If you’re playing Diablo 2 for the first time, you may be confused about many of the settings in the game.For example, how does a character get a name?How are attribute points allocated?What happens when you die?This article will answer these common questions for you one by one, and help you quickly get started with this classic game.
1. How do I name my character?
In Diablo 2, you should pay attention to the following points when naming your character:
- Names should be between 2 and 15 characters long;
- Only English letters (A-Z) can be used, both upper and lower case;
- Letters may be joined using “-” or “_”, but not at the beginning or end;
- Spaces or numbers are not allowed.
For example, “Dark_Knight” is a legal name, but “D@rk Knight123” is not.
Having a memorable and unique name will not only make you more recognizable in the game, but also avoid the problem of renaming.
2. Character Leveling, Experience and Attribute Skill Point Allocation
1. How to level up?
Your character will level up when you have gained enough experience points from fighting monsters.The operation is slightly different under different resolutions:
- In 640×480 resolution, the “New Attribute” and “New Skill” buttons appear at the bottom of the screen on the left and right sides. In 800×600 resolution, these buttons appear at the bottom of the screen on the left and right sides;
- In 800×600 resolution, these buttons appear at the ends of the toolbar.
It is recommended that you click on these buttons in a safe area to open the Attribute Panel and Skill Panel, and then assign points to them.
2. How do I add attribute points?
Each upgrade gives you 5 Attribute Points, which you can add to the following four attributes:
- Strength: affects attack power and also determines which equipment you can wear;
- Agility: affects hit rate and evasion;
- Strength: increases life value;
- Energy: increases mana.
Click the “+” button to add a point to an attribute.
3. How do I add skill points?
You can earn 1 skill point for each level, but you can only add those skills that you meet the level and pre-skill requirements.
There are three main types of skills for each profession in the game, and the currently activated skill line will be highlighted in white.It is recommended that you plan your route before adding skill points, because once you add the wrong one, you can’t change it.
3. What happens when a character dies?
1. Death Penalty
- When a character’s life value drops to 0, he/she dies;
- You will lose a portion of your money, up to 20% of your current level;
- All gold coins on the body will fall around the corpse;
- It is recommended to save most of your money in chests so that you won’t lose it all even if you die.
2. Death Penalty in Single Player Mode
- You will not lose any gold coins;
- You won’t lose any gold. You won’t lose experience points for dying;
- So single player players don’t have to worry about financial pressure.
3. Consequences of dying in multiplayer mode (Battle.net)
- If you die in Nightmare difficulty, you will lose 5% of your current upgrade experience;
- Dying on Hell difficulty will result in a 10% loss of experience;
- If you are able to retrieve the body, you can recover 75% of your experience;
- If you choose to quit the game and re-enter the town, you will never get that experience back.
Therefore, it is very important to retrieve corpses in multiplayer games, especially at higher levels.
4. How do I retrieve a corpse?
- Press ESC to return to town;
- Your corpse will remain at the place of death;
- Return to your original location and left-click on the corpse to put your equipment back on;
- A purple prompt will appear when you are near the corpse;
- Note: Only you can pick up your own corpse, no one else can;
- In Hardcore mode, death means that your character is permanently deleted and cannot be resurrected;
- In Hardcore mode, death means permanent deletion of the character and no resurrection; Each account can save up to 16 corpses.
5. Lost Items and Corpse Management
- If you die again and exit the game without picking up the corpse, the previous equipment will be lost forever;
- So it is recommended to make sure you pick up all important items before leaving the game;
- If you really can’t find the corpse, or it’s too dangerous, you can choose to exit the game and re-enter, at which point the corpse will appear near you;
- The downside is that you will not be able to recover that 75% experience.
6. Character Saving and Reading
- The game will automatically save character data periodically;
- You can also manually click ESC → “Save and Exit Game” to save your progress;
- The saved data includes:
- Character attributes
- Skill and hotkey settings
- Completed missions
- Item and chest contents
- Teleport point information
- Current corpse status
7. Four basic attributes in detail
1. Strength
- Affects attack damage;
- Determines which equipment you can wear;
- Paladins and barbarians usually require a high level of strength;
- Amazons also need some strength to use a bow or javelin;
- Mages and Necromancers generally don’t need much Strength, but it is appropriate to add some in order to wear certain powerful equipment.
2. Dexterity.
- Improves hit rate and dodging ability;
- It is needed for both melee and ranged professions;
- Amazons and Assassins especially rely on Agility;
- The higher the Dexterity, the harder it is for enemies to hit you.
3. Vitality.
- Increases vitality;
- Important for all professions;
- The chance to drink a potion to double your life after death is also affected by Vitality;
- The higher the Vitality, the higher the chance of double recovery.
4. Energy
- Increases the amount of mana;
- Mages and Druids need it the most;
- The probability of drinking a mana potion that doubles your mana recovery also depends on Energy;
- The higher the Energy, the faster the mana recovery.
8. Damage calculation for different types of weapons
1. Melee weapon damage formula:
- Minimum Damage = Weapon Minimum Damage × (Strength + 100) ÷ 100
- Maximum Damage = Weapon Maximum Damage × (Strength + 100) ÷ 100
2. Bow/Crossbow damage formula:
- Minimum Damage = Weapon Minimum Damage × (Agility + 100) ÷ 100
- Maximum Damage = Weapon Maximum Damage × (Agility + 100) ÷ 100
3. Total Damage Formula:
- Minimum Damage = (Weapon Minimum Damage + Bonus Damage) × (1 + Attribute Bonus + Enhanced Damage %) × Modifier
- Maximum Damage = Same as above
Enhanced Damage can be obtained through equipment, skills, auras, etc.
9. Defense Mechanism Description
1. Accuracy Rate (AR)
- Determines whether you can hit the enemy or not;
- The accuracy rate corresponding to the attack action icon will be displayed on the character panel;
- Melee professions are advised to maintain a 50%-75% hit rate;
- If the hit rate is too low, you can add agility or change equipment with agility bonuses.
2. Defense Rate
- Indicates your ability to dodge attacks;
- It is mainly determined by Agility;
- With all defenses off, Defense Rate = Agility ÷ 4;
- High Defense only reduces the probability of being hit, not the actual damage taken.
10. Endurance and Movement Speed
1.
- Determines how long you can run;
- The higher the endurance, the longer you can run;
- Physical strength affects the endurance limit.
2. Effects of Armor Type on Endurance
- Light Armor: barely affects endurance;
- Medium armor: consumes slightly more endurance;
- Heavy armor: consumes a lot of endurance and reduces movement speed;
- Using a shield also reduces running speed.
3. How do I increase my stamina?
- Add Stamina;
- Use equipment with stamina recovery or cap bonuses;
- Druids can increase their stamina by transforming into werewolves;
- Barbarians use the “Battle System” skill to increase their stamina;
- Paladins can also increase their stamina by using “Energy Aura”.
11. Blocking Mechanics
- The block chance determines whether or not you can completely avoid an attack;
- If you successfully block, you will not be injured;
- The block rate is only visible if you use a shield or shrink your head;
- The formula is as follows:
Total Block Chance = (Block Chance × (Agility – 15)) ÷ (Character Level × 2)
- The block rate becomes 1/3 of the normal value in the running state, capped at 25%;
- It is recommended to add more agility or use equipment that enhances blocking.
12. Title system after clearing Barr
After defeating the final boss Barr, a title will be added in front of the character’s name as follows:
| Game Difficulty | Male Character Title | Female Character Title |
| Normal difficulty | Slayer | Slayer |
| Nightmare | Champion | Champion |
| Inferno | Patriarch | Matriarch |
In the case of Hardcore:
| Game Difficulty | Male Character Title | Female Character Title |
| Normal | Destroyer | Destroyer |
| Nightmare | Conqueror | Conqueror |
| Hell difficulty | Guardian | Guardian |
These titles are automatically generated by the system and cannot be rejected or deleted.
Conclusion: Laying the Foundation for a Smooth Journey to the Land of Refuge
Diablo 2 may be an old game, but its complex system and rich gameplay make it still have a large number of loyal players.Mastering these basic settings will not only help you get started quickly, but also play an important role in later Build matching and copy challenges.
If you want to learn more about [Diablo 2] advanced techniques, equipment synthesis, character Build recommendations, etc., welcome to stay tuned to our subsequent updates!
