What you need to know
- Diablo 2: Resurrected's Public Test Realm (PTR) ran the first version of Patch 2.4 from January 25 until February 9.
- A second version of Patch 2.4 with more changes to Uber Diablo, classes, mercenaries, and more begins again March 2.
- A test ladder is also being implemented to ensure seasonal play is working properly.
- There is still no definitive date for the start of the real (non-PTR) ladder.
Diablo 2: Resurrected's ladder doesn't yet have a definitive start date, but we're undoubtedly inching closer as a second version of PTR Patch 2.4 is set to go live March 2. This is a follow-up to the initial PTR Patch 2.4 test period that ran from January 25 until February 9, in which a huge number of changes were implemented.
The developers promised that Patch 2.4 would return to the PTR following some behind-the-scenes work, and indeed on March 2 the PTR will go live again. Changes that came with the first instance of Patch 2.4 are still in play; new changes are simply being added on.
MrLlamaSC's coverage of the second part of Patch 2.4 goes deep on details.
Notably, this second PTR session includes testing to ladder functionality. A ladder season is being emulated to the full extent, with ladder chat commands, leaderboard, and separate stash being implemented. It's noted that upon the completion of a ladder season, players have until the start of the season after next to transfer any ladder items over to a non-ladder stash.
Another huge change involves Uber Diablo. Whereas in the past spawning Uber Diablo required a certain number of Stone of Jordan rings to be sold on a single instance of a regional server, the selling of rings will now be tracked per game type, per region. For example, any Stones of Jordan sold in a softcore expansion ladder game will count toward the total needed to spawn Uber Diablo. Upon spawning, all online players in the same region will have the chance to battle Uber Diablo in order to claim the coveted Annihilus Charm.
Each class has also seen changes, some more impactful than others. Mercenaries have received further changes, as have some runewords. A number of general updates and quite a few bug fixes are also included. You can read the full list of Patch 2.4 notes in the official Blizzard blog post.
How to participate in the Diablo 2: Resurrected PTR
The Diablo 2: Resurrected PTR is only available on PC. All you have to do to get in is click the dropdown menu above "Play" in the Battle.net launcher, click PTR: Diablo 2: Resurrected, and click Install. You can swap back and forth between the current live patch and the PTR with the same dropdown menu following the installation. And if you'd like to make the most of Diablo 2 on PC, check out our collection of the best pre-built PCs for Diablo 2: Resurrected.
