After over eleven years, patch 2.4 is set to tweak the balance of class builds for the first time. We were able to talk to the developers about the announcement. All important info at a glance.
Diablo veterans must now be strong. After patch 1.13c from 2010, nothing was changed in the balance of Diablo 2 for a long time. Whether Hammerdin, Plague Javazon or Static/Nova Sorc: fans have long since settled on their favourite builds and can distribute skill points and equipment in their sleep.
But now developer Vicarious Visions is actually tweaking the balance of the class builds in Diablo 2: Resurrected. Patch 2.4. is supposed to allow more freedom in build design. Improvements to (little-used) abilities, new rune words, new set items and Horadrim recipes should make class builds more diverse and encourage players to experiment.
We had the chance to talk to Studio Design Director Robert Gallerani and Senior Game Producer Matthew Cederquist about the announcement of the patch. We summarise all the important information for you in this article.
Table of Contents
PTR for Patch 2.4 launched
- launch date: 25 January 2022
- What can you test in the PTR? Class balance changes, new rune words, new Horadrim recipes, mercenary changes, and still other gameplay tweaks.
- What about the Ladder? This is not yet introduced in the PTR. So when D2R will finally get its Ladder Seasons remains unclear.
* More info can be found in the official (blog entry for the PTR)
How to participate
To participate in the PTR, you must have a non-preloaded Battle.net account, a version of Diablo 2: Resurrected, and the Blizzard Battle.net desktop app.
- Starts the desktop app and opens the Diablo 2: Resurrected page.
- On the bottom left you will find a dropdown menu directly above the “Play” button. Select “Public Test Realm (PTR)” here.
- Now click on “Install” and follow the installation instructions.
- Your PTR account will be created automatically if you don’t already have one.
The most important information at a glance
What should patch 2.4 contain?
- Changes to the balance of classes and their builds
- New rune words for the ladder
- Changes to mercenaries
- New recipes for the Horadrim cube
- New Set Items
When will patch 2.4 be released?
An exact date for the release of Patch 2.4. has not yet been mentioned. A PTR is to follow at the beginning of 2022. Based on the feedback collected, the developers will then decide which features and changes will remain in the patch and which will have to be deleted or revised again.
Did the changes only apply to the Ladder?
The changes to the balance of the classes affect the entire game. The new rune words will first be introduced in the Ladder Seasons. However, items collected there can be carried over into non-ladder games.
Where can I find more information about the patch?
Studio Design Director Robert Gallerani talks to streamer MrLlamaSC about the upcoming patch 2.4, possible changes and features in this week’s live stream.
- When: Thursday 16 December, 8pm
* Where: On the (Twitch channel of MrLlamaSC)
Changes to the class balance
The last patch that tweaked Diablo 2’s balance was over eleven years ago. With patch 2.4. the developers of the remaster now dare to make changes that could turn the gameplay of long-established fans upside down.
But don’t worry: “None of the existing classes or builds are to be generated!” assures Robert Galleranie, Studio Design Director at Vicarious Visions. “We know people love the Hammerdin, for example, and we’re not going to take that away from them.” Instead, the patch aims to enable other builds that didn’t have enough room to flourish in classic Diablo 2.
“Our goal is to tell players ‘Oh, you want to play this way? Yeah, sure, you can do that!” adds Robert. In this way, Diablo fans should be freer to design their builds in the future, as well as access skills that weren’t worthwhile before.
The developers have not yet revealed what these changes will look like in concrete terms. However, they do give first hints as to what Patch 2.4. might bring for the individual classes:
Amazon
For the nimble Amazon, the developers still see potential to improve the melee skills by tweaking their synergies. At the same time, certain skills for the bow and crossbow will be adjusted to improve ranged combat at more difficult levels.
Assassin
Here the developers want to highlight the martial arts build. For this, they are looking at how the generation and distribution of combo points can be improved. Likewise, changes – such as synergies – to the trap skills are to follow, so that players have more incentive to try out trap builds.
Barbarian
The barbarian is supposed to get more variations in his combat abilities with patch 2.4. In addition, throw barbar builds are to be optimised, for example by improving the abilities Double Throw or Throw Mastery.
Druid
The developers still see a lot of room for improvement, especially in the fire abilities of the druid. Thus, the spell delay, physical damage and synergies are being examined for possible improvements. In addition, other elemental skills that have not been used enough by the players so far will also be improved. The control of the Arctic Wind is also to be improved. In addition, summoning skills are to be adapted, especially on difficult levels. In this context, the developers are looking at new synergies, the life bonus per level increase, damage and quality-of-life improvements. Lastly, the advertising bear skill is also to be reworked.
Summoner of the dead
In the Necromancer, the developers want to focus on the summons that are not used very often by players. Thus, the skeleton mages are to be improved and golems are to become more effective. In addition, bone skills are to be optimised for higher difficulty levels. For this purpose, the synergies will be improved.
Paladin
According to the developers, players do not use all of the Paladin’s skills. Less used skills such as sky fist should become more attractive. In addition, the offensive aura of the paladin should be optimised, the AoE damage at short distances should be more effective. The skill Thorns will also be improved to cause more damage at higher levels.
Sorceress
For the Mage, the developers see potential to improve the armour skills to bring in more variety in Ice Armour, Shiver Armour and Frost Armour. New skill synergies should also ensure that players experiment more with lightning builds. Little-used fire skills such as Hydra are also to be optimised. Lastly, the handling of the Inferno skill is to be improved so that combat no longer feels so clunky.
New Rune Words
“We have a lot of new rune words planned,” says senior game producer Matthew Cederquist. The developers want to introduce these into the ladder piece by piece. “In one season there will be maybe two new rune words, then in the next there will be three more.”
At the end of a season, the ladder characters are converted to non-ladder characters and take all their earned items with them. Three additional tabs will open in the chest with all the items from the ladder. However, this does not mean that players suddenly have more storage space – instead, you can only remove the items from these three tabs, but not store anything there. “This is how you get ladder-exclusive items into your non-ladder game,” adds Robert Gallerani.
The new rune words are meant to help fill in the gaps in rune distribution in classic Diablo 2, Matthew Cederquist tells us, “We found that a lot of runes, like stealth, were designed for the early game. Then there are runes that become especially important in the later game. And there’s a gap in the middle – around level 40 to 60.”
In the future, however, the developers don’t just want to plug this gap: new rune words should also include more classes and builds that were previously disadvantaged, according to Matthew Cederquist.
The Ladder in Diablo 2: Resurrected.
Just like the classic Diablo 2, in Diablo 2: Resurrected you can choose between four modes in the ladder:
Standard Ladder
The casual version of the ladder with four acts.
Hardcore Ladder
The hardcore version (one life only) of the ladder with four acts.
Standard Expansion Ladder
The casual version of the ladder with five acts, as it includes the Lord of Destruction expansion.
Hardcore Expansion Ladder
The hardcore (one life only) version of the ladder with five acts, as this includes the Lord of Destruction expansion.
There is no information about the start of the Ladder in D2R yet. The duration of the seasons is also still unclear. We will keep you up to date in our overview article:
Diablo 2 and Resurrected: What is the Ladder and how does it work in 2021?
Changes in Mercenaries
Even the mercenaries shall not go empty-handed. In addition to additional runewords, they will receive a few revisions with patch 2.4, which should make especially neglected mercenaries interesting for players again.
The developers are aware that most Diablo fans prefer the desert sons from Act 2, as they support the player with strong auras. “We haven’t touched those mercenaries either,” explains Robert Gallerani. “But we want there to be more reasons for players to resort to other mercenaries in certain situations.”
As an example, Matthew Cederquist cites the barbarians from Act 5: “Players haven’t really been able to get anything out of these mercenaries for 20 years. Based on feedback we’re getting from testers, we’ve now added screams to the barbarian mercenaries, for example.”
The developers cannot guarantee whether these changes will ultimately be adopted in exactly the same way for the release of patch 2.4. They are currently trying out many things, talking to streamers and testers and waiting for the players’ reaction from the PTR, which is already scheduled for the beginning of 2022.
