Diablo II - Lord of Destruction Expansion Pack (Mac/PC CD)

The major new features are two new characters, the assassin and druid. There are also hundreds of new items, and several new sets. The major additions in items are Jewels, runes and charms. Jewels and rune act in a similar why to gems in Diablo II, in that you insert them into socketed items to give the item magical powers. Charms give you bonus powers just by carrying them around in your backpack (but not your stash.)

The only other major change is the increase in the stash size.

Players should note that there is no interaction between Diablo II games and Diablo II: Lord of Destruction games. You can convert Diablo II characters into Diablo II: LOD characters, but once this is done it can not be undone. A must buy addition for any Diablo II player that regularly plays multiplayer, and at only 9 theres no excuse!


A must have for all Diablo players   May 4, 2004
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This Expansion is a must have for all Diablo II lovers from beginners to elites, and involves so many new features. New Monsters, more stash size (which i liked ALOT), A second weapon inventory, more magical, rare and unique items and a whole new act set in the barbarian highlands, where you must defeat Baal, Lord of destruction and save the worldstone. You can also edit your own mercenaries.This Expansion set just turns the whole world of Diablo into an even more mystic and fantastic adventure game. I recommend this game to anyone, and if you are new to Diablo II then I recommend you get the original Diablo II and the expansion pack as a pair.


A compelling, addictive game   December 19, 2003
Wibles (Oxfordshire, UK)
36 out of 44 found this review helpful

Just a bit of background, I'm a well educated professional working in senior management for an internet company.

I have to start in such a fashion to allow what I'm about to say to be tempered in the correct fashion.

I pulled this out of the hat as a present in a "Christmas lucky dip" in 2001 and it sat on my shelf unused for 6 months ready to give some unsuspecting individual an unwanted gift.

However, I thought I'd open it to see what it was, and for the next 12 months marvelled at the expansiveness of the gameplay, the richness of the variability in the game, the attention to details in the characters and their powers, the huge variety of power-up capabilities that were available and the true-to-life market economy generated by an on-line game.

I should say the graphics are showing their age just a touch now.

It is certainly not everybody's cup of tea, but it's an honest opinion. I still like going back to it and get hooked again from time-to-time, especially with a new free update recently released.

Beware, dangerously compelling and addictive.


This Game Rocks especially the ONLINE!!!   June 14, 2004
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

This game rules, I bought it last year, as a set with the original included.

I played single player and got as far as I could, then gave the online a shot. My god, it is amazing, the way you can join partys, get experiance by taking your party around the hugely explorable worlds trading items, getting new items, upgrading your mercinaries, its fantastic, or you can just sit and chat.

I reccomend this to any lover of RPG's.
Another one in the bag for Blizzard!


Prepare to be converted!   May 24, 2007
Rutwij (UK)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

This review's been a long time coming. I've been a die hard fan of Diablo 2 for a good 7 years now (that's to say the game rocks rather than I'm a sad loser with no life :)) and with good reason.

Gameplay:
Single player games (where you play offline using just one character) are fun, and you get to know the game the hard way. You use your self-found equipment and enjoy the game much more.
Online games are even more fun because of the social aspect. You meet other gamers and have heaps of fun completing quests with other players playing different characters. Believe me, having a well rounded party (with melee fighters, spell-casters and party enhancers like Paladins and Necromancers) gives gameplay a totally refreshing and entirely welcome twist!
On the downside, the game is now so old that most of the players online just want to rush through quests without enjoying the game, getting experience, etc. It's sad to see many online gamers getting rushed through all acts and all difficulty levels and then participating in mind-numbingly boring levelling runs. That kills the game for me. That was a big reason I switched to single player. Another downside to online play is the multitude of cheaters and hackers who take the fun out of the game. Blizzard has attempted to combat hacks and cheats but not very effectively. What this has resulted in is a total destruction of the online game economy where honest players find it difficult to enjoy the game properly. The new ladder system (where everybody starts from scratch when the ladder resets) helps mitigate that to some degree, but there hasn't been a ladder reset in ages. And the hacks and dupes find their way into the ladder in a few weeks anyway.

But having said that, the character development (uniquely customizing your character with various skills, attributes and weapons/armour/other items) and item finding aspects still make the game very highly playable and highly addictive.
A glut of information is available online about all aspects of gameplay, so I won't go into details here. Suffice it to say that if you like medieval role playing games, this game will keep you engaged for months at least!

Graphics:
Most gamers will find the graphics sufficient for enjoying the game. But they're hardly photo-realistic. Take a look at game screenshots on the official website to get an idea. There are a few on-screen character appearance changes based on what you're wearing, but not too much. When there're too many monsters or characters on the screen and if there are area-of-effect attacks or spells (including necromantic curses), it does tend to get a bit cluttered and difficult to make out details.

Music and sound:
The music and sound fit well with the dark gothic theme of the game. Though my game sound has been off for ages now, I never found reason to complain on this front.

Replayability:
Replayability is very high for reasons I have mentioned before. There are so many variations in gameplay possible, that you'll find it very difficult to get bored by this game.

Pearls of wisdom from a veteran to enjoy your Diablo responsibly:
First of all, if you like the sound of what you hear, you have to try the game out. But before you plunge into it, make sure you download the latest game patch from Blizzard which will enable you to enjoy the latest the game has to offer. I would recommend playing a couple of characters in single player mode first, and completing the game in normal difficulty level just to know the score. After that feel free to continue in Single Player mode, or pop to battle.net for the multiplayer experience.
Most of all, in your first few weeks, play the game in moderation and try not to exceed a couple of hours of consecutive gameplay and not more than a few hours a day :) Enjoy!