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Jarulf’s Guide to Diablo and Hellfire

This guide is based on version 1.63 of Jarulf’s Guide, written by Pedro Faria / Jarulf in the 1990s. It has been resurrected here to be used as a modern reference for the freeablo project, and to update any omissions or errors. If you notice any errors or omissions, please feel free to submit your edits on gitlab.

The original Introduction and changelog chapters are still included for historical reference, but will be left unmodified.

1 Introduction

This guide is a compilation of all the data I have collected about Diablo and Hellfire during the many years of playing those games. It has virtually no tactics or strategy but instead contains a wealth of numerical data and formulas for many aspects of the game. As far as possible all data and information has been either collected by me or otherwise verified by me. Of course, some information is very hard to verify or check.

Some things have been changed in Hellfire over Diablo and I have tried to note that. Apart from that I have tried to merge the new Hellfire data into old Diablo data, either by having separate tables or by appending the Hellfire data at the end of each table. In the latter case they are separated by a thicker line. I don’t think there will be any problem distinguishing the Hellfire data from the Diablo data. If no specific data or information is given for Hellfire, it can be assumed to be like in Diablo.

Feel free to use this guide personally in any way you want. If you want to give it away to anyone or make it available for others in any way, feel free to do so as long as you don’t charge anything for it or use it commercially in any way. And, please don’t change, remove or add anything in it.

Since the formatting of a Word document varies with different printers, it may take some personal formatting to fix things such as the positions of page breaks and line breaks in the tables. There is nothing I can do about it, but I have tried to make it as self-formatting as possible. Feel free to change any formatting you decide is needed for your own personal use. You may, for example, want to increase the size of the text for easier reading; the default setting is quite small to keep the size of the document down. I have used templates and other formatting tools to a large extent in the guide, so it should be easy for anyone to do the necessary changes. If this happens to be a copy in pdf or html format, the above problems will, of course, not exist.

Also note that due to the size of the document and the numerous tables in it, it may, especially on slower computers, take quite a while for Word to open the document. So please have patience when you open it!

1.1 Patches for Diablo and Hellfire

The latest patches are 1.09 for Diablo and 1.01 for Hellfire. The Playstation version of Diablo should be almost identical to the 1.04 version except that you can’t play on Battle.net. Unless otherwise stated, all information is true for those versions only. If you want a list of fixes for those patches, look in the file update.txt in your Diablo folder and patch.txt in your Hellfire folder. As far as I know all information in this guide should be equally true for the PC, Macintosh, and Playstation versions. If not, I would very much like to hear about it. Hellfire only exists for the PC.

Hellfire was mainly based on the 1.04 version of Diablo although it has had its own fixes, changes, and tweaks made to it. Unfortunately it only got patched once for various reasons. Thus, some bugs fixed in later Diablo patches never made it into the Hellfire patch. There still exists quite a lot of mostly minor bugs in Diablo and Hellfire. Most of them do not affect the game play to much though and are probably very hard to spot unless you have played for quite some time or are told about them.

This guide is written for the latest versions (as given above) only. Thus if you play an older version, information in this guide may not be correct. In some cases I have referred to how it used to be in earlier versions when it may be of importance. In some cases I also refer to existing bugs if it may have an effect on the information presented in this Guide, but normally bugs are not covered. This Guide does in no way cover the demo or spawned version (actually the same as the demo) of the game. Although the Guide covers Battle.net chat, channels and other similar aspects, it will usually not be updated to cover changes done specifically to Battle.net either due to other games or due to general enhancements or changes that are not specific for the game of Diablo. It would not be possible to keep this Guide updated due to such changes by other games. As such, the chapter about Battle.net (chapter 9), will in many cases be outdated.

1.2 Hidden quests and characters in Hellfire

There are some hidden Easter Eggs in Hellfire. To activate them, you must create a text file named command.txt in your Hellfire folder. In the text file you put the following line:

cowquest; theoquest; bardtest; barbariantest; nestart;

Note that the Barbarian is only available if you have Hellfire 1.01 or later. In version 1.00 of Hellfire, you could also add multitest for the option to play multi player games over modem, direct cable, or IPX. That option is disabled in version 1.01. To play multi player in version 1.01 of Hellfire, obtaining a hacked hellfrui.dll is the only solution I am aware of. Use it at your own risk and note that multi player is not supported by Sierra. The nestart command simply sets a specific palette when playing in the Hive. Otherwise, the palette is chosen randomly as normal.

1.3 General remarks

There are a few general things about the guide that can be good to know when you read it. Below are summarized such general remarks that are valid for the whole guide but never explicitly mentioned anywhere else.

1.4 Abbreviations

Throughout this guide some common abbreviations are used. They are summarized below.

clvl character level Str character strength
dlvl dungeon level Mag character magic
ilvl item creation level, used for creating items Dex character dexterity
mlvl monster level Vit character vitality
qlvl quality level of base item, prefix, suffix and unique item Intf Intelligence factor
slvl spell level
Rnd[x] random integer in the range 0 to x-1 [ ] round down

1.5 Acknowledgment

There are a few persons without whose help this guide would never have been what it is and I would like to take the opportunity to thank them here. Most grateful I am to Peter J. Hradilek (Da O’Toth) who has helped me with filling in some missing gaps and has also been a great help with lots of overall suggestions and ideas about this guide. I would also like to thank Bolty, who has provided some great proofreading help with some earlier versions; Warren Smith Jr. and Tolitz Rosel (The Azian Wolf) provided extensive help with the initial version by reading through and finding all those small errors that always slip through, and having good overall suggestions. Crystalion [Snakegod] has helped me by sorting out errors and has been a good help in many areas. Other contributors are Bostic, Ironbeard, Jens Baumann (Varaya), Sourceror, Nils Petersson (concre+e), Gyrefalcon, Disen Abella (LaRouge) and Martin Reich (Khan).

I would also like to thank Robert Seger, Tom Sosnowski, Karsten Hess, Alex Owens, Paul Watts, t’kron, Gabriel Oak, Belgarath, Dalai Lama, Christian (Cormac), Hibiki Sakuru, moe SAINT EverGreen, Claudio Giannini (Cathrin[BWO]), Booga, Bill Quirk, Moriah, Walter Puller, Zakarun, Charlie, Jerome Waters, Marcus Malden, Alvin J. Boning Jr., Mithrandir(COD), Aaron Burnell, Wolfspirit, Stu, PKRankin, Henk Morren, Tanja[BWO], Olivier Flipo, Dr. Zed, Tommi Helminen, Don Bush, Rand’al, MMAgCh, Coleby Pavlik, Gregarious_Zinn, HowGozit, Heiko Klein, Tom O’Shea, M., Jan Willem Helderman, Vlad Rostovsky, Meshuggah, Chinh Tran, Keith Costorf, Renè Naustvik Åsen, Rhydderch Hael, Msalcoryp, Zamal, SoulEdge, CebeWee, Layil, Jason Redmond, Maurice van Mil, Jim Thompson (Ji'Dath), Waikano, Matt Brown (Eli), Queto Yurlunyur, Regna, FoxBat, Virgil Tibbs, LemmingofGlory, Duong Nguyen (KiLLorD) and a few unmentioned persons (you know who you are, thanks). The final ”thank you” goes to Desslock and his guide. It was that guide that inspired me to do my own. Without it, I would probably never have done this one. Ah, and big thanks to Blizzard and Synergistic at Sierra for making two such great games.

Remember that without the help of others, this guide would never be what it is today. I would thus like to take the opportunity to say thanks to all of you that have written to me just to say that you liked the guide, or generally encouraged me. Such mail is what really makes it worth all the effort, time and hard work. Also many thanks to all people at Blizzard’s Diablo Strategy Forum, Sierra’s RPG Message Board and the alt.games.diablo news group. I could not have done it without you!

1.6 New in this version

As there are always more things to add and errors to correct, I must at some time decide when to release an update. I feel I have added enough new information to justify a new version. I will, however, continue to add, correct and update it, so please feel free to send me mails about it.

Things that have been added or changed substantially in 1.60/1.61/1.62/1.63 over previous version:

Things that have been added or changed in 1.61:

This list contain all changes between 1.60 and 1.61. Some changes, this page for example, may change the page breaks of the Guide and thus push/pull pages forward or backwards but mostly one should be able to just print the selected pages where changes were made.

Things that have been added or changed in 1.62:

This list contain all changes between 1.61 and 1.62. Some changes, this page for example, may change the page breaks of the Guide and thus push/pull pages forward or backwards but mostly one should be able to just print the selected pages where changes were made.

2 Characters

The most important character in the game is of course you. So this guide will start by giving information about the characters you can choose to play. The available characters are listed below.

Warrior: Available in Diablo and Hellfire.

Rogue: Available in Diablo and Hellfire.

Sorcerer: Available in Diablo and Hellfire.

Monk: Available in Hellfire.

Bard: Hidden test character available in Hellfire.

Barbarian: Hidden test character available in Hellfire, added in the 1.01 patch.

For information about how to activate the hidden characters, see chapter 1.2. Note that the Bard uses the same graphics as the Rogue and the Barbarian uses the same graphics as the Warrior.

2.1 Character stats

Each character in Diablo has a set of stats (or abilities) that greatly affect how well he or she performs. This chapter will explain how these stats affect your character, how they are calculated (which is not always obvious as the game often does not show the true values of the stats), and how they can be changed. For information about how items can modify the stats, see chapter 3. The stats have been grouped into basic stats (Strength, Magic, Dexterity, Vitality, Life and Mana) and other stats (Armor Class, To Hit, Damage and Resistance). The final stat, character level, is handled in chapter 2.6. One should be aware of the fact that the clvl of a character is in fact the most important stat of them all as it enters into the calculations of many of the other stats as can be seen in this chapter.

2.1.1 Starting stats

Each character class has its own starting values for the basic stats. They are listed below. Also listed are which stats are increased and by how much when you gain a level. Apart from those, you also gain 5 ”points” to distribute among your four main stats until they have reached their maximum value. Shrines and some monsters have the ability to alter your stats, too. See appropriate chapters for more information.

Class Strength Magic Dexterity Vitality Life Mana Effect of Level1
Warrior 30 10 20 25 70 10 +2 life, +1 mana
Rogue 20 15 30 20 45 22 +2 life, +2 mana
Sorcerer 15 35 15 20 30 70 +1 life, +2 mana
Monk 25 15 25 20 45 22 +2 life, +2 mana
Bard 20 20 25 20 45 35 +2 life, +2 mana
Barbarian 40 0 20 25 70 0 +2 life, +0 mana2

1 You don’t get any life or mana when gaining level 50.

2 The Barbarian also gets 1% resistance per level.

2.1.2 Maximum stats

When your stats turn golden they have reached their maximum value and can only be increased by wearing items that increases them further (life and mana never turn golden). The table below lists the maximum stats for each character class assuming a naked character. Note that you don’t get any life or mana when you gain level 50.

Class Max Strength Max Magic Max Dexterity Max Vitality Max Life Max Mana
Warrior 250 50 60 100 316 98
Rogue 55 70 250 80 201 173
Sorcerer 45 250 85 80 138 596
Monk 150 80 150 80 201 183
Bard 120 120 120 100 221 281
Barbarian 255 0 55 150 416 0

The table below also shows the maximum stats, but this time when equipped with items that give the maximum stat increase. Note that it is not possible to reach those maximum values all at once. When two numbers are given the first one belongs to Diablo and the second one to Hellfire. The reason for this is the use of four new unique rings only available in Hellfire. It does not take into account the possibility of the use of two new unique jewelry in Hellfire that move life to/from mana.

Class Max Strength Max Magic Max Dexterity Max Vitality Max Life Max Mana
Warrior 425 / 485 225 / 285 225 / 285 265 / 325 796 / 916 533 / 568
Rogue 230 / 290 245 / 305 415 / 475 245 / 305 681 / 741 690 / 718
Sorcerer 220 / 280 425 / 485 250 / 310 245 / 305 618 / 618 1 196 / 1 216
Monk 385 315 375 305 741 728
Bard 370 360 360 340 761 865
Barbarian 490 235 280 375 1 091 470

2.1.3 Life and mana

Life is based on vitality while mana is based on magic. To calculate how much life and mana you have, use the formulas listed below.

Life

Warrior: 2·Vitcharacter + 2·Vititems + 2·clvl + Lifeitems + 18

Rogue: 1·Vitcharacter + 1.5·Vititems + 2·clvl + Lifeitems + 23

Sorcerer: 1·Vitcharacter + 1·Vititems + 1·clvl + Lifeitems + 9

Monk: 1·Vitcharacter + 1.5·Vititems + 2·clvl + Lifeitems + 23

Bard: 1·Vitcharacter + 1.5·Vititems + 2·clvl + Lifeitems + 23

Barbarian: 2·Vitcharacter + 2.5·Vititems + 2·clvl + Lifeitems + 18

Mana

Warrior: 1·Magcharacter + 1·Magitems + 1·clvl + Manaitems - 1

Rogue: 1·Magcharacter + 1.5·Magitems + 2·clvl + Manaitems + 5

Sorcerer: 2·Magcharacter + 2·Magitems + 2·clvl + Manaitems - 2

Monk: 1·Magcharacter + 1.5·Magitems + 2·clvl + Manaitems + 5

Bard: 1.5·Magcharacter + 1.75·Magitems + 2·clvl + Manaitems + 3

Barbarian: 1·Magcharacter + 1·Magitems + 0·clvl + Manaitems + 0

2.1.4 Armor Class and To Hit

Both Armor Class (AC) and To Hit are based on your Dexterity. Below is a summary on how they are calculated. For more information about AC and To Hit, see chapter 5.6.5.

Armor Class

Warrior, Rogue, Sorcerer: Dex/5 + ACitems

Monk with plate: Dex/5 + ACitems

Monk with mail: Dex/5 + ACitems + clvl/2

Monk with leather and other light armor: Dex/5 + ACitems + 2·clvl

Monk with no armor: Dex/5 + ACitems + 2·clvl

Bard: Dex/5 + ACitems

Barbarian: Dex/5 + ACitems + clvl/4

The bonus in the above formulas refers to some hidden To Hit modifiers specific for each character class. They are listed in the table below but do not show up in the To Hit value you see on the character screen. For the blocking bonus see chapter 2.2.

Class Melee Arrow Magic Blocking1
Warrior 20 10 - 30
Rogue - 20 - 20
Sorcerer - - 20 10
Monk - - - 25
Bard - 10 10 25
Barbarian - - - 30

1 There exists a bug so that the bonus is always 0, except during the first game a character play.

In the table below, maximum AC and To Hit for each character class is summarized. The columns for max values from max stats are maximum values without the use of any items that specifically add to AC and To Hit (only to Dex). When two numbers are given the first one belongs to Diablo and the second one to Hellfire. The reason is that there are some new unique rings only available in Hellfire. It also excludes any effects from oils and shrines that directly affect AC or To Hit. The values are, of course, excluding such things as clvl that is factored in for computing the real final To Hit.

Class Max AC naked Max To Hit naked Max AC from maxed stats Max To Hit from maxed stats Max AC Max To Hit
Warrior 12 80 45 / 57 162 / 192 349 / 401 392
Rogue 50 175 83 / 95 257 / 287 385 / 425 487
Sorcerer 17 92 50 / 62 175 / 205 350 / 390 405
Monk 130 1 125 175 1 237 419 437
Bard 24 110 72 230 413 565
Barbarian 23 1 77 56 190 370 390

1 For a level 50 character.

2.2 Fighting

The main activity in Diablo and Hellfire is fighting. You either fight against the monsters or against other players. This chapter will briefly explain how your characters stats and the items you wear affect your character while fighting. For a more detailed explanation on battle between players and monsters, see chapter 6.

2.2.1 Getting hit

When someone or something attacks you, the first step is to see if it hits you or not. Formulas for the chance of hitting a player can be found in chapter 2.1.4 (players), 4.3 (traps) and 5.1 (monsters).

When you are hit by a melee weapon, an arrow, or magic (while not having any resistance), you will try to block the attack (in Hellfire you will try to block even if you have resistance). See chapter 4 for information about what spells can be blocked. To block the attack you must have a shield. A Monk can also block with a staff and with at least one hand bare. If you fail to block or you can’t block you will get hit, which will result in damage and the possibility of having to do a hit recovery (getting stunned). For formulas for monsters hitting players, see chapter 5.1.

Blocking

The chance of blocking is calculated according to:

Blocking monster: Dex + 2·(clvl - mlvl) + bonus

Blocking player: Dex + 2·(clvltarget - clvlattacker) + bonus

Blocking trap: Dex + bonus

Modified damage received

There are a few ways by which the damage done to a player is modified depending upon the target. Below is listed what those effects are and in what order they are applied. Note that not all effects are applicable to all situations.

1. of thieves Having an item with this suffix will reduce any trap damage by 50%. In Hellfire it will in addition reduce the damage from any magical or ranged attack from monsters by 50%. This effect is not cumulative if you have more than one item with the suffix.

2. - damage taken Having any item with a suffix that reduces damage (or in the case of a cursed suffix, increases it), will reduce any damage, even magical, done by a monster by the combined amount of all the suffixes you are wearing. Damage can never be reduced below 1 by this effect.

3. Reflect In Hellfire the Reflect spell will reduce the amount of melee damage a monster does to a player by 20 to 29%.

3. player vs player All magic damage is halved in player versus player attacks. This includes the damage by Bone Spirit, which will only reduce 1/6 of current life.

4. resistance Having any item which gives you resistance will reduce any magical attack of the same type by the total resistance of that type you have. Maximum resistance is 75%, which is shown with the letters MAX.

5. Mana Shield If you are using a Mana Shield, it will reduce the damage by 33% in Diablo and by (1/(3·slvl) ·100)% (if slvl is higher than 7, set slvl to 7) in Hellfire. In addition it will remove mana instead of life.

Checks for hit recovery are done between step 4 and 5 and will thus not be affected by the use of Mana Shield. For more information regarding a bug and Mana Shield, see chapter 6.1.1.

Hit recovery

When you are hit and don’t block it, you will take damage. If the damage is big enough, your character will go through a hit recovery animation; you are stunned, during which you can’t do anything. If you get hit again before you manage to hit back or move this repeats and you are stun locked and can’t react (for information about entering a new location, see chapter 6.1.9). The hit recovery is initiated if the following conditions are met:

Any character except the Barbarian: damage >= clvl

Barbarian: damage >= 1.25·clvl

It is worth noticing that the check for hit recovery is made prior to any damage reduction due to using a Mana Shield. There are also some bugs regarding hit recovery while using Mana Shield, see chapter 6.1.1. So while using a Mana Shield, in addition to the requirements above, damage must also be below your current life for you to be put into hit recovery:

Any character, except the Barbarian, using Mana Shield: current life > damage >= clvl

Barbarian using Mana Shield: current life > damage >= 1.25·clvl

The table below lists the time, in seconds, it takes to block and to do a hit recovery for each character class. It also lists the effects of some specific suffixes that influence blocking or hit recovery. For more information on the suffixes, see chapter 3.2.2.

Class/Suffix Blocking Fast block1 Hit recovery of balance of stability of harmony
Warrior 0.10 0.10 0.30 0.253 0.203 0.153
Rogue 0.20 0.10 0.35 0.303 0.253 0.203
Sorcerer 0.30 0.10 0.40 0.353 0.303 0.253
Monk 0.15 0.10 0.30 0.25 0.20 0.15
Bard 0.20 0.10 0.35 0.30 0.25 0.20
Barbarian 0.10 0.10 0.302 0.252 0.20 0.15

1 Fast block indicates the use of an item with the of blocking suffix or a unique item with the fast block effect.

2 The Barbarian has built-in of stability while using an axe or a club and the hit recovery time in those cases is 0.20 unless he is using an item of harmony.

3 In Diablo, but not in Hellfire, equipping three or more items having together all of the three suffixes (of balance, of stability, and of harmony), will trigger a bug that will reduce the hit recovery time a further 0.05 seconds for the Rogue (to 0.15) and the Sorcerer (to 0.20). Just equipping two items with different suffixes will not trigger this bug.

2.2.2 Damage done

Damage done by players is composed of two parts, character damage and weapon damage. The character damage is based on your character’s stats and can be calculated with the formulas below. To that damage you add the damage of any weapon, or weapons in the case of the Bard, you have equipped. For information about damage from spells, see chapter 4.

Bow character damage

Warrior: Str·clvl / 200

Rogue: (Str+Dex) · clvl / 200

Sorcerer: Str·clvl / 200

Monk: (Str+Dex) · clvl / 600

Bard: (Str+Dex) · clvl / 500

Barbarian: Str·clvl / 600

Melee character damage

Warrior: Str·clvl / 100

Rogue: (Str+Dex) · clvl / 200

Sorcerer: Str·clvl / 100

Monk with staff or bare-handed: (Str+Dex) · clvl / 150

Monk with other weapons: (Str+Dex) · clvl / 300

Bard with at least one sword: (Str+Dex) · clvl / 150

Bard with any weapon(s) except sword: Str·clvl / 100

Barbarian with axes and clubs: Str·clvl / 75

Barbarian except for axes and clubs: Str·clvl / 100

Extra bonus for Barbarian without shield: Vit·clvl / 100

Class Bare-handed1 Swords Clubs Axes Bows Staves
Warrior 125 125 125 125 62 125
Rogue 76 76 76 76 76 76
Sorcerer 22 22 22 22 11 22
Monk 100 50 50 50 25 100
Bard 60 80 60 60 40 60
Barbarian 202 202 2 245 2 245 21 127

1 To this value you should add the ”weapon” damage of bare hands/feet.

2 Subtract 75 if using a shield at the same time

Things that affect damage done

Various things affect the amount of damage a character does. Mostly those things are related to various prefixes, suffixes, or unique properties, but a few exceptions exist. Critical Hits are explained below and type of monster is explained in chapter 5.1. The modifications to the damage can either modify weapon damage alone or your total damage; that is, both your character damage and your weapon damage. In the table below is a list of all modifications that apply to your total damage. They are each cumulative with each other and are applied on top of each other.

Reason Effect
Critical Hit Double damage
Monster type Half damage or increased damage by 50%
+200% damage against demons1 Triple damage
suffix of devastation Triple damage
prefix jester’s Between zero and six times the damage.
suffix of peril Double damage.

1 Does not work on bows.

Critical Hit

Warriors and Barbarians have the ability to do a critical hit while doing melee attacks. The chance for a critical hit is clvl% and a critical hit does twice the damage.

Adjacent quarter damage

All the new characters in Hellfire have the ability to hit up to three monsters at a time in certain circumstances. It works by dealing ¼th of the damage to the monsters beside the one you swing at. A separate To Hit check is done for each of those monsters. The To Hit is lowered accordingly to the formula in chapter 2.1.4 under To Hit %. The adjacent quarter damage is done in the following situations:

Adjacent quarter damage can never hit a player, only monsters.

2.2.3 Weapon speed

A very important factor is how quickly you swing different weapons. A faster weapon not only causes more damage per unit of time, but also helps you stun lock your enemies more easily. Below are listed values for how quickly each character class swings each weapon. Only the Barbarian has different weapon speed for clubs and swords, for all other classes they are identical. The value given is the time in seconds it takes to do one swing.

Weapon Suffix Warrior Rogue Sorcerer Monk Bard Barbarian
Swords/Clubs Normal & Readiness 0.45 0.50 0.60 0.60 0.50 0.45 / 0.40
Swiftness 0.40 0.45 0.55 0.55 0.45 0.40 / 0.35
Speed & Haste 0.35 0.40 0.50 0.50 0.40 0.35 / 0.30
Axes Normal & Readiness 0.50 0.65 0.80 0.70 0.65 0.40
Swiftness 0.45 0.60 0.75 0.65 0.60 0.35
Speed & Haste 0.40 0.55 0.70 0.60 0.55 0.30
Staves Normal & Readiness 0.55 0.55 0.60 0.40 0.55 0.55
Swiftness 0.50 0.50 0.55 0.35 0.50 0.50
Speed & Haste 0.45 0.45 0.50 0.30 0.45 0.45
Bows Normal & Readiness 0.55 0.35 0.80 0.70 0.55 0.55
Swiftness 0.501 0.301 0.751 0.70 0.55 0.55
Other Shield 0.45 0.50 0.45 0.35 0.50 0.45
Bare hands & feet 0.45 0.50 0.60 0.35 0.50 0.45
Spell 0.70 0.60 0.40 0.65 0.60 0.70

1 In Hellfire Readiness and Swiftness make the arrows fly faster, the time is still the same as for Normal.

The speed with which the arrows travel also varies with character class. Below is given the speed of arrows for all characters as well as some other factors affecting the speed of an arrow. The actual value is just a value given for comparison with other traveling effects, such as spells. The higher the number, the faster it will be. Arrows from monsters will always have a speed of 32. For the speed of arrows from traps, see chapter 4.3. For more information regarding arrow and spell speed, see chapter 6.1.10.

Arrow or other effect Warrior, Monk Rogue Sorcerer, Bard, Barbarian
Normal arrow 32 + (clvl-1)/8 32 + (clvl-1)/4 32
Fire and Lightning arrow 31 + clvl/8 31 + clvl/4 32
Random speed arrows 16 + Rnd[32] + (clvl-1)/8 16 + Rnd[32] + (clvl-1)/4 16 + Rnd[32]
readiness1 +1 +1 +1
swiftness1 +2 +2 +2

1 Will only affect the arrow speed in Hellfire. In Diablo it will affect the weapon speed instead.

2.3 Player timing information

This chapter summarizes all timing information for players. For blocking and hit recovery, this information can also be found in chapter 2.2, and for weapon speed, it can also be found in chapter 2.2.3. For monsters all timing information can be found in chapter 5.3. The table below summarizes all timing information for the different character classes.

Class Walk speed Hit recovery speed1 Blocking speed1 Swing speed Hit time2
Warrior 0.40 0.30 0.10 see chap. 2.2.3 swing speed3
Rogue 0.40 0.35 0.20 see chap. 2.2.3 swing speed3
Sorcerer 0.40 0.40 0.30 see chap. 2.2.3 swing speed3
Monk 0.40 0.30 0.15 see chap. 2.2.3 swing speed3
Bard 0.40 0.35 0.20 see chap. 2.2.3 swing speed3
Barbarian 0.40 0.304 0.10 see chap. 2.2.3 swing speed3

1 For more information, see chapter 2.2.

2 The hit time (or rather the time at which the spell effect is initialized) for a player is identical to the swing speed (that is, at the last frame) except for non targeted spells (those for which you don’t target a specific monster or player) which have a 0.05 seconds faster hit time.

3 The swing speed is of course the one for casting a spell.

4 The Barbarian has built in stability while using an axe or a club on top of this unless wearing an item that affects the hit recovery in a better way.

2.4 Skills

Each character class has a skill it can perform. For most classes, the skill improves as they gain levels. The various skills are summarized below.

Warrior: Repair items (as your level goes up the durability loss decreases).

Rogue: Disarm traps (as your Dexterity goes up the chance of successfully disarming the trap increases).

Sorcerer: Recharge staves (as your level goes up the charge loss decreases).

Monk: Search.

Bard: Identify.

Barbarian: Rage (as your level goes up, the improvement in stats during the rage is higher but so is the penalty during the lethargy phase).

Warrior

The skill of the Warrior works in the following way:

  1. if current durability is equal to max durability, exit

  2. x = 0

  3. add (clvl + Rnd[clvl]) to x

  4. y = [MaxDur/(clvl+9)], if less than 1 set to 1

  5. decrease MaxDur by y

  6. if x + CurDur < MaxDur, goto 3.

  7. CurDur = MaxDur

If max durability ever reaches 0, the item is of course destroyed.

Rogue

The skill of the Rogue works in the following way:

  1. x = 2·Dex - 5·dlvl

  2. if x > Rnd[100], trap is disarmed

Sorcerer

The skill of the Sorcerer works in the following way:

  1. if current charges is equal to max charges or max charges is equal to 0, exit

  2. x = Rnd[clvl/qlvl(book)] + 1

  3. decrease MaxChrg by 1

  4. add x to CurChrg

  5. if CurChrg < MaxChrg, goto 3.

  6. CurChrg = MaxChrg

It seems strange that it is not the qlvl of the spell on a staff, and I wonder what happens for a spell like resurrect where the qlvl value is -1. Any information about this is appreciated.

Monk

The skill of the Monk is identical to the spell with the same name.

Bard

The skill of the Bard is identical to the spell with the same name.

Barbarian

The skill of the Barbarian works in the following way:

  1. For 12 seconds it adds: 2·clvl to Strength and Vitality and 1.5·clvl to Dexterity.

  2. For 12 more seconds, during a lethargy phase, it decreases Strength, Dexterity and Vitality by the same amount (counted from normal values).

  3. Afterwards you lose 2·Vit life. There is a bug however so if you click on any item in your inventory your life is restored.

2.5 Starting equipment

All character classes start the game with some items. These items are listed in the table below. Note that the prices for these items sometimes differ from the ones of normal items of the same type. The sword that the Bard starts with is not available otherwise in the game.

Class Weapon Price Gold Potions
Warrior Short Sword 50 100 2 Potions of Healing
Club 20
Buckler 50
Rogue Short Bow 100 100 2 Potions of Healing
Sorcerer (Diablo) Short Staff of Charged Bolt1 (40 charges) 520 100 2 Potions of Mana
Sorcerer (Hellfire) Short Staff of Mana1 (18 charges) 520 100 2 Potions of Healing
Monk Short Staff 20 100 2 Potions of Healing
Bard Sword 50 100 2 Potions of Healing
Dagger 20
Barbarian Spiked Club 225 100 2 Potions of Healing
Buckler 50

1 These starting staves are special in that they are not composed of a staff with a spell on it, but are special base items that have the spell built into them. The prices given are for those two base items and no additional cost is added for the actual spell.

2.6 Experience points

Each time you kill a monster you have a chance of receiving experience points. You receive experience for killing a monster as long as your own level is below the mlvl+10 (see chapter 5.2 and chapter 5.6.3 for more information about mlvl and experience points). In multi player, each person that fulfills one of following requirements is entitled to receive experience points when a monster is killed.

In all cases you must be alive at the moment the monster dies and you must never have left the level in-between fulfilling any of the requirements above and the monster dying, or you will not receive any experience points. The requirement of dealing damage is fulfilled even if for some reason the damage itself is reduced to below 1 point of damage (theoretically even 0 damage will be enough). Stone Cursing a monster will not be enough to receive any experience points. A Guardian is treated as a normal fire spell for the purpose of deciding if the owning player is entitled to experience points. In Hellfire a Berserk monster will not give you experience points for the other monsters it kills.

In single player you are then rewarded the amount of experience points according to the formula below. In multi player the same formula applies, but the base experience points of the monster are first divided by the number of players that are entitled to receive experience points, which is not necessarily all players in the game.

base · (1.0 + 0.1·(mlvl - clvl))

So when your clvl is 10 levels higher than the mlvl, you no longer receive any experience for killing it. Base refers to the base experience points found in chapter 5.2 modified for the number of players that are entitled for experience points according to the explanation above.

The maximum experience you can obtain for killing a monster in multi player (both in Diablo and Hellfire) is 200·clvl or the total experience points needed for advancing to the next clvl divided by 20, whichever is the lowest. In single player there is no such a cap. With the added possibility of difficulty levels in single player in Hellfire along with no character level requirements for harder difficulty levels, you can get quite a lot of experience points when killing monsters. In Hellfire, there are also some shrines that affect your experience points (see chapter 7).

Listed below are the required experience points for each level. You will also find the maximum experience point you can be given for a monster at that character level (see above for information about this cap). Listed is also the minimum number of monsters you need to kill to reach the next level assuming you get maximum experience for each kill. This is in practice impossible and even theoretically impossible at low levels. The Total Kills column is simply the total minimum number of monsters needed to kill to reach a specific level and is valid for Diablo only as there is no limit on the number of experience points given for killing a monster in Hellfire. Note that the numbers under Increase, Increase %, Kills, and Total Kills are all how much is needed for the next level.

Level Experience Increase Increase in % Max exp.1 Kills Total Kills
1 0 2 000 n/a 100 20 20
2 2 000 2 620 131.0 231 12 32
3 4 620 3 420 74.0 402 9 41
4 8 040 4 449 55.3 624 7 48
5 12 489 5 769 46.2 912 7 55
6 18 258 7 454 40.8 1 200 6 61
7 25 712 9 597 37.3 1 400 7 68
8 35 309 12 313 34.9 1 600 8 76
9 47 622 15 742 33.1 1 800 9 84
10 63 364 20 055 31.7 2 000 11 95
11 83 419 25 460 30.5 2 200 12 106
12 108 879 32 207 29.6 2 400 14 120
13 141 086 40 597 28.8 2 600 16 135
14 181 683 49 392 27.2 2800 18 153
15 231 075 82 581 35.7 3 000 28 181
16 313 656 110 411 35.2 3 200 35 215
17 424 067 147 123 34.7 3 400 44 258
18 571 190 195 379 34.2 3 600 55 313
19 766 569 258 585 33.7 3 800 69 381
20 1 025 154 341 073 33.3 4 000 86 466
21 1 366 227 448 341 32.8 4 200 107 573
22 1 814 568 587 327 32.4 4 400 134 706
23 2 401 895 766 756 31.9 4 600 167 873
24 3 168 651 997 549 31.5 4 800 208 1 081
25 4 166 200 1 293 323 31.0 5 000 259 1 340

1 This cap only applies to multi player. In single player, there is no such cap.

Level Experience Increase Increase in % Max exp.1 Kills Total Kills
26 5 459 523 1 670 973 30.6 5 200 322 1 661
27 7 130 496 2 151 378 30.2 5 400 399 2 059
28 9 281 874 2 760 218 29.7 5 600 493 2 552
29 12 042 092 3 528 939 29.3 5 800 609 3 161
30 15 571 031 4 495 869 28.9 6 000 750 3 910
31 20 066 900 5 707 505 28.4 6 200 921 4 831
32 25 774 405 7 219 994 28.0 6 400 1 129 5 959
33 32 994 399 9 100 803 27.6 6 600 1 379 7 338
34 42 095 202 11 430 609 27.2 6 800 1 681 9 019
35 53 525 811 14 305 407 26.7 7 000 2 044 11 063
36 67 831 218 17 838 843 26.3 7 200 2 478 13 540
37 85 670 061 22 164 762 25.9 7 400 2 996 16 536
38 107 834 823 27 439 976 25.4 7 600 3 610 20 146
39 135 274 799 33 847 210 25.0 7 800 4 340 24 486
40 169 122 009 41 598 222 24.6 8 000 5 200 29 685
41 210 720 231 50 937 022 24.2 8 200 6 212 35 897
42 261 657 253 62 143 167 23.7 8 400 7 398 43 295
43 323 800 420 75 535 020 23.3 8 600 8 784 52 078
44 399 335 440 91 472 909 22.9 8 800 10 395 62 473
45 490 808 349 110 362 065 22.5 9 000 12 263 74 735
46 601 170 414 132 655 203 22.1 9 200 14 420 89 154
47 733 825 617 158 854 605 21.6 9 400 16 900 106 054
48 892 680 222 190 228 390 21.3 9 600 19 816 125 869
49 1 082 908 612 227 798 497 21.0 9 800 23 245 149 114
50 1 310 707 109 272 788 700 20.8 10 000 27 279 176 393
MAX 1 583 495 809

1 This cap only applies to multi player. In single player, there is no such cap.

Note that when you reach level 50, you don’t get any life or mana. Your other stats are updated correctly, though. After reaching level 50, you still receive experience points for killing monsters until you reach enough experience points for MAX (see below). Reaching MAX has no effect at all (apart from not being able to get any more experience of course).

2.7 Character level restrictions

There are a few occasions in the game where you need to have a certain character level to be allowed to access a certain difficulty or dungeon level. This chapter gives you information about those restrictions and when they apply.

Dungeon levels

In single player you can only enter the Church when you start a new game. To access the other dungeons you have to work you way down through the dungeon levels before the entrances to the Catacombs, Caves, and Hell open up. In Hellfire, the game will remember when an area has been opened up, and thus it will be open even if you start a new game.

In multi player, all areas are accessible from town right away, but you can go down into them only if you have reached a certain character level. The table below summarizes at what character level you can access the different areas. Even if your level is too low, it is still possible to enter an area if someone opens a portal for you.

Dungeon area clvl needed to enter1
Church 1
Catacombs 8
Caves 13
Hell 17
Hive 15
Crypt 15

1 There is no requirement if you enter a level by going through a portal.

Difficulty levels

The table below summarizes at what character level you can enter different difficulty levels.

Game type Normal Nightmare Hell
Diablo single player 1 n/a1 n/a1
Diablo multi player (IPX and Battle.net) 1 20 30
Diablo Modem and Direct connection game 1 20/12 30/12
Hellfire single player 1 1 1
Hellfire multi player (IPX and Kali) 1 20 30
Hellfire Modem and Direct connection game 1 20/12 30/12

1 It is available in the Playstation version. Also see chapter 2.7.1 for a way to play single player with different difficulties.

2 The creator must be of level 20 or 30 but anyone joining it can be of any level.

2.7.1 Single player difficulty levels

In Hellfire you can choose to play nightmare and hell difficulty games in single player as well as in multi player. In Diablo this is not possible. However, there is a way to make the game behave as if you are playing nightmare or hell difficulty even in single player. This way monsters, for example, will have multi player stats, gold, and items drop according to the higher difficulty and so on.

To do this, first start a multi player game with the chosen difficulty. Exit it, and then start a single player game without first quitting Diablo. It will be created according to the difficulty level you chose in your last multi player game.

2.8 Character names

When you create a character, you also have to give it a name. Depending on if it is a single or multi player character, the characters that are allowed to use in the name differ slightly. The table below summarize all allowed characters.

Game type Allowed characters in name
Any 0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Single player !@$(){}[]=+`~^-’.:;_|”#%&/?*,<> space plus localized characters1
Multi player !@$(){}[]=+`~^-’.:;_|

1 By localized characters are meant characters that are specific for various non English languages. Examples are: åäöüâãï, and many others. Such localized characters are still possible to enter when you create a multi player character, but there will be an error message when you finish typing in the name.

3 Items

Items play a very important role in Diablo and come in many variants. This chapter will deal with the many aspects of items. Armor and weapons can generally be said to consist of a base item, and to it you can add a prefix and/or a suffix or nothing at all and leave it as a non magical item. The item can also be a unique item instead, in which case it can have up to 6 different properties but it is still based on one of the base items. Rings and amulets work in a similar way but must always have at least one prefix or suffix, or be unique. There exist no non magical rings or amulets. Books and oils also work in a similar way, as they consist of the base item book of and oil of, to which you then add either a spell or an oil type (for exceptions to oils see chapter 3.2.1). Scrolls, on the other hand, are each single base items and do not consist of the base item plus a spell as books do. Finally we have potions, elixirs, and runes that are all base items. In many tables in this chapter there is a reference to a qlvl. That level is used by the game when creating items; see chapter 3.8 and chapter 3.9. Information about qlvl and occurrences of prefixes and suffixes initially came from Bostic.

3.1 Armor, weapons and jewelry

In the tables below are listed all the base items you can equip in the game. They can be found in the dungeons or bought from Griswold, Adria and Wirt. Jewelry can only be bought in single player, never in multi player. Listed are also all those base items upon which the quest items are based. Those special quest base items cannot be found otherwise in the game.

Armor1
Type Armor Class Durability Requirements Price qlvl
Rags 2 - 6 6 5 1
Cape 1 - 5 12 10 1
Cloak 3 - 7 18 40 2
Robe 4 - 7 24 75 3
Quilted Armor 7 - 10 30 200 4
Leather Armor 10 - 13 35 300 6
Hard Leather Armor 11 - 14 40 450 7
Studded Leather Armor 15 - 17 45 20 Str 700 9
Ring Mail 17 - 20 50 25 Str 900 11
Chain Mail 18 - 22 55 30 Str 1 250 13
Scale Mail 23 - 28 60 35 Str 2 300 15
Splint Mail 30 - 35 65 40 Str 3 250 17
Breast Plate 20 - 24 80 40 Str 2 800 16
Plate Mail2 42 - 50 75 60 Str 4 600 19
Field Plate2 40 - 45 80 65 Str 5 800 21
Gothic Plate 50 - 60 100 80 Str 8 000 23
Full Plate Mail 60 - 75 90 90 Str 6 500 25

1 Armor can be divided into three different categories, light, Rags - Studded Leather Armor, medium, Ring Mail - Splint Mail and heavy, Breast Plate - Full Plate Mail. Each of the three different types of armor will give your character a different look.

2 These items have the same picture.

Axes1
Type Damage Durability Requirements Price qlvl
Small Axe 2 - 10 24 150 2
Axe 4 - 12 32 22 Str 450 4
Large Axe 6 - 16 40 30 Str 750 6
Broad Axe 8 - 20 50 50 Str 1 000 8
Battle Axe 10 - 25 60 65 Str 1 500 10
Great Axe 12 - 30 75 80 Str 2 500 12

1 All axes are Two-handed.

Bows1
Type Damage Durability Requirements Price qlvl
Short Bow 1 - 4 30 100 1
Long Bow2 1 - 6 35 25 Str, 30 Dex 250 5
Hunter’s Bow2 2 - 5 40 20 Str, 35 Dex 350 3
Composite Bow 3 - 6 45 25 Str, 40 Dex 600 7
Short Battle Bow 3 - 7 45 30 Str, 50 Dex 750 9
Long Battle Bow3 1 - 10 50 30 Str, 60 Dex 1 000 11
Short War Bow 4 - 8 55 35 Str, 70 Dex 1 500 15
Long War Bow3 1 - 14 60 45 Str, 80 Dex 2 000 19

1 All bows are Two-handed.

2 These items have the same picture.

3 These items have the same picture.

Clubs
Type Damage Durability Requirements Price qlvl
Club 1 - 6 20 20 1
Spiked Club 3 - 6 20 18 Str 225 4
Mace 1 - 8 32 16 Str 200 2
Morning Star 1 - 10 40 26 Str 300 3
Flail 2 - 12 36 30 Str 500 7
War Hammer 5 - 9 50 40 Str 600 5
Maul1 6 - 20 50 55 Str 900 10

1 This weapon is Two-handed except for the Barbarian.

Helms
Type Armor Class Durability Requirements Price qlvl
Cap 1 - 3 15 15 1
Skull Cap 2 - 4 20 25 4
Helm 4 - 6 30 25 Str 40 8
Full Helm 6 - 8 35 35 Str 90 12
Crown 8 - 12 40 200 16
Great Helm 10 - 15 60 50 Str 400 20
Shields
Type Armor Class Durability Requirements Price qlvl
Buckler 1 - 5 16 30 1
Small Shield 3 - 8 24 25 Str 90 5
Large Shield 5 - 10 32 40 Str 200 9
Kite Shield 8 - 15 40 50 Str 400 14
Gothic Shield 14 - 18 60 80 Str 2 300 23
Tower Shield 12 - 20 50 60 Str 850 20
Staves1
Type Damage Durability Requirements Price qlvl
Short Staff2 2 - 4 25 30 1
Long Staff 4 - 8 35 100 4
Composite Staff 5 - 10 45 500 6
Quarter Staff2 6 - 12 55 20 Str 1 000 9
War Staff 8 - 16 75 30 Str 1 500 12

1 All staves are Two-handed.

2 These items have the same picture.

Swords
Type Damage Durability Requirements Price qlvl
Dagger 1 - 4 16 60 1
Sword1,2 1 - 5 8 15 Str, 20 Dex 50 n/a
Short Sword2 2 - 6 24 18 Str 120 1
Sabre 1 - 8 45 17 Str 170 1
Scimitar 3 - 7 28 23 Str, 23 Dex 200 4
Blade 3 - 8 30 25 Str, 30 Dex 280 4
Falchion 4 - 8 20 30 Str 250 2
Long Sword 2 - 10 40 30 Str, 30 Dex 350 6
Claymore 1 - 12 36 35 Str 450 5
Broad Sword 4 - 12 50 40 Str 750 8
Bastard Sword 6 - 15 60 50 Str 1 000 10
Two-Handed Sword3 8 - 16 75 65 Str 1 800 14
Great Sword3 10 - 20 100 75 Str 3 000 17

1 Only available to the Bard as a starting weapon.

2 These items have the same picture.

3 These swords are Two-handed except for the Barbarian.

Jewelry1
Type Durability Requirements Price qlvl
Ring indestructible 1 000 5, 10, 15
Amulet indestructible 1 200 8, 16

1 Jewelry always has a prefix and/or a suffix, unless being unique.

Quest Items1
Type Based on Damage Armor Class Durability Requirements
Arkaine’s Valor ring mail 0 - 0 40
Bovine Plate full plate mail 0 - 0 40 50 Str
Cleaver axe 4 - 24 10
Griswold’s Edge broad sword 4 - 12 50 40 Str
Harlequin Crest cap 0 - 0 15
The Undead Crown crown 15 - 15 50
Veil of Steel great helm 18 - 18 60

1 This is a list of the base items upon which quest items are based. It does not include rings or amulets as it would make no difference. Note that any of the above properties may be superseded by one of the unique properties of the quest item.

3.2 Other base items

This chapter will give you information about all those items in the game that you can’t wear. It also has information about magic related items. However, for information about the actual spells, how they work and their use, see chapter 4. Books and most oils consist of a base item type, book of and oil of listed in the table below. Each book then has a spell assigned to it and oils have an oil type assigned.

Type Price qlvl
Book of - 2, 8, 14, 20
Oil of - 10

3.2.1 Runes and oils

Runes and oils were introduced in Hellfire and do not exist in Diablo. Runes are placed in the dungeons and when a monster or player walks over them the spell is released. They can also be used directly on a target. Oils are used on items to boost their properties. Note that only effects from oils that affect the durability are carried over when you start a new game.

Rune1 Cost qlvl Effect2 Requirement
Rune of Fire 100 1 Casts Fireball
Rune of Lightning 200 3 Casts Lightning Wall 13 Mag
Rune of Stone 300 7 Casts Stone Curse 25 Mag
Greater Rune of Fire 400 7 Casts Immolation 42 Mag
Greater Rune of Lightning 500 7 Casts Nova 42 Mag

1 Runes can be found in the dungeon or bought from Adria.

2 Actually not the exact spell but one that is similar to the listed one. It is the player’s level that effects the damage/duration of the runes.

Oils might need some more explanation. They are created by the game in two different ways. You won’t see that as a player and there is actually no difference in how they work depending on how they were created. The first three oils in the list below actually exist as a single base item. All other oils, including also versions of the first three ones, are created as a base item oil of to which an oil type is then assigned, just like spell books. They are listed below the thick line.

Oil1 Cost qlvl Effect2
Blacksmith Oil3 100 1 Restores 20% of durability or add 1 to max durability
Oil of Accuracy 500 1 Adds 1-2% To Hit (if < 50)
Oil of Sharpness 500 1 Adds 1 to max damage (if < 30)
Blacksmith3 100 1 Restores 20% of durability or add 1 to max durability (if < 100)
Fortitude3 2 500 5 Adds 10-50 to max and current durability (if < 200)
Permanence3,4 15 000 17 Makes an item indestructible
Accuracy4 500 1 Adds 1-2% To Hit (if < 50)
Mastery4 2 500 10 Adds 3-5% To Hit (if < 100)
Hardening4 2 500 1 Adds 1-2 AC (if < 60)
Imperviousness4 2 500 10 Adds 3-5 AC (if < 120)
Sharpness4 500 1 Adds 1 to max damage (if max-min < 30)5
Death4 2 500 10 Adds 1 to min damage and 2 to max damage (if max-min < 30)5
Skill4 1 500 4 Decreases all requirement to use by 5-10 (may reach 0)6

1 Oils cannot be bought, only found in the dungeons.

2 Only affects the item it is used on.

3 Effect is permanent and carries over when you restart a new game.

4 Only exists in single player.

5 It is the difference between min and max damage that must be less than 30.

6 All requirements are lowered by the same amount.

3.2.2 Potions and elixirs

The tables below hold information about potions and elixirs. As always, the prices are buying prices.

Potion Cost qlvl Effect
Potion of Healing1 50 1 Restores some of your life
Potion of Full Healing 150 1 Restores all of your life
Potion of Mana1 50 1 Restores some of your mana
Potion of Full Mana 150 1 Restores all of your mana
Potion of Rejuvenation1 120 3 Restores some of your life and mana
Potion of Full Rejuvenation 600 7 Restores all of your life and mana

1 See below for information on how much mana/life is restored.

Elixir1 Cost qlvl Effect
Elixir of Strength 5 000 15 Increases strength by one
Elixir of Magic 5 000 15 Increases magic by one3
Elixir of Dexterity 5 000 15 Increases dexterity by one
Elixir of Vitality 5 000 2 20 Increases vitality by one4

1 In multi player elixirs can be bought from Adria once your character reaches level 26. In single player they can be bought from both Adria and Pepin once you have been on dlvl 13 or in the Hive or the Crypt in Hellfire.

2 Elixirs of Vitality cannot be bought, only found in the dungeons.

3 In Hellfire it also restores all of your mana.

4 In Hellfire it also restores all of your life.

Potions of Healing and Mana restore life and mana as stated below. Potions of Rejuvenation are basically treated as one Potion of Mana and one Potion of Healing. For information on how scrolls of healing and the Healing spell work, see chapter 4.1.2.

Potion of Healing: bonus · maxlife/8 to bonus · 3·maxlife/8

Potion of Mana: bonus · maxmana/8 to bonus · 3·maxmana/8

Type Warrior Rogue Sorcerer Monk Bard Barbarian
Healing 2.0 1.5 1.0 1.51 1.51 2.0
Mana 1.0 1.5 2.0 1.51 1.51 1.0

1 When using a Potion of Rejuvenation the bonus for a Monk and a Bard is 1.0 due to a bug in Hellfire.

3.2.3 Books, scrolls and staves with spells

Books, scrolls and staves with spells are found in the dungeons but can also be bought from Adria. Healing scrolls and scrolls of Resurrection (only in multi player) can also be bought from Pepin. Below is listed how much you have to pay for scrolls, books, and data for calculating the cost of staves with spells. For information on how to calculate staff prices, see chapter 3.6. You can also find information about qlvl; see chapters 3.8 and 3.9 for information about qlvl and how to use it. Note that for books and staves, the qlvl is of the actual spell on that base item. The base item, staff or book of, has its own qlvl as well. As with other items, you can sell any book, scroll, or staff for one fourth of the price. Note that in Hellfire, staves without spells are bought and sold at Griswold. In Hellfire, Wirt will also sell staves both with and without spells.

Spell Book Scroll Staff
Price qlvl Price qlvl Multiplier (P) Charges qlvl
Apocalypse 30 000 1 19 2 000 22 400 8 - 12 15
Blood Star 27 500 14 - - 360 20 - 60 13
Bone Spirit 11 500 9 - - 160 20 - 60 7
Chain Lightning 11 000 8 750 10 150 20 - 60 7
Charged Bolt 1 000 1 - - 10 40 - 80 1
Elemental 10 500 8 - - 140 20 - 60 6
Fireball 8 000 8 300 8 60 40 - 80 7
Firebolt 1 000 1 - - 10 40 - 80 1
Fire Wall 6 000 3 400 4 80 8 - 16 2
Flame Wave 10 000 9 650 10 130 20 - 40 8
Flash 7 500 5 500 6 100 20 - 40 4
Golem 18 000 11 1 100 10 220 16 - 32 9
Guardian 14 000 9 950 12 190 16 - 32 8
Healing 1 000 1 50 1 10 20 - 40 1
Heal Other 1 000 1 - - 10 20 - 40 1
Holy Bolt 1 000 1 - - 10 40 - 80 1
Identify - - 100 1 - - -
Inferno 2 000 3 100 1 20 20 - 40 1
Infravision - - 600 8 - - -
Lightning 3 000 4 150 4 30 20 - 60 3
Mana Shield 16 000 6 1 200 8 240 4 - 10 5
Nova 21 000 1 14 1 300 14 260 16 - 32 10
Phasing 3 500 7 200 6 40 40 - 80 6
Resurrect - - 250 1 50 4 - 10 5
Stone Curse 12 000 6 800 6 160 8 - 16 5
Telekinesis 2 500 2 - - 40 20 - 40 2
Teleport 20 000 14 3 000 14 250 16 - 32 12
Town Portal 3 000 3 200 4 40 8 - 12 3

1 Available as a book in Hellfire only.

Spell Book Scroll Staff
New in Hellfire Price qlvl Price qlvl Multiplier (P) Charges qlvl
Berserk 3 000 3 - - 40 8 - 12 3
Immolation 21 000 14 - - 260 16 - 32 10
Jester - - - - 40 15 - 30 4
Lightning Wall 6 000 3 - - 80 8 - 16 2
Magi - - - - 40 15 - 30 20
Mana - - - - 10 12 - 24 5
Reflect 3 000 3 - - 40 8 - 12 3
Ring of Fire 6 000 5 - - 80 8 - 16 5
Search 3 000 1 50 3 40 8 - 12 3
Warp 3 000 3 - - 40 8 - 12 3

3.3 Quest items

In the table below is listed all the various special items you will find in various quests (with the exception of the ear and the heart). They will only appear in single player and have no purposes outside the specific quest. As for the special reward items you get from various quests, they are all found in the chapter 3.5.

Item in Diablo Quest Item in Hellfire1 Quest
Anvil of Fury Anvil of Fury Brown Suit The Jersey’s Jersey
Black Mushroom Black Mushroom Cathedral Map Grave Matters
Blood Stone2 Valor Grey Suit The Jersey’s Jersey
Brain Black Mushroom Reconstructed Note Torn Notes
Ear3 n/a Rune Bomb Farmer’s Orchard
Fungal Tome Black Mushroom Theodore Little Girl
Golden Elixir Lachdanan Torn Note 1 Torn Notes
Heart3,4 n/a Torn Note 2 Torn Notes
Magic Rock The Magic Rock Torn Note 3 Torn Notes
Spectral Elixir Black Mushroom
Staff of Lazarus Archbishop Lazarus
Tavern Sign Ogden’s Sign

1 All quest items in Diablo are also present in Hellfire.

2 There are three of them.

3 Adria will buy ears and hearts. Their buying price is equal to the clvl of the character they belonged to.

4 An ear turns into a heart if you identify it. It will always return into an ear in the next game.

3.4 Prefixes and suffixes

All equipable items can have a prefix and/or a suffix. In the tables below, you can see the effects of each prefix and suffix in the game. The tables also provide information about the qlvl of each prefix and suffix, as well as information for calculating the price of any magical item (steps, base-max, range and multiplier). See chapter 3.6 for formulas to calculate prices of items. The prefixes and suffixes are grouped according to what type of effect they have. Unless otherwise stated, prefixes and suffixes are cumulative with others of the same type and also with effects on unique items that are of the same type. For information on how items are assigned prefixes and suffixes, see chapter 3.8 and chapter 3.9.

Not all prefixes and suffixes can occur on all types of items. The tables also list on which type of items you will find each prefix and suffix. The following abbreviations are used:

A Armor and Helms t Staves, but only in Hellfire
S Shields B Bows
W Weapons (Axes, Clubs and Swords) J Jewelry
T Staves
+ Strength
Suffix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
frailty -10 - -6 ASW-BJ 3 -3
weakness -5 - -1 ASWtBJ 1 -2
strength 1 - 5 ASWtBJ 1 4 200 - 1 000 800 2
might 6 - 10 ASW-BJ 5 4 1 200 - 2 000 800 3
power 11 - 15 ASW-BJ 11 4 2 200 - 3 000 800 4
giants 16 - 20 A-W-BJ 17 4 3 200 - 5 000 1 800 7
titans 21 - 30 --W--J 23 9 5 200 - 10 000 4 800 10
+ Magic
Suffix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
the fool -10 - -6 ASWTBJ 3 -3
dyslexia -5 - -1 ASWTBJ 1 -2
magic 1 - 5 ASWTBJ 1 4 200 - 1 000 800 2
the mind 6 - 10 ASWTBJ 5 4 1 200 - 2 000 800 3
brilliance 11 - 15 ASWTBJ 11 4 2 200 - 3 000 800 4
sorcery 16 - 20 A-WTBJ 17 4 3 200 - 5 000 1 800 7
wizardry 21 - 30 ---T-J 23 9 5 200 - 10 000 4 800 10
+ Dexterity
Suffix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
paralysis -10 - -6 ASW-BJ 3 -3
atrophy -5 - -1 ASWtBJ 1 -2
dexterity 1 - 5 ASWtBJ 1 4 200 - 1 000 800 2
skill 6 - 10 ASW-BJ 5 4 1 200 - 2 000 800 3
accuracy 11 - 15 ASW-BJ 11 4 2 200 - 3 000 800 4
precision 16 - 20 A-W-BJ 17 4 3 200 - 5 000 1 800 7
perfection 21 - 30 ----BJ 23 9 5 200 - 10 000 4 800 10
+ Vitality
Suffix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
illness -10 - -6 ASW-BJ 3 -3
disease -5 - -1 ASWtBJ 1 -2
vitality 1 - 5 ASWtBJ 1 4 200 - 1 000 800 2
zest 6 - 10 ASW-BJ 5 4 1 200 - 2 000 800 3
vim 11 - 15 ASW-BJ 11 4 2 200 - 3 000 800 4
vigor 16 - 20 A-W-BJ 17 4 3 200 - 5 000 1 800 7
life 21 - 30 -----J 23 9 5 200 - 10 000 4 800 10
+ All Attributes
Suffix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
trouble -10 - -6 ASWtBJ 12 -10
the pit -5 - -1 ASWtBJ 5 -5
the sky 1 - 3 ASWtBJ 5 2 800 - 4 000 3 200 5
the moon 4 - 7 ASWtBJ 11 3 4 800 - 8 000 3 200 10
the stars 8 - 11 A-W-BJ 17 3 8 800 - 12 000 3 200 15
the heavens 12 - 15 --W-BJ 25 3 12 800 - 20 000 7 200 20
the zodiac 16 - 20 -----J 30 4 20 800 - 40 000 19 200 30
+ Life
Suffix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
the vulture -25 - -11 AS---J 4 -4
the jackal -10 - -1 AS---J 1 -2
the fox 10 - 15 AS---J 1 5 100 - 1 000 900 2
the jaguar 16 - 20 AS---J 5 4 1 100 - 2 000 900 3
the eagle 21 - 30 AS---J 9 9 2 100 - 4 000 1 900 5
the wolf 30 - 40 AS---J 15 10 4 100 - 6 000 1 900 7
the tiger 41 - 50 AS---J 21 9 6 100 - 10 000 3 900 9
the lion 51 - 60 A----J 27 9 10 100 - 15 000 4 900 11
the mammoth 61 - 80 A----- 35 19 15 100 - 19 000 3 900 12
the whale 81 - 100 A----- 60 19 19 100 - 30 000 10 900 13
+ Mana
Prefix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
corruption1 -all ASW--- 5 -1 000 2
hyena’s -25 - -11 ---T-J 4 14 100 - 1 000 900 -2
frog’s -10 - -1 ---T-J 1 -2
spider’s 10 - 15 ---T-J 1 5 500 - 1 000 500 2
raven’s 15 - 20 ---T-J 5 5 1 100 - 2 000 900 3
snake’s 21 - 30 ---T-J 9 9 2 100 - 4 000 1 900 5
serpent’s 30 - 40 ---T-J 15 10 4 100 - 6 000 1 900 7
drake’s 41 - 50 ---T-J 21 9 6 100 - 10 000 3 900 9
dragon’s 51 - 60 ---T-J 27 9 10 100 - 15 000 4 900 11
wyrm’s2 61 - 80 ---t-- 35 19 15 100 - 19 000 3 900 12
hydra’s2 81 - 100 ---t-- 60 19 19 100 - 30 000 10 900 13

1 A suffix.

2 Only available in Hellfire.

+% Armor Class1
Prefix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
vulnerable -100 - -51 AS---- 3 -3
rusted -50 - -25 AS---- 1 -2
fine 20 - 30 AS---- 1 10 20 - 100 80 2
strong 31 - 40 AS---- 3 9 120 - 200 80 3
grand 41 - 55 AS---- 6 14 220 - 300 80 5
valiant 56 - 70 AS---- 10 14 320 - 400 80 7
glorious 71 - 90 AS---- 14 19 420 - 600 180 9
blessed 91 - 110 AS---- 19 19 620 - 800 180 11
saintly 111 - 130 AS---- 24 19 820 - 1 200 380 13
awesome 131 - 150 AS---- 28 19 1 220 - 2 000 780 15
holy 151 - 170 AS---- 35 19 5 200 - 6 000 800 17
godly 171 - 200 AS---- 60 29 6 200 - 7 000 800 20

1 There is a minimum increase of 1 in AC. That is, even if the percentage will give an increase to AC less than one, it will be increased by at least one. Due to a bug, any decrease in AC less than 1 will be transformed into a positive increase by 1.

+ % To Hit
Prefix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
tin -10 - -6 --W-BJ 3 -3
brass -5 - -1 --W-BJ 1 -2
bronze 1 - 5 --W-BJ 1 4 100 - 500 400 2
iron 6 - 10 --W-BJ 4 4 600 - 1 000 400 3
steel 11 - 15 --W-BJ 6 4 1 100 - 1 500 400 5
silver 16 - 20 --W-BJ 9 4 1 600 - 2 000 400 7
gold 21 - 30 --W-BJ 12 9 2 100 - 3 000 900 9
platinum 31 - 40 --W-B- 16 9 3 100 - 4 000 900 11
mithril 41 - 60 --W-B- 20 19 4 100 - 6 000 1 900 13
meteoric 61 - 80 --W-B- 23 19 6 100 - 10 000 3 900 15
weird 81 - 100 --W-B- 35 19 10 100 - 14 000 3 900 17
strange 101 - 150 --W-B- 60 49 14 100 - 20 000 5 900 20
 +% To Hit, + % Damage Done
Prefix To Hit Damage Occurrence qlvl Steps1 Base-Max
clumsy -10 - -6 -75 - -50 --WTB- 5
dull -5 - -1 -45 - -25 --WTB- 1
sharp2 1 - 5 20 - 35 --WTB- 1 15 350 - 950
fine 6 - 10 36 - 50 --WTB- 6 14 1 100 - 1 700
Warrior’s 11 - 15 51 - 65 --WTB- 10 14 1 850 - 2 450
soldier’s 16 - 20 66 - 80 --WT-- 15 14 2 600 - 3 950
lord’s 21 - 30 81 - 95 --WT-- 19 14 4 100 - 5 950
knight’s 31 - 40 96 - 110 --WT-- 23 14 6 100 - 8 450
master’s 41 - 50 111 - 125 --WT-- 28 14 8 600 - 13 000
champion’s 51 - 75 126 - 150 --WT-- 40 24 15 200 - 24 000
king’s 76 - 100 151 - 175 --WT-- 28 24 24 100 - 35 000
doppelganger’s3 21 - 30 81 - 95 --Wt-- 11 14 2 000 - 2 400

1 It is the damage value that is used for price calculations.

2 Is treated by the game as a cursed item during item creation so you will, for example, not be able to buy it in town.

3 Only available in Hellfire. Has 10% chance of duplicating any monster hit except Diablo and unique monsters.

+ % Damage Done
Prefix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range
useless -100 --WtB- 5
bent -75 - -50 --WtB- 3
weak -45 - -25 --WtB- 1
jagged 20 - 35 --WtB- 4 15 250 - 450 200
deadly 36 - 50 --WtB- 6 14 500 - 700 200
heavy 51 - 65 --WtB- 9 14 750 - 950 200
vicious 66 - 80 --WtB- 12 14 1 000 - 1 450 450
brutal 81 - 95 --WtB- 16 14 1 500 - 1 950 450
massive 96 - 110 --WtB- 20 14 2 000 - 2 450 450
savage 111 - 125 --W-B- 23 14 2 500 - 3 000 500
ruthless 126 - 150 --W-B- 35 24 10 100 - 15 000 4 900
merciless 151 - 175 --W-B- 60 24 15 000 - 20 000 5 000
decay1,2 150 - 250 --WtB- 1 200 - 200 0
crystalline1,3 200 - 280 --W--- 5 79 1 000 - 3 000 2 000

1 Only available in Hellfire.

2 Bonus decreases by 5% each hit. When reaching -100%, the item is destroyed.

3 Also has from -30 to -70% lower durability.

+ Damage Done
Suffix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
quality 1 - 2 --WtB- 2 1 100 - 200 100 2
maiming 3 - 5 --WtB- 7 2 1 300 - 1 500 200 3
slaying 6 - 8 --W--- 15 2 2 600 - 3 000 400 5
gore 9 - 12 --W--- 25 3 4 100 - 5 000 900 8
carnage 13 - 16 --W--- 35 3 5 100 - 10 000 4 900 10
slaughter 17 - 20 --W--- 60 3 10 100 - 15 000 4 900 13
- Damage Taken1
Suffix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
pain +4 - +2 AS---J 4 -4
tears +1 AS---J 2 -2
health 1 AS---J 2 200 2
protection 2 AS---- 6 400 4
absorption 3 AS---- 12 1 001 10
deflection 4 A----- 20 2 500 15
osmosis 5 - 6 A----- 50 1 7 500 - 10 000 2 500 20

1 Works for all type of damage, even from spells, but does not work against other players. The damage is reduced before any resistance is applied but after the thieves effect. The damage will never be reduced below 1.

+ Fire Damage1
Suffix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
flame 1 - 3 ----B- 1 2 000 2
fire 1 - 6 ----B- 11 4 000 4
burning 1 - 16 ----B- 35 6 000 6
flaming2 1 - 10 --WT-- 7 5 000 2

1 There are quite a few bugs associated with fire and lightning arrows which make them often deal erroneous damage (way too high or no additional damage at all).

2 A prefix.

+ Lightning Damage1
Suffix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range
shock 1 - 6 ----B- 13 6 000
lightning 1 - 10 ----B- 21 8 000
thunder 1 - 20 ----B- 60 12 000
lightning2 2 - 20 --WT-- 18 10 000

1 There are quite a few bugs associated with fire and lightning arrows which make them often deal erroneous damage (way too high or no additional damage at all).

2 A prefix.

% Steal Life1
Suffix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
the leech 3 --W--- 8 7 500 3
blood 5 --W--- 19 15 000 3

1 The amount is based on damage done even if the monster has less HP left. The amount is not cumulative if you have more than one item with the capability of stealing life (an item of blood will take precedence over an item of the leech). An exception is The Undead Crown which is cumulative with both an item of blood or an item of the leech for a total of 3% to 15.5% or 5% to 17.5% life stealing. The Helm of Sprits, Shadowhawk, and The Eater of Souls are all treated as items of blood. Does not work against players. See chapter 6.1.4 for more information.

% Steal Mana1
Suffix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
the bat 3 --W--- 8 7 500 3
vampires 5 --W--- 19 15 000 3

1 The amount is based on damage done even if the monster has less HP left. The amount is not cumulative if you have more than one item with the capability of stealing mana (an item of vampires will take precedence over an item of the bat. The Eater of Souls is treated as an item of vampire. Does not work against players. See chapter 6.1.4 for more information.

+ % Resist Magic1
Prefix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range
white 10 - 20 ASWTBJ 4 10 500 - 1 500 1 000
pearl 21 - 30 ASWTBJ 10 9 2 100 - 3 000 900
ivory 31 - 40 ASWTBJ 16 9 3 100 - 4 000 900
crystal 41 - 50 ASWTBJ 20 9 8 200 - 12 000 3 800
diamond 51 - 60 ASWTBJ 26 9 17 100 - 20 000 2 900

1 Is applied after any effects from thieves and -damage. It can reduce damage below 1.

+ % Resist Fire1
Prefix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
red 10 - 20 ASWTBJ 4 10 500 - 1 500 1 000 2
crimson 21 - 30 ASWTBJ 10 9 2 100 - 3 000 900 2
crimson 31 - 40 ASWTBJ 16 9 3 100 - 4 000 900 2
garnet 41 - 50 ASWTBJ 20 9 8 200 - 12 000 3 800 3
ruby 51 - 60 ASWTBJ 26 9 17 100 - 20 000 2 900 5

1 Is applied after any effects from thieves and -damage. It can reduce damage below 1.

+ % Resist Lightning1
Prefix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range
blue 10 - 20 ASWTBJ 4 10 500 - 1 500 1 000
azure 21 - 30 ASWTBJ 10 9 2 100 - 3 000 900
lapis 31 - 40 ASWTBJ 16 9 3 100 - 4 000 900
cobalt 41 - 50 ASWTBJ 20 9 8 200 - 12 000 3 800
sapphire 51 - 60 ASWTBJ 26 9 17 100 - 20 000 2 900

1 Is applied after any effects from thieves and -damage. It can reduce damage below 1.

+ % Resist All1
Prefix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
topaz 10 - 15 ASWTBJ 8 5 2 000 - 5 000 3 000 3
amber 16 - 20 ASWTBJ 12 4 7 400 - 10 000 2 600 3
jade 21 - 30 ASWTBJ 18 9 11 000 - 15 000 4 000 3
obsidian 31 - 40 ASWTBJ 24 9 24 000 - 40 000 16 000 4
emerald 41 - 50 -SWTB- 31 9 61 000 - 75 000 14 000 7

1 Is applied after any effects from thieves and -damage. It can reduce damage below 1.

+ Spell Levels
Prefix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
angel’s 1 ---T-- 15 25 000 2
arch-angel’s 2 ---T-- 25 50 000 3
× Charges
Prefix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
plentiful 2 ---T-- 4 2 000 2
bountiful 3 ---T-- 9 3 000 3
Damage / Penetrate Armor1
Suffix Value2 Value3 Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max
piercing 2 - 6 254 % --W-B- 1 1 000
puncturing 4 - 12 504 % --W-B- 9 2 000
bashing 8 - 24 754 % --W--- 17 4 000

1 In Diablo these suffixes lower the AC of the target by a specific random amount in the range shown in the table. In Hellfire they reduce the AC of the target by a certain percentage shown in the table. It does not work against players. The exact value (in Diablo) is determined at the time of creation of the item and the extra To Hit is never shown on the character screen.

2 In Diablo.

3 In Hellfire.

4 Add 12.5 when used by a Barbarian.

+ % Light Radius1
Suffix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range
the dark -40 A-W—J 6
the night -20 A-W—J 3
light 20 A-W—J 4 750
radiance 40 A-W—J 8 1 500

1 Also affects the distance at which you activate monsters. A higher value means at a greater distance. There is no additional effect of wearing more than +50% or less than -80% light radius. As a curiosity, the light radius is always one square less in the Catacombs and it is always the highest light radius you have had on a level that counts, even if you later lower it.

Weapon Speed1
Suffix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
readiness2,3 quick --WTB- 1 2 000 2
swiftness3 fast --WTB- 10 4 000 4
speed faster --WT-- 19 8 000 8
haste4 fastest --WT-- 27 16 000 16

1 A Bard only benefits from the fastest weapon.

2 Has no effect in Diablo.

3 In Hellfire, it makes the arrows travel faster on bows instead of increasing the ”swing” speed.

4 Has the same effect as speed despite what is said in the latest Diablo patch (1.07).

Hit Recovery1
Suffix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
balance1 fast A----J 1 2 000 2
stability1 faster A----J 10 4 000 4
harmony1 fastest A----J 20 8 000 8

1 A character only benefits from the fastest one, as they are not cumulative. The exception is if you have one of each in which case you will, in Diablo only, trigger a bug and receive a further reduction in hit recovery time. See chapter 2.2.1 for more information.

+ % Durability
Suffix Value Occurrence qlvl Steps Base-Max Range Multiplier
fragility =1 ASW--- 3 -4
brittleness -75 - -26 ASW--- 1 -2
sturdiness 26 - 75 ASWt-- 1 100 2
craftsmanship 51 - 100 ASWt-- 6 200 2
structure 101 - 200 ASWt-- 12 300 2
many 100 ----B- 3 750 2
plenty 200 ----B- 7 1 500 3
the ages indestruct. ASWt-- 25 600 5
Other1
Suffix Effect Occurrence qlvl Base-Max Multiplier
the bear knocks target back --WTB- 5 750 2
blocking fast block -S---- 5 4 000 4
thieves2,3 absorbs half trap damage AS---J 11 1 500 2
thorns2 attacker takes 1-3 damage AS---- 1 500 2
devastation2,4,5,6 5% chance of doing ×3 damage --WtB- 1 1 200 3
jester’s2,4,5,7 each swing does ×0-6 damage9 --W--- 7 1 200 3
peril2,4,6,8 ×2 damage to monster, ×1 to user --WtB- 5 500 1

1 These effects are not cumulative if you have them more than once. They are cumulative with other effects though.

2 Does not work versus players.

3 In Hellfire it also absorbs half arrow and magical damage (magic, fire, lightning and apocalypse) from monster attacks. It is applied before both -damage and resistance.

4 Only available in Hellfire.

5 Damage bonus applies to total damage, not just weapon damage.

6 Does not work on bows.

7 A prefix.

8 Affects total damage versus monsters but only weapon damage and character damage versus user. This damage is modified by any -damage from enemies, though.

9 The game erroneously states it does ×0-5. Average value is ×2. For more details, see chapter 6.2.1. Does not work against Diablo or unique monsters.

3.5 Unique items

Unique items differ from normal magical items in that they have a special name and can have up to six different magical properties. You can still find more than one of each, even in the same game (in single player the game keeps track of what unique items exist in the current game, and will not create the same a second time). Having a different picture than that of the normal base item it is based upon is considered as one of the six special properties. All non quest unique items are based on a normal base item, and unless otherwise changed by the unique properties, retain all the stats of that normal base item. Unique quest items are based on special quest base items. Those special quest base items can be found in chapter 3.3. Such items are also noted by having n/a in the qlvl column.

If you are playing the Playstation version you should know that when you restart a new game, any unique item is transformed into gold, which is quite annoying.

3.5.1 Properties of unique items

In the tables below are listed all unique items in the game that you can equip, both the ones randomly generated and the ones given as part of quests. For special quest items that are unequipable, see chapter 3.3. The prices shown are the buying prices. You can never buy unique items however. The stated qlvl is used in item generation, see chapter 3.8. Please note that all items below a thick line are only available in Hellfire. The Pic column indicates whether the item has a unique picture or not.

Armor
Name Base item Price qlvl Pic Magical Effects
Arkaine’s Valor1 Arkaine’s Valor 42 000 n/a Yes AC 25, +10 vitality, -3 damage from enemies, fastest hit recovery
Demonspike Coat full plate mail 251 175 25 AC 100, +10 strength, +50% resist fire, -6 damage from enemies, indestructible
The Gladiator’s Bane studded leather armor 3 450 6 AC 25, -3 all attributes, -2 damage from enemies, high durability (135)
Leather of Aut leather armor 10 550 4 AC 15, +5 strength, -5 magic, +5 dexterity, indestructible
Naj’s Light Plate plate mail 78 700 19 Yes +5 magic, +20 mana, +20% resist all, +1 spell level, no strength requirements
Nightscape cape 11 600 16 Yes2 AC 15, +3 dexterity, +20% resist all, faster hit recovery, -40% light radius
The Rainbow Cloak cloak 4 900 2 Yes2 AC 10, +1 all attributes, +5 life, +10% resist all, high durability (27)
Scavenger Carapace breast plate 14 000 13 AC -6 - -10, +5 dexterity, +40% resist lightning, -15 damage from enemies
Sparking Mail chain mail 15 750 9 AC 30, 1-10 lightning damage
Torn Flesh of Souls rags 4 825 2 Yes AC 8, +10 vitality, -1 damage from enemies, indestructible
Wisdom’s Wrap robe 6 200 5 Yes2 AC 15, +5 magic, +10 mana, +25% resist lightning, -1 damage from enemies
Armor of Gloom full plate mail 200 000 25 Yes AC 225, all resistances=0%, -20% light radius, no strength requirements
Bone Chain Armor chain mail 36 000 13 Yes AC 40, AC 60 vs. Undead
Bovine Plate3 Bovine Plate 400 n/a Yes AC 150, -50 mana, +30% resist all, -2 spell levels, +50% light radius, indestructible
Demon Plate Armor full plate mail 80 000 25 Yes AC 80, AC 120 vs. Demons

1 A quest item only available in single player.

2 These items have the same picture.

3 A quest item.

Axes
Name Base item Price qlvl Pic Magical Effects
Aguinara’s Hatchet small axe 24 800 12 +10 magic, +75% resist magic, +1 spell level,
Bloodslayer broad axe 2 500 3 Yes1 -5 all attributes, +100% damage, +200% damage versus demons2, -1 spell level
The Butcher’s Cleaver3 cleaver 3 650 n/a Yes +10 strength, unusual damage (4-24), altered durability (10)
The Celestial Axe battle axe 14 100 4 -15 strength, +15 life, +15% to hit, no strength requirements
Hellslayer battle axe 26 200 15 +8 strength, +8 vitality, +25 life, -25 mana, +100% damage
The Mangler large axe 2 850 2 Yes1 -5 magic, -5 dexterity, -10 mana, +200% damage
Messerschmidt’s Reaver great axe 58 000 25 Yes +5 all attributes, -50 life, +15 damage, +200% damage, 2-12 fire damage
Sharp Beak large axe 2 850 2 Yes4 -10 magic, +20 life, -10 mana
Stonecleaver broad axe 23 900 7 Yes +30 life, +20% to hit, +50% damage, +40% resist lightning
Wicked Axe large axe 31 150 5 Yes4 +10 dexterity, -10 vitality, +30% to hit, -1- -6 damage from enemies, indestructible

1 These items have the same picture and it is one of a normal axe.

2 Applies to the total damage

3 A quest item only available in single player.

4 These items have the same picture and it is one of a normal great axe.

Bows
Name Base item Price qlvl Pic Magical Effects
The Blackoak Bow long bow 2 500 5 +10 dexterity, -10 vitality, +50% damage, -10% light radius
Bow of the Dead composite bow 2 500 5 Yes1 -3 vitality, +4 dexterity, +10% to hit, -20% light radius, altered durability (30)
The Celestial Bow long bow 1 200 2 Yes AC 5, +2 damage, no strength requirement
Deadly Hunter composite bow 8 750 3 Yes1 -5 magic, +20% to hit, +200% damage versus demons
Eaglehorn long battle bow 42 500 26 Yes1 +20 dexterity, +50% to hit, +100% damage, indestructible
Flamedart hunter’s bow 14 250 10 +20% to hit, +40% resist fire, 1-6 fire arrows2
Fleshstinger long bow 16 500 13 +15 dexterity, +40% to hit, +80% damage, high durability (37)
The Needler short/cross bow 8 900 2 Yes +50% to hit, unusual item damage (1-3), fast attack
The Rift Bow short bow 1 800 1 -3 dexterity, +2 damage, random speed arrows
Windforce long war bow 37 750 17 Yes +5 strength, +200% damage, knocks target back
Blitzen composite bow 30 000 13 Yes Lightning damage10-153, unusual item damage (0), indestructible
Flambeau composite bow 30 000 11 Yes Fireball damage 15-204, unusual item damage (0), indestructible
Gnat Sting hunter’s bow 30 000 15 Yes multiple arrows, unusual item damage (1-2), quick attack, indestructible

1 These items have the same picture.

2 The fire arrow damage is listed twice but the real fire damage is only applied once and is in the range 1-6.

3 Will cast a lightning spell when fired.

4 Will cast a fireball when fired.

Clubs
Name Base item Price qlvl Pic Magical Effects
Baranar’s Star morning star 6 850 5 -4 dexterity, +4 vitality, +12% to hit, +80% damage, quick attack, altered durability (60)
The Celestial Star flail 7 810 2 Yes1 AC -8, +10 damage, +20% light radius, no strength requirement
Civerb’s Cudgel mace 2 000 1 -2 magic, -5 dexterity, +200% damage versus demons2
Crackrust mace 11 375 1 +2 all attributes, +15% resist all, +50% damage, -1 spell level, indestructible
The Cranium Basher maul 36 500 12 Yes1 +15 strength, -150 mana, +20 damage, +5% resist all, indestructible
Dreamflange mace 26 450 26 +30 magic, +50 mana, +50% resist magic, +1 spell levels, +20% light radius
Gnarled Root club/spiked club 9 820 9 AC -10, +5 magic, +10 dexterity, +20% to hit, +10% resist all, +300% damage
Hammer of Jholm maul 8 700 1 +3 strength, +4-10% damage, +15% to hit, indestructible
Lightforge3 mace 26 675 1 +8 all attributes, +25% to hit, +150% damage, +10-20 fire damage, +40% light radius, indestructible
Schaefer’s Hammer war hammer 56 125 16 +50 life, +75% resist lightning, +30% to hit, -100% damage, 1-50 lightning damage, +10% light radius
Thunderclap war hammer 30 000 13 Yes +20 strength, +30% resist lightning, charged bolt (3-6 damage), +20% light radius, indestructible

1 These items actually have the unique picture of the same item they are based on, so for all practical reasons they don’t really have a unique picture.

2 Applies to total damage.

3 Does not exist in Hellfire and is not possible to find in multi player in Diablo, only single player. Still very rare in single player, see chapter 3.5.2 for more information. It also seems that although findable in single player, it will morph as soon as a new game is started or loaded.

Helms
Name Base item Price qlvl Pic Magical Effects
Fool’s Crest helm 10 150 12 Yes -4 all attributes, +100 life, +1- +6 damage from enemies, 1-3 damage to attacker
Gotterdamerung great helm 54 900 21 Yes1 AC 60, +20 all attributes, all resistances=0%2, -4 damage from enemies, -40% light radius
Harlequin Crest3 Harlequin Crest 4 000 n/a Yes AC -3, +2 all attributes, +7 mana, +7 life, -1 damage from enemies
Helm of Sprits helm 7 525 1 Yes4 5% steal life
Overlord’s Helm helm 12 500 7 Yes +20 strength, -20 magic, +15 dexterity, +5 vitality, altered durability (15)
Royal Circlet crown 24 875 27 Yes AC 40, +10 all attributes, +40 mana, +10% light radius
Thinking Cap skull cap 2 020 6 Yes +30 mana, +20% resist all, +2 spell levels, altered durability (1)
The Undead Crown3 Undead Crown 16 650 n/a Yes4 AC 8, 0-12.5% steal life
Veil of Steel3 Veil of Steel 63 800 n/a Yes1 +15 strength, +15 vitality, -30 mana, +60% armor, +50% resist all, -20% light radius

1 These items have the same picture.

2 If you wear both a Gotterdamerung and a Constricting Ring, your resistance would still be 0%.

3 A quest item only available in single player.

4 These items have the same picture. The Helm of Sprits looks like a crown when on the ground.

Jewelry
Name Base item Price qlvl Pic Magical Effects
The Bleeder ring 8 500 2 Yes +30 mana, -10 life, +20% resist magic
Bramble ring 1 000 1 Yes -2 all attributes, +10 mana, +3 damage
Constricting Ring ring 62 000 5 Yes +75% resist all1, causes continuous damage when worn (1.25 life/sec2)
Empyrean Band3 ring 8 000 n/a Yes +2 all attributes, fast hit recovery, absorbs half of trap damage, +20% light radius
Optic Amulet3 amulet 9 750 n/a Yes +5 magic, +20% resist lightning, -1 damage from enemies, +20% light radius
Ring of Engagement ring 12 476 11 Yes AC 5, -1 or -2 damage from enemies, 1-3 damage to attacker, damages target’s armor4
Ring of Regha ring 4 175 1 Yes -3 strength, +10 magic, -3 dexterity, +10% resist magic, +10% light radius
Ring of Truth3 ring 9 100 n/a Yes +10 life, +10% resist all, -1 damage from enemies
Amulet of Warding amulet 30 000 12 Yes -100 life, +40% resist all
Acolytes Amulet amulet 10 000 10 Yes 50% of base mana moved to life
Auric Amulet5 amulet 100 n/a Yes Allows you to carry piles of 10 000 gold
Giant’s Knuckle ring 8 000 8 Yes +60 strength, -30 dexterity
Gladiators Ring ring 10 000 10 Yes 40% of base life moved to mana
Karik’s Ring ring 8 000 8 Yes -30 magic, +60 vitality
Mercurial Ring ring 8 000 8 Yes -30 strength, +60 dexterity
Ring of Magma ring 8 000 8 Yes -30% resist magic, +60% resist fire, -30% resist lightning
Ring of the Mystics ring 8 000 8 Yes +60% resist magic, -30% resist fire, -30% resist lightning
Ring of Thunder ring 8 000 8 Yes -30% resist magic, -30% resist fire, +60% resist lightning
Xorine’s Ring ring 8 000 8 Yes -30 strength, +60 magic

1 The effect is +75%, not max resistance. If you wear both a Gotterdamerung and a Constricting Ring, your resistance would still be 0%. Similarly, if you use some item that decreases any resistance, the final value may not be 75%.

2 If you are using Mana Shield, the damage will as any other damage be taken from your mana instead. Due to rounding errors with such small damage values, the actual value may not be correctly reduced by the Mana Shield. For more information about the Mana Shield, see chapter 6.1.1.

3 A quest item only available in single player.

4 Has the effect equivalent to ”of Puncturing”, that is, adds 4-12 to To Hit in Diablo. In Hellfire it reduces the AC by 87.5% (+12.5% if Barbarian making any AC of a monster equal 0) and is thus better than any of the suffixes with the same property.

5 A quest item. Not really a unique item.

Shields
Name Base item Price qlvl Pic Magical Effects
Blackoak Shield small shield 5 725 4 Yes1 AC 18, +10 dexterity, -10 vitality, -10% light radius, high durability (60)
The Deflector buckler 1 500 1 Yes2 AC 7, +10% resist all, -20% damage, -5% to hit
Dragon’s Breach kite shield 19 200 2 Yes AC 20, +5 strength, -5 magic, +25% resist fire, indestructible
Holy Defender large shield 13 800 10 Yes1 AC 15, -2 damage from enemies, +20% resist fire, fast block, high durability (96)
Split Skull Shield buckler 2 025 1 Yes AC 10, +10 life, +2 strength, -10% light radius, altered durability (15)
Stormshield gothic shield / tower shield1 49 000 24 Yes3 AC 40, +4 damage from enemies, +10 strength, fast block, indestructible

1 These items have the same picture.

2 This item has a picture of a normal buckler.

3 Both versions have a picture of a normal gothic shield.

Staves
Name Base item Price qlvl Pic Magical Effects
Gleamsong short staff 6 520 8 +25 mana, -3 strength, -3 vitality, 76 Phasing charges
Immolator long staff 3 900 4 +10 mana, -5 vitality, +20% resist fire, 4 fire damage
Mindcry quarter staff 41 500 20 +15 magic, +15% resist all, +1 spell level , 69 Guardian charges
Naj’s Puzzler long staff 34 000 18 +20 magic, +10 dexterity, +20% resist all, -25 life, 57 Teleport charges
The Protector short staff 17 240 16 Yes1 AC 40, +5 vitality, -5 damage from enemies, 1-3 damage to attacker, 86 Healing charges
Rod of Onan war staff 44 167 22 +5 all attributes, +100% damage, 50 Golem charges
Staff of Shadows long staff 1 250 2 -10 magic +10% to hit, +60% damage, -20% light radius, quick attack
Storm Spire war staff 22 500 8 +10 strength, -10 to magic, +50% resist lightning, 2-8 lightning damage
Thundercall composite staff 22 250 14 +35% to hit, 1-10 lightning damage, +30% resist lightning, +20% light radius, 76 Lightning charges

1 Looks like a club when on the ground.

Swords
Name Base item Price qlvl Pic Magical Effects
Black Razor dagger 2 000 1 Yes +2 vitality, +150% damage, altered durability (5)
The Bonesaw claymore 4 400 6 +10 strength, -5 dexterity, -5 magic, +10 life, -10 mana, +10 damage
The Defender sabre 2 000 1 AC 5, +5 vitality, -5% to hit
Doombringer bastard sword 18 250 19 -5 all attributes, -25 life, +25% to hit, +250% damage, -20% light radius
The Executioner’s Blade falchion 7 080 3 Yes -10 life, +150% damage, -10% light radius, high durability (60)
The Falcon’s Talon scimitar 7 867 15 Yes1 +10 dexterity, +20% to hit, -33% damage, fastest attack
Gibbous Moon broad sword 6 660 2 +2 all attributes, +15 mana, +25% damage, -30% light radius
Gonnagal’s Dirk dagger 7 040 1 Yes -5 dexterity, +4 damage, +25% resist fire, fast attack
The Grandfather great sword 119 800 27 Yes +5 all attributes, +20 life, +20% to hit, +70% damage, only requires one hand
Griswold’s Edge2 Griswold’s Edge 42 000 n/a Yes3 -20 life, +20 mana, +25% to hit, 1-10 fire damage, fast attack, knocks target back
The Grizzly two-handed sword 50 000 23 Yes +20 strength, -5 vitality, +200% damage, knocks target back, high durability (150)
Gryphons Claw falchion 1 000 1 Yes1 -2 magic, -5 dexterity, +100% damage
Ice Shank long sword 5 250 3 +5-10 strength, +40% resist fire, altered durability (15)
Inferno long sword 34 600 17 +20 mana, +75% resist fire, 2-12 fire damage, +30% light radius
Lightsabre sabre 19 150 13 +20% to hit, +50% resist lightning, 1-10 lightning damage, +20% light radius
Shadowhawk broad sword 13 750 8 +15% to hit, +5% resist all, 5% steal life, -20% light radius
Wizardspike dagger 12 920 11 Yes +15 magic, +35 mana, +25% to hit, +15% resist all
Diamondedge long sword 42 000 17 Yes AC 10, +50% resist lightning, +50% to hit, +100% damage, altered durability (10)
Eater of Souls two-handed sword 42 000 23 Yes +50 life, 5% steal life, 5% steal mana, causes continuous damage when worn, indestructible
Shirotachi great sword 36 000 21 +6 lightning damage, penetrates target’s armor (half AC), fastest attack, one-handed

1 These items have the same picture.

2 A quest item only available in single player.

3 This item actually has the unique picture of the same item it is based on, so for all practical reasons it doesn’t really have a unique picture.

3.5.2 Unfindable unique items in multi player

Due to the way the game generates unique items (see chapter 3.8), some unique items will never be found in multi player. The same items are findable in single player but only if you find another unique item of the same base item and qlvl first in the same game session. This phenomenon occurs when there are multiple items of the same base item and qlvl. The table below lists those items. Note that the list for Diablo is also applicable to Hellfire.

Diablo Hellfire1
Bramble (ring) Armor of Gloom (full plate mail)
Crackrust (mace) Demonspike Coat (full plate mail)
The Deflector (buckler) Giant’s Knuckle (ring)
Gonnagal’s Dirk (dagger) The Grizzly (two-handed sword)
Lightforge2 (mace) Inferno (long sword)
The Mangler (large axe) Karik’s Ring (ring)
Mercurial Ring (ring)
Ring of Magma (ring)
Ring of the Mystics (ring)
Xorine’s Ring (ring)

1 In addition to the ones from Diablo.

2 It seems that although findable in single player, it will morph as soon as a new game is started or loaded.

The table below lists the order for those cases where more than two unique items have the same qlvl. All other cases only have two items with the same qlvl and it should be obvious that the unique item not in the table above is dropped first (and always dropped in multi player).

Base item qlvl Order, from first to last1
Full Plate Mail 25 Demon Plate Armor, Armor of Gloom and Demonspike Coat
Mace 1 Civerb’s Cudgel, Crackrust and Lightforge
Ring 8 Ring of Thunder, Ring of the Mystics, Ring of Magma, Karik’s Ring, Xorine’s Ring, Mercurial Ring and Giant’s Knuckle

1 In multi player only the first one is findable.

3.6 Prices of magical items

This chapter will describe how the price of magical items is calculated. Please note that much of the information in this chapter was initially compiled and collected by Ironbeard. I have rewritten it quite a bit to better fit with the rest of the guide and newer findings.

3.6.1 Formulas

The price of a magical item is affected by three elements: the base effect of a prefix/suffix, the quality effect of a prefix/suffix, and the item’s base cost multiplied by the prefix/suffix intrinsic multiplier. On staves with spells there is an additional factor added to the item’s base cost which depends on the spell type and number of charges. The formulas for calculating the price of all magical items are given below.

All magical items except staves with spells:

C = Bp + Bs +Qp + Qs + I · (Mp + Ms) if Mp + Ms ≥ 0

C = Bp + Bs +Qp + Qs + I / (Mp + Ms) if Mp + Ms < 0

Staves with spells:

C = Bp +Qp + (I + H·P) · Mp if Mp ≥ 0

C = Bp +Qp + (I + H·P) / Mp if Mp < 0

where:

C = Total cost

Bp = Base prefix effect

Bs = Base suffix effect

Qp = Quality effect of the prefix

Qs = Quality effect of the suffix

I = Cost of base item

H = Number of charges on staff

P = Spell multiplier

Mp = Prefix intrinsic multiplier

Ms = Suffix intrinsic multiplier

Some prefixes/suffixes, like speed or the ages, do not have the Q to affect the price, and in such cases the price formulas would be simplified to:

All magical items except staves with spells:

C = Bp + Bs + I · (Mp + Ms) if Mp + Ms ≥ 0

C = Bp + Bs + I / (Mp + Ms) if Mp + Ms < 0

Staves with spells:

C = Bp + (I + H·P) · Mp if Mp ≥ 0

C = Bp + (I + H·P) / Mp if Mp < 0

Cursed and semi-cursed items

The lower formulas (if Mp + Ms <0 or Mp < 0) only come into play when you have a prefix/suffix with a negative multiplier. Only cursed prefixes and suffixes have that. However, one suffix, of corruption, although being a cursed one, has a positive multiplier. On the other hand, it has a negative base suffix effect. For items that are all cursed, the sum is always negative. For semi cursed items, that is, those that have one cursed and one non cursed prefix and suffix, one has to first calculate the sum of the two multipliers to see which formula to use.

The quality effect, Q

Let’s look into the somewhat trickier part, the Q thing. Some prefixes/suffixes have different levels of quality. For example, the suffix vigor can have an attribute boost on vitality ranging from 16 to 20 points. Or, the prefix massive can boost a weapon’s damage from 96% to 110%. This has an effect on the cost.

Let’s use the prefix massive as an example here. The lowest level of quality of that prefix is when it gives a weapon a damage boost of 96%. At that point, the prefix has the base effect B of 2000 and what is more, at that base level of quality, the prefix has no quality effect Q on the item’s price. If we take the highest quality (110%), we will have a quality effect Q of 450 on the price. Putting it together we can see that the B + Q can range from 2000 (the base B value) to 2450 (the max value). Subtracting 2000 from 2450 we get 450, which is the quality range of the prefix, we shall call it R (range).

Now, how about the different quality levels in between the base and the max values? Starting from the base at 96% we go on to 97%, 98%,… until we reach the max Q value at 110%. And we took 14 steps to get there (110 - 96 = 14). The quality level on the first step (97%) is 1/14 or 0.071428. On the second step it is 2/14 or 0.142857 and so on until on the last step (at 110%) it is 14/14 or 1. The Q can now be counted with the values we have:

Q = L/S · R

where:

L = Location or quality level

S = Total number of steps in the prefix/suffix

R = Range of the quality effect (Max - Base)

One important note here: When counting the value of L/S and you get something like 0.071428 or 0.777777 (7/9) you take into account only two digits after the decimal, meaning that in the first case we would have the L/S to yield 0.07 and in the second case 0.77. Alternatively one can use the formula below in which case the rounding is done automatically:

Q = [ { [ (100·(Stat - MinStat)) / (MaxStat - MinStat) ] · (Max - Base) } / 100 ]

Unidentified magical item

An unidentified magical item has a price as given below.

All magical items except staves with spells:

C = I

Staves with spells:

C = I + H·P

3.6.2 Additional notes on the prices

On any armor or helm, the actual armor class has no effect on the price, i.e. full plate (AC 74) of ages has the same price as full plate (AC 69) of ages. In the prefixes like Warrior’s and king’s which give weapons a boost both to the To Hit and damage, the To Hit does not affect the price, only the damage quality level has an effect on the price.

For items that are not cursed or semi cursed (or rather Mp + Ms > 0), one can calculate the price of an item having both a prefix and a suffix as two separate items, one having the prefix and one having the suffix, and simply add the prices together.

You can sell items to Griswold and Adria for one fourth of the item’s price. Wirt’s price is 150% times Griswold’s price in Diablo and 75% times Griswold’s price in Hellfire. Some items can be sold by both Griswold and Wirt and identical items can thus have different prices depending on where you bought it. Items found in dungeons always have Griswold prices. Any item bought at Wirt will have its price reset to the normal one, 100% of Griswold’s price, as soon as you start a new game, give it away, or leave it on the ground and go to another dungeon level or town.

You can’t sell an item at Griswold if you will be given more gold for it than can fit in your inventory. At Adria, however, any excess gold will simply be discarded.

3.6.3 Recharge cost

Staves can be recharged at Adria (or by a Sorcerer, see chapter 2.4). The cost to recharge a staff can be calculated using the formula below:

RcC = FRcC · (1 - CurCha/MaxCha)

where:

RcC = Recharge Cost

FRcC = Full Recharge Cost (see below)

MaxDur = Maximum charges on item

CurDur = Current charges on item

The Full Recharge Cost in the formula above can be calculated with:

FRcC = 0.50 · (I + 5·P) if unique or starting staff of the Sorcerer

FRcC = 0.50 · (I + H·P + 5·P) if not unique and not starting staff of the Sorcerer

where:

FRcC = Full Recharge Cost

I = Cost of base item (always a staff).

H = Number of charges on staff.

P = The spell multiplier.

If the recharge cost is less than 1 gold (can happen if the ratio CurDur/MaxDur is less than 1%), Adria will actually recharge the staff for free, that is 0 gold.

Just as with the price of magical items, when calculating the value of CurCha/MaxCha you take into account only two digits after the decimal. Alternatively one can use the formula below in which case the rounding is done automatically:

RcC = [ [ { [ (100·(MaxCha - CurCha)) / MaxCha ] · (I + H·P + 5·P) } / 100 ] / 2 ]

3.7 Durability of items

All unique items and staves with spells found in the dungeon have full durability. So do all items bought in town, of course. All other items found in the dungeon only have partial durability in the range below:

Durability of items found in dungeon: (1 + maxdur/4) to 3·maxdur/4

3.7.1 Losing durability

All items (except those that are indestructible) have a durability, which will, over time, decrease as you fight. The table below explains under what circumstances and with what chance the durability will go down. It will never go down by more than 1 at a time.

Item type When durability may decrease Chance of decreasing
Armor1 Character is stunned 3/4 · 2/3 = 1/22 50.0%
Helm1 Character is stunned 3/4 · 1/3 = 1/42 25.0%
Shield Character blocks an attack 1/10 10.0%
Melee weapon Character hits 1/30 3.3%
Bow Character fires 1/40 2.5%

1 If you don’t wear both armor and helm but only one of them, the chance is 3/4 that its durability will be decreased.

2 You will never lose durability on both the armor and the helm in the same hit.

3.7.2 Repair cost

Repairs are done at Griswold (or by a Warrior, see chapter 2.4). Griswold uses the following formulas to calculate the cost:

RpC = 0.15 · Price · (1 - CurDur/MaxDur) For magical and unique items

RpC = 0.50 · Price · (1 - CurDur/MaxDur) For non magical and unidentified items

where:

RpC = Repair Cost

Price = Buying price of the item

MaxDur = Maximum durability of item

CurDur = Current durability of item

If the repair cost is less than 1 gold Griswold won’t repair it. That makes many of the cursed items irreparable. There also seems to be a bug so that when the ratio CurDur/MaxDur is greater than 99%, the repair cost is rounded down to 0 along the way and is thus not repairable until it takes more damage.

Just as with the price of magical items, when counting the value of CurDur/MaxDur you take into account only two digits after the decimal. Alternatively one can use the formulas below (plus the step by step list following) in which case the rounding is done automatically:

For magical and unique items first calculate:

RpC = [ { [ (100·(MaxDur - CurDur)) / MaxDur] · (30 · Price) } / 100 ]

For non magical and unidentified items first calculate:

RpC = [ { [ (100·(MaxDur - CurDur)) / MaxDur] · Price } / 100 ]

Then, do the following:

  1. if RpC = 1, then exit

  2. if RpC > 1, then RpC = [RpC/2], that is, divide the repair cost by 2, then exit

  3. if the item is a non magical and non unique item, set RpC = 1, then exit

  4. if the item is not identified, set RpC = 1, then exit

  5. at this point the item is an identified magical or unique item and RpC is 0 or below 0; the item is in this case not repairable (this would be the case for identified cursed and some semi cursed items)

3.8 Item creation in dungeon

This chapter tries to explain how the game creates items and what factors affect the creation. Only items generated in the dungeon are discussed. Some of it applies to items created in town as well, but for more details about items created in town, see chapter 3.9. Most of this chapter will not refer specifically to the Hive or the Crypt, but as with much else, they should be equivalent to Caves and Hell. Some quests will give you special items (not counting the special quest items). For information about them, see each individual quest in chapter 8.

In most of the situations below the game has to pick a certain item, prefix/suffix, unique, spell, or other property of an item out of several possible ones or within a range. Unless otherwise noted the probability should be equal for all possible choices in that situation.

Base item in this chapter not only refers to the various equipable items, but also includes scrolls, potions, elixirs, runes, books of and oils of; see chapters 3.1 - 3.2.3 for information about them.

An item can come from many different sources in the dungeon, and depending on the source, the creation routine is a bit different. To facilitate the explanation below let us first define a new term, ilvl. It is defined for various sources in the table below. For information about a monsters mlvl or mlvlitem, see chapters 5.2 and 5.4.

Source of item Definition of ilvl
normal monster mlvl1
unique monster and special monster2 mlvlitem3
decapitated body, sarcophagus, on the ground4, bookcase, skeleton tome, library book and racks 2·dlvl5
chest, barrel, pod, urn 2·dlvl or dlvl5,6

1 Use the mlvl for normal difficulty regardless of what difficulty you are playing on.

2 Note that for the purpose of dropping items, Diablo is neither a special nor a unique monster but a normal one.

3 The +4 bonus will be found in the appropriate steps below.

4 You will often find potions of various sorts on the ground; they are specially placed there and are not generated according to normal rules.

5 The Hive levels are numbered 9-12 and the Crypt levels are numbered 13-16.

6 Most chests, barrels, pods and urns have an ilvl equal to 2·dlvl, although some have it equal to dlvl. Those that have the ilvl equal to dlvl will only generate potions and scrolls (and oils in Hellfire). See chapter 3.8.1 for more information. Items created with an ilvl = dlvl are referred to as special items in this chapter.

Level of mini dungeons!!!!

Special items

Special items appear on those occasions where the item created will not follow normal procedures. Such special items will normally only generate potions and scrolls (in Hellfire it also includes oils). For more information about what base items are possible for special items, see chapter 3.8.3.

3.8.1 What is dropped?

First the game has do decide if an item is to be dropped at all, if it is going to be gold or an item. The exact probabilities for these are greatly affected by the source of the item. Each source is explained below.

Normal monster

Gold: 30.3%

Item: 10.7%

Nothing: 59.0%

Number of possible items Small chest Chest Large chest
0 50 % 33.3 % 25 %
1 50 % 33.3 % 25 %
2 - 33.3% 25 %
3 - - 25 %

For each chest the probability of the items in them being created with varying ilvl is:

Special item (ilvl = dlvl): 12.5%

Non special item (ilvl = 2·dlvl): 87.5%

All items in a chest will thus either be all special items or all non special items. For each possible item in a chest without special items, the probability is then as follows:

Gold: 75%

Item: 25%

If the chest is determined to have special items, all possible items will drop as special items. For information about items created by different ilvl, see chapter 3.8.2.

Chests only exist in Church, Catacombs, Caves and Hell.

Barrels, pods and urns

Pods and Urns are, for item creation, treated as barrels, so anything said about barrels below applies equally to pods and urns.

Barrels can be of two different types, exploding and non exploding. For information about exploding barrels, see chapter 4.3. Approximately 20% of all barrels are exploding ones. The information below will only apply to non exploding barrels. Exploding barrels will never have items in them.

Skeleton: 20%

Gold: 10%

Special item: 6.7%

Item: 3.3%

Nothing: 60%

Sarcophagus

Skeleton: 20%

Gold: 22.5%

Item: 7.5%

Nothing: 50%

Bookcase

Book: 100%

3.8.2 Item type

Next, the item type that is to be generated is determined, and the procedure is as follows (this step is skipped for gold and special items).

Determination of base item

First, it has to be determined what the base item should be. For information about base items, see chapters 3.1 and 3.2. Each base item has a qlvl, and those within the ranges below can be dropped. Depending on the source of the item some base items are, of course, excluded (see chapter 3.8.1).

Normal and special monster: 1 to mlvl

Unique monster: 1 to mlvlbattle

Other: 1 to ilvl

Is it unique?

If the item was determined to be magical it is next checked for to see if it is unique. The probability of being unique is listed below depending on source. Note that the probability to be unique is applied for this step only. The total probability of an item to be unique is of course less as not all items are magical or even could be magical.

Unique monster: 16%

Other: 2%

3.8.3 Item properties

Once the base item has been determined, the properties of the item are to be decided. In many cases the item can’t have additional properties. That is the case for scrolls, potions, non magical items (as determined by the step above), runes, and some oils (see chapter 3.2.1). If so, this step is not performed. Otherwise, the properties have to be determined, and the procedure depends a bit on what type of item it is. Thus, each item type will be dealt with separately.

Gold

The amount of gold dropped or found on the dungeon floor is determined by the formulas below:

Normal difficulty: 5·dlvl to 15·dlvl - 1

Nightmare difficulty: 5·(16 + dlvl) to 15·(16 + dlvl) - 1

Hell difficulty: 5·(32 + dlvl) to 15·(32 + dlvl) - 1

The range above means that unless the lower limit is set to 25, the highest qlvl of an item with both a prefix and a suffix can’t be more than twice the level of the lower one. This rule is good to know when you want to see if a prefix and a suffix can coexist on an item. It is also worth noticing that as the range above is based on the mlvl, not modified for difficulty level (or 2·dlvl), so the prefix and suffix with the highest qlvl you will ever find in the dungeon has qlvl 34. There is no prefix or suffix in the range of 32-34, so qlvl 31 is the highest one you will find, and only emerald has that qlvl. In Hellfire (but not Diablo), Diablo is level 45, so he can drop items with prefixes and suffixes of qlvl up to 45. Similarly, Na-Krul can drop items with prefixes and suffixes of qlvl up to 44 as he is level 40, and the +4 bonus for being a unique monster applies to him. If for any reason the game fails to select a prefix and/or a suffix, the game will then proceed to create the item as a normal non magical item instead. See chapter 3.13.3 for a list of prefixes and suffixes in the order of their qlvl.

Some prefixes actually has a double chance of being chosen. The table below list all prefixes that has a double chance of being chosen.

+% Armor Class +% To Hit +% To Hit /
+% Damage Done
+% Damage Done
vulnerable1 tin1 clumsy1 useless1
rusted1 brass1 dull1 bent1
fine bronze sharp1 weak
strong iron fine jagged
grand steel Warrior’s deadly
valiant silver soldier’s heavy
glorious gold lord’s vicious
blessed platinum knight’s brutal
saintly mithril master’s massive
awesome meteoric champion’s savage
holy weird king’s ruthless
godly strange merciless

1 A cursed prefix. See below for more information when possible.

Despite what has been said above, there are some combinations of prefixes and suffixes that can-not exist on the same item. The table below list all combinations that are. As the game always picks the prefix first, it is always the suffix that will be discarded; this can be important to know if one wants to figure out exactly what items are possible and the probabilities of them.

None of the combinations below can exist on the same item
angel’s trouble
arch-angel’s trouble
blessed trouble
frog’s vitality
glorious trouble
gold pit
gold the vulture
gold corruption

Cursed prefixes and suffixes are those who give some sort of drawback to your character when you wear them. It is quite obvious for most prefixes and suffixes. For the ones affecting the light radius, the ones decreasing it are considered as cursed ones. The prefix sharp is also treated as cursed, most likely due to a bug. Cursed items are not allowed to appear when the item comes from certain sources. Below is listed if a source can give out cursed items, and if it can, how large the chance is compared to non cursed prefixes and suffixes.

Unique monsters: No

Weapon Rack: No

Armor Rack on dlvl 5 and 13-15: No

Armor Rack on dlvl 6-9: 16.5%

Armor Rack on dlvl 10-12: 33.0%

Adria, Griswold, Pepin and Wirt: No

On the ground: No

Other: 33.0%

Staff

Staves can either have a spell or be normal magical items (of course, they can also be plain staves but that is very rare). The chances for what type the staff will be is as follows:

Chance for having spell: 75%

Chance for having prefix if it has a spell: 10%

When found in the dungeon, all non unique staves with spells have full charges. Unique staves has a specific number of current charges according to the table below. All staves bought in town have full charges, of course.

Unique staff Number of charges when found1
Gleamsong 10
Mindcry 13
Naj’s Puzzler 23
The Protector 2
Rod of Onan 21
Thundercall 3

1 I would say this is a bug and the intention was to make unique staves also have full charges when found. As it is now, the number of charges is the same as the slot number in which you find the spell on the item in the internal spell table.

Due to the way the game picks a random spell, some spells have a higher chance to be selected than others at a given situation. As the probabilities are different for different ilvl, it is hard to give exact numbers. The general procedure is as follows:

  1. calculate x = Rnd[37] + 1 (in Hellfire, calculate x = Rnd[52]
  2. start with the first spell in the internal list of spells

  3. step forward until a spell that exists on staves (or books if it is for a book) and has low enough ilvl is found (if you ever reach the end, restart from the beginning)

  4. decrease x by one

  5. if x is not 0, goto step 3

  6. the last spell found in step 3, is the one chosen to appear on the staff (or book)

Position1 Spell Book Staff Position1 Spell Book Staff
1 Firebolt Yes Yes 19 Charged Bolt Yes Yes
2 Healing Yes Yes 20 Holy Bolt Yes Yes
3 Lightning Yes Yes 21 Ressurect3 No Yes
4 Flash Yes Yes 22 Telekinesis Yes Yes
5 Fire Wall Yes Yes 23 Heal Other3 Yes Yes
6 Town Portal Yes Yes 24 Blood Star Yes Yes
7 Stone Curse Yes Yes 25 Bone Spirit Yes Yes
8 Phasing Yes Yes 26 Mana No Yes
9 Mana Shield Yes Yes 27 Magi No Yes
10 Fireball Yes Yes 28 Jester No Yes
11 Guardian Yes Yes 29 Lightning Wall Yes Yes
12 Chain Lightning Yes Yes 30 Immolation Yes Yes
13 Flame Wave Yes Yes 31 Warp Yes Yes
14 Nova Yes2 Yes 32 Reflect Yes Yes
15 Golem Yes Yes 33 Berserk Yes Yes
16 Teleport Yes Yes 34 Ring of Fire Yes Yes
17 Apocalypse Yes2 Yes 35 Search Yes Yes
18 Elemental Yes Yes

1 Position 26 to 35 only exist in Hellfire.

2 Only exists as books in Hellfire.

3 In single player, the spells Heal Other and Resurrect are automatically skipped and do not count even if the ilvl is high enough.

Book

If the item type is a book of, the game then attaches a spell to the book. The qlvl of the spell can be in the range given below. For a list of qlvl of spells on books see chapter 3.2.3.

Range of qlvl for spell on books: 1 to ilvl/2

For information about how the spell is chosen, see above under Staff.

Oil

Oils can, as noted in chapter 3.2.1, be of two types; either the oil together with its type is treated as a base item, just like a potion and thus no further processing of the oil is needed, or it can be created as the base item oil of, to which an oil type is then attached. See chapter 3.2.1 for more information on which oils can be created in which way. If the case is the latter one, the oil type attached to the oil follows the range below:

Range of qlvl for oil type: 1 to ilvl

Special item

A special item can only be of a limited number of base items. In Diablo, the list below shows what base items are possible and their probabilities.

Scroll of Town Portal 33.3%

Potion of Healing 33.3%

Potion of Mana 33.3%

In Hellfire the list is slightly modified and depends on the dlvl. For dlvl 1 the list of probabilities is:

Potion of Healing 42.9%

Potion of Mana 42.9%

Blacksmith Oil 14.3%

For any dlvl higher than 1 in Hellfire, the list of probabilities is:

Scroll of Town Portal 28.6%

Potion of Healing 28.6%

Potion of Mana 28.6%

Blacksmith Oil 14.3%

3.9 Item creation in town

For many parts, the creation of items in town is the same as that in the dungeon, but there are several differences and they are explained in this chapter. In the table below are listed what type of items you can buy from each person in town.

Person Items sold1
Adria staves2, books, scrolls, mana potions, rejuvenation potions and elixirs3
Griswold weapons (excluding staves4), armor, helms, shields and jewlery5
Pepin healing potions, rejuvenation potions, scroll of resurrect, scroll of healing and elixirs3,5
Wirt6 weapons (excluding staves4), armor, helms, shields and jewlery5

1 Only Griswold and Adria will buy items.

2 In Hellfire only with spells.

3 Once you are level 26 in multi player or have been to Hell, Crypt, or Hive in single player.

4 In Hellfire he does sell staves.

5 In single player only.

6 For special exceptions regarding Wirt, see chapter 3.9.4.

Just as for item creation in the dungeon we start by defining the ilvl for each person that you can shop from in town. It is done in the table below.

Source of item Definition of ilvl
Adria special1
Griswold basic items special1
Griswold premium items varying from clvl-1 to clvl+22
Pepin special1
Wirt clvl

1 See table below for how clvl is converted to ilvl in special cases.

2 Maximum ilvl is 30 in all cases, though. In Hellfire it varies from clvl-1 to clvl+3. See table below for exact variation.

As noted in the table above, ilvl is in many cases derived in a special way; the table below explains how it is derived for Adria’s, Pepin’s and Griswold’s basic items. In multi player it depends on your character level. In single player it depends on what dungeon level you have been to in the current game. Difficulty does not affect it in any way.

Definition of ilvl at Adria, Pepin and for Griswold’s basic items
Single Player
dlvl
1 - 4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14 - 16
Hive / Crypt1

1 Only available in Hellfire.

For Griswold’s premium items the ilvl varies depending on what slot the items is created in (in his list of items). The table below explains exactly how.

Definition of ilvl for Griswold’s premium items
slot1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

1 There are only six slots in Diablo.

When you gain a level, the items in slot 1 and 2 (and 3 in Hellfire) are removed and items are pushed upwards so that slot 4 and 6 becomes empty (slot 11, 13 and 15 in Hellfire). Those empty slots are then refilled with new items of the appropriate ilvl matching the slot.

It is worth noticing that even if two characters are the same level they will be offered different items in town even if they are in the same game. Thus, it can be rewarding to ask others to check for any item you might want if you are playing multi player.

3.9.1 Adria

Adria has an unlimited supply of Potions of Mana, Potions of Full Mana and scrolls of Town Portal. In addition to those, Adria offers 7 to 14 random base items with a qlvl in the range below. She will renew her inventory each time you come back up from the dungeons or reload the game in single player.

Range of qlvl for base item: 1 to ilvl

The prefix, suffix and spell on the appropriate item is then chosen according to the ranges below:

Range of qlvl for spell (staff or book): 1 to ilvl

Range of qlvl for prefix on staff with spell: 1 to 2·ilvl

Range of qlvl for prefix and suffix on staff without spell: ilvl to 2·ilvl

As the ilvl at Adria can never be higher than 16 (see table in chapter 3.9), there is a cap at qlvl 32 for prefixes and suffixes at Adria. For spells and base items the cap is at 16.

3.9.2 Griswold

Griswold has two types of items: basic ones that are not magical, and premier ones that are always magic.

Basic items

For the basic items he offers 10 to 19 random items with a qlvl in the range below.

Range of qlvl for base item: 1 to ilvl

As with items from normal monsters, bows has a double chance of being selected. He will renew his inventory of basic items each time you come back up from the dungeons or reload the game in single player.

Premier items

For the premier items, Griswold sells base items with a qlvl that follow the range listed below. He will offer 6 items in Diablo and 15 items in Hellfire. The qlvl of the prefix and suffix of magical items also follows the same range.

Range of qlvl for base item: ilvl/4 to ilvl

Range of qlvl for prefixes and suffixes: ilvl/2 to ilvl

In Hellfire there is an additional factor to consider. If possible he will try to sell items that are better (more expensive than 80% of your most expensive item) than the ones you are already carrying (both equipped ones and not equipped ones). The test is done separately for each item type group (amulet, armor, axe, bow, club, helm, ring, shield, staff and sword). If you don’t have any item of a type, any other item of that type is considered to be better. Thus to get progressively better items you should keep the most expensive item of each item type in your inventory. This check for better items is also done for items that are created to fill up a slot after you have leveled or bought one of his items. Also note that this works in Hellfire only. Sometimes you will see an item ”violating” this rule in Hellfire, as the game only tries a specific number of times, and if it has not found an item that matches in those tries it sticks with whatever item it generates next.

3.9.3 Pepin

Pepin has unlimited supply of Potions of Healing, Potions of Full Healing and scrolls of Resurrect (in multi player only). In addition to those, Pepin offers 7 to 14 random base items with a qlvl in the range below. He will renew his inventory each time you come back up from the dungeons or reload the game in single player.

Range of qlvl for base item: 1 to ilvl

3.9.4 Wirt

Wirt will only offer one item for sale and you have to pay 50 gold just to see it. The maximum qlvl of prefixes and suffixes is 60, which means he could theoretically sell any type of item otherwise possible in the game (of the types listed in the table in chapter 3.9) if it were not for the price limit (see chapter 3.10). He offers items whose base item has a qlvl in the range below.

Range of qlvl for base item: 1 to ilvl

The prefixes and suffixes are then chosen with a qlvl in the following range:

Range of qlvl for prefixes and suffixes: ilvl to 2·ilvl

He will renew the item only if you have bought the previous one and then gone into the dungeons or when you gain a new character level that is even.

In Hellfire, Wirt will only sell certain item types to you depending on your character class. The table below summarizes what items he will sell to each character class. Wirt will, in Hellfire, also try to offer you better (more expensive than 80% of your most expensive item) items than what you already have (both equipped ones and not equipped ones).

Class Items never sold at Wirt in Hellfire
Warrior bows and staves
Rogue axes, clubs, swords, staves and shields
Sorcerer axes, clubs, bows and staves
Monk clubs, bows, shields and medium armor (see chapter 3.1 for definition of medium armor)
Bard axes, clubs and staves
Barbarian bows and staves

3.10 General remarks on possible items

As can be seen in the wealth of information about items, finding out what items are really possible can be hard. In this chapter I will try to explain some simple ways of finding out if that particular item you are looking for can really be found or bought. Let’s go through what affects what items can really be found or bought in the game. Mostly the discussion will be about prefixes and suffixes.

Occurrence of prefix and suffix

Most prefixes and suffixes can only exist on certain base items. This information can be found in chapter 3.3 and in summary in chapter 3.13.6. A quick look can rule out the possibility of an item like an emerald ring. As the base item is determined by the modified for difficulty mlvl, there should be no restrictions on what base item a prefix or suffix can occur on within a certain item type. That is, if it can occur on a dagger, it can also occur on a bastard sword. An exception to this is Griswold’s premium items that have a lower limit of ilvl/4 for the qlvl on base items.

qlvl of prefix and suffix

Just because both a prefix and a suffix can exist on a base item does not mean you can find them both on the same item. As explained in chapter 3.8, the qlvl of a prefix and a suffix must be in the range of:

ilvl/2 - ilvl: for non Wirt and Adria items, including items form the dungeons

ilvl - 2·ilvl: for Wirt and Adria items

Items from Adria only follow Wirt if they are staves without spells. From this it follows that the prefix or suffix with the lowest qlvl on an item can never be higher than half (rounded down except for Wirt and some Adria items) the qlvl of the higher one (the other way around the higher level can never be higher than 2 times the lower one, plus one if odd, (except for Wirt and some Adria items) the plus one due to rounding effects if the item does not come from Wirt or Adria). As noted in the same chapter the exception for this is that if the highest limit of the qlvl is higher than 50 the lower limit is always 25. This rule can quickly rule out an item like obsidian shield of brilliance as impossible as the qlvl of the prefix and suffix is 24 and 11. This only has importance if an item has both a prefix and a suffix.

There are no restrictions on the relationship between the qlvl of the base item and the qlvl of any additional attributes of the item such as prefixes, suffixes, spells and uniques. Thus, a godly cap of the whale is a completely valid item (you will only be able to buy it at Wirt though).

Restrictions in the dungeon

As explained in chapter 3.8, prefixes and suffixes are assigned to items based on a monsters unmodified mlvl. This means that no prefix or suffix with a qlvl higher than 30 (34 when a unique monster drops it as they have a +4 bonus) can be found in the dungeons, except from Diablo and Na-Krul in Hellfire, which have a maximum limit of 45 and 44. This rules out quite a few of the best prefixes and suffixes such as a godly plate of whale, even if they would be possible according to what was said above under occurrences and level differences. Similarly, items from non monsters have a limit of 30 in Diablo and 34 in Hellfire (2·dlvl). Note, this is true for any version of Diablo, even 1.00. Wirt (but not Griswold) can still sell those prefixes and suffixes impossible to find in the dungeons.

Restrictions at Griswold and Adria

The same restriction mentioned above for the dungeon also applies to Griswold and Adria. They will never sell you any item with a prefix or suffix with a qlvl higher than 30 (32 at Adria). This again rules out the best prefixes and suffixes even if they would be possible according to what was said above under occurrences and qlvl differences.

Restrictions on the price

Even if an item would be possible according to anything that has been said above, when the item is sold in town it cannot be more expensive than the price maximum. This maximum is 140 000 (90 000 at Wirt) gold in Diablo and 200 000 gold in Hellfire (150 000 gold in version 1.00 of Hellfire). Any item more expensive than that will never be sold. This will also rule out several items such as a merciless long war bow of heavens or an awesome full plate of the lion, especially at Wirt who could otherwise have sold any item that met the occurrence and level requirements explained above. Note that the price of items at Wirt is capped before they are modified by 150% in Diablo and 75% in Hellfire. This makes the effective cap at Wirt to be 135 000 in Diablo and 150 000 in Hellfire (112 500 in version 1.00 of Hellfire). This makes some items that are not available in Diablo available in Hellfire. On rare occasions it seems that the price, at least in Hellfire, can be slightly higher than the cap.

Other restrictions

Just a few other words on what is possible and not. A unique item can only be of the base item listed in chapter 3.5. A Dreamflange can, for example, only be a mace and, nothing else.

The difficulty you play on only affects the base item, but as a consequence of this some unique items are only findable on specific difficulties as both the qlvl of the base item and the qlvl of the unique item have to be fulfilled for a monster to drop it. An example of this is the Helm of Sprits, which can only be found in nightmare and hell difficulty. I leave it as an exercise to the reader to figure out why!

As the highest qlvl of a base item is 25, any monster with an mlvl equal to that or above can drop the same items regardless of difficulty. This is true for almost all monsters in Hell and the Crypt. Thus item drops in Hell and the Crypt should be the same regardless of difficulty. For other dungeons you will find better base items in harder difficulty levels, but it should not affect what prefixes and suffixes you find.

What affects item creation

As can be seen from the information in chapter 3, the only things that affect what items one can find in the dungeon and can buy in town are the mlvl and dlvl in dungeons and the clvl (or dlvl visited in single player) in town. Thus, item creation is not affected by anything else. There is no influence caused by what you are carrying (except in Hellfire for Griswold’s and Wirt’s items), your character class, what items you use, who created the game, or other similar things. The only thing that will affect the creation is the initial seed used by the game in generating random numbers, and in both Diablo and Hellfire, the initial seed is generated out of the time when the game is created (and for items in town, the time when you shop; this is to avoid the chance that all players in the game see the same items, as they would then be treated by the game as duplicates).

3.11 Probabilities of finding unique items

As with all other items in the game with the exception of quest related items, which only exists in single player, unique items are created randomly by the game. In the table below are shown the rarity of all the unique items. The values have been calculated taking into account all the relevant information and formulas found in this Guide as well as all of the following:

The value given is an estimate of how many games it takes on average to find a specific unique. To find the probability of a specific unique to exist in a game, simply divide 1 by the number given. Given are also numbers telling on what dlvl the unique item has the highest overall chance (includes all sources) to be found. It is very important to realize that the number given here are necessarily not the same as the typical player will find. A typical player will for example not play in all areas equally much. Also, even though the chances are over all greater for monsters than for unique monsters, you need to kill a lot more of them. So if you are hunting for specific unique items, it is normally a much faster method to kill, say only bosses on level 13-15 than killing all monsters on the same levels. Never the less, the numbers below should give a rough estimate on how rare or common a specific unique item is. If an item is impossible to generate for some reason, it will say ”impossible”.

3.11.1 Probabilities in Diablo

Armor Normal Nightmare Hell
Name Probability dlvl Probability
Demonspike Coat 56 15 51
The Gladiator’s Bane 23 15 21
Leather of Aut 16 15 19
Naj’s Light Plate 40 15 38
Nightscape 32 15 34
The Rainbow Cloak 13 2 19
Scavenger Carapace 35 15 28
Sparking Mail 29 15 24
Torn Flesh of Souls 13 2 19
Wisdom’s Wrap 14 2 19
Axes Normal Nightmare Hell
Name Probability dlvl Probability
Aguinara’s Hatchet 24 15 27
Bloodslayer impossible - 150
The Celestial Axe 90 5 46
Hellslayer 31 15 33
The Mangler impossible - impossible
Messerschmidt’s Reaver 51 15 51
Sharp Beak impossible - 1 200
Stonecleaver 20 15 22
Wicked Axe 16 15 19
Bows Normal Nightmare Hell
Name Probability dlvl Probability
The Blackoak Bow 41 3 60
Bow of the Dead 20 15 19
The Celestial Bow impossible - 1 200
Deadly Hunter impossible - 2 100
Eaglehorn 54 15 54
Flamedart 21 15 24
Fleshstinger 26 15 28
The Needler 13 2 19
The Rift Bow 480 1 2 500
Windforce 40 15 35
Clubs Normal Nightmare Hell
Name Probability dlvl Probability
Baranar’s Star 14 2 19
The Celestial Star 20 15 19
Civerb’s Cudgel 18 2 29
Crackrust impossible - impossible
The Cranium Basher 25 15 27
Dreamflange 54 15 54
Gnarled Root, Club 20 15 24
Gnarled Root, Spiked Club 20 15 24
Hammer of Jholm 340 5 62
Lightforge impossible - impossible
Schaefer’s Hammer 32 15 34
Helms Normal Nightmare Hell
Name Probability dlvl Probability
Fool’s Crest 24 15 27
Gotterdamerung 43 15 43
Helm of Sprits impossible - 130
Overlord’s Helm 120 4 120
Royal Circlet 56 15 56
Thinking Cap 16 15 21
Jewelry Normal Nightmare Hell
Name Probability dlvl Probability
The Bleeder impossible - 59
Bramble impossible - impossible
Constricting Ring 28 2 16
Ring of Engagement 6 15 6
Ring of Regha impossible - 110
Shields Normal Nightmare Hell
Name Probability dlvl Probability
Blackoak Shield 16 15 19
The Deflector impossible - impossible
Dragon’s Breach 29 15 19
Holy Defender 23 15 24
Split Skull Shield 13 2 19
Stormshield, Gothic Shield 48 15 48
Stormshield, Tower Shield 50 15 48
Staves Normal Nightmare Hell
Name Probability dlvl Probability
Gleamsong 41 3 66
Immolator 22 2 40
Mindcry 41 15 41
Naj’s Puzzler 35 15 36
The Protector 32 15 34
Rod of Onan 44 15 45
Staff of Shadows impossible - 2 000
Storm Spire 64 6 45
Thundercall 29 15 31
Swords Normal Nightmare Hell
Name Probability dlvl Probability
Black Razor 31 2 75
The Bonesaw 18 15 21
The Defender 25 2 55
Doombringer 38 15 38
The Executioner’s Blade 14 2 19
The Falcon’s Talon 31 15 33
Gibbous Moon impossible - 120
Gonnagal’s Dirk impossible - impossible
The Grandfather 56 15 56
The Grizzly 46 15 46
Gryphons Claw 630 1 1 200
Ice Shank 30 3 41
Inferno 34 15 35
Lightsabre 26 15 28
Shadowhawk 20 15 23
Wizardspike 22 15 25

3.11.2 Probabilities in Hellfire

The reason most unique items are more likely in a Hellfire game than in a Diablo game is of course due to the fact that a Hellfire game has two additional dungeons with lots of more monsters and other sources for items.

Armor Normal Nightmare Hell
Name Probability dlvl Probability
Demonspike Coat impossible - impossible
The Gladiator’s Bane 20 15 18
Leather of Aut 15 15 17
Naj’s Light Plate 30 15 29
Nightscape 26 15 27
The Rainbow Cloak 12 2 17
Scavenger Carapace 28 15 23
Sparking Mail impossible - 140
Torn Flesh of Souls 12 2 19
Wisdom’s Wrap 13 2 17
Armor of Gloom impossible - impossible
Bone Chain Armor 24 15 23
Demon Plate Armor 46 15 42
Axes Normal Nightmare Hell
Name Probability dlvl Probability
Aguinara’s Hatchet 20 15 22
Bloodslayer impossible - 150
The Celestial Axe 92 5 47
Hellslayer 25 15 26
The Mangler impossible - impossible
Messerschmidt’s Reaver 24 15 42
Sharp Beak impossible - 1 300
Stonecleaver 18 15 19
Wicked Axe 15 15 17
Bows Normal Nightmare Hell
Name Probability dlvl Probability
The Blackoak Bow 42 3 60
Bow of the Dead 240 4 84
The Celestial Bow impossible - 1 300
Deadly Hunter impossible - 2 300
Eaglehorn 45 15 45
Flamedart 65 5 96
Fleshstinger 22 15 23
The Needler 12 2 17
The Rift Bow 600 1 2 800
Windforce 30 15 28
Blitzen 22 15 23
Flambeau 130 4 210
Gnat Sting 25 15 26
Clubs Normal Nightmare Hell
Name Probability dlvl Probability
Baranar’s Star 13 2 17
The Celestial Star 17 15 17
Civerb’s Cudgel 17 2 26
Crackrust impossible - impossible
The Cranium Basher 21 15 22
Dreamflange 45 15 45
Gnarled Root, Club 17 15 20
Gnarled Root, Spiked Club 17 15 20
Hammer of Jholm 350 5 63
Lightforge impossible - impossible
Schaefer’s Hammer 26 15 27
Thunderclap 130 3 170
Helms Normal Nightmare Hell
Name Probability dlvl Probability
Fool’s Crest 20 15 22
Gotterdamerung 32 15 32
Helm of Sprits impossible - 130
Overlord’s Helm 120 4 120
Royal Circlet 47 15 47
Thinking Cap 15 15 18
Jewelry Normal Nightmare Hell
Name Probability dlvl Probability
The Bleeder impossible - 65
Bramble impossible - impossible
Constricting Ring 28 2 16
Ring of Engagement 4 15 4
Ring of Regha impossible - 120
Amulet of Warding 2 H3 2
Acolytes Amulet 110 4 83
Giant’s Knuckle impossible - impossible
Gladiators Ring 190 7 150
Karik’s Ring impossible - impossible
Mercurial Ring impossible - impossible
Ring of Magma impossible - impossible
Ring of the Mystics impossible - impossible
Ring of Thunder 86 3 52
Xorine’s Ring impossible - impossible
Shields Normal Nightmare Hell
Name Probability dlvl Probability
Blackoak Shield 15 15 17
The Deflector impossible - impossible
Dragon’s Breach 24 15 17
Holy Defender 20 15 21
Split Skull Shield 12 2 17
Stormshield, Gothic Shield 38 15 38
Stormshield, Tower Shield 39 15 38
Staves Normal Nightmare Hell
Name Probability dlvl Probability
Gleamsong 42 3 67
Immolator 22 2 41
Mindcry 31 15 31
Naj’s Puzzler 27 15 28
The Protector 26 15 27
Rod of Onan 5 C4 5
Staff of Shadows impossible - 2 200
Storm Spire 65 6 45
Thundercall 24 15 25
Swords Normal Nightmare Hell
Name Probability dlvl Probability
Black Razor 33 2 77
The Bonesaw 16 15 18
The Defender 26 2 56
Doombringer 29 15 29
The Executioner’s Blade 12 2 17
The Falcon’s Talon 25 15 26
Gibbous Moon impossible - 120
Gonnagal’s Dirk impossible - impossible
The Grandfather 47 15 47
The Grizzly impossible - impossible
Gryphons Claw 760 1 1 300
Ice Shank 31 3 42
Inferno impossible - impossible
Lightsabre 22 15 23
Shadowhawk 18 15 19
Wizardspike 19 15 21
Diamondedge 27 15 28
Eater of Souls 35 15 35
Shirotachi 100 11 100

3.12 Probabilities of finding magical items

It would of course be possible to do similar tables for magical items, as for unique items. However, due to the almost infinite number of possible magical items as well as severe problems to do any probabilities for such items that are sold in town (especially in Hellfire), it is my decision to not have any such information in this guide.

3.13 Summary of various item properties

This chapter summarizes various properties of items and lets you review them without being confused by other non related properties. All data below can of course be found in the complete tables in chapter 3.1 - 3.5. To make it as convenient as possible, I have tried to have each summary on its own page or opening.

3.13.1 Levels of base items

Below is a list of all the base items in the game. It has been divided into two different tables: equipable items (excluding jewelry) and other items. The items are sorted by their qlvl.

Armor and Weapons
Item qlvl Item qlvl Item qlvl
Buckler 1 Spiked Club 4 Ring Mail 11
Cap 1 Claymore 5 Full Helm 12
Cape 1 Long Bow 5 Great Axe 12
Club 1 Small Shield 5 War Staff 12
Dagger 1 War Hammer 5 Chain Mail 13
Rags 1 Composite Staff 6 Kite Shield 14
Sable 1 Large Axe 6 Two-Handed Sword 14
Short Bow 1 Leather Armor 6 Scale Mail 15
Short Staff 1 Long Sword 6 Short War Bow 15
Short Sword 1 Composite Bow 7 Breast Plate 16
Cloak 2 Flail 7 Crown 16
Falchion 2 Hard Leather Armor 7 Great Sword 17
Mace 2 Broad Axe 8 Splint Mail 17
Small Axe 2 Broad Sword 8 Long War Bow 19
Hunter’s Bow 3 Helm 8 Plate Mail 19
Morning Star 3 Large Shield 9 Great Helm 20
Robe 3 Quarter Staff 9 Tower Shield 20
Axe 4 Short Battle Bow 9 Field Plate 21
Blade 4 Studded Leather Armor 9 Gothic Plate 23
Long Staff 4 Bastard Sword 10 Gothic Shield 23
Quilted Armor 4 Battle Axe 10 Full Plate Mail 25
Scimitar 4 Maul 10
Skull Cap 4 Long Battle Bow 11
Other base items
Item qlvl Item qlvl Item qlvl
Blacksmith Oil1 1 Rune if Lightning1 4 Scroll of Golem 10
Oil of Accuracy1 1 Scroll of Town Portal 4 Scroll of Chain Lightning 10
Oil of Sharpness1 1 Ring 5 Scroll of Flame Wave 10
Potion of Full Healing 1 Scroll of Flash 6 Scroll of Guardian 12
Potion if Full Mana 1 Scroll of Stone Curse 6 Book of 14
Potion of Healing 1 Scroll of Phasing 6 Scroll of Nova 14
Potion of Mana 1 Greater Rune of Fire1 7 Scroll of Teleport 14
Rune of Fire1 1 Greater Rune of Lightning1 7 Elixir of Dexterity 15
Scroll of Healing 1 Potion of Full Rejuvenation 7 Elixir of Magic 15
Scroll of Identify 1 Rune of Stone1 7 Elixir of Strength 15
Scroll of Inferno 1 Amulet 8 Ring 15
Scroll of Resurrect 1 Book of 8 Amulet 16
Book of 2 Scroll of Fireball 8 Book of 20
Potion of Rejuvenation 3 Scroll of Infravision 8 Elixir of Vitality 20
Scroll of Lightning 3 Scroll of Mana Shield 8 Scroll of Apocalypse 22
Scroll of Search1 3 Oil of1 10
Scroll of Fire Wall 4 Ring 10

1 Only available in Hellfire.

3.13.2 Levels of spells on books and staves

When spells are attached to books and staves (they never exist on scrolls as each scroll is a separate base item), they also have a qlvl, and that differs between books and staves. Below are listed the qlvl for both types sorted in qlvl order.

On books On books On staves On staves
Spell qlvl Spell qlvl Spell qlvl Spell qlvl
Charged Bolt 1 Ring of Fire1 5 Charged Bolt 1 Mana Shield 5
Fire Bolt 1 Mana Shield 6 Fire Bolt 1 Resurrect 5
Healing 1 Stone Curse 6 Healing 1 Ring of Fire1 5
Heal Other 1 Phasing 7 Heal Other 1 Stone Curse 5
Holy Bolt 1 Chain Lightning 8 Holy Bolt 1 Elemental 6
Search1 1 Elemental 8 Inferno 1 Phasing 6
Telekinesis 2 Fireball 8 Fire Wall 2 Chain Lightning 7
Fire Wall 3 Bone Spirit 9 Lightning Wall1 2 Fireball 7
Inferno 3 Flame Wave 9 Telekinesis 2 Bone Spirit 7
Town Portal 3 Guardian 9 Berserk1 3 Flame Wave 8
Berserk1 3 Golem 11 Reflect1 3 Guardian 8
Lightning Wall1 3 Blood Star 14 Warp1 3 Golem 9
Reflect1 3 Immolation1 14 Lightning 3 Immolation1 10
Warp1 3 Nova1 14 Search1 3 Nova 10
Lightning 4 Teleport 14 Town Portal 3 Teleport 12
Flash 5 Apocalypse1 19 Flash 4 Blood Star 13
Jester1 4 Apocalypse 15
Mana1 5 Magi1 20

1 Only available in Hellfire.

3.13.3 Levels of prefixes and suffixes

The tables below list all prefixes and suffixes according to their qlvl. All the prefixes are found in one table while all the suffixes are found in another table.

Prefix qlvl Prefix qlvl Prefix qlvl Prefix qlvl Prefix qlvl
brass 1 red 4 crimson 10 lightning 18 dragon’s 27
bronze 1 white 4 pearl 10 blessed 19 awesome 28
dull 1 clumsy 5 valiant 10 lord’s 19 king’s 28
fine 1 crystalline1 5 Warrior’s 10 cobalt 20 master’s 28
frog’s 1 raven’s 5 doppelgang.1 11 crystal 20 emerald 31
rusted 1 useless 5 amber 12 garnet 20 holy 35
sharp 1 deadly 6 gold 12 massive 20 ruthless 35
spider’s 1 fine 6 vicious 12 mithril 20 weird 35
weak 1 grand 6 glorious 14 drake’s 21 wyrm’s1 35
bent 3 steel 6 angel’s 15 knight’s 23 champion’s 40
strong 3 flaming 7 serpent’s 15 meteoric 23 godly 60
tin 3 jester’s1 7 soldier’s 15 savage 23 hydra’s1 60
vulnerable 3 topaz 8 brutal 16 obsidian 24 merciless 60
blue 4 bountiful 9 crimson 16 saintly 24 strange 60
hyena’s 4 heavy 9 ivory 16 arch-angel’s 25
iron 4 silver 9 lapis 16 diamond 26
jagged 4 snake’s 9 platinum 16 ruby 26
plentiful 4 azure 10 jade 18 sapphire 26

1 Only available in Hellfire.

Suffix qlvl Suffix qlvl Suffix qlvl Suffix qlvl Suffix qlvl
atrophy 1 quality 2 skill 5 thieves 11 the tiger 21
balance 1 tears 2 zest 5 vim 11 life 23
brittleness 1 the fool 3 the sky 5 absorption 12 perfection 23
decay1 1 fragility 3 craftman. 6 structure 12 titans 23
dexterity 1 frailty 3 the dark 6 trouble 12 wizardry 23
devastation1 1 illness 3 protection 6 shock 13 the ages 25
disease 1 many 3 maiming 7 slaying 15 gore 25
dyslexia 1 the night 3 plenty 7 the wolf 15 the heavens 25
flame 1 paralysis 3 the bat 8 the stars 17 haste 27
the fox 1 light 4 the leech 8 vigor 17 the lion 27
the jackal 1 pain 4 radiance 8 bashing 17 the zodiac 30
magic 1 the vulture 4 the eagle 9 giants 17 burning 35
piercing 1 the bear 5 puncturing 9 precision 17 carnage 35
readiness 1 blocking 5 stability 10 sorcery 17 the mammoth 35
strength 1 corruption 5 swiftness 10 blood 19 osmosis 50
sturdiness 1 the jaguar 5 accuracy 11 speed 19 slaughter 60
thorns 1 might 5 brilliance 11 vampires 19 thunder 60
vitality 1 the mind 5 fire 11 deflection 20 the whale 60
weakness 1 peril1 5 the moon 11 harmony 20
health 2 the pit 5 power 11 lightning 21

1 Only available in Hellfire.

3.13.4 Levels of unique items

The table below lists all unique items according to their qlvl. As quest items are only dropped in special occasions during the quests, they have no qlvl. I have listed them in a separate table below.

Unique Item qlvl Unique Item qlvl Unique Item qlvl
Black Razor 1 The Blackoak Bow 5 Bone Chain Armor1 13
Bramble 1 Bow of the Dead 5 Fleshstinger 13
Civerb’s Cudgel 1 Constricting Ring 5 Lightsabre 13
Crackrust 1 Wicked Axe 5 Scavenger Carapace 13
The Defender 1 Wisdom’s Wrap 5 Thunderclap1 13
The Deflector 1 The Bonesaw 6 Thundercall 14
Gonnagal’s Dirk 1 Gladiator’s Bane 6 The Falcon’s Talon 15
Gryphons Claw 1 Thinking Cap 6 Gnat Sting1 15
Hammer of Jholm 1 Overlords Helm 7 Hellslayer 15
Helm of Sprits 1 Stonecleaver 7 Nightscape 16
Lightforge 1 Giant’s Knuckle1 8 The Protector 16
The Rift Bow 1 Gleamsong 8 Schaefer’s Hammer 16
Ring of Regha 1 Karik’s Ring1 8 Diamondedge1 17
Split Skull Shield 1 Mercurial Ring1 8 Inferno 17
The Bleeder 2 Ring of Magma1 8 Windforce 17
The Celestial Bow 2 Shadowhawk 8 Naj’s Puzzler 18
The Celestial Star 2 Storm Spire 8 Doombringer 19
Dragon’s Breach 2 Ring of the Mystics1 8 Naj’s Light Plate 19
Gibbous Moon 2 Ring of Thunder1 8 Mindcry 20
The Mangler 2 Xorine’s Ring1 8 Gotterdamerung 21
The Needler 2 Gnarled Root 9 Shirotachi1 21
The Rainbow Cloak 2 Sparkling Mail 9 Rod of Onan 22
Sharp Beak 2 Acolytes Amulet1 10 Eater of Souls1 23
Staff of Shadows 2 Flamedart 10 The Grizzly 23
Thorn Flesh of Souls 2 Gladiators Rings1 10 Stormshield 24
Bloodslayer 3 Holy Defender 10 Armor of Gloom1 25
Deadly Hunter 3 Ring of Engagement 11 Demon Plate Armor1 25
The Executioner’s Blade 3 Flambeau1 11 Demonspike Coat 25
Ice Shank 3 Wizardspike 11 Messerschmidt’s Reaver 25
Blackoak Shield 4 Aguinara’s Hatchet 12 Dreamflange 26
The Celestial Axe 4 Amulet of Warding1 12 Eaglehorn 26
Immolator 4 The Cranium Basher 12 The Grandfather 27
Leather of Aut 4 Fool’s Crest 12 Royal Circlet 27
Baranar’s Star 5 Blitzen1 13

1 Only available in Hellfire.

Unique Item qlvl Unique Item qlvl Unique Item qlvl
Arkaine’s Valor n/a Empyrean Band n/a Ring of Truth n/a
Auric Amulet1 n/a Griswold’s Edge n/a The Undead Crown n/a
Bovine Plate1 n/a Harlequin Crest n/a Veil of Steel n/a
The Butcher’s Cleaver n/a Optic Amulet n/a

1 Only available in Hellfire.

3.13.5 Effects of prefixes and suffixes

The tables below are extracted from the more comprehensive ones above and summarize the effects of each prefix and suffix.

  • Strength
  • Magic
  • Dexterity
  • Vitality
  • All Attributes
frailty -10 - -6 the fool -10 - -6 paralysis -10 - -6 illness -10 - -6 trouble -10 - -6
weakness -5 - -1 dyslexia -5 - -1 atrophy -5 - -1 disease -5 - -1 the pit -5 - -1
strength 1 - 5 magic 1 - 5 dexterity 1 - 5 vitality 1 - 5 the sky 1 - 3
might 6 - 10 the mind 6 - 10 skill 6 - 10 zest 6 - 10 the moon 4 - 7
power 11 - 15 brilliance 11 - 15 accuracy 11 - 15 vim 11 - 15 the stars 8 - 11
giants 16 - 20 sorcery 16 - 20 precision 16 - 20 vigor 16 - 20 the heavens 12 - 15
titans 21 - 30 wizardry 21 - 30 perfection 21 - 30 life 21 - 30 the zodiac 16 - 20
  • Life
  • Mana
  • Damage Done
  • Damage Taken1
% Steal Life2
corruption -all the leech 3
the vulture -25 - -11 hyena’s -25 - -11 pain +4 - +2 blood 5
the jackal -10 - -1 frog’s -10 - -1 tears +1
the fox 10 - 15 spider’s 10 - 15 quality 1 - 2 health 1
the jaguar 16 - 20 raven’s 15 - 20 maiming 3 - 5 protection 2
the eagle 21 - 30 snake’s 21 - 30 slaying 6 - 8 absorption 3 % Steal Mana2
the wolf 30 - 40 serpent’s 30 - 40 gore 9 - 12 deflection 4 the bat 3
the tiger 41 - 50 drake’s 41 - 50 carnage 13 - 16 osmosis 5 - 6 vampires 5
the lion 51 - 60 dragon’s 51 - 60 slaughter 17 - 20
the. mam. 61 - 80 wyrm’s3 61 - 80
the whale 81 - 100 hydra’s3 81 - 100

1 Works for all type of damage, even from spells, but does not work against other players. The damage is reduced before any resistance is applied but after the thieves effect. The damage will never be reduced below 1.

2 The amount is based on damage done even if the monster has less HP left. Note that two items of life stealing, or two items of mana stealing are not cumulative with each other. An item of blood/vampire will take precedence over an item one of the leech/the bat. ). An exception is The Undead Crown which is cumulative with both an item of blood or an item of the leech for a total of 3% to 15.5% or 5% to 17.5% life stealing. The Helm of Sprits, Shadowhawk, and The Eater of Souls are treated as items of blood. The Eater of Souls are treated as an item of vampire. Does not work against players. See chapter 6.1.4 for more information.

3 Only available in Hellfire.

+% To Hit / +% Damage Done +% To Hit +% Damage Done +% Armor Class6
useless -100
clumsy -10 - -6 / -75 - -50 tin -10 - -6 bent -75 - -50 vulnerable -100 - -51
dull -5 - -1 / -45 - -25 brass -5 - -1 weak -45 - -25 rusted -50 - -25
sharp1 1 - 5 / 20 - 35 bronze 1 - 5 jagged 20 - 35 fine 20 - 30
fine 6 - 10 / 36 - 50 iron 6 - 10 deadly 36 - 50 strong 31 - 40
Warrior’s 11 - 15 / 51 - 65 steel 11 - 15 heavy 51 - 65 grand 41 - 55
soldier’s 16 - 20 / 66 - 80 silver 16 - 20 vicious 66 - 80 valiant 56 - 70
lord’s 21 - 30 / 81 - 95 gold 21 - 30 brutal 81 - 95 glorious 71 - 90
knight’s 31 - 40 / 96 - 110 platinum 31 - 40 massive 96 - 110 blessed 91 - 110
master’s 41 - 50 / 111 - 125 mithril 41 - 60 savage 111 - 125 saintly 111 - 130
champion’s 51 - 75 / 126 - 150 meteoric 61 - 80 ruthless 126 - 150 awesome 131 - 150
king’s 76 - 100 / 151 - 175 weird 81 - 100 merciless 151 - 175 holy 151 - 170
doppelganger’s2,3 21 - 30 / 81 - 95 strange 101 - 150 decay2,4 150 - 250 godly 171 - 200
crystalline2,5 200 - 280

1 Is treated by the game as a cursed item during item creation so you will, for example, not be able to buy it in town.

2 Only available in Hellfire.

3 Has a 5% chance of duplicating any monster hit except Diablo and unique monsters.

4 Bonus decreases by 5% each hit. When reaching -100%, the item is destroyed.

5 Also has from -30 to -70% lower durability.

6 There is a minimum increase of 1 in AC. That is, even if the percentage will give an increase to AC less than one, it will be increased by at least one. Due to a bug, any decrease in AC less than 1 will be transformed into a positive increase by 1.

+% Resist Magic1 +% Resist Fire1 +% Resist Light.1 +% Resist All1
  • Spell Levels
white 10 - 20 red 10 - 20 blue 10 - 20 topaz 10 - 15 angel’s 1 lvl
pearl 21 - 30 crimson 21 - 30 azure 21 - 30 amber 16 - 20 arch-angel’s 2 lvls
ivory 31 - 40 crimson 31 - 40 lapis 31 - 40 jade 21 - 30
crystal 41 - 50 garnet 41 - 50 cobalt 41 - 50 obsidian 31 - 40
diamond 51 - 60 ruby 51 - 60 sapphire 51 - 60 emerald 41 - 50

1 Is applied after any effects from thieves and -damage. It can reduce damage below 1.

  • Fire Damage1
  • Lightning Damage1
Damage / Penet. Armor2 × Charges
flame 1 - 3 shock 1 - 6 piercing 2 - 6 / 254 % plentiful 2
fire 1 - 6 lightning 1 - 10 puncturing 4 - 12 / 504 % bountiful 3
flaming3 1 - 10 lightning3 2 - 20 bashing 8 - 24 / 754 %
burning 1 - 16 thunder 1 - 20

1 There are quite a few bugs associated with fire and lightning arrows which make them often deal erroneous damage (way too high or no additional damage at all).

2 In Diablo these suffixes lower the AC of the target by a specific random amount in the range shown in the table. In Hellfire they reduce the AC of the target by a certain percentage shown in the table. It does not work against players. The exact value (in Diablo) is determined at the time of creation of the item and the extra To Hit is never shown on the character screen.

3 A prefix on non bow weapons. All others are suffixes on bows only.

4 Add 12.5 when used by a Barbarian.

+% Light Radius1 Weapon Speed2 Hit Recovery3 +% Durability
the dark -40 fragility =1
the night -20 brittleness -26 - -75
light 20 readiness4,5 quick balance fast sturdiness 26 - 75
radiance 40 swiftness5 fast stability faster craftsmanship 51 - 100
speed faster harmony fastest structure 101 - 200
haste6 fastest many7 100
plenty7 200
the ages indestructible

1 Also affects the distance at which you activate monsters. A higher value means at a greater distance. There is no additional effect of wearing more than +50% or less than -80% light radius. As a curiosity, the light radius is always one square less in the Catacombs and it is always the highest light radius you have had on a level that counts, even if you later lower it.

2 A Bard only benefits from the fastest weapon.

3 A character only benefits from the fastest one, as they are not cumulative. The exception is if you have one of each in which case you will, in Diablo only, trigger a bug and receive a further reduction in hit recovery time. See chapter 2.2.1 for more information.

4 Has no effect in Diablo.

5 In Hellfire, it makes the arrows travel faster on bows instead of decreasing the ”swing” speed.

6 Has the same effect as speed despite what is said in the latest Diablo patch (1.07).

7 Suffix for bows only. All others are suffixes for non bow weapons.

Other Prefixes/Suffixes1 Magical Effect
the bear knocks target back
blocking fast block
thieves2,3 absorbs half of trap damage
thorns2 attacker takes 1-3 damage
devastation2,4,5,6 5% chance of doing ×3 damage
jester’s2,4,5,7 each swing do 0-×6 damage9
peril2,4,6,8 ×2 damage to monster, ×1 damage to user

1 These effects are not cumulative if you have them more than once. They are cumulative with other effects though.

2 Does not work versus players.

3 In Hellfire it also absorbs half arrow and magical damage (magic, fire, lightning and apocalypse) from monster attacks. It is applied before both -damage and resistance.

4 Only available in Hellfire.

5 Damage bonus applies to total damage, not just weapon damage.

6 Does not work on bows.

7 A prefix.

8 Affects total damage versus monsters but only weapon damage and character damage versus user. This damage is modified by any -damage from enemies, though.

9 The game erroneously states it does ×0-5. Average value is ×2. For more details, see chapter 6.2.1. Does not work against Diablo or unique monsters.

3.13.6 Occurrence of prefixes and suffixes

The tables below are extracted from the more comprehensive ones above and summarize the occurrences of prefixes and suffixes. The following abbreviations are used:

A Armor and Helms t Staves in Hellfire only
S Shields B Bows
W Weapons (Axes, Clubs and Swords) J Jewelry
T Staves
  • Strength
  • Magic
  • Dexterity
  • Vitality
  • All Attributes
frailty ASW-BJ the fool ASWTBJ paralysis ASW-BJ illness ASW-BJ trouble ASWtBJ
weakness ASWtBJ dyslexia ASWTBJ atrophy ASWtBJ disease ASWtBJ the pit ASWtBJ
strength ASWtBJ magic ASWTBJ dexterity ASWtBJ vitality ASWtBJ the sky ASWtBJ
might ASW-BJ the mind ASWTBJ skill ASW-BJ zest ASW-BJ the moon ASWtBJ
power ASW-BJ brilliance ASWTBJ accuracy ASW-BJ vim ASW-BJ the stars A-WtBJ
giants A-W-BJ sorcery A-WTBJ precision A-W-BJ vigor A-W-BJ the heav. --W-BJ
titans --W--J wizardry ---T-J perfection ----BJ life -----J the zodiac -----J
  • Life
  • Mana
  • Damage Done
  • Damage Taken
% Steal Life
corruption ASW--- the leech --W---
the vult. AS---J hyena’s ---T-J pain AS---J blood --W---
the jackal AS---J frog’s ---T-J tears AS---J
the fox AS---J spider’s ---T-J quality --WtB- health AS---J
the jaguar AS---J raven’s ---T-J maiming --WtB- protection AS----
the eagle AS---J snake’s ---T-J slaying --W--- absorption AS---- % Steal Mana
the wolf AS---J serpent’s ---T-J gore --W--- deflection A----- the bat --W---
the tiger AS---J drake’s ---T-J carnage --W--- osmosis A----- vampires --W---
the lion A----J dragon’s ---T-J slaughter --W---
the mam. A----- wyrm’s1 ---t-J
the whale A----- hydra’s1 ---t-J

1 Only available in Hellfire

+% To Hit / +% Damage Done +% To Hit +% Damage Done +% Armor
useless --WtB-
clumsy --WTB- tin --W-BJ bent --WtB- vulnerable AS----
dull --WTB- brass --W-BJ weak --WtB- rusted AS----
sharp --WTB- bronze --W-BJ jagged --WtB- fine AS----
fine --WTB- iron --W-BJ deadly --WtB- strong AS----
Warrior’s --WTB- steel --W-BJ heavy --WtB- grand AS----
soldier’s --WT-- silver --W-BJ vicious --WtB- valiant AS----
lord’s --WT-- gold --W-BJ brutal --WtB- glorious AS----
knight’s --WT-- platinum --W-B- massive --WtB- blessed AS----
master’s --WT-- mithril --W-B- savage --WtB- saintly AS----
champion’s --WT-- meteoric --W-B- ruthless --WtB- awesome AS----
king’s --WT-- weird --W-B- merciless --WtB- holy AS----
doppelganger’s1 --Wt-- strange --W-B- decay1 --WtB- godly AS----
crystalline1 --W---

1 Only available in Hellfire

  • % Resist Magic
  • % Resist Fire
  • % Resist Light.
  • % Resist All
  • Spell Levels
white ASWTBJ red ASWTBJ blue ASWTBJ topaz ASWTBJ angel’s ---T--
pearl ASWTBJ crimson ASWTBJ azure ASWTBJ amber ASWTBJ arch-angel’s ---T--
ivory ASWTBJ crimson ASWTBJ lapis ASWTBJ jade ASWTBJ
crystal ASWTBJ garnet ASWTBJ cobalt ASWTBJ obsidian ASWTBJ
diamond ASWTBJ ruby ASWTBJ sapphire ASWTBJ emerald -SWTB-
  • Fire Damage
  • Lightning Damage
Damage / Penet. Armor × Charges
flame ----B- shock ----B- piercing --W-B- plentiful ----T--
fire ----B- lightning ----B- puncturing --W-B- bountiful ----T--
flaming --WT-- lightning --WT-- bashing --W---
burning ----B- thunder ----B-
+% Light Radius Weapon Speed Hit Recovery Durability
the dark A-W--J fragility ASW---
the night A-W--J brittleness ASW---
light A-W--J readiness --WTB- balance A----J sturdiness ASW---
radiance A-W--J swiftness --WTB- stability A----J craftsmanship ASW---
speed --WT-- harmony A----J structure ASW---
haste --WT-- many ----B-
plenty ----B-
the ages ASWt--
Other Prefixes/Suffixes in Diablo Other Prefixes/Suffixes in Hellfire
the bear --WTB- devastation --WtB-
blocking -S---- jester’s --W---
thieves AS---J peril --WtB-
thorns AS----

4 Magic

This chapter will explain the details of all spells in the game. It will, of course, include information about those ”spells” monsters use, as well as information about traps, which are often of a magical nature. It will not, however, cover magical effects from shrines. Generally, such magical effects from shrines are dependent on the dlvl they are found on. For an explanation of skills, see chapter 2.4. For a detailed information about how spells attack and also some explanation in general about spells, see chapter 5.6.5.

4.1 Spells available to players

All spells in Diablo and Hellfire are equally learnable for all character classes. To learn them to a high slvl one needs a high magic attribute, and not all character classes have the ability to reach the needed 255 magic attribute that is needed for the highest spell levels.

4.1.1 List of spells and spell effects

Below is a summary of all spells you will find in Diablo and Hellfire. They are arranged in the same way they appear in your spell book. Page 5, Jester, Magi and Mana only exist in Hellfire.

Page One Page Two Page Three Page Four Page Five5 Not in Book
Skill Resurrect1,2 Phasing Nova2 Lightning Wall Identify3
Firebolt Fire Wall Mana Shield Golem Immolation Infravision3
Charged Bolt Telekinesis Elemental Teleport Warp Jester4,5
Holy Bolt Lightning Fireball Apocalypse2 Reflect Magi4,5
Healing Town Portal Flame Wave Bone Spirit Berserk Mana4,5
Heal Other1 Flash Chain Lightning Blood Star Ring of Fire
Inferno Stone Curse Guardian - Search

1 Only appear in multi player games.

2 Only appear on scrolls or staves. In Hellfire you can learn Nova and Apocalypse normally though.

3 Only appear on scrolls.

4 Only appear on staves.

5 Found in Hellfire only.

4.1.2 Details about spells

Now follows some details about each spell. Not all types of data are applicable for each spell. Below is an explanation of what is told about most spells. If no information type is given for a specific spell, it is either due to it not applying (for example the speed of a stationary effect), or due to it not being known to me. For more details about how spells attack, see chapter 5.6.5 and more specifically chapter 6.1.8.

In previous versions there existed information for spells if they had any distance factor included in their To Hit calculation. From what I have found, no spell has a distance factor; or rather, it is always 0. Only arrows (including fire and lightning arrows and arrows from traps and monsters) have a distance factor. As a consequence, I have removed any reference to a distance in the detailed list of spells.

Type: Magic, fire or lightning. Some spells are not of one of the three main types and are listed as n/a.

Damage: Stated damage in spell book (see below for more details), can be split up into min. and max. damage where appropriate.

Real Damage: The real damage as used by the game. This is not necessarily the same as the stated damage, especially for non missile spells, as they instead can often attack several times. If no real damage is stated, it is identical to the damage stated. Also, if the real damage distribution is linear within the range given, it is not shown either. All this is done to reduce the amount of data presented, as it is already extensive.

Quick Damage: A quicker way to calculate the real damage but not as accurate. Can be split up into min. and max. damage where appropriate.

Duration: This is how long each spell lasts. The time given is always in seconds unless otherwise stated. Moving spells will generally be terminated if they hit any dungeon feature, such as a wall.

Speed: This is the speed at which the spell effect travels. It is a relative number used for comparison between different spells and normal arrows, and is not to be confused with walk speed for players and monsters. The higher the value, the faster it is. For information about the speed of arrows, see chapter 2.2.3.

Blockable: This will tell if a spell is blockable or not. In Diablo, you will only block if you have 0% resistance. In Hellfire, you will block anything blockable regardless of your resistance.

Damage

Some spells use a recursive formula to calculate damage. The notation for these spells was introduced by Sourceror and I have used it here too. Here follows an explanation on how it works. To make it easier to write damage formulas for spells using multiple random numbers, I have also added a notation for that.

[ ] round down

Rnd[x] is a random number in the range 0 to x-1

Rec(slvl, slvl0) recursive function, defined as follows:
Rec(0, slvl0): [slvl0]
and for slvl>0; Rec(slvl, slvl0): [Rec(slvl-1, slvl0) · 9/8]

Itt(nbr, value) iterative function, defined as follows:
Itt(0, value): value
and for nbr>0; Itt(nbr, value): Itt(nbr-1, value) + value

The easiest way to understand how the recursive function works is to make an example. A Fireball’s maximum damage for a level 30 character is:

  1. Rec(slvl, 40 + 2·clvl); clvl=30

  2. First calculate damage for spell level 0: 40 + 2·clvl = 100

  3. Damage for spell level 1 can then be calculated as: [100 · 9/8] = 112

  4. Damage for spell level 2 can then be calculated as: [112 · 9/8] = 126

  5. and so on…

Note that it is very important to round down. For those spells using this recursive formula I have also given a quick formula. For a Fireball’s maximum damage it is:

(40 + 2·clvl) · (9/8)^slvl

Note that this formula does not round down and you will therefore get a damage a bit too high, but it will still be more or less accurate. For a level 20 fireball from a level 50 character the correct maximum damage is 1442, while this quick method gives 1476. In the table below, I have listed values for use with the quick formula.

Summary for quick damage
(9/8)^1 1.125 (9/8)^6 2.027 (9/8)^11 3.653
(9/8)^2 1.266 (9/8)^7 2.281 (9/8)^12 4.110
(9/8)^3 1.424 (9/8)^8 2.566 (9/8)^13 4.624
(9/8)^4 1.602 (9/8)^9 2.887 (9/8)^14 5.202
(9/8)^5 1.802 (9/8)^10 3.247 (9/8)^15 5.852

Lets make an example for the iterative function as well. Take the damage of the flash spell (case 1). It uses a recursive formulas where the slvl0 (see above) is actually first calculated using an iterative formula. Lets calculate slvl0 for a level 30 character:

slvl0 = Itt(clvl, Rnd[20] + 1); clvl=30

This means we should, 30 times, calculate Rnd[20] + 1 and add all those 30 values together. For each value, a new random number should be created, since if the same random number would be used, it would have been written as clvl·(Rnd[20] + 1) instead. This sum of 30 values, ranging from 1 to 20 in the example, is the slvl0 which is then used in the recursive formula. It is worth noticing that if there is any random number used in the iterative formula, the result would typically be a distribution of the values as in a bell curve.

Splash damage

Some spells do additional splash damage. Splash damage is always considered a separate attack and thus does its own to hit check and can hit or miss independently from the initial attack. Of course, there need to be some hit before the splash damage is applied. Such a hit can be either a normal target or such a thing as a wall. As an example a fireball will cause splash damage to all adjacent locations when it hits a wall.

4.1.3 Spells available in Diablo

The spells below are listed in alphabetical order and are available in both Diablo and Hellfire. For skills, see chapter 2.4. In those cases a spell can be used by a monster, see chapter 6.3.3.

Apocalypse

Type: n/a

Min. Damage: clvl

Max. Damage: 6·clvl

Real damage: Itt(clvl, Rnd[6] + 1)

Blockable: Yes

Note:

  • Works against all monsters, even triple immune ones.

    • In Diablo, this spell can only occur on staves and scrolls.

      • In Hellfire, this spell only works on monsters you have a line of sight to.

Blood Star

Type: magic

Damage: 3·slvl + [Mag/2] - [Mag/8]

Speed: 16

Blockable: Yes

Note:

  • Costs 5 life to cast or 5 extra mana if you use Mana Shield. This cost is applied even if the spell is cast from a staff.

Bone Spirit

Type: magic

Damage against monster: 1/3 of targets HP

Damage against player: 1/6 of targets life

Speed: 16

Blockable: Yes

Note:

  • Costs 6 life to cast or 6 extra mana if you use Mana Shield. This cost is applied even if the spell is cast from a staff.

    • The damage value given is still subject to reduction due to resistance.

Chain Lightning

Type: lightning

Min. Damage: 4

Max. Damage: 4 + 2·clvl

Real Damage: Rnd[clvl] + Rnd[2] + 2

Bolts: 1 + numbers of monsters in range

Range: 2 + slvl (max 18)

Speed: 32

Duration: ([slvl/2] + 6)/20 seconds

Blockable: No

Note:

  • You get one bolt in the direction where you aim with your mouse and one additional bolt for each monster in range.

    • This spell is well known for causing gaps at high levels and/or when there are many monsters within range.

      • The lightning is actually a stationary effect, but the initiation will be delayed the further away it appears, thus giving an appearance of moving. This delay ”travels” with a speed of 32.

        • The bolt will try to hit once each 0.05 seconds for a total of [slvl/2] + 6 times.

Charged Bolt

Type: lightning

Min. Damage: 1

Max. Damage: 1 + [Mag/4]

Number of bolts: 4 + [slvl/2]

Speed: 8

Blockable: Yes

Elemental

Type: fire

Min. Damage: Rec(slvl, 4 + 2·clvl)

Max. Damage: Rec(slvl, 40 + 2·clvl)

Quick Min. Damage: (4 + 2·clvl) · (9/8)^slvl

Quick Max. Damage: (40 + 2·clvl) · (9/8)^slvl

Real Damage: Rec(slvl, 2·(Rnd[10]+Rnd[10]+clvl) + 4)/2

Speed: 16

Blockable: Yes

Note:

  • This is basically a fireball that has some homing abilities.

    • It does half the damage of a fireball, but can hit two targets.

      • Splash damage is 1/64th of the damage and is applied for 0.7 seconds and will try to hit every 0.05 second (for a total of 14 times) and is not blockable.

Fireball

Type: fire

Min. Damage: Rec(slvl, 4 + 2·clvl)

Max. Damage: Rec(slvl, 40 + 2·clvl)

Quick Min. Damage: (4 + 2·clvl) · (9/8)^slvl

Quick Max. Damage: (40 + 2·clvl) · (9/8)^slvl

Real Damage: Rec(slvl, 2·(Rnd[10]+Rnd[10]+clvl) + 4)

Speed: 16 + 2·slvl (max 50)

Blockable: Yes

Note:

  • A fireball cause splash damage in adjacent hexes as well as in the target hex. Splash damage is equal to the damage of the fireball itself.

    • If the fireball has traveled over some obstacle on its way to its target, the splash damage normally does not occur.

      • You can block either the fireball or the splash, but not both.

Firebolt

Type: fire

Min. Damage: 1 + slvl + [Mag/8]

Max. Damage: 10 + slvl + [Mag/8]

Real Damage: Rnd[10] + slvl + [Mag/8] + 1

Speed: 16 + 2·slvl

Blockable: Yes

Fire Wall

Type: fire

Min. Damage: 4 + 2·clvl

Max. Damage: 40 + 2·clvl

Real Damage: (Rnd[10] + Rnd[10] + clvl + 2)/8

Duration: 8 + 8·slvl seconds (12 + 8·slvl in Hellfire)

Number of flames: 11

Blockable: No

Note:

  • The central fire wall flame actually consists of two flames on top of each other, with the result of a damage for that ”flame” being double.

    • The Fire Wall will disappear immediately if you gain any level in the spell.

      • Fire Walls are treated as traps against players, including the caster.

        • The flame will try to hit once every 0.05 seconds for a total of 160 + 160·slvl times (240 + 160·slvl times in Hellfire).

Flame Wave

Type: fire

Min. Damage: 6 + 6·clvl

Max. Damage: 60 + 6·clvl

Real Damage: Rnd[10] + clvl + 1

Speed: 16

Number of flames: 5 + [slvl/2]

Blockable: Yes

  • Flame Waves are treated as traps against players, including the caster.
Flash

Type: magic (but uses same animation as lightning)

Min. Damage: [3·Rec(slvl, clvl)/2]

Max. Damage: 2·[3·Rec(slvl, clvl)/2]

Quick Min. Damage: 3·clvl/2 · (9/8)^slvl

Quick Max. Damage: 3·clvl · (9/8)^slvl

Real Damage 1: [3·Rec(slvl, Itt(clvl, Rnd[20] + 1))/2]/64

Real Damage 2: [3·Rec(slvl, Itt(clvl, Rnd[2] + 1))/2]/64

Duration: 0.95 seconds

Blockable: No

Note:

  • The Flash spell is actually composed of two different effects, the two different Real Damages given are for the two different effects. The first hit in front of you and to the sides, the other behind you.

    • You seem to be able to do two flashes in a row, then you have to wait for them to finish. Don’t know how this affects damage though.

      • While casting Flash, you are temporarily invulnerable and can’t access the normal GUI.

        • The flash will try to hit once every 0.05 seconds for a total of 19 times.

Golem

Type: n/a (but uses same animation as fire)

Stated damage: 11-17 (quite meaningless number)

The golem has the following stats:

HP: 2·maxmana/3 + 10·slvl

AC: 25

To Hit: 40 + 2·clvl + 5·slvl

Min. Damage: 8 + 2·slvl

Max. Damage: 16 + 2·slvl

mlvl: 12 (modified for difficulty)

HP regeneration: 1.9, 4.1 and 6.6 each second on normal, nightmare and hell difficulty (same as for normal monster)

Resistances: None

Immunities: Apocalypse, Stone Curse and Telekinesis

Note:

  • Each player can have only one golem alive at a time. If you cast the spell again, the first golem will be destroyed.

    • If more than one player casts golem, they will seek each other out and fight until one of them is destroyed.

      • You will get normal experience for any monster that your golem kills.

        • If no monster is close enough to the golem, he will walk in the same direction the owning player is facing.

Guardian

Type: fire

Min. Damage: Rec(slvl, 1 + [clvl/2])

Max. Damage: Rec(slvl, 10 + [clvl/2])

Quick Min. Damage: (1 + clvl/2) · (9/8)^slvl

Quick Max. Damage: (10 + clvl/2) · (9/8)^slvl

Duration: 4·slvl/5 + 2·clvl/5 seconds (maximum 24 seconds, minimum 0.8 seconds)

Fire frequency: every 0.8 second

Blockable: Yes

Note:

  • The fire bolts shot by a Guardian are determined by the slvl of your Firebolt spell, so the shown damage is actually bogus.

    • You will get normal experience for any monster that your guardians kill.

Healing

Type: n/a

Mana Cost: 8 + 2·clvl - 3·slvl

Min. Healing: bonus·(1 + clvl + slvl)

Max. Healing: bonus·(10 + 4·clvl + 6·slvl)

Real Healing: bonus·(Rnd[10] + Itt(clvl, Rnd[4]+1) + Itt(slvl, Rnd[6]+1) + 1)

Bonus:

Warrior, Monk and Barbarian: 2.0

Rogue and Bard: 1.5

Sorcerer: 1.0

Note:

  • The actual distribution of the healing is bell curve shaped.

Heal Other

Type: n/a

Mana Cost: 8 + 2·clvl - 3·slvl

Min. Healing: bonus·(1 + clvl + slvl)

Max. Healing: bonus·(10 + 4·clvl + 6·slvl)

Real Healing: bonus·(Rnd[10] + Itt(clvl, Rnd[4]+1) + Itt(slvl, Rnd[6]+1) + 1)

Bonus:

Monk: 3.0

Warrior and Barbarian: 2.0

Rogue and Bard: 1.5

Sorcerer: 1.0

Note:

  • The actual distribution of the healing is bell curve shaped.

Holy Bolt

Type: n/a

Min. Damage: 9 + clvl

Max. Damage: 18 + clvl

Speed: 16 + 2·slvl

Note:

  • This spell only works on undead monsters and Diablo. See chapter 5.2 for information about which monsters are undead. It does not work against players.

    • In Hellfire, Diablo and Bone Demons are resistant to Holy Bolt.

Identify
Type: n/a

Note:

  • Identifies magical and unique items.

    • This spell can only occur on scrolls.

Inferno

Type: fire

Min. Damage: 3

Max. Damage: 6 + 3·clvl/2

Real Damage: (3·(Rnd[clvl]+Rnd[2]) + 6)/16

Range: 3

Duration: 1, 1.25 and 1.50 seconds

Blockable: No

Note:

  • This spell always affect the same area and has the same duration, regardless of spell level.

    • The three values for duration are for the three target locations starting with the one closest to the caster.

      • The flame will try to hit once each 0.05 second for a total of 20, 25 and 30 times.

Infravision

Type: n/a

Duration: Rec(slvl, 79.2) seconds

Murky pools:

Church: slvl = 2

Catacombs: slvl = 4

Caves: slvl = 6

Hell: slvl = 8

Note:

  • Lets you see a ”heat” image of monsters and players outside of your normal view and through walls.

    • As far as I know, you will never find Murky Pools in the Hive or in the Crypt.

      • This spell can only occur on scrolls.

Lightning

Type: lightning

Min. Damage: 4

Max. Damage: 4 + 2·clvl

Real Damage: Rnd[clvl]+ Rnd[2] + 2

Speed: 32

Duration: ([slvl/2]+6)/20 seconds

Blockable: No

  • The lightning is actually a stationary effect, but the initiation will be delayed the further away it appears, thus giving an appearance of moving. This delay ”travels” with a speed of 32.

    • The bolt will try to hit once every 0.05 seconds for a total of [slvl/2]+6 times.

Mana Shield

Type: n/a

Damage reduction in Diablo: 33%

Damage reduction in Hellfire: see below

Duration: until mana reaches 0 or you leave the current dlvl

Note for both Diablo and Hellfire:

  • For slvl 0 there is never any reduction of the damage.

    • Due to a bug you will neither be stunned nor pushed back by the bear or Diablo if you receive damage (before modification by the Mana Shield) greater than your current life.

      Note for Hellfire only:

      • A Mana shield decreases the damage taken, but due to a bug the reduction actually decreases as slvl goes up. The damage is reduced by the following amount: 100/(3· slvl)%

        • If slvl is higher than 7, set slvl to 7.

          See chapter 6.1.1 for more information about this spell and about the bug.

Nova

Type: lightning

Min. Damage: 5·Rec(slvl, 2 + [clvl/2])

Max. Damage: 5·Rec(slvl, 15 + [clvl/2])

Quick Min. Damage: 5·(2 + clvl/2) · (9/8)^slvl

Quick Max. Damage: 5·(15 + clvl/2) · (9/8)^slvl

Real Damage: Rec(slvl, (Itt(5, Rnd[6]) + clvl + 5)/2)

Number of bolts: 92

Speed: 16

Blockable: No

  • In Diablo, this spell can only occur on staves and scrolls.
Phasing
Type: n/a

Note:

  • Due to being a non targeting spell, it is slightly faster than Teleport and it may thus be easier to escape with this spell than with Teleport.

Resurrect
Type: n/a

Note:

  • Brings another player back to life. The player will have 10 life (or his max life if it is less than 10) and 0 mana.

    • This spell can only occur on staves and scrolls.

Stone Curse

Type: n/a

Duration: 4.8 + 0.8·slvl seconds (max 12 seconds)

Note:

  • Stone Curse works on all monsters except Diablo and Na-Krul.

    • Stone Curse does not work on other players.

      • Any monster already stoned, charging, phasing in or phasing out is temporary immune to Stone Curse.

Telekinesis
Type: n/a

Note:

  • Can be used to open doors, chests, bookcases, shrines etc. from a distance.

    • Can also be used to pick up items from a distance.

      • Can be used to ”knock” monsters back. This ”attack”, although it does not inflict any damage, is sufficient for receiving full experience points when the monster later dies. The following Unique or Special monsters are immune to Telekinesis: Snotspill, Gharbad the Weak, Zhar the Mad, Warlord of Blood, Lachdanan, Arch-Bishop Lazarus, Blackjade and Red Vex.

        • A monster will immediately lose any Stone Curse status if it is targeted with Telekinesis.

Teleport
Type: n/a

Note:

  • You can teleport to anywhere within the screen. I have noticed that if you quickly move your cursor before teleporting you often end up teleporting to where your cursor was just before you moved it.

Town Portal
Type: n/a

Note:

  • Makes a portal to town and disappears when the caster uses it to go down to the dungeon.

4.1.4 New spells in Hellfire

The spells in the table below are new spells in Hellfire. Apocalypse and Nova, although new as learnable spells in Hellfire, exist in Diablo and no changes have been done to them. See chapter 4.1.3 for information about Apocalypse and Nova.

Berserk
Type: magic

Note:

  • All unique and special monsters are immune to Berserk.

    • Any monster charging, phasing in or phasing out is temporary immune to Berserk.

      • When cast on a monster, it will consider other monsters as possible targets too.

        • It will increase the damage done by the monster by between 20 and 30%, plus the level of the spell (possible problem with overflow if value gets higher than 255).

          • You will not receive any experience for monsters killed by a berserk monster.

            • Monsters resistant to Magic, will have a 50% chance of escaping the spell. Monsters immune to Magic are of course immune to this spell.

Immolation

Type: fire

Min. Damage: 5·Rec(slvl, 2 + clvl/2)

Max. Damage: 5·Rec(slvl, 15 + clvl/2)

Quick Min. Damage: 5·(2 + clvl/2) · (9/8)^slvl

Quick Max. Damage: 5·(15 + clvl/2) · (9/8)^slvl

Real Damage: Rec(slvl, (Itt(5, Rnd[6]) + clvl + 5)/2)

Number of bolts: 92

Speed: 16 + slvl

Note:

  • Does the same damage as Nova.

    • Immolation will use bolts that are basically fireballs (including splash damage), they just has a different damage and speed compared to normal fireballs.

Jester

Type: random

The following spells are cast by a staff of jester:

Firebolt 20%

Apocalypse 10%

Chain lightning 10%

Fireball 10%

Fire Wall 10%

Guardian 10%

Teleport 10%

Town Portal 10%

Stone Curse 10%

Note:

  • This spell can only occur on staves and casts a random spell.

Lightning Wall

Type: lightning

Min. Damage: 4 + 2·clvl

Max. Damage: 40 + 2·clvl

Real Damage: (Rnd[10] + Rnd[10] + clvl + 2)/4

Duration: 12.75 + 12.75·slvl seconds

Number of bolts: 11

Blockable: No

Note:

  • The central lightning wall bolt actually consists of two bolts on top of each other, with the result of a damage for that ”bolt” being double.

    • Does twice the damage of a Fire Wall and lasts longer.

      • Lightning Walls are treated as traps against players, including the caster.

        • The bolt will try to hit once every 0.05 seconds for a total of 255 + 255·slvl times.

Magi
Type: n/a

Note:

  • Completely restores mana.

    • This spell can only occur on staves.

Mana

Type: n/a

Min. Mana: bonus·(1 + clvl + slvl)

Max. Mana: bonus·(10 + 4·clvl + 6·slvl)

Real Mana restore: bonus·(Itt(clvl, Rnd[4]+1) + Itt(slvl, Rnd[6] + 1) + Rnd[10] + 1)

Bonus:

Sorcerer: 2.0

Rogue and Bard: 1.5

Warrior, Monk and Barbarian: 1.0

Note:

  • The actual distribution of healing is bell curve shaped.

    • This spell works like Healing but affects your mana instead of your life.

      • This spell can only occur on staves.

Reflect

Type: n/a

Duration: slvl·clvl hits

Note:

  • Reduces melee damage by 20-29% and reflects it back to the attacking monster. Spell level determines number of hits it lasts.

    • Even if you block an attack, 20-29% of the damage is reflected back to the attacking monster.

      • An attack counts as a hit even if you block it as it will reflect some damage.

        • The Reflect will be terminated if you die or leave the current dlvl.

Ring of Fire

Type: fire

Min. Damage: 4 + clvl·2

Max. Damage: 40 + clvl·2

Duration: 12 + 8·slvl seconds

Real Damage: (Rnd[10] + Rnd[10] + clvl + 2)/8

Duration: 8 + 8·slvl seconds (12 + 8·slvl in Hellfire)

Number of flames: 22

Blockable: No

Note:

  • Does the same damage as a Fire Wall and lasts the same amount of time.

    • The Ring of Fire will disappear immediately if you gain any level in the spell.

      • Rings of Fire are treated as traps against players, including the caster.

        • The flame will try to hit once every 0.05 seconds for a total of 160 + 160·slvl times.

Search

Type: n/a

Duration: 12.25 + 10·slvl + clvl seconds

Note:

  • Makes items on the ground shine.

    • Makes items show up on the map.

Warp
Type: n/a

Note:

  • Teleports you to the nearest stair.

4.1.5 Mana cost and magic requirements for spells

Casting spells costs mana and each spell has an initial mana cost at slvl 1. For each slvl the mana cost then decreases by a certain amount specific for each spell until it reaches its minimum mana cost. The table below shows the mana cost for each spell as well as the slvl you reach the minimum mana cost (unless stated otherwise, use the 100% value in the table unless stated otherwise for a character class). Note that Rogues, Monks and Bards only pay 75% of the mana cost (use the 75% value in the table). In Hellfire (after patch 1.01) the Sorcerer only pays 50% of the mana cost (use the 50% value in the table for Hellfire and the 100% value for Diablo). However, no character class ever pays less than the minimum mana cost. Casting spells from scrolls and staves do not cost any mana, but you have to have the required magic to do so.

For staves, the required magic to cast a spell from it is the same as it is to learn the same spell to the first slvl. For scrolls, the mana required to cast a spell is normally a bit less. The table below also shows those required magic levels. For information about prices and slvl of books, scrolls, and staves with spells, see chapter 3.2.3.

Name of Spell Mana cost Magic requirement
Initial1 Decrease per slvl
Apocalypse3 150 6
Blood Star 25 2
Bone Spirit 24 1
Chain Lightning 30 1
Charged Bolt 6 0
Elemental 35 2
Fireball 16 1
Firebolt 6 0.5
Fire Wall 28 2
Flame Wave 35 3
Flash 30 2
Golem 100 6
Guardian 50 2
Healing
Heal Other
Holy Bolt 7 1
Identify - -
Inferno 11 1
Infravision - -

1 This is also the amount of mana you receive when you read a book of the spell.

2 There is no requirement to cast a spell from a unique staff.

3 You can only learn this spell in Hellfire.

4 Heal and Heal Other cost 8 + 2·clvl - 3·slvl mana to cast.

Name of Spell Mana cost Magic requirement
Initial1 Decrease per slvl
Lightning 10 1
Mana Shield 33 0
Nova3 60 3
Phasing 12 2
Resurrect - -
Stone Curse 60 3
Telekinesis 15 2
Teleport 35 3
Town Portal 35 3
Berserk 35 3
Immolation 60 3
Jester - -
Lightning Wall 28 2
Magi - -
Mana - -
Reflect 35 3
Ring of Fire 28 2
Search 15 1
Warp 35 3

1 This is also the amount of mana you receive when you read a book of the spell.

2 There is no requirement to cast a spell from a unique staff.

3 You can only learn this spell in Hellfire.

The table above has the magic requirement to learn a spell to level 1. For each additional spell level the magic requirement is 20% higher to learn. To make it easier for you, the table below lists the magic requirement for each spell and spell level. Note that if the magic requirement is 213 or higher, it is always adjusted to 255.

Name of Spell 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Blood Star 70 84 100 120 144 172 206 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
Bone Spirit 34 40 48 57 68 81 97 116 139 166 199 255 255 255 255
Chain Lightning 54 64 76 91 109 130 156 187 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
Charged Bolt 25 30 36 43 51 61 73 87 104 124 148 177 212 255 255
Elemental 68 81 97 116 139 166 199 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
Fireball 48 57 68 81 97 116 139 166 199 255 255 255 255 255 255
Firebolt 15 18 21 25 30 36 43 51 61 73 87 104 124 148 177
Fire Wall 27 32 38 45 54 64 76 91 109 130 156 187 255 255 255
Flame Wave 54 64 76 91 109 130 156 187 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
Flash 33 39 46 55 66 79 94 112 134 160 192 255 255 255 255
Golem 81 97 116 139 166 199 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
Guardian 61 73 87 104 124 148 177 212 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
Healing 17 20 24 28 33 39 46 55 66 79 94 112 134 160 192
Heal Other 17 20 24 28 33 39 46 55 66 79 94 112 134 160 192
Holy Bolt 20 24 28 33 39 46 55 66 79 94 112 134 160 192 255
Inferno 20 24 28 33 39 46 55 66 79 94 112 134 160 192 255
Lightning 20 24 28 33 39 46 55 66 79 94 112 134 160 192 255
Mana Shield 25 30 36 43 51 61 73 87 104 124 148 177 212 255 255
Phasing 39 46 55 66 79 94 112 134 160 192 255 255 255 255 255
Stone Curse 51 61 73 87 104 124 148 177 212 255 255 255 255 255 255
Telekinesis 33 39 46 55 66 79 94 112 134 160 192 255 255 255 255
Teleport 105 126 151 181 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
Town Portal 20 24 28 33 39 46 55 66 79 94 112 134 160 192 255
Apocalypse 149 178 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
Berserk 35 42 50 60 72 86 103 123 147 176 211 255 255 255 255
Immolation 87 104 124 148 177 212 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
Lightning Wall 27 32 38 45 54 64 76 91 109 130 156 187 255 255 255
Nova 87 104 124 148 177 212 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255 255
Reflect 30 36 43 51 61 73 87 104 124 148 177 212 255 255 255
Ring of Fire 27 32 38 45 54 64 76 91 109 130 156 187 255 255 255
Search 25 30 36 43 51 61 73 87 104 124 148 177 212 255 255
Warp 25 30 36 43 51 61 73 87 104 124 148 177 212 255 255

4.1.6 Spell level of cast spells

When you cast a spell, it will always be cast at the slvl you know the spell plus any additional levels you get from items. As your slvl can go down (by hitting an Enchanted shrine, for example), it is possible to get a known spell to slvl 0. When this happens, you can no longer use the spell, unless some items you are wearing raise the slvl above 0. The slvl can never be negative. Maximum base slvl is 15. With the correct items equipped, the modified slvl can be brought to a maximum of 20.

When casting a spell from a scroll or staff, it will have the same slvl as the slvl you know the spell (including any modifications from items). If you don’t know the spell it will be cast at slvl 1 (plus any modifications from items). There is a bug, however. If you cast a spell from a scroll and currently have another spell hot keyed, it will use the slvl of the hot keyed spell instead of the spell you are casting. This is true even if you don’t know the spell.

4.1.7 Targeting of spells

The casting of spells in Diablo and Hellfire is normally easy to do. Just click on the mouse. Some spells need to be targeted, some change the cursor, and others just cast no matter where you are targeting it. The table below is a summary of how different spells behave.

It is worth noticing that there can be a small delay between the time you click on the mouse and the actual cast of the spell. If you change the cursor position during the time in between, or change the spell, you will normally cast the new spell and the target will be the new position of the cursor. Another side effect of this is that the actual mana reduction is done when the spell is cast which may at times lead to mana reaching negative values (the check for enough mana to cast the spell is done when you click the mouse, while the actual reduction is done when it is cast; due to this effect , one can, if one clicks fast enough, end up with negative mana, or be able to cast a spell twice from a scroll, or squeeze out an extra spell from a staff).

Area

The spell does not target in any way and normally affects a larger area. It does not matter where on the screen you position the cursor when you cast this spell. Nova is such a spell.

Cursor

The spell will, when cast, change the cursor. You will then have to click on the desired target to be affected by the spell. It does not matter where on the screen you position the cursor when you cast the spell initially. A good example of a spell that affects the cursor is Telekinesis.

Direction

The spell is only controllable in that you can affect in what direction from your character the spell will go. Flame Wave is such a spell.

Target

The effect of the spell will target the location (or monster) on the screen where the cursor is positioned at the time you cast the spell. Lightning is such a spell.

Auto

This spell targets a monster but you do not have to actually point the cursor on the monster, since it will automatically target a specific monster (normally the one closest to the cursor). Some spells are both targeted and automatically seek up a target. This is true for spells like Elemental and Bone Spirit, they are cast at the position you cursor is at but will then automatically seek out a target as well.

Self

The spell affects your character directly. Infravision is such a spell.

Spell Behavior Spell Behavior Spell Behavior
Apocalypse Area Healing Self Teleport Target
Blood Star Target Heal Other Cursor Town Portal Target
Bone Spirit Target/Auto Holy Bolt Target Berserk2 Target/Auto
Chain Lightning Target/Auto1 Identify Cursor Immolation Area
Charged Bolt Direction Inferno Direction Jester3 n/a
Elemental Target/Auto Infravision Self Lightning Wall Target4
Fireball Target Lightning Target Magi Self
Firebolt Target Mana Shield Self Mana Self
Fire Wall Target4 Nova Area Reflect Self
Flame Wave Direction Phasing Self/Auto Ring of Fire Area
Flash Area Resurrect Cursor Search Self
Golem Target/Auto Stone Curse2 Target/Auto Warp Self/Auto
Guardian Target/Auto Telekinesis Cursor

1 Chain Lightning will produce one lightning bolt that is targeted just as normal lightning. The other bolts are automatically targeted.

2 If there is no monster targeted, Stone Curse and Berserk will affect the monster closest to the cursor.

3 This spell casts another random spell. See each individual spell for the behavior.

4 The direction of the wall is always perpendicular to the caster.

4.2 Spell casting monsters

Some monsters have the ability to do magical attacks. Monsters in Diablo can only use spells that are available to the player (although they work a bit differently in regard to damage, for example), except for Spitting Terrors. In Hellfire, there are many new monsters that also have the ability to do magical attacks. Often those are new ones that are not available to the player in any way. The tables below summarize all monsters with magical attacks as well as what type of magic it is (not always obvious).

Type Monster Spell/Attack
Magic Succubi Blood Star
Blightfire (Unique Goat Man) Blood Star
All Mages Flash
Spitting Terrors Spit1
Psychorb Magic Attack1
Necromorb Magic Attack1
Spider Lord Spit1
Bone Demon Magic Attack1
Lich Magic Attack1
Arch Lich Magic Attack1

1 These monsters cast spells that are not available to characters.

Type Monster Spell/Attack
Fire Counselor Firebolt
Advocate Fireball
Balrog Inferno
Torchant Fireball
Fire Bat Firebolt
Hell Bat Fireball
Type Monster Spell/Attack
Lightning Familiars Single stationary Charged Bolt
Magistrate Charged Bolt
Lightning Demons Lightning
Cabalist Lightning
Type Monster Spell/Attack
Other Diablo Apocalypse
Skeleton Archer Arrow1
Goat Archer Arrow1

1 Arrows is of course not a spell, but is in many ways technically handled as a spell (with some special cases) by the game. For ease of use together with other parts of this Guide, it is thus useful to list arrow attacks here.

4.2.1 Details about monster spells in Diablo

Below are listed all those spells that monsters are able to use. In most cases they are identical to the ones used by players. although some differences can exist. If the damage is stated as min - max, the damage is identical to the one listed for melee damage in chapter 5. Note that the charge attacks some monsters can do are, in fact, treated by the game as a type of ”spell,” where the monster itself is the ”spell” projectile. Upon hitting it will do normal melee damage. See chapter 6.1.7 for more information.

Apocalypse

Type: n/a

Damage: 40

Blockable: Yes

Note:

  • Only Diablo can cast apocalypse.

Arrow

Type: n/a

Damage: min - max

Speed: 32

Blockable: Yes

Note:

  • See chapter 5.2.1 for information about min and max damage for monsters.

    • Arrow is of course not a spell, but is in many ways technically handled as a spell (with some special cases) by the game. For ease of use together with other parts of this Guide, it is thus useful to list arrow attacks here.

Blood Star

Type: magic

Damage: min - max

Speed: 16

Blockable: Yes

Note:

  • See chapter 5.2.1 for information about min and max damage for monsters.

Charged Bolt

Type: lightning

Damage Magistrate: 15

Damage Familiars: 1 - 10

Number of bolts:

Speed: 8

Blockable: Yes

Fireball

Type: fire

Damage: min - max

Speed: 16

Blockable: Yes

Note:

  • See chapters 5.2.1 and 5.2.3 for information about min and max damage for monsters.

Firebolt

Type: fire

Damage: min - max

Speed: 16

Blockable: Yes

Note:

  • See chapters 5.2.1 and 5.2.3 for information about min and max damage for monsters.

Flash

Type: magic

Damage 1: mlvl/32

Damage 2: 4/64

Duration: 0.95 seconds

Blockable: No

  • The Flash spell is actually composed of two different effects, the two different Damages given are for the two different effects. The first hit in front of the monster and to the sides, the other behind the monster.

    • The flash will try to hit once every 0.05 seconds for a total of 19 times.

Inferno

Type: fire

Damage: min/64 - max/64

Range: 3

Duration: 1, 1.25 and 1.50 seconds

Blockable: No

Note:

  • See chapter 5.2.1 for information about min and max damage for monsters.

    • The three values for duration are for the three target locations, starting with the one closest to the caster.

      • The flame will try to hit once every 0.05 seconds for a total of 20, 25 and 30 times.

Lightning

Type: lightning

Damage: min/32 - max/32

Speed: 32

Duration: 0.5 seconds

Blockable: No

  • The lightning is actually a stationary effect, but the initiation will be delayed the further away it appears, thus giving an appearance of moving. This delay ”travels” with a speed of 32.

    • The bolt will try to hit once every 0.05 seconds for a total of 10 times.

Magma Ball

Type: fire

Damage: min - max

Speed: 16

Blockable: Yes

Note:

  • See chapters 5.2.1 and 5.2.3 for information about min and max damage for monsters.

Spit Attack

Type: magic

Damage: min - max

Speed: 16

Duration: 20 + Intf·5

Blockable: Yes

Note:

  • See chapters 5.2.1 and 5.2.3 for information about min and max damage for monsters.

    • See chapter 5.3.3 for information about intelligence factors (Intf) for monsters.

      • The duration is actually what determines the distance a monster can spit.

Spit Puddle

Type: magic

Damage (spit attack): 1/32

Damage (dead Acid Beasts): (Intf + 1)/64

Duration: 2·(Intf + 1) + Rnd[15]/20 seconds

Blockable: No

Note:

  • See chapter 5.3.3 for information about intelligence factors (Intf) for monsters.

    • The puddle will try to hit once each 0.05 second for a total of (Intf + 1)·2 + Rnd[15] times.

4.2.2 Details about new monster spells in Hellfire

Most new monsters in Hellfire that can use spells have new special spells not available to players, although some use ”old” spells. Below are listed all new spells monsters in Hellfire can use. If the damage given is stated as min - max, the damage is identical to the one listed for melee damage in chapter 5.

Bone Demon attack

Type: magic

Damage: min - max

Speed: 16

Blockable: Yes

Note:

  • See chapters 5.2.1 and 5.2.3 for information about min and max damage for monsters.

Lich and Arch Lich attack

Type: magic

Damage: min - max

Speed: 16

Blockable: Yes

Note:

  • See chapters 5.2.1 and 5.2.3 for information about min and max damage for monsters.

Necromorb and Psychorb attack

Type: magic

Damage: min - max

Speed: 16

Blockable: Yes

Note:

  • See chapters 5.2.1 and 5.2.3 for information about min and max damage for monsters.

4.3 Traps

Most traps are of magical nature, and thus it is appropriate to explain how they work here. Traps can be set off when you open chests, sarcophagi, barrels, or doors. There are 7 different types of traps (including skeletons) in the original Diablo. Three new ones were added in Hellfire. The probability of a trap is shown in the table below. Traps originating from shrines are not covered by this guide.

Probability of traps5
Origin Church
Chest in Diablo trap: 0 %
Chest in Hellfire trap: 0 %
Sarcophagus skeleton: 20 %
Barrel, Pod and Urn outside rooms6

explosion: 20 % 2

skeleton: 16 % 3

Barrel, Pod and Urn inside rooms6

explosion: 50 %

skeleton: 0 %

Origin dlvl 1-2
Door5 arrow: 100 %

1 Sarcophagi only exist in the Crypt, never in Hell.

2 In each cluster of barrels, pods and urns, the first barrel placed has a 25% chance having an explosion trap. All subsequent barrels have a 20% chance. As the number of barrels in a cluster is very hard to calculate accurately, I have used the value of 20% for all barrels. This will also affect the value for skeletons slightly, as it is 20% for a non exploding barrel.

3 Skeleton traps are, of course, only available if there are skeletons on the same level.

4 Hell and Crypt can’t have traps from doors.

5 The probabilities for doors apply to doors that do have traps. It seems that the probability to have traps is linked to the actual dungeon layout for doors in that it needs a wall opposite to it. In addition, if a trapped door is closed and one leave the level, it can set of the trap again next time one visit the level.

6 Rooms also includes the fenced locations in Caves. A room does not necessarily need to have a door, in the Catacombs and especially in Hell, many rooms just have an opening.

For damage and other information about the traps, see below. For damage, when two values or formulas are given, the top one is minimum damage and the bottom one is maximum damage. With fire arrows, the maximum damage might at times be less than the minimum damage (possible on dlvl 1-8). In that case, the actual damage done is always identical to the minimum damage. The table also list some dungeon features that while not being traps, still deal damage to players.

Trap Damage Speed/Duration Other
Arrow

Min: dlvl

Max: 2·dlvl

32 Will fire an arrow, originating from the nearest wall.1
Burning cross

Church: 6/64

Catacombs: 8/64

Caves: 10/64

Hell: 12/64

n/a The flame will hit once every 0.05 seconds for as long as you are standing in it.
Fire Arrow

Min: dlvl + Rnd[10] + 1

Max: 2·dlvl + Rnd[10] + 1

32 Will fire an arrow, originating from the nearest wall.1
Firebolt dlvl + Rnd[2·dlvl] 26 Will cast the spell Firebolt, originating from the nearest wall.1
Lightning (dlvl + Rnd[dlvl])/32 32 / 0.4 seconds2 Will cast the spell Lightning, originating from the nearest wall.1
Nova Itt(3, Rnd[3]) + dlvl/2 32 Will cast the spell Nova, originating from the chest.
Exploding barrel

Min: 8

Max: 16

n/a An exploding barrel does fire damage and is treated like a Firebolt hitting.
Skeleton n/a n/a Will create a random skeleton of those, if any, present on the same level.
Ring of Fire (Rnd[10] + Rnd[10] + dlvl + 2)/8 Unknown Will cast the spell Ring of Fire, originating from the chest.
Mana Drain n/a n/a Will drain you of all current mana. This trap has the ability to affect other players on the same level.
Disenchant potions

Full Healing: Healing

Full Mana: Mana

Full Rejuvenation: Rejuvenation - 33%

Full Healing - 33%

Full Mana - 33%

Healing: destroyed

Mana: destroyed

Rejuvenation: Healing - 50%

Mana - 50%

For each potion in your belt, there is a 50% chance that it will be replaced with another potion according to the left. If several possibilities exist, the chance is equal for all possibilities and shown after the potion. This trap has the ability to affect other players on the same level.

1 In Caves, Hell, the Hive, and the Crypt it will originate form the chest, pod or urn.

2 The bolt will try to hit once every 0.05 seconds.

To Hit

To Hit for traps is calculated according to the formulas below.

To Hit for an arrow trap: 100 - AC/2

To Hit for a magic trap: 40

As with attacks from monsters, there is also an automatic chance of hitting for traps, and it is listed below. Of course, the auto To Hit for magic traps is 40%, even on dungeon levels 14 to 16.

arrow trap: 10%

magic trap: 40%

on dungeon level 14: 20%

on dungeon level 15: 25%

on dungeon level 16: 30%

5 Monsters

This chapter deals with all the monsters you will face in the dungeons. As there are both many monsters and much data about each of them, it has been divided into several different types of tables for easier use. First are the tables with complete data about most things that affect combat for each monster on all difficulty levels (except for timing data). Then you will find tables with all data that is normally common for within each monster type (this includes things such as monster size, timing data, occurrence and attack type). Finally, monster AI has its own section. In the end I have made a few summary tables with selected data and some additional information. They have been constructed for ease of use during play. In them you can quickly check for example what monsters can be on a level, what resistances they have, and if you will get any experience. Included in this chapter are also special tables for the unique monsters. Note that although they are ”unique”, data about Diablo, Skeleton King, and The Butcher from Diablo, and Hork Demon, The Defiler, and Na-Krul from Hellfire are presented among the normal monsters (in their own table). The reasons for this are several but are mainly due to the fact that they are truly unique and not based on any other monster type.

5.1 How to calculate monster data

Data for nightmare and hell difficulty is calculated from the data for normal difficulty, and here follows information on how that is done as well as some description of the actual data. All data in the tables for nightmare and hell difficulty have been calculated using these formulas. Unique monsters generally follow the same formulas but more detailed information about data for unique monsters is found in chapter 5.4.

Monster type

Each monster can be one of three types: Undead, Animal or Demon. The type they are affects how much damage you do to them. It is summarized in the table below provided by Da O’Toth. The modifiers apply to the whole damage, that is, both to character and weapon damage. If a Bard is holding one sword and one club, the club takes precedence and it counts as having a club, not a sword. The modifications below are done even if the weapon equipped is red, and thus unusable, due to the requirements not being met.

Weapon type Undead Animal Demon
Swords × 0.5 × 1.5 × 1.0
Clubs × 1.5 × 0.5 × 1.0
Axes/Bows/Staves/Hands/Feet × 1.0 × 1.0 × 1.0

In addition to the above, monster type also affects if a monster will take damage from the spell Holy Bolt. Only undead monsters take damage from it. The only exception is Diablo who is a demon but yet takes damage from Holy Bolt. There are a few magical effects on items that are also dependent on monster type (+200% damage versus demons, extra AC versus undead, and extra AC versus demons, the last two only available in Hellfire). There are no other effects of the monster type.

Dungeon Level

This tells on what dungeon level the monster can occur on. This does not differ between difficulty levels. For more information about probabilities of monsters occurring on a specific dungeon level, see chapter 5.3.2.

Monster level

Nightmare: normal + 15

Hell: normal + 30

A monster’s level affects many things, including To Hit and experience points given. It also affects how fast it regenerates hit points, what treasures it can drop, and many other things. For some unique monsters, one should add +30/+60 instead of the normal +15/+30. For information about this, see chapter 5.4.

Hit points

First note that all data for hit points is based on the value for normal multi player (even in Hellfire). To calculate the hit points for normal single player, divide the hit points for normal multi player by 2 and round down (1 minimum though). For higher difficulty levels then use:

Nightmare: 3·normal + 1 (+50 in Hellfire single player and +100 in Hellfire multi player)

Hell: 4·normal + 3 (+100 in Hellfire single player and +200 in Hellfire multi player)

Note that there is a bug in Diablo previous to v1.07 and in the unpatched Hellfire (v1.00). This bug was ”corrected” differently in Hellfire and Diablo. In the tables the hit points for single player are correct for both Diablo and Hellfire (remember that in Diablo, only normal difficulty exists for single player). For multi player, the shown hit points are for Diablo; for Hellfire, you need to add 99 and 197 hit points in nightmare and hell difficulty respectively.

All monsters regenerate hit points. The rate is about 10·mlvl/64 hit points per second. Some monsters might regenerate it faster in some circumstance. Gargoyles, Scavengers and Grave Diggers will all, after having taken a certain amount of damage, move away and start healing. Gargoyles do so when in their stone form, while the other two need a carcass of a monster to eat or dig upon. The table below summarize monster regeneration of hit points.

Monster type When to start healing When to stop healing Rate1
Scavenger HP < maxHP/2 HP > 3·maxHp/4 1.82 hit points per second.
Gargoyle HP < maxHP/2 HP = maxHP random between 20·maxHP/64 and 20·maxHP/128 hit points per second2.
Grave Digger HP < maxHP/2 HP > 3·maxHp/4 1.25 hit points per second.

1 Note that they still get the normal regeneration rate on top of the faster one.

2 The time to completely regenerate HP is thus fixed to between 3.2 and 6.4 seconds.

Regeneration of hit points, as well as any other activity on a dungeon level, only works when the level is ”active”, that is, when at least one character is present on the level. When a level is later reactivated by any character entering it, monsters will have the exact same number of hit points as when the last character left the level.

Armor Class

Nightmare: normal + 50

Hell: normal + 80

Note that there is a bug in Hellfire that causes any monster having an AC above 127 to instead have a very low, or even negative, AC.

Attacks

All data for To Hit in the tables are for the physical attacks only. Magic attacks do not use any base To Hit. The damage value is usually used both for melee and magic attacks. For magic attacks, see chapter 4.2. Some monsters have more than one melee attack. Sometime they are connected in the way that each attack animation (that is each attack) has two chances of hitting at different times of the animation. They can hit with both their hands. An example of this is the Lightning Demons. In the other cases it is two different attacks (with two different animations) and the monster can only do one of them at a time. An example of this is the Overlords which can attack with either hand or the Spitting Terrors which can either attack in melee or cast a spell (spit). The table will only hold information about the main melee attack while information about the second melee attack or the spell attack is given in the notes. Often the second melee attack is sort of crippled in that the base To Hit and damage are both 0 on normal difficulty (and upgraded normally for difficulty) which make it more or less ineffective as it hardly ever hit and when it do it, it do none or neglectable damage.

To Hit

Nightmare: normal + 85

Hell: normal + 120

Note that the To Hit values shown in the tables are the base To Hit chance a monster has. The formula for a monster hitting a player is:

To Hit with melee attack: 30 + base + 2·(mlvl - clvl)

To Hit with arrow attack: 30 + base + 2·(mlvl - clvl) - 2·distance

To Hit with magic attack: 40 + 2·(mlvl - clvl)

Each monster also has an automatic To Hit value, just like players (monsters don’t have any chance to automatically miss unless fighting other monsters; in that case, they use the same chance to automatically hit or miss as players do). This indicates the chance of a hit regardless of the player’s AC. So even with an AC of 500, monsters will sometimes hit you. The attack can still be blocked, however. The auto To Hit values are listed below.

melee: 15%

arrow: 10%

magic: 10%

on dungeon level 14: 20%

on dungeon level 15: 25%

on dungeon level 16: 30%

Damage

Nightmare: 2·normal + 4

Hell: 4·normal + 6

Resistance and immunity

Nightmare: same as in normal

Hell: different resistances and immunities, but normally they gain extra resistances and/or immunities and some of the resistances are turned into immunities. Exceptions exist, though. Unique monsters have the same resistances and immunities as in normal difficulty.

Experience points

The experience points gained for killing a monster is explained in chapter 2.6. The base experience points used for those calculations are adjusted according to:

Nightmare: 2·normal + 2000

Hell: 4·normal + 4000

5.2 Monster data

Each monster type is presented in its own table below. In Diablo, each monster type has four subtypes of monsters that differ in color and stats. The monsters in Hellfire do not follow this pattern, and have instead been grouped into two sections: monsters found in the Hive and monsters found in the Crypt. Finally, there is a table for the special monsters: Diablo, Skeleton King and The Butcher in Diablo, and Hork Demon, The Defiler and Na-Krul in Hellfire. Data for unique monsters is presented in chapter 5.4.

In each table, each monster has data in three lines corresponding to the three difficulty levels. The top line is for normal, the middle one for nightmare and the bottom line for hell difficulty. As the resistances and immunities are the same for nightmare as for normal they are only given once for normal. Dungeon levels are the same regardless of difficulty level and are thus only given once for each monster.

Resistances and immunities are given in the following way. In the top of the column it says MFL. That corresponds to Magic, Fire, and Lightning, in that order. Below are then listed if the monsters are resistant, R, or immune, I. If there is no letter or there is a ”-”, it means the monster is neither resistant nor immune.

5.2.1 Monsters in Diablo

Zombies - Undead
Name
Zombie
Ghoul
Rotting Carcass
Black Death1

1 Black Deaths have the ability to lower your life permanently by 1 when they hit you.

Fallen Ones with spear1 - Animals
Name
Fallen One
Carver
Devil Kin
Dark One

1 When you kill any monster, Fallen Ones will walk away from you for a short while, see chapter 5.5.9 under Fallen One.

Fallen Ones with sword1 - Animals
Name
Fallen One
Carver
Devil Kin
Dark One

1 When you kill any monster, Fallen Ones will walk away from you for a short while, see 5.5.9 under Fallen One.

Skeletons - Undead
Name
Skeleton
Corpse Axe
Burning Dead
Horror
Skeleton Archers1 - Undead
Name
Skeleton Archer
Corpse Bow
Burning Dead
Archer
Horror Archer

1 They can fire arrows at a golem regardless of the distance (assuming they have a line of sight to it) but will not be activated unless the golem is adjacent to them.

Skeleton Captains - Undead
Name
Skeleton Captain
Corpse Captain
Burning Dead
Captain
Horror Captain
Scavengers1 - Animals
Name
Scavenger
Plague Eater
Shadow Beast
Bone Gasher

1 Scavengers have the ability to regenerate hit points faster while feasting on dead monsters.

Winged Fiends1 - Animals (Familiars are demons)
Name
Fiend
Blink2
Gloom3
Familiar4

1 Winged Fiends never drop any items or gold. A unique Winged Fiend does, however.

2 Blinks have the ability to Teleport to a square next to you when they are hit and go into hit recovery. The teleportation can thus be said to be their hit recovery.

3 Glooms have the ability to charge, like the Horned Demons, but will never attack with it. It is just a way for them to move around.

4 Familiars have the ability to cast a stationary charged bolt when attacking you.

The Hiddens1 - Demons
Name
Hidden
Stalker
Unseen
Illusion Weaver2

1 The Hiddens have the ability to disappear. They are always active and can always see you, even with max reduced light radius, regardless of whether or not you have a line of sight to them and regardless of the distance. They will fade in at a distance of 4-Intf and fade away at a distance of 6-Intf. See chapter 5.3.3 for information about the intelligence factor (Intf).

2 While moving away from you (after getting hit), the Illusion Weavers are impossible to hit.

Goat Men2 - Demons
Name
Flesh Clan
Stone Clan
Fire Clan
Night Clan

1 They only appear on level 2 as part of the Poisoned Water quest.

2 Goat Men have a second spinning attack. They will only perform this attack once their HP gets low (see chapter 5.5.9). Flesh, Stone and Fire Clan have a base To Hit of 0, 85 and 120 for the three difficulty levels while the damage is 0-0, 4-4 and 6-6. Night Clan have a base To Hit of 15, 100 and 135 while the damage is 30-30, 64-64 and 126-126.

Goat Men Archers1 - Demons
Name
Flesh Clan Archer
Stone Clan Archer
Fire Clan Archer
Night Clan Archer

1 They can fire arrows at a golem regardless of the distance (assuming they have a line of sight to it) but will not be activated unless the golem is adjacent to them.

2 They only appear on level 2 as part of the Poisoned Water quest.

3 They only appear on level 10 as part of the Anvil of Fury quest.

Overlords1 - Demons
Name
Overlord
Mud Man
Toad Demon
Flayed One

1 Overlords have a second melee attack. Overlord, Mud Man and Flayed One have a base To Hit of 0, 85 and 120 for the three difficulty levels while the damage is 0-0, 4-4 and 6-6. Toad Demon have a base To Hit of 40, 125 and 160 while the damage is 8-20, 20-44 and 38-86.

2 They only appear on level 4 as part of the Tavern Sign quest.

Gargoyles1,2 - Demons
Name
Winged-Demon
Gargoyle
Blood Claw
Death Wing

1 Gargoyles have the ability to regenerate hit points faster while in stone form.

2 If you leave a level all Gargoyles are active when you come back.

Magma Demons1,2 - Demons
Name
Magma Demon
Blood Stone
Hell Stone
Lava Lord

1 Magma demons may hit with their second hand as well. Such an attack has the To Hit increased by 10% and the damage decreased by 2.

2 Magma Demons have the ability to cast magma balls, which do fire damage.

Horned Demons1 - Animals
Name
Horned Demon
Mud Runner
Frost Charger
Obsidian Lord

1 Horned Demons have the ability to charge. Their charges have a base To Hit of 500%, so you’d better move out of the way. The damage of such a charge is - Horned Demon: 5-32 / 12-68 / 26-134, Mud Runner: 12-36 / 28-76 / 54-150, Frost Charger: 20-40 / 44-84 / 86-166 and Obsidian Lord: 20-50 / 44-104 / 86-206.

2 They only appear on level 5 as part of the Valor quest.

Spitting Terrors1 - Animals
Name
Acid Beast
Poison Spitter
Pit Beast
Lava Maw

1 Spitting Terrors have the ability to spit, which does magic damage.

Lightning Demons1,2 - Demons
Name
Red Storm
Storm Rider
Storm Lord
Maelstorm

1 Lightning demons may hit with their second hand as well. Such an attack has the To Hit decreased by 20% and the damage increased by 4.

2 Lightning demons have the ability to cast Lightning.

Balrogs1 - Demons
Name
Slayer
Guardian
Vortex Lord
Balrog

1 Balrogs have the ability to cast Inferno.

Vipers1 - Demons
Name
Cave Viper
Fire Drake
Gold Viper
Azure Drake

1 Vipers have the ability to do a short range charge attack with a To Hit of 500. This short ranged charge will have a base damage of 0-0 / 4-4 / 6-6, and will be in addition to their normal attack.

Succubi1 - Demons2
Name
Succubus
Snow Witch
Hell Spawn
Soul Burner

1 Succubi have the ability to cast Blood Stars. They can also see and fire Blood Stars at a golem regardless of the distance (assuming they have a line of sight to it) but will not be activated unless the golem is adjacent to them.

2 In Hellfire, Hell Spawns are animals, not demons.

Knights - Demons
Name
Black Knight
Doom Guard
Steel Lord
Blood Knight

1 One Black Knight is always present in Diablo’s room. Otherwise they don’t appear on level 16.

2 They only appear on level 13 as part of the Warlord of Blood quest.

Mages1 - Demons
Name
Counselor2
Magistrate3
Cabalist4
Advocate5

1 All mages have the ability to cast Flash.

2 Counselors have the ability to cast Firebolt.

3 Magistrates have the ability to cast Charged Bolt.

4 Cabalists have the ability to cast Lightning.

5 Advocates have the ability to cast Fireball.

6 They only appear on level 15 as part of the Arch-Bishop Lazarus quest.

5.2.2 Special monsters in Diablo

In the table below are listed the special monsters in Diablo. They are truly unique and are not based on any monster type. They are all treated by the game as unique monsters, except for Diablo, who is treated as a normal monster (but with some special abilities). Thus you can see some of Diablo’s stats when you have killed him a number of times just as for any other normal monster. Diablo will also for this reason drop items like a normal monster.

Like unique monsters, the special monsters have two different mlvl as well. One is used for combat and experience point award (battle) and one is used for item generation of items dropped by the unique monster (item). Both are given below.

Special Monsters in Diablo - Demons (Skeleton King is Undead)
Name
The Butcher
Skeleton King1
Diablo2
(Diablo)
Diablo2,3
(Hellfire)

1 In single player, the Skeleton King has the ability to raise dead skeletons. In multi player, the Skeleton King has the ability to steal life. He steal 100% life, that is, all the damage he inflicts is added to his current HP. His current HP may go above his maximum HP this way. He is also referred to as Leoric.

2 Diablo is immune to Stone Curse and has the ability to cast Apocalypse, regardless of distance, and do Knock Back attacks. Although being a demon, he take damage from Holy Bolt. He is also referred to as The Dark Lord.

3 In Hellfire, Diablo is resistant to Holy Bolt.

4 Due to a bug, base To Hit for Diablo will be 44% on nightmare difficulty and 84% on hell difficulty.

5.2.3 Monsters in Hellfire

Contrary to the original Diablo monsters, most Hellfire monsters do not have subtypes within a specific type. Some of the monsters do exist in two different variants though. For formatting reasons, the Hellfire monsters are grouped into monsters found in the Hive and monsters found in the Crypt. They are further grouped into monsters that have subtypes and monsters that have no subtypes.

The Hive - monsters with subtypes, U - Undead, A - Animals, D - Demons
Name
Stinger (A)
Venomtail (A)
Psychorb1 (A)
Necromorb1 (A)
Arachnon (A)
Spider Lord2 (A)

1 Psychorbs and Necromorbs have the ability to cast magical bolts, which do magic damage.

2 Spider Lords have the ability to spit, which does magic damage.

The Hive - monsters without subtypes, U - Undead, A - Animals, D - Demons
Name
The Shredded (U)
Felltwin (D)
Hellboar1 (D)
Hork Spawn2 (D)
Lashworm (A)
Torchant3 (A)

1 Hellboars have the ability to Knock Back.

2 Hork Spawns never drop any items or gold.

3 Torchants have the ability to cast Fireball.

The Crypt - monsters with subtypes, U - Undead, A - Animals, D - Demons
Name
Firebat1 (A)
Hellbat2 (D)
Skullwing (U)
Bone Demon3 (U)
Lich4 (U)
Arch Lich4 (U)

1 Firebats have the ability to cast Firebolt.

2 Hellbats have the ability to cast Fireball.

3 Bone Demons have the ability to cast magical bolts, which do magic damage. Bone Demons are also resistant to Holy Bolt.

4 Liches and Arch Liches have the ability to cast magical bolts, which do magic damage.

The Crypt - monsters without subtypes, U - Undead, A - Animals, D - Demons
Name
Gravedigger1 (U)
Tomb Rat (A)
Devil Kin Brute
(A)
Satyr Lord (A)
Crypt Demon (D)
Biclops3 (D)
Flesh Thing (D)
Reaper (D)

1 Gravediggers have the ability to regenerate hit points faster while digging on dead monsters.

2 Biclops have the ability to Knock Back.

3 Due to a bug, the base To Hit for Flesh Thing will be 14% on hell difficulty.

5.2.4 Special monsters in Hellfire

In the table below are listed the special monsters in Hellfire. They are truly unique and are not based on any monster type. They are all treated by the game as unique monsters. Like unique monsters, the special monsters have two different mlvl as well. One is used for combat and experience point award (battle) and one is used for item generation of items dropped by the unique monster (item). Both are given below. For information about the modified data for Diablo in Hellfire, see chapter 5.2.2.

Special Monsters in Hellfire - Demons
Name
Hork Demon1
The Defiler
Na-Krul2
(by lever)
Na-Krul2
(by book)

1 Hork Demon has the ability to spawn Hork Spawns

2 Na-Krul is immune to Stone Curse.

3 Due to a bug, the base To Hit for Na-Krul will be 14% on hell difficulty.

5.3 Monster properties

Apart from the data given in earlier chapters, monsters have other properties that are often shared within a monster type. This chapter will list such properties, which might be of interest in various ways. Currently the information includes monster size and how it affects selection of monsters for a specific dungeon level, attack types (for information in more detail about the behavior of the monsters according to attack type, see chapter 5.5), intelligence factor, abilities to open doors and follow target around corners, and timing information.

5.3.1 Monster size

Each monster type has a size associated with it. That size is used when selecting monsters for a specific level of the dungeon. Maximum total size of all monsters types on a level is 4000. Most monsters in the Church, for example, have small sizes, and that is the reason why you will see many different monsters on each level. Monsters in Hell and the Crypt normally have large sizes and thus you will only see two or three different monster types at once. In the tables below you can find the size of all monster types in the game. Note that golems also have a size, which is important for monster selection (see below).

Monsters in Diablo
Monster type Size Monster type Size Monster type
Zombies 799 Goat Men 1 030 Vipers
Fallen One, spear 543 Goat Men Archers 1 040 Succubi
Fallen One, sword 623 Overlords 1 130 Knights
Skeletons 553 Gargoyles 1 650 Mages
Skeleton Archers 567 Magma Demons 1 680
Skeleton Captains 575 Horned Demons 1 630 Golem
Scavengers 410 Spitting Terrors 716 The Butcher
Winged Fiends 364 Lightning Demons 1 740 Skeleton King
The Hiddens 992 Balrogs 2 200 Diablo
New monsters in Hellfire
Monster type Size Monster type Size Monster type
The Shredded 484 Lashworm 800 Arch Lich
Felltwin 800 Torchant 800 Satyr Lord
Hellboar 800 Gravedigger 800 Crypt Demon
Hork Spawn 520 Tomb Rat 550 Biclops
Stinger 305 Devil Kin Brute 800 Flesh Thing
Venomtail 305 Firebat 550 Reaper
Psychorb 800 Hellbat 550
Necromorb 800 Skullwing 1 740 Hork Demon
Arachnon 800 Bone Demon 1 740 The Defiler
Spider Lord 800 Lich 800 Na-Krul

5.3.2 Monster occurrences in the dungeons

The process of selecting monsters for a dungeon level is as follows:

  1. Subtract the golem’s size from the total size as it can always exist on every level.

  2. If there are any special quest monsters on a dungeon level (like Snotspill, The Butcher, Lachdanan, Hork Demon and so on) subtract the size of that monster type. That monster type will also appear, if possible, on that dungeon level of course.

  3. In Hellfire, if the dungeon level is level 2 or 3 of the Hive, subtract the size of the Hork Spawn. That monster type will also appear on those dungeon levels of course.

  4. In Hellfire, if the dungeon level is level 4 of the Crypt, subtract the size of the Arch Lich. That monster type will also appear on that dungeon level of course.

  5. In multi player, if it is the same dungeon level as the Skeleton King appears on (dlvl 3), pick a random skeleton type that can appear on that dungeon level. Subtract its size. It can now appear on that dungeon level and will be the skeleton type that appears around the Skeleton King.

  6. If possible, pick a random monster type of the ones that has not yet been picked that can appear on the dungeon level in question, and whose size is equal or less than the size left. Subtract that monsters size; it can now appear on the level.

  7. If there are still monsters that have a size less than the size left, go to step 6. Otherwise, end monster type selection.

  8. If any monster type that was picked has a unique monster set to appear on the dlvl in question, that unique monster will always appear.

All special mini levels found in single player are created by special code and thus are not created according to the above. The same is true for dlvl 16. Which is also created by special code and does not follow the above steps. In the same way, the monsters in Arch-Bishop Lazarus’ room on dlvl 15 in multi player are not counted toward the size limit. They are considered when the game picks possible unique monsters for the dungeon level, though. That is the reason you will always see Bloodlust on dlvl 15 in multi player.

With the algorithm above and the monster size also from the tables above, it is quite easy to calculate the probability of a specific monster appearing on a dlvl. The table below has been calculated using the above information. For information about on what dlvl monsters can occur, see chapter 5.2.1 and chapter 5.2.3.

dlvl 1 - Church % dlvl 3 - Church % dlvl 4 - Church %
Zombie 100 Ghoul 13 Rotting Carcass 24
Fallen One (spear) 100 Rotting Carcass 13 Black Death 24
Skeleton 100 Black Death 13 Devil Kin (spear) 26
Fallen One (sword) 100 Carver (spear) 15 Dark One (spear) 26
Scavenger 100 Devil Kin (spear) 15 Devil Kin (sword) 26
Skeleton Captain 100 Dark One (spear) 15 Dark One (sword) 26
dlvl 2 - Church % Carver (sword) 14 Burning Dead 26
Zombie 18 Devil Kin (sword) 14 Horror 26
Ghoul 18 Dark One (sword) 14 Corpse Bow 26
Rotting Carcass 18 Corpse Axe 24 Burning Dead Archer 26
Fallen One (spear) 20 Burning Dead 24 Horror Archer 26
Carver (spear) 20 Horror 24 Corpse Captain 26
Devil Kin (spear) 20 Skeleton Archer 24 Burning Dead Captain 26
Fallen One (sword) 20 Corpse Bow 24 Horror Captain 26
Carver (sword) 20 Burning Dead Archer 24 Plague Eater 31
Devil Kin (sword) 20 Skeleton Captain 24 Shadow Beast 31
Skeleton 20 Corpse Captain 24 Bone Gasher 31
Corpse Axe 20 Burning Dead Captain 25 Blink 34
Burning Dead 20 Scavenger 20 Gloom 34
Skeleton Archer 20 Plague Eater 20 Hidden 22
Corpse Bow 20 Shadow Beast 20 Flesh Clan 22
Skeleton Captain 20 Fiend 23 Flesh Clan Archer 22
Corpse Captain 20 Blink 23
Scavenger 28 Hidden 11
Plague Eater 28
Fiend 35
Hidden 16
dlvl 5 - Catacombs % dlvl 6 - Catacombs % dlvl 7 - Catacombs %
Black Death 23 Horror Archer 31 Familiar 75
Dark One (spear) 26 Horror Captain 31 Stalker 20
Dark One (sword) 26 Bone Gasher 44 Unseen 20
Horror 26 Gloom 47 Stone Clan 20
Burning Dead Archer 26 Familiar 47 Fire Clan 20
Horror Archer 26 Stalker 23 Night Clan 20
Burning Dead Captain 25 Unseen 23 Stone Clan Archer 20
Horror Captain 25 Flesh Clan 22 Fire Clan Archer 20
Shadow Beast 32 Stone Clan 22 Night Clan Archer 20
Bone Gasher 32 Fire Clan 22 Overlord 19
Blink 36 Flesh Clan Archer 22 Mud Man 19
Gloom 36 Stone Clan Archer 22 Winged-Demon 15
Hidden 21 Fire Clan Archer 22 Gargoyle 15
Stalker 21 Overlord 22 Horned Demon 15
Flesh Clan 20 Winged-Demon 17 Acid Beast 34
Stone Clan 20 Acid Beast 28
Flesh Clan Archer 20 dlvl 8 - Catacombs % dlvl 8 - Catacombs %
Stone Clan Archer 20 Familiar 49 Toad Demon 18
Overlord 20 Unseen 19 Gargoyle 15
Winged-Demon 16 Illusion Weaver 19 Magma Demon 14
Fire Clan 18 Blood Stone 14
Night Clan 18 Horned Demon 14
Fire Clan Archer 18 Mud Runner 14
Night Clan Archer 18 Acid Beast 33
Mud Man 18 Poison Spitter 33
dlvl 9 - Caves % dlvl 10 - Caves % dlvl 11 - Caves %
Illusion Weaver 16 Illusion Weaver 19 Flayed One 31
Night Clan 16 Toad Demon 19 Blood Claw 14
Night Clan Archer 16 Flayed One 19 Death Wing 14
Mud Man 16 Blood Claw 13 Hell Stone 14
Toad Demon 16 Death Wing 13 Lava Lord 14
Gargoyle 13 Blood Stone 13 Frost Charger 14
Blood Claw 13 Hell Stone 13 Obsidian Lord 14
Magma Demon 13 Lava Lord 13 Pit Beast 31
Blood Stone 13 Mud Runner 13 Red Storm 14
Hell Stone 13 Frost Charger 13 Storm Rider 14
Lava Lord 13 Obsidian Lord 13 Storm Lord 14
Horned Demon 13 Poison Spitter 31 Slayer 9
Mud Runner 13 Pit Beast 31 Guardian 9
Frost Charger 13 Red Storm 13 Cave Viper 19
Poison Spitter 56 Storm Rider 13
Red Storm 13 Slayer 8
dlvl 12 - Caves % dlvl 12 - Caves %
Flayed One 22 Slayer 9
Death Wing 13 Guardian 9
Obsidian Lord 13 Vortex Lord 9
Pit Beast 29 Cave Viper 18
Lava Maw 29 Fire Drake 18
Storm Rider 13 Succubus 23
Storm Lord 13 Black Knight 9
Maelstorm 13
dlvl 13 - Hell % dlvl 14 - Hell % dlvl 15 - Hell1 %
Lava Maw 27 Lava Maw 26 Balrog 17
Storm Lord 11 Maelstorm 10 Azure Drake 33
Maelstorm 11 Vortex Lord 9 Snow Witch 33
Guardian 9 Balrog 9 Hell Spawn 33
Vortex Lord 9 Fire Drake 21 Soul Burner 33
Balrog 9 Gold Viper 21 Doom Guard 17
Cave Viper 21 Succubus 22 Steel Lord 17
Fire Drake 21 Snow Witch 22 Magistrate 17
Gold Viper 21 Hell Spawn 22 Cabalist 17
Succubus 23 Black Knight 10 dlvl 16 - Hell %
Snow Witch 23 Doom Guard 10 Black Knight 100
Black Knight 10 Steel Lord 10 Blood Knight 100
Doom Guard 10 Blood Knight 10 Advocate 100
Steel Lord 10 Counselor 10
Blood Knight 10 Magistrate 10
Counselor 9

1 Not including Arch-Bishop Lazarus’ room in multi player.

Dlvl H1 - Hive % dlvl H2 - Hive % dlvl H3 - Hive %
The Shredded 80 The Shredded 70 Hork Spawn 100
Felltwin 80 Felltwin 65 Venomtail 100
Hellboar 80 Hellboar 65 Necromorb 50
Stinger 100 Hork Spawn 100 Spider Lord 50
Psychorb 80 Stinger 70 Lashworm 50
Arachnon 80 Psychorb 65 Torchant 50
Arachnon 65
dlvl H4 - Hive % dlvl C1 - Crypt % dlvl C2 - Crypt %
Venomtail 100 Gravedigger 58 Tomb Rat 67
Necromorb 75 Tomb Rat 67 Devil Kin Brute 58
Spider Lord 75 Devil Kin Brute 58 Firebat 67
Lashworm 75 Firebat 67 Skullwing 43
Torchant 75 Skullwing 43 Lich 58
Lich 58 Satyr Lord 58
Satyr Lord 58 Crypt Demon 58
dlvl C3 - Crypt % dlvl C4 - Crypt %
Hellbat 53 Hellbat 55
Bone Demon 43 Bone Demon 40
Arch Lich 53 Arch Lich1 100
Crypt Demon 52 Biclops 55
Biclops 52 Flesh Thing 55
Flesh Thing 52 Reaper 55
Reaper 52

1 There will always be Arch Liches on level 4 of the Crypt.

5.3.3 Attack types

Most monster types have their own unique way of attacking and moving. However, some of the monster types share some common attack types. The table below lists the various attack types that exist. I have used the name of the first monster type that uses that attack type. For example, skeletons and knights use the same attack type, but I have called it skeleton because they appear first. All monsters of a monster type share the same attack type, so I have only listed attack types for monster types. Since Hellfire does not have monster types, I have listed the attack type for each monster.

When a unique monster is present, it and its mob may have a different attack type than the normal one for that monster type. See chapter 5.4 for information about such attack type changes.

Monsters in Diablo
Monster type Attack type Monster type Attack type Monster type
Zombies Zombie Goat Men Goat Man Vipers
Fallen One, spear Fallen One Goat Men Archers Goat Archer Succubi
Fallen One, sword Fallen One Overlords Overlord Knights
Skeletons Skeleton Gargoyles Gargoyle Mages
Skeleton Archers Skeleton Archer Magma Demons Magma Demon
Skeleton Captains Skeleton Horned Demons Horned Demon Golem
Scavengers Scavenger Spitting Terrors Spit The Butcher
Winged Fiends Winged Fiend Lightning Demons Magma Demon Skeleton King
The Hiddens Hidden Balrogs Balrog Diablo
New monsters in Hellfire
Monster type Attack type Monster type Attack type Monster type
The Shredded Skeleton Lashworm Skeleton Arch Lich
Felltwin Skeleton Torchant Goat Archer Satyr Lord
Hellboar Skeleton Gravedigger Scavenger Crypt Demon
Hork Spawn Skeleton Tomb Rat Skeleton Biclops
Stinger Skeleton Devil Kin Brute Skeleton Flesh Thing
Venomtail Skeleton Firebat Goat Archer Reaper
Psychorb Goat Archer Hellbat Goat Archer
Necromorb Goat Archer Skullwing Skeleton Hork Demon
Arachnon Skeleton Bone Demon Magma Demon The Defiler
Spider Lord Spit Lich Goat Archer Na-Krul

The attack type does not only affect the actual attack but also how the monsters move around. Many monsters that share a specific attack type still cast different spells as the attack type does not in itself include spell (or arrow) cast. For information about what spell specific monsters cast, see 4.2. Others may be similar at some parts; for example, at a distance greater than Inferno range (3 squares) a Balrog will behave like a Skeleton in its movements, and it is not until it gets closer that it will start to circle the player. There are many similar features between the different attack types. Most of them are also heavily triggered by the distance to the target; that is, the behavior of the monster changes as it gets to a specific distance(s) to the target. Monsters can also gain a different attack type if they are part of a mob of a unique monster with a different attack type. The way monsters behave is not affected by difficulty level. For a more detailed explanation of how the attack types work, see chapter 5.5.

It is worth noticing that within a certain monster type the various monsters normally have an increasing ”intelligence”. A good way to see this difference is the look the various Goat Archers. Run up to them and you will see that a normal Flesh Clan Archer will not run a way immediately while a Night Clan Archer will normally run away before you even get close. Similar differences can be seen for most monster types. The table below will list the intelligence factor (Intf) within each monster type. It is basically a number between 0 and 3 (inclusive). The higher the number, the higher the intelligence of the monster. For monster types with 4 subtypes in Diablo, I have listed the four values after each other. For monsters that have no subtypes, there is only one number. Otherwise, there is no value given. For information about what intelligence factor unique monsters have, see chapter 5.4.

Presented in the table below is also the ability to open doors and to follow characters around walls. If a character disappears from the line of visibility of a player, they will normally move to the last position where they saw the character. Some monsters have the improved ability to also find the way around obstacles and follow you even further. This makes it possible for them to even follow you around a wall should you just teleport to the other side of it. If they do not have that ability, they will normally end up where you teleported from. These abilities are also presented below in the same way as the intelligence factor. A D means the monster can open doors and an F that means they will follow you.

Monsters in Diablo
Monster type Intf Behavior Monster type Intf
Zombies 0 1 2 3 Horned Demons 0 1 2 3
Fallen One, spear 0 2 2 3 Spitting Terrors 0 1 2 3
Fallen One, sword 0 1 2 3 Lightning Demons 0 1 2 3
Skeletons 0 1 2 3 Balrogs 0 1 2 3
Skeleton Archers 0 1 2 3 Vipers 0 1 2 3
Skeleton Captains 0 1 2 3 -- -- -- F- Succubi 0 1 2 3
Scavengers 0 1 2 3 Knights 0 0 1 1
Winged Fiends 0 1 2 3 -- -- -F -F Mages 0 1 2 3
The Hiddens 0 1 2 3 -- -F -F -F
Goat Men 0 1 2 3 DF DF DF DF Golem 0
Goat Men Archers 0 1 2 3 D- D- DF DF The Butcher 3
Overlords 0 1 2 3 -- -F -F -F Skeleton King 3
Gargoyles 0 1 2 3 D- D- D- D- Diablo 3
Magma Demons 0 1 2 3 DF DF DF DF
New monsters in Hellfire
Monster type Intelligence factor Behavior Monster type Intelligence factor
The Shredded 3 Firebat 3
Felltwin 3 DF Hellbat 3
Hellboar 2 -F Skullwing 0
Hork Spawn 3 Bone Demon 0
Stinger 3 Lich 3
Venomtail 3 Arch Lich 3
Psychorb 3 Satyr Lord 3
Necromorb 3 Crypt Demon 3
Arachnon 3 -F Biclops 3
Spider Lord 3 -F Flesh Thing 3
Lashworm 3 Reaper 3
Torchant 3
Gravedigger 3 D- Hork Demon 3
Tomb Rat 3 The Defiler 3
Devil Kin Brute 3 Na-Krul 3

5.3.4 Monster timing information

This chapter deals with the time it takes for different monsters to do different things. The data given is explained below. In almost every case the data is the same for each monster type and thus is not given for each subtype (as it is the same). Note that for all the actions below, the time is only valid for the case when the monsters are actually walking, swinging and so on. Most monsters will, for example, make pauses occasionally when they walk, so that the average walking speed over a longer time is slower. The same applies for when monsters attack players. Sometimes they make pauses. Even monsters within a monster type may act differently as, for example, the duration of a pause is generally affected by the intelligence factor. The data below does not take such things into consideration. However, the actual time to do an action does not vary between different difficulty levels and subtypes of monsters. All times are given in seconds.

Walk time

This is the time it takes for the monster to walk one square. For a player, it takes 0.40 seconds. Due to the fact that many monsters make pauses in the walking, you can often outrun monsters with a walk speed of 0.40 seconds.

Hit recovery time

This is the time it takes for a monster to go through a hit recovery (stun). To stun lock a monster, you need to hit it again before it has finished its hit recovery and either hit you (hit time) or moved away (for information about entering a new location, see chapter 6.1.9). For the monster to actually go into a hit recovery, you have to hit it and do damage equal or exceeding mlvl+3 (monsters of The Hiddens go into hit recovery regardless of the damage as long as they have no resistance to the attack type). Thanks to concre+e for initial information about monsters and hit recoveries.

Attack time

This is the time it takes a monster to do a complete attack against you, in much the same way as the swing speed of the characters in chapter 2.2.3 works. Some monsters can actually hit you twice in one attack. Many monsters have more than one attack, in such cases, two times are given. The first attack will be the main attack, that is, the one that have data within the tables in chapter 5.2 while the second is the one explained in the foot notes. Usually the main attack will be the melee attack while the second attack is a spell attack.

Hit time

Within the swing this is the time it takes to reach the frame where the actual hit on a player occurs. This is of course always identical or shorter than the complete attack time. When there exist two attacks and thus two attack times, there will also be two hit times given. For Magma Demons and Lightning Demons there are actually three times given, where the first two relate to the melee attack which, as described above, can hit you twice in the same attack and the last number correspond to the spell attack.

Diablo
Monster type Walk time Hit recovery time Attack time Hit time
Zombies 1.20 0.30 0.60 0.40
Fallen Ones with spear 0.55 0.55 0.65 / 0.651 0.35 / 0.251
Fallen Ones with sword 0.60 0.55 0.65 / 0.751 0.40 / 0.251
Skeletons 0.40 / 0.802 0.30 0.65 0.40
Skeleton Archers 0.40 / 0.802 0.25 0.80 0.60
Skeleton Captains 0.40 / 0.802 0.35 0.60 0.40
Scavengers 0.40 / 0.553 0.30 0.60 0.35
Winged Fiends 0.65 0.45 0.50 0.25
The Hiddens 0.40 / 0.553 0.40 0.60 0.40
Goat Men 0.40 0.30 0.60 / 0.60 0.40 / 0.00
Goat Men Archers 0.40 0.30 0.80 0.65
Overlords 0.50 0.30 0.75 / 0.50 0.40 / 0.00
Gargoyles 0.70 0.50 0.70 0.35
Magma Demons 0.50 0.35 0.70 / 0.90 0.20 - 0.454 / 0.705

1 The second value is for the War Cry animation (see chapter 5.5.9 under Fallen One for more information).

2 The second value is for the fade in/out animation.

3 The second value is for the feasting upon a carcass animation.

4 Have two hits in one attack.

5 The Magma Demon actually hit at 0.65 while the other three types hit at 0.70.

Diablo
Monster type Walk time Hit recovery time Attack time Hit time
Horned Demons 0.40 0.30 0.70 0.35
Spitting Terrors 0.40 0.40 0.60 / 0.20 0.40 / 0.00
Lightning Demons 0.40 0.20 0.90 / 0.70 0.25 - 0.651 / 0.40
Balrogs 0.35 0.05 0.70 / 1.00 0.40 / 0.15
Vipers 0.55 0.25 0.65 0.40
Succubi 0.40 0.35 0.80 0.50
Knights 0.40 0.20 0.80 0.40
Mages 0.05 / 1.002 0.40 1.00 0.40
The Butcher 0.40 0.30 0.60 0.40
Skeleton King 0.30 0.30 0.80 / 0.303 0.40 / 0.003
Diablo (Diablo) 0.30 0.30 0.80 / 0.80 0.20 / 0.55
Diablo (Hellfire) 0.30 0.10 0.80 / 0.80 0.20 / 0.55
Golem 0.80 / 1.004 0.00 0.60 0.35

1 Have two hits in one attack.

2 The second value is for the fade in/out animation.

3 The second value is for the revive skeleton animation.

4 The second value is for the fade in animation.

Hellfire - Hive
Monster type Walk time Hit recovery time Attack time Hit time
The Shredded 0.50 0.25 0.60 0.35
Felltwin 0.65 0.55 0.75 0.40
Hellboar 0.50 0.30 0.75 0.35
Hork Spawn 0.60 0.55 0.70 0.40
Stinger 0.50 0.30 0.60 0.40
Venomtail 0.50 0.30 0.60 0.40
Psychorb 0.65 0.35 0.65 0.40
Necromorb 0.65 0.35 0.65 0.40
Arachnon 0.50 0.30 0.75 0.40
Spider Lord 0.50 0.30 0.75 / 0.50 0.40 / 0.40
Lashworm 0.65 0.30 0.75 0.40
Torchant 0.60 0.30 0.60 0.40
Hork Demon 0.40 0.30 0.80 / 0.451 0.40 / 0.401
The Defiler 0.40 0.30 0.70 / 0.60 0.40 / 0.40

1 The second value is for the spawning Hell Spawn animation.

Hellfire - Crypt
Monster type Walk time Hit recovery time Attack time Hit time
Gravedigger 1.20 / 0.801 0.30 0.60 0.30
Tomb Rat 0.40 0.30 0.60 0.40
Devil Kin Brute 0.40 0.40 0.55 0.30
Firebat 0.80 0.30 0.70 0.40
Hellbat 0.80 0.30 0.70 0.40
Skullwing 0.40 0.30 1.00 0.35
Bone Demon 0.40 0.30 1.00 / 0.80 0.40 / 0.60
Lich 0.50 0.35 0.50 0.40
Arch Lich 0.50 0.35 0.50 0.40
Satyr Lord 0.65 0.45 0.70 0.40
Crypt Demon 0.90 0.40 0.60 0.40
Biclops 0.55 0.30 0.80 0.40
Flesh Thing 1.20 0.30 0.75 0.40
Reaper 0.50 0.30 0.70 0.40
Na-Krul 0.30 0.15 0.80 / 0.80 0.35 / 0.25

1 The second value is for the digging upon a carcass animation.

5.4 Unique monsters

Unique monsters always appear on a specific dlvl and are based on one of the normal monsters. They can also have a special ability (attack type) not normally available to that monster. Often, especially on the earlier levels, they have a group of normal monsters (a mob in the tables) around them. The monsters of that mob also have the same special ability as their boss and have their HP doubled (after any modification for difficulty level). Any stat not given in the unique monster tables is identical to that of the monster it is based on. Generally, any information given in chapter 5.1 also applies to unique monsters unless stated otherwise below.

I have tried to fit in all the data for each unique monster into the tables below, this means that it can at a first glance seem complicated and confusing but the alternative would have been to split up the data into several tables.

Type

This is the monster the unique monster is based on. Unless otherwise changed, it has all the stats and abilities of the monster it is based on.

Attack type

This will list the attack type of the unique monster (and its followers). It will be in italic if it differ from the normal attack type for that monster For information about attack types, see chapter 5.3.3. Most unique monsters that appear in quests have their own special attack type. It is normally related to the attack type the monster normally has but may have some differences. They are noted as special in the tables below.

Attack type and Intelligence factor

This list the intelligence factor for the unique monster (and its followers). For information about the intelligence factor, see chapter 5.3.3.

Mob

If the unique monster has a mob of normal monsters around it, it is listed here. Otherwise the unique monster will be alone.

Dungeon level

This is the dlvl the unique monster will appear on. It cannot appear on any other dlvl, and it will only (and always) appear if the monster it is based on is present on the dlvl.

Monster level

Note that unique monsters have two different mlvl. One is used for combat and experience point award (battle), and one is used for item generation of items dropped by the unique monster (item). The mlvl used for combat and experience points follow one of the following two formulas:

mlvlunique = 2·dlvl

mlvlunique = mlvlnormal + 5

The lower formula is only used for certain unique monsters in quests. It should be apparent from the table which of the two formulas was used. For item generation the mlvl of a unique monsters is equal to the mlvl of the monster it is based on. Both mlvl are listed in the tables below to avoid confusion.

Most unique monsters receive the normal +15/+30 addition to their mlvl on nightmare and hell difficulty. However, some special monsters receive this bonus twice. Apart from some of the special monsters (see chapter 5.2.2 and 5.2.4), this is also true for Arch-Bishop Lazarus, Blackjade and Red Vex).

Hit points

The HP in the tables below are for Diablo. For Hellfire, you should add 49 for nightmare and 97 for hell difficulty (99 and 197 in multi player). All unique monsters have more Hit Points than normal monsters of their type. The number of Hit Points for unique monsters is always the same and never varies within a range like for normal monsters.

Damage

All unique monsters do more damage than normal monsters. The listed value shows the range of the damage.

Resistance and immunity

Unlike normal monsters, unique monsters have the same resistances and immunities on all three difficulty levels. For an explanation on how resistance and immunity is shown, see chapter 5.1.

Experience points

Experience points given for killing a unique monster follows that of normal monsters (see chapter 5.1). The base experience for a unique monster is twice that of a normal monster. However, there seems to be a bug with experience points for unique monsters. The calculations for nightmare and hell difficulty increase and seem to be applied twice. This will in most cases mean the experience points will overflow and wrap around (maximum base experience points is 65535). For that reason, I have not given any base experience points for unique monsters.

Armor Class and To Hit

Generally, a unique monster has the same AC and To Hit as a normal monster. There are exceptions, though, where the unique monster can get a different AC or a different To Hit (but never both). Due to a bug, this changed AC and To Hit is not updated for difficulty level, and will thus be the same on all difficulties.

If the monster has any AC or To Hit that differs from the base monster, it will be noted in a note under the table.

Zombies
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage MFL
4 1 85 4 - 12
Rotfeast the Hungry Zombie Skeleton 3 Yes 2 19 1 256 12 - 28 I--
34 1 343 22 - 54
4 1 133 4 - 8
Soulpus Zombie Zombie 0 2 19 1 400 12 - 20 -RR
34 1 535 22 - 38
6 2 102 9 - 24
Rotcarnage1 Ghoul Zombie 3 Yes 3 21 2 307 22 - 52 I-R
36 2 411 42 - 102
6 4 156 15 - 30
Goretongue Rotting Carcass Skeleton 1 3 21 4 469 34 - 64 I--
36 4 627 66 - 126

1 Has an AC of 45 on all difficulty levels.

Fallen Ones with spear
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage
4 1 51 6 - 18
Pukerat the Unclean Fallen One, spear Fallen One 3 2 19 1 154 16 - 40
34 1 207 30 - 78
6 5 178 9 - 21
Bongo Devil Kin, spear Fallen One 3 Yes 3 21 5 535 22 - 46
36 5 715 42 - 90
8 7 220 10 - 18
Snotspill1 Dark One, spear Special 3 4 23 7 661 24 - 40
38 7 883 46 - 78

1 Only appears in a quest in single player.

Fallen Ones with sword
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage
4 1 77 1 - 5
Bladeskin the Slasher1 Fallen One, sword Fallen One 0 2 19 1 232 6 - 14
34 1 311 10 - 26
6 3 66 6 - 16
Gutshank the Quick Carver, sword Winged Fiend 2 Yes 3 21 3 199 16 - 36
36 3 264 30 - 70
10 7 270 12 - 25
Shadowcrow2 Dark One, sword Hidden 2 Yes 5 25 7 811 28 - 54
40 7 1 083 54 - 106

1 Has an AC of 45 on all difficulty levels.

2 Has the ability to disappear, like The Hiddens.

Skeletons - Undead
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage MFL
4 1 54 6 - 15
Boneripper Skeleton Winged Fiend 0 Yes 2 19 1 163 16 - 34 II-
0 34 1 219 30 - 66
4 2 91 4 - 10
Bonehead Keenaxe1 Corpse Axe Skeleton 2 Yes 2 19 2 274 12 - 24 I--
34 2 367 22 - 46
8 4 75 21 - 24
Madeye the Dead2 Burning Dead Winged Fiend 0 Yes 4 23 4 226 46 - 52 II-
38 4 303 90 - 102

1 Has a base To Hit of 100 on all difficulty levels.

2 Has an AC of 30 on all difficulty levels.

Skeleton Archers
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage MFL
4 3 49 6 - 9
Deadeye Skeleton Archer Goat Archer 0 2 19 3 148 16 - 22 IR-
34 3 199 30 - 42
6 5 125 6 - 10
Skullfire Corpse Bow Goat Archer 1 3 21 5 376 16 - 24 -I-
36 5 503 30 - 46
8 7 120 6 - 16
Blackash the Burning Burning Dead Arch. Goat Archer 0 Yes 4 23 7 361 16 - 36 II-
38 7 483 30 - 70
Skeleton Captains
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage MFL
6 6 108 12 - 20
Brokenhead Bangshield Corpse Captain Skeleton 3 Yes 3 21 6 325 28 - 44 I-R
36 6 432 54 - 86
10 10 300 18 - 26
Shadowdrinker1 Horror Captain Hidden 1 Yes 5 25 10 901 40 - 56 IRR
40 10 1 203 78 - 110

1 Has the ability to disappear, like The Hiddens. Has an AC of 45 on all difficulty levels.

Scavengers
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage MFL
4 2 60 3 - 20
Shadowbite Scavenger Skeleton 3 Yes 2 19 2 181 10 - 44 -I-
36 2 243 18 - 86
6 4 120 10 - 18
El Chupacabras Plague Eater Goat Man 0 Yes 3 21 4 361 24 - 40 -R-
36 4 483 46 - 78
8 6 150 16 - 20
Pulsecrawler1 Shadow Beast Scavenger 0 Yes 4 23 6 451 36 - 44 -IR
38 6 603 70 - 86
8 8 180 18 - 25
Spineeater Bone Gasher Scavenger 1 Yes 4 23 8 541 40 - 54 --I
38 8 723 78 - 106

1 Has an AC of 45 on all difficulty levels.

Winged Fiends
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage MFL
8 7 135 9 - 27
Moonbender Blink Winged Fiend 0 Yes 4 23 7 406 22 - 58 -I-
38 7 543 42 - 114
10 7 135 9 - 22
Wrathraven Blink Winged Fiend 2 Yes 5 25 7 406 22 - 48 -I-
40 7 543 42 - 94
10 9 246 12 - 28
Foulwing1 Gloom Horned Demon 3 Yes 5 25 9 738 28 - 60 -R-
40 9 987 54 - 118

1 Due to having the Horned Demon attack type, Foulwing and his mob will do full charged attacks with both damage (0-0 / 4-4 / 6-6) and putting the player into hit recovery. For more information, see chapter 6.1.7.

The Hiddens
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage MFL
6 5 117 6 - 18
Warpskull Hidden Hidden 2 Yes 3 21 5 352 16 - 40 -RR
36 5 471 30 - 78
Goat Men
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage MFL
8 7 120 6 - 16
Gharbad the Weak1 Flesh Clan Special 3 4 23 7 361 16 - 36 --I
38 7 483 30 - 70
12 10 276 12 - 24
Deathshade Fleshmaul2 Stone Clan Horned Demon 0 6 27 10 829 28 - 52 IR-
42 10 1 107 54 - 102
12 12 315 24 - 34
Bloodgutter Fire Clan Winged Fiend 1 Yes 6 27 12 946 52 - 72 -I-
42 12 1 263 102 - 142
14 14 250 20 - 28
Blighthorn Steelmace3 Night Clan Horned Demon 0 Yes 7 29 14 751 44 - 60 --R
44 14 1 003 86 - 118

1 Only appears in quests in single player.

2 Due to having the Horned Demon attack type, Deathshade and its mobs will do full charged attacks with both damage (0-0 / 4-4 / 6-6) and putting the player into hit recovery. For more information, see chapter 6.1.7. Has an AC of 46 on all difficulty levels.

3 Due to having the Horned Demon attack type, Blighthorn and its mobs will do full charged attacks with both damage (30-30 / 64-64 / 126-126) and putting the player into hit recovery. For more information, see chapter 6.1.7. Has an AC of 45 on all difficulty levels.

Goat Men Archers
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage MFL
10 8 207 3 - 16
Bloodskin Darkbow1 Flesh Clan Archer Goat Archer 0 Yes 5 25 8 622 10 - 36 -RR
40 8 831 18 - 70
14 12 321 13 - 21
Blightfire2 Fire Clan Archer Goat Archer 2 Yes 7 29 12 964 30 - 46 -I-
44 12 1 287 58 - 90
14 14 303 15 - 28
Gorestone3 Night Clan Archer Goat Archer 1 Yes 7 29 14 910 34 - 60 --R
44 14 1 215 66 - 118

1 Has an AC of 55 on all difficulty levels.

2 Has the ability to fire Blood Stars instead of arrows, like Succubi.

3 Has a base To Hit of 70 on all difficulty levels.

Overlords
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage MFL
12 10 210 16 - 23
Bilefroth the Pit Master Overlord Winged Fiend 1 Yes 6 27 10 631 36 - 50 IIR
42 10 843 70 - 68
16 14 315 24 - 35
Baron Sludge1 Mud Man Hidden 3 Yes 8 31 14 946 52 - 74 IRR
46 14 1 263 102 - 146
18 16 483 25 - 30
Oozedrool Toad Demon Overlord 3 Yes 9 33 16 1 450 54 - 64 --R
48 16 1 935 106 - 126

1 Has the ability to disappear, like The Hiddens. Has an AC of 75 on all difficulty levels.

Gargoyles
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage MFL
14 13 342 18 - 26
Nightwing the Cold Gargoyle Winged Fiend 1 Yes 7 29 13 1 027 40 - 56 I-R
44 13 1 371 78 - 114
20 19 405 15 - 35
Goldblight of the Flame1 Blood Claw Gargoyle 0 Yes 10 35 19 1 216 34 - 74 II-
50 19 1 623 66 - 146
24 23 525 20 - 40
Viletouch Death Wing Gargoyle 3 Yes 12 39 23 1 576 44 - 84 --I
54 23 2 103 86 - 166

1 Has an AC of 80 on all difficulty levels.

Magma Demons
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage MFL
16 13 303 18 - 22
Firewound the Grim Magma Demon Magma Demon 0 Yes 8 31 13 910 40 - 48 IR-
46 13 1 215 78 - 94
Horned Demons
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage MFL
18 15 351 25 - 34
Breakspine Mud Runner Horned Demon 0 Yes 9 33 15 1 054 54 - 72 -R-
48 15 1 407 106 - 142
20 19 525 20 - 40
Blackstorm1 Obsidian Lord Horned Demon 3 Yes 10 35 19 1 576 44 - 84 I-I
50 19 2 103 86 - 166
22 17 477 25 - 30
Bluehorn1 Frost Charger Horned Demon 1 Yes 11 37 17 1 432 54 - 64 IR-
53 17 1 911 106 - 126

1 Has an AC of 90 on all difficulty levels.

Acid Beasts
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage MFL
12 11 303 12 - 32
Deathspit1 Acid Beast Fast Spit 0 Yes 6 27 11 910 28 - 68 -RR
42 11 1 215 54- 134
16 15 240 12 - 20
Chaoshowler1 Poison Spitter Fast Spit 0 Yes 8 31 15 721 28 - 44
46 15 963 54 - 86
20 15 450 20 - 30
Plaguewrath1 Poison Spitter Fast Spit 2 Yes 10 35 15 1 351 44 - 64 IR-
50 15 1 803 86 - 126

1 Never attacks in melee but always uses fast spit instead.

Lightning Demons
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage MFL
18 18 411 25 - 36
Brokenstorm Red Storm Magma Demon 2 Yes 9 33 18 1 234 54 - 76 --I
48 18 1 647 106 - 150
20 20 501 20 - 35
The Flayer Storm Rider Magma Demon 1 Yes 10 35 20 1 504 44 - 74 RRI
50 20 2 007 86 - 146
26 24 612 1 - 60
Doomcloud Maelstorm Magma Demon 1 13 41 24 1 837 6 - 124 -RI
56 24 2 451 10 - 246
Balrogs
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage MFL
24 24 711 35 - 40
Windspawn1 Vortex Lord Skeleton 1 Yes 12 39 24 2 134 74 - 84 II-
54 24 2 847 146 - 166
26 24 771 20 - 55
Gorefeast1 Vortex Lord Skeleton 3 13 41 24 2 314 44 - 114 -R-
56 24 3 087 86 - 226
26 26 750 25 - 40
Blackskull1 Balrog Skeleton 3 Yes 13 41 26 2 251 54 - 84 I-R
56 26 3 003 106 - 166

1 Never casts Inferno but always attacks by melee instead.

Vipers
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage MFL
22 21 444 15 - 32
Fangspeir1 Cave Viper Skeleton 1 Yes 11 37 21 1 333 34 - 68 -I-
52 21 1 779 66 - 134
24 23 570 25 - 35
Viperflame1 Fire Drake Skeleton 1 Yes 12 39 23 1 711 54 - 74 -IR
54 23 2 283 106 - 146
28 25 681 15 - 50
Fangskin1 Gold Viper Skeleton 2 Yes 14 43 25 2 044 34 - 104 I-R
58 25 2 727 66 - 206

1 Will never do the short range Viper charge.

Succubi
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage MFL
24 24 444 10 - 20
Witchfire the Unholy Succubus Goat Archer 3 Yes 12 39 24 1 333 24 - 44 IIR
54 24 1 779 46 - 86
26 26 310 30 - 40
Witchmoon Snow Witch Goat Archer 3 13 41 26 931 64 - 84 --R
56 26 1 243 126 - 166
28 28 726 30 - 50
Stareye the Witch Hell Spawn Goat Archer 2 14 43 28 2 179 64 - 104 -I-
58 28 2 907 126 - 206
30 28 825 20 - 55
Bloodlust1 Hell Spawn Goat Archer 1 15 45 28 2 476 44 - 114 I-I
60 28 3 303 86 - 223
33 28 400 30 - 50
Blackjade2 Hell Spawn Special 3 15 63 28 1 201 64 - 104 I-R
93 28 1 603 126 - 206
33 28 400 30 - 50
Red Vex2 Hell Spawn Special 3 15 63 28 1 201 64 - 104 IR-
93 28 1 603 126 - 206

1 Always appears in every multi player game.

2 Always appears in Arch-Bishop Lazarus’ room.

Knights
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage MFL
24 24 525 25 - 25
Lionskull the Bent Black Knight Skeleton 2 Yes 12 39 24 1 576 54 - 54 III
54 24 2 103 106 - 106
26 26 400 1 - 60
Rustweaver Doom Guard Skeleton 3 13 41 26 1 201 6 - 124 III
56 26 1 603 10 - 246
26 28 850 35 - 50
Warlord of Blood1 Steel Lord Special 3 13 41 28 2 551 74 - 104 III
56 28 3 403 146 - 206
28 26 672 30 - 50
Graywar the Slayer Doom Guard Skeleton 1 14 43 26 2 017 64 - 104 --R
58 26 2 691 126 - 206
28 28 831 40 - 50
Steelskull the Hunter Steel Lord Skeleton 3 14 43 28 2 494 84 - 104 --R
58 28 3 327 166 - 206
28 30 500 0 - 0
Lachdanan1,2 Blood Knight Special 3 14 43 30 1 501 4 - 4
58 30 2 003 6 - 6
32 30 1 050 20 - 60
Sir Gorash3 Blood Knight Skeleton 1 16 47 30 3 151 44 - 124
62 30 4 203 86 - 246

1 Only appears in a quest in single player.

2 His stats are actually uninteresting as you will never fight against him.

3 Always appear in every game.

Mages
Name Type Attack type Intf Mob dlvl

mlvl

battle

mlvl

items

HP Damage MFL
16 25 360 16 - 40
Zhar the Mad1 Counselor Special 3 8 31 25 1 081 36 - 84 IRR
46 25 1 440 70 - 166
28 27 540 30 - 40
Dreadjudge Magistrate Mage 1 Yes 14 43 27 1 621 64 - 84 IRR
58 27 2 163 126 - 166
30 29 850 25 - 40
The Vizier Cabalist Mage 2 Yes 15 45 29 2 551 54 - 84 -I-
60 29 3 403 106 - 166
35 30 600 30 - 50
Arch-Bishop Lazarus2 Advocate Special 3 15 65 30 1 801 64 - 104 IRR
95 30 2 403 126 - 206

1 Has the ability to fire Fireballs instead of Firebolts, like Advocates. Only appears in a quest in single player.

2 Always appears in every game.

5.5 Monster AI

In this chapter, a more detailed explanation of the monster’s AI, artificial intelligence, is given. That is, it will explain how the monster decides what to do. It will also explain in more detail how monsters act in general. Basically one can say that a monster can do 3 different things; move in some way, attack in some way or stand still in some way.

5.5.1 Monster AI general information

Just like a player, a monster will always have a specific action which it will be doing. Also, just as players, it must finish the current action before it can chose to do a new action. Some outside events may sometimes force a monster into a new specific action. Such events be the monster being hit and set into hit recover, a Fallen One retreating due to having a companion killed.

As explained in chapter 6, monsters, players and other things in the game are updated in a specific order and once every 0.05 seconds. During the update of each monster it will typically continue with the monster’s current action and if it during the update reaches the end of that action it terminates it.

When a monster terminates an action, it will be set into stand mode. Stand mode is basically the monster doing nothing (note delaying is basically standing but for a predetermined time). The first thing that happens when a monster is set to stand mode is that it will check for a target. Thus, a monster always has a target, even if it is not activated and no enemy is in sight. For a description of target selection, see chapter 5.5.6. When a monster is in stand mode it will check for a new action by following a special script specific for the attack type the monster has. Note that a unique monster, and its mob if any, may have its attack type changed, see chapter 5.4, it will then follow the script of the new attack type. For a list of attack type for each monster, see chapter 5.3.3. The script may either end up in the monster being set into a new action type, or remaining in stand mode.

At any time, the game, for each monster, thus has complete knowledge of what target the monster has. It also knows where the target is and will as appropriate, calculate the distance to the target. It also always know what action the monster performed previous to being set to stand mode. In addition, while in stand mode, a special counter will keep track of how long the monster have been in stand mode. All this may often be important when going through the various scripts to decide the next action.

Within the scripts, some common tasks are very often performed either at the start or at the end. One of them is calculate the distance to its target. The game will also check the direction in which the target is located. This is usually used to determine in what direction the monster will walk. This chapter will not deal with path algorithms used, or explain how a monster walk. Many monsters will walk towards the target in the closest possible way, others will (at times depending on the distance to the target) instead walk around the target and so on. This chapter will generally just tell that the monster will chose to walk as its next action. Usually at the end of the script, if the monster is still in stand mode, it will turn around towards it target if necessary.

5.5.2 Activating monsters

All monsters on a new level starts in a non active state (monsters with the Hidden attack type are an exception as they are always active, see chapter 5.5.9 under the Hidden subsection). As soon as a monster is within a players light radius and the view between the monster and the player is not obstructed by walls, the monster will be activated. While not activated, most monsters will not act although some exceptions exists, see chapter 5.5.7. Examples of such exceptions are archers and Succubi still being able to fire at golems or if a monster is attacked in any way. When a monster leaves the light radius of a player, it will continue to act for 12.75 seconds until it is set into non active status again unless it during that time, again enters the light radius of a player or is ”activated” again. Some monsters with the capability of following players outside their current view will try to walk around possible obstacles to get to the former target when it leaves the light radius. See chapter 5.3.3 for more information about which monsters have this capability.

5.5.3 About walking

There are several different ways monsters walk in the game. The exact nature of how monster walking is done will not always be described in detail. Some general comments is needed though. Below are given very general description of some common walk behavior. They are given as a general information. Changes and diversions may exists. Also, if while walking the path is blocked, monsters may behave slightly different. Sometimes it will try alternative paths and other times abort its walk and reconsider its action. Some monsters have very specific walk behavior and those will be described within the actual AI script.

Walking towards target: This means the monster will generally walk towards the target in the closest possible way. It will typically walk around smaller obstacles. Example of this walk type are The Hiddens and Skeletons.

Walking towards last seen position: Same as walking towards target, but the game will unless the target is within line of sight, walk towards the location where the target was last seen. This is not the same as having the ability to follow the target when it is out of line of sight. A monster will always walk towards the last seen position first before it tries to find a path to a target outside its current line of sight. If there is no such path it will simply walk around the last seen location until it is deactivated due to time. Example of this walk behavior is Balrogs, Gargoyles and Scavengers.

Walk away from target: Will try to walk away from target, this includes walking sideways if the path is blocked directly away from target. It will however not include walking past the target. A good example of this behavior is mages trying to escape from a player. This is also the reason why it is possible to trap monsters in corners. This type of walking is usually used for monsters retreating. Examples of monsters using this walk type is Hidden, Succubi, Archers and Mages.

Walk in circle: Many monsters uses the circling type of walk. It basically means the monster walks in a circular path around the target, often without either increasing nor decreasing the distance. Usually the monster using circular walk will once it has started that type of walking, do it until it has walked a distance equal to twice the current max distance to the target (max distance being the higher of the two distance values x and y in a coordinate system). It will also terminate the circle walk if it enters a new area or the distance to the target is reduced to 1. The direction will typically be chosen with a 50/50 chance for clockwise and counter clockwise. Examples of this walk type is Balrogs, Lightning Demons, Spitters, Diablo and Skeleton King.

5.5.4 About charging

If a monster has the possibility to charge and it has been decided that it should charge, the game will check if there is really a path along which to charge that is not blocked by for example lava or a fence. If that is the case, the script will generally continue finding another action to perform as if it was decided to not charge.

5.5.5 About ranged attack

When the game has decided to do a ranged attack, it will check if line of sight is blocked. If that is the case, the script will generally continue finding another action to perform as if it was decided to not do a ranged attack. Note however, that this check many times will not detect all hindrance which may result in the ranged attack being performed but yet hit an obstacle before reaching the target.

5.5.6 Target selection

When a monster is to choose which player character to attack (if there is more than one present in the game) it will generally chose the one that is closest. However, the process of finding out who is the closest is somewhat non intuitive as the game does not calculate the true distance, but separates distances for the 2 main axis of the dungeon. This is most easily explained with an example.

  1. The dungeon is divided into several ”squares” of which each square can hold a monster, player, or some dungeon inventory. Call the axis of squares running from the upper left to the lower right X, and the one running from lower left to the upper right Y.

  2. The game will then calculate the distance to each character separately for X and Y direction.

  3. It will then for each character use the largest distance of X and Y.

  4. Comparing the distance got from step 3, it will attack the one with the shortest distance.

  5. If two characters are equally close, the one that has first entered the game will be the target. It is thus wise to have Warriors enter and create a game, then have the Rogues enter it and finally the Sorcerers. If someone leaves the game, the next person to enter the game will take the place of the character that just left, not the last place.

A monster will, of course, only consider those characters, including golems, that are within its current visible range and are not out of sight due to a wall or other obstacle. Golems are only targeted if adjacent to the monster or if the monster is a skeleton archer, goat archer or succubi at any distance.

If the target ever disappears form the sight of the monster, it tends to walk up to the last position the target was seen. If the target is still not visible, it will try to pick a new target. Some monsters, as noted in chapter 5.3.3, have the ability to follow a target even if it is out of sight. In that case, they will not walk up to the last position of the target or stop, but will instead find the closest way to the target if it is not too far away.

5.5.7 Non even distributed random numbers

Diablo and Hellfire uses a pretty good algorithm for random numbers, unfortunately it is at times used improperly which result in somewhat non random results at time. One of those cases exists in the AI scripts of Spitters, Magma Demons, Lightning Demons, Bone Demons and Diablo. Contrary to other AI scripts they use Rnd[10000] in some cases. Unfortunately the algorithm for random numbers only use 15 bits to calculate random numbers (it uses 32 bits internally but the random number is based on 15 bits only). This has the side effect that large values used in Rnd[x] will not be evenly distributed. In the case of Rnd[10000] lower values will be more common as there are really only 32 768 possible random integers. This is further complicated by the fact that the game then as a second random number in those AI scripts mentioned above uses a Rnd[100] but still compare the result as if it was a Rnd[10000] meaning the result will always default as if it was a low random number.

A further problem is the fact that the game reseeds the random number generator before processing the monsters. This is done to keep the game better in synch in multi player. Unfortunately this also cause problems in that monsters will not always act as they are supposed to, cause long streaks of the same result. An example is a monster missing continuously for almost an infinite time when they in fact should hit way more often due to having a auto To Hit for example (see chapter 5.1 under To Hit). This only affect monster behavior though, nothing else like item drops or the behavior of spells.

5.5.8 Reseed bug

In an attempt to keep monsters more in synch between computers in a multi player game, Blizzard has unfortunately used a rather strange and incorrect way of reseeding the random number generator in Diablo right before processing monsters (technically each monster has its own seed used for its behavior and it is the seeds of the monsters that are reseeded). This may cause the familiar result of a monster getting ”stuck” with a particular behavior or result both when acting and when attacking. This is unfortunate.

5.5.9 AI scripts

Here each of the different attack types will be described. Many monsters, but not all, have special behavior types of an overreaching nature. Often composed of several actions performed in succession either until completed or aborted for some reason. They will be explained separately at the start of each script. A general section describes things usually performed every time. This includes a monster under an overreaching behavior.

The step by step instructions to follow are divided into several sections depending on the distance to the target. Use the appropriate one. Some times further conditions may also be given. For the specific step by step, you should use them in the following way. Always start at number 1. If at anytime it says goto #, where # is a number, immediately move to that line and continue from there. If it at any time says exit, the script has finished and you should not read any more. If you exit or reach the end without a new action being set, the monster will continue to stand and will check again 0.05 seconds later, that is during the next update, see chapter 5.5.1 for more information about how the game updates monsters and other things.

The scripts will only refer to attack options such as melee attack or ranged attack. For information about what type of ranged attack monsters have, see chapter 4.2.

Finally note that although quite detailed, there might still be many special cases, exceptions and other smaller facts omitted. It is still my belief that it is a comprehensive explanation of each attack type that will cover almost all cases.

Some common abbreviations are used in this chapter:

D Distance to target. A distance of 1 means the target is adjacent ( see chapter 6.1.9 for a description on how to calculate distance to a walking target).

R Usually a random number, the specific script will tell exactly how the random number is achieved.

Intf Intelligence factor, see chapter 5.3.3 and chapter 5.4.

light Refers to the light radius of players.

Zombie

General

  1. if out of light, exit

  2. R = Rnd[100]

Distance = 1

  1. if R < 2·Intf + 10, do melee attack, exit

  2. continue to stand still

Distance = 2 to 2·Intf + 3

  1. if R < 2·Intf + 10, walk towards target, exit

  2. continue to stand still

Distance > 2·Intf + 3

  1. if R >= 2·Intf + 10, continue to stand still, exit

  2. calculate new R = Rnd[100]

  3. if R < 2·Intf + 20, walk in random direction (if blocked, continue to stand still), exit

  4. continue to walk in the same direction as last time (if blocked, continue to stand still)

Fallen One

When a monster is killed, any Fallen Ones within 5 squares will be set into retreat mode. Depending on what subtype the monster is the distance it will retreat is as explained in the table below. The distance is the distance it will walk, not necessarily the final distance to the target if the target has moved since the start of the retreat.

Fallen Ones Retreat distance
Fallen One 7
Carver 5
Devil Kin 3
Dark One 2

Occasionally a Fallen One will do a war cry. It is recognized by the monster jumping up and screaming. When that happens any Fallen One within range (see table below), unless using another attack type, will be set into war cry mode. The war cry mode last for a specific time depending on the subtype doing the actual war cry, see table below. During the war cry mode, they will walk straight for the closest target and attack. If adjacent it will continue to attack without pausing until the time runs out for the war cry mode. Unfortunately the war cry mode also ends as soon as any close by monster is killed and the fallen one is set into retreat mode.

Fallen Ones Distance Time (sec)
Fallen One 4 5.25
Carver 5 6.75
Devil Kin 6 8.25
Dark One 7 9.75

When doing a war cry, the monster will gain 2·Intf + 2 hit points. The current hit points will never go above the maximum value though.

War cry

  1. if D = 1, do melee attack, exit

  2. walk towards target

Retreating

  1. Walk away from target until distance achieved

General

  1. if not active, exit

  2. if the monster has been standing for an even multiple of 0.55 seconds (0.60 if using a sword) and Rnd[4] = 0, do war cry, exit

  3. if not active, exit

  4. R = Rnd[100]

Distance = 1

  1. if last action was delay, do melee attack, exit

  2. if R < 2·Intf + 20, do melee attack, exit

  3. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 10 - 2·Intf)/20 seconds

Distance > 1

  1. if last action was delay, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  2. if R < 4·Intf + 65, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  3. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 15 - 2·Intf)/20 seconds

Skeleton

General

  1. if not active, exit

  2. R = Rnd[100]

Distance = 1

  1. if last action was delay, do melee attack, exit

  2. if R < 2·Intf + 20, do melee attack, exit

  3. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 10 - 2·Intf)/20 seconds

Distance > 1

  1. if last action was delay, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  2. if R < 4·Intf + 65, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  3. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 15 - 2·Intf)/20 seconds

Skeleton Archer

General

  1. if not active, exit

  2. R = Rnd[100]

Distance = 1 to 3

  1. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < 2·Intf + 63, walk away from target, exit

  2. if standtime is greater than 1 second and R < 2·Intf + 13, walk away from target, exit

Distance > 3

  1. if R < 2·Intf + 3, do ranged attack

Scavenger

The Scavenger AI has a special eating/digging mode activated when their HP reaches a low enough value. It will then seek the closes carcass of a dead monster within sight and walk up to it to eat/dig. While eating/digging, it will generate HP faster than normally, see chapter 5.1 under Hit Points for more information.

Eating/Digging

  1. if monster is part of a unique monsters mob, remove it from mob

  2. if at carcass, go into eat/dig mode, exit

  3. walk towards closest carcass

General

  1. if curHP < maxHP/2, set eating/digging mode, exit

  2. if not active, exit

  3. R = Rnd[100]

Distance = 1

  1. if last action was delay, do melee attack, exit

  2. if R < 2·Intf + 20, do melee attack, exit

  3. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 10 - 2·Intf)/20 seconds

Distance > 1

  1. if last action was delay, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  2. if R < 4·Intf + 65, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  3. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 15 - 2·Intf)/20 seconds

Winged Fiends

The Winged Fiend AI has a special retreat mode activated after having done a melee attack. It consists of walking away from the target on location and then walking into new adjacent location of the target. The result is a sort of V shaped walk.

Retreat

  1. if last volunteer action, except walk, was not attack, exit from Retreat mode

  2. if last walk was away from target, randomly walk either to the right or the left of target, exit

  3. walk away from target

General

  1. if not active, exit

  2. R = Rnd[100]

Distance = 1

  1. if R < 4·Intf + 8, do melee attack

  2. if R < 4·Intf + 8 and the monster is a familiar, spawn lightning bolt attack

Distance = 2 to 3

  1. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < Intf + 63, walk towards target, exit

  2. if standtime is greater than 1 second and R < Intf + 13, walk towards target

Distance > 3

  1. if R < 4·Intf + 33 and the monster is a Gloom, do charge

  2. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < Intf + 63, walk towards target, exit

  3. if standtime is greater than 1 second and R < Intf + 13, walk towards target

Hidden

As soon as a monster having the Hidden attack type, even if it is not a The Hiddens monster type, is stunned, it will retreat. Usually away from the player but the Unseen will instead move diagonally away. The distance it will retreat is explained in the table below. If the current target is a monster, away is defined as away form the controlling player.

Intelligence factor Retreat distance
0 8
1 7
2 6
3 5

Hiddens are always active, that is, they move around regardless if you have activated them or not.

Retreat

  1. if the monster is an Unseen, retreat diagonally randomly to the right or left, away from the target, exit

  2. retreat straight away from target

General

  1. R = Rnd[100]

  2. if D < 5 - Intf and not visible, fade in, exit

  3. if D > 5 - Intf and visible, fade out, exit

Distance = 1

  1. if R < 4·Intf + 10, do melee attack

Distance > 1

  1. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < Intf + 64, walk towards target, exit

  2. if standtime is greater than 1 second and R < Intf + 14, walk towards target

Goat Man

When finishing a circle walk, a monster using the Goat Man attack type will start walking towards the last seen position of the target.

General

  1. if not active, exit

  2. R = Rnd[100]

Distance = 1

  1. if R >= 2·Intf + 23, exit

  2. if curHP >= maxHP/2, do melee attack, exit

  3. if Rnd[2] = 0, do melee attack, exit

  4. do special spin attack

Distance > 1, out of light

  1. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < 2·Intf + 78, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  2. if standtime is greater than 1 second and R < 2·Intf + 28, walk towards last seen position of target

Distance = 1 to 3, in light

  1. if target is in another area, use out of light AI

  2. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < 2·Intf + 78, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  3. if standtime is greater than 1 second and R < 2·Intf + 28, walk towards last seen position of target

Distance > 3, in light

  1. if target is in another area, use out of light AI

  2. if D > 3 and Rnd[4] = 0, start circle walk, exit

  3. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < 2·Intf + 78, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  4. if standtime is greater than 1 second and R < 2·Intf + 28, walk towards last seen position of target

Overlord

General

  1. if not active, exit

  2. R = Rnd[100]

Distance = 1

  1. if R < 4·Intf + 15, do melee attack, exit

  2. if R < 4·Intf + 20, do second melee attack

Distance > 1

  1. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < Intf + 70, walk towards target, exit

  2. if standtime is greater than 1 second and R < Intf + 20, walk towards target

Gargoyle

By stone state is meant when in actual stone form. By stone mode is meant both when in stone state and while moving away from a target due to low HP. While in stone state, Gargoyles will heal faster than usual, see chapter 5.1.

When finishing a circle walk, a monster using the Gargoyle attack type will start walking towards the last seen position of the target.

Stone mode

  1. if D < Intf + 2, mark as not in stone mode

  2. if curHP >= maxHP/2, mark as not in stone mode

  3. if D >= Intf + 2, go into stone state, exit

  4. walk away from target

General

  1. if not active, exit

  2. R = Rnd[100]

  3. if curHP < maxHP/2, go into stone mode

Distance = 1

  1. if R >= 2·Intf + 23, exit

  2. do melee attack

Distance > 1, out of light

  1. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < 2·Intf + 78, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  2. if standtime is greater than 1 second and R < 2·Intf + 28, walk towards last seen position of target

Distance 1 to 3, in light

  1. if target is in another are, use out of light AI

  2. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < 2·Intf + 78, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  3. if standtime is greater than 1 second and R < 2·Intf + 28, walk towards last seen position of target

Distance > 1, in light

  1. if target is in another are, use out of light AI

  2. if D > 3 and Rnd[4] = 0, start circle walk, exit

  3. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < 2·Intf + 78, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  4. if standtime is greater than 1 second and R < 2·Intf + 28, walk towards last seen position of target

Goat Archer

General

  1. if not active, exit

  2. if out of sight of target and it is a player, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  3. R = Rnd[100]

  4. if last action was a ranged attack, de delay for Rnd[20]/20 seconds, exit

Distance = 1 to 3

  1. if R < 10·Intf + 70, walk away from target, exit

Distance > 3

  1. do ranged attack

Fast Spit

General

  1. if not active, exit

  2. if out of sight of target and it is a player, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  3. R = Rnd[100]

Distance = 1 to 3

  1. if R < 10·Intf + 70, walk away from target, exit

Distance > 3

  1. do ranged attack

Magma Demon

When finishing a circle walk, a monster using the Magma Demon attack type will start walking towards the last seen position of the target.

Circle Walk

  1. If R < 100·(5·Intf + 5), do ranged attack, exit (after this ranged attack, the monster will resume circle walk)

  2. continue with circle walk

General

  1. if not active, exit

  2. R = Rnd[10000]

Distance = 1

  1. if R < 100·(5·Intf + 5), do ranged attack, exit

  2. if R < 100·(10·Intf + 60), do attack, exit

  3. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 5)/20 seconds

Distance > 1, out of light

  1. calculate new R = Rnd[100]

  2. if R < 100·(10·Intf + 50), walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  3. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < 100·(10·Intf + 80), walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  4. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 5)/20 seconds

Distance = 2, in light

  1. if target is in another area, use out of light AI

  2. if R < 100·(5·Intf + 5), do ranged attack, exit

  3. calculate new R = Rnd[100]

  4. if R < 100·(10·Intf + 50), walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  5. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < 100·(10·Intf + 80), walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  6. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 5)/20 seconds

Distance > 2, in light

  1. if target is in another area, use out of light AI

  2. if Rnd[4] = 0, start circle walk, exit

  3. if R < 100·(5·Intf + 10), do ranged attack, exit

  4. calculate new R = Rnd[100]

  5. if R < 100·(10·Intf + 50), walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  6. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < 100·(10·Intf + 80), walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  7. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 5)/20 seconds

Due to using Rnd[10000], the random number will not be evenly distributed, see chapter 5.5.7. In the steps where a new R = Rnd[100] is calculated, it is not a typo of mine, but most likely a bug and should have read R = Rnd[10000]

Viper

Monsters with the Viper attack type will not walk straight towards the location of the monster as most other monsters. Instead, it will use a sort of winding walk. It will go through a cycle and the walk direction it aims for is slightly of either clockwise or counterclockwise (if the correct direction is north, it will aim for a direction either northwest or northeast). If the monster is then not facing this new direction, it will turn one step towards it and walk in that direction. The table below summarize how the cycle of aimed direction is done.

Cycle step change of direction New aimed direction
N
1 counterclockwise NW
2 counterclockwise NW
3 none N
4 clockwise NE
5 clockwise NE
6 none N

General

  1. if not active, exit

  2. R = Rnd[100]

Distance = 1

  1. if last action was delay or charge, do attack, exit

  2. if R < Intf + 20, do attack, exit

  3. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 10 - Intf)/20 seconds

Distance = 2

  1. if last action was charge, act as distance > 2

  2. if charge is not possible, act as distance > 2

  3. do charge

Distance > 2

  1. if last action was delay, walk, exit

  2. if R < 2·Intf + 65, walk, exit

  3. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 15 - Intf)/20 seconds

Spit

When finishing a circle walk, a monster using the Spit attack type will start walking towards the last seen position of the target.

Circle Walk

  1. If R < 100·(5·Intf + 5)/2, do ranged attack, exit (after this ranged attack, the monster will resume circle walk)

  2. continue with circle walk

General

  1. if not active, exit

  2. R = Rnd[10000]

Distance = 1

  1. if R < 100·(5·Intf + 5)/2, do ranged attack, exit

  2. if R < 100·(10·Intf + 60), do attack, exit

  3. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 5)/20 seconds

Distance > 1, out of light

  1. calculate new R = Rnd[100]

  2. if R < 100·(10·Intf + 50), walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  3. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < 100·(10·Intf + 80), walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  4. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 5)/20 seconds

Distance = 2, in light

  1. if target is in another area, use out of light AI

  2. if R < 100·(5·Intf + 5)/2, do ranged attack, exit

  3. calculate new R = Rnd[100]

  4. if R < 100·(10·Intf + 50), walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  5. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < 100·(10·Intf + 80), walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  6. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 5)/20 seconds

Distance > 2, in light

  1. if target is in another area, use out of light AI

  2. if Rnd[8] = 0, start circle walk, exit

  3. if R < 100·(5·Intf + 10)/2, do ranged attack, exit

  4. calculate new R = Rnd[100]

  5. if R < 100·(10·Intf + 50), walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  6. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < 100·(10·Intf + 80), walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  7. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 5)/20 seconds

Due to using Rnd[10000], the random number will not be evenly distributed, see chapter 5.5.7. In the steps where a new R = Rnd[100] is calculated, it is not a typo of mine, but most likely a bug and should have read R = Rnd[10000]

Butcher

  1. if not active, exit

  2. if D =1, attack, exit

  3. walk towards target

Balrog

When finishing a circle walk, a monster using the Balrog attack type will start walking towards the last seen position of the target.

General

  1. if not active, exit

  2. if D > 4, continue with skeleton AI, exit

  3. R = Rnd[10000]

Distance = 1

  1. if R < 5·Intf + 5, do spell attack, exit

  2. calculate new R = Rnd[100]

  3. if R >= 10·Intf + 40, do delay for (Rnd[10] + 5)/20 seconds, exit

  4. if Rnd[2] = 0, do spell attack, exit

  5. do melee attack

Distance > 1, out of light

  1. if R < 10·Intf + 50, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  2. if last action was walk and R < 10·Intf + 80, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  3. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 5)/20 seconds

Distance = 2, in light

  1. if last action was circle walk, do spell attack, exit

  2. if R < 5·Intf + 5, do spell attack, exit

  3. calculate new R = Rnd[100]

  4. if R < (10·Intf + 50), walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  5. if last action was not walk, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  6. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 5)/20 seconds

Distance > 2, in light

  1. if target is in same area, start circle walk, exit

  2. if last action was circle walk, do spell attack, exit

  3. if R < 5·Intf + 10, do spell attack, exit

  4. calculate new R = Rnd[100]

  5. if R < (10·Intf + 50), walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  6. if last action was not walk, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  7. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 5)/20 seconds

Skeleton King

When finishing a circle walk, a monster using the Skeleton King attack type will start walking towards the last seen position of the target.

General

  1. if not active, exit

  2. R = Rnd[10000]

Distance = 1

  1. in single player, if R < 5, then do revive skeleton, exit

  2. if R < Intf + 20, do melee attack

Distance > 1, out of light

  1. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < Intf + 75, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  2. if standtime is greater than 1 second and R < Intf + 25, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  3. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 10)/20 seconds

Distance = 2, in light

  1. in single player, if R < 5, then do revive skeleton, exit

  2. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < Intf + 75, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  3. if standtime is greater than 1 second and R < Intf + 25, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  4. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 10)/20 seconds

Distance > 2, in light

  1. if target is in another area, use out of light AI

  2. if Rnd[4] = 0, start circle walk, exit

  3. in single player, if 4·Intf + 35, then do revive skeleton, exit

  4. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < Intf + 75, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  5. if standtime is greater than 1 second and R < Intf + 25, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  6. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 10)/20 seconds

Horned Demon

When finishing a circle walk, a monster using the Horned Demon attack type will start acting normally but will not pick circle walk as its next action.

General

  1. if not active, exit

  2. R = Rnd[10000]

Distance = 1

  1. if R < 2·Intf + 28, do melee attack, exit

Distance = 2 to 4

  1. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < 2·Intf + 33, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  2. if standtime is greater than 1 second and R < 2·Intf + 83, walk towards last seen position of target

  3. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 10)/20 seconds

Distance > 4

  1. if target is in same area Rnd[4] > 0 then start circle walk

  2. if R < 2·Intf + 43 and the line of sight is clear, do charge attack, exit

  3. if last action was walking and standtime is 0 and R < 2·Intf + 33, walk towards last seen position of target, exit

  4. if standtime is greater than 1 second and R < 2·Intf + 83, walk towards last seen position of target

  5. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 10)/20 seconds

Mage

Mages have the ability to disappear (phase in and phase out), much like The Hiddens. They will phase out whenever they initiate any walking (including circle walk). When the walking is over, even if it is in the same location as they started the walk, they will phase in. Thus one can say that they are non visible while walking.

When finishing a circle walk, a monster using the Mage attack type will start walking towards the last seen position of the target.

Retreat mode

  1. if D < 3, walk away from target

General

  1. if not active, exit

  2. R = Rnd[10000]

Distance = 1

  1. if curHP < maxHP/2, go into retreat mode

  2. if last action was a delay, do flash attack, exit

  3. if R < 2·Intf + 20, do flash attack, exit

  4. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 10 - 2·Intf)/20 seconds

Distance > 1

  1. if in light and R < 5·Intf + 50, do ranged attack, exit

  2. calculate new R = Rnd[100]

  3. if R < 30, enter circle walk, exit

  4. do delay for (Rnd[10] + 10 - 2·Intf)/20 seconds

Special

Special AI scripts are used for most quest monsters. For those not mentioned specifically previously, the only difference from a normal AI script of that monster type is quest related things such as talking. The actual AI behavior when you fight those monsters are identical to the normal AI and is summarized in the table below.

Unique monster AI script to use
Snotspill Fallen One
Gharbad the Weak Goat Man
Blackjade Succubi
Red Vex Succubi
Warlord of Blood Skeleton
Lachdanan n/a
Zhar the Mad Mage
Arch-Bishop Lazarus Mage

5.6 Summary of various monster stats

This chapter summarizes various properties of monsters and lets you review them without being confused by other non related properties. All data below can, of course, be found in the complete tables in chapter 5.2 -5.4.

5.6.1 Resistances, immunities and uniques for monsters

This is a summary of the resistance’s and immunities of monsters, as well as on what level they appear. Good for a quick look when you first enter a level and see the monsters for the first time. It also lists on what level, if any, a unique monster might appear. For data on the unique monsters, see chapter 5.3. I have also added the ability to open doors, Door, and to follow you around walls, Follow, for each monster.

Dlvl Name of Monster MFL

MFL

Hell

Door Follow Unique monsters, dlvl
1-2 Zombie I-- I-- Rotfeast, 2, Soulpus, 2
2-3 Ghoul I-- I-- Rotcarnage, 3
2-4 Rotting Carcass I-- IR- Goretongue, 3
3-5 Black Death I-- I-R
1-3 Fallen One, spear Pukerat the Unclean, 2
2-3 Carver, spear
2-4 Devil Kin, spear -R- Bongo, 3
3-5 Dark One, spear --R Snotspill, 4
1-3 Fallen One, sword Bladeskin the Slasher, 2
2-3 Carver, sword Gutshank the Quick, 3
2-4 Devil Kin, sword -R-
3-5 Dark One, sword --R Shadowcrow, 5
1-2 Skeleton I-- I-- Boneripper, 2
2-3 Corpse Axe I-- I-- Bonehead Keenaxe, 2
2-4 Burning Dead IR- II- Madeye the Dead, 4
3-5 Horror I-R I-R
2-3 Skeleton Archer I-- I-- Deadeye, 2
2-4 Corpse Bow I-- I-- Skullfire, 3
3-5 Burning Dead Archer IR- II- Blackash the Burning, 4
4-6 Horror Archer I-R I-R
1-3 Skeleton Captain I-- I--
2-4 Corpse Captain I-- I-- Brokenhead Bangshield, 3
3-5 Burning Dead Captain IR- II-
4-6 Horror Captain I-R I-R Yes Shadow Drinker, 5
dlvl Name of Monster MFL

MFL

Hell

Door Follow Unique monsters, dlvl
1-3 Scavenger -R- Shadowbite, 2
2-4 Plague Eater --R El Chupacabras, 3
3-5 Shadow Beast -R- Pulsecrawler, 4
3-6 Bone Gasher R-- --R Spineeater, 4
2-3 Fiend --- ---
3-5 Blink --- --- Moonbender, 4, Wrathraven, 5
4-6 Gloom R-- R-- Yes Foulwing, 5
6-8 Familiar R-I R-I Yes
2-5 Hidden --- --- Warpskull, 3
5-7 Stalker --- --- Yes
6-8 Unseen R-- I-- Yes
7,8-10 Illusion Weaver RR- IR- Yes
2,4-6 Flesh Clan --- --- Yes Yes Gharbad the Weak, 4
5-7 Stone Clan R-- I-- Yes Yes Deathshade Fleshmaul, 6
6-8 Fire Clan -R- -I- Yes Yes Bloodgutter, 6
7-9 Night Clan R-- I-- Yes Yes Blighthorn Steelmace, 7
2,4-6 Flesh Clan Archer --- --- Yes Bloodskin Darkbow, 5
5-7 Stone Clan Archer R-- I-- Yes
6-8 Fire Clan Archer -R- -I- Yes Yes Blightfire, 7
7-9,10 Night Clan Archer R-- I-- Yes Yes Gorestone, 7
4,5-7 Overlord --- -R- Bilefroth the Pit Master, 6
7-9 Mud Man --- --I Yes Baron Sludge, 8
8-10 Toad Demon I-- I-R Yes Oozedrool, 9
10-12 Flayed One RI- II- Yes
dlvl Name of Monster MFL

MFL

Hell

Door Follow Unique monsters, dlvl
5-7 Winged-Demon IR- II- Yes
7-9 Gargoyle I-R I-I Yes Nightwing the Cold, 7
9-11 Blood Claw II- IIR Yes Goldblight of the Flame, 10
10-12 Death Wing I-I IRI Yes Viletouch, 12
8-9 Magma Demon IR- II- Yes Yes Firewound the Grim, 8
8-10 Blood Stone II- II- Yes Yes
9-11 Hell Stone II- II- Yes Yes
9-11 Lava Lord II- II- Yes Yes
5,7-9 Horned Demon --- -R- Yes Yes
8-10 Mud Runner --- -R- Yes Yes Breakspine, 9
9-11 Frost Charger I-R I-R Yes Yes Bluehorn, 11
10-12 Obsidian Lord I-R III Yes Yes Blackstorm, 10
6-8 Acid beast --- I-- Deathspit, 6
8-10 Poison Spitter --- I-- Chaoshowler, 8, Plaguewrath, 10
10-12 Pit Beast R-- I-R
12-14 Lava Maw RI- II-
9-11 Red Storm I-R I-I Yes Yes Brokenstorm, 9
10-12 Storm Rider R-I I-I Yes Yes The Flayer, 10
11-13 Storm Lord R-I I-I Yes Yes
12-14 Maelstorm R-I I-I Yes Yes Doomcloud, 13
10-12 Slayer RI- RI- Yes Yes
11-13 Guardian RI- RI- Yes Yes
12-14 Vortex Lord RI- RI- Yes Yes Windspawn, 12, Gorefeast, 13
13-15 Balrog RI- RIR Yes Yes Blackskull, 13
dlvl Name of Monster MFL

MFL

Hell

Door Follow Unique monsters, dlvl
11-13 Cave Viper I-- I-- Yes Fangspeir, 11
12-14 Fire Drake IR- II- Yes Viperflame, 12
13-14 Gold Viper I-R I-R Yes Fangskin, 14
15-15 Azure Drake -RR IRI Yes
12-14 Succubus R-- IR- Yes Witchfire the Unholy, 12
13-15 Snow Witch --R I-R Yes Witchmoon, 13
14-15 Hell Spawn R-I IIR Yes Yes Stareye the Witch, 14, Bloodlust, 151
15-15 Soul Burner RIR III Yes Yes
12-14,16 Black Knight R-R R-I Yes Lionskull the Bent, 12
13-15 Doom Guard RR- RI- Yes Rustweaver, 13, Graywar, 14
13,14-15 Steel Lord RIR IIR Yes Warlord of Blood, 13, Steelskull, 14
13-14,16 Blood Knight IRI IRI Yes Lachdanan, 14, Sir Gorash, 16
13-14 Counselor RRR RRR Yes Zhar the Mad, 8
14-15 Magistrate RIR IIR Yes Dreadjudge, 14
15-15 Cabalist RRI IRI Yes The Vizier, 15
15,16-16 Advocate IRI III Yes Arch-Bishop Lazarus, 15

1 Black Jade and Red Vex also appear on level 15 in Arch-Bishop Lazarus’ chamber.

The new monsters in Hellfire do not have any unique monsters. That is the reason there is no such field in the table below.

Dlvl

Hive

Name of Monster MFL

MFL

Hell

Door Follow

dlvl

Crypt

Name of Monster MFL

MFL

Hell

Door Follow
1-2 The Shredded -RR -RR 1-1 Gravedigger --I RRI Yes
1-2 Felltwin --- IR- Yes Yes 1-2 Tomb Rat --- -RR
1-2 Hellboar -RR --- Yes 1-2 Devil Kin Brute -RR RRR
2-3 Hork Spawn I-- I-- 1-2 Firebat -I- RIR
1-2 Stinger --- --R 3-4 Hellbat RIR RII
3-4 Venomtail --R -RI 1-2 Skullwing -RR -RR
1-2 Psychorb --- -R- 3-4 Bone Demon -II -II
3-4 Necromorb -R- -IR 1-2 Lich --R RRI
1-2 Arachnon --- --R Yes 3-4 Arch Lich RRI III
3-4 Spider Lord --R -RI Yes 1-2 Satyr Lord -RR RII
3-4 Lashworm --- -R- 2-3 Crypt Demon IRR IIR
3-4 Torchant -I- RIR 3-4 Biclops --R -RR Yes
3-4 Flesh Thing RRR RRR
3-4 Reaper IIR III

5.6.2 Resistances, immunities and mob for unique monsters

This is a summary of the unique monsters sorted by dlvl instead of monster type. This makes it very easy to quickly see what potential unique monsters can appear on a dlvl, especially if you have seen what monster types are present, as a unique monster will always appear if its monster type is present on the dungeon level.

Dlvl Name Type Mob MFL New attack type
2 Bladeskin the Slasher Fallen One, sword -R-
Bonehead Keenaxe Corpse Axe Yes I--
Boneripper Skeleton Yes II- Winged Fiend
Deadeye Skeleton Archer IR- Goat Archer
Pukerat the Unclean Fallen One, spear Yes -R-
Rotfeast the Hungry Zombie Yes I-- Skeleton
Shadowbite Scavenger Yes -I- Skeleton
Soulpus Zombie -RR
3 Bongo Devil Kin, spear Yes
Brokenhead Bangshield Corpse Captain Yes I-R
El Chupacabras Plague Eater Yes -R- Goat Man
Goretongue Rotting Carcass I-- Skeleton
Gutshank the Quick Carver, sword Yes -R- Winged Fiend
Rotcarnage Ghoul Yes I-R
Skullfire Corpse Bow -I- Goat Archer
Warpskull Hidden Yes -RR
4 Blackash the Burning Burning Dead Archer Yes II- Goat Archer
Gharbad the Weak1 Flesh Clan --I
Madeye the Dead Burning Dead Yes II- Winged Fiend
Moonbender Blink Yes -I-
Pulsecrawler Shadow Beast Yes -IR
Snotspill1 Dark One, spear --R Special
Spineeater Bone Gasher Yes --I

1 Only appears in quests in single player.

Dlvl Name Type Mob MFL New attack type
5 Bloodskin Darkbow Flesh Clan Archer Yes -RR
Foulwing Gloom Yes -R- Horned Demon
Shadowcrow1 Dark One, sword Yes Hidden
Shadowdrinker1 Horror Captain Yes IRR Hidden
Wrathraven Blink Yes -I-
6 Bilefroth the Pit Master Overlord Yes IIR Winged Fiend
Bloodgutter Fire Clan Yes -I- Winged Fiend
Deathshade Fleshmaul2 Stone Clan Yes IR- Horned Demon
Deathspit3 Acid Beast Yes -RR Fast Spit
7 Blightfire4 Fire Clan Archer Yes -I- Succubi
Blighthorn Steelmace2 Night Clan Yes --R Horned Demon
Gorestone Night Clan Archer Yes --R
Nightwing the Cold Gargoyle Yes I-R Winged Fiend
8 Baron Sludge1 Mud Man Yes IRR Hidden
Chaoshowler3 Poison Spitter Yes Fast Spit
Firewound the Grim Magma Demon Yes IR-
Zhar the Mad5 Counselor IRR Special

1 Has the ability to disappear, like The Hiddens.

2 Has the ability to charge, like Horned Demons.

3 Never attacks in melee but always uses fast spit instead.

4 Has the ability to fire Blood Stars instead of arrows, like Succubi.

5 Has the ability to fire Fireballs instead of Firebolts, like Advocates. Only appears in quests in single player.

Dlvl Name Type Mob MFL New attack type
9 Breakspine Mud Runner Yes -R-
Brokenstorm Red Storm Yes --I
Oozedrool Toad Demon Yes --R
10 Blackstorm Obsidian Lord Yes I-I
The Flayer Storm Rider Yes RRI
Goldblight of the Flame Blood Claw Yes II-
Plaguewrath1 Poison Spitter Yes IR- Fast Spit
11 Bluehorn Frost Charger Yes IR-
Fangspeir2 Cave Viper Yes -I- Skeleton
12 Lionskull the Bent Black Knight Yes III
Viletouch Death Wing Yes --I
Viperflame2 Fire Drake Yes -IR Skeleton
Windspawn3 Vortex Lord Yes II- Skeleton
Witchfire the Unholy Succubus Yes IIR

1 Never attacks in melee but always uses fast spit instead.

2 Will never do the short range Viper charge.

3 Never casts Inferno but always attacks by melee instead.

Dlvl Name Type Mob MFL New attack type
13 Blackskull1 Balrog Yes I-R Skeleton
Doomcloud Maelstorm -RI
Gorefeast Vortex Lord -R- Skeleton
Rustweaver Doom Guard III
Warlord of Blood2 Steel Lord III Special
Witchmoon Snow Witch --R
14 Dreadjudge Magistrate Yes IRR
Fangskin3 Gold Viper Yes I-R Skeleton
Graywar the Slayer Doom Guard --R
Lachdanan2 Blood Knight Special
Stareye the Witch Hell Spawn -I-
Steelskull the Hunter Steel Lord --R
15 Blackjade4 Hell Spawn I-R Special
Bloodlust5 Hell Spawn I-I
Arch-Bishop Lazarus6 Advocate IRR Special
Red Vex4 Hell Spawn IR- Special
The Vizier Cabalist Yes -I-
16 Sir Gorash6 Blood Knight

1 Never casts Inferno but always attacks by melee instead.

2 Only appears in quests in single player.

3 Will never do the short range Viper charge.

4 Always appears in Arch-Bishop Lazarus’ room.

5 Always appears in every multi player game.

6 Always appears in every game.

5.6.3 Experience points from monsters

Chapter 5.2 listed the base number of experience points you receive for a monster, as well as the formula for calculating how much you actually get depending on your current level. The tables below list the last level your character will receive full experience (200·clvl or the total experience points needed for advancing to the next clvl divided by 20, whichever is the lowest, see chapter 2.6 for more information) for killing a monster.. It will also list the last level you receive any experience at all for killing a monster (always at a level 9 higher than the monsters level). It gives you those levels for all three difficulty settings. As there is no cap on experience points awarded for killing a monster in single player, that information only applies to multi player.

Normal Nightmare Hell
Levels Name of Monster Full Any Full
1-2 Zombie - 10 13
2-3 Ghoul - 11 13
2-4 Rotting Carcass 1 13 15
3-5 Black Death 2 15 17
1-3 Fallen One, spear - 10 13
2-3 Carver, spear - 12 14
2-4 Devil Kin, spear 1 14 16
3-5 Dark One, spear 2 16 17
1-3 Fallen One, sword - 10 13
2-3 Carver, sword 1 12 14
2-4 Devil Kin, sword 2 14 16
3-5 Dark One, sword 2 16 17
1-2 Skeleton - 10 13
2-3 Corpse Axe - 11 13
2-4 Burning Dead 1 13 15
3-6 Horror 2 15 17
2-3 Skeleton Archer 1 12 14
2-4 Corpse Bow 2 14 16
3-5 Burning Dead Archer 3 16 18
3-6 Horror Archer 4 18 20
1-2 Skeleton Captain - 11 14
2-4 Corpse Captain 2 13 15
3-5 Burning Dead Captain 3 15 18
4-6 Horror Captain 4 17 20
Normal Nightmare Hell
Levels Name of Monster Full Any Full
1-3 Scavenger - 11 14
2-4 Plague Eater 1 13 15
3-5 Shadow Beast 3 15 17
3-5 Bone Gasher 4 17 20
2-3 Fiend 1 12 14
3-5 Blink 3 16 18
4-6 Gloom 4 18 20
5-8 Familiar 4 22 22
2-5 Hidden 2 14 16
5-7 Stalker 4 18 21
6-8 Unseen 6 20 23
7,8-10 Illusion Weaver 9 22 27
2,3-6 Flesh Clan 4 17 19
5-7 Stone Clan 5 19 21
6-8 Fire Clan 6 21 24
7-9 Night Clan 8 23 26
2,3-6 Flesh Clan Archer 4 17 19
5-7 Stone Clan Archer 5 19 21
6-8 Fire Clan Archer 6 21 23
7-10 Night Clan Archer 8 23 26
4,5-7 Overlord 5 19 21
7-9 Mud Man 8 23 26
8-10 Toad Demon 10 25 28
10-12 Flayed One 15 29 33
Normal Nightmare Hell
Levels Name of Monster Full Any Full
5-6 Winged-Demon 5 18 21
7-9 Gargoyle 8 22 26
9-11 Blood Claw 14 28 32
10-11 Death Wing 17 32 36
7-9 Magma Demon 8 22 25
7-10 Blood Stone 9 23 27
9-11 Hell Stone 11 25 29
8-12 Lava Lord 14 27 32
5,6-9 Horned Demon 8 22 26
8-10 Mud Runner 10 24 28
9-11 Frost Charger 12 26 30
10-12 Obsidian Lord 13 28 32
6-8 Acid beast 6 20 23
8-10 Poison Spitter 9 24 27
10-12 Pit Beast 15 30 34
12-14 Lava Maw 20 34 39
9-11 Red Storm 14 27 32
10-12 Storm Rider 16 29 34
11-13 Storm Lord 18 31 37
12-14 Maelstorm 20 33 39
10-12 Slayer 16 29 34
11-13 Guardian 18 31 37
12-14 Vortex Lord 21 33 39
13-15 Balrog 23 35 41
Normal Nightmare Hell
Levels Name of Monster Full Any Full
11-13 Cave Viper 17 30 36
12-14 Fire Drake 20 32 38
13-14 Gold Viper 22 34 40
14-15 Azure Drake 24 36 43
10-14 Succubus 22 33 40
13-15 Snow Witch 24 35 42
14-15 Hell Spawn 26 37 44
14-15 Soul Burner 27 39 46
12-14,16 Black Knight 21 33 39
13-15 Doom Guard 23 35 41
13-15 Steel Lord 25 37 44
12-16 Blood Knight 28 39 47
13-14 Counselor 23 34 41
14-15 Magistrate 25 36 43
14-15 Cabalist 27 38 46
15-16 Advocate 28 39 47
Normal Nightmare Hell
Levels Name of Monster Full Any Full
1-2 The Shredded 10 32 31
1-2 Felltwin 7 31 28
1-2 Hellboar 9 32 30
2-3 Hork Spawn 4 31 26
1-2 Stinger 6 31 28
3-4 Venomtail 11 33 32
1-2 Psychorb 5 31 27
3-4 Necromorb 12 33 33
1-2 Arachnon 6 31 28
3-4 Spider Lord 13 33 33
3-4 Lashworm 6 29 27
3-4 Torchant 12 31 32
Normal Nightmare Hell
Levels Name of Monster Full Any Full
1 Gravedigger 18 35 38
1-2 Tomb Rat 16 33 36
1-2 Devil Kin Brute 20 36 40
1-2 Firebat 18 33 37
3-4 Hellbat 25 38 44
1-2 Skullwing 22 36 41
3-4 Bone Demon 28 39 47
1-2 Lich 21 34 40
3-4 Arch Lich 26 39 45
1-2 Satyr Lord 22 37 41
2-3 Crypt Demon 23 37 42
3-4 Biclops 26 39 45
3-4 Flesh Thing 25 37 44
3-4 Reaper 30 39 48

5.6.4 Monster levels

Below follows lists of all monsters in the order of their mlvl. Of course, on nightmare difficulty all mlvl are 15 higher and on hell difficulty they are 30 higher.

Diablo
Monster mlvl Monster mlvl Monster mlvl Monster mlvl
Fallen One 1 Shadow Beast 6 Magma Demon 13 Death Wing 23
Skeleton 1 Blink 7 Blood Stone 14 Fire Drake 23
Zombie 1 Burning Dead Ar. 7 Mud Man 14 Black Knight 24
Corps Axe 2 Dark One 7 Night Clan 14 Maelstorm 24
Ghoul 2 Bone Gasher 8 Mud Runner 15 Succubus 24
Scavenger 2 Flesh Clan 8 Poison Spitter 15 Vortex Lord 24
Skeleton Captain 2 Horror Captain 8 Hell Stone 16 Counselor 25
Carver 3 Gloom 9 Toad Demon 16 Gold Viper 25
Fiend 3 Horror Archer 9 Frost Charger 17 Lava Maw 25
Skeleton Archer 3 Stalker 9 Lava Lord 18 Balrog 26
Burning Dead 4 Winged-Demon 9 Red Storm 18 Doom Guard 26
Corpse Captain 4 Overlord 10 Blood Claw 19 Snow Witch 26
Plague Eater 4 Stone Clan 10 Obsidian Lord 19 Azure Drake 27
Rotting Carcass 4 Acid Beast 11 Flayed One 20 Magistrate 27
Corps Bow 5 Unseen 11 Slayer 20 Hell Spawn 28
Devil Kin 5 Fire Clan 12 Storm Rider 20 Steel Lord 28
Hidden 5 Familiar 13 Cave Viper 21 Cabalist 29
Black Death 6 Gargoyle 13 Pit Beast 21 Advocate 30
Burning Dead Cp. 6 Horned Demon 13 Guardian 22 Blood Knight 30
Horror 6 Illusion Weavers 13 Storm Lord 22 Soul Burner 30
Hellfire
Monster mlvl Monster mlvl Monster mlvl Monster mlvl
Lashworm 20 Hellboar 23 Lich 25 Hellbat 29
Arachnon 22 The Shredded 23 Gravedigger 26 Arch Lich 30
Felltwin 22 Firebat 24 Devil Kin Brute 27 Biclops 30
Hork Spawn 22 Necromorb 24 Skullwing 27 Bone Demon 30
Psychorb 22 Spider Lord 24 Crypt Demon 28 Reaper 30
Stinger 22 Tomb Rat 24 Flesh Thing 28
Torchant 22 Venomtail 24 Satyr Lord 28

5.6.5 Monster types

In the table below is listed in summary what type of monster, animal, undead or demon, each monster in the game belong to.

Animals Undead Demons
Fallen Ones Skeletons Balrogs
Hell Spawns1 Skeleton Archers The Butcher
Horned Demons Skeleton Captains Diablo
Scavengers Skeleton King Familiars2
Spitting Terrors Zombies Gargoyles
Winged Fiends3 Arch Lich Goat Men
Arachnon Bone Demons Goat Men Arch.
Devil Kin Brute Gravedigger The Hiddens
Firebat Lich Knights
Hellbat The Shredded Lightning Demons
Lashworm Skullwings Mages
Necromorb Magma Demons
Psychorb Overlords
Satyr Lord Succubbi4
Spider Lord Vipers
Stinger Biclops
Tomb Rat Crypt Demon
Torchant The Defiler
Venomtail Felltwin
Flesh thing
Hellboar
Hork Demon
Hork Spawn
Na-Krul
Reaper

1 In Hellfire only, in Diablo they are demons. All other type of Succubi are demons.

2 All other Winged Fiends are animals.

3 With the exception of Familiars which are demons.

4 With the exception of Hell Spawns in Hellfire which are animals.

6 Battle

This chapter will try to explain in more detail all the steps of combat between players and monsters. It will thus also serve as a summary of all the various information and formulas throughout the guide that handle combat. Information in this chapter can generally all be found in other chapters. It is thus advisable to read this chapter together with the rest of the guide, as other chapters may have additional information that clarifies any situation.

As melee is treated differently than other attacks by the game, so will this chapter do (normal arrows are treated the same as spells). There is also quite a difference in who is the attacker and who is the target. There are four different situations, and this chapter will try to explain each of them.

Player versus Monster

Monster versus Player

Player versus Player

Monster versus Monster

Monster versus Monster is mainly about the golem, but in Hellfire it also takes care of berserk monsters. Traps are also treated as monsters in this chapter; that is, if a trap hits a player, it is explained under Monster versus Player.

As players are always updated before monsters, the player will always get in a hit first, should a monster and a player both hit at the same time. For players, the order would be in the order they have entered a game (with the exception that if someone leaves a game, a new player will take that one’s place in the order). The order of updating is as follows:

  1. Players

  2. Monsters

  3. Magical effects (includes arrows)

The update is done once every 0.05 seconds which explains why all timing information is given in steps of 0.05 seconds.

Some further infromation about combat, especially by monsters, can be found in chapter 5.5.

6.1 Battle general information

Before we start discussing the actual combat, it is good to know some basic information about how players and monsters function. Each monster and player can exist in one of several possible states. Such states include things like walking, standing, attacking, casting spells, doing a hit recover, being stoned, and dying. A character or monster must finish the current action before it can start a new one. An exception to this is when you get hit. A hit will generally abort your or the monster’s current action, and if the damage is high enough, put the victim into hit recovery (or if even greater into dying mode). Players, but never monsters, can also be put into a blocking state if carrying a shield. For information about how long it takes to do various actions, see chapter 2.3 for players and chapter 5.3.4 for monsters.

The detailed information below will generally be given as a numbered list which one steps through, step by step. At some points there will be notes that certain steps are skipped under some conditions or are only done in specific cases. It is therefore wise to read through all of the part that applies to the situation before drawing any conclusions as some actions are only valid if some specific conditions, which may be presented later, are met.

Most combat situations can be divided into a few specific main steps:

A. Pre-hit This checks for things like if the target in question is really possible as a target. A player is, for example, mostly immune to attacks from himself, and monsters are similarly also immune to attacks from other monsters. It also includes checks if a target is available at all. For example, a bow may lose durability even if there is no target present, but for a melee weapon to lose durability it actually needs to hit something. This step will generally not be discussed here as it is quite uninteresting as a player of the game, but some things actually done in this step have instead been included in other steps.

B. To Hit Here the game checks for the probability of hitting to see if a hit is really acquired. If no hit is acquired, the next steps are generally not done.

C. Blocking When a player is hit, the game will check if he or she managed to block the attack or not. If a block was done, the Damage step is generally skipped.

D. Damage Here the game will calculate the damage and take into consideration all the applicable modifications. It will also deal the damage to the target.

E. Hit consequences This will do all the necessary checks for things that will affect both the target and the attacker if a hit occurs. This includes checks for hit recovery, life and mana stealing, death, and so on.

Some or all the steps above may be performed when an attack is done, and there might be additional steps not mentioned above under some circumstances.

There are also some steps done only in Hellfire or only in Diablo, in that case this is clearly mentioned at the start of the step in italic.

6.1.1 Mana Shield

Mana Shield is a spell that causes damage to your life to be taken instead from your mana. In the process it will also reduce the amount of damage taken. To avoid confusion on how the Mana Shield spell affects combat, it will be described in detail here. For information about such things like mana cost and requirements to read books, see chapter 4.

As already said, Mana Shield is a magical effect, and as such, it is handled in the step when all other magical effects are handled (see above) although it is processed after all other effects. It is very important to realize that the Mana Shield never affects any combat directly; that is, any attack, be it magical or melee, will be carried out normally and will do any damage to your life. Any attack will also put the target into any applicable status such as hit recovery or dying. It is not until the game processes the magical effects and reaches the Mana Shield that it actually changes the normal course of action. Unfortunately, as explained below, this will result in some bugs regarding the player status.

So, lets see in more detail how the Mana Shield works.

  1. check if the player’s current life has changed since last time; if not, exit

  2. if the current life has increased since last time, set the new increased life as the value to be checked for in the future and then exit

  3. calculate the decrease in life since last time, this is the damage taken since last time

  4. if slvl=0, skip step 5 and 6

  5. in Diablo, calculate damage - [damage/3]

  6. in Hellfire, calculate damage - [damage/(3·slvl)] (if slvl is higher than 7, set slvl to 7)

  7. restore current life to its initial value

  8. remove the amount calculated in step 5 or 6 from current mana

  9. if mana has not reached 0, then if the player was previously in dying mode, set player into standing mode, finally exit

  10. if mana has reached 0 or gone below 0, set it to 0 and reduce life with the amount that was below 0

  11. terminate the Mana Shield

  12. if life has not reached 0, then if the player was previous in dying mode set player into standing mode, finally exit

  13. set player into dying mode

As can be seen from the above, if the player was set to dying mode during the normal attacks, it will be put into standing mode by the Mana Shield, and thus avoid, for example, hit recovery, which would in some cases had been the more correct mode. It also prevents knock backs as it is not checked in the normal attack routines if the player died. Finally, it avoids any further attacks done in the last turn while the player was dead. An example of this would be if 3 monsters hit you all at the same time; the first one kills you, and the other two monsters’ attacks are then not done as you are already dead. Later in the turn when the magical effects are processed, the Mana Shield restores your life, reduces the damage from mana instead, and puts you back into life. You have then effectively avoided the attack from the last two monsters. This does not happen too often, as the attacks of the monsters need to be done at the exact same time.

In Hellfire, there are some additional bugs related to the Mana Shield (those bugs were fixed in Diablo, version 1.07). When you run out of mana, and the Mana Shield is terminated, you will take excessive damage (up to twice the damage of the latest attack). It is also possible to cast more than one Mana Shield and although this will not affect the efficiency of the Mana Shield, you will take excessive damage from each Mana Shield when you run out of mana and all the Mana Shields are terminated.

6.1.2 Fire Wall, Flame Wave and Ring of Fire

Fire Wall and Flame Wave are special in that they are the only spells that can hurt the caster of the spells. They are also special in that when attacking players (including the caster), they will attack as if they where magic traps, that is, the To Hit is always 40%. When attacking monsters, they will use the normal To Hit calculations.

6.1.3 Reflect

Actually, the Reflect spell is handled properly in the step by step lists later on. I just wanted to mention that Reflect, contrary to Mana Shield, is handled within the actual damage routines by a flag set on the character. If set, the damage will be reduced properly and reflected back to the monster. This is how the Mana Shield should have been implemented to avoid all the problems and bugs associated with it.

6.1.4 Life and Mana stealing

Items with the effect of life stealing and mana stealing work independently of each other. An item with the 5% stealing will always supersede the 3% stealing and they are thus not cumulative (you can still have one item with 3% mana stealing and one with 5% life stealing though). Similarly, two items with 3% stealing or two with 5% stealing are not cumulative either.

The random life stealing effect only found on The Undead Crown is cumulative with other life stealing though as it is handled separately from normal life stealing. Life and mana stealing only work against monsters, never against players (the exception is the random life stealing, but as The Undead Crown only exists in single player it doesn’t matter).

The table below summarizes the end result when you have two items of life or mana stealing. If there is any way to get three items with life or mana stealing, simply do it as a two step process, first checking two of the items, then take the end result and check it with the third effect.

3% mana 5% mana 3% life 5% life random life1
3% mana 3% mana 5% mana 3% mana 3% mana 3% mana
3% life 5% life 0-12.5% life
5% mana 5% mana 5% mana 5% mana 5% mana 5% mana
3% life 5% life 0-12.5% life
3% life 3% mana 5% mana 3% life 5% life
3% life 3% life 3-15.5% life
5% life 3% mana 5% mana 5% life 5% life
5% life 5% life 5-17.5% life
random life1 3% mana 5% mana
0-12.5% life 0-12.5% life 3-15.5% life 5-17.5% life 0-12.5% life

1 Steals a random amount of life between 0 and 12.5% each time you hit.

6.1.5 Fire and Lightning damage on melee weapons

When you do an attack that does additional fire or lightning damage, this will be handled by the game separately. Upon hit (even if the actual attack misses), the game will spawn an additional magical effect of the appropriate type, which will then be handled normally during the magical effect update. When hitting, the effect will use normal magical To Hit, and all resistance and other effects that normally work against magic apply normally. It will then deal the amount of fire or lighting damage your character currently does. The magical effect will only hit once but it will try to hit up to 7 times (9 if fire) before it ends.

6.1.6 Fire and Lightning damage on bows

Fire and lightning attacks on bows work pretty much the same as the ones on melee weapons. There are some exceptions. As arrows to start with are already effects, there is no need to spawn a special effect for the extra fire and lightning damage like there is for melee weapons. Instead, as soon as the fire or lightning arrow hits and has done its non magical damage, the effect will switch into a fire or lightning damage attack, quite similar to the one spawned for melee attacks. This extra fire or lightning attack will, as opposed to with melee attacks, hit more than once and will try 7 times (9 if fire) before it ends. Any extra fire or lightning damage from any item other than the bow will be added despite the fact that this is a ranged attack.

Fire and lightning arrows are quite buggy and the list below tries to summarize some of the bugs related to them.

Note that in the chapters below, the bugs regarding fire and lightning arrows will not be mentioned. The list above should be sufficient for knowing the end effects.

6.1.7 Charge attacks

Charges are special in that they are treated as magical effects while the actual charge is conducted; that is, the monster moves during the effect update phase, but as soon as it hits, it turns into an almost normal melee attack. Below are listed what special conditions apply to Charge attacks.

Either intentionally or due to a bug, monsters that are charging, can at times cross lava that is otherwise impassable in the Caves.

6.1.8 How spells really work

Before we go into detail about the actual attacks, it might be good to learn some basic information on how the game handles spells. This chapter will try to briefly explain this so that it not only gets easier to understand the chapter about non-melee attacks, but also how spells really work. Non-melee attacks are basically magic in nature. An exception is arrows, but think of them as any other projectile, like fireball, and you will see that there is really not much difference. Each spell or missile in the game is an effect, and in the effect update procedure each effect is processed and can do a number of things.

Easiest to understand are the missile spells, the ones like Fireball, Charged Bolt, or Holy Bolt. They are basically an effect that moves around in the dungeon at a certain speed and often in a straight line. As soon as it enters a location it checks if it contains a potential target (monsters are immune to other monsters and players are often immune to their own spells and so on). If there is a potential target, it will try to attack, and it is this attack this chapter on Battle will explain in more detail. It will also check if it has hit a wall or some other dungeon feature and, if so, terminate. Some spells like Elemental and Flame Wave (which are in fact several flames, each an effect, moving side by side) will not terminate if they hit a target like a Fireball does. They will, regardless of if they hit or not, continue to move, and can thus hit multiple targets. Some spells consist of multiple missiles, such as Nova and Charged bolt. A Fire Wall is a typical example of a spell that can hit a target repeatedly.

Sometimes a spell can actually consist of several effects. The Lightning spell is such an example. The main spell is totally invisible and starts at the position of the source and travels away at a certain speed (see chapter 4.1.2). Each time it enters a new location it will spawn a new effect, a non moving lighting bolt with a certain duration that will sit in the location and try to hit anything in the location until its duration is over at which time it is removed. As the individual bolts are spawned with a certain delay the further away they are from the original source, they will also disappear with the same delay. The total effect is a seemingly moving stream of lighting bolts when in fact it is stationary bolts, where the duration of the individual bolts determines what looks like the length of the lighting stream. The speed of the stream is actually the speed of the initial invisible moving spell effect that spawns the bolts. Many other spells work in a similar way.

As already said, a spell can either be terminated upon hitting or go on even if it hits. In addition to that, most spells have a duration after which they will also be terminated. Most missile spells will also be terminated when they hit a wall or other dungeon feature. In addition to the above, each effect, when it attacks, can be set to be blockable or not. The check for blocking will only be done for those spells that are blockable. See chapter 4.1.2 for information about blockable spells. Finally, each effect can be either Fire, Lightning, Magic, or other (arrows are special).

Some effects will, of course, never attack; examples of such effects are Mana Shield and Infravision.

6.1.9 Possible targets of attacks

As already explained, an attack will typically always hit a specific location (with some exceptions). Normally, only a single monster or player can occupy a location at any time (although, due to bug, at times a monster and a player may end up in the same location, this is usually due to using the Teleport or Phasing spell). As long as a monster or a player is not moving between locations, it is always attackable in the location it occupies. Some activities will make the monster or player not hitable, but that is a different matter, examples of such things are an Illusion Weaver retreating, a player during the first 0.5 seconds upon entry of a new dungeon level. But what about when a monster or a player is walking between two locations. Where can it be attacked? The answer is that it depends on the type of attack and the direction of the walk. In the table below are listed all the various cases that may exist. It also tells in what location the monster or player is put in case the walk is interrupted, that is, when the target go into a hit recovery.

Target locations depending on direction of walk of target1
Situation NW, N or NE2
Player attack monster in melee Both
Player attack player in melee Both
Monster attack player in melee Special
Monster attack monster in melee Both3
Spells4 attacking player Leaving
Spells4 attacking monsters not Stone Cursed Both
Spells4 attacking monsters Stone Cursed Leaving
Fire Wall, Flame Wave or Ring of Fire attacking player or monster Leaving
Hit recovery location for player Leaving
Hit recovery location for monster Leaving
Location used for distance calculations Leaving

1 Both means that the target can be hit in both the location he is leaving and the location he is entering, leaving means that the target can only be hit in the location it is leaving, entering means that the target can only be hit in the location it is entering, none means that it can’t be hit in any of the locations. Monsters attacking players are handled in a special way explained below.

2 For the definition of north, see chapter 1.3.

3 A monster that attack another monster will always check for To Hit no matter where the target is at the time to check for To Hit. A monster will never initiate a melee attack unless the target at that time is in an adjacent location which means that usually it can hit in both locations and in addition further away in the rare occasions that the target has managed to get further away.

4 Excluding Fire Wall, Flame Wave and Ring of Fire.

5 Distance to a golem is measured to the Leaving location.

Monsters attacking players in melee does not specifically check for the location of the attack. Instead, upon attack it will check for the distance from the monster to the player. The locations used to calculate the distance is for the monster the location it is occupying and for the player it depends on the direction it is walking. When walking W, NW, N, NE or E, it is always the location the player is leaving and while walking SW, S or SE it is always the location the player is entering.

This has some important consequences that it is good to know about. When walking away from a monster it will thus always miss the check for the To Hit is done after you have started walking downwards on the screen and it will always have a normal chance of hitting you until you have completely reach your new location while walking upwards or sideways from the monster. Further more, if the walk is aborted by an attack, the player will be put in the location as indicated in the table above which means if you walk downwards, you will in such cases always be ”pushed” downwards (regardless of the direction of the attacker) but when walking in other directions, you will be ”pushed” back into the location you were leaving. In addition, when deciding upon what action to perform, see chapter 5.5 the distance is similarly always calculated in the same way. This result in the situation that when you are walking towards a monster it will only initiate a melee attack while you are walking, if you are walking SW, S or SE. If you walk in any other direction towards the monster it will consider you non adjacent up until you have reached the location adjacent to the monster.

Finally, as it is the distance from the monster to the player that counts when a monster attack a player, a monster will always check for To Hit against a player in those cases they occupy the same locations (can happen due to a bug) but a player will only be able to hit an adjacent location when doing a melee attack and can thus not attack the monster within its location.

6.1.10 Spell and arrow speeds

In the rest of the Guide, the speed of spells and arrows are given with a number in the 16 - 63 range (rarely going below 8). Here, a brief description is made in an attempt to convert those speeds to real speeds in the dungeon measured in reference to the tiles in the dungeon. This is also useful for estimating the distance penalty of arrows.

Any missile in the game (be it an arrow or a spell) will use true trigonometrical calculations for its movement, both for location and speed. Thus, it takes a missile longer to move through a location diagonally than straight along a side (roughly 40% longer) as opposed to character and monster movement which takes the same time regardless of it being diagonally or not. In addition, missiles actually move in small jumps each frame. That is, depending on their speed, they will move a certain distance each frame. For the purpose of keeping track of missiles, the game actually uses 22 extra bits of precision for its location, think of it as each location actually being divided in roughly 92 680 times 92 680 smaller locations. This higher precision is used for smooth movement only, for actual To Hit purposes the missile is simply considered to be in one location, regardless of where in the location it is. This have a few implications though. If the distance a missile is moved each frame is smaller than a location, it may end up staying in a location for more than one frame. In addition, it may, when not moving in straight angles along the locations, only enter the corner of some locations and may thus never really exist in a location that it in fact should pass through (for movement straight along the locations, this should never happen as it requires a speed value above 64 which does not exists in the game).

Some missile types prevents trying to hit the same location more than once (should it not manage to move into a new location when updated each frame) while most do not and may thus try to hit a target in a location more than once. This will of course make the total chance of hitting a target somewhat higher than it should be. This phenomenon is not that uncommon but extremely hard to predict or give exact numbers on as it depends both on the exact speed of the missile and in what direction you fire it. As you can virtually fire a missile in any direction, the possibilities are numerous. One should be aware of this phenomenon though as it might affect the result if anyone would actually measure the actual hit percentages of missiles.

To calculate the distance a missile of a specific speed travels, only examples of movement straight along the locations in the dungeon will be considered. It should be easy to apply to movement in any direction with true trigonometry. A missile with a speed value of 64, will travel exactly diagonally through one location each frame. This corresponds to traveling 1.4 locations in a straight line along the locations side. Alternatively you may say that a speed of 45.3 travels a location in one frame straight along the side of a location. The distance traveled per second can thus easily be calculated as:

Locations a missile travel per second: 25·speed/45.3

As the distance penalty of an arrow is increased by 1 each frame, the total distance penalty per location (see chapter 2.1.4 and chapter 5.1 for more information) can be calculated as:

For characters: distance·distance/2 = (45.3/speed)·(45.3/speed)/2 = 1 048/(speed·speed)

For monsters: distance·distance = (45.3/speed)·(45.3/speed) = 2 048/(speed·speed)

As noted, for some locations, the fact that the missile will try to hit more than once may make the actual To Hit be slightly different. Also note that a missile will actually start traveling in the location where the player or monster it originates from is currently standing in. It may at times take more than one frame to reach the next location but in no case will a missile make a To Hit check in its location of origin.

6.1.11 Some general notes about the formulas

In most cases it should be obvious from whom the stat in a formula should be taken. Monsters do not have Dex or clvl for example. In some cases, for example with players attacking players or when there is some bonus, it might not be so obvious and there is an additional note telling if it is from the target or the attacker (or if it is for the monster or player as appropriate). This is also done when it is not obvious what value should be used, for example if it is a base To Hit or a modified To Hit.

Any part of the formula that is only applicable in Hellfire is shown in italic.

6.2 Melee attacks

Here we will only discuss melee attacks; this does not apply to attacks with bows, and is always done to an adjacent target.

6.2.1 Player versus Monster

To Hit

  1. if the target monster is an Illusion Weaver that is currently running away, exit as it is at the moment immune to any attack

  2. if the target monster is Stone Cursed, the attack is an automatic hit, go directly to damage calculations

  3. calculate 50 + Dex/2 + ToHititems + clvl + bonusplayer

  4. in Hellfire, if the player has any item with the ”penetrate armor” effect, temporarily reduce Acmonster as appropriate

  5. subtract Acmonster

  6. in Hellfire, if the attack is an adjacent quarter damage attack, subtract 70 - 2·clvl (minimum 30)

  7. if the value calculated is below 5, set it to 5

  8. if the value calculated is above 95, set it to 95

  9. the value now achieved is the final chance to hit (FTH)

  10. a hit is secured if Rnd[100] < FTH

The steps 3-8 above can be summarized to:

FTH = 50 + Dex/2 + ToHititems + clvl + bonusplayer - Acmonster - penaltyquarter damage

Damage

  1. calculate Rnd[maxbase weapon damage - minbase weapon damage + 1] + minbase weapon damage (this is basically a random value within the weapons base damage range)

  2. add +% damage

  3. add +damage

  4. add character damage

  5. if the attacker is a Warrior or Barbarian then double damage if Rnd[100] < clvl (critical hit)

  6. if the monster is undead or an animal, adjust the damage according to the table in chapter 5.1 under monster type, that is, under certain circumstances multiply damage by 1.5 or divide damage by 2

  7. if the monster is a demon, triple the damage if the player is carrying any item with the ”+200% damage versus demons” effect

  8. in Hellfire, if the attacker has an item with the devastation effect and Rnd[100] < 5, triple the damage

  9. in Hellfire, if the attacker has an item with the jester’s effect 50% of the time multiply damage by Rnd[100]/100, the other 50% multiply damage by 5·(Rnd[100]+20)/100

  10. in Hellfire, if the attack is an adjacent ”quarter” damage attack, divide the damage by 4 (hence the ”quarter” damage)

  11. in Hellfire, if the attacker has an item with the peril effect, double the damage

  12. the value now achieved is the final damage (FD)

  13. deal FD to the target

Steps 1-4 above will generate a damage value that is within the range shown for damage on the character screen.

Steps 5-12 above will further modify the damage by factors that will not be shown on the character screen.

Step 9 above is actually done as:

  1. calculate Rnd[200]

  2. if the value is below 100 multiply the damage by this value and then divide by 100

  3. otherwise subtract 80 and multiply by 5, then multiply the damage by this value and divide by 100

Hit consequences

  1. in Hellfire, if the attacker has an item of doppelganger’s effect and the monster is not Diablo or an unique monster, duplicate the monster if Rnd[100] < 5

  2. in Hellfire, if the attacker has an item with the peril effect, take the damage from step 3 under Damage above, modify it for the -damage effect and deal it to the attacker

  3. if the attacker has an item equipped that has the ”random life stealing” effect, calculate Rnd[FD/8] and add this to current life (while checking so that current life never exceeds max life)

  4. if the attacker has an item equipped that has 3% mana stealing, calculate 0.03·FD

  5. if the attacker has an item equipped that has 5% mana stealing, calculate 0.05·FD

  6. if the attacker do not have any item of corruption add the amount calculated in step 4 or 5 to the current mana (while checking so that current mana never exceeds max mana)

  7. if the attacker has an item equipped that has 3% life stealing, calculate 0.03·FD

  8. if the attacker has an item equipped that has 5% life stealing, calculate 0.05·FD

  9. add the amount calculated in step 7 or 8 to the current life (while checking so that current life never exceeds max life)

  10. in Hellfire, if the attacker hit and has an item equipped with the decay effect, subtract 5 from its To Hit bonus, if it reaches -100%, destroy the item

  11. if the attacker hit, check for weapon durability loss

  12. if the monster was not Stone Cursed and the player had an item with the ”knock back” effect, move the monster one step backwards (backwards is defined according to the monster’s facing)

  13. mark the attacker to be entitled to experience points when the monster dies

  14. if the target was not a golem and it was not resistant to the spell and FD >= mlvl+3, put monster into hit recovery; a Scavenger or Grave Digger will also be set in a mode to find a carcass to feast/dig upon

  15. if the target was a Hidden type of monster and it was not resistant to the spell, put monster into hit recovery as well as in retreat mode (see chapter 5.5.9 under Hidden).

  16. if the monster died, check for any item dropping (see chapter 3.8) and add any experience to the players that are eligible for it (see chapter 2.6)

  17. if the monster died and it was Diablo, terminate game and show ending movie for players on dlvl 16

6.2.2 Player versus Player

To Hit

  1. calculate 50 + Dexattacker/2 + ToHititems,attacker + clvlattacker + bonusattacker

  2. calculate Dextarget/5 + Acitems,target + bonustarget

  3. subtract the value in step 2 from the value in step 1

  4. if the value calculated is below 5, set it to 5

  5. if the value calculated is above 95, set it to 95

  6. the value now achieved is the final chance to hit (FTH)

  7. a hit is secured if Rnd[100] < FTH

The steps 1-6 above can be summarized to:

FTH = 50 + Dexattacker/2 + ToHititems,attacker + clvlattacker + bonusattacker - Dextarget/5 - Acitems,target - bonustarget

Block

  1. if the target is doing anything other than standing still or performing a melee attack, skip blocking

  2. if the target is not a Monk and is not carrying a shield, skip blocking

  3. if the target is a Monk and is not carrying a shield, a staff or has at least one hand bear, skip blocking

  4. calculate Dextarget + 2·clvltarget + bonustarget

  5. subtract 2·clvlattacker

  6. if the value calculated is below 0, set it to 0

  7. if the value calculated is above 100, set it to 100

  8. the value now achieved is the final chance to block (FB)

  9. a block of the attack is done if Rnd[100] < FB

The steps 3-8 above can be summarized to:

FB = Dextarget + 2·(clvltarget - clvlattacker) + bonustarget

Damage

  1. calculate Rnd[maxbase weapon damage - minbase weapon damage + 1] + minbase weapon damage (this is basically a random value within the weapons base damage range)

  2. add +% damage

  3. add +damage

  4. add character damage

  5. if the attacker is a Warrior or Barbarian then double damage if Rnd[100] < clvlattacker (critical hit)

  6. the value now achieved is the final damage (FD)

  7. deal FD to the target

Steps 1-4 above will generate a damage value that is within the range shown for damage on the character screen.

Steps 5-6 above will further modify the damage by factors that will not be shown on the character screen.

Hit consequences

  1. if the attacker has an item equipped that has the ”random life stealing” effect, calculate Rnd[FD/8] and add this to current life (while checking so that current life never exceeds max life). It is worth noticing that in normal Diablo, the random stealing effect is only present on a single player quest item, so this step is this never performed.

  2. in Hellfire, if the attacker hit (regardless of blocking) and has an item equipped with the decay effect, subtract 5 from its To Hit bonus, if it reaches -100%, destroy the item

  3. if the attacker hit (regardless of blocking), check for weapon durability loss

  4. if the attacker hit and the target did not block, check if life went down to 0 or below, if so put target player into death mode and skip further steps

  5. if FD >= clvltarget and the target did not block then put target player into hit recovery and check for durability loss on helm and armor

  6. if the target blocked, put target player into block mode and check for durability loss on shield

For the probabilities of durability losses, see chapter 3.7.1.

6.2.3 Monster versus Player

To Hit

  1. calculate 30 + ToHitbase,monster + 2·mlvl

  2. calculate Dex/5 + Acitems,player + bonusplayer + 2·clvl

  3. subtract the value in step 2 from the value in step 1

  4. in Hellfire, if the player has extra AC versus Demons or Undead, subtract 40/20 if the monster is of the correct type

  5. if the value calculated is below 15, set it to 15

  6. on dlvl 14 if the value calculated is below 20, set it to 20

  7. on dlvl 15 if the value calculated is below 25, set it to 25

  8. on dlvl 16 if the value calculated is below 30, set it to 30

  9. the value now achieved is the final chance to hit (FTH)

  10. a hit is secured if Rnd[100] < FTH

The steps 1-9 above can be summarized to:

FTH = 30 + ToHitbase,monster + 2·(mlvl-clvl) - Dex/5 - Acitems,player - bonusplayer

Block

  1. if the target is doing anything other than standing still or performing a melee attack, skip blocking

  2. if the target is not a Monk and is not carrying a shield, skip blocking

  3. if the target is a Monk and is not carrying a shield, a staff or has at least one hand bear, skip blocking

  4. calculate Dex + 2·clvl + bonusplayer

  5. subtract 2·mlvl

  6. if the value calculated is below 0, set it to 0

  7. if the value calculated is above 100, set it to 100

  8. the value now achieved is the final chance to block (FB)

  9. a block of the attack is done if Rnd[100] < FB

The steps 3-8 above can be summarized to:

FB = Dex + 2·(clvl - mlvl) + bonusplayer

Damage

  1. calculate Rnd[maxbase damage - minbase damage + 1] + minbase damage (this is basically a random value within the monsters base damage range)

  2. add -damage

  3. if damage is below 1, set it to 1

  4. in Hellfire, if the player has a Reflect spell running, calculate the final reflected damage (FRD) by multiplying the damage by (Rnd[10] + 20)/100

  5. in Hellfire, if the player has a Reflect spell running, subtract FRD from the damage calculated in steps 1-3

  6. the value now achieved is the final damage (FD)

  7. deal FD to target

Hit consequences

  1. in Hellfire, if the monster hits and the player has a Reflect spell running, reflect FRD to it and check for death and hit recovery of the monster normally

  2. if the monster hits and it is a Black Death, remove 1 permanently from life

  3. if the player has any item equipped that has the ”damage to attacker” effect, deal Rnd[3] + 1 damage to it and check for death and hit recovery of the monster normally

  4. if the monster had the knock back ability, move the player one step backwards (backwards is defined according to the player’s facing)

  5. if the attacker hits and the target did not block, check if life went down to 0 or below; if so, put target player into death mode and skip further steps

  6. if FD >= clvl and the target did not block, put target player into hit recovery and check for durability loss on helm and armor

  7. if the target blocked, put target player into block mode and check for durability loss on shield

For the probabilities of durability losses, see chapter 3.7.1.

6.2.4 Monster versus Monster

To Hit

  1. if the target monster is an Illusion Weaver that is currently running away, exit as it is at the moment immune to any attack

  2. if the target is a monster that is Stone Cursed, the attack is an automatic hit, go directly to damage calculations

  3. the monsters base To Hit will also be the monsters final chance to hit (FTH) so the AC of the target has no effect

  4. a hit is secured if Rnd[100] < FTH

Damage

  1. calculate Rnd[maxbase damage - minbase damage + 1] + minbase damage (this is basically a random value within the monsters base damage range)

  2. the value now achieved is the final damage (FD)

  3. deal FD to target

Hit consequences

  1. if the target was not Stone Cursed and the attacker had attack type with the ”knock back” effect, move the target one step backwards (backwards is defined according to the target’s facing).

  2. if the attacker was a golem, mark the golem’s owner to be entitled to experience points when the monster dies

  3. if FD >= mlvltarget+3 or if the target is a Hidden type of monster put target into hit recovery; a Scavenger or Grave Digger will also be set in a mode to find a carcass to feast/dig upon

  4. if the target died, check for any item dropping (see chapter 3.8) and add any experience to the players that are eligible for it (see chapter 2.6)

  5. if the target died and it was Diablo, terminate game and show ending movie

6.3 Non melee attacks

Here we will deal with all other attacks, which include spells, arrows and traps (which are either spells or arrows). As there are so many more possibilities and special cases, some sections have been divided up to handle specific cases.

6.3.1 Player versus Monster non melee

To Hit

  1. if the effect is Holy Bolt and the monster is not undead or Diablo, exit as other monsters are immune

  2. if the target monster is an Illusion Weaver that is currently running away, exit as it is at the moment immune to any attack

  3. if the monster is immune to the spell type, exit as it can’t be damaged

  4. if the target is a monster that is Stone Cursed, the attack is an automatic hit, go directly to damage calculations

  5. if the effect is an arrow, calculate 50 + Dex + ToHititems + clvl + bonusplayer - distance·distance/2

  6. if the effect is an arrow, subtract Acmonster

  7. if the effect is a spell, calculate 50 + Mag + bonusplayer

  8. if the effect is a spell, subtract 2·mlvl

  9. if the value calculated is below 5, set it to 5

  10. if the value calculated is above 95, set it to 95

  11. the value now achieved is the final chance to hit (FTH)

  12. a hit is secured if Rnd[100] < FTH

The steps 5-11 above can be summarized to:

FTHarrow = 50 + Dex + ToHititems + clvl + bonusplayer - distance·distance/2 - Acmonster

FTHspell = 50 + Mag + bonusplayer - 2·mlvl

Damage

  1. for spells, the actual damage is calculated upon cast. For information about damage ranges for spells, see chapter 4.1.2.

  2. if the effect is an arrow, calculate Rnd[maxbase weapon damage - minbase weapon damage + 1] + minbase weapon damage (this is basically a random value within the weapons base damage range)

  3. if the effect is an arrow, add +% damage

  4. if the effect is an arrow, add +damage

  5. if the effect is an arrow, add character damage

  6. if the effect is a spell and the monster has resistance, divide damage by 4

  7. if the spell is Bone Spirit, damage is [current lifemonster]/3

  8. the value now achieved is the final damage (FD)

  9. deal FD to the target

Steps 2-5 above will generate a damage value that is within the range shown for damage on the character screen.

Note that in Hellfire, Diablo and Bone Demons have resistance to Holy Bolt.

Hit consequences

  1. for firing bows, the durability loss check is done regardless of a hit or miss; it is checked each time the character fires

  2. if the monster was not Stone Cursed and the player had a bow with the ”knock back” effect, move the monster one step backwards (backwards is defined according to the monster’s facing)

  3. if the attack was done with arrows or by a spell to which the monster was not resistant, mark the attacker to be entitled to experience points when the monster die

  4. if the target was not a golem and it was not resistant to the spell and FD >= mlvl+3, put monster into hit recovery; a Scavenger or Grave Digger will also be set in a mode to find a carcass to feast/dig upon

  5. if the target was a Hidden type of monster and it was not resistant to the spell, put monster into hit recovery as well as in retreat mode (see chapter 5.5.9 under Hidden).

  6. if the monster had no specific target before, set the player as the target, this basically activates a monster that gets hit regardless of distance

  7. if the monster died, check for any item dropping (see chapter 3.8) and add any experience to the players that are eligible for it (see chapter 2.6)

  8. if the monster died and it was Diablo, terminate game and show ending movie

6.3.2 Player versus Player non melee

To Hit

  1. if the target is immune to the spell type, exit as it can’t be damaged; this is true for spells like Apocalypse and Holy Bolt

  2. if the effect is an arrow, calculate 50 + Dexattacker + ToHititems,attacker + clvlattacker + bonusattacker - distance·distance/2

  3. if the effect is an arrow, calculate Dextarget/5 + Acitems,target + bonustarget2.1.4

  4. subtract the value in step 3 from the value in step 2

  5. if the effect is a spell, calculate 50 + Magattacker + bonusattacker

  6. if the effect is a spell, subtract 2·clvltarget

  7. if the value calculated is below 5, set it to 5

  8. if the value calculated is above 95, set it to 95

  9. the value now achieved is the final chance to hit (FTH)

  10. a hit is secured if Rnd[100] < FTH

The steps 2-9 above can be summarized to:

FTHarrow = 50 + Dexattacker + ToHititems,attacker + clvlattacker + bonusattacker - distance·distance/2 - Dextarget/5 - Acitems,target - bonustarget

FTHspell = 50 + Magattacker + bonusattacker - 2·clvltarget

Block

  1. if the target is doing anything other than standing still or performing a melee attack, skip blocking

  2. if the target is not a Monk and is not carrying a shield, skip blocking

  3. if the target is a Monk and is not carrying a shield, a staff or has at least one hand bear, skip blocking

  4. if the spell type is not blockable, skip blocking

  5. if the spell type is blockable but the target has resistance to it, skip blocking

  6. calculate block Dextarget + 2·clvltarget + bonustarget

  7. subtract 2·clvlattacker

  8. if the value calculated is below 0, set it to 0

  9. if the value calculated is above 100, set it to 100

  10. the value now achieved is the final chance to block (FB)

  11. a block of the attack is done if Rnd[100] < FB

The steps 5-10 above can be summarized to:

FB = Dextarget + 2·(clvltarget - clvlattacker) + bonustarget

Damage

  1. for spells, the actual damage is calculated upon cast. For information about damage ranges for spells, see chapter 4.1.2.

  2. if the effect is an arrow, calculate Rnd[maxbase weapon damage - minbase weapon damage + 1] + minbase weapon damage (this is basically a random value within the weapons base damage range)

  3. if the effect is an arrow, add +% damage

  4. if the effect is an arrow, add +damage

  5. if the effect is an arrow and the attacker is a Rogue, add character damage

  6. if the effect is an arrow and the attacker is a Warrior or Sorcerer, add double character damage

  7. if the spell is Bone Spirit, damage is [current lifetarget]/3

  8. if the effect is a spell, divide damage by 2

  9. if the effect is a spell and the target has resistance to it, reduce the damage by the amount specified by the resistance

  10. the value now achieved is the final damage (FD)

  11. deal FD to the target

Steps 2-5 above will generate a damage value that is within the range shown for damage on the character screen.

Step 6 above will further modify the damage by factors that will not be shown on the character screen. Shown on character screen is normal character damage, not double, for all character classes.

Hit consequences

  1. for firing bows, the durability loss check is done regardless of a hit or miss; it is checked each time the character fires

  2. if the attacker hits and the target did not block, check if life went down to 0 or below; if so, put target player into death mode and skip further steps

  3. if the target did not block and effect was an arrow or it was a spell and the target had no resistance to the spell type, check if FD >= clvltarget and, if so, put target player into hit recovery and check for durability loss on helm and armor

  4. if the target blocked, put target player into block mode and check for durability loss on shield

6.3.3 Monster/Trap versus Player

Fire Wall, Flame Wave and Ring of Fire also uses this chapter when attacking players.

To Hit

  1. if the effect is an arrow from a monster, calculate 30 + ToHitbase,monster + 2·mlvl - 2·distance

  2. if the effect is an arrow from a monster, subtract Dex/5 + Acitems,player + bonusplayer + 2·clvl

  3. if the effect is an arrow from a trap, calculate 100 - (Dex/5 + Acitems,player + bonusplayer + 2·clvl) / 2 - 2·distance

  4. if the effect is a spell from a monster, calculate 40 + 2·mlvl

  5. if the effect is a spell from a monster, subtract 2·clvl

  6. if the effect is a spell from a trap or a player, set To Hit to 40

  7. if the value calculated is below 10, set it to 10

  8. on dlvl 14 if the value calculated is below 20, set it to 20

  9. on dlvl 15 if the value calculated is below 25, set it to 25

  10. on dlvl 16 if the value calculated is below 30, set it to 30

  11. the value now achieved is the final chance to hit (FTH)

  12. a hit is secured if Rnd[100] < FTH

The steps 1-11 above can be summarized to:

FTHmonster arrow = 30 + ToHitbase,monster + 2·mlvl - 2·distance - Dex/5 - Acitems,player - bonusplayer - 2·clvl

FTHtrap arrow = 100 - (Dex/5 + Acitems,player + bonusplayer + 2·clvl) / 2 - 2·distance

FTHmonster spell = 40 + 2·mlvl - 2·clvl

FTHtrap spell = 40

FTHplayer spell = 40

Block

  1. if the target is doing anything other than standing still or performing a melee attack, skip blocking

  2. if the target is not a Monk and is not carrying a shield, skip blocking

  3. if the target is a Monk and is not carrying a shield, a staff or has at least one hand bear, skip blocking

  4. if the spell type is not blockable, skip blocking

  5. in Diablo, if the spell type is blockable but the target has resistance to it, skip blocking

  6. if the attacker is a monster calculate block Dex + 2·clvl + bonusplasyer

  7. if the attacker is a monster subtract 2·mlvl

  8. if the attacker is a trap, calculate Dextarget + bonustarget

  9. if the value calculated is below 0, set it to 0

  10. if the value calculated is above 100, set it to 100

  11. the value now achieved is the final chance to block (FB)

  12. a block of the attack is done if Rnd[100] < FB

The steps 5-11 above can be summarized to:

FB = Dex + 2·(clvl - mlvl) + bonusplayer

Damage

  1. for spells and traps, the actual damage is calculated upon cast. For information about damage ranges for spells, see chapter 4.1.2 for traps and chapter 4.1.2 for spells from players.

  2. if the attacker is a trap and the player has an item of thieves, divide damage by 2

  3. in Hellfire, if the attacker is not a trap, divide damage by 2

  4. add -damage

  5. if damage is below 1, set it to 1

  6. if the effect is a spell and the target has resistance to it, reduce the damage by the amount specified by the resistance

  7. the value now achieved is the final damage (FD)

  8. deal FD to target

Hit consequences

  1. if the effect was an arrow and the monster had the knock back ability, move the player one step backwards (backwards is defined according to the player’s facing)

  2. if the attacker hit and the target did not block, check if life went down to 0 or below; if so, put target player into death mode and skip further steps

  3. if the target did not block and effect was an arrow or it was a spell and the target had no resistance to the spell type, check if FD >= clvl and, if so, put target player into hit recovery and check for durability loss on helm and armor

  4. if the target blocked, put target player into block mode and check for durability loss on shield

6.3.4 Monster/Trap versus Monster

To Hit

  1. if the target monster is an Illusion Weaver that is currently running away, exit as it is at the moment immune to any attack

  2. if the monster is immune to the spell type, exit as it can’t be damaged

  3. if the target is a monster that is Stone Cursed, the attack is an automatic hit; go directly to damage calculations

  4. if the effect is an arrow, calculate 90 - Actarget - distance

  5. if the effect is a spell, calculate 90 - Actarget

  6. if the value calculated is below 5, set it to 5

  7. if the value calculated is above 95, set it to 95

  8. the value now achieved is the final chance to hit (FTH)

  9. a hit is secured if Rnd[100] < FTH

The steps 4-7 above can be summarized to:

FTHarrow = 90 - Actarget - distance

FTHspell = 90 - Actarget

Damage

  1. for spells and traps, the actual damage is calculated upon cast. For information about damage ranges for spells, see chapter 4.1.2.

  2. if the effect is a spell and the monster has resistance, divide damage by 4

  3. the value now achieved is the final damage (FD)

  4. deal FD to the target

Hit consequences

  1. if the target was not a golem and it was not resistant to the spell and FD >= mlvl+3, put monster into hit recovery; a Scavenger or Grave Digger will also be set in a mode to find a carcass to feast/dig upon

  2. if the target was a Hidden type of monster and it was not resistant to the spell, put monster into hit recovery as well as in retreat mode (see chapter 5.5.9).

  3. if the monster died, check for any item dropping (see chapter 3.8) and add any experience to the players that are eligible for it (see chapter 2.6)

  4. if the monster died and it was Diablo, terminate game and show ending movie

7 Shrines

Shrines are found on levels 1-8 (Church and Catacombs), cauldrons on levels 13-15 (Hell), fountains, pools and springs on levels 1-8 and also on levels 13-16. Rarely you will also see fountains, pools and springs on level 9-12 (Caves). Goat shrines are possible on any level that has Goat Men or Goat Archers (level 4-9).

Shrines in both Diablo and Hellfire
Name of Shrine
Abandoned Shrine
Creepy Shrine
Cryptic Shrine
Divine Shrine
Eerie Shrine
Eldritch Shrine
Enchanted Shrine1
Fascinating Shrine
Glimmering Shrine
Gloomy Shrine2,3
Hidden Shrine
Holy Shrine
Magical Shrine
Mysterious Shrine
Ornate Shrine
Quiet Shrine
Religious Shrine
Sacred Shrine
Secluded Shrine
Spiritual Shrine
Spooky Shrine4
Stone Shrine
Tainted4
Thaumaturgic Shrine3,5
Weird Shrine2,3

1 Enchanted shrines will never appear in Caves or Hell, not even as a Cauldron or Goat Shrine.

2 Effect only lasts for current game.

3 Only available in single player.

4 Only available in multi player.

5 All spells cast from a shrine will have an slvl of 2 in Church, 4 in Catacombs, 6 in Caves and 8 in Hell.

Fountains, Pools, Cauldrons and other similar objects in both Diablo and Hellfire
Name of Object
Blood Fountain1
Cauldron
Fountain of Tears1
Goat Shrine
Murky Pool1
Purifying Spring1

1 There will never be more than one of this type on any dungeon level.

2 Thaumaturgic Shrine will never appear as a Cauldron or Goat Shrine.

3 All spells cast from a shrine will have an slvl of 2 in Church, 4 in Catacombs, 6 in Caves and 8 in Hell.

New Shrines in Hellfire
Name of Shrine
Glowing Shrine
Mendicant’s Shrine
Murphy’s Shrine
Oily Shrine
Shimmering Shrine
Solar Shrine
Sparkling Shrine
Town Shrine

All shrines can occur on any dungeon level with the exception of the Enchanted shrine which will only occur on level 1-8. All shrines also have the same probability to occur on any dungeon level. Similarly all shrines have the same probability to be selected when you hit a Goat Shrine or a Cauldron (with the exception of Enchanted shrine mentioned above and the fact that Thaumaturgic Shrines will never appear as a Goat Shrine or a Cauldron).

To make it easier finding out what shrine you have hit when you try your luck at a goat shrine or a cauldron, the table below lists the messages (in alphabetical order) as well as what shrine they correspond to.

Shrine Message Name of Shrine Shrine Message Name of Shrine
”Arcane power brings..” Cryptic Shrine ”That which can break will” Murphy’s Shrine2
”Blessed by a benevolent..” Spooky Shrine1 ”That which does not kill you…” Oily Shrine2
”Crimson and Azure become..” Eldritch Shrine ”The essence of life flows from..” Quiet Shrine
”Drink and be refreshed” Divine Shrine ”The hands of men may be..” Abandoned Shrine
”Energy comes at the cost of..” Sacred Shrine ”The powers of mana..” Stone Shrine
”Generosity brings its own..” Tainted Shrine1 ”The sword of justice is swift..” Weird Shrine
”Give and you shall receive” Mendicant’s Shrine2 ”The way is made clear when..” Secluded Shrine
”Intensity comes at the cost of..” Fascinating Shrine ”There’s no place like home” Town Shrine2
”Knowledge and wisdom at..” Eerie Shrine ”Those who are last may yet..” Tainted Shrine
”Knowledge is power” Glowing Shrine2 ”Those who defend seldom..” Gloomy Shrine
”Magic is not always what it..” Enchanted Shrine ”Time cannot diminish the..” Religious Shrine
”Mysteries are revealed in the..” Glimmering Shrine ”What once was opened now..” Thaumaturgic Shrine
”New strength is forged..” Hidden Shrine ”Where avarice fails, patience..” Spooky Shrine
”Riches abound when least..” Spiritual Shrine ”Wherever you go, there you..” Holy Shrine
”Salvation comes at the cost of..” Ornate Shrine ”While the spirit is vigilant the..” Magical Shrine
”Some are weakened as one..” Mysterious Shrine ”You feel more agile” Solar Shrine2
”Some experience is gained by..” Sparkling Shrine ”You feel refreshed” Solar Shrine2
”Spiritual energy is restored” Shimmering Shrine2 ”You feel stronger” Solar Shrine2
”Strength is bolstered by..” Creepy Shrine ”You feel wiser” Solar Shrine2

1 Message got when someone else uses the shrine.

2 Only available in Hellfire.

There exist a bug that will cause any shrine with a random effect to at times not be random and instead have a specific result. This bug is most noticeable in the first games you play without exiting Diablo completely (decreasing in probability for each dungeon level you enter, including reentering of a level). For the most time, the shrines will be random however. The end effect of the bug is that the randomness of those shrines favor a certain result. The favored results are summarized in the table below.

Name of shrine Favored result Name of shrine Favored result
Enchanted Shrine Chain Lightning losing slvl Spiritual Shrine Irrelevant1
Hidden Shrine Shield losing durability Tainted Shrine Dexterity increased
Mysterious Shrine Dexterity increased Murphy’s Shrine2 Second item lose durability

1 As the shrine typically fills many slots with gold, the end effect will still be quite random depending on number of free slots.

2 Only available in Hellfire.

Due to the way the game work, it may also have some slight impact on random events that are not pre determined by the game (example of pre determined effects are item drops and result of shrines) occurring after the shrine is used. Cauldrons and Goat shrines are not affected by this bug.

8 Quests

This chapter deals with all of the quests present in Diablo and Hellfire. It only provides information on what has to be done to fulfill each quest. You have to find the best strategy for doing it yourself. Two of the quests in Hellfire are hidden quests. Chapter 1.2 provides information on how to activate them. Most quests are only available in single player mode, but some are present in both single and multi player. The table below lists each quest and the unique item (if any) you receive when you complete the quest. Normally you get it from the person who initiated the quest. Those unique items are only available in single player and information about them can be found in chapter 3.5. Note that you don’t receive all quests in every game (although some are always present), as they are randomly selected for each game. For more information, see chapter 8.1.

dlvl Quest Activated by Multi player Reward
2 The Butcher Wounded Townsman Yes The Butcher’s Cleaver1
2 Poisoned Water Supply Pepin Ring of Truth
3 The Curse of King Leoric Ogden Yes The Undead Crown1
4 Gharbad the Weak Gharbad
4 Ogden’s Sign Ogden Harlequin Crest
5 The Magic Rock Griswold Empyrean Band
5 Valor Book Arkaine’s Valor
6 The Chamber of Bone3 Book Guardian spell level
7 Halls of the Blind Book Optic Amulet
8 Zhar the Mad Zhar the Mad
9 Black Mushroom Adria Spectral Elixir
9 Slain Hero4 n/a
10 Anvil of Fury Griswold Griswold’s Edge
13 Warlord of Blood Book
14 Lachdanan Lachdanan Veil of Steel
15 Archbishop Lazarus Cain the Elder Yes
16 Diablo Cain the Elder Yes Dot2
Town Farmer’s Orchard Lester the Farmer Yes7 Auric Amulet
Town The Jersey’s Jersey5 Complete Nut Yes7 Bovine Plate
Town Little Girl5 Little Girl Yes7
H4 The Defiler The Defiler Yes7 Cathedral Map
Town Grave Matters Gillian Yes7
C1 Cornerstone of the World6 You Yes7
C1-3 Torn Notes6 Torn Notes Yes7 Reconstructed Note
C4 Na-Krul Na-Krul Yes7

1 In multi player you receive a random magic item instead.

2 You receive 1 dot if you kill Diablo on normal difficulty, 2 dots if you kill him on nightmare difficulty and 3 dots if you kill him on hell difficulty. The only place where you can see your dots is Battle.net.

3 Appears in every single player game.

4 Not really a quest but appropriate to list here.

5 Hidden quests, see chapter 1.2 for information on how to activate them.

6 Never shows up in the Quest Log.

7 I think all Hellfire quests are also present in multi player.

8.1 How quests are chosen

In single player, the quests that will appear in a single game are chosen at random. But there is some structure in the way they are chosen. Three quests are always present in every game: The Chamber of Bone, Archbishop Lazarus, and Diablo. If you play Hellfire, all the new quests will also always be present. The other quests are all organized into groups. From each group a specific number of quests are chosen for every game. The table below summarizes the different groups and how many quests from each group are chosen each game.

Quests in each group Number Chosen
The Curse of King Leoric, Poisoned Water Supply 1
The Butcher, Gharbad the Weak, Ogden’s Sign 2
The Magic Rock, Valor, Halls of the Blind 2
Zhar the Mad, The Black Mushroom, Anvil of Fury 2
Warlord of Blood, Lachdanan 1

8.2 Quests in Diablo

8.2.1 The Butcher

This quest is present if you see a wounded townsman outside the Church (in multi player it is always present). You will find The Butcher in a special red room on level 2. Killing him rewards you with The Butcher’s Cleaver in single player and a random magical item in multi player.

8.2.2 Poisoned water supply

This quest is present if the water in the fountain is yellow instead of blue. You will then find an entrance (dark passage) on level 2 to the small mini level where you solve the quest. To solve it, simply kill all monsters in the mini level. Go back to Pepin to get the Ring of Truth. You will know you have killed them all when the water runs blue again.

8.2.3 The Curse of King Leoric

If you have this quest you will find an entrance to Skeletons King’s Lair somewhere on level 3. His lair is a mini level with lots of skeletons and hidden rooms. Pull all levers and attack all crucifixes to reveal the secrets. When the Skeleton King is killed he will drop The Undead Crown. Beware, because in single player, the Skeleton King has the ability to raise dead skeletons.

In multi player Skeleton King is simply running around somewhere on level 3. Instead of being able to raise skeletons, he has the ability to steal life in multi player. When you kill him he will drop a random magic item.

8.2.4 Gharbad the Weak

You will find Gharbad the weak somewhere on level 4. Talk to him and then go away (off screen so you don’t see him) and then come back. You will now receive a random magical item. Go away again, and the next time you come back and talk to him he will tell you he is almost finished. The third time you come back to him, he will attack you. When killed he drops a random magical item just like any other unique monster.

The first item he gives you is created as if it had come from a normal (non unique) monster, with the exception that it will always be magical. The item he drops when you kill him is created normally as from a unique monster, with the exception that it will always be a base item within the clubs.

8.2.5 Ogden’s Sign

In this quest, the stair from level 4 down to level 5 is blocked by Snotspill, who wants you to go around the block and fetch him the Tavern Sign. But so does Ogden. If you bring the sign to Ogden, he will give you Harlequins Crest. Snotspill will attack you regardless of whether you give him the sign or not.

8.2.6 The Magic Rock

If you have this quest, you will find a rock on a pedestal somewhere on level 5. Bring the rock back to Griswold and he will give you Empyrean Band.

8.2.7 Valor

If you have this quest, you will find a special set of rooms on level 5 with the shape of a cross. If you enter the double doors, you will find the first blood stone. Put it on the book with the pedestal in the same room. That will open up another door in the room shaped like a cross (go outside to find it). Inside the newly opened room you find yet another blood stone. Bring it back to the book too and a third room will be opened up. In it you find the third blood stone, which, if placed on the book, will open up the final part of the ”cross”. In it you will find Arkaine’s Valor.

8.2.8 The Chamber of Bone

This quest is always present in single player. You must first read the book on level 6, which activates the quest. When you do, the entrance (a stair on level 6) will open up and you can go to the mini level where you solve the quest. Pull both levers to open secret rooms. In the center of the mini level you will find the chamber of bones (lots of bones there). Behind it you will find another room with a book. When you read the book inside the final room you have finished the quest and will gain a spell level of Guardian.

The chests found in the small rooms on the mini level will create items as if they came from a unique monster, that is, they will always be magical, have a higher probability of being unique and will use the +4 bonus to the ilvl for determination of the prefix and/or the suffix.

8.2.9 Halls of the Blind

This quest is present if you find a room shaped like an ”8” on level 7. After reading the book on the same level, two doors will open to the ”8”. Kill all Illusion Weavers inside it and the Optic Amulet will drop in the upper of the two small rooms inside the ”8”.

8.2.10 Zhar the Mad

You will find Zhar the Mad in a room with a book case on level 8. He will give you a book if you talk to him. As soon as you touch the book case, he will attack you (the book case will not drop any book). When you kill him he will drop a random magical item. To make the book case drop a book, you need to either use telekinesis on it before you talk to Zhar the Mad, or you should talk to Zhar the Mad a second time before touching the book case; after beating him you will then get a book from the book case.

Any book from Zhar the Mad or his book case is created from an ilvl equal to 2·dlvl. The item he drops when you kill him is created normally as from a unique monster.

8.2.11 Black Mushroom

This is one of the most complicated quests in Diablo. After finding a fungal tome on level 9 and bringing it to Adria, the quest is initiated. You will then be able to find a huge black mushroom on level 9. Giving the mushroom to Adria will make her tell you about the demon’s brain and that you should take the brain to Pepin. The first monster you kill after Adria tells you about the brain will indeed drop a brain. It does not necessarily have to be a demon, for any monster will drop it. Take the brain to Pepin, who will give you an elixir that you should give to Adria. Finally, take the elixir to Adria and she will tell you that you can keep it. It is the spectral elixir. After Adria tells you that you can keep it you should drink (use) it immediately. Don’t save the game before drinking it. It will give you +3 to all attributes. If you don’t use it right away you will not be able to use it at all. However, I have been told that if you get hold of a second spectral elixir, you can use both at once.

8.2.12 Slain Hero

You will find a slain hero somewhere on level 9. He will drop an item depending on your character class. The table below tells what base item each character class will get. The ilvl for item creation for items from the Slain hero is equal to 2·dlvl. The items will be given the same +4 bonus as is given to unique monsters when picking prefixes and suffixes. As such, the item creation follows the same rules and probabilities as for an item dropped from a unique monster (with the exception that the base item is not random).

Character class Item type Base item1
Warrior heavy armor breast plate
Rogue bow long battle bow or long war bow
Sorcerer book of book of Lightning2
Monk staff war staff
Bard sword bastard sword
Barbarian axe battle axe

1 It is worth noticing that the game actually checks the picture of the created item (except for the Sorcerer). This does of course mean that any unique of the appropriate type that has a unique picture can not be chosen. It also means that any unique item of another base item (but still within the appropriate group, such as heavy armor, bows, staffs, and so on) can be chosen if it has the picture of the base item that is supposed to be dropped.

2 The base item is of course a book of but the game will attach the spell Lightning to it.

8.2.13 Anvil of Fury

The anvil can be found on a small peninsula on level 10. It is heavily guarded by lots of monsters. Bring the anvil back to Griswold and he will give you Griswold’s Edge.

8.2.14 Warlord of Blood

If you find lots of Steel Lords on level 13, you have this quest. After reading the book on this level, the room next to the stairs down to level 14 will open up and you can fight the Warlord of Blood. After killing him, don’t forget to collect all the magical items on the racks in his room.

8.2.15 Lachdanan

Lachdanan is a unique Blood Knight that you will find on level 14. If you have this quest you will also find other Blood Knights on this level. He asks you for the golden elixir, which can be found somewhere on level 15. Bring it to him and he will give you the Veil of Steel.

8.2.16 Archbishop Lazarus

On level 15, you will find the Staff of Lazarus. Take it to Cain and he will initiate the quest. A red portal will open up on level 15, adjacent to the pentagram. It takes you to Lazarus’ lair, a small mini level. You will find two Books of Vileness. Stand on the small pentagram near each one and read the books. They will teleport you to new sections of the mini level. After reading both books, a new pentagram will appear at the place where you entered the mini level. Standing on it will teleport you into Lazarus’ room. Kill him and the red portal will once more appear at the entrance to the mini level. If you take it back to level 15 you will see that the pentagram has turned red and it takes you to level 16.

In multi player, you will not find the Staff of Lazarus. Lazarus himself will be in the upper corner of level 15, in a small room. Kill him to open/activate the pentagram to level 16.

8.2.17 Diablo

Level 16 is made up of four areas. The first one, at the top, has a lever in the middle. It opens up the maze to the right. Inside it you will find yet another lever which opens up the area to the left. Inside it are two more levers, which, if both are turned, will open up the final room where you will find Diablo. Kill him and you get to see the Game End movie. In multi player, don’t forget that you will have to pick up every item you wish to keep before killing Diablo, as you will be leaving the game after seeing the End Game movie. Only if someone is left in the game and that person is not on level 16 when Diablo dies will the game not be closed, and you can reenter it later. Since Diablo is treated like a normal monster by the game, he will sometimes drop an item. It can be anything from gold to a magical item.

When Diablo dies, anyone currently on dlvl 16 will be awarded dots for the difficulty level in question. See chapter 9.4 for more information about dots.

8.3 Quests in Hellfire

8.3.1 Farmer’s Orchard

If you have not activated the hidden quests, see chapter 1.2. You will find Lester the Farmer near the cows in the town. If your character is level 15 or above, Lester will give you the Rune Bomb. Take it to the bridge adjacent to where you start. Standing on the bridge, drop it on the alien like thing on the ground. It will blow up the entrance to the Hive (The Nest). Go back to the Farmer and he will give you the Auric Amulet.

8.3.2 The Jersey’s Jersey

If you have activated the hidden quests (see chapter 1.2), you will not find Lester the Farmer. Instead, you will find the Complete Nut, also standing by the cows. In the Hive you will find one gray suit lying on the ground somewhere on level 3, and one brown suit lying on the ground somewhere on level 4. Bring the brown suit to the Complete Nut and he will give you the Bovine Plate.

8.3.3 Little Girl

If you have activated the hidden quests (see chapter 1.2), you will find a little girl standing close to the bridge just above the one that leads to the Hive. She will only appear once you have been to the Hive. When you kill the Hork Demon on level 3 of the Nest, he will drop Theodore, the teddy bear. Take it to the little girl and she will give you a random magic amulet created from an ilvl of 26. If you have not activated the hidden quests, the Hork Demon will drop a random magic amulet also created from an ilvl of 26.

8.3.4 The Defiler

The Defiler is the Boss of the Hive. Killing him will give you the Cathedral Map.

8.3.5 Grave Matters

Go to the graveyard by the church. Drop the Cathedral Map on the huge new grave you find there. It will open up the entrance to the Crypt.

8.3.6 Cornerstone of the World

You will find the Cornerstone of the World (the CoW) in a small room on level 1 of the Crypt. By placing an item on it, that item will be available for another character of yours in other games. There is only one Cornerstone of the World and it is common for all games; thus, as soon as you pick up the item on it in any game, you will no longer be able to get it from any of your games. Remember that you should never be in the Crypt with any of the two characters that are involved in the swap for it to work. The reason for this is that the game will save and restore the content of the CoW if you are on level 1 in any save game. The effect may range from not being able to transfer the item at all to actually duplicating the item (which, like the infamous cursor duplication is of course a bug). The table below should clarify the result. I recommend that you always save the game while in town when you want to transfer an item via the Cornerstone of the World. This quest will never show up in the quest log.

Character giving on level 1 of Crypt Character giving not on level 1 of Crypt
Character receiving on level 1 of Crypt Not possible Not possible
Character receiving not on level 1 of Crypt Transfer possible Duplication of item

8.3.7 Torn Notes

On each of the first 3 levels of the Crypt you will find one Torn Note. When you have found all three, they will combine to the Reconstructed Note, which tells you about how to open the room to Na-Krul. This quest will never show up in the quest log.

8.3.8 Na-Krul

Na-Krul can be found in a small room on level 4 of the Crypt. If you open his room by pulling the lever he will be a very tough opponent. However, if you read the books outside his room in the correct order, he will come out severely weaker (see chapter 5.2.4 for the difference). The correct order is:

  1. In Spiritu Sanctum

  2. Praedictum Otium

  3. Efficio Obitus Ut Inimicus

When killed, Na-Krul will always drop four items according to the table below.

Item number Item type Base item1
First sword great sword
Second staff war staff
Third bow long battle bow or long war bow
Fourth book of book of Apocalypse2

1 It is worth noticing that the game actually checks the picture of the created item (except for the book). This does, of course, mean that any unique of the appropriate type that has a unique picture cannot be chosen. It also means that any unique item of another base item (but still within the appropriate group; that is, sword, staff, and bow) can be chosen if it has the picture of the base item that is supposed to be dropped.

2 The base item is of course a book of but the game will attach the spell Apocalypse to it.

9 Battle.net

This chapter will deal with Battle.net, explaining things like commands available, what icons mean, what channels exists and how they may differ from each other, and about what games you can join. Please note that Battle.net, especially the chat is constantly changing and evolving. It is near impossible for me to keep up with all changes done and to update this guide based on such changes. This chapter was up to date as of the release of version 1.07. Some changes that has occurred later has been updated but most likely not all.

9.1 Channels

Channels on Battle.net can be either public or private. In private ones there will usually exist an operator who has some extra commands at his/her disposal and can thus kick or ban people from the channel. For a list of such operator commands, see chapter 9.2.

Below is a list of all Diablo related public channels, most will be listed when you press the ”CHANNEL” button while on Battle.net. In addition to that list, the last channel you visited before entering a game or the starting channel when logging on, whether public or private, will appear at the bottom of the list. There are of course many other public channels related to other Blizzard games, but as this is a Diablo Guide, they will not be covered here.

Channel1 Information
Blizzard Tech Support Moderated channel. Only Blizzard can see any text that is not whispered.
Open Tech Support
Diablo Retail
Beginners Only
Town Square
Trading Post
Adventures Wanted
Bounty Hunters
Guild Recruitment
Guild Members
Warriors Arena Only open for warriors.
Rogues Gallery Only open for rogues.
Sorcerers Tower Only open for sorcerers.
Veterans lounge (L20+) Only open for characters of clvl 20 and above.
The Black Lodge (L30+) Only open for characters of clvl 30 and above.
Hell’s Caretakers (L40+) Only open for characters of clvl 40 and above.
The Void2 If you are kicked or banned from a channel, this is where you end up.
Diablo Retail XXX-#2,3 Default starting channels, where XXX is a country code and # is a number.
Diablo Shareware #2 Default starting channels for the shareware version, where # is a number.
Clan <username>2,4 Special clan channels.
Backstage2 Restricted channel. You can normally not enter or view this channel.

1 In addition to the list above, any channel name starting with Diablo Retail or Diablo Shareware will be treated as a public channel. The same is of course true for all names that are considered public channels in other games on Battle.net.

2 Will not show up on the list of public channels unless it was the last channel you visited before entering a game or logging on.

3 For a list of country codes, see below.

4 Clan channels are special versions of private channels, see below under Clan channels for more information.

Country codes

A summary of some of the country codes (XXX in the table above) are given in the table below. The country code selected when you join Battle.net is determined by the language setting in your operating system and does not necessarily mean the country where the computer happens to be.

Country Code Country Code Country Code
Albania ALB France FRA Norway NOR
Argentina ARG Germany DEU Panama PAN
Albania ALB Great Britain GBR Paraguay PRY
Australia AUS Greece GRC Peru PER
Austria AUT Guatemala GTM Poland POL
Belgium BEL Honduras HND Portugal POR
Bolivia BOL Hungary HUN Puerto Rico PRI
Brazil BRA Indonesia IDN Rumania ROM
Bulgaria BUL Ireland IRL Russia RUS
Byelorussia BLR Iceland ISL Serbia SPB
Canada CAN Italy ITA Slovakia SVK
Czech CZE Jamaica JAM South Africa ZAF
China CHN Japan JPN Spain ESP
Chile CHL Korea KOR Sweden SWE
Colombia COL Liechtenstein LIE Switzerland CHE
Costa Rica CRI Latvia LVA Taiwan TWN
Croatia HRV Lithuania LTU Turkey TUR
Denmark DEN Luxembourg LUX Ukraine UKR
Dominican DOM Macedonia MKD United States USA
Ecuador ECU Mexico MEX Uruguay URY
El Salvador SLV The Netherlands NDL Venezuela VEN
Estonia EST New Zealand NZL
Finland FIN Nicaragua NIC

Clan channels

Clan channels are special versions of private channels. The name of a clan channel always begin with the word Clan followed by a username (that is an account name). The person using the account name (and thus in Diablo having a character named so), will always automatically gain operator status when joining the channel. Others can only gain operator status by the /designate command (see chapter 9.2 for more information).

9.2 Commands available in chat channels

Any command which accepts a username can also accept an account number instead. For example, instead of typing /whois Jarulf, you can type /whois #995959. That way your commands work on a specific person regardless of which character or game he/she is using at the moment. The lists below are based on Blizzard’s own list of commands, but have been completed and updated by myself. Also note that some commands may work slightly different in other games and there may also exists commands that do not apply to Diablo. This guide, however, only cover Diablo and its commands.

Basic commands

These commands can be used by anyone in any channel or game. For exceptions to what commands that can be used in games, see chapter 9.3.

/away <reason> Example: /away chatting at ICQ. Typing this and specifying a reason that you are away will tell anyone who does a /whois on you or anyone that whispers to you that you are away and the reason you specified. Typing /away with no <reason> will toggle it on/off depending on its previous status. So to turn it off, make sure it is already on, and type only /away.

/channel <channel name> Example: /channel bar. Joins a different channel without having to use the channel join screen. Aliases for this command: /join.

/dnd <reason> Example: /dnd I am currently in a game playing. This command prevents all messages whispered to you from being displayed on your screen. This is excellent if you are in a game and do not want to be disturbed. Typing /dnd with no <reason> will toggle it on/off depending on its previous status. So to turn it off, make sure it is already on, and type only /dnd.

/help <topic> Examples: /help commands or /help /away. Gives you help on the commands available on Battle.net. Typing /help without any <topic> will give you a list of possible topics.

/me Example: /me feels tired. Displays emotion text, as in ”Jarulf feels tired”. Aliases for this command: /emote.

/squelch <username> Examples: /squelch Jarulf or /squelch #683989. Ignores any future messages from the specified user, effectively muting him/her to you. You cannot squelch yourself. Aliases for this command: /ignore.

/stats <username> <ID> Examples: /stats Jarulf STAR or /stats #683989. Shows the stats of player in the game with the specified ID. If no ID is given, it will be given for the same game as you are currently using. As Diablo has no ladders, you will be given an error message if you don’t specify an ID when using Diablo. This command works even if the user is not currently on Battle.net. It is thus a good way to see if a certain account name is in use or not. It also works even if the user does not have the specified game as each account will always have information about all existing games, the stats for such games will, of course, always be 0-0-0. The ID for the current games existing on Battle.net, that has ladders, are:

STAR Starcraft
SSHR Starcraft Shareware
JSTR Starcraft, Japanese version
SEXP Brood War
W2BNE Warcraft II, Battle.net Edition

/time Example: /time. Gives you Battle.net’s time as well as your own local time. For some, it shows the local time to incorrectly be the same as Battle.net’s time.

/unsquelch <username> Examples: /unsquelch Jarulf or /unsquelch #995959. Allows a previously squelched user to talk to you normally. Aliases for this command: /unignore.

/users Example: /users. Displays statistics about the number of users currently connected to Battle.net.

/whisper <username> <message> Example: /whisper Jarulf Hi Jarulf! Sends a private message to a user on-line regardless of which channel or game that user is in. This is an excellent way to let your friends know you are on-line. Aliases for this command: /w, /msg, /m.

/who <channel name> Example: /who bar. Displays a list of all the users in the channel specified. If no channel name is specified it lists the users in the current channel.

/whoami Example: /whoami. Tells your account number and in what channel you are. Basically this is the same as doing a /whois <your name>.

/whois <username> Examples: /whois Jarulf or /whois #995959. Looks up some basic information on a user, including the user’s current location (channel or game, but will not list the password for private games or channel name of a private channel) and account number. This is a great way to find your friends on-line. Aliases for this command: /whereis, /where.

Operator commands

Operator commands only apply to private channels. The first person to create a private channel becomes the operator of that channel (except in special clan channels where the person using the clan account name automatically gains operator status upon entry, see chapter 9.1 for more information). You can tell who is the operator of a channel by looking for the user with the gavel. When you list all persons in a channel with the /who command, the operator will have [ ] around his/her name. It is possible to use [ ] in ones name. When the channel operator leaves, he can pass on the gavel to an heir that he designates. If he or she does not designate an heir, the person below him on the list will be the new operator.

/ban <username> <message> Examples: /ban Jarulf because I don’t like him or /ban #995959. Kicks a user out of the channel, while showing the message, and prevents him/her from returning until the current operator steps down, leaves the channel, or /unban you. This is the most powerful command at an operator’s disposal, so use it wisely.

/kick <username> <message> Examples: /kick Jarulf or /kick #995959 because he does not belong in this channel. Kicks a user out of the channel, while showing the message. This is best used as a warning since a kicked user can return at his/her leisure.

/designate <username> Examples: /designate Jarulf or /designate #995959. Selects a person to become the channel operator when you step down, either by resigning or by leaving the channel. If no one is designated, the gavel will be passed on to the person below the operator.

/resign Example: /resign. Steps you down as channel operator to become a normal user again. Aliases for this command: /rejoin.

/unban <username> Examples: /unban Jarulf or /unban #995959. Allows a banned user to return to the channel.

Other important information

There are a few other important keys that are worth knowing about while on Battle.net.

F1 Gives you basic help and information about Battle.net. If you press F1 while in a game you will instead be given important information about playing the game. Disregard anything about choosing maps and about ladders as it does not apply to Diablo. Who knows why they have that information here.

ALT-N Copies the name highlighted down to where you write.

ALT-V Toggles on/off information about players entering and leaving a channel.

Tab Command cycle.

Print Screen Saves a PCX format file of the current screen. You will be prompted for the filename if you press it in a channel. If you press it in a game it will have the default name of screen##.pcx where ## is a number starting at 0 and then increases for each picture (max 99). All pictures are saved in your Diablo/Hellfire folder.

Double click on name Gives you the profile of the player. To enter an URL in the profile, simply type it in. You will not see the link underscored and in blue on your own profile but other persons will.

9.3 Commands available in games

The 1.05 patch introduced the possibility of issuing some commands from within a game to other persons not in the game. It is also possible to use those commands on a user in a game. The commands work the same way as in a chat channel, and are typed where you type messages for persons in the game. All commands available in chat with the exception of /channel, /me, and the operator commands are available. All aliases work as well.

Also note that you can use the mute buttons beside a persons name if you do not want that person to hear what you say while in a game. By default all other players in a game will hear what you say, and this is true for any version of Diablo or Hellfire. No one will hear your whispers, of course. For more game information, press F1 while in a game.

9.4 Character icons

When on Battle.net you will notice many different looks of the icon beside a player’s name. Here is a short explanation of what all the different icons mean.

Non character icon

If you don’t see an icon with a character on it but instead some text, the meaning is as follow:

Blizzard The person is a representative of Blizzard. The name is in light blue and everything that person writes is also in light blue. Note that anyone not having the Blizzard logo and not posting in blue or red text (see chapter 9.6) does not represent Blizzard.

b.net The person is an official Battle.net administrator.

Chat The person is logged on to Battle.net through a chat client (basically allows a text interface to Battle.net) and cannot play any games, only chat. Such a person will always have a plug.

Diablo The person is logged on to Battle.net using Diablo and you are using either a chat client or any game other than Diablo. You or anyone else will also get this icon whenever connecting to Battle.net with Diablo and getting the plug (see chapter 9.5).

DiabloSW The person is logged on to Battle.net using the shareware or spawned version of the game. The SW is actually located below Diablo on the icon.

DiabloII The person is logged on to Battle.net using Diablo II. The II is actually located behind Diablo on the icon.

DiabloIIEXPANSION The person is logged on to Battle.net using Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. The EXPANSION is actually located below Diablo on the icon.

Gavel The person is the operator of the channel and can use the operator commands, see chapter 9.1.

Megaphone The person is someone special, invited to a moderated channel and can be heard by everyone (normally you can’t hear non Blizzard people in a moderated channel). This icon is only used on special occasions like a webmasters’ chat.

SC The person is logged on to Battle.net using Star Craft.

SCJAPAN The person is logged on to Battle.net using the Japanese version of Star Craft. The JAPAN is actually located below SC on the icon.

StarX The person is logged on to Battle.net using Star Craft Brood War.

Sunglasses The person is a special VIP guest on Battle.net. Works pretty much like the Megaphone above.

Sware The person is logged on to Battle.net using a shareware version of Star Craft.

WARII The person is logged on to Battle.net using Warcraft II Battle.net Edition. The II is actually located below WAR on the icon.

WARIII The person is logged on to Battle.net using Warcraft III. The III is actually located behind WAR on the icon.

X The BRX (Big Red X) is shown on any person that you have issued a /squelch command on.

No icon at all Most likely someone that has hacked his character to have a clvl outside the 1-99 range. Of course, unless you cheat, your clvl can never be higher than 50. In the shareware version, the theoretical maximum clvl, based on what monsters can be found on the first two levels of the Church, is 16. The clvl is no longer shown for people connecting with the shareware version (unless one also uses shareware, of course; in that case the icon will, in addition, always be grey).

The list above is only complete if you are using Diablo. Just as Diablo has specific icons for various characters, all other games have similar game specific icons. Such game specific icons are not shown to users of other games and thus are not explained above as this Guide only covers Diablo.

Character icon

The character icon tells you what character class that player is using. It also has the clvl of the character, and if it has killed Diablo it will have red dots representing what difficulty level the character has killed him on:

1 dot Diablo has been killed on normal difficulty.

2 dots Diablo has been killed on nightmare difficulty.

3 dots Diablo has been killed on hell difficulty.

You don’t really have to participate in the killing of Diablo to get the dot(s). It is enough that you are on dlvl 16 when he dies. The color of the icon, or rather the frame unless gold or gray, has the following meaning:

Yellow Warrior.

White Rogue.

Red Sorcerer.

Gold Any character class with a character that has three dots.

9.5 Lag indicators

To the right of the name, you will see the lag indicator of a person. Starting with the 1.05 patch the way the game measures and represents lag has changed compared to 1.04 and earlier. It will now represent the lag between the player’s computer and the Battle.net server he/she is connected to. You ”decode” them in the following way:

1 or 2 green bars The player has very good lag and you should be able to play with him without much problem unless you have bad lag yourself.

3 or 4 yellow bars The player has medium lag and you could experience some lag in a game with that person.

5 or 6 red bars The player has much lag and you could expect to experience lots of lag in a game with that person and a time-out for either player is not unlikely.

A plug The player can not play, only chat. The reason for this can be varied: very bad connection, connection through a chat client, being behind a fire wall, or using a proxy server that is not set up correctly. If you ever get a plug suddenly although you have been able to play before, try rebooting your computer that normally helps.

Note that the game no longer measures the lag between you and the other players, only between each player and the Battle.net server. Thus, even if someone has bad lag to the server, he or she can have good lag to you. Of course, the reverse is also true. When pressing JOIN, the lag you see beside a game should be between you and the person that created the, game just as in 1.04 (not between the person that created the game and the Battle.net server he/she is using). There seem to be some problems though, so that the lags you see for games are often shown to be way higher than they actually are.

9.6 Text

The text you see while in a chat channel can have several different colors. Note that the actual text and the name of the person in the text (indicating who wrote it) can be different. Note, this is not about the character name to the right in the character list of people in the channel but in the chat window. Below is an explanation what the color of each of them mean.

Character name

Yellow Standard color. This is the color other persons name will appear in unless they are Battle.net operator or Blizzard representative. This is also the color your own name will have if you issue an emotion text with the /me command.

White Operator color. This is the color the operators name will have for everyone except the operator himself.

Light blue Your own and Blizzard’s color. This is the color your own name will have whenever you say anything, even if you are the operator. When you whisper to someone, that person’s name instead of your own name will appear in light blue. The only exception is when you use the /me command, in which case your name will be yellow. This is also the color the name of any Blizzard representative will have both here and to the right.

Text

White Normal text. This is the color both your own and other persons text will have.

Yellow Emotional text. You use the /me command (see above), to display this. If you are the operator, the text will be white though. All informational text that is displayed by Battle.net, except for error and special messages, which are red and sent to everyone at once, are displayed in yellow as well.

Gray Whisper. When you whisper to anyone or someone whispers to you, the text will be displayed in this color. Note that on rare occasions when the different Battle.net servers have lost contact temporary with each other, there may be problems when they get contact with each other again. This can, very rarely, lead to situations where others can see you but you can’t see them, or vice versa. If you whisper a person that can’t see you or someone that you can’t see whispers you, it will appear as if the whisper comes from yourself. There is nothing to worry about, apart from the fact that some people can’t see each other. A reconnection by the person that can’t see some people normally cures the problem.

Green Notification text. When you leave or enter a channel, or if you have activated enter/leave notification by pressing ALT-V, information will be displayed in green.

Light blue Blizzard representative text. Any person representing Blizzard and thus having a Blizzard icon, will have all text that is not whispered displayed in cyan.

Red Any errors when issuing any command or special messages from Battle.net which are seen by everyone at once, like notification that Battle.net will go down for service, will be displayed in red.

9.7 Joining games

When you press the JOIN button, you are presented with a list of games created by characters of the approximate same clvl as you have your self. The table below show what ranges of clvl will be matched together.

Clvl range clvl range clvl range
1 10 - 14 30 - 34
2 - 3 15 - 19 35 - 39
4 - 5 20 - 24 40 - 44
6 - 9 25 - 29 45 - 50

Nothing prevents you from joining any game that you know the name of (and the password if it is private), as long as you fulfill the difficulty requirements (see chapter ). They will just not show up on the list.

10 Other useful information

10.1 Hot keyed messages while playing

While playing multi player games, you can set the four keys F9 - F12 to have four special messages that you can send to the other players in the game. This could be good for messages that you need to send quickly while fighting. To change these messages on a PC, you should edit the files diablo.ini in Diablo and hellfire.ini in Hellfire. For Hellfire, you must first create the file. The easiest way to do this is to copy the diablo.ini file from your Diablo folder into the Hellfire folder and then rename it. The syntax of the two files is identical.

10.2 Save files

In single player, you can save (and must save) your game whenever you want. The save files are stored in the Diablo/Hellfire folder and can easily be transferred to other computers. In multi player, you can’t save the game. Your character, its stats and items that it has equipped or carries, is saved automatically by the game as soon as you make any changes to it. Thus, there is never any need to save it. Your character in multi player is also saved in the Diablo folder. The names of the save files are summarized in the tables below. In versions previous to 1.08, the game used to save your multiplayer files in the Windows (!) folder on the PC, so you may still find those save files there. Whenever you run Diablo v1.08 or later, it will move those files to the Diablo folder but will not remove them from the Windows folder. As Hellfire is based on the 1.04 version of Diablo, it still saves the multiplayer files in the Windows folder.

PC
Game type Folder Name
Diablo single player Diablo single_#.sv Where # is a number in the range 0..9
Hellfire single player Hellfire single_#.hsv Where # is a number in the range 0..9
Diablo multi player Diablo multi_#.sv Where # is a number in the range 0..9
Hellfire multi player Windows1 hrinfo_#.drv Where # is a number in the range 0..9

1 Since the files end with .drv, the files would normally be hidden by Windows. You might have to activate show hidden files to see them.

Macintosh
Game type Folder Name
Diablo single player Diablo diablo single # Where # is a number in the range 0..9
Diablo multi player Diablo diablo multi # Where # is a number in the range 0..9

10.3 Transferring save files

There is no way to transfer a save file (and thus a character) to/from single and multi player. To transfer files between computers (and even between a PC and a Mac), simply copy the save files over. Since the 1.08 patch, this is now possible without any problems for multi player files as well. For information on how to transfer a character from Diablo to Hellfire, see the readme.txt file in your Hellfire folder.

To transfer a multi player character from one computer to another in Hellfire (and in Diablo on the PC previous to the 1.08 patch) is a bit tricky. The reason for this is that the game has included the computer name into the save file (you can find the computer name under network in the control panel). Thus, for a save file to be playable on another machine, the computer name has to be the same as on the computer you take the character from. Otherwise, Hellfire will not recognize the save. If the computer name of the two computers is the same, one can simply copy the multi player save file from one of the computers to the other. Don’t forget to put it in the Windows folder of the new computer if it is a PC. Single player files seems to be transferable between computers, even between a PC and a Mac) without problems in any version.

If the number of the save file (the # in the name above) is already in use on the new computer it should be safe to change it to a non used number in the 0..9 range. It is very important to make sure you don’t get two characters with the exact same name this way as Diablo/Hellfire does not manage to handle such a situation well.

10.4 Backing up your character

In case you are worried of losing your character due to crashes or other computer problems, the easiest way to back up your character is to simply copy the save files to a safe place (a floppy disk for example). To restore it later, you simply copy the save file back to the proper folder. See chapter 10.2 for more information about the save files and where they are located.

10.5 Daylight-saving time problems in Diablo 1.00

Version 1.00 of Diablo had a bug concerning the daylight-saving time. Due to this bug, any character saved by a game from a later version will lose all its items if you run version 1.00. This is important to remember if you ever have to reinstall Diablo. If you do so, you should not update via Battle.net. You should not press the ”Multi player” option on the game menu until you have manually updated to a later version. An alternative would be to backup your characters, update in whatever way you want, and then restore your characters after you have updated.

10.6 Avoiding the Game End movie

Every time you or someone else kill Diablo, the game will end and the Game End movie will start to play. As the movie is quite long, it is worth using the following way to terminate it before it reaches the end. As soon as it starts, press Alt-Tab. This will bring you out to your Windows desktop. Now either press Alt-Tab again until you get back to Diablo, or click on Diablo on the Task Bar. You will then be back to the Battle.net chat room or the pre-game menu, depending on what type of game you were playing.

An alternative is to rename (or move) the file Smackw32.dll found in your Diablo folder. It is the file that plays the movies in the game. It will also result in that you will not be able to see the introduction movies though. It seems the game will not be affected in any other way if you rename or move this file but be aware that if you get into any trouble, you may have to reinstall the game. If you do this, pay attention to the Daylight-saving time problem mentioned in chapter 10.5.

10.7 Meaningless information about this guide

As this is a guide about numbers and formulas it is not more than right that it has a few numbers about itself. Thus, below is a table with some information about this guide. Some of the values may vary with the printer, paper size and format used.

Information about each version
Version
1.00
1.10
1.20
1.30
1.31
1.40
1.50
1.51
1.52
1.60
1.61
1.62
1.63
Information about changes between versions
Version
1.00 to 1.10
1.10 to 1.20
1.20 to 1.30
1.30 to 1.31
1.31 to 1.40
1.40 to 1.50
1.50 to 1.51
1.51 to 1.52
1.52 to 1.60
1.60 to 1.61
1.61 to 1.62
1.62 to 1.63
1.00 to 1.63

10.8 The End

It is worth noticing that there are 3 kinds of people in the world, those who can count and those who can’t.

Fixa gargoyles not active.