The Ranked Seasons of Diablo 2 are called Ladder. We explain what you need to keep in mind in 2021 and what’s next for Diablo 2: Resurrected.
If you want to get the most out of Diablo 2 in 2021, you should climb the ladder. We explain here what is behind the Ranked Seasons of the action role-playing game, how you can take part and what you have to keep in mind.
In addition, you can find out what happens with the seasons in the remaster Resurrected.
Table of Contents
Diablo 2 Ladder: Here’s how the 2021 Seasons work
What exactly is a Ladder?
A ladder is simply the equivalent of a Diablo 2 season, which is what you know from the sequel Diablo 3. Instead of just leading your lone warrior to victory, you play a ranked character who is compared with other ladder participants via a scoreboard.
You compete with others in multiplayer and want to reach maximum level 99 as quickly as possible. In comparison to normal characters, there are a few rules to be observed:
How does the ladder work?
If you want to participate, you have to create a new character in Diablo 2 and check the box Ladder – old characters cannot be transferred. You will then play the respective season with this character until the reset. When this takes place can vary depending on the season. However, the length has settled at around six months and you will be warned in advance.
After the ladder reset, the special character changes to the normal squad, but keeps equipment and items. You will not be allowed to play with him for another season. Until this time, he remains firmly in the ranking and cannot be downgraded to a normal hero.
What are the advantages and disadvantages?
Diablo 2 will not be a completely different game because of the ladder. However, you should familiarise yourself with a few strengths and weaknesses first:
That’s why the ladder is worth it
– The ladder provides veterans with a fresh gaming experience and the incentive to play through Diablo 2 with a new hero.
– Some items can only be obtained in the ladder, if you take them to the standard world after the reset, they are especially valuable there.
– Certain upgrades and rune words are also only available to ladder players.
– You do not lose your inventory and have no other disadvantages when the hero later moves to the normal realm.
You have to do without this in the Ladder
– You cannot interact with regular characters because the realms exist independently.
– Ladder characters will not have access to old items if drop rates and stats have been changed since then or certain exploits have been removed. Logically, you also have to do without hacked items. Good items therefore tend to be worth more here.
– Your progress will be reset regularly: You build a new warrior for each season and start all over again. In the standard Diablo, you don’t have to worry about this.
What types of ladders are there?
Standard Ladder: The normal version with four acts from Diablo 2.
Hardcore Ladder: The more difficult version with four sections. If your hero dies, the game is over. You can start Hardcore once you have played through Diablo 2.
Expansion Ladder: The extended standard variant with all five acts. You need the addon Lord of Destruction for this.
Expansion Hardcore Ladder: Like the normal hardcore variant with permadeath. Only here the fifth act from Lord of Destruction is added.
What is the current status of the ladder?
At the moment, since the reset on 11 June 2021, the last ladder season is running before the launch of Diablo 2: Resurrected on 23 September 2021. Diablo 2 does not simply end after that, however. Blizzard has already confirmed that Classic Diablo 2 will continue to be supplied with its own seasons alongside the remaster.
So playing Diablo 2 today still doesn’t seem absurd at all. There are also exciting mod projects that keep the action role-playing game fresh:
What does the ladder look like in Diablo 2: Resurrected?
As things stand, the ladder system will be adopted almost identically. However, Blizzard is making some changes to the season duration – restarts are to take place more frequently than just every six months. In addition, you can expect the following changes compared to the original, as the community manager reveals:
– Runewords, unique items and Horadrim Cube recipes formerly reserved for Ladder are now part of Non-Ladder multiplayer and singleplayer, as they are an important part of particularly popular builds
– In addition, the Pandemonium event and Uber Diablo content will now be part of single player.
– In order to save servers and work around stability issues at launch, the ladder will not be available until shortly after release. The exact time frame is yet to be announced.
The ladder content will probably not simply be reduced, however. In a current survey, Blizzard wants to know from players what changes they would like to see in future Ranked Seasons. So it’s quite possible that the first Ladder Season has a few surprises in store.
