The Diablo II: Lord of Destruction World Event

The World Event was one of the most highly anticipated features of Version 1.10. Ever since Blizzard Entertainment announced this feature, rumors have sprung forth about what it would involve. Players speculated that this Realm-only, Hell difficulty-only game play bonus could be something of another Secret Cow Level, or a treasure hunt for an uber-item.

Blizzard has kept a tight-lipped policy about the World Event, and fans begged for more details. What we did know for sure was that it involved selling some amount of Stone of Jordan rings to non-player character merchants, and a neat little unique charm called Annihilus. We even thought it might involve a Horadric Cube recipe a la The Moo Moo Farm's portal. It turned about to be a much more straightforward, simple process.

So how does one experience the World Event?

Recall that it requires you to be playing on the Battle.net Realms in Hell difficulty, and it involves selling Stone of Jordan rings. However, as long as players across the Realm you're playing on are selling Stone of Jordan rings, you won't need any! In fact, you can be sitting in a game doing nothing and the event can activate. One point which may help is taking care to play during high volume levels (when most players are active on the Realm), such as the evening in your time zone. When you do, you can expect to see the following message appear in text similar to the announcement when a character is slain.

When this number reaches high amounts, such as between 150-300, at random intervals the World Event will activate in the game you're in. It occurs at random intervals of the number of rings sold, but will only be activated once per game. You'll know it's activated by the following ominous message.

The next person to encounter a super-unique monster in your game instance will get a big surprise. The monster can be within any Act in the game, and we've seen screenshots of the clone from Acts One, Three, and Five thus far. It will transform into Diablo, or more accurately, a clone of Diablo, ground shaking as if you'd opened the five seals in The Chaos Sanctuary. It will also be a strengthened version of Diablo (95% All Elemental Resistance), who takes several minutes to kill with a fully equipped party.

Your ultimate reward for slaying this Diablo clone is a single item, the unique charm Annihilus. The Diablo clone is the only monster in the game that will drop it. It is certainly an item to covet, for its powerful bonuses. Take a look for yourself!

Thanks: Halfblynd88

We've heard speculation that the World Event may not be at all, or is loosely tied to sold Stones of Jordan. Rumors have pointed to the sell counter being fake itself, or the World Event occurring at absolutely random times controlled by Blizzard.

After doing some research we have our doubts on these theories. The incentive for Blizzard to use Stones of Jordan sold as the actual trigger for the World Event is obvious: It's about time to get rid of all the duped Stones of Jordan out there, and here's a way to do that which truly benefits the player.

Tips for defeating Diablo clone:

• Go at him in parties, especially with Paladins using Conviction (Offensive Aura) to reduce Diablo's elemental resistances.



• Make sure someone in your party is alive and near him at all times. His health may reset if this is not the case.



• Use tactics you learned while fighting the regular Diablo, but heed the warning that the clone is much more powerful.

Send in your own tips and strategy guides for defeating the Diablo clone and get them featured on PlanetDiablo!

We'd like to put together a nice gallery of screenshots of the World Event, so send in your best ones and you will be given credit.