d3 Season of Grandeur Patch Notes and Preview

[Starym 3,800]

 

The 16th season arrives next month on January 18th and continues the themed season trend, with the big buff this time bringing some grandeur, Ring of Royal Grandeur, in fact. Everyone gets the effect of the legendary without wearing it or having it in your cube, which will make set matching a lot simpler. We're also getting new cosmetics, including some weird butterfly wings (not the Magda kind, thankfully), new conquests, new Haedrig's Gift sets and a brand new UI feature highlighting when Primal Legendaries drop, giving them a red beam and a huge and unique map icon! We're also getting potions removed from the inventory, 5 new armory tabs and GR Keystones stored in the materials tab.

But, most importantly of all, there's set changes/huge buffs for Legacy of Nightmares (Litany of the Undaunted + The Wailing Host), all Barbarian, Demon Hunter, Monk and Witch Doctor sets, most Crusader and Wizard sets, and one Necromancer set.

Season 16 (source)

Season 16 begins January 18 and accompanies our latest Diablo III patch. Read on to learn more about upcoming class set tweaks, quality of life changes, and a brand-new Seasonal buff that’s sure to make Season 16 grand!

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Table of Contents

• Season 16 Theme
• New Cosmetic Rewards
• Season Journey Rewards
• Seasonal Conquests
• Haedrig’s Gift
• Quality of Life
• Class Set Updates
• Patch Notes
• FAQ

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New Season Theme

Season 16 introduces a brand-new buff to the mix that will change up the way you play. For the duration of Season 16, all Seasonal players will benefit from the legendary power of the Ring of Royal Grandeur. This means you do not need to hunt down or equip the item to benefit from its Set bonus-enabling ability! Bear in mind that this buff does not stack with additional Rings of Royal Grandeur, whether they be equipped directly on your character or via the Jewelry slot in Kanai’s Cube.

For the uninitiated, this means many classes may be able to combine different Class Set bonuses in new ways—or squeeze yet another Legendary power into their favorite builds. Theorycrafters unite!—this is the season to strut your stuff, experiment to your heart’s content, and push the limits of your most perfectly crafted build. While we’ve done our own experimenting, we can’t wait to see what the community comes up with in Season 16!

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New Cosmetic Rewards

Season 16 will also introduce new cosmetic rewards, obtainable by progressing through the Season Journey.

In addition to the Helm and Shoulder slots of the exclusive Conqueror Set, players can earn a brand-new series of portrait frames themed around the clarion call of adventure.. For the most devoted cosmetic collectors, we have a pair of wings fit for a monarch. The Wings of Lempo draw inspiration from some of the noblest creatures in Sanctuary, and aside from a cosmically rare drop, few other wings are quite as lovely.

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Season Journey Rewards

If you’ve been diligently slaying demons for the past few Seasons and reached Conqueror in the Season Journey each time, you’ve surely accrued a few extra stash tabs by now. But players who have not yet earned a total of four stash tabs via the Season Journey can still unlock an additional one by completing the following tasks at the Conqueror tier:

• Guardian of Sanctuary: Finish a level 70 Nephalem Rift on Torment XIII within five minutes
• Gem of My Life: Level three Legendary Gems to level 55
• All I Do IS Win: Complete two Conquests this Season
• In for The Kill: Kill Azmodan at level 70 in under 30 seconds on Torment XIII difficulty
• Money Ain’t a Thang: Slay Greed on Torment XIII difficulty
• Take U There: Reach Greater Rift level 60 Solo
• Power Amplification: Use Kanai’s Cube to augment an Ancient Legendary item with a level 50+ gem
• Cubic Reconfiguration: Use Kanai’s Cube to reforge a Legendary item

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Seasonal Conquests

The Seasonal Conquest rotation continues! For the speedy, Speed Demon/Need for Speed requires the fastest nephalem to complete a Nephalem Rift at level 70 on Torment X or higher in under two minutes. On a Good Day/I Can’t Stop guides you to get your Legendary Gem grind on; level three Legendary Gems to 65 to complete this challenge! For the fiercest demon slayers, Boss Mode/World’s Apart is a speed challenge where you’ll need to eliminate the following bosses at level 70 and Torment X in under twenty minutes:

• The Skeleton King
• The Butcher
• Zoltun Kulle
• Ghom
• Cydaea
• Rakanoth
• Diablo
• Adria
• Queen Araneae
• Maghda
• Belial
• Siegebreaker Assault Beast
• Azmodan
• Izual
• Urzael
• Malthael

Talk about a mouthful! For Curses!/Stars Align, pick any Cursed Chest event that requires killing monsters and defeat over 350 or more at level 70 on Torment X or higher. Finally, Years of War/Dynasty demonstrates your mastery of multiple classes by clearing a Greater Rift level 55 solo with the full bonuses of any six full Class sets.

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Haedrig’s Gift

Finally, the Class Sets available for completing certain chapters in the Season Journey courtesy of Haedrig’s Gift have rotated once more. We’ve listed the available Sets below. For those new to Seasons, here’s how it works:

Completing Chapters 2, 3, and 4 of the Season Journey will reward you with three of Haedrig’s Gifts. Each Gift contains a few pieces from one of your Class Sets. Players can only unlock one Class Set in this manner per Season across Hardcore and Non-Hardcore, so choose wisely!

The set you will receive depends on the Class of the character you’re playing when you open each Haedrig’s Gift. To collect a full Class Set, you’ll need to open all three on the same character.

Here are the sets granted by Haedrig’s Gift in Season 16:

• Barbarian – Immortal King’s Call
• Crusader – Seeker of the Light
• Demon Hunter – Natalya’s Vengeance
• Monk – Uliana’s Stratagem
• Necromancer – Trag’Oul’s Avatar
• Witch Doctor – Spirit of Arachyr
• Wizard – Vyr’s Amazing Arcana

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Quality of Life Changes

Thanks to player feedback, we’ve focused on a couple of frequently requested changes to improve the overall Diablo experience. This includes minor changes, such as removing Legendary potions from player inventories so that they no longer take up space, but also more significant changes to celebrating end-game loot in Primal Legendaries.

Primal Legendaries were, from the start, a goal largely intended for the segment of our audience pushing themselves to take on the game’s most challenging experiences. As power has increased over time, Primals have become more accessible across the board and we realized they were not celebrated or even as obvious as they should be, considering how ultimate they feel in a build. To this end, we’ve added specially colored beams and a unique mini-map icon to highlight when they drop, as well as shined up their tooltip and border colorations to be more discernible.

Finally, we want to make sure everyone is clear when they can start collecting Primal Legendaries; upon completing your first Greater Rift 70 or higher Solo, you’ll receive an achievement indicating your accomplishment and the Greater Rift boss will be guaranteed to drop a Primal Legendary. This drop is subject to all other loot rules—meaning while there’s a large chance it will be suited for your class, randomness does play a factor.

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Class Set Updates

The balance changes from Patch 2.6.1 have had a few seasons to percolate, allowing most classes and builds to settle in and reach for their best performance. With Patch 2.6.4, we’ve identified some of the best performing builds, like Condemn Crusader and Rathma’s Necromancer, and we’re looking to bring many of the other class set builds up to par.

This is largely a numbers pass, and we haven’t just focused on class sets—the “no set Set” Legacy of Nightmares will be receiving a sizeable buff as well. We know many of you are curious as to what changes may have occurred as a result of your testing on the PTR. The updated Patch Notes are below for your viewing pleasure, so you can begin plotting out your ideal build before Season 16 begins!

PATCH 2.6.4 - v2.6.4.54724

Table of Contents:

• General
• Greater Rifts
• Seasons
• Class Set Changes
  • All Classes
  • Barbarian
  • Crusader
  • Demon Hunter
  • Monk
  • Necromancer
  • Witch Doctor
  • Wizard
  • 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
      • Legendary Potions are no longer stored in player inventory and can be accessed or changed by right-clicking on the potion icon in the action bar
      • 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
    • Return to top
  • 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, and players inside the Rift will be able to continue with no additional difficulty scaling until the run has been completed
    • Return to top
  • 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
    • Return to top
  • 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. Some of these values have been adjusted per our observations as well as player feedback during the 2.6.4 PTR. Thanks for testing!
    • All Classes
      • Legacy of Nightmares
        • The (2) Set bonus has been increased from 100% to 750%
      • Return to top
    • Barbarian
      • The Legacy of Raekor
        • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 2800% to 5500%
      • 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%
      • Return to top
    • 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%
      • Return to top
    • 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%
      • Return to top
    • 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 750%
      • 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%
      • Return to top
    • Necromancer
      • Trag'Oul's Avatar
        • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 3300% to 3800%
      • Return to top
    • 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 3500 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%
      • Return to top
    • Wizard
      • Tal Rasha's Elements
        • The (6) Set bonus has been increased from 750% to 2000%
      • 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%
      • Return to top

   

  We can’t wait to see what combinations players come up with throughout the course of Season 16 . . . especially when considering the new Seasonal buff!

  ---

  Frequently Asked Questions

  Q: When does Season 16 start?

  A: Season 16 begins Friday, January 18 at 5:00 p.m. PST in North America, 5:00 p.m. CEST in Europe, and 5:00 p.m. KST in Asia. For time zone conversion, see this site.

  Q: When do Seasons go live for players on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch?

  A: Seasons go live for all console players globally Friday, January 18 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, regardless of which regional version of the game you may have. Please note that Seasonal Leaderboards for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch are still separate by hardware platform.

  Q: When will Season 16 end?

  A: We currently anticipate that Season 16 will be ending on Sunday, March 17 at 5:00 p.m. PST in North America, 5:00 p.m. CEST in Europe, and 5:00 p.m. KST in Asia.

  Q: Why is the Season end date an estimate?

  A: Traditionally, we have given players two weeks’ notice prior to the ending of a Season. However, we’ve heard the community’s feedback, so going forward, we’ll be providing more comprehensive Season details in the Season preview blogs. Please bear in mind that this date is an estimate and there is always a chance it may shift. While we will do our best to hit these target dates as closely as possible, we will continue to verify the Season end date at the two-week warning mark.

  Q: When are the non-Seasonal Leaderboards being wiped?

  A: Non-Seasonal Leaderboards are tied to what we call “Eras,” each of which lasts about 6–12 months. The most recent era began November 9 and is scheduled to end January 8. For more information on Eras, please see this post.

  Q: What will happen to older Seasonal and Era records?

  A: Starting with Season 10, we removed old personal bests from Season 1. When Season 16 arrives, we will remove old personal bests from Season 7, and so on. We will be doing the same for personal bests from the previous Era when the next one goes live.

  Seasonal Leaderboard records are not being cleared and will remain archived both in game and on our website.

  ---

  Themed Seasons are continuing to evolve as we venture into the future, and we’re quite excited to see where this one leads. Are you looking forward to the Season of Grandeur? Which build or class set buff are you looking to experiment with first? Share your thoughts below and we’ll see you in Season 16

There's a lot of changes to both to UI, sets and a lot more coming next month, as well as a new buff!

[Ogerscherge 43]

13 minutes ago, Starym said:

Legacy of Nightmares

• The (2) Set bonus has been increased from 100% to 750%

Not going to lie, that sound like a lot of fun. I always liked the concept of this set and now it seems kind of awesome. ^.^

[Koxsos 38]

So any absurd call outs to what will be broken this season?
I do like the considerable LoN buff, I would like something like a starfire meteor wiz with etched sigil. I like it the first time they introduced the original LoN change, probably not the meta and definitelly not given the seasonal affix, but I still think it could "compete".

But more or less which build will benefit MOST from the RorG affix and why?

Edited December 18, 2018 by Koxsos

[jeremy2020 5]

lol, small indie company Blizzard puts out this minor update...meanwhile...GGG puts out major new leagues and content without even charging. The people in charge at blizzard should be fired.

 

#Save Diablo

Edited December 18, 2018 by jeremy2020

[Damien 1,514]

I find it interesting that this season will only last 2 months. Why so short? I'm wondering if there's a reason.

[Koxsos 38]

6 minutes ago, jeremy2020 said:

lol, small indie company Blizzard puts out this minor update...meanwhile...GGG puts out major new leagues and content without even charging.

relevance?

[Axebird 7]

36 minutes ago, jeremy2020 said:

lol, small indie company Blizzard puts out this minor update...meanwhile...GGG puts out major new leagues and content without even charging. The people in charge at blizzard should be fired.

 

#Save Diablo

I dunno man, every league in Path of Exile is worse than the last. Betrayal is a confusing mess and GGG's netcode seems to get worse with every patch. There used to be occasional lag spikes, now you can get freezes for up to 20 seconds every couple minutes.

[Dejo93 1,023]

Dead game

[Rooach 34]

Quote

 

Sounds dope. Sadly dead game, i wont play solo

Edit: No clue how i remove the quote thing

 

Edited December 18, 2018 by Rooach

[DasBigHippo 14]

1 hour ago, jeremy2020 said:

lol, small indie company Blizzard puts out this minor update...meanwhile...GGG puts out major new leagues and content without even charging. The people in charge at blizzard should be fired.

 

#Save Diablo

At least I can actually play D3. For the last week PoE has been literally impossible to play. The thing crashes upon picking a character. PoE may get more content updates, but none of that matters when the game is literally unplayable.

[Aegrotat 80]

14 minutes ago, DasBigHippo said:

At least I can actually play D3. For the last week PoE has been literally impossible to play. The thing crashes upon picking a character. PoE may get more content updates, but none of that matters when the game is literally unplayable.

Sorry to hear that. I've literally had no problems this season but it's a shame to hear

[Rhondis 148]

2 hours ago, jeremy2020 said:

lol, small indie company Blizzard puts out this minor update...meanwhile...GGG puts out major new leagues and content without even charging. The people in charge at blizzard should be fired.

 

#Save Diablo

Diablo 3 has no other additional charges outside from the game itself, RoS, and the necro pack. Back when D3 began and since the release of RoS  they have pushed out major patches and updates that were free. I really dont understand the point of your post. If anything most blizzard games push out major patches that cost the consumer no money, unless it's Wow but that's a monthly fee and even then the content patches are still free.

2 hours ago, Ogerscherge said:

Not going to lie, that sound like a lot of fun. I always liked the concept of this set and now it seems kind of awesome. ^.^

It sucks that they have not changed the restless legendaries to include interesting effects and benefits to further support LoN. I am happy that they have finally buffed the set.

Edited December 18, 2018 by Rhondis

[Melcahia 36]

is not a bad patch, sure D3 need more love, but this is what we have. Is going to be an interesting Season, and i will play it all the way.

Talking about PoE, im not the only one with problems during the game, im sure is a great game, but it has too many disconection problems, that makes the game almost unplayable.

[Ogerscherge 43]

1 hour ago, Rhondis said:

It sucks that they have not changed the restless legendaries to include interesting effects and benefits to further support LoN. I am happy that they have finally buffed the set.

Yes, it is cool that you'll finally be able to do something more interesting, or rather unique, with your character, instead of just going for a set, which pretty much dictates the way you have to play.

Of course, with this particular season bonus and the huge buffs to so many sets, LoN will probably still be only second rate, but it sure is a step in the right direction nonetheless. ^.^

[Calin 50]

2 hours ago, Melcahia said:

Talking about PoE, im not the only one with problems during the game, im sure is a great game, but it has too many disconection problems, that makes the game almost unplayable.

I've had absolutely zero issues with DC's and I've been no-lifing the hell out of this last week to get started in Betrayal League. 
Might be an issue where you live though, but connecting to servers here are freaking flawless. 

Ohh and people saying blizz releases major patches, should take a look at what GGG releases every 3 month. 
I am deeply impressed at the job they do at GGG, and after Blizz has lost the connection with their community, I only end up disappointed every season.

[Rhondis 148]

18 minutes ago, Clindberg said:

Ohh and people saying blizz releases major patches, should take a look at what GGG releases every 3 month. 
I am deeply impressed at the job they do at GGG, and after Blizz has lost the connection with their community, I only end up disappointed every season.

My argument is not about the size of the patches, but rather that they are free when you have bought the game or play the game for free (and some games do actually receive big patches). Of course GGG is receiving large patches, it's an independent company that actually listens to their fan base. Some would say they have more passion than Blizzard, because let's face it, blizzard is losing their touch with the community and the passion they once had back in the good days.

Edited December 19, 2018 by Rhondis

[Knutsanity 15]

As a non season hardcore player I'm satisfied with just the LoN set bonus alone. For the same reasons as most, sets kind of dictate the way you have to play. Not a huge deal, once you go ham long enough you can have 4 or 5 separate decent builds, you can appreciate them when they help you progress, I've been smashing the A button on the xbox controller for a month with my thorns build, I'd have expected that would be more boring by now. First primal ancient later and I feel like I could smash A for another month.
But LoN being more capable unlocks a litany of options. Literally pick your legendary power poisons and mash em together however you'd like. If there were more legendary powers (Just a few more even, please, you still got a couple weeks), it could be pretty well up to our preference. 
Second primal ancient? A 2 Handed Flail with a legendary power of double bombardment impacts. So a LoN Bombardment build, mashed with whichever else I like that doesn't interrupt bombardment buffs sounds like the new plan. I suspect that it will be my favourite set for all 7 classes in time. Time for some homework. 
I just started playing a year ago ish, so I have a ways to go. Gotta rush some playing in with different sets now, cuz I'm going to be tempted to try em all but yet yearning to get through it and make my own LoN build for each class. At this point I can wait about 3 years for D4... ?

[Starym 3,800]

2 hours ago, mosesbrodin99 said:

We knew that Season 16, the Season of Grandeur, would be coming to Diablo 3 on January 11thdue to the patch notes for patch 

What?

[Infinal 16]

Something about this feels like it’ll be the last-ever balance patch for the game. And I reiterate, I just don’t get Blizzard here. The game is amazing from a technical standpoint.

I played “Path of Exile” for all of two hours or so before uninstalling it again – it felt like a “Diablo II” mod in its early development stage, with all the nowadays completely outdated nuisances (penurious inventory management, TP scrolls being an actual item, pedantic waypoint hunting, etc.). A massive Sphere Grid-like skill tree can’t win me over if the underlying game makes advancing on it seem more like a chore than a reward.

“Diablo III” doesn’t have any of this, which is why this obvious lack of care and maintenance feels like a deliberate limiting of the game’s potential – and all the more frustrating because of it. For instance, why not give the community a chance to contribute their own Legendaries for the next content patch (don’t laugh)? Have some dumb contest where people can vote on the five best submissions, replete with mandatory balance, inventory pics, and in-game models; bam, new stuff for free and a year’s worth of good will with the public. Or how about a fourth Kanai’s Cube slot that accepts a Season buff in which you progressed until at least, say, Slayer? That way you could actually unlock long-term benefits from participating in them, rather than the I-had-my-15-year-old-deviantArt-loving-daughter-come-in-and-design-the-Season’s-four-Paragon-portraits-in-Photoshop-during-lunch-break portrait frames we get now. I’d love to be able to activate the double Goblin buff again for treasure hunting, or the double Bounty Cache we have right now for the admittedly tedious gathering of materials. And a thusly slotted RoRG could bring about actual gameplay novelties without the Season’s end looming over them in what currently sounds more like an extended PTR, owed to its ephemeral nature.

Sigh. There are so many talented fans of this game who could raise it from the scarcely visited, oatmeal enthusiast retirement home inhabitant to a foxy grandpa in no time. If only they had the chance. But with Activis— the accountants running the firm, this wishful thinking is about as useful as asking sexual favors of my waifu.

[Starym 3,800]

1 hour ago, Infinal said:

Something about this feels like it’ll be the last-ever balance patch for the game. And I reiterate, I just don’t get Blizzard here. The game is amazing from a technical standpoint.

I played “Path of Exile” for all of two hours or so before uninstalling it again – it felt like a “Diablo II” mod in its early development stage, with all the nowadays completely outdated nuisances (penurious inventory management, TP scrolls being an actual item, pedantic waypoint hunting, etc.). A massive Sphere Grid-like skill tree can’t win me over if the underlying game makes advancing on it seem more like a chore than a reward.

“Diablo III” doesn’t have any of this, which is why this obvious lack of care and maintenance feels like a deliberate limiting of the game’s potential – and all the more frustrating because of it. For instance, why not give the community a chance to contribute their own Legendaries for the next content patch (don’t laugh)? Have some dumb contest where people can vote on the five best submissions, replete with mandatory balance, inventory pics, and in-game models; bam, new stuff for free and a year’s worth of good will with the public. Or how about a fourth Kanai’s Cube slot that accepts a Season buff in which you progressed until at least, say, Slayer? That way you could actually unlock long-term benefits from participating in them, rather than the I-had-my-15-year-old-deviantArt-loving-daughter-come-in-and-design-the-Season’s-four-Paragon-portraits-in-Photoshop-during-lunch-break portrait frames we get now. I’d love to be able to activate the double Goblin buff again for treasure hunting, or the double Bounty Cache we have right now for the admittedly tedious gathering of materials. And a thusly slotted RoRG could bring about actual gameplay novelties without the Season’s end looming over them in what currently sounds more like an extended PTR, owed to its ephemeral nature.

Sigh. There are so many talented fans of this game who could raise it from the scarcely visited, oatmeal enthusiast retirement home inhabitant to a foxy grandpa in no time. If only they had the chance. But with Activis— the accountants running the firm, this wishful thinking is about as useful as asking sexual favors of my waifu.

Very well put. The simple answer is that they've moved on and 3 people are working on the game. Obviously they also have 0 idea what to do with D4 so they've basically put the franchise on ice until 4 releases in like 5 years. I doubt this will be the last balance patch though, it's really easy to just up the % numbers on sets every once in a  while and double a stat like gold or legendary drops.

[Yridaa 490]

14 hours ago, Starym said:

it's really easy to just up the % numbers on sets every once in a  while

I do think they can't push it much further than this though, as the GRift cap (150) has already been reached before this substantial buff, it took a team like 6K paragon average and a "one in a thousand" rift to pull it off, but it does show that it is already attainable with very hard work and luck. The more they'll start buffing sets (including the builds/sets that can reach that cap), the less effort it is going to take to reach that cap.

[rickster 12]

Surprise, surprise, compared to the other Monk class sets, Blizzard has nerfed Inna's again.

[Koxsos 38]

On 12/21/2018 at 11:02 AM, rickster said:

Surprise, surprise, compared to the other Monk class sets, Blizzard has nerfed Inna's again.

But we can put Tasker and Theo in it now! 

[rickster 12]

12 hours ago, Koxsos said:

But we can put Tasker and Theo in it now! 

and yet, even Inna's (hybrids) will still not come close to Sunwuko'sWoL, including Generators, but it's the only thing that makes Inna's viable. PTR's made no mention of the un-buffed TnT ?

 The Inna's 1500% to 750%, (for S16), is still a 50% full DMG% reduction, and NO other set Class got that nerfed.

Edited December 24, 2018 by rickster

[Infinal 16]

On 12/24/2018 at 11:04 PM, rickster said:

and yet, even Inna's (hybrids) will still not come close to Sunwuko'sWoL, including Generators, but it's the only thing that makes Inna's viable. PTR's made no mention of the un-buffed TnT ?

 The Inna's 1500% to 750%, (for S16), is still a 50% full DMG% reduction, and NO other set Class got that nerfed.

Say what? Either you’ve misread that or you have inside information that clues you in that there’s a typo in their announcement. Inna’s Mantra went up from 150%, not down from 1500%. It’s not a 50% damage nerf but a 500% damage buff.