Hey, folks. Bashiok announced today that the Diablo II: Lord of Destruction ladder will be reset on March 23, marking the release of Diablo II patch 1.13 into the live realms.

Blizzard Quote:
We will be resetting the Diablo II ladder on Tuesday, March 23 with the release of patch 1.13. We anticipate all Diablo II realms to be down for approximately six hours during the reset. More specific information on realm availability on the day of the reset will be posted in the Battle.net Status forum. When the ladder is reset, all existing ladder characters will be converted to non-ladder.

All characters and items being converted to non-ladder will remain intact, but once converted these characters will no longer have access to ladder content such as creating ladder-only rune words. For more information on ladder characters please visit the Arreat Summit Realm Character Types page

DIABLO II 1.13 Q&A

What’s the advantage to creating a Ladder Character?

This is similar to starting out on a brand new realm. Players will be able to experience Diablo II like when the game was first released. When the Ladder Season first begins, players start at Level 1 and do not have powerful items. They also cannot use powerful high-level items or other high-level characters to help them level up faster. Players create a character in a brand new world (Ladder Character world) where everything (economy, levels) starts from the beginning. The main advantage of creating a Ladder Character is being able to join in on a totally new economy where powerful items are very valuable.

What if I don’t play ladder or don’t want to compete on the ladder?

Although they are called Ladder Characters, players do not have to compete on the ladder to play. You can simply play at your own speed and not worry about how you are ranked on the ladder.

Can I convert existing characters to Ladder Characters?

No, you must flag a character as a Ladder character when it is first created.

How long will the ladder season last?

This has yet to be determined.

What happens when the ladder season is over?

All Ladder Characters become either Normal Core or Normal Hardcore Characters depending on what type of Ladder Characters they are. If you want to be a Ladder Character for the next Ladder season you must create a new character and flag it as a Ladder Character.

Do I get to keep my Ladder Only Items when the season is over?

Yes. Any Ladder Only Items will be converted over when your character is converted to a Core character. These items can now be traded with other Core characters. That is the only way for Core characters to get ladder only items, as leftovers after a season is over.

Do I have to beat the game with a Ladder Character to create a Ladder Hardcore Character?

No, you can finish the game with either a Normal character or a Ladder character to unlock Ladder Hardcore Characters.

Can you convert a Ladder Character to a Normal Character?

No. Blizzard does this automatically when the Ladder Season ends.

Does the ladder offer anything beyond a more stable economy?

Yes there are some items that can only be obtained with a ladder character such as some class specific and elite uniques. There are also some ladder-only rune words as well as cube recipes that can only be created by a ladder character. While these items can eventually make their way to non-ladder after a ladder reset, they can only be initially found or created by using a ladder character.