Multiplayer
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
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.
and their party status. To invite others to join you in a party, or to join your existing party, just click the invite icon next to their name. They will see a message about your invitation in bright green text, and can join with a click of the icon in the party window. There is no leader of a party; everyone is equal in it and anyone can invite additional players to join.
To get an invitation to a party, you can ask by typing a chat message. There is no way to ask for an invite via the party window, and it's impossible to force your way into a party. By the same token, it's impossible to kick someone else out of a party. You can always leave a party though, and if someone in the party is being annoying and the others don't want to share experience with them, everyone can leave the party and form a new one without inviting the annoying person to join.
Party Options
If no button appears, then the player is not available - because that player is already a member of another party. You may not invite them until they leave their current party. Of course, they could invite you to join theirs.
Once in a party you may leave it by pressing the LEAVE button at the top of the party screen. If you leave a party of more than two players, the other players remain in that party. Once you leave a party, you may form or join another.
There are three or four buttons on the Party Screen depending on whether you are playing Normal or Hardcore mode: Neutral/Hostile button: When the button shows crossed swords, you are Hostile to the associated player. You may only go hostile once per minute with each other player in your game. Allow/Prevent Corpse Looting button (Hardcore Only). This can allow other players to loot your body which in Hardcore mode can mean saving your items from being destroyed. Include/Exclude from Chat button. When you Exclude a player, that player cannot hear or see any verbal communication coming from you. Squelch/Unsquelch button. When you Squelch a player, you cannot hear or see any verbal communication coming from that player. NOTE: When you press any button on the Party screen, the target player receives an appropriate message about your action.
Party Benefits
Forming Parties with other Players Parties allow players to share experience, gold, information about where the players in the party are located, and quest information. Parties allow players to work together to beat the game. Many Class skills are designed to help not only yourself but other players in a party. A good example of this is the Paladin's Defensive Aura: Prayer. Prayer not only will heal the Paladin but will also heal his Hireling and other members of the party and their Hirelings. There are plenty of other party friendly skills and spells.
Party Relationships Each player has 2 possible relationships with all other players in the game -- Neutral (the default) and Hostile. Changes to your relationships are made in the Party screen. (Press 'P' to bring it up.) Here is how the settings work:
Hostile: You can target players with this setting - just as if they were monsters. If Player X goes Hostile to Player Y, then Player Y automatically goes Hostile to Player X in return. If Player X goes Hostile to Player Y and then goes Neutral, Player Y remains Hostile to Player X until Player Y chooses to go Neutral to Player X. A player can go Hostile only while in town. The other player can be anywhere.
If a player goes Hostile with a member of a party, all other members of the party will go Hostile with that player in return. If a player attempts to go Hostile to a fellow Party member, that player is simply dropped from the Party and becomes a regular Neutral.
Neutral: You cannot target players with this setting. If you try to target a particular Neutral player, the true target instead shifts to a nearby monster, Hostile player, or simply the ground. You cannot directly harm a Neutral player.
Neutral players may form a Party together. Party members share equally in gold and experience points. Certain skills, like Paladin Auras and Barbarian Warcries, apply to party members, too.
NOTE: You receive a message whenever players change their relationship settings with you.
Experience is Shared within a Party The total experience earned for killing a monster is increased by 35% when a party member of the killer is in the same named area, defined as the "level" on the Automap. Then the pool is divided as explained below:
For each party member the total Experience earned for killing a monster is divided into shares -- where each member's fraction of the total Experience is equal to the member's level divided by the sum of all the members' levels. After this Experience Share is computed, it is multiplied by another percentage that is computed on a sliding scale that is based on the difference between your character's level and the monster's level -- regardless of whether you are in a party or not. The sliding scale applies if the level difference is between 5 and 10. If the level difference is relatively small (5 or less), you get 100% of the Experience Share. If the level difference is relatively large (10 or more), a minimum amount (5%) of the Experience Share is earned. Thus, high-level characters killing low-level monsters get only a small amount of experience. Similarly, low-level characters killing high-level monsters get only a small amount of experience, as well. This is done so that a level 5 character running around with three level 20 characters isn't getting ridiculous amounts of experience for the higher level monsters which only his level 20 party members can destroy. Finally, party members share experience only when they are in the same named area, defined as the "level" on the Automap.
Experience Restrictions Party Members must be a distance of about 2 screens from the monster death to gain experience from party member kills. This prevents low-level characters from joining a party and then staying completely out of harm's way while still getting Experience.
Gold is Shared within a Party When a party member picks up a stack of Gold, Gold is evenly divided among the members with any remainder going to the one who picks up the pile. Gold is only split when Party members are in the same level area or "zone" as shown on the Automap or party menu. You cannot turn Gold splitting off. Keep this in mind when trying to exchange Gold between party members and when picking up Gold dropped by other party members when they die. It's a good idea to keep Gold in your Stash when in a Party to avoid Gold Splitting issues if you die. To exchange Gold among party members without splitting the Gold use the Secured Trading Screen in town. Other options include leaving the party to pick up the Gold to avoid the split, then rejoin the party. You can also drop Gold in Town or an area, then make sure no one in the party is in the same area when the pile of Gold is picked up off the ground.
Improved Drops for Parties Every party member in the area of the kill increases the chance that stuff will drop (whether via monster death, chests, etc). Every two additional other players in the game (whether it's a non-party member or a party member in another area) count as one additional party member toward the extra chance for a drop.
For example (for a sample baseline 25% drop):
Party Chance Of Getting Something 1 1-(0.75^1) = 0.250 2 1-(0.75^2) = 0.438 3 1-(0.75^3) = 0.578 4 1-(0.75^4) = 0.684 5 1-(0.75^5) = 0.763 6 1-(0.75^6) = 0.822 7 1-(0.75^7) = 0.867 8 1-(0.75^8) = 0.900
Note that most things don't have a 25% chance of dropping something, so the values in the table need to be adjusted for that fact. Also, some monsters (namely bosses and chests), roll more than once for items (since they can drop multiple items). The bonus for additional players gets calculated into each roll.
Some bosses (such as normal uniques) will always drop a magic item or better. The additional players will have no effect on them.
The additional players has no effect on the quality of the drop, it only affects the chance that items get dropped in the first place.
Town Portal Restrictions You cannot enter Town Portals cast by other players in areas beyond the "blocking quests" without having completed those quests: e.g., Canyon of the Magi/Seven Tombs/Duriel's Lair (The Summoner), The Harem/Palace Basement/Arcane Sanctuary (The Tainted Sun), Durance of Hate (The Blackened Temple), The Worldstone Keep (The Ancients), The Secret Cow Level (Terror's End in DII classic or Eve of Destruction in DII: LoD). NOTE: A player who kills the High Council (but doesn't use Khalim's Will to smash the Compelling Orb) may take a Town Portal into the Durance of Hate.
This is to prevent higher level players from helping lower level players to advance further in the game without working for it. If a player is unable to enter a portal, this means they need to complete a quest.
Party Tips
Decide how you are going to divide up the loot. There are a few popular ways to do this:
Players unofficially rotate between items, "you got something last time, now it's my turn."
The Group leader or Master Looter decides which player gets which item.
The least structured method, but unfortunately most popular, is Free-For-All. Whichever player can click on the items the fastest will get those items, if they have room in their backpack. When loot is FFA, often monsters come second as party members race to grab the good loot. Keep in mind that Gold is split so let greedy party members grab up all the gold they want! One thing to watch out for in FFA looting are players who will let other players in the party finish off a monster while they stand there doing nothing waiting for the item to drop. This is not recommended.
Share items among classes that can best use them. You may find a Magic Staff that is worth money to the vendors but do the right thing and let the Sorceress have the Staff if she needs it. Don't be a jerk, if a Sorceress helps you kill a monster, and a Sorceress item drops, let the Sorceress pick it up!
If class-specific items drop, let players of those classes pick them up. Don't pick them up just because you want to see what it is, or because you want to trade it. If a class is helping you, they deserve a cut of the loot. Be fair and let them have their class-specific items. Let the Assassins pick up Katars, let the Sorceress pick up Orbs and so on. Yes that means you, Barbarians!
Share potions among classes that can best use them. While all classes can use Mana, Health and Rejuvenation potions, some classes need some potions over others. Casters need Mana and Rejuvenation Potions, let them have them. Amazons and Melee Characters can use Mana/Life Steal while players like Necromancers, Elemental Druids, and Sorceresses have to rely on Potions and their Mana Regeneration.
If you get a good item such as a Set or Unique, stop looting and let other players in the party do the looting from then on. You got your good item so let them get items to make up for it. Don't be a jerk! Share the loot! When you continue to loot items they will be thinking didn't that player just get something good? And they'll be right! You got your item, it's their turn.
Pick a leader This player will be the one who leads the group throughout areas and dungeons. This player will open doors, and sometimes "pull" monsters back to the party to attack. Barbarians, Amazons with Melee Weapons, Assassins, Melee Druids, and Paladins are good at this job.
An alternative method to a group leader is the wandering pack, which wanders off into an area and comes back together after running into trouble. "Hey I brought some friends for you!" This can also work and may or may not be as successful as having a group leader. This is the most popular but least effective method.
