If there was an award for the one game that has consumed the most amount of my time, it would probably go to Diablo 3. I won't say that all of that time was well spent, due to the fact that the game was super broken pretty much since launch, but I will say that I'm glad I've stuck it out because the newest patch has fixed 90% of everything that was wrong with the game. With The D3 expansion, Reaper of Souls, set to launch on March 25th, I'm actually enjoying getting my character ready. You can view the full change log HERE, but I want to share my favorite changes. I play as a Wizard and a Witch Doctor, but mainly a wizard named Jofftin!
So the first thing I'll go over is that they got rid of Nephalem Valor. NV was one of their first attempts to fix the game/add more playability after you maxed out your level, granting 1 stack (up to 5) for each boss or event you beat. It then boosted your magic and gold find and supposedly increased your chances of better loot. Umm did it though? You also lost all of your stacks if you changed any of your skills and you needed full stacks to pursue the keys for infernal machine quest (now only in Torment mode). I never seemed to get any good loot from having 5 stacks of NV so it will bring me to my next favorite change.
LOOT 2.0! Where have you been all my life? This introduces "smart" loot. Smart loot gives you a REALLY high chance to get your class items. No more constantly getting stuff you can't use. I played about 4 hours last night and got about 80% Wizard stuff. The loot is also stuff you can use or just barely under! WHAT? Yeah I was able to use a lot of the stuff I picked up along with 3 legendary drops! Yes 3 legendary drops in 4 hours. One from a random small chest, one from a dead body, and one from the Skeleton King. My fiance got 3 legendary items and a set item in the same time. It's so fun playing when you are rewarded with items that are actually going to help you.
They also changed/fixed/boosted class skills and runes. I really think it is a lot more balanced now. They got rid of some skill runes and replaced them with better ones so definitely check out your skills and see what new ones there are. Check the full change log for explanations and stat changes.
They revamped difficulties too. No more dumb monster power, No more Normal, Nightmare, Hell, Inferno. Now you get Normal, Hard, Expert, Master, and Torment 1-6. I played on Master and was rocking through it pretty fast. I also gained about 4 levels of paragon. They added Reflection Pools which boost XP by 25% for a set amount of time or until you die. They also added Nephalem Glory like they have in the console version which gives you more damage and is stackable up to 3 times.
They updated the graphics a little by adding reflections. It fixed the weird motion blur I was having, but then again my video card updated too so I'm not sure what happened but it looks amazing. Also I'm not sure when it happened, but there are now fancy maps and waypoints. :)
Took off enrage timers on bosses! (Except in torment mode) YES! Nothing was more annoying than fighting the butcher when the entire floor just caught fire after 2 minutes.
They made changes to crafting materials where you don't have a million different ones now, and it also changed actual crafting to where you will have a way better chance to get stuff you need.
Elite and Champion mobs have like 5 new effects such as portals (wormholes I believe) and these little lightning shrine things.
All potions are just potions now. 60% to life. No different sizes.
And last but definitely not least PARAGON 2.0! Paragon is now shared between all of your account characters. There is no cap on it and with each level you gain a skill point. SKILL POINTS? Yes, finally skill points. The game always seemed way dumbed down without skill points. Diablo 2 revolved around them and 3 felt so lame without being able to add points into areas that you felt you needed. And also no worries if you already had a bunch of paragon levels. Go to the inventory menu and click on paragon in the upper left. You can add all of your points there.
Overall I feel a sense of accomplishment after playing the new patch for 4 hours. Something I have not felt in some time. I got some new items, I wasn't getting frustrated with way under leveled drops/ drops for everything but wizards, and I found legendaries which always add excitement. They added/fixed enough to make me want to play a lot again and have me really excited for the expansion.
So is it too late, or do you think Blizzard may be able to redeem the lost fans with the new patch? I haven't had a chance to read the hater comments yet, but right now I'm not regretting pre-ordering Reaper of Souls anymore.
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