14 DAY TRIAL // Blizzard has just deployed the first in a series of hotfixes for Diablo 3, which targets the Monk class by drastically reducing the Boon of Protection rune that could be activated for the Mantra of Healing power.
Diablo 3 has been plagued by quite a lot of problems since its launch last week and, while Blizzard has apologized for the errors encountered due to its Battle.net servers, other issues are still being reported by users.
Until a full-fledged patch is released, however, Blizzard has started implementing hotfixes for certain issues with the game.
The first relates to the Monk class in Diablo 3 and severely lowers the efficiency of the Boon of Protection rune for the Mantra of Healing which, apparently, was way too effective at absorbing damage.
“We're in the process of removing the on-use benefits of the Mantra of Healing rune, Boon of Protection. The hotfix change is: Amount of damage absorbed is now capped at the amount of healing provided by Mantra of Healing in the first 3 seconds after activation,” Blizzard community manager Bashiok said on the Diablo 3 forums.
According to him, the rune will be replaced with a new one in a future patch and the decision was made to severely decrease its powers in order to keep things fair.
“We recommend discontinuing its use until the rune is replaced with a new rune and mechanic in a future patch,” he added.
“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.”
Quite a few new hotfixes will be posted soon, so expect some big changes in the upcoming days.