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Diablo II Fact of the Day |
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Elite Items are one of the
most anticipated features in the Expansion Pack. Elites are a new
type of item, a step up from Exceptional items, with higher damage or
defense than anything to be found in Diablo II. Elite items can only be
found on Hell difficulty, and in addition to their very high Str and Dex
reqs, they will all require a character be Clvl 50 or even higher to equip
them. Full info here.
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Latest News
Friday, March 23 Blizzard Job Opening -
Elly [20:42:PST]
Now that Susan Wooley-Sams has left Blizzard to become a full-time mother, as announced at the Diablo II Fansite Chat, Blizzard have posted a new job opening for Sr. Manager of Public Relations. All the details can be found on the Battle.Net site.
Market Place Online -
Elly [20:03:PST]
The Market Place is now back online after the move to its new server. All user accounts and auctions before the move are still there so everything should resume as normal. Also, you may want to update your bookmarks as the site is now on http://market.diabloii.net. Apologies once again for the down-time but it was essential we made the move to increase the speed of both the Market Place and the main Diabloii.Net site.
Blizzard Artist Update -
Gaile [17:56:PST]
Blizzard Artist Michael Dashow, who participated in one of our "About the Artists" interviews, has sent word of an update to his personal website . Find there an article about getting a job in the computer industry (from someone who ought to know). Good read. But perhaps even better, Michael has updated his downloads page to include some great new art and wallpapers, including "fanart" of his own creation, the Sorceress.
Diablo II Wins Awards -
Gaile [15:55:PST]
The "Oscars" for the computer game industry, those presented by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) have been awarded, and as shown on Firing Squad and Computer Games On-line, Diablo II did very well, indeed, winning for PC RPG Game of the Year, PC Game of the Year, and most significantly, the big prize: Game of the Year. Thanks to Nano.
Expansion Report -
Flux [12:33:PST]
Our report on the Expansion, with all the new info from Elly's trip to London is now finished and online. The report is four pages of new info, including the first word of a planned public D2X beta test, the first picture of the new double-size stash and more than doubled gold capacity, word of plans for greatly-increased server capacity (Asia 2!) and new Battle.net features like a buddy list, and that's just on page one. The Druid and Assassin each get their own long page, with almost full skill listings, including descriptions and stats galore. Page four is all the new items info, and includes the first sightings of several class-specific items, lots of new modifiers, new info about equipping Elite items, and much more. Start with Page One, and gorge yourself at will.
Thursday, March 22 800x600 Screenie -
Flux [19:27:PST]
Blizzard has followed up on the surprising announcement that D2X will be playable in 800x600 with the first screenshot showing off that resolution. The screenie is a nice shot of the Assassin in battle, and it's noticably larger, with a lot more visible space to the sides and top. There are also some interface changes with the extra width, though nothing new is added. We've even done a page where you can see an illustrated comparison of the sizes, and some more useful info. Click here to see the first 800x600 shot, and here to see a comparision.
Strategy Updates -
Flux [13:34:PST]
More new and updated strategies have been added to our Strategy Compendium, and thanks to Lanth for doing them while the rest of us are all dizzy with D2X stuff. The huge ChunLi's Bowazon Guide has been updated, with a new section all about PvP action. A new article with tons of general info about the Paladin has been posted, including terms, types, skills of use, and more. Lastly, there are several new Quick Tips of the miscellaneous type, covering equipment, shrines, and more.
Wednesday, March 21 New D2X Goodies -
Flux [17:57:PST]
As we posted on Friday, Elly went down to London on Monday to meet with Blizzard's Bill Roper and see a demo of the Diablo II Expansion, as well as get some questions answered. The NDA has now expired, and here are the images and even a gameplay movie. We'll have a lot of new info up very soon, with many updates to the Assassin and Druid character pages.
Images first. All links will open in the same new browser window:- Cinematic Shot - An absolutely incredible look at Baal from the D2X intro cinematic. The quality of this shot is better than any cinematic shot we've ever before seen.
- Baal Concept Art Sketch - An awesome black and white sketch of Baal in near-human form, looking quite similar to how he does in the cinematic. Love the huge water-buffalo style horns. Click the link on the page for the huge, full quality version of the shot.
- Death Mauler Concept Art Sketch - A pencil sketch of the Death Mauler, a spiky member of the new Act Five menagerie.
- Druid Screenie #1 - Here we see the Druid battling some Yeti in the Act Five ice caverns.
- Druid Screenie #2 - The Druid in werewolf form, working his way through some Goatmen in Act Two.
- Assassin Screenie #1 - The Assassin in Act Five, dealing out a massive Finishing Move kick, the best shot we've seen of this sort of action yet.
- Assassin Screenie #2 - Another great Charge Up/Finishing Move combo, this one dealing fire and lightning damage.
- Assassin Screenie #3 - The Assassin in Act One, just heading off to visit Griswold and Wirt.
And a little something else you might be intested in... Click this link to download the first ever good-quality gameplay movie from the Diablo II Expansion. It is 8meg in size, Bink format, and shows the Druid using a variety of skills in various parts of Act Five. Yes, there are Succubi sightings.
Market Place Update -
Rush [17:54:PST]
Due to the sheer amount of traffic the Market Place has been receiving it has been slowing down the rest of the DiabloII.Net site. What we plan to do over the next 24 hours is move the Market Place to its own dedicated server. The accounts, auctions and trades will be backed up from now and resume as normal on the new server. We apologise for any inconvenience but taking this action will improve overall site performance and the performance of the Market Place.
Garwulf's Corner -
Flux [15:35:PST]
The latest Garwulf's Corner has just been posted, and this one is rather melancholy, as Robert laments the passing and aging of a number of great fantasy and Science Fiction writers. You can see Garwulf's #11 right here.
Tuesday, March 20 Blizzard Chat -
Flux [18:30:PST]
Blizzard held a fansite chat tonight focusing on the Diablo II Expansion pack. There was a lot of new info, with probably the biggest revelation in the first question, where we learned that the Expansion will support 800x600 as a resolution option, up from the 640x480 that is the only option in Diablo II. You can see the chat transcript now, and as always we'll have a full analysis posted later this evening.
Update: Our analysis is up, with explanations and links to other pages with much more info on the new Expansion info.
New D2X Screenshot -
Flux [16:21:PST]
Blizzard has popped out another SSotTRI for us today, this one featuring the Druid (alone as always, there are zero multi-player D2X screens to date) in the ice caverns of Act Five. We have our first good look at one of the new Act Five monsters, the Frozen Horror. Check out the new shot right here.
Monday, March 19 Fansite Chat Coming -
Gaile [21:48:PST]
There will be a Diablo II Expansion Set Fansite Chat held tomorrow, in the early evening. We will be in attendance, of course, and will be asking questions from the long list of those that you submitted in recent days in preparation for our attendance at the London Press Conference on Monday.
If you have an new, pressing concerns, do feel free to post them over in the Community Forum.
Saturday, March 17 X-Pack Features -
Flux [2:58:PST]
We've got two new pages in our Expansion section today, both of them with info you probably want to include in your brain. The first is one that's been much requested, it's a compilation of all known info about which skills in Diablo II will be changed/nerfed/boosted in the Expansion. The Sorc's Fire Skills, Pal's Conviction, Barb's Concentration and Berserk are all ones Blizzard has commented on publically, but we have others (Weapon Masteries, BH + Conc) that are 99% confirmed to be changed, and speculation on others likely to be modified. Click here D2 Skill Changes.
The other new page covers a controversial topic, the subject of converting D2 characters to D2X characters, and just how that should be done. Blizzard appears to have made up their minds, on it, as you can see from quotes on the page, but is their solution the best one? We don't agree with it, and present arguments both pro and con, as well as a spot for your comments, if you have an opinion you'd like to add. Click here for Character Conversion info.
Friday, March 16 Strategy Goodies -
Flux [21:19:PST]
Several new goodies in our Strategy Section for you today. A big updated Bowazon guide, a great new article by Jarulf that details just how item drops work, and new Sorceress and Barbarian Quick Tips. Check the Strategy Compendium for links to each and more details.
'London Calling' -
Elly [11:48:PST]
As is the tradition this time of year, Bill Roper is 'doing Europe'. This Monday Diabloii.Net will be catching up with Bill during his London stop-over. We usually extend an invitation for questions from the fans and this time is no different. If you have read our Expansion Pack section but still have questions (is the Pope catholic?) then please leave them in this forum thread. We'll compile a list of the most commonly asked (likely to avoid a body swerve) questions and endeavour to prize the information from Bill.
Expansion Updates -
Flux [2:24:PST]
A number of pages have been updated in our Diablo II Expansion section tonight. The biggest additions are to the Misc Features page. We've added in over a dozen new sections there, covering safer waypoints, potential PVP limiters, a secret D2X level (not cows), and more. Other updates include the main D2X Items page and the Previews page. Check the Expansion Home for more info and linksies to everything new.
New Voting Opp -
Gaile [2:10:PST]
The wonderful boys of VoodooExtreme have presented another opportunity for us to skew a vo... state our opinion, in their new poll which asks "What was the last game that really blew you away?" (or words to that effect ;p) Diablo II is in a measly 4th Place at the moment, tied with "None Lately," a title with which we are only vaguely familiar. *ahem* We encourage you to sally forth and right this wrong! Thanks to Lord Chimera for the word.
Archived news can be found here. | |
