Diablo II

Diablo II

Submitted by: Deepak Parameswaran

General Strategy:

Here are some things you should keep in mind while playing Diablo 2: 

When starting a new character, have a general idea of how you plan to develop 
that character. It pays to specialize. Take a look at the skill tree (press T) 
and decide on the route you plan to take. 
Always repair before you sell items. The increase in sell value is always 
greater than the cost to repair. 
Use Hotkeys. This makes it much easier to switch between skills. To set a 
Hotkey, click on the Action Icon (next to the orbs), move the mouse pointer over 
a skill and press a function key (F1-F8) to assign it to that key. You should 
keep tome od town portal on a Hotkey for a quick escape from battle. 
Although there are some quests that you don't have to complete to finish the 
game, you should still complete all of them to gain more experience and items. 
Don't keep items you aren't going to use. Unless you want to trade them with 
other players, you should just sell them for the extra gold. 
When you think there is a good chance that you will die, open a town portal so 
that you can return to get your corpse. If it's too dangerous to return, you can 
exit the game and pick up your corpse in town the next time you join/start a 
game, but you will lose any gold that you dropped. 
Don't leave important items on the floor when you leave a game. They will 
disappear when you return. 
Since mana and health potions don't instantly restore your health/mana, you may 
need to run away while you gulp down a potion. Rejuvination potions, however, 
restore mana and health points instantly.

In Diablo 2, you'll often encounter monsters who can be raised by their masters 
(eg. Fallens). This can make things really tough in certain situations. Since 
you don't get experience for killing raised monsters, it doesn't make any sense 
to allow them to be raised. Here are strategies to help deal with these 
monsters. 

Go for the leader - Charge right ahead and aim for the creature who is raising 
the minions. Just be cautious that you don't get swarmed. Be ready to use 
healing potions. 

Use cold attacks - Creatures that are killed by a cold attack or killed while 
cold/frozen are shattered into bits of ice. This doesn't leave much to be raised 
from the dead. This is best implemented by a sorceress using cold spells. 

Necromancers - Necromancers have many skills that will help deal with minions. 
Skills such as corpse explosion and raise skeletion will prevent a corpse from 
being raised from the dead. Even if you have the maximum number of skeletons 
already raised, or if you don't use them, you should still raise them in 
situations where you are having trouble. 

Barbarians - Barbarians can use the find potion/item skills on corpses to 
prevent them from being raised (what the heck does he do to those corpses??). 

Here are some things you should keep in mind while playing Diablo 2 Online: 
Play nice. Don't hog everything that drops, and if you just got a semi-powerful 
item you don't need, offer it to someone else. This will pay off when someone 
else finds something you need. 
Monsters get stronger when there are more players in the game. Be aware of this 
when venturing into an area alone. 
Monsters also give more experience when there are more players in the game. If 
you want to gain experience faster, you can solo an area while other players are 
in a different area. Just make sure you can handle the monsters by yourself. 

Dealing with lag: 
If you know that you have pretty bad lag, have stronger players with less lag to 
lead into new areas. Barbarians and Necromancers with a lot of minions are best 
for this. 
When a players opens a town portal for you, ask if the portal is safe before 
going through. 
If lag hits when there are deadly monsters around, don't run, unless you are 
running back to where you just came from (and you cleared the area). You might 
run into even more monsters, and since your defense rating is always 0 running, 
you might actually get hit more when running. 

Drink a potion. If you find that you are getting attacked and can't move, try 
drinking a potion. Rejuvination potions are best since they restore you health 
instantly. 
Don't play. As a last resort, quit the game if lag gets real bad. If you are a 
hardcore character, you definitely don't wanna risk your character by staying in 
the game. It might be a good idea to stay away from hardcore as a whole until 
you feel the servers are running better. 

Strategy - Using Gems and Skulls 

Using socketed items is a great way to customise items whenever you can't find 
items that particularly meet your needs. Here is a guide to what you should 
consider when using socketed items. 

Skulls: 

Weapons - Adds life and mana steal to attack. Very useful for figther characters 
who don't have sufficient mana or life steal. 
Helms - Increases mana and life regeneration. Good for magic users who don't 
take large amounts of damage at a time (life regeneration won't help much if you 
do). 
Shield - Adds attacker takes damage. Don't bother with this, it does way too 
little damage. 

Amethyst: 

Weapons - Adds to attack rating. Only useful for fighters, but you don't need 
this unless your attack rating is really bad. 
Helms - Adds to strength. Very good for melee characters, or any other character 
who needs extra strength as a requirement. Each point in strength counts as +1% 
in melee damage. 
Shield - Adds to defense. Not a good idea for any character, since it gives only 
a small bonus to defense, and shield's most important statistic is the blocking 
%, not defense value. 

Topaz: 

Weapons - Adds lightning damage. Some extra damage is nice early on, but you 
don't want to depend on it later on in the game, as it becomes minimal compared 
to the real damage that you do. 

Helms - Adds to % chance to find magic items. Only use this if you are a freak 
about finding good items. The term 'magic items' in this case counts for magic, 
rare, set, and uniques. 
Shield - Adds to lightning resistance. Useful for those who have trouble with 
lightning attacks and need extra resistance. 

Sapphire: 

Weapons - Adds cold damage to attack. The slowing of enemies is very nice, while 
the extra damage doesn't really matter. 
Helms - Adds to maximum mana. Good for any character who needs extra mana. 
Shield - Adds to cold resistance. Not very helpful, since cold attacks usually 
aren't the ones that will hurt you most.

General Strategy - Amazon 

The Amazon is a versatile character class, and is a weapons-based fighter like 
the Barbarian. Unlike the Barbarian, the Amazon uses more finess and mana to get 
the job done. 

Starting Out: 

There are 2 general routes to choose from as an Amazon. First, there is the bow-
based route (aka "Bowazons"). The other route is the spear-based route (aka 
"Spearazons"). You'll want to focus on the skills of the path of your choice, 
while putting zero points into the other group. You should still be investing 
points into the "Passive and Magic" skill tree either way, especially early on. 

Attribute Points: 

Strength and Dexterity are both very important for Amazons. Strength is not 
quite as crucial for bow users, but still necessary to wear better armor. You 
should put 2 points each into strength and dexterity each level, and the other 
point into vitality. Later on, you'll probably want to divert some points into 
energy in order to use your special attacks. 

Key Skills (Passive + Magic): 

Critical Strike - Most Amazons will want to put early skill points here. You'll 
probably want about 3-6 skill points here. 

Dodge/Avoid/Evade - Good defensive skills, but you really shouldn't put more 
than 2-3 into each. 

Penetrate - Gives great bonus to attack rating, but points after the first 
aren't as beneficial. 

Pierce - Arrows go through enemies, YEAH! 

Decoy/Valkyrie - Good for diverting enemy attention away from you, especially 
for bowazons. 

Key Skills (Bow): 

Strafe - In the long run, this is the skill you want. It increases damage, hits 
multiple targets quickly, and automatically aims. Keep in mind that you can't 
move until your strafe finishes. 

Key Skills (Spear): 

Jab - Although damage per hit is reduced at early levels, it makes up for it 
with 3x your normal attack speed. This should become your main attack once you 
have enough mana and/or mana stealing items. 

Fend - Great when you're surrounded by monsters. 

Using Your Amazon (Bow): 

As a ranged attacker, be prepared to use hit-and-run tactics when necessary. The 
key to the Bowazon is a good bow along with the right skill combination. Avoid 
using any bows that are slow/very slow, because the extra damage often does not 
make up for the lack of speed. If you can't find any good bows, try using gemmed 
bows, (skulls and saphires are probably your best bet). Mid-Late portion of the 
game it's best to have the mana steal attribute so that you can use something 
either than normal arrows as your main attack. Cold/Fire based arrows are nice 
because they always hit, but don't put more than 1 point into each until you 
figure out which one you like. 

Using Your Amazon (Spear): 

You're a melee fighter who lacks the benefits of a shield, however, 
Dodge/Evade/Avoid makes up for this. As soon as you can implement it, pair Jab 
along with a mana steal item for unlimited jabs. Don't forget about resistances, 
because regulary armor does nothing to protect against it. Always keep potions 
ready to quickly recharge your health.

General Strategy - Barbarian 

The Barbarian is powerful warrior who is unequaled in melee combat. Physically, 
he is stronger and more powerful than any of the other character classes. If you 
develop him properly, you should have few problems standing toe-to-toe with 
hell's worst. 

Starting Out: 

After naming your character, there are a few things you should decide on before 
you go into battle. Remember that you shouldn't spread your skill points out too 
thin, you should concentrate on the skills that will work well together. To 
start, pick one of the 3 main weapon masteries - Sword, Axe, or Mace. You should 
be able to find powerful weapons from each class, so you don't really need to 
worry here. Also, you should decide between the "bash" route (single wield), or 
the double-swing route (dual wield). The "bash" route will require you to 
utilize one of Bash/Stun/Concentrate, and will offer better defense if you opt 
use a shield instead of a 2 handed weapon. The double-swing route will allow you 
to kill your enemies faster, but will leave you more open for attacks. 

Attribute Points: 

The strength statistic is definitely the most import attribute for the 
Barbarian. Higher strength allows you to equip better weapons and armor, and 
dish out more melee damage. You should alternate between putting 2 and 3 points 
into strength each level, while dividing the rest among Dexterity and Vitality. 
Although a lot of people say that Vitality isn't so important, I've found that 
there are many situations where you WILL get hit (magic damage, bosses), so 
having more hit points helps. You really don't need to put any points into 
Energy during the early stages of the game. Later on, you should put a few into 
Energy if you want to use a skill such as Whirlwind. 

Key Skills: 

Find Potion - It's not exactly going to blow your socks off, but 1 or 2 points 
here will help provide you and your party with free potions. 

Shout - Great way to increase the defense of you and your buddies. Use shout 
whenever monsters appear. You don't need more than 1 point here (+100% defense 
at level 1!). 

Sword/Axe/Mace Mastery - Pick one and focus on it throughout the entire game. 
Whenever you don't know what to put your skill point in, put it into your weapon 
mastery. 

Iron Skin - Once you hit level 24, this skill can provide a big defense boost. 
However, points beyond the first aren't as beneficial as the initial point. 

Natural Resistance - This is a very important skill if you want to get through 
Nightmare and Hell difficulties. Since your magic resistances are decreased at 
Nightmare and Hell difficulties, this is very helpful in reducing magic damage. 

Bash - Provides a big bonus to Attack Rating and damage. It is fairly useful 
against bosses/uniques early on, but the knockback is undesired in many 
situations. 1 skill point only. 

Stun - This skill really kicks butt, especially against unique monsters. Paired 
with a mana stealing, your can basically keep your opponent stunned until you 
kill them! 

Double Swing - You definitely need this skill if you are going to wield 2 
weapons. Put 1 point to start. 

Leap - Not a necessary skill to have, but very handy to get yourself out of 
sticky situations. You really don't need more than 1 point here. 

Using Your Barbarian: 

The Barbarian is very simple to use. The early part of the game doesn't require 
you to do much more than run up to your enemies and whack-em good. Since you are 
doing so much damage, life and mana stealing abilities are very nice if you can 
get them. A decent mana steal means that you will be able to use a skill such as 
Stun or Double Swing as your primary attack without worrying about running out 
of mana. Always use shout before engaging enemies, and keep leap (if you have 
it) on Hotkey for quit escape from combat.

General Strategy - Necromancer 

Unlike the other character classes, the Necromancer depends heavily on his 
summoned minions to do his dirty work. He possesess an arsenal of spells that 
support his minions as well as dish out some damage himself. 


Starting Out: 

No matter what you do with your Necromancer, you want to at least use some form 
of summoned creatures. Skeletons provide a good offence early on, but it is 
highly recommended that you don't put more than 3 points in it. Instead, focus 
more on skeleton mastery, it'll pay off when you get Magi and Revives. Golems 
are great, but don't put more than 1 point into any type of golem until you know 
which one you want to develop. 

Attribute Points: 

Strength is important for Necromancers to wear better armor and carry nice 
shields. Energy is also important, especially if you want to use a lot of 
offensive spells. Remaining points can be put into vitality, while dexterity is 
ignored. As a rule of thumb, put 2 into strength, and split the other 3 points 
into vitality and energy (your choice). 

Key Skills: Necromancers have a variety of skill combinations to focus on, but 
here are the very important ones. 

Skeleton Mastery - An excellent investment that will strengthen your summons 
throuhout the game. 

Golems - Golems have high HP and work great as a damage soaker. 

Iron Maiden - An extremely powerful curse that deals damage back to all melee 
attackers. Works great with blood golem. 

Using Your Necromancer: 

The general battle strategy is to have a few minions and letting them engage 
enemies while you curse them and cast offensive spells. Early on you can do some 
melee fighting yourself, but later on it's better to switch to a wand with nice 
bonuses and a shield with a good block %. Corpse explosion is disgustingly 
powerful, but has been "nerfed" with the 1.03 patch, so now there is a decreased 
radius of effect. It can still be very useful, but don't focus on it until later 
in the game when you have more mana. Don't focus on more than maybe 2 curses, 
since monsters can't be affected by more than 1 curse at a time.
Necromancer Strategy - Summoning Skill Tree 


For most necromancers, using summoned creatures is necessary to provide him with 
his main offense and defense. This is an in-depth look into the Summon Skill 
Tree and the usefulness of each skill. 

Raise Skeleton: 

This skill raises 1 skeleton fighter from a monter's corpse. Each skill point 
added will add 1 to the maximum number of skeletons you can have summoned at any 
time. 

Early in the game, skeletons may seem very powerful and many beginners will put 
a lot of points into this skill. However, these skeletons will become very weak 
later on in the game, and they will often just get in your way. Even with points 
in skeleton mastery, skeleton fighters are only semi-useful. It is highly 
recommended that you only put only 1 point into raise skeleton as a prerequisite 
and to help you out early in the game. 

Skeleton Mastery: 

Skeleton mastery increases the life and damage of skeletons, the damage of 
skeleton magi, and the life and damage of revived monsters. 

This is a very helpful skill because you generally want several strong minions 
rather than many weak ones. This is particularly important in tight dungeon 
areas (such as maggot lair) where a large number of minions won't be able to 
follow you or attack effectively. A good time to invest points into mastery is 
early in the game when there aren't many other skill choices, and you want to 
strengthen your skeleton minion. 

Skeleton Magi: 

This skill works much like Raise Skeleton, except that Magi use a ranged attack 
of either Fire/Lightning/Cold/Poison. Points in mastery will add to the magic 
damage done by magi, but not their hit point total. 

Since they are ranged attackers, magi are useful even in situations where they 
are stuck behind you. The are very helpful as support to your golem, and to 
divert enemy attention away from you. However, since monsters gain more 
resistances in Nightmare/Hell difficulties, magi are not as effective later on. 
Still, they powerful enough through the game in normal mode to invest several 
points into. 

Clay Golem: 

This summons a golem with a base of 100 hp to fight for you. No corpses are 
required to summon golems. 

A necromancer doesn't really stand much of a chance without any type of golem. 
Clay golems don't deal much damage, but are great damage soakers and effective 
when used with Iron Maiden. Don't put more than 1 point into this skill, since 
you can only have 1 golem summoned at a time, and you'll want to replace clay 
golem with a different one later on. 

Golem Mastery: 

Golem Mastery increases the walk/run speed of golems and their total life. 

This skill isn't at all crucial, but 1 or 2 points can be added if necessary. 
Since golems can be summoned from nothing (except iron golem), you can just 
summon a new one whenever it dies. If you find that your golem is having a very 
hard time keeping up with you, you can boost golem mastery a bit to speed it up. 
General Strategy - Sorceress 


The Sorceress is a powerful magic user, and depends strongly on spells as her 
main offence. She is physically weak, so she needs to stay away from melee 
combat. 

Starting Out: 

As a sorceress, you'll want to focus on one elemental tree as your primary skill 
tree. Cold is the most popular, and in many ways it is the best since it 
slows/freezes your enemies. Fire is also a strong tree, while lightning is not 
good as a primary offense. No matter which tree you pick, there are still some 
skills from each tree that you should develop. 

Attribute Points: 

The sorceress' primary attribute is Energy, you should be putting at least 2 
points into energy each level. Rather simply, if you don't have any mana, you 
can't do much but run. Although you may not think it at first, Strength is also 
a very important attribute for the sorceress. She needs it to wear better armor 
and carry a nice shield. Put around 2 points per level into Strength. Any 
remaining points should be put into vitality, while Dexterity should be ignored. 

Key Skills: 

Warmth - This helps greatly to keep your mana orb full. Eventually, you'll want 
to max out warmth. 

Static Field - Excellent against strong monsters, upgrade it once in a while to 
increase range. 

Frozen/Shiver Armor - Frozen armor provides and excellent defense boost, while 
you should upgrade to shiver armor if you are going deeper into the cold tree. 

Using Your Sorceress: 

Although you may find that you can survive early on in melee, you'll be 
massacred later on. You'll want to stick with your ranged spells while keeper a 
lot of potions ready in case you get hit or need more mana. Be prepared to use 
hit-and-run tactics on a lot of enemies. You should have frozen/shiver armor 
cast at all times (tip: cast it in town before entering town portals/waypoints). 
Use static field on all bosses or particularly strong enemies.

Starting Attibutes
Amazon
Strength:
20
Hit Points:
50
Dexteriy:
25
Stamina:
84
Vitality:
20
Mana:
15
Energy:
15


Each Character Level
Life:
+2
Stamina:
+1
Mana:
+1.5

Attribute Point Effect
1 Vitality point gives 3 Life 
1 Vitality point gives 1 Stamina 
1 Energy point gives 1.5 Mana

Starting Attibutes
Barbarian
Strength:
30
Hit Points:
55
Dexteriy:
20
Stamina:
91
Vitality:
25
Mana:
10
Energy:
10

Each Character Level
Life:
+2
Stamina:
+1
Mana:
+1

Attribute Point Effect
1 Vitality point gives 4 Life 
1 Vitality point gives 1 Stamina 
1 Energy point gives 1 Mana

Starting Attibutes

Strength:
15
Hit Points:
45
Dexteriy:
25
Stamina:
79
Vitality:
15
Mana:
25
Energy:
25

Each Character Level
Life:
+1.5
Stamina:
+1
Mana:
+2

Attribute Point Effect
1 Vitality point gives 2 Life 
1 Vitality point gives 1 Stamina 
1 Energy point gives 2 Mana

Starting Attibutes

Strength:
25
Hit Points:
55
Dexteriy:
20
Stamina:
89
Vitality:
25
Mana:
15
Energy:
15

Each Character Level
Life:
+2
Stamina:
+1
Mana:
+1.5

Attribute Point Effect
1 Vitality point gives 3 Life 
1 Vitality point gives 1 Stamina 
1 Energy point gives 1.5 Mana


Starting Attibutes
Strength:
10
Hit Points:
40
Dexteriy:
25
Stamina:
74
Vitality:
10
Mana:
35
Energy:
35

Each Character Level
Life:
+1
Stamina:
+1
Mana:
+2

Attribute Point Effect
1 Vitality point gives 2 Life 
1 Vitality point gives 1 Stamina 
1 Energy point gives 2 Mana

NPC's :

Act1

Akara

Akara is the Rogue Priestess and spiritual leader of the Sisters of the 
Sightless Eye. She will sell you wands, staves, and sceptres, as well as 
scrolls, tomes, and potions. Akara automatically restores your health and mana 
points each time you talk to her. 

Quests: Den of Evil, The Search for Cain 

Charsi

Charsi is a young Barbarian blacksmith who makes her services available to you 
in Act I. You will be able to purhcase weapons, armor, bolts, and arrows from 
her. Charsi also carries a variety of magical weapons and armor. Charsi will 
also repair items for a fee. 

Quests: Tools of the Trade 

Deckard Cain

Cain, the last of the Horadrim, will become available after you rescue him from 
Tristam. As a token of his gratitude, Cain will identify all of your 
unidentified items for free. 

Quests: Sisters of the Slaughter 

Flavie

Flavie warns you of the danger that lies beyond in the Cold Plains, and advises 
you to complete Akara's quest before venturing further. 

Gheed

Gheed is another merchant you will find at the Rogue Encampment. He will sell 
you weapons, armor, magical items and keys. You can also gamble on his 
unidentified items for a chance to get a rare, unique, or set item. 

Kashya

Kashya is the leader of the rogues on battlefield. She is willing to hire out 
her rogues to you as mercenaries. 

Quests: Sisters' Burial Grounds 

Warriv

Warriv is an old caravan leader who is prevented from travelling east by the 
monsters who now inhabit the wilderness. Upon completing Act I, Warriv will take 
you eastward to Lut 

Act 2

Gholein.

Atma

Atma runs a local tavern and will provide you with your first task in Lut 
Gholein. She will ask you to clear the sewers of the monsters who killed her 
husband and son. Upon completion of this quest, Atma will convince the local 
merchants to give you lower prices on their wares. 

Quests: Radament's Lair 

Deckard Cain

Cain has travelled with you from Act I to provide you with knowledge and wisdom. 

Quests: The Horadric Staff 

Drognan

This old mage will provide you with magic items when you need them. 

Quests: The Arcane Sanctuary 

Elzix

Elzix is an ex-bandit who know spends his days as a merchant in Lut Gholein. You 
can buy a variety of weapons and armor from him, as well as take a gamble on 
some unidentified items. 

Fara

Fara is a former Paladin who now works as a blacksmith. She will use hey holy 
powers to heal you each time you talk to her. 

Geglash

Geglash claims to be a former adventurer much like yourself, but now spends his 
days hanging out it Atma's tavern. 

Griez

Griez is a mercenary captain who has been keeping the city safe for the last 
while. You will be able to hire his men from him if you need a hand. 

Jerhyn

Jerhyn is the leader of Lut Gholein and greets you upon your arrival. He is in 
desperate need of your help in protecting his people. 

Quests: The Seven Tombs 

Kaelan

Kaelan guards the extrance to the palace and will not allow you to pass until 
Jerhyn has granted you permission. 

Lysander

Lysander is an old alchemist who will provide you with a variety potions, for a 
price of course. 

Meshif

Meshif is a trader who will take you to Act III after you have completed Act II. 

Warriv

Warriv can take you back to Act I whenever you wish.

Act 3

Alkor

Alkor sells a variety of potions and offers items you can gamble on. 

Quests: Lam Esen's Tome 

Deckard Cain

Cain continues to offer his knowledge and advice to you. 

Quests: Khalim's Will 

Asheara

Asheara leads the group know as The Iron Wolves. You can hire mercenaries from 
her if you need such help. 

Hratli

A powerful sorcerer who can provide you with more powerful magical weapons and 
armor than other blacksmiths. 

Quests: Blade of the Old Religion 

Natalya

An assasin who can offer you some advice on certain matters. 

Meshif

Meshif can take you back to Act II if you wish. 

Quests: The Golden Bird 

Act 4

Ormus

A powerful healer who sells magic items.

Deckard Cain

Once again, Cain has travelled with you to provide whatever help he can. 

Quests: The Hellforge 

Halbu

He can buy, sell, and repair weapons and armor. 

Jamella

A shopkeeper who also provides healing and gambling. 

Tyrael

The Archangel Tyreal is here to stop Diablo's madness. Although he cannot help 
you directly, he remains here to help you in any other way possible. 

Quests: Terror's End, The Fallen Angel

Shrines:  (data follows the order given below)

Name of Shrine
Shrine Message
Effects
Duration
Recharge time

Armor
"Your skin hardens."
Increases your base defense by 100%.
96 Sec.
5 Min.

Cold Resistance
"You no longer fear cold."
Raises your resistance to cold 75%.
144 Sec.
5 Min.

Combat
"You feel ready for battle."
+200% bonus your To Hit and Damage.
96 Sec.
5 Min.

Experience
"Your experience teaches you well."
Increases experience from kills by 50%.
144 Sec.
N/A

Explosive
"A circle of flame..."
Causes damage to you and creatures around the shrine, and leaves some 
fulminating potions.
N/A
N/A

Fire
"A fiery death..."
Fire bolts are released that damage you and anyone near the shrine.
N/A
N/A

Fire Resistance
"You no longer fear fire."
Raises your resistance to fire 75%.
144 Sec.
5 Min.

Gem
"A marvelous gem..."
Upgrades a random gem in the player's inventory one level. If no gems are 
carried, it shrine drops a chipped gem.
N/A
N/A

Health
"You feel healthy."
Fully replishes your Life.
N/A
5 Min.

Lightning Resistance
"You no longer fear lightning."
Raises your resistance to lightning 75%.
144 Sec.
5 Min.

Mana
"You feel recharged."
Fully replishes your Mana.
N/A
5 Min.

Mana Recharge
"Your spiritual forces recover quickly."
+400 % increase to the rate at which your mana refills.
96 Sec.
5 Min.

Monster
"Devil's Advocate approaches..."
Changes a monster near you into a unique monster.
N/A
N/A

Poison
"A circle of death..."
Causes choking gas potions to explode in a ring around the shrine, while leaving 
some behind.
N/A
N/A

Poison Resistance
"You no longer fear poison."
Raises your resistance to poison 75%.
144 Sec.
5 Min.

Portal
"The freedom to go home."
Creates a town portal.
N/A
N/A

Refilling
"You feel refreshed."
Fully replishes your Life and Mana.
N/A
5 Min.

Skill
"You feel more skillful."
All your skills are at +2 while the shrine is in effect. Very powerful.
96 Sec.
5 Min.

Stamina
"The world seems lighter."
Grants you unlimited stamina.
192 Sec.
5 Min.

Well 
Replenishes half your Mana and Life.
N/A
2 Min.

Potions: (data follows the order given below)

Healing Potions
Price
Hit Points Healed
Buy
Sell
AMA
BAR
NEC
PAL
SOR

Minor Healing
30
7
30
40
20
30
20

Light Healing
71
18
60
80
40
60
40

Healing
118
31
90
120
60
90
60

Greater Healing
?
125
120
160
80
120
80

Super Healing
?
125
150
200
100
150
100

Special Item Attributes 

Certain unique items have special attributes that aren't found on magic or rare 
items. 

Deadly Strike
Deadly Strike is the chance of doing double damage. Deadly Strike is applied 
after all other bonuses, so you would do double of what you would normally do 
after all other bonuses. 

Open Wounds
This is the chance of making an "open wound" in a monster. The monster will 
continually bleed and lose health. 

Crushing Blow
This is the chance of reducing a monster's health by 50% in one blow. This 
damage is applied after your normal damage is done. Crushing Blow does not work 
on Champions, Uniques and Super Uniques. 

Hit Causes Monster to Flee
Monsters will flee when hit, but this will not work with ranged attacks. 

Defense vs Missile
Reduces the % chance of getting hit by missiles. 

Hit Blinds Target
Decreases radius of awareness similar to the Necromancer Curse: Dim Vision. This 
will not work with ranged attacks. 

Slows Target By %
Although it appears to be a blue Cold Damage attack is not actually a cold 
attack.

Monsters 

Andariel - Maiden of Anguish

Andariel uses 2 powerful poison attacks, and also posseses a strong melee 
attack. It's a good idea to clear out all the other monsters before taking her 
on. Her poison attacks will drain your health at a frightening rate, so avoid in 
whenever possible. Having poison resistance or antidote potions will definitely 
help. Although the poison can never kill you directly, it can leave you weak 
enough to be killed by other monsters or by her melee attack.
Monsters 

Duriel - Lord of Pain

Duriel uses Holy Freeze Aura, Jab, Smite, and Charge. His Holy Freeze Aura works 
a little differently, and "Can't be frozen" or cold resistance does not protect 
against in. A major problem with Duriel is the long load time when you enter his 
chamber, which means that you can likely die before you even see him. Bring as 
many minions and mercenaries as possible to buy a little extra time. Only melee 
attackers should consider even going close to Duriel.

Mephisto - Lord of Hatred

Mephisto uses Poison Nova, Lightning, Charged Bolt, and Skull Missile attacks. 
Make sure you clear out any other monsters on the level first. His Skull Missile 
and lightning based attacks will hurt you the most. Lightning resistance will 
come in very handy here. Characters with low hit points should keep on the move 
to avoid getting hit, unless you have someone else taking hits for you.

Diablo - Lord of Terror

Diablo uses a bunch of fire and lightning attacks, as well as a Cold Touch 
attack and a special bone prison. With good lightning and fire resistance, 
Diablo shouldn't be too hard. Be aware of his special bone prison spell, which 
he may cast around you and your minions, and even around your town portals. Make 
sure you are stocked with a lot of potions before breaking the 5th seal.

Quests - Secret Cow Level 

If you haven't already heard, there's a cow level in Diablo 2. To access it, you 
must first beat the game. Return to Act 1 (in the difficulty that you beat the 
game) and place Wirt's Leg and a Tome of Town Portal in the Horadric Cube. 
Transmute them and a red portal will appear. This leads to the cow level.

In the cow level, you'll find a load of "Hell Bovines", along with a unique 
monster called the Cow King (lightning enchanted). Avoid getting swarmed, and 
try using area effect spells to defeat them. There isn't any particular award to 
clearing the cow level, but you'll definitely get a lot of gold and items. 

THE WALKTHROUGH

After creating your character, you'll find yourself in the Rogue Encampment. 
This will be your town for Act I. You'll be greeted by Warriv, a caravan leader 
who is stuck in the camp because of the monsters in the wilderness. Speak with 
the other NPCs to familiarize yourself with the town. Akara, located on the 
right-side of town, will provide you with your first quest. 

Act I - Quest 1 

The first quest is rather simple. Akara needs you to find the Den of Evil and 
kill all the monsters in it. The Den is located in the Blood Moor, just outside 
the camp. Explore the Blood Moor and fight the monsters to gain experience and 
items. Soon enough your should find the Den of Evil. Head on in and start 
killing the monsters. The game will notify you once all the monsters have been 
defeated. Head back to town and speak to Akara, and she'll award you with 1 
skill point. Talk to Kashya for your next quest. 

Tip: Don't crowd your inventory and stash with useless items. Unless you are 
going to use the item in the future, or want to trade it in Multi-Player, you 
should just sell it (Repair before you sell!). 

Act I - Quest 2 

Your next quest requires you to defeat Blood Raven, a corrupted rogue who can be 
found in the Burial Grounds. Exit town and find your way into the Cold Plains. 
You'll know where it is because it is guarded by an NPC named Flavie. The 
difficulty of the monsters pick up a bit here, so be careful. Make sure you 
activate the Cold Plains Waypoint. Next to the Cold Plains your should be able 
to find the Burial Grounds. 

The area is very big, but Blood Raven is protected by an army of undead. 
Occasionally, she'll even summon some more minions to help her. Blood Raven is 
really quick, and will use hit-and-run tactics with her arrow and flame arrow 
attacks. This can be a pretty hard fight for Necromancers and Sorceresses. You 
might have better luck fighting her with a bow. Fighter class characters 
shouldn't have as much trouble, as long as they remember to keep healing potions 
ready. 

Optional Areas - The Crypt, Mausoleum 

The Burial Grounds contains entrances to 2 small dungeons, The Crypt, and The 
Mausoleum. They're totally optional, but go ahead and clear the 2 areas. They're 
both pretty easy, and you might find some nice items. 
Act I - Quest 3 

After getting your reward from Kashya (a free mercenary) speak with Akara. 
She'll tell you about the Search For Cain quest. First, what you'll need to do 
is go through the Underground Passage to the Dark Wood. You'll find the Passage 
somewhere in the Stony Field, which is beyond the Cold Plains. Take note that 
the difficulty of the monsters picks up a bit in the next few areas. The Passage 
is actually a 2 level dungeon, and it's filled with quite a few monsters. You'll 
actually find the exit to the Dark Wood on level 1, but you can explore level 2 
as well, but its pretty small. 

When you get to the Dark Wood, you need to find the Tree of Inifuss. Once you 
find the tree, touch it and a scroll will drop. Pick it up, and either find the 
Waypoint or use a town portal to return to Akara. She'll explain to you the 
sequence that you need the touch the Cairn Stones in, which she writes onto the 
scroll. Now you need to go back to the Stony Field and find the Cairn Stones. 
Don't worry too much touching a wrong stone in the sequence, nothing will 
happen. After you have activated the stones, a portal to Tristram will open. 

Tristam is a pretty tough battle, so watch out. You'll encounter Griswold, a 
cursed Unique monster, and probably a few "Champion" monsters. Take your time to 
take out the monsters. In the middle of the wrecked town you'll find Cain. Don't 
forget to find Wirt's body, and pick up Wirt's Leg. Return to town and speak 
with Cain and Akara. Cain rewards you by offering to indentify all of you items 
for free from now on. Akara will give you a magical ring. 

Tip: Every once in a while, you will encounter a monster that is "Lightning 
Enchanted". Be extremely careful with these. Each time you hit it, it will 
generate some charged bolts that will deal some serious damage. Keep a close eye 
on your health meter, and be prepared to run away and heal a few times before 
you kill it. 

Act I - Quest 4 

If you found the Moldy Tome in the Dark Wood, then Quest 4 is already activated. 
If you didn't, don't worry, the quest will automatically activate upon entering 
the Tower. The Tower is found in the Black Marsh, beyond the Dark Wood. The 
Tower contains 5, very small levels. You'll find the Countess on level 5, along 
with some Dark Hunters. Try luring the Dark Hunters away from her and take them 
out first. After defeating her, you can open the special chest in the room, 
which contains a lot of gold a items. Don't forget to explore all of level 5, 
because it contains a lot of gold lying on the floor.

Act I - Quest 5 

The fifth quest requires you to recover the Horardric Malus for Charsi. To get 
to the Malus, you need to go past the Black Marsh, through the Tamoe Highland, 
past the Outer Cloister, and into the Barracks. Search the Barracks for the 
Malus. You'll find the Malus guarded by The Smith, an extra strong unique 
monster. Be careful when engaging him in melee combat. It helps to clear out all 
the other pesky monsters before you take him on. Once you have gotten the Malus, 
return to Charsi. For your reward, Charsi will "Imbue" an item of your choice 
with magical power. You can only imbue normal items, no socketed, magic, set, 
rare, or unique items can be imbued. Choose wisely, as she will only do this 
once. 

Tip: You don't have to imbue an item right away. You can actually travel back to 
Act I later on in the game to imbue an item. Make sure you choose the most 
powerful item to imbue from whats available. The best item to imbue is probably 
armor. 

Act I - Quest 6 

The last quest of Act I is for you to kill Andariel. To find her, you'll have to 
fight through a lot of dungeon. To reach her, you must go through the Barracks, 
through the Jail, past the Inner Cloister, and into the Catacombs. The Catacombs 
is a tough, 4 level crawl, with a waypoint on level 2. You should be aim to be 
around level 13-15 before taking on Andariel. Once you get the level 4, you'll 
get a quest log entry telling you to kill Andariel (like we didn't know that). 

Tip: Whenever you think theres a good change that you will die, open a town 
portal so you can return easily. In this case, open a town portal once you reach 
level 4, or on level 3 just by the stairs. 

Level 4 is fairly small, and contains 3 rooms. Once you get down to level 4, 
you'll enter into the smallest room. Clear out the monsters here first, if any. 
Proceed into the next room, and take out all of the monsters. Andariel is 
located in the third, largest room. When ready, open the door, but don't walk 
in. Stay back and wait for Andariel to come after you. Stay in the second room 
and fight her there. You should defeat all of creatures protecting her before 
you focus on Andariel. Andariel uses powerful poison attacks, and has high 
poison resistance. Items that offer poison resistance would be helpful here. 
Keep lots of potions ready, and use continous hit-and-run attacks on her. You 
might actually have to return to town several times to finally put her away. 

Once Andariel is defeated, pick up all the items she drops and return to town. 
You can also clear out the remaining monsters in the third room if you choose. 
Once back in town, talk to Warriv to get the Act II. 
Act II takes place in the city of Lut Gholein. You'll find that Act II is 
noticebly harder than the first act. Once again, there are 6 quests to be 
completed in the act. Be prepared to fight a lot of undead creatures and be 
exposed to a lot of poison attacks during Act II. 

Act II - Quest 1 

You will get your first quest in Act II from Atma, the tavern owner. What you 
will need to do is travel into the sewers and destroy Radament, the monster who 
killed her husband and son. The entrance to the sewers is within the town, right 
by Ghreiz. Radament is located on the third level, and there is a waypoint on 
level 2. You'll know when you are near Radament because your Quest Log will be 
updated. This battle can be tough since Radament can raise his undead guards 
from the dead. Try luring his guards away from him or using cold attacks to 
shatter them. Once defeated, Radament will drop 2 important items, a horadric 
scroll and a book of skill. Make sure you pick up both and return to town. Atma 
will reward you be asking the merchants in town to lower their prices. 

Act II - Quest 2 

Speaking to Cain about the Horadric Scroll will activate the second quest. Quest 
2 actually consists of several parts and spans for most of Act II. First, you 
need to search the Halls of the Dead in the Dry Hills for the Horadric Cube. The 
cube should in a chest on the 3rd level. Beware the presence of Hollow Ones, as 
they can raise the undead. Once you have the cube, return to Cain for more 
information about the cube and its uses. For a list of Horadric Cube recipes go 
here. 

Tip: You can use the cube for extra storage space, just remember to remove extra 
items when transmuting something. 

The next part of the quest is the find the Horadric Shaft. It's located in the 
Maggot Lair in the Far Oasis. The lair contains many narrow pathways, so large 
parties won't be very effective. You'll encounter mainly Sand Maggots (who lay 
eggs to produce sand maggot young) and itches (drains stamina). The stamina 
drain won't effect you much, but you'll want to take out the sand maggots so 
that they can't continually produce sand maggot young. The shaft is found on the 
3rd level in a room with a horde of sand maggots, sand maggot young, eggs, and 
Coldworm the Burrower, a unique monster. This is a pretty tough battle. Don't 
run into the room, instead, stay back in the narrow hallway so that you can deal 
with less monsters at a time. You'll want to take clear out all the young, then 
target the sand maggots, and then finish off any eggs and young left. Coldworm 
doesn't have any attacks, so leave it for the end. Watch out for the poison and 
frost nova it release as it dies. 

Act II - Quest 3 

The third quest actually has the same goal as the last part of quest 2. While 
exploring the Lost City, you'll notice that the sun suddenly dims. Find the 
Valley of the Snakes and enter the Claw Viper Temple. Fight your way into level 
2, where you will find the altar. Destroying the altar will complete quest 3 and 
give you your Horadric Amulet. Put the staff and amulet into the cube and 
transmute them to get the Horadric Staff. You'll need to staff to reach the boss 
of act 2.
Act II takes place in the city of Lut Gholein. You'll find that Act II is 
noticebly harder than the first act. Once again, there are 6 quests to be 
completed in the act. Be prepared to fight a lot of undead creatures and be 
exposed to a lot of poison attacks during Act II. 

Act II - Quest 4 

Talk to Jerhyn after and he will tell you about the Palace Cellar. Enter the 
palace and fight your way down the levels. When you reach Palace Cellar level 3, 
you'll find a portal. Enter this portal to get to the Arcane Sanctuary. This 
area is tough, with very narrow walkways and nasty monters. Try not to stand in 
one place for too long. Keep going until you get a new journal entry. 

Act II - Quest 5 

Eventually you'll encounter a unique monster called The Summoner. Be careful of 
his firewall attacks. Once you've killed him, read Horazon's Journal, this will 
reveal the sign of Tal Rasha's true tomb. Take the portal the the Canyon of the 
Magi. 

Act II - Quest 6 

The Canyon of the Magi contains 7 entrances to Tal Rasha's Tomb, one be the real 
one. The sign of the true tomb is kept in quest log #6. Locate the the entrance 
marked with the true sign and enter. Here you'll find a lot more of what you've 
been encountering through Act 2, but a bit harder. Locate the orifice within the 
tomb. Click on the orifice and put the Horadric Staff into the slot and click 
the checkmark. This will open up the entrance to the boss of Act 2. 

Make sure you are totally prepared before entering Tal Rasha's chamber. The 
biggest problem here is that this area loads incredibly slow, players often die 
before the can even see the boss, Duriel. This is a major problem Hardcore 
characters. As a necromancer, you'll want to have as many minions summoned as 
possible. For other classes, try hiring a mercenary to help take a hit or two. 
Be aware that there isn't much room to run around in the chamber. Duriel is 
alone, but uses a strong melee attack and also uses a cold attack to slow you 
down. If you're really having trouble, your best bet is to take him on with a 
team, with Barbarians and Necromancers leading. A Sorceress with static field 
will help take him down much faster. 

After Duriel is taken care of, explore the chamber and talk the Tyreal. Now 
return to town and talk the Jerhyn. He'll tell you to talk to Meshif to get to 
Act 3.
Act III will take you through the jungles of Kurast. Unlike the open areas of 
Act 1 and II, Act III has more narrow areas that travel along a narrow river. 
You'll likely find that Act III is the hardest to navigate, and Waypoints may be 
a bit harder to find. 

Act III - Quest 1 

Upon arriving in Kurast and making yourself familiar with the NPCs, go ahead and 
travel in the the wilderness. Upon exiting town, you'll find a robed figure 
labelled as the Wanderer, it's not actually him, and he'll disappear while some 
monsters are spawned. Explore the areas until you encounter a unique monster. 
Defeat it, and a Jade Figurine should drop. Return to town and talk to Cain, and 
he'll direct you to talk to Meshif. Meshif will exchange the figurine for a 
golden bird, which you can give to Alkor for a reward. Alkor will give you a 
potion that grants a permanent +20 bonus to your hit points. 

Act III - Quest 2 

Talk to Hratli, and he'll tell you about quest 2. What you need to do is find 
the Gidbinn, which is located in the Flayer Jungle. Eventually you should find a 
shrine that is marked as the Gidbinn. Clicking on it won't actually drop the 
Gidbinn, but actually spawn a unique monster who is carrying it. Defeat him and 
return the Gidbinn to Ormus. Ormus will reward you with a rare ring. Now talk 
the Aheara, who will reward you with a free mercenary. 

Act III - Quest 3 

Much like the horadric staff quest in Act 2, this quest will require you to find 
several items throughout the act. First you need to find Khalim's Eye, which is 
found within the Spider Cavern in the Spider Forest. Next part is the Brain, 
which is in the Flayer Dungeon. The brain should be on level 3, but is guarded 
by a very powerful Shaman, along with some of his Shaman buddies. Be very 
careful if taking these guys on in melee, their flamethrower attack can kill you 
in seconds. Fire resistance would be very nice here. Hit and run as necessary 
until you wear them down. Alternately you can simply lure them far enough from 
the treasure chest and make a run for it. 

The heart is found in the Sewers under the Kurast Bazaar. These sewers can be 
very hard to navigate, and contain a lot of undead creatures similar to those is 
act 2. Fight your way until you get the level 2, which is where the heart is. 
The final part you'll need is the Flail, which is carried by one of the Council 
Members (a group of unique monsters). You'll encounter the high council in 
Tranvical. This area can be very hard if you aren't careful. You'll likey find 
yourself being hit with meteors, blizzards, hydras and such. After defeating the 
council, the flail should drop (defeating the council is also Quest 5). Return 
to Cain for instructions, and then transmute all the relics to form the Will. 
Act III - Quest 4 

Quest 4 is given by Alkor at some point during act 3, and requires to to 
retrieve Lam Esem's Tome for him. You need to explore 6 temples, 2 found in 
Kurast Bazaar, 2 in Upper Kurast, and 2 in Kurast Causeway. You don't actually 
have to explore all six, the Tome is actually always found in the Ruined Temple. 
Returning the Tome to Alkor will net you 5 attribute points for your character. 

Act III - Quest 5 

Quest 5 is requires you to kill the High Council, which is located in Travincal. 
It isn't really much of a quest, and is actually involves the same thing as 
finishing quest 3. 

Act III - Quest 6 

Once you have Khalim's Will, you can venture into Mephisto's Durance. Use the 
Will to smash the Compelling Orb and open up the entrance to the Durance. There 
aren't too many monsters here, but still some very powerful ones. There is a 
waypoint on level 2, and Mephisto is found on level 3. Get prepared before 
entering the 3rd level. On level 3, you'll have to fight 3 more unique monsters 
before taking on Mephisto. Be particularly aware of Bremm Sparkfist, who is 
Lightning Enchanted. It's a very good idea to clear out all the other monsters 
on the level before fighting Mephisto, you don't want to be running away from 
him and run into a group of monsters that you neglected to kill. 

Mephisto's most harmful attacks are lighting based, so lightning resistance 
would be helpful. Character's with low hit point totals should be aware his orb-
like attack, which can kill you in 1 or 2 hits. Mephisto is 100% resistant to 
poison, 50% resistant to fire and lightning, and 25% resistant to Cold. When he 
is defeat, he will drop a soulstone, which you will need in act 4. The Infernal 
Gate is opened, which will take you to act 4.
Act IV takes place in err, well, Hell. Unlike the previous acts, there are only 
3 quests to complete in act 4. Act 4 is the best place to gather gold for 
gambling (armor and war staves, grim wands, and war sceptors with skill bonuses 
are worth the most). If you haven't used your imbue yet, now is the time for 
picking out an item for imbueing. 

Act IV - Quest 1 

Quest one if given by Tyreal, and requires you to find the fallen angel Izual 
and "free" his soul. In other words, you have to kill him. Izual is located in 
the Plains of Despair, and will attack you with a bunch of other monsters. Be 
aware that there are monsters in act 4 that can drain your mana, and use strong 
elemental attacks. This is where your resistances and extremely important. 

Izual has a fairly strong melee attack, and also uses a frost nova to slow you 
down. He shouldn't be too hard, except for a lone sorceress perhaps. Once he's 
defeated, talk to his spirit and return to town. You now get 2 skill points from 
Tyreal. 

Act IV - Quest 2 

Act 2 is recieved from Cain, and involves taking Mephisto's soulstone to the 
Hellforge, which is somewhere in the River of Flame. The River of Flame can be 
rather hard, because the game seems to lag fairly bad while you are there, 
especially upon initially entering the area. You'll know when you've found the 
hellforge because you'll be attacked by Hephasto the Armorer, who is extra 
strong, cursed, and magic resistant. This guy is very tough, and some players 
actually feel that he is harder than the Diablo himself. His melee attack packs 
a big punch, and will curse you when you are hit. If cursed, consider running 
away until the curse wears off, since the curse will allow him to do double 
damage on you. When he is defeated, pick up the hellforge hammer and place the 
soulstone on the hellforge. Smash the soulstone with the hammer, which releases 
several high quality gems and completes act 2.
Act IV - Quest 3 

It's now time to take on the Big D himself. Near the River of Flame waypoint is 
Hadriel, who stands before the entrance to the Chaos Sanctuary. Take it very 
slowly from this point on, the monsters here can deal big damage. It would be 
wise to open a town portal once you enter the Chaos Sanctuary. There are 5 seals 
that you must break in order to fight Diablo. Make sure the area is clear before 
touching any seals, because 3 of them will release a group of monsters, 
including a unique. 

Once all 5 seals are broken, Diablo will emerge at the center of the Chaos 
Sanctuary. Diablo has 50% resistance to fire, lightning, and cold, as well as 
75% resistance to poison. He'll use fire, lightning, and cold attacks, but his 
lightning attacks are the most damaging. In multiplayer, you can run through 
each other's portals to save from continually recasting town portals. Melee 
fighters with a high amount of life steal should be able to stand toe-to-toe 
with the big man at least for a while before needing to heal and recharge. 
Spells like iron maiden or the thorns will cause major damage to Diablo whenever 
he hits with a melee attack. Minions are nice for keeping Diablo's attention 
away from you and your party. Static field is very effective and will knock off 
a large chunk of Diablo's health. 

Eventually, Diablo should fall, and will likely drop some nice items. A counter 
appears on the screen that warns you that the game will automatically finish in 
about one and a half minutes, so don't leave anything that you need on the 
floor. Congratulations! You can now play in Nightmare Mode. In Nightmare Mode, 
you'll play through the game again with stronger monsters and new items 
available. You can also play the Secret Cow Level, for more info go here.