Diablo 2 Expansion: Lord of Destruction Reviews

• WOW

  
  By A33YC2598ZEYK4 on 2001-05-25
  I absolutely love Diablo II and when I heard about it... I was thrilled. It's only going to be a few more weeks before it actually comes out. I was in awe about the new stuff that is going to be added.

  2 new character classes, Druid and Assassin. Each with 30 new abilities and special weapons.

  Some things that I saw were weapon tabs (for those of you who have played Baldur's Gate). They are quick weapon selection for easy weapon access for up to 4 weapons (2 on each hand) for the right time. Another thing that made my jaw drop was the doubled stash size and 10 times (somewhere around there) the amount of gold it can hold (the picture that I saw said 1250000).

  Another thing that they have which is really useful is quest specific items. These are items only found by completing a quest and only on certain character class can use them:

  Necromancer-Wands Barbarians-Axes Paladin-Shields Amazon-Bow and Spears Assassin-Dagger Sorseress-Staves Druid-Clubs (something like that)

  They have also added jewels which are either magical or unique and do more then gems but do the same thing no matter what you insert them into.

  Like sockets? Well now EVERYTHING (including armor and shields) can have up to SIX sockets! Thrown weapons however cannot have sockets.

  Runes have come back from the world of Hellfire. Runes DO NOT act like traps as they did in Hellfire. Instead they insert into weapons as do jewel and gems. Ecept now they can turn an item unique. Runes have prefixes like Pul Rune. I saw a weapon that had a Jo, Ber, Pul, and an Es rune inserted. The weapon was an axe and its name was now JoBerPulEs. The name is derived from the prefix of the runes and will now encourage to insert in the right format.

  There are many new weapons as the War Pike, Hydra Bow, Crown Shield and Fang Visor which gives 80 defense. An Amazon was using a War Pike which gave +1 to Passive and magic Skills and +1285 to attack rating!!! Spears can now give Amazons skills. There will also be orbs which act like Sorceress wands, they also give abilities to the sorceress much like staves.

  There are thing called charms which you dont equip but just have in your inventory and they give you the special attributes that are described on them (horadric cube and stash dont count). Be warned that this might sound nice but most charms are 2-4 inventory spaces large.

  There are also crafted items (name appears in orange) that you can only create thru the right items and the horadric cube. They are far more superior than any magic item. Also elite items come into play and are only available thru Hell diffuculty (Names appear in red I believe). elite Items are the most powerful items in the game.

  In Act 5 you can hire Babarians. You will now be able to edit your mercenary's weapons/shield, helm and armor and revive them if they get killed. This applies to the Rouge (Act I mercenaries), Lut Gholein Spearmen (Act II mercenaries) and the Fighter-Mages (Act III mercenaries).

  I can't wait till D2:LoD comes out!
  
  
  

• Lord of Destruction (of free time and social life)

  
  By A2QLCPB4H64L76 on 2001-08-30
  Many people complain about the high price of the Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction (LOD) Expansion set. To do so, I think, is to miss the point. You buy the game to play it, and its playability is what matters. People tend to think that an "expansion" merely adds a "10% more" to a game - but the fact is, LOD adds so much to the original game that you will probably never look back.
  
  
  Why would you give up a doubled stash? The 800x600 resolution pestered for way back in 2000 when D2 Classic was released? Instant switching between two sets of weapon/shield? New class-specific items, new uniques, greatly improved set items (gain bonuses as you collect each item, instead of having to complete them), elite items, runes (and runeword items), crafted items (i.e. make your own rares)? Two new classes (a druid who can summon creatures, cast elemental spells and shapeshift; an assassin who practises martial arts, lays traps and hones shadow disciplines), and an entire new act set in a wintry landscape (bunnies included)? Afraid to play alone? Don't worry, now your hirelings survive more than their first hit, and can be equiped with weapons and armour - they can even teleport when you walk too far! And some even have paladin auras! And they can be resurrected!
  
  
  How about little little details like: you can now reset the gambling screen at will; gambling prices scale with your level; a repair-all-equiped items button; blue items now get the most powerful prefixes/suffixes, giving them renewed value; click an item on the Horadric Cube to place it inside (you have to do it to realise the convenience); Act 2 Desert Warrior hirelings cast paladin auras; Act 5 Barbarian hirelings use Stun and Bash; town NPCs now sell more items; Act-end bosses can now be repeatedly killed for chance to find top items (in D2 Classic, great stuff only drops once); you can walk through your hirelings/minions (no more traffic jams in the Maggot Lair)... and the list goes on.
  
  
  Let's be honest though - everyone knows that the game code is not perfect; it has its bugs. Few games (especially of this scale) can claim to be bug-free. But despite this, the game is totally playable. I myself have not stopped playing D2 since June 30, 2000. The important thing to savour is the fact that the developers, Blizzard, are keen on resolving technical problems and gamneplay issues: think about it - Blizzard has released NINE patches to date. This may seem to suggest that the game is wrought full of bugs, but change your perspective - what it ultimately says is that its developer is conscientious enough to keep working at it. How many software developers can claim this level of diligence?
  
  
  Ultimately, the game is super-fun. As I suggested in my review of Diablo 2 (Classic), the game rewards all kinds of players, from the undiscerning clicker to the meticulous strategist - that is one of Blizzard's secret ingredients: allowing every style of player to find something that suits them in the game, and yet never fully satisfying them. I suppose that's why, after countless games, my wife is still trying to perfect her (deceptively simple?) mace-stunner barbarian...
  
  

• New character strategies � the Druid

  
  By A1LKNTDGILSYGE on 2001-05-22
  So far, the best strategy is to go with either Summoning / Elemental, or Summoning / Shapeshifting. Elemental / Shapeshifting doesn't combine as well (you can't cast Elemental spells in lycanthrope form), and diversifying over all 3 trees tends to weaken you a bit.

  If you're a perfectionist, you might want to stay away from the Elemental tree. All of these spells are quite chaotic, and can be frustrating to precisely cast. Witness the meandering nature of Tornadoes if you want to see what I'm talking about.

  Virtually everyone right now in the Beta is testing Summoning / Shapeshifting. The most effective skills, according to the Beta testers, are:

  Armageddon: Good damage, but very slow. It combos well with Hurricane, though! One casting of each is often all you'll need. The impact zones of the meteors are random, but always fall within the radius of the spell. It's a great "flee spell" - if you run, the meteors will continue to fall where you were standing.

  Heart of Wolverine: This gives you sheer assault power. Hardcore players prefer the Oak Sage, but in "softcore" mode, the extra damage and accuracy here is worth it.

  Hurricane: A swirling mass of death, ideal for clearing out a horde that has surrounded you. It automatically hits every target within its range, about once a second! Note that you are the eye of the hurricane - it moves with you. IMPORTANT: As of the E3 convention, Blizz reps have stated that this skill is overpowered, and will be weakened before release.

  Lycanthropy: For the life bonus etc.

  Werebear: Slower than the Werewolf, Smokey is all about power. He gets increased attack damage, and lots of defense. Play the Werebear if you like to "tank" and form a battle line with your minions and allies. With perfect gear and a heavy investment in Oak Sage, you can get a high-level Werebear to over 5,000 Life!

  Werewolf: If you're into speed, you'll love this. You get massive bonuses to attack speed and accuracy here. Play the Werewolf if you like to dive in and savage your foes.

  NOTE: People who split between Werebear and Werewolf seem to be unhappy with the choice so far. Werebears are tanks; Werewolves are killing machines. Take your pick.

  Here's some recommended godly items to watch for. See spirea.lurkerlounge.com for item stats.

  Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope (for Attributes), Saracen's Chance (for added damage), Crescent Moon (for Mana leech)

  Armor: The Spirit Shroud (for Skills and magic damage reduction), Skin of the Vipermagi (for Fastest Cast and magic damage reduction), Que-Hegan's Wisdom (for Fastest Cast and Mana), Skullder's Ire, or Socketed Rare (possibly Archon Plate)

  Belt: Tal Rasha's Fine-Spun Cloth, String of Ears (for Life leech), Gloomstrap (for Mana leech), M'avina's Tenet

  Boots: Silkweave (for Fastest Run/Walk and Mana), Wartraveler (for Magic Find etc.), or Rare (possibly Boneweave Boots)

  Gloves: Laying of Hands, Venom Grip (for Crushing Blow and Life leech), or Rare (possibly Vampirebone Gloves)

  Helm: Valkyrie Wing, Vampiregaze (for dual leech), Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest, Jalal's Mane, or Socketed Rare (possibly Dream Spirit)

  Ring: Bul Katho's Wedding Band (for Skills and Life leech)

  Shield: Socketed Rare (possibly Dragon Shield) with Fastest Block Rate

  Weapon: Islestrike, The Grandfather, Messerchmidt's Reaver
  
  

• A *huge* addition to Diablo 2 gameplay

  
  By A3V6Z4RCDGRC44 on 2001-07-23
  As much as I loved and was addicted to Diablo 2, the graphics just weren't there. When you killed a boss and little red pixels splashed everywhere, it made the moment almost laughable. Diablo's programmers took the many comments about the graphics to heart, and they did a STELLAR job of revamping them in this expansion.

  I would have easily bought the expansion for the graphic upgrade alone - that makes Diablo 2 almost like an entirely new game, worth playing through all over again. However, they didn't stop there. There are 2 new races - the druid and the assassin - both of which I *love*. The assassin has cool attack moves that are great fun to watch. The druid can either shapeshift, or summon creatures, or control the elements. I love all three, but the elemental attacks are GREAT! This has become my new favorite character.

  There are new monsters to fight, an ENTIRE new act with great graphics, tons of new weapons, even new Cube recipes to play with. And, in a move that other game companies should pay attention to, you can now have TWO sets of weapons defined (i.e. bow and sword/shield for example) and easily toggle between them. I've been dying for that in every game I've played!

  It is really like an entirely new game, with the added benefit that you don't have to learn new keystrokes. I *highly* encourage any Diablo 2 lover to grab this, and if you don't have either one yet, treat yourself and get them both!
  
  

• Brought back the Addiction

  
  By A1FJWIC6Q1SO86 on 2001-06-11
  I thought I was done with Diablo 2 until I started hearing about the Expansion. I thought it was just another stupid add on to a game until I saw what it had to offer. They have 2 new classes, Druid and the Assassin. I played the Assassin and i like the character for several reasons. She can set traps to wound an enemy, also she is very skilled in close combat using fightingskills and claws to slash and bash the enemies. This is wat I thought the game lacked the first time around, a girl who was willing to kick a little butt. The Druid was a decent character. He is like the necro in a lot of ways. Hecan summon bears and wolves, but can also do a lot of harm with the other skills he has. I liked the Assassin more than the Druid. They both have 30 new skills and look great. Also they have improved th color to 800by600 which will make the game a lot more detailed. Also another act hs been added. Act 5 will let you finish the game letting you go to the Barbarian Highlands and fight Baal, the Lord of Destruction. It will add six new quests in the 5th act one letting you socket an item and a quest that when compleated you will get a classspecific item, im dieing to se what it is. But the most exciting part to me was the all new weaponry. They have a lot of new weapon classes and types, new uniques including alot of new uniques and set items. I love how they broght back a lot of the old weapons and armor from the old game like the mighy Arcanes Valor, an armor used by a great warrior with god-like stats. Over all this looks like the perfect expansion for the almost perfect game. I think that this will excite and inspire the Diablo player too keep plaing for at least another year.
  
  
• Thoughts from a beta tester
  By A2W7CGZKICFOA3 on 2001-05-15
  As a beta tester, I have played both of the new characters and all of the old characters. Of the new characters, I have found the Druid to be more to my liking. I like the quest rewards in the XPac where you can now make improvements to the items you are carrying. These include adding sockets to rare and unique items. One caveat though, the spell casting characters (Sorceress & Necromancer) have had time delays applied to her spell casting speeds. For example, the Sorceress' Frozen Orb can only be cast at a rate of one per second. Over all, I find this expansion an excellent play experience and give it five stars.
  
  
• Don't waste time reading, pre-order or buy it now!
  By A1EKDCKKCJLLOJ on 2001-06-22
  Ok, Diablo 2 was my BDay present from my dad. I thought it was cool and fun, but set it aside for some odd reason. (Probably our trip across the globe). I recently continued my Diablo 2 playing - but this time on Battle.net. It is VERY important that you play Battle.net, otherwise the game isn't as satasfying. It's my second favorite game ever, (First is Final Fantasy 7). Now there is an exp pack! White Items: Normal, Blue Items: Magic, Yellow Items: Rare, Orange Items: Found only by making in Horadric Cube, Gold Items: Unique (Very rare), Red Items: Elite (Best in the game, found only in the Hell difficulty). There are also new weapons for each class! The barbarians have executioner swords, polearms, and axes. Amazons have Ceremonial Javelins, and those bows that were mentioned above. Sorc's have Orbs now. Druids, I'm not sure. Assassins have wrist-bladez. There are all kinds of new monsters, wacked uniques, etc. I'd like to mention this also: Now weapons feature something like this: 125-160 Damage - 5% chance of casting L5 Frozen Orb - Freezes Target - +20 Life/Mana. Thats a new unique, that totally rocks. Anyway, if you're considering buying your son, or daughter, this, don't hesitate. It's a great game, and is NOT satanic or anything. You are after all, killing the devil :).
  
  
• Don't Listen To Stupid People.
  By A2ELKQS4OJ4I3H on 2001-06-24
  Just a bit of good advice.

  Let's get a few things out of the way. First of all, Diablo II is not an RPG. If you're looking for a game like Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment or Fallout, look elsewhere. Diablo II is an excellent action game with RPG elements, and if what you're looking for is a hack-n-slash with varying levels of complexity, endless replay value and a huge internet following, this is the only game you'll need.

  I've been beta testing the expansion, and to me the jump from Diablo II to D2X is similar to the jump from Diablo to Diablo II. This is a very good thing. The expansion totally refreshes the game, adding new items, new item types, new magical properties, two new character classes and an entirely new act.

  This new act is about the length of Act 2, and I feel it is by far the most gripping and interesting act in the game. It picks up right after Act 4, and makes an excellent transition from Act 4 normal to Act 1 nightmare, or Act 4 nightmare to Act 1 hell. The areas are interesting, varied, beautifully drawn and populated by new and creative monsters. High quality items are dropped and experience is so high it's an ideal place to level up till you're ready for that jump to the next difficulty level.

  With all the new magical properties and items, there are vast new equipment possibilities. You will now need to make decisions between certain properties including 'charges' of a class's skills usable by any class, self-replenishing throwing weapons, and armors that cast a spell when you're struck.

  If you need a new cyber addiction, Diablo II and Diablo II: Lord of Destruction is the first and last game you'll need for a long time.
  
  

• Useful links prior to release
  By A1LKNTDGILSYGE on 2001-05-22
  (Cut and paste, Amazon's browser doesn't like HTML)

  [1] For complete details on the new Uniques, Sets, and other treasures, look at: spirea.lurkerlounge.com

  [2] For detailed coverage on the Beta, and continuing revelations, check out: http://www.diabloii.net

  [3] For discussion of changes, strategies, exploits, and skill reorientation, visit: http://www.lurkerlounge.com

  [4] The Chaos Sanctuary is being updated - it's called The Arreat Summit, and will be the official source for all LoD data. Right now, Geoff has it in a very partial format - most of it is just cloned Chaos Sanc info. http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/

  [5] The Beta testers are discussing their revelations in the official D2X forum, here: http://www.battle.net/forums/d2xbeta/

  [6] And for the best strategy overviews, where you can learn a LOT without reading your eyes bloodshot for 20 hours straight looking for detail, check out my site, http://www.darkangelcollect.com - due to the imbalances and bugs in the current D2X Beta, I'm waiting for the actual RELEASE of LoD to put all of my Xpack data into the site. Look for that massive update to my site in June.

  Enjoy!
  
  

• It ain't broke, but they fixed it anyway
  By on 2001-06-26
  I lost most of last summer to Diablo II. I finished the game with every character class, kicked Diablo to Hell and back several times over and had a great time.

  I didn't know what they could do to improve upon the game, and when I got a chance to play in the beta test, I figured it would be a little more story (wrapping up the cliffhanger ending of Diablo II), two more classes and that's it. Well, not quite.

  Listed seperately, all the other changes to the game don't amount to much. Sure, it's neat to be able to swap between two weapons on the fly -- all of my characters now use bows in addition to up-close-and-personal weapons -- and the double stash size is also appreciated. I also really enjoy the no-longer-worthless hirelings, whom you can arm, take with you through the different acts and who gain experience as time goes on. But the cumulative effect of dozens and dozens of changes and improvements is to make the game feel signficantly more polished, challenges scale up appropriately (as opposed to the too-easy Nightmare and Hell modes in Diablo II classic) and the whole game experience much richer.

  Sure, there's a fifth act, wherein the heroes chase after Baal through the barbarian highlands before he can tear down the wall that seperates Hell from the mortal realm. And it's got six new quests, the best yet in fact, and features NPC barbarians who fight with or without you against Baal's minions. For the first time, you're not walking into the aftermath of battle, but into an actual warzone.

  And sure, there's two new classes, the shapechanging/animal summoning/elemental spell using Druid and the martial arts-using Assassin, both of whom are distinct from the five original classes and are more challenging and rewarding to play.

  But it's the sum total of all these changes and additions that make Diablo II: Lord of Destruction a must-have for anyone who enjoyed the original. The beta period is ending this week and the final version comes out this Friday. I figure I'll be losing another summer to Diablo II ...
  
  

• A good add on to a good game
  By AEDLJZMLDDGWA on 2002-03-18
  I had to learn the hard way that the two best character classes are Amazon (archer with lots of points on mutlti and guided) and sorcoress (with lots of points on frozen orb, warmth, and wall of fire). The amazon is by far the most powerful of all. She shoots arrows like a machine-gun, and can change her attacks to cold and fire arrows by only expending a few skill points. The zon is best if equiped with a mana/life stealing bow (putting a perfect skull in your bow is best).
  To enjoy the game more I simply would not go to the Hell difficulty at all. It is insanely difficult for even the most experienced players. There are monsters which are immune to every form of attack (physical, cold, fire, lightning, poison), so you cannot get very far with say, a barbarian with no elemental attacks or a sorc who specializes in only one school.

  On the multi player games, watch out for PK's (player killers). There are way too many of them and they can easily kill just about anyone.
  
  

• Great expansion for a great game
  By AL8H416ZHSWM on 2001-07-13
  I was a big fan of Diablo, so after a long while I bought Diablo II. The sequel was much more fun than the original, and I especially liked playing as the necromancer. When I first heard that Blizzard was making an expansion, I was skeptical. The game seemed fine, and new classes are usually kinda hokey anyway (at least hokey enough to not be worth [price]). "What else could they add to the game?" I thought. To my surprise, the expansion made many useful improvements to the game. You can now quickly switch between two weapon/shield combinations, which made it worth it for me to use a bow. The new classes, to my surprise, are really fun. Honestly, I haven't actually even tried the assassin class - I'm still very busy with the druid. The druid is by far my very favorite class, with the necromancer coming in a distant second. The expansion also adds a new act to the story, class-specific items, an expanded storage area, and more changes in addition to these. This expansion is well-worth the [price] I paid for it. If you like Diablo II, do yourself a big favor and try the expansion - it's just more of a good thing. If you didn't like Diablo II much, try the expansion - it's like playing a whole new game.
  
  
• JUST WHEN YOU THINK YOUR OUT, THEY PULL YOU BACK IN...
  By ARJEWJ93TEU7P on 2001-04-27
  Ever been divorced then re-marry the same person? Then you know what its like to return to ..., as you will do in the upcoming Diablo II expansion pack:Lord of Destruction. LoD adds 2 new character classes, new monsters, thousands of new items, an expanded inventory space to hold more of those gems and goodies, and other new surprising features that will keep us die hard Diablo players glued to our monitors for days at a time again. You need the original Diablo 2 to play and as this is a continuation going into Act 5, you will need a high level character. This is defintiely gonna be great....Im so ... excited Im gonna buy two !!
  
  
• Just when you thought you've beaten the addiction...
  By A2JU4FUSW1PBEC on 2001-07-14
  Diablo II was, without a doubt, one of the most addictive and entertaining games of 2000. However, with the release of Diablo II Expansion: Lord of Destruction, those of you that put Diablo 2 down, or have reduced your playing hours, prepare to be sucked back in to the world of Diablo...

  With Diablo dead and his soulstone destroyed, it seems that the world is at peace again. However, there was one major oversight: Baal, Lord of Destruction(and my favorite of the three Prime Evils) has been amassing a great army during your hero's trek into Hell to battle Diablo. This tremendous oversight has now come into fruition, as Baal has invaded the Barbarian Highlands in the Northen regions, thrusting you once more into battle with one of the most powerful forces of Evil in existence...

  With dozens of new monster types, you will find yourself fighting for your life against some of the most difficult monsters yet encountered in the game. Some, namely the Reanimated Horde, simply just do not want to stay down! They may require you to kill them up to 3 times just to keep them there! However, each time you kill it, it is as if you are killing another monster entirely, giving you even more experience and possibility for items. These are just some of the many new monster you'll encounter, including a few unique 'Boss' monsters, including The Lord of Destruction himself!

  Two new classes headline this expansion set, which are the Assassin and the Druid.

  The Assassin is an incredible class. She has 3 skill trees, one of which is Martial Arts, which give her the ability to perform magical martial arts moves, as well as the addition of 'charge up' moves that, when charged enough, will result in a fantastic display of effects and heavy damage to monsters. Another skill tree is the Disciplines tree, which allows her to master her art of using Claw weapons(the assassin unique class weapon) and other abilities such as blocking, elemental resistance, even creating a 'shadow' version of herself, capable of the same destructive force that she is! Her final tree, Traps, is a great tree that allows the assassin to deploy devices such as fire bombs, lightning webs and others to keep enemies at bay.

  The Druid is very much like the Necromancer class, with one extra unique and awesome ability: the ability to shape-shift into a Werewolf or Werebear! Aside from that, the druid is a master of Earthly magics, with the forces of nature at his command. He can also summon the animals of the wild and spiritual realms, such as Dire Wolves, ravens and Grizzly bears! Definitely a formidable fighter, he is sort of like a revamped NEcromancer on steroids.

  Also in this expansion is one final act with 6 quests, Act V. Those of you who have beaten Diablo II already are saying: 'One act? That's it? Is it worth it?' All i can say is YES. Act V is almost TWICE the size of Act III, which was the longest Act in the original game. The playfields are huge and beautifully detailed, and yet another masterful musical score accompanies the new act, fitting nicely with the chaos and drama that happens throughout.

  Finally, there are thousands more unique, set, magical and rare items added to the game's original thousands! This should make adventuring alot more desirable, and up the replay value a few notches.

  The expansion also includes two more cinematics, again, in excellent quality and worthy of the standards set by Blizzard in the past. The opening cinema to Act V is incredible. If you didn't like Baal previously, trust me, you'll like him now. Excellent voice acting and casting, dozens of new creatures, thousands of new items and 2 new incredible classes all stuffed into one HUGE Act make this well worth your time and money. The addiction is going to come back...and its gonna hit HARD.
  
  

• Leaving D2 Forever . . . (but I am sorry I have to leave).
  By A12CCY4X5J9GQ on 2002-04-25
  I must say, I started playing D2C (Diablo 2 Classic) 14 months ago. I bought LOD (Lord of Destruction expansion) on its release date.
  
  There are many features and aspects of the game that will make you come back to play over and over again, as indeed I've done, often to the exclusion of many other important things in my life. Which is why this coming weekend, I'm giving both D2C, and D2:LOD away (CDs and online Battlenet accounts) to a friend, and I will never play again.
  
  Why do I depart from something that is so much fun? Because it is not always so fun. There are as many features of the game that I hate as I enjoy.
  
  A full explanation would require a thesis sized document, but I'll hit the highlights.
  
  1: Hackers and Cheating: Computer hackers who exploit loopholes in online-network-play computer code achieve stunning advantages for themselves, both in game play and in creation of false "duplicate" items. Dups, as they're called, are literally materialized out of thin air through trickery for the purpose of avoiding actually playing the game for long periods of time (the best items in the game drop rarely). Hackers thus either build up large inventories of fakes (which can disappear later like mythical fool's gold), or create temporary dups for use in trading in order to trick people into giving up their "real" high-quality items for nothing.
  
  2: Bad Attitude: There are a lot of socially maladjusted computers geeks and eight and nine year old children running around in online play (actually, they come from all walks of life). They share one common trait, plain outright rudeness, a complete lack of consideration for others, and a lack of any detectable self-respect. For instance, a wide-spread activity online currently (04/24/02) is begging. Yes, begging. Begging has always been a part of the game, as low-level characters (played by the highly lazy or highly impatient) go around asking for item hand-outs from high level characters in order to jump-start the progress of their characters through the game. However, now, a new form of begging has become vastly predominant. Begging for "rushing". "Rushing" is an activity that's been around for a while, but now it's nearly universal. A high level character joins up with a brand new character, and uses their enormous stats to carve a path directly through the minimum requirements necessary to complete every part of the game at standard difficulty. With the infamous Map-Hack (see my discussion of Hacker and Cheating above), a high level character can take a low level character through the whole standard game in ten to fifteen minutes, sometimes less if lucky. The next two higher difficulty levels (where the monsters are all tougher and meaner), are also quickly disposed of. The purpose of doing all this (what do you do with a low level character at the end of the game where one hit from the weakest monster would splat the character into a bloody pulp . . .)?
  
  3: Gaming Environment: The way the game is currently set up, there is enormous incentive to simply have a low level character rushed through all three difficulty levels of the game, and then create a special game in what was previously and usually a one-shot joke/bonus/feature called the "Secret Cow Level". This highly amusing area of game play features upright walking cows wielding very large axes (pole-arms, actually, to be accurate). These cows run around the board, and moo-moo sound effects are going off left and right, it's all good for great laughs. There are lots and lots of Cows, a huge density of monsters in packs, and they deal enormous damage and can be quite dangerous. However, if you avoid killing the "Cow King" special monster, you can play again and again. Why? It's the monster-density. There are more monsters in a single area on the Secret Cow level than anywhere else. This huge density of monsters yields up large amounts of experience. Joining this game at very low levels can cause a new character to advance many levels in a single game. In only hours, a character can be two thirds of the way toward maximum level, and have only had the character sit off in a corner, not participating, "leeching" experience away from active participants. Yes, that's another feature of the game, people can advance their characters on the backs of other player's labors. It falls under Bad Attitude above, and is a problem so bad that I skipped detailing it so I could cut this down by a page or two (along with also skipping the reason people go around duplicating items so rampantly, so they can sell them for actual $$ on ebay, some people have reported raking in $20,000; so there is substantial motivation to cheat this way, which further affects the Game Environment, and results from Cheating and Hacking and Bad Attitude).
  
  4: Lack of Character Management: This whole game is about advancing your character by playing the game. You kill the monsters, and pick up cool items to equip your character so they can deal with ever bigger and more dangerous threats until all three difficulty levels are completed (three runs through the game facing ever tougher and meaner monsters). However, each character has very little "room", or storage space to hold onto these items. If you find something that might be useful for another character you have, you must resort to a variety of non-completely reliable methods of moving the items around (which can often result in heartbreaking disappointment when that unreliability rears its ugly head and erases your hard won items). There is, simply put, no feature of the game to alleviate this, and as far as I can tell, there never will be. The pack rat in me simply can't take it. The good stuff I find, I must keep, and that's simply quite impossible in D2.
  
  5: Time: Finally, as I mentioned above, D2 is taking up vast amounts of my time . . . yes, that's right, despite the problems I've outlined above, I still played, just not anymore.
  
  
• How to lose your children...
  By on 2002-02-07
  My son was given this game as a present and though he is only 12 we didn't expect it to have any more effect on him than the usual Nintendo, Playstation, PC games he has played before.

  Nothing could have been further from the truth. He lost interest in everything: friends, family, sports, and school. It became obvious to us that he was not mature enough for this game and certainly his mother and I shoulder the blame for misjudging his ability to separate fantasy and reality.

  After several months of screaming tantrums, anger and problems at school we allow him to play an hour a day. This is after one episode of uninstalling the game completely to get the point across.

  I cannot stress enough that this game is NOT for children under about the age of 15. You will certainly have to judge for yourself. I'm sure there are 30 year olds who shouldn't be playing this game. I now know what computer gaming addiction is all about and I hope you never have to find out the way we did.

  Please think twice before you purchase this game.

  Oh, and you'll lose a phone line forever!

  Beware...
  
  

• be careful
  By on 2001-06-19
  ...
  

  For one, the correct class weapons are:
  Necromancer-Totems Barbarians-Helms Paladin-Shields Amazon-Bow Spears, Javalins Assassin-Katars Sorceress-Orbs Druid-Helms
  Jewels arent like gems,they have magical mods (prefixes and suffixes) instead which just get given to the item they are socketed into.
  Only certain things can have 6 sockets, not everything, and uniques and rares can only have 1. And still no boots/gloves/belt/jewelry sockets.
  A bunch of the names of runes he gives are wrong.
  Most charms are 1x3 or smaller, none are larger.
  
  

  Glad i could help :) as far as my opinion of the game (or expansion)... well of course it rocks
  
  

• REAL review
  By on 2001-06-23
  Most of the reviews that i have just read were not helpful. The expansion to Diablo 2 is a vast improvement on the most part from the classic game. Lord of Destruction adds many new possibilities by adding 2 new character classes, bringing the total to 7, and thousands of new items. These new items include such things as runes (artifacts that fit into weapons, helms, armors, and sheilds to make powerful uniques if done correctly), charmes (which can be held in your stash to give you bonuses the same way rings and ammys do), and many new character-specific items. Although many believe that the just released patch was made the MAKE people buy the expansion, this is a blatant lie. The version 1.08 patch updates classic Diablo 2 to be more like the expansion so that not everyone has to buy the expansion to get some of it's updates. I encourage everyone that has played or does play Diablo 2 to purchase Diablo 2: LoD.
  
  
• Reigning classic of role-playing games
  By A2KTHPGHWB8BUU on 2003-12-23
  I'm writing after having played Diablo II and Lord of Destruction on and off for a few years. I've bought several other games, including Baldur's Gate II, but Diablo II with LOD keeps pulling me back. It's probably the best combination of action and role playing (in the light sense of the term) ever created.

  This expansion pack is essential. Don't buy Diablo II without it, because the technical improvements change the complexion of the entire game. The increased resolution -- 800x600 -- isn't simply cosmetic. It widens the field of ranged combat. And Act V, added in the expansion, is likely the best of the lot.

  Why does Diablo II/LOD live perpetually on my hard drive?

  First, while the graphics are no longer state of the art, the mood of the whole game just works. I'm not a graphic artist and can't tell you why. But this is a very immersive game. The first time I played through Act IV (Hell), I really felt like I had spent a few hours in the grim, volcanic wastes. The Flayer Dungeon in Act III still scares the cr@p out of me.

  Next, DII/LOD is extremely easy to learn and takes a long time to master -- the mark of a good game. Replayability is fair to good, because each of the character classes requires different strategies. You'll never get the "right" skill mix the first time through as a sorcess, paladin, etc. It takes practice. If the fixed maps and quests don't add variety, the character development makes up for it nicely.

  Finally, while the role-playing aspect is kind of light -- you can just go out and hack and slay until your heart's content -- it's enough. Baldur's Gate II bogged down in a heavy story line that made me feel like I was working. Diablo II has a straight line story, but it's secondary. Mostly you just revel in how your character improves and acquires more powerful items. If you read the forums on Blizzard.com, you'll see that DII/LOD players are extremely attached to their characters. Is this psychologically healthy? I think it's fine and speaks to the success of the game.

  After three years or so, I can still recommend Diablo II with its expansion. Every time I thought I was through, I end up digging up my installation CDs and loading it for "just one more run."
  
  

• One Gamers Point of View
  By on 2002-02-17
  I'm far from expert at Diablo II or the expansion, but approached the game as ome who had finished Diablo II as a level 65 Paladin utilizing thorns and conversion.

  I'll leave the question of whether ANY video game is worth this kind of time to others..lol.

  If you liked Diablo II, this will probably prove fun. The ability to heal and keep an NPC until it achieves the same level is good. The new acts are fine. The larger stash and improved graphics are fine too.

  I'd rate ot four stars...but a few tips and criticisms.

  Criticisms. Maybe its my strategy failings, but the hell level is too hard in that it apparently requires near endless leveling up. I converted my paladin for the game and developed it to level 78 ( along with a 78 barbarian npc), and didn't seem close to getting past the ancients in the hell level. Packed it in. Leveling up and searching for better items becomes mind numbing befotre too long...truly excellent items in very short supply..and even those with catchy new names are really the same old stuff too often. And past a certain point the leveling up is sooo repetitious that its akin to picking fly droppings out of pepper with boxing gloves on. And the nifty barabarians fighting out in the fields in act 5..initially a kick to see and aid....get stupid in a hurry when they get stuck in simple corners. A true programming flaw...if they didn;t want them to aid in the completion of that act they could have had them retunr to town etc....seeing them walk into walls instead makes ya wonder if they were brain damaged in the battle.

  Random tips.

  Conversion becomes much less powerful in the expansion. Limited time. Thorns used with conversion becomes dangerous, because the converted characters retain the aura after they turn back in 16 seconds....quick way to get your npc killed. The combo I have used is fanaticism and the improved zeal. Nice combination but not good enough for hell so far. Vengeance might have been a better choice.

  Its worth the time to go to the first act of the normal level to pick up 3 chiiped gems and save them. Combined with a superior ( non magic) rune, legend , or fransisca sword in the cube, they often form a potent socketed weapon.

  Save your awarded sockets for the last attempts at the hell level (if you plan to go that far).

  Armor rated at 1200 or better sometimes show up at Lazruk...so repair often and search for it and try to have 1.5 million handy.

  Nihiluk is among the deadliest of characters. Keep a portal opened nearby for quick return. Try to lure his minions out of his range..then after you have killed as many as possible, charge him...waste no time....his spectral hits kill from a distance..he is less dangerous in close.

  Concentrate on building elemental damage for your hell efforts....many of the characters on that level are immune to physical damage.

  Make plenty of full rejuvenation potions for the higher levels...you'll need em.

  Have fun...hope you get further than I did. ; - )
  
  

• Tjuser's Review
  By on 2001-06-22
  This is an RPG where you start out as one of 5 Character classes, you then venture off into the wilderness where you will meet enemys of all shapes and sizes. While fighting (and hopefully conquering) the monsters, you gain EXP wich then can eventualy be put towards Your character's Damage inflicted, defense, Life, energy, and a new skill that they can perform using up energy as they do it.
  
  
• Diablo II: Lord of destruction
  By AP9SJNJ1ACNMO on 2001-06-25
  Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, is a major improvement on Diablo II. It has increased stash sizes, thousands of new weapons, and a bunch of new quests. Now it is harder for high lvls to ... enemys. Diablo II was a fun game, and Diablo II: Lord of Destruction is an even better game.
  
  
• Great expansion to a great game, but...
  By on 2001-06-30
  I have played through it now and I really enjoy playing it. D2 itself was a great game. The only reason that I am not giving it 4 or 5 stars is because it is GROSSLY overpriced. 40 bucks for an expansion of 1 act? As much as I enjoy it, if it had not been a gift to me, I never would have bought it. I understand the new character classes, items, etc., but come on.
  
  
• Consider Yourself Warned
  By ABDTTUXVFYJHU on 2004-04-21
  Alrighty, how do I begin? I feel it is necessary for someone to explain the fact that this is, without a doubt, the single most addicting game ever made (assuming you like RPG's). I have owned this game for about a year and a half now and I can still play it non-stop for five hours a day (yes, I have befallen to RPG nerdiness to play this game). If you are considering buying this game, consider this:

  It is not a complete waste of time (at least that's what I tell myself). When you build your character you are building something that has some value. It is unique and it will kill you to delete it. Especially if you reach level 70 and above.

  You will fail school because of it. (Trust me, I know)

  You will dream about it. You will close your eyes and red and blue orbs will sit behind each eyelid

  Your character will die and it will make you go into slight depressions for fifteen or twenty minutes at a time. (Unless you are crazy enough to go hardcore and then you will probably need to see some kind of professional if your character bites it)

  You will love this game and hate this game all at the same time. You will swear to yourself you need to remove it from your harddrive, but you won't be able to.

  There are a thousand more things that will happen to you while you play this game. If I could give just a few words of advice, don't play single player if you can help it, EVER. Only make online characters. Multiplayer is where the game is at. Single player should be your learning playground, but that's all it is. It is the sandbox in the middle of the beach. The big guns exist online and online is the only place where you will find the best items and actually reach high levels in any quick amount of time. Once you dip into this game, it is very hard to let it go. Good luck!! I hope you decide to purchase it and join the ranks of the hopelessly addicted. I could begin to explain how this game works, but it would be impossible in 1000 words. You have to get it and discover it for yourself. Cheers!!

  P.S. If you need any tips on how to get to level like 70 in like two days, or how to find all the good stuff, shoot me an email (north_face@yahoo.com)
  
  

• Diablo II: Lord of Destruction
  By AQOQU349FW325 on 2001-06-07
  I have the beta (lucky me) and it kicks ... . My only complaint is that it is almost the same except for a few minor (except for the two new characters and act 5) changes.
  
  
• Key Features I Noticed The Most
  By AGZI8YJFU6RBJ on 2001-07-03
  Lord of Destruction (LOD) offers various new features, and after playing through it this weekend (June 30, July 1, 2001), here are the 6 that stood out to me the most.

  1) Act V: Of course, the continuation of the story! The graphic artwork is very nice, with snow fall effects. The new creatures are very challenging. Act V is also fairly big. Closer to Act III. The quests are also more interesting than the original quests. For example, rescuing barbarian warriors held captive by Baal's forces.

  2) Two New character classes: Assassin & Druid. The assassin uses martial arts, traps, and "shadow skills." Druid uses elemental magic, shapeshifting into bears/wolves, and summoning animals (mainly wolves & bears). I have only played the assassin thus far, and she is very cool, but the druid looks like he would be very interesting as well.

  3) 800 x 600 resolution: The increased resolution allows more to show on the screen and makes the graphics appear less pixelized on large monitors. I have a fast computer, so I saw no performance difference. If you are running near minimum requirements, this is not an option for you.

  4) Double the Storage: Your cache space has doubled. Plus, when above level 30, the amount of gold you can save goes way up.

  5) Weapon swapping: You can equip two sets of weaponory. For example, my barbarian carries a two-handed sword in each hand, plus a two-handed sword and shield as a second option. With the hot-key W I switch between the two configurations on the fly. I used this ALOT, especially towards the finale.

  6) Hirelings MUCH more useful: The hirelings can now be resurrected, given armor, helm, and weapons (the weapon must be the same type they first come with). Moreover, you get to see their stats, exp points & level, and you can take them with you across acts. You can only have one, but now that you can keep them with you and they are a little tougher, you can practically keep a rogue from Act I through to Act 5. I found hirelings very useful. My favorite so far are the mages from Act 3, though the Barbarians in Act 5 are pretty tough themselves.

  There were numerous other changes. New magical properties, hora dric cube recipes, I can go on and on.

  The five above are the ones that really stood out the most to me and in which I noticed an immediate effect on gameplay and stragedy when I played through the first time.

  My only gripe is I wanted more on the final cinematic after you kill Baal. It was fine, but I wanted it to show more.

  If you liked the Diablo II "classic," you WILL thoroughly enjoy the expansion. It greatly improves upon and adds more of what you'd expect from the original D2.
  
  

• Diablo 2 Expansion Advantages
  By A3QKUG5AFZM8P9 on 2001-07-03
  If you've just bought Diablo 2, then I advise your next buy to be the expansion. After playing Diablo 2 for some time and beating the last levels, you will WANT to see the conclusion to the story. Those of us who have long since beat it, get the expansion and start playing Diablo 2 again. The expansion adds new types of characters claases to be, over 1000 new weppons and items, and some very unique stuff, aside from completeing the story. For any kind of RPG fan, or just a Diablo 2 fan, the expansion is worth it buy it as soon as possible.
  
  
• 2 new characters with good and bad flaws. The game ROCKS!
  By A33I4RCFITFXG5 on 2001-07-10
  I thought DIABLO was hard in act 4 of Diablo II. Well, act 5 is worse! Now all the quests were pretty easy until the last. That quest kept changing. Each time I reached the quest goal, instead of showing it completed, it just changed the quest. So the last quest was really several goals long, each harder than the last!

  I loved it!

  I have been experimenting with the 2 new characters too. The Druid has some awesome powers. However, if I changed into the bear, I found that even though the bear does more damage, he is EXTREMELY SLOW! The wolf is FAST and attacking quicker puts more hits on the enemy, so there is more damage done with more attacks, but the same amount of time. And I don't have the patience to lumber around. I like to be agile and killing demons.

  The Assassin is my favorite! She has the most AWESOME skills and her finishing moves rock! By level one or two, she can summon a blade that spins between her and the enemy, hitting them several times and almost always killing them in the first blow, while I can attack other demons with claws that would make Wolverine envious! She also has a skill so that with each hit to an enemy she gets a glow flowing around her. Once she has 3 going around her the assassine can channel it to hit an enemy. The skills get MORE AWESOME as she increases in levels!

  The end bad guy, Bael (sorry if I spelled that wrong), is even harder than Diablo! Super fast and minions out the ying-yang!

  This game is the best I've played yet! Highly recommended. Rated M for gore and violence though.
  
  

• Great... But not too different from D2
  By on 2001-10-10
  I was almost going to give it 5 stars...
  But there is not too much more than the original...

  True, runes make it fun... And The 2 new characters look good... The new resolution 800x600 is also better, but overall it is pretty much the same as D2. I would have expected a bigger improvement... More changes to the game...

  A couple of new worlds... not just 1 new world.

  But don't get me wrong. I enjoyed it a lot. I played with the assassin. And I tried to find as many runes as possible to check out the combinations and extra powers.

  So if you liked D2, this is even better. If you haven't played D2 I highly reccomend buying the Battle chest (both products) And play The expansion right away.
  
  

• Great Game; not-so-great for GPA
  By A2I3ICXKOOWLK1 on 2001-12-04
  The "Blizzard" mark on the box almost garanteed the value of this game. Improvements such as the 800x600 pixles support and two new character classes make it a must-buy for all original DiabloII owners. The elaborate art work and background music of the additional episode 5 are especially impressive. This expansion set has greatly improved the overall gamming experience of this best-selling title "Diablo".

  However, one of the biggest flaw of this game is that the multiplayer conncetion to Battle.net is still rather unstable and laggy when the traffic to the game servers are heavy. Playing this game on Battle.net wagers a considerable amount of risk to see your character stop moving for a while and later find it lay dead on the ground. Or you may see your character getting killed by "invisible" enemies. If you choose to play on Battle.net realm, I strongly suggest a realiable ISP provider(preferably cable connection) and a high-speed computer.

  Overal Blizzard did a decent job designing the two character classes: the druid and assasin. The new skills associated with the character are unique and fun for original DiabloII owners. The shape shifting skill is revolutionary and the "Martial arts" of the assasins is a selling-feature for this add-on. However, having to play over the original 4 acts with all 3 difficulty levels to finish the game might make this game a bit repetitive. Nonetheless, the exciting actions of game-play has made many Expansion owners play through all 5 act of the 3 difficulty levels with all 7 characters- You get to kill Baal 21 times by doing so. One pack of this game virtually consits a value of 7. The bad is that some of the gameplay adjustments from Blizzard in this Expansion has made the very-time-consuming original "Diablo" even more time-consuming. For those who has much time to kill this one is excellenct for it. But for those who doesn't, or for students who lacks self-control this game could be a cruel GPA killer.

  Overall, Blizzard has done a great job making "DiabloII Expansion: Lord of Destruction", A must-buy for original Diablo owners, great actions and multiplayer desings for all RPG lovers. But be sure to evaluate your computer hardware as well as time management before buying this game.
  
  

• PC Gamer (1-year)
• Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

• Diablo 2
• Diablo 2: Lord Of Destruction Expansion Set (PC & Mac)
• Diablo Battle Chest
• Baldur's Gate 2: Ultimate Collection (Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal)
• Warcraft III Battle Chest