Change is coming, Wanderer. Do you have the courage to experience the future of Sanctuary first?
The first public test server (PTR) of "Diablo IV" is coming soon. In it, players will have the opportunity to experience the new changes and features coming in Season 4 in advance! The PTR will be open to PC Battle.net players from April 3 to April 10, Beijing time.
The purpose of opening the PTR is to test content and feature updates with players before the official release of Season 4, obtain feedback from them, and make adjustments before the new season is officially launched. Your experience in Sanctuary is about to change, and here’s an overview.
Equipment system innovation
We have adjusted the game's equipment system according to the following three principles: quality over quantity; good equipment should have growth potential; of course, the equipment should also bring excitement and surprising experiences.
Here is an overview of our changes to the equipment system:
Basic update of equipment system
● Reduce the number of equipment affixes: Legendary equipment now has 3 affixes, and rare equipment has 2 affixes.
● Smaller affix pool, higher affix strength
● More meaningful affixes (such as individual core skill levels)
● World level 3 only drops sacred equipment, world level 4 only drops ancestral equipment.
● Increase affix values to make them more present (not just to you, but to the demons in Sanctuary as well)
● New affixes and affix positioning:
○ Resource acquisition per second
○ Acquire resources by killing
○ Lucky Blow: Make it vulnerable
○ Gain life per hit
○Basic skill level
Other updates
● Monsters above level 95 will only drop legendary equipment of level 925
● Gems simplify, strengthen, and have longer-term growth potential
Gems now have basic attributes, simplifying overly complex conditions for additional effects to take effect.
● Breakdown, crafting and reward adjustments
Significantly reduces the drop rate of equipment (more monster spawns, less identification!)
Increase the gold coin consumption limit for heavy roll enchantments
Forgotten Souls can be obtained from Secret Words and Elite rare drops
Unique gold equipment appears earlier
World levels 1 and 2 will drop some dark gold equipment.
World level 3 will drop all dark gold equipment
Monsters above level 55 have a chance to drop rare dark gold equipment with an equipment level of 925
New casting system: Tempering
● You can use Temper Manuals (reusable) at the blacksmith to add affixes to equipment. Most gameplays will drop the Tempering Manual.
● The manual is similar to the energy code and can be used unlimitedly once obtained. The categories are also similar, such as resources, maneuvers, etc.
● Each manual contains several affixes, which can be added to equipment one at a time.
● The tempering affix can be reset, up to the reroll limit.
● Ancestral equipment can obtain two different types of tempering affixes.
Greater Affixes
● It will only appear on ancestor and dark gold equipment. It is an enhanced version of ordinary affixes, which is 1.5 times the previous maximum roll value.
● Equipment with advanced affixes will have special sound effects when dropped, and the number of advanced affixes will also be displayed in Roman numerals from I-IV. [For example, Helm (Ancestor)-II]
● In world levels 3 and 4, each affix has a probability of becoming a high-level affix.
● It is only obtained through drops and will not enchant a high-level affix.
Masterworking
● End-game casting system, using materials dropped from the Craftsman’s Pit (a new end-game gameplay)
● Increase the value of current equipment affixes
○ There are 12 levels
○ Every 4 levels, one affix will be greatly improved
○ Other levels will only slightly increase the affix value
Energy Codex Update
● All legendary powers are merged into the Energy Codex, so you can focus on getting equipment instead of organizing your backpack
● The highest roll value of the legendary power will be stored in the codex after decomposition
● The numerical range of power affixes depends on the rarity of the equipment (common, holy, ancestor)
● The numerical range of most affixes has been increased
● User interface optimization, new manual and keyword searches, and preferences for commonly used powers can also be added
Hellraiser Renewal
Hell's frenzy, another climax. In order to bring the frenzy from the depths of Hell to the surface of Sanctuary, we've made the following changes to Hell's Frenzy.
Hellraiser Threat
● Fighting in Hellsurge will build up threat points for you - depending on the difficulty of the monster and how often you get the Gift of Torment. Death resets the threat value.
● There are three levels of threat, and the strength and frequency of monsters increase in sequence. At level 3, you gain the Mark of Hell.
○ Reaching the highest threat level will initiate a brief, ultra-high-density enemy attack, which ends with a powerful warrior reborn from hellfire, with five variants, representing the five classes of "Diablo IV".
○ Your threat level will be reset upon activation of Hellfire Warriors.
curse ritual
● The props for opening the ritual, Baneful Hearts, are mainly obtained from the Gift of Torment treasure chest and need to be used at the corresponding ritual location.
● You will witness the cultist's final dedication to his dark vision in this bloody ritual. Place three evil hearts to start the ritual, and then a dense attack of demonic enemies will arrive, and other players in your plane will also be alerted.
● The arrival of the powerful leader Blood Maiden marks the climax of the enemy attack. Defeating her will drop rich rewards.
World level 1/2 adjustment
● In order to encourage players to join the Hell Frenzy gameplay earlier in the game, the PTR will make the following adjustments to make this gameplay more interesting and rewarding in World Tiers 1 and 2.
○ All chests are Gift of Mysterious Torment chests.
○ Removed wandering bosses and randomly falling meteorites.
○ Monster density is lower compared to world levels 3 and 4.
Craftsman's Abyss ( new endgame gameplay )
Rumor has it that deep in the criss-crossing underground cities in the northern part of Sanctuary, there are all kinds of strange ores, which are suitable for equipment carefully crafted by Horadric's mysterious casting technology.
● After entering world level 4, you will receive a request to complete a 46-level nightmare dungeon mission. Your endgame gameplay will thereafter drop rune shards, collect enough to activate Serega's Obelisk.
● Activating the Obelisk will open a portal to the Abyss. Your goal is to kill enough monsters in 10 minutes, and each death of a player reduces your remaining time: 30 seconds for the first death, 60 seconds for the second, and 60 seconds for the third and subsequent deaths. Death is reduced by 90 seconds.
● If you kill enough monsters within the specified time, a portal will appear taking you to the boss.
● Kill the boss before the countdown ends, and you will obtain the materials needed for the Mastery System and unlock the next level of the Abyss.
○ Kill the boss within 4-6 minutes of the countdown to unlock an additional layer of the abyss.
○ Kill the boss with 6 minutes or more left in the countdown to unlock two additional levels of the abyss.
○ Abyss has hundreds of difficulty levels.
○ If you fail to complete the challenge after the countdown, you will still receive loot, but you will not receive crafting materials.
○ Up to 4 people can form a team to challenge the abyss. The player who opens the abyss will receive the largest share of material rewards.
○ Only players who open the Abyss will have the opportunity to obtain materials used to summon the "Echoes of Torment" boss.
New boss challenge
● Echoes of Andariel will be challenged by the boss in the PTR of Season 4, and like her brother Duriel, will drop rare unique gold equipment. A blend of shadow, fire, lightning, and her signature poison, Andariel is ready to face anyone who dares speculate on her death.
○ Summoning materials can be obtained from Beasts in the Ice and Lord Zir.
● All "Echoes of Torment" that challenge the boss can be summoned using Stygian Stones. This item is dropped from the high-level Abyss gameplay.
○ The demand for Hades Stones will gradually increase, don’t worry, they will also drop more rewards!
○ "Echoes of Torment" level is 200.
○ The equipment level of all dropped items is 925.
○ Defeating a "Echo of Torment" boss for the first time will drop a "beautiful electric flower" (account bound).
How to provide feedback
Players’ experience and feedback on the changes on the PTR are crucial to us and to the official launch of Season 4. So if you participated in the PTR testing, please be sure to let us know your feedback!
You can provide feedback through the in-game feedback tool or the PTR section of the official Diablo 4 forum. Pressing the "Esc" key in the game menu will pop up the "Report a Bug" menu. You can select the drop-down filter and select "In-Game Feedback Tool" to provide feedback without leaving the game
How to download PTR
*This test is only open to PC Battle.net players
Here are the steps to enter the PTR:
● Open the Blizzard Battle.net client and select "Diablo 4" from the game list.
● Among the options above the "Play Game" button, there is a "Game Version" drop-down menu.
● Select the "PTR" option.
● Click "Install" to install the PTR client. When the download is complete, the Install button will change to Start Game.
● Click Start Game, log in to the PTR, and select any available test server.
● Create a new test role.
● Enter the game and start testing the Season 4 update!
If you are a PC Game Pass or Game Pass Ultimate user, you can also participate in the PTR through the same steps as other Battle.net users.
Enter the Battle.net client in the Xbox app and participate in the PTR through Battle.net.
Class Adjustments and Full Patch Notes
Career adjustment will usher in massive changes. Complete balance adjustments and patch notes can be viewed in the foldout at the end of the original article.
We have guided career adjustments with three guidelines, which will also be reflected in PTR game content.
● A large number of effective career adjustments, not just numerical adjustments, but system and design changes.
● Make more direct damage-dealing powers more powerful and usable. The bonuses to these attributes did not meet our expectations, so now they will increase along with the weapon damage. We will observe the actual effects of PTR and S4 after they are officially launched, and then make necessary adjustments.
● Open design, more versatile. Allow players to try more linkages and new builds. For example, you like the dust devil mechanic of the barbarian, but you are frustrated because you can't build a viable endgame style. Don't worry, we're working on a lot of modifications to make this type of genre possible. Letting players try any playstyle and promoting genre diversity is our real goal.
