A Chill Guide to Team Reset "Speed" Runs

A guide for team reset speed runs, balancing speed with a chill atmosphere and no pressure.

⚔ Season 12 late reset team ⚔
We’ll be playing for Season 12 on Saturday morning 29th November at 9 a.m. CET (late reset).
Join us here.

Intro

Hi there. I’m an old man: I’ve done enough reset runs to share a few tips for beginners. This guide aims to balance speed with a chill atmosphere—expect to finish about an hour behind the trained speedrun teams. It’s not an optimal guide, but rather my personal preference for a stress-free run. I don’t know everything, so please share your tips via PM (I’ll add them)! I’ve tried to write this in a beginner-friendly way, but feel free to ask for definitions or clarifications. This is a nice community where everyone helps each other :)

Quick navigation: General Tips • Normal • Nightmare • Hell • Skills • Common Mistakes • Glossary

ℹ️ : This icon indicates bonus objectives (good if it happens, but not required) or extra tips
🥷 : This icon indicates advanced tips (not necessary, but saves a few minutes - more experienced groups will likely use them)

Context

• Softcore
• 8 players
• Lvl 1 to Hell Baal dead
• Chill atmosphere, no pressure
• We’re trying to do it fast (by using speedrun techniques, without the headache)

General Tips

Mindset

• Staying focused helps everyone have a good time and keeps things moving smoothly.
• Specifically, when the sorcs asks for help, be ready and react (it will save her life). Be that nice person.
• Feel free to chat with your team about your role before we start

Feel good

• Sit comfortably
• Have water at hand
• Have a 5-minute or 10-minute break between each mode (Normal, Nightmare, Hell). It helps :)

Teamplay

• One person should lead the team on voice chat, and the team should try to be ready and react.
• When the sorc asks for help, take her TP simultaneously as a group. Group coordination is key for difficult passages.
• One person should play a sorc that focuses on teleport.
  • This sorc is the key to fast runs, so she should know the game reasonably well, invest her resources into teleporting well, and the group should give her any useful gear found.
• The Sorceress 1 (teleport) and Assassin 1 (dps) are the most difficult roles to play
• The rest of the team is pretty flexible, but you will be fine with something like this:
  • 2 to 3 damage dealers, ideally with at least one non-fire one (like druid, assassin, and a second sorc)
  • 1+ summoners (like necro)
  • 2 paladins (for conviction + salvation), though one can be enough
  • 1 BO barb

Bonus tips

• ℹ️ And this is personal preference, but I’ll share it too: all loot goes to telesorc, and is shared randomly after Hell Baal is killed
• 🥷 Physical Teams: Some groups prefer physical damage teams, see the Hell section for more details.
• 🥷 Clarify groups. Are you in Group B or Group C (useful for Act 2 and Act 5, read below) ?
• 🥷 Game Names: Define a naming convention before starting (e.g., luc1/ion, luc2/ion…) so everyone knows exactly what the next game name is. This saves a lot of time during “Rejoin” phases.

Normal

Imo, the normal mode is the hardest. You have to be focused or you can easily lose 1+ hour here.

• Always have blue scrolls (to create teleport portals) with you
• Sell almost everything to buy mana pots
• Spam your spells, drink pots, a lot, really, a lot. Don’t save mana, save gold for pots.
• If you don’t know what to do, feel free to ask, this is a game not a job :p
• You might need fire resist and lightning resist (the most important resists throughout the run). Feel free to socket resistances into a crappy helm or shield.
• Don’t lose time on optimization: you can do all this without gear.

Act 1 (~30 min)

Act 1 Step 1

• Paladin 1 runs to Stony Field and makes a TP (use blue scroll) at the waypoint.
  • ℹ️ If you happen to find Rakanishu, just remember where you saw him, we’ll go there later.
• Assassin 1 runs to Black Marsh and makes a TP (use blue scroll) at the waypoint.
  • ℹ️ Try to find Cain’s scroll along the way (on Black Marsh).
• While they do that, everyone else clears the Den of Evil.

Note : killing basic mobs in early Act 1 gives almost no XP. Focus on elite packs and champions, then keep moving.

Act 1 Step 2

• Everyone (but the assassin) goes to Stony Field and rescues Cain.
• 🥷 Assassin 1 runs to Countess Tower and leaves a TP.

Act 1 Step 3

• Everyone (but the assassin) goes to Countess Tower and clears it (skip small monsters, only kill champions).
• 🥷 Assassin 1 runs to Outer Cloister and leaves a TP. Feel free to go up to Andariel if you can, but no problem if you need help before that.

Act 1 Step 4

• Servers stable –> XP a bit. In order to do that, make a new game and do Trist + Countess in 2 groups.

• Servers unstable –> all run to Andariel straight away. You’ll be underleveled but you’ll catch up easily.

• ℹ️ If you find Wirt’s leg, keep it with you (we’ll need it later)
• ℹ️ 10 FCR rings found should be given to the telesorc

If you did this correctly, you should have killed Andariel easily around level 10-15 and you are now in Act 2. Well played!

Act 2 (~25 min)

Our goal in Act 2 is to get the telesorc to level 18 asap. That is why it is better (if servers are stable) to do Countess runs and Tristruns in Act 1. But fear not: you can also get XP in Act 2!

Target levels: Duriel around level 16-18

Act 2 Step 1

The idea here is to use the sorc and assassin to find stuff while the group does quests. It works because the assassin is strong enough to kill champions and beetles, granting the sorc XP (precious to reach level 18 and get the teleport skill asap).

• Split the group into 3 parts, A, B, and C.
• Group A (Assassin 1 + Sorceress 1) runs to Far Oasis WP and gets the amulet, killing beetles, champions, and elites along the way. When you see the Ancient Tunnels, leave a TP there.
• Group B goes and finds the Horadric Cube.
• Group C kills Radament (in sewers).

Note: making only two groups can work fine too.

Having sorc + sin alone is ideal in terms of XP, but if you need help, ask.

Act 2 Step 2

• Everyone (but Sorceress 1) farms Ancient Tunnels for XP.
• While Sorceress 1 looks for the Horadric Staff.
• Then, Assassin 1 and/or Sorceress 1 runs to the Arcane Sanctuary.

Act 2 Step 3

You should be around level ~16 here.

• Sorceress 1 teleports to the Summoner (buy pots, drink pots).
• Everyone kills the Summoner.
• Everyone clears the Tomb.
• Everyone kills Duriel.

ℹ️ Bonus Objectives

• Those who hired a mercenary wrote which aura they took in the chat so we don’t have 8 times the same merc!

This was the hard part of playing Diablo 2. Now, everything is going to be easy.

Key Concept: Backup TP

Sometimes the sorc will ask for a backup tp. This is in case she dies or ends in a dead end. Just join her tp, make a tp, and go back to town. This will help her a lot. Maybe she’ll ask to “copy” her tp ; that’s the same thing.

Act 3 (~20 min)

Now the speedrun becomes simple: the sorc teleports, everyone joins, kills the boss, and so on.

Locations for Khalim’s organs:

• For Khalim’s Eye: Spider Forest (WP) → Spider Cavern (WP)
• For Khalim’s Brain: Flayer Jungle (WP) → Flayer Dungeon
• For Khalim’s Heart: Kurast Bazaar (WP) → Sewers
• For Khalim’s Flail: Travincal (WP)

Act 3 Step 1

• Sorceress 1 teleports to Organs (Spider Forest).
• Assassin 1 stays next to the portals and joins Sorceress 1 every time she drops a TP (to kill elite groups or to clear an area).
• Everyone else clears extra Tombs for XP.

Act 3 Step 2

• As a team, kill Travincal, kill Mephisto (you should be around level 17-19).
• 🥷 Note that you can spawn Travincal in P1 in a new game and have the team join after to make things easier. This requires a stable server though.

Act 4 (~10 min)

• Assassin 1 runs to Izual and asks for help (whole team joins).
• Sorceress 1 teleports to Chaos Sanctuary.
• Whole team joins Sorceress 1 for Diablo.

Act 5 (~20 min)

Remember to feed the Sorceress 1 with gear, pots, and gold when she asks for it.

Act 5 Step 1

• Sorceress 1 teleports to the key quests.
• The team joins when she is asked to.
• Remember that you can kill and spawn Ancients in P1 if needed (normally you don’t need that).
• Kill Baal.

You should be around level 20 (or hopefully a bit more) here.

Act 5 Step 2

• Go to Act 1 and open the Cow Level.
• Clear it. Get 4 socket weapons for Spirit / Insight / whatever.

ℹ️ Why Cow Level? Good XP, simple, safe, and great for farming 4-socket weapons for runewords.

Act 5 Step 3

• Create new game.
• Group B Baal runs with Sorceress 1.
• Group C Cow runs with Assassin 1.

Rinse and repeat until level ~35 (less if faster, more is easier).

Note: After Nightmare you’ll be around level 40. You can quickly reach 50-60 by doing more cow runs or Baal runs, which makes Hell mode much safer.

Nightmare Mode

You don’t need to do anything fancy. Just let the sorc TP in player 1 (in another game), help her when she asks for help, and give her Battle Order from the Barbarian.

🥷 Why P1 (player 1)? This is an optional/advanced strategy. In a solo game, monsters are weaker, making it safer for the sorc to teleport.

Act 1

• In game 1 (nightmare), Sorceress 1 teleports.
• In game 2 (nightmare), everyone goes and gets Wirt’s leg and stops to join the sorc as soon as she asks for it.

Act 2

• The team leaves for a minute so the Sorceress 1 can teleport in player 1.
• Sorceress 1 teleports to the altar (amulet) but waits for the team.
• Everyone joins, builds staff, clears Summoner.
• Kill Duriel.

Act 3

• Sorceress 1 teleports.
• Everyone gets XP (Andariel, Countess, …) and joins when asked to.

Act 4 & 5

• Sorceress 1 teleports.
• Everyone joins when asked to.
• Nightmare Cows.

Hell Mode

Same thing, just let the sorc TP in P1 and don’t hesitate to XP in another game, for example in Nightmare Chaos or Baal runs (they give lots of XP). Just, be there for her when she asks for help. Be a good teammate :)

ℹ️ Dealing with Immunities: Hell has many immune monsters.
Ensure your team has mixed damage types (Fire, Cold, Magic, Phys) or damage types with very few immunes (like physical) to never get stuck.
Elemental Teams ⚡: Use Lower Resist (Necro) + Conviction (Paladin) to break immunities.
Physical Teams ⚔: Some groups prefer Amplify Damage (Necro) + Fanaticism (Paladin) if the team is physical-heavy.

That’s it. Well played.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Not helping the sorc when she calls: When she asks for help, react quickly and take her TP as a group.
• Falling asleep waiting: Stay engaged! Farm, organize inventory, or help with side tasks while the sorc teleports.
• Not copying/backing up TPs: If the sorc asks for a backup TP, do it immediately. It can save her life if she dies or gets stuck.

What skill should I level?

Sorceress 1 aka Telesorc

• Max teleport, have points in Static to help the team.
• You don’t need a strong source of damage, but you can use Nova or Cold Nova.
• 43 str, 50 energy, everything else in Vitality.
• FCR is your most important stat, then FHR and resists.
• FCR goal: Aim for 63 FCR breakpoint. FCR breakpoints reference

Assassin 1

• You are the DPS: invest in Fireblast and Wake of Fire.
• Need mana? Drink pots. This is stupid but it works.

Druid (DPS)

• Use the Fissure skill, level its synergies too.
• You are a key DPS, as strong as the assassin, so use that.

Barbarian

• Battle Orders is why you are here, but some do the early game with leap and respec (Akara Quest) for BO.

Necromancer

• Some teams play with a bone necro, but I like to have a summoner. It makes everything easier for everyone.
  • So, go skellies, investing points equally between Summon Skeleton Warrior and its Mastery.
• Remember to have curses and use them, mostly Lower Resist that helps your team A LOT.

Paladins

• You be auras.
• At the beginning, you can focus on Holy Bolt (option 1) or Holy fire (option 2).
• In both cases, feel free to respec (Akara Quest) when you can have access to Conviction (paladin 1) or Salvation (paladin 2, if there are 2 paladins on the team).

ℹ️ This might sound boring (it is), but you’re in practice doing most of the damage (by raising the one of others) while chilling. Not a bad job actually!

Amazon

• I tend to not use them so feel free to help via PM :p
• Options : Elemental skills, summons, poison javs (all are pretty decent, and should help the team)

Glossary

• TP = Town Portal (blue scroll)
• P1 = Player 1, meaning a solo game. Monsters are weaker in P1, making it safer for teleporting. This is an optional/advanced strategy.
• FCR = Faster Cast Rate. Important stat for the sorceress to teleport faster. See breakpoints
• BO = Battle Orders (Barbarian skill that boosts HP/Mana)
• WP = Waypoint
• XP = Experience points
• Backup TP / Copy TP = Join the sorc’s portal, make your own portal, return to town. This gives the sorc a safe escape route if she dies or gets stuck.

Conclusion

I hope this helps someone one day. Feel free to share tips, correct mistakes, and hf!

–> find me on Discord or Reddit