1.13 PTR

Yeah, so I've been slacking a bit. Big whoop! Wanna fight about it? What can I say? I guess I finally hit that point where "IRL" takes priority. Fortunately, we have a message board and other basement-dwellers can keep you informed occasionally.

1.13 PTR went live; ClassicBeta is back; I won't be playing. Just like when BH took it over when it was accepting connections 'cause of Westfall and the new WC3 patch -- Warden is not an issue. However, this time, most hacks need to be updated because of the new patch. MPQ/txt Mods will still work, but may cause error due to the fact they use files in the MoPaQ from previous patches. For example, if you use something like GMod, when you encounter one of the new respec items, you will probably get an exception error. "CuriousMonkey" made a simple maphack and that Tyler kid updated Sheppard's open-sourced gamefilter. Both can be found in the new /1.13-ptr/ folder of the Diablo II files directory. That's about it as far as public hacks go. I wouldn't expect too much for a PTR patch anyway, but I guess a few months from now when we're still at the PTR stage with the patch, some more stuff might spew out. ;)

Overall, shit patch is shit. As much as I called Bashiok out on the BNet forums demanding he gets X,Y, and Z malicious bugs fixed... nothing related? A fixed dupe? Really? I mean, for all you know, they just added that in the patch notes when they copy/pasted the other shit in and didn't actually do anything, right...? And nothing to really make you *want* to play the game more. Respecing, nerfing monster damage because of calculation bugs, killing gUbering, and a few somewhat decent tweaks... Oh, but let's not forget the two name changes for the Act 5 mercenaries: Klar and Tryneus... I'm not going to get into what's new and what's expectedly disappointing about the patch; discuss at the forums.

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• Topic 1.13 PTR is LIVE – Patch Notes & FAQ
• | 12/21/2009 12:40:51 AM PST

Bashiok Blizzard Poster 0. 1.13 PTR is LIVE – Patch Notes & FAQ 12/10/2009 01:28:56 PM PST “We traveled for an eternity...” - Marius Travel no longer my friends - the Diablo II 1.13 Public Test Realm is LIVE! Q: How do I begin testing on the PTR? A: When you start Diablo II change your Battle.net gateway to “ClassicBeta”. When you log in the 1.13 patch will be applied to your game and you can begin testing the changes made in the patch. Since it's a new realm you'll need to create a new account. Q: I don't see the ClassicBeta realm in my gateway list! A: Log into one of the other gateways first, then back out and the classicbeta realm will appear. Q: What if I want to play the normal game again? A: Simply choose any of the other (non-PTR) gateways. Your game will be reverted to version 1.12 and you’ll be able to play on the live realms as normal. Q: Where are my characters? A: The PTR realm is separate from the live realms so your current characters aren’t carried over. You’ll need to create a new character to begin testing. But, cheats are enabled and you may use the following cheats by typing them into chat while in a game: Gold # - Will provide the amount of gold specified Level # - Will increase your level to the number specified Waypoints 1 - Will activate all waypoints. You must still reach an act before that act’s waypoints will be unlocked with this cheat. Q: What happens to my characters once the PTR testing period ends? A: They remain on the PTR realm to be removed once the test ends. Characters on the PTR realm won’t transfer to the normal realms. Q: How long with the PTR run for? A: As long as we deem necessary to ensure the patch and changes are solid. Q: Where can I give feedback and what kind of feedback do you want? A: All 1.13 PTR feedback and bug reports should ONLY be posted in the Diablo II Test Realm Forum here: http://forums.battle.net/board.html?forumId=20601702&sid=3000 • All post should have a subject line that clearly describes the bug or feedback being given • Use the search feature to ensure a thread doesn’t already exist before posting • When reporting a bug include as much information as you can, including steps to reproduce it if possible • Any non-constructive posts may be deleted and the poster’s privilege to post revoked • This is a chance for you to ensure the 1.13 patch includes changes and balance tweaks that you think would lead to a better overall experience. Getting the information to us in a clear and logical way helps us understand your view and makes it easier for us to collect feedback for any potential updates to the 1.13 patch before release. Q: What is the new "Mystery" mentioned in the patch notes? A: It's related to the respec system implemented in the patch and can grant additional respecs beyond the three given for completing the Den of Evil quest in each difficulty. You'll have to play to find out how though. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Patch 1.13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A new Mystery has been revealed! - Players of Hell Difficulty Realm games are hereby warned once again, that a series of new and challenging tests await you! The answer lies within Diablo's Bosses, which span across the world from the Den of Evil to the Throne of Destruction... Major Bugs - Fixed an item dupe bug. - Video improvements for Intel Mac machines with OS 10.5 or greater. Minor Bugs - Uber Mephisto now checks for both Uber Baal and Uber Diablo to be killed before spawning summoned minions (Before he would only check for Uber Baal). - The game will no longer stop and then restart the game music after the window loses and then regains focus. - Fixed an issue where the game window would minimize when running in windowed mode when it lost focus. - Fixed an issue where the game window wouldn't center properly when it was created. Specific changes/improvements - Respecialization is now possible! Completing the 'Den of Evil' quest will now additionally reward 1 free respec which can be saved. Players who have already completed this quest should receive 1 free respec in Hell difficulty. - Increased the drop rate of high runes. - Support for blit scaling in windowed mode. The game can now be maximized to the largest 4:3 resolution supported (hooray widescreen users). - Some rare drop items now have an orange color. i.e. Runes and items required for Uber Tristam. - Modified the gold bank limit to be a flat cap not bound by level. - Nightmare/Hell WilloWisps champions/uniques have had their damage greatly reduced. - Removed the requirements to create a hardcore character. - Greatly reduced the explosion damage dealt by Fire Enchanted monsters. - Uber Mephisto and Uber Baal's summoned minions no longer give experience. - Removed Oblivion Knight's Iron Maiden curse. - Hellfire Torch Firestorm proc rate has been reduced to 5%. - Users can now toggle the display of text over the Health and Mana globes by clicking on the bottom area of each orb. - Updated two Act 5 mercenary names to Klar and Tryneus. - When creating a single player game, pressing the 'Enter' key now automatically creates a Hell difficulty game if possible. - When creating a game, each difficulty button is now bound to a unique key: Normal 'R', Nightmare 'N', and Hell 'H'. - The 'Enter Chat' Button in the battle.net waiting room is now bound to the 'Enter' key. - Added the windows system buttons to the game window (MIN, MAX, CLOSE). - Added new command line parameter '-nofixaspect' which allows users to not fix the aspect ratio to 4:3 when maximizing windowed mode. This lets the game 'stretch' to fill your monitor. - Added support for '-sndbkg' command line switch. This enables sound in background. - Added support for '-nosound', '-window', and '-windowed' command line options. Revised Skill balance for Player Character classes Amazon -Immolation Arrow - Increased radius of Explosion effect by 33% and Immolation effect by 50%. -Immolation Arrow - Explosion effect damage increased by 20%. -Immolation Arrow - Increased base duration by 33%. Assassin -Shadow Master - Increased resistance range per point from 5-80 to 5-90. Barbarian -Whirlwind - Reduced initial mana cost by 50%. -Masteries - Changed critical strike chance from 0-25 to 0-35. Paladin -Blessed Hammer - No longer ignores resistances of undead and demons. Druid -Werebear - Damage bonus increased by 15% across all ranks. -Werebear - Increased health by 25% and armor by 1% per point. -Shockwave - Synergy from Maul adds 5% damage per point. Necromancer -Blood Golem - Removed negative shared life effect (player no longer loses life when golem takes damage). -Corpse Explosion - Increased base damage dealt from 60% - 100% to 70% - 120% of corpses health. -Poison Nova - Increased base damage by 15%. Sorceress -Firewall - Synergy receives 1% damage per point of Inferno and Blaze and 4% per point of Warmth. -Blaze - Synergy receives 2% damage per point of Firewall and 4% per point of Warmth. -Hydra - Increased base damage by 15% per rank. -Hydra - Increased base speed of Hydra projectile. -Hydra - Reduced cooldown by 25%. -Lightning Mastery - Reduced overall effect by 15%. [ Post edited by Bashiok ]