Save Sanctuary from Pestilence with the Season 22 Battle Pass

Sanctuary is oozing with maladies to be eradicated, wanderer—go forth and defend your home!

Since our last content update, players rung in the New Year with adjustments to a variety of features, and returning events. This content update introduces the Plague Reaper Battle Pass, balance changes for Battleground, Rite of Exile, and all Classes, plus feature updates and more.

As with previous content updates, there will be server maintenance starting on January 16, from 4 p.m.–6 p.m. PST for Oceania, China, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Europe servers, and on January 17, from 12 a.m.–2 a.m. PST for servers in the Americas. After the maintenance has concluded, all items mentioned below will be live—specific dates for any content going live afterward are provided below.

CODEX

Season 22 Battle Pass: Plague Reaper

SEASON 22 BATTLE PASS: PLAGUE REAPER

The afflicted infect Sanctuary with their malicious presence. Track down and stamp out the source of disease as a Plague Reaper. The Season 22 Battle Pass ushers in a period of remediation for Sanctuary’s wounds on January 18, 3 a.m. server time.

This Battle Pass hosts 40 ranks worth of challenges and rewards, such as Crests, Hilts, and more. Starting with this Battle Pass, players will have the option to choose between receiving 2 Telluric Pearls, the Fervent Fang Two-Star Legendary Gem, or the new Grim Rhythm Two-Star Legendary Gem. The new gem can be acquired from Rank 40 of the Battle Pass and at Ranks 1, 20, and 40 of the Empowered Battle Pass. The Grim Rhythm Legendary Gem can also be acquired from the Boon of Plenty. Here’s what the new gem does:

Description at Rank 10: Dealing damage increases your Attack Speed by 2.4% for 3 seconds, stacking up to 10 times. While at full stacks, your Movement Speed is increased by 12%.

Remember, new Rank rewards are available in the Empowered Battle Pass, such as a Familiar Contract at Rank 1, and rotating Cosmetics can be obtained from the Battle Archive Shop for owners of the Collector’s Empowered Battle Pass.

Such an infectious scourge can’t be left to fester; this Battle Pass ends on February 15, 3 a.m. server time—begin slaying demons and climbing your way through the ranks today!

RETURNING EVENTS

Fractured Plane

In a place like Sanctuary, even those with the utmost mental fortitude can find themselves lost to the unrelenting darkness spread by the Burning Hells. Broken. Shattered. Trapped in the deepest recesses of their mind. Entering the Fractured Plane is the only way forward. This event will run from January 19, 3 a.m.–January 26, 3 a.m. server time. For more information about the Fractured Plane event, please visit this article.

Shady Stock

Yakin has once again come into possession of some liberated merchandise, likely plucked from a far-away excavation. His Shady Stock is in high demand and will be available to peruse from January 20, 3 a.m.–January 27, 3 a.m. server time, or until Westmarch’s guards raid his supply. For more information about Shady Stock, please visit this article.

Alley of Blood

Quarreling forces threaten to desecrate hallowed grounds, marking a point in the conflict between the forces of Shadows and Immortals. Demolish opposing Sentry Towers and dismantle the enemy team’s base of operations by shattering their Crystal Heart. Imbue your adventurer with Specialist Skills for a tactical advantage, and guard and bolster your Champion’s Marks to claim the day. From January 26, 3 a.m.–February 2, 3 a.m. server time, fight alongside Sacred Guardians in the Alley of Blood.

Here are the rules of engagement:

All characters will be set to Level 60.
The Rank of all Legendary Gear and Set Gear will be set to 1.
The Rank for all Legendary Gems on your character will be set to 10.

Bonuses from the following are disabled as well:

Resonance
Clans and Warbands
Normal Gems and Charms
Helliquary bonuses
Stances
Paragon Specialization

Infernal Knowledge

In Sanctuary, few are capable enough to stand against the darkness and wager their life for the defenseless. But you, adventurer, have consigned your days to thinning out the ranks of the Burning Hells, ushering in safety where all hope was once lost. Your quest to serve the downtrodden grows in complexity—equip yourself with Infernal Knowledge to prevail.

From January 27, 3 a.m.–February 3, 3 a.m. server time, completing daily tasks will unlock various milestone rewards for your heroics, such as:

Complete 3 tasks: 1 random Legendary Item
Complete 5 tasks: 3 Rare Crests
Complete 8 tasks: 1 Telluric Pearl
Complete 10 tasks: 1 Legendary Crest

BALANCE CHANGES

Battleground and Rite of Exile

In Battleground and Rite of Exile, damage dealt to summons by players has been decreased from 150% to 100%. This means players no longer deal increased damage to summons.
In Battlegrounds and Rite of Exile, subsequent loss of control effects imposed by the same player within 6 seconds will have diminishing returns. Each subsequent effect will have 70% effectiveness compared to the last (Ex: The first is 100% effective, the second is 70%, the third is 49%, the fourth is 34.3%, etc).

Classes

Barbarian Skill

Hammer of the Ancients: Optimized the cast animation speed of this skill.
Cleave: Cooldown reduced from 9 to 6 seconds.
Furious Charge: Damage increased by 22%.
Grab: Cooldown reduced from 9 to 7 seconds. Added 2-second stun to thrown enemy. Greatly reduced initial Grab animation.

Barbarian Items

Axe of the Ray: Damage increased by 25%. Cooldown reduced from 9 to 6 seconds.
Lurker’s Last Chance: Channeled damage increased by 29%. Bleed damage increased by 25%.
Screaming Fury: Damage increased by 15%.
Tracker’s Rage: Essence Mastery bonus now increases damage by 10%/13%/16%/19%.
Determination: Damage increased by 15%. Collision width expanded to match Furious Charge.
Ram’s Impasse: Charge distance increased from 5.5 to 7.5 meters. Added a 2-second Stun.
The Hewer: Immune to loss of control and knockback effects during the skill. Improved turning ability. Greatly reduced the sliding that occurred after the slam. Dash damage increased by 180%. Smash damage increased by 38%.
Svot’s Reach: Cooldown reduced from 9 to 6 seconds.

Blood Knight Skills

Transfusion: Shield amount increased by 16%.
Spear Flurry: Damage increased by 25%.

Blood Knight Items

Overrun: Damage increased by 25%.
Bardiche of Below: Damage increased by 20%.
Pinch Point: Players can now only be knocked airborne once every 3 seconds.
Peer of the Cursed: Cooldown reduced from 15 to 12 seconds.

Crusader Items

Faith Ascendant: Essence Mastery bonus now increases damage by 10%/13%/16%/19%.
Little Lance: Cooldown reduced from 15 to 12 seconds.
Air Splitter: Damage increased by 20%.
Arrant Ignition: Duration increased from 6 to 10 seconds. Burn damage increased by 50%.
Bygone Eidolon: Time between skill activations reduced from 1.5 to 0.75 seconds.
Bonebearer, Heaven Squints, Karawan’s Catch: Damage increased by 25%.

Demon Hunter Skills

Multishot: Damage increased by 20%.
Sentry: Cooldown reduced from 18 to 12 seconds. Damage increased by 39%.

Demon Hunter Items

Murdermost: No longer causes you to lose Life. Critical Hit Chance bonus reduced from 12% to 10%.
Ruinous Path: Added a bonus to Evasion Rating that increases with Essence Mastery.
Tar-Black Rain: Cooldown reduced from 12 to 10 seconds. Improved animation speed. Added a short retreat upon cast.
Concentrated Coldness: Instead of being Chilled, enemies struck are now Frozen for 2 seconds.
Breath of Winter: Damage increased by 20%.
Flamespite: Shot damage increased by 20%. Burn damage increased by 20%.
Pinpoint Overflow: Damage increased by 56%.
Tiresome Rebuke: Damage increased by 20%.
Ysil’s Contained Destruction: Cooldown reduced from 18 to 12 seconds. Damage increased by 27%.
Frozen Guardian’s Sight: Cooldown reduced from 18 to 12 seconds. Damage increased by 48%.
Artillery Master’s Battlehelm: Cooldown reduced from 18 to 12 seconds. Damage increased by 27%.
One’s Own Fusillade: Essence Mastery upgrades no longer increase duration, instead, increasing the damage bonus per Mastery level: 8%/10.4%/12.8%/15.2% respectively.
Boar at the Door: Cooldown reduced from 12 to 9 seconds. Damage increased by 17%.

Monk Skills

Inner Sanctuary: In Battleground and Rite of Exile, cooldown is increased from 20 to 24 seconds.
Mystic Allies: Cooldown reduced from 30 to 25 seconds.
Shield of Zen: Shield amount increased by 15%.

Monk Items

Sahptev Lamplighter: Cooldown reduced from 30 to 25.
Intervening Law: Shield amount to self increased by 15%. Shield amount to allies increased by 150%.
Tempest’s Heart: While executing Cyclone Strike, you are now immune to loss of control and knockback effects.
Blazing Ablution: Added a bell in the middle, at the position of the caster. Damage increased by 50%.
Shoulders of Vylnas: Damage increased by 25%.
Noble’s Path: Fixed no damage on secondary attacks increased by 43%. Cooldown reduced from 12 to 10 seconds.
Endless Trial: Damage increased by 37%.
Power of Undulation: Damage increased by 25%.

Necromancer Skills

Bone Spirits: Damage increased by 25%.

Necromancer Items

Soul Levee: Cooldown reduced from 12 to 9 seconds.
Priests’ Grubknife: Damage increased by 17%.
Accounting for Weakness: Golemn attack damage increased by 25%. Golem leap damage increased significantly, roughly 580%.
Draff Cryptic: Cooldown reduced from 12 to 10 seconds.
Strange Sojourn: Cooldown increased from 6 to 7.5 seconds.
Grave Cutter: Slice damage increased by 20%. Bleed damage increased by 20%.
Abnegation: Cooldown until same player can be affected by knockback increased from 3 to 5 seconds.
Shuddershrike: Enemies damaged and affected by Immoblize from Bone Spikes are now unable to use Dash Skills.

Necromancer Bug Fix

Silvered Wings: Fixed a bug where the base damage was lower than intended. The base damage has been increased by 10%.

Wizard Skills

Frostfield: Cooldown reduced from 16 to 14 seconds.
Ice Crystal: Cooldown reduced from 30 to 25 seconds.
Disintegrate: Damage increased by 20%.
Ray of Frost: Damage increased by 20%.

Wizard Items

Frostreaver’s Garments: Cooldown reduced from 30 to 25 seconds.
Ephemeral Visage: Increased resolution speed of continual damage and persistent ground damage effects reduced from 80% to 60%.
Searing Judgement: Beam damage increased by 20%. Burn damage increased by 20%.
Pads of Protection: Damage increased by 20%.
Robes of the Avalanche: Damage increased by 25%.
Fanciful Finesse: Damage increased by 33%.
The Enervators: Immune to knockback effects while shielded.

FEATURE UPDATES

Helliquary Matchmaking

In addition to the existing Raid Finder feature, we have added the ability for players to automatically matchmake into Helliquary raids.

Helliquary Blacksmiths

To aid players in being able to quickly move from activity to activity, we have added a Blacksmith to the end of each Helliquary raid.

Helliquary Exit Portal

There were some cases where the exit portal was erroneously placed next to the loot after slaying a Helliquary boss, leading to players accidentally exiting the instance. We have relocated the exit portal to prevent this issue.

Battleground Matchmaking

Players are no longer able to allocate Paragon Points during a Battleground match.

Developer’s Note: We have seen players fully revert their Paragon Points prior to entering a Battleground match, and once the match began, they would spend those Paragon Points on abilities that would turn the match in their team’s favor. Then, after the match was completed, players would restore their Paragon Points to what they originally were prior to the match. We want to ensure that Battleground remains fun for everyone and have observed how this strategy interferes with that desire.

Familiar Optimization

We’ve also refined certain aspects of Familiars to ease the gameplay experience.

Adjusted movement speed of Familiars to improve their ability to collect loot faster.
Optimized how Familiars pick up items.
The description for certain Familiar Passive Skills has been altered to increase their clarity.
Missed Familiar Contracts will now be sent to players via in-game mail.

Familiar Menus

A suite of menu optimizations has been added to the Familiar feature to equip players with increased information and to prevent accidental changes from being made to their Familiars.

By tapping or clicking the lock icon in a Familiar’s menu, players can lock their Familiar. Locked Familiars cannot be traded nor used for Melding.

Players can now show off their favorite Familiars to other players in Chat using the new linking feature. Choosing to do so allows other players to see some of your Familiar’s stats.

Additionally, a double confirmation menu will now appear when you attempt to perform a Familiar Conversion to make sure it is not done by mistake.

Battle Points from Familiar Contracts

Adjusted the calculation of obtaining Battle Points from Nisza’s Familiar contracts. This calculation accounts for Battle Points obtained from all gameplay.

Juggernaut Specialization Skill

The Juggernaut Skill, acquired from the Champion Paragon Specialization in Inferno Difficulty IV, can no longer be used in Challenge of the Immortal. The description of this Skill has been updated to state this.

Player Health UI

We’ve added a variety of UI improvements to equip players with more information during PvP activities:

Health bars are larger and more easily recognizable.
Bonuses and decreases a player is experiencing, and their durations, will now be tracked. This change helps players more precisely track the status of incoming and outgoing crowd control effects during combat. This can be toggled in the Settings menu.

Boss Damage Immunity UI

Bosses who are immune to damage will have their Health bars turn grey to better communicate their status.

Shadow War Menu

The Shadow War notification that appears 10 minutes before a match begins has been removed to prevent players from accidentally cancelling their involvement in the activity.

Elder Rifts

The last 100 instances of Crest usage will now be displayed instead of the previous amount of 20.