Diablo 4 2.1 PTR: Biggest confirmed changes and updates from Campfire Chat

Diablo 4’s developers held a second Campfire Chat, focused on patch 2.1 and the PTR (Public Test Realm). Fans can access all the seasonal content on the PTR this time around, which is a pretty huge deal, but it’s not as big as some of the actual in-game changes that are on the way. This could certainly be seen as situational, though, as what you value in D4 may not be the same as what we deem to be valuable or important.

The 2.1 update for Diablo 4 will see some changes fans may not want, like the rebalancing of Spiritborn. The 2.0.5 patch didn’t change the class, allowing it to stay overpowered for this season. We’ll just have to see how next season shakes out. Here are some amazing changes coming with the 2.1 patch.

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What were the biggest confirmed changes in Diablo 4 2.1?

While there were several major changes in Diablo 4 2.1, one of the biggest ones for us was the Armory. That’s right, Loadouts are finally coming to the game! You will be able to save, load, and name your builds, and swap between them in several places. You’ll have access to them through Sanctuary, Citadel, Tree of Whispers, and Training Areas. Additionally, if you have different Paragon builds in these loadouts, it won’t cost gold when you swap between them.

We’ll also be seeing some nice quality-of-life changes regarding the Tree of Whispers. The Raven of the Tree will let players turn in their bounties without leaving their zone. Not having to teleport over there to deal with claiming rewards is a neat change. There will also be a chance to get Ancestral Caches for even greater rewards.

Then there were changes to Runewords, which was something that was desperately needed, I think. Diablo 4 2.1 will be adjusting the costs of many Runes to allow them to be used more often than they are. All Invocation Runes will have Overflow, and some Ritual Runes are designed to have huge Overflow potential.

Diablo 4 update 2.1 is looking to be quite promising (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

There are also three new Runewords, as seen above: Nagu, Igni, and Chac. These appear to be quite strong, particularly Nagu. It grants 100 Offering, and all you must do is maintain at least one active Summon for 5 seconds, gaining an offering for each of them, up to six summoned monsters. This pairs nicely with some of the Balance Changes too.

Rogues’ Shadow Clones are getting buffed -— they’ll count as Summons and all their damage is attributed to the player. This means you can use your Shadow Clones to help you trigger more Lucky Hits. The developers also pointed out that this applies to all summons. This could make for some very interesting Druid and Necromancer changes, but we’ll just have to see. All classes are seeing changes, but this one stood out as one of my favorites.

Ultimate Skills look to be getting stronger going forward (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

In addition, all Ultimate Skills will unlock greater bonuses when you get them to Rank 5. There will also be more Aspects and Paragon options added to support Ultimate Skills in general, which is quite exciting. Here are some changes that are coming:

• Sorcerer had its kit adjusted to prevent players from feeling forced to always go Burning Conjuration just to stay relevant.
• Druids are getting bonuses and buffs to Werewolf.
• For Rogues, in addition to Shadow Clone adjustments, Caltrops will be reworked — no more annoying jump back animation.
• Blood Necromancers are getting buffs, with better itemization and Overpower synergies.
• Spiritborn won’t be dealing more damage than they should — Centipede and Razor Wings buffs are incoming.
• Several Barbarian skills are being buffed, such as Walking Arsenal and Hammer of the Ancients. Earthquake is also confirmed to be updated.

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Check out our other Diablo 4 guides and features:

• How to farm Runewords in Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred
• Diablo 4’s Midwinter Blight returns for a limited time
• All Diablo 4 difficulty levels, explained