                    Diablo II: Lord of Destruction - Quick Reference Guide
                                            - Written by Billy Lee
                                              Version 2
                                              leeroy3825@hotmail.com
                                              10/1/01

*****************************************************************************
                               Disclaimer
This document (c)2001 Billy Lee.  This FAQ may not be used or distributed for
commercial use.  It may not be distributed at all without written permission
from the author(that's me).  Diablo II is (c)2000 Blizzard Entertainment,
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction is (c)2001 Blizzard Entertainment.  This guide
must be displayed in its entirety.  No pieces of it may be removed and/or
copied to another location for public display.
*****************************************************************************

UPDATES:

Version 2:Fixed a couple glitches.  Added a couple more playstyles and did a
          little refining in a couple of the others.  Added a few more
          abbreviations to the list.  I was bored so I added the characters
          I'm working on.  Added the Auras Desert Grunts have in the mercs
          section.  Started 2 new sections.  Fixed a few spelling/grammar
          mistakes I found.
Version 1:Initial Release.

/------------------------------------\
|Table of Contents                   |
|====================================|
|1. Introduction, Contact Information|
|------------------------------------|
|2. Common Abbreviations             |
|3. Playstyles                       |
| 3-A. Amazon                        |
| 3-B. Assassin                      |
| 3-C. Barbarian                     |
| 3-D. Druid                         |
| 3-E. Necromancer                   |
| 3-F. Paladin                       |
| 3-G. Sorceress                     |
| 3-H. Party Configurations          |
|4. Useful Runewords                 |
|5. WTHDTRNM?                        |
|6. Mercenaries                      |
|7. Tidbits and Tricks               |
|8. My Characters                    |
|------------------------------------|
|9. Site Plugs                       |
|10. Acknowledgements                |
\------------------------------------/

=============================================================================
1. Introduction, Contact Information

  Before reading this guide, there are a couple things in which you need to
take into account:
- You have to know at least a little bit about the game.  Such as the common
  abbreviations for certain items/skills.  I will give you as many as I can
  remember, but it's usually a good idea to know them beforehand so you don't
  have to keep going back and forth trying to figure out exactly what I'm
  talking about.

- I'm not going to list every skill and what it does.  There are a few skills
  not worth mentioning since they won't fit the playstyle I'm going over(i.e.
  I won't talk about the Druid's Elemental Skills when talking about a Shape
  Shifter and vice-versa).

- Along with the previous statement, this is not going to be a step by step
  guide to tell you exactly what to do.  All this guide basically is is a
  quick reference sheet.

- I'm not really going to explain anything in detail.  There are several
  web sites you can go to for a thorough rundown of just about anything you
  can think of.  They are:

         Unofficial          Unofficial               Official
      www.diabloii.net  www.lurkerlounge.com  www.battle.net/diablo2exp

  All of those are high quality sites that should have most, if not all, of
  the information you need.


  If you have a question or comment about the guide, or Diablo 2 in general,
feel free to send it to me at leeroy3825@hotmail.com.  I'm not the world's
most mindfull email checker, so it may take me a while to get to you.
  If you do not get a response from me within a week, then either the email
was lost somewhere along the way, or your question has been asked by enough
people for me to put it in the guide under an FAQ section.  Or, I just
haven't gotten to it yet, in which case... umm... sorry.

  I don't really know what else to do with this guide, but it'll probably
change with the type of email I recieve about it.

  I think that's all for now, now on to the fun stuff!

  Yes, I meant the guide itself... jeez...

=============================================================================
2. Common Abbreviations

  I don't think this needs any sort of introduction, do you?  Huh?  What're
you reading this for then?  Well, I like to write here, it makes me feel
special somehow.  Don't look at me like that...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
General:
Abbreviation     Game Name
-------------------------------
TP             Town Portal
PK             Player Killer
mod            item modifier(prefixes and suffixes)
Clvl           Character level
Slvl           Skill level
lol            laugh out loud
rofl           roll on the floor laughing
lmao           laughing my *** off
afk            away from keyboard
brb            be right back
stfu           shut the **** up

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Character Classes:
Class        B.net Ladder  Common Name
----------------------------------------------
Amazon       Ama           Zon
Assassin     Asn           Ass, Sin
Barbarian    Bar           Barb, Baba
Druid        Dru           Druid
Necromancer  Nec           Necro, Mancer
Paladin      Pal           Pally
Sorceress    Sor           Sorc
----------------------------------------------
Class Variations
Variant        Class        Style of Play
----------------------------------------------
Bowazon        Amazon       Mainly Bow & Crossbow Skills 
Javazon        Amazon       Mainly Lightning Fury/Plague Javelin
Spearazon      Amazon       Mainly Jab/Fend
Tankazon       Amazon       Mainly Passive Skills(Dodge, Evade, etc)
WW Barb        Barbarian    Whirlwind and a Mastery with support skills
Bard           Barbarian    Mainly Warcries
Berserker      Barbarian    Mainly Berserk
Zookeeper      Necromancer  A *lot* of minions
Zealot         Paladin      Zeal combined with Fanatacism/Holy Shock
Hammerdin      Paladin      Blessed Hammer with Concentration
Vindicator     Paladin      Smite with Fanatacism
Avenger        Paladin      Veangeance with Conviction
Martyr         Paladin      Sacrifice with support Auras
Tweaker        Sorceress    Equip/Skills chosen for maximum casting speed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skills:
Abbreviation   Skill
------------------------------------
Barbarian:
WW             Whirlwind
BO             Battle Orders
Sorceress:
CB             Charged Bolt
TK             Telekenesis
EShield        Energy Shield
TStorm         Thunder Storm
GS             Glacial Spike
Orb            Frozen Orb
FW             Fire Wall
LM/CM/FM       Lightning Mastery/Cold Mastery/Fire Mastery
Paladin:
HS             Holy Shield
FoH            Fist of the Heavens
Conc           Concentration
Conv           Conviction
Fanat          Fanatacism
Amazon:
CS             Critical Strike
MS             Multishot
Guided, GA     Guided Arrow
FA             Freezing Arrow
Valk           Valkyrie
LF             Lightning Fury
Necromancer:
CE             Corpse Explosion
BS             Bone Spear/Bone Spirit(you kinda have to guess)
IM             Iron Maiden
Decrep         Decrepify
LR             Lower Resist

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Items:
Abrev.     Full Name               Type of Item
------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------Unique Items------------------------
Nagel          Nagelring               Ring
Manald         Manald Heal             Ring
SOJ            Stone of Jordan         Ring
Twitch         Twitchthroe             Studded Leather Armor
Blink          Iceblink                Splint Mail
Skins          Goldskin                Full Plate Mail
Silks          Silks of the Victor     Ancient Armor
-------------------------Set Items--------------------------
Sigon's        Sigon's Guard           Tower Shield*1
IKD            Immortal King's Detail  War Belt*2
Halo           Angelic Halo            Ring

*1 - There are other items in the Sigon set, but usually when people use that
     they are talking about the shield.
*2 - For the other pieces of the Immortal King's Set, use IK and then the
     first letter of the set piece you are referring to.  That's also the
     common way of writing most other set items, which is why I didn't go
     into much detail on them.

  As far as gems are concerned, the names usually aren't abbreviated, but
people will usually put a "P" in front of it to signify that they are talking
about a Perfect quality gem(i.e. PSkull means Perfect Skull).

  That's all I can remember for now, I'll add more when they come to mind.

=============================================================================
3. Playstyles

Section TOC:
3-A. Amazon
3-B. Assassin
3-C. Barbarian
3-D. Druid
3-E. Necromancer
3-F. Paladin
3-G. Sorceress
3-H. Party Configurations

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-A. Amazon

Bowazon:
Skill                    Points
-------------------------------------------
Passive and Magic:
Inner Sight              1~5
Valkyrie                 1~5
Evade                    1~5
Dodge                    1~5
Avoid                    1~5
Critical Strike          10
Penetrate                5

Bow/Crossbow Skills:
Multiple Shot            5
Guided Arrow             10
Strafe                   2
- All excess skill points should go into the evasion skills, bows are two-
  handed only, meaning you will never be using a shield for added blocking
  and defense.
- Stat points should go mainly into Dexterity and Strength so you can equip
  the higher end bows/crossbows.

--------------------------------------------------------

Javazon:
Skill                    Points
-------------------------------------------
Javelin/Spear Skills:
Jab                      1
Plague Javelin           5~10
Lightning Fury           20

Passive and Magic:
Decoy                    1~5
Valkyrie                 1~5
Evade                    1~5
Dodge                    1~5
Avoid                    1~5
Critical Strike          5~10
Pierce                   20
- You're not going to need very many points in the evasion skills, but they
  will come in handy.
- Stat points should go mainly into Dexterity and Energy with some in the
  other two.
- Try to get as much + to skill equip as you can.  You will also need mana/
  life leeching equipment, but not as much.

--------------------------------------------------------

Magezon:
Skill                    Points
-------------------------------------------
Passive and Magic:
Valkyrie                 1~5
Evade                    1~5
Dodge                    1~5
Avoid                    1~5
Critical Strike          10
Pierce                   20

Bow/Crossbow Skills:
Freezing Arrow           20
Immolation Arrow         20
- Points put into Str and Dex should only be enough to equip a bow with
  Piercing as a mod.  This mod is only available on a few Unique bows and
  Crossbows.  All of your other points should be put into Energy, as the
  Elemental Arrows will not leech back very much mana.
- You might also consider going after Hellmouth, the Unique War Gauntlets
  since those have a % chance to cast Meteor as well as Firestorm for each
  enemy that is attacked, which will work with the radius effect on Freezing
  Arrow.
- Along those lines, you might also consider looking for Goldstrike Arch,
  the Unique Gothic bow since it has a %chance to cast Fist of the Heavens
  with an attack; however it does not have a piercing attack, which you may
  or may not need depending on the Slvl of your Pierce.

--------------------------------------------------------

Tankazon:
Skill                    Points
-------------------------------------------
Passive And Magic:
Valkyrie                 5
Inner Sight              1~5
Dodge                    20
Evade                    20
Avoid                    20
Critical Strike          10
Penetrate                5
- Stat points should go into Strength, Dexterity, and Vitality.  Energy is
  virtually useless.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-B. Assassin

Traps Assassin:
Skill                    Points
-------------------------------------------
Traps:
Wake of Inferno          20
Lightning Sentry         20

Shadow Disciplines:
Burst of Speed           1~5*
Fade                     1~5*
Shadow Warrior           1
Shadow Master            20
Cloak of Shadows         1
* You cannot have both Burst of Speed and Fade active at the same time.  You
  must choose between them depending on the situation.
- Stat points should primarily go into Energy and Vitality.  If you wish to
  use claws for the extra skills you can get from them(which you should), you
  do not need to pump Str/Dex to equip the bigger ones since all claws will
  be able to get those benefits.  You may want to pick up a normal claw item
  and save it for a high level imbue later on as the lower end claws tend to
  not drop very regularly once +to skills becomes available.

--------------------------------------------------------

Ninjassin(yes, I did just make that up so don't look at me that way):
Skill                    Points
-------------------------------------------
Shadow Disciplines:
Claw Mastery             20
Burst of Speed           1~5
Fade                     1~5
Shadow Warrior           1
Shadow Master            20
Cloak of Shadows         1

Martial Arts:
Dragon Claw              1*
Dragon Flight            1*
Tiger Strike             20
Cobra Strike             5
Phoenix Strike           20
* Finishing moves are primarily just to release charges, none of them have
  especially useful bonuses at higher levels, so more points are not really
  worthwhile in the long run.
- Stat points should primarily go into Stength and Dexterity for equipping
  higher level claws.  Vitality will also be needed a lot.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-C. Barbarian

Skill                    Points
-------------------------------------------
Masteries:
Any Weapon Mastery       20*
Increased Speed          1~5
Iron Skin                5
Natural Resist           7

Combat Skills:
Leap Attack              1~5
Berserk                  10
Frenzy                   1~10**
Whirlwind                5

War Cries:
Battle Orders            20
* Masteries are chosen based on weapon preference:
  Sword - Fast, 1 or 2 handed, when used with one hand, damage is lower.
  Mace - Fairly slow, 2 handed, have highest minimum damage.
  Spear - Very slow, 2 handed, have highest maximum damage, very long range.
  Polearm - Fairly Fast, 2 handed, small damage range(high min, low max).
  Axe - Fast-Slow depending on which type, 1 or 2 handed, high damage.
  Throwing - umm... don't use this one...
**Only invest in Frenzy if you're going to have a secondary weapon set made
  up of 2 one handed weapons.  Otherwise, put those points wherever you want.

- Stat points should be placed around your weapon, so if you're going for a
  Sword setup, place points so you can equip the strongest swords, likewise
  for the other setups.
- I don't really like the Barbarian class and have very little experience
  playing it, this is all based on what I've read and seen people using in
  games.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-D. Druid

Elementalist:
Skill                    Points
-------------------------------------------
Summoning:
Oak Sage                 1~5
Grizzly                  1
Carrion Vine             1~5
Elemental:
Fissure                  1*
Cyclone Armor            1~5
Tornado                  20
Hurricane                20
Armageddon               20
* Fissure is a good skill that will get you through normal difficulty until
  you can get the higher powered skills, that's why it's listed and not
  counted as a standard prereq.

- Stat points should be used mainly for mana, which is where they will be
  needed.  Before you hit level 30, you should use mana potions and pump
  strength for the armor/weapons you may want later on.  After level 30 your
  points should go in a 2 vitality, 3 mana per level until you have enough
  life to take a few hits without dying(i.e. no one hit kills), after that,
  pour everything into mana.
- Try to get as much + to skill equipment as you can, you're going to need
  all you can get.

--------------------------------------------------------

Powered Werewolf:
Skill                    Points
-------------------------------------------
Shape Shifting:
Werewolf                 5-10
Lycanrthropy             5
Feral Rage               20
Fury                     20

Summoning:
Heart of Wolverine       20
Grizzly                  1~20

NOTES:
- Grizzly is 1~20 because it's a matter of personal preference.  The wolves
  you can summon will not have enough life to be able to survive later
  difficulty levels.

--------------------------------------------------------

Vitalitous Werebear:
Skill                    Points
-------------------------------------------
Shape Shifting:
Werebear                 5-10
Lycanthropy              20

Summoning
Oak Sage                 20
Grizzly                  1~20

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-E. Necromancer

Minionmancer:
Skill                    Points
-------------------------------------------
Summoning:
Golem(Iron or Fire)      5
Golem Mastery            5
Summon Resist            5
Raise Skeleton           1
Skeleton Mastery         5
Summon Skeletal Mage     5
Revive                   10

Curses:
Amplify Damage           1~5
Iron Maiden              5
Lower Resist             5
Decrepify                5

Poison and Bone:
Bone Spear               20
Bone Armor               5
Bone Wall                5
Bone Prison              5
- Stat points should mainly be split between Vitality and Energy.  Strength
  should be raised for armor.
- Try to get as much + to skill equip as you can, you're gonna need it.

--------------------------------------------------------

Poisonmancer:
Skill                    Points
-------------------------------------------
Summoning:
Golem(Iron or Fire)      5

Poison and Bone:
Poison Dagger            20
Poison Explosion         1~5
Poison Nova              20
Bone Armor               5
Bone Prison              5

Curses:
Lower Resist             10
- Stat points should be spent in Strength and Dexterity for equipping items,
  and then pumped into Vitality/Energy.
- Try to get a totem(Gargoyle Head, Zombie Head, etc.) with 25-50 poison
  damage added to it to increas poison damage.  For a weapon, go with a
  3 sockey dagger/blade and put 3 Perfect Emeralds in it.  Alternatively, you
  can get a six socket Military Pick and use that instead of Poison Dagger,
  but you will lose some poison damage.
- Your basic tactics will be to hit something and then run away and let the
  poison kill them.

--------------------------------------------------------

Spiritmancer:
Skill                    Points
-------------------------------------------
Summoning:
Golem(Iron or Fire)      10
Golem Mastery            5
Summon Resist            5

Curses:
Decrepify                20
Confuse                  5
Attract                  5

Poison and Bone:
Bone Spirit              20
- Stat points should be primarily in Vitality and Energy with enough strength
  for equipment.
- You will need as many + to skill items as you can get.
- When approaching a pack of monsters, first cast decrepify, then attract,
  then send out Bone Spirits like there's no tomorrow.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-F. Paladin

Avenger:
Skill                    Points
-------------------------------------------
Offensive Auras:
Conviction               20
Fanaticism               5~20

Defensive Auras:
Vigor                    5
Meditation               1
Salvation                3

Combat Skills:
Zeal                     3
Vengeance                20
- At lower levels stat points should go into Str and Dex so you can equip
  better weapons.  One you get enough for the equipment, start pouring into
  Vit and Ene.

--------------------------------------------------------

Hammerdin:
Skill                    Points
-------------------------------------------
Offensive Auras:
Concentration            20
Holy Freeze              5

Defensive Auras:
Vigor                    5
Salvation                3

Combat Skills:
Smite                    20
Blessed Hammer           20
Holy Shield              20*
* Holy Shield is more for its Smite damage bonus than its blocking.
**Since patch 1.09 came out(and maybe before that, I didn't really check),
  Hammer no longer works with Fanaticism, so if you want to actually deal
  damage with hammers now, you have to use Concentration.

- Boost your strength up enough to equip higher end Paladin Only shields.
  The rest of your points should go into Vitality and Energy(more Vit than
  Ene though).

--------------------------------------------------------

Zealot:
Skill                    Points
-------------------------------------------
Offensive Auras:
Fanaticism/Holy Shock    20*
Holy Freeze              5

Defensive Auras:
Vigor                    5
Meditation               1
Salvation                3

Combat Skills:
Zeal                     5
Fist of the Heavens      20
* Use either Fanaticism or Holy Shock, both will add a lot of damage, but
  Shock adds lightning damage while Fanat adds normal damage as well as an
  added attack rating and swing speed.  If you want both that's fine, but 
  you're going to be using an extra 20 skill points.

- Stat points should be at first divided between Str and Dex for one handed
  Swords.  Once you hit lvl 30 you will need a few in Ene for FoH.
- Attack speed is also very important.
- It's usually a good idea to turn on Holy Freeze and then switch to
  Fanaticism when you plan to attack with Zeal.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-G. Sorceress

Cold Only Sorc:
Skill                    Points
-------------------------------------------
Cold Skills:
Frozen Armor             1
Glacial Spike            20
Frozen Orb               20
Cold Mastery             20

Lightning Skills:
Telekenesis              1
Teleport                 1
Energy Shield            1~5

Fire Skills:
Warmth                   10
- Stat points should primarily go into Energy with Vitality Secondary.  You
  will not need all that much Str(usually only 45).
- Try to get as much + to Cold Skills equip as possible.

--------------------------------------------------------

Fire Only Sorc:
Skill                    Points
-------------------------------------------
Fire Skills:
Warmth                   10
Firewall                 20
Hydra                    20
Fire Mastery             20

Lightning Skills:
Telekenesis              1
Teleport                 1
Energy Shield            1~5
- Stat points should primarily go into Energy with Vitality Secondary.  You
  will not need all that much Str(usually only 45).
- Try to get as much + to Fire Skills equip as possible.

--------------------------------------------------------

Lightning Only Sorc:
Skill                    Points
-------------------------------------------
Lightning Skills:
Charged Bolt/Nova        20*
Thunder Storm            20
Lightning Mastery        20
Telekenesis              1
Teleport                 1
Energy Shield            1~5

Fire Skills:
Warmth                   10**
* Choose between CB and Nova, you won't need both.
  CB - Sends out a lot of bolts, long range, more than one can hit each enemy
  Nova - Medium-small radius, hits everything in radius, higher damage
**You're only really going to need Warmth if you chose Nova.

- Stat points should primarily go into Energy with Vitality Secondary.  You
  will not need all that much Str(usually only 45).
- Try to get as much + to Lightning Skills equip as possible.

--------------------------------------------------------

Multi-Element Sorc:
Skill                    Points
-------------------------------------------
Fire Skills:
Warmth                   10~20*
Hydra                    15
Fire Mastery             5

Lightning Skills:
Thunderstorm/Nova        15**
Lightning Mastery        5
Static Field             5
Telekenesis              1
Teleport                 1
Energy Shield            1~5

Cold Skills:
Frozen Orb               15
Cold Mastery             5
* Work on Warmth after you've gotten your other skills to high enough levels.
**Nova/T-Storm is a matter of personal preference.  I prefer T-Storm myself.

- Stat points should primarily go into Energy with Vitality Secondary.  You
  will not need all that much Str(usually only 45).
- Try to get as much + to All/Sorc Skills equip as possible.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-H. Party Configurations

  These are ways you can group the different characters together to get a
more effective playstyle against the bad guys.

Elemental Insanity:
Class            Main Skill
--------------------------------
Paladin          Conviction
Necromancer      Lower Resist/Decrepify
Necromancer      Poison Nova
Sorceress        All Cold(Orb/CM)
Sorceress        All Fire(FW/Hydra/FM)
Amazon           Lightning Fury

Offensive Insanity:
Class            Main Skill
--------------------------------
Paladin          Might*
Paladin          Concentration
Paladin          Fanaticism
Druid            Heart of Wolverine
Amazon           Strafe/Multishot/Guided Arrow
Barbarian        Whirlwind/Berserk

* You could also hire a Might Merc, but the Aura won't be as powerful as from
  an actual Paladin.

Defensive Insanity:
Class            Main Skill
--------------------------------
Paladin          Defiance*
Paladin          Salvation
Barbarian        Shout
Necromancer      Lots of Revives/Skeletons to take hits

* You could also hire a Defiance Merc, but the Aura won't be as powerful as
  from an actual Paladin.

Life Insanity:
Class            Main Skill
--------------------------------
Barbarian        Battle Orders
Druid            Oak Sage

Invincible All Paladin Team:
Auras: Conviction, Concentration, Holy Freeze, Vigor, Salvation, Defiance,
  Fanaticism, Holy Shock.
Attack Skills: Vengeance, Fist of the Heavens, Smite.

  You can mix and max with all of these to make your own.

=============================================================================
4. Useful Runewords

  To make a Runeword, you need 3 things:
  - The required item with the exact number of sockets needed(i.e. using a 3
    socket armor to make Stealth will not work).
  - The correct Runes needed for the Runeword.
  - You need to put the Runes in the item in the right order(i.e. to make
    Stealth you need to socket the Runes in the order Tal, then Eth or it
    will not work).

  Thse are the Runewords I found interesting and/or effective.

Runeword             Runes Used
---------------------------------------------------
Amor:
Stealth              Tal(07), Eth(05)
Lionheart            Hel(15), Lum(17), Fal(19)

Helmets:
Lore                 Ort(09), Sol(12)
Nadir                Nef(04), Tir(03)

Shields:
Rhyme                Shael(13), Eth(05)

Melee Weapons:
Fury                 Jah(31), Gul(21), Eth(5)
Honor                Amn(11), El(01),  Ith(06), Tir(03), Sol(12)
Silence              Dol(14), Eld(02), Hel(15), Ist(24), Tir(03), Vex(26)

Swords/Scepters:
King's Grace         Amn(11), Ral(08), Thul(10)

Wands:
White                Dol(14), Io(16)

=============================================================================
5. WTHDTRNM?  Commonly, What the heck do those Rune names mean?

  As you may have noticed, some of the runes by themselves or when combined
with others make words.  Whether they were inentional or plain coincidence,
only Blizz knows that(unless they've told someone, then that person and
whoever they told know as well).

El - Spanish for "he"
Eld - means to make old/age
Ort - means a scrap, usually left over food on a plate.
Gul - A rank in the Cardassian Military in the "Star Trek" series
TirIth - Well, Tirith.  Minas Tirith is a fortress in the land of Gondor in
  J.R.R. Tolkein's "The Lord of the Rings"
ElBerEth - Elbereth is the name of an Elven lord, also in Tolkein fantasy.
Vex - A word in English, not used much anymore, meaning to annoy or bring
  disaster
Zod - The only thing about Zod that I can remember right now is General Zod,
  the main bad guy from the movie "Superman II"

  I'm sure there are more, I just can't remember them right now.  If you've
found one not listed here, let me know and I'll put it up.

=============================================================================
6. Mercenaries

  Each Merc has it's own use and function.  This is just a brief rundown on
their strengths/uses and weaknesses.

  Mercs tend to die quickly on higher diff levels and vs. Bosses.  If your
merc dies a lot, it may be better to go on without it, rather than to keep
dishing out money to revive them.

  If nothing else, mercs make a mini-stash to hold items for you.  My Act 2
merc is still holding a Spire of Honor, Goldskin, and rare helm that I'm
holding on to for a while.

  Mercenaries will be stronger in the long run if you hire them at a low
level and build them up as opposed to buying them at an already high level.

  Any merc can wear any armor/headgear that is not class specific(except for
Barbarian Mercs which can equip Barb specific headgear) as long as they meet
the requirements to do so.  Mercs will not gain life/mana stealing bonuses,
as well as a few others that seem to be player specific.

  If your mercenary dies, talk to the person that hires them in that act.
Reviving them can be quite expensive at higher levels.  In Act 4, talk to
Tyrael, since there is no "Rent-a-Merc" shop there.

NOTE: These evaluations are on a scale of 1-10(10 being best), not their
  actual in-game stats.

Act 1: Rogue Scout
HP - 4/10
Attack - 2/10 to 10/10*
Defense - 3/10
Resists - 5/10
* The actual Damage of their bows is quite low.  Your best bet is to get a
  5-6 socket bow and put Perfect Emeralds in it for some really high damage.
Equipment: Bows only, no Crossbows
Skills: Elemental Arrows(depending on which kind you hire), Inner Sight
Bottom Line: Use them for an added ranged attack punch and their Inner Sight
  to help you hit stuff.  Watch out though, they are the easy to get killed,
  which tends to happen frequently in later areas.

------------------------------------

Act 2: Desert Grunt
HP - 6/10
Attack - 7/10
Defense - 6/10
Resists - 6/10
Equipment: Spears, Polearms
Skills: Paladin Auras(they vary with the type you hire and which diff level
  you hire them in), Jab
 Aura: Hired on Normal of Hell diff
  Offensive: Blessed Aim
  Defensive: Defiance
  Combat: Prayer
 Aura: Hired on Nightmare diff
  Offensive: Might
  Defensive: Holy Freeze
  Combat: Thorns
Bottom Line: Use them for their Auras.  They are my personal choice of merc
  since the Auras are very helpful, especially the Holy Freeze aura when you
  are a Spellcaster or Might for the Melee fighters.
NOTE: In order to activate their aura, you must first take them into battle
  and have them attack a monster.  They don't have to kill it though, this is
  just to put them into "Active" mode.

------------------------------------

Act 3: Iron Wolf
HP - 5/10
Attack - 5/10
Defense - 5/10
Resists - 5/10
Equipment: 1-Handed Swords, Shields
Skills:
 Lightning Merc: Charged Bolt/Lightning
 Ice Merc: Glacial Spike/Ice Blast/Frozen Armor
 Fire Merc: Fireball/Inferno
Bottom Line: Use them if you feel the need for added elemental damage, other-
  wise, skip them.

------------------------------------

Act 4: NONE!!!

------------------------------------

Act 5: Barbarian
HP - 10/10
Attack - 9/10
Defense - 7/10
Resists - 8/10
Equipment: Swords, 1 or 2 Handed.  They can equip Barbarian only helmets.
Skills: Stun, Bash
Bottom Line: Use them to tank, i.e. stand on the front lines and take hits
  for you, and to do some added physical damage.

=============================================================================
7. Tidbits and Tricks

  These are just a few things about the game that I've noticed that may come
in handy, or they may just be good for a nice laugh.  Just be forewarned that
they aren't always thoroughly tested so if they don't work perfect don't be
too mad at me.

- The nerf on SF says that it will not deal damage to an enemy below a
  certain point on Nightmare and Hell difficulties(1/4 and 1/2 respectively).
  This is partly true.  It will actually take a monster below those levels,
  it just won't activate when a monster hits them.

- Mercs and Minions don't take any damage from the kamikaze bad guys such as
  the ever so popular Frenzied Ice Spawn.

- Most Amazons will have better blocking % when using a shield than a Paladin
  since the zon usually pumps Dex a lot more than a Paladin does.  Kind of
  odd how that works since Blizzard gives Paladins higher shield blocking and
  a skill designed to increase blocking %.

- Occasionally, Act 2 mercs will be "broken" in that their Aura will not turn
  on.  If that happens, try going to town to try and reset their active mode.
  If that doesn't work, hire a new merc, you got a dud.

- If you're going to use a lot of poison attacks, you're going to need a lot
  of running space since Poison is a lot more effective when you hit once and
  let the damage continue.

- Poison and Open Wounds damage will not trigger charged bolts from a
  Lightning Enchanted monster.  The initial hit will, but the duration will
  not.

- When resistances go negative, the damage you take from that element will be
  increased by the % your resistance is.  So if you've got -100% Fire resist,
  which can happen in Hell diff, you'll be taking double the amount of damage
  you normally would from Fire attacks.  This also works with monsters, if a
  Pally has Conviction turned on or a Necro uses Lower Resist and you bring
  the monsters resistance negative, they will take a lot more damage.

- You don't neccessarily need Poison Resistance.  If you have two or more
  items with "Poison Length Reduced by 75%" or are using the Paladins Aura
  "Cleansing," the poison will wear off before it has a chance to do any real
  damage.  Just watch out though, if your poison resistance is negative, you
  can still take a lot of damage before it wears off.

- On a similar note, I've found it useful to put a column of Antidote Potions
  and a colum of Thawing Potions in my belt, in case I'm poisoned or frozen.
  This is especially helpful when you're going to be running around the Chaos
  Sanctuary where either one can be lethal.

- The Secret Cow Level is one of the best places to get items and experience
  in the game.  Granted, not *the* best, but it's excellent to play since
  cows have no elemental resistances or immunities on any difficulty.  On
  Normal Difficulty, cows are level 28, Nightmare 61, Hell 90.

- To access the Secret Cow Level(what, you thought I was gonna leave you in
  suspense?  Well, what do you think I'm doing now?), you have to beat the
  game on the difficulty level you want to play it on, so if you want to play
  the cow level on Nightmare difficulty, you have to beat the game on
  Nightmare.  Once you've done that, go to Tristram and get Whirt's Leg by
  clicking on his body in the lower left corner of the map.  Then go back to
  the Rogue's camp and put Whirt's Leg in the Horadric Cube with a Tome of
  Town Portal and Transmute them.  A red portal will open next to your
  character, allowing you access to the Cow Level.
  NOTE:  Anything in the cube at the time of transmutation will be lost, so
         don't leave anything valuable in there.

- Every character class has it's own special greeting from a person in each
  act.  For example, the Barb gets a different greeting from Charsi than
  the other character classes the first time you talk to her.  They will only
  talk to you this way in the intro, every other conversation is the same for
  every character class.

=============================================================================
8. My Characters

  I'm bored, what'd you expect?

My 2-Sword Barbarian:
Skills: Frenzy, Whirlwind, Berserk, Battle Orders, Sword Mastery, Increased
  Speed, Natural Resist(with of course their pre-requisistes).

  I haven't quite decided how much I'm going to pump the skills yet, so
there's not really all that much to tell... All I have to say right now is:
Using Whirlwind with 2 Javeling class weapons is a really dumb thing to do,
but worth trying just to watch your Barb dance around with them.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Elementalist Druid:
Skills: Oak Sage, Grizzly, Cyclone Armor, Hurricane, Armageddon, Tornado.

  I love playing this class!  I know it's not the most powerful out there,
but it's a lot more fun than your standard Casting character or Hack 'n Slash
fighter.  My Armageddon is completely tearing through the Cows of the Moo Moo
farm.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Tri-Sorc:
Skills: Hydra, T-Storm, FO all with their masteries for my main attacks and
  Warmth, SF, Tk, ES, and Teleport as back-up skills.

  I originally made her as a Tweaker Sorc back before LoD came out but have
since adapted her to the "new" way of playing(i.e. the SF nerf, casting Nerf,
and Cold Immunities that are ever so popular), and I think she turned out
well.  She can do solo Baal runs on Hell diff and packs a pretty mean punch
PvP, but there are a few skills I wish I could change, like taking 10 of the
20 points I have in Warmth and putting them into Hydra or T-Storm.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Javelin Throwing Bowazon:
Skills: LF, Pierce, GA, MS, and Valk.

  This is actually working better than I had originally thought.  Thanks to
the weapon switching ability, I have a bow on Set I and a Javelin/Shield on
Set II.  I use LF for packed groups like you see on the Bloody Foothills and
in the Cow Level, and with my Bow I take out just about everything else.
That combined with my secondary bow(a 5 Emerald Cedar Bow) and a few high
poison damage charms, I can get through any immunity.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Hammerdin:
Skills: BH, Conc, Smite, Charge, H-Shield.

  *Sigh* Rest in peace, Noble Hammerdin.  With the Hammer/Conc nerf combined
with several other factors, the good old Hammerdin is now retired.  I'm
leaving the setup in the Playstyles section for sentimental reasons.

=============================================================================
9. Site Plugs

  These are sites about Diablo 2 and it's expansion run by fans, they are not
official sites run by Blizzard.  The official site won't be plugged here, it
was plugged elsewhere.  Anyways, these are the plugs:

The Unofficial Diablo 2 Site - www.diabloii.net
**The Lurker Lounge          - www.lurkerlounge.com
Phrozen Keep                 - www.planetdiablo.com/phrozenkeep
V&K Mods for Diablo 1 and 2  - www.vkmods.de
Planet Diablo                - www.planetdiablo.com
Savior's Realm               - sivut.koti.soon.fi/hedgehog/

**Sadly, The Lurker Lounge is closed now.  The site itself will remain up,
  but there will no longer be any more content updates to it.

  Other site plugs not specifically related to Diablo 2, but having something
or someplace on the site for Diablo 2(like a message board or something like
that):
GameFAQs - www.gamefaqs.com
House of Game - www.houseofgame.com

  If you have a site you'd like mentioned here, send me an email with
"diablo 2 link plug" or something along those lines in the subject.

=============================================================================
10. Acknowledgements

Most recent version of this guide always available at www.gamefaqs.com

The following sites have permission to display this guide:
GameFAQs - www.gamefaqs.com

Thanks to the following individuals/groups:

Mike - My best friend.  Awwwww..................

Blizzard - Making a game so addictive it made me write this thing.

DiabloII.net - The website feeding you more info about Diablo 2 and its
       expansion than you need.

Anyone I might've forgotten - whatever your contribution was.

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