I wrapped up Act V: Lord of Destruction on normal difficulty, which is essentially the end of the beginning of Diablo II. I continued playing the new Warlock class and, as was the case in Acts I-IV, it was not terribly difficult.
I have put most of my skill points into the demon tree, summoning a Goatman as a computer-controlled damage-dealing tank. Now I’ve put enough points into the tree that I can summon *two* Goatmen, which has made some of the trickier parts of Act V significantly easier.
25 years after its release, I continue to have mixed feelings about Lord of Destruction. Baal is a compelling antagonist, but, like all of the evils in D2, we see very little of him. Mount Arreat is a cool location, but the snowy Barbarian Highlands feel more high fantasy than gothic horror. This is reflected in everything from the storytelling to the soundtrack (though the use of the title screen music in Worldstone Keep rules). Diablo III was when people complained that the series seemed to be losing some of its horror vibes, but for me it started here.
Aesthetics aside, the act remains well-paced and interesting throughout. The final Baal fight was a bit tedious with my Warlock, but ultimately manageable.
Despite my (relatively minor) issues with Act V, I cannot overstate how great it was to revisit Diablo II this month. The Warlock and QoL updates made the game feel even fresher than the initial Resurrected remaster. I plan to continue my Warlock run in Nightmare (and eventually Hell) difficulty, but that’ll have to wait, because another Blizzard release beckons…
All screenshots and video here were captured from the Steam version of the game running on my desktop PC.
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