First Diablo 3 Hotfix Nerfs The Monk Class

Blizzard is preparing to unleash the first round of hotfixes for Diablo 3, nerfing the Monk class.

The hotfix removes the on-use benefits of the Boon of Protection rune that affects Mantra of Healing, ensuring the "amount of damage absorbed is now capped at the amount of healing provided by Mantra of Healing in the first 3 seconds after activation." In other words, the monk could heal itself too easily, which caused problems in balancing the difficulty curve for everybody else, and this fix aims to change that.

Community manager Bashiok explained, "The Boon of Protection rune was approximately ten times over its budget on the benefits it provided, and it was quite simply a mistake on our part to let the rune ship as it was.  We don't intend to take these quick and drastic measures often, but considering the severity of the issue, we felt it important to correct it swiftly."

Class alterations like this will be familiar to anyone who's played Blizzard's World of Warcraft, and is a pretty normal part of the post-launch programme.  Many commenters are also hoping that the hotfixes will increase account security, following reports of an increase in accounts being hacked.

Bashiok continued saying, "In general class balance is an ongoing investigation, and by no means do we believe the game is now perfect, but we're also seeing evidence that supports, with a few nerfs to wizard and demon hunter, [that] the monk and barbarian are not as bad off as they seem.

"The game is young, there were some skills that threw things out of whack, and we expect the landscape to settle out a bit more evenly. Or at least change again so we can continue to monitor the impact. Maybe we're wrong, maybe there's no current chance for monk or barbarian to compete with ranged, but our current suspicion is that's incorrect and until we know for sure we're not going to turn any dials."

If you're yet to pick up Diablo 3, check out our review or, if you've been hacked, read our advice about what to do next.



Source : http://www.ign.com