Diablo 3 Patch 1.0.3 Will Fix Inferno, Crafting

In the next few days, Blizzard plans to release a patch for Diablo 3 that fixes the game's service issues. However, soon after that update goes live, they'll be implementing a second patch that will make significant balance changes to the game.

One aspect of the game they're looking to address in Patch 1.0.3 is the Inferno difficulty. Blizzard noticed that enemy damage feels too "spikey" at the moment, and they want to make it more consistent. They don't want to make players simply stack defensive stats to survive Inferno. Instead, they want players to be able to balance their damage and damage mitigation.

"While we don’t have any specifics yet, our design goals are to support and promote build diversity; continue to ensure that a mix of champion packs, rare packs, and boss fights are the most efficient way to acquire the best items in the game; and ensure that all classes are viable in Inferno."

Blizzard plans to enhance the stats of Legendary items to make them more viable, but that won't happen until the PvP patch (1.1). In the mean time, though, they want to make the strength of individual items more clear. They're going to make the "item levels" visible for higher end equipment. Finding a rare that's better than a legendary will make more sense if you can see that the former has a higher item level. Blizzard says that they don't intend for Legendaries to be the "ultimate items"; rares, by design, should be able to beat them out if they have a lucky combation of stats.

Patch 1.0.3 will bring big changes to the game's crafting system. Blizzard wants the Blacksmith to be a way for players to reliably receive upgrades. However, training the Blacksmith and creating items is currently too expensive so they plan to change that. Furthermore, the Jewelcrafter will only require two gems to make combinations rather than three.

I'm pretty psyched about these artisan changes. I've only used maybe one or two Blacksmith-crafted items thus far in my D3 travels. Part of the reason I don't use the Blacksmith is that the bonus stats for his creations are randomized, but that would be less of a concern if crafting them wasn't so pricey. I don't mind the gambling aspect of crafting; just the fact that the buy-in costs too much right now.

Blizzard didn't provide an estimate for Patch 1.0.3's release.

Update: Patch 1.0.2 is now live.