If there’s anything that makes Diablo 2 fun, it’s not just necessarily its gripping story. Rather, it’s the sheer fun involved in building the best character to blast away demons from the Burning Hells. And while Diablo 3 found ways to make tearing through demon mobs fast and equally fulfilling, Diablo 2 still retains its signature appeal through its infamous Nightmare Difficulty Mode.
Unlike other game modes, Nightmare Difficulty in Diablo 2 amps up the difficulty meter to 11 as players become mere mortals to even the simplest of demonic critters. And Diablo players up for a challenge will have a blast building the best characters to obliterate these pests. However, just how should players approach Nightmare Difficulty?
7 Understand The Setup
As with other CRPGs with multiple difficulty settings, Diablo 2 and Diablo 2: Resurrected also have modifications to their increased difficulty levels to accommodate continuous player enjoyment. In the context of Diablo 2: Resurrected, the game does offer special conditions within the Nightmare Difficulty that players need to remember while playing. Here is the basic premise:
- A lot of explorable areas become larger as more enemies appear on the map. This is especially the case with Act 5, where players can encounter more enemies.
- Enemies become much stronger as they boast more health, defenses, and damage.
- Death entails losing 5% of the current experience, with 75% of those lost points gained upon the retrieval of the corpse.
- More enemies have unique and high elemental resistances. Likewise, players and their allies have a 40-point penalty to all resistances.
- In speaking of allies, summons and Mercenaries deal only 35% of their damage when it comes to story bosses.
- Some effects have decreased effects. For instance, Health/Mana Drain and general debuff effects are now 50% less potent. In the case of the Sorceress, her Static Field won’t reduce enemy health lower than 33%.
6 Bypass Enemy Defenses With Level Superiority
Given the increased difficulty in Nightmare Mode, it’s much smarter to just rely on a common fantasy RPG quick hack: get on a higher level than the opponent. This principle makes more sense in the increased difficulty levels of Diablo 2, as increased monster defense also affects a player’s Attack Rating.
At its core, Attack Rating determines the chance of any attack hitting an opponent. A lot of attacks and skills have this, meaning their effects aren’t always guaranteed to hit enemies with tougher defenses. To avoid this potential caveat, players should maintain a healthy 10 or so levels worth of advantage over an opponent to at least even the odds in terms of defense. This advice becomes more effective when focusing on specific builds, like the Bowazon.
5 Distance Is Always Great
It makes perfect sense for a player to rely on ranged builds in a higher difficulty level, especially for a mob-oriented game like Diablo 2. Given how enemies have overall stronger defenses, peppering them with attacks while protected from afar still guarantees kills, albeit not as fast as in Normal. These kinds of builds would mean ensuring the player’s Mercenary is well-equipped to withstand tanking most mobs, so players can focus on providing supporting fire.
In these instances, physical-based ranged attacks like the Amazon must rely on Attack Speed buffs to maximize damage per second. Likewise, spellcasters like the Sorceress should find ways to increase their casting time to ensure faster spellcasting.
4 Keep An Eye For Teleport Charges
Players in Nightmare will likely experience running into the wrong crowd, be it an unexpectedly huge mob, a powerful elite, or even being stuck in a corner. Instead of panicking for a mobility spell or a Town Portal, a weapon with a convenient Teleport charge can help players get out of a pinch. Thankfully, as early as around Level 20, players can grab a basic Teleportation Staff for Ormus in Act 3 Normal.
When equipped on offhand, players can use the Staff to teleport out of pesky situations, like facing bosses with heavy AOE like Baal. While repairing its charges can get expensive, stocking up on Ort Runes and chipped gems can instantly repair charges. Players who face off against tougher foes would find this Staff pretty handy.
3 Plan For Unavoidable Melee
Players with a penchant for dishing out damage up close will love the raging Barbarian, the stalwart Paladin, or the devious Assassin. To maximize their potential in close quarters, players might want to pay close attention to the properties of their melee weapons to give them an edge when taking down mobs, elite mobs, and even tougher bosses. Here are some properties to check for melee gear:
- Open Wounds: When triggered on hit, this forces enemies to bleed and lose health for eight seconds. At Level 50, Open Wounds can deal 800 damage over that period. At Level 90, this can deal as much as 2,135. This is a coveted property considering that it stacks.
- Crushing Blow: When triggered on hit, this removes a percentage of the opponent’s current health. In Melee Weapons, this can remove as much as 25% of the current enemy health for mobs and as much as 12% of current enemy health for elites and bosses. Since these effects stack, there’s a possibility of proccing a full 100% in a Crushing Blow.
2 Get The Right Runewords For The Right Builds
Of all slottable items in the games, Runes definitely outrank Gems in terms of overall benefits. And while players at Normal could already get decent Runes to combine into powerful Runewords, certain Runewords just dominate the rest when it comes to outlasting enemies in Nightmare runs. Here are some recommended Runewords to ensure supremacy when fighting fiercer foes in Nightmare:
- Lore (Ort+Sol): Players should focus on getting Lore in their non-magical helms in order to acquire decent boosts. Its +1 boost to Skill Levels will benefit almost any build, and spellcasters can get a much-needed resource boost thanks to its Mana-per-kill and 10-Energy boost.
- Insight (Ral+Tir+Tal+Sol): This fabled four-Rune Runeword is a godsend among casters, primarily for its sheer benefits. When equipped to a Hireling, players can receive a significant boost to their Mana pool and overall casting, recovery from extra damage, Mana per kill, and a boost in getting Magic Items.
- Rhyme (Shael+Eth): Rhyme remains a decent Runeword for melee characters, particularly for its overall boost in defenses. The Runeword gives a whopping 40% boost to block rate alongside a 20% boost to block chance. Not to mention, it boosts Resistances at 25 and even gives immunity to being Frozen.
- Smoke (Nef+Lum): The Smoke Runeword remains an ever-reliable Runeword for most players thanks to its plentiful boost to Resistances, which is crucial considering the harsh Resistance penalties in both the Nightmare and Hell runs.
1 Spam Runs To Secure Levels & Better Gear
One of the best tips for a Nightmare difficulty run is actually preparing for it in the prior Normal difficulty. This principle also applies when transitioning from Nightmare to Hell. At its core, this involves securing decent unique items and a high-enough level prior to having a better advantage in Nightmare on the get-go.
The goal here is to secure a character in the mid-to-late 30s since players at Level 20 on a Normal run could finish the game. To do this, it’s advisable to have the character do the following runs to secure higher levels and better gear:
- Act 1 - The Secret Cow Level: Despite its meme-level quality, being able to consistently go to the Secret Cow Level can help players gather good gear quickly in Normal.
- Act 2 - Sewer, Level 1: Of all areas in Act 2, it’s Sewer, Level 1 that offers the best gear so far. Gathering shields and other equipment are more worth the while in this part of the Act, perfect for melee classes like the Barbarian.
- Act 3 - Swampy Pits: Players can farm the Swampy Pits to get M’avina’s Battle Hymn for the Amazon, which gives it a decent starting set.
- Act 4 and Act 5, All Areas: Most areas in Acts 4 and 5 provide decent loot for players, making them a recommended run-through if players want to farm and level up in preparation for Nightmare.
Diablo 2: Resurrected is currently available on PC, PlayStation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.