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BATTLE.NET
GHOST-SPOTTING TIPS
By now, you've all probably encountered ghosts, people who've name-blanked
themselves and set their level to zero so that they're invisible. Until Blizzard comes
up with Yet Another Patch to address this behavior, here are some simple ways to
spot ghosts: 1) You're in town, and you keep seeing has cast an illegal spell" messages.
For some reason, most ghosts can't deal with the fact that their old TownKill patch
doesn't work anymore, and will repeatedly try until they run out of mana. Taunt the ghost
repeatedly. Don't try duping or exchanging equipment; ghosts seem to love stealing.
2) Your mana (if you're mana-shielded) or health drops for no apparent reason. You
can't hear a weapon or spell, but you're being injured with nothing in sight. Advice is to
leave the game with all due haste. 3) You create a game, play for a while, and suddenly
you get lagged as if a slow player has connected, but you can't see them. Time for a new game.
GETTING KILLED BUT KEEPING ALL OF YOUR STUFF
A good way to avoid getting PKed or even just losing your stuff when dying is ALT-F4.
Yes, that wonderful little keystroke to close a Windows program. (also reported to be
the way to the Secret Cow Level by Robbers). Even as you're screaming, by hitting
ALT-F4, the game closes, without saving your dead character.
HOW TO KILL PESKY PKS AND OTHER ANNOYING PEOPLE
you can get rid of PKs by going down to level 16, this may take a little effort, but it will
be worth it, find Diablo's lair, but don't open it, instead, open a portal into his lair...and
lure the PK into the portal...Diablo and his fellow blood knights will do all the work for you.
Also if you happen to see a person with a whole ton of hit points, say like 30,000,000 use
bone spirit, that would take a big chunk out of his life pretty quick.
AVOID GETTING PK'D: LET THE OTHER PLAYER GO FIRST
A new PK technique that mages/rogues use is to let you go first, then wait until you're
busy fighting creatures before they let fly with fireballs/arrows. If they time it right, they'll
help the creatures kill you--so your gear gets dumped on the ground when you die. To
avoid this situation, always let unfamiliar players go first. Wait a while, until you know you
can trust them, before you begin to go first.
REDUCING LAG
First off, find yourself a group of HONEST reliable players, make a private CHANNEL
that you can all go to before beginning your games! Make sure no one has red lagg status.
If they do, have them try to re-connect. This doesn't always work, but it's better than
nothing. Next have the LOWEST level fighter make the game as this makes for the
easiest dungeons! Always take a balanced party containing at least 1 mage and 1 fighter.
Now have everyone join the game: if there is no lagg, all is good. But if lagg shows it's
ugly head, find out who is causing it by having the players leave and rejoin the game one
at a time! If the unlucky player cannot reduce his/her lagg then don't play with them! This
might sound cruel, but how much worse would it be to lose all of your stuff? Also, not
everyone can play with everyone else! Another trick is too turn either/ both music/sound off!
MEANING OF THE DOTS IN CHARACTER BOXES IN THE BATTLE.NET CHANNELS
The dots represent the 'soulstones' that you get from Diablo slayings. The first dot means that
you've killed Diablo on normal mode, the second means that you've killed Diablo on Nightmare
mode (you also get the first dot for doing this if you don't already have it) and the third means
that you've killed Diablo on Hell mode (you also get any previous dots you don't have). When
you get the maximum of three dots, then your character's box gets outlined in gold as well.
GETTING SOMEONE'S ID ON BATTLE.NET
To get the battlenet ID, type /whois {charname} without the braces while on a B.net channel.
(ie. If you want to find my ID while I'm on B.net, you'd type /whois Alaric ). It will return a
unique number for you or whomever's name you entered. You don't get a unique ID for every
char you have, so if you have 2 chars on the same machine, they will have the same ID.
This can be used for several purposes. One theory is that people with extremely high ID
numbers (ie 200000+) or so and characters that are 45th level, have cheated to get their
character that high since they wouldn't have been on Battle.net that long. This is by no means a
surefire way of determining cheating. They could have built up their characters outside of
Battle.net before joining or have been rabidly playing B.net 24 hrs/day for the last week or so.
Another use of the ID is to tell who a person really is. With all the character editors and multiple
characters around, it's hard to tell who just Townkilled you. However, with their ID, you can
know for sure who to get revenge on or put a bounty on. /whereis (charname) also works.
CHARACTERS
ATTRIBUTES
What stats should you improve? Balance your stats with the knowledge that levels are harder
to gain later in the game. After level 26 or so, you will be spending several hours (8 or more)
gaining individual levels. Luckily, Adira starts selling Strength, Dex, and Magic Elixirs at that
point. From level 26 on up, you will gain more stats from Elixirs than by leveling. If you are not
journeying with a fighter, don't raise your strength stat on the low levels--spend those points on
dex. Rogues have ample opportunity to raise their strength later. Warriors, likewise, have
ample opportunity to raise magic and dex later in the game. Sorcerers, for the same reasons,
can ignore strength and dex until level 26.
(You should raise these secondary stats enough to wear armor and weapons.)
DEXTERITY
Now we're talking about people who play the game for the real sense of accomplishment
it brings, not your run-of-the-mill show-off. But my discovery, after being forced to
rebuild my characters from scratch more than once, is that of all the attributes Dexterity
matters most. Why? Well it's simple. What are the two most important parts of battle?
Hitting the foe, and not being hit by the foe. What does Dexterity do? It 1) Improves your
chance to hit the foe, and 2) Improves your chance to avoid being hit by the foe. All warfare
boils down to these two things. Even main battle tanks rely on not being hit to survive, not
on the density of their armor or the punch of their weapons. So my suggestion, with two
TOTALLY legit characters (and a host of semi-legitimate characters) regularly slaying
Diablo without a scratch is: Before going for strength or vitality or magic, get a 60 in
dexterity (or maybe a little better, if you are a Rogue).
WARRIOR FITNESS
1) You need bows (yes, bows): Bow is long range firepower, and that means you don't have to
go up close and personal with the critters you are going after. While sometimes that's good,
other times the chase may bring even more bad guys. Ever chased a couple goatmen archers
into a room only to find over a dozen more of them pouring arrows into you while you can't even
land ONE blow on ONE of them? That's the time to use arrows. When combined with spells
like firewalls, this will cut down that herd that's chasing you to a trickle that you can easily deal
with. Sometimes, it's best just to stand in the open and take the damage while dealing out some
in reply with bows. This is especially true with long-distance-attack-and-run-away type enemies
such as goatmen archers, snow witch/Succubi/hellspawn etc.
2) Spells are good: Keep a few of those "of wizardry" stuff around. You need them to
read books. Fighters are inherently short-range attack, and thus need some long range
offense to complement. Bows are nice but one must open inventory, then switch weapons,
put the old weapon back. While spells are almost IMMEDIATE. Just cast away and poof!
Firewalls, Holy Bolts, and Fireballs are great weapons, so is lightning and chain lightning,
if you have enough mana to cast them. This also means that you MAY want to hold on to
some of the spell staffs you find around. I found an elemental staff around Lazarus'' Lair,
so I armed myself with firewalls and lots of mana potions, then went down and cast firewalls
into the room, then used elementals to chase down any one not burned. Only got hit with
a few fireballs. You can even sell the staff for more money later.
3) When in doubt, retreat: Not sure if you can take out that bunch of blood knights?
RETREAT! Six to eight blood knights are deadly, but two to four are just troublesome,
and one is piece of cake. If you retreat, you may get out of range of some, thus reducing
the immediate number you will be facing. This also forces them to break up their
"formation". Retreating also gives you time to rearm yourself, cast some healing spells,
use that healing scroll instead of the less potent potions, etc. Perhaps change to a more
appropriate weapons, like a sword instead of a bow or axe.
4) Use thy terrain. General: Around a corner you know to be clear is a good place to
regroup if you are ambushed. It gives you time to switch weapons, cast heal spells, rearrange
potions on belt, etc. Never allow yourself to be surrounded unless you know you won't be
damaged. Fight your way out. When you are getting hit you won't be doing any hitting, and
if you are surrounded that just means you will getting hit more instead of MAKING the hits.
Church: In the church, there are frequently those fence-like closures that you can shoot
through. As most creatures at this time don't open doors, if you have a bow you have a
perfect shooting gallery. You may find similar structures in caves, but those bad guys
may open doors. Such places are also good HIDING places if you run into too many critters.
Catacombs: The rooms (open or doored) can be death traps if one is not careful. Have
plenty of firewall spells ready to roast any inhabitants. Consider opening the door and lure
the creatures out into corridors to fight in smaller bunches. (Corridors aren't that wide)
Caves: some sections are hard to get to, which means you may have problems when
you run into a lot of long-range attackers like magma demons, vortex lords, acid beasts,
etc who will shoot at you across the lava river.
Hell: Circular corridors with side rooms, dangerous since the large areas means large
concentration of enemies. Walking slow is essential and retreat frequent.
5) Know thy enemy: The enemies roughly fall into the following types:
Up-close-and-personal--charges into point-blank range, usually armed with only melee weapons.
Deal with them at a distance or trade blow for blow. (Skeletons, Overlords, blood knights)
Melee combat, runs away when hurt--comes at you, but if hurt, runs away to recuperate.
Kill them the first time. Fast hit will stop them from getting away. (Unseen, gargoyles)
Long distance attack, stand their ground--fires at you when you come into range, stays still
like a turret. Get out of range or wade through their fire and kill them. (Skeleton archers)
Long distance attack, close to melee combat--fires a few shots at you but also chases you down
to melee. Chase them down first. They are easier to kill in melee and your approach may also
make them miss their shots. (Vortex Lord, Magma Demons, Acid Spitters)
Long distance attack, stays out of range--attacks you from a distance, tries to stay out of melee
range by running away if you approach. Either stand your ground, supplemented with magic
like firewalls, or chase them down , trapping them in corners so you can kill them with repeated
blows. (Goatmen Archers, Snow Witch)
STARTING WITH A SORCEROR
So, after hearing all about those level 20 fireballs and 800+ mana, you have decided
to start a Mage. When you go about starting a Mage, however, you will notice that it is
a bit harder than that Warrior you blasted through the church with. The first problem
that most beginning Mages have is that they will buy the wrong things in town. Sure, that
robe (75 gold and 5-7 ac) looks nice. Then you can buy a hat as well, but you need your
gold so leave them alone. Buy a club (1-6 dam, 20 gold) and a heal potion to start you with
that will leave you with 30 gold, which you will need later. When you get your first few level
ups, don't put them into magic. You have plenty of that. Instead, put 2 into vitality, 2 into
strength, and 1 into dexterity. You start with 30 HP, and you need to wield more powerful
weapons (str and vitality). Free AC also comes in handy (dex). After dungeon delving a
while, you will notice that that free staff just wasn't enough and that you have used all your
potions for mana (fire bolt) and you needed that heal. Here is where the club comes in.
It swings faster than your staff, does more damage, and you can even hold a buckler .
Go and kill stuff until you either are low on health with no way to heal or when your stuff
starts to fall apart. Remember to bring everything you find to town to sell, since you will
need the gold. Fix anything that is on the verge of falling apart, and then go to the witch.
Hopefully you will have enough cash to recharge your stave, and if you have enough, do so.
If not, go buy a heal and use your club. One last note: Do level one until it becomes
easy, then do level two. When level 2 gets easy, do 3... Etc. Just remember to pump vitality
until it is AT LEAST 60 (unless you get early mana shield :), and strength until it is 40 or so.
SORCEROR SPELLS
Perhaps the most important aspect of playing a mage is wise selection of spells as you
develop your character. The following is a list of "high priority" spells. At low levels, the
most important strategy is to develop one offensive spell at a high level (preferably firebolt
or lightning). This will enable your character to throw many spells in succession and not
have to engage in melee combat. The Firewall spell is THE most efficient bang-for-
your-mana spell in the game; a few well placed firewalls will wipe out a room of 30+
creatures. Get that firewall as soon as you can! If you haven't learned lightning by
dungeon level 7 or so, you're in some pretty serious trouble. At this point firebolt becomes
too weak as a primary single enemy offensive spell, and you probably don't have the
mana to be tossing fireballs at everything that moves quite yet. In general, if you get to
about level 5 and don't have lightning, it's time to see that witch more often! The same
goes for fireball: if you don't know that one by the time you get to level 11 or so, forget it.
The Elemental spell is a tremendous weapon, but is too mana inefficient for general use.
A staff of elemental, however, is a deadly weapon for the level 15-25 mage. Open a door,
and before those creatures move send the deluge of elementals in; they'll be fried before
they can look at you. Guardian and Stone Curse are the next most important spells for
general use, but the best is teleport. A mage above level 20 with teleport will NEVER lose
a fight to a real character of any other class--that's just all there is to it. Chain lightning is
invaluable if you're ever planning on being alone in hell/hell, but don't worry about building
it up too much until after you've gotten the spells above.
SORCERER STATS
You will never depend on HP to keep you alive, so never bother raising your vitality. You should
be using mana shield all the time. Instead of pouring a lot of stat points into strength, you might
want to shop around for something that will raise it magically, like crowns, necklaces, or rings of
the stars, heavens, or zodiac. But still put points into strength, since magic items will only go so far.
SORCERY HINTS
1) MANA SHIELD Yes, obvious, yet required. A high-leveled sorcerer could probably
have only 250- hit points and 500+ mana. With Mana Shield, the enemies will have an
extra 500+ hit points before they can kill you. Without it, your sorcerer won't last long.
DISADVANTAGE: Using your spells is now considered using up your Hit Points.
2) SWORDS AND SHIELDS Hold a good sword and shield in your inventory. Some
enemies down in hell are immune to most spells, and your sorcerer will be forced to fight
in close combat. A sword and a shield would be real helpful in such a situation.
DISADVANTAGE: Sorcerer sucks at fighting.
3) FASTER ATTACKS The sorcerer has a special "fast attack" ability if he is equipped
with only a shield. You may want to equip only a shield for attacking faster. Another
advantage to this is changing from a staff (assuming you are equipped with one) to a
shield is faster than changing to sword and shield.
DISADVANTAGE: Takes too long to kill enemy.
4) SPELL HOTKEYS Set three of your spell hotkeys to the three categories of spell
magic: LIGHTNING, FIRE, MAGIC. Most hell enemies are immune to 2/3 of the spell
category. You can switch quickly to the vulnerable spell and cast it quickly.
DISADVANTAGE: Leaves only one spot for other spells such as "heal" and "teleport."
5) TELEPORT Set one of your spell hotkeys to "teleport." If surrounded by enemies,
you now have a way of escaping. Also, you can leave some enemies in disarray by
teleporting into walled rooms.
DISADVANTAGE: If you follow Rule #4, you now have no hotkeys left.
6) AIMING Learn how to aim. Wasting mana by shooting mid-air is not a good way
of killing (good way of killing yourself if you follow Rule #1). Learn to aim at moving
enemies by placing yourself into the angle at which the enemy is heading.
DISADVANTAGE: None
7) LEARN THE ENEMY'S WEAKNESS Some enemies are immune to some spells.
Learn which spells to use against them. It'll also save you mana.
DISADVANTAGE: None
ROGUE USAGE
Rogues are great characters. Warriors are best with close melee and Sorcerers can
sling from a distance. However, no other class can do as much damage as quickly and
from a distance, as a Rogue. Well, ok yes, fireball and flame wave do plenty of damage,
but plucking yew isn't gonna cost you mana.
You don't need a great or unique bow. Just look for one that does the most damage possible.
At higher levels when you do enough damage by virtue of strength and dexterity, a fast
attack bow like the needler is nice (even if 1-3 on the damage, your natural damage will be
enough if you're going multi warhead style). But any bow with dex and str will do the job.
Use of your bow. When you don't know what's in a room or you know it's full of nasties,
stay out of range/sight of the creatures and pluck a few arrows into the room to activate a
choice one or two. Easier to pick off one blood knight than Diablo's whole horde. If you do
find a whole horde of nasties coming at you, stone curse the front line, that will slow the
onslaught while you pick off half of them. Also, don't be afraid to run. Going around corners
is good, it forces the creatures to go single file and you can pop 'em one by one. Another note,
using shift-fire makes you less accurate. Your character only shoots in the direction you're
firing and takes a while to acquire the target you've been pointing to. If you need to drop them
quick, don't bother shift, and after the creature dies, keep firing and hit shift, you'll stop dead
in your tracks instead of running into oblivion.
For running around hell, you're screwed hand to hand chasing down those advocates
and witches. Just load up on resistance items (obsidian amulet or ring with the steel
veil works nicely) and those little spell flingers barely tickle you while you unload volleys
of 30-40 point damage arrows into their ranks.
ROGUE TACTICS
ONE: USE A BOW! Sometime the urge to use a hand to hand weapon will arise.
Find that King's Sword of Haste? Trade it to a Warrior friend. The Rogue's biggest
strength is the ability to spit arrows like nobody's business, and the motto 'hit them
before they get to you' is one you should follow at all times.
TWO: PICK THEM OFF ONE AT A TIME. If you're by yourself, you have to keep
a horde of creatures from getting to you before you can turn 'em into swiss cheese. In
order to do this you have to keep too many of them from attacking at once, and you can
do this in two ways. The first is to only release a few at a time. Walk slowly and pick off
any awakened creatures before you move any farther. Avoid the temptation to run up and
grab that treasure! You'll release a bunch of critters that will squash you before you can
get away. If you release a few too many for you liking, run around a corner and pick them
off as they come around. The other way is to cast a golem into a horde of creatures and
support him with your bow.
THREE: DEFENSE IS SECONDARY. The Rogue should not be concerned with being
able to take a beating. That's the warrior's department. With that in mind pump Dexterity
as much as possible, without neglecting Strength or Magic. Strength so you can use those
really big bows and dexterity boosting armor that you find, and Magic because you would
like to be able to cast the odd healing/golem/guardian spell without downing potions like
beer on St. Patrick's Day (cause they're not green!). Vitality is not as important because
you don't expect to get hit, remember?
FOUR: CHECK EVERYTHING FOR TRAPS. The Rogue's ability is unique in that it
causes no permanent damage to your equipment, unlike the Warrior and Sorcerer.
When playing in multiplayer, remember to let the rogue check all chests/doors for traps
before you try to open them. The lower levels of hell are full of nova spell trapped chests,
and letting one of these loose with your friends around is NEVER a good plan. Let the
rogue try to disarm it (if you're feeling brave) or open it from a distance or around a
corner with a telekinesis spell, and you should be able to avoid the embarrassment of
getting fried by a trap.
DUNGEON
DOORS IN THE CAVES
If you're like me, you probably have played through Diablo about a million times by now.
For me, the Cave levels are my least favorite levels (mostly because of the Magma Demons)
because of the open spaces and uncrossable lava. If you're a warrior, who prefers a sword
over a spell or an arrow, killing creatures is a tricky business. Some of the more nasty
creatures you might encounter are Vipers, acid beasts, and Illusion Weavers that like to
attack in huge numbers. Well, I like to carry a bow with me in these levels, because I can
stir up trouble and then run into a door, shut it, and fire through the walls. The aforementioned
enemies are too stupid to open doors, and will wander around until they die. WARNING!!
Certain enemies, like Magma Demons or Horned Demons, can open doors. Be careful,
because this is a nasty shock when you think you are safe behind a door.
ACROSS THE LAVA
Ever had spitters or other missile hurlers bunched across some lava in the caves, and
been pounded on searching for a way across? If you answered yes, you're probably not
using a bow, and don't want to waste mana on spells. So what's left? Well, despite the
fact you can't walk across lava, there still are many spots that you can fight across it. It's
usually on a diagonal, but if you maneuver properly, you can take them out. And the nice
part is, they can only hit you one at a time, so you won't get swarmed.
EASY GOLD
The easiest way to get gold is to play nightmare Church and Catacombs. I like to stay in
one spot and cast charged bolt like there is no tomorrow. Charged bolt is great since it
destroys most Church creatures in 1 hit. Also, it does not eat up mana like chainlightning.
Just stand at the entrance of a room, let loose with charged bolt, and gather up the loot.
A good way to beat harder creatures in the Catacombs is to set up firewalls around you,
use charged bolt to bring the creatures to the firewall. If any get through, finish them off
with firebolts. They should be weak enough for firebolts by then.
ITEMS
A USE FOR CONSTRICTING RING
Most people take a look at the constricting ring and toss it into the recycling bin. For a
rogue or warrior this is a bad move. I have found a use for constricting ring that makes
hell/hell 50% easier. It's simple really. The constricting ring gives you 100% resist all.
Normally only 75% is allowed, so now you are immune to all magic/fire/lightning. It does
however have a downside which involves you constantly losing hp. This effect can be easily
negated by a weapon "of blood". The gain 5 percent life feature will negate the constricting
ring as long as you remove the ring after battles. BOOM! Your worries are over about
advocates, succubi, and those fire breathing demons.
CHEAP REPAIRS
When you find new items that you may want to use, make sure you repair them before
you identify them. Repairing un-identified magical items costs as much as repairing a
basic item of the same type. However, if you repair an item after you identify it, depending
on how much the item sells for to the blacksmith, you could find yourself paying 20,000
bucks to repair an item you've never used.
HACKED ITEMS
DIABLO PLATE: This item truly is real...Really hacked that is. Diablo Plate is full plate
mail with the following stats: +255 to all stats, 255 armor class, +255% to armor class,
indestructible, requires -1 strength to wear.
INDESTRUCTIBLE: Any item that is not ...of the Ages, and is indestructible, is hacked.
The main reason there are so many items that have been hacked to be indestructible is
because nobody wants something to break in the middle of battle, and people hate to repair
things. Another main reason it's so common is because there was a set of instructions
on how to make an item indestructible somewhere on the Internet, so everyone was doing it.
LIGHTFORGE: The Lightforge is an actually item, but only in the single player game!
And even in the single player game it's a mace not a helm. The helm version is hacked.
And you you come across the mace version in a multiplayer game, it too, is hacked.
Therefore, there is NO way to legitimately get this item in Multiplayer.
MAP OF THE STARS: It does not actually exist within the game ( not as an acquirable
item at any rate ). The map does nothing, so if someone offers it to you, ignore them.
This item apparently hacked out of the data files. It was meant to tell you how powerful
Diablo is. There's even a video on the CD that supports this idea. Another theory
suggests that a Rune of the Stars is needed for it to work, but the Rune of the Stars
was never implemented, so it doesn't exist. This is a useless item!
RUNE OF THE STARS: Rumor has it that the Rune of the Stars was meant to be used
with the Map of the Stars. People say that if you had both after beating Diablo you would
be taken to an entrance for levels 17-20. This was only possible in the single player game.
The idea about secret levels is not true, it is a rumor!
UNIQUES: The only unique rings in multiplayer are the Ring of Engagement, and the
Constricting Ring. There are NO unique amulets. Most (possibly all) unique items have
been hacked into rings, the most common of which include Messerschmidt's Reaver,
Demonspike Coat, and others. Any unique items that don't match the picture and obvious
use are hacked.
DUPED ITEMS
KING'S: This is undoubtedly the most often duped set of weapons in the game. Almost
any King's weapon that you trade for that is a Bastard Sword is duped, and most other
types of weapons are dupes too. The best thing is to not trade for them, or ask for
something less, like a Champion's something, instead of a King's. You don't lose much
in terms of damage and to hit, but you gain a much higher odds that the item is legit.
GODLY: These are the most often duped armor in the game. Either Tower Shields or
Full Plate Mail, these are almost always hacked too, and are Indestructible. Even if you
trade for one that isn't indestructible, odds are extremely in favor of it being duped.
..OF THE ZODIAC: These are often duped, though there are some legit ones that exist.
You should be wary of anyone willing to trade them for anything less than the best stuff.
There are some Zodiacs that are almost always dupes. They are the Obsidian Ring of
the Zodiac, and the Jade Amulet of the Zodiac and the Obsidian Amulet of the Zodiac.
Nobody in their right mind would ever trade one of these away.
ROLLOVER
A very interesting thing happened to me the other night. I was playing along, and found
an enchanted Great Sword. I thought little of it, and grabbed it. Now, I bet you're
thinking, So what, who cares?
Well, when I identified it at Cain, he tells me my sword has 276 durability. If you haven't
done editing on any items, the significance of this is that the highest number allowed for
durability is 255, the lowest being 0. Since this was above 255, I took a screen shot. If
you're wondering where the Roll-over part comes into play, I dropped the item, to free up
inventory space. When I picked it up again, it had only 20 durability. This is because
256=0, and 276 = 256 + 20. Now, only one question remains. How did it get to 276
durability in the first place?
FAST HIT RECOVERY, FAST BLOCK, AND FAST ATTACK
Whenever you get hit, your character would normally go through an animation sequence
where he/she recoils and is unable to do anything for a short while. If you get hit repeated
in succession, you will be powerless to do anything against the creatures.
Fast Hit Recovery cuts away a number of frames of animation when you get hit, making
recovery from the recoil faster, and enabling you to take action against the creatures quickly.
This ability is especially important in Hell multiplayer mode, where creatures attack really fast.
In order from least effect to most effect, the three types of fast hit recovery are Balance,
Stability, and Harmony.
Fast Block reduces the frames of animation for blocking sequences, enabling you to block
quicker as well as recover from blocking quicker. The only type of fast block is Blocking.
Fast Attack also cuts away animation frames from attack sequences. With this ability, you
will be able to attack more rapidly. This ability is really good at helping you kill creatures before
they can attack you. The fast attack may allow you to keep the enemy creatures recoiling from
your attacks without allowing them to respond with their own attacks. In order of least effect to
most effect, the four types of fast attack are Readiness, Swiftness, Speed, and Haste. Haste
is really, really fast.
ARMOR % BONUS
Armor % bonuses apply for THAT ITEM'S AC ONLY. Note that the value is then rounded down.
WEAPON % BONUS
Weapon % damage bonuses (either from Unique weapons, magical weapons, or
armor/rings that has damage modifiers) apply to the weapon's damage only. If an item
does + damage as well (i.e. damage 1-10 +20% +4 points of damage), then the additional
damage is not affected by the percent bonus modifier. To find the total damage that you will
do with a weapon, use the following formula:
Item Damage * (1 + Percent Bonus / 100) + Damage Bonus + Strength Bonus
SHIELDS VS. TWO-HANDED WEAPONS
unless you find a really cool two-handed weapon, a one-handed weapon and a shield is
a far better bet. You will get hit FAR less, and chances are you will attack faster. If you
are recoiling from an enemy's successful blow, you can't swing your axe again. Likewise,
if you are attacking faster, they can't return the favor since they are recoiling from the blows.
Rogues as a rule suffer because they can not wield shields, and hence have lower armor
classes and lack the blocking effect of a shield.
MISCELLANEOUS TIPS
BUYING STUFF FROM GRISWOLD
In multiplayer games, if one person buys something, Griswold starts selling something
new to EVERY player. So check again if a party member buys something. Wirt, Griswold,
and Adira will all sell different things to players of different levels, although Wirt is prone to
offering the same thing to players of the same level.
BARGAIN WITH WIRT!
You can bargain with the retailers in town. When they quote you a price, don't buy
the item immediately. Pick up 2/3rds of the price quoted and talk to them again. They'll
accept the offer, and you can save big cash--especially on those big-ticket items.
PERMANENT PORTALS IN MULTIPLAYER GAMES
You need at least two characters who can cast Town Portal (staff, scroll whatever).
When in the dungeon each person should cast the spell. From then on, only use the
portal that the other person made.. or don't complete a round trip in your own portal. The
portals will remain and not disappear use after use! When you go down a level, just
recast the two portals again. Extremely useful when you require frequent trips up to
offload equipment and reload up on potions.
HIDDEN MESSAGE
Yes, that's right. Blizzard has been flooding us with hidden messages. There are two
messages in the auto-run screen of Diablo. Using a paint program, and the normal picture,
I found where it said 'Natalie Portman Rocks'. I'm not entirely sure who Natalie Portman is,
but apparently she's an actress, relatively young. When I tried installing the Earthlink
software, the screen flashed, and I saw that there were indeed two messages, as I
originally thought. So, after more fiddling around, I found where it says 'Buy War II'.
The messages are between Diablo's spikes/horns.
SECRET LEVELS
Blizzard has stated that there are no secret levels in the game. There are just a lot of
wild, joke rumors floating around about pushing the cows in a particular pattern to open
up fantastic levels with new creatures, great treasure etc...
HIDDEN MOVIES
There are supposed to be hidden movie(s) encrypted in the game. You can extract the
movies with a program found at a site at [*]http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/labby. From there
you can find a link to get a program that lets you view the movie.
EXTRACTING PICTURES FROM THE OPENING MOVIE CLIP
In order to capture screenshots from the introduction you must first extract the smacker
movie files from the Diablo CD using Andre Arsenault's diabmov.exe program. Second,
you must obtain the actual Smacker program in order to view and edit the movies themselves.
Third, you must output the individual frame you want to capture to the file format you desire
using Smacker's utilities. For instance, the butcher movie is 77 frames long; you can
output the entire movie to individual .jpgs .gifs (or any other format that Smacker lets you)...
Butcher1.jpg Butcher2.jpg... etc. etc. down to Butcher77.jpg... [Or, if you prefer, you can
capture only frames 5-23 by selecting when to begin capturing and when to stop.]. Finally,
using your graphics browser utility (Thumbs Plus, Photoshop, etc.) select the shots that you
liked and delete the rest! Sorry there is no easy way to just hit Print Screen, but this method
does work and is actually pretty cool. The reason for this is because you can see the entire
movie--frame by frame--and sit back and select the parts you like at your leisure. You don't
have to sit there with your finger on the Print Screen button until just the right moment.
SEEDS
Seeds were an option that was available in the demo, where you pressed 'r', and got a
number that represented the 'blueprint' to which the dungeon was generated. There was
a program that allowed you to enter in your own seeds to try out other people's dungeon
blueprints or repeat one of the ones that you liked before. You can't do any of this in the
full version, probably since it could take away from the randomness of the game.
LEVEL GENERATION
There seems to be a database of levels containing a list of all the creatures, level
layout, treasure and other stuff to be found on the level and treasure to be found on the
creatures for that level. The random generator selects one of the 'blueprints' to create
the level. For the single player game, I noticed that if you reload your game and kill
the same particular creature over and over, you will always find the same item off its body.
DYING ON A LEVEL
A neat trick to getting your things back after you die, is what I call the Human Magnet.
Since the creatures seem to hang around your stuff, you need to create a diversion to draw
them off. Bring your character back to the site of the accident, create a portal (very important),
make sure the creatures there see you, then run like hell into the maze taking the creatures
with you. Make sure you aren't carrying anything. When the creatures catch you, you will
lose nothing but the free health that Peppin gave you. Once you hit Restart in Town (not
new game), just pop into the portal, grab your goodies, and kick some butt.
FIREWALL TRICK & DEATH
Let's say you have a boss that you are having trouble killing, for instance, Diablo. Get rid
of your stuff you are holding and leave it in town. Then, stand still and wait for the creature
to run at you. Now, cast a firewall spell (or more if you want) right next to you. They will
stupidly step into the flames just to attack you. Sit there and let them hack you. Just wait
until they die in the flames then restart the game in town.
DIABLO 2
There will be a new CD with extra levels and new graphics, but it will not contain enough
new ideas to be called a new game in it's own right. The disk is supposed to contain the levels
for the Horadrim temple that your character locates in the east. Your character apparently
travels here in a bid to rid him/herself of the soul stone now lodged in his\her forehead.
It's on the drawing board and it's slated to be started after starcraft is released. The core
routines are going to be adapted from Diablo 1 so the development times should be shorter.
IMPSSIBLE TO GET TO LEVEL 50
If you are lucky enough to get to level 35 you will notice that you stop getting experience
from normal level games, regardless of if you fight in hell or the caves. You will notice the
same thing at level 42-3 on Nightmare level and at levels 46-7 on Hell difficulty. Though
you will have given up trying long before level 46, as you get so little experience after level
43, that it would take over 20 hours playing in hell to get level up.
RUMOROUS SECRET COW LEVEL
For this one, you need a Map of the Stars. Rumors say that if you clear out ALL creatures
(not 1 left!) from level one until the last level, except for Diablo himself. Then one person
stays in town and the other kills Diablo. When Diablo is dying (when he spurts blood out),
the player that kills Diablo must push ESC and goto new game, then rejoin the game (do it
FAST!). Then go back to Diablo's level. Stand in the pentagram (the one in middle of the
Diablo's room) and right click on the map of the stars! Then when you return to the town,
between the cows will be a green portal. That will lead you to the 17th level!!
CREATURES
GENERAL TACTICS
Doors - If you find yourself in a room and there are many enemies coming toward you,
run for a doorway, and go through it. Then stop, turn around and prepare to fight the
enemies one at a time. This makes your job a lot easier, and you'll find that the damage
you take will decrease exponentially.
Cornering - When fighting Mages, the ones that teleport, a good strategy is to use stone
curse on them. Then they can't move, but you can damage them. Another way to kill them
without chasing them, but without the use of stone curse is to corner them. Get them stuck
in a corner and position yourself right next to them at 45 degrees of the corner. Distance
yourself equally from the walls that meet to form the corner. When they try to teleport away,
they will just re-appear in the same place. This is a good way to kill Lazarus.
Running - When you find yourself losing life quick and needing to run from an attack,
make sure you run to a place you've already explored. You don't want to run into another
group of creatures and have to be attacked on two sides.
KILLING A LOT OF PESKY CREATURES WITH MINIMUM DAMAGE
When you bump into a lot of creatures in any room, make sure you run quickly to the entrance
of the room, or run to the nearest available door (make sure that area is already cleared),
and stand just outside the entrance. You will find that at any time, only one creature can
attack you, and all the other creatures just line up or move around behind the first creature. They
are then easier to pick off....... as the first creature will find itself in a fix as it cannot move
backwards (it's "friends" are blocking it). If you like, you can use your Inferno scrolls or spell.
This will do maximum damage to the other creatures, as well as the first one. Anyone can
be dealt with this way, except for those irritating disappearing Advocates (and their likes).
TIP FOR FIGHTING UNIQUE ENEMIES
Unique enemies are always a pain in the neck, and sometimes worse. One thing I have
noticed, though, is that the unique enemies are usually susceptible to the spells their
counterparts are immune to. For example, the balrogs are immune to fire while the unique
counterpart is easily killed by fireballs. Most unique enemies will be susceptible to the
fireballs, which can quickly destroy any enemy. Also all the witches in Lazarus's lair are
susceptible to fireballs, so just launch a bunch in there.
CREATURE HIT POINTS
If a creature has 100 hit points in single player, then Multiplayer normal mode hit points
are 2x that or 200 hp. Nightmare mode is 3x normal mode = 3x200 =600hp. Hell mode
is 4x normal mode = 4x200 =800 hp.
CREATURE IMMUNITY
Some creatures in hell on hell difficulty are listed as being immune to fire, lightning, and
magic, but that isn't exactly true. Blizzard has noted that there are no creatures that are
completely immune to all forms of spellcasting. Those creatures which are listed as being
immune to everything can actually be affected by Stone Curse and Apocalypse and
perhaps other spells too.
THE XP FROM CREATURES
Each creature is worth a certain base xp amount and then has a negative xp modifier for
each of your character's level. For example, a Blood Claw has a base of 5425 and a modifier
of 187. If you were 20th level when you killed the Blood Claw, you'd get [5425 -(187*20)]
xp or 1785 xp. When you reach a certain level (In the case of the Blood Claw ~level 29)
you will receive no xp because of the cumulative effects of the negative modifiers. You
can't receive below zero xp for any creature however, no matter what level you are.
CREATURES REGAINING HIT POINTS
Creatures regain hit points, although the tougher creatures tend to regain them faster
than weaker ones. You should try to kill a creature once you've hit it instead of switching
creatures to attack before you've killed one of them.
SURROUNDED BY CREATURES
If you've been smoked by a mob of knights before, then use this. When you enter a room
through a passage, go in there to see what's there, and run out right away, after attracting
attention. Then, if you've done it right, you've got around 10-15 knights chasing you. Now
cast around 20, or as many guardians as you can so that they fill up the passage. When
the knights reach you, just teleport to the other side of the guardians! Every time you do
this, they will chase you, and get pummeled some more. You can also use golem or a few
flame waves to attract attention to yourself.
SURPRISE ATTACKING
Have an Apocalypse spell ready, and when you walk along walls cast it. You'll be surprised
on how many creatures you can kill before they even know you are there. This also comes in
handy against Lazarus. Kill all his minions before actually showing yourself to him with the
tactic. Then, walk in and out so he begins to talk. Look for his glow and circle the outside of
his room until you can reach him with the spell. Then, all you have to do is sit there and beat
on him with the spell.
LINING UP YOUR TARGET
Rogues especially, but with any ranged weapon, including spells, your chance of hitting
goes up significantly if you are "lined up" with them on the map in 45 degree increments.
A creature "3 squares up and 5 squares over" is MUCH harder to hit than one simply "3
squares up". Also, when "shift" shooting/swinging your hit probability goes down, so if you
know you are on target and aren't worried too much about moving if the creature dies, let
off the shift.
HOW TO KILL THE BUTCHER
1. To kill the butcher, find the entrance to the next level, (the square shaped steps),
then open the door to the butcher's room and run as fast as possible to the steps. DON'T
go down. Just run around the stairs and eventually the butcher will get stupid and walk into
the stairs themselves. Since the butcher isn't a player he will be trapped there, while you
pelt him with spells or arrows.
2. Find a room with the grate-like wall you can shoot through, then lead the butcher down
there, go in the room and close the door, then shoot the butcher from inside the room
(he can't open the door)
3. All you need is a scroll of Firewall. Stand right in front of the Butcher's door. Ready
your scroll so that it is the spell showing in the space at the lower right. Open the door,
immediately cast the firewall directly inside, and close the door again. The Butcher will
stand in the fire until he dies. Just remember: left click, right click, left click, and DON'T
MOVE!!! Of course, the Butcher is a little tougher in the multiplayer game, and one firewall
won't kill him. It still helps, though.
ZHAR THE MAD
Once he starts nuking you, cast a firewall on him (he won't move). Then get out of the
room and wait for his death. This way you won't get hit. Just remember never to come
close to him or he will cast flash.
THOSE PESKY ARCHBISHOPS
I found out that golems are immune to the flash spell that the archbishops cast so often,
and I don't recall seeing any of the firebolt/fireball spells hitting it either. They tend to
cast the fire spell at you only. Set him off and go around a corner while he takes them out.
Just listen for the golem to get squashed, then send out another.
FUN WITH ADVOCATES
Well, I noticed that they ALWAYS teleport away in the direction that you face. So, the
trick is to "chase" them into a corner. If you're careful, you can trick any teleporting
character into a corner, and if you face into the corner exactly (you have to face into the
corner, and not face either of the walls), then you can just slash away and all they can
do is teleport in and out of the same square.
ADVOCATE SHIELDS
When I run into a room filled with Blood Guards and Advocates, the Blood Guards
would gather around me while the Advocates shoot. Attack ONLY the Blood Guards
that are on the side that there are no Advocates. After that, just sit and watch as the
Advocates kill the Blood Guards for you. And if you want a laugh, let a Blood Guard chase
you next to an Advocate, and the Advocate will cast flash a few times and kill the Blood Guard.
FIREWALLING AND CERTAIN ACID BEASTS
Doesn't every one hate when there are a zillion balls of acid firing at you with seemingly
careless precision? This could be a problem but I think I have discovered that on certain
acid beasts, namely the ones that accompany the boss acid spitter, they don't advance on
you if they spit on you. The acid spits only go so far so get a little closer until you are one
step away from the barrage, then firewall them until most of them are dead.
WARRIORS AND GOATMEN
Goatmen, the archer type and not the mace type, can be a huge pain, especially with the
warriors since they cowardly retreat and sometimes lead you into a HUGE ambush. This
ambush can seriously put a dent in your HP as the ambush could lead to more Goatmen
archers and some other flunkies with them. If there are corners nearby, don't engage
them but try to get out of their sight and in a nice little place where you can easily thrash
them. Once they see you, they will follow you until they see you again and start shooting;
when they get close to you, STRIKE!!! Make sure you keep swinging until they are dead
since they will flee from you and the consecutive hits will bring them back in swinging distance.
NO MORE ADVOCATES AROUND DIABLO
Everyone hates the advocates around Diablo when you release him. All those fireballs
can really start to hurt. When you release Diablo have all but one guy stay by the final
switches(make sure that area is cleared). Then have someone with the teleport spell
run towards Diablo's final lair. Then have him teleport back to the other people. Diablo
and all his knights will follow, leaving the advocates safely behind. The knights are much
easier to fight than the advocates, especially for a warrior.
HOLY BOLT ON DIABLO
The easiest way to get Diablo out of his room without activating the rest of his horde is
to stand back and launch Holy Bolt. The other creatures are all immune to the spell, so it
will not affect them. It will hit Diablo, however, and he will come on out to attack you. You
can continue using Holy Bolt to kill Diablo, or if you are a fighter, you'll probably want to
close in on him and start hacking.
KILLING DIABLO WITH THE WARRIOR AND NO MAGIC
If you charge the room where Diablo is, you will get swarmed by Knights and Advocates.
If you slowly work your way in, you can activate only a few enemies at a time, but there is
a better way. Get the best bow that you can, and pump your dexterity up as much as possible.
Then stand outside of the room by the wall, hold shift, and shoot arrows into the room.
When you hit an enemy, they will activate, and you can shoot them down. After a while,
shoot straight at the center of the room. Soon you should hear Diablo grunt from a hit, and
he will charge you. As he runs toward you, equip your best melee weapon and put your back
to the wall. When he reaches you, just start swinging at him. You should be able to trade
hits with him one for one, and since you are up against the wall, his hits won't knock you back,
so with a full belt of heal potions you should defeat him easily.
KILLING DIABLO-WITH THE WARRIOR
I've seen all these tips about teleporting into Diablo's room, and firewalling everything
and then teleporting back out. While this may be fine for the magic user and the rogue,
with a warrior, it is a little more difficult. You need like 80 magic to use teleport scrolls,
which is something that is next to impossible without many magic boosting items, and then
you usually don't have enough mana to cast enough firewalls anyway. Here's what to do.
Flip the switches, and then walk toward the room, but stop as soon as you see any enemies.
These should be knights. Then run away, letting the knights follow you, where you can set
up a firewall trap for them, and fight them while they stand in it. They shouldn't be too hard
to handle. Then, fill up your mana and HP, and fill your belt with 8 potions of full healing (or
full rejuvenation) Then walk back to Diablo's room until he is on the screen. Then run away,
because the advocates are shooting at you. The only ones who will chase will be knights and
the dark lord. Take them far away, and kill the knights first, possibly using firewall, and then
hack Diablo until he dies.
THOSE PESKY MAGES IN HELL
Warriors and sorcerers work well together against these guys. Have the sorcerer cast
stone curse on all these losers and let the warrior wipe them up. It doesn't take long to
clear out big rooms of them. Also, for warriors only, try and get them to reappear in or
near a corner. Then, once you see in the the exact corner, come at them from a 45
degree angle from their spot. That way they keep reappearing in the same spot as long
as you don't move to the side.
KILLING DIABLO WITH SPELLS
Once you pull all the levers on his level and cleaned up and other enemies around his spot,
go back to town and buy a bunch of long range spells like lightning, nova, fireball, etc. Then
go back to his lair and stand out of view from even the walls to his spot. Just get in a position
where you have a direct shot to the center of his room. (But don't get any closer to his room.)
Now prep all you spells with the hot keys and fire them all in his room. He should come
running out quite pissed and moderately to extremely damaged. Now kill him. A knight or
two might follow him out, but they should not be a problem if you actually made it to Diablo.
SPELLS
SPELL OVERLOADS
When casting spells like chain lightning, people normally only do it one at a time, until
they run out of mana. Well, now there's a way to get more out of it. When you find a
big load of enemies or even one or two, keep right clicking as fast as you can and it lets
you pull off a few more spells then you are spending mana for.
THE POWER OF TELEKINESIS
If you die in multi-player, you can often get back to your stuff, but be out of view of the
creatures that killed you. Since you can "see" items around corners, use the Telekinesis
spell to grab all of your things by hiding behind a wall.
THE HIDDEN BENEFITS OF STONE CURSE
Stone curse has one trick few people use. It can be cast through walls. You can use
this when fighting Lazarus, The Butcher, or just basic creatures. This works best
(obviously) when you have an infravision scroll that you used. You can even stone
curse someone, hit them, and leave their line of sight and they won't follow you.
SCOUTING W/APOCALYPSE
Scouting with the Staff of Apocalypse: When adventuring in a group, a Sorcerer
with a Staff of Apocalypse can act as a scout in finding Demons around corners and
in rooms. A quick "POP" of the staff, and even creatures around the corner throw off a
big ball of flame. Other characters can see this flames also, which works a lot better than
having one person cast infravision and then trying to type out where all the bad guys are.
Fighters and Rogues appreciate the heads up, giving them time to pull back to a choke
point and setup an "arrow-fest!" or allowing you to throw a few firewalls for all the bad
guys to pour through before the big melee.
FUN WITH NAJ'S PUZZLER
Naj's Puzzler has completely changed my tactics. The 57 teleport charges are great,
and cheap to recharge. It is great fun to set teleport, chain lightning and firewall on
hotkeys. Teleport into a room you think may have bad guys in it, switch to area effect
spells, and blast away. Teleport out while the firewalls are burning, and you can hear the
cries of anguish after you leave. Once the noise subsides, go back in, and scoop up all
the gold. Another fun variation involves a scroll of golem. Teleport in, fire off chain
lightning a few times to soften up the resistance, and then unleash your golem. Teleport
out, and listen until the sounds of pain subside. Naj's Puzzler also allows fast getaways.
If you get into a tight spot, it's a great way to escape. I've run into a bunch of acid beasts
in the caves, and was able to flee like the wind using the Puzzler. Casting it right on top
of the stairs even takes you to the next level.
CONCENTRATING CHAIN LIGHTNING
When using the Chain Lightning(CL) Spell there are certain little things you can do,
especially in Hell, to make it more effective. If you run into Soul Burners, Balrogs, or
Lava Maws, CL can be very effective if used properly. Yes, you can just stand there
and let them surround you and keep firing off CL in a circular pattern in which the bolts all
spread from you in the center, until they are all dead, BUT usually when you do this you
are only getting one bolt at a time hitting a particular creature at once. It may not even
hit them at all if the are moving around quickly. This is not only Mana wasting but slow
to kill, as well. The best way to use it is to maneuver yourself into a position in which
your CL emanates in a tight fan, or cheese wedge shaped pattern from your body. To
do this fire off a preliminary test burst to see where the majority of the Lightning is going
and then move accordingly. The easiest way to set yourself up for the best shot is to
move back into a small hallway so they have to come down the narrow bottleneck and
they cannot surround you and ruin the effectiveness of your spell. Also CL will fire towards
enemies on the other sides of walls. It won't hit them but you can maneuver yourself to
place the creature between you and the concentrated burst to finish him off much faster.
TO PHASE OR NOT TO PHASE
You've been whacked beside the stairs, and you can't even get a foothold on the level
because of the horde surrounding it. Well, enter the spell of Phasing. It is perhaps the most
underrated spell in the game, but I have found it useful in the above situation. Set the current
spell for Phase and put some damaging scroll ready in your belt. I prefer to use scrolls of Nova
and Apocalypse, but Firewall does fine as well. Go down the stairs, start clicking your mouse
button to get the Phasing spell out quickly, and then fire off the scroll when you reappear. Of
course you'll die immediately following, but you managed at least one hit in. People disagree
by saying Teleport is much better, but they fail to realize that Phasing requires one mouse click
to work. The main premise behind this Phasing trick is to soften up the creatures and disperse
them as much as possible so that you will have enough time to use the Teleport spell. Then you
can let loose a potionful of Chain Lightning and Fireball to mop up.
THE HOMING MISSILE - ENTER THE ELEMENTAL
Some people think that the Elemental spell is rubbish because Fireball is better. Not so...
Fireball fires in a straight direction..but the Elemental can 'home' in on your target. Works
best on fast running creatures (horned demons, acid beasts) and even when pkilling! Has
about 60% chance of hitting a fast moving opponent ... even when the opponent has run
around the corner! Doesn't work too well on teleporting enemies though (Advocates).
KNOWING WHICH SPELL TO USE...
I have found that knowing which spells will kill which critter, especially in hell, is invaluable!
I like to use firewall on those chicks with the bows, on level 13 and lower, this is the
spell that kills groups of them the quickest, however you must remember to get them
as close together as possible to get as many of them as possible. Chain lightning works
on most of the other critters down there. Guardian helps with the wizards that pop in and
out, and holy bolt helps with Diablo. No matter what character you are, develop your spells
to a high level, so they won't drain your mana. Also keep in mind, that mana shield only
benefits you if you have more mana, then life; if you have more life points stick with it, and
if you have more mana points then life points then use mana shield.
GUARDIAN
Guardian is a very important spell for everyone but especially for sorcerers in Hell.
Although offense/ defense is what immediately comes to mind when you think of the
spell, Guardian is helpful for much more than this. Knowing what creatures are around
a corner and whether or not they can be effected by fire-based spells is very important.
Always cast a Guardian into an unexplored room. Listen. Is the Guardian firing? If it's
not, it is generally safe enough to peek into the room. Nothing is close enough that they
can get to you quickly. Is the Guardian is firing? Are there creature pain noises coming
from inside the room? If so, what creature is making this noise and what spells can I use
to dispose of them? Finally if the Guardian is firing and you hear no pain noises, then it
could mean one of two things. One, the creature it is firing at is behind an object that is
protecting it, or you are unfortunately about to do battle with a fire immune creature. If you
are about to do battle with a fire immune creature it would be wise not to conjure up 10
Guardians to do battle for you and your party. Why? Those fireballs are going to pass
right over them and into your band of adventurers trying to dispose of your foes. This
may seem obvious but if the creatures are not making pain noises anytime you throw
any spell, they are immune. Don't waste your time and mana. If you keep the gauntlet
in the same spot as you cast several Guardians they will form in a line making for a
very effective "firing squad" for those nasty Maelstrom.
GOLEMS LEAD THE WAY
If you are ever low down in hell and you don't want to go up but you are getting low on
hit points, create a golem to go into large rooms. If there are any Snow Witch types or
Acid Spitting guys then you will see all of the light from their blasts. Plus the golem will
beat some of them up before getting munched.
TOWN PORTAL: USE BY STAIRS
Whenever I die by the stairs, or I have some hunch that I'm going to die; I've been
pushing it, and I know that I'm going a little deep. Conveniently there aren't usually
creatures right at the stairs to begin with, so when I get that special feeling that I might
die, I take a few steps out and fire a Town Portal as far away as I can. It makes a back door.
When I die I can figure out where the creatures are closest, and either come down the stairs
or the portal. Usually, that gives me enough time to do at least one or two spells. Another
advantage to doing that, is that if someone else is in the game but on another level. They can
come save your sorry butt and not have to walk all that way. If I surprise myself and don't die,
it's still nice to have a way to retreat other than the stairs if I get in trouble later. Or if I run out
of mana later, I don't have to worry about not being able to cast a TP, 'cause one is right there!
HOTKEYS: THEY CAN DETERMINE LIFE AND DEATH
Most people think of hotkeys and take them for granted. Not so. They should be taken
very seriously, as they can mean the difference between life and death. Usually, you think
of spell hotkeys and say, oh, yea. Macro hotkeys are important, too. By hitting F9-F12,
you can say a very long message with very short effort. You may set these up by editing
"diablo.ini". Why hotkeys? Maybe you've cast infravision and know that a horde of
creatures lie behind a door that your partner is carelessly about to open, and you can't
stop them in time. Hit a hotkey! You need to retreat. Hit a hotkey! You're about to
cast some deadly spell, but your partner's in the way. Again, hit a hotkey.
EXTRA SPELLS
If you join a game and you see a book you like and you want to learn more about the spell,
just rejoin the game and the book will be there...buy it then return, buy it then return, and
so on. This only works in multi-player games and one person must always be in the game.
FIREWALL & TELEPORT
You can teleport in to where the creature is, then cast firewall at the creature. When it is in
the flames just teleport out. The creature won't move from the flames since it can't see you.
THE MISSING SPELLS
This is an annoying question, mainly because the spells are missing only because
Blizzard didn't finish coding Diablo before they released it. The missing spells are
INVISIBILITY, ETHEREALISE, BLOODBATH ( or bloodboil ) and SENTINEL. The
effects for these spells didn't get coded, though the icons and graphics for these spells
is in the data file. Rumor has it that the missing spells will be included in this new
version, along with ten or so new spells. There will also be some new animated sequences.
BLOODSTAR USE
Bloodstar is the same spell the succubi and witches fire at you. The different colors don't
matter, they are the same spell. Bloodstar kills any non immune creatures with a shot or two.
The drawback, is that it is slow. Try using it against gold vipers, you will find it very effective.
SPELL PAGE FIVE
Yes, spell page five does exist. To get started, click on page one. This just makes it
easier to find page five. Now if you look at the far right edge of button four, you'll see
that the space there is wider then the spaces between all the other pages. All you have
to do is click over there. The space is about one pixel wide but if you keep clicking next
to button four, you'll find it. I think that the way the game was written, every spell needs a
place in the book, whether it can be found as a book or not. This may be where spells like
identify and infravision have slots. Other spells that may go here are the ones that were
never implemented or only existed in the Alpha and Beta versions. These would be:
Etherialize, Blood Boil, Blood Ritual, Doom Serpents, and Invisibility.
DEAD DEEP IN THE DUNGEON
If you have died deep in the dungeon and are having trouble rescuing your stuff, FireWall
comes in handy. Walk down to the dungeon without carrying anything, cast as many
FireWall spells as you can, and then stay dead until the FireWalls drop (waiting for as many
creatures to die as possible). Then restart in town. If there are two or more players in the
game, cast Town Portals a decent distance from each other and away from the stairs; then
you will have a way of getting down that isn't surrounded by countless hordes of bad guys.
Remember, Town Portal can be cast on the other side of a wall. If you are still having
problems getting your stuff, get close enough, 'Telekenesis' as many items as you can, and
then try again if you die. Don't put the equipment back on!
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