'Reaper of Souls' Brings Hearthstone Card Packs
Elite card packs with the expansion, & Diablo III servers now in Australia
Hearthstone Expert Card Packs
A single Hearthstone Expert Card Pack is included with the Standard Edition of the expansion, while the Digital Deluxe Edition and Collector's Edition each provide 3 packs of the cards. This is a great encouragement for Diablo III players to check out Hearthstone, or a boost to their deck for those who are already enjoying Hearthstone.
Post by Blizzard (Blue Tracker, Official Forum)
Heads up! Players who pick up a copy of Diablo III: Reaper of Soulsâ„¢ will soon discover bonus loot in the form of an Expert Card Pack (or Packs!) for Hearthstoneâ„¢: Heroes of Warcraftâ„¢.
Depending on the version of Reaper of Souls you have pre-purchased (or purchase in the future) you can expect the following:
- Reaper of Souls: Digital Standard Edition – One (1) Hearthstone Expert Card Pack, delivered to your Battle.net account starting March 20.
- Reaper of Souls: Retail Standard Edition – One (1) Free Hearthstone Expert Card Pack, available in your Reaper of Souls box as a redeemable code.
- Reaper of Souls: Digital Deluxe Edition – Three (3) Hearthstone Expert Card Packs, delivered to your Battle.net account starting March 20.
- Reaper of Souls: Retail Collector's Edition – Three (3) Hearthstone Expert Card Packs, available in your Collector’s Edition box as three separate redeemable codes.
Note: These Expert Card Packs require a Battle.net account to be redeemed, and a maximum of five bonus Expert Card Packs can be redeemed on a single Battle.net account. If you aren't already playing Hearthstone when the bonus Expert Card Pack keys are granted to your Battle.net account, don’t worry—they’ll be waiting for you in-game as soon as you download Hearthstone for FREE and get through the introductory missions.
So have fun in Reaper of Souls, proudly defend the mortal realms, and—when you're ready for your hero's respite—enjoy some free cards courtesy of Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft.
Reaper of Souls for Consoles
With the PC edition of Reaper of Souls nearly upon us, the Diablo III development team is continuing their work on the console edition of the expansion, and all the changes from Patch 2.0. Grimiku notes that the PS4 Ultimate Evil Edition of the game (which will include both the base game and the expansion content) is set to release next, and there isn't further info at the moment regarding releasing the expansion on the older consoles.
Post by Blizzard (Blue Tracker, Official Forum)
We've got a lot of things in the works for Diablo III on console. We're very excited about bringing the Ultimate Evil Edition to PS4, and those of you going to PAX East should stop by to try it out, and hang out with the devs and Nevalistis! We're looking to release the Ultimate Evil Edition sometime in 2014, but we don't have an exact date yet. We don't have any plans to share about other platforms yet, but we're still heavy in development for RoS on console, and we're really looking forward to sharing more info in the coming months!
Patch 2.0.3 Hotfixes
All the currently listed hotfixes have now gone live, and there are not any more scheduled at this time. These are the hotfixes that most recently landed; see the full Patch 2.0.3 Hotfix list for all the changes that have happened since the patch.
Last Updated - March 20th. Items with an asterisk (*) are most recent.
Barbarian
Barbarian
- Threatening Shout
- Skill Rune - Grim Harvest
- Once again correctly drops loot when used against targets that normally have a chance to drop loot.*
- Skill Rune - Grim Harvest
- Arcane Torrent
- Skill Rune - Cascade
- Fixing an issue where the secondary missiles are triggering off damaging sources that are not Arcane Torrent*
- Skill Rune - Cascade
Legendary Plans for Similar Items
There are multiple crafted items that have similar names and stats, but at different character levels. Those are entirely different items, and are crafted on their own; as Grimiku notes, they have no connection to each other.
Post by Blizzard (Blue Tracker, Official Forum)
So I found some seven sins shoulder plans before the AH shut down and sold them for quite a nice profit. And have found a few more good legendary plans since then. Will they scale up in ROS for lvl 70 or do you have to refind them?
Read on for details about the new local Diablo III servers for Australian and New Zealand players, and their release times for the expansion!
Diablo III ANZ Local Servers and FAQ
As hinted at earlier, there are now local Diablo III servers for the Australia and New Zealand players. This makes the game far easier to play, with lower latency than when they had to connect across the ocean to the servers in the continental United States.
Post by Blizzard (Blue Tracker, Official Forum)
Blizzard Entertainment is pleased to announce the deployment of local Diablo III game servers for Australia and New Zealand to coincide with the launch of Diablo III: Reaper of Souls on March 25, 2014. This new infrastructure should result in a smoother gameplay experience for local players.
Enjoy!
FAQ
Q: What benefits will local servers have for Diablo III players in Australia and New Zealand?
A: By hosting Diablo III game servers in Australia, players located in Australia and New Zealand should benefit from an improved gameplay experience.
Q: Will I still be able to play with my friends who are on servers in the Americas?
A: Absolutely! Because the Australian Diablo III game servers will communicate with the servers in the Americas, you will be able to seamlessly play with friends who have already started their adventures there. Your friends list is powered by Battle.net, not the local game servers, so you’ll still be able to easily group up and chat with friends in the Americas.
Q: If I host a game and invite a friend in the Americas, what server will we play on?
A: When an American player creates a game, it will be hosted in the data centre located in the Americas. Joining this player’s game will connect you with the Americas data centre and you will play the game there. When an Australian or New Zealand player creates a game, it will be hosted in the ANZ data centre. Your American friend can join your game and he or she will then connect to the ANZ data centre and will play the game there.
Q: Will I need to pay any fees, register to transfer characters, or level up from scratch?
A: No! Because the local Diablo III game servers will be linked with the existing Americas region, all characters, gold, and experience will be unaffected. The introduction of Australian servers will be completely invisible to local players (no separate Australian server dropdown menu will be displayed), with the immediate benefit of providing a smoother, more responsive gameplay experience.
Q: Where are the servers physically located?
A: The local Diablo III servers will be hosted within a data centre in Sydney, Australia.
Q: When will local servers be available?
A: Local Diablo III game servers are available now, ahead of the release of upcoming expansion, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, which will go on sale in Australia and New Zealand on March 25, 2014.
Q: Will the new local servers only be available to players who purchase Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, or will they work for all Diablo III players?
A: All Diablo III players will be able to take advantage of the new local game servers straight away, at no additional cost.
Q: Will local game servers change the way I activate Diablo III: Reaper of Souls at launch, or any other Blizzard Entertainment games?
A: No! Local Diablo III game servers will have no impact on the way players currently register physical copies of Blizzard Entertainment games, or the unlock timing or process for activating digital copies of Diablo III: Reaper of Souls. While local game servers should provide an improved gameplay experience, product activation and initial authentication will continue to be handled by the Battle.net servers in the Americas. Players will be able to begin their quest to slay Malthael in Diablo III: Reaper of Souls from 3 p.m. AEDT on launch day, March 25, 2014.
Q: What about server maintenance times?
A: To ensure our database is synced correctly our ANZ players will have the same maintenance times as the US.
Q: Does this mean other Blizzard games will also be getting local servers?
A: Blizzard Entertainment is committed to providing our players around the world with the best possible experiences. We will continue to explore optimal server solutions for all of our franchises in each region.
Enjoy!
FAQ
Q: What benefits will local servers have for Diablo III players in Australia and New Zealand?
A: By hosting Diablo III game servers in Australia, players located in Australia and New Zealand should benefit from an improved gameplay experience.
Q: Will I still be able to play with my friends who are on servers in the Americas?
A: Absolutely! Because the Australian Diablo III game servers will communicate with the servers in the Americas, you will be able to seamlessly play with friends who have already started their adventures there. Your friends list is powered by Battle.net, not the local game servers, so you’ll still be able to easily group up and chat with friends in the Americas.
Q: If I host a game and invite a friend in the Americas, what server will we play on?
A: When an American player creates a game, it will be hosted in the data centre located in the Americas. Joining this player’s game will connect you with the Americas data centre and you will play the game there. When an Australian or New Zealand player creates a game, it will be hosted in the ANZ data centre. Your American friend can join your game and he or she will then connect to the ANZ data centre and will play the game there.
Q: Will I need to pay any fees, register to transfer characters, or level up from scratch?
A: No! Because the local Diablo III game servers will be linked with the existing Americas region, all characters, gold, and experience will be unaffected. The introduction of Australian servers will be completely invisible to local players (no separate Australian server dropdown menu will be displayed), with the immediate benefit of providing a smoother, more responsive gameplay experience.
Q: Where are the servers physically located?
A: The local Diablo III servers will be hosted within a data centre in Sydney, Australia.
Q: When will local servers be available?
A: Local Diablo III game servers are available now, ahead of the release of upcoming expansion, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, which will go on sale in Australia and New Zealand on March 25, 2014.
Q: Will the new local servers only be available to players who purchase Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, or will they work for all Diablo III players?
A: All Diablo III players will be able to take advantage of the new local game servers straight away, at no additional cost.
Q: Will local game servers change the way I activate Diablo III: Reaper of Souls at launch, or any other Blizzard Entertainment games?
A: No! Local Diablo III game servers will have no impact on the way players currently register physical copies of Blizzard Entertainment games, or the unlock timing or process for activating digital copies of Diablo III: Reaper of Souls. While local game servers should provide an improved gameplay experience, product activation and initial authentication will continue to be handled by the Battle.net servers in the Americas. Players will be able to begin their quest to slay Malthael in Diablo III: Reaper of Souls from 3 p.m. AEDT on launch day, March 25, 2014.
Q: What about server maintenance times?
A: To ensure our database is synced correctly our ANZ players will have the same maintenance times as the US.
Q: Does this mean other Blizzard games will also be getting local servers?
A: Blizzard Entertainment is committed to providing our players around the world with the best possible experiences. We will continue to explore optimal server solutions for all of our franchises in each region.
Getting 60ms for the first time in Diablo 3, my feelings towards Blizzard are just insane right now. Who ever pushed this through and got us servers I love you, seriously, can the blue who made this all happen for us post please? I want to at least shake your hand or something.
It's was a big group effort! So happy to announce this!
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls ANZ Launch Times
Each region and area has their own launch time for the expansion. Here are the details on the launch times for Australia and New Zealand.
Post by Blizzard (Blue Tracker, Official Forum)
The time is nearly upon us to defend the realm of Sanctuary once more. As any Crusader knows, preparation before battle is the key to success. While heroic adventurers hailing from Australia and New Zealand can purchase a copy of Diablo III: Reaper of Souls directly from www.diablo.com, they can also pick up the game at their favorite retailer on Tuesday, March 25.
For a handy reference, the Reaper of Souls game servers will go live at:
New Zealand Daylight Time: 5:00 PM
Australian Eastern Daylight Time: 3:00 PM
Australian Central Daylight Time: 2:30 PM
Australian Western Standard Time: 12:00 PM
So settle into a chair and pour yourself a flagon of mead before you set off on your journey to Westmarch.
For a handy reference, the Reaper of Souls game servers will go live at:
New Zealand Daylight Time: 5:00 PM
Australian Eastern Daylight Time: 3:00 PM
Australian Central Daylight Time: 2:30 PM
Australian Western Standard Time: 12:00 PM
So settle into a chair and pour yourself a flagon of mead before you set off on your journey to Westmarch.
Yes you can install the game and have it ready to go for when the servers go live. You should also be able to play vanilla up to the launch time. But keep in mind there may be some maintenance at some stage around the launch period to ensure the best game play experience possible.
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