In Diablo II: Lord of Destruction players return to chase after Baal, the last surviving Prime Evil, into the Barbarian Highlands of the north. Traveling with a horrific army of demonic minions, Baal intends to corrupt the powerful Worldstone that protects the whole of the mortal plane from the forces of Hell, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, and damning the world. Players face a new series of quests and challenges to prevent the vile minions of the Prime Evils from destroying the world.

Key features in the final version of the expansion set include:

§ Two new character classes (the Assassin and the Druid) each with 30 unique skills/spells. § A complete new act set in the Barbarian Highlands, including 6 new quests. § Ability to play the new character classes through the original four acts of Diablo II. § Interactive environments such as siege towers and fortified battlements. § Thousands of new weapons, armor and magical items, including class-specific and Elite items. § New recipes for the Horadric Cube. § Double the amount of storage space in the stash. § Support for 800x600 graphics mode. § Over 50 new monster classes, with 7 additional and new unique boss monsters. § Over 20 different Rune Words. § 32 Crafted Item recipes in single-player, multiplayer TCP/IP and Realm games. § Over 500 new Magic Item prefixes and suffixes. § New Hireling abilities include carrying equipment, leveling independently of the player character, and traveling between acts. § Increased difficulties of Nightmare and Hell levels. § Increased number of item types that can be socketed.