tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37837247966639103162024-03-13T12:29:04.336-07:00Nobbie's Gaming BlogsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00100422412399201168noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783724796663910316.post-76009356181830130692015-07-26T15:48:00.001-07:002015-07-29T12:03:01.931-07:00Diablo 3: The Dark Prophet - "Leaked" Expansion 2 Title? [UPDATED]<script src="http://us.battle.net/d3/static/js/tooltips.js"></script>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LncbNRlXNlM/VbT0z2EeAVI/AAAAAAAAAUg/ouGHOLxsxCc/s1600/InariusPortrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LncbNRlXNlM/VbT0z2EeAVI/AAAAAAAAAUg/ouGHOLxsxCc/s1600/InariusPortrait.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i><a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Inarius" target="_blank">Inarius</a> - Villain or ally in D3X2?</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Introduction</b></span></div>
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Greetings, dear readers! My latest <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/game/" target="_blank"><b>Diablo 3</b></a> <a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/05/diablo-3-expansion-2-xiansai-and-new.html">speculation blog</a> was meant to be the last before <a href="http://www.gamescom-cologne.com//gamescom/index-9.php" target="_blank"><b>gamescom</b></a>; however, recent developments prompted me to write another one with the world's biggest gaming fair just 10 days away.<br />
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About a week ago, a user called "Geheimnis" claimed to have information that an expansion called <b>The Dark Prophet</b> has been "leaked" and that it is for World of WarCraft, Blizzard's MMO. You can learn more about this <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/wow/comments/3dt0s8/the_dark_prophet_new_expansion_leak/" target="_blank">here on reddit</a>. Furthermore, the presence of WoW lead designer Ion Hazzikostas and the French WoW fansite Mamytwink at gamescom were interpreted as sign that there's indeed a big announcement coming. Before I continue with my own speculations, I want to clear up a couple of things, especially for the WoW fans.<br />
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WoW's fifth expansion, Warlords of Draenor, just recently had the huge <a href="http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/19529830/patch-62-survival-guide-and-feature-overview-6-23-2015" target="_blank">Fury of Hellfire</a> patch 6.2 featuring a band-new zone, factions, quests, and the biggest raid of the expansion so far. Patch 6.2.1, which introduces flying in Draenor, is currently on the PTR and should be released shortly. A patch of this size is a big thing even for Blizzard, and with all the online-marketing for patch 6.2 being in full swing so close to gamescom, it's really just wishful thinking that Blizzard announces the next WoW expansion in 10 days. While Blizzard has - with over 500 demo stations - its biggest gaming fair presence ever at this year's gamesom, many of these stations will just have patch 6.2 on them with Ion Hazzikostas answering fan questions about Hellfire Citadel and Mamytwink to report about it. Sorry if I've just bursted your bubbles, dear WoW fans, but a WOWX6 announcement just won't happen here. BlizzCon 2015, on the other hand, is a prime candidate for it.<br />
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All that said, the author of the "leak" (who seems to have a Blizzard source because he had "forecast" details of Warlords of Draenor before its announcement) might just have been creative on the Queen Azshara theme, which ranks high among fans as potential WoW expansion. In fact, his concepts pretty much read like the fan-fiction that Ian "The Red Shirt Guy" Bates <a href="http://warcraft.blizzplanet.com/blog/comments/world-of-warcraft-age-of-azshara-a-fan-expansion-concept-by-the-red-shirt-guy-part-1" target="_blank">wrote up a week ago</a> for the Blizzplanet fansite. However, <i>assuming</i> that there is indeed a reliable source and that the name or trademark "The Dark Prophet" was mentioned in connection with Blizzard, there's another possibilty, which seems to be much more plausible with respect to the normal Blizzard product release schedule: "The Dark Prophet" (or "Prophet of the Dark") could be the title of the second Diablo 3 expansion!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Dark Prophet</b></span></div>
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<b>The End of the Reaper of Souls and the Rise of the Nephalem</b>
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The <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/reaper-of-souls/" target="_blank">Reaper of Souls</a> (RoS or D3X1 for short) expansion ends with a pretty solid hint at the possible fate of the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Nephalem" target="_blank">Nephalem</a> (you, the player) in the not-so-far future. The following video is a complete recap of the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Malthael" target="_blank">Angel of Death</a> quest including the final ingame cinematic, which can not only be looked at as ending of RoS but also as teaser and prologue of the second expansion a.k.a. D3X2.
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<i>The "Angel of Death" questline is the last of the RoS Campaign Mode,</i><br />
<i>and it surprises with a pretty clear forecast of the things to come</i></div>
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This are <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Tyrael" target="_blank">Tyrael's</a> famous last words: <i>"...but within him [the nephalem] beats a mortal heart, that will one day be tempted to corruption. On that day, will he have the strength to resist, or will he be our doom?"</i><br />
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During the events of Diablo 3, Diablo, the Lord of Terror, was able to combine - with the help of the witch <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Adria" target="_blank">Adria</a> - the essences of the other two <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Prime_Evils" target="_blank">Prime Evils</a> and the four <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Lesser_Evils" target="_blank">Lesser Evils</a> through the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Soulstone" target="_blank">Black Soulstone</a> into his own "body", becoming a <i>singular Prime Evil</i>. While he was defeated by the Nephalem (at the end of Diablo 3), his spirit returned to the Black Soulstone, and through the destruction of the stone at the hands of Malthael during the final encounter in RoS (see the "Angel of Death" video above), he was released into creation once more. So, this is where we stand right now: Diablo is free again, and the Black Soulstone, which "forged" his last incarnation as "Singular Prime Evil", is destroyed. The Nephalem (you, the player) has overcome Evil in numerous forms, you are more powerful than ever, and Diablo has to find other means to subdue you.<br />
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<b>Mephisto, the Lord of Hatred & Inarius, the Prophet </b><i>(TLDR Version)</i><br />
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It remains to be seen how the Diablo team develops the lore further in D3X2. Is the "Singular Prime Evil" Diablo able to maintain his form now that the Black Soulstone, an artefact of incredible power, is destroyed? Is the stone destroyed at all, or have its shards landed somewhere on <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Sanctuary" target="_blank">Sanctuary</a>, just like the shards of Tyrael's sword did in Diablo 3? Is the third Diablo possibly decomposed again into the Great and Lesser Evils?<br />
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With "The Dark Prophet" being a <i>possible</i> expansion title, an important character comes into play: <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Inarius" target="_blank"><b>Inarius</b></a>, the Prophet (title) and formerly an archangel of the High Heavens, whose actions would lead to the creation of Sanctuary and the Nephalem. After eons of war and witnessing countless acts of brutality in the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Eternal_Conflict" target="_blank">Eternal Conflict</a> a.k.a. "The Great Conflict", Inarius came to the conclusion that the conflict was unjust and that his part in it had to come to an end. Inarius found other angels and demons, who also sought escape from the never-ending war fate, and together he and his renegades managed to gain access to the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Worldstone" target="_blank">Worldstone</a>. With its aid, they created the world Sanctuary in another, safe pocket dimension. Eventually, the archangel and a demon called <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Lilith" target="_blank"><b>Lilith</b></a> mated and created offspring. In time, other renegade demons and angels did likewise and produced offspring of their own. Thus, the Nephalem were born - the children of both angels and demons, yet a new entity in their own right.<br />
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Peace didn't last long, though, because the new species had power that surpassed that of angel or demon, and the union of angels and demons would be deemed the ultimate blasphemy by the Great Evils and Angiris Council. Inarius came to the conclusion that the Nephalem were "abominations" and declared that they be exterminated. Lilith, driven into a mad frenzy by the threat of her children's extinction, began slaughtering her fellow renegades, which eventually led to her banishment into the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Void" target="_blank">Void</a> through Inarius. Inarius then attuned the Worldstone to cause the powers of the Nephalem to diminish over time, leading to what the humans are in Sanctuary these days.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z6E_vBYlwfg/VRbY7cx4ngI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/n2o6_7Fae1c/s1600/d3_ros_portrait_mephisto_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z6E_vBYlwfg/VRbY7cx4ngI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/n2o6_7Fae1c/s1600/d3_ros_portrait_mephisto_01.jpg" width="200" /></a>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rt3vUeooars/VRbZAf9tgSI/AAAAAAAAAKY/L3zZKrPDGoY/s1600/d3_ros_portrait_baal_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rt3vUeooars/VRbZAf9tgSI/AAAAAAAAAKY/L3zZKrPDGoY/s1600/d3_ros_portrait_baal_01.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<i>Mephisto (left side) and Baal -</i><br />
<i>Both portraits already exist in the RoS game files</i></div>
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During the later events of the so-called <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Sin_War_(event)" target="_blank">Sin War</a>, when the Burning Hells and the High Heavens became aware of Sanctuary's existence, Inarius was confronted with Lilith, who once again sought to bring the power of the Nephalem under her control, and Lilith's father, the prime evil <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Mephisto" target="_blank"><b>Mephisto</b></a>. You can look up the details in <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Sin_War_(event)" target="_blank">this Wiki article</a>. Lilith was later defeated by the re-emergent Nephalem <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Uldyssian" target="_blank">Uldyssian</a> and banished again by Inarius. At the end of the war, Mephisto eventually got hold of the renegade Inarius through a deal with the Angiris Council. He took Inarius to the Burning Hells, where he is still incarcerated:<br />
<blockquote>
<i>Mephisto took Inarius to the Burning Hells. He bound Inarius with tremendous chains and slowly tore the wings from the back of the angel. Great barbed hooks were then used to stretch out his once glowing skin and his features were distorted by vile powers. Now, Inarius is said to be trapped in Hell within a chamber of mirrors, his eyelids torn from his face as he is forced to gaze upon his misshapen form for all eternity. This remains true to this day.</i></blockquote>
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<b>Back to the Roots?</b><br />
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With the Nephalem back in full swing after the events of RoS, who if not Inarius and Lilith, who once gave birth to the super-human species, could be the perfect antagonist couple for expansion 2? Both Inarius and Lilith could be freed, and we'll suddenly find ourselves in a scenario that makes us walk the line between hero and villain. Both the Burning Hells and and the High Heavens have a vital interest in gaining the upper hand in the Eternal Conflict. However, it's hard to foresee how the story develops after RoS because Diablo's current state as Singular Prime Evil including Mephisto's essence is, well, complicated. Also, how could the poor soul <b><a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Leah" target="_blank">Leah</a></b> possibly come back into play here? There are indicators, though, that we'll go back deep into the history of the Diablo universe, which alone is a very exciting outlook.<br />
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<b>Necromancer, Druid, or "Necruid" as next class?</b><br />
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When we talk about Inarius and Lilith, we must also mention <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Rathma" target="_blank"><b>Rathma</b></a>, a first generation Nephalem and the progenitor of the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Priests_of_Rathma" target="_blank">Priests of Rathma</a>, also known as the Necromancers. He is the son of Lilith and Inarius and not on good terms with his parents, as Lilith killed the rebel angels and demons only to use the Nephalem's power for her own ends, while Inarius believed that the Nephalem are "abominations" that should be destroyed. Rathma and the other members of the first generation, such as the Immortal King <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Bul%27Kathos" target="_blank"><b>Bul-Kathos</b></a> and his Druid brother <b>Vasily</b>, retained their supernatural powers. While the Necromancer's goal is to keep the balance between the Burning Hells and the High Heavens and prevent either from interfering too much in Sanctuary's affairs, the Barbarians and their Druid brothers seek to protect Mount Arreat and the Worldstone.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AR9VQs2bFnc/VbfZ24xJDYI/AAAAAAAAAVE/J1uzy4ZTp-Q/s1600/swampland_necromancer_by_ignisdrakos-d7g2git.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AR9VQs2bFnc/VbfZ24xJDYI/AAAAAAAAAVE/J1uzy4ZTp-Q/s320/swampland_necromancer_by_ignisdrakos-d7g2git.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i><a href="http://www.diablowiki.net/Swampland" target="_blank">Swampland</a> Necromancer - Artwork by <a href="http://ignisdrakos.deviantart.com/art/Swampland-Necromancer-450251813" target="_blank">Ignis Drakos</a><br />Pretty cool vision of how a Necruid could look like</i></div>
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In a potential Inarius vs. Lilith vs. Nephalem scenario, it's therefore well possible that either the Necromancer or the Druid will be playable as next class in D3X2. Both have a huge fan base, and if Blizzard goes balls to the wall with the next expansion, we might see even both classes or a "Necruid" (Necro-Druid) hybrid. Also, the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/" target="_blank"><b>Diablo 3</b></a> <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/19814212/patch-230-ptr-patch-notes-6-30-2015" target="_blank"><b>Patch 2.3</b></a> is currently online on the PTR, and its highlights - the new <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/19802338/patch-230-ptr-preview-6-23-2015#zone" target="_blank"><b>Ruins of Sescheron</b></a> zone in the Barbarian Highlands and the new, powerful <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/19802338/patch-230-ptr-preview-6-23-2015#kanai" target="_blank"><b>Kanai's Cube</b></a> - fit perfectly in here as well. The ruins including the third Immortal King in the throne room (with the suspicious error message <i>"The time is not right"</i>) seem to have lore hints to what's coming next, and the new meta/power creep introduced through the cube has the character of a pre-expansion system patch. We definitely need more power for the tasks that lie ahead of us!<br />
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<b>gamescom or BlizzCon?</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rbcP3RQvNtA/VbgQU1CGlLI/AAAAAAAAAVU/eCYGdCNf9Gk/s1600/blizzard_gamescom2015_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rbcP3RQvNtA/VbgQU1CGlLI/AAAAAAAAAVU/eCYGdCNf9Gk/s320/blizzard_gamescom2015_1.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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<i><b>Angelic Diablo</b> from <a href="http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/" target="_blank">HotS</a> dominates the gamescom 2015 poster -<br />Blizzard's subtle hint who the star of this year's show is?</i></div>
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Last but not least, I'd like to make a quick "fact check" regarding a potential D3X2 announcement at gamescom on August 5, 2015. As I've speculated in my <a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/05/diablo-3-expansion-2-xiansai-and-new.html">third blog</a>, the <i>"Development/Developer in general"</i> spot, which Blizzard had booked, points indeed to a press conference with relevant announcements. <b>This press conference takes place on Wednesday, August 5 at 12:00 a.m. CET</b> according to <a href="http://www.gamescom-cologne.com/redaktionell/gamescom_1/downloads_21/pdf_26/presse_22/pressetermine_2.pdf" target="_blank">this info sheet from last week</a>. What can we expect here, and what is rather unlikely? Here are the facts:<br />
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<li>Everything that must be said about the upcoming expansion <a href="http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/" target="_blank"><b>StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void</b></a> has been said, and the cinematic trailer has been shown. The game is currently in beta, and more news will likely follow at BlizzCon in November, shortly before its release. You can play LotV in the demo area at gamescom.</li>
<li>A lot of info, the trailer, and gameplay videos for the upcoming shooter <a href="http://us.battle.net/overwatch/en/" target="_blank"><b>Overwatch</b></a> have been revealed already since BlizzCon 2014. The game will have its beta in fall this year, and we might get a beta date at gamescom. Other big news, if any, will likely follow at BlizzCon. You can play Overwatch in the demo area at gamescom.</li>
<li>The upcoming expansion <a href="http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/" target="_blank"><b>Hearthstone: The Grand Tournament</b></a> has been revealed a few days ago, and it will be released in August. We'll likely get the exact release date at gamescom. Other big news are not expected here. You can play Hearthstone in the demo area at gamescom.</li>
<li>The current expansion <a href="http://us.battle.net/wow/en/" target="_blank"><b>World of WarCraft: Warlords of Draenor</b></a> just got a huge update, the <b>Fury of Hellfire</b> patch 6.2 featuring a new zone and the expansion's main raid. The next update, which introduces flying in Draenor, is already on the PTR, and it will be released shortly. Other big news, if any, will likely follow at BlizzCon. You can play WoW in the demo area at gamescom, and WoW lead designer Ion Hazzikostas will be there to answer fan(site) and press questions.</li>
<li>Blizzard's latest baby <a href="http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/" target="_blank"><b>Heroes of the Storm</b></a> has been released in June, and it just got its first big update: The <b>Eternal Conflict</b> from the Diablo universe featuring new maps, heroes and skins. I expect more infos about the upcoming Monk hero, the new Novazon skin, and the not yet revealed Diablo hero. You can play HotS in the demo area at gamescom.</li>
<li>The first <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/" target="_blank"><b>Diablo 3</b></a> expansion, Reaper of Souls, has been revealed 2 years ago at gamescom 2013 during a press conference, and while you cannot play Diablo 3 in the demo area at gamescom this year, the game is the prime candidate for a big announcement, the expansion 2. As mentioned earlier in this blog, the upcoming patch 2.3 certainly has the character of a pre-expansion system patch with its new meta/power creep, and the current "Eternal Conflict" HotS promotion is so close to the lore around Inarius, Lilith, and the creation of Sanctuary and the Nephalem, that it all seems to point in that direction. I would be very surprised if Blizzard lets that opportunity slip; gamescom is too big to be ignored for a major announcement, and more than 2 years between expansion announcements would be unusual as well.</li>
</ul>
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That's it so far with my speculations about the name and possible contents of the next Diablo 3 expansion. Whether or not all, or at least some of it is confirmed should be known in a few days. If nothing is confirmed, then you should have read some entertaining fan fiction that makes the wait for D3X2 a little shorter. ^^<br />
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<i>- Nobbie, the Lord of Construction</i><br />
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<b>Related blogs:</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/03/diablo-3-expansion-2-feat-baal-mephisto.html"><b>Diablo 3: Expansion 2 feat. Baal, Mephisto & the Druid Class?</b></a> (Speculation part 1)</li>
<li><a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/04/diablo-3-expansion-2-skovos-and-new.html"><b>Diablo 3 Expansion 2: Skovos and a new Druid-based Hybrid Class?</b></a> (Speculation part 2)</li>
<li><a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/05/diablo-3-expansion-2-xiansai-and-new.html"><b>Diablo 3 Expansion 2: Xiansai and a new Wizard-based Hybrid Class?</b></a> (Speculation part 3)</li>
</ul>
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<b>For the latest gaming news follow my <a href="https://twitter.com/itsNobbie" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and/or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/ItsNobbie/381079715392243" target="_blank">Facebook</a>!</b>
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<b>UPDATES</b></div>
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<b>July 29, 2015: WoW Expansion 6 Premiere announced for gamescom</b><br />
<b> </b>
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<center>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="de">
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You won’t want to miss our <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/gamescom?src=hash">#gamescom</a> live stream next week. Watch it at: <a href="http://t.co/EejHEemtIU">http://t.co/EejHEemtIU</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlizzGC2015?src=hash">#BlizzGC2015</a> <a href="http://t.co/awhHQik91P">pic.twitter.com/awhHQik91P</a></div>
— World of Warcraft (@Warcraft) <a href="https://twitter.com/Warcraft/status/626437123512471553">29. Juli 2015</a></blockquote>
</center>
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It turned out that Blizzard is going to reveal WOWX6 at gamescom. Considering the normal product timeline, D3X2 was definitely due, especially considering that all these alleged "TM leaks" have been identified as fakes during the past days. But the devastating Warlords of Draenor critique likely forced them to announce the WoW expansion before the Diablo 3 expansion. Well, it just means waiting another 4 months until BlizzCon, and we'll see how good my predictions about the expansion 2 contents are. D3X2 can only get better until then. ^^Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00100422412399201168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783724796663910316.post-23922450394502313832015-07-08T15:02:00.000-07:002015-07-08T15:05:23.934-07:00Diablo 3 Patch 2.3: Spirit of Arachyr & Kanai's Cube - Spider Witch Doctor Edition<script src="http://us.battle.net/d3/static/js/tooltips.js"></script>
<b>Season 4</b> is coming to the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/" target="_blank"><b>Diablo 3</b></a> <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/19814212/patch-230-ptr-patch-notes-6-30-2015" target="_blank"><b>Patch 2.3 PTR</b></a> this week, and in the following video, I want to show you a build using the new <b>Spirit of Arachyr</b> set for <b><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/" target="_blank">Witch Doctors</a></b> as well as suitable <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/19802338/patch-230-ptr-preview-6-23-2015#kanai" target="_blank"><b>Kanai's Cube</b></a> options to support it. Have fun, and enjoy!<br />
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<b>Tip:</b> Don't miss my related video about the <i>Ruins of Sescheron & Kanai's Cube</i> <a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/07/diablo-3-patch-23-ruins-of-sescheron.html"><b>here!</b></a><br />
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<i>- Nobbie</i><br />
<br />
<b>For the latest gaming news follow my <a href="https://twitter.com/itsNobbie" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and/or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/ItsNobbie/381079715392243" target="_blank">Facebook</a>!</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00100422412399201168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783724796663910316.post-69320062262548811422015-07-02T08:21:00.000-07:002015-07-02T08:27:00.208-07:00Diablo 3 Patch 2.3: Ruins of Sescheron & Kanai's Cube - Pet Witch Doctor Edition<script src="http://us.battle.net/d3/static/js/tooltips.js"></script>
The <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/" target="_blank"><b>Diablo 3</b></a> <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/19814212/patch-230-ptr-patch-notes-6-30-2015" target="_blank"><b>Patch 2.3 PTR</b></a> just went online, and in the following <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sokz4aX_VzM" target="_blank">video</a>, I want to show you a quick overview of its highlights, the new <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/19802338/patch-230-ptr-preview-6-23-2015#zone" target="_blank"><b>Ruins of Sescheron</b></a> zone and <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/19802338/patch-230-ptr-preview-6-23-2015#kanai" target="_blank"><b>Kanai's Cube</b></a>, a new artifact that works similar to the <a href="http://classic.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/cube.shtml" target="_blank">Horadric Cube</a> from <a href="http://classic.battle.net/diablo2exp/" target="_blank">Diablo 2</a> but has much more power.
<br />
<br />
I'm using an average Torment 4/5 <b>Pet</b> <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/" target="_blank"><b>Witch Doctor</b></a> (from <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/18710109/" target="_blank">Season 3</a>) here because he's a great example how you can get your hero 2 notches up on the difficulty scale with relatively little effort. Enjoy!
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sokz4aX_VzM/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sokz4aX_VzM?feature=player_embedded" width="480"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<i>- Nobbie</i><br />
<br />
<b>For the latest gaming news follow my <a href="https://twitter.com/itsNobbie" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and/or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/ItsNobbie/381079715392243" target="_blank">Facebook</a>!</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00100422412399201168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783724796663910316.post-82703095288111300552015-05-10T16:25:00.002-07:002015-07-26T16:53:00.956-07:00Diablo 3 Expansion 2: Xiansai and a new Wizard-based Hybrid Class?<script src="http://us.battle.net/d3/static/js/tooltips.js"></script>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Introduction</b></span></div>
<br />
Greetings, dear readers! This is my third speculation article about potential <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/game/" target="_blank"><b>Diablo 3</b></a> <b>Expansion 2</b> content. In my <a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/03/diablo-3-expansion-2-feat-baal-mephisto.html">March blog</a> I've made first educated guesses, mixed with some personal wishes, what
the next expansion might have in store for us Diablo fans, and the follow-up <a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/04/diablo-3-expansion-2-skovos-and-new.html">April blog</a> covered a striking bit of information that's been on the Internet for a couple of years now. Today I'm going to talk about <b><a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Xiansai" target="_blank">Xiansai</a></b>, the home of unmatched artisans and artists, as well as enigmatic sorcerers, scholars and philosophers, which in my book is definitely another prime candidate for an expansion. <br />
<br />
Before I begin, however, I want to share some info that you are certainly interested in. Last month Blizzard <a href="http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/news/" target="_blank">announced</a> that they will be returning for <a href="http://www.gamescom-cologne.com//gamescom/index-9.php" target="_blank">gamescom 2015</a> from August 5-9, where we’ll be able to <i>playtest their latest titles</i>, including Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft. The absence of Diablo 3 in the list of hands-on demoed games led to wild speculations that there may be no Diablo news at all, but I've found solid hints last week, which should disprove this theory now.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1kXjb9Ohy8A/VU6WJ4jf3iI/AAAAAAAAAR0/GC15F90gfYU/s1600/gamescom_2015_blizzard_info_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1kXjb9Ohy8A/VU6WJ4jf3iI/AAAAAAAAAR0/GC15F90gfYU/s320/gamescom_2015_blizzard_info_01.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
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<br />
The current <a href="http://www.gamescom-cologne.com/gamescom/exhibitor-search/search/index.php?fw_goto=aussteller/details&&kid=0040107492&values={%22stichwort%22%3A%22Blizzard%22%2C%22start%22%3A0}" target="_blank">gamescom exhibitor info for Blizzard Entertainment SAS</a> (see/klick the above picture) clearly states that Blizzard not only demoes a selection of their latest titles but also has a <i>"Development/Developer in general"</i> spot booked, which points to a press conference with relevant announcements. What gives me that idea? Now, if you look up the <a href="http://www.gamescom-cologne.com/gamescom/exhibitor-search/search/index.php?fw_goto=aussteller/details&&kid=0002456544&values={%22stichwort%22%3A%22Sony%22%2C%22start%22%3A0}" target="_blank">same info for Sony Entertainment</a> on that site, you'll notice that they don't have such a spot booked, and in fact, Sony <a href="http://www.videogamer.com/news/sony_wont_be_holding_a_press_conference_at_gamescom_2015.html" target="_blank">announced last week</a> that they won't be holding a press conference at gamescom 2015. Instead, there will be an "international media briefing" at Paris Games Week in October. <br />
<br />
This is great news for us Diablo fans because:<br />
<ul>
<li>Hearthstone just recently got its latest adventure <a href="http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/blog/18544592/blackrock-mountain-is-now-live-4-2-2015" target="_blank">Blackrock Mountain</a></li>
<li>Heroes of the Storm <a href="http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/blog/18813884/heroes-of-the-storm-launches-june-2-4-20-2015" target="_blank">launches June 2, 2015</a></li>
<li>The StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void beta is <a href="http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/18486736/" target="_blank">currently running</a></li>
<li>The Overwatch beta <a href="http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/03/06/pax-east-2015-overwatch-beta-begins-this-fall" target="_blank">begins this fall</a></li>
<li>The World of WarCraft content patch 6.2 beta is <a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/04/wow-tanaan-jungle-preview-images-patch.html">currently running</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
So, all listed franchises either just had their release, will be released shortly, are already in beta or will be in beta very soon. This leaves only Diablo in the "development" category, whose last big announcement dates back to August 21, 2013, when the first expansion <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/reaper-of-souls/" target="_blank">Reaper of Souls</a> (RoS) was revealed <i>during a press conference</i> at gamescom. Considering the fact that the demand for news about future, expansion-size Diablo content is imminent and that Blizzard booked the aforementioned "development" spot, I think it's now pretty safe to say that the second expansion will indeed celebrate its premiere in three months.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Story & Features of the Diablo 3 Expansion 2</b></span></div>
<br />
<b>Xiansai</b><br />
<br />
In my <a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/03/diablo-3-expansion-2-feat-baal-mephisto.html">first blog</a> I've speculated about <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Scosglen" target="_blank">Scosglen</a>, home of the original "barbaric" <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Druid" target="_blank">Druids</a>, being a potential location for the second Diablo 3 expansion (D3X2 for short), and in my <a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/04/diablo-3-expansion-2-skovos-and-new.html">second blog</a> I covered the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Skovos" target="_blank">Skovos Isles</a>, home of the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Askari" target="_blank">Askari</a> matriarchal society and its <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Amazon" target="_blank">Amazons</a>. So, what makes <b><a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Xiansai" target="_blank">Xiansai</a></b>, where many <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Wizard" target="_blank">Wizards</a> originate from, interesting?<br />
<br />
To answer that question we have to look (literally) at the whole "picture". My expansion speculations are mostly based on which concept arts have been posted on the Internet by the various Diablo 3 artists. There are lots from the original game (obviously) and the printed lore books, a bunch from Westmarch (Reaper of Souls), and environment/atmosphere studies like Skovos, Kurast, or Xiansai. All artworks, which have been published in the artist portfolios, require the permission of Blizzard before release. It is interesting to note that there are quite a few from Skovos Isles, even including detailed artist notes, which reveal that Skovos is a sinking city. However, knowing Blizzard's "top secret" development policy, this is rather unusual, and it begs the question if the devs were "done" with Skovos as future Diablo 3 expansion content, especially after the hefty art style controversy. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RAPS6dUGLE4/VU9stWUyhHI/AAAAAAAAASg/pAGwKPR-loA/s1600/blizzard_product_slate_leak_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RAPS6dUGLE4/VU9stWUyhHI/AAAAAAAAASg/pAGwKPR-loA/s320/blizzard_product_slate_leak_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>The "leaked" Blizzard product slate from 2010</i></div>
<br />
Let's furthermore assume that Blizzard had planned just two expansions for Diablo 3, as the above "leaked" (and authentic!) product slate from 2010 might suggest. Granted, the slate is just a 5-year plan which may change at any time (see <a href="http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/11/07/blizzards-cancelled-mmo-titan-became-overwatch" target="_blank">"Titan"</a> on the list), but if this is in fact true, the devs have obviously concepted various (expansion) locations in advance from which they'll pick two for the main locations in the expansions. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OA4kjhj_uCA/VU9jGO9TkjI/AAAAAAAAASI/lKEN_Dm0L88/s1600/diablo3_xiansai_artwork_by_christian_scheurer_01.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OA4kjhj_uCA/VU9jGO9TkjI/AAAAAAAAASI/lKEN_Dm0L88/s320/diablo3_xiansai_artwork_by_christian_scheurer_01.jpg" width="250" /></a>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--c6saEEMzXA/VU9jMlb5QhI/AAAAAAAAASQ/748nytL47Ys/s1600/diablo3_westmarch_artwork_by_christian_scheurer_01.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--c6saEEMzXA/VU9jMlb5QhI/AAAAAAAAASQ/748nytL47Ys/s320/diablo3_westmarch_artwork_by_christian_scheurer_01.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Blizzard concept artist <a href="http://www.christianlorenzscheurer.com/htmlpages/games/DIABLO3/DIABLO3_index.html" target="_blank">Christian Lorenz Scheurer</a> posted one Xiansai (left side)</i><br />
<i>and one Westmarch image in his personal portfolio</i></div>
<br />
Of special interest in this regard are the concept arts of<i> </i>Blizzard artist <a href="http://www.christianlorenzscheurer.com/htmlpages/games/DIABLO3/DIABLO3_index.html" target="_blank">Christian Lorenz Scheurer</a>, which include Caldeum, the High Heavens, Skovos, Westmarch, and Xiansai. The art of Christian apparently had a big impact on the final look of the game locations; particularly the mood of Westmarch and RoS (see the right image above) is reflected perfectly in the artwork. The other striking image with a not-yet-released location in his portfolio shows the Asian looking capital city of <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Xiansai" target="_blank">Xiansai</a>, which nestles up to the snowy mountains in Sanctuary's icy north. The not-too-bright, mysterious atmosphere that surrounds the island would be a welcome visual counterpoint to the dark, gothic Westmarch in RoS. Also, Xiansai is located right next to the Druid homeland Scosglen - more about that in a moment. Now, you may think that these two complementary location concepts are a bit thin to speculate upon, but there's more! <br />
<br />
<b>Covetous Shen & Zei</b>
<br />
<br />
The people of Xiansai worship fifty-nine gods, but they only love one: <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Zei" target="_blank">Zei</a>, the grinning trickster who fooled emperors, seduced river goddesses, and traveled the world <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/13920402/new-short-story-the-orphan-and-the-jeweler-4-25-2014" target="_blank">disguised as a <i>humble jeweler</i></a>. That's hardly surprising because - besides their beliefs and culture - the Xian society resembles that of the medieval Florence during the times of the Medici: Great Families are warring in the streets, and political intrigue and bottomless wells of treachery can be found around every corner.<br />
<br />
It is implied throughout the Reaper of Souls storyline (mostly by <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Covetous_Shen" target="_blank">Shen</a> himself) that the jeweler (Covetous) Shen is in fact Zei, or at least is somewhat related to him. It is not fully revealed, however, even though <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Liria" target="_blank">Liria</a>, one of the gods of Xiansai and his lover, herself nearly recognized Shen as Zei in a game quest, and Shen remembered her face. The following video tells the story of Liria, her lover Zei, and her husband <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Dirgest" target="_blank">Dirgest</a>, who was once worshipped by the Xiansai people as a god of desire and who became a demon later. It is available as ingame dialogues with Shen and a follow-up quest in the <i>Unearthed Ruins</i> in Act 5. If you don't usually follow the game lore, this is a summary you definitely don't want to miss. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ggEfntbVGQU/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ggEfntbVGQU?feature=player_embedded" width="480"></iframe></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Shen is much, much more than a simple jeweler</i></div>
<br />
Following is a quick bullet point summary of the lore (<a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Dirgest" target="_blank">source</a>):<br />
<ul>
<li>Liria was a moon goddess of incomparable beauty, which occasionally has caught the eye of Dirgest, a demon, once worshipped by the Xian as a god of desire.</li>
<li>Dirgest won the heart of Liria with his riches and persistence, making her his wife. Jealous, he tried to keep her off the world, but every night she had to travel the sky, where he could not follow.</li>
<li>Zei, the
legendary thief, decided to steal her from Dirgest, and eventually did
so, sneaking into her palace and spending the night with Liria.</li>
<li>Dirgest did not kill Zei in return, but slaughtered everyone Zei held dear, including Liria, taking her soul for himself.</li>
<li>Zei eventually defeated the demon god and imprisoned him within a ruby. Wearing it on his neck, Zei became a new god of the Xiansai
pantheon.</li>
<li>However, the ruby had a crack in it, through which Dirgest could drain the life out of whoever touched the cursed jewel. After a while, Zei could not bear this burden, and cast off his divinity, becoming mortal again - presumably as the jeweler <i>Covetous Shen</i>. The jewel was hidden in an ancient labyrinth (the <i>Unearthed Ruins</i> in Act 5). </li>
<li>When ages later Shen and the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/The_Nephalem" target="_blank">Nephalem</a> (the player) came for the jewel with the intention to seal Dirgest's prison permanently (see the video above), they found the ruby shattered as Dirgest has escaped, leaving his minion <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Vekriss" target="_blank">Vekriss</a> behind to guard Liria's spirit. After defeating Vekriss and freeing Liria's spirit, Shen decided to pursue the demon, with the goal of imprisoning him again.</li>
</ul>
<br />
As you can see, we have a fully fleshed out storyline here, a solid "cliffhanger" ending, and a mysterious jeweler, who is very likely nothing less than a (former) god of the Xiansai
pantheon. If the devs wanted to go to Xiansai in the next expansion, they would have a good reason or even a starting point here, no matter what else awaits us on the island west of the Frozen Sea and north-west of Scosglen.
<br />
<br />
<b>Shen-anigans, or clear hints?</b>
<br />
<br />
The following two topics are more of a long shot, but I think they deserve a special mention here.<br />
<br />
The first one is an ingame conversation with Shen, which reveals that he has traveled Scosglen in the past and had contact with the Druids there. This might just be a personal anecdote, or it is a clever teaser for an upcoming expansion class. Click on the following image to read the story. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w_PCrEePdD0/VU-fPcQAeoI/AAAAAAAAASw/mI-FqyPJILY/s1600/diablo3_chen_scosglen_druid_conversation_01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w_PCrEePdD0/VU-fPcQAeoI/AAAAAAAAASw/mI-FqyPJILY/s320/diablo3_chen_scosglen_druid_conversation_01.png" width="460" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"Close Encounters of the Druidic Kind", presented by Covetous Shen</i></div>
<br />
The second one is an item which <a href="https://www.facebook.com/381079715392243/photos/a.381110352055846.1073741828.381079715392243/457811237719090" target="_blank">allegedly dropped on the Asian live realms a week ago</a>, due to a bug:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZY9fuu71Oac/VU-jrcEjx3I/AAAAAAAAAS8/dCMpxqxGSPA/s1600/d3_consumable_death_prophets_gift_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZY9fuu71Oac/VU-jrcEjx3I/AAAAAAAAAS8/dCMpxqxGSPA/s320/d3_consumable_death_prophets_gift_01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
This is the translation of its tooltip:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"<b>Death Prophet's Gift:</b> Use this item and select an unsocketed jewelry to add a socket."</i></div>
<br />
If this is legit, it might be an expansion feature because of the magnitude of
power it would add to the current itemization. It would also fit the Xiansai theme well and of course our artisan Covetous Shen, the jeweler.<br />
<br />
<b>The Next Class: A Wizard-based Shapeshifter?</b><br />
<br />
If we get a hybrid class in the second expansion, you can be sure that the devs won't just copy previous heroes unaltered, like the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Druids#In-game" target="_blank">Druid</a> from <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Diablo_II:_Lord_of_Destruction" target="_blank">Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction</a> (LoD); instead, it will be a special "twist" on existing classes in order to provide a new, unique experience and fresh gameplay. Now, what could the Wizards (of Xiansai) and the Druids (of the nearby Scosglen) possibly share that results in a cool, Wizard-based hybrid? Does such a class perhaps exist already in the gaming world? Yes, it does, and it is the <a href="http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Shapeshifter" target="_blank"><b>Shapeshifter</b></a> in <a href="http://www.dragonage.com/en_US/home" target="_blank"><i>Dragon Age</i></a>, a very popular fantasy role-playing franchise developed by BioWare.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DC1nbRHsj9Q/VU-xkKN4LzI/AAAAAAAAATM/kigNDN_tPKk/s1600/dragon_age_shapeshifter_spider_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DC1nbRHsj9Q/VU-xkKN4LzI/AAAAAAAAATM/kigNDN_tPKk/s320/dragon_age_shapeshifter_spider_01.jpg" width="250" /></a>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vkTufoZe2Uw/VU-xqUIy2pI/AAAAAAAAATU/Ejqt1a-M5io/s1600/dragon_age_shapeshifter_spider_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vkTufoZe2Uw/VU-xqUIy2pI/AAAAAAAAATU/Ejqt1a-M5io/s320/dragon_age_shapeshifter_spider_02.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Slaying your foes as a weaving Spider or missile-immune Insect Swarm?<br />
Yes, please take my money!</i></div>
<br />
Here's a lore snippet from the <a href="http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_Age_Wiki" target="_blank">Dragon Age Wiki</a> that explains the connection between the Mages and the (shapeshifting) Barbarians of Thedas, the continent of the Dragon Age universe:<br />
<blockquote>
<i>Rumors speak of barbarians that hold secrets of transforming the body
into the form of animals. The Circle of Magi denies such rumors. But
this rare art survives in the forgotten corners of Thedas. Mastery of
their bodies allows shapeshifters some protection, even in human form.
Making them durable opponents and staunch allies.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>While the Circle of Magi would prefer that it be so, theirs is not the only tradition of magic in Thedas. Prior to the Circle’s formation, magic was either practiced by the Magisters of the Tevinter Imperium or in remote areas, knowledge handed down from one generation of practitioners to the next. These <b>"hedge mages"</b>, as Enchanters of the Circle refer to them, or <b>"witches"</b> as legend would name them, do not always employ forbidden magic. Quite often their talents lie in the <b>creation of charms</b>, the <b>use of curses</b> and the ability to change their own forms.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>It is this last talent that has, over the centuries, been incorporated back into the Circle. Said to have been first introduced by hedge mages that joined the Circle (perhaps by force), the path of the Shapeshifter is one that crosses the boundary between mage and warrior. Some mages see it as a form of self-mastery, while others use it as a method of survival, a physical bag of tricks that enable the mage to be unpredictable in battle.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>Shapeshifters must master one form at a time, the most common
ones being those that are found in the Fereldan wilds. The mighty bear
is popular as are wildcats, spiders, and even birds. Legend tells of
mages who mastered even more fantastical and deadly forms. To a skilled
Shapeshifter, no door is impassable, no fight is unwinnable, and no
terrain inhospitable as long as they know a shape that can meet the task
at hand.</i></blockquote>
You can look up the full Shapeshifter background story and skill details <a href="http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Shapeshifter" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
This sounds absolutely fantastic in my book and would be a great
template for a very cool hybrid class, which many fans for
sure would love to see rather sooner than later in Diablo. Note the explicit mention of <b>curses</b> and<b> charms</b> in this excerpt. The latter have been scrapped during the development stage of Diablo 3, together with the <a href="http://www.diablowiki.net/Talisman" target="_blank">talisman</a>, which - as part of the inventory interface - was supposed to held the <a href="http://www.diablowiki.net/Charms" target="_blank">charms</a>. Curses generally refer to a ranged debuff spell that was available to the Diablo 2 <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Necromancer" target="_blank">Necromancer</a>. An expansion hybrid class would therefore also be a great opportunity for the devs to introduce curses in Diablo 3 and re-invent the talisman/charms as class-specific items that are only available to this "Druidwizard"! <br />
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<i>- Nobbie, the Lord of Construction</i><br />
<br />
<b>Related blogs:</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/03/diablo-3-expansion-2-feat-baal-mephisto.html"><b>Diablo 3: Expansion 2 feat. Baal, Mephisto & the Druid Class?</b></a> (Speculation part 1)</li>
<li><a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/04/diablo-3-expansion-2-skovos-and-new.html"><b>Diablo 3 Expansion 2: Skovos and a new Druid-based Hybrid Class?</b></a> (Speculation part 2)</li>
<li><a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/07/diablo-3-dark-prophet-leaked-expansion.html"><b>Diablo 3: The Dark Prophet - "Leaked" Expansion 2 Title?</b></a> (Speculation part 4)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>For the latest gaming news follow my <a href="https://twitter.com/itsNobbie" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and/or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/ItsNobbie/381079715392243" target="_blank">Facebook</a>!</b>
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<b>UPDATES</b></div>
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<b>May 12, 2015: Diablo 3 expansion 2 announcement earlier at E3?</b><br />
<b> </b>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ipFvdh54gNc/VVIPWd0m0FI/AAAAAAAAAT0/XqUa-plDeoc/s1600/d3_suspicious_test_acc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ipFvdh54gNc/VVIPWd0m0FI/AAAAAAAAAT0/XqUa-plDeoc/s320/d3_suspicious_test_acc.jpg" width="460" /></a></div>
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<i>A "suspicious" test account reports back, 2 years after</i><br />
<i>gamescom 2013/the RoS announcement</i></div>
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A blog reader alerted me that a Diablo account labeled "TEST" has been caught by the <a href="http://www.diablofans.com/blizz-tracker/author/10681-test" target="_blank">Diablofans bluetracker</a> yesterday, and this account is obviously very special because it posted for the second time ever; the first post dates back to a time two weeks before the Reaper of Souls announcement on August 21, 2013 at gamescom in Cologne, Germany (see the above picture).<br />
Now, gamescom 2015 starts on August 5, however, there's also the <a href="https://www.e3expo.com/home/" target="_blank">E3</a>, which will take place earlier in around a month on June 16-18, 2015 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. As the E3 2015 event comes near and after confirmations of Blizzard Entertainment participating in the event, a new expansion announcement during this show is quite possible. The <i>"E3 Press Conference For The PC"</i>, as it's called, takes place from 5pm to 8pm PDT on Tuesday, June 16th. In partnership with Twitch, this PC Gaming Show will be streamed live and feature "<b>new game reveals, updates on beloved series</b>, and perspectives from key PC developers", as the <a href="http://www.pcgamingshow.com/" target="_blank">official show website</a> says.
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<b>May 13, 2015: A Xiansai Necromancer?</b><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SJnAvs2a7k4/VVKrjW8CEKI/AAAAAAAAAUM/UioOe5kAmXE/s1600/Orient_Necromancer_Glowei_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SJnAvs2a7k4/VVKrjW8CEKI/AAAAAAAAAUM/UioOe5kAmXE/s320/Orient_Necromancer_Glowei_01.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>A Necromancer from Xiansai?</i></div>
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Blizzard artist <a href="http://www.sonsofthestorm.com/viewer.php?artist=glowei&cat=personal&art=29#" target="_blank">Wei "Glowei" Wang</a> has this "Orient Necromancer" labeled artwork in his personal portfolio, and if you ask me, it has Xiansai written all over it. ^^Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00100422412399201168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783724796663910316.post-4871585071641133922015-04-26T17:44:00.002-07:002015-07-26T16:53:45.262-07:00Diablo 3 Expansion 2: Skovos and a new Druid-based Hybrid Class?<script src="http://us.battle.net/d3/static/js/tooltips.js"></script>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Introduction</b></span></div>
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The <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/game/" target="_blank"><b>Diablo 3</b></a> <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/18061643/patch-220-ptr-patch-notes-updated-320-3-20-2015" target="_blank">Content Patch 2.2</a> is out, and <a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/03/diablo-3-legendary-items-of-season-3.html" target="_blank">Season 3</a> will be running at least 4 months according to Senior Technical Game Designer <a href="https://twitter.com/candlesan" target="_blank">Wyatt Cheng</a>. This puts us at August 2015, when the world's largest computer games fair, <a href="http://www.gamescom-cologne.com/en/gamescom/fuer_alle/termine_oeffnungszeiten/gamescom_termine.php" target="_blank">gamescom</a>, takes place in Cologne, Germany. Last week Blizzard <a href="http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/news/" target="_blank">announced</a> that they will be returning for gamescom from August 5-9, where you’ll be able to <i>play their latest titles</i>, including Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft. The absence of Diablo 3 in the list of hands-on demoed games led to wild speculations that there may be no Diablo news at all, but don't despair, dear readers, the exact opposite is rather the case here, and I'll tell you why!
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The premiere of <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/reaper-of-souls/" target="_blank">Reaper of Souls</a> (RoS) dates back to August 21, 2013, when the first expansion was revealed <i>during a press conference</i> in Cologne, Germany, at gamescom 2013. We saw the marvelous <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb7QJwQ58T0" target="_blank">opening cinematic</a>, learned that the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/crusader/" target="_blank">crusader</a> is the next class, and we were told what the main features are, with more details to follow in fall at <a href="http://us.battle.net/blizzcon/en/" target="_blank">BlizzCon 2013</a>. So, two years have passed since then, and you can be 99% sure that the same procdure will be the case for the Diablo 3 expansion 2. The early ending of Season 2 and the length of Season 3 are further hints that the devs want these four remaining months to prepare for the announcement. It's also no secret that the itemization of RoS has peaked with patch 2.2 and that the demand for news about future, expansion-size content is imminent.
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Story & Features of the Diablo 3 Expansion 2</b></span></div>
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In my <a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/03/diablo-3-expansion-2-feat-baal-mephisto.html">March blog</a> I've made first educated guesses, mixed with some personal wishes, what the next expansion might have in store for us Diablo fans. Today I want to talk about another striking bit of information that's been on the Internet for a couple of years now, and which may or may not be future game content.
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<b>Skovos Isles</b>
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During the <a href="http://www.twitch.tv/diablo/b/529306369" target="_blank">2nd Diablo 3 Anniversary Livestream</a> we learned that the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Skovos" target="_blank"><b>Skovos Isles</b></a> and the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Ureh" target="_blank">Golden City of Ureh</a> were originally in the game but were cut due to their inability to "fit in". While there's only one official artwork for Ureh on the Internet, Skovos a.k.a. the Amazon Islands was internally fleshed out including a whole bunch of pictures by the Blizzard concept artists <a href="http://www.sonsofthestorm.com/gallery.php?artist=drawgoon" target="_blank">Peter Lee</a> a.k.a. "Drawgoon" and <a href="http://www.christianlorenzscheurer.com/htmlpages/games/DIABLO3/DIABLO3_index.html" target="_blank">Christian Lorenz Scheurer</a>. Christian Scheurer also provided the dark, gothic vision of Westmarch which eventually made it into the first Diablo 3 expansion. Of special note is furthermore his <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Xiansai" target="_blank">Xiansai</a> artwork, which may point to another expansion in Sanctuary's northern hemisphere.
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z7A6qo49IZg/VT00cl_WFCI/AAAAAAAAAP4/il7RaTNQbjg/s1600/diablo_3_skovos_concept_by_christian_scheurer_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z7A6qo49IZg/VT00cl_WFCI/AAAAAAAAAP4/il7RaTNQbjg/s1600/diablo_3_skovos_concept_by_christian_scheurer_01.jpg" width="283" /></a>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SFXEFZv3U4w/VT00ipWcE5I/AAAAAAAAAQA/AHft5O64PVU/s1600/diablo_3_skovos_concept_by_christian_scheurer_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SFXEFZv3U4w/VT00ipWcE5I/AAAAAAAAAQA/AHft5O64PVU/s1600/diablo_3_skovos_concept_by_christian_scheurer_02.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CqApSaIY6MI/VT00pcHBOpI/AAAAAAAAAQI/usj8OBoJsXw/s1600/diablo_3_skovos_concept_by_peter_lee_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CqApSaIY6MI/VT00pcHBOpI/AAAAAAAAAQI/usj8OBoJsXw/s1600/diablo_3_skovos_concept_by_peter_lee_01.jpg" width="161" /></a>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-urjJETUUx1Y/VT00vPmTUnI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/oB08kBspchc/s1600/diablo_3_skovos_concept_by_peter_lee_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-urjJETUUx1Y/VT00vPmTUnI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/oB08kBspchc/s1600/diablo_3_skovos_concept_by_peter_lee_02.jpg" width="339" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Can you say that Skovos has been fleshed out?</i></div>
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The Skovos Isles are a group of islands located in the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Twin_Seas" target="_blank">Twin Seas</a>. They consist of four main islands (Philios, Skovos, Lycander, Skartara) and are the home of the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Askari" target="_blank">Askari</a>, a matriarchal society. The isles possess a gorgeous, Aegean-looking ocean, clear, Roman/Greek-style temples and architecture, and a dense rainforest, the hunting grounds of the Askari. Don't be fooled by the brightness, though, because Skovos has issues in common with Venice - it's a sinking city as you can see by the text descriptions in one of the concepts, which creates the potential for sunken and partially-submerged dungeon levels. The contrast between the majestic, brightly-lit Mediterranean setting and the gloomy, rotting ruins for sure promises a lot of fun for exploring adventurers.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-idYuKCSjgGw/VUJrYO5vUYI/AAAAAAAAARc/K9Rl7mLYPL0/s1600/d3_ros_tyrael_lorath_skovos_conversation_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-idYuKCSjgGw/VUJrYO5vUYI/AAAAAAAAARc/K9Rl7mLYPL0/s1600/d3_ros_tyrael_lorath_skovos_conversation_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>What happened to the Horadrim sent to the Skovos Isles?</i></div>
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Skovos receives mention in Act 5, as <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Tyrael" target="_blank">Tyrael</a> and <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Lorath_Nahr" target="_blank">Lorath Nahr</a> discuss that a <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Horadrim" target="_blank">Horadrim</a> expedition sent to the isles has not returned (see the picture above).<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ALPz4hvmIFY/VT007W4-_MI/AAAAAAAAAQY/XXl9x5NTl9I/s1600/diablo_3_skovos_concept_by_peter_lee_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ALPz4hvmIFY/VT007W4-_MI/AAAAAAAAAQY/XXl9x5NTl9I/s1600/diablo_3_skovos_concept_by_peter_lee_03.jpg" width="295" /></a>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z6E_vBYlwfg/VRbY7cx4ngI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/n2o6_7Fae1c/s1600/d3_ros_portrait_mephisto_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z6E_vBYlwfg/VRbY7cx4ngI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/n2o6_7Fae1c/s1600/d3_ros_portrait_mephisto_01.jpg" width="205" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Smells like <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Mephisto" target="_blank">Mephisto's</a> Spirit - A potential <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Durance_of_Hate" target="_blank">Durance of Hate</a> v2.0 entrance?</i></div>
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<b>The Next Class: A Druidic Amazon Elementalist?</b><br />
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The <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Druids#In-game" target="_blank">Druid</a> is a class that became playable in <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Diablo_II:_Lord_of_Destruction" target="_blank">Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction</a> (LoD); however, the devs made it clear several times that they don't want to copy previous heroes unaltered. The barbarian and the wizard are the only exceptions so far, but every other class got a special "twist": The crusader and monk both have paladin "DNA", the witch doctor derives from the necromancer, and the demon hunter is a bow-amazon/trap-assassin hybrid.
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LgyyaffG9yg/VRiVRq0GIhI/AAAAAAAAALQ/yizX4eepiMQ/s1600/D3_druid_artwork_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LgyyaffG9yg/VRiVRq0GIhI/AAAAAAAAALQ/yizX4eepiMQ/s1600/D3_druid_artwork_02.jpg" width="250" /></a>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Al2fhpTbRW0/VRiVNtnI2oI/AAAAAAAAALI/AgRTm4cofzc/s1600/D3_druid_artwork_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Al2fhpTbRW0/VRiVNtnI2oI/AAAAAAAAALI/AgRTm4cofzc/s1600/D3_druid_artwork_01.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Blizzard concept artist <a href="http://davidkoblizzardportfolio.blogspot.de/" target="_blank">David Ko</a> posted some Diablo 3 druid images -<br />
Note that they are obviously able to use bows and spears</i></div>
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David Ko, a concept artist for Diablo 3, posted some druid artworks in his portfolio (see the pictures above). The left image suggests a barbarian kindred (as in LoD), but I'm inclined to believe that this was simply a personal deviation when the Diablo 3 barbarian was developed. That said, the usage of bows and spears may actually be planned as feature of a potential druid follower.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x3q_UjC_0Vw/VT1iEaiuz9I/AAAAAAAAAQ4/q0KvyWPEBhM/s1600/watery_temple_concept_by_peter_lee_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x3q_UjC_0Vw/VT1iEaiuz9I/AAAAAAAAAQ4/q0KvyWPEBhM/s1600/watery_temple_concept_by_peter_lee_01.jpg" width="280" /></a>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3cQOufaSFTc/VT1iKgjBGKI/AAAAAAAAARA/SBCWcQ8dYiA/s1600/watery_temple_concept_by_peter_lee_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3cQOufaSFTc/VT1iKgjBGKI/AAAAAAAAARA/SBCWcQ8dYiA/s1600/watery_temple_concept_by_peter_lee_02.jpg" width="220" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>These watery temple concepts by Peter Lee may be related to the<br />deities of the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Askari#Religion" target="_blank">Askari pantheon</a></i></div>
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How might a non-barbarian, shapeshifting hybrid class from Skovos look like, and what's the lore behind it? There are numerous possibilities how the devs could expand on the original LoD druid concept, and I'll therefore briefly address just some of them:
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<ul>
<li>While we were busy fighting Malthael in RoS, Evil befell Skovos (quote Tyrael (ingame): <i>"I haven't heard back from the Horadrim we sent to the Skovos Isles."</i> - Lorath's answer: <i>"Skovos is a dangerous land."</i>)</li>
<li>Possible scenario for the <b>Shapeshifting</b> part: A werewolf curse spreads among the Askari, turning the inhabitants of Skovos against each other. In this case the devs could simply follow the well-known World of WarCraft <a href="http://wow.gamepedia.com/Worgen#Cataclysm" target="_blank">worgen lore</a>: Many Askari take up the druidic arts (with the help of the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Druids" target="_blank">druids of Scosglen</a>) as a way to cope with their transformation, to help control their new animalistic side or even to learn more about themselves and their new powers.</li>
<li>The <b>Bowazon & Javazon/Spearazon</b> part: The super-natural expertise in wielding bows, javelins and spears is second nature to the Amazons, the warriors of the Askari. In regards to magic, amazons can wield <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Prime_magic" target="_blank">prime</a> and <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Holy_magic" target="_blank">holy magic</a>, so that some of them take upon the path of the healer, a worthy path due to the toxicity of many native plant species in their homeland.</li>
<li>The <b>Elementalist & Healer</b> part: According to the lore, amazons are able to instill their shots with the elemental powers of their deities, e.g. <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Karcheus" target="_blank">Karcheus'</a> freezing wind or <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Hefaetrus" target="_blank">Hefaetrus'</a> destructive power of fire. The curse that befell Skovos, however, brought with it a powerful side effect: Afflicted amazons can, after intense training, not only take on the form of fierce beasts (werewolf, werebear), but also that of large elementals (elemental body, similar to <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/spell=114049/ascendance" target="_blank">Asendance</a> of WoW shaman) or large plant creatures (healer body, similar to <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/spell=33891/incarnation-tree-of-life" target="_blank">Tree of Life</a> of WoW druids).</li>
<li>Alternatively, there may be no werewolf curse at all, and the Askari have simply developed a higher art of shapeshifting that combines druidism and shamanism. The <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/spell=171745/claws-of-shirvallah" target="_blank">Shirvallah</a> shapeshift form (of the WoW druid) would be a perfect fit for the Askari high civilization.</li>
</ul>
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So, the new class is - in the broadest sense - an amazon/druid/shaman hybrid, which in my opinion would be a very appealing "twist" on the classical druid as we know it from Diablo 2 or World of WarCraft. Additionally, the brightly-lit Mediterranean setting and the dense rainforest of the Skovos Isles would be a welcome visual counterpoint to the dark, gothic Westmarch in RoS. What do you think, sounds good? ^^<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V0yIe4enm6E/VT1Rmia78YI/AAAAAAAAAQo/CCZbgYWen58/s1600/werewolf_hunter_artwork_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V0yIe4enm6E/VT1Rmia78YI/AAAAAAAAAQo/CCZbgYWen58/s1600/werewolf_hunter_artwork_01.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Amazon, druid & elementalist combined = The dream hybrid?</i></div>
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<i>- Nobbie, the Lord of Construction</i><br />
<br />
<b>Related blogs:</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/03/diablo-3-expansion-2-feat-baal-mephisto.html"><b>Diablo 3: Expansion 2 feat. Baal, Mephisto & the Druid Class?</b></a> (Speculation part 1)</li>
<li><a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/05/diablo-3-expansion-2-xiansai-and-new.html"><b>Diablo 3 Expansion 2: Xiansai and a new Wizard-based Hybrid Class?</b></a> (Speculation part 3)</li>
<li><a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/07/diablo-3-dark-prophet-leaked-expansion.html"><b>Diablo 3: The Dark Prophet - "Leaked" Expansion 2 Title?</b></a> (Speculation part 4)</li>
</ul>
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<b>For the latest gaming news follow my <a href="https://twitter.com/itsNobbie" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and/or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/ItsNobbie/381079715392243" target="_blank">Facebook</a>!</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00100422412399201168noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783724796663910316.post-16944398400717093342015-04-14T16:26:00.001-07:002015-05-01T15:43:02.027-07:00WoW: Tanaan Jungle Preview Images (Patch 6.2)The test realms (PTR) for the <a href="http://us.battle.net/wow/en/" target="_blank"><b>World of WarCraft</b></a> <a href="http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/18539917/62-ptr-patch-notes-4-13-2015" target="_blank"><b>Content Patch 6.2</b></a> just went live, and it seems that for the first time we're looking at a 2-tier expansion, i.e. <a href="http://us.battle.net/wow/en/warlords-of-draenor/" target="_blank"><b>Warlords of Draenor</b></a> (WoD) and its story are coming to an end. The new content update leads us to the <b>Tanaan Jungle</b> and the <b>Hellfire Citadel</b> raid, where 13 deadly bosses await us, including <i>Kilrogg Deadeye</i>, the monstrous <i>Gorefiend</i>, a reanimated <i>Mannoroth</i>, and <i>Archimonde</i> himself. That being said, expect the announcement of the next, 6th WoW expansion at <a href="http://eu.battle.net/blizzcon/en/" target="_blank">BlizzCon 2015</a> in November and the premiere of the 2nd <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/game/" target="_blank">Diablo 3</a> expansion at <a href="http://www.gamescom-cologne.com/en/gamescom/fuer_alle/termine_oeffnungszeiten/gamescom_termine.php" target="_blank">gamescom 2015</a> in August. More speculation can be found <a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/03/diablo-3-expansion-2-feat-baal-mephisto.html">here in my gaming blog</a>.
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Following are some <b>Tanaan Jungle and Hellfire Citadel screenshots</b> from the WoD patch 6.2 build. There's nothing overly exciting to see here because it's an early build and the events/quests are phased, but you get a first impression how the zone, which is nowadays know as Hellfire Peninsula, looked before Draenor was ripped into pieces. The green "fel" colors speak for themselves as far as the story is concerned. Klick on a thumbnail to see an enlarged version of the image and on an enlarged image to view all following images!
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<i>- Nobbie</i><br />
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<b>For the latest gaming news follow my <a href="https://twitter.com/itsNobbie" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and/or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/ItsNobbie/381079715392243" target="_blank">Facebook</a>!</b>
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<b>UPDATES</b></div>
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<b>April 16, 2015</b>
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YouTube user <i>Khamúl</i> has just uploaded this impressive, machinima-style Tanaan Jungle preview. Note, however, that it contains massive spoilers - klick at your own risk!
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2aFGyx0_AWI/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2aFGyx0_AWI?feature=player_embedded" width="480"></iframe></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00100422412399201168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783724796663910316.post-11162144434292514312015-04-08T11:08:00.001-07:002015-05-01T15:42:04.266-07:00Diablo 3: R.I.P. Mortick's Brace or Why Rushing Patches Is Bad <script src="http://us.battle.net/d3/static/js/tooltips.js"></script>
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PSA: Mortick's Brace was removed from Patch 2.2 and will not drop.<br />
— John Yang (@_JohnYang) <a href="https://twitter.com/_JohnYang/status/585545205744558080">7. April 2015</a></blockquote>
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When the above tweet from <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/" target="_blank">Diablo 3</a> Associate Game Designer John Yang was published yesterday after <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/18642492/patch-220-now-live-4-7-2015" target="_blank">patch 2.2</a> went live in the Americas, legions of <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/" target="_blank">barbarians</a> stormed the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/16953975329" target="_blank">official forums</a> to vent their anger. What happened?
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pk0KayTu6zw/VSVNyqn7GsI/AAAAAAAAAM8/RCq258f1al8/s1600/d3_ros_ptr_220_morticks_brace_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pk0KayTu6zw/VSVNyqn7GsI/AAAAAAAAAM8/RCq258f1al8/s1600/d3_ros_ptr_220_morticks_brace_01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Removed until further notice: Mortick's Brace</i></div>
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<b>Mortick's Brace</b> (see the above picture) is a pair of legendary bracers that enables all runes of <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/wrath-of-the-berserker" target="_blank"><b>Wrath of the Berserker</b></a> as soon as the barbarian uses this very powerful "Rage" buff. To give you an idea how much power this is for just one single item, here's the list with what you get by activating all runes:
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<li>[Arreat's Wail]: <i>Activating Wrath of the Berserker deals 3400% weapon damage as Fire to all enemies within 15 yards.</i></li>
<li>[Insanity]: <i>While active, gain 50% increased damage.</i></li>
<li>[Slaughter]: <i>While active, Critical Hits have a chance to cause an eruption of blood dealing 300% weapon damage to enemies within 15 yards.</i></li>
<li>[Striding Giant]: <i>Reduce all damage taken by 50%.</i></li>
<li>[Thrive on Chaos]: <i>While active, gain 5364 Life per Fury spent.</i></li>
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As you can see, this would have made Mortick's Brace hands down the single most powerful legendary in the game and the single most important item for barbarians to excel on the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/18486733/" target="_blank">Season 3</a> leaderboards. So, was the decision to implement this item or legendary power a bad idea in the first place? No, because multi-rune powers on items are now part of the game mechanics (see the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/raekors-will" target="_blank">Legacy of Raekor</a> set or the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-undisputed-champion" target="_blank">Undisputed Champion</a> Mighty Belt). Was the implementation on bracers a bad idea? Yes, because such immense power would belong as 6-piece bonus on a dedicated set.
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If we know that an item is overpowered or unbalanced in the context of other legendaries/sets, you can be sure that the devs know it, too. I'm therefore confident that John Yang was simply caught in the middle of the second iteration of the new <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/helm-of-the-wastes" target="_blank">Wrath of the Wastes</a> barbarian set, which is dedicated to the popular <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/whirlwind" target="_blank">Whirlwind</a> skill but felt more like a <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/rend" target="_blank">Rend</a> set during its first iteration. In an effort to add more spice to the set and celebrate a sort of "Classic Whirlwind Barbarian" revival, the bracers were born but balancing both the set and the bracers couldn't be completed because he got the notice that Season 2 ends (way) earlier than originally planned (see my recent <a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/03/diablo-3-expansion-2-feat-baal-mephisto.html">Diablo 3 Expansion 2 speculation blog</a> for more about this). If Mortick's Brace would have gone live in its current iteration, the barbarians for sure would have wrecked the leaderboards and party play of Season 3 in almost no time, so the dev team really had to pull the plug. It's unfortunate that this came too late, because a lot of players had already spent thousands of Blood Shards to gamble these bracers after patch 2.2 went live, but the decison was absolutely correct.
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All that said, barbarians are certainly not in a bad place now, as many angry forum posts about this incident suggest. They are just not "uber" anymore and have to resort to "conventional" itemization if they want a top spot on the leaderboards, e.g. a mix of <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/raekors-will" target="_blank">Legacy of Raekor</a> and the reworked <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/immortal-kings-triumph" target="_blank">Immortal King's Call</a> set pieces (incl. its <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/immortal-kings-boulder-breaker" target="_blank">updated weapon</a>) as well as <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/vile-ward" target="_blank">Vile Ward</a>, <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/ancient-parthan-defenders" target="_blank">Ancient Parthan Defenders</a>, <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/unity" target="_blank">Unity</a> (in combination with an undying follower), and the new <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/convention-of-elements" target="_blank">Convention of Elements</a> (you can read more about this powerful ring in my recent <a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/04/diablo-3-wormwood-zoo-witch-doctor-4.html">Diablo 3 Wormwood Zoo Witch Doctor - 4-Element Edition blog</a>). An update to Mortick's Brace and/or the new/reworked patch 2.2 barbarian sets will be coming for sure, but you'll likely have to wait <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/16860296547?page=3#56" target="_blank">several months</a> for it until Season 3, which starts this Friday, is over. John Yang himself <a href="https://twitter.com/_JohnYang/status/585596552846114820" target="_blank">suggested</a> that enabling a single rune probably would've been the most reasonable change to Mortick's Brace. We'll see - stay tuned, fellow barbarians! ^^
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<i>- Nobbie</i><br />
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<b>For the latest gaming news follow my <a href="https://twitter.com/itsNobbie" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and/or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/ItsNobbie/381079715392243" target="_blank">Facebook</a>!</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00100422412399201168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783724796663910316.post-66209287431305585612015-04-05T17:33:00.002-07:002015-05-01T15:39:07.045-07:00Diablo 3: Wormwood Zoo Witch Doctor - 4-Element Edition<script src="http://us.battle.net/d3/static/js/tooltips.js"></script>
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The following guide and video have been created on April 4, 2015 on the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/" target="_blank"><b>Diablo 3</b></a> <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/18061643/patch-220-ptr-patch-notes-2-25-2015" target="_blank"><b>Patch 2.2 PTR</b></a>, build 30894. Note that anything shown here may be subject to change until the final release candidate build goes live. The item links provided here will be active or updated (for reworked items) once patch 2.2 went live on April 7/8.<br />
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<b>INTRODUCTION </b></div>
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The <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/" target="_blank"><b>Diablo 3</b></a> <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/18061643/patch-220-ptr-patch-notes-2-25-2015" target="_blank"><b>Patch 2.2</b></a> will be released this Tuesday, April 7, 2015, heralding the start of <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/18313042/#interseason" target="_blank"><b>Season 3</b></a>. The synopsis of the latest content update is that it makes many more character builds viable for Torment 6 difficulty thanks to new and revised items as well as several new game mechanics. Especially hardly used primary and secondary skills including associated (older) legendary items will profit a lot, and defensive shortcomings have been addressed, too, to make such builds work in <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/game/guide/gameplay/adventure-mode#nephalem-rifts" target="_blank">Rifts</a> and higher level <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/game/guide/gameplay/adventure-mode#greater-rifts" target="_blank">Greater Rifts</a>.<br />
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The following guide for the popular <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/" target="_blank"><b>witch doctor</b></a> demonstrates how the patch encourages you to add more variety to your builds, in this case through the use of the new <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/convention-of-elements" target="_blank"><b>Convention of Elements</b></a> ring. If you have been waiting for an update that allows you to effectively use all elemental damage types in one single witch doctor build, this guide is for you!<br />
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<b>ITEMS</b></div>
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The new <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/convention-of-elements" target="_blank"><b>Convention of Elements</b></a> (CoE) ring of patch 2.2 (see the upper left item tooltip in the following picture) is one of the most interesting Diablo 3 legendaries so far, and the central item of this build. It introduces a new mechanic that works as follows: Depending on your class, or rather the elemental damage types your class masters, the ring cycles through each of these elements and significantly boosts one of them at a time for several seconds.<br />
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<i>The defining items/sets of this build</i></div>
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To use the witch doctor as an example, he/she can deal <i><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Poison</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">Fire</span></b>, <b><span style="color: blue;">Cold</span></b></i>, and <b><i>Physical</i></b> damage, and the ring cycles in exactly that order through these four elements giving each spell of the respective element a (currently) 150-200% damage bonus for 4 seconds. Assuming that you got a perfect CoE roll with 200% damage bonus, this means that each element gets an average 50% damage boost over the course of one complete 16-second cycle (4 elements per 4 seconds). This by itself is already a great bonus, which should make a good (Ancient) CoE a better choice now than the pre-patch 2.2 BiS (Best in Slot) <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/stone-of-jordan" target="_blank">Stone of Jordan</a> (SoJ) ring. And it gets even better: Because <i>each</i> element is included in the rotation, you have now the option to pick the best spell(s) per element and combine them into one powerful build.
<br />
An example: Before patch 2.2, if you wanted to use the mighty <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/gargantuan" target="_blank">Wrathful Protector</a> with its massive fire damage attacks as "elite" killer, you'd focus on increasing your fire damage bonus through a SoJ, <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/cindercoat" target="_blank">Cindercoat</a>, <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/magefist" target="_blank">Magefist</a>, enchants etc. Now, you'd simply use the CoE ring and get a 50% average damage boost to fire for your Wrathful Protector who lasts 15 seconds, which is almost a complete ring cycle (16 seconds). Which "best" spells you could pick for the other elements (Posion, Cold, Physical) is discussed in the SKILLS section below.
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<br />
The "base" of this build is <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/zunimassas-marrow" target="_blank"><b>Zunimassa's Haunt</b></a>, which gains a lot of power in the reworked patch 2.2 version. The updated classic witch doctor set now consists of 7 instead of just 5 items (gloves & pants have been added), and we'll be using 4 items (see the above picture) to activate the 2- and 4-piece bonuses. 2 Zunimassa pieces grant us a permanent <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/fetish-army" target="_blank">Fetish Army</a>, and 4 pieces a big, sorely needed defense bonus depending on how many fetishes we have alive. Note that active <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/passive/fetish-sycophants" target="_blank">Fetish Sycophants</a> will be included here. The 4 Zunimassa set items will therefore be complemented with the new <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/belt-of-transcendence" target="_blank"><b>Belt of Transcendence</b></a>, which does exactly that: It spawns Sycophants whenever we hit with a Mana spending spell, and it lets us get rid of the Sycophants skill to make room for another passive of our choice - a great pet doctor belt!
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<br />
For the head slot we'll be using <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/carnevil" target="_blank"><b>Carnevil</b></a>, which is hands down the best pet doctor voodoo mask even without its perfect complement, the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-dagger-of-darts" target="_blank">Dagger of Darts</a> ceremonial knife. With Carnevil all of our fetishes (incl. Sycophants) shoot a <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/poison-dart" target="_blank">Poison Dart</a> every time we do, which lets us deal both great area and single target damage in a very convenient manner.
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<br />
Instead of the (piercing) Dagger of Darts and a mojo, the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/wormwood" target="_blank"><b>Wormwood</b></a> staff with its auto-cast <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/locust-swarm" target="_blank">Locust Swarm</a> (at zero Mana costs) is my weapon of choice, and this has several reasons. First of all, the 2-handed Wormwood staff is much easier to find (and especially to gamble) than the very rare Dagger of Darts, and chances are very good that you get an Ancient, hard hitting one with 4.000+ DPS (damage per second). Secondly, the Locust Swarm auto-cast of the staff doesn't require you to have the spell on your bar (unless you choose to in order to get access to a special rune), and the auto-cast counts as Mana spender to spawn the Sycophants via the aforementioned Belt of Transcendence. Last, but not least, the new defense bonus of the reworked Zunimassa set finally allows us to ge rid of (defensive) mojos like the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/uhkapian-serpent" target="_blank">Uhkapian Serpent</a> and use this great staff instead. If you combine the auto-cast Locusts with a spell like <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/haunt" target="_blank">Haunt</a> (see the SPELLS section below), you get great DoT (damage over time) and damage amplifciation in any situation, which are easily on par with, if not better than piercing Poison Darts (through the Dagger of Darts knife).
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<br />
The second ring, which complements Convention of Elements (CoE) in this special zoo doctor build, is the new <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-short-mans-finger" target="_blank"><b>The Short Man's Finger</b></a> (SMF), previously known as Little Man's Finger (<i>Note that this ring will be an exclusive <a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/03/diablo-3-legendary-items-of-season-3.html">Season 3 Item</a></i>). What the ring does is that it makes your <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/gargantuan" target="_blank">Gargantuan</a> spell instead summon three smaller Gargantuans, each <i>more powerful</i> than the original. If you choose the Wrathful Protector (rune) with its massive fire damage attacks and increase its elemental damage even further through the CoE ring, you get a trio of Gargantuans that is nothing less than an engine of destruction! Since we'll use a fair amount of Cooldown Reduction (CDR) for this build, this devastating fiery weapon is almost always available for use.
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<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>LEGENDARY GEMS</b></div>
<br />
Two legendary gems (out of three max.) are recommended for this pet build: <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/bane-of-the-trapped" target="_blank"><b>Bane of the Trapped</b></a> because our spell arsenal involves control-impairing effects (Cold Zombie Dogs & Knockback Gargantuans), and <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/gogok-of-swiftness" target="_blank"><b>Gogok of Swiftness</b></a> to speed up our and our fetishes' Poison Darts. As third gem you may want to pick a defensive one like <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/esoteric-alteration" target="_blank">Esoteric Alteration</a> or the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/molten-wildebeests-gizzard" target="_blank">Molten Wildebeest's Gizzard</a> from <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/16607841" target="_blank">Season 2</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>SKILLS</b></div>
<br />
As mentioned above, we're gonna choose some "best of each element type" spells (<i><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Poison</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">Fire</span></b>, <b><span style="color: blue;">Cold</span></b></i>, and <b><i>Physical</i></b>) because our zoo doctor is built around the Convention of Elements (CoE) ring.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #38761d;">POISON</span></b><br />
<br />
The main attack is <b><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/poison-dart" target="_blank">Poison Dart</a></b> (Splinters rune) because we'll be using the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/carnevil" target="_blank">Carnevil</a> voodoo mask (see the ITEMS section above). With Carnevil all of our fetishes (incl. Sycophants) shoot a Posion Dart every time we do, which lets us deal both great area and single target damage in a very convenient manner. Fetish Sycophants damage, by the way, is now increased by your highest elemental damage type at the time of summoning, e.g. Poison, which is our focus for gear enchants.<br />
<br />
The secondary attack is <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/haunt" target="_blank"><b>Haunt</b></a> (Poisoned Spirit rune) which complements the auto-cast <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/locust-swarm" target="_blank">Locust Swarm</a> of our <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/wormwood" target="_blank">Wormwood</a> staff, providing great DoT (damage over time) and damage amplifciation in any situation. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q4u5Ho4OGMo/VSGIiR_TAXI/AAAAAAAAAMo/sHVp0S2yAWU/s1600/Diablo%2B3%2B4-Element%2BWormwood%2BZoo%2BDoctor%2BSpells.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q4u5Ho4OGMo/VSGIiR_TAXI/AAAAAAAAAMo/sHVp0S2yAWU/s1600/Diablo%2B3%2B4-Element%2BWormwood%2BZoo%2BDoctor%2BSpells.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>The skills used for this build </i></div>
<br />
<b><span style="color: red;">FIRE</span></b><br />
<br />
In the fire department, the <b><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/gargantuan" target="_blank">Gargantuan</a></b> (Wrathful Protector rune) is hands down the most powerful direct damage spell since it got updated a while ago. This fiery monstrosity, which will be transformed into an incredible trio through <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-short-mans-finger" target="_blank">The Short Man's Finger</a> ring, literally crushes Torment 6 difficulty and hammers its way through (high-level) <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/game/guide/gameplay/adventure-mode#greater-rifts" target="_blank">Greater Rifts</a> while we and our fetishes pelt the foes with dozens of Posion Darts. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b>COLD</b></span><br />
<br />
Patch 2.2 provides pet doctors with a wonderful new, Cold based <b><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/summon-zombie-dogs" target="_blank">Zombie Dogs</a></b> rune called <i>"Chilled to the Bone"</i>, which replaces the old "Final Gift" rune: Enemies who hit or are hit by your Zombie Dogs are Chilled and take increased damage. These chilling dogs, and the Gargantuans with their knockback fire attacks, are standing in the front line providing the control-impairing effects for the bonuses of the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/bane-of-the-trapped" target="_blank">Bane of the Trapped</a> gem. <br />
<br />
<b>PHYSICAL</b><br />
<br />
The physical damage portion is provided by the <b><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/fetish-army" target="_blank">Fetish Army</a></b> (Legion of Daggers rune). While they, and their <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/passive/fetish-sycophants" target="_blank">Fetish Sycophants</a> siblings, fire Posion Darts at your command most of the time, they can also deal massive physical damage if you are otherwise engaged, i.e. have been trapped or flee.<br />
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<b>Other Active Skills</b><br />
<br />
The sixth active spell in our arsenal is <b><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/spirit-walk" target="_blank">Spirit Walk</a></b> (Jaunt rune), the very efficient mobility and escape skill. <br />
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<br />
<b>Passive Skills </b><br />
<br />
Of the passive skills we pick the ones that support our 4-element zoo doctor best:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/passive/grave-injustice" target="_blank"><b>Grave Injustice</b></a>:<br />
Great Cooldown Reduction (CDR) in addition to the CDR you should have on your gear (~25-30%).<br />
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<a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/passive/pierce-the-veil" target="_blank"><b>Pierce the Veil</b></a>:<br />
Great, cost-effective damage buff because the zoo doctor hardly uses Mana. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/passive/fierce-loyalty" target="_blank"><b>Fierce Loyalty</b></a>:<br />
Great movement speed buff (while not in combat), and 1 additional <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/summon-zombie-dogs" target="_blank">Zombie Dog</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/passive/midnight-feast" target="_blank"><b>Midnight Feast</b></a>:<br />
Another additional <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/summon-zombie-dogs" target="_blank">Zombie Dog</a> (5 total in this build), and a great damage buff for your Zombie Dogs and <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/gargantuan" target="_blank">Gargantuan</a>.<br />
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>GAMEPLAY VIDEO</b> </div>
<br />
The following test run has been recorded on the patch 2.2 PTR (without legendary drop rate buff) in a <b>Torment 6 Rift</b>.<br />
<br />
Note how this build is able to farm high game difficulties very fast and efficently. It's good for Greater Rift farming up to level 40, but most importantly, it is FUN! Getting an ultimate, almost godly weapon like an Ancient <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/starmetal-kukri" target="_blank">Starmetal Kukri</a> can take a very long time, and you want to enjoy playing until then as much as possible.
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<br />
<i>- Nobbie</i><br />
<br />
<b>For the latest gaming news follow my <a href="https://twitter.com/itsNobbie" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and/or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/ItsNobbie/381079715392243" target="_blank">Facebook</a>!</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00100422412399201168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783724796663910316.post-8793664127260655442015-03-29T19:32:00.004-07:002015-07-26T16:54:21.412-07:00Diablo 3: Expansion 2 feat. Baal, Mephisto & the Druid Class? <script src="http://us.battle.net/d3/static/js/tooltips.js"></script>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Introduction</b></span></div>
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The <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/game/" target="_blank"><b>Diablo 3</b></a> <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/18061643/patch-220-ptr-patch-notes-updated-320-3-20-2015" target="_blank"><b>Content Patch 2.2</b></a> goes live on Tuesday, April 7, 2015 (April 8 in Europe), and <a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/03/diablo-3-legendary-items-of-season-3.html" target="_blank"><b>Season 3</b></a> will be starting worldwide shortly after on Friday, April 10. The first thing to be noticed here is the very short duration of Season 2 which began on February 13 this year and ends after just 7 weeks next Sunday, April 5. As a comparison: Season 1 launched on August 29, 2014 and ended on February 3, 2015, which is almost a half year.<br />
The long duration of Season 1 can be explained by the simple fact that it was a "test" to see how things develop, but what about Season 2? Was the "Sever" exploit and therefore the false Leaderboards results the cause? Hardly, because in this case Blizzard would simply fix the bug and reset the Leaderboards. The true reason was very likely the product schedule which dictates at which time which patch and Season has to go live, and the product in question is the second Diablo 3 expansion.<br />
<a href="http://eu.battle.net/blizzcon/en/blog/18291110/join-the-party-at-blizzcon-2015-on-november-6-and-7-12-03-2015" target="_blank">BlizzCon 2015</a> is returning to the Anaheim Convention Center on November 6 and 7, 2015, and I'd be very surprised if Blizzard isn't going to announce the 6th <a href="http://us.battle.net/wow/en/game/" target="_blank">World of WarCraft</a> expansion here (the 5th expansion "Warlords of Draenor" launched on November 13, 2014). This leaves the world's largest computer games fair <b><a href="http://www.gamescom-cologne.com/en/gamescom/fuer_alle/termine_oeffnungszeiten/gamescom_termine.php" target="_blank">gamescom</a></b> for the revelation of the second Diablo 3 expansion, which will be open from August 5 to 9, 2015 in Cologne, Germany. To cut a long story short, patch 2.2, Season 3, and the following <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Ruins_of_Sescheron" target="_blank"><b>Ruins of Sescheron</b></a> content patch (and maybe <b>Season 4</b>, too) should all go live before gamescom because - and that's the crux of the matter - the ruins and associated quests and/or lore are likely a prelude to the story in expansion 2. So, what can we expect in the future? Read on if you're interested in some tangible speculation!
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Story & Features of the Diablo 3 Expansion 2</b></span></div>
<br />
<b>The End of the Reaper of Souls and the Rise of the Nephalem</b>
<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/reaper-of-souls/" target="_blank">Reaper of Souls</a> (RoS or D3X1 for short) expansion ends with a pretty solid hint at the possible fate of the nephalem (you, the player) in the not-so-far future. The following video is a complete recap of the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Malthael" target="_blank">Angel of Death</a> quest including the final ingame cinematic, which can not only be looked at as ending of RoS but also as teaser and prologue of the second expansion a.k.a. D3X2.
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>The "Angel of Death" questline is the last of the RoS Campaign Mode,</i><br />
<i>and it surprises with a pretty clear forecast of the things to come</i></div>
<br />
<br />
This are <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Tyrael" target="_blank">Tyrael's</a> famous last words: <i>"...but within him [the nephalem] beats a mortal heart, that will one day be tempted to corruption. On that day, will he have the strength to resist, or will he be our doom?"</i><br />
On his quest to defeat the former Archangel and now Aspect of Death <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Malthael" target="_blank">Malthael</a>, the nephalem is going to enter the "shadow world" after destroying the Soul Prison chain because only in that state he'll be able to attack and end the Reaper. He is successful but it begs the question if the exposure to the realm of shadows made the hero much more sensitive for corruption. Are the nephalem's glowing eyes we're seeing in the final ingame cinematic a sign of the growing hate and hunger for more power, which will eventually lead to him/her joining the "dark side"? This would mean that - after the events of <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Diablo_%28Game%29" target="_blank">Diablo I</a> - we would change roles once again in D3X2, i.e. the nephalem becomes a "dark wanderer", and we - the adventurers - have to prevent him/her from joining Evil <i>(hint: If you're not familiar with the Diablo lore, IGN posted a nice 5-minute video recap <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4sHDuDBUgM" target="_blank">here on YouTube</a>).</i>
<br />
<br />
Before I continue, I'll make a <i>very</i> quick TLDR summary of some major events in the Diablo universe so that you can follow my speculations. If you want to know more about the here mentioned characters, locations, artefacts etc, just follow the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Diablo_Wiki" target="_blank">Diablo Wiki</a> links provided in the text.<br />
<br />
<b>The Dragon Reborn </b><br />
<br />
In the beginning, <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Anu" target="_blank">Anu</a> was the ultimate good, and <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Tathamet" target="_blank">Tathamet</a> was the ultimate evil in the form of a seven-headed dragon. They warred against each other in an unending battle for ages uncounted. Neither could gain the upper hand and finally, they delivered their final blows resulting in a clash of light and darkness that gave birth to the universe itself, killing them both. Anu's legacy were The Eye of Anu, later known as the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Worldstone" target="_blank">Worldstone</a>, and the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Crystal_Arch" target="_blank">Crystal Arch</a>, around which the High Heavens took shape and from which the angels came into existence. The <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Archangel" target="_blank">archangels</a>, like Auriel, Imperius or Tyrael, are living embodiments of the virtues of Anu.<br />
From Tathamet's putrid flesh arose the realms of the Burning Hells, and the race of demons. Additionally, his seven heads spawned the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Great_Evils" target="_blank">Great Evils</a>, namely Baal, Diablo and Mephisto (the three <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Prime_Evils" target="_blank">Prime Evils</a>), and Andariel, Azmodan, Belial and Duriel (the four <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Lesser_Evils" target="_blank">Lesser Evils</a>).<br />
Again uncounted ages later, Tathamet, in some sense, returned to the face of creation because Diablo, the Lord of Terror, was able to combine the essences of the other six Evils through the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Soulstone" target="_blank">Black Soulstone</a> into his own "body", becoming a <i>singular Prime Evil</i>. While he was defeated by the nephalem (in Diablo 3), his spirit returned to the Black Soulstone, and through the destruction of the stone at the hands of Malthael during the final encounter in RoS (see the "Angel of Death" video above), he was released into creation once more.
<br />
<br />
So, this is where we stand right now: Diablo is free again, and the Black Soulstone, which "forged" his last incarnation as "Singular Prime Evil", is destroyed. The nephalem (you, the player) has overcome Evil in numerous forms, you are more powerful than ever, and Diablo has to find other means to subdue you.<br />
<br />
<b>Mephisto, the Lord of Hatred</b><br />
<br />
It remains to be seen how the Diablo team develops the lore further in D3X2. Is the "Singular Prime Evil" Diablo able to maintain his form now that the Black Soulstone, an artefact of incredible power, is destroyed? Is the stone destroyed at all, or have its shards landed somewhere on <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Sanctuary" target="_blank">Sanctuary</a>, just like the shards of Tyrael's sword did in Diablo 3? Is the third Diablo possibly decomposed again into the Great and Lesser Evils?<br />
I personally would love to see my favorite "baddies" back in action, namely <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Mephisto" target="_blank">Mephisto</a> and <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Baal" target="_blank">Baal</a>,
because it would be incredibly boring if we were now left with just one
"Uber Diablo" that chases us for the rest of our days. The chances that
the first option becomes reality are actually pretty good, and I'll tell you why.
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z6E_vBYlwfg/VRbY7cx4ngI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/n2o6_7Fae1c/s1600/d3_ros_portrait_mephisto_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z6E_vBYlwfg/VRbY7cx4ngI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/n2o6_7Fae1c/s1600/d3_ros_portrait_mephisto_01.jpg" width="200" /></a>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rt3vUeooars/VRbZAf9tgSI/AAAAAAAAAKY/L3zZKrPDGoY/s1600/d3_ros_portrait_baal_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rt3vUeooars/VRbZAf9tgSI/AAAAAAAAAKY/L3zZKrPDGoY/s1600/d3_ros_portrait_baal_01.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Mephisto (left side) and Baal -</i><br />
<i>Both portraits already exist in the RoS game files</i></div>
<br />
Mephisto, the Lord of Hatred and formerly imprisoned in the Temple City of Travincal in <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Kurast" target="_blank">Kurast</a>, is the number one address when it comes to corruption. It was him who corrupted the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/High_Council_of_Zakarum" target="_blank">High Council of Zakarum</a>, and eventually sent <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Archbishop_Lazarus" target="_blank">Archbishop Lazarus</a> to reawaken his brother Diablo, which set all things in motion. Both a portrait of Baal and Mephisto can already be found in the RoS game files, although none of them made an appearance yet except in the journals. Additionally, a BlizzCon 2011 Scavenger Hunt contained a Diablo 3 jungle artwork (see the left picture below), and Blizzard concept artist <a href="http://peterconcept.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">Peter Lee</a> posted a Kurast image (right picture), which may hint to Kurast as one region in D3X2.
<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N33JAOdMp6U/VRiF5mjUmOI/AAAAAAAAAKw/Mw9qlntx_ZI/s1600/D3_contest_jungle_concept_01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N33JAOdMp6U/VRiF5mjUmOI/AAAAAAAAAKw/Mw9qlntx_ZI/s1600/D3_contest_jungle_concept_01.png" width="250" /></a>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GHtRPThP_Jc/VRiF_e0KsHI/AAAAAAAAAK4/3FByWEi6Jgg/s1600/concept-peter-lee-kurast1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GHtRPThP_Jc/VRiF_e0KsHI/AAAAAAAAAK4/3FByWEi6Jgg/s1600/concept-peter-lee-kurast1.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Two official Diablo 3 jungle concept arts</i></div>
<br />
If I were Diablo now, I'd send Mephisto to corrupt the nephalem and convince him to join the dark side. Kurast would be an exciting and iconic location for this, too.<br />
<br />
<b>Baal, the Lord of Destruction</b><br />
<br />
If you say <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Sescheron" target="_blank">Sescheron</a>, you must also say Baal, Lord of Destruction. Sescheron was besieged by the Prime Evil Baal and his Army of Destruction during their assault on <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Mount_Arreat" target="_blank">Mount Arreat</a>. Now, Sescheron lies empty, and monsters have come up from the forests and down from the mountains to infest its ruins. The following video shows a snippet from the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Diablo_II%3A_Lord_of_Destruction" target="_blank">Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction</a> intro cinematic with said siege, and a <b>slideshow preview</b> of the upcoming <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Ruins_of_Sescheron" target="_blank"><b>Ruins of Sescheron</b></a>, which will be available in the Adventure Mode of Diablo 3 in Act 3 near the Arreat Crater.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BlRAO8qTBDg/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BlRAO8qTBDg?feature=player_embedded" width="480"></iframe></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Do the Ruins of Sescheron point to Baal as one of the D3X2 antagonists?</i></div>
<br />
Are the ruins a prelude to D3X2, just like the Timeless Isle was to WoW: Warlords of Draenor? I'd say "Yes" because the timing is perfect. What is Baal up to? I don't know but he may be the link to the next Diablo 3 class.<br />
<br />
<b>Druids, the nomadic Warrior-Poet-Kings</b><br />
<br />
When their homeland was shattered by Baal and his Army of Destruction and the Worldstone destroyed, many Barbarians lost faith. They became aimless, haunted by their past, traveling from place to place without honor or direction. But not all Barbarians have given up their vigil. Some still honor the harsh snows of Arreat's summit and prowl the outskirts of its crater. Even though <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Azmodan" target="_blank">Azmodan</a> could eventually be defeated, the weakened region and social chaos would be an easy target for a reinvigorated Baal and his demons. Such a scenario would be a great opportunity to have the Barbarians call upon the help of their cousins, the <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Druid" target="_blank"><b>Druids</b></a> of <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Scosglen" target="_blank">Scosglen</a>, a hybrid shapeshifter class that in my opinion is sorely needed in Diablo 3.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LgyyaffG9yg/VRiVRq0GIhI/AAAAAAAAALQ/yizX4eepiMQ/s1600/D3_druid_artwork_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LgyyaffG9yg/VRiVRq0GIhI/AAAAAAAAALQ/yizX4eepiMQ/s1600/D3_druid_artwork_02.jpg" width="250" /></a>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Al2fhpTbRW0/VRiVNtnI2oI/AAAAAAAAALI/AgRTm4cofzc/s1600/D3_druid_artwork_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Al2fhpTbRW0/VRiVNtnI2oI/AAAAAAAAALI/AgRTm4cofzc/s1600/D3_druid_artwork_01.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Blizzard concept artist <a href="http://davidkoblizzardportfolio.blogspot.de/" target="_blank">David Ko</a> posted some Diablo 3 Druid images -<br />
Note that they are obviously able to use bows and spears</i></div>
<br />
The Druids entered Scosglen at around the same time <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Bul-Kathos" target="_blank">Bul-Kathos</a>, the Immortal King, united the Barbarian tribes of the Northern Steppes. <b>Vasily</b>, a brother of Bul-Kathos, gathered together a small group consisting of the tribes' greatest warrior-poets and shamans and retreated into the forests surrounding the area known as Scosglen. There he and his people created the first of the Druid Colleges, forging a new way of life for themselves (<a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Scosglen" target="_blank"><i>source</i></a>). More about the Druids and their role as a playable class in "Lord of Destruction" can be found <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Druids#In-game" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Now, you may think that two Diablo 3 Druid artworks are a bit thin to speculate upon, but there's more. The following image is from the slideshow that the Diablo team presented during BlizzCon 2014, when the Ruins of Sescheron were introduced as future RoS content. It shows one concept for the "Rat King", the boss of the ruins.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bXN8Bx_TYG8/VRiVePd1knI/AAAAAAAAALY/Q0iEVqf8S9Q/s1600/d3_sescheron_ruins_monsters_04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bXN8Bx_TYG8/VRiVePd1knI/AAAAAAAAALY/Q0iEVqf8S9Q/s1600/d3_sescheron_ruins_monsters_04.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Is there some <a href="http://wow.gamepedia.com/Moonkin#Moonkin" target="_blank">Moonkin</a> DNA in this Rat King concept?</i></div>
<br />
It might be a red herring, but I bet it was either a Freudian slip or a teaser. What we are looking at here seems to be some misshapen Druid, and because that would have given away too much in advance (Sescheron goes live before D3X2), they finally ditched it and made another Rat King model.<br />
<br />
Last, but not least, I want to share an interesting restriction when you
create your hero in Diablo 3. Before RoS came out, I could create a female witch doctor named "Adria" (after the infamous witch). She is still alive
and kicking as you can see on the following left image, and I haven't been
forced to rename her (yet). After RoS came out, it was not possible
anymore to create a hero named "Adria", so there's obviously a
database with "forbidden" names active now.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TMr1zVq-Ymk/VRinP_cpiWI/AAAAAAAAALo/Txh35NvTHxw/s1600/d3_name_restriction_adria_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TMr1zVq-Ymk/VRinP_cpiWI/AAAAAAAAALo/Txh35NvTHxw/s1600/d3_name_restriction_adria_01.jpg" width="250" /></a>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z5CEP9_qhb0/VRinUbcJf6I/AAAAAAAAALw/vxcvkB1i-Uc/s1600/d3_name_restriction_vasily_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 0em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z5CEP9_qhb0/VRinUbcJf6I/AAAAAAAAALw/vxcvkB1i-Uc/s1600/d3_name_restriction_vasily_01.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>The names "Adria" and "Vasily" are not allowed for player characters</i></div>
<br />
Yesterday, I did the test and tried to create a new character named "Vasily", who is the aforementioned leader of the Druids in Diablo. I'm sure you've already guessed what happened (see the right picture). <br />
<br />
That's it so far with my speculations about the possible contents of the next Diablo 3 expansion. Whether or not all, or at least some of it is confirmed should be known soon. If nothing is confirmed, then you should have read some entertaining fan fiction that makes the wait for D3X2 a little shorter. ^^<br />
<br />
<i>- Nobbie, the Lord of Construction</i><br />
<br />
<b>Related blogs:</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/04/diablo-3-expansion-2-skovos-and-new.html"><b>Diablo 3 Expansion 2: Skovos and a new Druid-based Hybrid Class?</b></a> (Speculation part 2)</li>
<li><a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/05/diablo-3-expansion-2-xiansai-and-new.html"><b>Diablo 3 Expansion 2: Xiansai and a new Wizard-based Hybrid Class?</b></a> (Speculation part 3)</li>
<li><a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/07/diablo-3-dark-prophet-leaked-expansion.html"><b>Diablo 3: The Dark Prophet - "Leaked" Expansion 2 Title?</b></a> (Speculation part 4)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>For the latest gaming news follow my <a href="https://twitter.com/itsNobbie" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and/or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/ItsNobbie/381079715392243" target="_blank">Facebook</a>!</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00100422412399201168noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783724796663910316.post-71088212554283986002015-03-26T09:45:00.000-07:002015-05-01T15:41:27.366-07:00Diablo 3: The Legendary Items of Season 3 (Patch 2.2)<script src="http://us.battle.net/d3/static/js/tooltips.js"></script>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-20ppXD7gAE0/VRQdqwttNoI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/rZQR5kzx0b8/s1600/diablo_3_season_3_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-20ppXD7gAE0/VRQdqwttNoI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/rZQR5kzx0b8/s1600/diablo_3_season_3_01.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<br /><br />
The <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/game/" target="_blank"><b>Diablo 3</b></a> <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/18061643/patch-220-ptr-patch-notes-updated-320-3-20-2015" target="_blank"><b>Content Patch 2.2</b></a> goes live on Tuesday, April 7, 2015 (April 8 in Europe), and <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/18313042/season-2-ending-soon-3-20-2015#interseason" target="_blank"><b>Season 3</b></a> will be starting worldwide shortly after on Friday, April 10. The start times for all regions can be found <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/18313042/season-2-ending-soon-3-20-2015#interseason" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Patch 2.2 makes many more character builds viable for Torment 6 difficulty thanks to new and reworked items as well as several new game mechanics. Especially hardly used primary and secondary skills including associated (older) legendary items will profit a lot, and defensive shortcomings have been addressed, too, to make such builds work in <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/game/guide/gameplay/adventure-mode#nephalem-rifts" target="_blank">Nephalem Rifts</a> and higher level <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/game/guide/gameplay/adventure-mode#greater-rifts" target="_blank">Greater Rifts</a>. To accommodate the goal of better performance for all builds in the competitive <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/game/guide/gameplay/seasons#leaderboards" target="_blank">Leaderboard</a> environment, another batch of <b>seasonal Legendaries</b> can be acquired with the start of Season 3.
<br /><br />
Following is a list of these new build-/game-changing items incl. links/tooltips from the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/game/" target="_blank">official Diablo 3 game guide</a>. Note that the links/tooltips of the <i>new</i> patch 2.2 items will not be active before the update has been deployed on the live realms. The unique properties of every item have therefore been added in this preview as well.<br />
<br />
<b>New legendary Gems</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/iceblink" target="_blank"><b>Iceblink</b></a> (Defensive & Offensive)<ul><li>Your Cold skills now apply Chill effects and your Chill effects now Slow enemy movement by an additional 5% (increases with each level). <i>At Rank 25</i>: Gain 10% increased Critical Chance against Chilled and Frozen enemies.</li></ul></li>
<li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/mutilation-guard" target="_blank"><b>Mutilation Guard</b></a> (Defensive)<ul><li>Gain 10% melee damage reduction (increases with each level). <i>At Rank 25</i>: While below 30% Life, you may move unhindered through enemies.</li></ul></li>
<li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/bane-of-the-stricken" target="_blank">Bane of the Stricken</a> (Offensive)<ul><li>Each attack you make against an enemy increases the damage it takes from your attacks by 10% Weapon damage (increases with each level). <i>At Rank 25</i>: Allied players, followers, and pets also benefit from this effect.<br /><b><i>Note: This planned gem has been removed from patch 2.2 during PTR testing.</i></b></li></ul></li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Reworked legendary Armor & Weapons</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/dead-mans-legacy" target="_blank"><b>Dead Man's Legacy</b></a> (Quiver)<ul><li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/demon-hunter/active/multishot" target="_blank">Multishot</a> hits enemies who are below 50-60% health twice.</li></ul></li>
<li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/dread-iron" target="_blank"><b>Dread Iron</b></a> (Mighty Belt)<ul><li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/ground-stomp" target="_blank">Ground Stomp</a> causes an <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/avalanche" target="_blank">Avalanche</a>.</li></ul></li>
<li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/nagelring" target="_blank"><b>Nagelring</b></a> (Ring)<ul><li>Summons a <a href="http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Fallen_Lunatic" target="_blank">Fallen Lunatic</a> to your side every 12 seconds.</li></ul></li>
<li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/obsidian-ring-of-the-zodiac" target="_blank"><b>Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac</b></a> (Ring)<ul><li>Your first hit with each cast of a resource-spending attack reduces the remaining cooldown of one of your skills by 1 second.</li></ul></li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>New legendary Armor & Weapons</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/blessed-of-haull" target="_blank"><b>Blessed of Haull</b></a> (Belt - Crusader)<ul><li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/crusader/active/justice" target="_blank">Justice</a> spawns a <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/crusader/active/blessed-hammer" target="_blank">Blessed Hammer</a> when it hits an enemy.</li></ul></li>
<li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-short-mans-finger" target="_blank"><b>The Short Man's Finger</b></a> (Ring - Witch Doctor)<ul><li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/gargantuan" target="_blank">Gargantuan</a> instead summons three smaller Gargantuans, each more powerful than the original.</li></ul></li>
<li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/ranslors-folly" target="_blank"><b>Ranslor's Folly</b></a> (Bracers - Wizard)<ul><li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/active/energy-twister" target="_blank">Energy Twister</a> periodically pulls in enemies within 30 yards.</li></ul></li>
<li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/spirit-guards" target="_blank"><b>Spirit Guards</b></a> (Bracers - Monk)<ul><li>Your Spirit generators reduce your damage taken by 30-40% for 3 seconds.</li></ul></li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>New legendary Potions</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/bottomless-potion-of-amplification" target="_blank"><b>Bottomless Potion of Amplification</b></a> (Potion)<ul><li>Instantly restores 60% Life. Increases healing from all sources by 20-25% for 5 seconds.</li></ul></li>
</ul>
<br />
As with previously reworked Seasonal items, once patch 2.2 launches, these items will no longer drop in non-Seasonal games and will remain removed from the non-Seasonal Legendary pool until Season 3 concludes. Good luck finding good and maybe Ancient ones! :)
<br />
<br />
<i>- Nobbie</i><br />
<br />
<b>For the latest gaming news follow my <a href="https://twitter.com/itsNobbie" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and/or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/ItsNobbie/381079715392243" target="_blank">Facebook</a>!</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00100422412399201168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783724796663910316.post-88877388368724353412015-03-24T13:49:00.001-07:002015-05-01T15:40:17.522-07:00Diablo 3: Immortal King Barbarian - Seismic Smackdown Edition<script src="http://us.battle.net/d3/static/js/tooltips.js"></script>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ysih0lQ2NCA/VREFqZLPWrI/AAAAAAAAAJU/fRpEicMcyhE/s1600/Diablo%2B3%2BImmortal%2BKing%2B-%2BSeismic%2BSmackdown%2BBarbarian%2BTitle%2BB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ysih0lQ2NCA/VREFqZLPWrI/AAAAAAAAAJU/fRpEicMcyhE/s1600/Diablo%2B3%2BImmortal%2BKing%2B-%2BSeismic%2BSmackdown%2BBarbarian%2BTitle%2BB.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
The following guide and video have been created on March 24, 2015 on the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/" target="_blank"><b>Diablo 3</b></a> <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/18061643/patch-220-ptr-patch-notes-2-25-2015" target="_blank"><b>Patch 2.2 PTR</b></a>, build 30537. Note that anything shown here may be subject to change until the final release candidate build goes live.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>INTRODUCTION </b></div>
<br />
The <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/" target="_blank"><b>Diablo 3</b></a> <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/18061643/patch-220-ptr-patch-notes-2-25-2015" target="_blank"><b>Patch 2.2</b></a> will be released on April 7, 2015, heralding the start of <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/18313042/#interseason" target="_blank"><b>Season 3</b></a>. The synopsis of the latest content update is that it makes many more character builds viable for Torment 6 difficulty thanks to new and revised items as well as several new game mechanics. Especially hardly used primary and secondary skills including associated (older) legendary items will profit a lot, and defensive shortcomings have been addressed, too, to make such builds work in Rifts and higher level Greater Rifts.<br />
<br />
The following guide for the popular <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/" target="_blank"><b>barbarian</b></a> demonstrates how the patch makes a previously mediocre "fun" build really shine in the endgame. If you have been waiting for an update that finally delivers on the promise of the earth-shattering, monster-smashing "hammer" barbarian, this guide is for you!<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>ITEMS</b></div>
<br />
The <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/immortal-kings-triumph" target="_blank"><b>Immortal King's Call</b></a> barbarian set gets a huge improvement with the Diablo 3 patch 2.2. Its bonuses have been shifted around, modified, and a seventh set item gives you more room for improvisation/build options (see the following picture). Getting permanent <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/call-of-the-ancients" target="_blank"><b>Ancients</b></a> with just two set items easily puts you at Torment 3/4 difficulty right from the start. The next bonus, available at 4 set pieces, basically grants you permanent <b><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/wrath-of-the-berserker" target="_blank">Wrath of the Berserker</a></b>. The ability that was frowned upon when perma-Berserker "Spin to Win" barbarians became the ultimate playstyle in classic Diablo 3, is now back after one year of <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/reaper-of-souls/" target="_blank">Reaper of Souls</a> patches. Barbarians, rejoice! The 6-piece set bonus adds even more enhanced damage if both 'Call of the Ancients' and 'Wrath of the Berserker' are active. This bonus has been lowered significantly from initially 500% to 100% with the current PTR build, but it seems to be appropriate considering it's an open-ended set so that you can make a lot of current and future items and builds work with it. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8QlRY7apY_4/VRB2lOBOY7I/AAAAAAAAAJA/xDahZvbAh8k/s1600/Diablo%2B3%2BImmortal%2BKing%2B-%2BSeismic%2BSmackdown%2BBarbarian%2BItems.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8QlRY7apY_4/VRB2lOBOY7I/AAAAAAAAAJA/xDahZvbAh8k/s1600/Diablo%2B3%2BImmortal%2BKing%2B-%2BSeismic%2BSmackdown%2BBarbarian%2BItems.png" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>The defining items/sets of this build</i></div>
<br />
The other set this build uses is <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/focus" target="_blank"><b>Bastion of Will</b></a> (Focus & Restraint), a ring pair that has been revised for patch 2.2 (see the above picture). The mechanics of 'Bastion of Will' has changed: You now have to
use primary skills/resource generators & resource spenders to get
the full damage bonus, which is ideal for our barbarian who uses <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/bash" target="_blank"><b>Bash</b></a> as primary and <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/seismic-slam" target="_blank"><b>Seismic Slam</b></a> as secondary, main skill. The damage bonus is added on top of the 6-piece bonus of the 'Immortal King' set, resulting in 200% increased damage total.<br />
<br />
The next key item in this build are the new <b>Mortick's Brace</b> bracers which enable all runes of<b> <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/wrath-of-the-berserker" target="_blank">Wrath of the Berserker</a></b> at once. This is an extremely mighty legendary affix on both the offensive and defensive/healing front. Combined with the revised 'Immortal King' and 'Bastion of Will' sets, we're now looking at a true barbarian powerhouse that only needs a fitting weapon, which in this build will be the<b> <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/fury-of-the-vanished-peak" target="_blank">Fury of the Vanished Peak</a></b> legendary Mighty Weapon. The speciality of this two-hander is the reduction of the Fury cost of 'Seismic Slam' by 40–50% which allows us to use this powerful ability permanently. We have to use 'Bash' just for keeping up the full damage bonus of 'Bastion of Will'.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>LEGENDARY GEMS</b></div>
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Two legendary gems (out of three max.) are recommended for this high instant-damage focused build: <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/bane-of-the-trapped" target="_blank"><b>Bane of the Trapped</b></a> because we'll use the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/seismic-slam" target="_blank"><b>Permafrost</b></a> rune of 'Seismic Slam', and <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/pain-enhancer" target="_blank"><b>Pain Enhancer</b></a> which grants us the bleeding effect and great attack speed increase at gem rank 25. As third gem you may want to pick a defensive one like <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/esoteric-alteration" target="_blank">Esoteric Alteration</a> or the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/molten-wildebeests-gizzard" target="_blank">Molten Wildebeest's Gizzard</a> from <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/16607841" target="_blank">Season 2</a>.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>SKILLS</b></div>
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As mentioned above, a chilling 'Permafrost'-runed <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/seismic-slam" target="_blank"><b>Seismic Slam</b></a> will be our main, cost-reduced main attack including good crowd control. <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/bash" target="_blank"><b>Bash</b></a> will be used just every couple of seconds to keep up the full damage bonus of 'Bastion of Will', which is working quite well because we gain a lot of attack speed increase from both our 5-rune<b> <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/wrath-of-the-berserker" target="_blank">Wrath of the Berserker</a></b> and the 'Pain Enhancer' gem. Depending on how crowded an area is, we'll also use <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/ground-stomp" target="_blank"><b>Ground Stomp</b></a> with the 'Wrenching Smash' rune to pull enemies closer before we apply our mighty strikes.<br />
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<a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/call-of-the-ancients" target="_blank"><b>Call of the Ancients</b></a> with the 'Ancient's Fury' rune serves as powerful Fury generator because we'll be spamming 'Seismic Slam', and <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/war-cry" target="_blank"><b>War Cry</b></a> with the 'Impunity' rune provides us with solid defense which we'll definitely need because we're always jumping right into the fray with our short-range slams. <b><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/wrath-of-the-berserker" target="_blank">Wrath of the Berserker </a></b>with all runes enabled through 'Mortick's Brace' is the "skill backbone" of our build in terms of offense, defense, and healing. It's almost pemanently available, and when activated it increases our sheet DPS (damage per second) by factor 1.5, triples our toughness (after 'War Cry/Impunity') and increases our healing by factor 5-7 (depending on what your base healing is).<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-63GTInBu2XM/VRGPqBD4T4I/AAAAAAAAAJo/ESitWd9h6Gg/s1600/Diablo%2B3%2BImmortal%2BKing%2B-%2BSeismic%2BSmackdown%2BBarbarian%2BSpells.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-63GTInBu2XM/VRGPqBD4T4I/AAAAAAAAAJo/ESitWd9h6Gg/s1600/Diablo%2B3%2BImmortal%2BKing%2B-%2BSeismic%2BSmackdown%2BBarbarian%2BSpells.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>The skills used for this build </i></div>
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Of the passive skills we pick all the best defensive ones: <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/passive/superstition" target="_blank"><b>Superstition</b></a> (reduces all non-Physical damage), <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/passive/nerves-of-steel" target="_blank"><b>Nerves of Steel</b></a> (increases Armor) and <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/passive/tough-as-nails" target="_blank"><b>Tough as Nails</b></a> (increases Armor (and Thorns damage)), plus <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/passive/boon-of-bulkathos" target="_blank"><b>Boon of Bul-Kathos</b></a> (reduces the cooldowns of 'Wrath of the Berserker' (and 'Call of the Ancients'/'Earthquake')). The reason for this choice are (high-level) <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/game/guide/gameplay/adventure-mode#greater-rifts" target="_blank">Greater Rifts</a>. While you can literally murder Torment 6 difficulty with this build without incorporating any defense beyond that from 'Wrath of the Berserker', pace changes as soon as you enter Greater Rifts where monster damage increases dramatically. Without max defense and healing, you will not be able to stand in the middle of the all the dangerous ground effects to slam your foes (in time). Unlike the new patch 2.2 'Wrath of the Wastes' Whirlwind set, the revised 'Immortal King' doesn't come with a built-in defense bonus (except the option of perma-<a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/call-of-the-ancients" target="_blank">Ancients</a> with the 'Together as One' rune), and common defense "add-ons" like 'Aughild's Authority' or 'Blackthorne's Battlegear' are not an option because we've used all our equipment slots. So, all our defense goes into the passives for this particular build if we want to farm Greater Rifts. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>GAMEPLAY VIDEO</b> </div>
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The following test run has been recorded on the patch 2.2 PTR (without the legendary drop rate buff) in a <b>level 35 Greater Rift</b>.<br />
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Note how the barbarian can fairly safely pave her way through the monster packs even though she stands right in the middle of the action. Also important is the fact that 'Seismic Slam' does decent damage against the final Rift Bosses, which is not the case with the popular 'Furious Charge' barbarian who uses the 'Legacy of Raekor' set. The enormous fun playing a really strong "hammer" barbarian comes as an extra bonus!
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<iframe width="480" height="270" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/C9wxtQt1ofU/0.jpg" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/C9wxtQt1ofU?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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<br />
<i>- Nobbie</i><br />
<br />
<b>For the latest gaming news follow my <a href="https://twitter.com/itsNobbie" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and/or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/ItsNobbie/381079715392243" target="_blank">Facebook</a>!</b>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>UPDATES</b></div>
<br />
<b>April 9, 2015</b><br />
<b> </b>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pk0KayTu6zw/VSVNyqn7GsI/AAAAAAAAAM8/RCq258f1al8/s1600/d3_ros_ptr_220_morticks_brace_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pk0KayTu6zw/VSVNyqn7GsI/AAAAAAAAAM8/RCq258f1al8/s1600/d3_ros_ptr_220_morticks_brace_01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Removed until further notice: Mortick's Brace</i></div>
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<b>Mortick's Brace</b> (see the above picture) was removed from the game with the launch of the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/" target="_blank">Diablo 3</a> <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/18642492/patch-220-now-live-4-7-2015" target="_blank">patch 2.2</a> because it has been deemed too powerful (also see my blog about this topic <a href="http://itsnobbie.blogspot.de/2015/04/diablo-3-rip-morticks-brace-or-why.html">here</a>). The bracers were an important item in the Seismic Slam build described in this blog, especially their defensive portion. Until this gets fixed, I recommend to use the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/ancient-parthan-defenders" target="_blank">Ancient Parthan Defenders</a> as replacement.
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00100422412399201168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783724796663910316.post-81376055104647810472015-03-10T11:29:00.002-07:002015-05-01T15:38:28.071-07:00Diablo 3: Delsere's Magnum Opus Wizard - Infinite/0AP Frost Edition<script src="http://us.battle.net/d3/static/js/tooltips.js"></script>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fm8R1C66OIg/VP8KsrVsXXI/AAAAAAAAAHc/hLyKgp-YC3Y/s1600/Diablo%2B3%2BDelsere%2B-%2B0AP%2BFrost%2BWizard%2BTitle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fm8R1C66OIg/VP8KsrVsXXI/AAAAAAAAAHc/hLyKgp-YC3Y/s1600/Diablo%2B3%2BDelsere%2B-%2B0AP%2BFrost%2BWizard%2BTitle.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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The following guide and video have been created on March 9, 2015 on the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/" target="_blank"><b>Diablo 3</b></a> <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/18061643/patch-220-ptr-patch-notes-2-25-2015" target="_blank"><b>Patch 2.2 PTR</b></a>, build 30215. Note that anything shown here may be subject to change until the final release candidate build goes live.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>ITEMS</b></div>
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<b>Delsere's Magnum Opus</b> is the name of a <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/" target="_blank"><b>wizard</b></a> set that will be introduced with the Diablo 3 patch 2.2. Its bonuses support the <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/active/slow-time" target="_blank"><b>Slow Time</b></a> spell and various attacks which will be amplified through the use of 'Slow Time', for example <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/active/magic-missile" target="_blank">Magic Missile</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JaL8rigKv_Q/VP8TJwSSk4I/AAAAAAAAAHs/kYUJwmt7fWQ/s1600/Diablo%2B3%2BDelsere%2B-%2B0AP%2BFrost%2BWizard%2BItems.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JaL8rigKv_Q/VP8TJwSSk4I/AAAAAAAAAHs/kYUJwmt7fWQ/s1600/Diablo%2B3%2BDelsere%2B-%2B0AP%2BFrost%2BWizard%2BItems.png" width="480" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>The defining items/sets of this build</i></div>
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The following test build uses a tri-missile <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/active/magic-missile" target="_blank"><b>Glacial Spike</b></a> (runed 'Magic Missile') as main attack, made possible through the use of a <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/mirrorball" target="_blank"><b>Mirrorball</b></a> source. 'Glacial Spike' is a cost-free "Zero Arcane Power" (0AP) signature spell, which means that it always gets 100% benefit from the damage bonus provided by <b>Bastion of Will</b>, a ring set that will be updated for patch 2.2. In addition to that, we'll use items of the revised<b> Tal Rasha's Elements</b> whose <b>auto-cast Meteor</b> bonus (Frost in this case) is now available for just two equipped set pieces. See the above picture for all item stats and bonuses. The result is a very tanky build that can dish out great damage. Its crowd control ability is superb, which will make this wizard also a welcome party member.<br />
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Of special note with respect to the 'Delsere's Magnum Opus' set is the <b>Gesture of Orpheus</b> wand that reduces the cooldown of 'Slow Time' by up to 70%. In combination with Cooldown Reduction (CDR) through equipment (35% on this test wizard), we're able to almost chain-cast 'Slow Time' whenever and whereever we want. 'Slow Time' therefore deserves a place next to 'Glacial Spike' on the right mouse button. Note that the damage bonuses provided by 'Delsere's Magnum Opus' do not stack if you cast multiple 'Slow Time' "bubbles" on top of each other.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>LEGENDARY GEMS</b></div>
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Two legendary gems (out of three max.) are recommended for this heavy crowd control focused build: <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/bane-of-the-trapped" target="_blank"><b>Bane of the Trapped</b></a> (obviously) and <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/simplicitys-strength" target="_blank"><b>Simplicity's Strength</b></a> which increases the damage of our tri-missile 'Glacial Spike' even more. As third gem you may want to pick a defensive one like <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/esoteric-alteration" target="_blank">Esoteric Alteration</a> from <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/16607841" target="_blank">Season 2</a>.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>SKILLS</b></div>
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As mentioned above, a tri-missile <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/active/magic-missile" target="_blank"><b>Glacial Spike</b></a> (runed 'Magic Missile') is our main, cost-free main attack. The next important offensive spell is <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/active/mirror-image" target="_blank"><b>Duplicates</b></a> (runed 'Mirror Image') which summons 4 illusionary duplicates of ourself that taunt nearby enemies, and cast several spells we have on our action bar. Spells cast by our 'Mirror Images' will deal just 10% of the damage of our own spells, however, because <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/active/slow-time" target="_blank"><b>Exhaustion</b></a> (runed 'Slow Time') and <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/active/black-hole" target="_blank"><b>Absolute Zero</b></a> (runed 'Black Hole') are among them, we get a huge defensive/crowd control bonus and damage amplification. 'Exhaustion' is a new rune in patch 2.2 which replaces 'Time and Space': Enemies caught inside 'Slow Time' now deal 25% less damage.<br />
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<a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/active/energy-armor" target="_blank"><b>Prismatic Armor</b></a> (runed 'Energy Armor') and <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/active/teleport" target="_blank"><b>Wormhole</b></a> (runed 'Teleport') round off our build on the defensive and mobile side.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nVW1cvui3QI/VP8ei2bwpII/AAAAAAAAAH8/YBTNVWPfmyk/s1600/Diablo%2B3%2BDelsere%2B-%2B0AP%2BFrost%2BWizard%2BSpells.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nVW1cvui3QI/VP8ei2bwpII/AAAAAAAAAH8/YBTNVWPfmyk/s1600/Diablo%2B3%2BDelsere%2B-%2B0AP%2BFrost%2BWizard%2BSpells.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>The skills used for this build </i></div>
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Of the passive skills we pick some that support our tanky Frost build: <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/passive/unstable-anomaly" target="_blank"><b>Unstable Anomaly</b></a> (one "free Death"), <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/passive/blur" target="_blank"><b>Blur</b></a> (reduces Damage Taken), <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/passive/illusionist" target="_blank"><b>Illusionist</b></a> (Defensive Cooldowns reset), and <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/passive/evocation" target="_blank"><b>Evocation</b></a> (Cooldown reduction). Of special note with respect to our wizard is 'Illusionist' which resets the cooldowns on 'Mirror Image', 'Slow Time' and 'Teleport' when we take more than 15% of our maximum Life in damage within 1 second, which happens quite often.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>GAMEPLAY VIDEO</b> </div>
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The following test run has been recorded on the patch 2.2 PTR (without the legendary drop rate buff) in a standard Rift with the max. difficulty of <b>Torment 6</b>.<br />
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Note how the wizard can safely pave her way through the monster packs with very little effort. The visuals of the new set totally live up to the name "Magnus Opus" because she - and her Mirror Images - can basically chain-cast the 'Slow Time' spell with its half-transparent, glowing bubbles!
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/md-TgqqP9tg/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/md-TgqqP9tg?feature=player_embedded" width="480"></iframe></div>
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<br />
<i>- Nobbie</i><br />
<br />
<b>For the latest gaming news follow my <a href="https://twitter.com/itsNobbie" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and/or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/ItsNobbie/381079715392243" target="_blank">Facebook</a>!</b>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>UPDATES</b></div>
<br />
<b>March 10, 2015</b><br />
<b> </b>
<br />
Build 30252 on the Patch 2.2 PTR brought updates to the bonuses of the <b>Delsere's Magnum Opus</b> wizard set as well as the <b>Bastion of Will</b> ring set (Focus & Restraint) which you can see in the following picture:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--g8_nTlG_dE/VQBgQQv1RaI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/zrmOZHoAXTg/s1600/Diablo%2B3%2BDelsere%2B-%2B0AP%2BFrost%2BWizard%2BItems%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--g8_nTlG_dE/VQBgQQv1RaI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/zrmOZHoAXTg/s1600/Diablo%2B3%2BDelsere%2B-%2B0AP%2BFrost%2BWizard%2BItems%2B2.png" width="300" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>The new set bonuses as of build 30252</i></div>
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Although the mechanics of 'Bastion of Will' changed - you now have to use primary skills/resource generators & resource spenders to get the full damage bonus (which has also been nerfed) - the damage bonuses of 'Delsere's Magnum Opus' have been increased so significantly that the here described build actually got buffed overall. Just make sure that you keep 'Black Hole' on cooldown while you're firing your 'Glacial Spikes'.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00100422412399201168noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3783724796663910316.post-3468505818574306582015-02-12T04:51:00.000-08:002015-05-01T15:41:10.485-07:00Diablo 3: The Legendary Items of Season 2 (Patch 2.1.2)<script src="http://us.battle.net/d3/static/js/tooltips.js"></script>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SUbjDWER2bc/VNyo4jIh6oI/AAAAAAAAAGk/db8A9LO3ltc/s1600/diablo_3_season_2_01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SUbjDWER2bc/VNyo4jIh6oI/AAAAAAAAAGk/db8A9LO3ltc/s1600/diablo_3_season_2_01.png" width="480" /></a></div>
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The <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/" target="_blank"><b>Diablo 3</b></a> <b>Season 2</b> starts Friday, on February 13th, 2015. The start times for all regions can be found <a href="http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/blog/17152343/end-of-season-what-to-expect-27-01-2015" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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The latest <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/17561388/patch-212-now-live-1-13-2015" target="_blank">patch 2.1.2</a> brought a lot more power in the form of <b>Ancient Legendaries</b> which will certainly allow players to beat <b>Greater Rift</b> difficulty 50 and above on a regular basis. To accommodate the goal of better performance for all classes in the competitive Leaderboard environment, another batch of <b>seasonal Legendaries</b> can be acquired with the start of Season 2. Following is a list of these new build-/game-changing items incl. links/tooltips from the official Diablo 3 game guide:<br />
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<b>New legendary Gems</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/esoteric-alteration" target="_blank"><b>Esoteric Alteration</b></a> (Defensive)</li>
<li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/gem-of-ease" target="_blank"><b>Gem of Ease</b></a> ((Hardcore) Twink/Powerlevel Gem)</li>
<li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/molten-wildebeests-gizzard" target="_blank"><b>Molten Wildebeest's Gizzard</b></a> (Defensive)</li>
</ul>
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<b>New legendary Armor & Weapons</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Barbarian: <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-undisputed-champion" target="_blank"><b>The Undisputed Champion</b></a> (<a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/barbarian/active/frenzy" target="_blank">Frenzy</a> boosting Mighty Belt)</li>
<li>Crusader: <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/belt-of-the-trove" target="_blank"><b>Belt of the Trove</b></a> (<a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/crusader/active/bombardment" target="_blank">Bombardment</a> auto-cast Belt)</li>
<li>Demon Hunter: <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/odysseys-end" target="_blank"><b>Odyssey's End</b></a> (<a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/demon-hunter/active/entangling-shot" target="_blank">Entangling Shot</a> boosting Bow)</li>
<li>Monk: <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/gungdo-gear" target="_blank"><b>Gungdo Gear</b></a> (<a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/monk/active/exploding-palm" target="_blank">Exploding Palm</a> boosting Bracers)</li>
<li>Witch Doctor: <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/wormwood" target="_blank"><b>Wormwood</b></a> (<a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/locust-swarm" target="_blank">Locust Swarm</a> auto-cast 2H-Staff)</li>
<li>Wizard: <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/halo-of-arlyse" target="_blank"><b>Halo of Arlyse</b></a> (<a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/active/ice-armor" target="_blank">Ice Armor</a> boosting and <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/wizard/active/frost-nova" target="_blank">Frost Nova</a> auto-cast Ring)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>New legendary Potions</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/bottomless-potion-of-fear" target="_blank"><b>Bottomless Potion of Fear</b></a> (Fear auto-cast when used)</li>
</ul>
<br />
Good luck finding a good and maybe Ancient one! :)
<br />
<br />
<i>- Nobbie</i><br />
<br />
<b>For the latest gaming news follow my <a href="https://twitter.com/itsNobbie" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and/or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/ItsNobbie/381079715392243" target="_blank">Facebook</a>!</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00100422412399201168noreply@blogger.com0