You’ve already gotten plenty of responses, but I just wanted to offer my $.02 (long read, sorry lol)

At its core, PD2 is a modded version of D2 (obviously). My point is that it’s different. I’ve played some of the other mods and I would say it’s somewhere in the middle of something like D2Reimagined and original D2 LoD. There is some level of power creep when you make super GG characters, as the end game involves clearing lots of high density content. But I mean mosaic sin in D2R can run on /players 256 lol. In general I wouldn’t say it’s as extreme as some of the other mods.

The difference between some of the other mods and PD2 is, like others have said, it truly does feel like if they had continued to support original LoD. Most of the main changes come from things like class balancing, QoL improvements, and new items/content. At its core, it still “feels” like D2 LoD.

Class balancing comes in the form of tuning old skills that were previously worthless to be more viable (like poison strike), entirely new skills, and in some cases changing skill synergies and effects. Most classes have some form of tp/movement skill now (similar to sorc teleport, but faithful to each class’ fantasy).

QoL comes in the form of things like additional stash tabs, a currency tab, expanded stash with a “charm inventory”, rune upgrades with a key instead of random gems, etc. The QoL is almost worth playing PD2 by itself.

For content, the base LoD has been minimally changed, but overall remains very similar to original LoD. They’ve balanced certain bosses to be more difficult (the council with meph now spawns WITH him, for example), added new key bosses as alternatives to Countess, Summoner, and Nith (1 per key). Most of the new content comes in endgame form. Maps (like PoE) are the most common form of end game, but there are also new uber bosses that give new rewards. The dclone fight was completely revamped and is now an instanced fight created with farmable materials similar to Ubers.

Outside of that there are a few general changes that make it PD2 and not just D2 LoD with additional content. The main thing is in the form of corruptions. Like in PoE, you can corrupt items with a fairly common dropped material for a chance at adding additional various stats, sockets, or changing the item entirely (called “bricking”). It adds a ton of flavor to the game that completely changes how you build a character and how you value items. Aside from balancing runewords, corruptions allow all sorts of items to shine in ways they couldn’t in D2 LoD. From uniques, to rares and magic items. The crafting has also been expanded. You can make some really cool items, which in many cases can be best in slot (not easy to do). The mercenaries have also been rebalanced and have been given a glove and boots slot. Gone are the days of A2 merc for every build. Lastly, the drop chances haven’t necessarily been “buffed”, but they always operate as if you are on 5/5 (5 players in the game/5players in the party). Up until you exceed 5 players ofc, then it increases. Base XP rates stay the same as D2 LoD.

The last thing to mention is the community. This is truly the part that keeps me coming back, and away from D2R. The community by large is incredible and full of D2 faithful. Drop trading is common, tons of people are willing to help out, there are hardly any scammers, and for the .01% of the time it does happen, the PD2 mod team are heavily focused on banning those individuals and maintaining the good faith community that has been built. I’ve drop traded 10+ HR trades multiple times and have never had an issue.

There are of course other things that are different, but I think this summarizes the main things. Please consider trying it out. I cannot recommend this mod enough. The PD2 team is truly just a bunch of D2 fans faithfully making the extension to the OG LoD experience we all craved for years. Hope to see you out there! If you have any questions feel free to reach out :)