Newb to Diablo 2

[icyroy05]

Lets say that someone somehow missed the Diablo 2 train after all these years, and wanted to get into it where would they start?

Anytime I start looking up info about playing it online I totally get overwhelmed with all the abbreviations for things. I have no idea on what a good first class, to get the hang of things, to start with. Essentially, I have no clue about Diablo 2 other than the little things I've been able to pick up on.

Tips or guides for total noobs would be great also.

 

[Soccerman06]

Whichever class you pick and whichever tree you go down, stick to it, dont get random talents all over the board.

 

[icyroy05]

Are there any talents that you can think of off the top of your head that are pretty much useless? When I use to play wow there were always some that were just a waste.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

Can you even really play Diablo 2 anymore? I was under the impression D2 battle.net was pretty much inhabited by solely by javascript entities.

 

[Dumac]

Can you even really play Diablo 2 anymore? I was under the impression D2 battle.net was pretty much inhabited by solely by javascript entities.

There are a decent amount of actual people on battlenet. Besides, he could just play solo or convince some friends to play.

There are too many skills to blindly say which ones are useless or better than others. However, pretty much any concentrated build will do fine on PvE. Builds only become critical in PvP, which is shitty nowadays anyway.

 

[Zenoth]

Wait for patch 1.13 before starting anew, they'll reset the Ladder when it happens. Additionally, even if you intend on playing Non-Ladder then patch 1.13 is still an advantage in that you can reset some skills if you screwed up your skill trees builds, I'm not sure if it's going to be compatible with 1.12-made characters, it probably will, but I still recommend on waiting for 1.13, it shouldn't take too long, the "beta" is available for the public on closed Battle.net, I tried it and it's decent.

Also for information on what does what in D2 I highly recommend to browse around at the Arreat Summit: http://classic.battle.net/diablo2exp/?rhtml=y

 

[mav451]

If you're playing untwinked, then Sorc/Nec - neither of those are too EQ dependent. Standard meteorb build, regardless of the FM/FB "dilemma" - the difference until you get better equipment is just not that much. TBH, playing a Nec without Enigma is gonna be a major PITA, so I'd just focus on the sorc first.

Oops:
*FM = Fire Mastery
*FB = Fireball

Meteorb = Meteorb + Frozen Orb.
Though technically since Meteor and FB are maxed, you can also call it a Orb/baller as well.

 

[santz]

whats all the codes u guys use here, i have played this game for years and still do, i dont know any of these codes

i have never played multiplayer though

 

[Dumac]

whats all the codes u guys use here, i have played this game for years and still do, i dont know any of these codes

i have never played multiplayer though

Most of them are just abbreviations for items ot phrases.

The most annoying are "wug" and "wuw" for what you got and what you want.

 

[Maximilian]

Lets say that someone somehow missed the Diablo 2 train after all these years, and wanted to get into it where would they start?

Anytime I start looking up info about playing it online I totally get overwhelmed with all the abbreviations for things. I have no idea on what a good first class, to get the hang of things, to start with. Essentially, I have no clue about Diablo 2 other than the little things I've been able to pick up on.

Tips or guides for total noobs would be great also.

Just make a game on battle.net, if you want to play through the entire thing then put a level restriction on the game, levels 1-30 for normal 30-60 for nightmare mode and 60-99 for hell. That way you are unlikely to get griefed or have higher level players come in and mess everything up by rushing all the other low levels. Unless thats what you want, its what i wanted but since ive been through the game umpteen zillion times its understandable

The best builds in the game generally are:

hammerdin - Paladin that relies on blessed hammer, good vs monsters and other people
wind druid - Druid that uses torndado and hurricane also good vs monsters and other people

I really dont know what class you should pick tbh. I would say sorc since equiptment dosent matter as much (it still matters! but a sorc with no equiptment is less useless than other classes) but theres a lot of immunities when you reach hell, immunity to cold, fire, lightning etc. Might be worth a try though.

One thing that is for certain though, if you are NOT playing a sorc then aim to get hold of "enigma" armor, it gives any class you put it on the ability to teleport, most builds revolve around this. Its very good armor which has other good stats but also not that expensive either since everyone has one its not very rare.

 

[mav451]

Haha I would avoid suggesting a hammerdin, much less any RW-dependent character for a noob. While I'm a fan of the standard Fishymancer build, the skellies aren't strong enough until you have plenty of +skills, not to mention requiring Enigma for proper positioning. This is why I ended up not recommending a Nec either.

I say build a Sorc, and depending on what he can get from NM Meph runs, go from there. Also doing some LK runs for gems/sc's will help as well, but with the massive devaluation b/c of the impending reset, the trading economy is out of wack.

 

[Maximilian]

Haha I would avoid suggesting a hammerdin, much less any RW-dependent character for a noob. While I'm a fan of the standard Fishymancer build, the skellies aren't strong enough until you have plenty of +skills, not to mention requiring Enigma for proper positioning. This is why I ended up not recommending a Nec either.

I say build a Sorc, and depending on what he can get from NM Meph runs, go from there. Also doing some LK runs for gems/sc's will help as well, but with the massive devaluation b/c of the impending reset, the trading economy is out of wack.

Totally, its good to know whats the best though when figuring things out.

Also OP join a few "FREE HERE" games, i joined one for a laugh yesterday and there was a bunch of uniques on the floor, decent ones. Hell the first day i got back into DII again i got handed a grandfather sword and some arkaines valor... from some random guy... that stuff used to be worth a lot before patch 1.10, now its just mediocre junk. Great for a newb though.

 

[icyroy05]

Thanks guys for all the info. Doesn't seem as tough as I thought it was going to be.

Probably give a sorc a try to see if I like it or not.

I'll play through the story first to get the hang of things.

I'll probably have more questions down the road. Also, please don't stop giving info. that might be good for a newer person to know. Thanks, again guys for all the tips so far.

 

[ScottAD]

I got a bit nostalgic and played some D2 last night. Brushed off an old Hammerdin and a IK WW Barb. Mmmm love that bone crunching whirlwind.

Also, I lovethe fact that patch 1.12 allows you to play without a CD in the drive.

 

[CoinOperatedBoy]

Another vote for sorc. I always hated trading because of dupes, didn't want to mindlessly do meph / baal runs all day, and didn't want to bot, but I really enjoyed getting my sorc up to level 93 the old fashioned way. Without the huge gear dependency, it's more fun. Too bad she expired.

 

[Wyndru]

diii.net used to have a ton of forums and good info on it too, I think it might be an incgamers site now, not sure if anything changed though.

I used quad box dii to get runes from hellforge. Then I would cube them up for my gear, until I realized you can't cube as high on Non ladder, and everyone had duped runes anyhow.

 

[Wardawg1001]

I definitely recommend a sorceress for your first character. They are much less item dependent than other classes, they are the only class you can get teleport on without Enigma armor (dont even THINK of trying to get an Enigma, they are ungodly expensive and nearly impossible to obtain without having a bot running through hell mode magic find runs for several days/weeks). The mid-tier sorc gear is fairly easy to obtain through regular game play or in trades, and you can get a set of powerful magic find gear (used for obtaining better item drops from monsters) so you can get some gear for your other toons when you make them, without impairing your monster killing abilities too much. Frozen Orb or Blizzard based builds are your best bet here. The only problems you should have are when you get to Hell mode and you run into monsters with immunities, which is why most builds (i.e. meteorb) have you skill up in 2 of the tree's so you have 2 different damage types. You will occasionally run into bosses though that have multiple immunities (yes, some are immune to fire AND ice), but thats where mercenaries come in.

Most of the other viable high level builds (hammerdin, javazon, etc) require very heavy investments in gear and that you know the skill templates down to the letter for them to be effective.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Really basic guide for most classes

Stat points
Enough in strength for your gear (usually 60-80 base points, depending on gear)
Usually either nothing in dexterity or enough to hit 75% chance to block if you have a shield. There's a formula on the Arreat Summit to calculate how much dex you need for 75%. Also, bow-wielding Amazons need lots of dex, although they're difficult and gear-dependent.
Very little to nothing in energy (even a Sorceress doesn't need tons of energy; you can make up for low mana with items like Frostburn gloves and lots of mana potions)
Everything else in vitality

Skill points
Pick four skills that work well together. Max them out. Read their descriptions to look for synergy bonuses (which is where points in one skill add damage to another skill). Put one point into as many passive bonus skills as you can, and then start working on a fifth skill once the other four are maxed.

Two really popular skill builds are these:

Meteorb (meteor + frozen orb) sorceress
20 Fire Ball
20 Meteor
20 Frozen Orb
20 Fire Mastery
Rest in Cold Mastery
1+ Teleport

Skeleton necromancer
20 Raise Skeleton
20 Skeleton Mastery
20 Corpse Explosion
1+ Amplify Damage
1+ Clay Golem
1+ Golem Mastery
1+ Revive
1+ Skeleton Mage
1 Decrepify

I particularly like that necromancer because you have so much freedom to place skill points wherever you want. By the time you have decent gear, you will have a wall of 20+ summons to protect you from everything. With curses, you can get away with just a few points and rely on gear to increase your skill level. And Corpse Explosion is fun.

Gear
Sorceresses, Necromancers, Trap-Assassins, Lightning Amazons, and any other class that relies on magic spells to do damage will benefit immensely from gear that grants extra skill points. Magic generally increases in damage exponentially with more skill points, so even just one or two extra points can make you do a lot more damage. These classes also need lots of mana to keep their attacks going.

Melee classes don't really need +skill gear. Extra points in combat skills either add damage linearly or actually decrease in effect with more points, so you have to get high damage gear to do well. What melee classes absolutely need more than anything else is life and mana leech. X% life/mana stolen per hit is essential. Other helpful things for melee classes are % damage reduction (a few items offer this), +damage charms, resistances, and a backup attack for physical immune monsters.

 

[inspiron]

Hey I'm playing Diablo 2 closed Battlenet too! whats ur user we cood make a game and kick some ass? add my steam: blooddog28

 

[Ben90]

I definitely recommend a sorceress for your first character. They are much less item dependent than other classes, they are the only class you can get teleport on without Enigma armor (dont even THINK of trying to get an Enigma, they are ungodly expensive and nearly impossible to obtain without having a bot running through hell mode magic find runs for several days/weeks). The mid-tier sorc gear is fairly easy to obtain through regular game play or in trades, and you can get a set of powerful magic find gear (used for obtaining better item drops from monsters) so you can get some gear for your other toons when you make them, without impairing your monster killing abilities too much. Frozen Orb or Blizzard based builds are your best bet here. The only problems you should have are when you get to Hell mode and you run into monsters with immunities, which is why most builds (i.e. meteorb) have you skill up in 2 of the tree's so you have 2 different damage types. You will occasionally run into bosses though that have multiple immunities (yes, some are immune to fire AND ice), but thats where mercenaries come in.

Most of the other viable high level builds (hammerdin, javazon, etc) require very heavy investments in gear and that you know the skill templates down to the letter for them to be effective.

I completely disagree. For PvM, making any character that isn't a hammer paladin is a complete waste of time. Dual spirits + shako +random crappy gear will allow you to rape enough face to start gathering stuff for an enigma. Honestly, you really don't even need to find any items to acquire an enigma, just a little bit of begging/understanding the value of items.

A 3os 30frw tiara costs more than an account full of enigmas on ladder, all it takes is one drop and your rolling in dough. Most people would take one look at that item and sell it to charsi or drop it not knowing its GG. There are many items out there that are like that, runewords and uniques are cheap as hell compaired to GG magic or rare items.