Today, on September 23, Diablo 2: Resurrected is launching. The game, released in 2000, is now available as a remastered version not only on PC but also on PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch. MeinMMO is covering the release live and reporting on the start and any potential issues.

When does it start? The launch kicks off at 5:00 PM German time. At that point, you can start playing on all platforms and revisit Sanctuary again or for the first time. You can already start the preload to ensure you can dive right in at release.

The anticipation for Diablo 2 is high, which may lead to server issues. We will keep you updated if that happens. Resurrected can also be played in offline mode, allowing you to bypass most difficulties.

Learn more about the remaster of the Blizzard hit in our hub: Diablo 2: Resurrected as a Remaster – Everything you need to know about the release

Update 11:00 PM: The servers are back online, and the issues with disappearing characters should have been resolved (via Twitter). Blizzard will continue to monitor the situation.

Update 10:12 PM: There will be another emergency maintenance. The servers are expected to remain offline until 10:45 PM (via Twitter). According to Chief Rod Fergusson, the demand for Diablo 2 was significantly greater than expected, and they are now trying to create more capacity.

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Update 8:50 PM: The World First Race is apparently interrupted due to ongoing issues, with most streamers awaiting a resolution to the problems.

Update 8:05 PM: Blizzard is still working on issues with creating new games. However, logging in should be possible again:

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Update 7:50 PM: Currently, the servers seem to be running stable. For those able to log in or those who want to prepare, we have a beginner’s guide for Diablo 2 ready on MeinMMO.

Update 7:35 PM: The first players are logging back in. Apparently, the servers are online again. However, there seems to have been a small rollback, so some progress may have been lost.

Update 7:00 PM: The servers are being taken down for an unplanned maintenance. Online games will not be possible for the next 30 minutes. In the meantime, you should be able to play offline. Blizzard advises you to log out before the downtime if possible:

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Update 6:42 PM: MrLlamaSC, the biggest Diablo 2 streamer in the world, as well as some of his colleagues are also unable to log in. The server issues apparently affect many fans worldwide.

Update 6:38 PM: Baal, the final boss of Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction, has been defeated. The first groups are now starting on the Nightmare mode of the game and the secret cow level.

Update 6:26 PM: The final boss of the base game, the Prime Evil Diablo, has been defeated. Only Baal remains in the normal mode of the World First Race. Meanwhile, the server issues seem to be subsiding somewhat. However, there are still problems, and Blizzard is simultaneously working on the problem of disappearing characters.

Update 6:18 PM: Another group has apparently defeated the server issues in the World First Race and has also taken down the third boss, Mephisto. They are currently ahead of the favorite MrLlamaSC and his team.

Update 6:10 PM: The developers are working on the server issues:

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Update 6:03 PM: The server issues persist, and there appear to be global outages or overloads. Complaints about the connection are coming in from all over the world. However, some players are taking it rather calmly:

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Update 5:53 PM: Some players are missing their created characters from their character lists. However, this does not mean that they have been deleted. This problem can occur when the connection to the server has not yet been established. Simply call the list again until the connection is established.

Update 5:45 PM: The servers are currently experiencing issues. Several players are being kicked out of their games or cannot log in anymore.

Update 5:36 PM: The second boss, Duriel, has also been defeated in the World First Race. Top players are now exploring Act 3, which has not been open for testing yet.

Update 5:30 PM: Players on PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch are partially looking for the option to link their accounts to Battle.net. This is necessary to play online or use coop. Visit http://blizzard.com/link and enter the code displayed to you on the console.

Update 5:25 PM: In the World First Race, the first players have already killed the Act 1 boss, Andariel, while others are still trying to log in or are fighting through the Act. Speedrunners are using techniques that involve splitting their group to explore faster.

Update 5:20 PM: There are reports from fans who are still unable to log in or connect to the server. Restarting the game on all platforms is said to help. For us, the trick worked on Xbox and solved the problem.

The offline mode should also work, but you cannot play with friends online in coop.

Update 5:07 PM: Some players on PC seem to have issues where the “Play” button does not illuminate. As a tip, you should restart the Battle.net client, after which everything should work.

Update 5:00 PM: The servers are online, and the first players are logging in. The World First Race begins. Have you been able to log in yet?

Update 4:30 PM: Half an hour until release, and so far there are no news about delays or server issues. Many fans are already waiting for the gates to open. How is the mood among you?

Update 3:03 PM: The expert explains which rune word you should definitely remember: Grief, which makes any weapon the best in the game. More about rune words will be coming soon here on MeinMMO.

Update 2:53 PM: The moderators explain once again what the World First Race is about. All available Uber bosses are to be defeated, with Baal being the target. For another boss, Uber Diablo, the community must first unlock it by selling enough Stones of Jordan.

Method has its own leaderboard for all participants, as there is no official leaderboard. However, participants must stream their progress.

Update 2:34 PM: MrLlamaSC, the hardcore fan who searched for the “holy grail” of Diablo 2 for 4 years, is joining. He explains that he is a bit nervous. The streamer is concerned about whether his long-practiced tactics will work or whether some of the bugs and features may have disappeared.

Update 2:30 PM: The stream for the World First Race starts with the pre-show. The moderators talk about their experience with Diablo 2 from 21 years ago.

What’s in the release? With Resurrected, you get access to Diablo 2 as well as the expansion Lord of Destruction. All 7 classes in the game are available to you, and all 5 acts, including the corresponding bosses, are presented in revamped graphics.

If you can’t decide, you can find our quiz to find out which class suits you here on MeinMMO. Have you made your decision yet? Check out our survey:

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If you still can’t decide, we have summarized the pros and cons of the remaster for you here: Diablo 2 just before release: Why should you play it? The quick check

World First Race – Who kills all the bosses first?

Even before the release, some hardcore fans have intensely prepared for Resurrected. They have played the old version of Diablo 2 extensively to be the first to defeat all bosses and the particularly tough Uber versions.

All of this takes place within the framework of the World First Race, an event initiated by the WoW guild Method together with Diablo streamer MrLlamaSC. The pre-show starts at 2:00 PM, and the race begins at 5:00 PM. You can watch on the Twitch channel of Method. We have also embedded the stream for you here:

For newcomers, Diablo 2 should already offer enough. For the main story, you should roughly expect 20 hours, depending on class and play style. Afterward, it’s about grinding and improving your gear.

But even after the release, it is possible that more will follow. Although Diablo 2 has been around for 21 years, the development team has plans to deliver even more content:

So what’s next for Diablo 2 Resurrected after the release

Diablo 2: Resurrected is the remaster of the popular action RPG from 2000. However, the remake will feature numerous changes that go beyond just a prettier look. MeinMMO reveals all known changes.

What are these changes? In Diablo 2: Resurrected, numerous innovations are being implemented. While the gameplay should remain as authentic as possible, some content is simply no longer contemporary.

The most important changes are the new visuals with which Diablo 2 will reappear and the compatibility with all modern systems. Additionally, there will be many revised and even new features.

Most of these are intended to provide gamers with the Diablo 2 feeling without relying on unnecessary complications from the past. We have categorized the changes for overview purposes. Here you can jump directly to the respective points:

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You will also find some of the planned changes that will only be introduced after release, if they do come. If you are still unsure, we have here for you a checklist to check if Diablo 2 is worth it for you.

Update from September 23: We have added new information to the article.

Changes to Gameplay

Even though Diablo 2: Resurrected plays almost exactly like the original Diablo 2, the remaster specialists from Vicarious Visions have introduced some modern conveniences. Those who have played Diablo 3 will likely already know these.

A small but important change is the size and accessibility of the personal stash. In your stash, you can store items, which you can find in the capital city of each act. This is limited to a certain number of slots.

Compared to before, you have significantly more space. Instead of the original 24 slots, you now have a total of 100 slots in the personal stash in Resurrected. Additionally, there are three more tabs shared between all characters on the account – that means 300 more slots.

This change is meant to avoid so-called “mule characters” that players previously used as additional banks.

Another change is that gold is now automatically picked up. This option can be toggled on and off depending on preference.

Changes to Graphics

The biggest point of the overhaul of Diablo 2 is the visuals. The outdated graphics from 2000 are given new 3D models in Resurrected along with improved effects for spells and lighting. The characters have also been revamped, with some changing more than others:

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Appropriately, audio effects also receive an update, so movements and skills sound a bit better than before. Even the available color palette has been expanded to give certain items a more prominent color to make them stand out.

Not only the game itself has been graphically enhanced, but also the cutscenes. Every cinematic in the game has been visually overhauled and has improved lighting, while keeping the audio track intact. The cutscenes now remind more of the bombastic scenes familiar from Blizzard:

If you prefer the complete old-school feeling, you can switch between the modern remaster visuals and the original graphics from 2000 at will via a menu option. However, it is now known that widescreen support will not be implemented in the game.

Changes to Loot

Apart from the automatic pickup of gold, nothing has changed about loot so far. However, the developers are considering whether to introduce one of the quality features from Diablo 3: personal loot.

Normally in Diablo 2, loot drops for all players in a group, and whoever grabs it first gets it. Previously, the problem was that especially in public games, bot users or unfair players would snatch everything up quickly.

With personal loot, each player receives their own loot, which only they can see. Trading is still possible, but the game generates loot randomly for each player.

If the feature comes, it will only be added post-release. The initial response is quite positive, with many players wishing for this option to be toggleable like the graphics.

Improved Accessibility

In the 21 years since the release of Diablo 2, many gamers have become accustomed to a certain quality standard of newer games, and significantly more people are playing than before.

Diablo 2 Resurrected responds to this with two changes: UI improvements and controller support. The UI will allow customization of certain HUD (“Heads-Up Display”) elements. This affects things like element visibility, item names, the minimap, or item comparisons.

For better visibility, you can display ammunition on skills, adjust the chat text size, and set the transparency of the map. There are also subtitles for the greetings of NPCs and modes for color blindness.

Diablo 2 Resurrected can also be played with a controller, instead of just mouse and keyboard like before. The controller support works on PC and actually solves a major control issue that some fans find annoying. You can find our recommendations for the best controllers:

• These are the ideal controllers for Diablo 2 Resurrected for Xbox and PC
• These are the ideal controllers for Diablo 2 Resurrected on PS4 and PS5

Other Changes

Another major point and one of the reasons for the remaster is Diablo 2’s compatibility with modern systems. Anyone wishing to play the old ARPG today often has to navigate complicated options or mods for the PC.

Resurrected will be natively available for all computers running Windows 10, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, as well as PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. All modern platforms therefore support the remaster.

Additionally, Blizzard’s platform Battle.net has improved over the years, and connections should run more stable with Diablo 2 Resurrected than before.

If you play on multiple platforms, you can even transfer your progression via cross-progression, provided you play online. However, there will be no crossplay for now, and as it sounds, it looks bleak for the future.

One of the rather poor changes, however, is the absence of lobbies on the console version of Diablo 2 Resurrected. The lobby is an important feature in Diablo 2 that allows you to find and join games started by other players.

With the lobby, it is particularly easy to find farm or level runs and play with strangers. Players on PlayStation and Xbox will have to rely on their friend lists, as the lobby function will not come to consoles in this manner.

However, the development team is already considering whether new features or even new content should come to the game. Diablo 2 is actually finished, but some new content is not entirely out of the question.

How is Resurrected being received so far? The overall sentiment of the fans regarding most changes is, by the way, largely positive. Many see the new or altered features as not significantly impacting the core gameplay of Diablo 2, but rather as good or even necessary improvements.

Some purists criticize, however, that features like personal loot have no place in Diablo 2. If these come as an optional feature, though, few should have anything to complain about.

Either way, a look into Diablo 2 Resurrected is certainly worthwhile for anyone interested in hack ‘n’ slash and action RPGs – even if they may not experience the nostalgia factor, but start anew:

Playing Diablo 2 for the first time in 21 years – Why is it so fascinating?

Today, on September 23, 2021, Diablo 2: Resurrected is being released. The remaster of the beloved ARPG classic has already generated a lot of excitement and some discussions beforehand. MeinMMO takes a final look at why you should consider checking out this 21-year-old game.

What is Diablo 2 Resurrected? With Resurrected, Diablo 2 from 2000 receives a remaster. The developer team from Vicarious Visions specializes in such projects and has now taken on Blizzard’s ARPG.

The remaster comes with modern graphics and fully reworked cinematics. However, in terms of content, it is identical to the classic from 21 years ago – or more precisely, 20 years ago. Because the Lord of Destruction expansion is also included. This means you have access to all 7 classes from back then.

When is the remaster being released? On Thursday, September 23, the servers will open at 5:00 PM German time. Resurrected can then be played on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. Also a new feature, as the ARPG was not available on consoles before.

We are accompanying the release with our live ticker for the launch of Diablo 2: Resurrected.

Checklist – Should I play Diablo?

For a quick overview, we have included a short checklist for you. We have prepared 10 statements for you, and if you answer at least 7 of them with “yes”, you can confidently grab the remaster of Diablo 2. More detailed information about Resurrected can be found further down in the text.

• I played Diablo 2 before and liked it.
• Path of Exile is exactly my game or maybe a bit too complex.
• The story of Diablo 3 interests me and I want to know what happened before.
• I enjoy games with a dark atmosphere.
• I like looting and leveling.
• Action RPGs/Hack’n’Slash are among my favorite games.
• I enjoy different classes in games that differentiate from one another.
• Challenges motivate me to improve.
• Older graphics and retro games do not deter me or I even really like them.
• Diablo 3 is too easy for me.

Old Game, New Features – What’s Inside?

Why should I check out Diablo 2? Diablo 2 is considered one of the best, if not the best Hack’n’Slash and a milestone of the genre. The remaster aims to capture the spirit of the game and modernize it so that it runs smoothly on all common platforms.

The series and especially Diablo 2 are known for their dark, oppressive atmosphere and gloomy story, as well as the relatively difficult entry with few tutorials. A look at the game is worth it if you don’t want to be constantly guided like in modern games.

A good comparison here is Path of Exile. If you enjoy the more modern ARPG – or if it feels a bit too complex – you should take a look at Diablo 2. It was considered a model for Path of Exile.

If you enjoy looting and leveling, you should definitely play Diablo 2 for the replayability alone. You can invest hundreds of hours here to get that one item that improves you. A hardcore fan even fished for the ‘holy grail’ for 4 years.

With the overhaul, Diablo 2 feels significantly more modern. Although it doesn’t quite reach the graphics of Diablo 3 or newer games, it is still visually much more appealing than the original version. This makes the entry a bit easier.

By the way: The controls are also new. You can play Resurrected on all platforms with a controller, which solves an annoying problem. This provides a new gaming experience, although it is considered controversial among purists.

Veterans can also transfer their offline saves from earlier and take a look at their beloved characters in a new light. Nostalgia can also serve as a driving force here. There will not be crossplay at first, but you can transfer online characters through cross-progression on different platforms.

Read more about the remaster in our hub:

Diablo 2: Resurrected as a remaster – Everything you need to know about the release

Also for Newbies – But not if you’re looking for something “new”

Is it worth it to play Diablo 2 if I’m not familiar with it? Definitely. Especially for newcomers, a look might even be more suitable than for veterans. Because some of the new details do not disturb your nostalgic view of the game.

Small things like the automatic pickup of gold can feel “unfamiliar” or disturbing. Resurrected has made numerous changes to Diablo 2, some of which can be turned off – such as graphics or the mentioned gold pickup.

Nevertheless, hardcore fans and purists might be disturbed by small changes. Newcomers, however, will not know any different and can dive into Resurrected without prejudice.

When should you not play it? Despite the revamped graphics, Diablo 2 shows its age. It is not a newly created game, but is still based on the foundation from the year 2000. If you are into absolutely top-notch graphics, you should think twice about wanting to play.

If you expect a completely new Diablo with Resurrected, you will also be disappointed. It is nothing more and nothing less than the remaster of a 21-year-old game. The developers have made it clear that Resurrected is not a remake. MeinMMO editor Gerd Schuhmann, as a veteran, is also not convinced by the remake:

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Diablo 2 is not a “new iteration” of the series. Therefore, do not expect absolutely new features or more content than what has been known for years. However, there are some promises for the future.

More content is coming, new content “not excluded”

This is how it will continue: In fact, the story of Diablo 2 is complete and continues with Diablo 3. However, the developers have already hinted that new content is not excluded. There is also discussion about new features.

For example, there is talk of adopting the loot feature from Diablo 3. However, whether and when that will be implemented is still unclear. What we do know for sure is that the “ladder” will follow – basically the seasons of Diablo 2. These will be added after the release.

Have you already decided whether you will play Diablo 2? Let us know in a comment! And if the answer is “yes”, all that’s left is to choose the right class. Our quiz will help you with this:

Diablo 2 Resurrected: Which class suits you? Participate in our quiz