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General Diablo II Hints
If it is your first time around playing the game, you might want to go with the
Barbarian. This way you won't have to worry about being as vulnerable to
close-up
combat as you learn the game.
Do you have a hundred or so Oompa-Loompah creatures gathered around your dead
corpse, and you desperately need your equipment? You can save and exit the game,
and when you return, your corpse will be in the town near the starting point.
Don't believe me? Check page 14 of the manual. The only downside is that your
gold falls separate, which goes into the next tip..
Use your stash to store gold as well as items you wish to keep! If you don't
have
sufficient gold on hand when buying items from the various vendors in the game,
it will conveniently use the gold from your stash. Even more importantly,
especially at lower levels, is that you should keep gold in your stash to buy
emergency items for when you die and need to retrieve your corpse, such as a new
weapon, potions, and the like.
When you begin the game, you start off with four quick-use slots, which can hold
helpful items such as potions and scrolls. Getting a belt should be a priority
sometime in the game, as you can double this amount up to eight slots, and some
unique belts such as the Goldwrap can you give you twelve slots. SuperRob mailed
in to correct my wording, you can find belts that aren't unique and contain
twelve slots and even sixteen slots, which I failed to mention.
Learn what the different colored names of items mean: White is a normal item,
blue is a magical item, bright yellow is rare, a dull gold is a unique item,
grey
means the item is socketed, and a green item is part of a set of items. Rare and
unique items are commonly confused, so be on the lookout for them.
Early on in the game, especially be on the lookout for gems of any kind, which
includes skulls. You can pick up socketed items, whose names are colored in
grey,
and attach the gems to the slots to upgrade its power. Lower level characters
can
benefit greatly from using a homemade magic item until they find their own.
Also, here's a little tip for you concerning gems: Once you have the ability to
transmute (combine) items into one, three of one kind of gem class (chipped,
flawed, normal, flawless, perfect) can combine to make one gem of the next
highest quality. For example, three flawed rubies will yield one normal ruby.
No matter what class of character you are, invest in a Tome of Town Portal. This
handy little book will store up to twenty scrolls of the spell, which will save
much space in your precious inventory. Always keep a high supply of Town Portals
handy, and whenever you are low, replenish them in town.
Diablo II has implemented a run feature, which also includes a stamina bar. If
you are having trouble in a battle, run away to the nearest safe location, which
might just be a quick couple of seconds to buy enough time to teleport right out
of there.
Health potions in the game do not regenerate hit points immediately, they
recover
hitpoint by hitpoint at a fast rate until the maximum amount is recovered. In
the
heat of combat, this may not be enough time to fully heal. After downing a
potion, run around for a bit until it takes full effect. Nothing sucks worse
than
to drink a potion, only to be back at the level of health you were because you
were being attacked while it was taking effect. An addition by SuperRob is that
rejuvenation potions do indeed regenerate hit points immediately, making them an
excellent asset to have.
The three towns of the game all have a character where you can hire a companion
to travel with you, helping you with the duties of slaying monsters. While they
are not overly strong, they can be very important as hirelings can ward off an
entire group of monsters as they split up to attack you and your partner. This
could be life or death for weak fighter classes, such as the Necromancer and
Sorceress.
Once you get a certain cube in the game, you can use it to store items just like
you can use your stash to hold extra goods. Most of you are probably aware of
this item, but in case not, I don't want to post a spoiler. Just be careful with
this tip, as when you use the item, you should clear out all things stored in it
as they will disappear.
When battling a large amount of monsters, never under and circumstances back
into
a corner or let them surround you, if you can help it. There should always be
room for you to escape if that need arises.
There are many dungeons in the game that are not necessary for completing the
various quests. You should always clear these out if you have time, because they
can give valuable experience and treasure and will help you out in the long run
of the game. This is especially important to the Necromancer and Sorceress, as
they progress slower than other classes and will need more experience to fully
come to power.
For another hint on gaining experience, simply save and exit the game. The
monsters will be reset and you can slay again, traveling to the areas where you
think you can nab the most experience.
Here's another one from SuperRob, who mentioned that it is handy to keep a town
portal spell available with the F1-F8 hotkeys. Doing so will enable quick
escapes
in a battle where you need to return to town in a hurry.
More Diablo II Tips
Submitted by Biomunky: I think that you should add a tip about talking to Akara
(Act 1) or Fara (Act 2) that they will always replenish life and mana to full.
Its always been really helpful and easy on the wallet, especially when you're
low
on money and have to buy town portals constantly. So you kill two birds with one
stone. Ed's Note: Don't forget about Cain in every act, who can identify your
items for free. Addition by John Pamplin: Be sure to mention that Akara (Act 1)
or Fara (Act 2) both not only heal YOU, but also heal any creatures you have
summoned in your party, such as a golem or skeletons. This can be helpful to a
low level necromancer who can't afford to recreate golems all the time.
Submitted by Hans Bergengren: One thing worth mentioning is that when a player
encounters a lot of monsters that can be resurrected by a "leader" monster, it's
often a good idea to show oneself so the monsters see the player, and then run
off. The minions will follow the player while the "leader" - who is much more
cowardly - will stay behind. When the little minions are outside resurrection
range (which is not based on line of sight, annoyingly enough), just turn around
and slaughter them. Rinse&repeat as necessary in case not all of the little
buggers came after you. 8-) When all of them are dead, just go in and waste the
leader(s). There's often no point in going for the leader at once as it's just a
waste of health and/or mana hacking one's way through the throngs of re-
resurrecting followers, and there's no extra experience to be gained by killing
an enemy more than once either. Ice-magicked weapons also help with this, as
occasionally a killed enemy will shatter. Ice cubes are difficult to
re-animate...
Submitted by Hans Bergengren: Always, always *repair* all the loot you bring
back
to town before you sell it! You'll make a tidy profit from it! (Or you will,
until Blizzard kills that particular bug in an upcoming patch, unless it's an
actual feature of course...)
Submitted by Hans Bergengren: Note that running around next to monsters lowers
your defense to near ZERO. If they can reach the player, they'll likely hit with
their attack, so avoid running around in a throng of enemies unless absolutely
necessary.
Submitted by Hans Bergengren: Rejuvenation potions will bring back health and
mana instantly, unlike the normal potions. But, normal health potions will
continuously heal the player until the health level has risen up to the new top
health level. Unless the player takes damage faster than the potion can heal,
it's possibly to stand there taking a pounding. Of course, if the player takes
damage *faster* than the potion heals, it's better to run, quickly!
Submitted by Hans Bergengren: Non-gameplay related hint: copying the
file "d2music.mpq" from the Play Disc (#2) to the main Diablo 2 folder on your
hard drive will stop the CD-ROM spinning and making lots of unnecessary heat and
noise during play just to read the music scores... The file is almost 338MB in
size, so hope there's enough free space on your hard drive!
Submitted by Felirinthegrey: Just a note but using F1-F8 as the hotkeys is much
more difficult than changing your hotkeys to e r t y (F1-F4) and d f g h (F5-F8)
you change the skill tab to whatever you like and toggle run to say caps lock or
whatever floats your boat. No one uses help after a few days anyways so no loss
there right? This makes your hot keys more accessible and allows you to use your
potions and control (run) / shift (stand still) / alt (find item) more easily
also.
Submitted by Petri Lyytikдinen: Other tactics include mana draining items....I
use leap attack with weapon which has 38 to 168 damage range. I get full mana
after each jump and monster don't stick around after getting 200 to 700 damage.
All fighter classes need that mana drain item it seems....we tested for 4 days
(with party of 5 player) and played up to 33'th level. It almost seems like a
bug
in the game that you have to get that mana-drain item.
More Diablo II Tips (07/21/00)
Submitted by Matthew Cox: When you're fighting a large unique critter like the
blacksmith or just a really tough unique that is not an easy kill for you...
such
as a magic resistant critter and you're a sorc... Sometimes you can trap them
in
a corner of a wall, or run into a room with windows or barred walls and close
the
door. Most often the critter can't/won't open the door and will continue to
walk
into the wall. It's a bit cheezy, but after dying a few dozen times to that #$@
() blacksmith I started looking for ways around it. Seems that your defense
numbers are largely meaningless as nothing ever seems to miss when it swings at
you... sometimes it's best to trap stuff at a distance and slow-roast it over a
firewall.
Submitted by Matthew Cox: Resistance is key! Don't forget to collect as many
resistance building items as you can.. A paladin of mine had all 4 resistances
at MAX and walked through normal difficulty level half awake. Granted, a
handful
of fetish shamans with that inferno spell will cook you through resistances, but
only if you get hit by more than one stream at once. (yes I got surrounded by
them and roasted)... note: a paladin is done cooking when his eyes pop out of
his head...
Do you have more general or class tips you want to shine upon us? Submit them to
us and we'll include them in the next update of the tip guides! You can even
write a full blown article and get it posted on the site
If it is your first time around playing the game, you might want to go with the
Barbarian. This way you won't have to worry about being as vulnerable to
close-up
combat as you learn the game.
Do you have a hundred or so Oompa-Loompah creatures gathered around your dead
corpse, and you desperately need your equipment? You can save and exit the game,
and when you return, your corpse will be in the town near the starting point.
Don't believe me? Check page 14 of the manual. The only downside is that your
gold falls separate, which goes into the next tip..
Use your stash to store gold as well as items you wish to keep! If you don't
have
sufficient gold on hand when buying items from the various vendors in the game,
it will conveniently use the gold from your stash. Even more importantly,
especially at lower levels, is that you should keep gold in your stash to buy
emergency items for when you die and need to retrieve your corpse, such as a new
weapon, potions, and the like.
When you begin the game, you start off with four quick-use slots, which can hold
helpful items such as potions and scrolls. Getting a belt should be a priority
sometime in the game, as you can double this amount up to eight slots, and some
unique belts such as the Goldwrap can you give you twelve slots. SuperRob mailed
in to correct my wording, you can find belts that aren't unique and contain
twelve slots and even sixteen slots, which I failed to mention.
Learn what the different colored names of items mean: White is a normal item,
blue is a magical item, bright yellow is rare, a dull gold is a unique item,
grey
means the item is socketed, and a green item is part of a set of items. Rare and
unique items are commonly confused, so be on the lookout for them.
Early on in the game, especially be on the lookout for gems of any kind, which
includes skulls. You can pick up socketed items, whose names are colored in
grey,
and attach the gems to the slots to upgrade its power. Lower level characters
can
benefit greatly from using a homemade magic item until they find their own.
Also, here's a little tip for you concerning gems: Once you have the ability to
transmute (combine) items into one, three of one kind of gem class (chipped,
flawed, normal, flawless, perfect) can combine to make one gem of the next
highest quality. For example, three flawed rubies will yield one normal ruby.
No matter what class of character you are, invest in a Tome of Town Portal. This
handy little book will store up to twenty scrolls of the spell, which will save
much space in your precious inventory. Always keep a high supply of Town Portals
handy, and whenever you are low, replenish them in town.
Diablo II has implemented a run feature, which also includes a stamina bar. If
you are having trouble in a battle, run away to the nearest safe location, which
might just be a quick couple of seconds to buy enough time to teleport right out
of there.
Health potions in the game do not regenerate hit points immediately, they
recover
hitpoint by hitpoint at a fast rate until the maximum amount is recovered. In
the
heat of combat, this may not be enough time to fully heal. After downing a
potion, run around for a bit until it takes full effect. Nothing sucks worse
than
to drink a potion, only to be back at the level of health you were because you
were being attacked while it was taking effect. An addition by SuperRob is that
rejuvenation potions do indeed regenerate hit points immediately, making them an
excellent asset to have.
The three towns of the game all have a character where you can hire a companion
to travel with you, helping you with the duties of slaying monsters. While they
are not overly strong, they can be very important as hirelings can ward off an
entire group of monsters as they split up to attack you and your partner. This
could be life or death for weak fighter classes, such as the Necromancer and
Sorceress.
Once you get a certain cube in the game, you can use it to store items just like
you can use your stash to hold extra goods. Most of you are probably aware of
this item, but in case not, I don't want to post a spoiler. Just be careful with
this tip, as when you use the item, you should clear out all things stored in it
as they will disappear.
When battling a large amount of monsters, never under and circumstances back
into
a corner or let them surround you, if you can help it. There should always be
room for you to escape if that need arises.
There are many dungeons in the game that are not necessary for completing the
various quests. You should always clear these out if you have time, because they
can give valuable experience and treasure and will help you out in the long run
of the game. This is especially important to the Necromancer and Sorceress, as
they progress slower than other classes and will need more experience to fully
come to power.
For another hint on gaining experience, simply save and exit the game. The
monsters will be reset and you can slay again, traveling to the areas where you
think you can nab the most experience.
Here's another one from SuperRob, who mentioned that it is handy to keep a town
portal spell available with the F1-F8 hotkeys. Doing so will enable quick
escapes
in a battle where you need to return to town in a hurry.
More Diablo II Tips
Submitted by Biomunky: I think that you should add a tip about talking to Akara
(Act 1) or Fara (Act 2) that they will always replenish life and mana to full.
Its always been really helpful and easy on the wallet, especially when you're
low
on money and have to buy town portals constantly. So you kill two birds with one
stone. Ed's Note: Don't forget about Cain in every act, who can identify your
items for free. Addition by John Pamplin: Be sure to mention that Akara (Act 1)
or Fara (Act 2) both not only heal YOU, but also heal any creatures you have
summoned in your party, such as a golem or skeletons. This can be helpful to a
low level necromancer who can't afford to recreate golems all the time.
Submitted by Hans Bergengren: One thing worth mentioning is that when a player
encounters a lot of monsters that can be resurrected by a "leader" monster, it's
often a good idea to show oneself so the monsters see the player, and then run
off. The minions will follow the player while the "leader" - who is much more
cowardly - will stay behind. When the little minions are outside resurrection
range (which is not based on line of sight, annoyingly enough), just turn around
and slaughter them. Rinse&repeat as necessary in case not all of the little
buggers came after you. 8-) When all of them are dead, just go in and waste the
leader(s). There's often no point in going for the leader at once as it's just a
waste of health and/or mana hacking one's way through the throngs of re-
resurrecting followers, and there's no extra experience to be gained by killing
an enemy more than once either. Ice-magicked weapons also help with this, as
occasionally a killed enemy will shatter. Ice cubes are difficult to
re-animate...
Submitted by Hans Bergengren: Always, always *repair* all the loot you bring
back
to town before you sell it! You'll make a tidy profit from it! (Or you will,
until Blizzard kills that particular bug in an upcoming patch, unless it's an
actual feature of course...)
Submitted by Hans Bergengren: Note that running around next to monsters lowers
your defense to near ZERO. If they can reach the player, they'll likely hit with
their attack, so avoid running around in a throng of enemies unless absolutely
necessary.
Submitted by Hans Bergengren: Rejuvenation potions will bring back health and
mana instantly, unlike the normal potions. But, normal health potions will
continuously heal the player until the health level has risen up to the new top
health level. Unless the player takes damage faster than the potion can heal,
it's possibly to stand there taking a pounding. Of course, if the player takes
damage *faster* than the potion heals, it's better to run, quickly!
Submitted by Hans Bergengren: Non-gameplay related hint: copying the
file "d2music.mpq" from the Play Disc (#2) to the main Diablo 2 folder on your
hard drive will stop the CD-ROM spinning and making lots of unnecessary heat and
noise during play just to read the music scores... The file is almost 338MB in
size, so hope there's enough free space on your hard drive!
Submitted by Felirinthegrey: Just a note but using F1-F8 as the hotkeys is much
more difficult than changing your hotkeys to e r t y (F1-F4) and d f g h (F5-F8)
you change the skill tab to whatever you like and toggle run to say caps lock or
whatever floats your boat. No one uses help after a few days anyways so no loss
there right? This makes your hot keys more accessible and allows you to use your
potions and control (run) / shift (stand still) / alt (find item) more easily
also.
Submitted by Petri Lyytikдinen: Other tactics include mana draining items....I
use leap attack with weapon which has 38 to 168 damage range. I get full mana
after each jump and monster don't stick around after getting 200 to 700 damage.
All fighter classes need that mana drain item it seems....we tested for 4 days
(with party of 5 player) and played up to 33'th level. It almost seems like a
bug
in the game that you have to get that mana-drain item.
More Diablo II Tips (07/21/00)
Submitted by Matthew Cox: When you're fighting a large unique critter like the
blacksmith or just a really tough unique that is not an easy kill for you...
such
as a magic resistant critter and you're a sorc... Sometimes you can trap them
in
a corner of a wall, or run into a room with windows or barred walls and close
the
door. Most often the critter can't/won't open the door and will continue to
walk
into the wall. It's a bit cheezy, but after dying a few dozen times to that #$@
() blacksmith I started looking for ways around it. Seems that your defense
numbers are largely meaningless as nothing ever seems to miss when it swings at
you... sometimes it's best to trap stuff at a distance and slow-roast it over a
firewall.
Submitted by Matthew Cox: Resistance is key! Don't forget to collect as many
resistance building items as you can.. A paladin of mine had all 4 resistances
at MAX and walked through normal difficulty level half awake. Granted, a
handful
of fetish shamans with that inferno spell will cook you through resistances, but
only if you get hit by more than one stream at once. (yes I got surrounded by
them and roasted)... note: a paladin is done cooking when his eyes pop out of
his head...
Do you have more general or class tips you want to shine upon us? Submit them to
us and we'll include them in the next update of the tip guides! You can even
write a full blown article and get it posted on the site