New Patch Live

Grab your Horadric Cube and log on to Battle.net, denizens of Sanctuary. Blizzard's latest balance patch for Diablo II: Lord of Destruction is live on the realms right now, and it downloads automatically the next time you connect. The Ladder has been reset, so every hero starts fresh at level one in the climb to the top.

Skills and synergies. The headline change touches all seven classes. Many skills now draw bonus power from related skills in the same tree, so points spent early pay off late.

• Sorceress Frozen Orb, Blizzard and the Fire and Lightning lines gain heavy synergy bonuses.
• Paladin Blessed Hammer, Fanaticism and the elemental auras reward a focused build.
• Amazon Javelin and Bow trees, Necromancer summons and curses, Barbarian Warcries, Assassin traps and Druid elemental and shape shifting skills all see reworked scaling.

New runewords. Socketed gear plus the correct rune order still forges the finest armor and weapons in the game. Fresh recipes join the list, several of them Ladder only.

• Enigma grants Teleport to any class from body armor.
• Call to Arms puts Battle Orders on a weapon for every character.
• Spirit, Insight, Fortitude and Infinity round out caster, mercenary and melee options.

Monsters and difficulty. Resistances and immunities across Nightmare and Hell have been retuned. The act bosses Andariel, Duriel, Mephisto, Diablo and Baal hit harder, and cheap rushes into the higher difficulties are no longer a free ride.

Items. Drop odds and stats for magic, rare, set and unique gear, plus runes, gems and charms, have all been adjusted. Recruit a fresh mercenary in Act V Harrogath and gear the merc up too, since a well equipped hireling now carries its weight.

Hardcore heroes, tread carefully. Death remains permanent, hostile duels are sharper than ever, and the new Ladder crown is up for grabs. Whether you play the realms, open, or TCP-IP direct with up to eight in a game, patch first, then dive back into Sanctuary. See you on Battle.net.