Diablo 3’s 2.1.1 patch notes are out, and with it come a contentious addition. The changes received such a reception that Blizzard was compelled to immediately clarify their changes to Kadala. But first, a look at the changes.
· Items
o Wizard
The Wizard’s Firebird’s Finery now receives a unique effect when using the infinite DoT debuff.
o Legendary Gems
The Boon of the Hoarder usually makes large piles of gold appear when enemies are killed onscreen. To reduce clutter, the number of piles that appear has been reduced, but the amounts in those piles have been increased. This is really a change in animation and does not affect the amount of gold dropped.
· Adventure Mode
You can now get more crafting materials from Rift Guardians and Greater Rift Guardians.
o Infernal Machine
Key of Bones, Key of Gluttony, and Key of War items will be group drops in Infernal Machine multiplayer. Everyone will get one of these keys if they drop in-game.
o Greater Rifts
The Rift of Trials has been adjusted to better calibrate with the Greater Rift level.
Greater Rifts will no longer have Large Aqueduct and Sewer maps.
o Kadala
The cost to purchase items from Kadala has been increased.
The chance for Kadala to drop Legendary items has been increased.
These changes come with the intent of reducing the number of times players switch between the Kadala and Blacksmith for unwanted items.
· Crafting
The cost to enchant jewelry has been lowered from a Flawless Imperial Gem to an Imperial Gem. This makes it easier to add sockets to rings and amulets overall. In the future, Blizzard will add changes to add way to farm gems and get rid of unneeded gems.
· Monsters
There is now a cooldown for the Electrified monster affix.
The Butcher’s Fan of Spears attack damage has been slightly lowered.
The Charging Beasts’ Charge attack range has been slightly lowered.
Plague Nest Bats’ health globe drop rate has been significantly lowered.
o Nephalem Rifts and Greater Rifts
Maggot Broods and Sand Dwellers no longer start out in the Rifts burrowed out.
Demonic Hellflyers and Ghosts run away less frequently. They also no longer ambush from the air or fly through walls.
Rockworms no longer spawn in the Rifts.
· Pets
Pets receive significantly less damage from attacks that players avoid. This puts the survivability of pets closer in line to their owners.
Pets react to Shield Pylons appropriately.
· Crusader
The Crusader’s Shield Bash can now be interrupted during the hit animation frames.
· Witch Doctor
o Fetish Army and Sycophants
Mouseover now shows proper display portrait icons for the Fetish Army and Fetish Sycophants.
Fetish Army and Sycophants life is higher.
Fetish Army and Sycophants movement speed is significantly faster.
Fetish Army and Sycophants leash range is slightly higher.
o Gargantuan
Gargantuans can be summoned to where your mouse cursor is.
Gargantuan summon animation speed is faster.
o Spirit Walk
Spirit Walk no longer gets cancelled too quickly. Spirit Walks get cancelled when the physical body left behind receives too much damage.
o Zombie Dogs
Zombie Dog life is higher.
There are these undocumented changes observed by fans as well:
· Treasure Goblins now always have portals near them, and can be found via a yellow circle in the minimap. Rainbow Goblins spawn pylons in the Rifts.
· Sockets indicate when an item is about to be enchanted.
· A leaf appears in chat when linking a seasonal achievement.
· UI provides more details on using keys from the keywardens.
· Potions stack more than 100, possibly as much as 1,000.
· Public games have been tagged as Bounties.
· The glowing beam has been removed from the Keystone of Trials. You can still see a minimap icon and the sound as indicators.
· Stalgard’s Decimator proc now rolls 550 to 700 %. Other items from Stalgard have been rerolled down.
· Demon Hunter Sentries can be placed though doors.
· The minimap has new icons for the Nephalem Obelisk and Book of Cain.
No less than designer Travis Day came up on the Battle.Net forums to explain the changes with Kadala. The intention was to lessen the amount of time needed to go back and forth between Kadala and the blacksmith. Kadala’s items are more expensive, and at the same time the rate she drops you items was also increased. Players now get 1/3 more legendary items.
Subsequently, crafting reagent drops have been increased on the normal and Greater Rift Guardians. Whereas Kadala only drops yellow materials, the Guardians drop, white, blue, and yellow materials.
In terms of the Blood Shard, for example, the shards cost five times as much now. Subsequently, drop rates for the shards are also five times as frequent. The chances for Legendary items have also been raised to 33 %, and the chance to get a Legendary item from Kadala has been raised to 10 %.
These drops are completely random, so it is possible for players to go on streaks, but over time it evens out to 33 % more items than before.
How do you feel about these changes? Did you prefer the previous system Blizzard had, or should they have implemented different changes? Share your thoughts in the comments.
