Thrines in Diablo II are changed from Diablo in several key ways. There is a lot more variety in their graphics, there aren't as many types of them, and they have much more straight-forward names.

Deviating from the "spooky" or "cryptic" shrine names in the first game, Blizzard North has elected to give them simple, logical names this time. A shrine that increases fire resistance is a "Fire Resist Shrine," and a shrine that increases skill points is a "Skill Shrine." No longer will you be checking a printout of shrine names and results to get some idea of what they do every time you run across one.

The appearance of shrines is also are much more varied. There are a number of graphics for shrines, and the type of shrine that occurs is randomly selected. Of course the name of the shrine appears when you point at it with the cursor. Also, a character who is under the effect of a shrine has an overhead icon as long as the shrine effect lasts. Other characters can see this icon, and thereby know what sort of altered state your character is in.

Other additions include: Shrine regeneration (some types of shrines will become usable again after a certain amount of time) and shrines showing on the overlay map once you are within a few screens of them (Example to the left.) so you can find them more easily. You can only be under the influence of one time-duration shrine at a time (exception are multiple Armor and Combat shrines stacking). So a character will lose the effects of one shrine upon touching another type of time-duration shrine. Fire Resistance replaces Stamina or Combat, for instance, but you can hit all the wells, mana shrines, health shrines, and other instant effect shrines you want while still keeping your overhead icon duration shrine in effect.

Shrines in Diablo II are less powerful than they were in Diablo. There are none that add permanently to your mana, hit points, attributes, skill points, item durability, or anything else, but none that take away from any of those either. The effects are either instantaneous, or last for a short duration, and almost all beneficial.

Below is a listing and description of all known shrines at this time. Images of "Overhead Icons" are included where available. In addition, we have a Gallery of various shrines through out Diablo II.

Shrine	Icon	Effect	Duration	Recharges in:
Armor		Your skin hardens. Increases your defense by 100%. More than one can stack to truly enormous numbers.	96 Sec.	5 Min.
Cold Resist		You no longer fear cold. Adds 75% to your cold resistance. Appears to cut duration of cold 100%, if you are already chilled or get chilled. More than one will not stack.	144 Sec.	5 Min.
Combat		You feel ready for battle. Increases your Attack Rating by 200%. Also increases your minimum and maximum damage by 200%. More than one can stack to huge numbers.	96 Sec.	5 Min.
Experience		Your experience teaches you well. A 50% increase in the experience you receive for all kills during the duration. A very valuable shrine, you shouldn't waste any of the duration with a trip to town, and should try to kill a boss or some champions with it in effect.	192 Sec.	5 Min.
Explosive	N/A	A circle of flame... Explosive shrines spit out half a dozen explosive potions that blow up in mid air a few yards from the shrine, dealing minor damage to any monsters in range. They also drop six or eight potions you can pick up.	N/A	N/A
Fire Resist		You no longer fear fire. Adds 75% to your fire resistance for the duration. More than one will not stack.	48 Sec.	5 Min.
Fire Shrine	N/A	A fiery death... Dangerous to the touch, they send out a nova-like array of fireballs and instantly remove half of your max hit points, but also cut monster's in half as well, and appear to work on bosses.	N/A	N/A
Gem	N/A	A marvelous gem... Gem shrines upgrade the quality level of one gem (randomly selected) from your inventory, dropping it on the ground next to the shrine. If you have no gems in inventory, or only perfect gems, the shrine will drop one random chipped gem. Gem shrines are the rarest type of shrine.	N/A	N/A
Health	N/A	You feel healthy. Replenishes full health instantly.	N/A	2 Min.
Lightning Resist		You no longer fear lightning. Adds 75% lightning resistance for the duration. More than one will not stack.	48 Sec.	5 Min.
Mana	N/A	You feel recharged. Replenishes full mana instantly	N/A	5 Min.
Mana Recharge		Your spiritual forces recover quickly. The rate of recharging mana goes to 400%. This is a highly useful shrine for the Necromancer and Sorceress.	96 Sec.	5 Min.
Monster	N/A	Death's Advocate Approaches -- Monster shrines turn a nearby normal monster into a boss or champion, with a random name and properties. Lead a monster over, or at least be sure you haven't cleared out the whole area before you click this shrine, or it will go to waste. The monster created will have normal hit points, less than a boss/champ would usually have. If you monster-shrine a minion, it may be resurrected after death unless you kill the shaman. You only get item and experience for it once though.	N/A	N/A
Poison	N/A	A circle of death... Poison shrines kick out half a dozen poison potions that explode a few yards from the shrine, and also drop six or eight that you can pick up and use	N/A	N/A
Poison Resist		You no longer fear poison. Adds 75% to your poison resistance for the duration, as well as cutting poison time by 100%. More than one will not stack.	48 Sec.	5 Min.
Portal	N/A	The freedom to go home. Creates a Town Portal that remains for the entire game, not matter how many times it is used.	N/A	N/A
Refilling	N/A	You feel refreshed. Instant full mana and health (but not stamina) refill.	N/A	2 Min.
Skill		You feel more skillful. Adds 2 points to every skill you have a point devoted to. You should recast minions, such as Valkyrie or Golems, so they will have higher stats.	96 Sec.	5 Min.
Stamina		The weight of the world seems lighter. Greatly increases your max stamina, while also keeping it from draining any no matter how long you run. The Stamina gauge turns blue as a visual indictor.	192 Sec.	5 Min.
Wells	N/A	Wells provide an instant fill of 50% of your total health or mana. So if you have 30% it will go to 80%. Can not exceed 100%. Wells carry two charges, and regain one every 2 minutes.	N/A	2 Min.