Windowed game:
Start the game with the -w command line parameter to run it on a window on the desktop. To do this, right click the icon and select “Properties” at the bottom of the list. Next, where it states “Target:” go to the very end and add -w (outside the quotes). When you double click this specific icon, it will open in a 800 x 600 window size. When you play the game itself, it runs under the 640 x 480 size, unless you specify otherwise with the newer patches.
Sound debug:
Press [Enter] to open the chat screen, then type SoundChaosDebug to hear a sound. To return to normal, repeat the code.
Cow level:
First, successfully complete the game. Then you have the Horadaric Cube, obtain “Wert’s Leg” in Tristram (where you go to rescue Deckhard Cain). Go to the northwest part of the town and search the boy’s body. Place both Wert’s leg and a Tome of Town Portal in the Horadaric Cube, and it will open a portal to a hidden level filled with axe carrying cows. Do not go through the portal until you are over level 35 because the cows are quite numerous and strong.
If you create a portal to the secret Cow level, do not kill the Cow King. If you do not, the same character will be able to create a portal there again repeatedly. However, if you or anyone else kills the Cow King, and you created the portal, you will not be able to do it again. Note: You can get another leg from Wirt as long as you do not have one in your possession (including stash).
Duplicating items:
Note: This only works on Open Battlenet, as the characters need to be saved on your computer. This trick also requires two computers with two copies of Diablo 2. Get the items to be duplicated. Copy the “Save” folder from the Diablo 2 folder of that computer and paste it on your desktop. Go online with both computers and meet in a game. Give the items to be duplicated to the second computer, then save and exit. Press [Alt] Tab] on the first computer to switch to Windows and copy the “Save” folder from your desktop back to its original location, overwriting its current contents. Return and join the other computer in the game. You will now have all your original items and the other computer will have a copy of them. Note: This does not work with the 1 Skill book from Act 2, as you are only allowed to do it once.
Note: This trick also only works in an Open Battlenet game. Take the item to be duplicated and place it in your inventory. Then, save and exit the game. Next, come back to the game or join a different one. Drop the item you want to duplicate. Make a note of the game name and password, then sign off of your ISP – do not save and quit the game. Have another person in the game keep it open while you are logged off. Sign back on to your ISP, go back into the game, and pick the item that you dropped. It is also still in your inventory, so you now have two copies of that item.
Use the following trick to duplicate potions. You must be out in the Blood Moor. Buy enough potions to fill about half your inventory. While in the Blood Moor, drop potions until they completely surround you. When you are surrounded by potions, continue to drop them and they will just keep adding up in your inventory instead of dropping.
Unlimited imbued items:
After installing v1.00, play until Charsi offers to imbue something for you. Save and exit the game. Then download patch v1.03 and install it. Join a TCP/IP or open Battle.net game with the same character. Imbue something, then give it to a trusted player. After exiting, return as the same character, and you will be able to imbue again. Note: v1.00 save files cannot be overwritten by v1.03.
You can have unlimited amount of an imbued item. This trick requires two computers or a one with two copies of the game running simutaneously, two different characters (for example, a Paladin and an Amazon). For example, if the Paladin has been granted an imbue award, but he wants two objects to be imbued (e.g. a shield and a scepter), make a copy of the Paladin and save the game. Then, go to Charsi and imbue the shield. Trade this shield to the Amazon for safe keeping. Exit, then copy the backup saved game you made earlier over the current one. Trade back your shield, and you can now have the scepter imbued and keep it. You now have unlimited imbues. The same can be done for socketed equipment. You can even make copies of your equipment to get more runes or life (the golden bird in Act 3 can be duplicated).
Kick yourself out of a chat room:
While playing on Battle.Net, enter a chat room. Keep on typing asterisks, then press “Emote”. It should kick you off Battle.Net.
Amazon: Character development:
Try to maximize Multiple Shot, Guided Arrow, Dodge, and Avoid. Put the rest of the skill points into Critical Strike and Slow Missiles.
Assassin: Easy kills:
To kill Bosses easily, use Tiger Strike (3 Charge), then unleash Dragon Flight. This will kill Baal in normal mode instantly (if each are maxed).
Assassin: Character development:
Try to maximize Dragon Tail, Dragon Flight, Claw Mastery, Weapon Block, Fade, Wake of Fire, and Blade Shield. Put the rest of the skill points into anything you desire.
Barabarian: Cow level:
Whirlwind is a necessity. Keep whirlwinding around the edges of the swarms of cows and always have a few rejuvenation potions in your belt in case you get stuck in the middle of them. Remember to kill the cow king because he will drop either a rare, set, or unique item.
Note: If you kill the Cow King you cannot create the cow level in that difficulty.
Barbarian: Character development:
Try to maximize Whirlwind, Sword Mastery (or whatever Mastery you want to use), Iron Skin, Natural Resistance, Battle Orders, and Battle Command. Put the rest of the skill points into Increase Stamina and Increase Speed.
Have your Barbarian max out any weapon mastery of choice (preferably Spear). Look for war spears, which probably do the most damage out of the melee weapons you can find. That also steals health(at least about 50% because of thorn damage creatures). You should also max out Whirlwind. Put a few skill points into Iron Skin (10-20), Stamina (1-5), and Natural Resistance (5-20). The rest can go to anything, as long as you have followed these guidelines.
Use the following trick to get a very strong Barbarian. Add 1 to Leap (to help kill Diablo), 1 to Bash and 1 to Double Weapons. Next, put the rest of your skills into Ax Mastery. Keep doing this until you have a 1,000 rating. It also helps to put some points on Dexterity.
Druid: Character development:
To develop a “tank” Druid, as your Druid levels up, put a skill point in Werewolf and put the rest into Lycanthropy. You may put one or two on pets such as Spirit Wolf. Also, alternate between assigning points to strength and vitality so that they are within 5 points of each other. Do not use any points on elemental skills when making a “tank” Druid. By the time you get to about level 20, you should need an increase in Dexterity. Make sure to invest 3 to 4 points in the Maul ability, as it helps against Bosses. Also, Druids perform best with a maul equipped. Try to make this the item Charsi imbues. If you follow this, you should end up with a Druid that has over 900 health by level 35.
The tank Druid can be used in another way. You can also focus on Lycanthropy and Wearbear, but doing so only put one point on Werewolf. Always have high damage weapons. A maul is good because the Druid has a fast attack speed rating with it. Never put any skill points on elemental skills as this will ruin the tank. Put points into Heart Of Wolverine, and Maul and Hunger with Werebear. These are very good skills. You will be able to kill most monsters in one hit. This makes up for the Werebear’s slow speed. Use Oak Sage until level 30, then you can learn Spirit Of Barbs. This skill gives you and your party members a skill similar to the Paladin’s Thorns Aura if you have a lot of HP. Regardless of the strength of the monsters in Act V, they will be a lot less terrifying.
Try to maximize Cyclone Armor, Twister, Hurricane, Oak Sage, and Spirit of the Barbs. Put the rest of the skill points into anything you desire.
Necromancer: Using items in Act 1:
Because gems in the beginning of the game are usually more precious than any unique/rare item you may find, get a socketed bardiche and fill it with chipped or flawed rubies or sapphires. For boots and gloves, try to go for to gold from enemies because gold in Act 1 will allow you to buy useful items in Act 2. For rings and amulets, lean towards to life Mana or Attack ratings. For armor and helm, try to get the best defense. However if you find something that has kicking abilities, do not hesitate to sacrifice the few defense points in difference. For belts, the more slots the better. In skills, to strength. In abilities, 2 raise skeleton, 1 to amp damage, 2 to clay golem, 1-2 to bone armor.
Necromancer: Stronger skeletons:
Summon your maximum number of skeletons, then find a skill shrine and click on it. Your maximum skeleton summoning ability should be doubled. Start summoning skeletons again. You should have double your number of skeletons and they will be twice as good in everything than your first skeletons. When your skill shrine power runs out, the weaker ones will die, leaving you with the strong ones.
At the start of the game, get two or three skeletons. Then, start upgrading your skeletons’ level to the maximum — later on, a monster can just easily crush your skeletons with two or three hits.
Necromancer: Easy kills:
Put some points in Golems. Try to stay away from other things that you do not need and save up for Bone Cage and Bone Wall. Also, put some points into Bone Sprit. When you have these moves, summon a Golem to distract your opponent. Then, summon a Bone Wall around them. Make Bone Walls around that, then start to use Bone Sprit, or other things that could go through the wall. If they break it, summon another Golem and do it again. Repeat this for an easy win. Note: This might not work with Amazon with bows.
Skeleton Mages are of the most use in open areas. They will stay out of the way and can attack from a distance. Skeleton fighters are of limited use because they have very low defensive ability. The best use is to repeatedly summon them to tackle a tough monster. Blood Golems are slow and not the best fighters, but contribute health to your player for any damage they take. The Iron Maiden curse is useful in weakening a group of enemies, softening them up for attack.
Every time you level up only get summons. Get Skeleton Mastery up to level 15 or more. Be able to summon three Skeletons and three Mages. Only have wands (even though they are weak). Make sure the wand has at least 2 Skeleton Mastery or more. Try to equip a gem to your wand (optional). Be over level 15 and get a Blood Golem with 5 Golem Mastery points. Then summon all, and let your minions attack only.
Necromancer: Easy cow kill:
Use neckroman’s corpse explosion on some of the cows in the cow level. You can kill over twenty cows with only four casts of this spell, in a hell difficulty. Note: Have the spell at a high level (at least 12).
Necromancer: Easy Gems:
Note: You need to be at level 24 or higher for this trick. When you start the game, save your skills when you level. Distribute a couple to Clay Golem (2 or 3) and Golem Mastery (4 or 5) . When you reach level 18, place one skill on Bone Spear and Blood Golem each (every time you level ). Play the game until you reach the Council in Act 3. Let your Golem fight the Council while you sit behind him, shooting them with the Bone Spear. This should kill them quickly. The Council should give you one or more Gems/Skulls. Continue until you gain the desired amount of Gems. Note: The Council may not give you a Gem every time.
Necromancer: Remove minions:
Use this trick when facing enemies that can resurrect other creatures, for example the Shaman. Cast the “Raise Skeleton”, “Raise Skeleton Mage”, or anything that will destroy the corpse, on the dead creature. His Shaman will not be able to bring him back to life.
Necromancer: Blood Golem/Iron Maiden combo:
Once you get the use of the Blood Golem, send it into battle and cast Iron Maiden on the monsters attacking it. This will give you great amounts of health instantly. Blood Golem gives you, and it, health for all damage it deals, and Iron Maiden causes monster who attack to deal themselves 200% damage back. Since the Blood Golem considers the 200% damage to be from it, this gives you lots of health. It works very well since all the monsters kill themselves.
Necromancer: Make a transparent Golem:
You need to know Summoning Metal Golem of any level and a transparent weapon (ethereal weapon). Do the same thing needed to summon the usual Metal Golem. When he is summoned, he will be transparent.
Necromancer: Character development:
Try to maximize Iron Maiden, Bone Armor, Bone Prison, and Poison Nova. Put the rest of the skill points into Skeleton Mastery, Golem Mastery, Raise Skeletal Mage, and Fire Golem.
To get the ultimate Necromancer, you need to have lots of skill points in Fire Golem and Bone Spirit. When you have that, combine the two spells and start the mass murdering. Make skeletons and skeleton magi from almost all the corpses you left behind to create a big army.
Select the following for a Skeleton-themed level 20 Necromancer:
Level 2: Summon Skeleton
Level 3: Summon Skeleton
Level 4: Amplify Damage
Level 5: Skeleton Mastery
Level 6: Skeleton Mastery
Level 7: Summon Skeleton
Level 8: Summon Skeleton
Level 9: Amplify Damage
Level 10: Skeleton Mastery
Level 11: (Save it)
Level 12: Skeleton Mastery
Level 13: Skeleton Mastery
Level 14: Amplify Damage
Level 15: (Save it)
Level 16: Skeletal Mage
(Saved) 11: Skeletal Mage
(Saved) 15: Skeletal Mage
Level 17 to 20: Skeletal Mage
This results in a total of 4 Summon Skeleton, 3 Amplify Damage, 5 Skeletal Mastery, and 4 Skeletal Mage. Optional choices when getting to higher levels are:
Level 21: Stone Golem
Level 22: Blood Golem
Level 23: Golem Mastery
Level 24: Golem Mastery
Level 25: Iron Maiden
Level 26 to 31: (Complete Tree to Corpse Explosion and Resurrection to liking)
Level 32-35: Corpse Explosion
Level 36-40: Resurrection
Level 40-50: Bone Shield
Up to level 20, cast Amplify Damage on enemies, beat them to a pulp, then use them for Skeletons. Use Amplify Damage to assist Skeletons. For levels 21 to 50, use the Stone Golem to get Corpses ready. After Skeletons Summoned, switch for Blood Golem. HP will no longer be a problem. Use Amplify Damage only on Blood Golem’s Targets to save Mana. When facing a Boss with many minions (for example, Andariel) lead them into heap of enemies, then surround them with Skeletons. Dangers with this character are Barbarians with Leap and Double Strike, Mana stealing weapons, other Necromancers with high Corpse Explosion Skill, Paladins with Redemption (makes corpses useless before skeletons can be summoned), and an ally or enemy with Ice Weapon. To counter these dangers, save Stamina for fleeing, have Mana stealing/regaining equipment (3 Skulls and an Amethyst in a longbow recommended), and enter battle with Skeletons ready.
Paladin: Increased damage:
Build up Charge to increase damage. All you need is a ring that has mana steel.
Paladin: Easy healing:
There is a special ability of Paladins that allows you can heal yourself with rarely needing a potion. Almost every time you gain a level, press the skill “Prayer”. Note: You will need to get it at a high level for it to help in later battles. It also requires mana; keep the mana stats above the rest and the healing effect will last longer.
Paladin: Character development:
Try to maximize Zeal, Charge, Vengeance, Holy Shield, and Holy Freeze. Put the rest of the skill points into anything you desire.
To make a virtually unbeatable dueling Paladin, you need only maximize three skills: Zeal, Thorns, and Salvation. Zeal is very helpful in dealing more damage more quickly when going toe to toe. If you have poison damage on your weapon, then Zeal is even more effective as the damage multiplies. Also when in a melee battle, for example with a Barbarian, use Thorns aura. At level 20, Thorns returns over 1,000% of damage back to the attacker. When dueling a Sorceress, switch out Thorns for Salvation. This will virtually eliminate all elemental damage done by her magic, and aside from chasing her down while she teleports, will make the battle a lot easier. Another helpful hint, especially to work with the Thorns aura, is to hire an Act 2 normal Defensive mercenary. They use Defiance, which when used with Thorns will drastically reduce the damage you take while still returning a lethal amount to your attacker. Using this combination ends most melee battles on the first hit, whether it is you or your mercenary. This combo is also helpful for defeating unique monsters and level Bosses, such as Andariel, and especially Duriel.
Sorceress: Defeating Andariel:
Whenever you go up a level, improve Inferno. When you reach Andariel, make sure you have lots of mana and healing potions. Kill all the minions, then use Inferno. Hold the Right Mouse Button and watch your health and mana. When they get low, use a potion.
Sorceress: Character development:
Try to maximize Warmth, Nova, Teleport, Thunder Storm, Lightning Mastery, and Chilling Armor. Put the rest of the skill points into anything you desire.
Avoid no-win situation:
Press [Esc] when facing imminent death, then save and exit the game. Load the game again to start in town, where you can buy weapons, life etc.
Protection from Diablo:
Place three perfect diamonds in a Gothic shield for maximum protection against all of Diablo’s attacks. There are several levels of gems: chipped, flawed, gem type (diamond, sapphires, etc.), and perfect type. With the Horadric Cube you can make the next better classification by putting three gems of the same type and class in the Cube and transmuting them. This results in one of a higher classification.
How to defeat Diablo:
If you manage to get Diablo near a corner when he attacks you, simply trap him there . If you have enough Life Steal (at least 15%) and Lightning Resist (maximum), you steal enough life with every swing that you can defeat him without using a healing potion.
Use the following trick to keep Diablo from using the Lightning Inferno attack. Whenever he launches his attack, run behind a torch in the area near the seal. This can be a good area to rest. For the killing fight you will have to position yourself very right near the edge of the torch. He can use all of his attacks except Lightning Inferno, and you can attack him back. You only have to work on fire resistance and stock up on potions. Note: This works best with barbarians due to close combat.
How to defeat Bosses:
This trick works well against Dariel, the monster you must fight before you find out that Diablo’s brother is already freed. Automatically cast a Town Portal when you get in the room with him, or outside in the room where you have to put the staff in. Every time you come back, he will have the same amount of health as he had when you fought him before. Make sure you cast a Town Portal before you die or he will heal.
This trick works well when playing as a Necromancer. Make sure you have a good amount of skeletons and a spell that reflects the damage back at the Boss. The spell will do damage to the Boss when he goes to attack you or your party member. If done correctly, he should almost literally kill himself.
No corpse monsters:
Every character has a ability than get rid of or prevent the creation of a corpse:
CHARACTER – ABILITY
Barbarian – Use Item Find or Potion Find on a corpse.
Zons – Use Cold, Ice, or Freezing Arrow.
Paladin – Use Holy Freeze Aura.
Necromancer – Use Revive Skeleton.
Sorceress – Any Ice attack.
Change enemies:
If enemies in a certain area, such as Hell, are too tough restart the game. Enemies such as Flesh Spawners, Stygian Hags, and the Hell beetles can spawn dozens of creatures in seconds. After restarting (exit, save, load, and play), check the area and repeat if needed. The Hell beetles are usually replaced by Doom Knights and Venom Lords, and the Hags are usually replaced by the same. This may also work with other areas.
Retrieving items after death:
Save and exit the game after dying. Restart the game, and your corpse will be in town, allowing you to retrieve your possessions.
The trick that brings your body back into town after dying has a flaw. When you save and exit then return to the game, your body will not have the lump sum of money that you were carrying at the time of your death. This is fine if you are not carrying a large amount of money, however when you have a large amount, it is better to stay in the game and retrieve your lost possessions.
If your corpse is close to a waypoint, cast a shielding spell, or equip any shield, then quickly run to your corpse and run back out. If any tough monsters are near the waypoint in BattleNet, ask another player that can defeat them to clear the way.
Quick belt item access:
If you want to get the items in your belt quickly, press [Esc] to pause game play, move your mouse over the object you want to use, then press [Esc] to resume the game. Then, immediately click on the item you want to use.
To achieve fast access to your belt when you either need to open a portal or use a potion, press [Esc] to pause game play. Scroll to your belt and right click what you want to use. The selected item will appear over a red background. Scroll back up to your character to prepare for the attacks once you resume the game. Press [Esc], which will simultaneously resume the game and use the potion and/or scroll you have selected, without the need to stop attacking any enemies around you.
Easy Gems:
In Act 1, defeat Andariel. Every time you defeat her, you will get two chipped gems and one normal gem.
Easy Runes:
At the Tower Cellar level 5, kill the Boss as many times as desired. You will always get one to two Runes.
Gain gold and items quickly:
Travel past the Blood Moor and look for a cave. The cave has two levels, with a golden chest somewhere at the second level. Inside are usually health potions, mana potions, scrolls of town portal or identify, unidentified weapons and armor, and sometimes even a rare item that can be sold for a great deal of money. If you identify the item and it is something that you do not want, sell it. Save and exit the game. The next time the game is loaded, the chest will still be there with different items. This can be done as many times as needed.
After completing the quest to save Cain, reload the game, then use the Stony Fields waypoint to do the quest again. There are always magic monsters here that will give you items.
Obtain two Act 3 Waypoints, Travincal, and the Durance of Hate. Go to Travincal and kill the Council. When you are done, kill Mephisto, the rest of the Council, and whoever else happens to be down there. Doing this will warrant you at least one rare, set, or unique item, and quite possibly more. This trick is also great for getting at least 10,000 gold in each visit to town. When you leave the game and start again, go through the same process. This helps load up your stash with gems, money, and hopefully obtain useful rares.
Get a Tome of Town Portal and lots of Town Portal scrolls. When your inventory gets full, leave the items you want to keep and go through a Town Portal to the Rogue Encampment. Sell the items that you do not want and go back though the portal. All your items will still be there on the ground.
If you have completed Act 3 under any difficulty setting, keep going back and killing Mephisto. He drops a lot of equipment which you can sell or use, and he is not very strong.
On Act 1 during the mission to save Cain, you will find Wirt dead. Go to him and click on him. He will spill out a lot of gold. You can exit Tristram through the portal then return to town. Click on Wirt again and he will have more money. The same can be done with Griswald; he will drop items every time you kill him. He will also keep returning to life.
In some houses, there will be a messed up sheet on a bench or bed. Although no message will appear when your pointer is over it, click it. You may get large amounts of gold and/or weapons.
Go to Travincal, in Act 3, and defeat the high council. Every member gives you either a lot of gold or a magical item. This can be done as many times desired by choosing to save and exit and starting again.
A quick way of getting better gems when you are past Act 1, is to go back to Act 1. Look for gem shrines. Most of the time you can dodge the monsters and go directty for the shrines. The Gem Shrines are somewhat rare, but it is still faster than finding three of the same kind and putting them in the Horadric Cube.
More gold for items:
Never sell or even pick up items that are low quality, cracked, etc. They give you less money and take up space. Only sell Enchanted bows because they cannot be repaired. Always repair items before selling to get more money. Armor in general gives you more money — always pick up and sell it, especially Heavy Armor. Keep your inventory clean by having a row of potions along the bottom, a Tome of Identify and a Tome of Town Portal on the far left so they take up less space, and a key bunch. Keep as much space open as possible. You may feel very compelled to hoard potions, but it is more profitable to keep space open.
To obtain more money for items, go to a higher act or harder difficulty mode. Repair the item and sell it to a NPC.
More space:
Acquire the Horadric Cube and keep it in your inventory. It only takes four spaces and gives you twelve spaces when it is open, allowing you to carry more items for your collection.
Unlimited gold:
On Act 1, play through the game until you get to the Countess quest. In the Forgotten Tower on level 5 of the dungeon, you will find several rooms containing large masses of gold. After defeating the Countess and collecting all the treasure, save and exit the game. Reload and return to the Forgotten Tower on level 5. The gold should be there again. Note: If you defeat the Countess again the game will not give you the gold for killing her again. Repeat this as many times as needed.
Unusable items:
If you have a weapon that you cannot use, throw it on the floor and put something else in your hand that is usable. Then, open the inventory and pick up the unusable item. Put it in your hand and will now be usable.
Keep item in next game:
After you kill Diablo and have some time before the game ends, if you do not have any room in your inventory open the inventory and pick something up. When the game ends you will start a new game with that item.
Safe gold storage:
If your stash is full of gold and you do not want to lose everything if you get killed, drop all your gold beside your stash or somewhere in town. You can go out and fight without worrying, but must pick up your gold again before you save and exit.
Note: Items will disappear if you leave them next to your box and they sit there long enough while you are in a different zone. It does not appear to have anything to do with how many items drop off monsters; it has to do with time.
Unlimited one way portal:
Cast a Town Portal from a safe location, then take the portal into town. Use the waypoint system and run to get back to your last location. This allows you to use the portal to go back into town an unlimited number of times as long as you do not use it from town to return to where you were previously.
Unlimited town portals:
Note: This trick requires Battle.net. Play in a game with another player. Have the other player make a town portal, then make your own town portal. Go through his portal and have the other player go through yours. The town portals will last until either of you go through your own portal.
Cubing socketed swords:
In Act 2 after getting the Horadric Cube, you can add any sword and 3 chipped gems into the Cube. Press the “Transmute” button and a new socketed(3) magical sword should be in the place of the other items. Note: Make sure no other items are in the Cube — they will get lost when transmuting.
Avoiding trapped chests:
A normal chest will have a single squeak when you open it. A trapped chest will have a sound like two squeaks that are happening at the same time. If you listen closely, you will hear the normal squeak and a similar but different squeak. After the sound, you will have about one second to run away. You will not make it if you are walking and the trap is a projectile.
Better shield defense:
Put perfect amethysts in your shield to raise its defense. For example, getting an ancient shield with three perfect amethysts will add 86 to the defense.
Easier rare items:
Find and equip two Rings Of Fortune (increases the chance to get a better item), a socketed Helm, two gems of Topaz (best if they are perfect), Gloves Of Fortune, Boots Of Fortune and an Amulet Of Fortune and equip them. With all that equipped, the least amount you should have is 60%, but you may get higher.
In the Blood Moor there will be one or two houses. At least one almost always has a magic, rare, unique, or set item.
Wirt’s Leg:
When you have to save Cain in Act 1, do not take Wirt’s Leg because you will waste space by carrying it around. Instead of taking it immediately, wait until you are at level 30 then go back to Tristam to get the leg.
Getting rid of chipped gems:
When you have too much chipped gems, simply use the Horadric Cube that you find on Act 2 on three of the same kind of gem. You will get one single upgraded gem.
Avoid dying from poison:
If you are about to die when poisoned, quickly make a town portal and go through. You cannot die in town. This also works with hirelings.
Easy experience:
Ally with a high level friend in Battlenet. When battling, just stay back and let your friend do all the work.
Enter the real Tal Rasha’s tomb, kill all the monsters, and save the game. Exit, then return to kill all the monsters again.
Go to the Bloody Foothills waypoint in Act 5 and fight from there back to Harrogath. This blood run was originally meant for online play, but works perfectly fine in single player mode.
Go to the wilderness and find a creature that has a shaman (Fallen, Carver, etc.) and can be ressurected. Do not kill the shaman first. Kill the creatures. The shaman will keep resurrecting them and you will have an never-ending source of easy monsters to kill. When you are done killing and have had your fill of experience, kill the shaman.
Safe gamble:
To get a gold item (rare) when you gamble, make sure you have at least 10,000 gold. Save and exit the game. Return to the same character and press [Alt] [Tab] when in town. Once at the Windows Desktop, copy the game’s save folder to the desktop or another location. Click on the minimized Diablo 2, go to Gheed and gamble. If you do not get a rare item, save and exit. Press [Alt] [Tab], delete the current save folder, and copy the backup save folder from your desktop or other location back into the game folder. Click on the Diablo 2 game, return to the same character, and repeat.
Quick restore:
When you are near death, save and exit the game — make sure you are in Rouge’s Encampment. Then, talk to Akara. She will give you full life and full mana.
Imbue without worry:
When you get an item and want to imbue and are worried about the outcome, copy the “Save” folder from the Diablo 2 folder to the desktop or any other location. Start your game and imbue. If you do not like what happened, save the game and exit. You will now be in main menu again. Press [Alt] [Tab] and copy the save folder back to its original location. Then click “Single Player Game” and start. You have another chance to imbue the item. Repeat this until you get the desired effect.
Easy cow level experience:
When you desire to activate the secret cow level, save and exit first. Start a multi-player game with one other person, preferably of a different character type, one distance, one close (for example, Amazon and Paladin, Necromancer and Barbarian, etc.) You will gain more experience from it and have more fun. If you are a close attacker, have some damage before going into battle with the cows. Use a healing potion (the bigger the better) and attack. As you take damage, the potion will continue to work. This strategy can be used for mana and on other monsters.
Avoid death:
Press [Esc] when you are about to die, then save and exit the game. When you reload, your game you will be at the starting location.
Spin:
Select the regular attack (resembles an arrow) for both of your action icons. Then, hold [Shift] Left Mouse Button. With those held, move your cursor around the character and he or she will spin. The faster you circle your character, the faster they will spin.
Moving hand:
Press [Esc] during game play. Allow the game to idle at that screen and the hand will begin moving after a few seconds.
Better restart:
When you die, do not save and quit. This gives you the advantage of starting next to your body. However, if you died fighting a Boss, unique, or champion monster, you must face them with full health, rather than whatever you whittled down to before.