i expected, but it has a great impact. I am looking forward to see the best builds utilizing extra slots besides the sets.

I dont like the class buffs, that begin to get ridiculous, but hey, okay, if the sets get in line to each other, it has to be done. Better than nerfing what people like to rock in rifts now. And i dont mind the numbers getting silly, and feeling overpowered now. Someday soon the game has to come to an end. (sadly not soon enough, without a tease of D4 at Blizzcon) But well... lets have fun with this ?

Edited November 20, 2018 by Lawrenz

[Infinal 16]

No buffs for the non-Pestilence Necromancer sets (yes, I saw the homeopathic increase to Trag’Oul’s)? With Inarius being the obligatory support set, I never thought Rathma’s or Trag’Oul’s to be comparable to the damage output of Pestilence. Had to scroll quite a bit down on the seasonal leaderboards to find a Necromancer that wasn’t Pestilence there.

[Notoriousthf 19]

Playing the PTR, it just doesn't feel as appealing to play as anything now, especially because it's the same builds over again. I know they're trying to get us to push higher GRs, but I wish there was something else that could be done.

[inteus 10]

What they SHOULD have done, is make ABILITIES stronger, not sets, this entire game is about the sets, and it makes 90 % of the skills obsolete, its sad you cant pick and choose and be competitive on the ladder at the same time. i remember one season i HATED all the sets that was top 5. so i just skipped the entire season, making sets hit all skills and not just 1/2/3 would make the game much more fun, also make it possible to mix 2/3 sets for the same amount of damage and fun, would make the game more exiting.

[Knutsanity 15]

Completely agree about the skills. Not that some shouldn't be more powerful than others. Don't so much mind that some sets are better than others, some are so good they are more of a holy grail. It kinda makes sense to have that. But after years and years this balancing makes sense. Now that most of you have all the sets, kinda useless and not much replay value if they didn't do this. So now you have a shot at using most of the sets to get to the leaderboards if that's your thing. So I love the update, and even the timing, a bit earlier for all of you who have been playing this game forever makes sense too, but whatever we'll take it. 

But the skills, I'm finding that the case as well, the sets kinda pick your skills for you. Now that the sets are more balanced it's less of a big deal, but another 2 or 3 times skill options for each set would make a world of difference. Legendary powers for all skills would do that as well. The big thing is replay value. I'm loving D3 Ros, it's my first taste of diablo, and it's only been like 1.5 years for me, so the replay value is fine. The replay value is better than any game I have played by far, not that I've played a tonne in this genre. But for most of you I imagine the 6-10 years between games gets dull half way through. Tinkering with the legendary powers, finding more and more perfect gear slowly but surely, and using the LON set rings looks like the only real replay value that can last that long. Because then you can use your favourite skills that have leg powers. 

Seems that is a request pretty well across the board from Diablo 3 fans. More skills options for D4 would help a lot, more legendary abilities for D4 would help a lot, more variety in sets or within the sets in D4 would help a lot. I say D4 because it seems we are hoping for it in the next 2 years or so. But with D3 these things would help a lot too. Heck they'll probably give us this update soon and start a new season, bet they could throw in a few extra legendaries and skills into the sets real quick if they wanted too... If it takes 2 years or more to get D4, then they really should. 

Don't get me wrong, it says a lot that after like 7 months on xbox 360 D3 and 7 months on xbox 1 D3 Ros, that I don't even really need this update quite yet, and am still figuring some things out. But I can tell It's about to dry up for me, stop learning, nothing surprising or new. So personal builds would become super important at that point. A great game, a large game, super impressed. Suppose they don't really want a perfect game though, or who needs D4. But with a simple update of 40 legendaries, and a tweek of the sets to encompass more skills, the replay value would be pretty well forever. A lot to ask I guess, more like 6-8 new legendaries with legendary powers should be a given though.  Even just for balancing again. I'm a little less about balance than most of you it seems, Some things should be more powerful than others to me. But that's probably because I'm still fairly new. But to anyone, the more options the better. Now that I got 1 lvl 70 for each of the 7 classes on hardcore, capable of Torments 9-12, and I'm reaching that GR 70 + end game thingy in the next few months probably, I'll start getting annoyed too probably, that you have to have certain builds in exact ways. One thing i'll do to keep it interesting is to avoid the build suggestions, hope I don't remember much of them by then, and then at least feel like I didn't follow someone else's blueprint. But overall, the idea should be.... The game is huge, options a plenty to personalise builds. Until you get good and high levelled. Then your course is set for you on your builds. In a perfect world, you wouldn't get "punished" for being high levelled if you want to call it that. There has to be a middle ground between the idea that some things kinda should be more powerful than others, and balance for personal choice. Maybe it lies in more complimentary skills like in an etched sigil sort of way, or leap earthquake. Maybe it lies in sets effecting more skills than they do and just a few dozen more leg powers for skills. Maybe it lies in leader boards for each set individually, and maybe a separate leader board combining equally important rankings from them all, for those that do leader boards. I don't know but it's a tough nut for anyone to crack. 

Looking forward to the update though, glad it comes before I personally need it, hopeful that they would take the opportunity to at least add a couple new Leg Powers. 

[Soull 0]

Why does DH always get the least boost? Could they improve UE defenses so we don't have to be moving all the time and mbe tank some *filtered*, just to feel good about it?....

[rickster 12]

When Blizzard gives away this much fair advantage for all player's, the +Season 16, (knowing their RnG is a joke), then that means that there's either a proper Diablo 4 coming soon, Or,  they'll finally admit that maybe PoE is not that bad afterall, Or, it's who's got the most powerful cellPhone to play Diablo Immortal?

Then again, I've been known to be facetious at times. ?

 

Edited December 9, 2018 by rickster

[albabe 33]

But no "Special" Bonus this Season?  Like Double Bounties or Double Goblins?

[Mordiablo 0]

On 12/12/2018 at 7:08 AM, albabe said:

But no "Special" Bonus this Season?  Like Double Bounties or Double Goblins?

My friend, it is the season of Grandeur. We will be receiving the [Ring of Grandeur] buff passively for all seasonal characters.

[inteus 10]

so most ppl think the patch would come today ! but no news at all. kinda hate this silence.

Edited January 8, 2019 by inteus

[albabe 33]

On 12/27/2018 at 9:55 AM, Mordiablo said:

My friend, it is the season of Grandeur. We will be receiving the [Ring of Grandeur] buff passively for all seasonal characters.

Whoopee<