Your Complete Guide for Diablo 2 Info
In Diablo I, Diablo escaped the chains he was being held with by bending the will of King Leoric and his son, Prince Albrecht. Using this influence, he created a Den of the most unholy creatures he could summon to do his bidding. By attracting only the strongest adventurers, he created a group of minions that finally led to the discovery of the strongest adventurer. This adventurer believed the only way to control Diablo was to take the shard of crystal containing Diablo's spirit and thrust it into his own head. This, however, was Diablo's plan and, after taking over the adventurer's body, set off across the countryside to unite with his two brothers, Mephisto and Baal.
Diablo II has taken RPG gameplay to a whole new level. Enhanced graphics, an entirely new Unique weapon set, and complete overhauling of statistics have placed this game at the top of most RPG fanatics' wishlists.
The first new addition to the sequel is the character set. In addition to the original character types from Diablo I, we have two more to choose from (four more in the expansion pack, Lord Of Destruction). The five main character classes are as follows: Necromancer, Sorceress, Paladin, Amazon, and Barbarian. The two extra LOD characters are Assassin and Druid. These are explained more on the Classes page.
Possibly the biggest thing that makes your character unique is his/her name. Names can be from 2 to 15 characters, containing upper and lower case letters, no numbers or spaces. They can, however, contain one underscore, "_" or one dash, "-" as long as it is not at the end of the name.
Each character has four visible attributes that you get points in which to allot at each level. They are Strength, Dexterity, Vitality, and Energy. Strength decides attack rating, dexterity decides dodge % and hit %, vitality decides stamina and hit points, and energy decides mana points.
Each time your character gains a level, you get five attribute points to allocate among these four attributes. You also get one skill point to spend in an area specific to your character class.
The only currency used in Diablo II is gold. Gold's value never changes throught the four (five in LOD) Acts. Items are purchased, repaired, and sold for gold. You can store gold on your character (10,000 gold per level) or in your Stash, which will be explained later. Unlike Diablo I, gold does NOT take up space in your storage area. When your character is killed, he/she will lose a percentage of his/her gold based on character level and gold carried. Gold in your Stash will not be lost.
One thing that is important to note in Diablo II is death. When your character is killed, he/she is transported to the last visited town, dropping all his/her equipped items, but keeping everything carried. If you choose to "Save and Quit", you will recover those lost items when you open your game again. However, you may wish to continue by finding your corpse and clicking it to recover your lost items. When your character dies, he/she will lose a percentage of his/her total gold equivalent to character level, but not exceeding 20%. 500 gold per level is exempt from this "death tax," and no gold will ever come out of your Stash.
Experience points are treated uniquely in Diablo II. If the monster or enemy you kill is within five levels of your character, you will receive 100% of the experience points of that enemy. However, if the monster or enemy is 6-10 levels different than your character, you will receive between 5-90% or the experience points, decreasing as the level difference increases. Killing a monster or enemy over 10 levels different will gain 5% of its experience points.
In each Act, you have the ability to Gamble. This allows you to pay a higher price for an item that will have at least one magical property, and have a chance for a Set or Unique item. This is only recommended for higher level players, as Gambling can become very expensive and eat up all your gold reserves.
There are 3 difficulty levels in Diablo II. They are Normal, Nightmare, and Hell. You must defeat Baal in each difficulty level before advancing to the next level. Monsters receive damage and magical bonuses in Nightmare and Hell difficulty, and you lose a portion of your experience points when you die.
Vendors exist in every town to provide you with supplies needed for your quest. They can buy, sell, and repair items for you. If you accidentally sell a needed item to a vendor, you might still be able to buy it back within a certain amount of time.
Hirelings are available in every Act, and follow you around, fighting monsters automatically. Hirelings can die, and will also die when you die. They follow you through waypoints and portals, but may become lost if traveling through a maze with you. The best way to collect all hirelings is to open a town portal, as they will be next to you on the other side.
Possibly the best storage aspect of the game is the Stash. Your Stash will carry throughout Acts and will never be touched by anyone except you (even in Multiplayer.) Your Stash has many slots for weaponry, rings, helmets, gems, etc. If you find a good item that you would like to use but have not met the requirements for, it is a good idea to temporarily store it in your Stash.
The second-best storage feature is the Belt. The four hotkeys (1-4) used for belt slots are essential for anyone caught in a all-out free-for-all with no time to click on their belt. Keep a hand on these keys to survive many Boss fights and other stressful dungeon areas. Belts have anywhere for four to sixteen slots. Keep mana potions, health potions, antidotes, stamina potions, scrolls, and thawing potions in your belt for quick access.
Yet another difference in Diablo II, there are only two types of scrolls. These are Identify and Town Portal. Many magical items are unidentified in Diablo II, and Scrolls of Identify are the best way to decipher magical traits. Scrolls of Town Portal create portals which quickly whisk you back to the town you last visited. Tomes are excellent ways to store these scrolls, which only take up two slots and can store up to twenty scrolls.
Waypoints are the final subject that is of much help to beginner players. In many areas there are waypoints, sometimes cleverly disguised by those wily Horadrim. After reaching a waypoint, you can warp to that area from town or from any other waypoint. These are quite helpful in trekking long distances back and forth from town.