Every Card from The League of Explorers Adventure - BlizzCon Panel Live Recap
BlizzCon Heroes - Day 1 Recap, Skills & Talents - Greymane, Lunara, Cho'Gall
Blizzcon Day 1 Recap, Day 2 Schedule
BlizzCon 2015 - Day 1 Recap
The first day of BlizzCon has brought us tons of new information on patch 2.4!
Here's a recap for you with all that's new: Set Dungeons, revamped Sets, new Legendaries, UI changes, new Zones, changes to Seasons, additional Stash Space, and more.
The 2.4 PTR will begin some time later next week!
While Day 2 does not have a dedicated Diablo Panel, there will be more lightning talks, so we might get even more info out of those! Stay tuned!
New Feature - Set Dungeons
- Set Dungeons are a new type of area, challenging to us each of the 24 different class sets in a unique way
- To access a Set Dungeon, you need to own a full 6 piece class Set and then follow clues from a tome in Leoric's Manor to find the proper portal
- Each Set Dungeon is tied to one specific 6 piece Set from a certain class
- Set Dungeons are NOT randomized and their difficulty is independent of the game difficulty
- Each Set dungeon will feature unique challenges:
- One challenge is to kill a number of monsters without receiving fatal damage (HC characters do not die in here)
- Two primary objectives are tailored specifically to the corresponding Set
- The mastery objective requires you to kill all monsters and complete the other objectives within a time limit
- Completing one of the primary objectives grants you an achievement for beating the dungeon
- Finishing the mastery objective unlocks another achievement
- After beating all mastery objectives for a class, you will unlock a special pennant
- If you unlock the pennant for each class, you will gain access to a set of cosmetic wings
- The following Set Dungeon challenges have been shown at BlizzCon, keep in mind that they are likely subject to change!
- Uliana's Set Dungeon
- Kill 21 different enemies at once with Exploding Palm; 3 times
- Take no fire damage for the duration of the dungeon
- Firebird's Set Dungeon
- Set 45 enemies on fire within 3 second; 3 times
- Kill 20 enemies with the Meteor that revives you
- Might of the Earth Set Dungeon
- Trigger Leap then Ground Stomp then Earthquake in under 6 seconds on every Elite; 7 total
- Freeze and kill at least 1 enemy every 10 seconds for 1 minute
- Spirit of Arachyr Set Dungeon
- Lick 30 different enemies with a Toad
- Kill every elite while it is webbed by Spider Queen and being bitten by Piranhas; 5 total
- Shadow's Mantle Set Dungeon
- Kill every Elite with Impale; 8 total
- Avoid all Arcane damage
Revamped Sets
- To go with the Set Dungeons, 10 existing Sets have been completely redesigned for patch 2.4!
- Class Sets with less than 6 pieces now all have at least 6 pieces.
- Barbarian - Might of the Earth
- 2p: Reduce the cooldown of Earthquake, Avalanche, Leap, and Ground Stomp by 1 second for every 40 Fury you spend with an attack
- 4p: Leap causes an Earthquake when you land; Additionally, Leap gains the effect of the Iron Impact rune and its duration is doubled
- 6p: Increases the damage of Earthquake, Avalanche, Leap, Ground Stomp, and Ancient Spear by 800%.
- Crusader - Thorns of the Invoker
- 2p: Your Thorns damage now hits all enemies in a 15 yard radius around you. Each time you hit an enemy with Punish, Slash, or block an attack your Thorns is increased by 50% for 2 seconds
- 4p: You take 50% less damage for 8 seconds after casting Bombardment
- 6p: The attack speed of Punish and Slash is increased by 50% and deal 600% of your Thorns damage to the first enemy hit
- Crusader - Armor of Akkhan
- 6p: Increases damage by 450% (while Akarat's Champion i active?)
- No picture evidence on this one
- Demon Hunter - Shadow's Mantle
- 2p: While Equipped with a melee weapon, all damage is increased by 1000%
- 4p: Shadow Power gains the effect of every rune and lasts forever
- 6p: Impale deals an additional 40,000% weapon damage to the first enemy hit
- Monk - Monkey King's Garb
- 2p: Your damage taken is reduced by 5% for each stack of Sweeping Wind you have
- 4p: Every second Sweeping Wind spawns a decoy next to the last enemy you hit that taunts nearby enemies and then explodes for 500% weapon damage for each stack of Sweeping Wind you have
- 6p: Lasing Tail Kick, Tempest Rush, and Wave of Light consume a stack of Sweeping Wind to deal 1000% increased damage
- Witch Doctor - Raiment of the Jade Harvester
- 2p: When Haunt lands on an enemy already affected by Haunt, it instantly deals 120 seconds worth of Haunt damage
- 4p: Soul Harvest gains the effect of every rune and has its cooldown reduced by 1 second every time you cast Haunt or Locust Swarm
- 6p: Soul Harvest consumes your damage over time effect on enemies, instantly dealing 300 seconds worth of remaining damage
- Wizard - Firebird's Finery
- 2p: When you die, a meteor falls from the sky and revives you. This effect has a 60 second cooldown
- 4p: Dealing Fire damage causes the enemy to take the same amount of damage over 3 seconds, stacking up to 3000% weapon damage as Fire per second. After reaching 3000% damage per second, the enemy will burn until they die
- 6p: Your damage is increased by 100% for each enemy that is burning. Elites that are burning increase your damage by 1500%
- Neutral - Legacy of Nightmares
- While this is your only Item Set bonus your damage dealt is increased by 800% and damage taken is reduced by 4% for every Ancient item you have equipped
- Note: The panel's image showing 75% has been confirmed outdated by Wyatt Cheng.
- Neutral - Endless Walk
- While moving, damage taken is reduced by 50%
- While standing still, damage dealt is increased by up to 100%
- When one of these buffs is at full power, the other is at 0%
- Moving increases the power of the damage reduction but decreases the damage dealt buff and vice versa for standing still
New and Revamped items
Patch 2.4 will bring more than 50 new or revamped items! Here are all the ones that we could find at BlizzCon.
- Barb Bracers: Skular's Salvation - Increases the damage of Ancient Spear - Boulder Toss by 100%; When your Boulder Toss hits 5 or fewer enemies, the damage is increased by ~200%.
- Barb Ring: Ring of Might - After casting Furious Charge, Ground Stomp, or Leap, take ~60% less damage for 8 seconds
- Barb 2h Mighty Weapon: Blade of the Tribes - War Cry and Threatening Shout cause an Avalanche and Earthquake
- DH Belt: Chain of Shadows - After using Impale, Vault costs no resource for 2 seconds
- DH Ring: Elusive Ring - Gain 60% damage reduction for 8 seconds after using Smoke Screen, Shadow Power, or Vault
- DH Dagger: Lord Greenstone's Fan - Every second gain ~250% increased damage for your next Fan of Knives. Stacks up to 30 times
- DH 1h Sword: Sword of Ill Will - Chakram does 1.0-1.4% more damage per point of Hatred
- DH 1h Dagger: Karei's Point - Impale returns 15 Hatred if it hits a target that's already Impaled
- DH 1h Crossbow: Dawn - Reduce the cooldown of your Vengeance by ~50%
- Crusader Pants: Hammer Jammers - Enemies take 300-400% increased damage from your Blessed Hammers for 10 seconds after you hit them with a Blind, Immobilize, or Stun
- Crusader(?) Ring: Justice Lantern - Gain damage reduction equal to 50-65% of your Block Chance
- Crusader(?) Chest: Heart of Iron - Gain Thorns equal to ~200% of your Vitality
- Monk Feet: Rivera Dancers - Lashing Tail Kick attacks 50% faster and deals ~250% increased damage
- Monk Belt: Kyoshiro's Soul - Sweeping Wind gains 2 stacks every second it does not deal damage to any enemies
- Monk Fist Weapon: Vengeful Wind - Increases the maximum stack count of Sweeping Wind by 7 (up from 3)
- WD Mojo: Vile Hive - Locust Swarm gains the effect of the Pestilence rune and deals ~50% increased damage
- WD Mojo: Thing of the Deep - Increases Gold and Health Pickup by 20 yards
- WD Ring: Ring of Emptiness - Deal 100% extrta damage to enemies affected by Haunt and Locust
- WD Bracers: Lakumba's Ornament - Reduce all damage taken by 5% for each stack of Soul Harvest you have
- WD Ceremonial Knife: Voo's Juicer - Spirit Barrage gains the effect of the Phlebotomize and the Spirit is Willing runes.
- Wiz Belt: The Shame of Delsere - Your Signature Spells attack 50% faster and restore 9-12 Arcane Power
- Wiz 1h Sword: The Twisted Sword - Energy Twister damage is increased by ~75% for each Energy Twister you have out
- Any class: Shoulders - While channeling Whirlwind, Rapid Fire, Strafe, Tempest Rush, Firebats, Arcane Torrent, Disintegrate, or Ray of Frost, you deal 20-25% increased damage and take 25% reduced damage.
- Legendary Gem: Plague of Thorns - Adds Thorn 30,000 (at rank 0) damage; Taunt the first enemy hit by your primary skill for 2 seconds
- Topaz in Weapons now give 20,000 Thorns damage at the highest level
UI + QoL Changes
Patch 2.4 will bring numerous long-awaited changes to the game UI as well as some other quality of life improvements.
- Buff bar improvements
- Your character's permanently active skills (such as Mantras) will now get a golden border around the skill symbol, instead of appearing in the buff bar
- Timed buffs from your character's skills are now only indicated by a shrinking green bar above the skill symbol
- Other players' timed of permanent buffs are now collapsed into a single symbol on the buff bar which expands when moused over
- In addition to all these improvements, the buff bar now also holds up to 20 buffs
- Damage numbers
- Damage numbers are now truncated to the 2-4 most significant digits and give a suffix
- 1234,567 becomes 1234k, 123,456,789 becomes 123M, 12,345,678,901 becomes 12B
- Additionally, your highest damage values are now colored orange and linger a little longer
- Whether you have Cubed a Legendary's Power is now indicated on the item tooltip
- Death's Breaths are now teal with a new particle effect for improved visibility
- You can now compare your items to your follower's gear, complete with stat changes
- There is now a detailed tooltip for the Pools of Reflection effect
New Zones
Several new Zones and sub-areas have been announced for 2.4, each of them with a unique aesthetic, new monsters, events, and bounties!
- The Eternal Woods lie outside of the Ruins of Sescheron and are infested with legions of undead.
- The Royal Quarters are accessed by the formerly blocked staircase in Leoric's Manor and may shed some light on the Skeleton King's ruling days.
- Greyhollow Island in Act V is home to many twisted beasts living in its woods and caves.
- The Island used to be home of a fast-growing civilization, its isolation allowing it to developed unthreatened, lead by a malevolent female figure
- The civilization, however, collapsed as quickly as it grew and became a place of myths and legends
- Sailors who rediscovered the island usually did not return to the main land of Sanctuary which just furthered the mystery
Changes to Seasons
- The Rebirth feature has been added
- Rebirth allows you to start a new Season by starting over with one of your existing characters
- During the Season, the character will behave like a new one but you will maintain the old character records
- When a Season ends, all your old gear from before the Rebirth will be mailed to you
- Season Length
- Season 4 will end in late December
- Season 5 will be 3 months long, quite possibly the length for all future Seasons
- There will be a few weeks of break between S4's end and the start of S5 (Christmas break, anyone?)
- Season Objectives and Rewards
- Season 5 will not feature any Season-exclusive Legendaries
- After completing chapter 4 of your Season Journey, you will be granted a full 6-piece Set for your class
- The team has decided on 10 conquests (including a few new ones) which will rotate for future Seasons
- Season Journey Objectives will also change slightly with each new Season
- Cosmetic rewards for Seasons will also cycle
- Season 5 will feature another set of portraits and the Wicker Man pet
- A boney Pennant and the Andariel Wings are planned for a later Season
Other changes in 2.4
- More Stash space
- One additional Stash Space Tab will be available for 500,000 gold once 2.4 goes live
- Each Season Journey you complete will award you with another Stash Tab, for a maximum of 10 Tabs total
- The UEE on consoles will have its Stash Space increased from 210 to 350 slots once the patch goes live
- Kanai's Cube: Augment Item
- Kanai's Cube is getting a new recipe, Caldesann's Despair, that lets you augment an Ancient Legendary item
- The recipe consumes a Legendary Gem and adds 5 points of a main stat to the item per Legendary Gem level
- Weapons require at least a rank 30 Gem, Jewlery requires a rank 40 Gem, and Armor needs rank 50 Gems.
- 3 Flawless Royal non-Legendary gem are also needed to determine the specific main stat
- Using the recipe twice on the same item replaces the old augmentation bonus
- Bonus Experience changes
- Bonus XP gear has had its effectiveness significantly (example shown was by 90%) reduced at level 70
- To compensate, monsters now grant 50% more experience across the board
- Additionally, Monster Health has been reduced quite significantly for solo players and smaller groups
- Action Combat on PC
- The Action Combat system from Consoles has made it to PC
- Earn a massacre bonus to increase your experience gained during it by up to 3 times
- Destroying a number of breakables provides a short movement speed boost
- UI indicators for these changes have also been added
- Empowered Rifts
- You can now spend Gold before starting a Greater Rift to empower it
- When beating and empowered GR, you will get one additional upgrade chance for your Legendary Gems
- Gold cost depends on GR level: GR 1: 159k, GR25: 4.6M, GR50: 49.9M, GR 63: 172M, GR75: 540M
- New Bounties
- Over 175 new Bounties have been added, mostly for Acts III-V
- Bounty Grounds, a new type of Bounty, present new timed challenges in specifically designed realms
Full Panel Gallery
These are all the slides from yesterday's Diablo Panel, enjoy!
