You’ve played Diablo 2 a million times, and you’re looking for something new to do. You’ll be busy with these samples!
With Lilith finally making a move to take back Sanctuary in Diablo 4, fans of the series may want to play all of the Diablo games again to get their action role-playing game fix. And while the first Diablo game had fan-favorite features like procedurally-generated environments and real-time combat, it was Diablo 2 that added the features that made the current ARPG genre possible.
In recent years, Diablo 2 has become the Diablo 2: Resurrected remake. Fans of the series may be excited to fight the three Prime Evils again, but this time with better images and gameplay. But for fans who want a more difficult Diablo 2 experience, what are some hard tasks that really put a player’s skills to the test?
No Stat Boosts
DigitalBlizzNX of GameFAQs came up with the idea of No Stat Boosts as a plan for a Challenge Run. According to their post, they want to see how far their character could get if they played Diablo 2 in the following ways: Barbarian, Players 8, and Hardcore. According to their explanation, even though it might be tempting to use an Amazon, it seems like a better idea to use a Barbarian because they are good at close combat and can get around some of the biggest tactical problems in the game, like poisons (Andariel), holy freeze (Duriel), and fast movement (Diablo). Even though DigitalBlizzNX hasn’t said anything new about their attempt, other users’ ideas may make this Challenge Run worth a try.
According to other users and OP, not having stat boosts means not having enough stats to use higher-level weapons, which means Mercenaries can hit for much more DPS. Others suggest using different weapons for this run to keep from getting tired, as well as a mace to get the 50% damage bonus against undead, especially in Act 2. In the early game, players may also want to stock up on Perfect Topazes and Ral and Tal Runes. Others say that this build could at best finish the game on Normal, but might not be able to make it through Nightmare.
No Skills
If you like playing Diablo 2 and want to add more challenge to a Challenge Run, you might want to try No Skills. At its heart, this is just a normal Diablo 2 run where no skills are used, not even when fighting bosses. Reddit user u/RadTang showed that his Barbarian was able to finish Normal and move through a bit of Nightmare, but it got harder and harder because of the limits of the build.
In a different Reddit post, u/RadTang does this on v1.00 and notes how hard it is to get Rare loot and how certain item sets are useless because they don’t have the Skills they boost. Players who want to try this Challenge Run may want to do it the same way (as a Barbarian) or try a different Class.
Gamb ling Only
Even though the world of Sanctuary in Diablo 2 is where the High Heavens and the Burning Hells fight, trade and business have become popular as more and more people come to fight the forces of the Nine Hells. In the Diablo 2 game, the busy trade scene in Sanctuary is represented by the Gamb ling feature. Unlike normal sellers, traders in Gamb ling will charge more for an item that seems normal. When a player buys these things, there is a chance that they will turn into rarer items.
Gamb ling isn’t always the best choice for players because some of these things can get very expensive. But it has to be done this way for the Gamb ling Only Challenge Run. At its heart, players can only use things they’ve bought from Gamb ling Traders. They can’t use items they’ve found as loot.
OnlyRares
Like other CRPGs, Diablo 2’s gameplay presents players to a variety of weapons, tools, and other items. On top of average Normal equipment, players can finally get Magic items that work better, Rare items that are more powerful, and Set items that can lead to very powerful groups of equipment. Usually, players get Magic items early in the game, and Rare items are a gift even in Act 1.
But if a player wants a unique Challenge Run, they might want to try OnlyRares. As the name suggests, they need to make a character that can only use Rare things, even at the start of the game. This means that players have to fight their way past other players until they get their first Rares, which could help their characters grow quickly.
Inventory Only
All things in Diablo 2 take up a certain number of boxes that need to be placed in the Inventory’s limited grid space. This is why players often need to buy belts that can hold more items, like potions, to “expand” their room. Most of the time, having the player Stash in towns makes it easy to store items for later use. But for hard-core players, a Challenge Run with Inventory Only can be quite a problem.
The core of the Inventory Only challenge is that players are only allowed to use the default Inventory as their main storage place. This makes players always think about what they need and what they should keep, especially when it comes to tools. Players might have to trade a few Potions or Charms for a chance to fit an item they can only use in a few levels. This is a choice that could affect them in the long run.
The Fendazon Run
Bugs can be a very annoying part of playing Diablo 2, especially when they affect powerful Class skills. But the Fendazon Run promotes this risk with the Fendazon build, which gives the run its name. This Challenge Run takes advantage of the Fendazon, an Amazon design that puts a lot of emphasis on the Fend Skill’s fast strikes. This also works well with the Valkyrie Skill, which summons a strong guardian with a lot of health and almost all the same stats as the Amazon.
But this is where the bug comes in. If you stop the Amazon’s Fend at any time, all other attacks will miss and it will be stuck in place for a short time. When things go wrong, this can be very dangerous or even deadly. When doing a Fendazon Run, players need to be aware of not only what Skills to get, but also how they move and where they stand. In fact, there is an argument about whether the Valkyrie Skill, which gives one of the best minions in the game, is worth triggering the Fendazon bug.
Level 99 Hardcore
Players who enjoy Diablo 2 and the Diablo 2: Resurrected remake may notice that their characters can only reach Level 99 over the course of the whole game. This is a limit in both games that affects all levels. But Diablo 2: Resurrected makes things harder by adding Normal Mode and Hardcore Mode. On Normal, which is the default setting, dying just brings players back to town, where they can pick up their things from their bodies.
In Hardcore, things get really heated because the characters are almost “mortal.” That is, when a player dies, they not only lose their present inventory but also their character. This “permanent death” mode adds a level of difficulty to Drive Mad, and only a few players have reached Level 99 Hardcore, which is a highly sought-after goal in Resurrected. If players want to have the same experience in regular D2, they can just start over when their character dies.
Sept Run
In contrast to most other CRPGs, the Diablo series may have spread the idea of repetitive gameplay through random encounters and settings that get harder and harder. In Diablo 2, players can keep playing the game in Normal Mode, upgrade to Nightmare Mode, or go into Hell Mode for battles that are ridiculously hard. For Diablo 2 veterans, playing on Hell Mode is the best way to make sure that their builds are at their best.
But players who want to take this level of difficulty up a notch might want to try a Sept Run. In this Challenge Run, players must be able to beat Baal on Hell Mode and finish the whole game of Diablo 2. Not only that, but they have to do this seven times, once with each of the Classes. Players can change the Sept Run even more to fit certain builds for each Diablo 2 Class.
Holy Grail Run
The randomness of both dungeons and drops in Diablo 2 can make hunting for things a very fun (or frustrating) part of the game. But players who want to be serious collectors can add finding things to their Diablo 2 Challenge Run as a whole.
This task is called the Holy Grail Run, and players have to find every unique item and class set in the game. The number of things needed to finish this Challenge Run means that it could take a long time. Due to the small size of a Diablo 2 stash, players who do the Holy Grail Run often only need an enemy to drop the item for them to check it off the list.
Get Personal, Reroll Rules
If you like playing Diablo 2 and want to spice up your Challenge Runs, you might want to add your own twists. Thanks to u/Shoedclass of Reddit, players can use the Diablo 2 Challenge Runs website to make random D2 tasks. After putting in the names of their groups and information about their characters, players get a Challenge Run and a Session Key that they can use to pause the game between Sessions.
This website is a little bit like a “random challenge generator,” but it is different in that it divides the Challenge Run into 15 Phases. When an Act is finished, the team gets 10 Tokens that they can use to reroll rules. Unlike most Challenge Runs, this extra freedom in the rules can make the session more fun for teams of players.
Right now, you can play Diablo 2: Resurrected on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch.
