Blizzard Entertainment has a treat for Diablo fans.
There's an unexpected surprise highlighting the upcoming v2.30 update to Diablo III: new stuff to play with, completely free. And in a nifty twist, the add-on -- which adds a completely new location to the game -- ties directly back to the Diablo II expansion, Lord of Destruction.
The new Ruins of Sescheron location is the site of a lost civilization of barbarians, destroyed by Baal's armies during the events of Lord of Destruction. It's not technically an add-on to the story, meaning the location is only accessible from Diablo III's "Adventure Mode" -- a freeform activity that only unlocks once the story has been completed.
The Ruins of Sescheron introduce new types of enemies and traps for players to contend with, as well as a new line of quests. A powerful item called Kanai's Cube awaits at the end of it, but what the cube does remains to be seen.
Diablo III players that are hooked into Blizzard's Patch Test Realm (PTR) -- basically, a beta test version of the live game that's used to test forthcoming updates -- can access the Ruins immediately. Just jump into Adventure Mode, head to Act III and pay a visit to your old friend, Zoltun Kulle.
There's no talk of when the v2.3 patch will go live for the game, but the wait shouldn't be too long if it's already in PTR.