id was set in the arguments array for the "Main Sidebar" sidebar. Defaulting to "sidebar-1". Manually set the id to "sidebar-1" to silence this notice and keep existing sidebar content. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 4.2.0.) in /homepages/11/d418110977/htdocs/wp-includes/functions.php on line 5313id was set in the arguments array for the "Footer 1" sidebar. Defaulting to "sidebar-2". Manually set the id to "sidebar-2" to silence this notice and keep existing sidebar content. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 4.2.0.) in /homepages/11/d418110977/htdocs/wp-includes/functions.php on line 5313id was set in the arguments array for the "Footer 2" sidebar. Defaulting to "sidebar-3". Manually set the id to "sidebar-3" to silence this notice and keep existing sidebar content. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 4.2.0.) in /homepages/11/d418110977/htdocs/wp-includes/functions.php on line 5313id was set in the arguments array for the "Footer 3" sidebar. Defaulting to "sidebar-4". Manually set the id to "sidebar-4" to silence this notice and keep existing sidebar content. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 4.2.0.) in /homepages/11/d418110977/htdocs/wp-includes/functions.php on line 5313id was set in the arguments array for the "Footer 4" sidebar. Defaulting to "sidebar-5". Manually set the id to "sidebar-5" to silence this notice and keep existing sidebar content. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 4.2.0.) in /homepages/11/d418110977/htdocs/wp-includes/functions.php on line 5313Blizzard is finally beginning to release some information on the long awaited 1.0.4 patch.\u00a0 In my opinion, this will be the patch that makes or breaks the future of Diablo 3.\u00a0 The changes they make with this patch need to address some of the major issues with the game, so let’s break the listed changes down and see where we stand at the end.<\/p>\n
The change we made back in 1.0.3 to remove the bonus monster damage per additional player was a great start, but we can clearly go a bit further. The first change we\u2019re making in 1.0.4 for co-op is to remove averaging in multiplayer games of Magic Find and Gold Find. You\u2019ll benefit from your full Magic Find stat, independent of other players in the game. We originally added Magic Find averaging so optimal play did not involve people stacking what we call \u201cadventure stats\u201d to the detriment of their party. While this may re-emerge as a problem, we think the current solution feels like too much of a penalty, and is doing more harm than good.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Great change in my opinion.\u00a0 While this can and likely will promote leeching, a player with good enough gear shouldn’t be penalized because of players lacking good equipment.\u00a0 A good way to encourage group play and I have no idea why they even added this in as a “feature” to begin with in a game like Diablo.<\/p>\n
Along the same lines as the change in 1.0.3, we\u2019re going to be lowering the health multiplier for monsters per additional player in co-op games. It\u2019s going to be a flat 75% in 1.0.4 for all difficulty levels, as opposed to the scaling 75\/85\/95\/110% it is now. This makes enemies far more manageable in co-op games, and rewards a co-ordinated group with a higher farming efficiency than playing alone.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Another great change in terms of improving the co-op experience.\u00a0 However I feel a lot of the “hardcore” players who through tedious farming\/grinding may be a little upset at the “nerf”.\u00a0 Mainly because the difficulty in group play drops significantly and other people will now be able to farm easier to close the gap between the 1% “hardcore” players and the casual\/semi-hardcore players.<\/p>\n
We know there are a lot of you out there that are really frustrated by the difficulty of some of the champion and rare packs, so in 1.0.4 we\u2019re going to shrink the gap between normal monsters and Elite packs (Champions and Rares). The design intent of Champion and Rare packs is to provide a spike of challenge, but in general we feel like the gap is too big. Normal monsters die quickly and are usually just fodder, and Champions and Rares can feel like a brick wall.\u00a0 In general we\u2019re looking to bring normal enemies up a smidge, and Champions and Rares down.<\/p>\n
So, in 1.0.4 we\u2019re increasing the health of normal monsters by approximately 5%-10% in Inferno, but also increasing the likelihood they drop magic or rare items by a factor of four. We\u2019re correspondingly lowering the health of Champions and Rares by 10-25% and editing specific affixes to shrink the difficulty gap. We\u2019re still working on those numbers, but that\u2019s approximately what we\u2019re shooting for.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Farming will become a lot easier with this.\u00a0 White mobs generally posed very little threat, so a small boost in HP with a greater chance at loot is great.\u00a0 Some Affixes combination on Elite and Champion packs were ridiculous so by addressing that and by lowering their HP, farming speeds will increase and players will begin to find more loot increasing their chances of getting an upgrade.\u00a0 It also means there will be more items on the RMAH, oh Blizzard, you crafty devils.<\/p>\n
Weapon damage is the most important stat on a weapon. It can be disheartening to get a lot of weapon drops and you know before even looking at them that they have no chance of being good. To help give weapons a fighting chance, the raw damage value on all level 61 and 62 weapons will be able to roll damage that extends all the way to the top end of level 63.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
While DPS is the most important stat on items, I hope there’s more changes to values then just DPS.\u00a0 There should be better scaling for other attributes from 61-63 to keep the 61 and 62 ilvl items competitive.<\/p>\n
We also want to close the gap between dual-wielding and two-handers, and so we\u2019re improving two-handed melee weapons by creating a new set of stronger affixes to compensate for the loss of stats that can come from your offhand.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Excellent!\u00a0 I play as a Barbarian and once I found out about stacking critical damage with dual wield, it didn’t matter about the DPS difference on a 2-hander.\u00a0 This should help change the cookie-cutter dual wield critical damage builds that everyone has been forced to use.<\/p>\n
On the topic of two-handers, we\u2019re also changing how damage is calculated on a few damage-over-time skills.\u00a0 Many skills have text like \u201cDeals 75% weapon damage for 5 seconds\u201d, which isn\u2019t exactly clear as it can be interpreted a few different ways.\u00a0 It also made skill evaluation difficult, particularly for skills with long durations or cooldowns.\u00a0 We\u2019re switching a lot of these skills to read \u201cX% weapon damage over 5 seconds\u201d.\u00a0 Many skills already follow this format, and understanding what the skill does is very clear.\u00a0 As the skills are converted there is an additional opportunity: when converting to this format, choosing a value for X depends on your weapon speed.\u00a0 So what we\u2019ve done in most cases is assumed a high attack speed (at least 2.0 attacks per second), chosen a value of X, and then in many cases bumped the value even higher.\u00a0 A skill that currently does 75% weapon damage for 5 seconds, with a 2.0 speed weapon, will convert to at least 750% weapon damage over 5 seconds.\u00a0 The skill becomes easier to understand, is a small buff for most one-hand builds, and a big buff for two-hand builds.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Simple change that will keep consistency with skills.\u00a0 Likely will make some skills have value now, and can’t complain about clarity.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re removing Enrage Timers and the \u201cheal back to full\u201d behavior from Champion and Rare monster packs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Never should have been there to begin with.\u00a0 This discouraged fighting “tough” packs, so this is a no-brainer.<\/p>\n
That said, we think repair costs are just a bit too high, so in 1.0.4 we\u2019re going to be reducing repair costs of high-end items by 25%.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Repair costs should _NEVER_ have needed 2 changes to find the right balance.\u00a0 With the previous changes listed, I believe this will be as close to perfect as possible.\u00a0 If you’re still dying to things that have weaker affixes and less life, you need to get some better gear.<\/p>\n
That addresses that current preview of changes listed.\u00a0 There will be additional information on class balancing, legendaries and some additional system changes.\u00a0 Blizzard states the patch is slated for the 4th week of August, so we’re still 2-3 weeks out.<\/p>\n
My only fear is that the “hardcore” players may feel the game has been made too easy now, but I really don’t care about them.\u00a0 I care about my experience and so far I think Blizzard has addressed a few of the bigger issues.\u00a0 What remains to be seen is when Jay Wilson addresses Magic Find.\u00a0 I’m sure he’ll have lots of gems for us all to pick at.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"