In Diablo 3, the new Season 26 can be tested on the PTR server starting Wednesday. The season temporarily brings back the old feature, Rift Trials, in a new and better version, and makes changes to the Greater Rifts. We present the new features and the previous patch notes of update 2.7.3.
What does the new Season 26 bring? The theme of the season is “Echoing Nightmare.” This is a new endgame activity that you can only enter with seasonal characters. You will face waves of monsters that you must defeat.
- To enter the activity, you must obtain the item “Petrified Scream” from guardians in the Greater Rifts. You can then transform this in Kanai’s Cube to open a portal to the activity. Only one player in the group needs to have such a cube.
- The waves will become stronger from round to round. There is also a time limit, so you lose if you do not defeat a wave quickly enough.
- Rewards include experience points, legendary items, Blood Shards, Gems, and a brand new Legendary Gem: Whisper of Atonement. This can be used to upgrade old legendaries.
Additionally, the Greater Rifts are being overhauled. Three new maps are being added, while two will be removed in exchange. Furthermore, the probabilities of certain monster groups have been adjusted.
When will the new season be released? Season 26 and patch 2.7.3 will be released on March 10 on the test server. There you can test the new features until March 24.
The release of Season 26 is expected to take place in April.
Echoing Nightmare is a new version of Rift Trials
Does Echoing Nightmare sound familiar to me? Yes, a similar activity was already present in Diablo 3. In 2015, the so-called Rift Trials were introduced. Back then, you were supposed to face waves of monsters and survive as long as possible. However, neither the players nor Blizzard themselves were satisfied with it.
“The Trials are not good. We don’t like them. I don’t like them,” said Wyatt Cheng, Senior Technical Game Designer at Blizzard at the time (via reddit). After that, they were removed. With Season 26, they are now returning as a seasonal event.
Changes to the Greater Rifts and Items – Patch Notes
What exactly is changing with the Greater Rifts?
- 3 new maps are being added: Fields of Misery, Desolate Sands, and Briarthorn Cemetery
- 2 old maps are being removed: Sewers of Caldeum and Hidden Aqueducts
- The probabilities of the maps have been adjusted
- The probabilities of monster groups have been adjusted
- Various monsters have been adjusted to grant more progress and XP
- Players can talk to Orek to close an active Greater Rift. This option is only available in single-player mode
What is changing with the items?
Barbarian
- Legacy of Raekor (4-piece bonus): The Furious Charge now gains the effect of every rune and deals 1,000% more damage. For every percent of health you are missing, Ancient Spear deals 2% more damage.
- Legacy of Raekor (6-piece bonus): When you hit enemies with Furious Charge, the damage of your next Ancient Spear is increased by 5,500% and it releases multiple spears. This effect is stackable and consumed by each spear released. Only a maximum of 5 stacks can be consumed at the same time.
- Arreat’s Law: Weapon Throw and Ancient Spear deal 150-200% increased damage
- Weapon Throw generates up to 25 additional Fury stacks, depending on the distance of the hit enemy.
- Ancient Spear returns up to 25 Fury, depending on the distance of the hit enemy.
- The Three Hundredth Spear: Increases the damage of Weapon Throw and Ancient Spear by 150-200%.
- Skular’s Salvation: Increases the damage of Ancient Spear by 150-200%. If your Ancient Spear – Boulder Toss hits 5 or fewer enemies, the damage is increased by 100%.
Crusader
- Thorns of the Invoker: The attack speed of Punish and Slash is increased by 100% and deals 67,500% Thorns Damage.
- Norvald’s Fervor: Increases damage by 200% while using Steed Charge and for 5 seconds after its end.
Monk
- Bindings of the Lesser Gods: Enemies hit by your Cyclone Strike take 150-200% more damage from your Mystic Ally for 5 seconds.
What do you think about Season 26? Are you excited about the changes, or does the season not meet your expectations? Feel free to write it in the comments.
For those currently playing in Season 25 of Diablo 3, here are the best classes and builds:
