Blizzard details Diablo 3 hotfixes, incoming nerf to Monks

Blizzard has updated the list of Diablo 3 hotfixes to address various gameplay and service issues affecting the game.

Unlike a new patch, hotfixes are updates made on Blizzard's end without requiring players to download a new patch.  As a result, some of the hotfixes will go live the moment they are implemented, while others may require the realm to be restarted before going into effect.  Check out the list of changes coming to Diablo 3 below, but beware of spoilers if you ahve not yet completed the game on Normal.

General

• Players will now receive an error message when attempting to remove a gem from an item with no sockets
• Players will now properly have their casting interrupted when attacked while performing resurrect on a fallen group member
• Resolved over 30 game and service crashes affecting players

Classes

Demon Hunter

• Active Skills
  • Smoke Screen
    • Duration reduced from 2 seconds to 1 second (tooltip will still show 2 seconds)
    • Skill Rune – Lingering Fog
    • Now increases the duration of Smoke Screen to 1.5 (tooltip will still show 3 seconds)

Monk

• Active Skills
  • Fists of Thunder
    • Skill Rune – Quickening
    • Fixed an issue that was causing spirit regeneration to incorrectly trigger off critical hits from other sources, such as Sweeping Wind
  • Mantra of Healing
    • Mantra of Healing will now correctly provide only two times the base healing effect for the first 3 seconds after activation, down from four times the base healing effect (tooltip will still show the old value)
    • Skill Rune – Boon of Protection
    • A maximum absorption amount has been set to 1000 Life. This skill will be redesigned in an upcoming patch

Wizard

• Active Skills
  • Arcane Torrent
    • Skill Rune – Cascade
    • Fixed an issue that was causing Arcane Torrent to fire 3 new missiles per kill instead of only 1 new missile per kill
    • Number of new missiles generated from this rune will now cap at 10 missiles
  • Energy Armor
    • Skill Rune – Force Armor
    • Amount of damage absorbed from a single attack will now cap at 100% of a player's maximum Life

Items

• The rare chest in the Town Cellar in Alcarnus will now only spawn 50% of the time, down from 100%
• Players can no longer dual-wield two-handed weapons

Speaking on the Diablo 3 blog, community manager Micah Whipple (aka Bashiok) went into a little more depth about the incoming changes to the Monk class. Whipple explained why Blizzard is in the process of removing the on-use benefits of the Mantra of Healing rune, Boon of Protection.

"We recommend discontinuing its use until the rune is replaced with a new rune and mechanic in a future patch," Whipple suggested.

"The Boon of Protection rune was approximately ten times over its budget on the benefits it provided, and it was quite simply a mistake on our part to let the rune ship as it was," he further explained. "We don't intend to take these quick and drastic measures often, but considering the severity of the issue, we felt it important to correct it swiftly."

Currently, I play a level 53 Demon Hunter so the changes to Monk don't really effect me, but for you Monks out there, is the nerf warranted?