Death's Breath tooltip.
Death's Breath (DB) is a crafting material that may be dropped by Elites, Treasure Goblins, and Resplendent Chests above level 61 in Reaper of Souls. DBs are not found in Diablo 3. This material is the higher tier version of the Demonic Essence crafting material, which has the same drop rates from the same sources, though only from enemies and targets below level 61.
Deaths Breaths are not a legendary material, though they are required in virtually all level 60+ and end game crafting recipes in Reaper of Souls. These include training Artisans, enchanting, upgrading gems (Royal and Flawless Royal quality), and crafting.
Since Death's Breath are account bound (BoA), drop primarily from Elites, and drop at higher rates on higher difficulties, they can function as a bottleneck on crafting and other item upgrading in Reaper of Souls. Most players felt this acutely when first starting out in Reaper of Souls, since Artisan training and almost all item enchanting requires Death's Breaths, but the shortage didn't last long and most players have hundreds of Death's Breaths stacked up not long after they begin farming at level 70.
Death's Breath Drop Rates
Blizzard provided the drop rates for Deaths Breaths when complaints about their infrequency were voiced shortly after the launch of Reaper of Souls. These drop rates are the same for Demonic Essence and all legendary materials, when counted from valid sources.
- Normal – 15%
- Hard – 18%
- Expert – 21%
- Master – 25%
- Torment 1 – 31%
- Torment 2 – 37%
- Torment 3 – 44%
- Torment 4 – 53%
- Torment 5 – 64%
- Torment 6 – 77%
These items can drop from Elites (Yellows or Blue Champions), Purple Uniques, as well as from Treasure Goblins and Resplendent Chests. Many players insist their drop rates from sources other than Blue or Yellow Elites are much lower than the officially listed figures, but Blizzard disputes that.
Stack to 1000.
Death's Breath drop in the Westmarch Commons.]]
