D2R Patch 2.5 PTR Update: Season 2 & 2.5 Release, Hammerdin Nerfs, Terror Zones Changes, Unlock & Single Player

D2R Patch 2.5 PTR Update: Season 2 & 2.5 Release, Hammerdin Nerfs, Terror Zones Changes, Unlock & Single Player

9/8/2022 11:35:33 AM

When will the official Diablo 2 Resurrected 2.5 Patch and the next Ladder Season come? After the launch of PTR, they had a response based on the users’ feedback. From the post of PezRadar, you can have more information about the upcoming D2R Patch. Now let’s get into the highlighted content in D2R Patch 2.5 PTR update, including Ladder Season 2 reset & 2.5 Patch release date, new or removed Terror Zones, hammerdin nerfs, as well as the information about unlock and single-player terror zones.

D2R Patch 2.5 PTR Update

Related Read: D2R 2.5 Patch Notes

D2R 2.5 Patch & Season 2 Ladder Release Date

Updated:

According to the latest update from Blizzard, the Diablo 2 Resurrected 2.5 PTR will end on September 19 at 10:00 a.m. PDT and D2R Ladder Season 2 will start on October 6, 2022.

Original:

It is likely that another iteration of PTR to be revealed as the team wants to implement some items based on the feedback, which will make the release of D2R 2.5 and Season 2 later than the original schedule. It is to be determined if they can fit something in the existing timeline, if not, there is probably a longer interval between D2R Patch 2.5 and Ladder S2 reset.

The current situation is that they are planning to end D2R 2.5 PTR soon and submit the final 2.5 version. Season 2 of Diablo 2 Resurrected Ladder will start a week or two after D2R 2.5 Patch releases, but S1 to S2 will happen immediately. All of this should be shortly after the PTR itself. More exact dates and timelines will be available in the coming week.

D2R Terror Zones Changes: add or move some areas, unlock & single player

When it comes to the new features, some players noticed that some areas are not that great for terror zones, while others are probably better. So some of the current Terror Zones in the PTR are to be moved out and some others are to be moved in. A lot of Act 3 maps strictly aren't great to be farmed when they become terrorized and it looks like we're going to see a bit of some shuffle there.

Another key point is they are going to implement unlock conditions for terror zones and how long each zone will be terrorized as well. That is probably you are not going to be able to do that until your character has reached a certain condition. About the length, some people think that terror zones should be terrorized shorter so it rotates more, and others think that should be longer, if you have a good build, you can play longer. But at the end of the day, to be able to maximize terror zones, you're going to need to have a build that can farm in the majority of them, so how often they fluctuate or which ones are included kind of doesn't matter in the long run.

In addition, the team has noticed that a lot of voices wanting terror zones feature in single-player, not only multiplayer. This is being looked into, but the single player has different values for XP and requirements to be tuned, they are going to ensure this work for Ladder play first and then conduct that for offline afterward. You can expect Terror Zones SP to be added in Ladder Season 2.

D2R Hammerdin Nerfs

The team also has some ideas based on the feedback from hammerdin players on the 2.5 PTR, if hammerdin builds get nerfed, a lot of people would think it's justified. MacroBioBoi thinks nerfing is not the only way to address the power difference, for example, one of the ways about terror zones is increasing resistance of monsters in terror areas, and something like this would affect the hammerdins in some way. But is not just a nerf to hammerdins themselves, but instead, either a nerf to the auras that they have, or addition of magic resistance across a terror zone, which makes other builds that were already struggling are going to get hit so much harder. There are lots of different ways to go, we expect to see other build diversity, build strengthen, or more Diablo 2 skill changes in 2.5.