Exceptional Items

Exceptional items are items in Diablo II that have the appearance and (in the interface) the same icon representing the Normal item, but they have better stats. Monsters in Act IV start to drop low quality exceptional items, but as soon as you progress to Act V Normal or Act I, you will notice that you will find better items. Normal Diablo and Normal Baal will drop better exceptional items than the ordinary mobs over the Act IV area.