I have never played offline before (always ladder), but am tempted to do so for the first time in 2.6. My understanding is that ALL runewords, TerrorZones, and Sunder Charms will be available offline and–as I just recently discovered making a new character offline in preparation for 2.6–you can /p8…I guess I find myself asking why should I still play ladder?
Yes, obvious benefits include trading. I have made in-game trades before. But honestly, I don’t have any friends who play any more and I just play for stress relief (something about arcade style blowing stuff up is relaxing). I do enjoy gearing my character and pursuing high-end builds…so that’s my deliberation I need your advice / suggestions / comments on: ladder for trades or offline /p8 ? I guess why would someone play one over the other in 2.6? (I suppose another option is online NON-ladder to keep the characters and gear I already have, but no /p8) Thank you in advance for your time
“Back in the day”, I played Ladder exclusively but I always found it rather frustrating. I was never really able to get the things I needed to get to try the near infinite builds I wanted to try before reset, but was afraid I would miss the multi and trading, until I eventually just quit the game altogether.
Fast-forward a decade, I picked up D2R. I started playing SP since it was mid-Ladder, and it’s been better than I ever imagined. /p8 is fantastic. Infinite Chars/Mules is fantastic. Lack of bots/griefers/elitists is fantastic. You can even crack and add items that will never freaking drop if you’re so inclined.
I plan on playing the next Ladder myself, but SP is my main game now. Ladder is just going to be an… extra thing.
For your questions, they’re supposed to be adding TZs and all current ladder only RWs and Cube Recipes (like upping Set Items) to SP when the next ladder starts, but the NEW new RWs like Hustle and Cure are then going to be Ladder-only.
On a side note, people always talk about /p8 in regards item drops, but the extra XP is great too. Start a new char, set /p8, and play the game. You’ll be level 70+ by the time you beat NM Baal, no grinding needed.
4 Likes
On a side note, and might seem cheating, but after hudreds of fruitless farm runs, I also have the option to hero edit in items i’m seeking in offline. And there are also some cool offline mods for D2R allready.
1 Like
Those will be available in SP immediately at 2.6 release as well, just like 2.4 runewords were. See here in the patch notes:
We are introducing eight new Rune Words for Ladder and Offline Single-Player play.
As for the OP, I’d suggest playing single player if you don’t have friends to enjoy ladder with. That’s what I’ve been doing, mainly playing single player and occassionally a ladder reset if I can get my friend group together to play. 
2 Likes
I’ve always played offline since release in 2000. At first I did it because bnet was straight up unplayable on my dial-up. So much lag. Even now, unless you live close to the servers, online play has noticeable lag compared to offline.
Then they introduced ladder resets and the concept did not in any way appeal to me. I don’t like losing progress and a full reset is just that.
There’s a few advantages to playing offline too. I see people here often complaining about the 20 characters limit. Well there is no such limit in offline mode. Not to mention mods like loot filters or the fact that GoMule exists (Stash files external to the game that can contain as many items as you wish, ideal for grail collecting). The -enablerespec command line argument that lets you respect infinitely without farming tokens. The fact that the map doesn’t reset between games unless you change difficulty meaning you can farm for a durance 2 map with waypoint close to level 3 then you can keep it as long as you want. And of course you mentioned p8 already.
My opinion is a bit biased of course but if you’re only playing to relax and don’t have any friends that play, I’d say play offline. The only downside is you actually have to play through act 3 >.>
2 Likes
I have generally become a fan of modding my single player experience to make it exactly what I’m looking for.
You can enable all the new functionality offline - runewords, stacking runes … just about anything that the devs refuse to do.
There is hardly any reason to play ladder aside from wanting to play with friends.
3 Likes
They are the exact same thing except you can adjust players and have static maps in SP.
If you play alone and also like to play melee SP is strictly better due to the static maps making farming 100% easier.
2 Likes
I really hope they add TCP/IP, or something that lets you play with friends. Modding can fix a lot of what the dev team is and isn’t doing.
2 Likes
facepalm
I remember seeing that now…
Right, I knew I forgot something, I do like to play melee (Fanat/zeal main) and the static maps make farming mephisto and a few other places with enlarged maps in hell a lot more viable than it would be online, at least without slapping enigma on everything. Then there’s lower Kurast superchest rune farming that’s 300% faster with static maps.
1 Like
Exactly the same for me. I mostly use small modifications to fix personal nitpicks I have with the game.
1 Like
I think ladder needs a change as well. it needs different challenges other than race to Ubers and farm torches to get end game gear as quick as possible. Everyone who plays knows this routine and nobody seems to care that it has remained the same. Playing on single player can be just as fulfilling and even makes more sense because you can play the game as it was intended. I hope we can get a SSF ladder mode eventually for players who want to cut out jsp.
2 Likes