Season 7 and Patch 2.1 Campfire Chat Recap

Welcome to another Campfire Chat Recap. The latest developer stream focused squarely on the upcoming 2.1 patch and Season 7. Patch notes are due next Wednesday and the PTR will start on 3 December. For now, let’s take a look at what’s coming up.

There’s some great stuff coming in this update and we’ve waiting a long time for one of those additions, an Armory. Yes, finally we can save builds! Anyway, let’s take a look at the classes first.

Classes

Barbarian

Hammer of the Ancients will be buffed with a damage increase from 70% to 80%. The Walking Arsenal passive is also getting a rework.

The Aspect of Earthquakes is getting a damage increase and lasts afterward for 4 seconds.

A new Aspect for the Barbarian in the Aspect of Incendiary Fissures.

Mantle of the Mountain’s Fury is a new unique Chest Armor for the Barb.

New Barbarian Uniques

Mantle of the Mountain’s Fury Unique Chest Armor

Affixes

• Inherent: 50% Hammer of the Ancients damage for 5 seconds after an Earthquake explodes
• 200-350 Armor
• 3-5 Skill Ranks to Hammer of the Ancients
• 2-3 Skill Ranks of Defensive Stance
• 13.5-22.5% Chance for Earthquake to Deal Double Damage

Power

• Hammer of the Ancients also forms a seismic line that deals its damage and Slows enemies hit by 60-80% for 4 seconds. Earthquakes it passes through explode for their total damage and are consumed.

Druid

With Raging Shred changes, enemies are going to take more poison damage for the next 5 seconds.

Savage Boulder now with poison damage.

Blood Howl changes to encourage werewolf form.

Aspect of the Blurred Beast has been reworked with bonus hits for distance traveled.

Aspect of Wolf’s Rain, hurricane and wolves combined.

New Druid Aspects

Of Electrified Claws Legendary Aspect

• Shapeshifting into a new animal form causes a Lightning Bolt to strike a Nearby enemy dealing Lightning damage. Your Lightning Bolts deal 20-40% increased damage and Stun for 2 seconds.

Malefic Crescent Unique Amulet is a new unique Amulet for the Druid,

New Druid Uniques

Malefic Crescent Unique Amulet

Affixes

• Inherent: 25% Resistance to All Elements
• 7.8-10% Willpower
• 154.8-200% Werewolf Critical Strike Damage
• 8-12.5% Movement Speed while Shapeshifting into a Werewolf
• 1-2 Ranks of Feral Aptitude

Power

• The value of your Lupine Ferocity’s consecutive Critical Strike Damage is increased to 100-150%[x] against enemies when consecutively Critical Striking.

Necromancer

Rathma’s Vigor changes…

New unique Kessime’s Legacy with a two blood waves coming towards you from the side.

Also new is Indira’s Memory Blood Wave and a Bone Prison.

New Necromancer Aspects

Of Distilled Anima Legendary Aspect

• While Soulrift is active, you are Unhindered and gain 1% increased Movement Speed per absorbed soul, up to 30-60%. This lasts for 5 seconds after Soulrift ends.

Bone Duster’s Legendary Aspect

• Bone Spear is guaranteed to Critically Strike enemies within Bone Prison and deals 20-40% increased damage to them.

Rogue

Shadow Clone and summons getting buffs with a rework triggering all lucky hit effects and damage modifiers.

A new Rogue Unique called Assassin’s Stride.

There’s a change to Caltrops with the jumping back animation being removed which “makes the skill more usable”.

New Rogue Aspects

Slice and Dice Legendary Aspect

• Twisting Blades’ initial hit cleaves. Twisting Blades return 25-45% faster.

Bitter Infection Legendary Aspect

• Enemies infected by Shadow Imbuement take 30-50% of its damage every second. Shadow Imbuement deals 30-50%[x] increased damage.

Sorcerer

Firebolt Enchantment changes to benefit burning builds.

Devouring Blaze gets changes with a larger bonus and now it’s aimed at Pyromancy skills.

Ball Lightening gets updates on upgrades…

A new Sorcerer Unique is the Strike of Stormhorn for Ball Lightning.

Also focusing on Ball Lightning, but with the rotation is Okun’s Catalyst.

New Sorcerer Aspects

Of Mind’s Awakening Legendary Aspect

• Casting a Pyromancy Skill Immobilizes enemies hit for 0.5-1 seconds. Casting a Shock Skill grants a burst of 15-30% Movement speed for 1 seconds. Casting a Frost Skill grants a Barrier for 3-6% Maximum Life. While Enlightened, each Skill grants all benefits.

Spiritborn

Nerf and buff warning!

New Aspect of Endless Talons.

Ring of Writhing Moon changes.

Gameplay Updates

Ultimate updates. Note the new Rank 5 bonus…

New Aspects that work directly with Ultimate skills.

Runes and Runeword Updates

New Runes are coming…

Season 7 Details

Season 7 is coming to the PTR and will introduce Witchcraft. Finally, some seasonal character powers, the first time since Season 2.

Witchcraft calls upon the power of the swamp and the enemies this season are called the Headrotten. Players will collect Restless Rot which will be placed on Altars to learn Witchcraft.

The UI system will be familiar if you played Season 2, get the powers, and slot them in.

Rewards come from Coven’s Favor which means completing Whispers. At specific tiers more Witchcraft unlocks and the Resplendent Spark is also back.

Finally, there are Forgotten Powers which hold lost powers so seek them out. They can only be found out in the world.

There will be 20 powers available for Witchcraft including a summoned Poison Frog, Doom Orb, Vengeful Servant, and Piranhado. See the rest below.

There are 3 schools of powers:

• Eldritch—Wield magic that harnesses destructive energies and polymorphy.
• Psyche—Wield defensive powers of the mind and spirit to create visions, focus your attacks, and induce madness in your enemies.
• Growth & Decay—Wield magic that both heals and harms, boosting Life, Resource. These incantations can create horrific diseases and disruptions.
• Plus, discover rare Lost powers of Witchcraft that have since been rediscovered.

Here’s all the powers revealed:

Eldritch Powers

Firebat Servants

• A deadly swarm of Firebats swarm enemies every 2 seconds, inflicting X total Fire damage over 1 total attack.
• At Higher Ranks: Enemies are Stunned for 3 seconds after being hit 5 times by your Firebat Servants.

Abyssal Resonance

• Every 250 Resource spent, release an explosion dealing X Shadow damage. Each explosion triggered within 10 seconds of the last increases the size and damage by 130%. Stacking up to 3 times.
• At Rank 10: The third explosion pulls enemies towards you before detonating.

Wave of Woe

• Release a Wave of Woe when damaging an enemy with your skills. Wave of Woe deals an additional X Shadow damage and echoes this damage to all other nearby enemies of the same type.
• At Rank 5: Damage is increased by 15% each time damage is echoed and is guaranteed to echo at least 5 times. May strike the same target multiple times.

Purging Touch

• Eldritch Effects X increased damage against Headrotten.
• At Rank 10: This damage bonus now extends to all monsters.

Shaken Soul

• Eldritch Effects apply Vulnerable to enemies for X seconds.
• At Rank 10: Damage from Psyche and Growth & Decay Effects will also apply Vulnerable at half the duration.

Hex of Flames

• Lucky Hit: You have up to an X chance to apply Hex of Flames. Hex of Flames deals 1,600 additional Fire damage each time you deal damage to the target.
• At Rank 7: Hex of Flames explodes dealing damage to all nearby enemies when you land a Critical Strike.

Doom Orb

• An ominous orb of pure Eldritch energy circles you, damaging any enemy it touches for X Fire damage. Doom Orb may launch itself at distant enemies before returning.
• At Rank 5: Kills or damage to Bosses empower the orb’s damage by 5%. After 100%, the orb explodes dealing 5,200 damage to nearby enemies before reforming 3 seconds later.

Psyche Powers

Life Link

• Automatically link your life force with up to 3 nearby enemies. X of the damage you take is shared with the linked targets as physical damage. Cannot Life Link to enemy Players.
• At Rank 15: For 10 seconds after using a Defensive, Macabre of Subterfuge Skill, any linked damage will be a guaranteed Critical Strike.

Hex of Shattering

• Damage done by your Witchcraft Effects afflicts enemies with Hex of Shattering causing them to deal X reduced damage for 5 seconds.
• At Rank 8: When any Hex Effect is applied to Headrotten, all damage will be guaranteed Critical Strikes for 5 seconds.

Aura of Misfortune

• Enemies near you have X chance for their attacks to be interrupted. Does not work on bosses.
• At Rank 5: Aura of Misfortune increases your Movement Speed by 5% and Slows enemies by 30%.

Aura of Lament

• When you first strike an enemy, it is afflicted with an Aura of Lament that Slows it and other nearby enemies by 70%. For each enemy inside Aura of Lament, you gain 1 Primary Resource each second. If the initial enemy dies, Aura of Lament is passed onto another nearby enemy retaining the duration. Lasts X seconds.
• Only 1 enemy may be afflicted at a time. May only occur every 30 seconds.

Vengeful Spirit

• Every 19 Seconds, a Vengeful Spirit Servant appears for X seconds. While active, all damage taken is instead taken by the spirit.
• At Rank 5: When the Vengeful Spirit’s Life is fully depleted, it rushes towards up to 8 enemies dealing 2,000 Shadow damage.

Twilight Warding

• Every X seconds, gain a Barrier for 5 seconds absorbing 100 damage.
• At Rank 12: Twilight Warding reflects enemy projectiles while active.

Growth & Decay Powers

Poison Frog Servant

• Summon a Poison Frog Servant that attacks and Poisons enemies for X damage over 3 seconds. On death, the frog explodes violently dealing X Poison instantly damage to nearby enemies. This explosion will always Critically Strike.
• At Rank 5: Poison Frog attacks will pull enemies towards itself and Taunt enemies for 1 second.

Soul Harvest

• Feed upon the life force of nearby enemies whenever you use a skill with a cooldown, increasing your primary stat by 3% per monster for X seconds.
• At Rank 9: Soul Harvest does not lose duration so long as enemies are nearby.

Hex of Whispers

• Dealing damage to an enemy afflicts them with Hex of Whispers that deals X Shadow damage the next time damage is dealt. Afterwards, Hex of Whispers will jump to another enemy up to a maximum of 6 times. Hex of Whispers may only be applied once every 5 seconds.
• At Rank 7: After bouncing onto 6 enemies, the hex bounces back to you granting X Fortify and removing all crowd control and negative status effects.

Decay Augmentation

• Your Witchcraft Effects deal X of the damage dealt over 5 seconds. The damage type is based on your class.
• At Rank 10: When your damage-over-time effects exceed 85% of the target’s total Life, they immediately die.

Grow

• After casting an Ultimate Skill, your Servants, Minions, and Companions are empowered with dark magics. Growing larger in size and dealing X bonus damage. Lasts 15 seconds.
• At Rank 11: Your Servants, Minions and Companions gain 100% Critical Strike Chance while enlarged.

Aura of Siphoning

• Conjure an aura of decay that deals X Poison damage to enemies every second.
• At Rank 10: Each time Aura of Siphoning deals damage, you are healed for 1% of Maximum Life.

The Cycle

• Dealing any damage with your skills has a 15% chance to grow a flower from the ground. When an enemy is near, the flower deals X Poison damage to that enemy over 5 seconds. If an ally is near, the flower heals for 6% maximum Life. The flower withers away after use. A flower may grow once every 5 seconds per enemy.
• At Rank 5: The damage and healing affects all enemies or allies near the flower.

Lost Powers

Breath of the Coven

• Dealing damage or applying a Crowd Control effect with any of your Witchcraft Effects increases your Attack Speed by X for 10 Seconds, stacking once per unique Witchcraft Effect.
• Witchcraft Effects are Eldritch, Psyche, and Growth & Decay.
• At Rank 8: Gain 40% Lucky Hit chance while bonuses from Eldritch, Psyche, Growth & Decay are active at once.

Hex Specialization

• Increase the potency of your Hex Effects by X.
• At Rank 10: Increase the Critical Strike Chance by 10% against enemies afflicted by your Hex Effects.

Aura Specialization

• The size of your Aura Effects are increased by X.
• At Rank 10: Increase the Critical Strike Damage by 50% against enemies inside your Aura Effects.

Piranhado

• When an enemy is afflicted by both a Hex and an Aura Effect, a Piranhado is summoned pulling enemies towards it and dealing X Physical damage over 12 seconds. May occur once every 20 seconds.
• At Rank 5: Piranhado moves itself towards nearby enemies.

Activities in Season 7

Headhunts

The tree wants you to kill the Headrotten and are subzone takeovers similar to Helltides.

Rootholds

Seek out these micro-dungeons as an additional way to hunt the Headrotten, with bonus challenges and rewards.

• Perform dangerous rituals to turn Headrot into power.
• Rootholds are only accessible by using “Whisper Wood,” sigils found in Whisper Caches and Silent Chests.
• One of these can be found in the Fractured Peaks in the PTR.

Occult Gems

Each Occult Gem provides 160 Armor and 8% Resist All. Craft the following Occult Gems at Gelena:

Wicked Pact

• Your Non-Unique Eldritch Witch Powers gain 25% Potency.

Heart of Anima

• Your Non-Unique Psyche Witch Powers gain 25% Potency.

Toadling’s Wish

• Your Non-Unique Growth & Decay witch Powers gain 25% Potency.

Phantom String

• You deal 40% more Overpower damage to Hexed enemies.

Elder Sigil

• Your Agility, Corpse, Incarnate, Mastery, Weapon Master, and Wrath Skills deal 25% increased direct damage to Hexed enemies.

Killing Wind

• While you have three or more Eldritch Witch Powers slotted, gain 25% Movement Speed and 15% Critical Strike Chance.

Witching Hour

• While you have three or more Eldritch Witch Powers slotted, every 5 seconds, the next Core Skill you cast gains the Eldritch tag.

Raging Enigma

• Your Unique Witchcraft Powers deal 40% more damage.

Voice of the Stars

• While you have an Aura active, your Ultimate Skills gain each Grimoire tag and deal 10% more damage.

Mind Wreath

• While you have three or more Psyche Witch Powers slotted, your Defensive, Macabre, Trap Skills gain 20% Cooldown Reduction.

Spiral Coin

• While you have three or more Psyche Witch Powers slotted, gain 30% Control Duration and 20% Lucky Hit Chance.

Cornucopia

• While you have three or more Growth % Decay Witch Powers slotted, you generate 30% more Barrier, gain 30% more Fortify and have 30% more Thorns.

Vulture Talon

• While you have an Aura active, you deal Damage Over Time 35% faster.

Pointed Finger

• Your Summons deal 25% more direct damage to Hexed Elites.

Vile Phylactery

• While you have a Witch Power with the Summon tag slotted, if you would take fatal damage, instead prevent that damage. Then gain a Barrier equal to 100% of your Maximum Life and disable your Witchcraft Powers with the Summon tag for 6 seconds. This can only occur once every 75 seconds.

Friend of the Bog

• While you have three or more Growth & Decay Witch Powers slotted, you gain 10% primary stat, 10% Maximum Life and you are always Unhindered.

Moonlight Ward

• For each rank in your slotted Unique Witchcraft Power, you gain 3% Damage Reduction and 1% Maximum Resistance to All Elements.

Dust Stone

• For each of your Auras and Hexes an enemy is afflicted by, they take 4% increased damage from you.

Hungering Void

• While you have an Aura active, pull Nearby enemies toward you every 8 seconds.

Tree of Whispers Update

The layout around the Tree of Whispers has been changed slightly with the waypoint moved and Grim Favors can be turned in at a Raven of the Tree during a Headhunt so no need to return to the tree. Ancestral Caches have been added as rewards at the tree.

Quality of Life Changes

• Paragon earned during Season 6 is going to be moved over to the Eternal Realm to level-up your Eternal Paragon. This means the Soulstone at 300 Paragon can be earned on the Eternal Realm.
• Unique Power roll updates are coming and Ancestral items will drop the top end of the aspect roll. Ancestral drop rates will also be increased on all Torment Tiers.
• Gem fragments can be used to craft Legendary Amulets and Legendary Rings
• Class quests are going to be unlocked across your account so no need to redo them again but you still can do them if you want to for a “juicy reward”.

Armory

It’s finally here!

PTR

The Season 7 PTR will include all the Season 7 Unique items, Witchcraft Powers and Witchcraft progression items so there’s a lot to try out when the PTR drops on 3 December.

Watch the Season 7 and Patch 2.1 Campfire Chat

You can also check out Blizzard’s recap here.