Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Seriously lacking in "strategy" and as a "guide", August 1, 2000
The Diablo II Strategy Guide has almost no strategy, nor is it a guide. It's nothing but a regurgitation of spell tables and damage, as well as a set of tables on the unique weapons and magic items. Nothing more.This book is lacking the following: 1) Character building strategies. Which skills mesh well with others? What combat strategies work best with each class and various skill sets. Examples: a Sorceress concentrating in Ice proficiencies works much differently than one concentrating in Lightning proficiencies. Similarly, an Amazon choosing the bow over the spear develops much differently, yet we get no hint from the author regarding this. This could have taken many pages and provided useful hints, but instead the author takes the easy way out, mentioning which skills seem to be liked by the Blizzard team and nothing more. 2) Creature descriptions, especially in comparison to the Strategy Guide written for the first Diablo, are severely lacking, but conveniently all available on Blizzard's own website. 3) Better descriptions of quests. The Guide's "hints" usually consist of "go here, fight this, and get this." Well, DUH! That's exactly what the villagers tell you in the game. 4) A better understanding of the Horadric Cube, the game's item transmogrifier device. 5) A comprehensive listing of areas that you can adventure in, as well as hidden areas. 6) Information on the "Cow Level," which now actually exists. Simply put, don't let the shiny cover hypnotize you into purchasing this book. It's not worth it.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Lackluster at best, December 23, 2000
The Diablo II guide adequately covers all aspects of the game, if a list of how to complete the quests, and what the skills do is what you call adequate. The main problem with this book is that it is not a "strategy" guide, since there is virtually no strategy in it at all. No help is given in the sense of tips for how to create a good character - no information at all on how to best allocate experience and skill points. The multiplayer strategies are about five pages of stuff I already knew. The guide gives you a basic overview of the game, but the original Diablo strategy guide is far superior.Blizzard should have written the guide themselves, or got a better publisher like Sybex, who always do good guides, to do it. The worst part is that in the introduction, Mr. Farkas readily atmits that he only ever got to play the game during his two visits to Blizzard North. How can you write a strategy guide if you've hardly even played the game?
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58 of 74 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Must Have For Any Hardcore DiabloII Fan, July 5, 2000
By A Customer
Simply put, this strategy guide is the most complete, most in-depth, and most detailed guide I have ever read. As you leaf through the pages your first time you will notice the amount of raw information it holds. Bart Farkus, from Brady Games, covers almost all aspects of the game, written in a very clear and concise manner. His coverage includes all five character classes, (Amazon, Paladin, Necromancer, Sorceress, Barbarian) their abilities, strengths and weaknesses. This info will definitely optimize your style of game-play, as you will quickly learn what kind of situations to retreat from and regroup, or if you should push ahead and attack. The guide also includes a complete bestiary, items list, and guide to all weapons. These sections will outline and help you define what kind of items you will want to use. If you are unsure of what pairings to use, for example sword with mace, or dagger with javelin, this will definitely help you find the best weapon selection for your unique character. Not to mention which gems go best or worse with other gems. As you read deeper into the book, explanations of shrines, armour, spells and abilities also appear. If you're ever caught in a game not knowing what the spells or shrines do, as I often forget, then grab the guide and in less than a minute you'll understand. Detailed instructions for completing every quest, and killing each boss are also included. It may not be a good idea to read this section, you might like the surprise of finding out how each is to be solved, but this is for emergencies when you've played hours and still cannot beat the boss. Bart Farkus was recently interviewed, and the following facts are things you might want to consider about his experience and in purchasing this guide: -Bart has written a large collection of strategy guides for many different genres of games. -Bart had spent about 25 full days at Blizzard Headquarters to play the game, and ask questions about it with the QA department. -Bart has gathered many strategies and opinions from people from Blizzard themselves on the best strategies and tactics. With this background in writing extensive strategy guides, I think the DiabloII Official Strategy Guide (Official Guide) is a must have for any hardcore DiabloII fan.
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by Bart G. Farkas
