Received the new CGW yesterday and read Mark's D2 expansion review and his Assasin and Druid strategy guide. Nice work Mark!

If you played two characters through Nightmare mode between the release date and when you submitted the artice, I bet your wife did wake up to find you still playing D2 way too many times. You mentioned that your kids play D2. Did you get them to keep leveling up your character while you slept? LOL

A follow up question though. Did you find out anything in Hell that would make you change your assasin recommendations? I have finally started an Assasin and don't want to waste any skill points that won't work in Hell. My lvl 65 amazon gets her butt kicked fairly often in Hell unless I am playing with a strong party.

-DavidCPA

"My lvl 65 amazon gets her butt kicked fairly often in Hell unless I am playing with a strong party."

Well, I've done everything except defeat Baal in Hell mode. He's too tough. My biggest problem with Hell are really the mini-bosses. Some of them hit so hard that my hit points drain too quickly.

I'm level 71 and my assassin has both Claw Mastery and Shadow Master skills maxed out. Between those and that mind control skill, the speed boost skill, and Cobra strike for healing, I don't really need to use much else. I just have to be careful around the mini-bosses. I often let my shadow warrior fight them while I hit them with arrows. A good, high damage bow will help you.

Resistences are the key, but I've had trouble getting good resistence items.

Thanks Mark. Is your lvl 71 assassin in single player or on battle.net? If you have a single player lvl 71 characer, you have been doing some serious playing.

Side note:
After reading all three major gaming mags' review of the expansion, I am a bit perplexed about PC Gamer's rating. They only gave it a 75% (good) rating. They gave the original 94% or 95%. CGW gave it 4.5 stars and CGM gave it 5 stars. It was an editor's choice in both. If I remember correctly, they gave the original D2 lower ratings than the expansion and are usually tougher to please. It may have been a matter of expectations, but it still puzzles me.

The new 800x600 resolution makes a big difference. I lost interest in Diablo 2 until the expansion came out simply because of the appalling 640x480 resolution. Even the original Diablo looked better than Diablo 2 at that resolution.

Now I can't stop playing Diablo 2. The LOD expansion is a must-have.

Single player. Yeah, I did some serious playing. I really enjoy the game.

I think it's a fantastic expansion. I'm not sure how you would justify giving it a lower score than you gave the original game, but I haven't read PC Gamer's reviews. What was their complaint about the expansion? It's a bit pricey, but the higher resolution, the cool new character classes, and the new fifth act which I think is the best Diablo Blizzard's done yet really elevate the game.

A few negatives mentioned in Rob Smith's (PC Gamer EIC) D2:LOD review:

1) Cons: The entire new Act, which repeats maps and lacks any fresh ideas

2) Bottom Line: Know what you're getting: two new classes and new items, that's it

3) If you loved DII's single-player game and looking for something fresh to drive you through a whole new Act, give it a pass

4) The Assassin class is way too powerful. Covered this area in several parts of the review

I get the feeling he was just not impressed in the least with the expansion. He ends the review by suggesting that Blizzard take a break from the Diablo world unless someone comes along with some fresh ideas.

I will be interested to see the letters that PC Gamer receives on this review.

-DavidCPA

It is great. I'm just in Act3 right now with my assassin (a lowly Level 22), and I'm having a blast. I like the class, the new magic items, and the better resolution. I also think it's great that you can get a sidekick that can carry real equipment and improve as they go. Not only that, but you can resurrect them when they inevitably get knocked off by some boss monster (Druriel, in my case). Good stuff.

"1) Cons: The entire new Act, which repeats maps and lacks any fresh ideas"

Well, all the acts repeat maps. There's actually quite a bit of variety in Act 5. You get the battlefield maps, the icy underground maps, a couple of side dungeons that use the River of Flame tiles, and several other types.

It is just one act, also. It's not an entire new game.

"2) Bottom Line: Know what you're getting: two new classes and new items, that's it"

Plus the new resolution, hirable NPCs that you can now equip and which gain levels, new monsters to fight, the new interface options (switch weapons with a keystroke plus more hotkeys), the new cut scenes, new music, new magic items you can make with runes and jewels, unique item sets for specific classes, etc.

Plus, and I'll repeat myself again, it is just an expansion and not an entire new game. To me it seems like you get a heckuva a lot for an expansion.

"3) If you loved DII's single-player game and looking for something fresh to drive you through a whole new Act, give it a pass"

I can see someone saying this, but I thought the new act was fresh in its concept of putting the player in the middle of a battle. Heck, there are NPC barbarians fighting for their lives that you can help and then follow around. At one point I had my party of three (assassin, shadow master, hired NPC) and another three barbarians running around. It was pretty cool. Unfortunately the barbarians are dumb and get hung up by poor pathfinding here and there.

But yeah, it's still Diablo 2.

"4) The Assassin class is way too powerful. Covered this area in several parts of the review"

I dunno -- the game is pretty easy with any class on Normal setting. The assassin may be overpowered, but I had a tough enough time in the Hell setting.

All the character classes are extremely powerful if you pick a few skill branches and max them out.

I am sucked into this game bigtime right now BUT, for the life of me, I cannot kill Diablo with my druid. I started the game over in Normal mode for the expansion, and had no problem throughout the whole game w/the druid--but now, at the end, with my druid at Level 31, I am getting spanked repeatedly. Not sure if I just picked a lame tree for the guy---I'm summoning and shape shifting exclusively, no elemental stuff. Anyone have some tips for my sissy druid? (note: in the meantime, I took my Necromancer, Doofaeus, through Act 5, and had a total blast....)

Blizzard beefed up Diablo with the expansion. I had problems with him too. As I recall, I portalled to town a lot and bought new potions.

I remember dying a number of times when fighting him. I don't think there's an easy way. Maybe use a bow and don't shape shift, attack from a distance and keep summoning a grizzly, etc. You may want to juggle some items and get better resistences, too.

The problem is that you've got to set aside a block of time to take him on, because otherwise you have reclease his sanctuary each time.

My pets (wolves and then grizzly; I stopped fighting Diablo and leveled up then went back) were useless against the big D. The fire and lightning spells wiped them out instantly. At best they distracted him for a few seconds.

I killed Diablo with my 3 ravens. (1 skill point spent, +2 from items.) It took forever but it worked. Summon Ravens, run around in circles, rinse, repeat.

In a couple of other threads, people have mentioned a hoarding problem with books, movies, games, etc. Though I also have this problem in real life, it has also carried over into Diablo 2. I know they increased the stash size, but it just isn't enough. I have 4 characters that are basically mules right now. My high level characters find some very nice pieces of equipment that I just cannot sell so I mule them. Most of the time I end up giving/loaning them to other people. Anyone else have this problem?

BTW, if you need a nice bow, I have several that you might be interested in:-)

-DavidCPA

"but now, at the end, with my druid at Level 31, I am getting spanked repeatedly. "

I don't know about the expansion, but a friend of mine noticed in the original game that Diablo apparently has limited mana, so if my friend's character ran around ("Serpentine! Serpentine!") for a while, the lightning and fire scaled way back, and he was able to get his licks in. He did have to portal a lot, though, as he kept using up all his healing ability.

How does this mule thing work? I went to hire a new mercenary, but it said it would replace my current merc if I did. I also solved the Gidbinn quest in Kurast, but didn't get my free merc. So how do you get extra members?

You can only have one merc at a time and a new one will cancel out the old one.

Muling is moving items from one of your characters to another for purposes of storage or use by another character. It is fairly easy to do on b.net, but I don't believe you can do this in single player mode. You can mule either on your own or with the help of another player. It is usually better to use another player because they can hold important items as you switch you characters. It is always possible for b.net to burp and there goes your stuff.

Has anyone else checked out the beta for the Hell On Earth 2 mod (http://www.planetdiablo.com/hellonearth)? I was messing with it tonight and so far it's a helluva lot of fun. Vastly larger inventory and stash sizes, completely revised skill trees (with prerequisites eliminated), better drops, new graphics, etc. Everything's been tweaked.

It doesn't work with existing characters, but I started over with an Assassin and had an unmitigated blast for three straight hours. They've pretty much eliminated everything I ever thought was annoying about Diablo II and honed the stuff I do like. Can't wait for the final release...

Jeff: I'm guessing you're using a two-handed weapon since those are popular with shapeshifters. Try adding a good shield -- defense rating is not too important, but a good block percentage and socketed Diamonds are a powerful combination -- and a one-hander that you can swing quickly. Diablo's dreaded Pink Lightning Hose does both Lightning and Physical damage, so a high-blocking shield with some Elemental Resistances can greatly reduce its effects.

http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/monsters/act4-diablo.shtml

(laughs)

Dreaded pink lightning hose? I've got to finish this game!

Augh! I finally killed Diablo with my druid (I'm playing both the Druid and Assassin through at the same time). He killed me like, 20 times (or more), and I finally had to kill him using that frost breath spell. Mine was only L1, so it took me hours. What a feeb I am. I tried using volcano and fissure to do the job, but he never stayed still long enough for them to wrack up any appreciable damage, if fire even affected Diablo at all, which I wasn't really able to tell for sure. My attack rating kept listing me as having a 41% chance to hit Diablo, but I never once could.
Also, the summoned monsters that showed up when I broke the seals cost me a fortune, as they kept killing my amazon companion, and she costs 13K to resurrect these days. I didn't bother rezzing her after Diablo killed her until after he was dead.
Now my druid is broke (having blown all his 150,000 gold on portal scrolls and healing potions), out of regeneration potions, and fearful of going through the portal to act 5. Should I go? Or should I hang out in hell for a while, clearing the maps until I get my cash and regen situation stronger? I'm L26 right now.

My assassin also L26, but she's mostly a hand-to-hand type with some nice trap power. One of her claws has +74 poison damage over 2 seconds, the other has knockback. She also has VERY fast boots that slow her stamina drain by like 60%, so she'll be tough for big red to draw a bead on with that freaky lightning and firewall stuff that he does, I hope.

Also, I feel a little cheated. When they added the 5th act, did I lose a cinematic? There doesn't seem to be any real sense of closure, now that my druid killed Diablo. Does that come when I go through the portal that Tyrael opened, or is there some other way for me to see it? I was never able to finish the game before, so don't know how the original ended.

---

Quote:

Also, I feel a little cheated. When they added the 5th act, did I lose a cinematic? There doesn't seem to be any real sense of closure, now that my druid killed Diablo. Does that come when I go through the portal that Tyrael opened, or is there some other way for me to see it? I was never able to finish the game before, so don't know how the original ended.

---

Go to Act 5. It's a great act. You'll level up really quickly.

Okey-dokey, on to act 5. I'm going to run my assassin through killing Diablo first, though. After last night, the druid needs a rest for a few days ;-)

Maybe it's just the item drops I've been getting, but Act 5 is ludicrously easy for a barbarian compared to Act 4. It's interesting, except for that blasted Tundra map. It goes *on* and *on*.

I'm enjoying Act 5 immensely. The monster placement in the outdoor maps is done so that you end up in a running battle, rather than the usual pockets of monsters that appeared in the earlier chapters. It really makes me work for a moment of peace to recharge and visit town. Mark was right, it really does feel like a battle. My poor druid has recovered his fortunes and gained 2 levels quickly. He still doesn't seem to have nearly the luck with magic items as the assassin, but he's doing well all the same. I like the new items, and the new monsters, except for the rotted corpse guys with the 2-handed weapons. They are boring and bothersome.

If I have one complaint about the act, it's that the waypoints are too far apart. From the first waypoint to the one in the crystalline passage is a long haul. Too long for me to reach in a sitting, meaning I have to keep the game loaded and pray no brownouts hit the house. Other than that, I'm finding it to be a blast.

BTW, if anyone cared, the assassin had a MUCH easier time with Diablo than the druid. I set up 5 firespray traps, led him in, and just kept replenishing them when they expired. It took about a half hour to kill him this way, since Diablo never sat still long enough for them to do that much damage at a clip.

Say-is there a way to access the cinematics? They are really well-done, I thought, and I'd like to re-view some of them. I didn't see it in the options.

Yeah, you should be able to play all the cinematics. Isn't it there when you start the game?

One cool thing about Act V is that completing one of the quests gives you a unique designed for your character class.

And you're right about the waypoints. They are a bit too far apart.

I have been re-playing D2:LOD as a Sorceress. Focusing on Cold Attacks/Spells. A Cold Sorceress is very powerful.

Yeah, you can min/max skills in D2 and it works great, until you get to Hell difficulty level and you run into creatures with full immunity to the kind of attack you specialized in. Then it's a pain.

I re-loaded D2 a couple weeks ago, after buying LOD, just got to Act V this morning, playing a Sorceress. (Finished D2 the first time as a bowazon).

She's got a combo Fire/ICe thing going. Killed Diablo with repeated blizzard/meteors, while using teleport to dodge attacks.

Of course I still had to TP a lot.

Now I'm debating on whether to upgrade my warrior henchman (guy w/spear from lut gholein) to the henchman in lvl 5. Anyone have feedback on the Act V henchman? (Actually, is there one? I had to exit right when I got to ActV.. off to work!)

The Act 5 henchman is a barbarian. I have one with my lvl 44 assassin. If you have good equipment to give them, they are very powerful. Good to absorb the damage of those running bomb things in Act 5. When they come at me, I run behind the barb and he either kills them or takes the damage hit.

--Minor Rant--
I have a major complaint about playing D2:LOD on b.net - the player killing. Twice in the last month of so, I have been bushwhacked by PKer's. Just yesterday, I was in the bloody foothills area of Act 5 Hell and stopped went near a town portal of another player to turn around and speak to my wife. Obviously the player with the tp had a partner because I saw a hostile message pop up and then a lvl 89 or so barb popped out of the tp and killed me. I had seen in the party screen earlier that two high lvl barbs were partied but didn't think they would be up to no good. Took 500K in gold and my charc lost exp. They left the game almost immediately, but based on the couple of quick messages they sent, they wanted the money to gamble. A**holes!

I don't know if a person's true character comes through in how they play their games, but I hope I don't ever meet those pricks in person. Personally, I try to be nice on b.net. If they had asked me for some money to gamble, I would have probably given it to them. I share items with my friends and sometimes strangers. If I pick up a disproportionate share of items from killing bosses, I try to divide the proceeds up fairly. What pleasure people get from staking out and PKing other players is beyond me?

Personal confession: I sometimes use a map hack and an item grabber when playing on b.net. I will let other players know I have am using them though. I'm sorry but clicking on every pile of gold is just too tedious. If you are partied with another player(s), the gold gets split anyway so no harm. The item grabber is one of the reasons I try to divide up the spoils.

Enough ranting for now. Down with PKers!

-DavidCPA

Heh, the cinematics are in the first menu. I just hardly ever see it, since I have to leave the game running for days at a clip to reach waypoints sometimes. I wonder if Blizzard would consider a system where the game saved whenever you returned to town or something for next time around?

So far as people's character in online games, I remember an article I read years ago. It said that orientals were the worst drivers in the world, which seemed odd when you considered how polite their socieies tend to be. Then the writer pointed out that the whole concept of "face" is personal. If you are in a car, and have that anonymity, then you are suddenly able to let all your pent-up rage loose, and be a monstrous jerk.

Coincidence? I think not...