Diablo Levels: Difference between revisions

==Tristram==

The town of [[D1_Tristram|Tristram]] is the first level in the game, and one that players must return to in order to buy and sell items, and replenish their potion stocks. All of the [[D1 NPCs|NPCs]] are found in Tristram, and some of them must be spoken to in order to receive quests and quest rewards. There are stairways down to all the levels in the dungeon from town, though the stairs down to the deeper dungeons do not appear until characters reach various minimum level requirements.

The uppermost four levels are called the "Dungeon" in-game when you point the mouse at the front door of the Cathedral, but this may be a holdover of the use of the term "dungeon" for any fantasy adventure area.  Most players often call this the "Cathedral", "Church", or "Monastery", as it is directly below the desecrated building.

===Catacombs===

Levels 5-8 are called the Catacombs, or abbreviated to "the Cats." These dark, gray and black levels are maze-like, winding through long, narrow corridors and frequently bottle-necking at single width doorways. The cats are filled with numerous small chambers, most of which boast libraries, shrines, goat shrines, or skeletal tomes. These small rooms are usually packed full of monsters, and many players enjoy leveling up in the cats since those chambers are experience honeypots.

===Caves===

Levels 9-12 are known as the Caves. The Caves are much more difficult than the Catacombs for most characters, with wide open areas and no long narrow spots to funnel monsters through. There are some gates along the low fences, but the ranged attackers will fire over them, and many monsters will pathfind around some cluster of rock when the gate is blocked, coming at you from behind.

The Caves can be hard to see in, since the outcroppings of rock do not go transparent when you walk behind them. Items dropped behind walls can be quite hard to find, and it's tough to target monsters or barrels at times.

[[Image:D1-level-caves1.gif|center|frame|Ranged attackers can use the lava to their advantage.]]

===Hell===

The levels from 13-16 are referred to as Hell, though Diablo II makes it clear that this is merely a warped manifestation and not the [[Act IV|real thing itself]]. The Caves are actually more like the classical Christian conception of Hell, with rocks and lava and flame; the "Hell" levels in Diablo are very clean and sterile, with walls and stairs seemingly formed from bones, and what looks like lakes of blood behind the walls on every side.  

====Level 16====

Level 16 always has the same layout and monsters (Blood Knights and Advocates) each game, with about half of the monsters in pre-set positions. Others are spawned in random locations each game, though. There are no chests, barrels, or cauldrons found on level 16. Since there are always only two types of monsters on this level, and since Advocates are triple immune on Hell difficulty, all characters can benefit from special tactics on this level.

This same sort of Fireball gauntlet can be run in other places on the map, including the western quarter (once the switch is thrown to open the walls). It's much easier to clear the Advocates out of that + shaped box once the Knights are disposed of.

==Hellfire Levels==

===Nest/Hive===

[[Image:Hive-entrance2.gif|left|thumb|Hive entrance.]]

The Hive, as it's usually called, or the Nest, as it's officially named, uses the level generation of the Caves, but changes the graphics from rock and lava to a vaguely sci-fi, Aliens-styled insect hive. Some of the monsters are themed to that insect style; giant spiders and scorpions and such, but many others seem fairly random in design and function.

===Crypt===

The Crypt is meant to be equivalent to Hell in difficulty, and the monsters there, all newly added in Hellfire, can be quite nasty. The area is easier than Hell, at least on normal difficulty, since all of the doorways provide easy choke points to bottleneck the monster mobs. It gets harder on Nightmare and Hell though, especially for Sorcerers, since the monsters have much more varied resistances and immunities, and quite a few of the beasties are immune to fire and lightning, forcing Sorcerers to use the much weaker magical damage spells, or else stone curse and a melee weapon. The smaller rooms and areas are a pain for Sorcerers too, keeping their spells from hitting enemies at long distance.

[[Image:D1-level-crypt2.gif|center|frame|Lots of high walls and narrow doorways give the Crypt its flavor.]]

[[category:Diablo I]]

[[category:Hellfire]]