Diablo II: Lord of Destruction Expansion Set

Diablo II: Lord of Destruction is the best selling expansion pack released in 2001 for the action role-playing game Diablo II. It revolutionized the game by introducing features that gave it the longevity it enjoys up to this day. It refined what exists in the base game and then elevated its itemization, which ensured its position as the prime of all loot-based games.

Lore of the Expansion

In Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, you return to purse and stop Baal, brother of Diablo and the last of the remaining Prime Evils, from corrupting the powerful Worldstone, which protects the whole of the mortal realm from the forces of the Burning Hells. It will be up to you to defeat Baal and stop the forces of evil before they turn Sanctuary into a permanent outpost of Hell.

New Features of the Lord of Destruction Expansion

• Screen Resolution - You can now play the game in 800x600 resolution, instead of 640x480
• Two New Character Classes - The addition of the classes Druid and Assassin.
• The Mini-map - There are two modes now; one that saves space an appears in the upper corner of the screen and the traditional overlaid translucent map.
• Bank Account - The amount of money that can you can store in the stash has been increased.
• The Stash - It's now twice as big.
• Weapon Swapping - You can now carry two weapon sets and switch between them with a shortcut.
• More Hotkeys - Instead of just eight, you now have sixteen hotkeys for spells and skills.
• More Items - Thousands of new items become available because of new prefixes and suffixes.
• Crafted Items - A new class of items made in the Horadric Cube using Runes and other items.
• Elite Items - A new class of items found only in Hell mode.
• More Sets - There are now 16 new sets, for a total of 32 sets in the game.
• Character-specific Items - There are many new class-specific items like Shields, Helms, Shrunken Heads, Orbs, Claws, and Katars.
• Charged Items - Some new items have set charges in them. These items open up new doors for gameplay.
• New Socketed Items - Armor may be enhanced by placing gems into the sockets.
• Two New Classes of Gems - You can now put Jewels and Runes in sockets. There are 33 Runes that can be placed in socketed items.
• Runewords - by placing the runes in a specific order in certain items, you can produce truly powerful armor and weapons.
• Arm Hirelings - They can now wear armor and weapons that you give them.
• Heal Hirelings - They can now be healed with potions by dropping a potion on their portrait. Hirelings can even be resurrected after they die.
• Keep Hirelings - They can now stay with you across acts and throughout the game.

Enhancements to the Base Diablo II Game

• Prices when gambling now depends on your character level.
• You can no longer gamble for Set items and Unique items.
• When gambling, you have a chance to receive Exception and Elite items, depending on your character level.
• When gambling rings and amulets are now always listed.
• The damage caused by Boss enemies on Hirelings and minions has been reduced by 30%
• Monsters will now show either "Undead" or "Demon" when they are highlighted. If they are neither, "Animal" type will show.
• The maximum monster level is now level 70 in Nightmare and level 90 in Hell.
• Monsters in Nightmare/Hell mode have higher Resistances and Hit Points and lower Attack Ratings than before.
• Poison damage attacks from monsters are now more powerful.
• The effectiveness of mana and life-stealing effects is now reduced by 50% in both Nightmare and Hell mode.
• You can now retrieve back 50% of your experience lost when retrieving your corpse after dying in Nightmare and Hell mode.
• An increased amount in Gold that can be held in your stash.
• The power of all Gems/Skulls has been increased, and they have new level requirements
• The power of all throwing potions has been increased, and they have new level requirements
• The resistance penalty has been increased in Nightmare mode to -40 and in Hell mode to -100
• Looting corpses is now available only in Hardcore games.
• In multiplayer, you may go hostile only once per minute with every player in your current game.
• New experience bonus for players in a multiplayer game
• Crystal swords durability have been increased
• Scepter class items have increased damage.
• Diablo is harder in Normal difficulty.
• There will be more unique monsters appearing in both Nightmare and Hell mode.
• The Diablo countdown timer has been removed (after you slay Diablo in Act IV).
• Normal Unique items now have level limits.
• The maximum count you can carry for below items have been increased:
  
  • 250 bolts
  • 350 arrows
  • 12 keys in one stack
• Sockets can now appear in bone shields and helms
• Total chance to block now relies on Dexterity, Character Level, and Chance to block items.
• Flawless quality Gems now drop.
• Exceptional items can now drop in later stages of Normal mode, depending on character level and monster level.
• Bosses now do not always give guaranteed Rare/Set/Unique, but still, have a good chance.
• The item drop rate has been increased for single player and for parties.
• Item drop rate for soloing in multiplayer games is the same as for single-player.
• Monsters can now become immune to certain attacks and now show their immunities. As the difficulty increases, monsters gain more immunities, and a greater number of monsters possess immunities.

New Classes - Assassin and Druid

The Assassin

The Assassin is the archetypal shadowy character that is silent but deadly. She is a master of martial arts and uses traps and enchanted items to execute her enemies.

She is an expert in the art of killing, relying on stealth and skill, instead of brute force or fair combat.

• Martial Arts
• Shadow Disciples
• Traps

The Druid

The Druid is the archetypal earth-warrior who uses the power of nature and the elements to combat evil. He can transform into a Werewolf or a Werebear to maul and destroy his enemies. He can summon mystical animal companions, like the wolf, the raven, or the bear to do combat. He has control over nature as well and can attack with fire, wind, and vegetation.

In summary, the Druid is like a combination of a Sorceress, a Necromancer, and a Barbarian. Also, he is the only class that can transform into a mighty beast.

• Elemental
• Shape Shifting
• Summoning