Like the title asks, are there any mods out there that revert D2 to an older version? Looking around on nexusmods and like 99% of all the mods I’ve seen on there have basically just been cheats. I don’t wanna cheat. I just wanna play the older versions I remember from my childhood, like Necros that can have 20 of each summon type, no energy pots so investing points into energy was actually viable, etc., etc…
For D2 LoD there’s the Cactus version switcher program:
For D2R there’s a mod called Retro that attempts to recreate several versions (1.06, 1.07, 1.08, and 1.09, can select separately) as closely as possible within D2R’s softcoded modding limits:
Any version before 1.07 is classic only as well.
Yeah there are mods .
There is a 1.09 server on OG D2. Pretty dead though unfortunately. Very under appreciated mod. I’d link it but I’m assuming that’s not allowed. Should be pretty easy to find via Google though.
There is a mod on nexus mods that does it’s best to emulate older versions of D2 through D2R, primarily aimed at 1.09. I did a couple of playthroughs on it last month.
https://www.nexusmods.com/diablo2resurrected/mods/312
Features
This mod lets you select a game version to emulate:
1.06b (Classic only)
1.07
1.08
1.09d
The game version determines the following:
Monster stats for all difficulties (level, HP, AC, damage, resistances, experience)
Class skills (damage, mana cost, casting delays)
Itemization (magic/rare affixes, set items, unique items)
Horadric Cube recipes
Rune drop rates
Rune names (Shae, Po, and Jo runes for 1.07)
Gambling odds (1.06b)
The mod also makes the following changes for all versions:
Mana potions are removed from vendors
Decrepify is replaced with Iron Maiden in Chaos Sanctuary
Act 5 "guest monsters" are removed
Keys and essences do not drop
1.10 XP penalty for high-level characters has been reverted
Durance of Hate Level 2 has been reduced in size for Nightmare and Hell
Explosion damage has been increased for monsters that explode on death
1.07 runewords are enabled for all versions (no other way to do it)
Guided Arrow can pierce again
Damage synergies are removed from skills (non-damage synergies remain)
There are also a few options for mixing bits of 1.06b into other versions of the game such as pre-LOD monster resistances (removes most immunities), removal of casting delays, pre-LOD Lord De Seis (Conviction aura + Oblivion Knight minions), and Flamespike the Crawler.
See the README.md in the mod folder for more information.
I’m open to feedback and ideas for other features.
Limitations
These are features that do not appear to be moddable for D2R. If someone knows different or knows alternate ways I might be able to pull some of these off, please let me know.
Skills in general. Many have changed drastically over time in their mechanics and how they are parameterized. I will never be able to accurately restore some of them. This often results in some skills being more powerful than they used to be, especially when playing version 1.06b. For example, Lightning Mastery reduced the mana cost of lightning skills in 1.06b instead of boosting their damage. I don't believe I have a method to restore this.
Legacy Blood Golem + Iron Maiden behavior
Increase /players monster HP scaling to 1.09 levels
Raise maximum % physical damage reduced from 50% to 75% (the 1.09 limit)
Automods on unique/set items
Duriel charge - still exists in the monster AI and can be enabled, but it is bugged and often causes Duriel to get stuck in animation
It was a fun blast from the past to play, but to be honest, 1.09 wasn’t as fun as I remember it, especially piercing Guided Arrow was not as awesome as my nostalgia made it out to be (except on bosses). 1.10 and beyond did a lot of things right (Pits and Ancient Tunnels were not even Level 85 zones back then), even if it backstepped the ability to really play diverse elements and functions in your build because of the synergies and made some areas more of a slog to get through (Durance of Hate…). The guest monsters, despite forcing rerolling maps due to immunity structures, were more interesting than what was there in many of the zones (at least, once they removed Iron Maiden from the Oblivion Knights).