We were hoping for some news this week as hinted at by Blizzard last week for Diablo 2 Resurrected Season 2 start and we now have a date.
The current 2.5 PTR is set to close on 19th September at 10:00 AM PDT. A new set of PTR characters are also being added today with the old ones being removed. These characters come with new charms (see below).
Diablo 2 Resurrected Season 2 Start Date
Diablo 2 Resurrected Season 2 is now set to start on 6 October so you can now plan ahead for the Season start in a few weeks. An updated blog is due from Blizzard prior to the season starting.
Diablo 2 PTR 2.5 Update
There are some changes to Terror Zones also with some being added and some being removed.
Added Zones
- Act 1: The Pit
- Act 4: City of the Damned
Removed Zones
- Act 2: Harem/Palace Crypt – Maggot Lair
- Act 3: Lower Kurast
- Act 1: Black Marsh
The Act I: Black Marsh zone was accidentally added to the list of terrorized zones and has been removed. This zone was never able to be terrorized. We apologize for any confusion.
Developer Comments: The dominant driver of these changes was mob density. Fully clearing a zone is more beneficial in a Terrorized zone, but this becomes less efficient if the density of a zone is too low. Rather than adjust mob density, which can have ramifications on melee builds, we opted instead to remove zones with lighter mob density. The removal of Maggot Lair and Harem/Palace Cellar was also to address Terror Zone playability in close quarters zones with doors. While zones with doors have always been a bit quirky, we do not wish to change them, opting instead to maintain their original design feeling. Instead, we have added two new zones that promote our intended benefits to players when terrorized.
Another piece of big news is that new Sundered Charms are being added to the game, six in total.
In Hell difficulty, many monsters receive resistance to specific damage types. If their resistance increases above 100%, that monster is then immune to a specific damage type. Because there are only a handful of ways to reduce a monster’s immunity, only a minute portion of hero builds can successfully farm all zones in Diablo II: Resurrected. We realize that this can create scenarios where certain builds are unable to take full advantage of the current Terror Zone, thus missing out on the experience gains, and most importantly, the fun of these zones.
To promote increased class build diversity, we are introducing six new Unique Grand Charms that allow the player to break specific monster immunity types while the charm is in their inventory.
You’ll notice a new keyword below called Sunder. This keyword means that if a monster has immunity to a specific damage type, their resistance will be reduced to 95% regardless of what their starting resistance percentage was—breaking their immunity and allowing damage of that type to be dealt to them. Sunder is applied before other resistance reducing modifiers and only affects non-players. These new unique charms will only drop from Terrorized monsters of Rare, Unique, or Champion difficulty. There is one tradeoff the comes with the new Unique Grand Charms—while they reduce a monster’s resistance, they also reduce your resistance to the same element, allowing you to receive more damage of that type. During the PTR, Sundering Charms will not drop from monsters and can only be tested through the PTR character templates mentioned later in the blog.
The Black Cleft
Monster Magic Immunity if Sundered
Magic Resist –50%
The Bone Break
Monster Physical Immunity is Sundered
Physical Damage Received Increased by 25%
The Cold Rupture
Monster Cold Immunity is Sundered
Cold Resist –75%
The Crack of the Heavens
Monster Lightning Immunity is Sundered
Lightning Resist –75%
The Flame Rift
Monster Fire Immunity is Sundered
Fire Resist –75%
The Rotting Fissure
Monster Poison Immunity is Sundered
Poison Resist –75%
Source: Blizzard.