Trying to figure out how to respec in Diablo 2? A quick initiation for those who aren’t RPG diehards – respec simply refers to the process of refunding and reallocating things like skill and attribute points that are common to the genre. Respecing in many modern RPGs is a simple, repeatable process, but things aren’t quite so easy in Diablo 2: Resurrected. While you will earn a few easy respec opportunities, once you’ve used them getting another will be a fittingly grindy process. To make sure you don’t waste your chances and cripple your build, we’ll walk you through all the ways to respec your character in Diablo 2: Resurrected.
Diablo 2: Resurrected affords players one respec per difficulty, handed out by the Act 1 NPC Akara. The good news is, you’ll earn it from the first quest in the game. Simply clear the Den of Evil and speak to Akara. An option to reset all stat and skill points will appear when you next speak to her. Selecting this option will do exactly that; all your skill and stat points from leveling up and quest rewards will be refunded, and you can redistribute them as you please.
Now the bad news; once you use that respec, it’s gone forever. You’ll earn another after clearing the Den of Evil on the next difficulty, but that’s all you get. Don’t go using these easy respecs on a whim or you might regret it. More on that later.
If you’ve burned these Akara respecs and need another, you can earn more indefinitely by creating a Token of Absolution. However, it’s a grind, and you’ll need to do some farming on Hell difficulty to get the required materials. These are:
- Twisted Essence of Suffering – obtained from Andariel or Duriel
- Charged Essense of Hatre – obtained from Mephisto
- Burning Essense of Terror – obtained from Diablo
- Festering Essence of Destruction – obtained from Baal
These four reagents will only drop from these bosses on Hell difficulty. Once you have all four, transmute them in your Horadric Cube to create a Token of Absolution. Consume the Token to reset all stat and skill points. The drop rates for the four Essences are very low, so we strongly recommend you avoid the need for a Token by using your Akara respecs wisely.
So, what does respecing wisely look like? There are a few reasons you might want to do this, the first being the most obvious. Sometimes, you just don’t like your build. Finding Blizzard Sorceress too boring, or Double Throw Barbarian too, how shall we put this… bad? Respecs allow you to try something else, and wanting to adjust your build to something more in keeping with your personal playstyle is perfectly reasonable. Just remember that you’ll only get one chance per difficulty.
Additionally, many players will plan to respec one or more times during the leveling process. Some skills and builds just work better in the early game, so you may invest into one of those then shift your points into something else later. For example, I dumped all my skill points on my Assassin into Wake of Fire during Normal difficulty. I planned to play a Death Sentry trapper, but Wake of Fire is accessible earlier and its damage scales quicker. Once I reached Nightmare, I spoke to Akara and redistributed all of my points into Death Sentry and Lightning Sentry. Such a strategy works on many builds and can help your character be more powerful across all stages of the game. In most cases, you’ll want to do this around the start of Nightmare or shortly after, somewhere in the level 30-45 range.
That’s all there is to respecs in Diablo 2: Resurrected! As long as you don’t waste your Akara respecs to reshuffle a point or two, the process is easy and accessible. If you’re looking for more tips, we’ve got a rundown of the Runes and Runewords system, plus a list of some of the best farming spots in Hell difficulty. You can even pick a build with our guide to the best classes and builds in Diablo 2: Resurrected.