The first Public Test Realm for Diablo 4 is on the horizon from April 2 through April 9, offering players the chance to test upcoming changes and features for Season 4! Here’s an overview of what you need to know.
Itemization
1). Basic Item Updates
Reduced number of affixes: now 3 on Legendary items, and 2 on Rare items.
Smaller pool of more potent affixes.
More relevant affixes (eg: ranks of a single Core Skill).
Only Sacred items in World Tier 3, only Ancestral items in World Tier 4.
Affix values are tuned up to be punchier!
New affixes and positioning of affixes:
Resource per Second
Resource on Kill
Lucky Hit: Apply Vulnerable
Life per Hit
Basic Skill Ranks
2). Miscellaneous Updates
Legendary items dropped from enemy level 95+ are always 925 item power.
Gems now have Core stats, and the more conditional bonuses have been simplified.
Salvage, crafting, and rewards have all been tuned.
Significantly reduced item drop rates.
Item rerolling gold cost capped when Enchanting.
Material removal and consolidation.
Forgotten Souls can now be obtained from Whispers and are now a global rare drop from Elites.
Uniques appear earlier.
Some Uniques now dropping starting in World Tier I and II.
All Uniques can now drop in World Tier III.
Uber Uniques can start dropping from monster level 55, drops at 925 item power.
3). New Crafting System: Tempering
This new system will allow you to add affixes to your Diablo 4 Items at the Blacksmith through a new reusable item that can drop from most content in-game, called Temper Manuals!
These are categorized like the Codex of Power (eg: Resource, Mobility, etc)
Once gained, you retain these for unlimited use!
Each manual contains a handful of affixes; you are able to attach one at a time.
Affixes can be rerolled up to the item’s Temper Reroll limit.
Ancestral items can have two Tempered affixes from different categories.
4). Greater Affixes
Only appearing on Ancestral Legendary and Unique items, these are more powerful versions of normal affixes, with a 1.5x multiplier on the affix’s maximum roll.
An item with a Greater Affix will be immediately obvious, with a unique audio cue, as well as a I up to a IV next to the item name indicating how many affixes are Greater.
eg: Helm (Ancestral) – II
Each affix on an item has a chance to be Greater in World Tier III & IV.
Players cannot Enchant into a Greater affix – they can only be found!
5). Masterworking
A late-game crafting system to upgrade items, using materials gathered from The Pit.
Improves the value of your current affixes.
There are 12 upgrade ranks.
Every 4 ranks, a single affix is massively upgraded.
Other ranks slightly increase the value of all affixes.
6). Codex of Power updates
All Legendary Aspects now appear in the Codex of Power, so you can focus on chasing great items instead of managing your inventory.
The highest roll Legendary you salvage is stored in your Codex.
Legendary Affix ranged increase based on item tier (Normal, Sacred, Ancestral).
Most Legendary Affix ranges have been increased.
The UI has been revamped, now includes manual and keyword search.
You can also favorite Legendary Aspects to make them easier to find!
Helltide Reborn
1). Helltide Threat
As you battle through Helltides, you will generate Threat – how much will be determined by the difficulty of monster and how often you’re securing Tortured Gifts within Helltide. Dying will reset your Threat.
There are three Helltide Threat Tiers, with each increasing the danger and frequency of monster ambushes. At Tier 3, you will become Hell-Marked.
Achieving maximum Threat will initiate a brief ambush frenzy of maximum enemy density. The ambush will end with a final Hellborne spawn, an immensely powerful agent of Hell, resurrected from the tortured souls of Sanctuary’s most powerful champions. There are five variants representing each Class in Diablo IV.
Upon activating the Hellborn ambush, your Threat will reset.
2). Accursed Ritual
Baneful Hearts can primarily be earned through opening Tortured Gift chests and can be used at the Accursed Ritual location.
A scene of shocking gore, the Accursed Ritual is the ultimate testament to the disturbing lengths the manic Cultists will go to appease their dark wishes. It is here where you can begin the Accursed Ritual.
Deposit three Baneful Hearts to begin the ritual, and you will be swarmed with a dense demonic ambush. Other players within your subzone will be alerted that the ritual has begun if they wish to join you in your fight.
This ambush will climax with the arrival of the Blood Maiden, an immensely powerful demonic creature who will offer great reward upon her death.
3). World Tier I and II adjustments
To get players into the thick of Helltides much earlier in their overall Character journey, the PTR will see these upcoming adjustments to help make Helltide more fun and rewarding in World Tier I & II.
All Tortured Gifts are Mystery Chests.
No roaming bosses or ambient meteors.
Less monster density overall compared to World Tier III and IV.
The Pit of Artificers
Upon entering World Tier IV, you’ll receive a priority Quest to complete a Tier 46 Nightmare Dungeon. Upon completion, you’ll begin to collect Runeshard during endgame activities. Collect enough Runeshard to ultimately activate the Obelisk in Cerrigar.
Activating the Obelisk will send you to The Pit. Your goal will be to slay enough monsters before a 10-minute timer runs out. Each player death removes time from the clock: first death removes 30 seconds, second death removes 60 seconds, third and subsequent deaths will remove 90 seconds.
If you slay enough monsters, a portal will appear, taking you to the boss’s arena.
Killing the boss before the timer expires will grant you Masterworking materials and unlocks the next tier of The Pit.
Killing the boss with 4-6 minutes to spare grants you an additional Tier unlock.
Killing the boss with 6 or more minutes to spare grants you two additional Tier unlocks.
The Pit has hundreds of Tiers of difficulty.
If the Mastery timer expires before you finish running through the Pit you’ll still receive loot, but won’t receive any Masterworking materials.
The Pit can be undertaken with groups up to four, with the player who opened The Pit receiving the lion’s share of materials.
Only the player who opened The Pit has the chance of receiving the Materials used for summoning Tormented Echoes.
Boss Ladder Updates
The Echo of Andariel joins the ladder in our Season 4 PTR, in the same bracket as her brother Duriel, with the same Uber Unique drop rate. With a mix of Shadow, Fire, Lightning, and her iconic Poison attack, Andariel stands ready to face all who dare fathom her demise.
Summoning parts can be acquired from Beast in Ice and Lord Zir.
Tormented Echoes of all ladder bosses can be summoned with Stygian Stones, obtained from deep within The Pit.
Stygian Stones are needed along with an increased amount of summoning materials, but fear not – they also drop more rewards!
Tormented Echoes will be level 200.
All items dropped are item level 925.
Defeating your first Tormented Echo drops one Resplendent Spark as a first-time reward (account bound).
Features Offered for Testing
As so many of the changes apply to the endgame, the following features will be offered:
You will be able to instantly boost your character to Level 100.
Upon entering the PTR and arriving at Kyovashad, there will be an NPC named ‘PTR boost’. They will only have one dialogue option, which is Boost me to level 100’
Upon boosting, you will receive:
100 million gold
1,000 Obols
Two random sets of Ancestral gear at item power 920
Upgraded Potions
Fully unlocked Paragon Glyphs
Up to 10 Tempering Manuals (class specific)
Base amount of all consumable materials
Does not include materials for resources specifically earned for Masterworking, Scattered Prisms and Resplendent Sparks.
Materials to enter the Pit and Nightmare Dungeons are granted.
Completed Class system mechanics (eg: enchantments for Sorceress, etc).
Note: This boost can be repeated with new characters on the PTR, and you can trade between characters as needed.
Fog of War will be completely cleared.
Additionally, regardless of whether you choose to boost your character for the PTR, Legendary drop rates will be doubled.
