How to play 'offline'

[Skezla]

Just thought I'd post this for anyone interested. It was discussed in a Discord channel I'm in so I thought I'd repost here so anyone can point to it if needed.
They don't make it very transparent, that's for sure.


EDIT: Thanks to Coju, I realized that you can bypass the launcher entirely.

If you open your Diablo II Resurrected install folder and run 'D2R' directly instead of 'Diablo II Resurrected Launcher', the game will start immediately.

If you wish to, you can create a shortcut directly to this file (right click on windows and select 'create shortcut' from the dropdown menu)
Or you can edit the already existing shortcut that you have by simply changing the Target. For example, if your Target looks like this

"C:\Diablo II Resurrected\Diablo II Resurrected Launcher.exe"

All you need to do is edit the last part to say 'D2R.exe' instead, like so;

"C:\Diablo II Resurrected\D2R.exe"


Making a new shortcut is probably faster though

 

[Cattleya]

With how most of their other games work with the launcher I was afraid it would be impractical to run anything but the current D2R patch. Even if you remember to kill your internet every time you play, there's still the fact that they'll make you check in every now and then to keep the game running. (From some of the bugged error messages I've seen posted it looks like every 30 days.)

 

[Skezla]

With how most of their other games work with the launcher I was afraid it would be impractical to run anything but the current D2R patch. Even if you remember to kill your internet every time you play, there's still the fact that they'll make you check in every now and then to keep the game running. (From some of the bugged error messages I've seen posted it looks like every 30 days.)

I have heard a variety of different theories and statements about how long it might take, but we shall see. I certainly makes me grateful that console versions exist, so these foolish wannabe security measures are restricted massively. For now, at least, console players aren't expected to have 100% internet uptime....

 

[coju]

I made a shortcut to the desktop from the d2r folder and open it from there for 'offline mode'

 

[Skezla]

I made a shortcut to the desktop from the d2r folder and open it from there for 'offline mode'

Thank you so much; I added this as a method in the OP and gave you mention.
I had no idea the game could be launched that way. I assumed they wouldn't allow it and didn't think to check!

 

[Cattleya]

I can't get it to launch directly from a shortcut. When I create a shortcut to the D2R app (or click it directly) I get a Blizzard error. Doing it with the D2 Launcher app opens up the Battle.net app.

Edit: I think I found the problem. I haven't been able to play for a couple of days and so I didn't have the latest version of the game. Once the game updated, the shortcut worked. Has anyone managed to get it launched without updating and without completely disabling their internet?

 

[coju]

Thank you so much; I added this as a method in the OP and gave you mention.
I had no idea the game could be launched that way. I assumed they wouldn't allow it and didn't think to check!

Thank you. Someone posted a video running d2r on their phone using SteamLink which is where the idea came from! Which you can do! D2r on the phone! I didn’t play Any though since I don’t know how to map controller bindings.

 

[Skezla]

I can't get it to launch directly from a shortcut. When I create a shortcut to the D2R app (or click it directly) I get a Blizzard error. Doing it with the D2 Launcher app opens up the Battle.net app.

Edit: I think I found the problem. I haven't been able to play for a couple of days and so I didn't have the latest version of the game. Once the game updated, the shortcut worked. Has anyone managed to get it launched without updating and without completely disabling their internet?

I don't think this is going to be possible with modifications. When you open the game, it immediately pings Blizzard servers to check if it needs an update. If it gets a response, it will remember getting that response and won't let you play until you update. So far, the only solution is offline isolation.

 

[DotProject]

You can do a Firewall Rule in Windows Firewall to block Internet access for D2R.exe. But i dont know what this means to Updates.

 

[Skezla]

That's an idea. Thank you DotProject.

It is just such a terrible and shameful thing that it has come to this. So invasive and unnecessary.