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It’s a Diablo bonanza! To follow our recent review of Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred (and its inclusion of the Warlock and Paladin classes), I figured it’d be fun to review the Warlock class and the other new features newly added to Diablo II: Resurrected – Infernal Edition on Steam.
To be fair, this is a mini-review, because I’ve already reviewed Diablo II: Resurrected when it first came out in 2021. It didn’t have the Reign of the Warlock DLC, so consider this as an addendum to that review.
So without further ado…here’s the review.
What is Diablo II: Resurrected – Infernal Edition?
Diablo II: Resurrected – Infernal Edition is the (currently) complete version of Diablo II: Resurrected. It is an isometric dungeon crawling action RPG developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. The game is available on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch consoles.
Our review code was provided by the amazing folks over at Blizzard Entertainment! Thank you!
As mentioned earlier, this review just touches on the Reign of the Warlock expansion for Diablo II: Resurrected. I’ll talk about the main game here and there, but by and large, most of the commentary here will be about the DLC.
The main meat of that is of course, the Warlock.
The Warlock (like the version in Diablo IV) is a jack-of-all-trades class. It can focus on Demonic Binding (weapon enhancement, melee type), Eldritch (demonic manipulation, summoner type) or Chaos (ranged magic, caster type). While it sounds impressive, the multi-faceted nature means that while the class is good in a variety of situations, it’s not really best at anything.
It’s especially true in the beginning.
Until you’re at least until you’re Level 18, the Warlock is sorely lacking. It was a damn chore leveling mine up. I died over and over in Act II…in the Maggot Lair especially! I never did find my groove.
I started in Chaos, but apart from a promising start, I found the beginner spells lacking other than Ring of Fire (which spawned a ring of fireballs like the Sorceress’s Frost Nova). The basic spell was Miasma Bolt, and boy, did it sound promising. A direct damage projectile that also spawns an area of effect damage over time effect upon impact?
Sign me up!
The issue here is that the impact area is damn small and enemies rarely stayed still long enough to be damaged. It was useless.
I respecced and decided to dabble in Eldritch instead.
Progression was smoother, but it was also rather rough. The Goatman had a tendency to wander off and didn’t attack as effectively as I’d like. Its power was a bit underwhelming, even after buffing it with Demon Mastery and Blood Oath. Even with a Mercenary on tap, the damage output from the three of us was underwhelming.
Despite that, I decided to tough it out. It’s also because there wasn’t any other reliable option.
I stuck with Eldritch and dabbled in Chaos because I figured Miasma Chain (you hook an energy chain to a monster and whatever hits the chain gets damaged) might work well with a meat shield. Coupled with the Tainted (to replace the Goatman summon), and the Flame Wave skill, the Warlock finally started to click.
Now the problem is that the regular gameplay mechanics of Diablo II: Resurrected tried their damnedest to ruin my fun.
Miasma Chain and Flame Wave works best when you’re mobile. The chain you attach to one of your enemies needs to go through your foes to inflict damage and Flame Wave is a wave that moves in the direction you’re facing. The only normal way to move fast (without buffs) is to run.
The issue here is that stamina is tied to your vitality.
If you’re choosing to go the caster route (where you buff your mana instead of life), this is a massive hassle because your Warlock is going to run out of breath constantly. The game’s stupid stamina system is in complete opposition to a fast gameplay style. I realize that the stamina meter is part of the Diablo II mechanics, but it still boggles the mind how Blizzard thought it was a good idea in the first place.
Things get progressively smoother as I unlocked more skills and got better gear, but I still didn’t shake my initial impression of the Warlock even as I advanced. I had much more fun as a Sorceress, Assassin, and Necromancer. The Warlock wasn’t the worst class in Diablo II, but I didn’t find it to be one of the game’s best either.
Of course, your mileage may vary.
You might get better drops than me that’d facilitate a much smoother experience for your grind. For me though, the grind was heinous. With no way to gain extra XP (unlike in Diablo IV), grinding as the Warlock was slow and mind-numbingly boring.
While the Warlock is the main feature of the Reign of the Warlock DLC, there are other aspects to it too.
First off, there are new uniques in the game. I never did find any of them during my time with the game, so I can’t say how good or bad they are. There’s also the new Terror Zones feature. These are pretty much Diablo II’s version of the Helltide from Diablo IV. I did encounter the new Runewords and some of the new items though.
Then there’s The Chronicle, which is a fancy name for a checklist of all the gear you’ve found in the game. Unless you’re a completionist, this serves very little purpose, though you do get cosmetics for completing sections.
Every hour, a zone is chosen to be a Terror Zone. Monsters in it are buffed, you get more XP from killing them, and high-level gear drops as loot. These are cool, but your character class and build determine a lot of how much fun you’ll have, especially at the outset when enemies are leagues stronger than you’re probably used to.
You’ll definitely want to join a farming group initially for these, as multiplayer makes killing much faster and more efficient.
The Terror Zones also serve as the gateway to another new endgame content – the Colossal Ancient fights. Find specific items within the Terror Zones (statues that may drop from area bosses in Terror Zones), and you get to fight these new super bosses, who drop even more endgame loot. You’ll need premium gear to tackle these, so unless you’re being carried, expect to spend hours in the Terror Zones as you build up your equipment and collect the items needed for the Colossal Ancient battles.
Finally, there’s the new Herald of Terror feature for Hell difficulty. Killing monsters in Terror Zones while playing on Hell has a chance to spawn a new unique monster called a Herald. These bad boys are more powerful than other monsters and have special attributes (like auras) that make them stand out. Kill one and you’ll soon spawn yet another, more powerful version.
As always, the reason to challenge these new monstrosities remains the same – powerful loot.
The Bottom Line.
Diablo II: Resurrected – Infernal Edition brings in a lot of new additions and QoL features to a gaming classic.
Unfortunately, while a lot of the additions are welcome, not everything is a hit.
The Warlock class has potential, but it is sorely underpowered early on. That sucks the joy out of playing the class for a good few hours, as you drudge painfully on to level up. The other additions are much better, as they’re geared for the endgame. Some issues here and there, but not enough to detract from the experience.
Overall, Reign of the Warlock is a commendable DLC, but one that needs some rework for its main offering, the Warlock.
TLDR:
Warlock sucks to level early on, but is fun later. The other endgame content can be fun but requires a massive time investment to reach.
The Technoverdict: Wait for a sale
The Good:
- New class added.
- Tons of new endgame features.
- Decent QoL improvements.
The Bad:
- Warlock class is pathetic in the early going.
- Most features are for the endgame, with the early and mid-game ignored.
- Lots of time investment needed to experience new endgame content.
Salehuddin Husin, EIC
Sal's been in the industry since the early 2000s. He's written for a ton of gaming and tech publications including Playworks, Hardwarezone, HWM and GameAxis. Recently, Sal served as a juror for the Indie Game Awards at Taipei Game Show 2020. A geek and hardcore gamer, Sal will play everything, on any platform.
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