Diablo 3 - Patch 2.6.1 Balance Goals

Don Vu explains the two main goals of the Diablo 3 patch 2.6.1:

Developer Chronicles: Patch 2.6.1 Balance Goals

Hey everyone — Don Vu here, Game Designer on the Diablo III team. We’ve really appreciated your honest, detailed, and consistent feedback through the Patch 2.6.1 PTR. Many of you have been asking great questions, and one of the biggest and most frequent was, “What are the goals of this PTR/patch?” We felt this question deserved a detailed response, so let’s get into it!

Main Goals

There were two main goals for this patch. First, we wanted each class to have multiple builds with different styles that can play in similar difficulties. We agree it’s important that there is a lot of variety in the end-game experience and, because we have so many difficulties, we want as many players as possible to reach similar goals regardless of their preferred class set or play style. While we might not get every build, we’re making sure there is a lot of variation among competitive options.

Secondly, we want to smooth out the overall endgame experience. This means making sure each build plays well in high density situations and group play. While this has always been an ongoing effort for our team, some of the changes we’ve made in this patch specifically targeted this goal.
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