Kanai's Cube is an ancient device found in the Tomb of King Kanai in Diablo III. It was added in patch 2.3.0.
In terms of gameplay, it is the spiritual successor to the Horadric Cube of Diablo II.[1]
Lore
At the beginning of the Hunt for the Three, the Horadrim realized they would need an artifact of immense power.[2] Such an artifact came in the form of a device simply called "the Cube." Designed by Zoltun Kulle[3] the Horadrim forged the Cube over a period of weeks, as smiths hammered and mages chanted, feeling their sanity slipping all the while.[4] The Cube was completed, but was marred by the dark methods used to complete it, and disastrous results.[3]
For an extended period of time,[2] the Horadrim used the Cube as they hunted the Prime Evils.[3] In time, the Cube became the center of Horadric works. Every initiative or action required it, and those who survived its creation became increasingly haunted by its presence.[4] Aware of the dangers of corruption,[2] and of the Cube's marred design, the Order determined that it was too dangerous for anyone to continue using it.[3] That it had to be hidden from anyone, including them.[4] Of all the Horadrim, only Kulle objected to the abandonment of the device.[2] As such, they created the weaker Horadric Cube in its stead, and entrusted the first Cube to a secret organization of Barbarians on Mount Arreat, who kept it safe from everyone, including the rest of their tribe. Throughout the years, these Barbarians served as guardians over the Cube, keeping it safe from prying eyes and those who would use its powers for evil.[3]
In 1265, the cube was guarded by the elder Kanai,[3] and was his most prized possession.[5] It was buried beneath Sescheron. As the Army of Destruction overran the city, Kanai was killed. However, his spirit could not rest, due to the destruction of Mount Arreat and the Worldstone. Doomed to stand eternal vigil over his home and greatest treasure, he awaited a powerful and honorable individual to whom he might pass on his task.[3] Such an individual came in the form of the Nephalem, as the hero(es) and the spirit of Zoltun Kulle were able to retrieve the artifact and unlock its power.[6]
In-game
Players may obtain the Cube if they survive through what remains of Sescheron and open the ancient king's lost tomb. It is found in the Elder Sanctum, within The Ruins of Sescheron in Act III on Adventure Mode only.
The Cube itself functions much like an artisan once acquired, and will be available for use by all heroes on the account (effectively being a fourth artisan). It has several potent abilities, including, but not limited to:
- Breaking down Legendary items for players to equip their special effects as passive traits.
- Conversion of crafting materials from one type to another.
- Conversion of gems.
- Opening portals to Treasure Realm and Not The Cow Level.
- Rerolling all affixes on a Legendary item (Reforging).
- Conversion of Set items into other items of the same set.
- Upgrading Rare items into Legendary items.
- Removal of Character Level Requirements.
An important quality of life addition (compared to the Horadric Cube interface) is that the Cube uses smart materials allocation: one may put more materials than needed into the Cube, the excess will simply be returned to inventory. There is no need to split materials into smaller packs with exact numbers.
As of patch 2.5.0, Kanai's Cube also has a Fill button, which automatically fills it with the required materials for the active recipe.
Legendary Abilities: Archive of Tal Rasha
- Fragment of the Dark Exile Scrolls(src)
Kanai's Cube can extract and store powers from nearly all Legendary and Set items with special (orange) secondary affixes. Characters can equip three such powers like passive abilities at a time.
See the separate article for full details.
Required Materials:
- Khanduran Rune
- Caldeum Nightshade
- Arreat War Tapestry
- Corrupted Angel Flesh
- Westmarch Holy Water
- Death's Breath x5
Crafting Materials: Anger, Wrath, Regret and Pleasure of Iben Fahd
- Fragment of the Dark Exile Scrolls(src)
- Fragment of the Dark Exile Scrolls(src)
- Fragment of the Dark Exile Scrolls(src)
Split into 3 recipes in-game for clarity and easier use. Allows converting 100 pieces of any non-Legendary salvaged crafting material into 100 pieces of another type of crafting material.
The resulting material matches the rarity of the item used to perform the transmutation. Can only convert salvageable materials, so Death's Breath may not be received in result.
Required Materials:
- Death's Breath
- Any equippable Normal, Magic or Rare level 70 item
Gems: Darkness of Radament
- Fragment of the Dark Exile Scrolls(src)
Allows converting exactly 9 gems (obviously, not Legendary Gems) of the same color and same quality into 9 gems of that quality and another color (of player's choice).
Required Materials:
- One Essence of the desired gem type (sold by Squirt the Peddler for 500,000 gold each)
Reforge Legendary: Law of Kulle
- Fragment of the Dark Exile Scrolls(src)
Allows to completely re-roll all affixes on an item of Legendary or Set quality, as if it was dropped anew as a fresh item. All Enchanting, dye and Transmogrification modifications, as well as sockets from Ramaladni's Gift, are removed.
Reforged items may re-roll as either Ancient or non-Ancient items, regardless of previous standing. The actual exact chance to roll and Ancient or Primal Ancient item is unknown: different calculations show results between 1% and 10%.
Re-rolling keeps the same item level, not updating the item to the current level of rerolling character. However, when re-rolling items, Smart Loot always kicks in, adjusting affixes to the class of rerolling character.
Required Materials:
- Forgotten Soul x50
- Khanduran Rune x5
- Caldeum Nightshade x5
- Arreat War Tapestry x5
- Corrupted Angel Flesh x5
- Westmarch Holy Water x5
Set Items Conversion: Skill of Nilfur
- Fragment of the Dark Exile Scrolls(src)
When used, replaces a Set piece with another item of the same set, as a fresh roll, nullifying all modifications. The new Set item will not roll as an Ancient Item, even if the old one was Ancient.
Only set items belonging to sets of at least 3 items may be converted.
Required Materials:
- Forgotten Soul x10
- Death's Breath x10
Upgrading Rare Items: Hope of Cain
Turns a level 70 Rare item into a random Legendary or Set item of the same item type. Nullifies all modifications. Probability of rolling a specific item in result varies with that item's normal drop rate (consequently, it cannot award items from Horadric Caches).
- Resulting item may or may not be Ancient Item (10% chance of rolling Ancient).
- Can roll both Legendary items and Set pieces.
- Smart Loot always triggers.
- Always rolls the exact same item type, class-specific versions count as different item types. That is, a Wizard will only roll Helms from Helms and Wizard Hats from Wizard Hats.
- Rare item in question may come from any source, be it crafting, vendor or loot.
Overall, it may be an efficient way of farming specific Legendary items or missing set pieces, even more effective than gambling from Kadala.
Required Materials:
- Death's Breath x25
- Reusable Parts x50
- Arcane Dust x50
- Veiled Crystal x50
Character Level: Work of Cathan
If rolled, sets Character Level requirement of that item to 1, without any other effect. Cannot be used on Legendary Gems, but can be used on items of any quality (including Set items). Does not occupy any affixes or sockets.
This recipe is of little use to regular characters, due to the fact that death is not a permanent setback in that mode. On the other side of the coin, however, it can prove extremely helpful for any Hardcore character, whether in a Season or not, so long as the player has a good set of equipment in their stash to fall back on in the event of a character's untimely death.
Required Materials:
- Gem of Ease (rank 25 or higher)
Augmenting Ancient Items: Caldesann's Despair
This recipe can only be applied to an Ancient Item, Legendary or Set (including Primal). It does not work on regular Legendary or Set items.
When transmuted, it will upgrade the item by adding +5 to core attribute of player's choice (see below) for each rank of the Legendary Gem consumed in process. If used again on the same item, it will overwrite the old enhancement and replace it with the same bonus of the new rank, be it higher or lower.
The enhancement does not take any affixes, and is applied as a separate modifier, displayed below the other affixes. The core stat gained is determined by the color of normal gems used for the recipe (i.e. Emerald for Dexterity, Ruby for Strength, Topaz for Intelligence, and Amethyst for Vitality).
Required Materials:
- Any Legendary Gem of rank high enough
- Flawless Royal gems (x3)
Infuse Legendary Power: Natala's Prayer
This page contains future content This article contains information that has not yet been released. The subject matter may not be accurate and/or may change before release. |
Natala's Prayer is a future planned recipe for Kanai's Cube, expected to come after patch 2.5.0.
Portals
Opens a portal to the secret levels:
- Not The Cow Level: requires Bovine Bardiche
- Treasure Realm: requires Puzzle Ring
Green Hills of Stranglethorn
Converts a page of Black Rock Ledger into a page of same number from the World of Warcraft lore book, Green Hills of Stranglethorn. There is a total of 6 different pages.
Gallery
Trivia
- Each of the Cube's transmutation recipes are named after Horadrim members: Tal Rasha, Radament, Zoltun Kulle, Jered Cain, Nilfur, Iben Fahd, Caldesann and Cathan.
- Originally, the Radament's recipe was named after Nor Tiraj, a Horadrim acolyte who documented Baal's imprisonment.
- The cube was named after Kevin Kanai Griffith, a Blizzard employee who succumbed to cancer.[3]
- Exactly how long the Horadrim used the Cube differs. According to a post on battle.net, the Order quickly determined that it was too dangerous to continue using soon after its creation.[3] According to Brian Kindregan however, the Horadrim used the Cube for a long time before abandoning it.[2] The second timeframe is supported by the Dark Exile Scrolls (which appear as flavor text for the Cube's functions), stating that it was used over a period of time long enough to become integral to the Horadrim's actions.
- Pre-release items, namely the Nephalem Cube and Cauldron of Jordan, bear resemblance to Kanai's Cube.
References
- ↑ 2015-08-21, HOW BLIZZARD IS BUILDING ON DIABLO'S LEGACY TO SECURE ITS FUTURE. IGN, accessed on 2015-09-03
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2015-07-28, Patch 2.3.0 Preview: Kanai's Cube. YouTube, accessed on 2015-08-31
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 2015-07-28, PATCH 2.3.0 PREVIEW: KANAI'S CUBE. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2015-08-02
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Diablo III, Dark Exile Scrolls
- ↑ 2015-06-23, PATCH 2.3.0 PTR PREVIEW. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2015-06-29
- ↑ Diablo III, Adventure Mode