Diablo 2 is a difficult game and Diablo 2: Resurrected didn't change that one bit. While it did introduce a couple of quality of life improvements, the game remains as hardcore as it was two decades ago. It's still a casino run by the devil and players pay with their time trying to gamble for the rarest of runes and Unique items.
Thankfully, there are plenty of veterans around in the Diablo 2 community and some of them are kind. They have shared the knowledge they've learned over the years toiling under the infernal heat of Chaos Santuary or some other endgame farming areas. In fact, some of these techniques are quite priceless and can save players from frustration or the time they spend struggling. Stay awhile and listen to these tips.
10 Picking Enemies & Their Modifiers
Even the top builds in Diablo 2 frequently run into problems. Frozen Orb/Blizzard Sorceresses get stomped by Cold Immunes, Lightning Javazons can't handle Lightning Immunes, etc. Instead of spending too much getting the proper Runeword to mitigate these shortcomings, players can instead pick their enemies or their enemies' modifiers.
They can do this by leaving the current map via Save & Exit. This will bring them to the main menu. They can then enter the game again in the same map (e.g. Worldstone Keep) and the enemies will be different or have different stat modifiers. This way, players can minimize the dangers of grinding in Hell.
9 Shop Reset
Similar to manipulating the enemy lineup by exploiting the game's randomization, players can also fish for the items they want in merchants. For example, they're looking for some Staves with the Teleport skill or Wands with Lower Resist. They can check shops like Drognan and if the item isn't there, they can leave the map via Waypoint, go back, and check on the shop again.
His shop would have refreshed stock by then, same with other merchants who sell weapons and armor. Players can do this an unlimited number of times until they see the item they want or need, be it skill and attack speed gloves for the Amazon or Wands for the Necromancer.
8 Increasing The Player Count Without Players
This tip is only for players who already deal comfortable amounts of damage to in-game mobs— enough to kill fodder enemies in one hit, etc. They can bring up the chatbox and type in the command "/playersX" or "/players X" without the quotation marks; also 'X' is any number from 1 to 8.
This command is only available for Offline characters and will force the game to think that there are more players than one up to a maximum of eight. More ghost players means enemies drop more loot and thus grants a better chance for solo players to farm runes or other valuable items. Do keep in mind that the enemy life pool will also increase the higher the perceived player number. Hence, it can also make the game harder.
7 "Proper" Stat Allocation
Diablo 2 is full of "noob traps" where some actions can severely set back the progress of newbie players. The worst among these is bad stat allocation. Because for over 20 years, the consensus is to put only enough points in Strength to wear the right equipment. Put only points in Dexterity for either max Block Chance or equipment requirements, and then everything else goes to Vitality.
Players should generally ignore Energy. Mana issues are easily resolved through the Insight Runeword on an Act 2 Mercenary's Polearm or through items that give back mana. Any player that follows this will save themselves the trouble of using up their free quest stat reset for a botched character.
6 Mules
While Diablo 2: Resurrected is a bit more generous to players with the Stash size and Shared Stash tabs, they're still not enough. Often, different tiers of Gems or Runes will take up space especially in Hell, along with valuable Unique items.
Thus, players can avoid the headache of reluctant selling by creating mule characters. These characters exist only to take up the items that are bloating up the Stash— usually items that take up six or eight slots. The downside is that it can get confusing trying to remember who got which but that's not a bad tradeoff.
5 Walking
One might wonder what exactly is the purpose of the walk function when running is more convenient and results in faster map runs. That's because Diablo 2 came with a risk/reward system for faster movement. Running will cut down a character's block chance by one-third and will nullify their Defense.
In Hell difficulty, this is a lethal drawback/debuff. Walking won't apply that hidden debuff but the characters move slower. That's why some players prefer the Run/Walk speed modifiers on their gear. Meanwhile, players can safely ignore this conundrum between speed and survivability if they have Teleport or the Enigma Runeword. That's why it's the most universally sought-after Runeword.
4 Forcing A Character Out Of A Stun-lock
Speaking of survivability, a character that gets hit for 1/12th of their life will trigger the hit recovery animation. This can practically cause a stun-lock if enemies keep hitting hard. There is, however, a way to circumvent that without having to stack up Faster Hit Recovery modifiers using gear.
That would be swapping weapon sets. There's a key or button dedicated for that regardless of the control scheme. Pressing the weapon swap while the character is stunned or appears to be recovering from a hit and can't do anything will shake them out of that deadly predicament. Just remember to swap back to the optimal weapon set.
3 Stacking Potion Duration
Most players in Diablo 2 will only press use a potion as needed or when panicking. Turns out there's a more effective way to use them since potion duration actually stacks up. Stamina Potions, for example, have a measly duration of 30 seconds. Players can chug down several of them in order to get a shrine's worth of effect.
Such practice is highly useful in early-game when characters behave like asthmatic adventurers. The same goes for life and mana potions. Players can use them in advance especially in boss fights to apply some kind of safety cushion.
2 Gem Shrine Upgrade
While on the topic of shrines, Gem Shrines are some of the most rewarding finds in a random map for any player who knows how to exploit them. Any other time, they're not particularly exciting because they usually give Gems of random tier or color.
However, Gem Shrines will give out a Gem that's one tier higher than the one a player has in their inventory (if they only have one gem). So if the player has a Flawless Amethyst in their inventory, for example, the Gem Shrine will give a Perfect Amethyst.
1 Shift Attacking
A lot of newbie players on the PC probably don't know this, but holding the Shift key while attacking makes their character attack in place without moving, regardless of their target or lack thereof. Most Diablo 2 newbies usually click on the individual enemies in order to attack them.
This is a significant maneuver especially for Javelin or Bow users and even for melee characters with single-target attacks. Because having to aim the cursor and missing can accidentally make the character walk or run toward the target. At times, this can even cause sudden deaths. Shift attacking ensures that the character will stay in place or in safety. Hopefully, no one here lost a Hardcore character while moving to their targets before finding out this function exists.