Blizzard Entertainment has revealed that it is nearing completion on a significant patch to its wildly popular Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. While few details about what changes will be made are currently available, the company did announce that there would be a new type of character added to the game. In addition to the current Normal and Hardcore options players have, there will now exist the option to create a Ladder character.

The developer did not elaborate on the length of the ladder season, or how exactly rankings would be determined. Blizzard did confirm, however, that only characters created after the patch is released will be eligible for ladder status; characters predating the update will retain their previous classification, and in addition, will be prohibited from taking part in games in which ladder characters are playing.

A few other minor details were also revealed; Blizzard will not be deleting legitimate characters or items in this patch, although it will continue to eliminate accounts used in attacks on its Battle.net servers. Although no date on this patch is available, and its actual impact is subject to change, RPGamer will continue to follow the story and provide coverage of information as it becomes available.