There’s some major quality of life improvements in Diablo II Resurrected, the definitive remaster of the original classic action role-playing game and its expansion, Lord of Destruction. Diablo II was initially released over twenty years ago, and to this day, it remains the gold standard of the genre. Purists might prefer no changes whatsoever, but it’s a remaster after all, and who’s to deny some QoL improvements? One of the most significant changes gets rid of the need for mules. Here’s are some of the Diablo II Resurrected QoL improvements, including the shared item stash and more.
The first Diablo II Resurrected Technical Alpha begins on April 8 for select streamers. Invites go out to lucky participants the following day, on April 9 at 7 AM PT.
Diablo II Resurrected Shared Item Stash
Transfer items to your different characters by using the new Diablo II Resurrected shared stash feature. Goodbye, mules, hello shared stash! Players can now conveniently transfer items between characters. Crack open your chest in camp and navigate to the shared stash tab.
In the old days of Diablo II, if you wanted to transfer items to other characters, you had to create a mule. You’d then have to make sure to sit in a private game for a few minutes, drop your item on the floor, and then quickly switch over to your mule and rejoin the game. There was always a chance something could go wrong, and you’d lose your items forever. It was part of the D2 charm, though.
Other QoL Improvements in Diablo II Resurrected
Another welcomed QoL improvement is the option to auto-pickup gold. You can turn it on or off in the settings, but honestly, who wants to click each pile of gold? My wrist still hurts just thinking about it. With the new feature, your character will pick up gold when you walk near it. You’ll also notice a refresh button on the gambling screen at Gheed. You no longer have to exit the window and re-talk to the NPC to refresh his inventory.
There’s also a new change to mercenaries, which not many people have seemed to notice. Now, you’ll see the complete list of a mercenary’s skills on the window. Opening the mercenary’s inventory also shows which skills they have.
Aside from the auto pickup and shared stash, there are many visual improvements, including wholly redone cutscenes. It’s one of the things that really makes this game a remake. And, of course, the game runs on a new graphics engine that uses new animations, models, textures, and effects that improve on the original assets. You can switch between classic and modern graphics at any time with the press of a button. The game code and game logic all remain the same. Stat breakpoints are still the same, and pathing and gear are unchanged. Inventory size is also the same since changed it would impact actual game mechanics, though Blizzard did consider it.
Diablo II Resurrected is currently available for prepurchase and is scheduled to release in 2021 on Windows PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch. Signups are open over at the official Diablo 2 website, and more public playtests will be coming throughout the year.
