Blizzard Blues on Dynamic Difficulty, and Smart Loot

The level of monsters in the game is based on the party leader, so they could be either 20 or 60 in the scenario you gave. Just make sure the high level character is up to the task of protecting the low level one if they're the leader. ;)

No, the game stays at whatever level it was created, even if the party leader leaves.

The short answer is that a flail can only be transmogrified into another flail. The primary restrictions for what weapons can be transmogrified into other weapons has to do with class restrictions and animations, as some of the previous posts already pointed out. However, you'd be able to change an axe or shiny new mace into a sword to stick with a sword and board theme with your Crusader.

The way it currently works is you unlock available transmog gear as you level up the Mystic, and you discover Legendary transmog sets when you pick them up. Legendary items you already own will not count in this way, so you'll need to find those items again to unlock their appearance as an option to transmogrify items into.

Happy Friday! I have lots of text and info to share, so this is not for the faint of heart. ;P


That sounds like one of my posts. ;P The short version is you will see significant changes in the speed of Paragon leveling next Beta patch and it will be more noticeable at higher Paragon levels than lower levels. So let's set that aside from this conversation, as that is really part of a different discussion.


There seems to be a misunderstanding of what Smart Loot really entails. Here are the basics:

• Smart Loot doesn't ensure you get completely 100% optimized gear with every drop, nor does it guarantee that you will receive a primary stat on an item
• What it does is limit the pool of affixes to stats appropriate for your class so that you are more likely to get something you can use. It also prevents rolls from occurring on gear that your class can't benefit from at all, such as seeing bonus Electrocute damage on a Fist weapon or Intelligence on a Mighty Weapon.

The item is still randomly rolled, which has always been and will continue to be a core mechanic of Diablo. In the case of the new Hellfire Ring, you know going into it that it will be a ring, have a strong proc, high bonus experience, and won't roll stats you cannot use at all. If you get something that's close to what you’re looking for, you can then refine it with the Mystic. That's really quite a lot of control.

I do want to clarify that this is a bit different from the old ring, which did roll with a specific main stat, like Strength. For the new ring, we condensed the recipes down to one because it previously felt a little clunky, and instead applied Smart Loot to the crafting experience. Ensuring a main stat on top of that would have also resulted a fewer number of random rolls available on the ring, because a stat would have been basically decided for you.

Ultimately, what this provides is more freedom and variety in what can roll on the item (so you have four chances for some juicy Critical Strike rather than three, for example), while also adding a little risk to the process. And as I said above, the Mystic is always there to fill gaps for the stats you want.


Monks are able to equip staves, and both Wizards and Witch Doctors can equip bows. They might not be the more commonly used options by those classes, but they are able to be equipped and usable by those classes. If, however, you are seeing something like Hand Crossbows dropping with Intelligence, we definitely want to hear about it and I recommend you post your findings in our Bug Report forum.

It’s also important to note that not all drops will be Smart Drops. Rather, items have a chance to be a Smart Drop. This means that you will still encounter items that are pure random rolls and not specifically tailored to your character.


This is the intent! I'm glad it shows. We want players to have a clear goal with appreciable rewards. I'd like to see what you all think after the next Beta patch, but it's something we'll keep an eye on and I'll continue to gather and pass on feedback for it.

*Edited for typo*

I'm seeking clarification now on weather this is actually a bug or not. At 70, I am leaning towards this not being intended, but I'll find out and let you guys know.

Confirmed, this isn't intended.

Luckily, this has already been resolved internally and should no longer be occurring in the next beta patch.

It's possible that these erroneous Demonic Essences could be pushing the other items off of the loot table, but that's just an educated guess. For what its worth, there have been a lot of tweaks to the acquisition rates of crafting materials across the board, and you should see these in the next patch. Even if its totally broken in beta right now, at this point that build of the game is so old and changes are being made so rapidly that it isn't a huge concern.