# Woah - Diablo 2 getting a content patch? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 6, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527 "2009-11-06T03:26:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Stringer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Stringer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringer)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527/41 "2009-12-11T01:53:41Z")
> [@](#): > > - Removed Oblivion Knight’s Iron Maiden curse. THANK YOU. I almost forgive them for nerfing hammerdins. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527/42 "2009-12-11T02:02:45Z")
> [@CrazyChop](#): > > Let see…fixing the unbalanced damage of monster’s CE and lightning bolts, removing Iron Maiden from OK. And now there’s respec! Can we therefore say there will be respec in Diablo III as well? I can see the forums going crazy with “respec will spoil the game!” Last I heard, Diablo III didn’t even have skill points to mess up. It was WoW-style where you just get every skill always. ---
**Author:** ![Stringer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Stringer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringer)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527/43 "2009-12-11T02:13:12Z")
Just noticed this as well: > [@](#): > > - Increased the drop rate of high runes. Shit just got real. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527/44 "2009-12-11T02:20:09Z")
> [@Stringer](#): > > Just noticed this as well: > Shit just got real. Shit _may_ have just gotten real. They could double the drop rate and you’d go from finding them never to still finding them never. They’d have to triple 'em or better. It depends on degree. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527/45 "2009-12-11T02:24:33Z")
OK, the only really significant change I see on the player end is the nerf to hammerdins, and to that I say WOO-HOO! With immunities such a big part of the game, it’s ridiculous to have an attack that nothing’s immune to except one monster that only ever shows up in one sidequest area at one difficulty, and not even always then. Nor is it really all that much of a nerf: Magic immunity is still by far the least common immunity. But it will at least mean that you’ll need _something_ else for those rare times it shows up. Anyone else going to be doing some testing? I want to make sure my enchantresses still work the same way (nothing’s listed in the official changes, but some aspects of a 'chantress are quirky enough they might have been changed anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527/46 "2009-12-11T03:32:11Z")
All right, just tested some. I couldn’t find an exploding bow in my brief time, but fire mastery definitely still interacts with Enchant the same way it used to. The re-building works from a dialogue option with Akara after you beat the Den of Evil. Selecting it resets all your stat and skill points to their starting value, so you have to go through the annoyance of re-doing a ton of stuff. Runes showing up in orange seems very handy-- They stick out like a sore thumb. When I killed the Countess, I got El El ---
**Author:** ![Stringer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Stringer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringer)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527/47 "2009-12-11T04:54:07Z")
I spent the last couple hours going through the new data files. **Runes** Mal and above have had their drop chances increased. Here are some best-case examples (normal boss drops, not first-kill). _Mal_ 1.12: Andariel (H) 1:58176 1.13: Andariel (H) 1:49276 _Ber_ 1.12: Duriel (H) 1:466884 1.13: Duriel (H) 1:203423 _Jah_ 1.12: Izual (H) 1:585297 1.13: Izual (H) 1:196931 Still pretty unlikely to get one, but the chances are significantly better. **New items** Token of Absolution (1x1 size, usable, likely the respec item) Twisted Essence of Suffering (1x1 size) Charged Essence of Hatred (1x1 size) Burning Essence of Terror (1x1 size) Festering Essence of Destruction (1x1 size) The Essence items look like “keys” for the new content, but I don’t see any new unique items like the Hellfire torch. It is possible they didn’t push the final reward out with the beta. Each of the Hell act bosses except Baal have a new flag attached, but I don’t know what it means. I’m thinking they drop Essence items, but it’s difficult to be certain. **New zones** Only one new zone: Act 5 - Pandemonium 2 **New monsters** A single new monster, looks like another re-skin of Andariel named Pandora. Possibly the final boss monster in Act 5 - Pandemonium 2. ---
**Author:** ![Stringer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Stringer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringer)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527/48 "2009-12-11T05:21:31Z")
Also, C, all the changes to skills in the data files are documented in the changelog, I didn’t see any funny business. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527/49 "2009-12-12T00:40:24Z")
> [@](#): > > Twisted Essence of Suffering (1x1 size) > Charged Essence of Hatred (1x1 size) > Burning Essence of Terror (1x1 size) > Festering Essence of Destruction (1x1 size) On the one hand, Mephisto, Diablo, and Baal are the lords of Hatred, Terror, and Destruction, respectively, but I don’t know who “Suffering” would refer to. On the other hand, “Charged”, “Burning”, and “Festering” look like they relate somehow to lightning, fire, and poison damage, but I can’t see how “Twisted” relates to cold. And while Meph does have some electrical attacks and Diablo has a lot of fire, Baal doesn’t have any poison attacks. So I’m really not sure what the pattern is supposed to be. ---
**Author:** ![Stringer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Stringer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringer)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527/50 "2009-12-12T00:47:20Z")
More details crossposted from elsewhere: > [@](#): > > Andariel Hell and Duriel Hell drops Twisted Essence of Suffering - 1/11 chance > Mephisto Hell drops Charged Essense of Hatred - 1/13 chance > Diablo Hell drops Burning Essence of Terror - 1/13 chance > Ball Hell drops Festering Essence of Destruction - 1/13 chance > > Cube recipe: > > Token of Absolution - 4 inputs: all of the above, results in Token of Absolution It appears that the new content is potentially infinite respecs. You get 3 free ones from den quests, and then you either have to trade for additional Tokens or collect Essences and defeat Pandora yourself. Also, more on rune drops: > [@](#): > > Roughly: > Zod : 4x more common > Cham : 3x more common > Jah : 3x more common > Ber : 2.3x more common > Sur : 2.3x more common > Lo : 1.77x more common > Ohm : 1.77x more common Are there any magic immunes a hammerdin would need to be concerned with in normal MFing/gameplay? I know wave 2 of Baal, but can you think of any others? ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527/51 "2009-12-12T01:34:28Z")
I’m kinda disappointed we didn’t get any new items or runewords. A respec item is… not that wowing, actually. Players who will be good enough to get lots of the items are able to remake characters and level them up pretty quickly anyways. I guess the Hammer nerf and Iron Maiden removal are nice, though. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527/52 "2009-12-12T01:36:51Z")
This is hardly the final change log. At the very least I’d expect them to add something to address TPPK. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527/53 "2009-12-12T01:42:45Z")
Yeah, I forgot to say, there’s still some other bugs they appear to have not to fixed. TPPK is one. No mention of the Claw Vipers bug. Fend is probably still broken, as are the Amazon bow skills (the fire/ice ones don’t give an AR bonus like they’re supposed to). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527/54 "2009-12-12T02:20:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Are there any magic immunes a hammerdin would need to be concerned with in normal MFing/gameplay? I know wave 2 of Baal, but can you think of any others? On common runs, I think Achmel the Cursed would be the only one, but in the course of questing, you’ll meet a number of magic-immune undead in A2, and in Über-Tristram and Über-Izual’s realm, there are Pandemonium Pit Lords. **magnusblitz** , by “claw vipers bug”, do you mean specifically the Tomb Vipers? I’m guessing that fear of Nihlathak keeps most players from even finding out about them in the first place, so they probably haven’t had many complaints. Or is there some other bug that affects claw vipers more generally? And what’s wrong with Fend, other than spearazons just sucking in general? Oh, and also, I think I heard somewhere that it’s the same bug that gives Tomb Vipers their insane damage as Gloams, and they said they’re fixing that one. ---
**Author:** ![Stringer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Stringer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringer)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527/55 "2009-12-12T02:47:06Z")
Anyone expecting additional changes will likely be disappointed. If the patch is on the beta realm they are close to releasing it. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527/56 "2009-12-12T05:44:51Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > **magnusblitz** , by “claw vipers bug”, do you mean specifically the Tomb Vipers? I’m guessing that fear of Nihlathak keeps most players from even finding out about them in the first place, so they probably haven’t had many complaints. Or is there some other bug that affects claw vipers more generally? Yeah, just the Tomb Viper bug - I think it’s something where physical damage stacks on top of their poison clouds. I’m one of those players that didn’t go there much, so I can’t remember exactly how it worked. > [@](#): > > And what’s wrong with Fend, other than spearazons just sucking in general? If the Amazon is in the middle of a Fend cycle, and then blocks, goes into hit recovery, or Dodges, she’ll continue attacking in the Fend cycle, but every single attack will miss. I mean, yeah, part of the problem is that spearazons just suck in general, but the Fend bug just makes it worse. The last spearazon I made way back in the day was a total glass cannon, completely reliant on life leech, and getting stuck in whiffing Fend mode usually equalled instant death. Also, the more I think about it, I can see why we’re not getting new items - any new ideas for cool items would be getting put into Diablo 3. Runewords are a bit easier to argue for (since I don’t think they’re going to have them in D3) but yeah, since the patch is on the test servers, I don’t think we’re getting anything. Which is a big disappointment… it’s the easiest thing to put in (sit around a table, come up with some cool names, add some attributes in the data table and you’re done) and it would probably contribute more than anything else to longevity of the game (after all, it’s all about the loot baby). ---
**Author:** ![Stringer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Stringer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringer)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527/57 "2009-12-12T06:05:39Z")
The Tomb Viper damage is not actually a bug, just probably unintended to be so powerful. There is no reason to assume a green-colored cloud cannot deal physical damage. It only applies the damage when you move through it, so teleporting or ability to kill from distance is crucial. ---
**Author:** ![Spectralist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Spectralist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectralist)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527/58 "2009-12-14T00:16:38Z")
The patch notes are a bit disappointing. The main change seems to be respec which isn’t really a big deal with how quickly you can level. Though I guess it will make playing low level characters more fun as you can spend points on abilities your end game build wont need and respec out later. While I wasn’t expecting anything huge I had hoped for more skill balancing. It can’t be that hard to add a few more synergies to underused skills. Like the entire assassin martial arts tree. Everything but amplify damage from the necro’s curses and skeleton magi could use a buff too or at the very least drop the possibility for the poison version which does basically no damage. Everything in the druid’s summon tree needs a buff and/or maybe remove the restriction to one summon type between bear/wolf/dire wolf. The increase to blaze was just plain laughable. Did they really think that might make it a viable skill? I can only assume the people who made that decisions doesn’t play the game. > [@magnusblitz](#): > > Also, the more I think about it, I can see why we’re not getting new items - any new ideas for cool items would be getting put into Diablo 3. There’s no reason they couldn’t put some items in both games. If I recall correctly some of D2s uniques are based off D1’s items. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527/59 "2009-12-14T01:20:56Z")
Yeah, most of the unique items in the first release of Diablo II were from the original. Off the top of my head, Griswald’s Edge and Civerb’s Cudgel were both popular weapons in Diablo I. The more likely reason for not getting any new uniques is that I think there’s currently at least one unique for each base item. And respeccing should help out a lot of underused skills. For a low-level sorceress, for instance, Charged Bolt is great, but as it is now, you never want to put more than one point in it. Now, you’ll be able to pump it continually up to level 20, and then swap out those points for whatever your long-term goal is. ---
**Author:** ![Spectralist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Spectralist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectralist)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527/60 "2009-12-14T02:10:09Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The more likely reason for not getting any new uniques is that I think there’s currently at least one unique for each base item. Nah there’s lots of base items with no uniques. There are no normal unique throwing weapons, for example, because throwing weapons couldn’t be magical before the expansion. Not are there any normal unique class specific weapons. And not many unique or set class specific exceptional or elites. Some unique throwing potions could be hilarious. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woah-diablo-2-getting-a-content-patch/516527.md?page=4)