So I died pretty far out in the durance (on a conf call, not paying attn).
No portal or WP nearby… equip some new gear (Viperskin and some staff I had, magefists, etc,)
Tried to tele to my first corpse - didnt make it. I said “screw it” and just left the game so I could start over and recover all my gear etc.
Well… that second set of gear, I’m pretty sure its gone now - can’t find it and there was only one corpse on the docks. WTF? Seriously? Did I really just eff that up?
So irritating with this game sometimes.
3 Likes
The game keeps the corpse with the highest gold value and deletes every other corpse. Been that way for 20 years
6 Likes
Ya there are a few dozen quirks d2 has, most games smoothened them out over the years but D2 is still unforgiving.
One perk of HC I guess, I never have to worry about that.
2 Likes
Never equip new gear to recover a body. Go naked or rejoin. Hope you didn’t lose too much.
Mechanics issue. It doesn’t pick a corpse based on gold held. Once u equip gear and die a second time, the old body pops and it’s gear is put on the ground. Your second dead geared body will be what you recover on ng.
This is also a method people will use to try and steal your gear. If they pk you and trick you into equiping something then pk u again. Your original gear is now free for them to grab.
2 Likes
i think it actually (thankfully) recovered my first corpse. since I had the spirit and higher vipermagi equipped, etc. So my best gear set is definitely still on now. Still sucks losing other good stuff though.
LOL you just learned the hard way. Many of us have so don’t feel stupid about it. Happened to me back in the day.
1 Like
well that’s new to me. afaik it’s always been your most recent body. Perhaps i’m missing a key detail, but i’m 99% sure it’s got nothing to do with your gold count because your first body shouldn’t easily have the most gold most of the time.
Worst idea ever my friend, NEVER EVER EVER equip new gear and go after your body. This will guarantee you will die again (because your already did on your main gear) and will have 2 bodies. Now the game will only recover the second corpse with the trash gear. Congratz you managed to throw away your main gear. Always save and exit, then get your corpse, and try again
No, not on Bnet for certain. The old Arreat Summit has the info on D2 Death mechanics The Arreat Summit - Basics: Character Information
Multiple Corpses/Losing Items!
A player may have up to 16 corpses.
Realm Characters: The corpse with the most gold value (in items) will be saved between games. So keep this in mind when putting on equipment to recover your corpse. Your original body with your equipment should save unless you manage to equip yourself with a greater value of equipment, die, then leave the game.
Open Characters: Only your oldest corpse is saved between games. Make sure you go back and recover your original body with your equipment before leaving the game.
Warning on recovering your corpse
If you needed +Strength or +Dexterity items to equip other weapons or pieces of armor, you may have to re-equip these items manually. When you click on your corpse, the game attempts to re-equip your items to where they were before your death, but this depends largely on the order in which your items are picked up. For example, armor that requires more than your base Strength will not be equipped if the game attempts to place it before placing the item that increased your Strength enough to wear the armor. In this case, the armor will return to your inventory; if you do not have enough room, it will remain on the corpse. Check your inventory and make sure that all of your items have been re-equipped correctly.
Body Count
Having Difficulty recovering your corpse?
If you can’t find your corpse, or if it’s too dangerous to retrieve it with your current equipment, simply exit and re-enter the game. Your corpse, and all of its items, will appear near your starting point in town. The only drawback is that you will lose any gold your character dropped when he died and you will give up the chance to regain 75% of your lost experience on Nightmare and Hell Difficulty. This is a good option for Nightmare and Hell difficulties, in which death results in lost experience. The corpse will appear at your starting point, typically near the point where Town Portals appear in town: In Lut Gholein, this area is at the bottom right of town. In Kurast, it is next to Meshif. You should be able to find your corpse easily if you explore the town.
Character Saving/Loading and Corpses
Periodically, Battle.net will automatically save every character playing in every Diablo II game. Your character will also be saved when you choose “Save and Exit Game” from the ‘Esc’ menu. If you die and leave a game without retrieving your corpse, it will be placed in town at the beginning of the next game you join or start.
6 Likes
Thank you cheetah!
(20 char)
When you say the most value equip, this mean to NPC prices right?
Yes, it is the NPC vendor price that you can sell it for.
That means a white staff or scepter can be top gold value based on how it sells. Some white armors are also sell well.
If someone accidentally (or intentionally) clicks on some other item on the way to the corpse, dies again, then leaves game, they risk getting the wrong corpse back.
That XP or even gold is not worth losing your gear over. Always leave game after the first death unless you KNOW it is easy to get your body back.
1 Like
better just to stick to the rule - you died, save and exit. Get your corpse in town, try again. Thx
1 Like
If I ever die and want to get my corpse back I go naked or I put on gear and clear my body then put everything away THEN go and get my corpse. I usually always try and get my corpse back though, because 90+ leveling in Solo hell with /players1 comes with about 5 or so hours of exp lost.
I guess you could say that you have given your gear, so that others may avoid such a fate. Its almost selfless really. 
1 Like
I always thought it was a silly rule, literally should be the opposite (less value)… almost every single uniques / rares are worth like 1/4 of a white with skills.
ONLY having one corpse seems better to me. If you put on alt gear to go fetch your corpse and die again, you pop your alt gear onto the ground.
Nah, I actually recovered the good gear from the first corpse, so maybe Blizz has fixed that or something? What you’re saying from a mechanics perspective makes sense though, so I will count myself lucky - somehow?
im curious what happens if somehow both corpses have the exact same gold value?
coinflip? timestamp?