Monday, May 8, 2017
Diablo 2 Playing in Windows 10 with the 1 14 Patch and How To Use Ladder Only Runewords in Single Player Updated for Patch 1 14d
Diablo 2 Playing in Windows 10 with the 1 14 Patch and How To Use Ladder Only Runewords in Single Player Updated for Patch 1 14d
Ive been getting back into playing some goodol D2 the past week or so, ever since I noticed that there was a recent Ladder Reset while randomly logging in to my old Battle.Net characters. Most of my accounts were closed due to not logging in enough and those characters lost... but thats just a chance to Make New! Below, I show the changes that I noticed have occurred within the recent update and how things worked for me in Windows 10 - and I also show how to use Ladder-Only Runewords in your Single Player adventures - enjoy!
[Update: Note for Patch 1.14D at the end**]
[Update: Personal note also at � near end, certain Runewords are not working?]
[Update 2017-01: Added short Tutorial near the bottom on how to show File Name Extensions (".txt") if needed]
[Update 2017-01: Added short Tutorial near the bottom on how to show File Name Extensions (".txt") if needed]
Changes Seen in the 1.14 Patch
For those of you interested in playing (or never stopped playing) Diablo 2, you may have noticed there was both a Ladder Reset (on May 17th) and some new Patches (up to 1.14 now). Although I did not personally have any issues with these Updates, some people have, as can be seen if you browse the Support Forum for Diablo II (under "Classic Games" at BattleNet). Here though, I want to get into the changes that I noticed with these Patches, how the game worked in Windows 10 for me personally, and how Windows seems to handle the game files themselves now.
For example, the Save Games for Diablo2 are no longer kept within the Installation Directory (the folder where the game is installed to) - as of Patch 1.14 they are now located at:
C:Users< YOUR USER NAME >Saved GamesDiablo II
The above location is now where your ".D2S" and ".MAP" files are kept (your Characters save game information) - and where well be going to get Ladder-Only Runewords working in Single Player mode in a bit. The above location assumes that C: is your main Windows drive/partition (where Windows is installed to, which is created and used automatically, by Default) and it should also be noted that your User Name or Login Name goes where it says "< YOUR USER NAME >" [obvious to some, I know, but not everyone knows these things at first].
While I am not a developer for Blizzard, looking at the effects this will have with Windows, I assume this was done to create a maintainable save game system for people upgrading from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10, as upgrading [or needing to reinstall the game itself] will now not affect your save games in any way and they can then still be found afterward by Diablo 2 (Single Player, etc) [by using this directory setup].
I have to give Kudos to Blizzard for coming back and Updating a 10+ year old game, to address Compatibility issues and streamline how the game works with Windows (updating the installation files to do the things above - not to mention another fun ladder reset)!
Initially, I was running D2 directly from my old location (from a previous Windows install) which was something like P:/ProgramFiles, etc and just clicking on the .EXE from there. I wanted to test out the Downloadable Installer from the BattleNet site [to do a Digital Installation, as opposed to a Disc Installation], to test how well it worked with Windows 10 and found that the Launcher didnt work at all for me... It showed "Play Diablo" and a button for "Uninstall", but clicking on these buttons did nothing...
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| At the time, these buttons did not work at all... |
I looked around the BattleNet forii, but nothing was being said - at least about problems with the Installer doing this - so I did some Troubleshooting of my own and found that Diablo2 wasnt listed in the Programs and Features section ("Uninstall or Change a Program") of the Windows Control Panel. This was understandable, since I was running it from an old installation folder - one that Windows 10 didnt automatically know about, since installing 10 as a Dual-Boot with Windows 8.1 [on this system] - I hadnt gone through the Diablo2 Installation Process with Windows 10, at this point.
I assumed that the Installer was a little confused about things, as it was also using [it had created] the new Saved Games location talked about above, but it didnt know where D2 was actually installed to. So, I went to the Battle.Net site and downloaded the latest version of the Installer for Diablo II - which can be obtained by logging in at the site and going to "Manage My Games (Account Management)" and then D2 can be found under "Classic Games", at the bottom of the game list.
Blizzard has it set up as a small file that you download a "launcher" which will then run and actually retrieve the rest of the game (the "installer"). After downloading the Launcher file and running it, it will do a longer download of the installation files (you tell it where to save them). Then, it will automatically run the Installer of the game itself [it did for me].
Now, after the game installer finishes, once you run the game proper, it will retrieve the latest Patch to install; but while attempting the upgrade, it may run into an issue where it will say:
Patching cannot be completed because the patch archive is corrupt.
and may state in detail later
ERROR: unable to open archive D2DV_IX86_1xx_114d.mpq
At least, this was the error message for me - where it would not continue the installation of the game (this was in Windows 10). I downloaded the installer a second time (just in case there was some corruption of the files during the download) and the message came up yet again. A quick trip to the Battle.Net Support Forum and a Search yielded no results ("your search has no matches"), so I did more Troubleshooting...
During this time, another issue that I ran into was a pop-up message (in Windows 10) saying:
WINDOWS PROTECTED YOUR PC
Windows SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting. Running this app might put your PC at risk.
Now, although a very helpful and protective feature in Windows 10, I had just downloaded this installer directly from the BattleNet website, so I knew [well, was 99% sure] that the installer was ok, so I just clicked "Run Anyway"....
For those wondering, this error message, which stated "Unknown Publisher", is a protective layer in Windows, where Microsoft personally tests installers and programs, making sure they can run and are safe to use within Windows. When they can verify this, they will "Certify" that program or app. When they cannot do it (or havent gotten around to it yet), this message will alert you, essentially saying "Hey, we havent tested this ourselves yet, we dont know what this thing does to your system, but it looks like it alters stuff". Again, while this is actually a helpful measure, I know that I just got the installer directly from BattleNet, so I chose to Run it Anyway. Depending on how you obtained your software/program/app, you may want to double-check things and/or download it in a more direct manner [just a Suggestion!].
The reason why I mention these Messages, is because these types of errors can usually be solved by doing one thing: running the application (in this case, the Downloader/Installer) in Administrator Mode (by Right-Clicking the .EXE that starts the program and choosing "Run as administrator").
This is because the first error message above suggests a "file access" problem (it couldnt alter the file it needed to change, which is usually a Permissions issue) and the second message was a protective, warning measure (which may appear anyway, regardless of running it in Administrator Mode).
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| The Diablo II Downloader doing its thing ...downloading |
This means that for most, when the Downloader (which has a mostly Blue menu interface, shown just above) is finished retrieving the Installation files, it will then try to run the Installer itself (which has a mostly Red menu interface, shown just below) - and if neither of these are running in Administrator Mode (to allow full access permission to files it needs to work with), it may not be able to alter/change the files it needs to - and these messages may come up and you may not be able to continue installing the game.
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| The Diablo II Installer interface |
One way around this issue (for example, with the "unable to open archive" message), is to interrupt this automated process, after the Downloader retrieves the installation files it needs. This means, that when the Downloader is finished (the mostly blue menu will turn into a mostly red menu), Exit the installer for now. Then, go to where you saved the installation files and find the file "Installer.exe", Right-Click it and choose "Run as administrator" to allow it Full Permissions to the files it needs to acess [the file may be just called "Installer" if you have the Default "Hide extensions for known file types" checkbox checked in the View tab of the Folder Options of Windows, something which I personally prefer off, but its fine to leave on].
Doing the above, both the Downloading and the actual Installation processes should now complete and D2 is now installed in your system again, ready to play - woot!
A few last points I would like to note:
- There is no longer a need to run "D2VidTest.exe" anymore, as noted by Blizzard here.
In fact, looking into the installation folder for Diablo2 now (in Windows 10), it is not even present to run...
[Although I have heard of people having issues with specific hardware and needing to run it (threads of this can be seen in the Official Support Forum), I personally did not have to run it and did not have issues with installing and running the game in Windows 10 - therefore, my first Suggestion to those having problems, would be to re-download the newest version of the Installer from BattleNet - because it was with a very recent re-download of that (which has included recent Updates, etc) and running of the installer (with Administrator Permissions) that I had no issues arise... Hopefully this will be the same for you too]
- World Drops seem to have been increased
I have made a few Ladder Characters already, and while playing through the world, I feel that the "world drops" [as opposed to "Boss Drops"] are improved... I have been seeing more Uniques, Gems, Runes and especially Set Pieces than I remember in earlier game versions. After playing through the game a few times (with newly-created characters through "Normal" mode), I already have Full Pieces of a few Low-Level Sets.
I may be wrong, but I think I remember Blizzard saying something to the effect that they were going to do this a while back, to decrease the need to "run bosses" - to increase the enjoyment of intended gameplay - but also to discourage botting...
- There are still bots (although less of them, it seems) and Spammers (advertising their websites) cluttering up screen after screen in public games.
/filtermsg TEXT
Using this command in the Chat of D2, when a bot comes in and spams your public game with their ads, simply pick a word and put it in the place of the TEXT in the above line. For example, in one instance, I chose the word "sale", so I typed the following command:
/filtermsg sale
Which had the result that, if ANYONE after that point said the word "sale" in their line of text, the game would simply not display that line of words to me. I chose this word at one point because I felt it was safe to assume that most normal/human players running alongside me online would not say something with the word "sale" in it very often.
Repeating this process a few times, with various chosen words from the spam/ads, I now very rarely see any at all - with no need to "Squelch" anyone manually - and playing again recently has become a lot more enjoyable without all the text hiding up to half the screen!
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| I wish there were more advertising bots on BattleNet, sometimes I can see way too much of my screen... |
Ladder-Only Runewords in Single Player
With the 1.14 Patch (which still has Subversions coming out to this day) your Saved Games will no longer be located in the folder that D2 was installed to, they will be under your Username/Login area, as stated near the top of this article. Just to reiterate it, your character information and saves are now located here:
C:Users< YOUR USER NAME >Saved GamesDiablo II
The above location assumes that C: is your main Windows drive/partition (where Windows is installed to, which is created and used automatically, by Default) and your Username/Login goes where it states <YOUR USER NAME>.
I mention it one more time because this is where we will be going to create some SubFolders (directories within directories) to get Ladder-Only Runewords working with Single Player mode!
I wrote an article last year about how do it right here at the blog, but that was in regards to previous versions of Diablo2. In 1.14, to get Ladder-Only Runewords working in Single Player, the same folders need to be created in the same way, just in a different location.
Here is how the working sub-folder structure will look within the new (1.14) Diablo II directory location noted above:
... Diablo II/Data/Global/Excel/Runes.txt
The steps to create the above folder structure are:
- in the Diablo II directory, create a New Folder called Data
(by navigating to the Diablo II folder and clicking the New Folder at the top, in the Ribbon, or Right-Clicking in the blank area of the folder and going New>Folder) - in the newly-created Data folder, create a New Folder called Global
- in the newly-created Global folder, create a New Folder called Excel
- in the newly-created folder called Excel, place the Text file from my PasteBin here:
http://pastebin.com/xGLWhmZ1
(If you do not feel comfortable Downloading anything at all for this procedure, simply copy and paste the text from that website and paste it into a text file, one that you create in the Excel folder, within the Diablo II directory structure you just created via the above - be sure to name the text file Runes.txt)
[Edit: Just in case some of you dont feel comfortable going to an unknown site, I will list all of the text needed to copy/paste into this new Runes text file that we will create, at the bottom of this article - so it will all be available right in one spot!] - lastly, add "-direct" and "-txt" to the Shortcut Properties for the Diablo II.exe file shortcut that starts up the game (the icon on the desktop background). The quotation marks arent added, only the commands, such that the Target line in the Shortcut should then look like this:
"C:Program Files (x86)Diablo IIDiablo II.exe" -direct -txt
(the above line assumes that it is installed into the C: drive of the system. If you installed Diablo2 into a different drive/partition, the first letter would be whatever your drive letter is of where D2 is installed - the main part to match is the end portions, the "-direct -txt" added to the end, which allows usage of the Text file used in this process, by the game)
Thats it!
What should occur is, Diablo2 will use the Runeword information from that text file directly when it runs, allowing Runewords to now function within the Single Player game mode (even ones that are "Ladder Only")!
After "cubing-up" [upgrading via the Horadric Cube] to some new Runes that I did not have, so I can specifically test the procedure above with a "Ladder-Only Runeword", I attempted to create an Insight for my Merc - and it worked - woot!
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| This Ladder-Only Runeword "Insight" was created Offline in Single Player mode, via the instructions and the file locations above, in June of 2016 |
So, with all of the above information, hopefully you too can get D2 installed and up and running in Windows 10...
Once again, Kudos go to Blizzard [from me] for updating Diablo II to version 1.14 (with Subversions still coming in) and implementing compatibility with Windows 10 upgrading (from Windows 8.1, etc).
Although I personally found it completely trouble-free, some people have had technical issues with these processes (installing D2 then LOD in Windows 10 or keeping the game files while Upgrading to Windows 10). My first Suggestion in these cases, would be to re-download the newest version of the Installer from BattleNet - because it was with a recent re-download of that (which has more recent updates pre-set ["slipstreamed"] into it and the running of it (with Administrator Permissions) that I had no issues arise (other than the messages noted above).
Hopefully you can get it going without problems dear reader - and if you play online sometime - See You In The Game!
[Edit: For those who do not want to download anything or go to any unknown/other site to create a Runes.txt file for allowing use of Ladder-Only Runewords in Single Player - here is the full text that simply needs to be copy-pasted into an empty Runes.txt file, which you can create with Notepad by opening Notepad and pasting this text into it, saving it as a file named Runes.txt - dont forget to put it into the location described above!:
Name Rune Name complete server itype1 itype2 itype3 itype4 itype5 itype6 etype1 etype2 etype3 *runes Rune1 Rune2 Rune3 Rune4 Rune5 Rune6 T1Code1 T1Param1 T1Min1 T1Max1 T1Code2 T1Param2 T1Min2 T1Max2 T1Code3 T1Param3 T1Min3 T1Max3 T1Code4 T1Param4 T1Min4 T1Max4 T1Code5 T1Param5 T1Min5 T1Max5 T1Code6 T1Param6 T1Min6 T1Max6 T1Code7 T1Param7 T1Min7 T1Max7 eol
Runeword1 Ancients Pledge 1 shld r08 r09 r07 res-cold 30 30 res-all 13 13 ac% 50 50 dmg-to-mana 10 10 0
Runeword6 Black 1 club hamm mace r10 r16 r04 crush 40 40 dmg% 120 120 swing2 15 15 red-mag 2 2 att 200 200 charged 74 12 4 0
Runeword44 Fury 1 mele r31 r25 r05 dmg% 209 209 swing2 40 40 noheal 1 1 openwounds 66 66 lifesteal 6 6 deadly 33 33 skill 147 5 5 0
Runeword54 Holy Thunder 1 scep r05 r08 r09 r07 dmg% 60 60 dmg-ltng 20 60 dmg-max 10 10 res-ltng 60 60 res-ltng-max 5 5 skill 118 3 3 charged 53 60 7 0
Runeword55 Honor 1 mele r11 r01 r06 r03 r12 dmg% 160 160 regen 10 10 allskills 1 1 att 200 200 deadly 25 25 str 10 10 0
Runeword65 Kings Grace 1 swor scep r11 r08 r10 dmg% 100 100 att 150 150 dmg-demon 100 100 dmg-undead 50 50 att-demon 100 100 att-undead 100 100 0
Runeword72 Leaf 1 staf r03 r08 fireskill 3 3 ac/lvl 16 16 res-cold 33 33 skill 41 3 3 skill 36 3 3 skill 37 3 3 0
Runeword74 Lionheart 1 tors r15 r17 r19 str 15 15 vit 20 20 dex 15 15 dmg% 20 20 hp 50 50 res-all 30 30 0
Runeword75 Lore 1 helm r09 r12 enr 10 10 allskills 1 1 light 2 2 mana-kill 2 2 0
Runeword81 Malice 1 mele r06 r01 r05 openwounds 100 100 dmg-ac -100 -100 noheal 1 1 dmg% 33 33 light -1 -1 regen -5 -5 0
Runeword82 Melody 1 miss r13 r18 r04 dmg% 50 50 skilltab 0 3 3 skill 9 3 3 skill 13 3 3 skill 17 3 3 dmg-undead 300 300 0
Runeword83 Memory 1 staf r17 r16 r12 r05 mana% 20 20 red-mag 7 7 ac% 50 50 cast2 33 33 sor 3 3 skill 58 3 3 skill 42 2 2 0
Runeword88 Nadir 1 helm r04 r03 ac% 50 50 ac 10 10 light -3 -3 charged 264 9 13 gold% -33 -33 str 5 5 0
Runeword116 Radiance 1 helm r04 r12 r06 light 5 5 enr 10 10 vit 10 10 red-mag 3 3 mana 33 33 ac% 75 75 0
Runeword120 Rhyme 1 shld r13 r05 block2 20 20 block 20 20 res-all 25 25 nofreeze 1 1 gold% 50 50 mag% 25 25 0
Runeword126 Silence 1 weap r14 r02 r15 r24 r03 r26 manasteal 4 4 stupidity 33 33 dmg% 200 200 swing2 20 20 res-all 75 75 allskills 2 2 balance2 20 20 0
Runeword128 Smoke 1 tors r04 r17 ac-miss 250 250 ac% 75 75 res-all 50 50 balance2 20 20 light -1 -1 charged 72 18 6 0
Runeword133 Stealth 1 tors r07 r05 red-mag 3 3 dex 6 6 stam 15 15 move2 25 25 cast2 25 25 balance2 25 25 0
Runeword134 Steel 1 swor axe mace r03 r01 swing2 25 25 dmg-min 3 3 dmg-max 3 3 openwounds 50 50 dmg% 20 20 0
Runeword139 Strength 1 mele r11 r03 str 20 20 dmg% 35 35 vit 10 10 crush 25 25 0
Runeword154 Venom 1 weap r07 r14 r23 dmg-pois 175 312 312 ignore-ac 1 1 charged 83 27 15 charged 92 11 13 manasteal 7 7 0
Runeword160 Wealth 1 tors r20 r18 r03 gold% 250 250 mag% 100 100 0
Runeword162 White 1 wand r14 r16 skilltab 7 3 3 red-mag 4 4 cast2 20 20 mana 13 13 skill 68 3 3 skill 84 2 2 skill 69 4 4 0
Runeword170 Zephyr 1 miss r09 r05 move2 25 25 swing2 25 25 dmg% 33 33 att 66 66 gethit-skill 240 7 1 ac 25 25 0
Runeword14 Bound by Duty 1 tors DolUmBerIst r14 r22 r30 r24 res-all 50 50 ac% 70 70 dmg-demon 200 200 dmg-undead 100 100 lifesteal 8 8 allskills 2 2 str 20 20 0
Runeword9 Bramble 1 tors RalOhmSurEth r08 r27 r29 r05 balance2 50 50 ac 300 300 aura Thorns 15 21 heal-kill 13 13 extra-pois 25 50 res-pois 100 100 charged Spirit of Barbs 33 13 0
Runeword11 Breath of the Dying 1 weap VexHelElEldZodEth r26 r15 r01 r02 r33 r05 swing2 60 60 dmg-undead 125 125 lifesteal 12 15 noheal 1 1 kill-skill Poison Nova 50 20 dmg% 350 400 all-stats 30 30 0
Runeword13 Call to Arms 1 weap AmnRalMalIstOhm r11 r08 r23 r24 r27 swing2 40 40 dmg% 200 240 allskills 1 1 oskill Battle Command 2 6 oskill Battle Orders 1 6 oskill Battle Cry 1 4 regen 12 12 0
Runeword17 Crescent Moon 1 axe swor pole ShaelUmTir r13 r22 r03 pierce-ltng 35 35 ignore-ac 1 1 dmg% 180 220 abs-mag 9 11 charged Summon Spirit Wolf 30 18 hit-skill Static Field 7 13 hit-skill Chain Lightning 10 17 0
Runeword22 Delirium 1 helm LemIstIo r20 r24 r16 hit-skill Confuse 11 18 charged Attract 60 17 gethit-skill Terror 14 13 ac 261 261 gethit-skill Mind Blast 6 14 gethit-skill Delerium Change 1 50 allskills 2 2 0
Runeword26 Doomsayer 1 axe pole hamm HelOhmUmLoCham r15 r27 r22 r28 r32 dmg% 280 320 aura Holy Freeze 12 12 swing2 45 45 noheal 1 1 pierce-cold 40 60 allskills 2 2 hit-skill Volcano 5 18 0
Runeword33 Enigma 1 tors JahIthBer r31 r06 r30 ac 750 775 heal-kill 14 14 move2 45 45 str/lvl 6 allskills 2 2 mag%/lvl 8 oskill Teleport 1 1 0
Runeword137 Stone 1 tors ShaelUmPulLum r13 r22 r21 r17 ac% 220 260 charged Clay Golem 16 16 ac-miss 300 300 charged Molten Boulder 80 16 str 16 16 vit 16 16 balance2 40 40 0
Runeword36 Eternity 1 mele AmnBerIstSolSur r11 r30 r24 r12 r29 dmg% 260 310 indestruct 1 1 slow 33 33 charged Revive 88 8 regen 16 16 regen-mana 16 16 nofreeze 1 1 0
Runeword37 Exiles Path 1 pala VexOhmIstDol r26 r27 r24 r14 block2 30 30 freeze 1 1 ac% 220 260 aura Defiance 13 16 skilltab 10 2 2 hit-skill Life Tap 15 5 rep-dur 25 0
Runeword39 Famine 1 axe hamm FalOhmOrtJah r19 r27 r09 r31 dmg% 270 320 lifesteal 12 12 swing2 30 30 noheal 1 1 dmg-mag 180 200 dmg-elem 100 50 200 ethereal 1 1 0
Runeword48 Hand of Justice 1 weap SurChamAmnLo r29 r32 r11 r28 swing2 33 33 dmg% 280 330 aura Holy Fire 16 16 levelup-skill Blaze 100 36 death-skill Meteor 100 48 ignore-ac 1 1 pierce-fire 20 20 0
Runeword51 Heart of the Oak 1 staf mace KoVexPulThul r18 r26 r21 r10 cast2 40 40 charged Oak Sage 25 4 mana% 15 15 allskills 3 3 regen 20 20 res-all 30 40 charged Raven 60 14 0
Runeword66 Kingslayer 1 swor axe MalU
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