The mod, in one page
What is Project Diablo 2?
Project Diablo 2 is a free seasonal mod for Diablo II and Lord of Destruction. The official homepage says the goal is to keep that game’s feel and keep shipping resets. It runs on the 2000 client. TheGamer says the same thing from outside the team: this is not Resurrected.
I used the wiki General Changes page as the difference list and checked the homepage so I would not add a skill count. Nobody on those pages publishes “how many new skills,” so that number is not here.
What changed from the original
General Changes is a long table. These are the lines that answer “what is different” without copying the whole page.
| Piece | Original LoD feel | PD2 note on the wiki |
|---|---|---|
| Skills and items | 1.10–1.14 balance | Skills rebalanced, new skills, uniques, sets, and runewords revisited |
| Display | 4:3, low frame cap | Widescreen, 60 fps and up, HD text with Ctrl+O |
| Storage | Smaller stash and inventory | Stash 10×15, cube 4×4, inventory 10×8. Charm grid stays 10×4 |
| Endgame | Baal and Ubers | Maps, corruptions, Worldstone Shards, Puzzlebox, shared stash, stacking |
| Input | Mouse and keyboard | Controller support is listed |
Mercenaries and what it is not
The mercenary page adds variants: extra Act 1 mercenaries, two Act 4 Ascendant versions, and an extra Act 5 version. Gear rules differ by act. Magic find and gold find inherit, and one-handed weapon damage is doubled only for Desert Guards and Barbarian mercenaries, according to the Mercenaries page.
Sunder Charms from Resurrected are not in PD2. The charms page says that mechanic, and the unique grand charms that carry it, are not implemented. Immunity breaking uses other skills. That is a separate guide.
Watch
FrankieFresh compares D2R and PD2. The install rule is still the official one: PD2 does not run on D2R. Upload date (YouTube metadata, single source): 2023-09-16. Choosing Sides: Diablo 2 Resurrected or Project Diablo 2? on YouTube. The player loads only after you press play.
Questions
Is PD2 a new Diablo game?
No. It is a mod. You still install classic Diablo II and Lord of Destruction first.
Does it include D2R graphics?
No. Both the download page and TheGamer describe it as the legacy client, not Resurrected.
Are the new mercenaries on every act?
The wiki lists extra Act 1 options, Act 4 Ascendants, and an extra Act 5 option. It does not say every act received the same hireling.
Related
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-28. Single-source claims are attributed; disagreements stay visible.
- Official homepage — 2026-10-28 — Fetched 2026-10-28. Official source family, shared with the wiki. Launch label is literally 10am PST; no verified local-time conversion.
- Wiki General Changes — 2026-10-28 — Fetched 2026-10-28. Single official-wiki source family for detailed numeric rules; separate wiki pages are not independent confirmation.
- Official download page — 2026-10-28 — Fetched 2026-10-28. One official source family with the FAQ and rules. No launcher version or file size stated; D2R exclusion is explicit in the FAQ.
- Wiki Mercenaries — 2026-10-28 — Fetched 2026-10-28. Single official-wiki source family for detailed numeric rules; separate wiki pages are not independent confirmation.
- Wiki Charms — 2026-10-28 — Fetched 2026-10-28. Single official-wiki source family for detailed numeric rules; separate wiki pages are not independent confirmation.
- TheGamer feature — 2026-10-28 — Fetch failed on 2026-10-28 (HTTP/2 reset; HTTP/1.1 retry TLS EOF). Historical research citation only; not independent confirmation in this audit.