Our 16-day PTR testing period for the 2.7.4 update begins July 12 and we're asking for your help in quelling the tides of surging demons. Become acquainted with the preliminary patch notes below and start theorycrafting how you'll make the most of the new seasonal theme, general updates, item changes and more—Patch 2.7.4 PTR will be arriving soon!
SEASONAL JOURNEY
Please note that this is a preview for PTR content, which is subject to change.
PTR FOCUS & DETAILS
We’ll be conducting the Patch 2.7.4 PTR starting Tuesday, July 12. During this time there may be periodic maintenances, outages, hotfixes, or minor patches.
- There will be PTR-unique buffs active to help you on your journey: 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 that we'd love for you to test! Read down below to learn more on the new vendor updates that have been implemented to assist in the PTR experience starting with PTR 2.7.4.
- 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 Crusader, Necromancer, Wizard, and Monk.
- New Season Theme Testing: We're looking to gather feedback on the seasonal content around Angelic Crucibles.
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.
- Try to break things! Just tell us when you do so we can make sure that the patch’s 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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SEASON 27
Season 27 introduces a new type of consumable item called Angelic Crucibles. Once uncovered by Nephalem, these heavenly artifacts can be used to Sanctify any equippable Legendary item. Sanctifying an item reforges it to have perfect Ancient-level stats on all affixes while also preserving the item's Legendary Power. In addition, this process adds one of three new powers unique to each class.
Season Theme Details:
- Angelic Crucibles and Sanctified Items can only be acquired in Seasonal play and will not transfer to your non-seasonal character when the season ends.
- Angelic Crucibles can drop anywhere in Sanctuary at level 70.
- Players can obtain as many Sanctified items as they would like, however, only one Sanctified item can be equipped at a time.
- Sanctified items can be Sanctified again using another Angelic Crucible.
- No stats are preserved when Sanctifying an item.
- Only level 70 equippable items can be Sanctified—crafted items cannot be Sanctified.
- Followers cannot equip Sanctified items.
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CLASS-SPECIFIC SANCTIFIED POWERS
Barbarian
- Whirlwind pulls in and holds all enemies within 25 yards.
- Hammer of the Ancients hits in all directions around the Barbarian. Every seventh cast of Hammer of the Ancients unleashes a powerful shockwave.
- Hitting enemies generates stacks of Tempest Rhythm. Activating Wrath of the Berserker consumes 50 stacks of Tempest Rhythm and startles enemies within 16 yards, causing them to take 0.5% increased damage per stack for 10 seconds. Max 100 stacks.
Crusader
- Blessed Hammer now crackles with energy damaging enemies within 15 yards of its path. All runes but Dominion now throw the hammer in a direct path in front of the Crusader.
- Every two seconds, call down Fist of the Heavens on a random nearby enemy.
- After casting Falling Sword, you descend from the sky with two Archangels that wield immense holy skills and benefit from your holy damage skill modifiers.
Demon Hunter
- Strafe now casts the last non-channeled Hatred spending ability casted.
- Casting Vengeance unleashes a barrage of rockets that deal damage equal to a percentage of an enemy’s current hit points. The percentage per rocket is reduced if the enemy is an Elite or Boss. This effect cannot occur more than once every 60 seconds.
- Firing Cluster Arrow concentrates its explosive force into a piercing ray of light.
Monk
- Casting Wave of Light now summons a bell at the target location that deals damage when the caster attacks the bell. Up to seven bells can be active at one time.
- All Way of the Hundred Fists combo punches use the second stage combo punch.
- The target of your Seven-Sided Strike is barraged with spiritual punches for 15 seconds. This can only affect one enemy at a time.
Necromancer
- Your Golem now picks up corpses within 20 yards. Each corpse it stores allows you to cast any corpse spending ability with the max number of corpses consumed per cast. Up to 30 corpses can be stored.
- Enemies within 50 yards are constantly assaulted by the Army of the Dead - Unconventional Warfare while this item is equipped.
- Hitting enemies with Death Nova five consecutive times adds a spirit that afflicts an enemy every fifth cast of Death Nova. Up to three spirits can be sent at a time.
Witch Doctor
- Five seconds after casting Haunt, all Haunted enemies within 50 yards are pulled to the Witch Doctor.
- Horrify becomes an aura that causes enemies to receive 15% more damage and deal 15% less damage in addition to its other effects.
- Your Gargantuan spreads Locusts Swarm to any enemy within 16 yards and summons Zombie Dogs periodically. Zombie Dogs now gain every rune when summoned.
Wizard
- Casting Storm Armor sends a power thunderbolt from the skies that instantly kills a random enemy within 30 yards. Bosses are not killed but take significant damage. This effect cannot occur more than once every 60 seconds.
- Arcane Orb now periodically spawns up to four orbiting charges that will generate an additional orb when cast. All charges from the Arcane Orbit rune now detonate at the same time.
- Magic Missile fires 20 missiles and gains the effect of the Seeker rune.
Developer's Note: With the Lords of Hell Season, we explored what Nephalem would do if they possessed the powers of Hell. This season we invite players to witness what Nephalem can accomplish with the powers of Heaven. Our goal with the 21 unique class-powers was to introduce changes to skills that can redefine the way you play a build or set. We're excited to see how players will harness the powers of Heaven in Season 27.
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GENERAL UPDATES
- Adventure Mode is now unlocked for all accounts by default. Players are no longer required to complete the Campaign to access Adventure mode.
- Default difficulty selection has been updated to be consistent for all players and platforms. All players now have access to Normal-Torment 6 difficulties by default, and upon reaching level 70 with a character, players gain access to Torment 7–Torment 16.
- Uber Boss Realms now automatically close 60 seconds after the Uber Bosses have been defeated. Additional portals to the same Uber Boss Realm can now be opened in a single game session.
- The Experience rewarded upon completion of an Echoing Nightmare has been reduced by 83%.
Developer's Note: With Echoing Nightmares transitioning from a Seasonal theme to a permanent feature moving forward, we felt it was necessary to dial back the Experience rewards to avoid players feeling obligated to maximize their time spent inside the activity. Our vision for Echoing Nightmares is to be a fun bonus activity, like the Vault, that serves as a good source of loot and Augment materials. We've also made several changes to Adventure mode and difficulty unlocks—these will align the Diablo III experience across all platforms for new players and should make it easier to jump into your preferred activity. Lastly, we improved the Uber Boss flow so that players and groups can kill multiple rounds of bosses without having to remake games.
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ITEM CHANGES
General
- Guardian's Jeopardy (2-piece bonus): Your base Vitality attribute from equipped items is increased by 50%.
- Guardian's Jeopardy (3-piece bonus): Your base Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence attributes from equipped items are increased by 50%.
Developer's Note: We've heard from players that the Crafted 3-piece sets have had some of the most significant impacts on itemization, so we're introducing another to add more choice.
Crusader
- Armor of Akkhan (2-piece bonus): Judgment has no cooldown and gains the effect of every rune.
- Armor of Akkhan (4-piece bonus): Attacks from Phalanx Avatars reduce the cooldown of Akarat's Champion by 0.5 seconds, and also apply Condemn when attacking enemies that is affected by Judgment.
- Eternal Union: Increases the duration of summoned Phalanx Bowmen and Bodyguard indefinitely.
Developer's Note: Our goal with the Armor of Akkhan rework is to narrow the focus of the set to give a distinctive identify, highlighting a fantasy where the Crusader is the Knight-Commander, passing judgment on the enemies of the Light.
Necromancer
- Trag'Oul's Avatar (2-piece bonus): Blood Rush and Siphon Blood gains the effect of every rune. Your Life-spending abilities no longer cost Essence.
- Trag'Oul's Avatar (4-piece bonus): While at full Life, your healing from skills is added to your maximum Life for 45 seconds, up to 300% more.
- Trag'Oul's Avatar (6-piece bonus): Your Life-spending abilities deal 10,000% increased damage and your healing from skills is increased by 100%.
- Iron Rose: Attacking with Siphon Blood has a 100% chance to cast a free Blood Nova. After cumulatively losing 10% of your maximum Life, your Death Nova deals 40% increased damage for 60 seconds. This effect stacks up to 10 times.
- Funerary Pick: Siphon Blood from 2 additional targets. Each target takes 300% increased damage from you. The bonus from Siphon Blood - Power Shift is now 20% per stack and benefits all skills.
Developer's Note: We wanted to recapture the Blood Necromancer fantasy of Trag'Oul's Avatar and increase its effectiveness against single targets.
Wizard
- Delsere's Magnum Opus (2-piece bonus): Casting Arcane Orb, Energy Twister, Magic Missile, Shock Pulse, Spectral Blade, Electrocute, Meteor, or Arcane Torrent also casts Slow Time at a target. This effect will not trigger if the target is already inside a Slow Time bubble. The cooldown of Teleport will reset while you're inside bubbles generated from this set or cast by you.
- Delsere's Magnum Opus (4-piece bonus): You take 75% reduced damage while you have a Slow Time active. Allies inside your Slow Time gain half benefit.
- Crown of the Primus: Slow Time gains the effect of every rune and permanently follows you.
- Tal Rasha's Elements (2-piece bonus): Damaging enemies with Arcane, Cold, Fire or Lightning will grant immunity to that element and cause a Meteor of the same damage type to fall from the sky. The same meteor cannot happen twice in a row.
- Tal Rasha's Elements (4-piece bonus): Arcane, Cold, Fire, and Lightning attacks each increase all of your resistances by 50% for 8 seconds.
- The Smoldering Core: Lesser enemies are now lured to your Meteor impact areas. Meteors deals 40-50% increased damage on consecutive hits to the same target. This stacks up to 10 times.
Developer's Note: Delsere's Magnum Opus has been feeling weak, clunky and isn't meeting the desired gameplay flow, so we've streamlined the playstyle to make it more engaging, allowing Wizards to feel like masters of time. The core of Tal Rasha's Elements has changed over time, so we're revisiting it to reintroduce a playstyle that utilizes Meteor.
Monk
- Inna's Mantra (6-piece bonus): 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 Allys. The damage of your Mystic Allies is increased by 900% for each Mystic Ally you have out.
Developer's Note: Inna's Mantra Monks have been riding high on the waves of success for several seasons, so it's time to bring in the nerf shark.
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BUG FIXES
- Fixed a bug that prevented the Legendary Spear Empyrean Messenger from dropping.
- Captain Crimson's Trimmings: Fixed a bug that caused the 3-piece set bonus to occasionally drop off.
- Updated Bone Spike and Siphon Blood tooltips to reflect the appropriate damage values.
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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!
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