In Diablo 3 players are currently testing the new patch 2.7.2 on the test servers (PTR). Initial testers are now showing how powerful the new soul shards are that you can install in weapons and head armor. Due to the drastic bonuses that the soul stones currently provide, the endgame dungeons are a piece of cake, according to the community.
What is the season theme of Season 25? Blizzard is introducing soul stones to Diablo 3 in Season 25. The new patch 2.7.2, which brings these changes, is currently being tested on the test servers. In total, there are seven soul stones, each of which can have three different versions and many different stats.
You can equip a maximum of two soul stones at the same time: one in the head armor and one in a weapon. How strong the bonuses are has become clear to some testers now. Players say: Speedruns in the highest levels of the endgame dungeons (Greater Rifts) will become the norm. Even though they are supposed to be “difficult.”
All soul stones from Season 25 and their bonuses
What you need to know: Each of the soul stones comes in different variants. In addition, there are stats that are also rolled randomly. So you do not receive a soul stone and have it in its only version, but you have to collect many of them to get a perfect one.
Each soul stone can be upgraded three times. At level 0, no bonuses are unlocked. At level 1, all bonuses are unlocked that would offer you flawless royal gems (all gems at once). Thus, one of the soul stones at level 1 in a weapon or head is already better than normal gems that you could socket in.
At level 2 and level 3, even stronger bonuses are added. You can upgrade the stones with Hellforge Embers. This resource drops for you in the game.
Reddit user gamingryan took the effort to screenshot the bonuses of the stones. In the gallery, we give you an insight into the soul stones (via reddit.com).
“Much more OP than Ethereals”
This is how the community reacts: On reddit, the new content of Season 25 in Diablo 3 is being discussed. It is particularly noticeable that the balancing does not yet meet the players’ expectations. Some bonuses would be very powerful, while others fall completely short.
- “They are VERY poorly balanced. We will see how they change the numbers in the next updates,” writes patrincs.
- “Honestly, I am looking forward to it. The random legendary powers on the Ethereals have made random affixes appealing to me. And I like that you give up something with each of the stones, but also get more power,” explains Reply_or_Not
- “The shit is even more OP than Ethereal wtf. There may be massive changes before this goes live, but that is dumb. I think from now on GR 150 solo is the norm,” suspects taeyeon_loveofmylife.
- piiees adds: “with these values, 4-player speedruns of the 150 rifts in 2 to 3 minutes will be the norm […]”
User piiees sums it up even more precisely: “Wow, each shard has multiple possible effects. I thought they would each have a fixed way to go, so this opens up a lot more theory-crafting possibilities. There are a lot of crazy potential buff combinations here. Especially the first combination of the “Dreg of Lies” for a supporter focusing on crit in their build. They can spread a 66% damage debuff to all enemies and thus make the whole team three times as tough (assuming that the buff is 100% active by critically hitting all enemies at least once every 5 seconds). […]”
Thus, many strong combinations arise with the new soul shards, which will greatly buff solo players and groups in the new Season 25. However, there remains the chance that Blizzard will tone down the values of the soul shards and the effects will not be as enormous.
On a positive note, you do not have to discard the soul shards at rank 3 if they are not rolled to your liking. You can treat them in Kanai’s Cube with the recipe for Caldesann’s Despair like a legendary gem of level 125 and improve your ancient gear.
What do you think of the new season theme from the first impression?
