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Author
Topic: Diablo 2 Advice
Suddar
posted 08-26-2003 10:45:41 PM
I'm looking for thoughts on what I should do with Diablo 2. I've never played before and I got the game only two days ago. I've played a Barbarian to act 3 so far, but I've been very wishy-washy on my skills. I've put a point into just about everything but dedicated myself to nothing. I'm willing to edit him to redistribute my points if I can get a little advice. Basically, I just want to know what's good and what isn't. What will make the game easier and what will leave me wishing I were dead.

For the more long-winded among you, I was wondering if you'd have more advice yet: what's the best CLASS, in your opinion, and what are the best skills for said class? If you feel like going even further something like that for every class in the game would be appreciated, but obviously I'm not going to ask that, only if you feel like helping me out especially.

I'm just looking for some general advice. Nothing too detailed, just what some of the best choices are.

Thank you.

Alaan
posted 08-26-2003 10:50:10 PM
I personally like a werewolf Druid, but I really don't give a damn about whats a terribly powerful character. Advantages to it is great power versus bosses later on with Fury's 5 attacks with increased attack speed, and good HP from Oak Sage. Downside is that they are pretty terrible at crowd control due to the unkillable Zeal/Fury bug where if you miss the first, all 5 miss. Also not good for dealing with Physical Immunes later on.

Edit: And if you take this path, for the love of god don't do elemental stuff. You can't cast in were form. Also, stay away from most of the non-spirit summons. Aren't that good later.

[ 08-26-2003: Message edited by: Alaan ]

Elvish Crack Piper
Murder is justified so long as people believe in something different than you do
posted 08-26-2003 10:52:42 PM
Amazon > All.

Want crowd control? Strafe, Multishot, or one of the AOE arrows.
Want boss kill? Guided arrow + pierce = (this might have gotten fixed, I just reinstalled 2 days ago )

Zons kick ass in PvP as well, specially if you find a teleportation item.

(Insert Funny Phrase Here)
Alaan
posted 08-26-2003 10:56:01 PM
quote:
Elvish Crack Piper obviously shouldn't have said:
Amazon > All.

Want crowd control? Strafe, Multishot, or one of the AOE arrows.
Want boss kill? Guided arrow + pierce = (this might have gotten fixed, I just reinstalled 2 days ago )

Zons kick ass in PvP as well, specially if you find a teleportation item.


1.10 fixes that. GA NEVER pierces now.

Elvish Crack Piper
Murder is justified so long as people believe in something different than you do
posted 08-26-2003 10:58:49 PM
Well shit.

They could at least make the percentage 1/10th as much as a regular arrow.

(Insert Funny Phrase Here)
Suddar
posted 08-26-2003 11:54:38 PM
I wasn't looking for a personal tastes thing, but thank you both anyway. I was more looking for hard facts kinda thing, so then I can use my own personal tastes to decide from there. See, I don't want the very best combination, I just want good combinations so I can pick one that fits my playstyle and stick with it.

Besides, avoiding the uber combinations and sticking with the merely 'good' means it's less likely to be nerfed.

Kegwen
Sonyfag
posted 08-27-2003 12:11:10 AM
quote:
When the babel fish was in place, it was apparent Alaan said:
1.10 fixes that. GA NEVER pierces now.

Fuck. You. Blizzard.

Elvish Crack Piper
Murder is justified so long as people believe in something different than you do
posted 08-27-2003 12:54:13 AM
Kegwin, if I could remember anything bad about you I would forget it aall instantly.

Personal taste non-withithstanding some classically powerful things are

Whirlwin barbs
Guided arrow+pierce zons (fuck you blizzard)
Firewall sorcs (level 99 in 3 days!)
Werewolf fury druids(sickly powerful)
No assassins, ever.
Zeal-Fanatism or Hammer conc Paladins

The 1.10 will fuck that all over, so just playtest.

(Insert Funny Phrase Here)
Palador ChibiDragon
Dismembered
posted 08-27-2003 12:57:04 AM
For a Barb, pick one weapon and stick with it. A sword in one hand and a mace in the other with your Masteries split to match is not a good way to go. Master one weapon type. Also, weapons with elemental additions to the damage are good, for when you come up against something that's resistant to physical damage (Stone Skin). Physical immunities won't come into play till MUCH later, so don't worry about them for now. Speaking of elemental damage, try to find something that does cold damage. That way, even if the hit doesn't kill them, it will often slow the target down. Not to mention, shattered monsters can't be revived.

Personally, I like to play as a Sorceress. They spend most of the Normal game somewhat underpowered compared to most of the other classes, and some of their high level spells have some serious problems. But, at higher levels, NOTHING takes out large masses of targets like a Sorceress. NOTHING. Just remember the three skills that you want to get when the time comes. Frozen Orb, Hydra, and Thunder Storm. ESPECALLY Frozen Orb.

With an Amazon, you need to decide between Spears and Bows right away. Most people use bows, and leave the melee to the other classes. Whichever you use, leave the skill tree for the other choice alone, you don't need to waste points in it.

If you play a Druid, look for big hammers. Mauls, to be exact. For Druids, they actually have a faster attack speed, making them a good weapon choice. Don't forget, the weapon equipped DOES have an effect on your attacks, even when you turn into a Werewolf or Werebear.

[ 08-27-2003: Message edited by: Palador ChibiDragon ]

I believe in the existance of magic, not because I have seen proof of its existance, but because I refuse to live in a world where it does not exist.
Elvish Crack Piper
Murder is justified so long as people believe in something different than you do
posted 08-27-2003 01:00:09 AM
On the barb thing.

Since LOD has the uber nice alternate weapon setup, get 1 weapon set with massive physical bonuses, and leave the elemental(preferably all 4 on one) in your alt or chest

(Insert Funny Phrase Here)
sigeA ihpleD
.raewrednu ruoy tuoba gnihtynA .gnihtyna em ksA .elcaro ehT .thgir s'tahT .ihpleD
posted 08-27-2003 01:47:53 AM
I personally like my single player sorcy.

I used a mini trainer program to hack out a few of her skills, though she only really uses orb/meteor/thunder storm. It's a bitch when something in hell is fire/cold immune, since thunder storm usually doesn't do enough damage to kill it. So I have to lead it away, then teleport and ditch it somewhere. :/

With synergy bonuses in 1.10, though, fire sorcys are fucking damage dealers. over 10k damage with meteor. Of course, that's assuming they stand still for the 5k hit, then sit in the fire for a bit. But NOTHING kills shit faster then chaincasted meteors on a door, then an opened door. So evil...

.tniop doog ylriaf a edam ihpleD :hteD
.tniop yreve no tcerroc %001 si ihpleD :suiraD
Dr Cysa
Angsty Mcangst
posted 08-27-2003 01:51:14 AM
Necromancers are way to over looked. Probably cause they are not to easy to play but ohwell.

First of all necros get lots of summons, druids can kiss my ass I'm a better summoner, my fire golem will EAT your bear, this puts them out of harms way most of the time. Now the fact that they summon does not make them week on their own, most high lvl necros can hold their own against the average monster thanks to bone spear and bone spirit(spirit pwns imps in act 5 cause if follows them when they teleport). And if your crazy like me you can get insanely high poison damage with poison dagger and stab creatures eyes out.

Now to top this off they also have curses, which start off useless, but higher lvl ones let your rip through mobs online and solo, specially attract!

[ 08-27-2003: Message edited by: Cysa Da Merc ]

I don't discriminate...I hate everyone.
Suddar
posted 08-27-2003 10:39:35 AM
Bump.
Vorago
A completely different kind of Buckethead
posted 08-27-2003 11:26:05 AM
Amazon : It's like a cookie. You make it with a cookie cutter, and it is just like every other cookie. Seriously, if you want to go through the game tapping one skill at everything and switching to guided arrow once in a while... be a zon. Pvp is great... if shooting guided arrows from a screen and a half away without even needing to see the opponent is 'fun'
Luckily 1.10 is fixing some of the obvious and student problems with them (Took them damn long enough to make guided un-pierce), so I can't comment again on them until then. As it is now though, they are just too common and all identical, which leads to boring. 1 in every 3 characters seems to be an Amazon though. Basic cookie cutter mold is max multi-shot, guided arrow, dump rest into other skills, enough into pierce to keep it at high or max %. Walk around clicking multi-shot or guided arrow once in a while for 99 levels.

Barbarian : Lots of different roads you can take. I've heard fun things about Frenzy barbarians. Whirlwind is the old as dirt cookie cutter make for them, and quite frankly it just never entertained me while playing. Just click back and forth with whirlwind until everything is dead, repeat on next screen. Just make sure to concentrate on one attack/weapon, with extra points in berserk to help get around physical immunity in hell. Frenzy or Whirlwind are usually the ways to go, max one of them and a weapon type of your choice. Weapon type is really a personal preference more than anything, but I'm always inclined to go swords with whirlwind just for the unique Gladius bloodletter, heh.

Druids : Sort of like a Paladin melee-wise on crack, horribly crippled against physical immunes so badly it makes my balls hurt. Werewolf is the way to go, werebear just isn't good (1.10 pending). Lots of different ways you can go with support like the creepers and spirits, but don't touch elemental skills with a 40 foot pole.
Max Frenzy, max your shapeshifting, frenzy stuff until it dies. Pets make you tougher, either buff your items out to hell or just avoid physical immunes unless 100% neccessary.

Necromancers : Quite frankly, I find necromancers fun. Well, lagomancers. Max out skeleton mastery, skeletal mage and revive. Add a golem of your choice, i personally like fire. Buy an act 2 prayer merc (Trust me on this, you will want to hug that aura after going without it. Act 2 without prayer is one long game of "Watch a skeleton die every 15 seconds to the stupid mummy poison". Watch stuff die hilariously, while you drop curses, cast corpse explosion or pelt away with a weapon like pus spitter.

Sorceress : Well.. assuming you at least go into two seperate elemental skills, it's really hard to make a BAD sorceress. Just don't put more than a point or two into warmth, it's a gross waste of points. if you need more mana regen, just get more mana. Regen is based on your max mp. Fireball, Blizzard, Frozen Orb, Hydra, Meteor, Firewall, Chain lightning (Wield a dagger, based on attack speed for some reason)... tons of skills to go into. Always two types of damage elemental-wise so you don't get screwed by immunities in hell.

Paladin. Zeal. Fanatacism. Some in vengeance for phys immune. Hit stuff really, really fast until they die. That's about it.

Assassin : Ahhh... my class. Immunities are a joke and can chew through anything the game (pre 1.10) can throw at you. Any trap but Death Sentry is garbage. Plain and simple. Trapassins are a joke, they need to expend 2000mana and three minutes to kill a screen of cows, can't even imagine how they deal with stuff like hell moonlords or Baal's Minions.
Max Pheonix Strike, Max Claw Mastery, 6 points (or so) into burst of speed, 6 (or so) into Death Sentry (For corpse explosion entirely), Max Shadow Master (It does some seriously good damage, on par with your own melee damage). Once you get the hang of using pheonix strike with finesse, you are a death machine. Nothing can stop you. If you get low, switch on cobra strike for a couple hits.

KaLourin
Illanae's Stooge!
posted 08-27-2003 02:07:30 PM
luv my old werebear druid...
Dont make me slap you so hard your bucket spins around, and around,and stops sideways,thus confusing you, and making you run about London wearing your bucket, a g-string, and carrying a stick,smacking the ground while yelling "MAGICALLY DELICIOUS! MAGICALLY FUCKING DELICIOUS!"- {Tal} to Mortious
Hebrew 9:3- 'And the Lord said unto me, "Dude, there isn't a K in covenant."' - Snoota

This beer drops trou and fucks your mouth with pure hoppy goodness. - Karnaj
Elvish Crack Piper
Murder is justified so long as people believe in something different than you do
posted 08-27-2003 02:23:51 PM
Yes.

They WERE good in 1.07.

(Insert Funny Phrase Here)
sigeA ihpleD
.raewrednu ruoy tuoba gnihtynA .gnihtyna em ksA .elcaro ehT .thgir s'tahT .ihpleD
posted 08-27-2003 04:49:01 PM
For the record, Vorago, warmth for sorcys rocks.

Why?

I have over 300% mana regen at warmth 22 (Hooray for +1 to all skill items!), and I can very litterally NEVER run out of mana, even chaincasting meteor/orb.

Of course, if something with manaburn hits me while I have energy shield on... uh.. ow..

But I'm back in the fray without a potion in less then five seconds.

.tniop doog ylriaf a edam ihpleD :hteD
.tniop yreve no tcerroc %001 si ihpleD :suiraD
Elvish Crack Piper
Murder is justified so long as people believe in something different than you do
posted 08-27-2003 04:51:38 PM
BUUUT if you spend a little time making full rejuvs doesnt that save your skill points for better stuff?

For every 9 mana pots you find can be made into 1 full rejuv, so if you do that and get 16 full rejuvs in your belt then its all good.

Id still stick 1 point in, since I recall a friend of mine had like +11 to all skills or something and that would be helpful.

(Insert Funny Phrase Here)
very important poster
a sweet title
posted 08-27-2003 05:33:23 PM
Frenzy barbs are incredibly fun once you actually max them, but they're not so good at massive amounts of mobs, like cow level.
hey
Elvish Crack Piper
Murder is justified so long as people believe in something different than you do
posted 08-27-2003 05:40:40 PM
Good thing people like to do cow levels with 8 people
(Insert Funny Phrase Here)
Vorago
A completely different kind of Buckethead
posted 08-27-2003 05:43:00 PM
quote:
sigeA ihpleD wrote, obviously thinking too hard:
For the record, Vorago, warmth for sorcys rocks.

Why?

I have over 300% mana regen at warmth 22 (Hooray for +1 to all skill items!), and I can very litterally NEVER run out of mana, even chaincasting meteor/orb.

Of course, if something with manaburn hits me while I have energy shield on... uh.. ow..

But I'm back in the fray without a potion in less then five seconds.


And that is 19 skill points wasted, since my sorc just gets +mana items and never runs out since your regen is based on your max mana.

While your mana stays really really full, I have an entirely different skill maxxed out to dish out more damage and have more use.

Seriously, I have never had mana problems with any sorc, ever, with only a single point in Wamrth.

Elvish Crack Piper
Murder is justified so long as people believe in something different than you do
posted 08-27-2003 05:48:45 PM
How many +allskills do ya got vorago? Myself I just spent the time to make rejuvs and full rejuvs.
(Insert Funny Phrase Here)
Suddar
posted 08-27-2003 05:59:19 PM
Thank you Vorago (and everybody else, but his advice was one of those I was really looking for) for the advice. I've now pimped out Frenzy and I no longer suck.

I guess it wasn't exactly that I wasn't good as a barbarian, or that barbarians weren't my style...you just don't get any good skills until mid-20s.

[ 08-27-2003: Message edited by: Suddar ]

Elvish Crack Piper
Murder is justified so long as people believe in something different than you do
posted 08-27-2003 06:01:39 PM
Just remember to get a charecter online(which server does EC play on?) and play with us(does anyone still play?)
(Insert Funny Phrase Here)
Suddar
posted 08-27-2003 06:04:21 PM
I need to get in two hours playtime before the end of tomorrow. If anybody does want to play later on tonight, I might be able to.
Elvish Crack Piper
Murder is justified so long as people believe in something different than you do
posted 08-27-2003 06:08:13 PM
I could do that, if someone can tell me if its possible to have diablo 2 installed twice and only patch one of them. There doesnt seem to be a problem with this, but would like someone(vorago comes to mind) who knows if there are any tricks to this.
(Insert Funny Phrase Here)
Suddar
posted 08-27-2003 06:35:47 PM
Wouldn't using the BNet patcher only patch that copy?
Elvish Crack Piper
Murder is justified so long as people believe in something different than you do
posted 08-27-2003 06:38:59 PM
Probably, I think ill try that now.
(Insert Funny Phrase Here)
KaLourin
Illanae's Stooge!
posted 08-27-2003 06:54:41 PM
quote:
Elvish Crack Piper had this to say about Captain Planet:
Yes.

They WERE good in 1.07.



he's still good now, in 1.09. Oh and if you can get one... Islestrike socketed with a shae rune... druid unique axe and increased attack speed.. whoot.

Dont make me slap you so hard your bucket spins around, and around,and stops sideways,thus confusing you, and making you run about London wearing your bucket, a g-string, and carrying a stick,smacking the ground while yelling "MAGICALLY DELICIOUS! MAGICALLY FUCKING DELICIOUS!"- {Tal} to Mortious
Hebrew 9:3- 'And the Lord said unto me, "Dude, there isn't a K in covenant."' - Snoota

This beer drops trou and fucks your mouth with pure hoppy goodness. - Karnaj
Vorago
A completely different kind of Buckethead
posted 08-27-2003 06:56:55 PM
quote:
Elvish Crack Piper thought this was the Ricky Martin Fan Club Forum and wrote:
How many +allskills do ya got vorago? Myself I just spent the time to make rejuvs and full rejuvs.

Depends on the char. Had a Necro with +20 summoning (Couldn't go any higher ), that was fun. My best sorc only ever had like +7 or so, assassin was low at +4, but had capped out or above (85) resist all on Hell easy.
(All closed un-hacked mind you)

I just drop a point into Warmth, and leave it at that. Never even bothered with rejuvs. Pair of SoJs or Frostburn or heck, a helmet with a pair of perfect sapphires tended to provide more than enough mana regen on top of whatever my base and other equipment provided

Elvish Crack Piper
Murder is justified so long as people believe in something different than you do
posted 08-27-2003 07:10:14 PM
But the full rejuvs jsut look cool

Anyon recently re-installed and want to play?

(Insert Funny Phrase Here)
Demos
Pancake
posted 08-27-2003 08:50:45 PM
I'm up for it. 1.09, 1.10, or ZyEl mod?
"Jesus saves, Buddha enlightens, Cthulhu thinks you'll make a nice sandwich."
Elvish Crack Piper
Murder is justified so long as people believe in something different than you do
posted 08-27-2003 08:58:01 PM
Id actually like to try that ZyEl mod, but I dont know how to install 1.10(link?) or the ZyEl mod(again, link?[and I read about some people with problems installing it])

I may be able to tommorro, because I REALLY need to put like 40 items on ebay today, ive been slacking off

(Insert Funny Phrase Here)
Lyinar Ka`Bael
Are you looking at my pine tree again?
posted 08-27-2003 09:05:14 PM
I got DII recently. I'm still working my way through the game with Deth, but I'm on US East.


Lyinar Ka`Bael, Piney Fresh Druidess - Luclin

Ja'Deth Issar Ka'bael
I posted in a title changing thread.
posted 08-27-2003 09:06:33 PM
Okay...how serious are you talking? If you want something to get your feet wet with, any of the standard variant barbarians (Whirlwind or Frenzy or whatever) are fun.

On the OTHER hand, GameFAQs is full of variant builds for the assorted classes. The Wolfbrother Druid (Druid focusing maxing werewolf, fury, and the dire wolf pets), the BardBarb (Warcries 2 win!), the Ranger Paladin (oi...). Sooooo if you want to be serious, be serious. If you want to just tool around and explore the options, there's lots of possibilities out there that sound fun.

And the reason some folks dislike Necromancers is that they're not the best class to choose as your first go. Get a feel for the game with an easier class like Pally or Barb or Sorceress to start, then explore it with the assorted other classes.

Lyinar's sweetie and don't you forget it!*
"All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die. -Roy Batty
*Also Lyinar's attack panda

sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me

Demos
Pancake
posted 08-27-2003 09:20:44 PM
quote:
Elvish Crack Piper painfully thought these words up:
Id actually like to try that ZyEl mod, but I dont know how to install 1.10(link?) or the ZyEl mod(again, link?[and I read about some people with problems installing it])

I may be able to tommorro, because I REALLY need to put like 40 items on ebay today, ive been slacking off


First off, 1.10 is downloadable from somewhere in www.battle.net. But if you want to try Zy-El, you have to stay with 1.09. Connecting to battle net will automatically patch up to 1.09.

As for the Zy El mod, its fun, but hard. I have a few high level chars, so I can get ya anything you need on there, and decent items on USeast. Anyone feel free to PM me to set soemthing up.

For Zy-El: http://forums.evercrest.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=047139

The download page is confusing, but bear with it. The thread explains it, but I'll summarize it regardless.

To download the current version, download the .DLL's first. These are actually listed under 3.0, not the current version. These essential files havn't changed with the new release.

Then, download the new 3.1A .MPQ.

Then, just make back up copies of the files that would be replaced, delete them from the D2 directory, and put the new ones in. Voila.

Any other questions, feel free to ask. I'm usually up for helping out.

"Jesus saves, Buddha enlightens, Cthulhu thinks you'll make a nice sandwich."
Palador ChibiDragon
Dismembered
posted 08-27-2003 10:32:54 PM
quote:
Vorago wrote this then went back to looking for porn:
And that is 19 skill points wasted, since my sorc just gets +mana items and never runs out since your regen is based on your max mana.

While your mana stays really really full, I have an entirely different skill maxxed out to dish out more damage and have more use.

Seriously, I have never had mana problems with any sorc, ever, with only a single point in Wamrth.


There are variations on the Sorcy that do need that kind of mana regain. My first one had all the high casting speed stuff I could get her, and I abused Teleport like you wouldn't believe.

I don't have her any more, but it was fun fighting Diablo like a jumping bean on crack. It might have taken (alot) longer, but it was fun.

I believe in the existance of magic, not because I have seen proof of its existance, but because I refuse to live in a world where it does not exist.
All times are US/Eastern
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