Diablo 2 Expansion: Lord of Destruction

The add-on is the new act, which finally concludes the epic tale of Diablo. The end of the fourth act of Diablo II saw Baal, brother of Diablo and last of the Prime Evils, reclaim his soulstone from the deceived mortal Marius. Lord of Destruction tells the story of Baal's destructive trek through the Barbarian Highlands of the north. The player must stop Baal before he corrupts the magical Worldstone and opens hell to the mortal world. An ancient barbarian tribe guards the holy mountain that houses the stone, and is the only thing that stands between Baal and Armageddon. The player must use a character who has completed the fourth act to access the fifth act (the expansion) and help the besieged barbarians.

The add-in is all the improvements to the core game. The most obvious is the graphics. Lord of Destruction lets gamers ratchet up Diablo II's graphics resolution to 800 x 600. This means both prettier graphics and the ability to see more of the battlefield at once, which effectively increases the range of spells and missile weapons. Best part: the graphics boost applies to all of the original game as well as the expansion's new act.

The graphics boost is nice, but hard-core players will most likely better appreciate the gameplay enhancements. It's hard to pick the single best element from the long list of substantial improvements: a larger character stash, more socketable items, more unique items, new classes of weapons for high-difficulty levels, and new Horadric Cube recipes. Entirely new features include the ability to craft unique magic items, runes (which function like gems but can be combined to form powerful runeword combinations), totems (which add ability, combat, or resistance bonuses, but take up space in inventory), and hireling inventory (you'll hand down your old equipment to your hireling). All these improvements are applied to both the new act and the four earlier acts in Diablo II. After playing with all these tweaks, you'll wonder how you ever managed to play with the tiny stash, blurry graphics, and weak hirelings of the original.

Even experienced Diablo II players get to appreciate the improvements to the first through fourth acts because the two new character classes (Assassin and Druid) must complete all four acts in Diablo II before you can use them in the expansion. The Assassin is a stealthy warrior and wizard slayer who uses martial arts, traps, and mental discipline to defeat hell's minions. The Druid is a feral whose spells, animal summoning, and shape-shifting abilities suit a wide range of playing styles. Both are cool enough to warrant playing through all of Diablo II once again. And the conclusion to one of the best-loved and most-played games of all time is satisfying--well worth the hours of sleepless nights and blurry-eyed mornings. --Mike Fehlauer

Amazon.com Product Description
In the Diablo II: Lord of Destruction expansion for Diablo II, you will return to follow the path of Baal, the last of the Prime Evils, into the Barbarian Highlands of the north. Traveling with hordes of demonic minions, Baal intends to corrupt the powerful Worldstone, which protects the whole of the mortal plane from the forces of hell.

You will face a new series of quests and challenges to prevent the vile minions of the underworld from destroying the world of Sanctuary.

Diablo II: Lord of Destruction requires the full version of Diablo II. Players will be treated to an all-new, full-size act set in the Barbarian Highlands. Other features include new monsters, two new character classes (Assassin and Druid), a larger stash, new Horadric Cube recipes, support for higher-resolution graphics, and thousands of new magical items.

I would have easily bought the expansion for the graphic upgrade alone - that makes Diablo 2 almost like an entirely new game, worth playing through all over again. However, they didn't stop there. There are 2 new races - the druid and the assassin - both of which I *love*. The assassin has cool attack moves that are great fun to watch. The druid can either shapeshift, or summon creatures, or control the elements. I love all three, but the elemental attacks are GREAT! This has become my new favorite character.

There are new monsters to fight, an ENTIRE new act with great graphics, tons of new weapons, even new Cube recipes to play with. And, in a move that other game companies should pay attention to, you can now have TWO sets of weapons defined (i.e. bow and sword/shield for example) and easily toggle between them. I've been dying for that in every game I've played!

It is really like an entirely new game, with the added benefit that you don't have to learn new keystrokes. I *highly* encourage any Diablo 2 lover to grab this, and if you don't have either one yet, treat yourself and get them both!


Don't Listen To Stupid People.   June 24, 2001
18 out of 18 found this review helpful

Just a bit of good advice.

Let's get a few things out of the way. First of all, Diablo II is not an RPG. If you're looking for a game like Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment or Fallout, look elsewhere. Diablo II is an excellent action game with RPG elements, and if what you're looking for is a hack-n-slash with varying levels of complexity, endless replay value and a huge internet following, this is the only game you'll need.

I've been beta testing the expansion, and to me the jump from Diablo II to D2X is similar to the jump from Diablo to Diablo II. This is a very good thing. The expansion totally refreshes the game, adding new items, new item types, new magical properties, two new character classes and an entirely new act.

This new act is about the length of Act 2, and I feel it is by far the most gripping and interesting act in the game. It picks up right after Act 4, and makes an excellent transition from Act 4 normal to Act 1 nightmare, or Act 4 nightmare to Act 1 hell. The areas are interesting, varied, beautifully drawn and populated by new and creative monsters. High quality items are dropped and experience is so high it's an ideal place to level up till you're ready for that jump to the next difficulty level.

With all the new magical properties and items, there are vast new equipment possibilities. You will now need to make decisions between certain properties including 'charges' of a class's skills usable by any class, self-replenishing throwing weapons, and armors that cast a spell when you're struck.

If you need a new cyber addiction, Diablo II and Diablo II: Lord of Destruction is the first and last game you'll need for a long time.


It ain't broke, but they fixed it anyway   June 26, 2001
16 out of 17 found this review helpful

I lost most of last summer to Diablo II. I finished the game with every character class, kicked Diablo to Hell and back several times over and had a great time.

I didn't know what they could do to improve upon the game, and when I got a chance to play in the beta test, I figured it would be a little more story (wrapping up the cliffhanger ending of Diablo II), two more classes and that's it. Well, not quite.

Listed seperately, all the other changes to the game don't amount to much. Sure, it's neat to be able to swap between two weapons on the fly -- all of my characters now use bows in addition to up-close-and-personal weapons -- and the double stash size is also appreciated. I also really enjoy the no-longer-worthless hirelings, whom you can arm, take with you through the different acts and who gain experience as time goes on. But the cumulative effect of dozens and dozens of changes and improvements is to make the game feel signficantly more polished, challenges scale up appropriately (as opposed to the too-easy Nightmare and Hell modes in Diablo II classic) and the whole game experience much richer.

Sure, there's a fifth act, wherein the heroes chase after Baal through the barbarian highlands before he can tear down the wall that seperates Hell from the mortal realm. And it's got six new quests, the best yet in fact, and features NPC barbarians who fight with or without you against Baal's minions. For the first time, you're not walking into the aftermath of battle, but into an actual warzone.

And sure, there's two new classes, the shapechanging/animal summoning/elemental spell using Druid and the martial arts-using Assassin, both of whom are distinct from the five original classes and are more challenging and rewarding to play.

But it's the sum total of all these changes and additions that make Diablo II: Lord of Destruction a must-have for anyone who enjoyed the original. The beta period is ending this week and the final version comes out this Friday. I figure I'll be losing another summer to Diablo II ...


Reigning classic of role-playing games   December 22, 2003
Jon Warshawsky (San Diego, CA USA)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful

I'm writing after having played Diablo II and Lord of Destruction on and off for a few years. I've bought several other games, including Baldur's Gate II, but Diablo II with LOD keeps pulling me back. It's probably the best combination of action and role playing (in the light sense of the term) ever created.

This expansion pack is essential. Don't buy Diablo II without it, because the technical improvements change the complexion of the entire game. The increased resolution -- 800x600 -- isn't simply cosmetic. It widens the field of ranged combat. And Act V, added in the expansion, is likely the best of the lot.

Why does Diablo II/LOD live perpetually on my hard drive?

First, while the graphics are no longer state of the art, the mood of the whole game just works. I'm not a graphic artist and can't tell you why. But this is a very immersive game. The first time I played through Act IV (Hell), I really felt like I had spent a few hours in the grim, volcanic wastes. The Flayer Dungeon in Act III still scares the cr@p out of me.

Next, DII/LOD is extremely easy to learn and takes a long time to master -- the mark of a good game. Replayability is fair to good, because each of the character classes requires different strategies. You'll never get the "right" skill mix the first time through as a sorcess, paladin, etc. It takes practice. If the fixed maps and quests don't add variety, the character development makes up for it nicely.

Finally, while the role-playing aspect is kind of light -- you can just go out and hack and slay until your heart's content -- it's enough. Baldur's Gate II bogged down in a heavy story line that made me feel like I was working. Diablo II has a straight line story, but it's secondary. Mostly you just revel in how your character improves and acquires more powerful items. If you read the forums on Blizzard.com, you'll see that DII/LOD players are extremely attached to their characters. Is this psychologically healthy? I think it's fine and speaks to the success of the game.

After three years or so, I can still recommend Diablo II with its expansion. Every time I thought I was through, I end up digging up my installation CDs and loading it for "just one more run."