Diablo 3's PvP mode is finally here. The team deathmatch mode was dropped a while back, and the free for all "duels" are now "brawls," whatever they're called, you can do them now in the Scorched Chapel zone added by patch 1.07. Blizzard have been tweaking Diablo 3's Might Scales of Class Balance as well. Today the winds of fate favour Monks and Wizards, who can look forward to some chunky damage upgrades across a variety of skills.
You can initiate brawls by chatting to a new NPC called Nek The Brawler, who you'll find loitering in the nearest Act hub. Stats will be shifted somewhat depending on your character's class to keep things a little more balanced. "Demon Hunters, Witch Doctors, and Wizards receive a 30% damage reduction while "Barbarians and Monks receive an additional 5% damage reduction (in addition to the 30% they inherently receive, for a total of 35%)."
Beyond the fighting pit, Monks and Wizards will do quite a bit more damage. Weapon damage has been "increased from 100% to 313%" for the Monk's "Cyclone Strike," for example. Blizzard have plenty of data on the abilities that players tend to gloss over, so they could be trying to encourage more people to work powers like "dashing strike" and "Lashing Tail Kick" into their builds. Significant buffs to the Monk's "Exploding Palm" ability has maximised his high-five capabilities. "Explosion damage" has been "increased from 30% to 50% of the target's maximum health" up high. As of the time of writing, Blizzard are yet to publish figures for "down low" or "on the rebound."
Ooh, also, if you're still rocking Inferno, look out for "demonic essences" among your drops. You can take these to the blacksmith and the jeweler to craft a top tier amulet or pieces of a new archon armour set. Browse the full patch notes at your leisure over on Battle.net .
