
The player character gains experience points from slaying monsters, and can be leveled up manually, increasing his or her primary attributes and acquiring abilities. Much of the customization relies on equipment and item combinations. Diablo's magic has been replaced with skills: class specific abilities that can be purchased with skill points as characters level up. For example, a Paladin's skills allow him to cover allies with a protective aura, while a Sorceress can learn to fire lightning bolts and frozen blasts from her hands.


Skills can be purchased several times to level them up, and some skills, when purchased, will increase the effectiveness of other skills.

A new item type, socketed, has been added as well.
