Playing Diablo II for the first time... what do I need to know?

[Zor]

So, hot off the heels of my first ever playthrough of the original Diablo - which I absolutely adored and fully intend to return to in the future - my excitement for playing the sequel could not be abated, and I'm about to start my first ever playthrough of Diablo II (Lord of Destruction version).

As I mentioned in the previous thread, I don't really have much history with action role-playing games such as this. So, although I finished Diablo after some 20 hours or so, and with lots of helpful advice from folks across those several pages, I still feel like a relative newbie here.

What advice is good to know before continuing my adventure through this franchise...?

 

[Grug]

It has the best intro cinematic ever made.

"Why did I follow him? I don't know... Why do things happen as they do in dreams?"

 

[Yuntu]

Do what you think is right in building your character (dont worry they patched a respec in sometime over the last couple years) and pick whoever you think looks the most interesting as your character.

I envy you. I wish I could experience D2 for the first time again.

 

[Starlatine]

get money immediately to buy tomes of identify and town portal, the biggest QoL from DI besides being able to fucking run
skills are very different this time, and you wont be able to fill most things, so open your skill tab, plan your character beforehand (even if you dont know much what youre doing) and then follow it. this is specially true for classes with weapon passives since being a jack of all trades is just a waste of skillpoints
dont worry much about minmax builds, runes, best equips and other stuff people will tell you way too early here while youre playing normal and nighmare. hell is when the real game start, and when you need your build to match up to it

rest depends on your class. barb doesnt feel as useless against ranged enemies, if you feel like playing one.

 

[TheMoon]

me "is it zor again? ...it's zor again!" :D

what you need to know is, there is RUN TOGGLE now :) ...and a stamina bar for it (ugh why).

what we liked to do back in the days was saving your level up skill points for the cooler skills on the skill tree instead of wasting them asap on whatever is available.

I would also avoid most of those ultra specific tips you might get for builds or whatever endgame stuff people get into, since it's perfectly fine to just play the game and let things happen.

 

[ShinUltramanJ]

Do you have the expansion? If not it's worth getting.

 

[CoolOff]

Games have evolved massively since then in many QoL ways, so don't be surprised if there are minor issues you have that just seem like obvious oversights.

Still though, one of the greatest games of all time.

 

[Starlatine]

Games have evolved massively since then in many QoL ways, so don't be surprised if there are minor issues you have that just seem like obvious oversights.

Still though, one of the greatest games of all time.

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he's coming from diablo I. if anything hes going to me mesmerized by all the QoL additions the game have

 

[TheMoon]

Do you have the expansion? If not it's worth getting.

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says right there in the OP :)

and I'm about to start my first ever playthrough of Diablo II (Lord of Destruction version).

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[Firemind]

You should go in as blind as possible tbh. Exploring every nook and cranny for possible loot is a joy. Normal difficulty shouldn't be too difficult to beat. The higher difficulties on the other hand...

People will say to only put enough strength points to equip gear which is solid advice in general. Energy is mostly useless, dexterity only if you use shields and buy lots and lots of potions and mana pots.

 

[ShinUltramanJ]

says right there in the OP :)

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Good grief, I'm blind as a bat.

 

[F34R]

Put your name up here and I'll gladly play along with ya! Love LOD!!!

 

[finfinfin]

If you play a necromancer you can just amble casually around looking at loot and not have to click on any monsters.

 

[AuthenticM]

expect one of the greatest games ever made. I'm sure you'll have a blast of a time... but I can't help feel like your experience won't be as amazing as it was playing that game at the time of its release. It was something special. Everybody at school was playing it and we would all talk about the equipment we got killing such and such monster, we'd trade shit... it was something. I don't think I've ever had that feeling again, but I also think it's not really possible anymore.

 

[Firemind]

If you play a necromancer you can just amble casually around looking at loot and not have to click on any monsters.

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Until you reach Hell lol

 

[FinKL]

Are you playing single or multiplayer? Both styles are very different. In multiplayer try to get as many waypoints from people

 

[Firemind]

Are you playing single or multiplayer? Both styles are very different. In multiplayer try to get as many waypoints from people

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Multiplayer is kind of broken with bots and baal runs. I'd only play multiplayer with people who are on the same page as you.

 

[Syril]

Be aware that your defense drops to 0 while running.

 

[Luyrar]

Expansion is a must even from the beggining.

Watch your spells sinergies, make your build arroud It.

Explore everything and do all the quests for bonus skill points.

Buy identify/portal tomes.

Enjoy one of the best games ever made.

 

[Pilgrimzero]

If playing solo, don't play a Necro. I got all the way to Diablo and his abilities obliterated my skeletons instantly. I had no way to fight him effectively.

 

[Zor]

I chose Barbarian as my first run, so fingers crossed this goes for better for me than some of the more frustrating Warrior moments in Diablo 1.

 

[SecretCharacter]

Rare items are frequently better than unique items at higher levels.

Get Tomes early.

Depending on the build, a mercenary may not be necessary.

Learn the common rune words. They'll help you early.

 

[elenarie]

Do not play a Paladin that puts all their skill points into the Fire Aura. ;)

 

[Syril]

I chose Barbarian as my first run, so fingers crossed this goes for better for me than some of the more frustrating Warrior moments in Diablo 1.

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Diablo 2 is much faster, and barbarians are fast even by Diablo 2 standards.

 

[Firemind]

I chose Barbarian as my first run, so fingers crossed this goes for better for me than some of the more frustrating Warrior moments in Diablo 1.

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You have chosen

poorly

 

[Starlatine]

I chose Barbarian as my first run, so fingers crossed this goes for better for me than some of the more frustrating Warrior moments in Diablo 1.

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it will. one of his skills not only is great for mobility but also to picking pesky ranged enemies that like to run. you wont suffer like with the succubuses and mages from DI

You have chosen

poorly

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this kind of minmaxing attitude helps nothing
theres no "poor" choice for base game. at all, even if you mess skills up, even if you pick bad equips, you can get by. stuff like this only incentivizes people to be scared and play reading a guide on their side all the time which ruins half the fun of playing a hack n slash and figuring your build

 

[Doober]

What's the easiest way to play it these days? Is it on GOG?

If playing solo, don't play a Necro. I got all the way to Diablo and his abilities obliterated my skeletons instantly. I had no way to fight him effectively.

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Well last time I played - which has admittedly been a LONG assed time ago - skeletons were useless by that point and the winning strategy was golems.

 

[TheMoon]

Do not play a Paladin that puts all their skill points into the Fire Aura. ;)

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but play a paladin that has a crapload of points in the thorn aura, just stand around and let the enemies come to you.

ah good memories.

What's the easiest way to play it these days? Is it on GOG?

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yes, of course. the rereleases are super fresh still. there is no other option even (unless you have a disc).
wait what, D2?? that's not on GoG or anywhere other than where all blizzard games are.

 

[elenarie]

but play a paladin that has a crapload of points in the thorn aura, just stand around and let the enemies come to you.

ah good memories.

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:D

I made the stupid mistake of maxing out Fire Aura, only to discover that Diablo was immune to it. Fun times! Luckily I hadn't spent the respec yet, so I did the pro gamer move and maxed out the Ice Aura.

I swear I killed like 4 enemies in total manually in Diablo 2. The rest was just running around in circles while the auras were killing off enemies. :D

 

[Starlatine]

I dont think Diablo II is on GOG? It wasnt last time i checked, only I and Hellfire

 

[Firemind]

this kind of minmaxing attitude helps nothing
theres no "poor" choice for base game. at all, even if you mess skills up, even if you pick bad equips, you can get by. stuff like this only incentivizes people to be scared and play reading a guide on their side all the time which ruins half the fun of playing a hack n slash and figuring your build

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Calm down

I just think barbs are boring

 

[Syril]

I dont think Diablo II is on GOG? It wasnt last time i checked, only I and Hellfire

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They still sell it on battlenet.

 

[Starlatine]

Calm down

I just think barbs are boring

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they're better than warriors in DI at least
plus they get a fun skill if you just want to see some loot drop

 

[Firemind]

they're better than warriors in DI at least
plus they get a fun skill if you just want to see some loot drop

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I'm not comparing it to the warrior though

Barbs can be fun but it can get frustrating too if you don't find good weapon rolls.

 

[Arkeband]

Mash the numpad for voice lines to be super annoying to other people online.

"Time to dieeeeee. Thanks! Time to die!"

Also make a box out of the in-game chat bubble labeled "Idiot Box" and put it over your friends, they love it.

 

[Quample]

I'm jealous, Diablo 2 is probably my favorite game ever.

Without the full multiplayer experience it won't be the same, it sounds like there are still tons of bots and whatnot. I think you'll still enjoy it though!

 

[Zor]

Calm down

I just think barbs are boring

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My instinct with anything like this is always to go for melee/brute strength/warrior type so I can get a good understand of the game on the simplest terms, and then, if I dig it enough, start getting more experimental with other types. I mentioned in the Diablo 1 thread that I want to do Rogue and Sorcerer runs too. I'm sure the same will happen here. I've never played the game before so if I find Barbarian boring, it will only be in retrospect to trying other roles, I'm sure.

 

[Quample]

My instinct with anything like this is always to go for melee/brute strength/warrior type so I can get a good understand of the game on the simplest terms, and then, if I dig it enough, start getting more experimental with other types. I mentioned in the Diablo 1 thread that I want to do Rogue and Sorcerer runs too. I'm sure the same will happen here. I've never played the game before so if I find Barbarian boring, it will only be in retrospect to trying other roles, I'm sure.

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It's not boring, at all. It's my second favorite class next to the paladin and I've put many hours in every class. Mana steal is pretty important though, and it's not easy to get. There is a trick to getting easy mana steal but I'm not sure you want to know it.

 

[Ruu]

Diablo 2 is one of my favorite games of all time but it also hasn't aged as well as many people would probably have you believe. It is still a ton of fun though having just replayed it not long ago. I recommend the amazon class or sorcereress. They are my favorite. Oh also Act 3 is a slog. Try to get through it as fast as possible. I remember back at launch a lot of my friends fell off the game during Act 3.

 

[Eegah]

I strongly suggest hardcore mode, but get why you wouldn't want to on your first play through. The game is 98% mindless clickfest, but then every now and then you run into a multi shot lightning enchanted pack with multiple resistances and you legitimately begin to sweat at the idea of losing 50 hours of progress. Really gets the adrenaline pumping.

 

[Firemind]

My instinct with anything like this is always to go for melee/brute strength/warrior type so I can get a good understand of the game on the simplest terms, and then, if I dig it enough, start getting more experimental with other types. I mentioned in the Diablo 1 thread that I want to do Rogue and Sorcerer runs too. I'm sure the same will happen here. I've never played the game before so if I find Barbarian boring, it will only be in retrospect to trying other roles, I'm sure.

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I get your reasoning, especially after your experience with D1, but D2 is a bit different. Unlike D1, D2's classes are heavily segregated into their respective skill trees. The barbarian for example has almost no damaging skills that aren't based on weapons. The sorceress on the other hand will almost never go melee so weapon damage is completely irrelevant. What this means is that barbarians are more reliant on weapon drops than other classes.

The great thing about this is that if you play another class, it feels like a totally new experience. :)

 

[Pilgrimzero]

What's the easiest way to play it these days? Is it on GOG?



Well last time I played - which has admittedly been a LONG assed time ago - skeletons were useless by that point and the winning strategy was golems.

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Yeah, as mentioned earlier you gotta have the right build. Which is lame if you dont know what that is late game

 

[Zor]

Are there any mods worth installing on a purely cosmetic front for D2? I saw the Beelzebub mod for D1 and figured that was something I'd like to try at a later time, given its more HD-friendly changes, but the gameplay changes put me off trying it as my first runthrough.

 

[Zor]

It's not boring, at all. It's my second favorite class next to the paladin and I've put many hours in every class. Mana steal is pretty important though, and it's not easy to get. There is a trick to getting easy mana steal but I'm not sure you want to know it.

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Sure, go for it!

 

[Starlatine]

Are there any mods worth installing on a purely cosmetic front for D2? I saw the Beelzebub mod for D1 and figured that was something I'd like to try at a later time, given its more HD-friendly changes, but the gameplay changes put me off trying it as my first runthrough.

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i think game looks fine vanilla. theres the plugy mod i guess, but it changes the stash. i guess svens 3dfx just lets you use higher res without changing anything else?

 

[Zor]

i think game looks fine vanilla. theres the plugy mod i guess, but it changes the stash. i guess svens 3dfx just lets you use higher res without changing anything else?

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I think it looks good too, and certainly a step up from D1, but the highest res I seem to be able to go is 800x600, so I was wondering if there was something out there that might push that higher, or a widescreen mod. I keep flicking back and fourth between the simulated 3D and 2D though... not sure which I prefer yet.

 

[Daggoth]

Unlike D1, do not drop stuff in town and exit the game. I don't recall if the world re-generates every time you quit/load, but I'm pretty certain it won't track loot on the ground.

 

[Starlatine]

I think it looks good too, and certainly a step up from D1, but the highest res I seem to be able to go is 800x600, so I was wondering if there was something out there that might push that higher, or a widescreen mod. I keep flicking back and fourth between the simulated 3D and 2D though... not sure which I prefer yet.

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I think you can change the res with just the wrapper yeah

Glide3-to-OpenGL-Wrapper

i dont mind it much cause i like to play diablo windowed with a video/podcast/music running with it, but then i played the game thousands of times. i understand and commend you for wanting full attention on your first run.

 

[Deleted member 34714]

I think it looks good too, and certainly a step up from D1, but the highest res I seem to be able to go is 800x600, so I was wondering if there was something out there that might push that higher, or a widescreen mod. I keep flicking back and fourth between the simulated 3D and 2D though... not sure which I prefer yet.

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It's preferential if you go software or 3d really but overall I think the glide wrapper version is better as you can set resolution of sprites higher than normal. As for Widescreen, I don't think there is one out there that actually works? Seems the game's AI functions are hardcoded to the res the games supported.

 

[ConfusedOwl]

I remember playing Diablo 2 religiously when I was kid. Enjoy OP, one of the best games ever made. I'm actually playing it again right now with a Paladin using the Plugy mod for that extra stash space and unlimited respecs.