Blizzard Quote [source]

Whether you are a hero of Sanctuary, a Blacksmith in New Tristram, or an artist intent on illustrating the demonic invasion from the Burning Hells, you need to come prepared with the proper passion, tools, and vision to get the job done. But great art doesn’t make itself, and a lot of work goes into crafting a truly epic experience.

This week’s community spotlight showcases artist Robert Maldonado and his dramatic Blizzard fan art. 

Robert’s artwork includes everything from concept work and 3d models to fantasy paintings and fan art inspired by Diablo, World of Warcraft, and Starcraft. We caught up with him to find out more about he and his art.
 

Q. How long have you been making art?

I would like to start off by thanking you for this opportunity!

I've been painting digital concept art since the beginning of 2011. I taught myself how to use the Wacom tablet with Photoshop, which was challenging. I'm so used to looking at where my pencil meets the paper and all that.

I taught myself how to paint traditionally back in mid/ late 2007, and at the beginning of 2008 I held my own solo art showing at an art gallery here in So Cal. However, I feel that drawing since I was 7 years old is where it all started.

Q. You created some amazing Blizzard fan art! Which piece was the most challenging for you?

I would have to say the traditional painting of Imperius vs. Diablo I did with the time lapse video.

Traditional paintings are always going to be harder because there is no Ctrl – Z with acrylic on canvas, and you only have 1 layer. I was nervous going into that painting but as soon as I started I knew I was at home.

Check out the time lapse video of Robert's Imperius vs. Diablo painting!

Q. Which is your favorite piece?

I love all my paintings. It’s hard to choose 1 child out of the bunch, but if I had to choose I would say the Imperius vs. Diablo painting.

I choose that one because that is the 1 painting that I can physically pick up and hang on my wall (like I already have it, haha).

Q. We know that a lot of time and love goes into creating epic fan art, so what’s your favorite detail of one of your pieces?

Well I really liked the teeth silhouette over the yellow glow on the dark Diablo painting. The lighting that comes off of Diablo’s fire onto the bone-like surface was also fun to paint.

Q. How long does it take you to create your art?

For my digital work it will usually take me between 4-8 hours a painting.

While teaching myself how to paint in Photoshop, I learned a lot of professional concept artists are usually on a deadline. So I try to give myself a deadline to work on my speed, but you can’t rush art.

My traditional paintings will take me longer, but since it’s acrylic and dries fast, it will take me anywhere from 10- 15 hours to complete.

Q. What is your artistic process for a piece?

I will go based off of digital.

Learning a lot from the pros, I see them either starting off using a grayscale beginning or switching to a desaturated view of their painting to make sure their value and lighting are spot on.

So I find it easier for me to start off in a greyscale mode and just slowly apply color to the painting as I progress. I focus mainly on the composition, lighting, perspective and make sure I get all the fundamentals down before I start on the easy part which is details.

I would say the first 30 minutes of a painting is the hardest part of the whole process, which requires the most amount of thinking than any other part of the piece.

Q. What materials or programs do you use?

I use a Wacom Intuos 4 medium tablet on Photoshop CS5. My main digital brush is the default chalk brush at a 40% roundness. I usually have my opacity at 75% and just adjust my flow accordingly. I tend to keep the majority of the painting done with the simple default brush because that’s how I learned traditional painting.

Q. Do you have any other Diablo-themed pieces in the works?

I currently do not have any in the works from the Diablo franchise. Since Blizzard just announced the Hearthstone title, I’ve started on a fan art painting for it that has been really fun.

In the future I would love to paint an epic battle with the Barbarian just tearing it up.

Q. We’ve got to ask: what is your favorite Diablo III hero class?

I'm a HUGE fan of pets so it’s not surprising that I went with the Witch Doctor. Slaying demons with my Zombie Dogs and my super awesome Gargantuan is just too much fun.

Q. What artists inspire you?

I have a library of artists that I turn to for artistic inspirational fuel.

I will start off with the Blizzard artists with unique styles like Samwise, Luke Mancini, Wei Wang and Laurel Austin. Other sources of inspiration include the legendary Frank Frazetta, Michael Komarck, James Paick, Feng Zhu and Kekai Kotaki.

There are also a ton of other artists I turn to for inspiration. I also love it when I find a new artist that’s just making awesome art that I’ve never heard of.

Q. What tips and advice do you have for aspiring artists out there, particularly those that are just getting started?

You need to know that art is what you want to do in life. I strayed away from art and went to school for welding and even got my welding license by the City of LA. I regret doing that because I knew art is what I was meant to do in life.

You must forget about the money and fame great art can bring and focus on the craft. Try to never stop learning because if you do, that will just take away a majority of what art is about. Never get discouraged from other artists who you feel are better than you. Instead, study their work and turn their work into a source of inspiration to someday be as good as them.

You will also need to grow a thick skin in taking criticism on your art. Even if someone who isn't an artist gives me harsh feedback, I always try and see it from their point of view. Put your ego aside and learn on what you need to improve no matter where the feedback is coming from.

Give yourself a path and a goal for your art. Like for mine, being an artist in the game industry is a dream job for me and my lifelong goal. In life you must work with your passion because if you love your job, you’ll never work a day in your life.

Of course you must practice, have self-discipline, be patient and NEVER give up.

Q. That's some great advice! Any closing thoughts?

Thank you for having me featured!

Interested in seeing more of Robert’s stunning art? Check out his official gallery. To ensure you get all of his latest updates, make sure to also follow him on Facebook, Twitter, as well as his DeviantART account and art blog!

Blizzard Quote [source]

Hey all,

We've seen a lot of posts about this subject, so I just wanted to confirm that a hotfix is currently in the works to address a bug that's causing player-summoned pets to grant experience when killed in the Scorched Chapel. We hope to implement the fix soon, and will provide an update to everyone once it’s live. (For clarity, hotfixes are updates we make on our end that don’t require you to download a new patch. Some hotfixes will go live the moment they are implemented, while others may require server restarts to take effect.)

In the meantime, since it’s not intended for pets summoned by players or items to grant experience, we encourage you to game responsibly and avoid exploiting this bug to gain an advantage. Not only can this potentially lead to your account being penalized (depending on the situation), but more importantly it's not really fair to your fellow players. When exploited, bugs like this can negatively impact the enjoyment of others – which is why we're working as quickly as we can to fix it, and why we'd appreciate your help in keeping the effects of the bug as minimal as possible until it’s resolved.

This issue was originally reported on our forums during 1.0.7 PTR testing; however, we unfortunately missed the reports before patch 1.0.7 was released, and as a result the bug went live. So, a big thank you not only to the players who reported the bug initially by posting, but also to those who helped bring it to our attention by contacting our Hacks team.

On that note, if you're not sure how to report a bug or exploit, here's a quick recap:

• If you'd like to report a bug, the best thing to do is post in the Bug Report forum. (Or in the PTR Bug Report forum, if you encounter a bug on the PTR.)
• If you'd like to report an exploit, you can email hacks@blizzard.com or use our Hacks Report web form.

While not every report will receive a response, we sincerely appreciate everyone’s help in keeping us informed of possible issues as they arise.

For information on how to submit a good bug report, click here. To learn more about our exploitation policy, click here.

Blizzard Quote [source]

Thanks for the feedback! Based on discussions we’ve seen from players testing Inspiring Presence on the PTR, we’re going to go ahead and change Inspiring Presence back to its previous values. In a future PTR build, it will return 2% of your maximum Life per second instead of 4%. This is being done to keep it in line with other Life regeneration skills.

*Edit* I should note that we're keeping the part where it will buff your allies.

Blizzard Quote [source]

Updates to patch notes can be found in red. Last updated April 18 at 7:30 p.m. PDT.

Below you'll find the preliminary PTR patch notes for 1.0.8. Please note that this isn't the final version of the 1.0.8 notes and that some changes may not be documented or described in full detail.

To provide feedback on these changes, please visit the PTR Feedback forum. To report any issues you experience while playing, please visit the the PTR Bug Report forum. Additional information about the PTR can be found in the PTR FAQ.

PTR PATCH 1.0.8 – v.1.0.8.16033

These notes will be updated through the course of the testing process. Please be aware some changes may not go live until a new PTR build is released.

Table of Contents

• PTR
• General
• Achievements
• Auction House
• Battle.net
• Bosses
• Classes
• Crafting
• Followers
• Monsters
• Quests
• User Inferface
• Bug Fixes

PTR SPECIFIC CHANGES

• Certain areas in Act I and Act II have received further adjustments to Monster Density

GENERAL

• Players can now identify all items in their inventory by speaking to Deckard Cain or by using the Book of Cain that can be found near the shared stash in all Acts
• The cooldown incurred by changing skills outside of town on Inferno difficulty has been reduced to 30 seconds (down from 60 seconds)
• There is now an option in Video Settings to lock the cursor to the window when in fullscreen windowed mode, if Diablo III is the active window
• The bonus experience granted by Enlightened shrines is now also calculated multiplicatively
• Multiplayer Co-Op
  • Players now receive a 10% bonus to Magic Find, Gold Find, and Experience per additional player in a multiplayer game, up to a maximum of 30% in a four-player game
    • The Magic Find and Gold Find bonuses can exceed their respective 300% caps
    • The Experience bonus can stack with other bonuses from items and Monster Power (the bonuses will stack multiplicatively)
  • A notification is now sent to all players in a multiplayer game whenever a party member engages an Elite monster or Treasure Goblin in combat, and their location will be shown on the mini-map
    • In addition to this, an icon will also appear over player banners in town to indicate if they're in combat with a monster, Elite monster, or Treasure Goblin

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Bug Fixes
  • The "Massive Blow" achievement should once again be obtainable
  • The "Fallen Angel" achievement now only requires the player to kill Izual within 120 seconds
  • The "Bashanishu" achievement no longer requires the player to use Basic Attack to complete it
  • The "Hero's New Clothes" achievement no longer requires the player to deliver the fatal blow to meet the criteria
  • The "Uncaged" achievement now requires the player to stay alive during the encounter
  • The "Good Eye" achievement now requires the player to stay alive during the encounter
  • Fixed an issue that caused the "Self Sufficient" achievement to sometimes not be awarded the first time a player killed Diablo
  • Fixed an issue that caused the "Death Trap" achievement to not be awarded the first time a player completed the criteria
  • Fixed a bug that prevented monsters killed by a follower or pet, before being attacked by a player, from counting toward achievement criteria

AUCTION HOUSE

• User Interface
  • Tooltips in the Auction House will now show an item comparison for a player's currently selected character

BATTLE.NET

• Matchmaking
  • Players will now be able to search for games that were started on any quest once they have reached level cap
  • Matchmaking "Tags" have been added
    • In addition to selecting your Difficulty, Monster Power, and Quest, players will also be able to choose from the following tags when searching for Public Games: No Tag, Questing, Brawling, and Key Warden
• Social
  • Players can now add a note about a friend by right-clicking the name in their Friends List
  • Players can now enter a message that will be broadcast to their friends
  • Players can now create multi-user conversations
    • There are multiple ways to start a conversation or invite other players to an existing conversation:
      • To start a conversation, open Public Chat Options, then select Invite Friends > Start Conversation or use the "Start a Conversation" option in the Social window by right-clicking on a friend's name
      • To invite or add friends to an existing conversation, open Public Chat Options, then select Invite Friends or use the "Invite to a Conversation" option in the Social window by right clicking a friend's name and selecting the desired conversation
    • Similar to public channels, private conversations can support up to 99 players
  • A new section has been added to the friends list called "Players Near You"
    • Any player who is on your local network will be displayed here (even if they're not currently your friend)
    • If needed, this feature can be disabled from the Social Options of the Game menu
  • Players may now be marked as a "Party Guide"
    • The Party Guide is assigned to the first person who joins a Public Game
    • If multiple characters join a Public Game at the same time, the game will choose the hero with the highest level or Paragon level to be Party Guide
    • When a Party Guide leaves the Public Game, a new one will be chosen automatically
    • Alternatively, the Party Guide can right click on a party member's portrait and pass them the Party Guide title
    • The Party Guide will have a unique icon that will appear on the mini-map
  • Names in your "Recent Players" list will now expire if they become older than a month
  • Blocked players will no longer appear in your "Recent Players" list

BOSSES

• Bug Fixes
  • Skeleton King
    • A bug causing The Skeleton King and The King of the Dead to not play an animation when performing their Whirlwind attack should now occur less frequently

CLASSES

• Barbarian
  • Active Skills
    • War Cry
      • Skill Rune – Invigorate
        • Now regenerates 620 life per second (up from 310)
  • Passive Skills
    • Inspiring Presence
      • Now regenerates 4% of maximum life per second (up from 2%)
      • Now affects all party members
• Demon Hunter
  • Active Skills
    •    Companion
      • Skill Rune – Boar Companion
        • Now regenerates 310 life per second (up from 155)
    • Rapid Fire
      • Base weapon damage increased from 276% to 438%
      • Hatred cost while channeling has been reduced from to 6 (down from 10)
      • Skill Rune - Bombardment
        • Weapon damage increased from 345% to 414%
        • Explosion radius increased to 8 yards (up from 4)
      • Skill Rune - Fire Support
        • Weapon damage of Homing Rockets increased from 35% to 145%
      • Skill Rune - Withering Fire
        • Now reduces the initial Hatred cost to 10 (up from 5)
    • Sentry
      • Skill Rune – Aid Station
        • Now heals nearby allies for 2% of max life per second (up from 1%)
  • Passive Skills
    • Brooding
      • Now regenerates 2% of maximum life per second (up from 1%)
• Monk
  • Active Skills
    • Mantra of Healing
      • Now causes party members to regenerate 620 life per second (up from 310)
        • Skill Rune – Sustenance
          • Now increases Mantra of Healing’s life regeneration to 1240 per second (up from 620)
  • Passive Skills
    • Guiding Light
      • Damage bonus increased from 16% to 20%
• Witch Doctor
  • Active Skills
    • Firebats
      • Now has a larger initial cost but a much lower continual cost while channeling
        • Base weapon damage increased from 180% to 385%
        • Skill Rune – Cloud of Bats
          • Initial damage increased from 234% to 500% weapon damage
        • Skill Rune – Plague Bats
          • Maximum damage increased from 270% to 578% weapon damage
  • Passive Skills
    • Blood Ritual
      • Now regenerates 2% of maximum life per second (up from 1%)
• Wizard
  • Active Skills
    • Arcane Torrent
      • Base weapon damage increased from 210% to 285%
      • Skill Rune - Arcane Mines
        • Weapon damage increased from 180% to 340%
      • Skill Rune - Cascade
        • Weapon damage of bonus missiles increased from 210% to 285%
    • Archon
      • The duration of Archon should now be extended by assists from players in multiplayer games, in addition to kills
    • Disintegrate
      • Base weapon damage increased from 170% to 220%
      • Skill Rune - Entropy
        • Weapon damage increased from 196% to 253%
      • Skill Rune - Intensify
        • Maximum damage increased from 221% to 286% weapon damage
    • Familiar
      • Skill Rune – Vigoron
        • Now regenerates 620 life per second (up from 310)
    • Ray of Frost
      • Base weapon damage increased from 215% to 280%
      • Skill Rune – Black Ice
        • Ice patch weapon damage increased from 387% to 504%
      • Skill Rune – Sleet Storm
        • Weapon damage increased from 280% to 364%
      • Skill Rune – Snow Blast
        • Maximum damage increased from 280% to 364% weapon damage
    • Teleport
      • Players may now Teleport to any location within range, as long as a path is available
  • Passive Skills
    • Galvanizing Ward
      • Now regenerates 620 life per second (up from 310)
  • Bug Fixes
    • Fixed a bug causing Teleport – Safe Passage to only reduce damage from physical attacks

CRAFTING

• General
  • Players can now craft multiple items and gems at a time within the same tier, so long as they possess the necessary materials
  • Players can now craft items using materials located in the shared stash
• Blacksmith
  • Salvaged item information will no longer be displayed in the chat log
• Bug Fixes
  • Fixed a bug preventing players from salvaging an item by dragging it onto the Blacksmith's anvil icon

FOLLWERS

• Templar
  • Skills
    • Loyalty
      • Now regenerates 310 life per second (up from 155)

MONSTERS

• General
  • Players should now encounter more monsters in Acts I, II, and IV in Inferno difficulty when playing at Monster Power 1 or greater
  • In multiplayer games, the increase in monster hit points per additional player has been reduced to 50% (down from 70%)
  • Tormented Stingers and Stygian Crawlers have had their experience reduced by 75%
  • Damage dealt by Tormented Stingers has been reduced by 75%
  • Experience granted by Doom Wraiths, Shade Stalkers, and Shadow Vermin has been reduced by 50%
  • The chance for Doom Wraiths, Shade Stalkers, and Shadow Vermin to drop loot has been reduced by 50%
  • The damage dealt by the fire pool left by Blazing Guardian attacks has been reduced by 50%, but it's minimum damage has been increased
  • Keywardens
    • Nekarat the Keywarden now has a chance to drop a random Key (of Destruction, Hate, or Terror) in addition to the Infernal Machine plans
    • All Keywardens will now only appear in Inferno difficulty
  • Bug Fixes
    • Monsters with the Avenger affix now correctly gain +25% damage each time a monster in their pack dies
    • Monsters with the Vampiric affix now correctly heal for 200% of their damage done in all difficulties

QUESTS

• General
  • Experience earned by completing a quest is now granted to players that have reached the level cap

USER INTERFACE

• General
  • A maximum of eight buffs and debuffs will now be displayed on the UI
    • The maximum number of debuffs that will be displayed is three
• Bug Fixes
  • Fixed a bug preventing damage numbers from being displayed if a monster was affected by a spell such as Hex

BUG FIXES

• The sound that plays whenever a Barbarian's Overpower ability comes off cooldown is no longer similar to a Legendary item dropping
• Male barbarians no longer run faster than the other heroes while feared.