I recently wrote a little about a new mechanic in D3, a buff to magic and gold find. New info on the buff has been released and it looks like a very cool addition to gameplay. It will encourage playthroughs of levels instead of blind farming of one tiny section of a level.

Here is what is known, and bear in mind this could change before launch.

• It kicks in at level 60.
• When you kill a champion or elite pack, you get a buff to magic and gold find.
• They are still working on duration (15 minutes to an hour) and whether it stacks or not.
• With the buff, bosses will drop gear as good as champion or elite packs, ie. one extra item. There is talk of it being one extra item PER stack of the buff!
• The buff lasts through death, temporary disconnects and after having killed a boss. Having it last through the ending of a level, encourages running on to the next level.
• It ends when you change a skill, skill rune, passive or leave the game and of course when it runs out.

A buff like this really encourages players to run through entire levels, instead of just farming the same 5 minutes of it. By having it last through boss kills, you also encourage people to continue to the next level and actually play the game! And it also gives an added “stress” factor to D3, because you are running against the clock.

Very cool! And I very much look forward to the release of Diablo 3!

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