Diablo 3 Update 2.6.1 Out Now, Here Are The Patch Notes

Blizzard has released a new update, version 2.6.1, for Diablo III on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. It doesn't introduce any new features, but it does change items and skills--some of which have seen runes completely redesigned.

At a high level, Blizzard said that some skills have been buffed, while others have received adjustments "for improved playability and performance." Multiple Legendary items have also been buffed, while Blizzard has taken a close look at how each class performs in Greater Rifts. It said it's "made several changes to bring as many gameplay styles as close in line to each other as possible, with a focus on the most popular or requested builds."

Among the redesigned runes is Bloodshed for the Barbarian's Battle Rage. After the change, its description is as follows: "Deal damage equal to 20% of your recent critical hits to enemies within 20 yards every 1 second." Blizzard said this was done at least in part due to performance issues with the way it worked before (where critical hits caused blood explosions). Meanwhile, the Crusader's Limitless rune for the Blessed Hammer has also been changed completely, again because of performance concerns. With this new patch, its description reads, "Increase the damage of Blessed Hammer to 640% weapon damage as Holy and increase its area of effect by 20 yards." Previously, each hammer spawned had a chance to create an additional hammer.

Unsurprisingly, as the game's newest class, Necromancer sees more changes than any other class. The minions raised by Command Skeletons now break crowd-control effects when you command them, and they won't die after taking too many hits. Additionally, Fueled by Death's speed boost can now exceed the 25% cap, and Bone Armor can be cast on the move (and doesn't cost Essence).

"Many" of Diablo III's Legendary and Set items are now more likely to drop, although Blizzard didn't specify which ones. The list of changes are far too many to count, but in many cases, Set bonuses have been dramatically increased. For instance, the Barbarian's Might of the Earth six-piece bonus now increases the damage of certain skills by 5600%, up from 1200%.

Blizzard offers a full rundown on what's new and different in the patch notes here. The update is out now on all platforms.