Demonic Essence
Demonic Essence (DEs) is a crafting material and a commodity added in patch v1.07. These objects have a chance to drop only from Elites, Champions, Treasure Goblins, and certain major game events (those that grant a Nephalem Valor stack).
Demonic Essences have no function or use in game, except as they are used in crafting recipes. They are Account Bound (BoA) and can not be traded or given to other players, though they may be sold to NPCs (for 25g). The developers' intent with DEs was to force players to play some and farm their own DEs for the new v1.07 crafting recipes, rather than simply being able to buy DEs along with all the other crafting materials required.
Demonic Essence Drop Rates
Blizzard detailed the odds for Demonic Essences to drop in the Patch 1.0.7 notes. They are only found on Inferno difficulty level, and only the Monster Power setting affects their drop rate. Factors such as Magic Find or the number of players in the game do not impact DEs in any way. The odds are as follows:[1]
- MP 0: 15.0000%
- MP 1: 16.5000%
- MP 2: 18.1500%
- MP 3: 19.9650%
- MP 4: 21.9615%
- MP 5: 24.1577%
- MP 6: 26.5734%
- MP 7: 29.2308%
- MP 8: 32.1538%
- MP 9: 35.3692%
- MP 10: 38.9061%
Demonic Essence Uses
When they were first introduced, Demonic Essences were a required ingredient in all of the new crafting plans and designs added in patch v1.07. Each recipe required just one Demonic Essence, plus various other ingredients to create level 63 Amulets, Razorspikes, Chest Armor, Archon Shoulders, or Archon Gauntlets.
- Archon Chest Armor of Vit/Dex/Str/Int: 150k gold + 1 Demonic Essence + 2 Tomes of Secret
- Archon Amulet of Vit/Str/Int/Dex: 100k gold + 1 Fiery Brimstone + 1 Demonic Essence + 1 Perfect Square gem
- Archon Gauntlets of Vit/Str/Int/Dex: 50k gold + 20 Iridescent Tears (yellow) + 5 Tomes of Secret + 1 Demonic Essence
- Archon Shoulders of Vit/Str/Int/Dex: 75k gold + 10 Tomes of Secret + 1 Demonic Essence
- Archon Razorspikes of Vit/Str/Int/Dex: 50k gold + 30 Exquisite Essence (blue) + 5 Tomes of Secret + 1 Demonic Essence
More crafting recipes requiring Demonic Essences may be added in future patches. In fact it seems quite likely as most players soon had an overabundance of DEs.
Even though Demonic Essences are BoA and thus can not be sold, even fairly casual players soon accumulated more of them than they needed for their crafting. (During the course of normal play, a character will find DEs more quickly than the other materials and gold required for crafting. However, since the other materials can be purchased via the Auction House, the crafting recipes and DEs were meant as a sort of gold sink.
It's unclear why Demonic Essences are the yellow Rare color rather than light blue, like all other crafting materials, or why they only stack up to 100.
Gallery
Images of Demonic Essences and other related topics.
