Player VS Player

Going Hostile
Normally, players in Multiplayer games cannot attack each other, and spells never cause damage to other players. However, those players who wish to duel one another, prey on the weak, or cause trouble in the ranks may do so by selecting the "Hostile" option from the Party Menu. When a player goes hostile with another, both players can attack and harm each other. When a player goes hostile to you, you receive a warning message. As an additional alert, hostile players show up as a red X on your Automap and a hostile icon is displayed on the upper right of your screen.

If you are killed by another player (PKed), your character does not drop the gold being carried, but instead drops the amount of gold that would be lost if you had been killed by a monster. This prevents a player killer (PK) from taking the gold you are carrying. Of course, in this case the gold dropped comes from your stash too.

Your character also drops a trophy ear, marked with the character's name, class, and level.

Note: You may only activate the "Hostile" option while in town. A character lower than level 9 cannot be hostile. Also, upon declaring hostility any Town Portal you have cast will disappear. Further, hostiles may no longer use a Town Portal cast by another player.

Other players will receive a message whenever players change their relationship settings with them. You will not see this message, but they will.

Once you have flagged another player as hostile, they will immediately and automatically be hostile to you as well, no matter where they are in the game. They will also stay hostile with you unless they open their party menu and pick neutral.

When you declare hostility against one player in the game, you will also become hostile with other members of that player's party.

Warning: When you go neutral with a player that has been hostile to you, this will not force them to become neutral with you. They will now be able to attack you and you will not be able to respond to their attacks until you go back to town and declare yourself hostile with that player again.

When attacking other players, all damage of attacks and spells are cut in half. Some spells are special cased, such as Paladin Thorns, which will only do 1/10th the damage against other players. The duration of poison, cold, are not affected unless the player has equipment that relates to those elemental attacks.

Valkyries, Hirelings, Skeletons, and Golems will attack other players when Hostile. Minion's damage will be cut in half when attacking other players.

Which Skills do not work on other players?

You can tell if a skill will work on another player by looking at the skill description:

Enemies = monsters and players
Monsters = monsters only, not players.

What do you get for killing another player?

A Player Drops an Ear with the Player's Name, Class, and Level.

You will also be able to pick up any Gold they have dropped.

If the player killed already has an unlooted corpse in the game, this new corpse will drop all items they have equipped that you will also be able pick up.

If someone loses his connection with a game (or leaves it), does the character disappear instantaneously?

Characters do not leave the world instantaneously, but they will drop out of the world within 15-30 seconds.

Nightmare, Hell Difficulty
You will lose experience when you are killed by other players on those difficulty levels.

 Tips for Survival  [top]

Protect your game with a password
Only allow players to join the game that you trust. This is one of the best defenses against Player Killers (PKs).

Set Level Limits and Maximum Number of players
If you create an Open Game, when creating the game, set the Character Difference to a level really close to your level. That way no one can join the game that is significantly a higher level than your character. You can also limit the Maximum number of players, which prevents gangs of player killers from joining.

Check the players level when they join the game
Check the player's level in the Party Screen when they join the game. The Party Screen is activated by 'P' on your keyboard. You will often see the join message before they finish loading.

Don't give away your location
Also, the first words a player killer will often say is "Where are you?" or questions regarding your location. If you want to avoid conflict, don't tell them. The realm of Diablo 2 is quite huge, and it's quite possible they could search for hours before finding you.

Be Ready To Run
When playing in Public Games, keep a Town Portal Scroll ready or have your Town Portal Tome hotkeyed. Players cannot attack you in town, so use a Town Portal to escape to Town. You can also run back to a town entrance if you are close by, if you are caught without a Town Portal Scroll or Tome.

Play the Dungeon Door Game
Enter and leave a dungeon until the other player becomes bored and gives up. A test of will. This may not work against such skills that stay in the area such as Fire Wall, Blizzard, and so on.

Leave the Game
Once you have left the game, the player killer may also leave the game. Then you can rejoin the game you created because it will stay up for a little while without any players in the game.

Once killed, never go back for your body
The Player killer may be camping your corpse, and there's no reason to retrieve it, right then and there, unless you want to show him you can take the player killer down without your equipment. Also, the oldest body is saved, and anything on newer bodies is dropped. Create a new game and retrieve your body in peace.