Diablo II

Diablo II
Diablo II cover art
Developer(s)	Blizzard North
Designer(s)	David Brevik Stieg Hedlund Erich Schaefer Max Schaefer Eric Sexton Matt Uelmen (composer)
Series	Diablo
Platform(s)	Windows, Mac OS, Mac OS X
Release	NA/PAL: June 29 2000
Genre(s)	Action role-playing game (hack and slash)
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer

Diablo II, sequel to the game Diablo, is a dark fantasy-themed action role-playing game in a hack and slash and "dungeon roaming" style. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS in Template:Vgy by Blizzard Entertainment, and was developed by Blizzard North.

By April 2001, Diablo II had become one of the most popular online games ever. Major factors that contributed to Diablo II's success include what fans found to be addictive hack and slash gameplay and free access to Battle.net. Diablo II may be played as a single player game, multi-player via a LAN, or multi-player via Battle.net, with the latter being the most popular.

The game was conceptualized and designed by Stieg Hedlund, with Blizzard North founders David Brevik, Max and Eric Shaefer acting as Project Leads for the other disciplines (Engineering, Character Art and Environment Art, respectively). The main production roles were handled by Matthew Householder and Bill Roper.

An expansion to Diablo II, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, was released in Template:Vgy, and is now at version 1.12a. A sequel, Diablo III, was announced on June 28, 2008.

Gameplay

The player assumes the role of a hero, fighting monsters while traversing over land and through dungeons. The storyline of Diablo II is played through four acts. Each act follows a predetermined path with preselected quests, although some quests are optional. Each act culminates with the destruction of a boss monster, upon which the player proceeds to the next act. Battle is conducted in real-time, using a mostly isometric viewpoint. Players fight monsters to level their character up and gain better items.

Diablo II emphasizes combat, and randomly generates many monster properties, level lay-outs and item drops. Most of the maps themselves are randomly generated. In single player mode, the map is randomly generated but locks the setting thereafter; in multiplayer mode, it resets every time the game is restarted.

Diablo II allows the player to choose between five different character classes: Necromancer, Amazon, Barbarian, Sorceress, and Paladin. Each character has different strengths and weaknesses and sets of skills to choose from, as well as varying beginning attributes.

In addition to the four acts there are also three difficulty levels: Normal, Nightmare, and Hell. A character must complete these difficulty levels in order; only once a character completes Normal difficulty can that character play at Nightmare difficulty, and similarly for Hell difficulty. Each difficulty is a greater challenge than the last, with such features as increased creature difficulty, experience penalties upon death, and other challenges. A character retains all abilities, equipment, etc, between difficulties, and may return to earlier difficulties at any time. Upon completion of the game in normal difficulty, a player may create a hardcore character. While for normal players the game doesn't end when they die (as they are resurrected into that act's home town), the game ends when a hardcore character is killed.

Diablo II also has a number of other features that enhance gameplay. The player has the option of hiring one of several computer-controlled mercenaries, that follow the player and attack nearby enemies. On occasion, the player might find a rare, valuable item, or one that is part of a set that becomes more powerful when the entire set is collected. Items can be customized using sockets and gems, or transmuted into different items using the Horadric Cube.

Character classes

File:ClassesindiabloII.jpg

The five character classes in Diablo II as seen during the opening selection animation. From left to right: the Amazon, Necromancer, Barbarian, Sorceress, and Paladin.

Amazon

The Amazon is an "active skill"-oriented fighter who hails from a group of islands in the Twin Seas, near the border of the Great Ocean. Her skills are oriented around personal (generally passive) protective abilities, the use of a bow and arrow (whose abilities are linked with the elements of fire and ice), as well as the spear and javelin (whose abilities are linked with the elements of lightning and poison).

The Amazon is most similar to the Rogue of Diablo: both are primarily associated with bows (and crossbows, in the case of the Amazon), and both are middle points between pure strength and pure magic. The Amazon is different in that she can also use javelins and spears adeptly. The class is loosely based on the Amazons of mythology.

The Amazon is voiced by Jessica Straus.

Barbarian

The Barbarian is a powerful melee-oriented character in Diablo 2, and the only character capable of dual-wielding. The Barbarians originated from the northern steppes near Mount Arreat. His skills are divided into various weapon masteries, warcries, and combat skills. The masteries are purely passive and allow the Barbarian to specialize in different types of weapons and to gain natural speed and resistances. His warcries can enhance his and his party's abilities in combat, reduce the enemy's abilities, frighten the enemy into fleeing and even cause considerable damage to them. The Barbarian's combat skills are attacks that maximize brute force, his greatest asset.

The Barbarians, in Diablo 2, originated from the Northern Highlands, which is where Act 5 of the expansion takes place, and can also be hired as mercenaries in that Act.

The Barbarian was originally conceptualized for Hellfire, the original Diablo "expansion" made by Sierra. The character was not implemented in the final version but was included as a hidden class in the 1.01 patch for Hellfire. The character had the same appearance and speech as the Warrior but had altered statistics and a different ability.

In both nightmare and hell modes, the natural resistance for all characters drop. The Barbarian is the only class that can passively increase his resistance through a skill. Barbarians also can deal massive damage from their Whirlwind, Berserk, and Frenzy skills.

The Barbarian is voiced by David Thomas.

Sorceress

The Sorceress focuses on ranged elemental spells in three areas: Ice, Lightning and Fire. Her Ice spells can chill or even completely freeze affected enemies, but do less damage than Lightning or Fire. Lightning spells can do both very high and very low damage, whereas Fire spells deal more consistent damage.

The spell Teleport essentially defines the sorceress, allowing much faster mobility than any other character. The strong point of the Sorceress is powerful damaging spells and casting speed; her weakness is her relatively low hit points and defense, demanding that the player pay close attention to keep her out of the fray.

Sorceresses are, according to the storyline, a rebellious coven of female witches who have wrested the secrets of magic use from the male-dominated Mage-clans of the East.

The Sorceress is voiced by Liana Young.

Necromancer

The Necromancer is a versatile spellcaster with control over the powers of death. His skills are split into Summoning, Curses, and Poison and Bone spells. Summoning skills allow him to form many skeletal minions from corpses, to temporarily revive deceased monsters to fight along side them , and to create a golem with unique properties. Poison and Bone skills include the Necromancer's direct-damage spells as well as some defensive abilities, while his bone attacks generally cause less raw damage than the Sorceress's spells, they are resisted by very few enemies which allows them to be good against a wide variety of monsters. Curse skills serve a supportive role by inflicting a status ailment upon enemies in their area of effect, allowing for very powerful strategies when used with skills from other trees. All classes can take advantage of curse effects in multiplayer.

A signature Necromancer ability is Corpse Explosion, which violently creates a burst of gore and flame by destroying the body of a fallen enemy.

According to the story line, Necromancers are the priests of the cult of Rathma from the far Eastern jungles.

The Necromancer is voiced by Michael McConnohie.

Paladin

The Paladin is a member of religious warriors fighting for the glory of light and all that is good. They hail from the Church of Zakarum in the east. To reflect this, the zealous Paladin's combat skills range from fanatical attacks to heavenly thunderbolts. His skills are split into combat skills, defensive auras, and offensive auras, the latter two of which can enhance personal abilities, lower the amount of damage dealt by enemies or recover health. These auras are helpful in a multiplayer game as many of them can be used to upgrade all of the party's stats. Most auras require no mana and this makes a Paladin a very economic character as the paladin needs to spend little to nothing on mana recovery.

The knights of Zakarum are highly proficient in the use of a shield, both as a weapon and with greatly enhanced defensive capabilities. The Paladin is the best with defensive skills and is also the best if the player wishes to passively weaken enemies. Some of the Paladin's skills are extremely efficient at eliminating the undead.

The Paladin is voiced by Larry B. Scott.

Multiplayer

Unlike the original Diablo, Diablo II was made specifically with online gaming in mind. Several spells (such as auras or war cries) multiply their effectiveness if they are cast within a party, and dungeons, although they still exist, were largely replaced by open spaces.

Multiplayer is achieved through Blizzard's Battle.net free online service, or via a LAN. Battle.net is divided into "Open" and "Closed" realms. Players may play their single-player characters on open realms; characters in closed realms are stored on Blizzard's servers, as a measure against cheating, where they must be played every 90 days to avoid expiration. Online play is otherwise nearly identical to single-player play. The most notable difference is that online maps are generated randomly, with a new map for every game a player enters -- but offline, single player maps are retained in computer memory, but only for a single difficulty setting at a time. For example, you play on normal, complete it, and start playing nightmare. Now the maps for nightmare difficulty level are saved instead. If you choose to play on normal again with the same character, new maps are regenerated and the saved nightmare maps discarded.

As the game can be played cooperatively (Players vs. Monsters, PvM), groups of players with specific sets of complementary skills can finish some of the game's climactic battles in a matter of seconds, providing strong incentives for party-oriented character builds. Up to eight players can be in one game; they can either unite as a single party, play as individuals, or form multiple opposing parties. Experience; monsters' hitpoints (both the damage required to kill a given monster, and the amount of damage the monster can inflict); and the number of items dropped, are increased as more players join a game.

Players are allowed to duel each other with all damage being reduced in player vs player (PvP). The bounty for a successful kill in PvP is a portion of the gold and the "ear" of the defeated player (with the previous owner's name and level at the time of the kill).

Patch 1.10 included the option of playing with a ladder character. The ladder system can be reset at various intervals to allow for all players to start fresh with new characters on an equal footing. Ladder seasons have lasted from as short as nine months to over a year. When a ladder season ends the ladder population is transferred to the non-ladder population with all items that player is holding. Certain rare items and rune words are available only within ladder games, although they can be traded for and exchanged on non-ladder after the season has ended.

There have been 22 or more patches since the latest, Jun 17, 2008 2:26pm CST. Through the patch history, several exploits and issues have been addressed (such as illegal item duplication), as well as major revamps to the game's balance. Not all patches have affected Diablo II directly, as several were designed to address issues in the expansion to the game and had minimal effects on Diablo II. The game is currently in version 1.12. The exact real number of patches is impossible to determine as Battle.net has the capability of making minor server-side patches to address immediate issues.

Story

File:Tyrael.png

Tyrael, an archangel seen in the Pandemonium Fortress.

The story of Diablo II takes place after the end of the previous game, Diablo, in the lands of Sanctuary where Diablo, the Lord of Terror, was defeated by an unnamed warrior. The hero who slew Diablo drove the demon's soulstone into his forehead in an attempt to contain him, but in the end, Diablo's soul was too strong for him, thus corrupting him. The player is an adventurer appearing in the wake of the destruction caused by Diablo, who attempts to find out the cause of the destruction, starting with the corrupted warrior. As the player continues through each of the four acts, he faces off against the Great Evils, superpowers of Hell, and learns of the truth behind the corruption. Diablo released Mephisto, Lord of Hatred, and Baal - Lord of Destruction, from their soulstones and were taught how to corrupt them by the fallen angel Izual. In the end, the player eventually reaches and slays Mephisto and Diablo. The story continues in the expansion to the game, where the player chases after the last of the Greater Evils; Baal, Lord of Destruction.

Major characters

Protagonists

• The Adventurer [Player]

An unnamed adventurer who arrives at a rogue encampment in the aftermath of Diablo's movement to free his brothers. The adventurer gradually becomes stronger while searching for the cause of the destruction. He/she travels throughout the land of Sanctuary, eventually ending in the depths of hell and facing off against the Lord of Terror himself.

• Deckard Cain

The last surviving member of the Horadrim clan, Cain is an old man who supported the adventurers in Diablo with information regarding anything, from tips to demons. He is also the only survivor when Diablo destroys Tristram, the city where Diablo originally resided before he was killed, and is saved by the adventurer. In Diablo II, he travels with the adventurer and offers hints on how to proceed with quests and can identify items, as well as information of the history of Sanctuary.

• Tyrael

Tyrael is an Archangel who rebelled against heaven in order to teach the Horadrim how to seal the Prime Evils's souls into soulstones, thereby trapping them for eternity. He is captured by Baal after he fails to stop Diablo from releasing Baal and eventually freed by the adventurer. He comes back when the adventurer reaches the Pandemonium Fortress, the last bastion before Hell, to offer his protection.

Antagonists

• Blood Raven

Blood Raven is a rogue who has been corrupted by Andariel to guard the Burial Grounds in Act 1. The head of the Rogues requests that the Adventurer kill her.

• The Summoner

The Summoner is a sorcerer who has taken over the Arcane Sanctuary in Act 2. He must be killed to gain access to the Canyon of the Magi.

• The Dark Wanderer

Featured in the movies accompanying the game, the Dark Wanderer acts behinds the scenes, setting the events in the story in motion. Described by NPCs the Adventurer meets, he is briefly encountered in Act 3 the first time the Adventurer exits Kurast. He wears a hooded brown version of the Horadrim cloak that Deckard Cain wears, and is seen dragging a sword in the movies.

• Izual

Izual is an angel corrupted by the Prime Evils to destroy the Hellforge. He taught the Prime Evils how to corrupt the soulstones, allowing them to harness them for additional power. Tyrael requests that the Adventurer kill him. He is encountered in the Plains of Despair in Act 4.

File:Diablo.PNG

Diablo, the Lord of Terror.

The Greater Evils

• Diablo, Lord of Terror

The namesake of the series, antagonist of the first game, and youngest of the three Prime Evils (three brothers). Diablo is a powerful demon lord who is not only strong in close combat, but can use fire, lightning, and bone to decimate his enemies. Diablo is considered to have an affinity for fire. Diablo was slain in the first game, and the warrior who killed him plunged the shard of Soulstone formerly in Prince Albrecht into his own head. The Adventurer searches for and finds him in Act 4, in the Chaos Sanctuary.

• Baal, Lord of Destruction

Baal is a powerful demon who is both strong in magic and muscle. While he prefers to use his own minions to fight, he can use curses, ice magic, and arcane energy. Baal is considered to have an affinity for ice. Baal was trapped in the body of a Horadrim sorcerer named Tal Rasha and imprisoned in a tomb in the Canyon of the Magi. The Adventurer searches for him in Act 2, but does not find him until Diablo II: Lord of Destruction.

• Mephisto, Lord of Hatred

Mephisto was able to break free from his own soulstone after being the first of the three to have been sealed by the Horadrim, and began his campaign to corrupt the jungles of Kurast. Mephisto influenced the Zakarum, high priests of Kurast, and using shards of his soulstone, corrupted the high priests, taking the strongest of the priests, Sankekur, for his own body, essentially resurrecting himself. He uses the Zakarum to gather information and to spread his influence throughout Sanctuary. The demon is also in control of the gates to hell. Mephisto is the eldest of the brothers, and while he is not a fighter, has a wide array of lightning, ice, and poison magic. Mephisto is considered to have an affinity for lightning. The Adventurer searches for and finds him in Act 3, in the Durance of Hate.

The Lesser Evils All command large forces of demons, undead, and monsters. Each one of the Lesser Evils was given an objective to further Hell's presence in Sanctuary.

• Andariel, Maiden of Anguish

Encountered in Act 1's Catacomb. Corrupted the Rogues. Uses poison attacks.

• Duriel, Lord of Pain

Encountered in Act 2. Uses ice attacks and strong physical attacks.

• Azmodan (Lord of Sin), and Belial (Lord of Lies) are mentioned in the game, but their objectives are unknown.

Easter eggs

Secret Cow Level

The "Secret Cow Level" is the result of a running joke from the original Diablo that spawned from an Internet rumor about a cow which appears in the game, seemingly without purpose. Supposedly, if the cow was clicked on a certain number of times, a portal to a secret level would open. The rumor was a hoax, but the legend was born, and player after player asked Blizzard about how to access the level.

In Diablo: Hellfire, an add-on for Diablo created by third-party developer Synergistic Software, it was possible to change a parameter in a specific text file (Command.txt), so that the farmer who gives out the "rune bomb" quest was dressed in a cow suit, with appropriate new dialogue ("Moo." "I said Moo!"). This added fuel to the fire. To kill the rumor, Blizzard included a cheat (that automatically won the game) in StarCraft that read "There is no cow level", this being Blizzard's way of officially confirming that there was, in fact, no Cow Level. Among online game enthusiasts, this phrase has become an Internet joke similar to the phrase There Is No Cabal.

On April 1, 1999, a Diablo II Screenshot of the Week featured cows fighting. People wondered if the screenshot was an April Fool's joke or if there really was a Secret Cow Level planned for Diablo II. It turned out that there was a cow level. To access the level, one must kill Diablo (or, in Lord of Destruction, kill Baal), return to Rogue Encampment in Act I within the same difficulty level, and then transmute Wirt's Leg with a Tome of Town Portal in the Horadric Cube. This will open a portal to the secret level. There is an item set named "The Cow King's Leathers" (in Lord of Destruction only) which may only be collected in this secret level. When a player kills the cow king, the player who opened the cow level becomes unable to reopen the portal to the level on that difficulty level if he is in the game.

Sometimes during an old version of the World of Warcraft loading screen, the tip is: "There is no cow level" - similar to the cheat in Starcraft.

Chat Gem

There is a purple chat gem that is only visible when inside a chat channel. There are many theories about the purpose of this gem. There is, however, no verified purpose for this gem aside from a meaningless message. The gem toggles between an active and inactive state. When activated, a chat message appears stating, "Gem Activated" and likewise, a message "Gem Deactivated" is shown when it becomes inactive. It is also known to say "Mooooooo!" and "Perfect Gem Activated" on random, rare occasions. The official Multiplayer FAQ noted that "[the gem] is working correctly and has more than exceeded our expectations". It wasn't until much later in a fan-chat where Bill Roper revealed that the secret about the gem is that it has no secret, "Sometimes a Gem is just a Gem!"

The gem has been spotted in the Diablo III page at the Blizzard website.

Reception

File:D2ce-box-back.jpg

Diablo II Collector's Edition contents.

Diablo II was a runaway success for Blizzard. The game has achieved an overall score of 88 on Metacritic. Gamespy awarded the game an 86 out of 100, IGN awarded the game an 8.3 out of 10, and Gamespot awarded the game an 8.5 out of 10 along with earning the 2000 runner-up Reader's Choice Award for role-playing game of the year. It was awarded a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records 2000 edition for being the fastest selling computer game ever sold, with more than 1 million units sold in the first two weeks of availability; according to the 2008 Guinness Gamer's Edition, the title still holds the record. As of August 292001, Diablo II has sold 4 million copies worldwide. The game has received the "Computer Game of the Year", "Computer Role Playing Game of the Year", and "Game of the Year" awards from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences at the 2001 Interactive Achievement Awards.

Diablo II: Diablerie

In 2000, a tabletop adaptation of Diablo II was published by Wizards of the Coast entitled Diablo II: Diablerie, using the d20 System.

References

• BlueNews news article[1]
• Inside Mac games news article[2]
• GameZone news article[3]
• Internet Movie Database[4]
• CVG interview with Bill Roper, [5]

External links

• Official Site
• The Arreat Summit, official Strategy Guide
• Diablo Wiki