A datadisc to Diablo II, it requires a full version of Diablo II to play. It's pretty much to same game, same style, but by bringing one new Act, 2 new characters and uncountable new items it manages to more than double the play time.
WHAT'S NEW
Characters
If you wish to update your Diablo II installing the Expansion set and play further with your Diablo II characters, you have to transform them into Expansion characters first, which only means you won't be able to play them in "bare" Diablo II, but always only with the datadisc installed, so it might be smart to save copies of the character files if maybe you would wanna uninstal the Expansion and return to your old Diablo II. In multiplayer all the characters have to be either Expansion or not, you can't mix them up.
New characters:
Assasin: A female who has mastered martial arts using advanced kicks and hits and she runs and swirls around so quick the monsters are dead before they even notice her. There are new weapons only the assasin can use - a Freddy Krueger-like blades attached to her hands that slice the demons into a neat pile of ham. She's quick, extremely dexterous and efficient (that is, if you are), however since she engages in the close combat, she has to take quite some damage and being a female she can't carry so much strong armour, which makes her weaker on the defensive side.
Druid: You could think he's a copy of a necromancer but druid is quite more than that. This guy can call the powers of nature to serve him, he can transform into a beast (a werewolf or a bear) to improve his combat prospects, he can summon a raven or plants to join his army of animals. He's good with a sword and there's a range of headgear designed particularly for him, too.
With the old 5 characters (Amazon, Sorceress, Barbarian, Paladin and Necromancer) now there are seven different to play, so everyone can find the best to suit their strategy. With the new characters new items designed particularly for each of them were introduced and nobody else can use that stuff, but you can always sell it or trade for something you might find useful.
Each character can carry not only one set of weapons their usual weapons, but two, which indirectly adds to inventory space, and using hotkeys you can switch between them quickly during combat.
Items
Sets of items: A whole new concept of making the equipment helpful is throwing in a few sets of items, those are marked in green and named after reputable old heroes. It's pretty difficult to get the whole set in single player, so this is what drags people to BattleNet or multiplayer games, where you can trade items for gold or other items. Each item of a set already is a good find as it always adds to chars or skills, resistance and defense, but when you manage to collect the complete set, a secret feature will apply.
Runes can be collected and inserted into socketed items just like gems and skulls and jewels, but the advantage is secret power of runes that you can use if you discover the rune words. Runes appear kinda rarely but you can get them as a reward for completing a quest.
Elite, Unique and Exceptional items are special superstrong things you come across quite rarely, but the more worthy they are! Unique items are the most valuable as apart from magic powers also their looks is unique and they are like nothing else in the game.
Act V - Disposing of the last brother, Baal
Here the game takes us to face the mysterious and feared most powerful of the Prime Evils, Baal who resides in the north, land of ice and snow that is sometimes very hard to pass. New environment of course means new creatures inhabiting the inhospitable land. In Harrogath, the base where you start, you will encounter not only people who are willing to support your quest, but also treachery as people can be corrupted. I like the Harrogath more than the previous four acts from the point of land design, you get to walk up the stairs, stand on the edge of a mountain, break through tactical obstacles and destroy war machines. The gameplay is more difficult in general and one or two quests are marginal to be succeed in, so that's where multiplayer beats a single hero.
Conclusion
The introduction of Expansion: Lord of Destruction was a strategical move from Blizzard as they wanted to make us busy with sth by the time they have been developing Diablo III. They didn't change the main game features and style, only added a little bit here and there to keep players interested. There are people who have never stopped playing Diablo and they would never touch Diablo II, the same goes for the datadisc. Of course I would prefer to have Diablo III by now, but if it's not out yet and LOD is what they gave, it works with me. Enjoy! NB: This is only LOD review, I have reviewed the entire Diablo II in another review as well.
More details
Addictiveness
Very hard to stop playing
Originality
Excellent - very original
Value for money
Good value
Longevity/Expected Longevity
ongoing
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stealthy Assassin or the shape shifting Druid. Each character can be played through the original four acts as well as the new act. Wickedly Enhanced Graphics: For the...
expansion improves the entire Diablo II game experience and concludes the story. The expansion has been described as both an "add-in" and an "add-on", and truly is a mus...
very helpful
very helpful
very helpful
