D2CE vs Hero Editor: Which D2R Save Editor Should You Use?
The short answer: if your save belongs to Diablo II: Resurrected, D2CE is the tool that was actually built for it — and Hero Editor, despite the name you will see in almost every search result, cannot natively open a D2R save file at all. Hero Editor is a classic Lord of Destruction editor for patch 1.14d. D2CE is the D2R-era tool, but with its own hard limit: its final release is from April 2023, so neither tool has verified support for current Patch 3.x or Warlock saves. Which one you should use depends entirely on which game — and which era of save — you are editing.
Copy your Saved Games\Diablo II Resurrected folder before you edit. D2CE can also keep a .bak backup per character (Options → Backup Character Before Save). For automatic, versioned backups of the whole folder, see how to back up D2R saves.
Side by side
| D2CE | Hero Editor (ZonFire99) | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | D2R-era revival (2021–2023) of Burton Tsang’s 2000–2003 editor, revived by Walter Couto | Classic Lord of Destruction era; v1.04 Final |
| Save formats | D2R .d2s saves from its tested era, plus classic 1.14d; item import/export as .d2i | Classic LoD 1.14d .d2s saves |
| Opens D2R saves natively? | Yes — for saves from the formats it was tested on (author-tested up to D2R PTR 2.6) | No. It cannot natively read a D2R save, and it cannot create a character from scratch |
| Item creation | Yes — create items and import/export them as .d2i files (see creating items as .d2i) | Item editing belongs to its classic LoD workflow; it is not usable directly on a D2R file |
| Shared stash | Yes — shared-stash editing arrived in v2.14 (see editing the shared stash) | No D2R shared-stash editing — it cannot open the D2R file that holds it |
| Maintenance status | Finished. Final release 2.22 (11 April 2023, GitHub tag release-2.2.2); no newer release exists | Finished classic tool (v1.04 Final); not a D2R project |
| Licence / cost | Free and open source, GPL-3.0, on GitHub (86 stars) | Free classic freeware for LoD 1.14d |
The core truth: Hero Editor is not a D2R editor
This is the point most comparison pages blur, because “Hero Editor” is the name long-time Diablo II players remember. The classic Hero Editor by ZonFire99 was written for Lord of Destruction 1.14d. Point it at a Diablo II: Resurrected .d2s file and it simply does not read it — the D2R file is a different, newer format. Our troubleshooting guide walks through exactly what happens and what the workaround looks like: why Hero Editor can’t open D2R saves.
The workaround is indirect. You edit a classic-format save with Hero Editor, place that file where D2R can import it, and let the game bring it in. If the character has already been played in D2R, the file first has to be taken back to the older format with the dschu012 converter described in our online editor guide. That chain works for moving a classic character forward; it is not the same thing as editing a D2R save where it lives.
What D2CE does natively
D2CE was revived specifically for the Resurrected era. For saves from its supported era it edits attributes, skills, quests and waypoints, gold, and items; it can socket items, create items, and move items in and out as .d2i files. From v2.14 it also edits the shared stash, and v2.16 added save-version conversion. It also documents support for mod saves (BTDiablo and Rebirth) in its README. The D2CE user guide covers the full workflow, and the genuine file — with the checksums we verified against the GitHub release — is on our download page.
Its limit is time, not scope. Version 2.22 was author-tested against D2R PTR 2.6 and classic 1.14d, and the project has had no release since April 2023. The Reign of the Warlock DLC (February 2026) moved saves to format versions 100–105, which D2CE was never updated for. Before editing any current-version save, read the Patch 3.x and Warlock compatibility status.
Verdict, by use case
- You have an offline D2R save from the editor’s supported era: use D2CE. It opens the file natively, edits the character and the shared stash, and needs no conversion chain.
- You play classic Diablo II: Lord of Destruction 1.14d: either tool can serve you. Hero Editor is the long-standing classic choice for that format; D2CE also covers 1.14d and adds .d2i item export.
- You found a guide that says “open your D2R save in Hero Editor”: that guide is glossing over the format problem. Follow the workaround guide instead of forcing the file.
- Your saves are current Patch 3.x or a Warlock character: neither tool has verified support. Do not let either one rewrite the file; back it up and check the compatibility status page above.
- You are choosing a download: prefer the project’s own channel. For D2CE that is its GitHub releases page via our download page; files calling themselves a newer D2CE do not exist.
One confusion worth clearing up before you go: there is also a separate, actively maintained online tool on D2RuneWizard that uses the “Hero Editor” name. That is not the ZonFire99 classic editor compared here. Our honest ranking of D2R save editors by job covers it separately, as the developer’s own claims describe it.