Diablo III gets updated tomorrow with new patch, new content

by Pete Vagiakos · August 26, 2014

After a few days of hard-earned vacation, Digital Lair is back with your daily dosage of news. First stop: Blizzard – the behemoth behind franchises like Diablo, Starcraft and of course Warcraft had some good news for Diablo III users.

Avid Diablo III players were waiting for patch 2.1.0 for quite some time, and it seems the release day is finally upon us. As detailed on Battle.net, the patch should arrive tomorrow, bringing many improvements and new content to the millions of players. Here’s the post:

In addition to Seasons and The Vault, another notable feature coming in patch is 2.1.0 is a system we’re calling Greater Rifts. Formerly known as Tiered Rifts, Greater Rifts are a special type of Nephalem Rift designed to measure and showcase hero progression.

Featuring a progress timer, unique rewards, and custom leaderboards, Greater Rifts are the perfect opportunity for players to see just how far they can push themselves on the battlefield—and glean some incredible treasure along the way!

With Great Power Comes Great Rifts:

To enter a Greater Rift, you must first acquire a Keystone of Trials. These keystones have a chance to drop from any normal Rift Guardian when playing in Torment difficulty on a level 70 hero.
Once you’ve acquired a Keystone of Trials, you’re ready to take on what’s known as the Realm of Trials. To access this realm, visit a Nephalem Obelisk in any town hub, right-click on the monument, and place your keystone into the appropriate slot near the top of the window. Click “Accept” and your trial will begin. Be sure to prepare your skills and gear ahead of time, because once inside the Realm of Trials, you cannot change either until the trial is over.

The Realm of Trials is a small arena designed not only to test your hero’s mettle, but evaluate at what level you should begin your Greater Rift run. Each trial will be timed and consist of increasingly difficult waves of enemies. Upon completion of the trial, or it ending due to your hero’s death, you will be rewarded with a Greater Rift Keystone. The level of the keystone you receive will be based on your performance during the trial itself. The more waves you destroy, the higher the keystone level. The higher the keystone level, the more challenging the Greater Rift…so aim high!
Of note, game difficulty will not impact the Realm of Trials in any way; in this case, the Realm of Trials is considered independent of the standard difficulty system. With this, death in the Realm of Trials will be permanent for Hardcore heroes. If you die during a trial, your hero will be lost and he or she will not receive a Greater Rift Keystone.
With a fresh Greater Rift Keystone in hand, head back to the Nephalem Obelisk in town. Right-click on the monument one more time and place your ranked keystone into the designated slot. Click “Accept” and it’s off to the races—your Greater Rift journey has officially begun!