Diablo 3 – Patch 2.7.4 PTR Drops Today; Introduces New Powers For Classes

Public Test Realm server for Diablo 3 has just received a new patch. Patch 2.7.4 goes live today and coinciding with Season 27. The new mechanic are called Angelic Crucibles which can Sanctify any Legendary item.

This will reforge them for Ancient-level stats which will preserve their Legendary Powers. They will also gain one of three new powers depending on their class. Angelic Crucibles will only drop post-level 70 and can only be equipped one at a time. Players can sanctify an item as many times as they would like and unfortunately, none of your followers will be able to equip a sanctified item.

Some of the new powers include the barbarians whirlwind power which pulls in and holds all enemies within in a 25-yard radius. Another power comes from the Crusader who calls down Fist of the Heavens on a random enemy every two seconds. The Demon Hunter casts a barrage of rockets that deals damage on a unit based on the percentage of max health that it has. The monk’s wave of light creates bells that deal damage when the caster hits the bell. Up to seven can be deployed at a time. The rest of the powers can be explored down below.

There are a couple of other general updates. Most notably, adventure mode is now unlocked for all accounts by default.

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.

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 and Elites 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.

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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