Multiplayer

Shopping with friends.

The ability to play the game with other players is one of the most enjoyable, and maddening, aspects of Diablo II. There's nothing more fun than playing with a group of friends when everyone is good at the game, everyone does their share of the work, the loot is being apportioned justly, and your mixture of characters meshes well. And there are few things as frustrating as being in a party full of item grabbers, lazy players who don't pull their weight, wanna-be PKs, and rush-beggars.

Finding your way into the first type of group, while avoiding the second, is a major preoccupation of most players online, and while no wiki page can tell you how to manage that trick, knowing more about how parties work and the game mechanics underlying them will certainly help.

Forming a Party

The party interface.

To form a party press the "P" key to open the Party screen. This menu will list every player in the game, with their names in three different colors, depending on your character's status with them:

• Green: In your party.
• White: Neutral player. Not in your party or in another party.
• Red: Hostile player, trying to kill you (or you him).

In regards to each character, you have three possible options, depending on their status:

• Invite: Press this button to invite the player to join your party.
• Cancel: Cancel an invitation. (Usually done so you can invite again, in case they didn't notice the first one.)
• Accept: Press this button to accept a party invitation you receive. You will instantly join the party.

more to come....