Do You Have to Unlock Primals on Each Character in Diablo 3?

Yes, primal ancients in Diablo 3 are unlocked separately for each character based on specific game modes. This means that completing the requirement to unlock them on one character won’t automatically enable primal drops for all your characters. Understanding how this system works is crucial for optimizing your gear progression in Sanctuary. Let’s delve into the specifics.

How Primal Unlocks Work

The core mechanism revolves around completing a Greater Rift 70 solo. This milestone is not account-wide; it must be achieved individually on a character-by-character basis. Moreover, the unlock is further segmented by game mode:

• Normal vs. Hardcore: Completing GR70 solo on a Normal character will unlock primals for other Normal characters, but not for your Hardcore characters, and vice versa.

• Seasonal vs. Non-Seasonal: Likewise, unlocking primals on a Seasonal character does not extend to your Non-Seasonal characters and vice versa. This ensures a fresh and engaging experience for each Season and character progression on the eternal realm.

Therefore, if you have multiple characters, you’ll need to reach the GR70 solo milestone with each one to access the coveted primal drops in their respective modes. If you enjoy playing both seasonal and non-seasonal or both hardcore and normal, you will need to complete the rift multiple times on different characters. This system is designed to provide a consistent end-game progression challenge across all your characters.

Why This System Matters

This method may initially seem like an unnecessary hurdle, but it has several strategic implications for Diablo 3:

• Encourages Character Diversity: The system incentivizes players to invest time into different classes and builds, rather than relying on a single, optimized character.
• Balances Progression: By keeping primal unlocks character-specific, the game ensures that each character’s progression feels earned, preventing higher-level characters from automatically boosting lower-level ones.
• Fresh Start Each Season: Separating unlocks between seasonal and non-seasonal modes allows players to experience a clean and engaging start each season, and to feel the progression from fresh start with no boosts from previous seasons.
• Maintains Engagement: The challenge of achieving GR70 solo on different characters and in different modes keeps the game fresh and keeps player engagement high.

The Primal Drop System

Once a character unlocks primals by completing GR70 solo, the following mechanism for drops is applied:

• Guaranteed Primal: The very first time you complete GR70 solo on a character, one of the items dropped by the Rift Guardian is guaranteed to be a primal ancient.
• Regular Drop Rate: After this initial guaranteed drop, every Level 70 Legendary or Set item you obtain from any source has a 0.25% chance to be a primal ancient. This includes items obtained through monster drops, chests, Kadala, crafting, and Kanai’s Cube recipes (with some specific exceptions).

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here are 15 frequently asked questions related to primal ancients to further clarify how the system works:

Q1: What are Primal Ancients?

Primal Ancients are a special tier of items in Diablo 3, effectively enhanced versions of Legendary and Set items. They have the same base attributes, but their affixes roll the maximum possible values, making them highly desirable for min-maxing your builds.

Q2: Can you equip multiple Primal Ancients?

Yes, you can equip multiple primal ancients. There is no limit to how many regular primal ancients you can have equipped. However, you can only equip one crafted primal at a time – this refers to the primal that you get from the cube recipe, and no other.

Q3: Can Kadala give Primals?

Yes, Kadala can give primals, and the 0.25% drop chance applies. If you are using the Altar of Rites seasonal feature with the double primal perk active, you will get two primals, and the second one is free (does not cost shards).

Q4: How rare are Primal Ancients?

Primal ancients have a 0.25% chance to drop from any source of Legendary items (after completing GR70 solo). This is a very low chance, and patience and perseverance are key for finding the ones you need.

Q5: Can you get Primals from Kanai’s Cube?

Yes, you can, but there are nuances:
* Upgrading Rares: Upgrading rare items to legendaries in Kanai’s Cube has the 0.25% chance to produce primals.
* Reforging Legendaries: Reforging a legendary will also give a chance of generating a primal.
* Convert Set Item recipe – this recipe explicitly states that no ancient items can be generated from this recipe.
* Curiosity of Lorath Nahr recipe: This recipe allows you to upgrade a legendary or set item to a primal using 100 primordial ashes. This is the only method that can guarantee a primal (given that the recipe is used).

Q6: What is the difference between Legendary and Ancient Items?

Ancient items are a higher tier of Legendary items that have the same base stats but have higher affixes rolls – they roll 30%-33.3% higher affixes. Primals, on the other hand, roll max values for all stats, in addition to this higher affixes rolls.

Q7: Can you get primals from reforging?

Yes, reforging rolls all the item stats again as though newly picked up, so it will have the same 0.25% chance to be a primal.

Q8: What is the Greater Rift level needed for Primal drops?

The required Greater Rift level is 70 solo, which unlocks the possibility of having primal ancients dropping from all sources of legendary items for that specific character, mode and region.

Q9: Where can Primal Ancients drop?

Primal ancients can drop from any source of Legendary items, including Horadric Caches, Kadala, Kanai’s Cube, and monster drops. This is only true after you complete the GR70 solo on that specific character, mode and region.

Q10: Can you augment Primal Ancient gear?

Yes, you can augment primal ancient gear just like any other ancient item, which is one of the best ways to increase your characters power.

Q11: What are the odds of getting a primal?

The base chance of a legendary item being a primal is 0.25%. This means 1 in 400 legendaries. If it is an ancient, it will have an even lower chance. This number can fluctuate depending on statistical calculations that take into account the rarity of each individual item.

Q12: Can you reforge into a Primal Ancient?

Yes, you can. Reforging a legendary item in the cube has a 0.25% chance of being a primal.

Q13: Do Primals drop at any torment level?

Yes, primal ancients can drop on any torment level as long as you have unlocked the ability to find them via completing GR70 on the specific character.

Q14: Can crafted items be Primal?

For craftable items, you can only get primals from the crafting process itself. Reforging cannot be used for these items. So any item you are crafting, such as the Cain’s set, can potentially have a 0.25% chance of being a primal, directly from the crafting bench.

Q15: How many Primordial Ashes do you get from salvaging a Primal?

You will get 55 Primordial Ashes from salvaging a primal, whether it was crafted or dropped, and you need 100 of them to use the Curiosity of Lorath Nahr recipe in the cube.

Conclusion

In summary, primal unlocks are character-specific, requiring a GR70 solo completion on each mode (Normal, Hardcore, Seasonal, Non-Seasonal) for each character you wish to have access to primal drops. This is a key aspect of Diablo 3’s endgame progression, and understanding this mechanism is vital for any player aiming to optimize their gear. By understanding these nuances, players can better plan their approach to gathering Primal Ancient gear. Good luck, Nephalem!