After completing the four Acts in the game, there are two additional sequential difficulty levels, letting the player go through all three before reaching the max level at 99. These are: {{iw|Normal Normal}}, {{iw|Nightmare Nightmare}}, and {{iw|Hell Hell}}. On higher difficulties, monsters are stronger, [[experience]] is penalized on dying, and the player's resistances are handicapped. A character retains all abilities and items between difficulties, and may return to a lower difficulty at any time through a {{iw[[Waypoint|Waypoint waypoint system}}]].
The player takes on the role as one of five (seven in the [[Diablo II: Lord of Destruction|expansion]]) heroes who group up in order to stop Diablo and the other [[Prime Evils]]. They start in the [[{{iw|Rogue_Encampment Rogue Encampment]] }} (which may be in [[Entsteig]] or [[Khanduras]], the lore is fuzzy), chasing after this mysterious Dark Wanderer who had summoned demons to overrun their [[Rogue Monastery|monastery]], which guarded the passage to the East.
Diablo leaves hinders for the heroes, such as the [[Lesser Evil]], [[Andariel]], in the Monastery, and heads first to the [[AnarochAranoch]] desert to free his brother [[Baal]] near [[Lut Gholein]], and then further to the jungles of [[Kehjistan]] to free [[Mephisto]] under the city of [[Kurast]]. At every step of the way, the player not only chases Diablo, but also has to deal with demonic corruption and other obstacles in the way.
Finally, the heroes catch up with the Brothers, and kill [[Mephisto]] in [[{{iw|Travincal]]Travincal}}, ending the corruption of the [[Zakarum|Zakarum Church]], and goes through a portal to [[Burning Hells|Hell]] itself, to find Diablo.
Searching hell, and finding the [[{{iw|Chaos_Sanctuary Chaos Sanctuary]]}}, Diablo's home, the heroes summon the demon before he has fully recovered from transforming into his real, red, self, and defeats him. The heroes are then charged with destroying the Soulstones as the Prime Evils were taught long ago how to corrupt them by the fallen [[angel]] [[Izual]].
==Secret Cow Level==
[[File:Cow-level-portal.jpg|thumb|right|The red portal...]]
::''To read more about the actual Diablo II Cow Level and how to get there, please see the '''{{iw|Secret_Cow_Level Secret Cow Level Article}}.'''
The "[[Secret Cow Level]]" is the result of a running joke from the original ''[[Diablo_I|Diablo]]'' that spawned from an Internet rumor about the cow placed in the town of [[Tristram]] seemingly without purpose. Supposedly, if the cow was clicked on a certain number of times, a portal to a secret level would open. The rumour was a hoax, but the legend was born as player after player asked Blizzard about how to access the level, and they vehemently denied its existence.
3 In the ''Diablo I'' expansion ''[[Diablo: Hellfire]]'', created by third-party developer Synergistic Software, it was possible to change a parameter in a specific text file, so that the farmer was dressed in a cow suit, with appropriate new dialogue ("Moo." "I said Moo!"). This added fuel to the fire. To stop the rumours, Blizzard included a cheat in ''[[StarCraft]]'' that read "There is no cow level", officially confirming that there was, in fact, no cow level. On April 1, 1999, a ''Diablo II Screenshot of the Week'' featured cows fighting. People wondered if the screenshot was an April Fool's joke or if there really was a Secret Cow Level planned for ''Diablo II''. It turned out that there ''was'' a cow level in ''Diablo II''. ==Versions and expansion pack ==The game was also released in ''Collector's Edition'' format, containing bonus collector's material, a copy of the ''[[Diablo II: The Awakening|Diablo Dungeons & Dragons]]'' pen-and-paper campaign setting, and promotional movies for other [[Blizzard Entertainment|Blizzard]] games. The ''Diablo II: Exclusive Gift Set'' (2000) similarly contained exclusive collector's material and promotional videos, as well as a copy of the official strategy guide. The ''Diablo Gift Pack'' (2000) contained copies of ''[[Diablo I]]'' and ''Diablo II'', but no expansions. The ''Diablo: Battle Chest'' (2001) contained copies of ''Diablo II'', ''[[Diablo II: Lord of Destruction]]'', the official strategy guide, and the original ''[[Diablo]]''. Recently however the Battle Chest no longer contains the original Diablo. Unlike ''[[Diablo I]]'', ''Diablo II'' did not come with a "spawn" version, and was not released on PlayStation, as the team felt the gameplay was not optimal for console play. The game did, however spawn an expansion: [[Diablo II: Lord of Destruction]], which was widely positively received by the fans of the franchise. The announcement of ''[[Diablo III]]'' has renewed the interest in its predecessor and brought more attention to the many mods available for the game. ==Music==The score has been composed by [[Matt Uelmen]] and integrates creepy ambience with melodic pieces. The style of the score is ambient industrial and experimental. Some tracks were created by reusing the tracks from the original game, while others by rearranging tracks that were out-takes. Other scores are combinations of parts that were created more than a year after the first game's release. While the player visits a [[town]], the game has to create a much more peaceful atmosphere, so for that the town theme from '''{{iw|Act_I Act I}}''' called ''Wilderness'' gives a pastoral feel of the wilderness (with the cows, farm fences, cabins and trees). For '''{{iw|Act_II Act II}}''' Mustafa Waiz, a percussionist, and [[Scott Petersen]], the game's sound designer, worked on the drum samples. Mustafa played on the dumbek, djembe, and finger cymbals which gave Matt Uelmen a base upon which to build tracks around. The town theme from Act II, called ''Toru'' makes strong statement of departure from the world of Act I while also maintaining a thematic connection to what had come before. It is the first time in the series to be used some radically different elements than the guitars and choral sounds that dominate both the original ''[[Diablo I|Diablo]]'' and the opening quarter of ''Diablo II''. The foundation of the ''Toru'' piece is found in exciting dynamics of a Chinese wind gong. The instrument radically changes color from a steady mysterious drone to a harsh, fearsome noise, that gives exotic feeling and at the same time the pacing of the second town. In all sequences of Act II with deserts and valleys, Arabic percussion sounds dominate. The composer was impressed by two of the Spectrasonics music libraries, ''Symphony of Voices'' and ''Heart of Asia.'' He uses samples from ''Heart of Asia'' in the ''Harem'' piece from Act II, and tries to put the sampled female voice out front and center, getting a nice alto in it. The ''Crypt'' track uses a sample from ''Symphony of Voices;'' the choral phrase ''Miserere.'' deep in the mix of the track, alongside the excessive rainsticks and cymbal scrapes, combined with metal guitar solos. ===Music Inspirations===* ''Tristram'' uses the main theme of the first ''[[Diablo I|Diablo game]]'' and it is the earliest track composed for ''Diablo II''. ''Coda'' contains an excerpt of "Prelude in C Minor" by Frederic Chopin.* ''Monastery'' from {{iw|Act_I Act I}}, inspired by the Polish master, Krzysztof Penderecki with the initial voice and string clusters technique.* ''Toru'' and ''Maggot'' from {{iw|Act_II Act II}}, inspired by Toru Takemitsu, with Toru's use of spacing and time.* ''Spider'' from {{iw|Act_III Act III}}, sounding like Harry Manfredini. ===Credits===* Drums - Scott Petersen* Guitar - Bernie Wilkens* Oboe - Roger Weismeyer* Percussion - Mustafa Waiz* Producer, Performer, Composed By - Matt Uelmen* Recorded By - Matt Uelmen , Scott Petersen3Voice samples from ''Heart of Asia'', ''Heart of Africa'', and ''Symphony of Voices'' by Spectrasonics.The ''Harem'' track samples from 'Heart of Asia' the Sanskrit Female 1 Spawnsamples.3Recorded in Redwood City, Oakland, and San Mateo, California, April 1997 - March 2000.2 PlayStation3 ==Reception==[[Image:Diablo_II_collector's_edition.jpg|thumb|200px|right|''Diablo II Collector's Edition'' contents.3 Expansion]]''Diablo II'' had a positive reception. The game has achieved an overall score of 88 on Metacritic. Gamespy awarded the game an 86 out of 100, IGN awarded the game an 8.3out of 10, and Gamespot awarded the game an 8.4 Re5 out of 10 along with earning the 2000 runner-up Reader's Choice Award for role-playing game of the year. It was awarded a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records 2000 edition for being the fastest selling computer game ever sold, with more than 1 million units sold in the first two weeks of availability. ''[[WarCraft III|WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos]]'', ''[[World of WarCraft|World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade]]'', and ''[[World of WarCraft|World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King]]'' have since surpassed ''Diablo II'''s record to become fastest-releasesselling computer games ever at their times of release, according to Blizzard. As of August 29, 2001, ''Diablo II'' has sold 4 million copies worldwide. The game has received the "Computer Game of the Year", "Computer Role Playing Game of the Year", and "Game of the Year" awards from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences at the 2001 Interactive Achievement Awards. ==Resources==The '''{{Iw|Main_Page Diablo 2 Wiki}}''' has a lot of information on ''Diablo II'' and [[Diablo II: Lord of Destruction|its expansion]], relating to all aspects of the game. Here are a few examples:* {{iw|Class Diablo 2 Class information}}* {{iw|Item Diablo 2 Item guides}}* {{iw|Monster Diablo 2 monsters}}* {{iw|Boss Diablo 2 bosses}}* {{iw|Rune Diablo 2 runes}}** {{iw|Runewords Diablo 2 Runewords}}
