Diablo 2: Resurrected is available on both PC and consoles, bringing the classic action-RPG to a new generation of players. The console release is particularly noteworthy, given that the original was only ever available on PC in the first place. And while it has received a visual makeover as well as some other quality-of-life enhancements, it is a largely faithful remake of a game that was released more than two decades ago. The game will be less friendly to players as a result. If you’ve only played Diablo 3, expect Resurrected to tell you a lot less, kick your teeth in, and then force you to walk away rather than run because you’ve run out of energy.
What You Should Know About Diablo 2 Resurrected Tips and Tricks
Select an appropriate introductory class.
Your first decision after starting the game is which class to play as, and unfortunately, the game does as little as possible to explain what it’s like to play as each of them. Aside from a brief description, you’re left to make your decision primarily on the basis of how each class appears to you. Despite the fact that you can always create more characters, there is no way to switch classes once you’ve made your decision. This means that any time it invests in one character will be for naught if you decide you’d rather play something else later on. If you have multiple characters, you can make use of the new shared loot box to transfer items between them. This eliminates the need to start a session by leaving everything you own in town and then returning with another character to transfer D2R items.
As you might expect, some classes are better suited for newcomers than others; the Sorceress, for example, is heavily reliant on spellcasting and mana (as you might expect), and is also relatively frail, making her a more difficult character to play solo at the start (although her teleport ability is a real lifesaver once you learn how to use it). Necromancers, on the other hand, can summon an army of minions that will not only dish out damage, but will also distract and absorb enemy attacks, allowing you to stay alive longer. Paladins, on the other hand, can take more damage and can heal without the use of potions, whereas Paladins cannot.
The choice is entirely subjective from a pure entertainment standpoint, though there’s a reason Barbarian was the only returning character in Diablo 3 at launch–Blizzard believed there was significant room for improvement with that character. However, despite the limited amount of information on the character creation screen, there are numerous class builds and radically different ways of playing as each of the available classes in the game.
Make a plan with your class and follow it to the letter.
Because of the wide range of options available, each class can function quite differently depending on your selections and preferences. With the aforementioned Necromancer, you could choose to concentrate solely on summoning an army of minions, or you could choose to invest points in poison/bone spells, which would allow D2R items (this link) to deal more direct damage to your opponents. Assassins can concentrate on the traps they summon or on their martial arts abilities. Druids can be shapeshifters or rely on elemental attacks to accomplish their goals. Depending on the class, you can also build your entire character around a single skill, as with Zeal Paladins or Blessed Hammer Paladins, who are also known as Hammerdins in the community.
While you are free to mix and match skills as you see fit, it is generally advisable to develop a strategy and allocate resources accordingly. The number of skill points available to you is limited, which means you will not be able to complete the entire skill tree. Even if you do invest heavily in a particular skill, the skill synergies between that skill and others, which can be seen when hovering over a skill, may dictate which other skills you should choose. If a summoner has the basic Raise Skeleton skill and also has Skeleton Mastery and Summon Resist, those are two skills that should be considered when deciding which skills to use.
Because Resurrected includes a respec system, you are not completely locked into the choices you make. However, there are limitations to this system (you will earn some respec opportunities for free as you play, while subsequent ones will require you to gather certain resources), so proceed with caution. Therefore, don’t anticipate being able to freely experiment in the same way that you would be able to do so in Diablo 3.
