Act I: The Rogue´s Encampment

The Town:

Act I´s town is the Rogue Encampment, which is basically a thrown-together mass of tents and poorly assembled huts.  Its denizens are the Sisters of the Sightless Eye, those few of them who were spared Andariel´s wrath.  The main NPC´s of the area are:

Akara - A Rogue Priestess, Akara will most likely be a source of quests in Act I.  She might also function as Pepin did in Diablo, dispensing healing items such as potions and herbs.  She gives you the Den of Evil quest and later gives you the quest to rescue Deckard Cain.



Warriv - The caravan leader, Warriv supplies you with the means to travel from the Rogue´s Encampment to the desert city of Lut Gholien.  He is the focus point of a quest, but it is unknown at this point the particulars of that quest.

Gheed - A salesman, Gheed supplies you with items in the Rogue´s Encampment.  He concentrates primarily on magical baubles and the like, so you most likely won´t be buying weapons and armor from him.  It has been said that Gheed has a stong dislike of Necromancers.



Charsi - A Rogue blacksmith, Charsi will be your main supplier of weapons and armor in Act I.  Charsi will give you the quest to find the Horadric Maul, and some say she is enamored with Barbarians.

Wilderness Area:

The Wilderness area of Act I appears to a verdant forest setup.  Act I is the only Act in Diablo II that is linear in structure, its goals are very defined and hard to deviate from.  It is the Act which is most likely to remind you of the original Diablo, for good reason.  Not only does it create a sort of continuity between Diablo and Diablo II, it also makes a smooth transition into the more open-ended layout of Diablo II.

The Wilderness area will provide links to the Graveyard area, which is where you will probably find access to the Rogue crypts and the underground Caves area.  It will also lead to the Rogue monastery, where the demoness Andariel lies waiting on the bottom floors (she might also be accessable through the Caves, it is unknown as this time).

The Monastery:

You´ll see the majority of Act I´s action take place in the Monastery of the Sisters of the Sightless Eye.  Once a holy dwelling place for these Rogues, Andariel´s presence has corrupted the place just like she corrupted the Monastery´s valiant protectors into mockeries of their former selves.  The Monastery is separated into various sections itself.

The first of these places you are most likely to see is the Cathedral, which is probably once the abode of Rogue Priestesses like Akara.  The Cathedral area appears to guarded by the Disfigured and Razorbacks, as well as Fallen Ones and Corrupted Rogues. 

The Quests:

Act I has several quests, hinging mostly around Kashya, Warriv, and Akara.  Aside from the obvious quest to kill Andariel, there are also these goals.  It is worth noting there may be more quests than these.

The Circle of Stones - These strange megaliths provide a means to get to the ruins of Tristram.  Anyone who has played Diablo knows Tristram was the area to first see the resurgence of Diablo, the Lord of Terror.  Once a thriving center of Khanduras, Tristram has fallen to ruin after the final rampage of Diablo´s forces through it.  To activate this mysterious Circle you must find five mystical stones that will activate the Circle.  These stones can somehow be procured from the Tree of Inifuss, seen in the recent Barbarian Gameplay movie.

Once you reach Tristram you must find Deckard Cain, the storyteller from Diablo.  Once he is rescued he will once again resume his funtion as item identifier, helping you along as he did long ago, in the first game, except this time he won´t charge you.

Burial Grounds - A heretic Rogue Priestess, Blood Raven has abandoned the ways of the Sisters of the Sightless Eye and has embraced a darker religion.  Kashya commands you to hunt this erring priestess down and end her life before she sides with Andariel and increases the demoness´s hold on the entire area.

A tribute to Diablo II´s new AI, Blood Raven behaves like no known enemy NPC ever encountered.  She uses a hit and run strategy, instead of an aimless seek and destroy pattern.  Blood Raven will attack, call in dire reinforcements, then retreat to presumably heal herself before launching another attack.  Is this is merely a beginning NPC, then what will some other bosses use?

Den of Evil - This quest is assigned to you by Akara, the Rogue Priestess.  She charges you with clearing out the Den of Evil, which is the Caves area seen in so many screenshots.  The Den contains mostly zombies, Fallen, and other creatures, and is a fairly simple quest to overcome.  If you storm and kill everything in the Den, Akara will reward you with a free skill point to distributes among your skills.

Horadric Maul - Charsi gives you this quest, to find a legendary artifact known as the Horadric Maul which is known to be in the Cathedral of the Sisters of the Sightless Eye.  Owning up to the nature of Diablo II´s non-linear design, you don´t have to return to Maul to Charsi, although doing so will prompt her to reward you by upgrading one of your metal items.  If you keep the Maul, you might also suffer consequences, such as the loss of Charsi´s help in Act I.

The Forgotten Tower - This quest is activated by a tome found in the boggy area known as the Black Marsh.  It is unknown what lies inside the Forgotten Tower, but it is most likely a powerful item of some sort.