Diablo 3's first major patch since Reaper of Souls' release is now available. Patch 2.1 introduces several major features to the game on PC and Mac.
Greater Rifts are a new kind of Nephalem Rift. These timed, randomized dungeons can be accessed by max-level players on Torment difficulty. By completing a Greater Rift in a timely fashion, you can get access to a more difficult ones. The better your performance in these dungeons, the better your rewards. The bosses in Greater Rifts have a chance to drop upgradeable Legendary gems.
The new Seasons feature allows players to create characters from scratch and then compete to get the most progress in a given period. These Season provide players with early access to new Legendary items and unlock an exclusive Transmogrification set. The first Season will start on Friday, August 29th at the following times (via Blizzard):
- Asia: 9:00 a.m. PDT (1:00 a.m. KST, UTC +9)
- Europe: 12:00 p.m. PDT (9:00 p.m. CEST, UTC +2)
- Americas: 6:00 p.m. PDT (UTC -10)
The best performers in each season will be tracked across leaderboards. You don't need to be one of the top players in the world to find these boards useful, though. They can also be used to compare your progress to your clan members or friends.
The other big feature of Diablo 3's Patch 2.1 is a new environment. The Cesspools were originally intended as the sewers of Westmarch for Reaper of Souls. However, Blizzard couldn't finish them in time for the expansion pack's launch. Any time you enter a Nephalem Rift or Greater Rift, there's a chance at this new environment.
Blizzard is celebrating the launch of Patch 2.1 with a double rewards week. It just went live along with the patch and will run until Tuesday, September 2nd at 11:59 PM PDT.
"All players who log into Diablo 3 this week on Windows or Mac will not only receive a +100% bonus to Gold Find, but all Treasure Goblin spawns in the game have been doubled!" Blizzard says. "As with our previous buff, please note that the Gold Find bonus will stack multiplicatively with existing bonuses including those provided by items and Paragon points.)"
The development team released a trailer highlighting Patch 2.1's major features. If you want more details on specific changes, you can check out the patch notes here.
Patch 2.1 wasn't released for the PS4 or Xbox One versions of the game yet. However, Blizzard says that they plan to support those platforms with post-launch updates.
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