Diablo II: Lord of Destruction Updated Preview
We sit down with the latest version of the anticipated add-on at the offices of Blizzard North.
It's been more than eight months since Diablo II hit the store shelves, but the game still enjoys immense popularity. Although dismissed by some as a disappointment, Diablo II nevertheless has won acclaim and commercial success. Today, it is close to selling 3 million units worldwide. Hundreds of thousands of people continue to play it on Battle.net--and more and more continue to play every day. However, after devoting so many hours to this game, those millions of hungry fans have probably explored every corner of Diablo II and are ready for some new challenges in the world of Sanctuary. Thus, Blizzard North is hard at work on its upcoming expansion pack, which should give all Diablo fans plenty of new gaming material to dig into.
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction is the official title of the expansion pack, which promises to include enough new features to rope in newcomers and satisfy the Diablo II veteran. GameSpot has already written news stories and an earlier preview about the expansion pack, so with this preview update, we'll dive into the gameplay and new features themselves.
The expansion pack adds--in the barbarian lands of Mount Arreat--a fifth act, which takes place after the end of Diablo II. However, the expansion pack isn't just for those who have already beaten the game. When you buy the expansion pack, you'll have the option of converting your characters to the expansion set rules. Even if you haven't finished Diablo II and thus aren't yet ready to face act five, you'll want to convert your character, because a lot of the new features, such as a double-sized stash and new items, will be enabled for you no matter what stage of the game you're in.
Aside from the expansion pack's two new characters, as well as the new act and its accompanying assets, such as monsters, quests, and nonplayer characters (NPCs), the Diablo II expansion pack will offer a lot of new features. Eight more hotkeys have been added, so you'll be able to hotkey up to 16 skills--and to any keys you want. You'll also be able to toggle between two different sets of weapons. So, for example, if you have an amazon who is a master of both the bow and spear, you can equip her with a spear and designate that as your first weapon "set" and then equip her with a bow and arrow and designate that as set two. You'll be able to toggle between the two sets by clicking on the two new tabs on the equip interface or by hitting a hotkey. This lets you swap between two different fighting styles--like using a two-handed weapon or a sword and shield--with a simple hotkey or click of a mouse, rather than having to access your inventory and perform a lot of clicking and dragging. There will now be a repair-all button on your trade screen, which should be welcome news to players who have lots of items to repair.
These changes are only the beginning. Hirelings are being improved, as are items, the existing character classes, and more.
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- GameSpot Score8.2great
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- Blizzard Entertainment
- Blizzard North
- Action Role-Playing
- Release: Jun 27, 2001 »
- ESRB: Mature
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