DIABLO II BATTLE.NET BETA READ ME IMPORTANT NOTICE The Battle.net servers may be temporarily unavailable during the Beta during periods of malfunction or maintenance. If you can't connect to Battle.net or play continuously for more than a few minutes at a time, check http://www.blizzard.com/Diablo2/Beta/support.htm for updates. You can also visit the bug reporting site at http://www.blizzard.com/Diablo2/Beta/reports/ and enter a bug report detailing your problem. Should you continue to experience difficulties logging into the Diablo II Battle.net Beta, please wait 30 minutes and try to connect to Battle.net again. INSTALLING THE BETA Place the Diablo II Beta CD into your CD-ROM drive. If the installer does not AutoPlay and bring up the main install screen, open the "My Computer" icon on your Windows Desktop, select the drive letter for your CD-ROM drive and then double-click on the "Install" icon. Click on INSTALL DIABLO II to begin installing the game. You must read and agree to the Beta test license agreement before the installation will proceed. Next, you must enter your name and personal CD key that is located on the orange sheet that accompanied your Diablo II Battle.net Beta CD. Next select the drive and directory for installation. When selecting the location for installation, please remember that the Diablo II Battle.net Beta requires approximately 500 Mbytes free space on your hard-drive. After installation is complete, the Diablo II Video Test application will launch to automatically test your video hardware and drivers. Click "Run Test". As the test proceeds, please answer any questions that appear. When the Video Test Complete dialog box appears, simply click "OK" to select the recommended graphics mode. If you wish to select a different graphics mode (if any are available) select that option and then and click "OK". Finally, click on FINISHED to continue. NOTE: If you do not wish to run the Video Test program, click the "Cancel" button when the application first launches. Failure to run Video Test will default to running the game with your computer's 2D drivers. If you have 3D acceleration, you must run Video Test to properly configure the game. After installing new video hardware or drivers you must run the Diablo II Video Test again. Click on OPTIONS, then RUN VIDEO TEST. The Blizzard Support staff may ask you to run the Video Test application if you report a graphics problem to them. The installer creates the Diablo II entry in your Start ==> Programs menu. In it are: 1) A shortcut to run the Diablo II Beta 2) Links to Blizzard's Diablo II Beta webpages for Bug Reports and Support & News. 3) A shortcut to the Diablo II Beta license agreement 4) A shortcut to uninstall the Diablo II Beta 5) A shortcut to this ReadMe file. To uninstall the Beta, click on UNINSTALL DIABLO II BETA. To exit the installer, click on EXIT INSTALLER. NOTE: Windows 2000 users must install the Diablo II Beta as an Administrator. The final release of Diablo II will not require Administrator status. RUNNING THE GAME After installing the Diablo II Battle.net Beta, place the Diablo II Beta CD into your CD drive and close the drive. If the installer does not AutoPlay to bring up the main install screen, run the Diablo II shortcut found in the Start ==> Programs menu. Click on PLAY DIABLO II BETA to begin playing the game. The Blizzard and Blizzard North logo screens appear, followed by the cinematic intro, the Diablo II title screen, and finally the Main Menu screen. Should you wish to skip any of these, press the SPACE BAR. PLAYING THE GAME In the Main Menu screen, click the "BATTLE.NET" button. The Battle.net Log In screen appears. To use your existing Battle.net account, enter the account name and password, then click on the "Log in" button. To create a new account, click on the "Create New Account" button to create a new Battle.net account. Then, enter the account name, password, and verify password. Finally, click the "OK" button. SELECTING OR CREATING A CHARACTER Log in to Battle.net as above and advance to the Character Selection Screen. To create a new character, click on the shrouded figure labeled "New Character", then click "OK". Next the "Select Hero Class" screen appears. Move the cursor over each of the 5 player character classes and click on the one desired. Enter the "Character Name" and click "OK". Next, select a Realm for your new character. Double-click on the "Beta Realm" found in the list. To select an existing character, double-click on it or highlight it and click 'OK'. When you have 5 or more characters in your Battle.net account, arrow buttons appear. Press them to scroll through your character list. To delete a character, highlight it and click "Delete". Respond to the "Are you sure..." dialog box with "OK". When creating characters, it is important to note that the "Character Name" must be between 2 and 15 characters. Characters Names may only have upper and lower case letters (A-Z). In addition, names may have one dash ( - ) or one underscore ( _ ) as long it is not the first or last character of the name. Also, there are no spaces and no numbers allowed in Diablo II Character Names. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you've played a Battle.net character for less than 2 hours and haven't played it for 3 days, it is automatically deleted. If you've played a Battle.net character for more than 2 hours and haven't played it for 90 days, it is automatically deleted. You may create up to 8 characters per Battle.net account. THE CHAT CHANNEL In the Diablo II Realm Chat Channel, characters appear at the bottom of the screen. If more people are in the Chat Channel than fit across the screen, scroll the list of characters by clicking on one of the triangular scroll arrows. The Chat Window appears on the left side of the screen. Along its right edge is the Chat Window scroll bar. Below the Chat Window are your Text Box and six buttons for commonly used chat commands - Send, Whisper, Emote, Squelch, Unsquelch, and Help, Send - Chat with other players in the Chat Channel 1) Click inside your text box and type your message. 2) Press the Send button to post your message to everyone in the chat channel. Whisper - Chat privately with other players in the Chat Channel 1) Click inside your text box and type your message. 2) Left-click on the character to highlight it with an aura. 3) Press the Whisper button to send your message to only the highlighted character. Emote - Lets you perform an "action" in the chat channel. 1) Click inside your text box and type an action. [jumps up and down] 2) Press the Emote button. 3) The message will appear after your name. [Your character-name] jumps up and down. Squelch - Block messages from a character. 1) Left-click on the character to highlight it with an aura. 2) Press the Squelch button. Unsquelch - Allow messages from a character. 1) Left-click on the character to highlight it with an aura. 2) Press the Unsquelch button. Help - Display the Diablo II chat help text. NOTE: When your cursor is placed over a character in the Chat Channel, the Battle.net account name and character level will appear above the character portrait. CHATTING WITH PLAYERS WHO ARE NOT IN YOUR CHAT CHANNEL Use the Battle.net /msg command as follows: 1) Click inside your text box and type: /msg [accountname] [message] 2) Press 'Enter'. >> Example: /msg Necroman Join my DII game named CryptRun. Password is Hogwarts. This sends the message to the player with the Battle.net account 'accountname' anywhere on Battle.net. This includes chat channels or in games for Diablo, Warcraft or StarCraft. NOTE: You may use Squelch and Unsquelch on players outside the Diablo II chat channel as follows: Type: /squelch [accountname] OR /unsquelch [accountname] Visit http://www.Battle.net/chat/commands.shtml or press the Help button for a full list of current Battle.net commands. CREATING OR JOINING A GAME The Control Window appears on the right side of the screen along with the five command buttons - Create, Join, Channel, Ladder, and Quit. Press the appropriate button to bring up the corresponding dialog box in the Control Window. Create - Press this button to Create a game. Enter the Game Name (required). To create a private game, enter a Password. You may whisper the password and game name to others in the Chat channel, when you invite them to join your game. You may enter a Game Description. You may change the Maximum # of Players from the default number, 8. You may check the box next to the Character Difference setting and change it from the default number, 5. When Character Difference is checked, characters whose levels differ from yours by more than the setting cannot join your game. Finally, press the 'Create Game' button. NOTE: If you forget the Game Name or Password while in a game, simply press 'Tab' to bring up the Automap and look in the upper right corner. Join - Press this button to Join a game. Enter the Game Name and Password, if you know them. Otherwise, select a game from the list below the Game Name field. The number of players and the list of characters in the selected game appears. Use the vertical scroll arrows, if needed. When you've selected a game, press the Join Game button. NOTE: If you Exit a game and no one is left in it, the game continues for several minutes, allowing you to rejoin the game in the event that your computer was disconnected from the Internet. However, you must remember the name of your game and enter it into the Game Name field. It does not appear in the list of joinable games. Channel - Press this button to bring up the Channel screen. Enter the chat Channel Name or select a chat channel from the list below the Channel Name field. Press the OK button. Ladder - Press this button to bring up the Ladders screen. Select the Hardcore or Standard ladder. Characters are ranked in the ladders by their experience. Select the Overall or By Class options to display the ladder in that manner. Quit - Press this button to quit the Chat channel and return to the Character Selection screen. BASIC GAME CONTROLS Esc - Toggles the Esc menu on/off and exits other menus. Left Mouse Button - Performs "smart" actions depending on the situation: * Click on a spot on the ground to go that spot. * Click on a monster to attack it using the skill currently assigned to the Left Mouse Button. * Click and HOLD on a monster to attack it repeatedly until you release the button, or the monster is dead. * Pick up/drop items from/onto the ground, inventory, or belt. * Operate shrines, doors, and chests. * Interact with the NPCs - Talk, Trade, Gamble, Hire, and Imbue. Right Mouse Button - Use the skill currently assigned to the Right Mouse Button on a selected target, drink a selected potion or activate a scroll or tome. Arrow Keys - Scrolls the Automap. CONFIGURABLE GAME CONTROLS A (or C) - Toggles Character Attributes screen on/off. B (or I) - Toggles Backpack Inventory screen on/off. P - Toggles the Party screen on/off. M - Toggles the Message log on/off. Q - Toggles the Quest log on/off. Enter - Opens/closes In-Game Chat overlay. Tab - Toggles the Automap on/off. Home - Centers the Automap (if Numlock is OFF). T - Toggles Skill Tree screen on/off. S - Toggles mouse button Skill button overlay on/off. F1 through F8 -Readies (or sets) the associated Left or Right Mouse Button Skill. ~ -- Toggles a belt larger than 1x4 open/closed. 1, 2, 3, and 4 - Uses the item in that belt slot. Ctrl - Hold down to run. R - Toggles auto-run mode on /off. Shift - Hold down while clicking a mouse button to use that skill while standing in place. Alt - Highlights all items dropped on the ground. Spacebar - Cancels all the above screens and overlays to return to gameplay. Numeric Keypad - Voice communication (turn NumLock ON for the following) 0 - Player character says "Help!" 1 - Player character says "Follow me." 2 - Player character says "For you." 3 - Player character says "Thanks." 4 - Player character says "Sorry!" 5 - Player character says "Bye." 6 - Player character says "Die." Mouse wheel up - Scrolls up thru all hot-keyed (F1-F8) skills in the Right Mouse Button slot. Mouse wheel down - Scrolls down thru all hot-keyed (F1-F8) skills in the Right Mouse Button slot. N - Clear text messages. Print Screen - Save the screen to your D2 directory as "screenshotX.jpg". Z - Toggle all party member portraits on/off. IN-GAME CHAT COMMANDS Press 'Enter' to bring up the chat overlay at the bottom center of the screen. (You will see a flashing "_" cursor.) Type your message and hit 'Enter'. Everyone in your game (who allows it) sees your message in the top left corner of their screen. Bring up your message log by pressing 'M' in order to see the complete history of messages you've received in your game. Typing... ![message] Prints the message over your head, like a cartoon balloon, so that only the players near you in your game will see your message. The message lasts a few seconds. Typing... /msg [charactername] [message] Sends the message to the player named 'charactername' anywhere within the same DII Realm - in any chat channel or any game. The message is not broadcast throughout Battle.net, nor is it broadcast to other DII Realms. /msg [accountname] [message] Sends the message to the player with the Battle.net account 'accountname' anywhere on Battle.net - in any chat channel or any game - including Diablo, Warcraft, and StarCraft. NOTE: The 'up-arrow' key recalls the previous 8 messages you typed. Use it when you want to repeat the same message or edit a message slightly before sending it again. fps -- Chat Command Sending the message 'fps' brings up an overlay of white text at the top of your screen. From left to right: # of frames per second (FPS), # of frames skipped (Skip), # of milliseconds to the server (Ping), average FPS, and Video Mode (Ddraw/Direct3D/Glide). Send the message again to turn off the overlay. Using the Esc Menu Press the 'Esc' key to bring up the menu. Press 'Esc' again to return to the game. Click on a menu entry to cycle through the settings. Click on a slider to move the skull to that setting. If an option is dimmed, it cannot be adjusted in the current graphics/sound mode or another option setting has disabled it. The Esc Menu has the following structure: OPTIONS (brings up the submenu of options) SOUND OPTIONS (brings up the submenu of sound options) SOUND: volume slider for sound effects and speech. (right is louder) MUSIC: volume slider for music (right is louder) 3D BIAS: balance slider for 2D/3D audio effects (move farther right for more 3D volume) HARDWARE ACCELERATION: ON or OFF (OFF disables 3D BIAS and ENV. EFFECTS) ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS: ON or OFF NPC SPEECH: AUDIO AND TEXT, AUDIO ONLY, or TEXT ONLY VIDEO OPTIONS (brings up the submenu of video options) LIGHTING QUALITY: NORMAL or HIGH (when HIGH, lighting is smoother) BLENDED SHADOWS: ON or OFF (when OFF, shadows are pure black) PERSPECTIVE: ON or OFF (only in 3D accelerated modes, not 2D DirectDraw) GAMMA slider for brightness/contrast (only in 3D accelerated modes, not 2D DirectDraw) AUTOMAP OPTIONS (brings up the submenu of Automap options) FADE: YES or NO (when YES, the Automap is more transparent near you) CENTER WHEN CLEARED: YES or NO SHOW PARTY: YES or NO (when YES, shows all party members on Automap) SHOW PARTY NAMES: YES or NO (when NO, omits showing party member names) CONFIGURE CONTROLS (brings up keyboard/mouse control configuration screen) PREVIOUS MENU SAVE AND EXIT GAME (saves your character, exits the game, and returns to Battle.net) RETURN TO GAME NOTE: For the fastest graphics on your computer, set the VIDEO OPTIONS as follows: LIGHTING QUALITY: NORMAL BLENDED SHADOWS: OFF PERSPECTIVE: OFF. Using the Mini-Panel Press the mini-panel toggle button (located in the center of the control panel at the bottom of the screen) to raise and lower the mini-panel at the bottom center of the screen. Click on the mini-panel buttons (in order from left - Character, Inventory, Skill Tree, Party Screen, Automap, Message Log, Quest Log, Exit Menu, and Player Trade) to bring up the appropriate screen or overlay. Using Ctrl - Running Press and hold 'Ctrl' to run. Running outside the Rogue camp uses stamina. Be careful not to let stamina run out while being chased. If stamina reaches zero, the player character begins walking instead and cannot run. In that case you must release 'Ctrl' and stand for a few seconds to begin recovering stamina. After stamina has started increasing, one may begin walking. Then, stamina recovery continues until it reaches the character's maximum. NOTE: You may also run by tapping the 'R' key to toggle auto-run mode on. Tap it again to go back to walking mode. Using Alt - Highlighting Items on the Ground Press and hold 'Alt' to highlight any items (weapons, armor, potions, scrolls, gold, etc.) that you can pick up from the ground. The name of the item class appears above the item in the following color code: White = Normal Item Grey = Socketed Item Blue = Magic Item Green = Set Items Yellow = Rare item Gold = Unique item. Click on the name (or the item, itself) to pick it up. Using Shift - Standing and Attacking When you want to attack with the left or right mouse button skill without moving to the target of the attack, hold the 'Shift' key down. Information on Monsters When you move the cursor over a monster, you see the name of its class. Behind the name in red appears the monster's hit-point bar graph. It shows the percentage of hit-points remaining. The name of the monster is color-coded. White is a standard monster type, blue is a champion, and gold is a unique monster. Stackable Items Some items can have a quantity greater than one. Examples include: tomes of identify and town portal, keys, and all items that can be thrown or shot by a bow -- arrows, bolts, throwing knives, javelins, exploding potions, etc. Using a stackable item decrements its quantity by one. When the quantity of a projectile reaches zero, the item is gone. Empty tomes can be refilled with scrolls. You may consolidate stackable items of the same type (like quivers of arrows) by picking up one stack and dropping it onto another stack. The quantities in both stacks are added together to form one stack, unless the resultant stack's quantity would exceed the maximum. In that case there are still two stacks. One of them holds the maximum; the other holds the remainder. NOTE: You cannot split a stack into two stacks. Scrolls There are only two types of scrolls in the Diablo II Beta - Scrolls of Town Portal and Scrolls of Identify. Multiple scrolls may be held within tomes. Akara sells scrolls and tomes from her Miscellaneous inventory tab. Right-click on the Town Portal scroll (or tome) to open up a portal near the player. Left-click on the portal to return to the Rogue camp. The portal remains active until you re-enter it within the camp and return to the place from which you cast it. Right-click on the Identify scroll (or tome) to change the cursor into a tilted question mark. Move the point of the cursor over an unidentified item in your inventory. Left-click to identify it. Using the Belt Pressing one of the 4 belt hotkeys uses the item in the corresponding belt hot-slot - 1, 2, 3, or 4. Potions are drunk. Scrolls are cast. No other type of item can be placed in the belt. Wearing a sash or larger belt expands the basic 4-slot belt by adding 1 or more extra rows of 4 slots. You can access the extra rows by moving the cursor over the 4-slot belt in the control panel. When an item in a belt hot-slot is used, any items held in the storage slots above the (now empty) hot-slot drop down one slot to refill it. For maximum convenience you should arrange items of the same type vertically. Use the '~' key to toggle larger belts fully open and closed. Skills All 5 player character classes start with the same 2 basic skills - Attack and Throw. "Attack" attacks with the equipped weapon (or weapons, in the case of the Barbarian.) "Throw" throws a throwing weapon. Necromancers also start with the "Unsummon" skill to destroy minions previously summoned by the player. Each character class may develop 30 more unique skills. These 30 additional skills are divided into 3 skill tabs (approximately 10 per tab). The skills in each tab are arranged into a Skill Tree -- much like a Tech-Tree in a real-time strategy game. There are two general classes of skills - Passive and Active. Active skills require you to explicitly cast or use them. Passive skills are not cast, but have implicit or automatic effects. Masteries (a type of Passive skill) are in effect whenever the item or skill to which the Mastery applies is used. The Paladin's Auras (another type of Passive skill) are in effect whenever readied as the right mouse skill button. Aura skill button icons are golden. All Active skills except Attack, Throw, Unsummon and Sacrifice use Mana. Most Passive skills do not use Mana. The Mana cost and other information about a skill is shown, when you move the cursor over the skill icon. When a Skill icon is red, the Skill cannot be used - either because of a lack of Mana or because an item that the skill requires is not equipped. Amazon Skill Tabs: Javelin and Spear Skills, Passive and Magic Skills, Bow and Crossbow Skills. Sorceress Skill Tabs: Cold Spells, Lightning Spells, Fire Spells. Barbarian Skill Tabs: Warcries, Combat Masteries, Combat Skills. Paladin Skill Tabs: Defensive Auras, Offensive Auras, Combat Skills. Necromancer Skill Tabs: Summoning Spells, Poison and Bone Spells, Curses. NOTE: Equipping a throwing weapon readies the Throw Skill in the left mouse skill button. When you've thrown the last of your throwing weapon, the skill (along with the weapon) you had been using before is restored to the left mouse skill button, (unless the weapon was a bow or crossbow). Assigning and Using Skill Hotkeys You may assign 8 hotkeys to automatically ready skills for the left or right mouse buttons. Bring up the Skill buttons (left-click on the left-hand or right-hand skill icon), then move the cursor over each skill and press one of the 8 hotkeys - 'F1' thru 'F8' - to assign the hotkey to that skill. When finished, press 'S' or the Spacebar. NOTE: Some skills (generally non-attack) cannot be assigned to the left mouse button. Any skill can be assigned to the right mouse button. Interaction with NPCs Click on an NPC. If a text menu pops up, you can interact. Select 'Talk' to hear the NPC introduction, gossip, or quest information. Select 'Trade' to buy, sell, or repair items. (See below.) Gheed allows you to 'Gamble' by offering an inventory of unidentified magic items - premium-priced, however. Kashya lets you 'Hire' a mercenary after completing a certain quest for her. (See below.) Charsi can 'Imbue' an item with rare magical properties after you complete her quest. Trading with NPCs Click on one of the NPCs - Akara, Gheed, or Charsi. Select 'Trade' from the pop-up menu. Your Backpack (Inventory) appears on the right side of the screen, while the NPC's Inventory appears on the left. Across the top of the NPC inventory are 4 inventory tabs - Armor, Weapons, Magical, and Misc. If there are no items in that tab, the tab label appears in red. Buying: Click on the tabs that interest you. Your character cannot equip items with a red background color. Sweep your cursor over the items in the NPC's inventory and study the pop-up descriptive text. The cost in gold along with other attributes is listed. Attributes that your character does not meet appear in red text. When you find an item you want to buy, left-click on it. The "Buy" menu pops up. Click on "Yes" to buy, "No" to cancel. Selling: Sweep your cursor over the items in your inventory and study the pop-up descriptive text. The sell value in gold appears at the top. Left-click on an item you want to sell (which picks it up) and move the item over to the NPC's inventory. Left-click again to drop the item and exchange it for gold. Be certain that you want to sell an item when you drop it into the NPC's inventory. Otherwise, you can buy it back, but only at a premium! Repairing: (Only Charsi, the smith, offers this service in the Beta.) Click on the "Anvil" repair button near the bottom of the NPC inventory. Sweep the cursor over items in your inventory. Note the repair cost in the pop-up window for each item. Left click on the item to repair it (restore it to maximum durability.) Repeat for each item. Click on the "Anvil" button again when finished. Any item with 0 durability must be repaired before it can be used. NOTE: When an equipped item's durability is low, a color-coded player icon appears in the upper right corner of the screen. Items displayed in yellow have low durability. Items in red have 0 durability and cannot be used (have no effect) until repaired. Bring up your Inventory and sweep your cursor over your equipment to inspect its durability. NOTE: To buy or sell multiple items click on the corresponding Trading Mode buttons near the bottom of the NPC inventory. This sets the cursor into buy or sell mode. Left click on each item in turn for the mode you selected. To change modes click on one of the 3 Trading Mode buttons. Click on the "Close" button to exit. Hiring and Controlling Mercenaries Kashya hires out mercenary Rogues once you have completed a certain quest for her. Click on Kashya to bring up her menu. If "HIRE" appears on her menu, click on it. Select a mercenary to hire. Press "OK". A Rogue appears near you with her icon in the upper left corner. Above the icon is the Rogue's health bar. The Rogue follows you and automatically shoots arrows at any monsters or hostile players nearby. You cannot harm your mercenaries and they cannot harm you or your party members. Mercenaries cost gold to hire. Mercenaries are very loyal and fight to the death. They follow you through portals and waypoints. Trading with other Players To request a trade with another player, click on that player while in the Rogue camp. (You cannot trade outside the Rogue camp.) A dialog box pops up that says "Waiting for Other Player". A "Cancel" button appears in the box, too. The player who was clicked on sees a dialog box containing "Agree to Trade?" and "OK/Cancel". You may wait until the other player clicks on "OK" or "Cancel" or you may retract your invitation by clicking on "Cancel". If the other player accepts and clicks on "OK", then the Player Trading Screen comes up. On the right side of the screen is your Inventory. On the left is the Trading Block. The top half of the block contains what the other player is offering for trade. The bottom half is your offer. Move items from/to your Inventory to/from your half of the Trading Block, while your trading partner does the same. You may adjust the amount of gold in your offer by clicking on the "Gold" button in your half of the Trading Block. When you are satisfied with the deal, click on the "Check mark". The other player agrees in the same manner. When you see the other player's "Check mark" turn green, he/she has agreed to the trade. You may cancel a trade by clicking on the "Cancel" button at the bottom of the screen or by pressing the 'Esc' key. Forming Parties with other Players Press the 'P' key to bring up the Party screen. You see a list of all the players in the game and your current relationships to them. Names appearing white are Neutral, green are in your Party, and red are Hostile. Next to each available player's name is the Party button with one of the following labels: INVITE: Press this button to invite the player to join your party. CANCEL: After inviting the player (but before acceptance), you may withdraw the invitation by pressing this button again. ACCEPT: The player has invited you to join a party. Press this button to accept the invitation. If no button appears, then the player is not available - because that player is already a member of another party. You may not invite them until they leave their current party. Of course, they could invite you to join theirs. Once in a party you may leave it by pressing the LEAVE button at the top of the party screen. If you leave a party of more than two players, the other players remain in that party. Once you leave a party, you may form or join another. To the right of each player's Party button are 4 smaller buttons - each of which can be ON or OFF. The first one is the Neutral/Hostile button. When the button shows crossed swords, you are Hostile to the associated player. The second one is the Allow/Prevent Corpse Looting button. The third is the Include/Exclude from Chat button. When you Exclude a player, that player cannot hear or see any verbal communication coming from you. The last is the Squelch/Unsquelch button. When you Squelch a player, you cannot hear or see any verbal communication coming from that player. NOTE: When you press any button on the Party screen, the target player receives an appropriate message about your action. Party Relationships Each player has 2 possible relationships with all other players in the game -- Neutral (the default) and Hostile. Changes to your relationships are made in the Party screen. (Press 'P' to bring it up.) Here is how the settings work: Hostile: You can target players with this setting - just as if they were monsters. If Player X goes Hostile to Player Y, then Player Y automatically goes Hostile to Player X in return. If Player X goes Hostile to Player Y and then goes Neutral, Player Y remains Hostile to Player X until Player Y chooses to go Neutral to Player X. A player can go Hostile only while in town. The other player can be anywhere. Neutral: You cannot target players with this setting. If you try to target a particular Neutral player, the true target instead shifts to a nearby monster, Hostile player, or simply the ground. You cannot directly harm a Neutral player. Neutral players may form a Party together. Party members share equally in gold and experience points (with a small bonus to the player that delivers the killing blow). Some quest rewards are given to all members of a party, if at least one party member has earned the reward. Certain skills, like Paladin Auras and Barbarian Warcries, apply to party members, too. If a player attempts to go Hostile to a fellow Party member, that player is simply dropped from the Party and becomes a regular Neutral. NOTE: You receive a message whenever players change their relationship settings with you. Gold The Gold button appears on the Backpack (Inventory) screen. Press it to select an amount of gold to either drop or offer in trade with another player. The amount of gold you can carry is determined by your character's level - 10,000 gold per level. Your Stash Appearing near the bonfire in the center of the Rogue camp is a large chest that is your private Stash. Click on it to open it. You may exchange items between your Character Inventory and your Stash. You may also deposit up to 100,000 gold in your Stash. Merchants will deduct gold from your Stash for purchases that exceed the amount of gold you are carrying. Click on the exit button or press 'Esc' or Spacebar to exit. NOTE: Don't leave items lying on the ground any longer than necessary. Regular items disappear in about 15 minutes. Magic, Rare, Set, and Unique items disappear after lying on the ground for about 1 hour. Gems and Socketed Items Items whose names appear in grey text have one or more sockets. The sockets are visible when highlighting the item in your inventory. You can place various types and grades of gems into the sockets to enhance a socketed item's abilities. There are five grades of gems - chipped, flawed, standard, flawless, and perfect. Gems cannot be removed from a socket once placed into it. Touching a gem shrine upgrades one gem (randomly chosen from the character's inventory) to the next higher grade. Magic, Rare, Set, and Unique Items The names of Magic, Rare, Set, and Unique Items appear in blue, yellow, green, and gold text, respectively. Magic Items have one or two magical attributes applied to the basic item. Rare Items, besides an appropriate two-word name, have 3 to 5 magical attributes. Set Items are uniquely named and have several magic attributes. There is a bonus for being equipped with all the items of a Set. Unique Items have unique names and attributes. Leveling Up and Allocating Stats and Skill Points When a character levels up by earning enough experience points (from killing monsters), the "New Stats" and "New Skill" buttons appear at the bottom left and right corners of the screen. When in a safe situation, click on the buttons to bring up the Character Attributes and the Skill Tree to allocate the points. Each time you level up, you may distribute 5 attribute points among your 4 attributes - strength which effects damage, dexterity which effects the ability to hit and avoid attacks, vitality which effects life, and energy which effects mana. Click on the "+" button next to an attribute to increment that attribute. Each time you level up, you may add 1 point to an available skill. Available skills satisfy both a player level requirement and any skill prerequisites higher up on the tree. Click on all 3 tabs and sweep your cursor over the available skills (appearing in bright white) to review their descriptions and detailed effects before making your selection. NOTE: Only those skills found in the top three rows of a Skill Tree - player levels 1, 6, and 12 - are available in the Beta. There will be a total of 153 skills in the final release of Diablo II. Waypoints The Rogue encampment contains one Waypoint. Others can be found outside the camp scattered throughout Act I. When you encounter other Waypoints, click on them to activate them. Once a Waypoint has been activated, you may travel instantly from it to any other Waypoints you've activated. Shrines and Wells There are shrines and wells outside the Rogue camp. Each has a descriptive name that appears when you move the cursor over it. Left-click on it to trigger the effect. Shrine effects wear off after a period of time. Only one shrine at a time can affect a player - the one most recently touched. Wells and most shrines can be used more than once - after a period of time they recharge. Automap Overlay Press 'Tab' to toggle the Automap on or off. When the Automap is displayed, use the arrow keys to scroll it around. To re-center the Automap, just toggle it off and on again. You appear in the Automap as a blue cross. Others nearby appear as follows: NPCs are white. Both Hostile and Neutral players are red. Party members are bright green. Summoned monsters under your control are light blue. Summoned monsters under your party's control are dark green. Your corpse is purple. An open Town Portal is marked with a yellow cross. Follow the path out of the Rogue camp into the wilderness. You may want to "scour" the landscape so that you don't miss anything important. Along with rivers, paths, walls, fences, houses, cliffs, and the like - major landmarks appear - caves, shrines, wells, waypoints, and quest areas. Character Saving/Loading and Corpses Periodically, Battle.net automatically saves every character playing in all Diablo II games. Your character is also saved when you choose "Save and Exit Game" from the 'Esc' Menu. If you die and leave a game without retrieving your corpse, at the beginning of the next game you start or join your corpse is placed in (or just outside) the Rogue camp. The character save data includes Character Attributes, Inventory, Skills, Skill Hotkeys, Control Configuration, Waypoints Activated, the character's Corpse (if there is one), the list of completed Quests, and the contents of the character's Stash. NOTE: Only you (and those you permit) may loot your corpse. Quests The Quest Log button pops up in the lower left corner of the screen when the state of a quest changes. Click on it to bring up the Quest Log and review any quests. The Quest Log button always appears when beginning or completing a quest. Some quests are given by NPCs - others by happening upon an important part of the quest. The creator of a game determines which quests appear in a game. When a player character creates a game, only those quests that have not been completed by that character can be active in that game. If a character joins a game containing an active quest that has already been completed by that character, then that character cannot earn an additional reward for assisting in the quest completion. Further, the NPCs will not discuss such a quest with a character that has already completed it. If a character has completed a quest that includes a boss monster and/or special area and then starts a new game, the boss and/or area of the quest is generally placed in the game. However, the quest is not activated and the reward is not given a second time. For most quests, when completed by a player who is a member of a party, the other party members receive some portion of the reward. Uncooperative or malicious players can interfere with your successful completion of some of the quests. You may exit, create a new game (with a password to keep out the riff-raff), and try the quest again. What Happens When Your Character Dies Your character loses a percentage of the total gold both carried and stored in the Stash. The percentage is equal to your character level -- but not to exceed 20%. After deducting from the gold being carried, the rest falls to the ground in a pile. If your character currently has no corpse, one is created and your equipped items stay on your corpse. If your character already has a corpse, equipped items simply fall to the ground along with gold. Unequipped items always remain in your inventory. Press the 'Esc' key to be reincarnated in the Rogue camp. Your reborn character holds the unequipped portion of the recently deceased's inventory. This is a good time to consider visiting your Stash to make a withdrawal of some spare equipment. When you find your corpse, click on it to loot it of all equipped items. Only you (and those you permit) may loot your corpse. If you exit a game without retrieving your corpse, it will be placed in town in the next game you create or join. NOTE: If your character was created "Hardcore", it is never reincarnated - you simply find yourself as a ghost in the Battle.net chat channel. Ending the Beta The Diablo II Beta story line ends with the quest to kill the demoness, Andariel. Once you defeat Andariel, your character receives an honorary title that appears in Battle.net chat channels. After accomplishing this feat, feel free to keep playing your character in newly-created games, try out a new player character class, or replay a familiar character class and develop your Skill Tree in a different way. If you feel ready for the ultimate challenge, create a new "Hardcore" character - one that cannot be reincarnated after death. WARNING: Blizzard Entertainment cannot restore a "Hardcore" character to life, regardless of the cause of death. These causes include (but are not limited to) being dropped by the server, Internet service interruptions, and hardware or software malfunctions of any kind. Bug Reporting When reporting a bug at http://www.blizzard.com/Diablo2/Beta/reports/, please copy and paste the contents of the file D2Debug.txt. You will find it in the D2 directory on the drive to which you installed the Diablo II Beta. The information in this file greatly accelerates the process of tracking down and fixing bugs. NOTE: If you experience the following while playing: 1) the world ends suddenly with a diagonal black border 2) you can't talk or trade with NPCs 3) you can't hit monsters (and they can't hit you) 4) you can't use portals or waypoints 5) you can't change your equipment Then, the Diablo II game server is probably down. Wait a few minutes. Then, press 'alt-tab' to go back to Windows or press 'alt-F4' to quit. Check http://www.blizzard.com/Diablo2/Beta/support.htm for news. If no news, visit the bug reporting site, http://www.blizzard.com/Diablo2/Beta/reports/, and enter a bug report. Then, please wait a half-hour or so and try to connect to Battle.net again. 3D Accelerator Support - The Glide and Direct3D APIs are supported. * "Perspective Mode" is a new display option that adds near-perfect perspective, including scaling and parallax effects, to the isometric view of the original Diablo. When running out in the wilderness, notice that the tall trees parallax against the shorter stone walls. * Improved (over DirectDraw/2D) transparency effects: Notice translucent walls and roofs. * Colored lighting effects. (Not available in DirectDraw/2D) NOTE: Make sure that your drivers are the very latest for your video card. You may need to visit your video card manufacturer's website to download and update your drivers. 3D Sound Support Hardware acceleration of game sound effects on DirectSound3D compatible sound cards (Win9x only) Environmental Sound Effects Reverberation and occlusion effects on sound hardware that supports EAX or A3D drivers (Win9x only) Windows 95/98, Windows NT 4.0 & Microsoft DirectX Support Diablo II is a Windows 95/98 and Windows NT 4.0 game that utilizes Microsoft DirectX. The DirectX 7.0a runtime is included on the Diablo II Beta CD and can be installed from the Diablo II Beta installer program. Windows NT 4.0 does not require that you install Microsoft DirectX as it is already part of the operating system. NOTE: Windows 2000 users must install the Diablo II Beta as an Administrator. The final release of Diablo II will not require Administrator status. If you have difficulty running Windows 95/98 after the Microsoft DirectX 7.0a drivers have been installed, please contact Microsoft technical support at: USA telephone: 1-800-426-9400 International telephone: 001-206-882-8080 http://www.microsoft.com +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (c) 2000 Blizzard Entertainment All rights reserved. Diablo and Battle.net are trademarks and Blizzard Entertainment is a registered trademark of Davidson and Associates, Inc. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners. Uses Bink Video Technology. Copyright (c) 1997-2000 by RAD Game Tools, Inc. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 9