We’ve just received Blizzard’s announcement of the Season 15 PTR, and with it a wealth of new changes coming to the game.
Some of the incoming changes include the long-awaited Rebirth feature, a return of some classic unique items from previous Diablo games, further tweaks to Mythic Unique crafting and brand-new socketables called Soul Splinters.
Soul Splinters are the upcoming socketables in Season 15 that can be slotted into jewelry. They will be available in five different rarities: Common, Magic, Rare, Legendary, and Unique.
They offer powerful bonuses that can completely transform the way your character is played, but with a price. The most potent of these gems also have a negative component that forces your hero to take more damage, spend more resource, move slower or suffer other penalties. It is up to the players to find ways around these debuffs while using the bonuses to their full potential.
There is another interesting component to these gems. Leoric’s Crown, one of the returning legacy items, retains the same bonus it had in Diablo 3. The Crown increases the effects of any gems socketed into it. Not only that, but it also has a secondary effect that causes the item to count as jewelry.
This was likely done to increase the synergy between this item and the new socketables. However, gems can now have two sockets, so this interaction could result in every build using the same item, just like what happened with Heir of Perdition.
The Season 15 PTR will be available from August 4, 10:00 a.m. PDT to August 11, 10 a.m. PDT.
Soul Splinters
New power burns into Sanctuary for you to strike down the legions of the Burning Hells.
- Unique socketables which provide power with a bite. Choose wisely how you integrate these into your build.
- Available in five different rarities: Common, Magic, Rare, Legendary, and Unique. These can also be upgraded in the Horadric Cube.
- These socketables provide elemental and physical resistances and can be slotted into jewelry.
Souls Splinters
Note: The values provided below scale between the different Item Quality tiers.
- Splinter of Anguish
- 250/175/2625/4375 Fire Resistance
- You gain 15/20/25/35%[+] Critical Strike Chance and Attack Speed, but your Primary Resource Costs are increased by 30%.
- Splinter of Sin
- 250/175/2625/4375 Lightning Resistance
- You gain 10/20/30/40%[x] Maximum Health, but your Maximum Primary Resource is reduced by 30%.
- Splinter of Lies
- 250/175/2625/4375 Cold Resistance
- You gain 40/60/80/100% increased Gold Drop Rate, Crafting Material Drop Rate, and 25% Bonus Experience, but you are always Weakened and Vulnerable.
- Splinter of the Black Soulstone
- 7/20/30/50 All Stats
- Killing enemies absorbs a soul for 15 seconds. Each soul increases your damage by 2/3/4/5%[x], but increases your damage taken by 0.5%. This effect stacks but does not refresh.
- Splinter of Pain
- 250/175/2625/4375 Poison Resistance
- You gain 10/20/30/40% Damage Reduction, but you lose 30% Movement Speed.
- Splinter of the Mother
- 250/175/2625/4375 Physical Resistance
- You are Unhindered. Touching enemies makes them Vulnerable for 10 seconds. After touching 100/150/200/250 enemies, you are Stunned for 4 seconds.
- Splinter of Hellfire
- 35/50/375/625 Resistance to All Elements
- You deal 40/60/80/100%[x] increased damage but lose 100% Critical Strike Chance.
- Splinter of Damnation
- 250/175/2625/4375 Shadow Resistance
- Killing an Elite Pack increases Monster Power by 1 for 10/15/20/25 seconds.
