The unmistakable texture of Matt Uelmen's iconic theme, the tents, the rain and the quiet crackle of a dying fire against an endless night. When I was a kid, playing the demo in the early 2000s, this place felt like home. The camp and its surrounding wilderness were all I had access to then; it was only later that I was gifted the full game and reluctantly ventured beyond the Tamoe Mountains, leaving the Monastery and its Sisterhood behind. And in truth, I never left them behind. The childhood memories remain.

My goal in revising the towns' level design was never to replace treasured memories. It was to make these memories more vivid, more alive. But not quite resurrected.

In this dev blog post, we take a look at how the Rogue Encampment has been expanded — but not reimagined beyond recognition.
And how hired Companions might not need to be resurrected as often.

Considering a redesign of the Rogue Encampment, I wondered: what if I just allowed it to tell a little more of its story?

With that thought in mind, I hesitated and went back to the drawing board.

The Path of Least Resistance

Some of the excellent folks at Blizzard North believed that polished mechanics are more important than telling a story.
While I don't necessarily agree, I did approach the task of enhancing the Encampment's layout with a function-first mindset. As you do, when you're in the shoes of a narrative designer.
I believe running errands in towns should be faster, so that you can save precious time to focus on the more riveting gameplay aspects of Diablo II, like combining a million chipped gems in the Horadric Cube 

Well, no more awkward bumping into tent poles or getting stuck between walls or wagons when running from one end of camp to the other just to do some shopping. Or maybe at least not as much.
The camp's layout has been optimized to flow more naturally, with all essential NPCs brought closer together in a way that still feels believable. 
This isn’t just for players who like to speedrun or lack patience — it’s for everyone.
You’ll probably find yourself going to Akara’s old spot a few times — I know I did — but soon it will click.
And when it does, it’ll make even more sense than before.

A Less Trodden Path

Having paid homage to the gameplay-first traditions of Blizzard North, I wanted to dive deeper into the camp's story. And that story is not told by text, in this case. It's the level design doing the storytelling.

Because I'm sure that even those of you who play the game mostly for the mechanics of it will wholeheartedly agree: atmosphere matters, too. 

And so, the central campfire remains just where you remember, anchoring the very heart of the encampment.
Warriv greets you, his caravan wagons now more prominently visible, gathered closer to the fire where Warriv himself can be seen warming his hands.
Gheed, true to his nature, moved his wagon closer too — it’s just good business.
Akara with her priestly devices now keeps vigil near Charsi’s forge, with an eye on the young Barbarian girl. Hopefully not a sightless one.
And Kashya? She still stands exactly where she always did, glaring at newcomers with her signature disdain. It's not like I could tell her what to do 

Mercenaries or Companions?

Unlike the Companions that follow you around. Or mercs, as some like to call them. I don’t call them that.
Companions is what the menu in-game calls them now, and you'll see why in a moment 

Whatever you call them, they have long been one of Diablo II’s most underappreciated systems — loyal, mute, and tragically doomed. In this update, they get another long-overdue upgrade.

They were already made a bit stronger when allowed to equip more items. But now they will be less squishy for a different reason.
No longer will bosses have the occult and unknowable power to inflict massive bonus damage upon your poor followers.
With the right kind of gear, your Rogue friend may well be able to 1v1 Andariel. Or maybe even Baal.

I’ve brought in Diablo II: Resurrected’s mercenary skill and stat progression. Shameless, I know 
All mercenaries now level regardless of the difficulty they were recruited in. And they get some new abilities. Though they're still not very smart and may not always know how to use them well.

Upon hiring, mercenaries now instantly match your character's level, ensuring they’re never a burden.
To top it off, recruiting and reviving them is now free. So, maybe they're not really mercenaries anymore? 

Ever wanted to swap from your Rogue to a Barbarian for a single fight? Found a nice item that could work on an Iron Wolf but not one of Greiz's men?
Go ahead. Experiment. At no cost.
Your gold might be better spent on Epic gear anyway.

(Yes, I said “Epic.” The magenta-coloured items. We'll get there in the next blog post.)

Going Back Home

Back to the storytelling aspect of the Rogue Encampment. I channelled my childhood memories and thought about empty spaces that my imagination would just fill in back then.
The Encampment I remembered so fondly was an active gathering of survivors preparing to make a last stand against the horrors of hell — not a bunch of pixels you run through between quests.
You will notice subtle environment design changes that attempt to augment that feeling. To make the Encampment feel more like there's some life going on in it.

There are more tents, including a hexagonal one which I designed to complement the square and rectangular shapes that were there before.

Cut trees, tree stumps and piles of wood are visible all around the camp — a testament of the intensive logging operation that's been going on to establish the camp and fuel its fires.
The details organically spread beyond the encampment's rickety walls, creating little spaces that bring the camp to life, like the smaller campfire in the forest.
There are two archery targets forming a makeshift training ground, emphasizing that the few surviving Rogues are getting ready for a last stand and always hone their renowned skill with the bow.
And yes, there's even… a shrubbery. For no quest is ever complete without one. Or maybe two. Nice-looking ones. And not too expensive. (Monty Python reference) 

Every small detail, and indeed every shrubbery, was placed with care — to feel like it was always meant to be there, simply waiting for you to notice.

The next time you step into the Rogue Encampment, you might pause for a moment.

The fire crackles. The rainfall stirs the trees.

And somewhere, just beyond the thinned out treeline, you know danger lurks — but here, for now, you are safe.

Welcome home, hero.

@Mike

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Coming Up Next: Friends, Vendors, Countrymen

In the last blog post about Alpha T-6, we'll take look at NPCs, their wares and the services they offer.