Diablo III: Reaper of Souls

Update #2: Along with the 2.2.0 update the Sanctuary heroes got to enjoy some innovations to legendary items and weapons. Legendary item sets from the base game were overhauled, while the Witch, Barbarian, and Demon Hunter classes can now obtain brand new legendary sets. These are respectively: Delsere’s Magnum Opus, Fury of the Vanished Peak, and Demonic Essence. Besides, the Adventure Mode was enriched with three new types of adventures, three new Treasure Goblins were added, and modified versions of several maps (Festering Woods, Fields of Misery, Fields of Slaughter, and Stinging Winds) were introduced to the Nephalem Rifts and Greater Rifts. Of course, the new update brought forth a portion of epic legendary items and replaced multiple healing potions with one endless Bottomless Potion.

Update #1: Since Diablo III: Reaper of Souls got the v2.1.0 update, you can try out your skills in a much harder version of Nephalem Rifts – the so-called Greater Rifts. These dungeons have strict time limit. Completing one is not an easy task, but the reward for doing that is more than satisfactory. While in Diablo II the players could create a ranked character to gain new levels and climb up the so-called Ladders, for Diablo III Blizzard prepared Seasons. During a Season you have to create a new character and start over without previously acquired items, gold, master levels, etc. This, however, moves you up in ranks and lets you gain unique legendary items, which are not available by any other way until the Season is over.

Patch 2.1 also offers a new location – the Treasure Vault. In order to get there you have to kill a Treasure Goblin and hope for it to leave behind a special portal, aside form the usual loot. The Treasure Vault overflows with all sorts of treasures and offers a new boss fight – Greed: Baroness of the Treasure Realm. Blizzard also introduced a new pool of gems, Legendary Gems. They can only be placed in jewelry (rings or amulets) in order to greatly enhance fighting capabilities of your hero.

Game description: Diablo III: Reaper of Souls is the title of the first expansion to the third installment in one of the most popular series of hack-and-slash games in history, developed by Blizzard Entertainment.

The expansion adds the fifth act which continues the story in the original game. The story revolves around the Angel of Death, Maltael, who decided to put an end to the eternal conflict between Heaven and Hell, and to do so, he steals the Black Stone that binds the soul of Diablo and other Demon Lords. Maltael wants to destroy all evil at any cost. His victims are not only the demons, but also humans, who partially descend from the former. The Angel of Death is capable of stealing the souls of the dead and turning them into his servants, therefore being a direct threat to the residents of the Sanctuary. He can only be stopped by the powerful Nefalem.

The story is set in Western Marches and surrounding areas. In addition to the new adventures and locations, Reaper of Souls introduces the sixth character class, the Armored Crusader, equivalent of Paladin from Diablo II. During combat he uses a big shield, heavy weapons, and holy magic, which make him an effective fighter both at short and medium range. The enemy forces were also reinforced by new creatures, including fallen angels.

The expansion raises the maximum level capacity to 70, hence each class can obtain new skills and runes. The system of master levels was completely overhauled - experience level limits disappeared, and what is more, the paragon applies to all characters on the player’s account now. In addition, the system allows the player to personally distribute the points between 4 tabs: core, attack, defense, and utility. Another novelty is a completely new set of challenges for the players: small dungeons, where you can hunt for better equipment, the so-called Nephalem Rifts, which are a set of quick, but difficult tasks for the brave, access to which can be obtained by completing quests.

The creators decided to modify the loot system. Compared with the original Diablo III, the defeated enemies drop less items, but they are more valuable, and, thanks to the feature called Smart Drops, suit the character class better.

In terms of design, the artwork of Reaper of Souls is darker than in the original game. The difference is visible not only in the new locations, but also in the appearance of the inventory. A new artisan appeared in the game – a mystic – able to make visual equipment modifications in order to adapt them to the grim atmosphere of this add-on. It is also possible (for a fee) to re-roll the gear stats.