Diablo II:
Lord of Destruction Readme
© 2001 Blizzard Entertainment. All rights reserved. Diablo, Battle.net, and
Blizzard Entertainment are trademarks or registered trademarks of Havas Interactive,
Inc. and/or its wholly owned subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or other countries.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
For news and updates visit http://www.blizzard.com
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CONTENTS
From the Developers
End User License Agreement
System Requirements
Installation
What's New in the Expansion Set
Details on Expansion Features
Basic Game Controls
Configurable Game Controls
Gameplay Hints, Tips, and Other Information
General Help
In-Game Multiplayer Chat Commands
The Battle.net Chat Channel
Chatting with Players Who Are Not in Your Chat Channel
Creating or Joining a Battle.net Game
Using the Esc Menu
Using the Mini-Panel
Using Ctrl – Running
Using Alt – Highlighting Items on the Ground
Using Shift – Standing and Attacking
Information on Monsters
Stackable Items
Scrolls
Using the Belt
Skills
Assigning and Using Skill Hotkeys
Interaction with NPCs
Trading with NPCs
Hiring and Controlling Mercenaries
Trading with Other Players
Forming Parties with Other Players
Party Relationships
Gold
Your Stash
Gems and Socketed Items
Magic, Rare, Set, and Unique Items
Leveling Up and Allocating Stats and Skill Points
Waypoints
Shrines and Wells
Using the Automap
Quests
Character Saving/Loading and Corpses
What Happens When Your Character Dies
Multiplayer Diablo II: Lord of Destruction
Battle.net
America Online
Local Area Network
Modem and Serial Connections
General Information
Technical Support
Direct Sales/Media Replacement
Video Test and Performance
Music and Performance
Video Options and Performance
Resolution and Performance
Lighting Quality
Blended Shadows
Perspective Mode
CD Cache Performance
Background Applications and Performance
System RAM and Performance
3D Accelerators and Performance
Updates, Patches, and General Troubleshooting
Uninstalling
We
are excited to be putting Diablo II: Lord of Destruction and Battle.net through
its paces, and we hope that you are looking forward to this experience as well.
This
Battle.net Beta includes all of the full game’s items, quests, monsters, and
playable characters. However, it is playable only through Battle.net. You can play any of the seven character
classes completely through all 5 Acts of the expanded game. Excluded from this
Battle.net Beta are these features of the full game–single-player mode,
multi-player LAN games, and both Act 5 cinematic sequences.
The principal purpose of this Beta is to test game server
stability and capacity. As a result, the Beta Realm, D2XBETA, may be unstable for extended periods of time. In fact, rather
than avoiding playing during periods of lag or instability, you can help us
stress-test the Beta Realm by logging on when others are most likely to be
playing—for example, during the evening hours of Pacific Daylight Time. Of
course, we appreciate all bug reports and suggestions about play balance, game
features, and interface ease-of-use. However, these issues are not the focus of
the Beta.
We
expect the Beta to run a minimum of two weeks. Also,
while the Beta may run until the release of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, it
may also be stopped prior to the release of the finished game.
NOTE:
After installing the Beta on your machine, in order to play Diablo II or the
release version of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, you must uninstall
Diablo II and then reinstall it.
A Diablo II:
Lord of Destruction Stress Test Beta Forum
(http://www.battle.net/forums/diablo2-xbeta) will allow testers to alert the
development team about server related issues.
When
you install Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, you will be asked to enter your CD
Key. This CD Key number can be found at the bottom of your enclosed letter. DO NOT LOSE THIS NUMBER. If for any
reason you are required to re-install during the Beta test, you will need to
have your CD Key number available.
Your
CD Key grants you access to Battle.net and only one user can be logged on at a
time with each number. Do not give your CD Key number out to anyone. BLIZZARD EMPLOYEES WILL NEVER ASK YOU TO
REVEAL YOUR CD KEY.
After
installing and starting Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, select the D2XBETA Realm and click
on the “Battle.net” button. The Battle.net Login Screen appears. If you do not
have a Battle.net account, click on “Create New Account” and enter a new
account name and password, then verify that password. Once you have entered
this, click the “OK” button. If you already have a Battle.net account, simply
enter your account name and password and click the “Log In” button.
Diablo
II: Lord of Destruction automatically searches for the fastest connection to
Battle.net. If your version of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction requires
patching, Battle.net will do this automatically when your connection is
established. During the course of the Beta, there may be multiple patches. In
fact, the first time you connect to Battle.net with Diablo II: Lord of
Destruction, there may be a patch already waiting for you.
If
you do not have a Diablo II character in your Battle.net account, the “Select
Hero Class” screen appears. Move the cursor over each of the seven player
character classes and click on the one desired. After
entering a “Character Name,” click the “OK” button.
If
you already have a Diablo II character in your Battle.net account, you will be
taken to the Character Selection Screen. If you wish to convert an existing
Diablo II character, select it and click the “Convert to Expansion” button.
Otherwise, simply double-click on an existing character in the list. If you
don’t see your existing character, press the up/down arrow buttons to scroll
the list until you find it. If you want to make a new character, click on the
“Create New Character” button to create a “New Character” as detailed above.
When
you first log in, you will find that all of your characters from the USWest
Realm have been copied to the D2XBETA Realm. For each one you may convert it to
Expansion or play it in regular Diablo II games.
Make
sure to write down your Battle.net account name and password and keep them in a
safe place. We cannot look up or change your password. If you forget it, you
will lose access to your Diablo II characters! Do not give out your password to
others. BLIZZARD EMPLOYEES WILL NEVER
ASK YOU TO REVEAL YOUR PASSWORD.
If
you have any problems installing your Diablo II: Lord of Destruction Beta,
please contact our technical support department at (949) 955-1382, or e-mail support@blizzard.com.
Also, be sure to check the Diablo II: Lord of Destruction Beta Support page at:
http://www.blizzard.com/support.htm
for updates during the Beta.
DO NOT GIVE
YOUR CD KEY TO ANYONE.
BLIZZARD
EMPLOYEES WILL NOT ASK YOU FOR THIS NUMBER.
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction Battle.net Beta
QUICK
REFERENCE
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, Resurrect, Imbue, Add Sockets, and
Personalize.
Right Mouse Button – Performs “smart” actions depending on the situation:
Use the skill currently assigned
to the Right Mouse Button on a selected target.
Drink a selected potion.
Activate a scroll or tome.
Arrow Keys – Scrolls the Automap.
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.
H – Toggles the Help screen.
W – Toggles primary/ secondary weapon configuration.
O – Toggles the Hirable Inventory screen on/off.
Enter – Opens/closes In-Game Chat overlay.
Tab – Toggles the Automap on/off.
Home – Centers the full-screen Automap (if NumLock is off).
T – Toggles Skill Tree screen on/off.
S – Toggles Skill Overlay on/off.
F1 through F8 –
Readies (or sets) the associated Left or Right Mouse Button skill. Set a skill
to these buttons by opening the Skill Overlay and placing your cursor over the
skill you wish to assign to that hotkey. Press the desired hotkey while the
cursor is still over the skill icon.
<Unassigned> – Eight new skill hotkeys. Use the Control Configuration
menu to assign them.
~ – Toggles a belt larger than 1x4 open/closed.
1, 2, 3, and 4 – Uses the item in the corresponding 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
game play.
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!”
7 – Player character says, “Retreat!”
Mouse wheel up – Scrolls up through all hotkeyed
skills in the Right Mouse Button slot.
Mouse wheel down – Scrolls down through all
hotkeyed skills in the Right Mouse Button slot.
V – Toggles Mini Map placement between Upper-left/Upper-right.
N – Clear text messages.
Print Screen – Save the screen to your D2 directory as
“screenshotXXX.jpg.”
Z – Toggle all party member portraits on/off.
For information on
chat commands, starting games, and other Battle.net functionality, please press
the HELP button in the Diablo II Battle.net Chat window.
END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT
YOU SHOULD CAREFULLY READ THE FOLLOWING BETA TEST
LICENSE AGREEMENT BEFORE INSTALLING THIS SOFTWARE PROGRAM. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE
WITH ALL OF THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, YOU MAY NOT INSTALL THE SOFTWARE.
This software program and any
accompanying materials or documentation ("Program") is the
copyrighted work of Blizzard Entertainment® or its suppliers. All use of the Program
is governed by the terms of this Beta Test License Agreement which is provided
below ("License Agreement"). The Program is solely for use by end
users for the purpose of testing the Program according to the terms of the
License Agreement. Any use, reproduction, or redistribution of the Program not
in accordance with the terms of the License Agreement is expressly prohibited.
BETA
TEST LICENSE AGREEMENT
In consideration of Blizzard
Entertainment ("Blizzard") granting Your request to view and play the
pre-release version of Blizzard's DiabloÒ II:
Lord of DestructionÔ
Expansion Set, You agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this
License Agreement.
1. Grant of License. Subject to the terms and conditions
contained in this License, Blizzard hereby grants for a period not to exceed
forty-five (45) days, and by installing the Program You thereby accept, a
limited, non-exclusive license and right to install and use one (1) copy of the
Program for Your use on either a home, business, or portable computer for the
purpose of testing the Program. In addition, the Program has a multi-player
capability that allows users to utilize the Program over the Internet via
Blizzard’s online game network, Battle.netÒ. Use of
the Program over Battle.net is subject to Your acceptance of Battle.net’s Terms
of Use Agreement. Blizzard reserves the right to update, modify, or change the
Battle.net Terms of Use Agreement at any time. The Program is licensed, not
sold. Your license confers no title or ownership in the Program.
2. Ownership. All title, ownership, and intellectual
property rights in and to the Program and any and all copies thereof
(including, but not limited to, any titles, computer code, themes, objects,
characters, character names, stories, dialog, catch phrases, locations,
concepts, artwork, animations, sounds, musical compositions, audio-visual
effects, methods of operation, moral rights, any related documentation, and
"applets" incorporated into the Program) are owned by Blizzard Entertainment
or its licensors. The Program is protected by the copyright laws of the United
States, international copyright treaties and conventions, and other laws. All
rights are reserved. The Program contains certain licensed materials, and
Blizzard's licensors may protect their rights in the event of any violation of
this Agreement
3. Responsibilities of Beta Tester
A. Subject to the Grant of License above, You may not, in whole
or in part, copy, reproduce, translate, reverse engineer, disassemble,
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B. The Program is licensed to You as a single product. Its
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developed, for any purpose, including, but not limited to, network play over
the Internet, network play utilizing commercial or non-commercial gaming
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(iv)
create or maintain, under any circumstance, more than one simultaneous
connection to Battle.net. All such connections to Battle.net, whether created by
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and means expressly approved by Blizzard Entertainment. Under no circumstances
may You connect, or create tools that allow You to connect, to Battle.net’s
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Agreement are considered confidential information. You hereby agree not to disclose
any such confidential information without the prior written consent of
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if the information covered hereby becomes public knowledge through no fault of
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5. Termination.
Blizzard shall have the right to terminate this License Agreement at any
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the Program and all documents and materials You have received, and You must
remove any elements of the Program from any hard drives on which the Program
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6. Feedback.
Concurrent with the return of the Program, or earlier upon the request
of Blizzard, You shall provide Blizzard with comments, suggestions, and
impressions of the Program on the form provided by Blizzard.
7. Acknowledgments. You hereby acknowledge (i) that the
Program is a work in process and may contain bugs that may cause loss of data
or potentially require You to reinstall Your operating system; (ii) that You
have backed-up Your hard drive prior to installation of the Program; (iii) that
You have the resources necessary to reinstall Your operating system and restore
any and all lost data; (iv) as certain games played on Battle.net require
electronic files, including, but not limited to, player characters, accounts,
statistics, user profiles, weapons, armor, quests, and maps (“Online Data”), be
stored upon Battle.net for Your use when utilizing Battle.net to play these
games online, You hereby agree and acknowledge that Blizzard shall not have any
liability to You for the loss of Online Data for any reason whatsoever,
including, but not limited to, server failure, telephonic interruptions of any
kind, defects, viruses or other harmful components, and negligent acts of Blizzard and/or its affiliates; and (v)
Blizzard Entertainment reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to delete or
modify the information stored on Battle.net for any reason at any time during
the duration of the beta period. I understand and acknowledge that any HardcoreTM
Character that I create on Battle.net is created at my own risk and that
Blizzard Entertainment is not liable or responsible for any disruption of
service, including, but not limited to, ISP disruptions, network or server lag,
software or hardware failures, or any other event that may cause a loss of data
or disruption of service that results in the permanent death of said Hardcore
Character.
8. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES. THE PROGRAM AND ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTATION IS BEING PROVIDED TO
YOU "AS IS," WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. BLIZZARD DOES NOT WARRANT
THAT THE PROGRAM WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE. BLIZZARD DISCLAIMS ALL
WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY AND
ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
9. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. BLIZZARD SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY KIND,
INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, COMPENSATORY, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ON ACCOUNT OF THE LOSS OF DATA OR FOR ANY REASON
WHATSOEVER. I UNDERSTAND AND ACKNOWLEDGE
THAT BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT CANNOT AND WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INTURUPTIONS
OF SERVICE ON BATTLE.NET, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ISP DISRUPTIONS,
SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE FAILURES, OR ANY OTHER EVENT that MAY RESULT IN A LOSS OF
DATA OR DISRUPTION OF SERVICE. Some states do not allow the exclusion or
limitation of incidental or consequential damages or allow limitations on how
long an implied warranty lasts, so the above limitations may not apply to You.
10.Equitable Remedies. You hereby agree that Blizzard would
be irreparably damaged if the terms of this License Agreement were not
specifically enforced, and therefore You agree that Blizzard shall be entitled,
without bond, other security, or proof of damages, to appropriate equitable
remedies with respect to breaches of this License Agreement, in addition to
such other remedies as Blizzard may otherwise have available to it under
applicable laws. In the event any litigation is brought by either party in
connection with this License Agreement, the prevailing party in such litigation
shall be entitled to recover from the other party all the costs, attorneys’
fees, and other expenses incurred by such prevailing party in the litigation.
11. Miscellaneous.
This License Agreement shall be deemed to have been made and executed in
the State of California, and any dispute arising hereunder shall be resolved in
accordance with the law of California. You agree that any claim asserted in any
legal proceeding by one of the parties against the other shall be commenced and
maintained in any state or federal court located in the State of California,
County of Los Angeles, having subject matter jurisdiction with respect to the
dispute between the parties. In the event that any provision of this License
Agreement shall be held by a court or other tribunal of competent jurisdiction
to be unenforceable, such provision will be enforced to the maximum extent
permissible and the remaining portions of this License Agreement shall remain
in full force and effect. This License Agreement constitutes and contains the
entire agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof
and supersedes any prior oral or written agreements.
I hereby acknowledge that I have read and understand the
foregoing License Agreement and agree that the action of installing the Program
is an acknowledgment of my agreement to be bound by the terms and conditions of
the License Agreement contained herein. I also acknowledge and agree that this
License Agreement is the complete and exclusive statement of the agreement
between Blizzard and myself and that the License Agreement supersedes any prior
or contemporaneous agreement, either oral or written, and any other
communications between Blizzard and myself.
SYSTEM
REQUIREMENTS
CPU: Diablo II: Lord of Destruction requires a Pentium-compatible 233 MHz
processor or better.
Memory: 32 MB of RAM is required for Single Player mode. 64 MB of RAM is
required for Multiplayer mode. Open Battle.net game Creators and TCP/IP game
Hosts: 128MB RAM recommended (256MB RAM in games with over 4 players).
Hard Drive Space: Installation of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction occupies a
minimum of 1.5 GB of your hard drive space - 950 MB for the Multiplayer
installation of Diablo II and another 550 MB for the Expansion Set, itself.
Video: Diablo II: Lord of Destruction requires an SVGA video card and a monitor
capable of displaying 800 x 600 pixels at a color depth of at least 256 colors.
3D accelerators compatible with Glide or Direct3D are supported. Diablo II:
Lord of Destruction requires 8MB of texture RAM.
Sound: Diablo II: Lord of Destruction requires a DirectX-compatible sound card.
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction supports sound cards with 3D positioning and
environmental audio effects, like reverberation and occlusion. Be sure to
configure your sound driver and position your speakers to get the optimum audio
performance from your system.
Operating System: Diablo II: Lord of Destruction is a Windows
95/98/ME/2000/NT/XP game that utilizes Microsoft DirectX. Diablo II: Lord of
Destruction will run under DirectX 6.1 or higher, but we recommend updating to
DirectX version 7.0a. You may install DirectX 7.0a using the Diablo II: Lord of
Destruction Installer.
Windows 2000 and NT 4.0 do not require that you install Microsoft DirectX, as
it is already part of the operating system.
If you have difficulty running Windows 95/98 after installing new Microsoft
DirectX drivers, please contact Microsoft technical support at:
USA telephone: 1-800-426-9400
For a list of International numbers visit Microsoft technical support at http://www.microsoft.com
INSTALLATION
How to Install
Place the Diablo II: Lord of Destruction disc into your CD-ROM drive. If the
Installer does not automatically run within one minute, manually Explore the
disc and run "Setup.exe" to launch the Installer.
The Installer upgrades your Diablo II installation to Multiplayer (if
necessary) and then installs the Diablo II: Lord of Destruction data. Follow
the on-screen directions.
WHAT'S
NEW IN THE EXPANSION SET?
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction contains a number of new features and exciting
enhancements to the original Diablo II:
DETAILS
ON SOME OF THE NEW FEATURES IN THE EXPANSION SET
Expansion Characters: After installing Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, you will
have the option of choosing between two different "character
types"-Standard and Expansion-when creating a new character. (Note: Do not
confuse this with the two new character classes- the Druid and the
Assassin.) Standard Characters are just like the characters you are used to
playing in Diablo II, whereas Expansion Characters are specifically created for
use in Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. You should be aware of some details
before deciding which character type to create:
Corpse
Recovery: In Nightmare and Hell difficulty settings, whenever your character
dies, he or she suffers a loss of gold and experience points. In games of
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, if you recover your corpse at the location of
its demise, you can regain some of the experience points you lost. If, however,
you choose to 'Save and Exit' out of your current game in order to restart and
recover your body in town, you will not regain any of your lost experience.
Item Swapping: In Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, you have the ability to swap
quickly between two sets of equipped weapon selections (i.e., right- and
left-hand inventory slot configurations). To do this, merely open your
Inventory screen and equip your character as you normally would. Next,
left-click on either of the two tabs denoted by the Roman numeral "II"
(or press the W key) to toggle between the two
weapon configurations. Now equip your character with an additional two-handed
weapon, a weapon and a shield, or (for Barbarians and Assassins) a pair of
appropriate one-handed weapons. You can switch between the two weapon configurations
at any time by pressing the W key or by
clicking on the inactive weapon configuration's tab in your inventory screen
(the inactive configuration is the one shaded a darker grey). Note: Your
left and right mouse button skill setups are linked to your two weapon
configurations. This allows you to customize your skill mouse buttons in order
to complement your current weapon configuration. Remember that your character
must meet the requirements for any weapons you want to equip. Also, please keep
in mind that only your currently selected weapon configuration is actively
equipped. Any magical properties of items in your inactive configuration will
not affect your character until you make that configuration active. For
example, if you are currently using weapon configuration "I,"
any magical properties of items in configuration "II" have no
effect until you make it your active configuration.
Hirable Non-Player Characters ("Hirelings"): Diablo II: Lord of
Destruction offers some exciting modifications to hirable NPCs. These
computer-controlled hirelings who fight by your side can be hired from specific
NPCs in most "towns"-the safe starting points in each Act-or are
given free of charge as a reward for completing certain quests. In the original
Diablo II, they followed your character around and helped you slay monsters,
but you did not interact with them directly. In Diablo II: Lord of Destruction,
you can increase their efficiency in combat and assist their development in a
number of ways. (Note: These special new features only apply to hired NPCs and
retainers acquired as quest rewards. Summoned creatures are not subject to
these improvements.)
Automap
Options: There is now an "Automap Size" selection in the
"Automap Options" menu in Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. This new
option allows you to choose between viewing the map as either the traditional
full-screen Automap or the new, scaled-down "Mini Map." The Mini Map
is about one quarter the size of the Automap and, when active, is displayed in
one of the top corners of the game screen. You can switch this location from
left to right by pressing the V hotkey.
Repair All: You can now repair all of your outfitted items in a single step. To
do this, go to the nearest "blacksmith" NPC (whoever repairs your
equipment) and select "Trade or Repair" as you normally would. Blacksmiths
still have the usual buttons for buying, selling, and repairing; in Expansion
games, they also have an added "Repair All" button. This option
allows you to repair all of the items that your character currently has
equipped in a single operation. If you move your cursor over this button, the
highlighted text shows the cost of this procedure, and pressing the button
completes it. Note: The Repair All button only repairs equipped items.
Any damaged items that your character is not wearing must be repaired
individually.
Fill Tome: By pressing the Shift key while right-clicking on a scroll
you want to buy, you automatically purchase enough scrolls to fill the first
unfilled Tome of that scroll type in your Inventory.
Item Properties: As you adventure, keep in mind that even the regular magic
items you find now have hundreds of new magical properties with many wondrous
new effects to help your characters on their brave quests. They are far too
numerous to list here, but keep an eye out for new magic item names; their
explanations appear in the item's pop-up description. (This text, which
explains the properties and requirements of the item, appears when you have
your Inventory window open and highlight an item with your cursor.)
Class-Specific Items: Items of this type can only be used by the character
class for whom they were designed. In the original Diablo II, there were
certain items that anyone could wield, but that had properties only accessible
to certain classes (e.g., the Necromancer's wands or the Paladin's scepters).
In Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, there are specific items that are only
usable by their intended class, possessing special abilities only pertinent to
that class. Be sure to pay close attention to the requirements of each item as
listed in its pop-up description to see if an item is class specific.
Elite Items: Elite Items are similar to the Exceptional Items found in the
original Diablo II, but far more powerful. Exceptional Items are found in the
higher difficulties (Nightmare and Hell), having the appearance of items from
Normal difficulty games (both in the inventory and on the character), but with
different names and substantially increased statistics. Elite items are of an
even higher caliber than Exceptional items. Mostly found in Hell difficulty
games, they possess new names and proportionately increased statistics, yet
still retain the appearance of their corresponding Exceptional and normal
versions.
Set Items: Diablo II: Lord of Destruction introduces some exciting new
improvements to Set Items. First and foremost, there are many new sets to
collect, complete with brand-new bonus abilities. Rumors have been circulating
about the many new relics and the powerful magics they grant to those who
obtain them. Here are some other facts to be aware of:
Socketed Items: When playing Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, you can now find "Socketed"
versions of many more kinds of items, including armor and high-quality, magic,
Rare, and even Unique items. Be sure to read the description of a Gem, Jewel,
or Rune to see what abilities it imparts to the different item types.
Insertable Items: In addition to the Gems in the original Diablo II, Diablo II:
Lord of Destruction provides two new types of items that you can place into an
item's empty sockets.
Charms:
Charms are special magic items that grant magical enhancements without needing
to be equipped to do so. Charms provide their abilities simply by being in the
"Backpack" section of your character's Inventory. They do not
function if placed inside your character's Stash or inside a Horadric Cube
(even if that Horadric Cube is located in your hero's Backpack).
Ethereal Items: Any type of armor or weapon, even one with magical properties,
can be Ethereal. These items appear translucent in the Inventory, and when
equipped, they appear translucent on the character wielding them. Their
ethereal nature gives them an improved fundamental ability. However, they have
decreased durability and cannot be repaired. Due to their extra-planar origins,
Ethereal items often have requirements lower than those of an equivalent item.
Charged Items: Some new magic items grant the use of certain skills to any
character. Some of these items have skills that are only triggered under
certain conditions, such as striking an enemy or being struck by one. Charged
Items allow the wielder to use the skill at will, but only a limited number of
times. To engage the skill granted by a Charged Item, left-click your right
mouse button Skill Selection (or press the S key). The Charged Item
skill is listed near the top of your list of available skills; left-click on
its icon to select it. The skill can now be performed by right-clicking on a
target. Charged Item skills have a limited number of uses, so be sure to check
the item's pop-up description or the lower right-hand corner of the skill icon
to see how many charges remain. If any of an item's charges are depleted, you
can return to a nearby town and recharge the item by having the local
Blacksmith repair it.
Scrolls: In addition to Scrolls of Town Portal and Identify, you might now
occasionally come across Scrolls of Knowledge. The sole function of these
scrolls is to provide the player with information. Specifically, they are inscribed
with "recipes" for the various Rune and Horadric Cube combinations.
BASIC
GAME CONTROLS
Esc – Toggles the Esc menu on/off and exits
other menus.
Left Mouse Button – Performs "smart"
actions depending on the situation:
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.
O – Toggles Hirable Inventory screen on/off.
W – Toggles between primary and secondary
weapon/shield configurations.
P – Toggles the Party screen on/off.
M – Toggles the Message log on/off.
Q – Toggles the Quest log on/off.
H – Brings up the Help overlay.
T – Toggles Skill Tree screen on/off.
S – Toggles mouse button Skill menu overlay
on/off.
F1 through F8 – Readies (or sets) the
associated Left or Right Mouse Button Skill.
unassigned - Eight more skill hotkeys that
operate like F1 – F8. You must assign them in the Control Configuration screen.
Mouse wheel up – Scrolls up through all
hotkeyed (F1-F8) skills in the Right Mouse Button slot.
Mouse wheel down – Scrolls down through all
hotkeyed (F1-F8) skills in the Right Mouse Button slot.
~ - Toggles a belt larger than 1x4 open/closed.
1, 2, 3, and 4 – Uses the item in that belt
slot.
Enter – Opens/closes In-Game Chat overlay.
Ctrl – Hold down to run.
R – Toggles auto-run mode on /off.
Shift – Hold down while clicking the left or
right mouse button to use that skill while standing in place.
Alt – Highlights all items dropped on the
ground.
Z – Toggle all party member portraits on/off.
Tab – Toggles the Automap on/off.
V – Toggles the MiniMap location between
upper-left and right corners.
F9 – Centers the Automap on the player.
F10 – Toggles Automap fading on/off.
F11 – Toggles party member display on/off in
Automap.
F12 – Toggles player/NPC name display on/off in
the Automap.
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."
7 – Player character says, "Retreat!"
Print Screen – Saves the screen to your Diablo
II directory as "screenshotX.jpg."
Spacebar – Cancels all the above screens and
overlays to return to gameplay.
N – Clears all text messages from the screen.
GAMEPLAY
HINTS, TIPS, AND OTHER INFORMATION
General Help
Press the H key to view the Help overlay.
In-Game Multiplayer 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.
Below are some examples of the different commands available during gameplay:
![your message]
Prints the message over your head, like a word balloon, so that only the
players near you can see your message. The message lasts a few seconds.
/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.
/msg [charactername] [message]
Sends the message to the person using the character named 'charactername'
anywhere on a Diablo II Battle.net Realm.
NOTE: The up arrow 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.
The Battle.net Chat Channel
In Diablo II Chat Channels, characters appear at the bottom of the screen. If
more people are in the Chat Channel than fit on 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
Whisper –
Chat privately with other players in the Chat Channel
Emote –
Lets you perform an "action" in the chat channel.
Squelch –
Block messages from a character.
Unsquelch
– Allow messages from a character.
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, Realm, and character level appears above the character
portrait.
Chatting with players who are not in your chat channel
Use the Battle.net /msg command as follows:
Example: /msg
Necroman Join my DII game named CryptRun. Password is Hogwarts.
This sends the message to the person using the character 'Necroman' anywhere on
the Diablo II Battle.net Realms.
Example: /squelch [*accountname] OR /unsquelch [*accountname]
This allows you to Squelch and Unsquelch players outside the Diablo II chat
channel.
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 Battle.net 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. 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, 4. You may check the box next to the Character Difference
setting and change it from the default number, 4. 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 games you may join.
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.
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: master volume slider (right is louder)
MUSIC: volume slider for music (right is louder)
3D SOUND: ON or OFF (OFF disables 3D BIAS and ENV. EFFECTS)
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS: ON or OFF
3D BIAS: balance slider for 2D/3D audio effects (move farther right for more 3D
volume)
NPC SPEECH: AUDIO AND TEXT, AUDIO ONLY, or TEXT ONLY
VIDEO OPTIONS (brings up the submenu of video options)
RESOLUTION: 640x480 or 800x600
LIGHTING QUALITY: LOW, MEDIUM, or HIGH (when HIGH, lighting is smoothest)
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
CONTRAST: slider for contrast
AUTOMAP OPTIONS (brings up the submenu of Automap options)
AUTOMAP SIZE: MINIMAP or FULLSCREEN
FADE: NO, CENTER, or EVERYTHING (when CENTER, 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
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, and Exit Menu) to bring up the appropriate screen or overlay.
Using Ctrl – Running
Press and hold 'Ctrl' to run. Running outside towns uses Stamina. Be careful
not to let your Stamina run out if you are being chased. If your Stamina
reaches zero, your character begins walking instead and cannot run. If that
happens, you must release 'Ctrl' and stand still for a few seconds to begin
recovering Stamina. After your Stamina has started increasing, you may walk and
continue to recover Stamina. This recovery continues until it reaches your
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 or Ethereal Item
Blue = Magic Item
Green = Set Item
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 your cursor over a monster, you see the monster's name or class.
Behind the name in red appears the monster's hit-point bar graph, showing how
much of the monster's life remains. The name of the monster is color-coded.
White text indicates a standard monster type, blue a champion, and gold a
unique monster or boss.
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 reduces 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 combine to form one stack, unless the resulting stack's quantity
exceeds the maximum. In that case, you are left with two stacks, one holding
the maximum number of the item, and the other hold any remainder.
NOTE: You cannot split a stack into two stacks.
Scrolls
There are only two types of scrolls in Diablo II - Scrolls of Town Portal and
Scrolls of Identify. Scrolls of Knowledge have been added to Diablo II: Lord of
Destruction. Several scrolls of the same type may be held within a single tome.
In Act I 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 town located in that Act. The
portal remains active until you re-enter it within the Act's town 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 and Left-click to identify it.
Right-click on a Knowledge scroll to read 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. Only scrolls or potions of health, mana, stamina,
thawing, and antidote can be placed in the belt. Pressing the belt hotkey
either drinks the potion or casts the spell contained on a scroll.
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. You can also use the '~' key to toggle larger belts
fully open and closed.
Skills
All Character Classes start with the same 2 basic skills – Attack and Throw.
Necromancers,
Amazons, and Assassins 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. The skills in each tab are arranged into
a Skill Tree -- much like a Technology 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. This is due to either a lack of Mana, or
because an item that the skill requires is not equipped.
The different skill tabs are as follows:
NOTE:
Equipping a throwing weapon readies the Throw Skill in the left mouse skill
button. When you've thrown the last one of a stack of throwing weapons, 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 16 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 16 hotkeys – 'F1' through 'F8' – to assign the hotkey to that skill. When
finished, press 'S' or the Spacebar.
NOTE: Some skills 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.) In Act I, for example, Gheed allows you to
'Gamble' by offering an inventory of unidentified magic items – premium-priced,
however. Kashya lets you 'Hire' or 'Resurrect' 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 in Act I). Select 'Trade'
from the pop-up menu. Your 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 will not appear until someone sells the
NPC an item of that type.
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 three Trading Mode buttons. Click on the
"Close" button to exit.
Hiring and Controlling Mercenaries
In Act I Kashya hires out mercenary Rogues after 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, waypoints, and acts.
Trading with other Players
To request a trade with another player, click on that player while in town
together. (You cannot trade outside town.)
A dialog box pops up that says "Waiting for Other Player," along with
a "Cancel" button. The player you selected will see a dialog box
containing "Agree to Trade?" and "OK/Cancel." You can wait
until the other player clicks on "OK" or "Cancel," or you
can 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 between your Inventory and 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 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
communication coming from that player.
NOTE: When you press your Party or Hostility buttons, the target player
receives an appropriate message about your action.
Party Relationships
Each player has two 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:
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
In a central location in each town (near the bonfire in the Rogue camp in Act
I) is a large chest. This 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 into your Stash a maximum amount determined by your character's
level. 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.
Jewels and Runes may also be placed into empty item sockets. Jewels have fixed
magic properties, while Runes may be part of a set which must be inserted in
the proper order for bonus effects.
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 some or all of 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. The skills
available to you must 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.
Waypoints
In Act I the Rogue encampment contains one Waypoint. Others can be found
outside the towns scattered throughout the Acts. 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 towns. Each has a descriptive name that
appears when you move the cursor over the shrine. To activate one of these
mystic places, 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.
Using the Automap
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 fullscreen
Automap, just toggle it off and on again. The Automap is colored-coded as
follows:
Blue Cross: Your character
Yellow Cross: Open Town Portal
White: NPC's
Red: Hostile and Neutral players
Bright Green: Party members
Light Blue: Summoned monsters under your control
Dark Green: Summoned monsters under your party's control
Purple: Your corpse
In Act I
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.
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 your
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 location 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.
Character Saving/Loading and Corpses
Periodically, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction automatically saves your character
as you play. Your character is also saved when you choose "Save and Exit
Game" from the 'Esc' Menu.
The state of the Automap and the random world layout is saved in Single Player
games, but not when playing on Battle.net or in other Multiplayer games.
If you die and leave a game without retrieving your corpse, at the beginning of
your next game with that character your corpse is placed within the town of
that Act.
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.
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 the death penalty from the gold your character is
carrying, the rest falls to the ground in a pile. If the penalty uses up the
gold being carried, the remainder of the penalty is deducted from the Stash.
However, in Single Player the death penalty will not take away all your gold.
No gold is taken from the Stash and 500 gold per character level is exempt from
the death penalty. For example, if a level 10 Single Player character with
5,000 gold dies, no gold is lost.
As an additional death penalty, in Nightmare and Hell difficulty levels your
character loses some experience, but will not drop down to a lower character
level. However, if you retrieve (loot) your own corpse where it died, you
recover some of the lost experience.
If your character currently has no corpse, one is created and your equipped
items stay on your corpse. BEWARE! If your character already has a
corpse, equipped items simply fall to the ground along with gold where anyone
could pick them up. Unequipped items always remain in your inventory.
Press the Esc key to be reincarnated in the Act town. 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 looting 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.
MULTIPLAYER
DIABLO II: LORD OF DESTRUCTION
Battle.net
Battle.net is an Internet gaming service provided by Blizzard Entertainment
which allows players to meet up, challenge other players, join games, and
compete in a worldwide ranking system, all without paying any special
connection charges.
In order to use Battle.net, your computer must have the TCP/IP protocol
installed, and must provide TCP/IP support for 32-bit applications. If you
connect to the Internet using Windows Dial-up Networking, and browse the web
with Netscape Navigator version 2.0 or higher or Microsoft Internet Explorer
3.0, then you probably already have the correct TCP/IP software installed.
However, if you connect to the Internet with a proprietary dialer or browse the
web with Netscape 1.x or another 16-bit web browser, then it is likely that
your system is not configured to support 32-bit applications. In this case, you
should contact your Internet Service Provider to obtain updated software.
"I can chat with other users, but I can't join a game."
In order to play in a multiplayer game, your system must be able to receive
packets of game data (technically, UDP and TCP packets) from other players.
Some service providers don't allow incoming data of this type, or don't provide
users with a unique Internet address to which packets can be sent. If you are
unsure whether your provider is blocking this type of connection, please
contact them for more information. If you are trying to play Diablo II through
a computer that is directly connected to the Internet through your employer or
other organization, you should be aware that some companies block certain types
of incoming data to their networks. To play multiplayer games on Battle.net,
you may have to ask your network administrator to allow incoming UDP and TCP
packets on port 6112.
"Players are crashing my game while we are playing!"
It has come to our attention that certain users are taking advantage of
security flaws in Windows 95 and NT to crash other users in the Battle.net
games. Microsoft has released fixes for these flaws for both Win95 and NT. The
fixes prevent most, but not all of these programs from being used on you.
Search Microsoft's web site at http://www.microsoft.com/search/default.asp
for both "Out-of-Band" and "Invalid ICMP Datagram
Fragments". Also check Microsoft's web site at http://www.microsoft.com for any new
security fixes.
For more information on using Battle.net, see the support index on the Diablo II: Lord of
Destruction Install Disc.
America Online
To connect to Battle.net through AOL, you will need to use the 32-bit Windows
95 AOL client software. If you are unsure as to whether you already have this,
please contact AOL directly.
For more information on accessing Battle.net through
AOL, see the support index on the Diablo II
Install Disc.
Local Area Network
Diablo II supports multiplayer gaming over IPX compatible networks. If your
computer is connected to a local area network, but you are not sure whether it
is IPX compatible or not, ask your network administrator.
"I have IPX but I can't join a game, or people can't see my game to
join it."
Diablo II will not play across network segments. If you are not sure whether
your network is segmented or not, contact your network administrator. You
should also verify that all computers on the network are using the same frame
type. You can change the frame type that a computer uses in the Windows 95/98
Network control panel or in the Windows NT Network control panel.
For Windows 95/98/ME
For
Windows 2000/NT/XP
For more detailed information on setting up and diagnosing troubles
with a Local Area Network, see the support index
on the Diablo II Install Disc.
Modem and Serial Connections
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction supports only TCP/IP connections for multiplayer
games, but neither direct modem nor serial (null-modem) connections.
Of course, you may use a modem to connect to an ISP (Internet Service
Provider). You can play a Realm character by connecting to and logging on to
Battle.net or you can play an Open character by selecting the OTHER MULTIPLAYER
option and then selecting OPEN BATTLE.NET or TCP/IP.
If you select a TCP/IP game, the game server runs on one player's computer.
This player must tell the other players (perhaps via an instant messaging
service like ICQ) the IP address to enter when attempting to connect with the
server.
CONTACT
INFORMATION
General Information
http://www.blizzard.com
http://www.battle.net
Mailing Address
Blizzard Entertainment
P.O. Box 18979
Irvine, CA 92623
Technical Support
The Blizzard Entertainment technical support department will attempt to help
you resolve any problems that you may experience with Diablo II: Lord of
Destruction.
Please note that Realm characters are stored on Blizzard's Battle.net servers
and may be deleted by Blizzard Entertainment when abandoned by the Battle.net
account owner who created them. Such abandonment is determined by the same
rules that apply to Battle.net accounts. To prevent the deletion of one of your
Realm characters, be sure to play it long enough upon creation and often enough
thereafter to prevent abandonment. For details please refer to the warning
message which appears when you create a new Realm character.
Web-based technical support can be found on the support section of our web site
at http://www.blizzard.com/support
Prior to contacting our technical support representatives, we ask that you have
the following information available.
Phone:
(949) 955-1382
Fax: (949) 737-SNOW
Email: support@blizzard.com
Hours: 9am-6pm Pacific Time
Our support representatives will not answer questions pertaining to game
playing hints, product release dates, and other non-technical issues.
Direct Sales/Media Replacement
Blizzard Sales
PO Box 18979
Irvine, Ca. 92623
Phone: (800) 953-SNOW, or (949) 955-0283
Fax: (949) 737-SNOW
Email: sales@blizzard.com
Hours: 9am-6pm Pacific Time
If you have had the game for less than 90 days, mail the CDs to the Blizzard
Sales address above, along with the CD cases and a copy of the receipt for a
free replacement. If you have had the game for more than 90 days or you no
longer have the receipt, mail in the CDs along with the CD cases and a $10.00
money order in US funds for replacement.
We strongly recommend you send all parcels to Blizzard Sales via registered
mail so that you will be notified when delivery is made.
PERFORMANCE
TIPS
Video Test and Performance
The Diablo II: Lord of Destruction Installer screen provides the Video Test
option. You may choose from the available video modes to improve performance on
your computer.
This option allows you to select hardware 3D acceleration modes, or to run in
DirectDraw (2D) software mode. To offer 3D accelerated modes your video card
must have at least 8 MB of texture RAM installed on it. Choosing Glide or
Direct3D acceleration generally improves performance greatly.
Music and Performance
Disabling music in Diablo II: Lord of Destruction reduces the amount of work
your processor has to do. This may improve performance on older or slower
computers.
Video Options and Performance
Various graphics options may be adjusted to improve performance.
Resolution
This option adjusts the resolution of the game display. There are two settings:
640x480 and 800x600. Setting this option to 640x480 increases performance.
Lighting Quality
This option adjusts the smoothness of the lighting. There are three quality
settings: LOW, MEDIUM, and HIGH. Setting this option to LOW increases
performance.
Blended Shadows
This option blends the shadows on the screen. Turning this option OFF increases
performance.
Perspective Mode (not available in DirectDraw)
This option dynamically scales parts of the world to simulate the visual effect
of perspective view. Turning this option OFF makes the game look less
3-Dimensional and increases performance.
CD Cache Performance
You can change the cache size of your CD-ROM to increase performance and
decrease CD load times. To do this:
CD-ROMs
use different cache sizes and access patterns. So, you may need to experiment
with these to find the optimum setting for your CD-ROM. If you have 32MB of
RAM, you should set your cache size as small as possible.
Background Applications and Performance
Programs that run in the background while on the Internet, such as ICQ, web
browsers, voice communication applications, Pointcast, or Netcast cut into the
speed at which Diablo II plays. Turning off these Internet-specific
applications can also increase your game speed.
System RAM and Performance
Another method of increasing performance in Diablo II is to add RAM to your
computer if you are playing on a 32MB system. Windows 95/98 uses about 5 MB of
your available RAM, and this causes Diablo II to use virtual memory. This
process is slower than using RAM directly, and while the speed of your
processor is a factor in the performance of the game, additional memory can
greatly enhance your game speed on baseline systems.
3D Accelerators and Performance
To increase performance over DirectDraw (2D) install a 3D accelerator video
card with at least 8 MB of texture RAM which supports the Glide or Direct3D
API.
UPDATES,
PATCHES, AND GENERAL TROUBLESHOOTING
Please see the support
index on the Diablo II: Lord of Destruction Install Disc.
UNINSTALLING
Uninstalling Diablo II
To uninstall Diablo II follow these steps:
When uninstalling Diablo II, your saved games and your
Open characters are not deleted. If you wish to delete them, you must delete
them by hand. Your Battle.net Account along with your Diablo II Realm
characters will remain on Battle.net and you may still play over Battle.net
from any system that has Diablo II installed.
For users who are running both Windows 9X and Windows 2000/NT 4.0 on their
systems, please note that you must uninstall Diablo II from the same OS where
it was installed. For instance, if you install Diablo II under Windows 9X, you
must uninstall from Windows 9X as well.