Incoming 2.1 Patch Overhauls 'Firebird's Finery' Bonus
The Firebird's 6-piece set bonus is redesigned, and fixes for FPS issues
The PTR is currently down for maintenance, with a new patch expected to arrive today. We had an earlier look at many big changes that will be in the new patch 2.1 build, and another Legendary change was detailed today.
Firebird's Finery New 6-piece Set Bonus
The Wizard Firebird's Finery set (including items like the helm Firebird's Plume) has had a poorly developed 6-piece set bonus. That bonus was altered slightly in the first patch 2.1 PTR build, but that wasn't enough. The developers have thrown out the old 6-piece set bonus entirely, and the new patch will bring a redesigned bonus. It provides an interesting twist on doing Damage over Time (DoT), when Fire skills are used.
Post by Blizzard (Blue Tracker, Official Forum)
There's some interesting ideas in here - thanks for sharing them! It's great to see the constructive discourse and reasoning behind these idea threads.
We are, indeed, redesigning the 6-Piece Set Bonus for Firebird's Finery. In this case, it's been completely redesigned, though we do want to keep Fire thematically appropriate to the set. We've removed the on-death qualifier from the set bonus, and dealing Fire damage will now cause enemies to start burning for the same amount of damage over 3 seconds, stacking up to a total of 3000% weapon damage as Fire per second. Once that cap is reached, enemies will instead burn until they die.
You'll be able to give this new set bonus a try in the next PTR patch, which we should be looking at arriving pretty soon. As always, be sure to let us know what you think when you give it a whirl!
We are, indeed, redesigning the 6-Piece Set Bonus for Firebird's Finery. In this case, it's been completely redesigned, though we do want to keep Fire thematically appropriate to the set. We've removed the on-death qualifier from the set bonus, and dealing Fire damage will now cause enemies to start burning for the same amount of damage over 3 seconds, stacking up to a total of 3000% weapon damage as Fire per second. Once that cap is reached, enemies will instead burn until they die.
You'll be able to give this new set bonus a try in the next PTR patch, which we should be looking at arriving pretty soon. As always, be sure to let us know what you think when you give it a whirl!
PTR Maintenance
The Public Test Realm is currently down. Blue posts detailed the expected maintenance length, and hinted at a PTR patch from the maintenance. This news will automatically update if there are more blue posts in that thread.
Post by Blizzard (Blue Tracker, Official Forum)
The Diablo III PTR is currently undergoing a scheduled maintenance. It's scheduled to be completed by 6 PM PDT tonight. There will not be a patch update in this maintenance.
_________________________________________________________
I'm available in the forums Tuesday - Friday, 11 am - 8 pm Pacific Time
Saturday 10 am - 7 pm Pacific Time
Feedback? - https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Omrakos
_________________________________________________________
I'm available in the forums Tuesday - Friday, 11 am - 8 pm Pacific Time
Saturday 10 am - 7 pm Pacific Time
Feedback? - https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Omrakos
So it's not a patch?
I didn't say that ;)
It's hard to be accurate when it comes to predicting any sort of time schedules for a PTR. It's not run by Technical Support so we can only go by internal memos we may come across or checking for posts in the PTR Feedback (should always be your first choice for info).
I posted earlier, when I first came in today, as upon checking, it looked like maintenance was underway and that it appeared it would last about 8 hours and end around 6 PM PDT.
I saw a second memo after that where the time was shorter (2 hours) and updated the post I made earlier. It turns out I was correct the first time and that the second memo I read was for another maintenance scheduled for tomorrow.
So. Today's maintenance is actually supposed to be complete by 6 PM tonight PDT
Another one will be performed tomorrow that should last 2 hours. (starting at 11 AM PDT)
I apologize for any confusion I've caused.
_________________________________________________________
I'm available in the forums Tuesday - Friday, 11 am - 8 pm Pacific Time
Saturday 10 am - 7 pm Pacific Time
Feedback? - https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Omrakos
I posted earlier, when I first came in today, as upon checking, it looked like maintenance was underway and that it appeared it would last about 8 hours and end around 6 PM PDT.
I saw a second memo after that where the time was shorter (2 hours) and updated the post I made earlier. It turns out I was correct the first time and that the second memo I read was for another maintenance scheduled for tomorrow.
So. Today's maintenance is actually supposed to be complete by 6 PM tonight PDT
Another one will be performed tomorrow that should last 2 hours. (starting at 11 AM PDT)
I apologize for any confusion I've caused.
_________________________________________________________
I'm available in the forums Tuesday - Friday, 11 am - 8 pm Pacific Time
Saturday 10 am - 7 pm Pacific Time
Feedback? - https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Omrakos
Is a new build comming with this maintenance?
I believe the maintenance tomorrow will, not the one today.
_________________________________________________________
I'm available in the forums Tuesday - Friday, 11 am - 8 pm Pacific Time
Saturday 10 am - 7 pm Pacific Time
Feedback? - https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Omrakos
Update - As mentioned above, there is another maintenance coming tomorrow that will likely bring the PTR patch. Here is another blue post about today's maintenance, which is now scheduled to last until 7PM PDT.
Post by Blizzard (Blue Tracker, Official Forum)
The patch 2.1.0 PTR is currently undergoing maintenance. We estimate that this maintenance will continue until approximately 7:00 p.m. PDT. Thank you for your patience!
As a reminder: As the PTR is a test server, please anticipate uneven game performance, and note that restarts and downtime may occur without warning.
As a reminder: As the PTR is a test server, please anticipate uneven game performance, and note that restarts and downtime may occur without warning.
Character Copy to PTR
There is always a delay on characters when they are copied from the live servers to the Public Test Realm. Grimiku explained how that process works.
Post by Blizzard (Blue Tracker, Official Forum)
The characters you copy over will always be behind your current status on live. That's just a byproduct of the way the copy system works, though. The character copy service for the public test realm used to have a 72 hour cooldown, but thankfully that's no longer the case. Things should be caught up whenever you copy them again, but just keep in mind that they'll generally be at least 24 hours behind, and sometimes more than that.
FPS Issues Addressed in PTR Patch
The next PTR patch may also help some computer systems that have slowed down in Diablo III. Even high end computers with powerful graphics cards have had the game running slowly in multiplayer games. There are fixes for that issue in the next PTR build.
Post by Blizzard (Blue Tracker, Official Forum)
Ashtaroth,
This isn't something Technical Support has any control over directly. Issues have been forwarded on to the devs for investigation and are being addressed though there's no timetable I can divulge.
However, one in particular I've been involved with is the low performance experienced by higher end systems, though any system can be affected, when playingi n 4-player games. The latest I've heard is we've not been able to replicate it internally when we use the latest internal build of 2.1. I believe the current 2.1 build used in the PTR is still affected. When a newer build is pushed out to the PTR, I encourage anyone experiencing this particular issue to stress test it as much as possible in multiplayer games and let us know the outcome.
_________________________________________________________
I'm available in the forums Tuesday - Friday, 11 am - 8 pm Pacific Time
Saturday 10 am - 7 pm Pacific Time
Feedback? - https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Omrakos
This isn't something Technical Support has any control over directly. Issues have been forwarded on to the devs for investigation and are being addressed though there's no timetable I can divulge.
However, one in particular I've been involved with is the low performance experienced by higher end systems, though any system can be affected, when playingi n 4-player games. The latest I've heard is we've not been able to replicate it internally when we use the latest internal build of 2.1. I believe the current 2.1 build used in the PTR is still affected. When a newer build is pushed out to the PTR, I encourage anyone experiencing this particular issue to stress test it as much as possible in multiplayer games and let us know the outcome.
_________________________________________________________
I'm available in the forums Tuesday - Friday, 11 am - 8 pm Pacific Time
Saturday 10 am - 7 pm Pacific Time
Feedback? - https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Omrakos
Multiboxing Allowed in Diablo III
The act of multiboxing is allowed in Diablo III, where multiple Battle.net accounts that have purchased the game all log in at once. It is a complicated situation for Blizzard, as they do not provide support for the process. There are also computer programs that can be used to automate actions in Diablo III, but that is against the Terms of Service, and can result in a player being banned. If done within the rules, multiboxing is a fun change of pace for playing the game. In the first Theorycrafting Thursday livestream, Travis Day talked about how he multiboxes, playing 4 Crusader characters at once while at home.
Post by Blizzard (Blue Tracker, Official Forum)
For Diablo III, multiboxing walks the strange line of being something we technically allow, but don’t officially support.
For clarity, players are allowed to have multiple Battle.net accounts, and each of them can have a Diablo III: Reaper of Souls license (one per account). There is no limit to the number of Battle.net accounts a single user can have, so long as no more than three of them have Battle.net Balance*. There is also no restriction to how many of these accounts can be online at once, but the methods to do so may not be supported. We do not support third-party software, and third-party software that automates gameplay is not allowed. Accounts found to be using third-party software that automates gameplay risk being closed, possibly permanently.
In other words, you can have multiple accounts, and you can be online with all of them at one time. We don’t support multiboxing in Diablo III, however, and some software used to facilitate multiboxing may violate our policies, so do so at your own risk.
* Please note that this clarification is not reflected within the EULA and TOU at this time. We will be updating both documents in the near future to correct this.
For clarity, players are allowed to have multiple Battle.net accounts, and each of them can have a Diablo III: Reaper of Souls license (one per account). There is no limit to the number of Battle.net accounts a single user can have, so long as no more than three of them have Battle.net Balance*. There is also no restriction to how many of these accounts can be online at once, but the methods to do so may not be supported. We do not support third-party software, and third-party software that automates gameplay is not allowed. Accounts found to be using third-party software that automates gameplay risk being closed, possibly permanently.
In other words, you can have multiple accounts, and you can be online with all of them at one time. We don’t support multiboxing in Diablo III, however, and some software used to facilitate multiboxing may violate our policies, so do so at your own risk.
* Please note that this clarification is not reflected within the EULA and TOU at this time. We will be updating both documents in the near future to correct this.
This next PTR build will include new features such as the addition of Legendary Gems. We'll have all the details once it arrives!
Update - As noted above, there will be another PTR maintenance tomorrow, that will likely bring the next PTR build.
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