Changes

King Leoric was driven insane by Diablo's attempts to possess him. In his madness the King brought about the destruction of his kingdom, and would have killed everyone in it had not his royal guards turned on him and put him out of his misery. His torment was not yet at an end, for Leoric returned as The Skeleton King, his gigantic reanimated skeleton bent on raising an army of the dead to serve his new lord, Diablo. Much of the plot of ''Diablo'' revolves around revealing the cause of Leoric's madness, and the fate of his son and his trusted adviser, Lazarus.

In multiplayer the Skeleton King is encountered every game, located randomly somewhere on level 3. He isn't that fearsome himself, but the huge mob of skeletons around him can be very difficult, especially if there are dozens of skeletal archers firing at your new, low-AC character. He does not raise skeletons in multiplayer, but instead has 100% life steal, gaining as much life as he inflicts upon you in damage. He can heal completely, or even fill up more than his beginning hit points. He drops a random magical item when killed in multiplayer.