Patch 3.0 Unofficial Patch Notes

[Langolier-1711]

First of all, there is no patch 3.0. This is just what I would implement as a major patch. Keep in mind that it isn’t meant to be comprehensive. If you see something that makes you think, “that’s terrible because X”, then you’re probably right! Charitably assume that the solution is most likely that there would be changes to X in line with the overarching design philosophy. Consequently, most examples will be for the monk or witch doctor as those are the classes I’m most familiar with.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Design goals
• Skill Classification
• Resources and Cooldowns
• Item Sets
• Item Mods
• Ancient Items
• Primal Items

Overview

The goal with 3.0 is not to radically overhaul major game systems. Things like item sets, paragon, rift scaling and multipliers won’t change. It’s just too late in the game’s life cycle to go back to the drawing board. Rather, the goal is to consolidate the game such that as many obsolete components make sense within the current game.

For example, the original concept of the monk was that he would alternate between generating spirit with moderate attacks and spending spirit with heavy attacks. The typical generator does 150% damage and takes 6.5 attacks to generate enough spirit for Wave of Light - a total of 835% damage. Thus the ratio of overall damage output between them is 937.5% to 835%.

With legendary multipliers, however, Wave of Light is now 835% * 2.5 * 2.5 * 3.5 * 6.5, for a ratio of 937.5% to 118,727%. Consequently, his core gameplay concept and resource mechanic are simply obsolete. In fact, this generally holds true for resource mechanics across the classes. Thus this is a game system that isn’t just out of date - it’s broken.

Design Goals

1. Reconfigure game systems such as paragon, items sets, and skills to be appropriate for the current state of the game.
2. Restructure builds to be more focused and intentional in their kit
3. Eliminate “gimmicks”

Goal 1 is not to introduce new mechanics or make radical changes. It’s about drawing from the tools that we already have to make simple adjustments. It’s finding a place for things to fit the game content players actually face: bounty runs or rift runs full of elite packs, rift guardians, and high-density mobs. Imagine it like a puzzle. Take all the pieces apart, consider how each piece fits, and see if you can’t put them back together in a better arrangement.

Many aspects of the game were designed in previous eras, or seemingly independently from the game content. For example, listen to what is said about the design behind the Demon Hunter’s grenades from Blizzcon 2010: https://youtu.be/Pv0XqBYBBJc?t=605. It’s all about selling an idea and showcasing the engine, rather than about what bouncing stuff off walls realistically offers a build.

Goal 2 is about the direction for builds. The dream, of course, is virtually limitless builds where any combination of skills is viable. At one point early in development, Diablo 3 teased 97 billion builds per class. I hope a game can achieve that one day, but that day is not today nor is it Diablo 3. Typically what happens is that only a handful of builds will emerge. Thus a goal with this patch is to embrace this phenomenon rather than fight it. Builds are more specific in terms of skill/item load outs so that each has a well-rounded kit with tools for specific purposes.

“Gimmicks” in the context of goal 3 are cheesy or asinine mechanics that permeate the game. There are so many legendary and set bonuses (and some runes) that rather than being, “Gain X”, take a form similar to “Do W to gain X for Y seconds.” Basically, some arbitrary mechanic where you must use some specific skill or your hero simply does not function. Some examples of these include:

• DH: cast Rain of Vengeance every 10 sec for 60% DR (Nat’s set)
• DH: cast Vault and a hatred generator every 5 sec for 75% DR (UE set)
• Monk: preserve Sweeping Wind stacks every 6 sec (Sunwuko set)
• Monk: cast Cyclone Strike every 5 sec for 50% DR (LoD WoL)
• WD: hit enemies with mana spender every 8 sec for 15,000% ED (Zuni set)
• WD: cast Horrify every 8 sec for 150% armor (frightening aspect rune)

Builds often end up with multiple skills on the bar that are there solely to be spammed in a rotation of cooldowns to maintain some necessary buff. There’s numerous problems with this:

1. Heroes have to “charge up” before they are viable for combat. Your hero feels like junk until appropriately powered up by jumping through hoops. It also makes you particularly vulnerable to cheesy crap like elite stair ganks.
2. It rushes players. “Oh, I’m sorry, did you not attack for 5 seconds? Oops your hero sucks now LUL.” Better go! Better move! Better attack! Better not lose those stacks!
3. These mechanics actually diminish the skills that they effect by making the skill used monotonously rather than tactically. The skill functions more like an item mod. In other words, you equip a skill not as a opportunistic tool for engagements, but merely to provide an effect that you ideally just want to have passively.

These mechanics aren’t challenging, interesting, or generally fun. Take the Zuni set as an example. The mana spender utilized receives no damage multipliers itself; it’s used solely to proc the set bonus. Thus the player merely selects the spender they think can most consistently proc on the greatest number of enemies. They don’t select their favorite mana-spending skill. The guideline for evaluating these mechanics should be, “is having to do W for this effect overall more enjoyable than not having to do it for the effect?”

For the most part, every set and legendary bonus mechanics will be reworked into a persistent form.

Skill Classification

To see how the design goals are accomplished, we’ll start with how the way skills are reconceptualized. Offensive skills are no longer differentiated between resource generators and resource spenders. Instead, skills are roughly organized into “buckets” representing the role they fill within a build. These do not correspond directly to the categories the skill UI uses, so the UI will not change. Thus the “buckets” are not explicit in the UI, they are more conceptual based on the function of the skill. These roles are:

• Single-target skills - Very high weapon damage versus single targets
• Primary skills - AoE skill that’s the primary focus of set/legendary multipliers. Weapon damage for these skills is inversely proportional to the size of their AoE based on roughly 3 brackets: large, medium, small.
• DR skills - the primary skill that sets incorporate for their baseline damage reduction effect

Although unclear how at this time, single-target skills will be made to benefit from multipliers that affect primary skills. By having higher base weapon damage, these skills will always be the most effective tool for single targets.

Many skills have received slight adjustments to fit more appropriately into a role (you’ll get the idea with examples below). For example, some skills are now classified as defensive skills and no longer deal damage. Additionally, not all skills are organized into these buckets. Any skill not within one of these buckets (typically skills that do not deal damage) are wildcards, with flexible effects not designed for a specific build. They are also candidates for the basis of future sets.

The following skills have received changes, organized by role. The tags for offensive skills will make sense given the next section:

• Monk
  • Single-target skills:
    • Lashing tail kick
      • Now deals damage only to selected target
      • Resource cost removed
    • Fists of Thunder
      • Now deals damage only to selected target
    • Deadly Reach
      • Now deals damage only to selected target
    • Way of the Hundred Fists
      • Now deals damage only to selected target
      • This skill is now channeled
  • Primary skills:
    • Exploding palm (CD)
      • Resource cost removed
      • Added cooldown: 4 seconds
    • Crippling Wave (AS)
      • No longer generates resource
    • Tempest Rush (RCR)
    • Wave of Light (CD)
      • Resource cost removed
      • Added Cooldown: 8 seconds
  • DR skills:
    • Sweeping Wind
      • No longer deals damage
      • New functionality: Reduces ranged attack damage by 80%
      • Lasts 3 seconds. Cooldown: 16 seconds
    • Epiphany
    • Inner Sanctuary
    • Mantra of Salvation
    • Mantra of Healing
• Barbarian
• Crusader
• Demon Hunter
• Necromancer
• Witch Doctor
• Wizard
  • refer to the “not comprehensive” comment. Similar pattern applies to these skill pools

All skills effects, including rune effects, that provide a temporary bonus to toughness or damage have been removed. Some examples include Soul Harvest (increased int and armor), Horrify: frightening aspect (increased armor), Blinding Flash: faith in the light (increased damage), Dashing Strike: blinding speed (40% dodge), and so on.

The loss of these effects will be generally be compensated through changes to itemization covered in another section. These changes will divorce what often become essential offensive and defensive bonuses from the skills that they are tied to. By shifting the source of these bonuses from active skills to item mods, it allows them to become persistent effects that will make builds generally more consistent both defensively and offensively. Additionally, builds will become more flexible as they don’t have to rely on selecting skills solely to function as a stat buff. It also allows for those skills to become more interactive because they can be used in response to the battle rather than on a set rotation.

Resources and Cooldowns

As already mentioned, the resource system is broken. Quite literally actually, as it no longer functions as intended. Skill multipliers make the give and take nature of generating/spending resource obsolete as one skill dominates over the other in damage output. Consequently, builds tend to exclusively either spend or generate resource, resulting in great variability in how builds are limited by the classes resource. To address this, several changes to how resources have been made:

All classes no longer generate resource with skills, but passively regenerate resource at a rate appropriate for their resource capacity. All offensive skills will be characterized by one of the following properties:

• (AS) Attack speed based - these skills are free to cast. They are characterized as sustained, moderate damage.
• (RC) Resource based - these skills have significant resource costs. They are characterized as sustained, heavy damage, albeit with limited up-time.
• (CD) Cooldown based - these skills have cooldowns and are free to cast. They are categorized as heavy burst damage; essentially nukes that hit wide and hard, albeit with limited up-time.

You’ll note that each of these is mutually exclusive. For example, a CD skill does not benefit from resource cost reduction nor attack speed (for the most part). What this means is that builds will be focused exclusively on the property of their primarily skill. They will concentrate all of their offensive item rolls on either attack speed, resource cost reduction, or cool down reduction.

Ulimately, best-in-slot rolls will result in equivalent damage states. Max attack speed for AS skills will result in heavy sustained damage matching the output of RC skills. RC skills will become free to cast. CD skills will become relatively spammable (though still not quite), matching the damage output of sustain builds through frequent bursts of damage.

Additionally, the following changes have been made to AS, RCR, and CDR item mods:

• RCR and CDR now stack additively from all sources, consistent with other mods
• RCR and CDR no longer affect defensive skills

If you are thinking, “this is going to ruin every build in the game!” - don’t worry. Builds that rely on constant uptime for skills with long cooldowns will now simply get those effects permanently for free. This will be accomplished through the unique way in which each build incorporates the DR skill intended for it. The range of values from various sources of these mods has also been tuned.

Item Sets

We’re now ready to start putting it all together. Builds will continue to primarily revolve around sets. Many sets have had somewhat arbitrary or clunky set mechanics. They may have been designed around a “cool idea” rather than game content. This has resulted in poorly designed skills, poorly performing builds, and builds with obvious deficits. For example, some builds are weak against rift guardians. Yet because every rift comes with a rift guardian, it doesn’t make sense to not account for that. The tools that players are given must match the content they are presented. To do otherwise is a design error.

Many sets mechanics have been reworked along two guidelines. The first is having a defensive mechanic that provides a more consistent degree of toughness. The second is an offensive mechanic that do not rely on gimmicks. Sets achieve builds with consistent kits by drawing upon skills from the buckets defined above according to the following pattern:

1. Single-target skill
2. Primary skill
3. DR skill
4. Mobility skill
5. Wildcard slot
6. Wildcard slot

Each set bases its damage reduction effect on a skill from that bucket, with a mechanic that incorporates that skill an in interesting and persistent effect. It bases its bonus damage on the a skill from the primary skill bucket that thematically and/or functionally works well with that defensive skill. It then has an allowance for the class mobility skill and the player’s preference of single-target skill. It then rounds out the kit with flexible choices for the non-bucketed, utility/CC skills.

Class set changes:

• Monk
  • Sunwoku’s Soul
    • Set kit:
      • Single-target skill: Way of the Hundred Fists
      • Primary skill: Tempest Rush
      • DR skill: Sweeping Wind
    • Set bonuses:
      • Sweeping wind blinds enemies hit for 1 seconds (can not occur more than once every 8 seconds)
      • Sweeping wind lasts forever and also reduces melee damage taken by 4% per stack (half of its ranged DR)
      • Increases the damage of Tempest Rush by 15,000%
    • Set notes: The set utilities sweeping wind as its damage reduction mechanic. Thematically, the winds obscure the monk, making him more difficult to hit for ranged attackers. Additionally, they disorient targets caught within the winds, blinding them. This effect also serves to proc the Tempest-Rush-based bracers. Items rolls for RCR.
  • Unnamed Set or Raiment of a Thousand Storms reworked
    • Set kit:
      • Single-target skill: Deadly Reach
      • Primary skill: Wave of Light
      • DR skill: Epiphany
    • Set bonuses:
      • Epiphany lasts forever and reduces non-physical damage by 30%
      • The reach of Deadly Reach is increased by 50 yards
      • Increases damage of Wave of Light by 15,000%
    • Set notes: The set utilities epiphany as its damage reduction mechanic. Thematically, the monk has transcended, wishing to distance himself from the physical world (thus ranged attacks). Double bells from rabid strike make the skill more interesting. Item rolls for CDR.
  • Inna’s Mantra
    • Set kit:
      • Single-target skill: Lashing Tail Kick
      • Primary skill: Crippling Wave
      • DR skill: Mantra/Mystic Ally
    • Set bonuses:
      • Gain the five runed Mystic Allies at all times
      • Each Ally affected by your mantra absorbs 5% of the damage done to you
      • Each Ally affected by your mantra increases the damage of Crippling Wave by 1500%
    • Set notes: The set utilities the aura as its damage reduction mechanic. Thematically, the monk supports the allies with an aura, who in turn support him. Item roles for IAS.
  • Uliana’s Stratagem
    • Set kit:
      • Single-target skill: Fists of Thunder
      • Primary skill: Exploding Palm/Seven-sided Strike
      • DR skill: Serenity
    • Set bonuses:
      • Exploding palm gains the effect of every rune
      • Serenity passively reduces damage taken by 60% and grants immunity to control impairing effects. Resisting a control impairing effect casts a free Serenity automatically
      • Increase the damage of Exploding Palm by 9,000%. Your Seven-Sided Strike deals 777% its total damage with each hit and detonates your Exploding Palm.
    • Set notes: The set utilities serenity as its damage reduction mechanic. It enables the monk the move through enemies in order to set up combos. Item roles for CDR.
• Witch Doctor
  • Zunimassa’s Haunt
    • Set kit:
      • Single-target skill: Spirit Barrage/Poison Dart
      • Primary skill: Fetish Army
      • DR skill: Horrify
    • Set bonuses:
      • Fetish Army last forever and the cooldown is reduced by 80%
      • Horrify passively reduces damage taken by 4% for each fetish you have alive
      • Fetish Army summons 20 fetishes and the damage of your pets is increased by 15,000%
    • Set notes: Fetishes and sycophants are no longer distinguished, and the max number of fetishes from any source is 20. The set relies on pets and horrify for its damage reduction. Thematically, this Witch Doctor unable to fight himself, investing heavily into his pets. He relies on horrify as a last line of defense against enemies that penetrate the frontline. Item rolls for IAS.
• The rest…
  • refer to the “not comprehensive” comment. Similar pattern applies where set mechanics are streamlined around a single-target skill, primary skill, and DR skill

To fill out the rest of the equipment, you can assume a specific item is designed as BiS for each build. Effectively this means that every build has a full 13 items intended specifically for that build. The downside to this is that there is less variation in item loadouts, of course. This is mitigated, however, by the fact that there is already quite a limitation on possible item setups.

There are several benefits to this approach as well. There’s less of a demand on stash space. When each item has essentially one use-case, there’s less reason to horde potentially powerful items for hypothetical builds that might exist that you want to try one day. It will also be much easier to decide what to keep, as you’ll be able to determine exactly what build an item is for and what rolls if will need. Since the ideal item rolls are more straightforward because of how primary skills are characterized, viable items will be easier to identify.

Overall, you’ll be able to use less stash stash to collect sets of equipment for a greater number of builds, ultimately empowering you to try more builds across a wider variety of classes than you likely have now.

Item Mods

Item mods are no longer distributed between primary and secondary affixes. There are now two categories of affixes: Offensive and Defensive (with attributes distributed as you would probably expect). Some “adventuring” mods will no longer spawn. For example, +pickup radius has been removed while a +6 bonus has been incorporated for each class as a baseline.

The purpose for this change is two-fold. There’s been a steady trend of powercreep in damage through legendary powers without a corresponding powercreep in toughness. This change effectively increases the number of defensive mods on your equipment, bringing survivability more in line at the difficulty levels demanded by your damage.

Secondly, having to sacrifice toughness for damage and vice versa is a really unsatisfying choice because you really want both. Difficulty scaling really demands that you have both as well. Getting a godly element/CHC/CHD/socket amulet is great, but exchanging it for a vit amulet and losing that 5% toughness stings a little. Then you do the same for gloves, ring x2, shoulder… it really adds up.

An example BiS ring would roll something like this:

Offensive:

• AS
• CHC
• CHD

Defensive:

• Socket
• Vit
• Resistance

Finally, a few less dud rolls and removing a layer of RNG sure doesn’t hurt.

Ancient Items

The frequency of ancient item drops now increases with Torment level. Drop rate begins at 2% at Torment I, increasing to a maximum of 32% at Torment 16

Primal Items

Primal items no longer spawn. Instead, there is now an upgrade path from ancient items to primal. The details of how this would be implemented aren’t really worked out. Essentially as players play the game, they will earn mat/currency which can be used to upgrade an item mod through each increment of that mod (i.e. CHC from 4.5 → 5.0 → 5.5 → 6.0). Once every mod reachs the the maximum, the item becomes primal.

This allows each and every game session to demonstrably contribute to improving your equipment. Previously, finding upgrades relied on multiple layers of RNG requiring that you find another copy of an item, in ancient quality, with the correct roles. You may play for 3 hours without having anything to show for it. Now, you are able to make consistent progress on your hero each and every session you play.

By making designing items explicitly for specific builds, making them easier to find, and providing the ability to upgrade the items that you have found, there will not be less to do in the game. There will be more to do! Although there is less flexibility within any one build, there’s much greater flexibility of playing multiple builds across several classes. There will ultimately be much more variety to experience. That variety will be more diverse. For example, rather than trying out a variation of a build from a a couple jewelry pieces, you can try a variety of fresh builds with significantly different playstyles.