Diablo: The Hell 2 by Mordor & TH team --------------------------------------------------------------------- Readme for version 1.2504 STUDY THIS GUIDE THOROUGHLY IT PROVIDES CRUCIAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE MOD IF YOU SKIP READING, YOU CAN RUN INTO TROUBLE --------------------------------------------------------------------- -=About the mod=- The Hell 2 is a Diablo 1 mod (Hellfire, technically). Latest version available on the main website: www.patreon.com/thmod It's a next generation mod after TH1 (there was The Hell 1, yes, which was in development for 12 years (2006-2018)). TH2 mod offers effortless working on modern software (Windows XP / 7 / 8 / 10 / 11), has modernized gameplay, tons of original game fixes, new balance, much more content, quality of life improvements. It looks familiar but it's essentially a different game - it is not meant for people who came back to Diablo 1 out of nostalgic feelings. There is support for both singleplayer and multiplayer. 3 difficulty modes working in both game types. There are 8 game modes that will allow players to select the type of game they want whether it's easier difficulty, normal, hardcore or even ultimate challenge and test of skills. The mod is not compatible with Diablo 1, Hellfire, or any other mod for them (including The Hell 1). I also recommend NOT using ANY third-party hacks with it, they are known to cause performance and stability issues, as well as compromising character and item integrity. I do not accept bug reports from people using such hacks. --------------------------------------------------------------------- -=Installation=- The Hell 2 requires Diablo 1. Fortunately, GOG sells it these days. You can check www.gog.com and buy your copy of Diablo 1 there. Then you will be able to play TH2 mod. I recommend creating a separate folder, name it TH2 and copy "DIABDAT.MPQ" file there (you can find it in the Diablo folder). Install the mod in that new folder, unpack it and run TH2.exe. Do not forget to download and unpack music files to the game folder, without it many areas will have no music. When you upgrade, just download new version to your game folder, unpack the archive and replace all files. And you are all set. How to update? Go to main site of the mod (see Links section in this readme below). Scroll down to Downloads section. If you are a patron, hit My membership tab. Scroll down until you see 'Downloads and Info'. Click on 'Show more'. And scroll down some more until you see Downloads section. You will see currently available version number and download link there. --------------------------------------------------------------------- -=Configuration=- Configure game by altering settings in config.ini file. You can find it in your TH2 directory. All the lines have comments and should be self-explanatory. Resolution. The mod works with resolutions from 800x600 all the way up to 3840x2160 (4K). But I strongly recommend playing in 1056x594 (or 1440x810 with zoom). It’s the best way to experience full atmosphere. At least, not above 1280x720. The game is not texture based, it’s pixels. Greater resolution doesn’t render higher quality picture, it just increases field of view. You can switch fullscreen to windowed (and vice versa) mode by pressing "Alt + Enter" while in game (not meta-menu, the actual game!). Warning! Starting game in fullscreen mode can take a while, it might give you black screen for about a minute, you will just need to wait (we will fix that in future). When you start TH2 in window mode, you can not move around game window while in meta menu. It will be possible to move around game window, minimize it, maximimze - when you are in actual game (when your character is in Tristram or in dungeons). Let's review your options when it comes to window mode (set fullscreen ...). There are four: 1) on, 2) off, 3) winon, 4) winoff. So what is the difference? Windowed modes (winoff, off) and borderless window (winon) provide better support for higher framerate rendering (game looks smoother). Fullscreen (on) offers better perfomance. "Winoff" and "off" are essentially the same. The difference: winoff Alt+Enters to borderless window (and back). And "off" Alt+Enters to fullscreen. Which modes I recommend? "Winoff" or "winon". --------------------------------------------------------------------- -=On Xinput controller setup=- Q: What are Xinput controllers? A: The most popular controllers supporting Xinput are Xbox and PlayStation controllers, you can look up in google if your controller supports Xinput. Q: How do I connect a gamepad controller to TH2? A: Simply connect your controller to the PC and TH2 will detect it automatically. Q: My gamepad controller does not support Xinput / is not recognised, what can I do to make work? A: Some generic controllers that do not support Xinput can get emulated Xinput using Steam Big Picture, all you need to do it connect your generic controller to the PC, open Steam Big Picture, check if Steam Big Picture automatically recognises generic controller input, than go to the controller settings, and override controller settings with the Xbox controller one. Once you emulate your generic controller to work as Xbox controller, launch the TH2 from the level of the Steam Big Picture and enjoy. Q: How do I know if my controller is detected? A: While in gameplay, the message will appear for 20 seconds in the left top corner, informing about controller detection, along with guidance to open graphical controller mapping. Q: What button does what, where is the buttons explanation ? A: You can bring graphical controller mapping guide while in gameplay by holding SELECT + START controller buttons at the same time. Q: Do I need to point everything with cursor? A: No, auto targeting for monsters, towners, objects and items on the floor is introduced for convenient and dynamic game-play. Cursor usage is necessary only for inventory management and binding spells from quick spell book. Q: How do I use auto targetting? A: A button is for attack monster and talk with towners, X button is for objects interaction (breaking barrels, opening doors etc), and at the same time X button is for picking up items from the floor. Auto targeting gets turned off when you are using cursor. Auto targeting gets on again after the cursor is idle for 1 second. Q: How do I bind spells to spell buttons? A: Just like usual, hover the quick spell book using Right Joystick, enter it using A button, hover the spell with cursor using Right Joystick, than press one of the Dpad arrows to bind the spell. Hold Right Trigger to access secondary slot under the same Dpad button. Q: How do I position the map? A: Hold Left Trigger and press Dpad arrows at the same time to move the mini map --------------------------------------------------------------------- -=Quick Beginner's Guide=- There are some common mistakes people make when beginning their journey here. It is important to understand what this mod is, or you will end up with a wrong impression. So, basics... If you are playing singleplayer and you don't know it, this game is from 90's and you have to save game manually. Fail to do it, and your progress will be thrown back to where you saved last (up to the point where you just started). There is no modern auto-save feature in singleplayer unless you activate "Auto-saving" game changer. Firstly, if you feel like you are having a harder time than you think you should be having, you either need to farm resources and get better, or better tactics. The mod is designed to reward skilful play and long play (farming). If game seems impossibly hard, try different things. Change tactics, adjust your items. Often times, impossible battles will become merely difficult with a different approach. Don't expect to be able to steamroll through it all without restarts too. Restarts are normal. Except for the most experienced and skillful players, they're inevtiable. Repeat that to yourself until that idea domesticates itself in your head. "Restarts.Are.Normal." Secondly, if you play a class that uses sharps and blunts in melee, make sure you DON'T use sharps against undead and blunts against beasts. The difference in damage will be TRIPLE and it will likely freak you out. It's not designed to forgive such mistakes. In general, as a fighter class, pay attention to what is shown when you have your weapon under cursor - it will tell you a lot. In addition to that, there are no melee classes in TH2, just get it out of your head. There ARE enemies that will absolutely make you go ranged to take them down. Some will even run from you to where you can't follow, and ranged fight will be your only choice. Ranged weapons are designed for ranged combat (unless you are playing Archer classes), and melee weapons are designed for melee combat. Some classes are meant to use magic for ranged combat. First and foremost, Rogue class. She does not have any weapons for ranged combat, so honor some magics while you play her, or she will be defenseless against shooters. Thirdly, if you are playing a caster class, familiarize yourself with hotkey setup. Do it before you start playing seriously. No hotkey Mage subclass is dead class. Learn to tell what immunities creatures have and fight them with what they are vulnerable to (the bar of monster info shows monster vulnerabilities, not immunities). One of the most important things: if you never played original game, maybe play it first. If you are beginning to play TH2, start with Easy mode. Also, playing multiplayer alone will be extra challenging. Do it only if you are in a masochistic mood. I don't mean that as in trying to tempt you to play so, I mean it will be way too hard (unless your skills and knowledge of TH2 are well above average). About gold, and about its importance. In game modes other than iron man or soft-ironman, efficient gold management can make big difference, especially in the beginning. It’s worth mentioning that in a lot of cases, standard blue magical items found on levels 1 and 2 of the cathedral, generally aren’t worth the gold it costs to identify them. Their resale value is very low, and Cain charges 100 gold per item. It’s helpful to go to Adria and buy relics of Identify individually, since she sells them at a range of 70-90 gold each. You can save a significant amount of gold this way, until you’re able to find an item that grants you the identify skill. Spell casters are likely to find items like wands or staves with Identify charges on them being sold by Adria. If you find Identify item with extra charges it could be wise to hold on to that item. Using one charge of identify reduces the item’s durability by 1 point, and repairing that 1 point of durability is far below the 100 gold it would cost to have Cain identify it for you. If you’re not a caster class, and don’t have access to spell casting items sold by Adria, there are still certain unique items that can be found which do carry charges of identify on them. If you find one of these items it could be wise to keep it in stash to save money over the long run. Obviously, using gear that adds “+ X to gold found” and “+ X% to gold found” is useful for farming gold. --------------------------------------------------------------------- -=Core features=- The Hell 2 has some core features that you need to understand in order to maximize your experience. Basics are Diablo. But let’s talk about what makes it different and better. "Running". By default your character can run. It happens outside of combat mode. Both in town and in dungeons. You can deactivate this by setting JOG in setup to off. Or deactivate this feature globally in config. "Battle mode". When you have activated a monster, you enter battle mode. This means you can’t run until you exit battle mode. Exiting battle mode you don’t have any activated monsters on the same level with you. It works in single- and multiplayer. But in single it also brings another limitation… "Lockdown (a.k.a. “Vise”)". This prevents you from leaving level and entering town portal to get away from battle. Either get away from monsters or kill them to exit battle mode and have lockdown lifted. With bosses, once activated, they keep lockdown running until you kill that boss. Kill them or get killed scenario. The only game mode where this system does not work is EASY. "Wise Drops 2.0". This is new and improved system of looting and filters of looting from TH1. Now we have more classes and we have class-specific items. You only get what you can use. And what you are not too far from, concerning your character stats. Weapons now have 4 damage values instead of two and roll damages different for each base item. Armors have built-in DFE (damage from enemies), armor, melee and arrow damage resistance values. And variations of these. Certain items generate affixes that can be useful for the class (there are common, summoner, battle, thorn, and magic affix types). "Perks". One of the big additions is Perk system. It’s something you get on level-up. One perk point. 49 in total. Perks have requirements, they are partially different depending on the class you play. Each of them has multiple levels and descriptions. Each 10 perk points give you approximately 1 item’s worth power of affixes. By level 50 it’s almost like if you were wearing 4-5 more items on you. There is no resetting perks, and there will be no resetting. "Traits". When creating new character, you can choose up to 2 traits that will add a touch of individuality to your character. Traits don't just make your character more powerful, they have two sides: enhancement and deterioration. For instance, +CLVL% to magic damage, -CLVL to Armor Class (CLVL means Character Level). Once chosen, a trait remains with your character forever, so choose wisely. "Game Changers". It is a second layer of fine-tuning character during creation. Number GCs you can take is unlimited. Combinations work together, except for those that do not (but you will not be able to take mutually exclusive ones). "Synergies". Another layer of variativity that increases build diversity. These are available in limited amount and are based on perk pairs of certain levels (sometimes, more than two perks). This system allows players to alter the course of their character development or take it further. A lot of choices there. By the way, traits, gamechangers, perks and synergies cannot be respecced. Choose wisely! And to really open up your eyes to the levels of depth and complexity of the mod, your choices of class, traits and gamechangers define what perks and synergies you have available. Game mode (SP/MP) can make some gamechangers available or unavailable. Sometimes, even pairs of traits you chose define some additional perks and synergies you have. Choices made on each step of character creation define what you have available on next step and after starting game. Choices during character creation are as follows: game mode (single/multi) -> class -> traits -> gamechangers. This results in astronomical numbers when it comes to builds possible (I once made calculations and arrived at 10 quadrillion or quintillion variations, a ridiculous number..). --------------------------------------------------------------------- -=Hotkeys=- There is a new hotkey system in TH2. You can select which options you want in CONFIG.INI. Default one, which came as a legacy from TH1 mod, uses preset hotkeys, but you can modify these now. You can use mouse wheel to scroll through hotkeyed spells. Warning: the standard "s" key doesn't bring up speedspell menu in TH2, it's an improvement but it will take time and practice to understand that, give it some time. Basic (default) hotkey system is this. Q - Teleport W - Firewall E - Lightning Wall R - Fiery Nova T - Lightning Nova Y - Arcane Nova U - Holy Nova O - Town Portal A - Fiery Blast S - Ball Lightning D - Arcane Star F - Stone Curse G - Golem H - Holy Bolt J - Flash K - Inferno L - Lightning Z - Elemental X - Force Wave B - Bone Spirit N - Fire Ring M - Lightning Ring CTRL - Hydra / Ice Hydra Non-spell hotkeys listed below. I - inventory Enter - group chat (in MP) Alt + Enter - quick switch between window mode and fullscreen (doesn't work in meta-menu yet) C - character sheet Esc - main menu Tab – map, tab again switch to mini-map ( arrows move it on the screen, Shift +/-: modifies transparency ) P – perk window V (or pressing mousewheel/mb3)– weapon slot scroll Alt + Z: zoom in / zoom out (warning: you can assign I, V, C, P to spells and then they will only work as spell hotkeys. For ex., if you set 'I' to a spell, it will not open inventory. See below how to un-assign a hotkey) Hotkeys listed above are defaults. But you can use two of the config options to change these. Completely or partially, up to you. MoreManualHotkeys option allows you to expand hotkeys you set manually to F1 - F8, A - Z and also Left and Right CTRL keys. You assign a spell to these. It will be used like that, and also now it's carried over to new game with your character. You want to unassign the hotkey? Assign it again to that spell, it will be cleared. The visuals and sounds also help you understand what is going on. Want to preset hotkeys from config and use them as a default system of yours? Use "NewShortcuts" option in config and assign which spells you want to what hotkeys you choose from the list. If a hotkey has more than one spell assigned to it, it will take pressing that hotkey multiple times and it will "scroll" through spells assigned to it. Cut and paste the spell code under the hotkey you want. What if you have both options in and assign keys through first option? It is of higher priority and it will overrule what hotkeys used in second. And finally, "InstantHotkeys" option. It is independant (of the two above) and it will simply make spells be cast wherever you point your mouse at when you press that hotkey. Try it! I am sure you will like it. --------------------------------------------------------------------- -=Quest locations=- In single player, there are special locations (quest zones). They are unique, in a sense. You cannot save game when in a quest zone, at all. Can't cast portal there, and use stairs, until area is cleaned (no monsters left). This is lockdown, called 'Vise'. Note, ‘Vise’ is turned off in Easy mode. When lockdown is lifted, you hear the horn sound. That means you can cast portal and use stairs again. Another feature of these zones is temporary character altering. You can receive penalties for the time of your presence on such levels. These can include life/mana regeneration, DFE, AC, attack/cast speed, resistances, accuracy, inability to cast certain spells. I would advise against using glass cannon builds in quest zones. As your main goal there is to survive. Not die. --------------------------------------------------------------------- -=Game modes=- TH2 has 8 game modes. Fire arrow trap does 75% less damage in all modes below Hard. 1. Easy. It’s a variation of Normal mode, created for people who thought Normal is too challenging. It removes Vise feature (you can leave quest dungeons before clearing them, can leave while in battle through portal and stairs), makes monster AI delays less aggressive and character gets 20% less damage from monsters. 2. Normal. Classic rules from The Hell 1. Battle lockdowns in singleplayer. Inability to save/leave in quest areas. This is THE main mode of the mod. 3. Hard. For those of you who seek more challenge. Monster AI is tweaked to be utterly aggressive here, monsters have more tricks to freak out players. Also, monsters deal 20% more damage, 50% more hit points. 4. Hardcore. Just like normal, but with one difference: if you died, it’s over. Game will not allow you to load game, instead you will only get menu option ‘murder hero’. Permadnent death, in other words. 5. Ironman. This is well known to D1 community people, but not to wide audience. This is an advanced challenge mode and it has its rules. Now, not all these rules are supported by game mechanics directly, but the actual TH2 Ironman rules are these: what is not prohibited is allowed, playing around with game files to avoid death or restore character is prohibited, spending initial 200 gold when you start is allowed, can’t use stash, can’t return to town unless you have beaten Uber Diablo, after beating Uber Diablo you can start new game on NEXT difficulty and spend gold you have acquired on any town services, you can proceed to next dungeon level when you have killed all monsters on current level and activated all dungeon objects (5 and less remaining dungeon objects are allowed), you can save only every 4 dungeon levels when you have cleared last level of a location (game will give message that you now can save & exit ), it’s prohibited to farm by starting new game and going for levels you have visited before, if you kill Uber Diablo on Doom difficulty – game is over. These are limitations. And now perks: the mode gives +25% experience, bosses drop 2 identify relicts and a repair oil when killed, and this helps in progressing further. For D1 IM old timers: yes, these rules are different from D1, and that’s ok, it’s a different game and rules are different too. Tournaments are held each quarter. Visit TH2 homepage and subscribe to get notifications and updates on what’s going on. 6. Soft Iron. As some people did not like saving every 4 levels and permadeath in Ironman, we added this mode with these features. 7. Speedrun. This is a variation of Nightmare mode. You get to save ONLY after you have killed the final boss of the game. Tournaments are held each quarter. Visit TH2 homepage and subscribe to get notifications and updates on what’s going on. 8. Nightmare. Ultimate challenge. In essence, it’s roguelike gameplay. The difference from Ironman mode is that you can’t save at all unless you have killed Uber Diablo. This mode gives you +50% experience. In future we will expand this mode by adding some more roguelike features that will make this mode more dangerous. Some shrines have different effects. Amount of level-up stats is random. Monsters can roll critical hits, beware! --------------------------------------------------------------------- -=Regeneration=- In original Diablo only monsters were able to regenerate hit points. In The Hell 2 character players can do that, too. And they can regenerate both life and mana. 1 regeneration point gives you 20/64 of hitpoint per second. Which means roughly 3 regeneration points give you 1 hp per sec. Same applies to mana. Increase your magic and witness mana regenerate faster. Same for Vitality. Additional rules for regeneration: It varies for class you choose. It is significantly modified by player status: when standing still, regeneration is fastest (+100%), when attacking life regen is -75%, mana -50%, when casting life regen is -50%, mana regen -75%. Walking is default speed. Blocking/dying: nullified. Perk points of regeneration are not taken into account when modifying regeneration according to player status. That is their major advantage. And finally, quest levels modify regeneration speeds as well. Not all quests, of course. Some of them. And they do it each in a unique way. Glacier levels reduce both life and mana regeneration speed, and can very well result in negative regeneration. Andariel’s domain makes players suffer from decreased regeneration of life. And finally Sunless Island actually increases regeneration of mana. --------------------------------------------------------------------- -=Spells=- There are several types of magic damage in TH2: fire, lightning, arcane, cold, acid, physical, holy Fire spells are the most diverse and powerful (usually), holy spells deal the least damage, making undead the worst enemy types for pure casters. Again, that’s on average. Depending on your gear, things can change dramatically. Spells can be damaging, controlling or for personal usage. Spell damage, missile speed and other features depend on spell formula and are specific for each individual spell. Damage can be increased by character level, magic stat, certain affixes that increase certain spell of elemental type of damage that affects the spell. Some classes can roll critical hits with spell or elemental damage. More on that in Class section. Summoner class kits have strong cooldowns. This was done to make them focus on dealing with monsters by managing their pets rather than being a Mage subclass that can also summon minions. Now on to spell list itself: Fire bolt, Charged bolt, Holy bolt, Rancid Bolt, Ice Bolt - standard low level damager spells. Holy bolt knocks back targets on impact. Arcane star - damaging spell, damage is arcane, of magic type. For those who think that spell damage can be either fire or lightning. Well, now you know more. Inferno, Lightning - attack targets 20 times per second, for the duration of the spell. Chain lightning – available only to Elementalist if activated through a perk. Auto-targets monsters with lightning, number of lightnings depends on the number of perks for it. Healing - heals you, effectiveness depends on basic vitality. Reflect - gives a certain number of layers that nullify incoming damage from melee blows from monsters. More layers are acquired as your base VItality grows. +50 for additional layer. Fire wall, Lightning wall + Rings of fire/lite - not damaging spells, they are used for crowd control. Elemental - self-targetting physical damage offensive spell. Doesn't affect undead. Force wave - physical crowd control spell. Bone spirit - cuts a percentage of target current hitpoints. Can't damage undead. Nova spells - highly damaging spells, but trigger cooldown on cast, to avoid letting mages spam these like crazy. Fury - a spell that works differently for each class. Modifies battle stats. Gives triple shot (not to Assassins). Fire blast - main offensive fire spell. Has splash damage (100% damage). Ball lightning - high damage spell, has no splash. Freezing Ball – main offensive cold spell of Elementalist class. Acid Ball – main offensive acid spell of Warlock class. Hydra / Ice Hydra- similar to Guardian from Diablo 1, but amount of Hydras is limited by spell level. Hydramancer's Hydrae use different spells and target monsters that are vulnerable. Golem - deals physical damage that can't be resisted by monsters. Teleports near master when gets too far. Stone curse - makes enemies petrified and immune to all damage. Golems don't even try attack cursed monsters. Some are immune to Stone curse. Certain traits and perks allow you to damage stonecursed monsters. Flash - magic damage spell. Does insane damage on very high spell levels. Mana shield - damage goes to mana 100%, but increased (as a payment). Starts at 200% on spell level 1, and decreases rapidly with spell level increase. Some perks and synergies allow decreasing damage increase with Mana Shield. Note: Paladin starts with 100% damage with Mana Shield. Summon type spells – used by Summoner classes exclusively. These spells summon minions that fight on your side, pretty much like Golem, only they have all different behavior, all deal physical damage that cannot be resisted by monsters (bosses get 50% damage resistance though, as usual). Summoners also get Unsummon skill by default if you want to unsummon a specific summoned creature. Summoned creatures stay close to their master outside the battle, but in combat they don’t do that and get engaged with monsters in full. When battle is over, they switch back to their default AI and get back to their master. --------------------------------------------------------------------- -=Additional game info=- Everything you equip on your character and use in inventory/belt. Let's see what are the main differences between D1 and TH2. Item break occurs when current durability reaches 1, after that maximum durability starts depleting, when it hits 0, then the item is broken, destroyed. Item availability depends on your class, base stats, dungeon level and difficulty mode. All items are available (as drops) only by the time you get to play on Doom mode. As in D2, Shift + Leftclick transfers potions of life/mana/holy to your belt. Also to the left free slot on belt. Weapon switch hotkey is V (or press mouse wheel). There are stones instead of scrolls in the game now. Called relicts. Magic books may have character level requirements. Blunt weapons deal 0,5x damage to beasts, 1,5 to undead and 1x to demons. Sharp weapons deal 1,5x to beasts, 0,5 to undead and 1x to demons. Bows, staves, axes and unarmed style are considered neutral: deal 1x to all. Some items can add to character damage or armor class. Much of character damage with melee/ranged weapons can come from base damage. It’s a damage increase that depends on the type or combination of weapons you have equipped. Varies for each class and weapon type. More on that in Class section. When mouse is over a monster, they will show a status menu in the northern part of the screen. It shows monster hitpoints. Acidified part of monster HP is marked with beige color. Icon below HP bar in the center shows monster type: blue skull = undead, small skull = beast, big skull with horns = demon. To the sides of monster type icons monster vulnerabilities are shown. To the left: fire, lightning, arcane. To the right: stone curse, cold, acid. Next lines below show boss modifiers and monster curse fields. --------------------------------------------------------------------- -=Affixes=- If you have found an item and it’s not identified, it means that identifying it will reveal what affix(es) it has on it. Description could be “Pink ponyhide of rainbow”. The item is ponyhide. Prefix is pink, and suffix – of rainbow. Afffixes can be a flag or cumulative type. Cumulative ones stack, flag types – don’t. Going down, I’ll be marking flag affixes with (F). Let’s dive into those that confuse players more often. +% АС: deals with armor class of an item it’s found on. Increases only AC from the item, not total character AC. Fire/Lightning/Arcane/Cold/Acid/Holy melee damage: stacks, works only in melee, you can have several damage types mixed. Chance to hit with such damage is determined by character’s current dexterity. Damage from enemies (DFE): modifies damage taken from monsters, affects all types of damage, stacks. The lower the value, the better you are protected. Cannot reduce melee damage by more than 50%, after DFE, character melee resistance comes into play. Also, cannot reduce ranged damage by more than the minimum determined by dungeon level and difficulty mode. Often makes difference between life and death. Fire/Lightning/Arcane/Cold/Acid/Holy arrows: stacks, works only with bows and crossbows. As with melee, chance to hit with it is determined by current DEX. +X% damage to undead\demons/beasts: changes damage against specified monster class. Melee/arrow damage resistance: modifies arrow or melee damage from monsters. Highly effective. And as with DFE, can often make difference between life and death. 20% chance for +100% damage (F): deals double damage to monsters, works with everything (melee, arrows, spells) except summoned minions, average DPS increase is 20% random (80-160)% damage (F): affects melee, arrow and magic type of damage, doesn’t work on damage of summoned minions. Average DPS increase is 20%. However, it makes the damage so random that it might not stun monsters on occasions. In some situations, having a stable damage is better. +X% to life\mana regeneration: increases life/mana regeneration speed by specified % +30 seconds fury duration (F): Fury lasts longer 1\2% life/mana steal (F): gives life/mana leech from monsters. Works only in melee. Leech depends on the damage output. Minimum for 1% is 1 point, minimum for 2% is 2 points. 1 and 2 do not stack, 2 will overrule 1. But you can stack 1 or 2 lifeleech with increased life stealing, which adds randomly (0-1,125)% to lifestealing. That’s a popular combo with warriors. quick/fast/faster/fastest attack speed (F): increases attack speed, doesn’t increase magic cast speed. Unlike original game, all attack speeds do work. fast/faster/fastest cast speed (F): increases cast speed. fast\faster\fastest hit recovery (F): determines how faster your character recovers from stunning +% damage: influences total character damage from items, doesn’t touch base damage of a character. Doesn’t change spell damage. Only melee and arrows/bolts. Also referred to as enhanced damage or just E.D. Works with flasks and traps. unusual base damage: cumulative! That’s the very effect which is taken into consideration by the one above. +damage: adds to melee and arrow damage. It’s not increased by +% damage. Trapper’s weapons are not affected by it. knock back (F): for melee and arrows. Some spells also do knockback, but it’s determined by the actual spell code, not items. move 50% life to mana\mana to life: stacks, but I cannot describe how (sometimes that happens, yeah). fast block (F): sets blocking speed to 2 frames. Warriors and Monks already have 2 frame speed, so it’s useless to them. triple shot (F): makes that (x)bow of yours spit 2 additional arrows/bolts at the cost of -1 frame of speed. Which is very advantageous to DPS, but you really have to learn how to point them to maximize the accuracy. Available as Fury effect on Archer and Scout. Sharpshooter side arrows have -75% damage modifier. She’s a sniper. +% armor pierce: adds to ignoring your enemy’s armor class; the higher their armor class, the more useful that effect is; for ex., 37,5% armor pierce against a monster with AC of 8 will give you +3% to your accuracy, and if you attack a monster with AC of 241, it will give you +90% to accuracy. Feel the difference? -25% manacost of spells (F): reduces spell manacost by25%, as stated, but will not reduce it if the minimum spellcost has been reached (spells have current and minimum spellcost..), it’s more effective on spells that eat a lot of mana. +% dmg to X elements applies to all damage including X melee hit, X arrows and X spells. gold find percent and goldfind flat affixes. (+% goldfind, and +(X to Y) goldfind respectively). Monsterss and dungeon objects give you a certain amount of gold which depends on dungeon level you are on and on difficulty mode. Percentage GF affix is applied first, flat GF modifier - second. Example: a monster on horror dlvl - 2 gives you randomly 3-37 gold. If you equip +100% GF item, that monster will now drop (3-37)*2 gold, effectively 6 to 74 randonly. Another example: same monster and we now have flat GF of, let's say, 4 to 9, in this case the monster will drop (3+4 to 37+9) gold, effectively 7 to 46 randomly. And third example, you have both +100% GF and (4 to 9) GF affixes. Same monster now will drop (3-37)*2 plus 4 to minimum and +9 to maximum. This gives us 3 * 2 + 4 = 10 minimum and 37 * 2 + 9 = 83 maximum. Effectively 10 to 83 gold. Same way for negative values. First you modify percentage, then flats. Negatives can't make gold drops go below 1 gold piece, of course. In coop games, golddrop rating depends on your personal GF modifiers. Experience, like gold, can be modified in percent and in flat value. If a monster gives you 100 XP.... I hope by now you can do the math already, works the same way really. Also, if you managed to decrease your XP modifiers, it cannot go below 0 XP. In coop, only your personal XP modifiers matter. Magic find. Now this one is trickier. It exists only in percentage form. By default, there are certain hardcoded chances that an item that is to be dropped is magic, or unique. If it's to be uniques, an additional 50\50 check is made and if the roll is unsuccessful, the item will be rare instead. If the given base item doesn't have uniques based on it, it will be rare instead too. Dungeon objects, monsters and bosses have different chances of dropping magic or unique item. So, magicfind will modify them differently. That's why there is no flat MF affix, it used to be there but it was broken - gave regular monsters way too high chances to drop uniques. We removed it. So, MF now directly increases chance to get magic or unique item. Bosses will always score magic item, so in their case MF only increases chance to get rare or unique item. WIth regular monsters, you get more chance to get a magic item as well. By default, a boss has 10% chance to drop unique item. A regular monster has 0,01% chance to do so. That is if you have 100% MF. If you have +100% MF on you, then a boss will have 12,5% chance to drop a unique\rare item (chances for bosses are quartered). And monsters will have 0,02% to do so. More affixes soon… --------------------------------------------------------------------- -=Classes=- There are 29 classes. Each have their own mix of attributes (min and max stats), perks, traits. Items used by class can be very different from what you can see on other calsses too. Some spells are different, some classes have access to different spells. Fury effects are completely different for all classes. And so on. As mod development continues, more features and class distinctions are being integrated. 1. Warrior: master of blocking, max block chance 80%. But to reach it he needs base DEX and STR. Reaching 80% will take Tuck Tails perk or a unique item that gives more block chance. Has decent damage, mainly base damage determined by Strength. Even though he doesn’t have dual weapons or two-handers, he is not lacking damage. Even though that is what is often presumed. He is slow and steady kind of character. Uses one-handed weapon + shield and crossbows for ranged attackers (when needed). Has access to some unique base items like armor, shields. 2. Inquisitor: deals a little less physical damage than Warrior, and critical hit chance and damage are lower, and damage is neutral against all monster types (sword/hammer rule doesn’t work with him) but compensates for that with high damage from elemental weapons (acid/holy doesn’t have extra damage for him). Elemental attacks also have a chance to score a critical. 3. Guardian: big, strong two-handed weapon wielder among Warrior subclasses. Has a lot of unique items available to him including the ultra defensive jousting plate. Doesn’t use shield but can block melee hits successfully. Can go deep into damage reduction perks, which turns him into a walking tower. 4. Templar: subclass of Warrior that deals more damage to undead (+20%), and with holy elemental damage. Has access to unique line of kite shields. 5. Archer: standard archer, fast, deadly. Uses triple shot under Fury that increases her damage a lot. 6. Scout: she specializes in elemental arrows, has less physical damage and no physical crits. But elemental damage is doubled making her very effective in her own way. 7. Sharpshooter: a single arrow fighter, not a multishot type of archer. Has some big crits and crit damage. Has slower attack speed though. 8. Trapper: uses traps that work like turrets. There are fast traps (arrow) and slow traps (bolt). 9. Mage: classic spell caster class. Mage has a bigger mana pool, a unique perk Serenity that gives experience passively and can score critical hits with spells at a moderate rate. 10. Elementalist: Gains access to cold spells. And altered spells. Has less mana than Mage and can score better criticals with spells than Mage. 11. Demonologist: ..is a summoner class that specializes in demons. As all summoners, has 5 sec cooldown on all offensive spells and casts crowd control and mobility spells freely. Low mana, poor mana regeneration, weak defense items, strong minions though. Gains access to perks that improve minion stats. Can use summoner specific items that generate affixes that boost minion stats. 12. Necromancer: with him you get access to undead minions and they differ from Demonologist’s party a lot. Has items that give a better defense rating. 13. Beastmaster: the last of summoners. Has a specific mix of minions. The difference is mainly in their AI. The rest is the same: typical summoner stuff. 14. Warlock: Has acid spells. Has increased mana regeneration as a key feature. Does no critical damage with spells. 15. Monk: fast fighter that specializes in staves, hitting multiple targets with it. Does a little more damage to demons (+20%) and less damage against Beasts. 16. Kensei: as Guardian, can block in melee and uses the same type of melee weapons. But for ranged he uses fast bows. Not a strength character though – his main focus is Dexterity. 17. Shugoki: uses halberds and bows. Has increased stun threshold, a lot of hit points and very low magic. 18. Shinobi: it’s a class that plays and feels closer to warriors but it’s a Dexterity based variation. Right now it’s all that makes him different. Apart from totally unique gear. 19. Rogue: one of the only two dual wielder classes in the game. Fast, with huge dps potential, but squishy and.. you have to play that character carefully. Uses spells for ranged combat, if she can’t close the distance. Otherwise, very fast, mobile and effective class. 20. Assassin: master of critical damage and deals double damage with acid, uses unique weapons named Claws. Only uses claw+shield fighting style. Uses spells for ranged combat. 21. Iron Maiden: class that uses thorns effect as her main offensive strategy. It takes time to find and configure such items on her but once you do, she really shines. Uses fast crossbows for ranged combat. 22. Bombardier: throws flasks that explode or create damaging puddles on the ground. That’s her thing in a nutshell. Uses fire, lightning, acid or arcane damage. Has a limited defense potential, it’s better to avoid being cornered, she lives when she’s on the move, dodging enemies, while they bleed chasing her. 23. Savage: a no critical hit but very strong and consistent damage type of class. 24. Executioner: an ocean of hitpoints, lots of Strength, uses single weapon + no shield style, or axe, can use crossbows when in dire situation. Also, can use bare hands. Has a unique assortment of head- and bodywear. Biggest life regeneration. Very high stun threshold. Very low armor and damage resistance. Probably the most unique assortment of perks. Can block in melee but with a very low max chance (15%) 25. Berserker: fast axe wielder. Basically, a standard axe character that specializes in rage that gives him more resilience in battle. 26. Thraex: armor piercing type of gladiator. Can use swords against undead with no penalty. 27. Murmillo: slow attack speed, very high defense. Tankiest among gladiators. 28. Dimachaerus: another dual wielder. Uses crossbow for ranged fighting. 29. Secutor: fast recovery gladiator. Uses heavy equipment. Improves in recovery speed with leveling and under Fury. --------------------------------------------------------------------- -=How to setup Multiplayer=- Install RadminVPN. Call your friends, tell them login and pass, use the same mod version and game mode. And you are good to go. Link: https://www.radmin-vpn.com/ Full instruction: 1. Install RadminVPN, 2. create/use existing network, 3. Call your friends, 4. tell them login and pass, 5. use the same mod version, 6. use the same game mode (normal, hard, whatever..) - it is crucial, or you will not be able to see each other, 7. use UDP connection (in game) And you are good to go. _ you can use default network from below but you will open up for random people joining you as you play if you want private network for your team, create a new one remember, all of you have to be on that same network to connect if there are people scattered over different networks, there could be connectivity issues. I strongly suggest going offline in other networks when you play in a party default public radmin network name: th2main2 password: th2main2 --------------------------------------------------------------------- -=Stash=- In TH2 mod, Gillian provides stashing service. Stash is not shared between players. By default, she provides one tab in stash. It is possible to buy more stash tabs for gold. --------------------------------------------------------------------- -=Frequent questions=- Q: I cannot progress any further! I'm stuck, is there nothing I can do? A: It is normal that sometimes you come across a situation when you can not progress further without restarts. If game is getting too difficult. Start a new game session, and farm previous levels. It will make you stronger and you will be able to continue. Also, try different item builds, use different battle tactics. It all helps. You can ask around on this discord server, you will most likely get answers and solutions to your problem. Don't panic and don't give up. It is all solvable. Q: Can I trade items with other characters? A: No, loot is segregated. And it is compensated in amount. Each player gets full amount of loot. And other rewards, including potion drops and gold. Plus, loot is adjusted to the class you play and all your stats. --------------------------------------------------------------------- -=Links=- Homepage: www.patreon.com/thmod Boosty (russian analogue for Patreon): https://boosty.to/thmod Alternative site for downloads: https://www.moddb.com/mods/diablo-the-hell-2 Community: https://discord.gg/9Mk3yXw ( a place to be if you want to get in touch with other players ) Kozel’s Guide: https://kozelhq.net/th2guide/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- -=Support=- 1. Patreon monthly support with custom pledge: https://www.patreon.com/join/thmod? (being a patron has its perks, see patron descriptions) 2. PayPal donations: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/thmod 3. BTC: 1N1xG7xu9FvkTnizePuSxmramWAnRf9cbq