With a hotfix for Season 21 of Diablo 3, the seasonal theme that annoyed so many players was addressed. Visually and audibly, it should now be less troublesome for you.
What does the hotfix do? On the evening of July 15, 2020, Community Manager FilthieRich announced that a hotfix for Diablo 3 had been deployed. It specifically targets Season 21, which started just under 2 weeks ago.
FilthieRich explains that the changes came about thanks to player feedback. Work was done on audio, visual effects, and the functionality of the seasonal theme triggers.
Patch notes for the hotfix from July 15
What exactly is changing? In the hotfix notes (via Blizzard forums), you can find out exactly how the seasonal theme has changed now. Keep in mind that you do not need to download a patch, as this is a server-side hotfix.
- It no longer flashes when the seasonal effect for the lightning breath or tornadoes activates
- The “tooting” has been removed from the PC version of the game. On consoles, the tooting has been replaced with a light drumming
- Pets can now generate stacks of the seasonal theme
- Players can no longer take an active seasonal theme effect into a Greater Nephalem Rift (lightning breath, meteors)
- Players can no longer trigger a seasonal theme effect outside to take it into a Greater Nephalem Rift (tornadoes, snowball, fire wave)
- Pets no longer trigger the seasonal theme in set rifts. This was done because players encountered problems successfully completing the objectives of the set rifts
What is the seasonal theme? Every 90 seconds, your character in the game unleashes a legendary power. It then manifests on the battlefield and is, depending on the height of your current kill streak, deadly for enemies. The unleashed powers manifest as follows:
- It rains meteors
- You spit lightning
- You create a wall of flames
- Whirlwinds of pure energy are unleashed
- Snowballs crush enemies
These effects occur with every class you play. You have the freedom to choose from the tier list for Season 21 of Diablo 3 to benefit from this bonus.
Why was the hotfix so important?
This was annoying: Shortly after the start of Season 21, many players realized that over time they would be annoyed by the seasonal theme or would already be after just a few hours. Because every 90 seconds, when this elemental power is unleashed, it was loudly announced with a loud tooting. Here you can hear the annoying “huuuuuup” in action.
For many players, the solution was to turn down the sound. But then there were still the visual effects that drove some players crazy.
At least Blizzard is already addressing a few of the mentioned problems with the hotfix. Under the forum post, players write that they would like even more changes to the theme – the dark screen during the seasonal theme should also disappear, in their opinion.
Season 21 showed me why it’s finally time for Diablo 4. And I believe you can understand that.
