Diablo III - Reaper of Souls - Information Round-up

[MonTy]

Today the Expansion Pack for Diablo 3, named Reaper of Souls, has been officially revealed.

• To be released in 2014
  
• New Class, The Crusader
  
• Act V, Westmarch/Pandemonium Fortress
  
• Increased Level Cap to 70. New Paragon System
  
• Revamped Loot system dubbed "Loot 2.0". New Artisan, the Mystic.
  

Videos: Cinematic, Gameplay Teaser, Loot 2.0, New Class
Links: Blizzard's Reveal Post, Official Forums Sticky FAQ, Diablo IncGamers, Diablo Reddit

So what does everyone here think of it? I'm excited over everything I'm seeing. Seems like being able to play self-found in Inferno will be more likely, which I'm truly excited about.

[Frag]

Loot 2.0 doesn't get a bullet point? For shame, Monty, for shame. :p

[MonTy]

Loot 2.0 doesn't get a bullet point? For shame, Monty, for shame. :p

I see someone likes their bullet points. It's in the video section!

But yes, combined with the Mystic, it seems tailoring gear to suit your character will be very possible.

*edit, you win today, Frag.

[Frag]

I decided it would be more cooth not to mention you ripped off my video links w/o even citing the source.

[MonTy]

I decided it would be more cooth not to mention you ripped off my video links w/o even citing the source. ;)

Actually I ripped them off from the official forums sticky. That's right, a post on the official battle.net forums.

[Frag]

I decided it would be more cooth not to mention you ripped off my video links w/o even citing the source.

Actually I ripped them off from the official forums sticky. That's right, a post on the official battle.net forums.

Sorry, mistook you for the Monty that swung by the Median forums. <Blue text denotes sarcasm.

[vor_lord]

Seems like being able to play self-found in Inferno will be more likely, which I'm truly excited about.

What game changes make self-found in Inferno more likely?

[Aahzmadius]

What game changes make self-found in Inferno more likely?

Blizzard is referring to it as 'Smart Drops.' If you're playing a wizard, you will be more likely to find wizard items. That's all the detail that I know about-not sure if that means you'll find more INT gear or just more class-specific items.

[Kevin]

What game changes make self-found in Inferno more likely?

Blizzard is referring to it as 'Smart Drops.' If you're playing a wizard, you will be more likely to find wizard items. That's all the detail that I know about-not sure if that means you'll find more INT gear or just more class-specific items.

You'll also be able to use a new NPC to re-roll a single affix on legendary or rare item. The 8 minute or so Loot 2.0 video covers a lot of it. Oh and Paragon perks apply account wide, though I stopped playing before Paragon stuff was in the game so I'm not sure how big a deal that is.

[Frag]

You'll also be able to use a new NPC to re-roll a single affix on legendary or rare item. The 8 minute or so Loot 2.0 video covers a lot of it. Oh and Paragon perks apply account wide, though I stopped playing before Paragon stuff was in the game so I'm not sure how big a deal that is.

Paragon levels aren't a big deal to start with, but they add up quickly. You gain the same stats as you would have leveling up (3/4 to primary stat, 2 to Vitality, 1 to others) as well as 3% bonus magic find and gold find. The interesting part is I think that all of that is going away, and you'll be able to pick what you want instead, so you'll be able to customize your characters stats, like in previous editions.

To expand upon Smart Drops from the Loot 2.0 keynote, the amount of drops you see is (from their numbers) going down by a large amount. A full clear of A3 MP4 Inferno had these stats:

Common dropped now: 256
Common dropped RoS: 73 (28.5%)
Magic dropped now: 399
Magic dropped RoS: 266 (67%)
Rare dropped now: 275
Rare dropped RoS: 83 (30.2%)
Legendary dropped now: 1
Legendary dropped RoS: 6 (600%)

The real change is behind those numbers though, every rare and legendary has a chance to be a 'smart drop', which means it will be tailored with stats to suit your character and have a percentage to be a sidegrade/upgrade. In addition to this, the first time you kill a boss, you will be rewarded with a legendary for your class. As all legendaries can now drop as any level, this means you have a decent shot of receiving an upgrade.

As Kevin pointed out, if you receive an item (such as a dex based weapon) on your Wizard, you can swap the dex for another stat, possibly int.

[FireIceTalon]

Paragon level certainly makes a difference in the loot you find, at least in terms of the amount of loot - not so much in the quality of course. Theoretically, this should also mean more chances for better loot but in reality, you have about the same chances as you do to win the lottery. Last night while leveling my barb to paragon 98 I found like 6-8 legendaries in the same game. Granted, this was a rather high amount compared to what I usually get (and all of them were trash anyway), but it does make a difference. It is very unlikely that I would have found that many on my DH or WD, which are still only in their paragon 20's.

I'm liking what I see for changes to the loot system so far. I hate having to be an AH warrior to be able faceroll the highest content. It gives me no satisfaction in building or progressing my chars, and the only reason I even still play at this point is for paragon leveling and co-op here and there with friends. Ofc, now that the level cap is going to be increased, it seems all my items will now become obsolete, ggrrrrrrrr. But hopefully the Loot 2.0 compensates for this and I can find all new upgrades for my chars w/o little (preferably none) reliance on using the AH. Indeed, I would rather have less loot drop, but have a much more substantial chance of it being something worthwhile. There is good RNG, and there is bad RNG - and right now, D3 has very bad RNG. There are too many useless affixes, and the stat ranges are too wide to the point where rolling an upgrade is almost impossible. I like the idea of being able to change stat on an item that you find, via an artisan...too many times I've found something that was oh so close, and the lack of one stat kills something that would otherwise have been a great find. "Wow, these gloves are nice! Critical hit chance, critical hit damage, main stat and all resists.....oh wait, extra gold from monsters and no IAS?". Salvaged.

I'm not sure that I like unlimited paragon levels though. Even if stats do have a certain cap to avoid char imbalance, it just feels like there is no goal to work for anymore (even if the loot hunt becomes worth it). I think there should be some sort of limit.

Act 5 looks really awesome. Def looks like something you would see in a Diablo game - very dark. I think the devs realized that some of the other acts were too "bright" for a diablo game, and changed course. Act 1 was by far the most well done and polished act of D3 classic, but even that was a bit too bright in some areas - playing in the old cathedral doesn't have the same tense feeling as it did in D1 because there is so much lighting. I thought the cursed hold was a good model for how inside environments should look in the game.

The changes look promising overall but I will reserve judgement until I play the game.

[Frag]

Paragon level certainly makes a difference in the loot you find, at least in terms of the amount of loot - not so much in the quality of course.

Felt the need to correct this for those who haven't experienced Paragon levels. Each Paragon level, currently, grants exactly "(3 to the class main stat, 2 vitality, 1 to the other two stats), plus a passive bonus of 3% to Magic Find and Gold Find.". Your Paragon level makes no impact -at all- in the amount of items that drop, simply their quality.

[FireIceTalon]

If that's the case though, how come 200 dps weapons still drop like rain for my wiz, who is paragon 100? I honestly see little if any difference in the quality of drops between any of my chars...whether playing my WD is who is p25, my Monk at p57, or my 100 wiz. I do see more legendaries drop on my higher paragons, but that is really the only noticeable difference from what I can tell. Admittedly, I did find two gg items on my Wiz a while ago: a Unity with 8% ias and the Witching Hour that she currently uses (I had a nice Int unity with 8% ias already so I ended up selling the one I found for like 300 mill or so), but considering I have almost as many hours played on my wiz as all my other chars combined, it is difficult to make a fair assessment in how much of a role her paragon level played. At look at it more from an RNG perspective than I do paragon level, in terms of item quality. The only difference I am really able to make out is that I see more legendaries drop for my higher paragon chars.

[Frag]

If that's the case though, how come 200 dps weapons still drop like rain for my wiz, who is paragon 100? I honestly see little if any difference in the quality of drops between any of my chars...whether playing my WD is who is p25, my Monk at p57, or my 100 wiz.

You seemed confused. Item QUANTITY would change the total amount of items that drop. Only known way to increase that is to raise Monster Level (increasing the total number of monsters in a given area) and to put more players in the game, that won't increase the number of drops you see, just that drop in totality. Item QUALITY is what you increase by having higher Magic Find %, and decreases the number of common items you find until that % of the loot table becomes zero, and increases the number of magic, rare and legendary items you find, as relative to the number that drops.

Affixes are based on itemlevel and RNG, period.

[MonTy]

What game changes make self-found in Inferno more likely?

Hmm, I remember reading or hearing that we also get a guaranteed Legendary drop the first time you kill a boss. Combine that with "Smart loot" and the Mystic, it'll be easier to actually use those Legendary items. Before it was rare to even find a Legendary item, then on top of that you had to get a lucky roll with stats pertinent to your class.

[Bolty]

I'm very much expecting another Annual Pass announcement at this year's Blizzcon to include:

1) Reaper of Souls
2) Access to the next (The Dark Below?) WoW xpack beta

Seems likely just because there's going to be another good 8-12 month gap between the September 10th release of Siege of Orgrimmar and the next expansion pack.