Overview Battle.net is the top multi-player server and gaming engine on the planet, bar none. Created and owned by Blizzard Entertainment, Battle.net offers players support for up to eight players per game over a world-wide network of over three million total users, spanning the globe in locations, born of every conceivable ethnic background, and discriminated in no way, shape or form. The service is completely free of charges other than the purchase of the software, which accompanies all games that it supports, and whatever charges your Internet provider places upon your access to the World Wide Web. Programmed to allow hundreds upon thousands of players on simultaneously, the game allows for players to assemble, play, compete over ladders, trade, and advance through some of the most expansive games ever created, namely Diablo II. With the release of that game has come an innovation in multi-player games; Closed Realms. These servers, which are completely hack-proof, fully accessible from any location, and more secure than any other online gaming service, mark the beginning of a new era in online entertainment, and foreshadow what is to come in the future of Blizzard Entertainment's products. This guide has been compiled in hopes that it will provide users the information and resources they require in order to activate a Battle.net account, create characters on that account, and play Diablo II safely and correctly over the Internet with a full range of options, tools, and knowledge at their fingertips. With this in mind, we bring you our Battle.net Overview. Requirements for Use Open and Closed Battle.net In order to properly activate, use, and game over Battle.net with Diablo II, you need the following; - Internet access.* - 32-Bit Application capabilities. (For Information Packet Transfers.)* - A copy of Diablo II with a unique CD-Key. - Creation of a Battle.net Account. (Several characters allowed on each account.) - Creation of at least one Battle.net Diablo II character. * America Online users will need some sort of message-booter for the time usage messages that pop up frequently, alongside the idle message that, if the "ok" button is not clicked for, will log you off after a certain period. Game Types Open Battle.net - Open Battle.net is a multi-player version of Diablo II where, finally, players can bring single and multi-player characters back and forth between modes to work on them in either mode of play. Unfortunately, Open Battle.net is also a haven for hackers, cheaters, and what most would say are at the bottom of the chain when it comes to maturity and intelligence. While you have a high chance of finding many legitimate characters in this form of play who are happy to assist you in your quests and converse politely, there are more than a fair share of lamers, spammers, annoying children playing on their older sibling's computer, and a horde of altogether rude, crude, and rowdy characters. Also, Open Battle.net is subject to far more complications with game creation and joining games, as there are many more files needing to be loaded to each game, including invididual character files from each player's hard drive, making lag another difficult issue to cope with. Closed Battle.net - Exclusive to Diablo II at this point, Closed Battle.net, or Realm Battle.net, as some refer to it, is currently the most popular form of play that the game supports. Almost one hundred percent hack-proof, as the server holds your main character files rather than your personal computer, making it almost impossible to edit a character with a trainer, this mode allows for a much more fulfilling, entertaining experience with an altogether more mature, nicer group of players. While you will still occasionally run into lamers, spammers, or other forms of annoying players, you are much better off with this choice when deciding to play a multi-player game of Diablo II. Supporting individual Realms for the major regions of the world, Closed Battle.net offers the very-first entirely legitimate ladder ever forged through a Blizzard Entertainment game.* Allowing several characters to be held on the same account, a player can alternate between Realms and characters, working their way through the levels and difficulties of the game, trading with peers for items that better-suit their needs, and for a lucky few, offering the chance to make a mad dash for the top of the ladder rankings. There are Realms for the Western United States (USWest), Eastern United States (USEast), European Countries (Europe), and several of the Middle-Eastern countries who have received a version of the game translated into their language (Asia). * Ladder rankings are based solely upon level, and the amount of experience the player has in the event that two or more players of the same level are on the ladder. ** While TCP/IP games are multi-player options, they are not supported through Battle.net, require Single Player characters, and are much differently operated than that of Battle.net characters. Full information on such a connection can be found in your Diablo II player instruction manual. Please refer to it if you intend on utilizing this feature. Character Types Normal - Normal characters function much the same as single-player characters, allowing the player to build up a character alongside other Normal characters, trading and operating as they would in single player. If on a Realm, Normal players can also compete for positions on the Realm ladders. In death, a normal character can leave a game, and re-enter the same game or even enter a new one, and if they have yet to return to their corpse to pick up their items, their corpse, with all items remaining on it, appears with them in the town they arrive in upon entering the new game, allowing them to pick it up and continue where they left of, with any penalties as a result of difficulty levels still applying. Hardcore - Identified by their red names, Hardcore characters are much different than Normal characters. With only one life to live, if a Hardcore character perishes, they are not allowed to re-enter the game, or even a new game for that matter, and must start over with a new Hardcore character. This form of character can only play, trade, or truly interact with other Hardcore users. Hardcore characters also have their own ladder ranking systems, setting them far apart from that of Normal players. Channel Types Public - Public channels are areas that, no matter what, always stay open.* Even if a public channel contains no players, the channel will remain open at all times, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days a year. Ranging from class-specific to trading to even Hardcore channels, chances are that you can find a channel that suits your needs. You can converse and strategize with players on current issues, plans for your characters, games, trades, and any number of other topics, but Blizzard Entertainment has implemented a censoring device to mask sexual references and vulgarities. * Channels such as the Blizzard Entertainment Technical Support channel, however, do not support normal chat functions, only operate at certain times of the week, and answer questions for those who have been in the channel the longest, first. Public Chat/Channel Commands - /help - Displays a help screen. /whois [user] - Displays whether or not a character is online. /whoami - Displays your Battle.net information. /whisper [user] - Whispers to the designated user. /squelch [user] - Disallows a player from talking to you. /unsquelch [user] - Unsquelches a squelched player. /away [text] - Displays that you are away, with a reason. /dnd [text] - Displays "Do not disturb." with a reason. /who [channel] - Displays a list of users for the given channel. /users - Displays current number of users on Battle.net. /time - Displays current time for Battle.net. /me [text] - Displays an emotion in blue text. /channel [name] - Jumps to the named channel. Private - Created by users, private channels close when there are no users inside of them. A moderator, or channel operator, is designated as the creator of the channel, or whoever has been designated/is first in line in the channel when the moderator leaves. In such channels, there is no censoring, yet the channel is not supported by Blizzard Entertainment as an official channel. Private Chat/Channel Commands - /designate [user] - Designates a user as the next moderator. /resign - Steps you down as the current moderator. /rejoin - Rejoins the channel you are in. /kick [user] - Boots an annoying user or lamer into "The Void". /ban [user] - Bans the user from returning to the channel.* /unban [user] - Unbans a previously-banned user. * Banned users cannot return until the moderator that banned them leaves or resigns from the moderator position. Game Tools and Features Voice-Command Hotkeys As a unique feature in Diablo II, the game supports special "Voice-Command Hotkeys", enabling the user to quickly converse with other players within a given range. This allows for quick conversation when in combat, without the ability to type and not perish at the hands of your foes. These commands can be activated by pressing the corresponding hotkey on the Numerical pad of your keyboard.* The command hotkeys are as follows; 0 - "Help!" 1 - "Follow me." 2 - "Thanks." 4 - "Sorry!" 5 - "Bye." 6 - "Die!" * The above-listed captions may not exactly match the wording used by your character, depending on the randomization of their voice commands, and the class you happen to be using, as all voice commands are spoken in the quest/level voice-tone and dialect of your class. Parties Another feature unique to Diablo II is the ability to band together with allies, questing and adventuring as a group, sharing gold and experience when within the same level, dividing it evenly and adding a little bonus to the player who delivered the fatal blow to a creature to gain experience, or picked up the pile of gold. In order to join or invite a player to form a party, bring up the party menu, and use the buttons within it to conduct your business as needed. The buttons and there uses are as follows; Invite - Invites the character the button rests next to to join your party, or form a new one. Join - Joins the party a character belongs to, or forms a new one if invited. Hostility - Changes your stance towards an individual to hostile. * Consent - Allows the designated player to loot your corpse if you die. ** Mute - Squelches the designated player from hearing your messages. Squelch - Ignores messages from the designated player. Going Hostile In the event that players become angry with each other, wish for a friendly duel, or simply want to cause trouble, you can go hostile, enabling harm to be done to all players hostile with each other. When done, a warning appears to all players, your "x" marking on the mini-map changes to red, and all town portals close. This is to ensure that no unfair ambushes or preying on the weak can take place. This also, however, makes bounty hunting nearly impossible. You may only choose this option when in town, and may not choose to go hostile with a player lower than level nine. Thus, such players cannot go hostile, either. As a reward to the winner, a portion of a slain player's gold, and an ear to prove their death in combat, is dropped for the winner of the duel.* * Most consider taking gold without permission a form of dishonesty. (Theft) Trading In order for players to gain items more suited to their needs, dispose of those items they do not need, and overall communicate with each other in the world of item business securely, Diablo II supports yet another unique, and very exciting feature; Trading. Allowing two players at a time to conduct business, the trading option allows players to conduct business with items and gold, bartering for what they need. In order to do so, however, both players must click the "Accept" button when a deal is made in order for the transaction to take place. Also, if a player removes an item or replaces an item in the trade screen before clicking accept, the opposite player's acception of the trade is cancelled to ensure no theft or foul play when trading. This screen can also be used to safely and securely give un-needed items and gold to lower-level characters, if one chooses to do so. Trading can only take place in town, one must click on another player to initiate the option of a trade, and the other player must consent to a trading session by clicking the "ok" button to proceed.* * View our Battle.net Etiquette section for more information on trading. Difficulties Normal - In Normal mode, your character is subject to no special penalties for death, no drawbacks, and no handi-caps. This is to ensure that a character can be built up to a level that can withstand the trials and tribulations of Nightmare and Hell modes. Normal mode, however, only supports the generation of Normal items, meaning that Exceptional items, higher-quality gems, and the much more easily-generated Set, Rare, and Unique items of the more challenging modes will not drop. While some Set, Unique, and Rare items will drop, nowhere near as many important, valuable, and useful ones will fall from enemies. Nightmare - Subtracting twenty (20) points from all resistances, one-twentieth of total experience in death, and altogether pitting you against much stronger opponents are the marks of Nightmare mode. With these drawbacks, however, come much more powerful and valuable items, including Exceptional Nightmare items, all Normal items, better-quality gems, and Set, Unique, or Rare items. Hell - Subtracting forty (40) points from all resistances, one-tenth of total experience in death, and altogether pitting you against extremely powerful, magical opponents are the features coming with Hell mode. However, all item types can drop, including every form of item, the highest-qualities in gems, and more experience than you can shake a stick at. Character Titles (Normal Mode) Normal - Sir or Dame Nightmare - Lord or Lady Hell - Baron or Baroness (Hardcore Mode) Normal - Count or Countess Nightmare - Duke or Dutchess Hell - King or Queen * Titles cannot be neglected, are only received upon beating each difficulty, and apply as it pertains to whether your character is male or female. (I.E. The Sorceress and Amazon receive the female titles.) * Differences between multi-player and single player are; Single player keeps the same seed meaning the same map layout every time you play with a character while multi-player randomly generates a new map every time you play, single player has a reduced gold penalty on death and no gold comes out of your stash, and in multi-player additional players increase gold, experience, and toughness of monsters as new players join.