A new level system is introduced.
Blizzard announced today that the next patch, version 1.0.4, for Diablo 3 will increase the level cap to 160 via the Paragon System, but it’s not exactly the standard way of doing it.
Once you reach level 60, instead of moving on to level 61, you will start working toward Paragon level 1, with 100 paragon levels available to reach.
Here’s how it works:
- After you hit level 60, any further experience you earn from killing monsters will begin to count toward Paragon levels
- There are 100 Paragon levels
- Every Paragon level will reward you with:
- Core stats such as Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality in amounts similar to what you’d gain from a normal level
- 3% Magic Find and 3% Gold Find
- In addition, a distinctive increasingly-impressive border will surround your character portrait in the in-game party frame to denote your Paragon progression, with a new frame earned after every ten levels. Your Paragon level will also be visible to other players wherever your normal level is shown.
- The first Paragon level should take about as long as it took most players to get from level 59 to 60, and the experience requirement will rise from there.
- The time to reach the upper Paragon levels approximates the long-term time investment required to get a level 99 character in Diablo II.
Blizzard did not provide an exact release date for the patch, but we’ll update here when they do. You can read the full announcement here.
Update – Blizzard have announced via their forums that the Diablo 3 servers will be down, starting at 3:00AM PST on August 21st, to deploy the 1.0.4 Patch. After this maintenance, your client will automatically download the patch. You can read the full patch notes here.
