Patches

A patch is an update to a computer program that fixes bugs, makes changes, and adds content. Most computer games are patched regularly, to fix problems, adjust game balance issues, and sometimes add content. Patches are designated by version numbers; v1.01, v1.02a, v1.2b, etc.

Patches are usually embraced by players, as they bring desired bug fixes and can shake up the game with rebalances, added items, and more. Opinions always differ though, since while everyone likes improvements and buffs to their character, cries of "nerfed!" always ring out, as various overpowered skills, items, monsters, and other things are reduced in value or power, much to the chagrin of players who had come to count on those imbalances working to their favor.

Diablo 3 Patches and Hotfixes

Patches are released by Blizzard to fix bugs and remedy issues with game balance and gameplay issues. Most patches are minor with just a few bug fixes and game tweaks. Some patches are major content updates with dozens of important game changes or even new features, such as the PvP Battle Arena.

Hotfixes are small, urgent changes that are fixed directly to the servers, without requiring a full patch. A number of skills that the developers felt were overpowered were nerfed via hotfixes, shortly after Diablo III's release.

Full List of Diablo 3 Patches

See the following pages for full details on each patch that's been released for Diablo III.

2017

• Patch 2.0.6 - 27 June

2016

• Patch 2.4.1 - 26 April
• Patch 2.4.0 - 12 January

2014

• Hotfixes: 2014-08-26 Patch 2.1 - 26 August -
• Patch 2.1 - 26 August

• Hotfixes: 2014-06-10 - 10 June - 13 June
• Patch 2.0.6 - 10 June
• Hotfixes: 2014-05-14 - 14 May - 5 June
• Patch 2.0.5 - 13 May
• Hotfixes: 2014-04-09 - 9 April - 1 May
• Patch 2.0.4 - 8 April
• Hotfixes: 2014-03-11 - 11 March - 4 April
• Patch 2.0.3 - 11 March
• Hotfixes: 2014-03-07 - 7 March
• Patch 2.0.2 - 4 March
• Hotfixes: 2014-02-28 - 28 February
• Patch 2.0.1 - 25 Feb. Massive patch introducing Loot 2.0, Paragon 2.0, many skill changes to all classes and much more. This was tested on PTR and in the Reaper of Souls beta prior to going live.

2013

• Patch 1.0.8a - 14 May. Minor bug fixes. AH gold stack increased.
• Patch 1.0.8 - 8 May. A major content patch, it greatly increased the monster density in Acts 1 and 2, and slightly increased it in Act 4. These monster density changes are only found in Inferno difficulty, on Monster Power 1 and higher. Also included buffs to various skills, numerous changes to the game UI, crafting usability improvements, and numerous new Battle.net social and game creation features.
• Patch 1.0.7a - 12 March. Bug fixes.
• Patch 1.0.7 - 15 January. After several weeks of PTR testing. This patch introduced numerous new crafting recipes, enabled the PvP brawling system, and made numerous skill buffs, chiefly for the Monk and Wizard.

2012

• Patch 1.0.6a - 13 December - Minor bug fix.
• Patch 1.0.6 - 27 November - Minor bug fixes.
• Hotfixes: 2012-11-16 - November 16
• Hotfixes: 2012-10-31 - 31 October
• Hotfixes: 2012-10-23 - 23 October
• Patch 1.0.5a - 28 October - Europe only
• Hotfixes: 2012-10-18 - 18 October
• Patch 1.0.5 - 16 October -- Many game and skill changes, a major nerf to Inferno, and the new Monster Power and Infernal Machine game systems.
• Hotfixes: 2012-08-22 - 22 August
• Patch 1.0.4 - 21 August-- A huge content patch with dozens of skill changes, Inferno nerfs, the Paragon system, and much more.
• Hotfixes: 2012-08-03 - 3 August
• Patch 1.0.3b - 10 July
• Hotfixes: 2012-07-26 - 26 July
• Hotfixes: 2012-07-03 - 3 July
• Hotfixes: 2012-06-29 - 29 June
• Hotfixes: 2012-06-28 - 28 June
• Patch 1.0.3a - 26 June
• Patch 1.0.3 - 19 June -- included numerous major skill and balance changes.
• Patch 1.0.2c - 12 June
• Hotfixes: 2012-06-08 - 8 June
• Patch 1.0.2b - 6 June
• Patch 1.0.2a - 31 May
• Patch 1.0.2 - 29 May
• Hotfixes: 2012-05-23 - 23 May
• Hotfixes: 2012-05-22 - 22 May
• Hotfixes: 2012-05-18 - 18 May

What to Expect in Diablo 3 Patches

The Diablo III developers will support their game with regular big fixes and other patches; this is standard for Blizzard games, since the company has a legacy of providing excellent long term game support. The D3 Team is not planning to include a great deal of new content in the patches though, since they want to save it up and make major updates in expansion packs. Jay Wilson spoke on their philosophy in an interview from Blizzcon 2010.

We haven’t really looked into our post-release content plans, but I would not expect us to do big content patch updates. Not like WoW or like an MMO. We’ll add in content in patches, but it will be smaller, like the way Starcraft 2 sometimes does in their patches. It won’t be something that’s on a regular schedule. It’ll be based on need, or based on “we have a really cool new thing we want to put out now and not wait on an expansion.” I’m sure we’ll do some things, but we don’t have any formal plans.

When asked in January 2012 on Twitter by @Procrastajason, "Is the retail release of the game the entirety of the content we'll see for a while or will there be content patches ala WoW?" Blizzard reiterated

Well, WoW is a subscription game. We'll have patches. New items, probably. New zones or bosses? Probably not.

Diablo III Beta Patches

Blizzard patched the beta client 18 times, making changes both large and small. All these patches came with lists of feature changes, and many more details about them were uncovered by data mining. See the Diablo 3 Beta patches article for more details, or click on the individual patch pages.

Diablo 2 Patches

There were numerous patches issues to Diablo II, and they continue to this day. The game is up to v1.13c, with the most recent patch released in May 2010.

Diablo II has released more content and major changes via patches than is common for computer games; especially ones that have been on the market for years and years. Several of Diablo II's patches, most notably v1.10, introduced a great deal of new content and brought about sweeping changes in the balance of the skills, characters, monsters, and more.