Median XL - Version Log

Median XL: Sigma

- First Release - Patch Σ 1.0.0 -



Engine

THE SIGMA CORE


Resolution and field of view has been increased to 1024x768, up from the classic 800x600
Use the glide settings if you wish to further stretch window size, without losing visual quality
The user interface has been updated to bring it up to modern game standards
All skill cooldowns are now dynamically calculated, meaning that lag will not make the cooldown appear extended
Skills of a different group no longer share cooldowns
Stats such as physical resistance and magic resistance now appear on the character sheet
A new configuration menu has been implemented, with 4 separate tabs:
Hotkey Settings
Notification Settings: Includes things such as notifications for new skill/stat points, gear durability decay, etc..
Interface Settings: Includes options for always showing mana/HP, displaying game name/password in upper right corner, etc..
Video & Sound Settings
Objects such as the Cairn Stones, Shrines, Horadric Staff altar, Tal Rasha tomb and Act 5 waypoints now appear when Map Reveal is used
Support for Windows XP, Windows Vista, D2SE and PlugY has been dropped due to incompatibility
We are aiming to implement stash pages in the future

Quality of Life

General
Town Portal is now an innate skill with a 10 second cooldown. This means you won't have to worry about having to buy town portal scrolls ever again
All items which drops from monsters are now automatically identified once picked up
Waypoints and gold are automatically collected when you walk over them
As a result of the larger resolution:
Inventory and stash space has been increased
There are now more items on the Gambling screen. Including rings/amulets
Gear is automatically re-equipped in town after death. Potions no longer vacate your belt every time you die
You no longer lose experience or gold on death
Respawning after death now has a 5 second cooldown. This change was made to counteract the removal of gold and experience loss upon death
This also discourages players from suicide rushing endgame content
Area level now optionally displays in the upper right corner of the screen
Added options to display/hide game name and/or game password in the configuration menu
A portal to the Cow Level can now be created in any Act Town
Difficulties reverted to their vanilla nomenclature (Normal, Nightmare, and Hell difficulties)
Hotkeys
Map Reveal is now accessible via the user interface or by pressing 'R' while in-game by default
A hotkey has been added for nopickup, by default it is 'X'
A hotkey has been added for the transmute button in the Horadric Cube, it is 'C' by default
You can now use Ctrl+Click to move/drop items from inventory to the stash, cube or ground

Diablo 2 Bugfixes


Fixed a bug that caused the game to crash if a cinematic was played while running the game with -nosound
Fixed a bug that made the game crash if certain FCR/IAS/FRW values were used
Fixed a bug that made the game crash if charms had no affixes available
Fixed many percentage calculations that led to overflows, which caused side effects like the damage cap
Fixed a "bug/feature" that prevented druids to die while morphed
Fixed a bug that caused characters to resurrect in a "ghost state" if they received life after dying
Fixed a bug with level palettes when switching acts
Fixed a "bug" that prevented whirlwind from triggering chance to cast skills
Fixed a "bug" that made the game pick unintended monster for bosses in Hell difficulty
Fixed a bug that broke hotkeys while using chat in the Horadric Cube
Fixed a bug that caused sprites to disappear after a certain number of sprites were displayed simultaneously
Fixed various glitches with stat requirements (so called str/dex glitch)
Fixed a bug that caused life, mana and stamina to rollover on the client when it went past 32,767
Fixed a bug that caused redundant CPU usage in a loop
Fixed a "bug" that made the game draw null missiles, wasting performance
Fixed a bug that caused ethereal item bonuses to be applied more than once if item was rerolled (i.e. in a cube recipe)
Fixed a bug that made the game freeze when trying to enter a portal at the same time you died
Error #1336 will no longer crash the game
Fixed a bug that caused portals to not display level names properly
Fixed a bug that caused items granting an aura to not re-apply after death
Fixed a bug that enabled carrying more than one charm under certain circumstances

Balance

Experience Progression

Max Character level increased to 150
Modified Area Level (aLVL) ranges on Nightmare difficulty from 51-115 to 51-100
Modified aLVL ranges on Hell difficulty from 120 to 105-120
Endgame Zones
Modified aLVL ranges from 120 to 105-150
Rifts and Dungeons have level requirements starting at 105 and each difficulty block unlocks after 5 levels
Experience Formula Revamp
Level 100 should be reachable by the start of Hell, without rerunning areas
101 to 120 will now take more time to achieve
There are no longer huge experience gaps on levels 121-125
Multiple improvements on Normal and especially Nightmare experience scaling
Removal of experience penalty on death will make boss hunting less punishing during leveling
Signets of Learning limit reduced to 400 to compensate for new stat points
Sacred Uniques now have varying level requirements and ilvls, which means some uniques will only drop in the hardest stages
Experience signets removed
Our Philosophy: read more...
Changes to Resistances

Most of the monsters in Median have had their immunity removed
All bosses on Hell difficulty now receive 20% more damage from Magic sources compared to Median 2017
This was done to compensate for the fact that Magic damage has no special properties. Unlike Physical (leech) and Elemental (resist pierce on gear)
All regular enemy immunities replaced with absorb:
Damage from the absorbed source is reduced by: 25%, 50%, 75% on Normal, Nightmare, Hell difficulties respectively
Previously, endgame bosses reduced the duration of poison applied to them by 90%+. This has been reduced to a flat 50%
Duration reduction is maintained in order to counteract the "double dip" effect of resistance pierce, only present for poison damage
Regular monster resistances:
0% all on Normal
0% Magic and Physical, 15% Elemental on Nightmare
0% Magic, 10% Physical, 35% Elemental on Hell
Note: poison is considered an element in Diablo 2
The global absorb distribution has been improved. For example: there used to be significantly more fire immune enemies compared to other elements
The level distribution of absorbs has also been improved. For example: there used to be zones which had 90% of their monsters immune to one element
Monsters that previously had physical immunity will now have 60% resistance to physical damage
Movement Speed

Run/walk toggle has been disabled, so you can no longer accidentally be running
"Sprint" replaces run:
Lasts about 5 seconds and is significantly faster than old running
In the future, effects may be added by skills/passives when sprinting
Removed stamina gain per level of vitality, removed stamina stats on most items
Stamina now vs vanilla Diablo 2:
You no longer need to stand still to initiate stamina regen from an empty orb
Stamina regeneration rate has been improved significantly
Morphs now have the same walking speed as the character, instead of being slower, and can now run
Character base movement speed slightly increased
Movement speed (Faster Run/Walk) from most items removed
Instead, boots can now spawn with innate 15-40% movement speed regardless of rarity. Middle values are weighted to be most common
Skill speeds have been removed, all player skills will now modify item equivalents (adjusted accordingly)
Skill speeds often confused players and caused inordinate character speeds endgame, both of which were undesirable
Monster slow effects reduced by 40%
Velocity slow on armors and shields reduced by 40%
Changes to the Gold Economy
We want gold to be a balanced resource in Sigma, and going forward. Previously obtaining gold was trivial and involved boring activities such as selling garbage items to vendors. Because of this we could never add truly useful endgame purchases for this resource. The changes to gold in Sigma aim to address this.

Merchants have had enough, and will no longer pay top coin for your rubbish
Gold drops from monsters have been increased greatly. The only way to make more gold now is to kill more monsters
Greater Gold signets now give 60% less gold
Greater and Superior potions prices increased
Oil prices have increased
Larzuk has colluded with the Merchant Cartel and Mystic Orb prices are now the same in every town
Rings and Amulets may now be gambled from merchants once again (at endgame appropriate prices)
We will add other useful purchases in future patches
Item Descriptions
Multiple descriptions have been changed in order to improve clarity and fix redundancies and errors

Most affix descriptions have been simplified. Many of these are self-explanatory and require no log. Some examples:
"Better Chance of getting magic items" is now "Magic Find"
"Life replenish" no longer uses a complicated formula and is now "Life Regenerated per Second", so you know exactly what you are getting
Speed affixes are no longer either double positive or double negative
"All resistances" are now "Elemental resistances" in order to prevent confusion with the addition of physical and magic resistances to the character sheet
"when your Enemy is Slain" has been renamed to "on Death Blow"

Game

Monsters

General
Each boss/superunique now has its own portrait and life bar that appears on the screen without having to hover over them
Monsters in mid Nightmare onwards now drop half as many potions
All bosses are no longer affected by Crushing Blow
Monsters which have on death skills now cast them less often but with more damage
Act 1 monsters in Normal difficulty now have increased health
Act bosses no longer drop guaranteed uniques on Nightmare and Hell
BRONZE, SILVER, GOLD TITAN: Removed immunity auras
PEST: Reduced pack size in the Sewers
Removed Vultures from the Arcane Sanctuary monster pool
Elite
Elite monsters can now drop world drops (like Belladonna Extracts)
STONE HAMMER DEMON: Now use earthquake instead of Shower of Rocks
DJINN: Reduced the damage of Immolation Bomb
DETONATOR: Proc chance increased to 100%, but now deals significantly less damage
DARK CHAMPION: Now uses Sun Strike instead of Ambush
STEEL CRUSHER: Charge now deals cold damage. Their Rust Storm now slows significantly less on Normal and Nightmare difficulties
SHOCK MONKEY: Multihit of Lightning Wall reduced
BROKEN SOUL: Glacial Spike damage reduced by 25%, chill now lasts 1 second, up from 0.2
HELLCAT: Removed spell-disabling aura
PORKCHOP: Replaced with elite Blood Rogues in the Forgotten Tower. Completely removed
SKULL CLAN: Shamans now summon 25% less goats per corpse, summoned goats give 80% less experience
MUTILATOR: Damage reduced by 50%
MANGLER: Reduced damage, added ND to storm crows skill
CRUCIATOR: Reduced damage and seek range. No longer attack through walls
KNIGHT OF DEATH: Now uses a Time Strike instead of their stat reduction curse
WANDERING SARANDESH: Removed from Act 4 Plains of Despair
ONYX KNIGHT: Reduced Shock Flower level
TREE OF LIFE: Reduced HP on Normal
ICE CLAN: Removed 25% chance to cast Widowmaker on Death
VOID ARCHON: Warp Field Aura reduces potion effectiveness by 50%
QUE-HEGAN: Reduced pack size and sound processing related lag
Veteran

Veteran monsters no longer permanently stun you with their melee attacks
LANDMASS: Now cast Doom instead of Shower of Rocks and deal slightly reduced damage
GLOWING BLOB: Deal 20% increased damage
Act Bosses
Act bosses no longer have 75% chance to avoid on Hell difficulty
DURIEL: Increased HP, decreased AR. Decreased damage
BAAL: Increased defense and reduced HP on Normal. Reduced HP in Nightmare. Fixed a bug with his Stormcall doing pure physical damage
Superuniques
Resist mods are now capped.
PRINCE ALBRECHT: Reduced group size on Normal difficulty
GRISWOLD: Reduced damage on Nightmare
The Gift box has been removed
New unique item replaces Gift Box. Spawns improved version on all difficulties
This unique must be found and cannot be upgraded, it also cannot be disenchanted
Avoid replaced with increased life
RADAMENT: Damage reduced
ZOLTUN KULLE: Slightly reduced HP on Nightmare. Reduced damage. Now spawns portal to Tal Rasha on death as opposed to using Dark Portal
FLOWER PROWLER: Removed
KENTRIL DUMON: Damage reduced
MAGHDA: Damage reduced on Hive. Slightly reduced HP on Nightmare
BUYARD CHOLIK: Replaced with Iceclaw the Merciless who spawns Shadow Selves
GHOM: Reduced HP on all difficulties and increased damage on Normal
INFERNAL CONTRAPTION: reduced spawn rate on Normal, increased HP on Nightmare and Hell difficulties
KETHRYRES: New superunique in the Halls of the Dead level 3. Opens portal to Tran Athulua
GHEED'S MENTOR: New superunique in the Stony Tomb Level 2. Opens portal to the Island of the Sunless Sea
NARTHAL: New superunique on the Arreat Summit. Now opens a portal to the old Arreat Summit instead of one of the Ancients
IZUAL: Removed avoid and increased life to compensate. Now opens a portal to the Diamond Gates (High Heavens) on death
SHENK THE OVERSEER: Now has the overseer sprite, reworked, including higher HP
NIHLATHAK: His empowered minions (old Rathma's Chosen) no longer one shot
TALIC: Stormblast proc removed due to severe desync now that whirlwind is able to trigger procs. Now has 30% physical resistance on all difficulties.
All ancients now have regular monster resists as opposed to 0

Areas

General
Environmental sound fixed in many zones (Tristram soundtrack is now back)
Restored multiple zones that used to host endgame quests previously
Reduced the damage of the "Uber slayer" chest trap
Act 1
ROGUE ENCAMPMENT: moved warriv, fixed Akara tent
TRISTRAM: Wirt has escaped
BLOODTHRONE: lowered density
Act 3
Reduced map reveal time due to numerous map optimizations
KURAST DOCKS: Has been reverted to its LoD variant, but improved
CALDEUM: Now accessed via killing Vizier who guards the entrance to Lower Kurast from the Flayer Jungle

Challenges

General
Removed information scrolls
Level Challenge 2: removed
Black Road Challenge: replaced with new Dungeon quest
Level Challenge
Tran Athulua now has a level requirement of 45 to enter on Normal
Now accessed by killing the Infernal Contraption in Act 5 (the final wave of Baal's minions)
Changed the rules of the challenge and modified the map
Each Priestess drops a shard of their respective element, these 3 must be cubed together at or below level 59 to avoid an Arcane Crystal penalty
This penalty is 2 arcane crystals per 10 levels above level 59. So you can still do the challenge if you forget about it, but at a price
Ennead Challenge
Is now accessed after killing Mephisto on Nightmare difficulty
See Kurast 3000 BA for further changes

Endgame Quests


General

Rifts and Dungeons

Endgame quests are now divided into Rifts and Dungeons, the latter are primarily Boss focused and the former are zones for gathering items and experience
All endgame zones now have different level requirements for entry
This was done to prevent newer players from straying into them, and also to improve the endgame progression
The level requirement will be displayed on the area entrance or portal. Can also display it on the automap text (setting in configuration)
Rifts/Dungeons which are not required for challenges may only be accessed on Hell difficulty
All keys which were previously required to open Dungeon entrances are now consumable scrolls
Dark Portal skill removed after revamping the entrance to all zones
Unfortunately, there was not enough time to implement additional waypoints but they will be coming in a future update
Boss Events

Some quests will now have their entrance locked after a period of time
When the timer is over, you may not return to the zone if you decide to exit or die
This feature, in cooperation with the removal of many one-hit-kill skills, also aims to make Hardcore mode more balanced

Nephalem Rifts


Very Easy

Island of the Sunless Sea
Reclassified to Very Easy, monster stats have been reduced accordingly
Added 6 new superunique Sunless Angels which drop an angel bag each. You must collect six of them to make the charm
Removed Lucion and Malic
1/10 chance for the Sunless Crystal Bird to drop from the angels
Increased density
Greatly increased illumination
Sunless revelers and mutants were removed
Feyr bolt now reduces potion effectiveness by 50%. Increased their HP and gave them a speed reduction
Now accessed after killing Gheed's Mentor superunique in the Treasure Vault
Multiple tweaks to make the level look more abandoned
Map no longer has black edges and has been improved and increased
Restored previous quest location (Drifter Cavern)

Easy

The Secret Cow Level
Cows are now in smaller groups and difficulty has been readjusted
A Baal kill is no longer required to access this level. Updated recipe in the Cube Recipes section
The Cow King now spawns here
You can also find wirt's other leg
Drops from Cow Summoners, Shamans and Honchos increased
Cow Honcho damage reduced
Torajan Jungles
Now accessed via portal in Kurast Docks
Fixed occasional crashes upon zone entry
Level spawn point is now where Akarat used to be
Attack rating of Forest Keepers and Crippling Swarms reduced
Forest Keeper HP buff reduced, added a small amount of Crushing Blow to their attacks, reduced experience
Slightly reduced damage from most monsters
Removed signets of skill
Akarat's Followers
Spawn as regular monsters in the jungles
Hammer proc removed, greatly increased HP, drop items like regular monsters
Slightly decreased damage and attack rating, increased defense
Weakening Nova no longer slows monsters down. Instead it also reduces magic resistance
Akarat
Moved next to Kurast 3000 BA portal
Now has 90% base resistance
Removed avoid and increased HP
Physical damage halved, added cold damage to attacks. At 70% cold resistance you take the same damage as before
Lord Aldric Jitan
Slightly buffed health and damage
No longer casts Singularity along with his Rakkis Guardsmen. This has been replaced with Guard Tower

Moderate

Kurast 3000 BA
There were multiple issues with this quest. It was unintuitive for an early quest, immortal skeletons would block players from attacking totems and make it very difficult for certain builds to deal with. Additionally, the stage felt like a very cluttered, visually unappealing, and glitchy map with a "cramped" feeling. The high concentration of skeletons with aura effect was also causing performance issues.

Map re-created from scratch. It is now considerably larger than the previous version
FPS loss greatly reduced
Skeletons: Increased HP by 20%
Shadowgate Totems
Now resurrects skeletons instead of summoning new ones
HP increased by 8x, removed Avoid, and they now have an attack
Shadowgate aura: Changed visuals to reduce lag, now increases skeleton life by 100% instead of making them invulnerable
Hammer of the Taan Judges drop rate increased to 1/3
High Heavens
7 New Zones
Diamond Gates
Silver City (Town)
Library of Fate
The Silver Spire Level 1
The Silver Spire Level 2
Pools of Wisdom
Halls of Valor
Crystal Arch
Weakening nova no longer slows monsters down. Instead it also reduces magic resist
Ethereals: reduced chance to use weaken nova to 33%, increased HP and defense. No longer stun
Lightwells: delay between punishers increased by 25%
Wings of the Departed drop rate reduced by 90%
KHALIMGRAD:
Now named Library of Fate, multiple map fixes and improvements
Zakarum Avatar: hitbox size increased
Tran Athulua
Slight density reduction
The priestesses now have an aura to distinguish them more easily from the other Amazon Warriors
Slightly reduced damage of Priestesses, increased HP in Normal difficulty
Removed barrel spawns
Arrowside proc modified: Lowered duration, now has a small delay before actual arrows spawn
Sunstone of the Gods: Now obtained by cubing 3 guaranteed reagents from the Priestesses
Map improvements

Hard

Teganze
TERUL: Charm now always drops
Trader Chest removed and replaced with new item: Umbaru Treasure
Umbaru Treasure can be cubed with essences up to 25, each consumed essence can give between -3 to 5 stats. The final gamble gives +4 to all attributes
Random elemental hit (like vanilla Diablo 2 Spectral Hit)
Slightly increased life
Triune
No longer need to re-equip book when you die
Charm (Lucion's Soulstone): removed stats, now called Demonic Wormhole
Cycles have been fully replaced by a new cube reagent to fill a similar purpose when used with the Wormhole
Drop quality increased
Map improved to reduce clutter
Spires are no longer a one hit kill and were working unexpectedly, this was fixed
Vaca Loca now called Durram, tweaked skills
Tome of Possession refurbished
Abolish curse: defense/avoid/movespeed reduction changed to negative HP regeneration
Primus' Messenger replaced with Malic
Arihan replaced with Lucion, Primus of the Triune
Duncraig
Map massively overhauled with new guild tileset, less need for teleportation and smoother gameplay
WALLS FADE
Reduced difficulty tier
Drop quality increased
Now accessed from the Church of Dien-Ap-Sten
Slain Souls:
Dynamite/barrel damage reduced to a point where they are survivable with enough health and/or physical resist
Increased HP and defense
Small density reduction
Minibosses now appear on the mini-map

Very Hard

Toraja
The cemetery is now a transition area between the Torajan Jungles and Teganze
Experience greatly increased
Lilith:
Now has double HP, her broadside damage was reduced by 25%, and she can now walk through fences
Doubled maximum life
Now drops a charm instead of requiring a cube recipe
Vizjun
Respawns no longer give experience or drops to prevent AFK farming
Now spawns at the Proving Grounds and initial location moved
Reduced excess mob density and visual effects
Fauztinville
Density reduced. Drop quality increased. Improved illumination
Is now in Act 5 and accessed by cubing the Kabraxis Ultra Elemental gems with the Black Road charm
Improved entrance so hidden passage is visible
Harpylisk: Increased damage and attack rating, slightly reduced HP
Necrobot: Increased HP
Neon Fiend: Slightly increased HP and walk speed

Dungeons


Very Easy

Horror Under Tristram
Butcher quest fully revamped
No longer has to stand in a pentagram to take damage
The area now contains 4 Sacrificial Shrines, these shrines fill with blood after he casts Bloodlust and unleash fire waves seeking the player
The Butcher's melee attack now deals damage in a small radius
Reduced ambient flames in the center of his lair
Infernal Machine
Wandering Sarandesh, Mahasattva and Unseelie Dames no longer spawn here, machine health increased to compensate
Death Projector
Death spiral is no longer a one shot, but it still does high damage. Now it spins continuously
Death Mechanics' velocity and attack rating was reduced by 20%
Lots of map improvements regarding bugged unwalkable tiles, modified layout

Easy

Assault on Mount Arreat
Now has a 2 minute level lock
King Koth: Greatly increased defense, slightly increased damage
Bear Shamans: Reduced drops
Binding of Baal
Tal Rasha: Increased HP, defense, and experience
Creature of Flame
No longer has a one shot beam
Now summons Dimensional Gates which spawn Elite monsters until killed, and lobs fiery mortar
Now uses a new AI and the level layout has been modified
Now has a proper portal from Caldeum

Moderate

Legacy of Blood

Quest is now locked after 1 minute
Map enlarged to allow for more breathing room
20% less minion density in the zone
BARTUC
Now also loses his magic immunity on using Wychwind
Tweaked AI, increased HP, increased damage and removed his avoid
Will now despawn all his minions upon dying
Blood Golems
Reduced golem death proc damage
Increased vulnerability duration and reduced HP
Slightly decreased damage
No longer leave corpses
Bull Prince Rodeo
Has his own arena, accessible after killing the Cow King
Battle modified via tweaked AI
Cow Rush is now a timered skill and does less damage
Fight should now be less chaotic
Fool's Gold: Reanimate removed from charm and no longer rolls negative stats
Rathma Square
Map has been redone to improve visibility, walls fade as well
Crawler respawn chance reduced to 75% from 100%. Increased HP, can no longer be reanimated
PRIMUS: Increased health
On death, the stage is cleared and spawns a portal to Triune
Now accessed from Caldeum
Density reduced
Azmodan
Removed fire pierce, now has fire spell damage
Adjusted skill levels, reduced life
Now spawns without minions so his area is less chaotic
Replaced Shower of Rocks with Fortress
Greatly increased HP, defense and Flamestrike skill level
Sons of Azmodan: Replaced Apocalypse with Fire Fountain so they deal damage now
Charm's maximum resistance reduced to 2% (part of a larger maximum resistance overhaul)
The Black Road
New Dungeon Quest
Bramwell: New zone, accessed from Rogue Encampment
Church of Dien-Ap-Sten: New zone, the prophet's fortress in Bramwell
Subterranean Corridor: Connects the Church to Duncraig
Killing Buyard Cholik in the Church gives you the new Black Road charm
Kabraxis is now spawned after killing Buyard Cholik
The Veiled Prophet
Renamed from Cathedral of Vanity
Now located in the Library of Fate
Map improved
CRYSTAL BALL
Health increased by 200%
The beam mechanics have been modified
Hitbox increased
No longer a superunique (Meaning it can no longer spawn with Teleportation or Stone Skin)
30 second quest lock
High Clerics: Buffed
Inarius: Greatly increased health. Spawns after destroying the Crystal Ball
Nuns of Vanity: have strengthened their beliefs and can no longer be converted

Hard

Eve of Destruction
Baal must now be defeated within 20 minutes of entering the final chamber, otherwise the Worldstone becomes corrupted
Banisher of Light
formerly Kabraxis, now located in the Path to Enlightenment, accessed after killing Buyard Cholik
KABRAXIS: Weapon damage reduced by 38%, life reduced by 10%, Balefire damage reduced by 10%. Removed block
Ultra Elementals no longer have 200 elemental pierce
Quov Tsin
Map has been improved
Stars in the stage background
Bone Spear Nova proc chance increased along with speed, damage has been reduced to prevent one hit kill
Missiles can now go through space
Trinity Nova has been replaced with Mythal
Charm stats reduced by 10 (they now appear in Athulua's new charm)
Judgement Day
Fully revamped quest, thematic and skill changes
New zones: Halls of Valor and Pools of Wisdom, located in the Crystal Arch
Absorb on Crystalline Flame Medallion charm reduced to 5%
Charm upgrade proc duration extended to 1 minute
Bosses have more life and Angiris' Chosen (their Rathma's Chosen) proc has been replaced
Edyrems: Replaced Divine Apparition with spell flurry, removed concentration, increased speed. Have two variants (light and dark)
Athulua
New scroll drops from the Priestesses with a 1/10 chance
Stand in the center/heart of the Island of Skartara to summon her
She now drops a new charm
Buffed Valkyrie's Prime bow
Slightly reduced tracing missile velocity, reduced CB and magic arrow damage
King of Ureh

Has a quest lock of 90 seconds
JURIS KHAN: Health significantly increased, his damage has been increased as well
Citizens now spawn in smalled packs, now have slightly lowered speed and increased damage and attack rating
Darkwardens have increased damage and attack rating
Map Overhaul
Passage is now wider
There are now two parallel passages which come together
Boss area redone
Ruins of Ureh map size reduced by 56% and now has 2 variants instead of 6
Theme Rework
Citizens are now more ghostly with no light radius or blue aura
Level will now have smaller light variations
Mazi's Eidolon: former Punishment Turrets
Punisher spiral: Changed light effect, smaller radius and now green instead of red
Ghosts of Old Bremmtown
Increased density and reduced pack size, so mobs are now more dispersed
Howling Spirits
Buffed all Howling Spirit stats
Added cold damage to their attacks and reduced their physical damage
At 82% cold resistance, you take the same damage as before
Reduced avoid pierce from spirits from 50% to 20%
Increased map size and made it easier to navigate
Dark Star Dragon beam changed. Now drops a charm

Very Hard

Realm of Lies
Density has been modified and flesh mothers removed
Level color changed to red to match the theme of Hell
Chest traps are now removed
BELIAL
Boss fight is entirely new and showcases the Lord of Lies' illusion prowess and trickery
Level lock timer is 60 seconds
Moved to Very Hard category
Charm minimum roll is now 100
Yshari Sanctum
VALTHEK: boss stage now locks after 15 minutes
Bosses have normal boss resistances, avoid replaced with increased life. Buffed
Reduced the density of the Act 4 biome
Reduced drowned beast pack size and stats
Chimera pierce removed, skill level of their proc reduced. Damage reduced
Tweaked density of all zones
Harmonium and Celestial descendent damage lowered
Polar Worms spawn less monsters
Set drops are now guaranteed with two pieces per boss
Increased jungle zone monster damage
Swapped entrance with Rathma Square
Xazax
Greatly reduced Maggot Lair and Depths size
Entrance in the Twin Seas moved closer
No longer has maggot curse
Penitent: Movement speed reduced by 18%. Now only spawned once at the start of the fight and then every 30 seconds
Xazax must now be defeated within 5 minutes of entering his arena
Cannot be Frozen removed from charm, this stat has been added to numerous items instead to improve character gear selection choices
Now casts Glacial Spikes instead of Punishers dealing cold damage with a long chill duration
Astrogha
Now absorbs elemental damage rather than decreasing elemental spell power
His charm now gives a 1 second cooldown reduction to Jitan's Gate
Numerous quality of life improvements to the map
Nymyr's Light
World Nexus now in Act 4 to reduce the load on the Act 3 map reveal, but is accessed the same way
Reanimates removed from The Sleep charm
Boss room improved and braziers no longer interfere with walking
Stage locks after 1 minute
ATANNA KHAN
Health reduced by 80%
Slightly reduced magic damage
Reduced walk speed
Doubled hitbox size
Reduced knockback chance on skills
Removed apple state on player
Removed one-shot from witches' trace skill
Density increased

Extreme

Nephalem's Sacrifice
Charm now gives a bonus to Edyrem life and has a minimum roll of +1 to All Skills. Now called the Neutrality Pact. Reanimate removed from charm. Now has a Purify oSkill instead of charges
Slightly reduced movement speed
Reduced health and damage
Miscellaneous map tweaks and balance changes on stages
Reduced Edyrem Attack Rating
Archbishop Lazarus
Removed all chance to avoid damage, reduced damage and life
Genesis is now located in Vizjun. Removed shrines and improved the floor tiles
Groupies no longer randomly spawn in the zone
If you die you may no longer return to the zone in the current game
Reanimate removed from the charm reward
The Void
Rathma now has 30% avoid instead of 90%, his health has been increased by 50%. Reduced Starfall damage
The Void boss fight zone becomes locked after 25 minutes
Arena now does 10% more damage to Rathma and players, Mendeln does 10% more damage
Now also has a star background
Soul of Pride no longer has regeneration and is now affected by auto-targeting skills
Entrance now opens after killing Inarius
Removed "apple" effect on darkness aura
Reduced lag from Citizens
Reduced Wrath's Blink Damage

Impossible

Herald of the End
Slightly reduced the power level of the reward items
Fixed Death Strike desync issues and reduced proc chance
Samael: Reduced skill usage by 13% and reduced movement speed. However, he is now resistant to slow effects
No longer regenerates health. Boss fight is now best attempted solo
Takes significantly less elemental damage, to normalize HP pool between elemental and physical/magic sources
Town Portal no longer works in the Edge of Nothingness and you have up to 20 minutes before the level is locked

Characters

GENERAL


Updated the visual effects of many skills for better clarity and performance
All warp skills are now limited in range
Uber skills have been renamed to Ultimate
Improved Black Road and Ennead skill descriptions
Barbarian mercenaries now use Wraithsword instead of Shower of Rocks
Tainted Blood, Dragonheart, Symbiosis, Mark of the Wild and Euphoria can no longer be used in town. This was necessary to circumvent a bug.
All skills which previously had a "0.8 second cooldown removed at base level x" will now have no cooldown as long as they're maxed OR at base level x, and at 0.8 seconds otherwise. This was done to ease the leveling process with these timered skills and to encourage spending points in these skills, rather than them being only 1 point

AMAZON

BOW
DRAGONLORE: added a magic damage component equal to the elements, increased damage by 15%
Total damage boost from this passive has been increased by 53%
JAVELIN
RICOCHET: 20% larger target seek area
ENFILADE: has been replaced with a new ability
Throw a javelin which bursts into a constricting spiral of toxic spikes
Deals 100% weapon damage, hits multiple times and poisons the target for 1 second
SPEAR
GREAT HUNT: weapon damage increased to 70%, up from 60%
BLOOD
In the blood witch tree all your spells are empowered under the effect of Blood Fury. Blood Fury can now be activated by casting your Innate Bloodlust, in addition to automatically activating when you are below 66% life

BLOODLUST: if you have at least one point in Bacchanalia
Duration is 20 seconds. A cooldown of 30 seconds is added
Activates Blood Fury
MAGIC MISSILES:
Damage and Mana cost increased by 20%, improved targeting
Now starts at 4 projectiles up from 2. Additional projectiles now gained every 5 levels, up from 3
Base explosion radius doubled
BLOODSTORM: damage increased by 20%
BACCHANALIA: skill enhancements are now listed on their respective tooltips
LAVA PIT: will no longer switch to default melee attack if you are out of mana
STORM
THUNDERCRACK: weapon damage increased to 110%, up from 100%
STORMCALL: 20% greater area of effect
MAGNETIC FIELD: weapon damage increased to 60%, up from 55%. Bonus damage increased by 25%
NEUTRAL
BALANCE: no longer capped at 32 000 defense
FIRE ELEMENTALS: now gain 5% fire spell damage and fire pierce per Base Level
REWARD
SPELLBIND: enemy damage reduction is now 40%, down from 50%

Assassin

Claw
BATSTRIKE: has been improved significantly
The third charge no longer has Next Delay
Bat summon stats have been greatly improved and you can now summon up to 10 at once
The number of bats summoned on second charge release scales with Base Level
NOCTULE:
Now generates 50% less projectiles per second
Duration is now fixed at the previous level 20 value
Weapon damage has been increased by 40%
Throw
SCORPION BLADE: damage reduced by 30%, now gains an extra projectile every 4 base levels of MkIV, up from 3
STORM CROWS: weapon damage increased to 100%, up from 90%. Clarified mechanics on tooltip
Maelstrom MkIV: has been upgraded to an improved iteration: APF-20 MkI
The main projectile now pierces all enemies and explodes on first contact dealing heavy magic damage in a small area based on your dexterity
Flechette novas have 50% less projectiles but they now deal 90% weapon damage, up from 30%
WYCHWIND:
Improved visuals and performance
Debuff now starts at -50% and scales down to 0, its duration has been greatly reduced
BROADSIDE:
Damage increased by 14%, now usable while wielding a Naginata
+8 knives at level 1, base cooldown increased by 2 seconds
Ninja
SHADOW REFUGE: Changed shade of blue to prevent the assassin from appearing beheaded
HADES GATE:
Weapon damage increased to 110%, up from 90%. Radius increased to 18.6 yards
Tooltip now shows accurate cooldown before investing points
Martial
BLINK: Improved visuals
Psionics
SHURIKEN FLURRY:
Base projectile count increased to the level 27 value, but now fixed
50% less shurikens, however they deal double damage
Damage at level 1 reduced, damage after level 28 increased by 33%
Traps
ELECTROFIELD SENTRY: removed next delay from nova, fuse now deals 50% less damage. Improved visuals
TIEFLING FORM: can now unmorph and has a cooldown of 10 seconds
Reward
PRISMATIC CLOAK: synergy now changed to 8% per base level, down from 10%

Barbarian

Champion
EARTHQUAKE: weapon damage increased from 70% to 80%
Throw
REBOUND: bonus damage from Gladiator's Dominance doubled
OVERKILL: now has 10 axes baseline, up from 3. Base Level axe scaling reduced by 20%
Spirits
Barbarian summons now follow the player, unlike previously due to an AI limitation. They now use their skills much more often
SHAMANIC TRANCE: no longer gives a bonus to mana regeneration. Mana cost growth of ancient spirit summons has been halved
SPIRIT WALK: stance radius bonus reduced by half. Boosting your minions with your stances will now require a greater investment
Special
MOUNTAIN KING: halved attribute bonus from skill levels. Added a synergy granting +1.5% to all stats per Base Level
Stance
Barbarian stances now only affect the player and his minions (mercenary included)
LION STANCE: maximum physical resist penalty reduced to -25%, down from -30%
WOLF STANCE: movement speed is no longer capped, starts with 40% movement speed and gains 2% per base level
Reward
RUNEMASTER:
No longer gains a defense bonus from skill levels. This allowed us to fix the "runemaster bug". You no longer need to re-equip your items
Base bonus increased to 3%, up from 1%. Bonus per base level increased to 0.75%, up from 0.5%
Total defense bonus per rune is now capped at 20%
GLADIATOR'S DOMINANCE:
Bonus block reduced to 5%, down from 6%
Movement speed cap increased to 75%
Magic Damage added to ranged skills increased by 50%
NEPHALEM SPIRIT: damage scaling from strength and dexterity reduced by 25%

Druid

General
Now start with a Hand Axe instead of a Short Sword
Treewarden
THORN STRIKE: 20% more hits per attack, 30% less weapon damage. Temporary cooldown added
CIRCLE OF LIFE: scales 60% less with skill levels after level 28
Trap Rat
Hit recovery animation has been improved.
THORN WALL: single target potential has been greatly improved
Now hits 25 times per second, duration increases with skill level so you need to invest points for maximum potential
Werewolf
MANA PULSE: now unlocks at level 3
HARBINGER: now unlocks at level 6. Slightly reduced number of hits per cast
TWISTED CLAW: weapon damage increased from 60% to 70%
Seer
ELEMENTAL: now gains an extra projectile every 14 Base Levels
HUNTING BANSHEE:
removed Next Delay, damage reduced appropriately. No longer goes through walls
now gains an extra projectile every 14 Base Levels
Venom
PLAGUE AVATAR: damage increased by 20%
MYTHAL: improved performance
ACID FIENDS: now cast level 15 Poison Flash on Nightmare and 30 on Hell, up from 5

Necromancer

Innate
BURNING VEIL: added cooldown equal to wall duration
Totem
Death's Fury and Howling totems no longer affect players, only Necromancer minions
STORMEYE TOTEM: 30% faster cast rate, bolts now gain pierce chance per Base Level
Summon
Unfortunately there was not enough time to implement and test the planned summon tree overhaul as we promised
It will be one of the main content features in the next patch

Veil King: hostile version can no longer be charmed
Malice
PESTILENCE: Damage reduced by 20%, mana cost increased
Melee
CARNAGE: weapon damage reduced to 85%, down from 100%
PARASITE: 20% increased target area
DEATHLORD: No longer capped at 32 000 defense
Crossbow
DEATH SHARDS: 50% less projectiles. Now 100% weapon damage up from 50%
FRAGMENTATION SHOT: now deals fire damage instead of magic
WIDOWMAKER:
Now no longer requires you to target a minion to shoot, mana cost increased
50% less projectiles. Weapon damage increased to 70% up from 40%
Reward
DEATH WARD: made changes to reduce effectiveness for casters and increase it for other builds
Now grants 35% bonus to defense per Base Level, up from 0%
Now grants 5% bonus to defense per Skill Level, down from 25%

Paladin

General
Implemented new true Neutraldin concept.
Neutrality
New paladin sub class, comprised of BOTH neutral trees only
May not choose any Holy or Unholy skills
You may cast both vessels at the same time and they gain both damage and target increase improvements
The duration of Sacred Armor and Demiurge is increased to 20 seconds
All Paladin devotion descriptions have been improved
Honor
RETALIATE: weapon damage increased to 70%, up from 60%
DIVINE JUDGMENT: total hits per attack reduced by 16% and weapon damage increased to 70%, up from 66%. 0.8 second temporary cooldown added
DRAGONHEART: physical damage per base level reduced to 15%, down from 25%
COLOSSEUM: removed debuff sounds and overlay at end. Significantly improved performance
Light
VESSEL OF RETRIBUTION: attack range increased to 4.7 yards
SACRED ARMOR: stats slightly reduced, mana cost increased
Dragon
DRAGON WYRMS: damage reduced by 20%
Demon
BLOOD THORNS: damage increased by 15%
Shadow
VESSEL OF JUSTICE: attack range reduced to 9.3 yards
DEMIURGE: stats slightly reduced, mana cost increased
Wicked
MIND FLAY: damage increased by 24%
SLAYER: fixed a bug which caused your Slayers to not benefit from your energy and energy factor
Reward
RESURRECT:
Risen minion level is now based on player level, rather than area level. Duration is now infinite
Bonus to risen minion spells and attacks has been increased by 50%

Sorceress

Innate
FORCE WALL: removed
MANA SHIELD: new innate skill
When activated, redirects a portion (default: 15%) of all incoming direct damage to mana before life
Fire
FIREDANCE:
Removed overlay on units inside the circle for better visual clarity
Significantly improved performance
Lightning
FORKED LIGHTNING: improved description
THUNDERSTONE:
Fixed an issue which caused less charged bolts than intended to hit the enemy you target
Now delivers 20 hits per cast on a stationary target
TEMPEST: maximum projectiles increased to 8, up from 7
Cold
FRIGID SPHERE: increased area of effect by 25%. Removed jagged explosion edges
SHATTER THE FLESH: damage increased by 25%
ABYSS: Now hits 13 times per second, down from 25. Damage increased by 65%
Poison
VENGEFUL POWER: Maximum life bonus reduced to 15%, down from 25%
Arcane
Damage scaling of offensive spells in this tree has changed. Now they scale less with skill level, more with mana and also with character level
Immersion and Arcane Torrent's visuals have been remade for better thematic consistency
IMMERSION:
Overhauled skill visuals and mechanics to make it better suited to its role - single target burst damage
Damage increased by 40%
FAMILIAR: aura radius increased by 20%
ARCANE TORRENT:
Number of projectiles no longer scale, but is now fixed at 25
Projectiles move faster and travel further allowing for greater coverage
Damage increased by 20%
MANA SWEEP:
Cooldown increased. Base Level 13 is now required to remove it, up from 10
Damage reduced at level 1, but now scales significantly better with mana
ANTIMASS: cooldown increased
Melee
MOONSTRIKE: Moon Blessing physical damage to all attacks now 15% per Base Level, down from 25%
FUSILLADE: fixed incorrect projectile count on tooltip
Reward
SYMBOL OF ESU: Moon Symbols may now be purchased from Anya in Harrogath after freeing her
CHRONOFIELD: Improved skill description and reduced performance impact
FORCE BLAST: Now reduces enemy weapon damage by 40%, down from 50%. Reduced performance impact

Item Only Skills

General

Many oSkills have been improved significantly. We will continue iterating on the rest in future patches
Class spells which have a temporary cooldown (for example Deathgaze, Maelstrom or Iron Spiral) have no cooldown as oSkills
Class spells which have parameters that only scale with base level (for example Parasite and Overkill) scale with skill levels, at a reduced rate, as oSkills
Oskill Changes

EDYREM:
Now reduce monsters to Hell appropriate resistance rather than 0
Attack rating increased by 50%
JITAN'S GATE: removed the life increase effect
PATH OF FLAMES: delay between attacks changed to 0.4 seconds, up from 0.2 seconds
CLAW TORNADO: now shoots 1 Projectile, down from 2. Weapon damage increased to 50%, up from 35%
STORMFRONT: mechanics have been changed significantly
Next Delay has been removed. Extra projectiles benefit both single target and clear
Gain an additional projectile every 25 skill levels, significantly increasing damage output
This skill is present on several Sacred unique items, and may now be crafted on scepters in addition to staves
Damage increased by 90%
CHERUBIM: renamed from Cherub Strike
No longer requires you to be hit before being able to use
Weapon damage increased to 100%, up from 35%
Target seek range now fixed at 20 yards, cooldown decreases to 0 with skill levels
Now attacks up to 6 enemies at once, up from 1
May be cast on the ground in front of you, without a monster target
PENTAGRAM:
Removed Next Delay, added 1.6 second cooldown
Damage increased by 450%, mana cost scales with level
SPIRAL DANCE: weapon damage increased to 50%, up from 35%
DEATH BLOSSOM: damage increased by 100%
WINTER AVATAR: has been greatly improved
Is now a melee spell with a cooldown of 0.9 seconds
Frost novas only appear directly under the avatar, allowing for greater single target damage
Damage increased by 150%, area of effect increased by 40%
CHARGED STRIKE: new, "classic", weapon damage oSkill
Deals 125% weapon damage and starts at 3 projectiles. Can be used with any weapon
Gains an extra projectile for every 6 skill levels. All projectiles pierce and damage your primary target
Skill is available on several Sacred unique items, and replaces the Shadow Avatar affix on rare and magic amulets
AVALANCHE: no longer pierces walls. Damage increased by 25%
ULTIMATE CHAOS: weapon damage increased to 40%, up from 25%. Mana cost halved
VOID STAR: damage reduced by 40%.
APOCALYPSE: 20% greater area of effect
FLASH: area of effect increased by 56%, damage increased by 200%, mana cost doubled
ARROW SWARM: damage increased to 90%, up from 75%. Mana cost now increases with skill level
AMATOXIN: Damage doubled
POWDER KEG: Damage increased by 120%
FANATICISM AURA: reduced attack speed bonus
NIGHTMARE: now reduces potion effectiveness by 33%, down from 100%. No longer reduces attack speed
GIFT OF THE WILD: now has an accurate skill description
KRAKEN STANCE: added stance synergy explanation to skill description
SLICER BLADE: Slightly reduced damage (this affects Vampire damage)
DIRE CHARM: Removed
New Oskills
HOMING NOVA SHOT: Fire a nova of homing shots, no I'm not insulting your intelligence.
RAPID WYRMSHOT: Wyrmshot with 13 hits per second, but limited to two targets.
ARCANE SWARM: A crisscrossing volley of magic bolts which scale with every type of spell damage.
LEX TALIONIS: When activated, triggers a retaliate nova every few seconds when near enemies.
RAVENOUS FLAMES: An aura which supports two different play styles depending on your attribute allocation.
WAR CRY: Area of effect shout that can life leech and crit, with varying amounts of crit damage, depending on your skill allocation.
BEAR CLAW NOVA: Throw a nova of bear claws, no I'm not insulting your intelligence.
RANGED BLOOD THORNS: Allows you to cast Blood Thorns at range.

ITEMS

General

Procs
We love procs, they add a unique layer of customization to character equipment and are very satisfying. However, they can also make it very hard to actually see what is going on and negatively impact server performance.

Proc chances on all items have been reduced
In Sigma we have focused on making procs occur less often but with greater impact, greater viability, better diversity and performance
Some reduced spell proc chances have been compensated with increased skill level
More "on Death Blow" procs for casters and brand new proc skills
All "when damaged" procs have been replaced with more useful ones. This also helps prevent numerous significantly laggy encounters
Purify
A certain set of endgame quests require defeating enemies which are immune to all forms of damage apart from a special skill called Purify. These bosses are typically some of the least fun to play against, because they are heavily biased in favor of weapon damage characters, and especially ranged ones. While we do like the variety in endgame content introduced by this mechanic we are also aware of its shortcomings and have taken several steps to improve the experience.

Open Wounds removed. This was the main reason why casters were so much worse at this type of content.
Purify damage has been significantly increased to compensate. Purify damage per second is now higher compared to previous Open Wounds damage
Slow Target effect is now capped at 25% against bosses, which again makes the experience more equal between weapon damage and caster characters
Tiers
There are now only 4 tiers of items preceding Sacreds, down from 6
The slowest base items like crossbows are now slightly faster and the fastest, like daggers, are slightly slower
Base Items
Crossbows:
Amazon & Druid maximum attack speed is now 1 frame slower than using a bow
Necromancer attack speed with crossbows has also been improved and is slightly faster than Amazon and Druid speeds.
World Drops
World drops are no longer significantly biased to zones which drop the most junk per hour: cows
Belladonna Extract can now drop starting at act 1 normal
Viz-jun is no longer excluded from world drops
World drop chances improve slightly with area level
General
30% less magic find on socketables such as runes and jewels
The experience gain stat on all items has been reduced
Gold Find on items reduced by 75%
Kur Rune now gives 3% mana
Resistance rolls on jewels and runes have been reduced
Secret Jewelwords have been removed
Reanimate chances on most items and socketables has been reduced, except where the items had a strong theme necessitating them.
The amount of maximum resistance bonuses on items and socketables has been reduced
This was done in order to make the elemental resistance cap more meaningful and to enable us to remove the hidden pierce of many enemies

Tiered Uniques


The tiered unique (TU) item pool has been revamped.
Items with a good assortment of stats but poor numbers have been buffed
Added new items for builds which had no, or very few, viable choices from the TU pool
Items which have been staples for too many builds, or those which were too powerful, have been toned down
Several TUs have been added which support popular skills as viable early game oSkill builds. For example: Deathgaze, Noctule and ATMG Sentry
TU jewellery and quiver drops are now more varied and have been improved to be attractive during the leveling process
Unique jewellery and quivers may no longer be disenchanted into Signets of Learning

Sacred Uniques

Sacred Unique Revamp
Sacred uniques are no longer strictly limited to 3 per base item. Most bases will have two variants and a few - three
Approximately 130 of the best and most popular Sacred uniques from Median 2017 have been kept, with stats appropriately adjusted for their rarity.
All others were removed.
Approximately 240 new uniques have been created and added to the game with the following goals:
To be distinctly more "unique", offering new interesting stats which are not obtainable from regular affixes.
To support a greater number of viable gear options for existing builds, and to create some new ones
To work well with the existing item structure in the game, by encouraging character using a combination of: crafts/rare, uniques, runewords and sets
Included is a new unique item created by our Season 17 challenge winners
Sacred Unique Tiers
Sacred uniques are now split into different tiers based on their rarity:
Tier 1: they start dropping from regular monsters in areas of level (aLVL) 104+. Despite being the most common these are still very powerful and build enabling
Tier 2: generally higher power level and more quirky mechanics. Start dropping from regular monsters in aLVL 117 and beyond, and bosses in aLVL 115 areas
Tier 3: extremely rare chase items. Very few in number and incredibly powerful. Only drop from monsters in aLVL 130 zones and beyond.
The item pool was separated in this way because we want to reward players who take greater risks and clear harder areas with better rewards.
The item progression is also more closely tied to the leveling progression this way
More Sacred uniques will continue to be added in future patches
Other
GRAVETALON: Gravetalon has been fixed. It just works ™

Sets


Sets have always been popular among our players and we appreciate that they help new players build reasonably effective characters without a full understanding of the Median XL mechanics. One problem with this has always been the fact that collecting a full set was very difficult compared to the power level of the items. Therefore we have made them easier to obtain while reducing the power of a few outliers.

Multiple set items moved to lower end bases which do not have any Sacred uniques.
This makes them easier to drop because these bases are more frequent and because any unique roll will also return a set
More sets now have only 1 class exclusive piece, allowing for more viable gear options consisting of partial set bonuses
TUNDRA WALKER: removed bonus to Nephalem Spirit, slightly increased other full set bonus stats
ADRIA'S CIRCLE: reduced stats from the full set bonus
SATANIC MANTRA: removed Lamia reanimate
VASILY'S FOLLOWING: tweaked for better compatibility with new Enfilade
THE TRICKSTER: physical resist reduced to 10%, down from 25%
Set items can no longer be disenchanted into arcane crystals

Runewords


HIERODULE: now gives a bonus to all maximum resistances instead of a Sorceress morph
KALI: maximum fire resist reduced to 4%
XIS-SHARK: now gives +2 maximum damage per clvl. While still a great option for one-handed characters we wanted this item to be less ubiquitous in general
XIS-REBEL: now gives +200% weapon physical damage, down from 300%. Bonus to all resistances reduced from 100-150 to 60-80
Doubled Venomous Aura effect has been replaced on Aes Dana with poison spell damage
"Secret" elemental runewords have been removed

Cube Recipes


Implemented mixed disenchanting for signets of learning (Example: You can mix set and sacred uniques with the catalyst of learning)
You can now cube any combination of shards as long as the output is less than 3 crystals
Removed tomes / scrolls from recipes that required them
Wirt's leg is now found in the Catacombs level 4
The Horadric Malus and other quest items can no longer be disenchanted into Arcane Shards
OIL OF RENEWAL: Now restores any item to superior
CATALYST OF DESTRUCTION: removed
RIP recipe still works, but with the Oil of Renewal instead
Magic Find bonus from jewelcrafting has been reduced

Shrinecrafting


The variance of pierce rolls on shrines has been reduced
TRINITY SHRINE: now gives 5% f/c/l pierce on two-handed weapons and body armor instead of damage. Elemental damage on other slots increased by 100%
SPIRITUAL SHRINE: added increased % mana
WEIRD SHRINE: increased minimum enhanced damage roll
INTIMIDATING SHRINE: now adds enhanced damage on weapons
No longer add double MO bonus
Descriptions have been modified
Blessing now costs two arcane crystals, up from one

Rare Affix Pool


ATMG SENTRY: Skill level increased to 14-20, up from 5-7
The minimum damage prefix now also spawns with up to 60% enhanced damage
Flat elemental suffixes on weapons are now in separate categories. This means you can now find or craft weapons with up to 3 different elemental damage rolls

Mystic Orbs


Removed Movement Speed and Poison Skill Duration orbs
Mana regeneration Mystic Orbs now grant 5%, down from 8%
Removed skeleton reanimate Mystic Orb, replaced with "Adds 1-2 Weapon Damage"
Life leech Mystic Orb is now 3%, down from 4%
Ring/Amulet Mystic Orb is now Ring/Amulet/Quiver
Magic Find Mystic Orb is now 3%