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However, the flip side of this is that it’s also ridiculously easy to get lost in Diablo 2: Resurrected. The first boss is often regarded as the hardest one in the game and most players don’t see their character survive past Act 1. So consider this a list of mistakes to avoid for a successful gameplay experience.
10 Going Over The Caps
It makes sense that most players who want to feel like an impenetrable shell end up taking their block chance and magic resistance to 100%. The theory is great but the effectiveness is not. Both of these skills are capped at 75% and anything over that is wasted.
Getting to the caps is still important for most classes. Some low-level Runewords can help get players where they need to be. But any statistics over 75% in these attributes are useless, and skills and equipment that go above this should be swapped out.
9 No Damage Diversification
There is an understandable tendency for players to put all of their eggs in one basket. When they glance over the best Runewords, the tendency is to find the ones that boost a certain skill or a type of damage. Boosting a single move works well early on, but a brick wall is on the horizon for these players.
Eventually, monsters will gain resistances and immunities to a single source of damage. Then, on harder difficulties, they’ll be immune to two different types. Players that have all their strength from only one source are in for a rude awakening before too long.
8 Going Purely Offensive
Look, damage output is a great concept. Obviously, killing some of the game’s bosses requires the ability to hit hard and put up big numbers. But the idea that a player can invest everything into offense is one that sounds good but doesn’t function.
There is a good reason that many of the best endgame skills involve defense. Evasion, blocking, dodging, lifesteal, defense, vitality, and resistance are all necessary. Trying to not get hit is not possible. Enemies will teleport or cast a curse or spell that can’t be avoided.
7 Forgetting To Hire A Mercenary
At first, a mercenary companion might seem like a triviality. They don’t seem to hit hard, don’t tank well, and don’t offer the player much support. That’s because rookies don’t invest enough in their mercenary companion. They can be game-breaking.
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Keep one hired and keep them equipped. Eventually, with the right build, they offer support auras and can provide debuffs against tougher monsters. Leaving them in the base is simply leaving maximum potential back at home.
6 “Tanking”
Even tanks don’t “tank” in the traditional sense. The idea that a build can go toe-to-toe with bosses on Hell difficulty is a fanciful dream that isn’t grounded in reality. Trading blows won’t work. Tanking works, but it’s different in Diablo 2: Resurrected than it is in other games.
No resistance or blocking statistic is going to absorb the hits that these enemies dish out, but using active skills, dodging missiles, and keeping mobs from surrounding the character all work nicely. Rule of thumb: If it’s just clicking until either the character or the enemy dies, by the end of the game, even against weaker enemies, it’s going to be the character dying.
5 Spacing Out Synergy
Even rookie players know to buy items from city vendors to assist with their builds. They use equipment that makes their skills stronger. Despite these basics, the easiest way to make a maxed-out skill stronger is to grab other skill that synergizes.
This is more than just “use x move to freeze enemies in place and y move to injure them.” Those skills that work in tandem speak for themselves. But many skills, especially core features, have other skills that provide static boosts to the skill itself, over the maximum power ordinarily allowed.
4 Counting On Luck
Yes, Diablo 2: Resurrected is a looter game, meaning loot is going to be dropped with random statistics and attributes. Being as charitable as possible, easily 99% of it isn’t worth picking up. What is worth picking up can still be flawed or have a bad roll on a core attribute.
Veterans know not to leave it up to luck. They’ll spend their money gambling until they get something good or, even better, craft weapons and armor with runes that guarantees they’ll find what they’re looking for. Many of the items depend on player level, but once hitting that top level, there is no reason to not just craft all the desired pieces.
3 Buying Instead Of Gambling
Sometimes vendors will have a piece that is an upgrade, but this is an exception to the rule. For less money, players can take a chance and buy a few pieces of unidentified magic gear from the same vendor. Yes, often these items are trash, but the chance of getting a good piece is invaluable.
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Especially when seeking a complete set or a specific ring, vendors will never, ever have the ideal piece ready to be sold. But gambling can drop any unique piece in the game. It’s faster than waiting for a drop and more effective than buying second-rate equipment.
2 Treating Elites Like Big Mobs
Why is it that hardcore players end up dying against elite mobs more than bosses? Because elite mobs can be almost anything. Bosses, with their fixed abilities and buffs, are tough, but they are a predictable kind of tough.
Elite mobs need to be engaged with care. Look at their attributes and find their weaknesses. Change up strategies and skills. Use the environment to the player’s advantage. Whittle them down. Attacking them head-on like any other mob is a great way to get the character killed.
1 Having Only One Set Of Equipment
There are some bosses and elites that simply counter players too well. Even the best build can’t do every kind of damage or defend every attack at a top-tier level. The game doesn’t work that way. But equipment can help bridge the gaps.
If an enemy like Andariel does lots of poison damage, make sure to have a gear set that has 75% poison resistance. If a boss like Diablo is weak against ranged physical attacks, have a bow back in the stash. Keeping extra equipment only takes up a little space back at home, but it is the difference between winning and losing.
Diablo 2: Resurrected was released on September 23rd, 2021, and is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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