Diablo 2: Resurrected remaster

[Decado]

So I respecced my Druid early on, mostly because I was really interested to try some AoE damage. Doing pure fire now and, uhh, jesus christ almighty. Once again, exactly as I remembered. Blizz has always loved casters.

Druid caster is pure cancer to play due to all the spells doing random damage in their AoE. Fuck that. With Druid you either go Shapeshifting, Summoning or you play a real spellcaster.

Well, I'm having a good time.

Holy shit, this game is so much better than Diablo 3, it's not even funny. It is legitimately sad.

I'm in Maggot Lair under the Far Oasis, with all of the narrow tunnels, just rolling my huge flaming rock down these hallways, absolutely crushing the fuck out of everything. Like bowling for shitheads. There is nothing in D3 that is even remotely satisfying as this is, or as fun.

Fissures is fucking nuts, too. I don't think I ever played a pure elemental Druid before, the spells are not bad on this difficulty. I'm putting points in summoning just to have a doggo friend and eventually the bear (because bears are great, and if I could have a pet bear, I would).

This is a 20 fucking year old game. With the exception of WoW, it's more fun than anything Blizzard has done since. Ridiculous.

Took you some time, huh?

I don't understand the question.

Just bamboozled by the fact that you never bothered to play Diablo 2 with all the praise it got, but went straight for Diablo 3.

I played Diablo 2 for years. I had hundreds, maybe thousands, of hours of playtime logged over two deployments. If you're bamboozled, it's because you're assuming things about people you don't know.

Your writing style implied that you never played Diablo 2 before, imo. But guess that was not the case.

No it didn't. Is English your first language?

 

[m_s0]

HC looks cool. Pity I have shit net. Carrier Pidgeons are faster.

At this point you could be playing this smack in the middle of Silicon Valley and it still wouldn't have helped. People were reporting that even their offline characters were disappearing. Not to mention characters stuck in games you're no longer in. Russian roulette squared on HC until VV/Activision fix this.

I didn't play on launch day, but it has been performing way better than olde D2 on B.net does as of a few days ago. HC has been fine.

Stuff like this isn't encouraging, though:
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/d2r/t/diablo-ii-resurrected-developing-issues/6328/7

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

So I respecced my Druid early on, mostly because I was really interested to try some AoE damage. Doing pure fire now and, uhh, jesus christ almighty. Once again, exactly as I remembered. Blizz has always loved casters.

Druid caster is pure cancer to play due to all the spells doing random damage in their AoE. Fuck that. With Druid you either go Shapeshifting, Summoning or you play a real spellcaster.

Well, I'm having a good time.

Holy shit, this game is so much better than Diablo 3, it's not even funny. It is legitimately sad.

I'm in Maggot Lair under the Far Oasis, with all of the narrow tunnels, just rolling my huge flaming rock down these hallways, absolutely crushing the fuck out of everything. Like bowling for shitheads. There is nothing in D3 that is even remotely satisfying as this is, or as fun.

Fissures is fucking nuts, too. I don't think I ever played a pure elemental Druid before, the spells are not bad on this difficulty. I'm putting points in summoning just to have a doggo friend and eventually the bear (because bears are great, and if I could have a pet bear, I would).

This is a 20 fucking year old game. With the exception of WoW, it's more fun than anything Blizzard has done since. Ridiculous.

Took you some time, huh?

I don't understand the question.

Just bamboozled by the fact that you never bothered to play Diablo 2 with all the praise it got, but went straight for Diablo 3.

If you started with D3 and add-on the older games wiuld feel like incline. I've considered just buying the $60 pack just to have a digital archive & keys in case i'm visiting somewhere and get thd bug ip my arse to try D3... but wouldn't I just go HC D2 Remaster instead? Dunno. I ain't buying a console version of D3 as I'd need the console and a TV.

I never did play all the diablo, Hellfire, or D2 mods. So many there be and so many that disappeared.

 

[arcanum]

Old Diablo II fan here. My computer is under the requirements for this remaster. I'll stick to the beloved original. Still play with friends over and over again - this game is indeed a pure heroin.

 

[Shadenuat]

I found old Ru)) special bawx that allows to downgrade D2 into anything as old as 1.07, and it all works even screen not stretched. 2015 technology. somehow bawx was also 7 times larger than it should be. must be 7 different Ru localizations (to make every Russian properly nostalgic you see as they all have good memories of their own pirated localization, one more horrible than another - today these same studios are proper we dindu studios and people from them work on mail.ru or something; I had boxed licensed version tho, bought on equivalent of flea market in 2000 - my first ever licensed game bawx)I picked 1.09, last one before synergies & rebalancing.

I am now playing druid with puppies and ravens n shit. There are no synergies anywhere except dogi to bear conversion ratios. Interestingly enough, druid summon synergies were nerfed right after release, in 1.08; and also werebear form (it was +100% hp on level 1 and Maul had more stun and damage). But wolf attacking skills and fire claws were buffed.

It is amusing to play this version after playing 1.0 (Classic). Gold is no longer rare, you get thousands within minutes of the game. Potions drop from almost every mob. I got 3 rares and 1 green by just reaching stony field - in 1.0 I got as much while playing through whole chapter(s). But it's nice to have Meghan back with her 3 topaz bow.
And before this patch Jah rune didn't even exist, so to speak (it had different name).

Why am I so [autistic.gif] about this anyway? Well, this is the version I played the most, together with Classic (RuBarb vs. GerBarb) & LoD when it was just released (wtb windforce leviathan whatever).

Time traveling is interesting. Just one add-on before everything was rare, loot 5 times less common, only unique mob in plains was Bish, and you'd barely hit levels 26-27 before Nightmare. Some patching later, there are whole groups of unique monsters everywhere in already monster crowded game and power levels begin approaching modern jet climbing speeds. What were they thinking, eh? Probably just wanted to please players and make game more fun, add more of the same. And look at game balance of D2 and ARPGs today.

 

[Average Manatee]

Unique monsters are good though. They liven up the game and some of them have tough mods that can surprise you.

I agree about the drops though. It's kind of silly when you don't bother picking up even yellows. In Diablo 1 every single blue was taken back to town for sale.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

What was the best mod loader back say 5-8 years ago that allowed you to switch the patches on the fly. I know i had it somewhere when I was playing a version of scrabble.

someone have a list of all the mods and extras collected? Best site? I thought it used to be moddb and phrozen keep.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Ok. Sunglasses mod redeems the Paladin

Nothing but a paper bag will do here.

Spoiler

Are those wrinkly veins in her granny demon tits? Is she er he ..... IT going bald too?
And this pic makes it look like those are false breasts attached to a harness like in Black adder.

Hmmm.....

 

[Zeriel]

There are also some semi hidden mechanics in running/walking in D2 in that running nerfs your block rate into the ground. You only get your full defense walking or stationary. The game also gives you stamina potions that can be chain chugged and cost nothing. All classes also pump vitality which boosts stamina, as does character level.

The defense thing was something I never knew years ago back when I played it and in retrospect is incredibly stupid. Amazing that that stat on every piece of armor literally did nothing for most players because it was turned off.

 

[Zeriel]

This gets to the previous poster, several pages back, who rightfully pointed out that D2 acts are very much like a themepark. Grasslands, sandland, jungleland, hellland and snowland. It isn't thematically tight like Diablo 1, it's "more = better". But the argument of D1 v D2 is a tired one, it's art vs commerce and we all know which the masses prefer...

I dunno, most of the time those areas have some gimmicky themes to them. Like you don't have quicksand in Act II trying to pull you in to your death or having to worry about slipping off cliffs to your doom in Act V. They probably wanted to expand the world more and put in a bunch of different environments and maybe inspire them to expand the bestiary somewhat.

IMO the best acts in D2 would go A1 > A2 > AV > A4 > black edge of screen leading you back to your death > A3.

Always thought Act II got a lot of dumb hate because some niggas got a Vitamin D aversion, only section I hated was Arcane Sanctuary. Everything else was actually pretty cool.

Ironically I remember my gripe with Act 2 back on release was that it was too dark, it just didn't really feel like a desert so much as a shadowy wasteland. Sacred although coming out years later was a similar 2D art style of game that had a much more thematic looking desert area.

 

[Sykar]

So yeah, I got kind of careless and trolly, and ended up killing my lvl 75 bone necro.

Rest in pieces my friend.

Do I start a new hardcore blizzard sorc, or do I put the game down until ladder launches?

Such is the peril of the times.

Start a blizzsorc and report results.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Diablo_2_R...ld_mastery_reportedly_breaking_cold_immunity/

My Frozen orb already broke cold immunities in NM, so this might change the meta quite a bit.

Well even if it works on hell difficulty there is still the problem that cold has to cope with the highest resistances in the game and it still works only at 20% effectivness according to that post.

From the same thread:

Yes this is true. But not always. Some of the immune monsters are tougher than others.
I have level 24 cold mastery and it's not reliable enough.

I guess if you REALLY push it hard to over 30 it might be somewhat reliable but still worse than having a second element, though mono element can opt for ES.

Personally what really needed fixing are the numerous bugs especially the "Manaburn" attribute is utterly retarded.

https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Mana_Burn

Due to a bug, melee attacks burn 256 times more mana than intended[1], resulting in emptying mana virtually every hit.

• This is due to a combination of two bugs. The first is because the engine subdivides each point of damage into 256 bits of damage for better rounding accuracy. The Mana Burn code applies this multiplication twice, so all Mana Burn Unique monsters deal 256 times as much damage as they should.
• The second bug that increases this damage to 512 times results from Hell difficulty applying a -100% penalty to all resistances. This includes the resistance to Mana damage, despite there being nothing that could raise that resistance in game. Thus, all attacks that drain mana drain twice as much in Hell.

 

[Peachcurl]

Mhm... there's something weird going on with the Barbarians Double Swing skill. Now and then, the animation seems to hang (changing between different frames very fast), stopping him from attacking. Looks like he can't decide where to land the next hit if multiple enemies are present. Something like that.

 

[Shadenuat]

Unique monsters are good though. They liven up the game.

Yea but there are like 2-3 packs of uniques sometimes close to each other and they die as easily as any other monster. Also Normal monsters feel kinda weaker, not sure why though.
And Hell monsters should have 50% physical resist in this old version

It's kind of silly when you don't bother picking up even yellows

Yellows also suck more because there are more suffixes/level dependance so instead of 3 resist ring you get +1 dex and 25% stamina regeneration.

 

[abija]

Holy shit, this game is so much better than Diablo 3, it's not even funny. It is legitimately sad.

I'm in Maggot Lair under the Far Oasis, with all of the narrow tunnels, just rolling my huge flaming rock down these hallways, absolutely crushing the fuck out of everything. Like bowling for shitheads. There is nothing in D3 that is even remotely satisfying as this is, or as fun.

Guess you haven't played D3 in a while, what you described there is a common experience.

 

[copebot]

There are also some semi hidden mechanics in running/walking in D2 in that running nerfs your block rate into the ground. You only get your full defense walking or stationary. The game also gives you stamina potions that can be chain chugged and cost nothing. All classes also pump vitality which boosts stamina, as does character level.

The defense thing was something I never knew years ago back when I played it and in retrospect is incredibly stupid. Amazing that that stat on every piece of armor literally did nothing for most players because it was turned off.

Yeah I didn't know either back in the day. The remaster actually shows it as negated when you are running in one of its UI updates from the original.

 

[Daedalos]

Started a blizz sorc.

died again to undead stygies... GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg

 

[Decado]

Holy shit, this game is so much better than Diablo 3, it's not even funny. It is legitimately sad.

I'm in Maggot Lair under the Far Oasis, with all of the narrow tunnels, just rolling my huge flaming rock down these hallways, absolutely crushing the fuck out of everything. Like bowling for shitheads. There is nothing in D3 that is even remotely satisfying as this is, or as fun.

Guess you haven't played D3 in a while, what you described there is a common experience.

It's been at least five years since I've touched that game.

 

[Decado]

What's the meta on synergies, btw? If I'm primarily using Fissure, for example, does it make sense to put points into Firestorm? Or just pump Fissure to max and then put left overs into Firestorm? I'm familiar with the percentages I'm just curious if anyone has worked out the proper order for skilling up, to maintain max damage per level.

 

[Perkel]

Look at numbers, numbers go up then it is worth investing. This is all there is to synergy mechanic.

 

[Sykar]

Yes it is retarded.

 

[Shadenuat]

In act 1 I got total of 2 uniques, 2 sets and ~12-15 rares.
why do you even need mf. perhaps it's some 1.09 thing.

Gotta say Werewolf slaps hard. I never liked him because bear looks so much better but up to 30 faster run, 12 life steal, +50% damage on a SINGLE SKILL, +wolf form +40ish attack speed early, I didn' lose any HP on Andy at all.

btw this good guy recently began doing vidos and they're casually good https://youtu.be/7NL8I9vePmk
he's less of a than Llama at least.

 

[Renevent]

So been playing this and got to level 19/Duriel in one sitting. It's been over a decade since I last played and honestly it still holds up pretty well game play wise. The upgraded graphics look fantastic IMO, although I agree the sanitization/sjw shit sucks. Anyways I've been cruising through the game np and basically hit a wall at Duriel (I remember he was the first real gear/build check back then too) which is fine, but one thing I don't remember being shitty was the skills. I'm trying to build a hammerdin and so far hammers seem to suck absolute balls. They never hit shit, fly around enemies, or hit walls and disappear, and it's basically way faster to kill shit using default attack. I don't remember using skills being this balls/clunky although I do realize nothing has changed on this front and I guess I gotta remember how to play better I guess.

I also forgot how to do auras and still use your skills properly...I have hammers on mb1 and blessed aim on mb2...is that basically how I'm supposed to do it? Seems if I don't have it binded/active on one of my mb's they don't work.

 

[Shadenuat]

Hammerz is investment. You need FCR and all that. Zeal, Shield Bash or one of those elemental auras are a lot easier to clear early game with.

 

[Renevent]

I guess I'll just respec then...it's really making the game un-fun since they're just insanely crappy at this level.

 

[Perkel]

So been playing this and got to level 19/Duriel in one sitting. It's been over a decade since I last played and honestly it still holds up pretty well game play wise. The upgraded graphics look fantastic IMO, although I agree the sanitization/sjw shit sucks. Anyways I've been cruising through the game np and basically hit a wall at Duriel (I remember he was the first real gear/build check back then too) which is fine, but one thing I don't remember being shitty was the skills. I'm trying to build a hammerdin and so far hammers seem to suck absolute balls. They never hit shit, fly around enemies, or hit walls and disappear, and it's basically way faster to kill shit using default attack. I don't remember using skills being this balls/clunky although I do realize nothing has changed on this front and I guess I gotta remember how to play better I guess.

I also forgot how to do auras and still use your skills properly...I have hammers on mb1 and blessed aim on mb2...is that basically how I'm supposed to do it? Seems if I don't have it binded/active on one of my mb's they don't work.

You are trying to follow build guide without actually looking at build guide. That is like trying to make POE top tier build without single EX in your pocket in SSF league. Hammers suck balls and there are plenty more better skills in paladin. Hammerdin requires some good gear to start work properly.