d3 Season 24 and Patch 2.7.1 Notes, PTR on the 17th

[Staff 1,489]

 

A new PTR is coming next week, as we get a look at the new patch and Season! Season 24 brings a tribute to Diablo 2, specifically Ehthereal weapons which will be very powerful, with class legendary AND passive abilities on them, on top of more powerful stats! In terms of item changes, we have Mystic Ally and Inna set changes, along with a Crusader and Necro item tweak as well, but there might be more since these are only preliminary/pre-PTR release notes.

2.7.1 PTR (Source)

Our two-week PTR testing period for the 2.7.1 update begins June 17 and we're asking for your help to quell the tides of surging demons. Take a look at the preliminary patch notes below and start theorycrafting how you'll make the most of the Ethereals and new balance changes; Patch 2.7.1 will be arriving soon.

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Table of Contents

• PTR Focus Details
  • PTR Tips
• Patch Notes
  • Seasons
  • Items
  • Bug Fixes
• How to Participate in PTR
• PTR Character Copy

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

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PTR Focus & Details

We’ll be conducting the Patch 2.7.1 PTR over the course of two weeks, starting Thursday, June 17. During this time there may be periodic maintenances, outages, hotfixes, or minor patches.

• There will be three PTR-unique buffs active to help you on your journey: increased Legendary drop rate, increased experience gains, and double Blood Shard drops. You can also buy new gear for testing from the special PTR vendor, Djank Mi'em, who will exchange Blood Shards for class-specific bags full of Legendary items and Ethereals that we'd love for you to test!
• Class and Balance Changes: To ensure that the most significant class changes receive an ample amount of attention, we'd love for you to focus testing and feedback on the set changes to the Monk's Inna's Mantra set, Crusader's Aegis of Valor set and the Necromancer's Masquerade of the Burning Carnival set.
• New Season Theme Testing: We're looking to gather feedback on the seasonal theme content featuring Ethereals.

So that we can efficiently review your posts, feedback should be provided in the PTR Feedback forum while bug reports should be provided in the PTR Bug Report forum.

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PTR Testing Tips

As with our previous PTRs, this testing period is short, so it's best to hit the ground running. Whether you’re a PTR veteran or newcomer, we thought we’d pass along 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 Wizard player, consider what changes impact the Wizard specifically. What you like best, what you think may still need adjustment, and what you’d 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 that the patch launch is as smooth as possible.
• When providing feedback, focus less on a solution and more on your experience. How did the changes make you feel? Was there something “off” that you noticed? Did something seem wrong or insufficient? Suggestions are always welcome but identifying the issues themselves is most important.

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Patch Notes

Below you will find the patch notes for the upcoming update for Diablo III, Patch 2.7.1.

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PATCH 2.7.1

Table of Contents:

• Seasons
• Items
• Bug Fixes

Note: All changes apply to all versions of Diablo III, including PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC unless otherwise indicated.

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Seasons

 

Developer's Note: Diablo II left us with fond memories when it released more than 20 years ago, and with Diablo® II: Resurrected^TM coming soon, we’d like to introduce a feature to honor that legacy. For this seasonal theme, our inspiration took shape by reimagining how Ethereal items could manifest in Diablo III. In Season 24, Ethereals are rare, powerful, and fleeting items, with 21 iconic weapons from Diablo II making a return.

 

New Season Theme: Season 24 introduces Ethereals, a new weapon-type that players will be able to acquire and hunt for in their upcoming seasonal journey. Ethereals will roll a powerful set of affixes, a random Class Weapon Legendary Power and a random Class Passive Power. Ethereals will have unique icons, names, item types, and sounds originally found in Diablo II. For additional details on Ethereals, check out the list below:

• Ethereals are account bound and can only be dropped by monsters, chests, and destructibles, but do not require your character to be level 70 to drop. Ethereals cannot be acquired through Kanai's Cube or from Kadala.
• Ethereal rarity drop rate is set between Ancient and Primal items.
• There are 3 unique Ethereals per class. Each Ethereal has fixed affixes and rolls one random Legendary Weapon power and one random Class Passive Skill.
• Only one Ethereal can be equipped at a time.
• Ethereals ignore item durability loss.
• Legendary Powers and Class Passive Skills rolled on Ethereals do not stack with the same power equipped through Kanai's Cube, Items or Skills.
• Ethereals cannot be Enchanted, Transmogrified, Dyed, Reforged, or traded.
• Ethereals can be augmented.
• Collecting all 21 Ethereals during Season 24 will reward players with the Feat of Strength, Ethereal Recollection. Players who accomplish this will have all Ethereal transmogrify options available for future seasonal and non-seasonal play.
• Ethereals only drop in Seasonal play, and will not transfer to your non-seasonal character when the season ends.

Season Rewards: Two unique new rewards, a portrait frame, and a pet will be granted to players who complete the Season 24 Guardian Journey. Please note that the reward content will not be available during PTR 2.7.1.

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Items

General

• Monk | Skill Change:
  • Mystic Ally - Fire Ally: Now splits into 2 splits instead of 5, but now all Fire Allies can split. Damage radius slightly increased and damage increased from 480% to 1920% weapon damage.
  • Mystic Ally - Earth Ally: Damage increased from 380% to 4500% weapon damage.
• Wizard | Skill Change:
  • Mirror Image: Mirror Image icon now displays a counter to display how many Mirror Images are active.

Item Changes

• Inna's Mantra 4-Piece Set: Gain the base effect of all four Mantras at all times. You gain 5% damage reduction for each Mystic Ally you have out. Your Mystic Allies no longer take damage.
• Inna's Mantra 6-Piece Set: 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 950% for each Mystic Ally you have out.
• The Crudest Boots: Mystic Ally summons two Mystic Allies that fight by your side. They deal 300% to 400% increased damage and are able to attack with their active forms longer.
• Bindings of the Lesser Gods: Enemies hit by your Cyclone Strike take 300% to 400% increased damage from your Mystic Ally for 5 seconds. Split Fire Allies gain 5 times this bonus.

Developer's Note: Inna's Mantra played similarly to other Monk sets and didn't have a strong identity. We want to see the Mystic Ally play a more important role, rather than simply providing a passive power boost.

• Aegis of Valor 2-Piece Set: Attacking with Fists of the Heavens empowers you, allowing Heaven's Fury to deal 125% increased damage for 5 seconds. Stacks up to 3 times.
• Masquerade of the Burning Carnival 6-Piece Set: Bone Spear cast by you and your Simulacrums deals 6000% increased damage.

Developer's Note: Aegis of Valor and Masquerade of the Burning Carnival have been overperforming for several seasons. We're adjusting these sets in the interest of competitive variety.

 

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Bug Fixes

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How to Participate

To participate in the public test, you must have a Diablo III game license attached to a 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: Restart the Battle.net desktop app.
• Step 2: Navigate to the Diablo III tab on the left-hand menu.
• 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: Click Install to begin the installation process.

Your PTR account will be created automatically if you do not already have one. The PTR is available in all supported languages, and accounts from all regions are eligible to participate. For additional assistance with installing and launching the PTR, click here.

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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.

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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!

[Draketh 86]

Sounds awesome, I can't wait to try it! 😁

[Frogspoison 63]

Dislike the Inna change, as it just made it from "pick whatever Mystic Ally that matches your elemental damage" to "Pick fire, always fire"

[Trest 61]

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Collecting all 21 Ethereals during Season 24 will reward players with the Feat of Strength, Ethereal Recollection. Players who accomplish this will have all Ethereal transmogrify options available for future seasonal and non-seasonal play.

So, if I’m understanding correctly, we’ll probably need to run at least one character of each class through seasonal to get all of the class-specific ethereals for this.

Given that we only get a few rebirths for the season, we’ll either have to delete existing characters from our roster to be able to cover all the classes, or use one of our character slots and repeatedly replace that character (delete and roll a new character) whenever we get the 3 items for the class we’re playing.

Not a major complaint from me—I’m still looking forward to trying for this, regardless.

I do hope the drop chance rate ends up closer to ancients than primals, though 😉.

[Sableflame 5]

On 6/11/2021 at 2:48 PM, Trest said:

So, if I’m understanding correctly, we’ll probably need to run at least one character of each class through seasonal to get all of the class-specific ethereals for this.

Given that we only get a few rebirths for the season, we’ll either have to delete existing characters from our roster to be able to cover all the classes, or use one of our character slots and repeatedly replace that character (delete and roll a new character) whenever we get the 3 items for the class we’re playing.

Not a major complaint from me—I’m still looking forward to trying for this, regardless.

I do hope the drop chance rate ends up closer to ancients than primals, though 😉.

I mean... you always get a few legendaries/set items from other classes during your Season run (hell, my Primal 70 for S23 was for a completely different class 😞 ), so it's not like you couldn't hard farm these all up from simple mass, wanton slaughter (and even better not having to beg Kadala/Kanai to be nice to you).

It's possible they may simply dislodge Ethereals from the SmartLoot system and let them drop willy-nilly, since they're planning on having them fall SOMEWHERE between 1% and .25% drop range...