Multiplayer is a game mode that allows you to play with more than one player in the game. Most Diablo content can be played in both single- and multiplayer modes. Multiplayer is of course required for PvP combat, and is emphasized more by Diablo Immortal.
Diablo II
There can be a maximum of eight players in a game. There are several options for multiplayer:
- LAN (Local Area Network)
- Direct Connection through TCP/IP
- Open and Closed Realms on Battle.net
/players X
As of the 1.10 patch for Diablo II, it is possible to play the Single player mode in LoD with multiplayer difficulty: Open the Chat Box by pressing Enter, type /players X, where X is a number from 1 to 8, and press Enter. The message "players set to X" will display. Only newly spawned monsters will be affected.
Disadvantages:
- The minions of Hell grow in strength, receiving +50% maximum Life per 'player' above 1.
- Boss Monsters have more special abilities.
Advantages:
- Monsters deliver +50% EXP per 'player' above 1. This increase, however, is multiplied by EXP bonuses from equipment and shrines.
- The probability for dropping items is increased.
This adjustment is dangerous for builds that rely heavily on Mana during the low character levels. On the other hand you can play on /players 8 from the very beginning, if you are careful.
The drop probability is so high, that you will run out of space to store all the Chipped Gems and Runes before you can get the Horadric Cube.
The gained XP per Monster is so high, that it's easily possible to reach e.g. Level 12 before fighting Blood Raven, Level 20 before fighting Andariel and Level 45 before fighting Baal. (All of this with "/players 8", still in Normal Difficulty and without reruns.)
It is possible, though not recommended, to change back to "/players1" before a major Boss is spawned. Fighting it would be much easier, but it will drop lower quantity and quality items compared to the previous play.
Diablo III and beyond
Subsequent games are only played via Battle.net, removing local and direct networking options. Game sessions in Diablo III and Diablo IV can still be private or open to other players. Diablo Immortal is always played in a shared world with a higher emphasis on multiplayer and PvP, but with some instanced content that may be played single- or multiplayer.
Solo Self Found mode was added to Diablo III towards the end of active development for the game, for a categorically single-player challenge.