First off, I wanted to say well done by the development team as the changes outlined in Patch 2.4 are fantastic and is moving the game in an exciting new direction. With that said, I would like to share my thoughts for future improvements…
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- LOBBY OVERHAUL
- CROSS PLATFORM PLAY
- CURRENCY TAB ADDITION
- NEW HORADRIC RECIPES
- CLASS BALANCE CHANGES
- MERCENARY CHANGES
- RUNEWORD CHANGES
- SET ITEM CHANGES
- BOSS CHANGES
- GENERAL CHANGES
- QUALITY OF LIFE CHANGES
- BUG FIXES
LOBBY OVERHAUL
- Most important change is to overhaul the Lobby. The user interface can be vastly improved with better use of real-estate. I would like to see different channels and ability to filter game types such as: trade, boss runs, cows, leveling, pvp, MFing, etc. Add a search function and autofill game name and password. I’m not sure why the game list is capped at 20 games and would like to see a minimum of 100 games. I don’t see any reason why players wouldn’t be able to see games from all servers within a particular region. Game list will now properly show players in game and game time. Games over 1-2 hours will be hidden. Lastly, lobby system should be incorporated for consoles for seamless transition in platform
CROSS PLATFORM PLAY
- Second thing on the list is for the developers to add cross platform play, which means you can play with players across many platforms: Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. You must purchase the game for each platform you wish to access it on and can be activated and deactivated via a toggle in the Options Menu. Cross platform play would be an amazing feature to connect all the old fans with the new fans alike
CURRENCY TAB ADDITION
- Third thing on the list is for the development team to add a separate currency tab that is shared account-wide that allows for stacking of runes, gems, keys, organs, essences and tokens. This change would be a drastic improvement to inventory management. The developers could wait and see the impact of the currency tab before making the decision for adding additional character slots
NEW HORADRIC RECIPES
With the new horadric cube recipes added in Patch 2.4, the developers should seriously consider adding a new recipe for adding one socket to a unique or set item, a recipe for adding one to two sockets to a rare or crafted item, and a recipe for adding one to three sockets to a magic item as follows:
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1 Unique Ring + 1 Lem Rune + 1 Perfect Skull + Unique/Set Item (non-socketed) = Unique/Set Item (1 socket)
-
1 Rare Ring + 1 Hel Rune + 1 Normal Skull + Rare/Crafted Item (non-socketed) = Rare/Crafted Item (1-2 sockets)
-
1 Magic Ring + 1 El Rune + 1 Chipped Skull + Magic Item (non-socketed) = Magic Item (1-3 sockets)
Furthermore, I thought it would be a nice feature if the developers added new recipes utilizing the Zod Rune for creating unique quivers for infinite quantity of arrows and bolts as follows:
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Quiver of Arrows + Zod Rune = Quiver of Endless Arrows (infinite quantity)
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Quiver of Bolts + Zod Rune = Quiver of Endless Bolts (infinite quantity)
CLASS BALANCE CHANGES
Amazon
- Cold Arrow - increase range to be the same as Fire Arrow (reduced range for Cold Arrow persists for both Amazon and Act 1 Cold Rogue)
- Ice Arrow - buff damage as skill is single target (e.g. double damage as compared to Freezing Arrow and would make skill more valuable versus bosses and elites)
- Impale - benefits from critical strike and deadly strike (arbitrary this single-target skill is unable to crit, apart of Amazon’s repertoire)
Assassin
- Martial Arts - charge-up skill duration doubled to 30 seconds from 15 seconds (helps with pvp) and remove next-hit delay caused by some abilities, such as Claws of Thunder and Phoenix Strike
- Weapon Block - works when running (chance to block reduced to 1/3, reducing cap to 25%)
- Blade Shield - no longer uses weapon durability. Skill designed to be used in tandem with Blade Fury, doesn’t mesh well due to risk of breaking Eth weapon
- Cloak of Shadows - cooldown removed to incentivize leveling skill
Druid
- Rabies - increase poison creeper synergy and reduce poison duration
- Lycanthropy - add faster run/walk by 1% per level for greater mobility
- Hunger - skill will always hit target
- Poison Creeper, Carrion Vine, Solar Creeper - significantly increase life and add physical damage reduction to vines for improved survivability
- Armageddon - benefits from FCR and increases frequency of falling meteors
Barbarian
- War Cry - reduce mana cost to 0.60 per level to improve cost-effectiveness
- Bash - add 1% crushing blow per level (Basher build is a boss-killer)
- Shout - add bonus to attack rating in addition to defense rating (makes skill more beneficial for group play)
- Concentrate - change Bash synergy to Shout, which complements this uniquely defensive build and increase Berserk synergy to 3% (up from 1%)
- Grim Ward - remove fear effect and can now be used on any corpse
- Iron Skin - adds physical damage reduction of 1% per level, only hard points (Barb should thematically be able to absorb huge hits, rather than evade)
- Frenzy - remove Taunt synergy and adjust the other synergies as follows:
- Double Swing: +8% damage per level
- Berserk: +3% magic damage per level
- Increased Stamina: +6% damage and
+0.4 seconds per level
Necromancer
- Golem Mastery - grants 10% AR per level instead of flat 25 AR per level. Also, now adds 10% damage per level (single, strong monster)
- Blood Golem - apply open wounds to both on striking and when struck
- Fire Golem - increase fire damage and lower enemy fire resistance per level
- Raise Skeletal Mage - significantly increase elemental damage and missile speed. Also, missiles now have chance to pierce per level
- Poison Explosion - apply poison damage immediately in radius of effect
- Poison Dagger - grants 2% IAS per level and poison damage is applied over 4 seconds (make daggermancer viable)
Sorceress
- Hydra - Fire Bolt synergy increased from +3% to +6%, remove Fire Ball synergy. Damage remains the same, but allows more hybrid builds
- Thunderstorm - benefits from FCR and increases frequency of lightning strikes
- Meteor - convert some of the fire damage to physical damage to help deal with immunity, similar to Molten Boulder. Keep overall damage the same
- Frozen Armor, Shiver Armor, Chilling Armor - should not have synergies with each other. No one is going to invest 20 points for all 3 armors. They should have synergies with other skills, such as Frozen Orb, Ice Bolt, etc. For example, an Ice Bolt synergy for Chilling Armor would be nice so Chilling Armor Ice Bolts could do decent damage
MERCENARY CHANGES
Act 1 Rogue Scouts
- Can now use crossbows
Act 3 Iron Wolf
- Can now use staffs and orbs
- Can now use teleport for added survivability
- Now gains +1 mastery level every 10 mercenary levels
- Now gains +sorceress skills from gear
- As Act 1 receives +amazon skill bonuses and Act 5 receives +barbarian skill bonuses, then it makes sense Act 3 should receive +sorceress skill bonuses
Act 5 Barbarian Warrior
- Can now use axes and maces
- Can now dual-wield 2H swords
RUNEWORD CHANGES
Cresant Moon
- Can now be made in Claws and Daggers. Crescent Moon is a 3 socket runeword, it’s a perfect candidate to be made in Claws, and opens up more build diversity for Assassins. And don’t forget about Dagger Barbs
Unbending Will
- Can now be made in Axes. This mid level runeword has a huge boost to enhanced damage, it greatly benefits from being made in an ethereal berserker axe
Obsession
- With the elusive Zod rune, the developers should consider significantly buffing Obsession as follows:
- Add +10-15% To Cold Damage
- Add -10-20% To Enemy Fire Resistance
- Add -10-20% To Enemy Lightning Resistance
- Increase Magic Find to 100%
SET ITEM CHANGES
Many improvements were made to set items in Patch 2.4, I urge the developers to continue making progress and consider adding improvements to the sets below, which would further fuel build diversity…
Overall Set Item Changes
- Set items may now roll Ethereal
- Set items may now roll Staffmods, such as class-specific bonuses found on staves, scepters, shields, shrunken heads, helms, etc.
- Overall, set items should be allowed to roll Ethereal and Staffmods, which would give many set pieces new capabilities to make them stand out
Bul-Kathos’ Children
- Remove Knockback
- Add +5 Double Swing (Full Set)
- Knockback must be removed to make set viable. You can’t use Frenzy with this set because of this effect, making for a slow kill speed. This set could really benefit from a bonus to Double Swing (fitting for two-sword set)
Trang-Oul’s Avatar
- Add +20% Faster Cast Rate (Full Set)
- Fix bug that increases casting delay in vampire-form resulting in slower casting
- Trangs needs more FCR to be viable
Aldur’s Watchtower
- Add +100% Magic Find (Full Set)
- Adding a new full set bonus to magic find would give characters more options to MF. This complements the partial set bonus of 50% Magic Find
Immortal King
- Add +20% Increased Attack Speed (Full Set)
- In light of the changes to Whirlwind in 2.4.3, I’m proposing a buff to IAS to help the IK Barbarian utilizing the 2-H Ogre Maul
Heaven’s Brethren
- Add +100% Enhanced Defense (3 Items)
- Add +20% Crushing Blow (Full Set)
- Add 1-250 Fire Damage (Full Set)
- Heaven’s Brethren is a defensive set, damage is low, and clvl requirement of shield is high. Set could benefit from bonus to CB and fire damage
Isenhart’s Armory
- Add +1 To All Skills (Full Set)
- Add 20% Chance To Cast Level 5 Holy Bolt on Striking (Full Set)
- Isenhart’s Armory lack of plus skills means this set isn’t effective for long. With full set equipped, Lightbrand has chance to cast holy bolts
M’avina’s Battle Hymn
- Add +33% Piercing Attack (3 Items)
- Add +20% Fire Damage (Full Set)
- M’avina’s is a budget set for a Frost Maiden, but is painfully slow. Adding the ability to pierce would help out. Also, adding fire damage bonus would add flexibility to enhance other skills
Berserker’s Arsenal
- Add +5 Life Stolen Per Hit (2 Items)
- Add +10-15 Magic Damage (2 Items)
- Add +30% Deadly Strike (Full Set)
- Berserker’s Arsenal is mediocre when compared to other class-themed sets, offering +skills and axe deals poor damage. This set could benefit from LL, bonus to magic damage and DS
Hwanin’s Majesty
- Add 1-250 Lightning Damage (Full Set)
- Add +20% To Lightning Resist (Full Set)
- Hwanin’s Majesty set is not popular as the damage is subpar and could use a boost in lightning damage. Also, set would benefit from lightning resistance
Tancred’s Battlegear
- Add +50% Enhanced Damage (3 Items)
- Add +200 To Attack Rating (Full Set)
- Tancred’s Battlegear is a lackluster set for melee combat and could use bonuses to ED and AR
BOSS CHANGES
The bosses are weak and are amongst the least engaging battles. I urge the developers to consider a modest buff to boss survivability and improved abilities as follows:
Blood Raven
- Will now cast single-target Amplify Damage more often on players
- In addition to Fire Arrow, will now cast Cold Arrow (N), Ice Arrow (NM), and Immolation Arrow (H)
The Countess
- Can now leave chamber she spawned in
- Will now cast Fire Wall on players and not just to block entrance to chamber
- Increase number of her minions from 6 / 7 / 9 for each difficulty to 8 / 10 / 12
The Smith
- Will now always have Extra Fast modifier in addition to Extra Strong (harkens back to the Butcher)
Radament
- Increase damage of Poison Breath
- Add Horror Mages surrounding him
- Will now fire Unholy Bolt projectiles, similar to Greater Mummies
The Summoner
- Will now have 75% Magic Resistance
- Will now cast Shiver Armor for defense
- Will now cast Teleport for mobility
- Note he has unused animation where he raises his staff and glows with energy, which was meant as a teleport animation as unused effect is called “summonerteleport”
Guardians Of Mount Arreat
- Players will no longer be able to re-roll the random modifers by using a town portal (bound to map seed)
- Korlic now uses Leap Attack as an actual attack and not just for mobility
Izual
- Increase chill duration of Frost Nova
- He will now gain 1 random modifier in Nightmare and 2 in Hell
Andariel
- Increase projectile speed of Poison Spray
- Make her tankier, increase life by 30%
Duriel
- Will now use Charge attack once again, but movement speed will be slower
- Fix issue so character no longer gets attacked during loading screen
Travincal Council
- Increase damage of their pink lightning melee attacks
Mephisto
- Will now cast cold/lightning spells more often and physically attack less often
- Flying and not impeded by obstacles. With this change, ensure loot will be dropped to nearest platform area
Diablo
- Significantly increase damage of Cold Touch, a melee attack that chills player
- Will now cast Bone Prison more often on players trapping victims, but HP of Bone Prison will be nerfed to compensate
- Fix diablo on nightmare/hell difficulty red lightning hose not inflicting any damage to characters in melee range
- Increase his Magic Resistance in Hell Difficulty from 0% to 33%. His Magic Resistance in Normal and Nightmare Difficulty will remain at 0%
Lister the Tormentor
- Will now always have Extra Strong modifier in addition to Spectral Hit
- Increase his Magic Resistance in Hell Difficulty from 0% to 33%. His Magic Resistance in Normal and Nightmare Difficulty will remain at 0%
Baal
- Will now cast Festering Appendages and Hoarfrost more often
- Fix issue of Baal casting only mana burn spell when slowed
- Clone will not despawn when player goes to town and not distinguishable by “Demon label" being offset
- Increase his Magic Resistance in Hell Difficulty from 0% to 50%. His Magic Resistance in Normal and Nightmare Difficulty will remain at 0%
I would like to share my thoughts with the development team regarding quality of life and general changes that I hope Blizzard considers implementing for future Patch 2.5…
GENERAL CHANGES
- Separate currency tab that is account-wide that allows stacking of runes, gems, keys, organs, essences and tokens
- Locate Cain next to Stash in Act 5
- Add in-game Holy Grail Checklist
- Add in-game Horadric Cube Recipe and Runeword Encyclopedia
- Add Loot Filter that is curated by Blizzard so everyone has access to same filter
- Add option to show iLvl on items and enabled via a toggle in Options Menu (helps when crafting and socketing)
- Add item quality indicator for Normal, Exceptional, Elite (helps when upgrading)
- Add refresh button to Merchant Screen for available wares, similar to Gambling
- Druid can now cast Battle Orders and Battle Command in shapeshifted form
- On Character Selection Screen, add ability to move characters up and down on screen rather than list of last played
- Add option to launch game in Legacy Mode and enabled via a toggle in Options Menu
- Add option to turn off Mature Language Filter via a toggle in Options Menu
- Add option to turn off Enemy Health Bars via a toggle in Options Menu
- On the controller, allow player to move the minimap by using right thumbstick
- On the controller, allow player to allocate attribute points in intervals of 10 (tedious when respecing)
- Improve item durability as many items have too low durability to be useful, especially weapons (break too quickly)
- Add innate damage reduction for medium armor (3% DR) and heavy armor (5% DR) to make it more competitive vs. light armor
- Add 2H-weapons will now receive 3% bonus damage per point of Strength (vs. 1% for 1H-weapons) and will have innate ability to roll with Chance of Blocking
- Lower strength/dexterity requirements for Crossbows and will have innate ability to Ignore Target’s Defense
- Lower cost of Recharging Items
- Change Throwing Potion damage to now scale with character level
- Change Ghosts/Flyers to drop their loot on the nearest platform if they are not located on a droppable area
- For Hell difficulty, change Crypt, Cave, Hole, Tristram, False Tal Rasha Tombs and Uber Portals to be Area 85 Levels
- Update weapon tooltips so dexterity required and strength required is flipped so strength is always listed first and dexterity second, same order on Character Screen
BUG FIXES
- Fix chat bug that prevents you from communicating with other players
- Fix characters taking damage during loading screen to improve hardcore
- Fix hit registry bug of Whirlwind. In D2, Whirlwind will immediatly register hits when engaging skill. In D2R, Whirlwind does not register first few frame attacks. This means a short Whirlwind does nothing to enemy
- Fix damage bonus of Grim Ward not applying to War Cry
- Fix portrait of Act 5 Frenzy Merc showing up as Act 1 Rogue Merc
- Fix Baal second wave XP bug
- Fix light radius bug as it has no effect
- Fix moat bug for Mephisto where you are just offscreen while you pummel him with spells and ranged attacks and he sits there and dies
- Fix diablo on nightmare/hell difficulty and diablo clone red lightning hose not inflicting any damage to characters in melee range