You start the game from the town of Tristram. Your starting equipment is very poor and varies depending on the character you choose. Here, by talking to the various inhabitants, you can become familiar with the game and learn what your mission consists of. You must then find the deconsecrated church, from which you can descend into the labyrinth.
The labyrinth consists of 16 levels that you will face one after the other, going deeper and deeper until you meet Diablo, your final enemy. In each level, you have to find a ladder that allows you to go down to the level below. Before going down to the lower level, however, you should first fully explore the one you are in, to obtain money, equipment and useful items for proceeding, as well as defeating all enemies to accumulate experience points and increase your level. If you don't, proceeding will soon become too difficult. Each level will be different every time you play and this makes the game very long lasting. In fact, only the secondary missions of the game are reported in this walkthrough, which are always the same. However, they also change every time you play: some of them are always present during the game, but for the most part they are present on some occasions and not on others. This also increases the longevity of the game.
As you descend, the environments will become more and more gloomy and the enemies you meet more powerful and dangerous. The first four levels have the appearance of a dungeon, while levels 5 to 8 consist of catacombs and those 9 to 12 of abandoned caves. Finally, the deeper levels have a hellish aspect.
Enemies[edit]
Some enemies may require a specific strategy to be killed. Not a specific item or some kind of slayer, but tips to make you kill them easier. Something you need to know is that there are three kinds of monsters:
- Undeads: like squeletons, zombies and so on.
- Monsters: like scavengers, bats, etc.
- Demons: almost every other enemy.
Some minions, specifically Diablo's minions, will only appear when close to you. They will keep lurking in the darkness until you get close enough for him to attack you. Luckily, they are not quite strong, but that doesn't mean an horde can't surround you and kill you quickly. The way is to stay alert.
Resistance and immunity[edit]
Some unique foes and maybe even normal ones may hold some resistances, and sometimes immunities. This data is reported under the enemy's name when you encounter it.
Foes with resistance to some element (that can be fire, lightning, magic or maybe all of them), means that the specific element will cause less damage than it should. But that doesn't mean he will not take damage, it just will get more difficult to kill him with that element.
However, enemies with immunities means that the foe is completely immune to certain element(s). Meaning, he will not take damage from that element spell.
Unique enemies[edit]
From time to time you will encounter enemies whose names appear written in gold. That means it's a unique monster, or a "Leader." Generally, Leaders come with a horde of the same kind of enemies. For example, a unique Fallen One, like Snotspill, will come with a horde of Fallen Ones. When these enemies are killed, they certainly drop a magical item, sometimes even a very powerful one, and will give you more experience than normal enemies. Naturally though, these enemies are harder to kill than normal ones and usually have magic resistances or immunities.