Diablo II Readme

(C) 2000 Blizzard Entertainment. All rights reserved. Diablo, Battle.net and Blizzard Entertainment are trademarks or registered trademarks of Havas Interactive, Inc. and/or its wholly owned subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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CONTENTS

From The Developers
End User License Agreement
System Requirements
Installation
Basic Game Controls
Configurable Game Controls
Gameplay Hints, Tips and Other Information
Multiplayer Diablo II
Contact Information
Performance Tips
Updates, Patches and General Troubleshooting
Uninstalling


FROM THE DEVELOPERS

First of all, thank you very much for buying Diablo II. We have worked very long and hard to create a game that we hope you will enjoy playing for many, many hours. We have added some features to Diablo II that may not be apparent the first time you play – even if you are an experienced Diablo player. So, please refer to the manual and the rest of this document for details on how to play.

Diablo II is a VERY different play experience for each of the five character classes. The basic tactics and advanced strategies best employed by a Barbarian, for instance, are not at all appropriate for a Necromancer.

After you've played one character class for several hours, try your hand at one of the others. You won't be disappointed.

You can also develop a familiar character class in new ways. That is, after creating a new character, this time learn a different set of skills and you will begin to realize the unparalleled replayability offered by Diablo II.

Once you have defeated Diablo in Regular difficulty you may play in Nightmare difficulty and after Nightmare is Hell difficulty. For the ultimate challenge, you may create a Hardcore character – one who dies just once and cannot continue – and see just how far you can get.

Finally, Diablo II takes on an entirely different feel in a multiplayer game. The multiplayer party strategies, and the difference in how you have to think, react, and communicate all makes for a very exciting and very new play experience. Once you have played Single Player for a while, head on up to Battle.net and try your hand at some multiplayer games with a Battle.net Realm character.

We hope you enjoy playing Diablo II as much as we do. See you on Battle.net.

- Blizzard Entertainment

END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

YOU SHOULD CAREFULLY READ THE FOLLOWING END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT BEFORE INSTALLING THIS SOFTWARE PROGRAM. BY INSTALLING, COPYING, OR OTHERWISE USING THE SOFTWARE PROGRAM, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, PROMPTLY RETURN THE UNUSED SOFTWARE PROGRAM TO THE PLACE OF PURCHASE OR CONTACT BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT CUSTOMER SERVICE AT (949) 955-1382 FOR A FULL REFUND OF THE PURCHASE PRICE WITHIN THIRTY (30) DAYS OF THE ORIGINAL PURCHASE.


This software program (the "Program"), any printed materials, any on-line or electronic documentation, and any and all copies and derivative works of such software program and materials are the copyrighted work of Blizzard Entertainment, a division of Havas Interactive, Inc. and/or its wholly owned subsidiaries, or its suppliers. All use of the Program is governed by the terms of the End User License Agreement which is provided below ("License Agreement"). The Program is solely for use by end users according to the terms of the License Agreement. Any use, reproduction or redistribution of the Program not in accordance with the terms of the License Agreement is expressly prohibited.

END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT


1. Limited Use License. Blizzard Entertainment ("Blizzard") hereby grants, and by installing the Program you thereby accept, a limited, non-exclusive license and right to install and use one (1) copy of the Program for your use on either a home, business or portable computer. In addition, the Program has a multi-player capability that allows users to utilize the Program over the Internet via Blizzard Entertainment's online game network Battle.net. Use of the Program over Battle.net is subject to your acceptance of Battle.net's Terms of Use Agreement. Blizzard Entertainment reserves the right to update, modify or change the Battle.net Terms of Use Agreement at any time.

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3. Responsibilities of End User.

4. Program Transfer. You may permanently transfer all of your rights under this License Agreement, provided the recipient agrees to the terms of this License Agreement and you agree to remove the Program from your home, business or portable computer.

5. Termination. This License Agreement is effective until terminated. You may terminate the License Agreement at any time by destroying the Program. Blizzard may, at its discretion, terminate this License Agreement in the event that you fail to comply with the terms and conditions contained herein. In such event, you must immediately destroy the Program.

6. Export Controls. The Program may not be re-exported, downloaded or otherwise exported into (or to a national or resident of) any country to which the U.S. has embargoed goods, or to anyone on the U.S. Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Commerce Department's Table of Denial Orders. By installing the Program, you are agreeing to the foregoing and you are representing and warranting that you are not located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any such country or on any such list.

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8. Limitation of Liability. NEITHER BLIZZARD HAVAS INTERACTIVE, INC., ITS PARENT, SUBSIDIARIES OR AFFILIATES SHALL BE LIABLE IN ANY WAY FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THE PROGRAM OR USE OF BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT'S ONLINE GAME NETWORK, BATTLE.NET INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY AND ALL OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES OR LOSSES. BLIZZARD FURTHER DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO YEAR 2000 COMPLIANCE OF THE SOFTWARE. SPECIFICALLY, BLIZZARD MAKES NO WARRANTIES THAT THE PERFORMANCE OR FUNCTIONALITY OF THE PROGRAM WILL NOT BE AFFECTED BY DATES PRIOR TO, DURING OR AFTER THE YEAR 2000, OR THAT THE PROGRAM WILL BE CAPABLE OF CORRECTLY PROCESSING, PROVIDING, AND/OR RECEIVING DATE INFORMATION WITHIN AND BETWEEN CENTURIES, INCLUDING THE PROPER EXCHANGE OF DATE INFORMATION BETWEEN PRODUCTS OR APPLICATIONS. ANY WARRANTY AGAINST INFRINGEMENT THAT MAY BE PROVIDED IN SECTION 2-312(3) OF THE UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE AND/OR IN ANY OTHER COMPARABLE STATE STATUTE IS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED. FURTHER, BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT SHALL NOT BE LIABLE IN ANY WAY FOR THE LOSS OR DAMAGE TO PLAYER CHARACTERS, ACCOUNTS, STATISTICS OR USER PROFILE INFORMATION STORED ON BATTLE.NET. I UNDERSTAND AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT CANNOT AND WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INTERRUPTIONS OF SERVICE ON BATTLE.NET INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO ISP DISRUPTIONS, SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE FAILURES OR ANY OTHER EVENT WHICH MAY RESULT IN A LOSS OF DATA OR DISRUPTION OF SERVICE. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, or allow limitations on how long an implied warranty lasts, so the above limitations may not apply.

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11. Miscellaneous. This License Agreement shall be deemed to have been made and executed in the State of California and any dispute arising hereunder shall be resolved in accordance with the law of California. You agree that any claim asserted in any legal proceeding by one of the parties against the other shall be commenced and maintained in any state or federal court located in the State of California, County of Los Angeles, having subject matter jurisdiction with respect to the dispute between the parties. This License Agreement may be amended, altered or modified only by an instrument in writing, specifying such amendment, alteration or modification, executed by both parties. In the event that any provision of this License Agreement shall be held by a court or other tribunal of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable, such provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible and the remaining portions of this License Agreement shall remain in full force and effect. This License Agreement constitutes and contains the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes any prior oral or written agreements.

I hereby acknowledge that I have read and understand the foregoing License Agreement and agree that the action of installing the Program is an acknowledgment of my agreement to be bound by the terms and conditions of the License Agreement contained herein. I also acknowledge and agree that this License Agreement is the complete and exclusive statement of the agreement between Blizzard and I and that the License Agreement supersedes any prior or contemporaneous agreement, either oral or written, and any other communications between Blizzard and myself.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

CPU: Diablo II requires a Pentium-compatible 233 MHz processor or better.

Memory: 32 MB of RAM is required for Single Player mode. 64 MB of RAM is required for Multiplayer mode. Open Battle.net game Creators and TCP/IP game Hosts: 128MB RAM recommended (256MB RAM in games with over 4 players).

Hard Drive Space: The Single Player installation requires 650 MB free space on your hard drive. The Multiplayer installation requires 950 MB free space on your hard drive. The Full installation requires 1.55 GB free space on your hard drive.

Video: Diablo II requires an SVGA video card and monitor capable of displaying 800 x 600 pixels at a color depth of at least 256 colors.

3D accelerators compatible with Glide or Direct3D are supported. Diablo II requires 8MB of texture RAM.

Sound: Diablo II requires a DirectX-compatible sound card. Diablo II supports sound cards with 3D positioning and environmental audio effects, like reverberation and occlusion. Be sure to configure your sound driver and position your speakers to get the optimum audio performance from your system.

Operating System: Diablo II is a Windows 95/98/2000/NT game that utilizes Microsoft DirectX. Diablo II will run under DirectX 6.1 or higher, but we recommend updating to DirectX version 7.0a. You may install DirectX 7.0a using the Diablo II Installer.

Windows 2000 and NT 4.0 do not require that you install Microsoft DirectX, as it is already part of the operating system.

If you have difficulty running Windows 95/98 after installing new Microsoft DirectX drivers, please contact Microsoft technical support at:

USA telephone: 1-800-426-9400
For a list of International numbers visit Microsoft technical support at http://www.microsoft.com

INSTALLATION

How to Install
Place the Diablo II Install Disc into your CDROM drive. If the Installer does not automatically run within 1 minute, manually open the Install Disc and run "Setup.exe", the Diablo II Installer.

Install Options
The Diablo II Installer gives you three choices:
BASIC GAME CONTROLS

Esc – Toggles the Esc menu on/off and exits other menus.

Left Mouse Button – Performs "smart" actions depending on the situation:
Right Mouse Button – Use the skill currently assigned to the Right Mouse Button on a selected target, drink a selected potion, or activate a scroll or tome.

Arrow Keys – Scrolls the Automap.


CONFIGURABLE GAME CONTROLS

A (or C) – Toggles Character Attributes screen on/off.
B (or I) – Toggles Backpack / Inventory screen on/off.
P – Toggles the Party screen on/off.
M – Toggles the Message log on/off.
Q – Toggles the Quest log on/off.
H – Brings up the Help overlay.

T – Toggles Skill Tree screen on/off.
S – Toggles mouse button Skill menu overlay on/off.
F1 through F8 – Readies (or sets) the associated Left or Right Mouse Button Skill.
Mouse wheel up – Scrolls up through all hot-keyed (F1-F8) skills in the Right Mouse Button slot.
Mouse wheel down – Scrolls down through all hot-keyed (F1-F8) skills in the Right Mouse Button slot.
~ -- Toggles a belt larger than 1x4 open/closed.
1, 2, 3, and 4 – Uses the item in that belt slot.

Enter – Opens/closes In-Game Chat overlay.
Ctrl – Hold down to run.
R – Toggles auto-run mode on /off.
Shift – Hold down while clicking the left or right mouse button to use that skill while standing in place.
Alt – Highlights all items dropped on the ground.
Z – Toggle all party member portraits on/off.

Tab – Toggles the Automap on/off.
F9 – Centers the Automap on the player.
F10 – Toggles Automap fading on/off.
F11 – Toggles party member display on/off in Automap.
F12 – Toggles player/NPC name display on/off in the Automap.

Numeric Keypad – Voice communication (turn NumLock on for the following)
0 – Player character says, "Help!"
1 – Player character says, "Follow me."
2 – Player character says, "For you."
3 – Player character says, "Thanks."
4 – Player character says, "Sorry!"
5 – Player character says, "Bye."
6 – Player character says, "Die."

Print Screen – Saves the screen to your Diablo II directory as "screenshotX.jpg".
Spacebar – Cancels all the above screens and overlays to return to gameplay.
N – Clears all text messages from the screen.


GAMEPLAY HINTS, TIPS, AND OTHER INFORMATION

General Help
Press the 'H' key to view the Help overlay.

In-Game Multiplayer Chat Commands
Press 'Enter' to bring up the chat overlay at the bottom center of the screen. (You will see a flashing "_" cursor.) Type your message and hit 'Enter'. Everyone in your game (who allows it) sees your message in the top left corner of their screen. Bring up your message log by pressing 'M' in order to see the complete history of messages you've received in your game. Below are some examples of the different commands available during gameplay:

![your message]
Prints the message over your head, like a cartoon balloon, so that only the players near you in your game can see your message. The message lasts a few seconds.

/msg [accountname] [message]
Sends the message to the player with the Battle.net account 'accountname' anywhere on Battle.net – in any chat channel or any game – including Diablo, Warcraft, and StarCraft.

NOTE: The 'up-arrow' key recalls the previous 8 messages you typed. Use it when you want to repeat the same message or edit a message slightly before sending it again.

The Battle.net Chat Channel
In Diablo II Chat Channels, characters appear at the bottom of the screen. If more people are in the Chat Channel than fit across the screen, scroll the list of characters by clicking on one of the triangular scroll arrows.

The Chat Window appears on the left side of the screen. Along its right edge is the Chat Window scroll bar. Below the Chat Window are your Text Box and six buttons for commonly used chat commands – Send, Whisper, Emote, Squelch, Unsquelch, and Help.

Send – Chat with other players in the Chat Channel
  1. Click inside your text box and type your message.
  2. Press the Send button to post your message to everyone in the chat channel.
Whisper – Chat privately with other players in the Chat Channel
  1. Click inside your text box and type your message.
  2. Left-click on the character to highlight it with an aura.
  3. Press the Whisper button to send your message to only the highlighted character.
Emote – Lets you perform an "action" in the chat channel.
  1. Click inside your text box and type an action. [jumps up and down]
  2. Press the Emote button.
  3. The message will appear after your name. [Your character-name] jumps up and down.
Squelch – Block messages from a character.
  1. Left-click on the character to highlight it with an aura.
  2. Press the Squelch button.
Unsquelch – Allow messages from a character.
  1. Left-click on the character to highlight it with an aura.
  2. Press the Unsquelch button.
Help – Display the Diablo II chat help text.

NOTE: When your cursor is placed over a character in the Chat Channel, the Battle.net account name and character level appears above the character portrait.

Chatting with players who are not in your chat channel
Use the Battle.net /msg command as follows:
  1. Click inside your text box and type: /msg [accountname] [message]
  2. Press 'Enter'.
Example: /msg Necroman Join my DII game named CryptRun. Password is Hogwarts.
This sends the message to the player with the Battle.net account 'accountname' anywhere on Battle.net. This includes chat channels or in games for Diablo, Warcraft or StarCraft.

Example: /squelch [accountname] OR /unsquelch [accountname]
This allows you to Squelch and Unsquelch players outside the Diablo II chat channel.

Visit http://www.battle.net/chat/commands.shtml or press the Help button for a full list of current Battle.net commands.

Creating or joining a Battle.net game
The Control Window appears on the right side of the screen along with the five command buttons – Create, Join, Channel, Ladder, and Quit. Press the appropriate button to bring up the corresponding dialog box in the Control Window.

Create – Press this button to Create a game. Enter the Game Name (required). To create a private game, enter a Password. You may whisper the password and game name to others in the Chat channel, when you invite them to join your game. You may enter a Game Description. You may change the Maximum # of Players from the default number, 4. You may check the box next to the Character Difference setting and change it from the default number, 4. When Character Difference is checked, characters whose levels differ from yours by more than the setting cannot join your game. Finally, press the 'Create Game' button.

NOTE: If you forget the Game Name or Password while in a game, simply press 'Tab' to bring up the Automap and look in the upper right corner.

Join – Press this button to Join a game. Enter the Game Name and Password, if you know them. Otherwise, select a game from the list below the Game Name field. The number of players and the list of characters in the selected game appears. Use the vertical scroll arrows, if needed. When you've selected a game, press the Join Game button.

NOTE: If you Exit a game and no one is left in it, the game continues for several minutes, allowing you to rejoin the game in the event that your computer was disconnected from the Internet. However, you must remember the name of your game and enter it into the Game Name field. It does not appear in the list of games you may join.

Channel – Press this button to bring up the Channel screen. Enter the chat Channel Name or select a chat channel from the list below the Channel Name field. Press the OK button.

Ladder – Press this button to bring up the Ladders screen. Select the Hardcore or Standard ladder. Characters are ranked in the ladders by their experience. Select the Overall or By Class options to display the ladder in that manner.

Quit – Press this button to quit the Chat channel and return to the Character Selection screen.

Using the Esc Menu
Press the 'Esc' key to bring up the menu. Press 'Esc' again to return to the game. Click on a menu entry to cycle through the settings. Click on a slider to move the skull to that setting. If an option is dimmed, it cannot be adjusted in the current graphics/sound mode or another option setting has disabled it.

The Esc Menu has the following structure:
Using the Mini-Panel
Press the mini-panel toggle button (located in the center of the control panel at the bottom of the screen) to raise and lower the mini-panel at the bottom center of the screen. Click on the mini-panel buttons (in order from left – Character, Inventory, Skill Tree, Party Screen, Automap, Message Log, Quest Log, and Exit Menu) to bring up the appropriate screen or overlay.

Using Ctrl – Running
Press and hold 'Ctrl' to run. Running outside towns uses Stamina. Be careful not to let your Stamina run out if you are being chased. If your Stamina reaches zero, your character begins walking instead and cannot run. If that happens, you must release 'Ctrl' and stand still for a few seconds to begin recovering Stamina. After your Stamina has started increasing, you may walk and continue to recover Stamina. This recovery continues until it reaches your character's maximum.

NOTE: You may also run by tapping the 'R' key to toggle auto-run mode on. Tap it again to go back to walking mode.

Using Alt – Highlighting Items on the Ground
Press and hold 'Alt' to highlight any items (weapons, armor, potions, scrolls, gold, etc.) that you can pick up from the ground. The name of the item class appears above the item in the following color code:

White = Normal Item
Grey = Socketed Item
Blue = Magic Item
Green = Set Item
Yellow = Rare item
Gold = Unique item

Click on the name (or the item, itself) to pick it up.

Using Shift – Standing and Attacking
When you want to attack with the left or right mouse button skill without moving to the target of the attack, hold the 'Shift' key down.

Information on Monsters
When you move your cursor over a monster, you see the monster's name or class. Behind the name in red appears the monster's hit-point bar graph, showing how much of the monster's life remains. The name of the monster is color-coded. White text indicates a standard monster type, blue a champion, and gold a unique monster or boss.

Stackable Items
Some items can have a quantity greater than one. Examples include: tomes of identify and town portal, keys, and all items that can be thrown or shot by a bow -- arrows, bolts, throwing knives, javelins, exploding potions, etc. Using a stackable item decrements its quantity by one. When the quantity of a projectile reaches zero, the item is gone. Empty tomes can be refilled with scrolls.

You may consolidate stackable items of the same type (like quivers of arrows) by picking up one stack and dropping it onto another stack. The quantities in both stacks are added together to form one stack, unless the resultant stack's quantity would exceed the maximum. In that case there are still two stacks. One of them holds the maximum; the other holds the remainder.

NOTE: You cannot split a stack into two stacks.

Scrolls
There are only two types of scrolls in Diablo II – Scrolls of Town Portal and Scrolls of Identify. Several scrolls of the same type may be held within a single tome. In Act I Akara sells scrolls and tomes from her Miscellaneous inventory tab.

Right-click on the Town Portal scroll (or tome) to open up a portal near the player. Left-click on the Portal to return to the town located in that Act. The portal remains active until you re-enter it within the Act's town and return to the place from which you cast it.

Right-click on the Identify scroll (or tome) to change the cursor into a tilted question mark. Move the point of the cursor over an unidentified item in your inventory and Left-click to identify it.

Using the Belt
Pressing one of the 4 belt hotkeys uses the item in the corresponding belt hot-slot – 1, 2, 3, or 4. Only scrolls or potions of health, mana, stamina, thawing, and antidote can be placed in the belt. Pressing the belt hotkey either drinks the potion or casts the spell contained on a scroll.

Wearing a sash, or larger belt, expands the basic 4-slot belt by adding 1 or more extra rows of 4 slots. You can access the extra rows by moving the cursor over the 4-slot belt in the control panel. When an item in a belt hot-slot is used, any items held in the storage slots above the (now empty) hot-slot drop down one slot to refill it. For maximum convenience you should arrange items of the same type vertically. You can also use the '~' key to toggle larger belts fully open and closed.

Skills
All 5 Character Classes start with the same 2 basic skills – Attack and Throw. Necromancers also start with the "Unsummon" skill to destroy minions previously summoned by the player.

Each character class may develop 30 more unique skills. These 30 additional skills are divided into 3 skill tabs. The skills in each tab are arranged into a Skill Tree -- much like a Technology Tree in a real-time strategy game.

There are two general classes of skills – Passive and Active. Active skills require you to explicitly cast or use them. Passive skills are not cast, but have implicit or automatic effects. Masteries (a type of Passive skill) are in effect whenever the item or skill to which the Mastery applies is used. The Paladin's Auras (another type of Passive skill) are in effect whenever readied as the right mouse skill button. Aura skill button icons are golden.

All Active skills except Attack, Throw, Unsummon and Sacrifice use Mana. Most Passive skills do not use Mana. The Mana cost and other information about a skill is shown when you move the cursor over the skill icon. When a Skill icon is red, the Skill cannot be used. This is due to either a lack of Mana, or because an item that the skill requires is not equipped.

The different skill tabs are as follows: NOTE: Equipping a throwing weapon readies the Throw Skill in the left mouse skill button. When you've thrown the last one of a stack of throwing weapons, the skill (along with the weapon) you had been using before is restored to the left mouse skill button, (unless the weapon was a bow or crossbow).

Assigning and Using Skill Hotkeys
You may assign 8 hotkeys to automatically ready skills for the left or right mouse buttons. Bring up the Skill buttons (left-click on the left-hand or right-hand skill icon), then move the cursor over each skill and press one of the 8 hotkeys – 'F1' through 'F8' – to assign the hotkey to that skill. When finished, press 'S' or the Spacebar.

NOTE: Some skills cannot be assigned to the left mouse button. Any skill can be assigned to the right mouse button.

Interaction with NPCs
Click on an NPC. If a text menu pops up, you can interact. Select 'Talk' to hear the NPC introduction, gossip, or quest information. Select 'Trade' to buy, sell, or repair items. (See below.) In Act I, for example, Gheed allows you to 'Gamble' by offering an inventory of unidentified magic items – premium-priced, however. Kashya lets you 'Hire' a mercenary after completing a certain quest for her. (See below.) Charsi can 'Imbue' an item with rare magical properties after you complete her quest.

Trading with NPCs
Click on one of the NPCs (Akara, Gheed, or Charsi in Act I). Select 'Trade' from the pop-up menu. Your Inventory appears on the right side of the screen, while the NPC's Inventory appears on the left. Across the top of the NPC inventory are 4 inventory tabs – Armor, Weapons, Magical, and Misc. If there are no items in that tab, the tab label will not appear until someone sells the NPC an item of that type. NOTE: When an equipped item's durability is low, a color-coded player icon appears in the upper right corner of the screen. Items displayed in yellow have low durability. Items in red have 0 durability and cannot be used (have no effect) until repaired. Bring up your Inventory and sweep your cursor over your equipment to inspect its durability.

NOTE: To buy or sell multiple items click on the corresponding Trading Mode buttons near the bottom of the NPC inventory. This sets the cursor into buy or sell mode. Left click on each item in turn for the mode you selected. To change modes click on one of the 3 Trading Mode buttons. Click on the "Close" button to exit.

Hiring and Controlling Mercenaries
In Act I Kashya hires out mercenary Rogues once you have completed a certain quest for her.

Click on Kashya to bring up her menu. If "HIRE" appears on her menu, click on it. Select a mercenary to hire. Press "OK". A Rogue appears near you with her icon in the upper left corner. Above the icon is the Rogue's Health bar. The Rogue follows you and automatically shoots arrows at any monsters or hostile players nearby. You cannot harm your mercenaries and they cannot harm you or your party members.

Mercenaries cost gold to hire. Mercenaries are very loyal and fight to the death. They follow you through portals and waypoints.

Trading with other Players
To request a trade with another player, click on that player while in town together. (You cannot trade outside town.)

A dialog box pops up that says "Waiting for Other Player". A "Cancel" button appears in the box, too. The player who was clicked on sees a dialog box containing "Agree to Trade?" and "OK/Cancel". You may wait until the other player clicks on "OK" or "Cancel" or you may retract your invitation by clicking on "Cancel".

If the other player accepts and clicks on "OK", then the Player Trading Screen comes up. On the right side of the screen is your Inventory. On the left is the Trading Block. The top half of the block contains what the other player is offering for trade. The bottom half is your offer.

Move items between your Inventory and your half of the Trading Block, while your trading partner does the same. You may adjust the amount of gold in your offer by clicking on the "Gold" button in your half of the Trading Block.

When you are satisfied with the deal, click on the "Check mark". The other player agrees in the same manner. When you see the other player's "Check mark" turn green, he/she has agreed to the trade.

You may cancel a trade by clicking on the "Cancel" button at the bottom of the screen or by pressing the 'Esc' key.

Forming Parties with other Players
Press the 'P' key to bring up the Party screen. You see a list of all the players in the game and your current relationships to them. Names appearing white are Neutral, green are in your Party, and red are Hostile. Next to each available player's name is the Party button with one of the following labels:

INVITE: Press this button to invite the player to join your party.
CANCEL: After inviting the player (but before acceptance), you may withdraw the invitation by pressing this button again.
ACCEPT: The player has invited you to join a party. Press this button to accept the invitation.

If no button appears, then the player is not available – because that player is already a member of another party. You may not invite them until they leave their current party. Of course, they could invite you to join theirs.

Once in a party you may leave it by pressing the LEAVE button at the top of the party screen. If you leave a party of more than two players, the other players remain in that party. Once you leave a party, you may form or join another.

To the right of each player's Party button are 4 smaller buttons – each of which can be ON or OFF. The first one is the Neutral/Hostile button. When the button shows crossed swords, you are Hostile to the associated player. The second one is the Allow/Prevent Corpse Looting button. The third is the Include/Exclude from Chat button. When you Exclude a player, that player cannot hear or see any verbal communication coming from you. The last is the Squelch/Unsquelch button. When you Squelch a player, you cannot hear or see any verbal communication coming from that player.

NOTE: When you press your Party or Hostility buttons, the target player receives an appropriate message about your action.

Party Relationships
Each player has two possible relationships with all other players in the game -- Neutral (the default) and Hostile. Changes to your relationships are made in the Party screen. (Press 'P' to bring it up.) Here is how the settings work: NOTE: You receive a message whenever players change their relationship settings with you.

Gold
The Gold button appears on the Backpack (Inventory) screen. Press it to select an amount of gold to either drop or offer in trade with another player. The amount of gold you can carry is determined by your character's level – 10,000 gold per level.

Your Stash
In a central location in each town (near the bonfire in the Rogue camp in Act I) is a large chest. This is your private Stash. Click on it to open it. You may exchange items between your Character Inventory and your Stash. You may also deposit into your stash up to 50,000 gold while below character level 10, 100,000 gold below level 20, 150,000 gold below level 30, and so forth. Merchants will deduct gold from your Stash for purchases that exceed the amount of gold you are carrying. Click on the exit button or press 'Esc' or Spacebar to exit.

NOTE: Don't leave items lying on the ground any longer than necessary. Regular items disappear in about 15 minutes. Magic, Rare, Set, and Unique items disappear after lying on the ground for about 1 hour.

Gems and Socketed Items
Items whose names appear in grey text have one or more sockets. The sockets are visible when highlighting the item in your inventory. You can place various types and grades of gems into the sockets to enhance a socketed item's abilities. There are five grades of gems – chipped, flawed, standard, flawless, and perfect. Gems cannot be removed from a socket once placed into it. Touching a gem shrine upgrades one gem (randomly chosen from the character's inventory) to the next higher grade.

Magic, Rare, Set, and Unique Items
The names of Magic, Rare, Set, and Unique Items appear in blue, yellow, green, and gold text, respectively. Leveling Up and Allocating Stats and Skill Points
When a character levels up by earning enough experience points (from killing monsters), the "New Stats" and "New Skill" buttons appear at the bottom left and right corners of the screen. When in a safe situation, click on the buttons to bring up the Character Attributes and the Skill Tree to allocate the points.

Each time you level up, you may distribute 5 attribute points among your 4 attributes – strength which effects damage, dexterity which effects the ability to hit and avoid attacks, vitality which effects life, and energy which effects Mana. Click on the "+" button next to an attribute to increment that attribute.

Each time you level up, you may add 1 point to an available skill. The skills available to you must satisfy both a player level requirement and any skill prerequisites higher up on the tree. Click on all 3 tabs and sweep your cursor over the available skills (appearing in bright white) to review their descriptions and detailed effects before making your selection.

Waypoints
In Act I the Rogue encampment contains one Waypoint. Others can be found outside the towns scattered throughout the Acts. When you encounter other Waypoints, click on them to activate them. Once a Waypoint has been activated, you may travel instantly from it to any other Waypoints you've activated.

Shrines and Wells
There are shrines and wells outside the towns. Each has a descriptive name that appears when you move the cursor over the shrine. To activate one of these mystic places, Left-click on it to trigger the effect. Shrine effects wear off after a period of time. Only one shrine at a time can affect a player – the one most recently touched. Wells and most shrines can be used more than once – after a period of time they recharge.

Using the Automap
Press 'Tab' to toggle the Automap on or off. When the Automap is displayed, use the arrow keys to scroll it around. To re-center the Automap, just toggle it off and on again. The automap is colored coded as follows: In Act I follow the path out of the Rogue camp into the wilderness. You may want to "scour" the landscape so that you don't miss anything important. Along with rivers, paths, walls, fences, houses, cliffs, and the like, major landmarks appear – caves, shrines, wells, waypoints, and quest areas.

Quests
The Quest Log button pops up in the lower left corner of the screen when the state of a quest changes. Click on it to bring up the Quest Log and review your quests.

The Quest Log button always appears when beginning or completing a quest. Some quests are given by NPCs – others by happening upon an important part of the quest.

The creator of a game determines which quests appear in a game. When a player character creates a game, only those quests that have not been completed by that character can be active in that game.

If a character joins a game containing an active quest that has already been completed by that character, then that character cannot earn an additional reward for assisting in the quest completion. Further, the NPCs will not discuss such a quest with a character that has already completed it.

If a character has completed a quest that includes a boss monster and/or special area and then starts a new game, the boss and/or location of the quest is generally placed in the game. However, the quest is not activated and the reward is not given a second time.

For most quests, when completed by a player who is a member of a party, the other party members receive some portion of the reward. Uncooperative or malicious players can interfere with your successful completion of some of the quests. You may exit, create a new game (with a password to keep out the riff-raff), and try the quest again.

Character Saving/Loading and Corpses
Periodically, Diablo II automatically saves your character as you play. Your character is also saved when you choose "Save and Exit Game" from the 'Esc' Menu.

The state of the Automap and the random world layout is saved in Single Player games, but not when playing on Battle.net or in other Multiplayer games.

If you die and leave a game without retrieving your corpse, at the beginning of your next game with that character your corpse is placed within the town of that Act.

The character save data includes Character Attributes, Inventory, Skills, Skill Hotkeys, Control Configuration, Waypoints Activated, the character's Corpse (if there is one), the list of completed Quests, and the contents of the character's Stash.

NOTE: Only you (and those you permit) may loot your corpse.

What Happens When Your Character Dies
If you are killed by a monster, your character loses a percentage of the total gold both carried and stored in the Stash. The percentage is equal to your character level -- but not to exceed 20%. After deducting the death penalty from the gold your character is carrying, the rest falls to the ground in a pile. If the penalty uses up the gold being carried, the remainder of the penalty is deducted from the Stash.

However, in Single Player the death penalty will not take away all your gold. No gold is taken from the Stash and 500 gold per character level is exempt from the death penalty. For example, if a level 10 Single Player character with 5,000 gold dies, no gold is lost.

If you are killed by another player (PKed), your character does not drop the gold being carried, but instead drops the amount of gold that would be lost if you had been killed by a monster. This prevents a player killer (PK) from taking the gold you are carrying. Of course, in this case the gold dropped comes from your stash too.

As an additional death penalty, in Nightmare and Hell difficulty levels your character loses some experience, but will not drop down to a lower character level.

If your character currently has no corpse, one is created and your equipped items stay on your corpse. If your character already has a corpse, equipped items simply fall to the ground along with gold. Unequipped items always remain in your inventory.

Press the 'Esc' key to be reincarnated in the Act town. Your reborn character holds the unequipped portion of the recently deceased's inventory. This is a good time to consider visiting your Stash to make a withdrawal of some spare equipment.

When you find your corpse, click on it to loot it of all equipped items. Only you (and those you permit) may loot your corpse.

If you exit a game without looting your corpse, it will be placed in town in the next game you create or join.

NOTE: If your character was created "Hardcore", it is never reincarnated – you simply find yourself as a ghost in the Battle.net chat channel.

MULTIPLAYER DIABLO II

Battle.net
Battle.net is an Internet gaming service provided by Blizzard Entertainment which allows players to meet up, challenge other players, join games, and compete in a worldwide ranking system, all without paying any special connection charges.

In order to use Battle.net, your computer must have the TCP/IP protocol installed, and must provide TCP/IP support for 32-bit applications. If you connect to the Internet using Windows Dial-up Networking, and browse the web with Netscape Navigator version 2.0 or higher or Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0, then you probably already have the correct TCP/IP software installed. However, if you connect to the Internet with a proprietary dialer or browse the web with Netscape 1.x or another 16-bit web browser, then it is likely that your system is not configured to support 32-bit applications. In this case, you should contact your Internet Service Provider to obtain updated software.

"I can chat with other users, but I can't join a game."
In order to play in a multiplayer game, your system must be able to receive packets of game data (technically, UDP and TCP packets) from other players. Some service providers do not allow incoming data of this type, or do not provide users with a unique Internet address to which packets can be sent. If you are unsure whether your provider is blocking this type of connection, please contact them for more information. If you are trying to play Diablo II through a computer that is directly connected to the Internet through your employer or other organization, you should be aware that some companies block certain types of incoming data to their networks. To play multiplayer games on Battle.net, you may have to ask your network administrator to allow incoming UDP packets on port 6112 and TCP packets on port 6112 and 4000.

"Players are crashing my game while we are playing!"
It has come to our attention that certain users are taking advantage of security flaws in Windows 95 and NT to crash other users in the Battle.net games. Microsoft has released fixes for these flaws for both Win95 and NT. The fixes prevent most, but not all of these programs from being used on you. Search Microsoft's web site at http://www.microsoft.com/search/default.asp for both "Out-of-Band" and "Invalid ICMP Datagram Fragments". Also check Microsoft's web site at http://www.microsoft.com for any new security fixes.

For more information on using Battle.net, see the support index on the Diablo II Install Disc.

America Online
To connect to Battle.net through AOL, you will need to use the 32-bit Windows 95 AOL client software. If you are unsure as to whether you already have this, please contact AOL directly.

For more information on accessing Battle.net through AOL, see the support index on the Diablo II Install Disc.

Local Area Network
Diablo II supports multiplayer gaming over TCP compatible networks. If your computer is connected to a local area network, but you are not sure whether it is TCP compatible or not, ask your network administrator.

"I have TCP/IP but I can't join a game, or people can't join my game."
You need to be able to send and receive TCP packets on port 4000. If you are behind a proxy server or firewall, or your network is using Network Address Translation (NAT), contact your network administrator and have them make sure that port 4000 is open to incoming and outgoing TCP packets. If you are connecting through a proxy server or NAT, you will need additional ports.

For more detailed information on setting up and diagnosing troubles with a Local Area Network, see the support index on the Diablo II Install Disc.

Modem and Serial Connections
Diablo II supports only TCP/IP connections for multiplayer games, but neither direct modem nor serial (null-modem) connections.

Of course, you may use a modem to connect to an ISP (Internet Service Provider). You can play a Realm character by connecting to and logging on to Battle.net or you can play an Open character by selecting the OTHER MULTIPLAYER option and then selecting OPEN BATTLE.NET. Other players will be disconnected from the game when the game creator leaves.

If you select a TCP/IP game, the game server runs on one player's computer. This player must tell the other players (perhaps via an instant messaging service like ICQ) the IP address to enter when attempting to connect with the server. Other players will be disconnected from the game when the game creator leaves.

Note: Hosts of TCP/IP games should have all of Microsoft's Windows security updates installed.

CONTACT INFORMATION

General Information
http://www.blizzard.com
http://www.battle.net


Mailing Address
Blizzard Entertainment
P.O. Box 18979
Irvine, CA 92623

Technical Support
The Blizzard Entertainment technical support department will attempt to help you resolve any problems that you may experience with Diablo II.

Please note that Realm characters are stored on Blizzard's Battle.net servers and may be deleted by Blizzard Entertainment when abandoned by the Battle.net account owner who created them. Such abandonment is determined by the same rules that apply to Battle.net accounts. To prevent the deletion of one of your Realm characters, be sure to play it long enough upon creation and often enough thereafter to prevent abandonment. For details please refer to the warning message which appears when you create a new Realm character.

Web-based technical support can be found on the support section of our web site at http://www.blizzard.com/support

Prior to contacting our technical support representatives, we ask that you have the following information available. Phone: (949) 955-1382
Fax: (949) 737-SNOW
Email: support@blizzard.com
Hours: 9am-6pm Pacific Time

Our support representatives will not answer questions pertaining to game playing hints, product release dates, and other non-technical issues.

Direct Sales/Media Replacement
Blizzard Sales
PO Box 18979
Irvine, Ca. 92623

Phone: (800) 953-SNOW, or (949) 955-0283
Fax: (949) 737-SNOW
Email: sales@blizzard.com
Hours: 9am-6pm Pacific Time

If you have had the game for less than 90 days, mail the CDs to the Blizzard Sales address above, along with the CD cases and a copy of the receipt for a free replacement. If you have had the game for more than 90 days or you no longer have the receipt, mail in the CDs along with the CD cases and a $10.00 money order in US funds for replacement.

We strongly recommend you send all parcels to Blizzard Sales via registered mail so that you will be notified when delivery is made.

PERFORMANCE TIPS

Video Test and Performance
The Diablo II Installer screen provides the Video Test option. You may choose from the available video modes to improve performance on your computer.

This option allows you to select hardware 3D acceleration modes, or to run in DirectDraw (2D) software mode. To offer 3D accelerated modes your video card must have at least 8 MB of texture RAM installed on it. Choosing Glide or Direct3D acceleration generally improves performance greatly.

Music and Performance
Disabling music in Diablo II reduces the amount of work your processor has to do. This may improve performance on older or slower computers.
  1. To disable music in Diablo II, press the Esc key.
  2. Then, click on the Sound Options item in the menu that appears.
  3. Next, click on the Music Volume slider and drag it all the way to the left.
  4. Press Esc again to return to the game.
Video Options and Performance
Various graphics options may be adjusted to improve performance.
  1. To adjust the video options, press the Esc key.
  2. Next, click on the Video Options item in the menu that appears.
Lighting Quality
This option adjusts the smoothness of the lighting. There are three quality settings: LOW, MEDIUM, and HIGH. Setting this option to LOW increases performance.

Blended Shadows
This option blends the shadows on the screen. Turning this option OFF increases performance.

Perspective Mode (not available in DirectDraw)
This option dynamically scales parts of the world to simulate the visual effect of perspective view. Turning this option OFF makes the game look less 3-Dimensional and increases performance.

CD Cache Performance
You can change the cache size of your CD-ROM to increase performance and decrease CD load times. To do this:
  1. Opening the Start Menu
  2. Select Settings
  3. Choose the Control Panel folder
  4. Open the System control panel
  5. Select the Performance tab
  6. Click on the File Systems button
  7. Select the CD-ROM tab
CD-ROMs use different cache sizes and access patterns. So, you may need to experiment with these to find the optimum setting for your CD-ROM. If you have 32MB of RAM, you should set your cache size as small as possible.

Background Applications and Performance
Programs that run in the background while on the Internet, such as ICQ, web browsers, voice communication applications, Pointcast, or Netcast cut into the speed at which Diablo II plays. Turning off these Internet-specific applications can also increase your game speed.

System RAM and Performance
Another method of increasing performance in Diablo II is to add RAM to your computer if you are playing on a 32MB system. Windows 95/98 uses about 5 MB of your available RAM, and this causes Diablo II to use virtual memory. This process is slower than using RAM directly, and while the speed of your processor is a factor in the performance of the game, additional memory can greatly enhance your game speed on baseline systems.

3D Accelerators and Performance
To increase performance over DirectDraw (2D) install a 3D accelerator video card with at least 8 MB of texture RAM which supports the Glide or Direct3D API.

UPDATES, PATCHES, AND GENERAL TROUBLESHOOTING

Please see the support index on the Diablo II Install Disc.

UNINSTALLING

Uninstalling Diablo II
To uninstall Diablo II follow these steps:
  1. Click on the Start menu
  2. Choose Programs
  3. Select Diablo II
  4. Click on the Uninstall Icon
When uninstalling Diablo II, your saved games and your Open characters are not deleted. If you wish to delete them, you must delete them by hand. Your Battle.net Account along with your Diablo II Realm characters will remain on Battle.net and you may still play over Battle.net from any system that has Diablo II installed.

For users who are running both Windows 9X and Windows 2000/NT 4.0 on their systems, please note that you must uninstall Diablo II from the same OS where it was installed. For instance, if you install Diablo II under Windows 9X, you must uninstall from Windows 9X as well.