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[[File:Ancient-furnace2.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Normal vs. Ancient weapon.]][[Ancient Items]] were added into the game in [[Patch 2.1.2]] after extensive testing on the [[PTR]]. Ancient is a sort of item modifier, an enhanced version of an existing legendary or set item with higher values to most of the affixes found on the item. Ancient versions of all legendary and set items can be found, and these will almost always be a big upgrade over non-ancient versions of the same item.
==Frequency of OccurenceOccurrence==
A small % of level 70 legendary items found from monster/chest drops on Torment 1 or higher will spawn as Ancient.
* Ancient items can come from all sources; monster or chest drops, [[gambling]], [[Horadric Cache]]s, [[Kanai's Cube]], or blacksmith [[crafting]].
* '''Ancient Jewelry''' is the least improved by Ancient, since most of the best modifiers on jewelry, including crit hit, crit chance, +elemental damage, attack speed, and socket, are unaffected by Ancient. Only Mainstat, among the top affixes, was boosted by Ancient.
==Ancient Items Controversy==
While many players like Ancient items and the added layer of item hunting and gearing up that they create, some players are vocal critics. The usual complaint is that Ancient is a bandaid type fix to an item system that needs more depth and diversity, and just makes player look for the same gear twice.
There is also regular criticism[http://www.diabloii.net/blog/comments/vote-debate-ancient-weapons-working-or-not] of Ancient Weapons, since the damage buff is so large that players who wish to compete at a higher level feel that an Ancient weapon is mandatory. This isn't so bad for builds that can use a variety of weapons, but for builds that require a specific weapon, especially if that weapon is a very rare drop, the need to find that item and as an Ancient can prove impossible.
Blizzard addressed this complaint by adding various item rerolling and upgrading recipes via Kanai's Cube in Patch 2.3, especially the [[Law of Kulle]] recipe, which allows players to reforge a legendary items, thus greatly increasing the odds of scoring that item in Ancient form.