Does Patch 3.4 Change D2R Speedruns? Items Worth Testing
Nothing has been tested on Patch 3.4, so this is theory. Reading the Taxi Strat's gear notes against the Patch 3.3 and 3.4 item changes, here are the items that might shave seconds, the ones that probably will not, and how to test them.
Probably not the route, and maybe a few seconds in specific slots. Blizzard's patch notes list no class skill changes, so the Taxi Strat's structure should hold. Nothing here has been tested on Patch 3.4. It is theory about which item changes could matter, and it is labelled that way.
Scope first. The Patch 3.4 item changes apply to Reign of the Warlock on Online Ladder and Offline only, and Online Non-Ladder, Classic and Lord of Destruction keep the old stats. The Patch 3.3 changes have been live on Online Ladder since Season 15 and reach Online Non-Ladder in Season 16. Both come from Blizzard's Season 16 announcement and Season 15 announcement.
The route and gear notes come from Taxi Strat 3.0, created by jymnasium (twitch.tv/jymnasium) with the help of the 8Man Speedrunners, and the 8-Man Ubers sheet, created by jymnasium (twitch.tv/jymnasium) with the help of the speedrunners. Taxi Strat 3.0's fastest known time for this comp is SC 1:20:14, HC 1:32:26. That figure comes from the planbook and may have been beaten. The sheets don't say which patch it was set on.
What the Plans Spend Gear On
Read the gear notes in Taxi Strat 3.0 and the pattern is clear: the plan runs on skills, and gear is mostly runeword bases and cast rate. In Game 1 the Tele Sorc shops 2-socket armors and helms for Tal Eth, which makes the Stealth runeword. Game 4 shops a 3-row belt and 0- or 3-socket Large or Kite Shields. The Cows hunt for white or gray Crystal Swords, Broad Swords and auto-mod Paladin shields, even ethereal or low quality. In Nightmare Act 1 the Barb shops 20 FCR wands, and in Nightmare Act 5 a Lower Resist wand. The Sorcs are told to make Ancient's Pledges.
Strength is tight as well. The plan's respec stats top out at 50 Strength (Druid and Barb), the Pallies take 40, and the Sorcs sit at 35 (the Tele Sorc's note lists 35, 43 or 48). Any item has to fit inside that.
Patch 3.4 and 3.3 Items That Could Matter
Ranked by how well they fit a slot the plan already has.
Manald Heal (3.3, +10% FCR). The best fit on paper. It is a ring, so its 10% stacks on top of the 20% FCR wand instead of replacing it. Whether 10% crosses a breakpoint depends on the class table and the rest of your gear, so check the tables before swapping anything.
Gravenspine (3.3, +10% FCR). A Bone Wand, so it wants the same weapon slot as the plan's 20% FCR wand. On cast rate alone it loses to the wand.
Bane Ash (3.3, +20% FCR). It matches the wand's 20% in one item, and what it lost (+20% IAS and +50-60% ED) is weapon-melee stuff a caster doesn't use. The catch is that it is a Short Staff, and a staff takes both hands. The Sorcs build Pledge shields in Game 6, so Bane Ash is at best an early stopgap.
Salamander (3.4, +10% FCR, +3 Fire Skills, +4 Fire Ball). The plan's fire-leaning slot is the Limo Sorc, who respecs at 30 into Firewall and Fire Mastery. The Ubers sheet also has the Tele, Limo and Cold Sorcs respec to Fire (Meteor or Firewall). Fire Ball isn't in any Taxi Strat 3.0 build. It is a Battle Staff, so it has the same shield problem as Bane Ash.
Blinkbat's Form (3.3, +30% FRW, up from +10%). Everyone who isn't a Sorc does their traveling on foot, and the Sorcs do too until Teleport at 18. The base is Leather Armor with a 15 Strength requirement, so every slot can wear it. The body slot is the catch: the plan's Stealth already gives 25% FRW, 25% FCR and 25% FHR. The sheet counts six useful Stealths for the three Sorcs and three Pallies. If that leaves the Druid and Barb in other armor, they are the two test candidates.
Silks of the Victor (3.4, +20% FRW, +30% IAS, +50-100% ED, +15% MF). Skip it for this comp. It is an Ancient Armor, which needs 100 Strength against the plan's best of 50, and its required level is 28, which the route reaches only at the top of Nightmare Act 1 (levels 27-28).
Serpent Lord (3.4) and Griswold's Edge (3.4). Serpent Lord gained +15% IAS, +40-80% ED and +5 minimum damage, and Griswold's Edge gained +100-160% ED, a 25% slow and a 4% chance of level 1 Amplify Damage on striking. Neither has a natural slot. The Pallies move from Sacrifice and Smite to Holy Bolt at level 6, and the Barb's early points go into Mace Mastery, which a Long Staff and a Broad Sword don't use. We would leave both out of a first test.
Terror Zones and What the Notes Don't Touch
None of the nine plans uses Terror Zones. They stop at Baal in Hell, or at Uber Tristram for the Ubers sheet. The Patch 3.3 Terror Zone and Colossal Ancient changes are about drops: better odds of Rare-or-higher items from Herald Tier 3 and up, fewer Worldstone Shards with an extra item alongside each, and fewer Ancient Statues. Patch 3.4 makes the online Terror Zone toggle remember your last choice. Nothing in that speeds up a run to level 60, though it may matter to the rest of your Season 16.
How to Test It Properly
Run the same plan twice with one swap and compare the phase splits the sheet already provides, Game 1 through Game 6 and then each Nightmare and Hell act. Re-baseline first, because the sheets don't say which patch the old times were set on. Test on Online Ladder or Offline, where the 3.4 stats live. Change one slot at a time, and start with Manald Heal on a caster. For the leveling-item side of the patch, see the leveling unique buffs post.
FAQ
Will D2R Patch 3.4 make speedruns faster?
Nobody can say yet, because nothing has been tested on Patch 3.4. The notes list no class skill changes, so any gain should come from item slots. Our guess is that the likeliest candidates are small cast rate and run speed upgrades.
Do the Patch 3.4 item changes apply to Non-Ladder?
No. They apply to Reign of the Warlock on Online Ladder and Offline only. Online Non-Ladder, Classic and Lord of Destruction keep the old stats, though the Patch 3.3 changes reach Online Non-Ladder in Season 16.
Are speedrun times from before the patch still comparable?
The planbook doesn't say which patch its times were set on, so you can't assume it. Time your own baseline first and compare against that, not against the sheet. See how the Taxi Strat works and the race tips for context.
Help Test It
If your team wants to run these swaps, start from the Taxi Strat comp and the plan in the strategy library. Short a few players? Create an account and check the free-agent pool, or find a group through the LFG board. The Discord is the place to compare splits.