User manual GAMES PC DIABLO II

TM Copyright © 2000 by Blizzard Entertainment. All rights reserved. The use of this software product is subject to the terms of the enclosed End User License Agreement. You must accept the End User License Agreement before you can use the product. Use of Blizzard's online gaming network, Battle.net, is subject to your acceptance of the Battle.net Terms of Use Agreement. StarCraft and Brood War are trademarks and Diablo, Battle.net, Blizzard Entertainment and Warcraft are trademarks or registered trademarks of Havas Interactive, Inc. and/or its wholly owned subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or other countries. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Pentium is registered trademark of Intel Corporation. Dolby and the double-D symbol are trademarks of Dolby Laboratory. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. THE ADEPT (INITIATE, PART II) "I have walked the paths; the shadowed roads that led to terror's breast. I have plumbed the depths of Hatred's womb and scaled Destruction's crest. For every secret left unveiled, for every power learned, I'd sell the remnants of my soul, regardless how it burned. And still I sought a higher wisdom few could have attained. `Though I found it, it would leave me - broken, damned and drained. For now I find this power gained is more unto a curse. My spirit burns with every spell and each irreverent verse. Despite this strength and knowledge earned, I have paid a heavy toll, Never should've traded power for my own immortal soul." ­ C. Vincent Metzen Uses Bink Video. Copyright © 1997-2000 by RAD Game Tools, Inc. + Table of Contents + Getting Started (PC) Troubleshooting (PC) Getting Started (Mac) Tutorial Game Menus Controlling Your Character Getting Around Town Developing Your Character The Amazon The Barbarian The Necromancer The Paladin The Sorceress Skills and Abilities Amazon Skills Barbarian Skills Necromancer Skills Paladin Skills Sorceress Skills Getting Started (PC) 5 6 7 9 13 17 24 28 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 50 55 60 65 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Computer: DiabloTM II requires an IBM® PC or 100% compatible computer, with a Pentium® 233 MHz or better processor. Your computer must have at least 32 megabytes of RAM for single player and 64 megabytes RAM for multi-player or for enhanced 3D graphic features. Operating System: You must be running Windows® 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 (with service pack 5), or Windows 2000 (running with local Administrator privileges) to play Diablo II on your system. Controls: A keyboard and a 100% Microsoft®-compatible mouse are required. Diablo II is not designed to work with game pads or joysticks. Drives: A 4X speed CD-ROM drive and a hard drive with 650 MB of disk space available (single-player) or 950 MB of disk space (multi-player) are required. Video: Diablo II requires an SVGA monitor and a video card compatible with DirectDraw®. You must have DirectX® 6.1 or higher installed on your system to play the game (DirectX 7.0a is included on the Diablo II Install Disc). Diablo II also supports enhanced graphics features when using a 3D accelerator card compatible with the Direct3D® or Glide® APIs. In order to use these enhanced graphic features your 3D card must have at least 8 megabytes of texture RAM. Sound: Diablo II works with any DirectX 6.1 or higher compatible sound card. To play the game music, your sound card must be configured for playing digital audio. Some sound cards compatible with EAX® and EAX2® sound extensions are also supported. Multi-player Connectivity: Access to Blizzard Entertainment's® on-line gaming service, Battle.net®, requires a low latency Internet connection with support for 32-bit applications and rated at 28.8 Kbps or faster. Multi-player games played over a LAN require a TCP/IP network. INSTALLATION OF DIABLO II Place the Diablo II Install Disc into your CD-ROM drive. If your computer is AutoPlay capable, the Diablo II Installer menu will automatically appear on the screen. Select "Install Diablo II" from the list to start the installation process. Follow the on-screen instructions. After the game is successfully installed, a Diablo II shortcut is added to your Start menu. If your system is not AutoPlay capable, open the "My Computer" icon on your Desktop, then select the drive letter that represents your CD-ROM drive. Double-click on the "Setup" icon and continue as set forth in the paragraph above. INSTALLATION OF DIRECTX Make sure that the Diablo II Install Disc is in your CD-ROM drive. When you begin the instal0 lation process, Diablo II automatically detects whether you have DirectX. Should you need to update your version of DirectX or install it for the first time, you will be prompted to do so. As Diablo II cannot be played without DirectX, we recommend installing DirectX immediately should you be so directed. If you experience any problems with Diablo II, please see our Troubleshooting section before attempting to contact technical support. Getting Started (PC) 5 Items Map of Sanctuary Encyclopaedia Sanctuaria The Western Kingdoms The Great Deserts of Aranoch Kehjistan and Kurast The Undead 70 80 81 82 84 87 89 Credits 90 Diablo II Quick Reference 98 Troubleshooting (PC) Diablo II requires that you have Microsoft's DirectX® 6.1 or higher installed and that your video and sound cards are DirectX® 6.1 compatible. DirectX® 7.0a is included on the Diablo II Install Disc and can be installed by running "Install DirectX® 7" from the list of Installer options. The most common problems with DirectX® games are old or outdated device drivers for your sound card and video card. If you have problems with Diablo II, you should first contact your video and sound card manufacturer (either through their web sites or over the telephone) for information on obtaining the latest drivers. You can find the most up-to-date troubleshooting information in the Support HTML files included on the Install Disc. Click the "Support" link in the Installer menu to access this information. I'm trying to run Diablo II under Windows 2000, but it won't recognize my CD In Windows 2000, you must be logged in as a user with Administrative privileges on your local machine in order for the game to properly install and play. I'm using Windows NT 4.0, but the video test fails Make sure you have Service Pack 5 or greater installed. You can find the latest Service Packs on Microsoft's web site at http://support.microsoft.com I'm using Windows NT 4.0, and have a 3D card, but the video test won't give me the option to run in Direct 3D You must have a Glide capable card to run in 3D mode under Windows NT 4.0. Direct3D cards are not supported under this operating system. I do not have any video when I start Diablo II This problem is usually attributed to older, or incompatible DirectX® or Glide drivers. Diablo II runs in 640x480 mode during gameplay, and 800x600 mode in Game Menus and Battle.net screens. Some video cards have a problem with DirectX® automatically switching between resolutions. Make sure you have the latest drivers for your video card installed on your system, and that Windows has the correct settings to recognize your monitor. Diablo II loads, but after playing for a while, I receive a DirectSound Error, DirectDraw Error, or Page Fault These issues are directly attributed to both the DirectSound and DirectDraw drivers that are in use on your system. To correct these problems, you will want to obtain the latest DirectX® compatible video drivers from your video card manufacturer. If this problem persists, please contact our Technical Support department or check the Online Support portion of our web site at www.blizzard.co.uk I am not hearing any music or sound effects in Diablo II. Make sure that your sound card is compatible with DirectX® 6.1 or higher. Sound cards that are not supported under Microsoft's DirectX® will not work with Diablo II. Install DirectX® 7.0a from the Diablo II Install Disc. You should also contact your sound card manufacturer to obtain the latest drivers for your system and information on installing them. I keep hearing static, echoes, or feedback during the game. This usually occurs with older sound card drivers. Contact your sound card manufacturer and obtain the latest drivers. You also may want to check your mixer settings by opening the Start menu and then opening the Programs, Accessories, and Multimedia folders in that order. Select the "Volume Control" option. You may now adjust your mixer settings by moving the sliders up or down. Why am I only getting a black screen when I start Diablo II? Either your video card is not DirectX® compatible, or you are using an older version of DirectX®. You will need to install DirectX® 7.0a from the Diablo II Install Disc and/or obtain DirectX®-compatible drivers from your video card manufacturer. Will Diablo II work on my Cyrix M2, AMD K6-2, Athlon, or other Pentium 233 equivalent or better computer? Yes, but Cyrix processors must be at least 250mhz. Can I run Diablo II on system that's slower than 233 MHz? Diablo II has been optimized to run best on a Pentium 233 or faster processor. While systems slower than a Pentium 233 may run the game, it may not run properly or at playable speeds. Is there any way to play the full version of Diablo II without the CD? No. You must have the Diablo II Play Disc in your CD-ROM drive in order to play the game. My CD keeps spinning up and down as I play the game, slowing down my system. CD-ROM drives that spin-down frequently can cause pauses when data is accessed, as the CD must spin back up to speed before the required information can be accessed from the disk. This may inadvertantly happen if you've turned off streaming music from the in-game sound option menu. Keeping streaming music active (even if it's at a very low volume level) prevents the CD from spinning down and makes access more efficient. Can I install Diablo II to a compressed drive? Yes. However, we do not recommend this as game performance may suffer. 6 Getting Started (Mac) SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Computer: Diablo II: Lord of Destruction requires a Mac OS® computer with a G3 processor or better and 64 megabytes of physical RAM plus Virtual Memory (128 megabytes of RAM recommended). Multi-player games require 128 megabytes of physical RAM plus Virtual Memory. Operating System: Diablo II: Lord of Destruction requires System 8.1 or higher. Controls: A keyboard and mouse are required. If you have a multi-button mouse, make sure you have selected the check box for "Use Multi-Button Mouse" in the start-up options dialogue. Diablo II: Lord of Destruction is not designed to work with gamepads or joysticks. Drives: A 4X speed CD-ROM drive and a hard drive are required. In order to play Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, you must have the multi-player installation of Diablo II already on your hard drive (950 megs) as well as the Diablo II: Lord of Destruction installation (800 megs). Therefore, a total of 1.75 gigabytes of space must be available on your hard drive to install all of the required files. Video: Diablo II: Lord of Destruction requires that your computer support an 800x600 display at 256 colors. Diablo II: Lord of Destruction also supports enhanced graphic features when using a card with OpenGL (version 1.1.2 or higher), Rave, or 3Dfx support. In order to run with these enhanced graphic features, your 3D card must have at least 8 megabytes of RAM. Sound: Diablo II: Lord of Destruction will work with any Mac OS-compatible system's built-in sound capabilities. Multi-player Connectivity: Access to Blizzard's online gaming service, Battle.net, requires a low-latency Internet connection that can support 32-bit applications and is rated at 28.8 Kbps or faster. Multi-player games played over a LAN require connection to a TCP/IP network. INSTALLATION OF DIABLO II: LORD OF DESTRUCTION In order to install Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, you must already have the original Diablo II installed on your system. If you have not installed Diablo II, please refer to the installation instructions in your Diablo II manual. Once you have correctly installed the original Diablo II on your system, place the Diablo II: Lord of Destruction disc into your CD-ROM drive. Double-click on the Diablo II CD icon, and then double-click on the "Lord of Destruction Installer" to copy the required game and system files to your hard drive. If you experience any problems with Diablo II or Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, please see the Troubleshooting (Mac) section in your Diablo II manual before contacting Blizzard's technical support department. Troubleshooting Getting star (Mac) 7 Tutorial BEFORE YOU CALL FOR TECHNICAL SUPPORT If you are having problems, please consult the Troubleshooting section before calling technical support. We receive many calls every day and can deal with your inquiry more efficiently if you know the following information: + + + + The manufacturer of your computer and its CPU type/speed How much RAM your system has The version and type of operating system that you are using The manufacturer and model of your video card, sound card, and modem BEFORE YOU START A quick note on terminology: Throughout this manual there are some terms with which you might be unfamiliar. Since much of your interaction in the game is accomplished by using your mouse, you should be fluent with some mouse-specific expressions. The phrases "click" or "left-click" refer to quickly pressing and releasing the button on the top, left side of your mouse. The phrase "right-click" indicates pressing and releasing the top, right-hand mouse button. A "double-click" means to rapidly click the top left mouse button twice. Some modern mice have three or more buttons on them. There are special instructions regarding the operation of these mice later on in the manual. Note to Macintosh users: Wherever the manual refers to a "right-click," users with a single-button mouse can hold down the Command key (z) while clicking to achieve the same functionality. If you own a multi-button programmable mouse, you can configure the behavior of the additional buttons using the in-game Options menu. When pressing a key on the keyboard duplicates an action that would normally require you to use the mouse to click something on the screen, that key is called a "hotkey". In this manual, when we refer to an action that has a hotkey shortcut, we will print the hotkey in bold text. For example, the hotkey for setting the default of your character from "walk" to "run" is the "R" key. STARTING THE GAME After installing Diablo II onto your computer (refer to the "Getting Started" section of the manual), make sure the Diablo II Play Disc is in your CD-ROM drive. If your computer is Autoplay-enabled, a Diablo II menu with a list of options pops up after you insert the Play Disc. If Autoplay is not enabled you can get to this screen by opening the "My Computer" icon and double-clicking on your CD-ROM icon. Locate the "Setup" program and double-click on that icon. Once the Diablo II menu appears, select the "Play Diablo II" option from the list of choices. CHOOSING A CHARACTER After Diablo II has loaded, select the "Single Player" option. This takes you to the Character Selection screen where you select a character from a list of those that you have previously created. However, since this is your first time playing, you don't yet have any characters. Select "New Character" and either click on "OK" or simply press the Enter key when "New Character" is highlighted. This takes you to the Character Creation screen. First, choose the class of your character. This screen depicts five heroes standing around a campfire, each one representing a different character type, or class. Each class has its own strengths and weaknesses and possesses a distinctly different skill set. Detailed information on each class can be found in the Character Types section of the manual. For now choose the Amazon by clicking on the blonde female warrior in leather armor on the far left. She steps forward and you are 8 Support Contact Tutorial 9 prompted to give your new character a name. Once you have typed in a name, press Enter or click on the "OK" button and your game will load. Note: When creating characters, it is important to note that the "Character Name" must be between 2 and 15 characters. Characters Names may only have upper and lower case letters (A-Z). In addition, names may have one dash ( - ) or one underscore ( _ ) as long as it is not the first or last character of the name. Finally, there are no spaces and no numbers allowed in Diablo II Character Names. Once she is done speaking, a Quest Icon appears in the lower left of the play screen, indicating that Akara has given you a Quest. The Quest Icon appears whenever you are given a new quest or whenever a major event has occurred toward completing an existing one. Quests are missions that help the story of Diablo II unfold and, in completing these quests, the player advances closer and closer to unraveling the mysteries within the game. Quests are given to you by NPCs or are triggered by events while adventuring. Clicking on the red Quest Icon brings up your Quest Log, which keeps track of the quests you have been assigned, the status of current quests, which quests you have completed and how many quests are remaining in the current act. You can access the Quest Log whenever you wish by clicking on the Quest Log button on the Mini-panel or by hitting the Q key. You can close the log by hitting the button or Q key again or by pressing the Esc key or spacebar. ENTERING THE WORLD Once the game has loaded you will find your new character standing in the middle of the base camp for the displaced Sisters of the Sightless Eye (the Rogues from the original Diablo game). Your initial starting points for each of the four acts in Diablo II are referred to as "towns." Nothing can hurt you within the walls of a town and you cannot hurt anyone else. The game starts with a prompt to open the Help Screen overlay. Click on the "Help" button to bring up this screen. The Help Screen points out the various functions of the interface bar as well as some important hotkey shortcuts. Once you have familiarized yourself with these commands, click the "Close" button in the upper right portion of the Help Screen. (Whenever you want to see the Help Screen again, simply press the H key.) After you close the Help Screen, a man in a blue shirt approaches you with a yellow thought bubble containing an exclamation point over his head. His name is Warriv and the exclamation point indicates that he has something important to tell you. Characters in the game that you can talk to and interact with (other than in combat) are called Non-Player Characters, or NPCs. They provide important information and vital services to your character as you play the game. Click on Warriv. Your Amazon will approach him and he will tell you about some of the recent events in the area. Listen to what he has to say (although, if you have played before, you can hit the Esc key or the spacebar to skip an NPC's dialog). When Warriv is done, click on him again. A small menu appears near him. This is the Interaction Menu, where you receive information and services from the NPCs throughout the game. Take a moment to navigate through the Interaction Menu and become familiar with its options. Follow Warriv's suggestion that you find and talk to Akara. ADVENTURING IN THE WILDERNESS Now that you have been given your first quest, it's time to get to it. Open your Automap again and look for the break in the walls of the camp. Once you have found it, start walking toward the break until you come to the camp's gate. As your character passes through the gate, notice that she takes on a more aggressive posture and that the Action Icons on the interface bar lose their red hue, indicating that they are now active. This change also tells you that you have left the safe zone of the town. Watch out! You are now fair game to the monsters that roam the wilderness. To make sure that they don't catch you unprepared, let's cover the basics of combat. Your Amazon starts off armed with a few javelins, which can be used both in melee combat and as ranged weapons. MELEE COMBAT Wander around outside the town until you encounter a monster (it shouldn't take too long). Now, position the cursor over the monster you wish to attack. The monster glows slightly and information about the creature displays at the top of the screen. In this way, you can always tell which monster you have targeted for your attack. Once you have targeted the beast, left-click on the creature and hold the mouse button down. Your Amazon approaches and begins to attack. The attack continues until the monster dies or you release the mouse button. RANGED COMBAT Once the creature is slain, let go of the mouse button. You can change the action of the left and right mouse buttons through the use of the Action Icons located near the left and right sides of the Interface Bar. Ready the Throw skill by clicking on your left Action Icon and then left-clicking on the Throw skill. Now, find and target another monster. This time hold the Shift key down when you left-click to attack. Your character stands her ground and throws the javelin at the monster. Keep in mind that although you are standing still, the monsters will continue to approach, so position your Amazon at a safe distance before hurling missiles at them. Also remember that ranged weapons are used up as you attack ­ don't forget to keep track of your supply of javelins. As you wound a monster, the red bar behind its name shortens. This is an easy way to keep track of how much damage you are inflicting against the monster. Each character class develops different skills while advancing through the game. While many of these skills add new ways to attack an enemy (explained elsewhere in the manual), the basics outlined here form the foundation of the combat system in Diablo II. GETTING A QUEST AND USING THE AUTOMAP Since Akara is not in the immediate vicinity, use your Automap to locate her. Open the Automap by clicking on the "Automap" button on the Mini-panel or by pressing the Tab key. The Mini-panel is the group of small golden buttons to the center and just above the interface bar on the lower portion of the screen. (The Mini-panel, as well as the rest of the interface, is discussed in greater detail in a later section of this manual). You can close the Automap by clicking its button a second time, by hitting the Tab key again, or by pressing the Esc key or the spacebar. While the Automap is on, a translucent map is superimposed over the play screen and displays the town, as well as any other areas that your character has explored. The blue "X" in the middle of the Automap represents your character. Any white"Xs" represent major NPCs and are named for easy reference. Locate the "X" with the name Akara, and move your Amazon towards her by clicking on the ground in the direction you wish her to walk. You can also click and hold the mouse button down in the direction you want to go and the Amazon continues to walk in that direction until you release the mouse button. When you get near Akara, click on her and listen to what she has to say. 10 Tutorial Tutorial 11 TREASURE When a monster dies, it often drops an item. To pick it up, simply left-click on the item. Your character walks up to the item and puts it in her inventory. Some items, such as weapons and armor, are automatically equipped provided that your character is not already equipped with a similar item. Items can also be found in chests, barrels, jars or other hiding places, so be sure to search them all by clicking on them. A word of warning however! Some containers are trapped, and a distinctive warning sound will alert you to the danger. Some chests are locked and will require a key. You can find keys while adventuring or by purchasing them from an NPC merchant in town. Game Menus MAIN MENU When you first launch Diablo II, the game displays the Blizzard Entertainment and Blizzard North logos, plays the Act I cinematic, and after displaying the Diablo II title screen, presents you with the Main Menu. The main menu presents you with these options: Single Player - Select this option to play aSingle Player game. Battle.net - Select this option to play Diablo II on a Battle.net Realm. Other Multi-player - Select this option to play a Multi-player game over a network. You can play Multi-player games on the Internet over Battle.net, or via Direct TCP/IP connection. See the Multi-player section for details. Credits - Select this option to view the list of credits. Cinematics - Select this option to view the Cinematics of the Acts you have completed. Exit Diablo II - Exits the game and returns to the Desktop DEATH Much like in real life, death is something you should strive to avoid in Diablo II. If your Life rating is reduced to zero during the game, you have died. When this happens, your character falls to the ground and you lose a portion of your gold. A message is displayed informing you that you have died, prompting you to press the Esc key. When you press the Esc key you will restart in town. However, your corpse remains at the location where you died. You will have to return to your corpse in order to retrieve the gear that you had equipped when you died. When you find your corpse again (hint: when you are near it, your corpse appears as the purple "X" on your Automap) left-click on it to re-equip your items. You should also collect any gold you might have dropped when you died. When you are once again girt for battle, it is time to exact a furious vengeance upon the monsters that struck you down, just be more careful this time. If your corpse is located in an area where it is too dangerous to retrieve, or if you simply can't find your body, you can simplify matters by exiting and re-entering the game. When you do so, your corpse and all of its items will appear near your starting location in town. The drawback to this method is that you will lose any gold that your character had dropped upon death. You now have a grasp of the key elements to playing the game. Have fun and good luck! IN-GAME OPTIONS While playing the game, you can access several options from the Game Menu. To display the Game Menu, click the "Game Menu" button on the Mini-Panel or press the Esc key. In Single Player, activating the Game Menu also pauses the game. The Game Menu allows you to adjust the various video, audio, automap, and control settings of the game. The Game Menu also allows you to exit the game back to the Main Menu. When the Game Menu is activated you are presented with several choices: Options - Clicking on `Options' allows you to access the Sound, Video, Automap, and Control Configuration submenus. See details at the end of this section. Save and Exit Game - In Single Player this option saves your character's current game and exits to the Main Menu. In Battle.net games this option returns you to the Battle.net chatroom. In Diablo II, it isn't necessary to explicitly save your game, as your character is automatically saved periodically, and when you exit the game. 12 Tutorial Game Menus 13 Single Player games save your character information as well as world layout, automap, quests, and waypoints. Neither your location, nor the monsters, nor any items outside your character's inventory or stash are saved. When you start up a Single Player game again with the same character, you will start back in town. However, your automap and world layout are preserved, along with your inventory, stash, quests, and waypoints. In a Multi-player game, your character information, inventory, stash, quests, and waypoints are stored. However, the world and automap are not stored since starting a Multi-player game creates a new random world layout. If you die and leave the game without retrieving your corpse, you will find your corpse near your starting location when you start a new game. When playing on a Realm in Battle.net, your character is saved on Blizzard's server, and not on your computer. In all other cases, your character is stored as a file on your own computer. Return to Game - This option closes the Game Menu. The "Audio and Text" option plays the NPC speech and displays the text, too. The "Audio" option plays the NPC speech, but displays no text. The "Text" option displays the NPC text, but doesn't play the speech. Previous Menu - Returns you to the main Game Menu. VIDEO OPTIONS Lighting Quality ­ Lighting quality has three settings: Low, Medium and High. When set to High, lighting is smoothest. Blended Shadows - Turning this option ON makes shadows translucent. Perspective - Available only with a Direct3D or Glidecapable 3D-accelerated video card, perspective mode adds a parallax scrolling effect to game play, giving the graphics a greater feeling of depth. Gamma - The Gamma slider adjusts the overall brightness and contrast of the graphics in the game. The default setting should be fine for most video cards. If the game appears too dark, move the slider to the right to brighten it. Previous Menu - Returns you to the main Game Menu. NOTE: For the fastest graphics performance on your computer, set the VIDEO OPTIONS as follows: LIGHTING QUALITY: LOW BLENDED SHADOWS: OFF PERSPECTIVE: OFF OPTIONS From the Options screen, you may modify the following system options in Diablo II. However, if an option appears dimmed on your screen that feature is not supported by your system and you cannot change it. SOUND Sound - The sound slider adjusts the overall volume of all in-game sound effects and music. Volume increases as the slider is moved to the right. Move the slider all the way to the left to turn off all sound effects and music. Music - The music slider adjusts the music volume independently. Volume increases as the slider is moved to the right. Move the slider all the way to the left to turn off the in-game music. 3D Bias - If your sound card supports hardware 3D audio, you may adjust the 3D Bias slider to balance the volumes of 2D and 3D sounds. Moving the slider to the right of center increases the volume of 3D sounds, such as combat sound effects and player speech. Moving the slider to the left increases the volume of 2D stereo sounds such as music, wind, and thunder. 3D Sound - If your sound card supports hardware 3D audio, you can turn 3D Sound ON or OFF from the sound options menu. Environmental Effects - If your sound card supports EAX or EAX 2, you may turn environmental effects such as echoes and obstructions on and off. This option is grayed out if your sound card does not support environmental effects. NPC Speech - This allows you to select one of three options: Audio, Text, or Audio and Text. Change the option by left-clicking on it or pressing the Enter button while it is selected. 14 AUTOMAP CONFIGURATION Fade ­ Setting this option to CENTER makes the Automap area around your character more transparent. Setting this option to EVERYTHING makes the entire Automap more transparent. Press the F10 key to toggle the Fade setting at any time. Center When Cleared - Setting this option to YES will re-center the map the next time the automap is activated. Press the F9 key to center the automap at any time. Show Party - Setting this option to OFF hides the locations of allied characters (including party members, hirelings, and summoned creatures) from the automap. Press the F11 key to toggle the names of party members at any time. 15 Game Menus Game Menus Show Names - This option toggles character names (both player and NPC names on the automap. Press the F12 key to toggle the Party Names setting at any time (this toggles party member names as well). Press the F12 key to toggle the display of these names at any time. Previous Menu - Returns you to the main Game Menu. Controlling Your Character THE GAME INTERFACE CONTROL CONFIGURATION This screen allows you to re-map many of the hotkeys and controls used in Diablo II. It is also a handy reference to see how keys and controls are currently assigned to various commands. In order to change the key assigned to a command, highlight and left-click on the current key entry, causing that entry to flash, and then press the new key. You can do this for any keyboard command in the game. When done changing your control configuration, choose the "Accept" option at the bottom right of the menu. Note: If you have a mouse with more than two buttons, you can assign the extra buttons using this option. To assign a mouse button to any action, highlight the key associated with a command in the configuration menu,and then press the mouse button you wish to map to that command. The upper area of the game screen is the Play Area. The Play Area displays your character, the surroundings, and any creatures or items that are within your line of sight. The lower part of the screen is the Interface Bar. The Interface Bar displays important information about the state of your character, and provides the controls you need to access additional information and game features. You can access the controls on the Interface Bar by left-clicking on them. To get more information about a control or button, position your mouse over the control for a moment to bring up a short pop-up description. The Interface Bar is composed of several elements: Life Orb - The red orb in the lower left of the screen indicates the health of your character, known as "life." Life is the amount of damage your character can endure before he or she will die. Life does not automatically regenerate. It must be replenished by drinking healing potions, by the use of special skills, or by visiting a NPC with the power to heal. However, you may find some items with the power to regenerate life. Mana Orb - The blue orb in the lower right indicates the level of your character's Mana, or energy. When you run out of Mana, your character is temporarily unable to cast spells or use certain skills. Over time, your Mana will regenerate and refill the Orb. 16 Game Menus Controlling your Character 17 Left and Right Action Icons - Your character can fight, cast spells, use skills and perform several other actions. By clicking the left and right buttons of your mouse, you perform these actions. You can assign different actions to the mouse using the Action Icons. The Action Icon on the left represents the current action for the left mouse button, while the icon on the right represents the action for the right mouse button. Left-clicking on an Action Icon displays a pop-up menu of skill icons. Click on a skill icon to assign it to that mouse button. The Mini-panel - Near the center of the Interface Bar is the Mini-panel. The Mini-panel displays a row of buttons for calling up more information on your character or accessing other game features. You can open or close the Mini-panel by clicking on the Mini-panel Button in the center of the Interface Bar. The Mini-panel buttons are: Character - Brings up a screen displaying your character's attributes. Inventory - Opens your backpack and displays your inventory. Skill Tree - Brings up a screen displaying your skill tree. Party Menu - Brings up a menu of all players in the game. Automap - Displays an overlaid map of your surroundings. Message Log - Displays the history of messages sent in the game. Quest Log - Brings up a menu listing the status of your quests. Game Menu - Brings up the "Game Menu" of in-game options. For a complete description of these buttons, see the relevant sections in this manual. The Belt - This row of four boxes represents your character's belt. You can hold drinkable potions and scrolls of Town Portal or Identify in the belt for easy access. Later in the game, you will find larger belts that can hold more than four items at a time. Once you have one of these larger belts, move your cursor over the belt to bring up the rest of the available slots, or press the ~ key to open and close these slots. The Experience Bar - This bar fills in as your character gains experience by defeating monsters. When it reaches the end, your character has gained a level and the bar starts all over again. Holding the mouse over the Experience Bar displays a pop-up that tells you exactly how many experience points you have and how many you need to achieve the next level. The Stamina Bar and the Run/Walk Button - Clicking on the Run/Walk Button toggles your character's movement between running and walking. As you run, you use up stamina. The Stamina Bar shows how much stamina you have left. Slowing to a walk will replenish your stamina. However, if the bar runs out completely, you must stop and rest for a moment before you can begin to regain your stamina. To move continuously, hold down the left mouse button. Your character moves in the direction of the cursor until you release the mouse button. Note that obstacles such as walls, monsters, or closed doors may prevent your character from reaching the desired location. Running While your character normally walks, running is faster and is recommended for covering large distances. To run, simply hold down the Ctrl key as you direct your character around the Play Area. You can also run by clicking the Run/Walk button on the Interface Bar or using the R hotkey. Click the button or press R again to return to walking mode. You can only run as long as your character has stamina. The Stamina Bar indicates how much stamina you have, and how fast you are using it. By slowing to a walk, you can regain stamina. If you run until you are completely out of stamina, you will have to stop first before you begin to regain it. The Automap As you explore the world, the game maps where you have been. The map shows important terrain features like stairways and magical shrines and helps you navigate the world. To open the Automap, select the Automap icon from the Mini-panel, or press the Tab key on your keyboard. The Automap appears over the Play Area. Note that game play doesn't stop when you bring up the Automap­you can still move, attack, and be attacked by creatures in the world. Blue "X" - This indicates your character's location on the Automap. Other icons represent different objects in the game and show up on your map as you get close to them White "X" - These indicate NPCs, townsfolk and friendly characters with whom you can interact. Red "X" - In Multi-player games, these indicate other players in your game who are not in your party and may be hostile towards you. Light Green "X" - In Multiplayer games, these indicate other players who have joined your party. Dark Green "X" - These indicate hirelings or other creatures allied with you or your party. Purple "X" - If you have died, this indicates the location of your corpse. Yellow "X" - These indicate the locations of magic Portals that take you to other locations, such as Town Portals. You can scroll the Automap by using the arrow keys on your keyboard. If you need to re-center the map, press F9. To close the Automap, press the Automap button on the Mini-panel or press the Tab key on your keyboard again. You can also press the spacebar at any time to clear any open screens. MOVEMENT To move your character around the game environment in the Play Area, simply place your mouse cursor over a location and left-click. If there is a clear path to that location, you character will move there. Notice that the screen scrolls to stay centered on your character at all times and reveals new areas as you move about the world. 18 Controlling your Character Controlling your Character 19 Melee Combat To attack a monster in the Play Area, move your cursor over the monster and left-click. If you have a melee attack set as your Left Action Icon, your character will move toward the monster and attack it. Note that as you move your cursor over the target monster, its name and dark red health bar appear near the top of the Play Area. Any special properties of the monster appear below the name. You can continuously attack by placing the cursor over the target and holding down the left mouse button (or the right button if an appropriate skill is in the Right Action Icon). Your character is now locked on that target, and will pursue and continue to attack the target until it is dead, even if your cursor does not remain over the target. Hands - The hands may be equipped with gloves to increase the defense rating of your character. Waist - Belts may be equipped here to improve defense and increase the number of potions or scrolls that may be carried. Feet - The feet may be equipped with boots to increase the defense rating of your character. Neck - Amulets and necklaces may be equipped to imbue the wearer with special powers. However, only one may be worn at a time. Fingers - Rings often contain powerful magic properties. Two rings can be worn at a time. Backpack - The large area near the bottom of the screen is your character's backpack. Items of different sizes take up varying amounts of room in your backpack. Careful packing and rearrangement can maximize the amount you can carry, but from time to time you must decide what to carry, what to sell, or even what to simply throw on the ground. You can find out more about any item in your Inventory by moving your cursor over the item. A window pops up with a description of the item and its properties. To pick up an item from your Inventory, left-click on it. Your cursor changes to an image of that item. To drop the item, simply left-click again. If you drop the item over the Play Area, it falls onto the ground. If you drop the item onto another inventory item, the items swap places. You can put away the item by dropping it into an empty area of your backpack. To equip weapons, armor, or other wearable items, simply pick up the item from your inventory and drop it onto the appropriate location on your character. Note that if you pick up an item from the Play Area while your Inventory screen is open, the item is not automatically placed in your inventory. You must put it there yourself. You can drink potions and cast spells from scrolls or tomes (containing at least one scroll) located in your backpack by right-clicking on them. Another section of your inventory displays how much gold your character is carrying. NPC vendors trade gold for equipment, services, and supplies. The Gold button allows you to select an amount of gold to drop onto the ground, deposit into your Stash, or offer in trade with another player. The total amount of gold you can carry is determined by your character's level. To close your Inventory, click the Close icon on the Inventory screen. You can also press the spacebar at any time to clear any open screens, including your Inventory. Ranged Combat When using bows, throwing knives, or other ranged weapons, you may wish to fire without moving. By pressing and holding down the Shift key, your character will stay in place while firing at your target. This works for all other actions as well, allowing you to stand, fight, or cast spells while remaining in place. USING ITEMS To pick up items or interact with objects in the world, highlight the item or object with the cursor and left-click. In this way you can open doors, unlock chests, talk to townsfolk, or pick up items on the ground. When you pick up an item, the item goes into your character's Inventory. You can open your Inventory at any time by pressing the Inventory button from the Mini-panel or by pressing the I key. The Inventory screen takes up half of the Play Area. Notice that the game continues in the other half without pausing. The top part of the Inventory screen contains several boxes representing the different areas of your character that can hold equipment. The rectangular grid at the bottom of the Inventory represents your backpack. If you pick up an item that can be equipped, and you have the appropriate equipment slot free on your character, the item is auto-equipped. For example, if your character does not have a helmet, and you pick one up, your character automatically wears the helmet. The equipment areas on your character include: Head - This is where you equip any helms, caps, crowns, and the like. Body - This is where you equip body armor to better protect your character. Right Arm - This is where you equip a weapon such as a sword or a bow. Left Arm - This is where you normally equip a shield. However, if you have a two-handed weapon or bow in your right hand, this area displays a grayed-out version of that weapon, indicating that both hands are occupied. The Barbarian character may also equip a secondary weapon in the Left Arm slot. 20 Controlling your Character Controlling your Character 21 The Belt The belt is designed to allow quick and easy access to the potions your character finds or buys. The belt is represented on the Interface Bar by a row of four slots. Each slot can hold a single potion or scroll. Larger belts have more slots. To display these additional slots, place your mouse cursor over the belt. A small window appears, showing the additional spaces available. You can also press the ~ key to open and close the extra slots on your belt. Your character starts with two healing potions already in the belt. You can drink a potion from your belt by right-clicking over the potion. A number (1-4) also appears in each occupied belt slot. Pressing one of these hotkeys is a fast way to drink a potion without having to click on it. Larger belts have other advantages. When you drink a potion or read a scroll, the item above it drops down to replace the consumed item. If you have a potion or scroll in a hotkey slot and you pick up another of the same type, the item automatically stacks above the first one. This continues until the stack is full. If there is no more room in the belt, the potion is placed in the backpack. Health potions and Mana potions are both automatically placed in the belt when they are picked up. You may place scrolls of Identify and Town Portal as well as the other drinkable potions in your belt. However, an item of these latter types is not automatically placed into your belt unless a) there is already a matching item in one of your four hotkey slots, and b) there is an empty slot above the one with the matching item. USING SKILLS AND SPELLS Your character employs a variety of skills and spells that you activate by using the left and right mouse buttons. You can change which skill or spell is associated with either mouse button by left-clicking on the Left or Right Action Icons. Left-clicking on these icons brings up a menu of all the possible skills and spells for that mouse button. While all active skills are available on the right mouse button, only direct attack skills are available on the left. Which skills are available on the left and right Action Icons depends on the class of character you are playing. As your character learns new skills, they appear in these menus. A good example of Action Icons is to use your Throw skill to lob a Rancid Gas potion. Some potions can be used as weapons, exploding upon impact or releasing a cloud of poison. To prepare your character, change the Right Action Icon by left-clicking on it, then left-click on the "Throw" icon in the menu that appears. Next, equip the potion in an Arm slot in your character's Inventory. Now, when you right-click, your character throws the potion at your intended target. You can keep throwing as long as you have potions. A quick way to switch between skills is to assign hotkeys to the skills you use the most. A hotkey allows you to switch to those skills with a single stroke of the keyboard. To assign a hotkey to a skill, left-click on an Action Icon to bring up a skill menu, move the cursor over the desired skill, then press a function key from F1 to F8. Press the spacebar when done. Now, whenever you want to switch to a different skill, you can simply press the hotkey you assigned, and the proper skill will be assigned to the Action Icon and corresponding mouse button. Note that not all skills appear in the Active Icon menus. Passive skills, such as Warmth for the Sorceress, are in effect continuously once you acquire the skill, and thus are not listed in the menus. 22 Controlling your Character Controlling your Character 23 Getting Around Town INTERACTING WITH TOWNSFOLK (NPCS) Interacting with townsfolk is important in Diablo II . They tell you about relevant events and people in the world of Sanctuary, and some offer goods or services to assist you in your adventures. Urgent News - An NPC with an exclamation point (!) overhead has urgent news for you. Usually, the news is important information about completing your quests and advancing in the game. You should approach and talk to any townsfolk with an "!" overhead. To talk to a town inhabitant, highlight the NPC with your mouse cursor and left-click. Your character automatically walks up and starts a conversation. Note that not all NPCs are inclined to conversation. Rest assured that silent townsfolk do not have any important information for you. BUYING AND SELLING On your adventures you will encounter town inhabitants who buy and sell items as well as offer other services. To access these options, you must first bring up the Interaction menu by left-clicking on the NPC. Choose "Trade" or "Trade/Repair" from the Interaction Menu to open the Vendor Screen. The Vendor Screen - The vendor screen is broken up into two parts: the vendor's inventory on the left and your own inventory on the right. At the top of the vendor's inventory are several tabs. Left-clicking on these tabs switches between the types of items that the vendor carries. These can include armor, weapons, magic, and miscellaneous items. Placing your cursor over the vendor's wares displays the name, price and properties of an item. Highlighting your own items displays the price the vendor will pay for that item, along with the item's name and properties. To purchase an item, simply left-click on the item you wish to buy. A confirmation dialogue appears, asking if you are sure you wish to buy the item. Select "yes," and (if you have enough gold) the item is transferred to your inventory. The cost of the item is automatically deducted from your total gold, including any that is kept in your Stash. Right-clicking on an item buys it immediately, without asking for confirmation of the purchase. To sell an item, pick it up from your inventory by left-clicking on the item. Move the item over to the vendor's inventory, and left-click again to complete the sale. Another way to buy and sell items is by using the Purchase and Sell buttons at the bottom of the vendor screen. Purchase Button - Clicking the Purchase button changes your cursor into a solid arrow. Left-click over an item to purchase that item. Provided you have enough gold, a window pops up to confirm the sale. Sell Button - Clicking the Sell button changes your cursor into a hollow arrow. Leftclick over an item in your inventory to sell it to the vendor. A window pops up to confirm the sale. Repair Button - Some vendors can repair worn or broken armor and weapons. Weapons and armor have limited durability. As you use these items, they wear down slowly and eventually break. Once an item is broken, it must be repaired before you can use it again. When an item is close to breaking, a silhouette appears in the upper right of your screen, showing the damaged item in yellow or red. When you see this, it is time to have the item repaired. Check the durability of your items by moving your cursor over them in your Inventory. If a vendor can repair an item for you, a Repair button appears near the bottom of the vendor inventory. Simply click the Repair button to change your cursor into a hammer, and click on the object you wish to repair. A confirmation window pops up, complete with the cost of the repair. Getting Around Town 25 Interaction Menu - After initial introductions, talking to a townsperson a second time brings up the Interaction Menu. This menu displays the options for that particular inhabitant, such as trading or sharing gossip. These options differ among the various NPCs. You can quickly close the interaction menu by left-clicking on a spot away from the character or by pressing Esc or the spacebar. Quest Log - Occasionally, townsfolk will ask you to complete a quest for them, or you will come across a quest while adventuring. When you receive a quest, a button titled "Quest Log" appears in the lower left corner of the Play Area. Clicking this button opens up the Quest Log. This log informs you of the status of quests, and tells you what you need to do next. Quests that you have not yet received appear grayed-out and are not selectable. Assigned quests appear in color and are selected by clicking on them. Click the Speech (!) button at the bottom of the Quest Log menu to play the selected quest speech. Any time an important event occurs that affects the status of the Quest Log, the Quest Log button appears in the lower left corner of the Play Area. Simply click on the Quest Log button to display the new information. 24 Getting Around Town YOUR STASH Near your starting location in each of the four Acts you will find a large chest ­ your Private Stash. It is a secure, permanent, SAFE place to store precious items and gold you find along the way. To activate your Stash simply left-click on the chest. A screen similar to the Vendor Screen appears. On the left side of the screen is your Stash, a smaller version of your Backpack grid. Picking up items from your Inventory and placing them in your Stash stores the items there. WAYPOINTS The world of Sanctuary is huge and often there are great distances between towns and their outlying regions. During the Sin War, the Horadrim devised a system of magic waypoints to provide instant travel from one place to another. The magics at work have long since been forgotten as the Horadric Mages have all but disappeared. However, these waypoints remain as a legacy to the Horadrim's once-great power and the value of these devices cannot be denied. Within every town and at various places throughout each Act you may find waypoints. Click on them to bring up the Waypoint Menu, displaying a list of destinations. Clicking the Deposit (Gold) button on your inventory screen brings up a dialogue box asking how much gold you'd like to deposit in your Stash. Clicking the Withdraw (Gold) button in your Stash allows you to move gold back into your Inventory. For your convenience, gold in your Stash is used along with the gold in your Inventory when making purchases from vendors. As your character travels to later Acts, the amount of gold you can keep in your Stash increases. Use your Stash to hold any items you intend to keep, but don't want taking up precious space in your Inventory. Items left on the ground or in town will disappear after a few minutes. Waypoint Menu - This menu shows all possible locations to which you can travel. Be sure to click on waypoints as you find them to add their location to your Waypoint Menu. Waypoint destinations appearing in gray text are ones you have not yet discovered and activated. You can jump between any waypoints shown in blue text by clicking on its button in the Waypoint Menu. You may also access waypoints from other Acts using the Act Tab in this menu. Since waypoints are saved with your character between games, they are a quick way to bypass areas you have already explored. 26 Getting Around Town Getting Around Town 27 DEVELOPING YOUR CHARACTER GAINING EXPERIENCE POINTS AND LEVELING UP One of your primary goals in Diablo II is the development and advancement of your character. As you play through the game you gain experience points by defeating the evil creatures inhabiting the land. As you achieve certain predetermined levels of experience your character "levels up". You can check your progress towards the next level by examining the narrow horizontal Experience Bar just above your Stamina Bar. When the bar fills up completely, you gain a level. Moving your cursor over the bar displays your current experience points and the points required to reach the next level. When you level up, your Life and Mana orbs are refilled and you gain points you can use to improve your character's abilities. Two buttons appear on your screen: the New Stats button in the lower left and the New Skill button in the lower right. Clicking on them opens up screens that allow you to assign your new points to your Stats and Skills. Next Level - This is the amount of experience necessary to achieve the next level. Strength - Strength increases the total amount of damage inflicted by your attacks. It is also a factor in equipping weapons and armor. Displayed near your Strength are your attack damage ratings associated with the skills you have selected for the left and right Action Icons. Attack Damage - The top Attack Damage field represents the damage for the skill that's currently selected in your Left Action Icon, while the bottom Attack Damage field represents the skill selected in the right Action Icon. Whether the action is an attack, a skill, or a spell, the damage displayed in the field represents the current action. The higher the number the more damage your character can do per attack. If a field is blank, then the action selected in that slot does not directly cause any damage. When playing as a Barbarian, and wielding two weapons, you see two numbers within these fields. These numbers represent the Attack Damage for each of the weapons held. Dexterity - Dexterity is a factor in equipping certain weapons. It also helps determine how often your melee or ranged attacks will succeed, and it affects your character's ability to defend against attacks ­ that is, your Attack Rating and your Defense Rating: Attack Ratings - The top Attack Rating field is the action selected in your Left Action Icon, while the one beneath represents the Right Action Icon. The higher the value the more often your character's attacks will actually land blows in battle. Magical attacks and non-combat skills do not have attack ratings and, if such a skill is selected in an Action Icon, the associated field is blank. When playing a Barbarian wielding two weapons, you will see two number ranges within this field. These ranges represent the Attack Rating for each of the weapons held. Highlighting the top Attack Rating field with your cursor displays the likelihood that your attacks will hit creatures whose level is equal to your own. Defense Rating - The Defense Rating indicates how well your character can avoid being hit in combat. The higher the value the less often your character will be hit. Highlighting the Defense Rating field with your cursor displays the likelihood that a creature of your level will hit you. Vitality - Vitality determines how much life your character has and how far you can run without resting. Stamina - Stamina affects how far you can run. Having more stamina allows you to run farther before tiring out and being forced to walk. Life - Life is the amount of damage your character can endure before he or she will die. Life does not automatically regenerate. It must be replenished by drinking healing potions or by visiting an NPC with the power to heal. There are some items and skills, however, that regenerate life. Energy - Energy determines how much Mana your character possesses. Mana - Mana is your character's spiritual essence. Each time certain skills are used, such as the Fire Bolt of the Sorceress or the Double Swing of the Barbarian, some of this Mana is consumed. When you run out of Mana, DEVELOPING YOUR CHARACTER 29 CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES Each time you level up, you are awarded 5 points that you may distribute among your four character attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Vitality and Energy. Clicking on the New Stats icon takes you to the Character screen. You can also bring up this screen at any time by pressing the A or C keys or by clicking the Character button on the Mini-panel. On the Character screen, assign your new points by clicking on the large "+" button next to the attribute you wish to increase. Each click increments that attribute by one point. Once you have allocated all of your Stat points, the New Stats icon disappears from the Play Area. NOTE: Each Stat point assignment is permanent, so choose wisely! To help you decide where to assign your points, take a moment to examine the information displayed on the Character Attribute Screen: Level - This is your character's current level. New characters start at level 1. Experience Points - This is the amount of experience that your character has already earned. You gain experience whenever you or your party members defeat monsters in combat. 28 DEVELOPING YOUR CHARACTER your character is temporarily unable to cast spells or use certain skills. Over time, your Mana regenerates. Stat Points Remaining - This shows the number of statistic points you have available for distribution among your attributes. When you gain a level, you earn five points to distribute to your attributes. Fire Resistance - The likelihood that you will resist damage from a fire attack. The more resistance you have, the less damage you take from fire attacks. Cold Resistance - The likelihood that you will resist damage from a cold attack. The more resistance you have, the less damage you take from cold attacks. Lightning Resistance - The likelihood that you will resist damage from a lightning attack. The more resistance you have, the less damage you take from lightning attacks. Poison Resistance - The likelihood that you will resist damage from a poison attack. The more resistance you have, the less damage you take from poison attacks. Normally the numbers that represent your character's current statistics appear in white. However, when a magical item or other magical effect has boosted a statistic or attribute, the number appears in blue. Only a few skills are available to a new character. More skills will open up as you advance in level and invest in the prerequisite skills. Follow the lines on the Skill Tree and read the skill descriptions to determine the prerequisites needed for the more advanced skills. WINNING THE GAME AND DIFFICULTY LEVELS Just because you've defeated the minions of Hell doesn't mean the adventure has to stop. Diablo II offers three difficulty levels: Normal, Nightmare, and Hell. After you've completed the game in Normal, Nightmare difficulty level becomes available for that character when selecting it from the Character Selection screen. After Nightmare comes Hell. When you select a new difficulty level, the world is again randomly regenerated and repopulated with even tougher creatures, as well as more valuable treasure. This allows you to continue to develop your character as far as you wish. Multi-player One of the best ways to experience Diablo II is to play with other people. There are two Multi-player options on the Main Menu: Battle.net and Other Multi-player. On Battle.net, you can find literally thousands of other gamers to team up with (or compete against) in the quest to defeat Diablo. If you choose the Battle.net option, you play with Realm characters that are stored exclusively on the Battle.net Realm servers. By choosing the Other Multi-Player option, you play with Open characters that are stored on your computer, such as your Single Player characters. The Other Multi-Player options are Open Battle.net and TCP/IP. The Section following the Battle.net Realm section below has more detail about these two options. THE SKILL TREE Each time you level up, you earn a new skill point. Skills are special abilities that shape the individual nature of your character. By choosing different skill paths, you have numerous opportunities to customize your characters, resulting in a different playing experience. Clicking on the New Skill icon takes you to the Skill Tree screen. You can bring up this screen at any time by pressing the T key or by clicking on the Skill Tree button in the Mini-panel. The skills displayed on the screen are laid out in branching order. Skills available to your character are divided up into three primary areas represented by the named tabs along the right side of the Skill Tree menu. Left-click on each tab to switch between the primary skill areas. Skill Choices Remaining - This field displays the number of skill points that you may distribute within your Skill Tree. Skills - In order to view a particular skill, highlight it to pop-up a description with important information. These descriptions explain what the skill does, for instance, how much damage it causes, its range, and its Mana cost. If you have put at least one point into a skill, its description also details how much the skill would improve at the next level. Left-clicking on a skill when skill points are available assigns one point to the skill. Left-clicking on a skill when no skill points are available assigns the skill as your Right Action icon. To apply skill points simply left-click the desired skill. Keep in mind that increasing the effectiveness of an old skill may be more useful than learning a new one. NOTE: Each skill point assignment is permanent, so choose wisely! 30 PLAYING DIABLO II ON BATTLE.NET Battle.net is Blizzard Entertainment's free, on-line gaming network. Battle.net offers a place where gamers can meet, chat, and adventure together. If you've never tried multi-player games before, Battle.net is the easiest and fastest way to play Blizzard games on-line. Note that you must have an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to access this feature. While Blizzard does not charge for use of Battle.net, you will still have to pay your regular fees to your ISP. CONNECTING TO BATTLE.NET To connect to Battle.net from the Main Option Screen, click the Battle.net button. At this point, you must Log In to Battle.net with your Battle.net account name and password. If you do not already have an account, you can create one by clicking the "Create New Account" button. After you have created your account, you will be automatically connected to Battle.net. DEVELOPING YOUR CHARACTER Multi-Player 31 SELECTING OR CREATING A BATTLE.NET REALM CHARACTER Realm Characters are played exclusively on Diablo II Realms over Battle.net and cannot play in Single Player, Open, or TCP/IP games. A Realm is a Diablo II game server that is hosted and maintained by Blizzard. While playing on a Realm, your character is secure from many cheats, hacks and other abuses that could occur in an Open Battle.net or TCP/IP game. In a Realm game, characters are stored on the Realm and you can access them from any computer when you log into Battle.net. There are several Realms on Battle.net, each located in a different part of the world. When creating a Realm character, choose a Realm whose location is closest to you for the best play experience. Note: You cannot transfer an existing character from one Realm to another, so you should find out which Realm your friends are playing on before you make the choice. If this is your first time logging onto Battle.net with Diablo II, you will be asked to create a character. Choose and name a character in the Character Selection screen, after which you are presented with a list of Realms. Click on each Realm to view a description of that Realm, and then click "OK" to select it. You may double-click on a Realm as a shortcut for choosing it. You can create up to eight characters with a single Battle.net account. If you have previously created multiple Realm characters, you can choose which character you wish to play from the Character Selection screen. The name and level of each character is displayed along with the name of the Realm to which it belongs. If you wish to create a new character to add to this list, choose the New Character template at the top of the list. The Chat Window appears on the left side of the screen. Along its right edge is the Chat Window scroll bar. Below the Chat Window are your Text Box and six buttons for commonly used chat commands Send, Whisper, Emote, Squelch, Unsquelch, and Help. Send - Chat publicly with other players in the Chat Channel. Click inside your text box and type your message. Press the Send button or hit the Enter key to post your message to everyone currently in the chat channel. Whisper - Chat privately with other players in the Chat Channel. Click inside your text box and type your message. Left-click on the character you wish to whisper to, which is now highlighted by an aura. Press the Whisper button to send your message to only the highlighted character. Emote - Allows you to perform an action that the whole channel can "see" as represented through text. For example, if Doomhammer wants to greet all the players in the chat Channel, he could type, "waves hello" and press the Emote button. Everyone in the Channel then receives the message "Doomhammer waves hello." Squelch - Block messages from a player. Left-click on the character to highlight it with an aura. Press the Squelch button. You will no longer hear any public or private messages from that player. Unsquelch - Allow messages from a squelched player. Left-click on the character to highlight it with an aura. Press the Unsquelch button. Help - Display the Diablo II chat help text.Immediately below the chat window is a space where you can type in your own messages. A scrollbar on the right edge of the chat window lets you scroll the chat window to view past messages. Messages appear in different colors: Gray Text: Indicates when someone joins or leaves the chat Channel. Use the command /d2notify to turn on these messages. White Text: Indicates what you have said "out loud" to the entire Chat Channel. Gold Text: Indicates what others have said "out loud" to the entire Chat Channel. Green Text: Indicates what you have "whispered" to a specific player, or any message that has been "whispered" to you. Blue Text: Indicates actions performed by players in the channel, or any special Battle.net messages sent to you. Red Text: Indicates error messages sent directly from Battle.net The right side of the screen is used to display information and bring up controls for games, ladders, and other channels. You access this information by clicking on the buttons directly below this region. The buttons and their associated displays are: Create - Allows you to create a game of Diablo II. You must name your game, and you may also give it a password to make it private, enter a description and specify the maximum number of players allowed in this game. You may also choose a difficulty level if you have previously completed the entire game with this character. For more information on difficulty levels, see the appropriate section in this manual. Multi-Player 33 After selecting or creating a character, you are placed into a Battle.net chat channel where you can meet and talk to other players and join or create multi-player games. BATTLE.NET CHAT Once you have logged in to Battle.net and selected a character, you are placed into one of Battle.net's Diablo II Realm Chat Channels. In the Realm Chat Channels, character portraits, representing other players, appear at the bottom of the screen. If more people are in the Chat Channel than fit across the screen, you can scroll the portraits by clicking on one of the triangular scroll arrows. Holding your mouse over any of these portraits reveals the character's Battle.net account name, class, and level. Left-clicking on a portrait selects that particular character. Right-clicking on a portrait brings up that character's User Profile. From this channel, you can converse with other players, join or create games, and view the ladder rankings of the top Diablo II players. 32 Multi-Player Join - Brings up a screen displaying a list of games you can join. Listed beside each game's name is the number of players currently in that game. Selecting one of the games shows you additional game information including the names and levels of the characters currently in the game. To join a game, select one from the list and click the "Join Game" button. Password protected games are not listed in the Join screen, and you must enter a specific game name and password to join a private game. Channel - This displays a list of other chat channels you can join. You may either select a channel from the list and click "OK," or type in the name of the channel directly. If you type in the name of a channel that does not exist, you create a new chat channel. These user-created channels are not publicly listed and others can join this channel only if they know its name. Ladder - Diablo II has several player ranking ladders including the Standard Ladder and the Hardcore Ladder. Select the Ladder by clicking on its button. The Standard Ladder ranks the top characters by experience on your Realm, while the Hardcore Ladder lists the top Hardcore characters. Quit - Click on this button to exit from Battle.net chat and return to the Character Selection screen. To be the game server, select the "Host Game" button (your computer's IP Address is displayed on this screen). You can then choose one of your pre-existing characters or create a new character to start a game. Once you have started your game, others can select the "Join Game" option, enter the IP address of your computer, and then join your game. Multi-player Gameplay In Diablo II, your character adventures through the same quests, characters, items, monsters and Act progression in both Multi-Player and Single Player. In Multi-player games, however, you have additional features to help you manage parties, trade items, compete with other players, and communicate with others in your game. IN-GAME CHAT To chat with other players in your game, bring up the chat window by hitting the Enter key. A transparent pane appears where you can type in your message. Hit Enter again to send the message, which appears on your game screen. As other players send messages, they print on your game screen, and eventually scroll off the Play area. To see a complete history of the chat messages in the game, select the Message Log from the Mini-panel or press the M key. You can also send messages that appear as speech banners above your character. To do so, type an exclamation point as the first character of your message. For example, typing "!Hello, Doomhammer" displays "Hello, Doomhammer" over your character's head. A few Battle.net style commands can be used for In-game chat. Consult Battle.net's help feature for a complete list of these commands. To send a message to someone outside of your game, you will need to address that person using their Battle.net account name in the "/msg " command. Diablo II also provides a number of built-in messages to help you communicate quickly and efficiently with others. You send these character messages using the numeric keypad (with NumLock on): 0 - "Help!" 1 - "Follow me." 2 - "For you." 3 - "Thanks." 4 - "Sorry!" Other Multi-Player Options OPEN BATTLE.NET You can also play Open Characters over Battle.net. Open Characters include Single Player Characters as well as Multi-player characters created after using any of the Other Multi-player Options. Open Characters are stored locally on your own computer and cannot be played on a Blizzard Realm. In an Open Game, one player's computer is the game server, while the other players connect to it. Since Blizzard cannot be responsible for the locally stored characters, or the servers on which the games are played, Open Games are more vulnerable than Realm Games to certain forms of manipulation and abuses by other players. The big advantage of Open Games, however, is that you can bring your Single Player characters onto Battle.net. You can play with your friends over Battle.net, and then continue playing that character in Single Player as you wish. To play an Open Battle.net game, select the "Other Multi-player" option from the Main Menu, and then select "Open Battle.net." Log on to Battle.net as you would normally, then create or choose from your list of characters to enter the chat screen on Battle.net. From here you can chat with other players, and join or create open games. TCP/IP Multiplayer Diablo II games can also be played without using Battle.net by using the TCP/IP option on a Local Area Network, or over the Internet using your ISP (Internet Service Provider). To do so, one computer must be chosen as the server and all connecting players must know the IP (Internet Protocol) Address of that machine. The IP address of the server is displayed to the game creator. Once you have decided which computer will be the server, each player must enter the IP Address of the server to join the game. Note that the player whose computer is the server can also play. You do not need an additional computer for the server. To host a TCP/IP game, select the "Other Multiplayer" option from the Main Menu, and then select "TCP/IP Game." From the TCP/IP Game screen, you can choose to either host or join a game. 34 5 - "Bye." 6 - "Die!" Multi-Player Multi-Player 35 FORMING PARTIES While playing cooperatively, it is a good idea to form a party of players to adventure together. While in a party, players share in experience points earned and gold found. Parties use each other's strengths to tackle difficult areas and monsters. To form a party, bring up the Party Menu by selecting it from the Mini-panel or by pressing the P key. TRADING WITH OTHER CHARACTERS Diablo II provides a secure method to trade with other player characters while in town. To trade with another character, left-click on that character to bring up the Trade Screen. The Trade Screen consists of your Inventory on the right, and two areas on the left that contain the offers that the players are making to each other. To offer an item for trade, left-click on the item in your inventory, move it over to your offer area, and left-click again to drop it. The other player's offer appears in that player's offer area. You may also offer gold by incrementing or decrementing the gold slot of your offer area. Once you have agreed on a fair trade, click on the "Accept" button. The trade is completed when both parties have accepted. Either party may cancel the trade at any time by clicking the "Cancel" button prior to trade completion. The Party Menu displays a list of all players currently in your game. Beside each character is a set of buttons to control different options for interacting with that player: Invite - Invites that character to join your party. Once an invitation has been sent, this button changes to "Cancel" so that you may withdraw the invitation. On the other hand, if someone invites you to join their party, this button will instead display "Accept" and pressing it joins that party. GOING HOSTILE Hostility - When in town, a player can select this option to "go hostile" with another player. When hostile, both players can attack each other outside of town with skills or spells. This option can only be activated while in town and is only available to those characters at level 9 and above. Consent - Allows this character to loot your corpse. This option is useful when you have died and need the help of another player to retrieve your items. Mute - Press this button to prevent your messages from being heard by that character. Squelch - Press this button to block all messages sent to you from that character. While in a party, members split experience based upon the difference between their levels. A lower level character will not benefit much from a high-level friend doing most of the fighting, and visa versa. Gold in parties is shared equally, with any remainder going to the person who picked up the pile. Normally, players in Multiplayer games cannot attack each other, and spells never cause damage to other players. However, those players who wish to duel one another, prey on the weak, or cause trouble in the ranks may do so by selecting the "Hostile" option from the Party Menu. When a player goes hostile with another, both players can attack and harm each other. When a player goes hostile to you, you receive a warning message. As an additional alert, hostile players show up as a red X on your Automap and a hostile icon is displayed on the upper right of your screen. When one player kills another, the dead player drops any gold being carried as well as a trophy ear, marked with the character's name and level. Note: You may only activate the "Hostile" option while in town. A character lower than level 9 cannot be hostile. Also, upon declaring hostility any Town Portal you have cast will disappear. Further, hostiles may no longer use a Town Portal cast by another player. QUESTS IN MULTI-PLAYER All of the single player quests in Diablo II are available in Multi-player too. There are, however, some rules that you should be aware of when questing in Multi-player games. + When you join a game, only those quests that the game's creator has not yet solved are available. If you wish to complete earlier quests, you must join another game or create your own. + When in a party, your party members may complete quests, even when you are not in the immediate vicinity. When one member of a party completes a quest, that quest is completed for all members of that party, each of whom may share in the reward for it. You must be within the same Act as the members of your party to share in the completion of the quest. + Even if you are not in a party, you are notified when other players have completed quests. When other players complete quests in your game, those quests become unavailable to you until you leave and start a new game. 36 Multi-Player Multi-Player 37 + The difficulty level in the game increases with each person who joins the game. A game with two adventurers is much easier than a game with five, and players will have to work together to complete quests. However, the rewards in experience and treasure are richer as well. Amazons The Amazons are women warriors who hail from a group of islands in the Twin Seas, near the border of the Great Ocean. Only the permanently snow-covered peak of Mount Karcheus breaks the expanses of lush forests on the islands. The Amazon people are a relatively isolated culture. Adapting over the centuries to their tropical milieu, they have built magnificent cities in the forest canopy. These cities are an architectural phenomenon and a source of great pride to the Amazon people. They do not follow the teachings of the Zakarum, but instead practice a polytheistic religion that adheres to the strict principles of Order. Their oracles long ago predicted the Dark Exile, and they have been preparing to combat it ever since. Amazons regard the destruction of the Three Prime Evils as their destiny, ushering in a new era when mortal men and women can at long last take their rightful place in the universe, no longer merely playthings for the beings of the Outer Realms. The Amazons are a seafaring people, one of the first to have made trade contact with both the Kingdoms of the West and with Kejhistan in the East. Their prominence in the world's trade establishment has afforded their warriors the reputation they currently enjoy as cunning strategists and skilled combatants. They are much sought after as mercenaries, being both expert soldiers as well as extremely loyal - as long as the assignment does not conflict with their strict sense of ethics. Their pantheon of gods consists of a well-defined hierarchy, each member upholding some segment of the balance of Order. It is this strong sense of order that drives the Amazon people to achieve greatness in even the smallest of their endeavors. Their prime deity is Athulua who, with her consort, Kethryes, rules over the seasons and the weather. Under these Goddesses are a wide assortment of lesser deities, each responsible for his or her own sphere of influence among the Amazon people's daily life. The Amazons believe this pantheon is the remnant of the original inhabitants that settled the islands centuries ago. According to ancient records, they share the same names as these gods, although aspects of their personalities seem to have evolved over the centuries. In the Amazon culture, only the women serve as warriors, their intrinsic superior dexterity and lithe body structures are better suited to combat in the dense rainforest environs of the islands. Their society is far from stratified, however, as men are responsible for any number of positions in the community, government, and clergy, as well as merchant and agricultural occupations. HARDCORE CHARACTERS After completing the entire game with a Battle.net Realm character, you will have the option to create a new type of character. To create a Hardcore character, select the "Hardcore" checkbox when creating and naming a new character. The important difference in a Hardcore character is that he or she has but a single life. Should your Hardcore character be slain, it is permanently erased from the game. Hardcore characters can only join games with other Hardcore characters. Hardcore characters are designed for game players who live to ride on the edge of danger. Hardcore characters are ranked on a separate ladder on Battle.net, and receive special honorifics in their names, which appear colored blood red. Note: Blizzard Entertainment is in no way responsible for your Hardcore character. If you choose to create and play a Hardcore character, you do so at your own risk. Blizzard is not responsible for the death and loss of your hardcore characters for any reason including Internet lag, bugs, Acts of God, your little sister, or any other reason whatsoever. Consult the End User License Agreement for more details. Blizzard will not, and does not have the capability to restore any deceased Hardcore characters. Don't even ask. La-la-la-la-la, we can't hear you... Traits and Abilities: While more than competent in hand-to-hand combat, training in the jungles of her native islands has shaped the Amazon's skill with the bow and missile weapons into one of unparalleled excellence. With the bow, her only rivals are the Sisters of the Sightless Eye. But, unlike her sisters in arms, the Amazon is also highly adept in the use of spears and other thrown weapons. The powers they possess are a combination of Prime magic, Holy magic and ingenious weapon construction. 38 Multi-Player The Amazon 39