SotR: Closed Beta Phase 1 Patch Notes
Please Note: There is no way at all we could list every single change we've made compared to previous versions of Annihilus or to vanilla Diablo II, as every single skill and item has been changed, most being drastic changes. Therefore, the changes you see here will mostly be large core / mechanic changes, or things we feel needed to be specifically pointed out. Also please note this is just the patch notes for the first Beta Phase, there will be more phases as we progress through the Beta. Everything is subject to change, and this is NOT the finalized changelog for the full SotR update.
Annihilus: SotR Closed Beta Phase 1 Changelog:
Core Changes:
• "Breakpoints" for Attack Speed, Cast Speed, etc have been removed. For example, 10% Increased Attack Speed will now simply make you attack 10% faster. This makes stats such as Attack Speed, Cast Speed, Block Speed, and Hit Recovery VERY valuable, and will never be a "dead" stat on an item just because you did not hit the next "breakpoint". Because of this change, items with Attack / Cast Speed will show up at lower values.
• Many new stats have been added to the game. These include Execution Damage, Increased Critical Strike Damage, Cooldown Reduction, Increased Minion Damage, Increased Minion Life, Splash Heal on Hit, Increased Damage to Bleeding targets, and many more.
• The Character Sheet has been overhauled. You can now mouse over stats in the sheet to get more details about them via tooltip, such as how much life you gain per Vitality or just a hint of what they do. You will find many new stats here now as well, and the damage code has been rewritten so the character sheet no longer lies about how much damage you deal, it should be accurate 99% of the time.
• Defense's Physical Reduction Formula has been simplified. You now need 500 Defense per Monster's level to hit the maximum 75% Physical Damage Reduction. Your Defense tooltip will show you your current percentage versus monsters in your current area, and against your own level.
• All attacks will now always hit, the attack rating mechanic has been removed. Defense now just provides Physical Damage Reduction.
• Stamina mechanic has been removed. Walking has been removed, and there are no penalties for running.
• Deadly Strike has been replaced with Critical Strike. This is a core stat and will be found on your Character Sheet, every character has a base of 5% Critical Strike. All attacks and spells are capable of critical strikes, regardless of if they use Weapon Damage or not. Critical Strikes deal 150% damage initially, and this can be increased via items and Dexterity.
• Crushing Blow has been replaced with Staggering Blow. Percentage damage from Crushing Blow is more or less impossible to balance properly, it is almost always going to be either too strong or too weak. Staggering Blow instead lowers the enemy's Physical Resistance by 10% and Attack Speed by 20% for 3 seconds. There is an overlay to indicate when an enemy is staggered.
• Chance to cause Open Wounds has been replaced with Chance to cause Bleeding. A weapon based attack that triggers Bleeding will deal 75% of that attack's damage every second, for 5 seconds. So if you trigger Bleeding with an attack that deals 1000 damage, the enemy will take 750 damage every second for 5 seconds. Monsters will visibly bleed on the ground while a Bleed is active.
• Strength, Dexterity, Vitality, and Energy now have additional benefits. Mouse over them in charsheet for more information.
• Item Drops are no longer increased by more players being in the game.
• The vast majority of the User Interface has been updated.
• Story Progression has been completely overhauled. All Monster Levels are now tied to the Area's Level, with the exception of champion / unique packs and Bosses. All Monsters are resistant to certain types of damage, which will encourage hybrid damage if possible. Monsters will NEVER be immune to any element / damage type unless they roll "Cold Enchanted" or something that further increases their base resistances. Many Boss fights have been altered which will be a little more challenging than what you are used to.
• Mercenary skills / scaling has been overhauled. Mercenaries will be strong allies throughout the game, and their skill set will be listed in the hire menu. Certain mercenaries will currently not list their skills, this will be addressed in a future update.
• Default in-game Resolution has been increased and is now locked at 1024x768.
Item Changes:
• ALL item bases have been modified. Armors no longer slow you down based on their "weight". All defensive items will simply have increased Defense the higher "tier" of item, and will require more Strength to wear. All elite weapon bases will have similar DPS based on their weapon speed.
• Weapons now display the damage bonus they receive from their Primary Stat on their tooltip. Their actual damage will now also increase to show the new value. Any additional damage such as elemental damage added from the weapon will show under the weapon's main physical damage.
• Quantity and Durability has been removed. You can endlessly fire arrows or throw throwing weapons, and Ethereal items will be considered rare "superior" versions of items due to not having to worry about durability.
• Potions have been overhauled. They are no longer consumed on use, and instead provide their benefit over 5 seconds with a 10 second cooldown. There are 4 types of Potions: Healing, Mana, Hybrid, and Speed. Potions only share a cooldown with their specific type, so using a Mana Potion will only put Mana Potions on cooldown. Potions can also be Magic quality, and temporarily give you additional benefits during the 5 second duration. It will be standard to have 1 of each Potion Type in your belt.
• Rare Items have been overhauled. The affix pool has been remade from scratch, and will be a core part of your character, especially when crafted with Rift Energies.
• You can now press "Shift" while hovering over a Magic / Rare Item to see what Tier each affix is, whether it is a prefix or suffix, and what its maximum value is for that tier.
• Rift Energies have been added as the main source of currency, replacing "Orbs" from the previous iterations of Annihilus. There are 16 types of Rift Energies that will drop throughout the game. They act as a very extensive crafting system with many ways to modify your items, such as re-rolling the amount of sockets in an item, re-rolling an item in general, or even adding/removing affixes to rare items without completely re-rolling them. They provide you with more ways to customize your items than ever before. Some Rift Energies are extremely rare and will be very sought after. All Rift Energies can be stacked up to 50 per stack, so you can feel free to hoard all types of Energies without fear of clogging up your inventory. (There is currently no way to separate them from the stack, this will of course be added in a future update.)
• Maximum amount of Sockets per socketable slots (Weapons, Torso, Helmet, Shields) are now universal, regardless of the base item. Item Level is the only requirement to get maximum Sockets, maxing out at Item Level 40. All 1 Handed Weapons now can get up to 3 Sockets if they can fit (Wands / Daggers get 2 sockets for example), all 2 Handed Weapons can get up to 6 Sockets if they can fit, Helmets can get up to 3 Sockets, and Torsos / Shields can get up to 4 Sockets. This is the same for all Item Qualities, so even Unique Items can get maximum Sockets if rolled with a Rift Energy.
• Weapons, Jewelry, Quivers, and Class Specific Items now have "Implicit" stats. Implicits are stats that are always on that item type, and their values roll just like a magic affix. Implicit values can be higher based on the item's Item Level. All implicits will show up in a golden color on the item's tooltip, above the standard stats. The Implicits on Jewelry are selected randomly from a pool, unlike Weapons who will always have the same Implicit based on the type of Weapon. For example, 1 Handed Axes will always have Execution Damage.
• You can now freely remove items inside of sockets by right-clicking the socketed item. You can not remove items from sockets while the item is equipped.
• All Unique Items have been remade / revamped. Every single Unique Item will now be TRULY unique, with some sort of feature, stat, or build enabler that is almost always unobtainable by other means.
• Many Unique Items of normal / exceptional quality base items can now be Evolved with a specific and somewhat rare Rift Energy. For example, you can evolve a pair of Chance Guard Chain Gloves that are originally Required Level: 10 gloves with a Potent Rift Energy to a new form that is now Required Level: 40 and has increased stat values. Many Uniques can be evolved a second time up to Required Level: 60. This keeps them relevant throughout all points of the game, even endgame, and makes finding a Unique Item feel good no matter what the item is.
• All items are automatically Identified once they are picked up into your Inventory. They will still be "Unidentified" while on the ground.
• Pressing "Alt" will toggle items on the ground to "always show". You no longer have to continuously hold down Alt to see items.
Skill Changes:
• ALL skills have been drastically modified or overhauled. There are no prerequisites now, just level requirements. Synergies have been mostly removed as well. There are far too many changes to list, you will have to try them out in-game! We have added SO many functions / mechanics that were not previously possible, this will likely be by far one of the biggest treats of Souls of the Rift. Respec Tokens are sold for free at Hadriel in Rogue Encampment, so test out as many builds as possible! We also focused a lot on clarity, so all skill tooltips are much clearer on what they do.
• Skill Cooldowns are no longer shared, and using a cooldown based Skill will no longer temporarily trigger a cooldown on other skills. Skills will display a white bar on their icon to inform you of the time left on their cooldown.
• Town Portal is now an innate skill, a tome or scroll is not required.
• Leap is now an innate Barbarian skill, and the leap speed scales with Attack Speed.
• Telekinesis is now an innate Sorceress skill.
• Minion Recall has been added as an innate skill for all classes, moving all minions and your mercenary to your location. Minion Recall has a 5 second cooldown.
