Diablo III is developed as the definitive action role-playing game, and a true continuation of the Diablo series. Players will create a hero from one of five distinct classes, such as barbarian or witch doctor, each equipped with an array of spells and abilities. As these heroes adventure through rich and varied settings, unraveling an epic storyline and engaging in combat with hordes of monsters and challenging bosses, they’ll grow in experience and ability and acquire items of incredible power.

The game takes place on Sanctuary, a world of dark fantasy. Unbeknownst to most of its inhabitants, Sanctuary was saved some twenty years ago from the demonic forces of the underworld by a few brave and powerful heroes. Most of those warriors who directly faced Hell’s armies -- and were fortunate enough to survive -- went mad from their experiences. And most of the others have buried their haunted memories and pushed the horrors from their thoughts. In Diablo III, players will return to Sanctuary to confront evil in its many forms once again.

Diablo III will pick up the story twenty years after the events of Diablo II. Mephisto, Diablo, and Baal have been defeated, but the Worldstone, which once shielded the inhabitants of the world of Sanctuary from the forces of both the High Heavens and the Burning Hells, has been destroyed, and evil once again stirs in Tristram. Playing as a hero from one of five distinct character classes, players will acquire powerful items, spells, and abilities as they explore new and familiar areas of Sanctuary and battle hordes of demons to safeguard the world from the horrors that have arisen.

An ancient evil stirs in the ruins of Old Tristram, and a mysterious portal has appeared that leads to the halls of an all-too familiar cathedral. Deep beneath the catacombs, the Dark Lord awaits any intrepid adventurer who dares to challenge him.

For the month of January, experience an homage to the original events of Diablo, brought to you in glorious RetroVision™ and filled to the brim with nostalgia-inducing features. An evocative audiovisual extravaganza awaits you, as everything from familiar enemies to iconic items have been brought to life in the Diablo III engine. Transmogrification rewards, achievements, and a handful of extra surprises lurk in the depths of this perilous, pixelated dungeon.

As with previous patches, Patch 2.4.3 brings another round of updates to several Legendary and Set Items, including some new Legendary powers! Check out a few of the items we’ve updated, and don’t forget to read our PTR patch notes for the full list of class sets we’re changing.

Greater Rift Revisions

Greater Rifts are the bread and butter of any seasoned Diablo III player’s end-game experience. We’ve got a handful of updates in store to help smooth out your gameplay experience in these ever-changing dungeon delves.

Monster distribution has been spread out more evenly, and the size of each floor is now more consistent. On average, a rift should take between two to four floors to clear. The tile types you see will vary more frequently, making it much less likely to see the same floors follow each other back-to-back. Finally, those of you with survivability in mind will find extra reward in staying alive; players who avoid death in a Greater Rift will be rewarded with one additional chance to upgrade their Legendary Gems!
Quality of Life Changes

In addition to a slew of bug fixes, several quality of life changes are coming to Diablo III, affecting everything from monsters to the way you dye your gear!

Leaping enemies like Winged Assassins, Punishers, Lacuni Huntresses, and Burrowing Leapers can now be slain in mid-air, making for some pretty epic killing blows. Sharpen your blades, because enemies with unattackable phases like Sandsharks, Snakemen, and Rockworms will spend less time avoiding you and more time baring their fangs.

Several enemy affixes have been tweaked, including updates to Shielding, Reflects Damage, and Electrified. In addition, an entirely new affix, Juggernaut, is entering the fray. These monsters are nigh unstoppable as they are immune to all crowd control effects, but they move more slowly than other enemies and are more susceptible to damage.

Finally, Sanctuary’s finest fashionistas will find that their cache of dyes have moved to a new location! Dyes are now held by Myriam, the Mystic, and she’s happy to help you coordinate your boots and cloak to perfect chromatic harmony. Or dissonance. We won’t judge.

And be sure to look out for special Diablo 20^th Anniversary celebrations in other Blizzard games, now live!

Lastly, check out the special Diablo 3 anniversary sale here.

Full Patch Notes

GENERAL

New Feature: 20th Anniversary Event
A mysterious group of Cultists is stirring up trouble! Hunt them down in Adventure Mode to uncover clues that reveal a portal into Tristram’s past, and rediscover the terrifying darkness that took hold of the town so many years ago…
This event is only available in January

Please note that future anniversary events will feature a pre-cursor event available from January 1-3.
Hardware Support
Support has been added for the Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) SDK and Razer peripherals
Supported backlit keyboards will respond to certain in-game situations like Legendary and Set item drops, characters leveling up, and more
Players will need to update their firmware for supported devices to use this feature
Added a 64-bit client as default for 64-bit Microsoft Windows operating systems
With this, players should see improvements to system performance and faster loading times
This change uses DirectX 11 natively, which brings support for normal maps, per pixel lighting and improved anti-aliasing options
The 32-bit client is still available as an option through the Battle.net Launcher
Added a screen space ambient occlusion (SSAO) pixel shader option
Added a large cursor option
Improved support for 60Hz+ monitors
Bug Fixes
Resolved an issue that could cause crashes in some instances

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CLASSES

Barbarian
Overpower
Now has 3 charges
Cooldown per charge remains 12 seconds with a chance to be reduced slightly by critical strikes

Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue which caused Wave of Light to sometimes fail to deal damage when players were under the effect of Epiphany
Fixed a bug which prevented a Hydra from being spawned when two Mirror Images attempted to cast Summon Hydra at the same time
Fixed an issue which caused the active effect of Earth Ally and Fire Ally to not benefit from Attacks Per Second or +Mystic Ally damage
Fixed an issue which prevented the Archon version of Teleport from correctly incorporating the player’s attacks per second

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ITEMS

Legendary Items
Red Soulstone Shard
New Legendary Gem
Periodically struggle for control, unleashing a ring of Fire that inflicts 12,500% weapon damage to enemies it passes through
With the above change, the primary effect of the gem deals significantly more damage at the gem’s base level, but scales more slowly with additional levels
After gaining a level, your resource costs are removed and cooldowns on skills are reduced by 75% for 30 seconds (Requires Rank 25)
Class Specific Items

New items have been added to the game
Crusader
Armor of Akkhan
Talisman of Akkhan (Amulet)
Has been added as a 7th piece to Armor of Akkhan
The set’s current bonuses and powers remain the same
This amulet will always roll with Critical Hit Chance in addition to 3 other random affixes
Some existing class-specific Legendary items have been updated to include a unique Legendary power

Note: Existing items will not be affected by the following changes; only new versions of the items will roll with the added Legendary power
With the below changes, the minimum levels required to use these items have been adjusted to match the level at which their corresponding skills unlock
Barbarian
Saffron Wrap
The damage of your next Overpower is increased by 40-50% for each enemy hit, up to a maximum of 20 enemies
Crusader
Faithful Memory
Each enemy hit by Falling Sword increases the damage of Blessed Hammer by 50-60% for 10 seconds, stacking up to 10 times
Demon Hunter
Hellcat Waistguard
Grenades have a chance to bounce 3-5 times, dealing an additional 50% damage on each bounce
This bonus is increased to 800% on the final bounce
The following skills are affected by this power:
Cluster Arrow – Dazzling Arrow, Cluster Bombs, Loaded for Bear, and No Rune
Rain of Vengeance – Anathema
Strafe – Demolition
Rapid Fire – Bombardment
Monk
Rabid Strike
Spirit spenders that teleport you while Epiphany is active are also mimicked on a distant target for free
Witch Doctor
The Barber
Instead of dealing direct damage, your Spirit Barrage now accumulates on the target
When you stop casting, it explodes dealing the accumulated damage to all enemies within 15 yards
Wizard
Manald Heal
Enemies stunned with Paralysis also take 13,000-14,000% weapon damage as Lightning
The functionality of some items has changed
Crusader
Defender of Westmarch
Can no longer summon a wolf more than once per second
Damage done by the wolf is increased for each block made during the interim
Witch Doctor
Jeram's Bracers
The minimum level for this item to drop has changed from 12 to 31 in order to match the level at which Wall of Death unlocks
The following class set powers have received changes
Barbarian
Wrath of the Wastes
(6) Set Bonus
Whirlwind gains the effect of the Dust Devils rune and all Whirlwind damage is increased by 800%
The damage of your Dust Devils is increased by 180%
Please note that these changes will not be reflected in the item’s tooltip
Crusader
Roland's Legacy
(4) Set Bonus
Increase the damage of Shield Bash and Sweep Attack by 1250%
(6) Set Bonus
Every use of Shield Bash or Sweep Attack that hits an enemy grants 50% increased Attack Speed and 15% damage reduction for 8 seconds. This effect stacks up to 5 times.
Demon Hunter
Embodiment of the Marauder
(6) Set Bonus
Your primary skills, Elemental Arrow, Chakram, Impale, Multishot, Cluster Arrow, Companions, and Vengeance deal 1200% increased damage for every active Sentry
Monk
Inna’s Mantra
(6) Set Bonus
Gain the five runed Mystic Allies at all times and your damage is increased by 100% for each Mystic Ally you have out
Witch Doctor
Spirit of Arachyr
(6) Set Bonus
The damage of your creature skills is increased by 2400%. Creature skills are Corpse Spiders, Plague of Toads, Firebats, Locust Swarm, Hex, and Piranhas.
Wizard
Delsere’s Magnum Opus
(6) Set Bonus
Enemies affected by your Slow Time take 2800% increased damage from your Arcane Orb, Energy Twister, Explosive Blast, Magic Missile, Shock Pulse, Spectral Blade, and Wave of Force abilities.
Bug Fixes

Hellfire Amulet
Fixed an issue where Fetishes spawned by this item with the Fetish Sycophants passive would not reduce the cooldown of Big Bad Voodoo correctly when Starmetal Kukri was equipped
Illusory Boots
Will now properly allow Crusaders using Steed Charge to pass through walls
Pinto's Pride
Fixed a bug where the bonus Wave of Light damage from this item was not being calculated correctly
Flail of the Ascended
Now takes into account +Shield Bash affix bonuses in its damage
Damage stacks will now persist when changing gear and picking up items
Faithful Memory
Fixed an issue where Faithful Memory was not properly buffing damage from certain Blessed Hammer runes
Fixed an issue which sometimes caused cosmetic pets to be dismissed unintentionally, requiring the player to resummon them through the collections UI
Fixed a bug causing transmogrify options to not properly unlock sometimes when first acquiring an item which grants a new transmogrify option
Fixed a bug which caused the buff from the Legendary item Ahvarion, Spear of Lycander to end when changing floors in a Greater Rift
Fixed an issue which caused the Bones cosmetic pet to incorrectly produce sound when players interacted with some user interface elements
Fixed an issue which caused +Elemental damage bonuses on weapons to override the damage bonus granted to Ancient Spear by Skular’s Salvation and its elemental type
Fixed an issue which allowed Necrosis damage from the Helltooth Harness set to be reflected back by some enemies onto Witch Doctors using projectiles like Poison Dart

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SEASONS
Season Journey
The Destroyer and Guardian tiers of the Season Journey will no longer require players to augment an Ancient Legendary item using level 30 or higher and level 40 or higher Legendary gems, respectively
Along with this, the Conqueror tier now requires players to augment one Ancient Legendary item using a Legendary Gem at level 50 or higher
Starting with Season 9, players will be able to complete the Sanctuary’s Most Wanted objective in the Season Journey across multiple games

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ADVENTURE MODE

Bounties
The number of enemy kills required to complete the following Bounties has been reduced
Kill Aloysius
Kill Axegrave
Kill Bholen
Kill Captain Donn Adams
Kill The Crusher
Rifts
The Cesspools map has been adjusted
Enemy density and overall map size have been reduced
This area can now appear as the starting dungeon in Rifts and Greater Rifts
Greater Rifts

We have made a number of changes to improve the play experience of Greater Rifts
The Greater Rift progress bar now displays the percentage completion at the end of the bar when it is nearly filled
Monsters should now be more evenly distributed on each floor in Greater Rifts
Along with this, the experience and Greater Rift progression awarded for defeating many smaller monsters has been increased
The size of each floor in a Greater Rift is now more consistent
On average, a rift should take between two and four floors to clear
There is no longer an increased chance to see the same tile set when you venture down a floor in a Greater Rift
There is now a guaranteed area at the entrance of each floor with no monsters
This area is just large enough for ranged characters to maneuver
Several additional monster types can now appear as Champions and Elites
Greater Rifts now spawn Hellhide Tremors, Disentombed Hulks, Sand Dwellers, and Colossol Golgors with other monsters in somewhat larger groups
Greater Rifts now spawn somewhat fewer Sand Wasps and Fallen Grunts on floors where they appear
The stacking effect of the following is now cleared upon entering a Greater Rift
The items Lord Greenstone’s Fan, Fortress Ballista and Flail of the Ascended
The skills Arcane Dynamo and Mythic Rhythm
The gold reward and empower cost for Greater Rift 25 and above have been increased
The ratio between gold reward and empower cost remains about the same
Players will now get an extra chance to upgrade their Legendary Gems if they do not die in a Greater Rift
Greed’s Realm
The portal to Greed’s Realm will now close 60 seconds after opening Greed’s chest
With this, players may now open multiple portals to the realm in a single game
Zones
The waypoint for Pandemonium Fortress Level 2 in Adventure Mode has been moved from the entrance to the midpoint of the level in order to provide quicker access to some bounties
With this change, bounties requiring you to kill unique enemies will only spawn these enemies in the first half of the dungeon, and all monsters on the map will contribute to bounty progress
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue preventing the scene for Bounty: Research Problems from spawning
Fixed bugs that led to large open areas with no monsters in some rooms in Greater Rifts, which was especially common near the entrance to certain floors

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MONSTERS

Enemies
Quality of life improvements have been made to enemies
Several enemies that leap at the player can now be killed in mid-air, including Winged Assassins, Punishers, Lacuni Huntresses, and Burrowing Leapers
Several enemies that can become un-attackable, such as Sandsharks, Snakemen, and Rockworms now spend more time vulnerable. When these enemies do burrow or stealth, they no longer remain in this state for more than 3 seconds
In addition, emerging Rockworms now always show ground cracks to help attentive players avoid their initial attack
The Succubus' Bloodstar attack has had its damage reduced by 15% and the projectile's travel distance has been reduced
The damage from Khazra spears has been reduced by 15%
The damage from Ice Porcupine icicles has been reduced by 15%
Enemy Affixes

Shielding
Will now be cancelled immediately if the shielded monster is the last remaining monster in a pack
Reflects Damage
Now fires a projectile instead of instantly dealing damage to the player
The warning duration for this affix has been reduced from 2 seconds to 1, and its active duration has been reduced from 6 seconds to 4
Electrified
Crawling lightning generated by this affix now pierces, allowing it to damage multiple targets in succession
With this, the damage caused by this affix has been reduced by about 35%
Juggernaut
New enemy affix
Juggernaut monsters are permanently immune to crowd control effects, but move more slowly than normal monsters
Along with this change, enemies with this affix take 30% more damage from all sources
Only a rare Elite enemy can be a Juggernaut
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue which caused Winged Assassins to sometimes travel across the ground instead of through the air when leaping
Fixed an issue which prevented Greater Rift Guardians from reliably teleporting to players when they spawned more than a few screens away
Fixed an issue which sometimes cause Rift Guardians to spawn in a location where they couldn’t be targeted

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BOSSES
Belial
Now transitions more swiftly between his normal and larger version boss phases

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ACHIEVEMENTS
Bug Fixes
Fixed the wording on the “Socket To Me” achievement to clarify that socketing only one gem is required

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QUALITY OF LIFE

Dyes
Can now be accessed through a new tab at the Mystic
This includes Collector’s Edition dyes
With this change, dyes will no longer be sold by vendors
Bug Fixes
Fixed display and text issues with some skills and items
Fixed an issue causing keybind issues when the UI was hidden
Fixed a bug which caused Followers to sometimes become idle in combat
Fixed an issue which prevented Followers from being dismissed while they were incapacitated in battle
Fixed an issue which allowed pets and Followers to be attacked immediately after exiting a portal