Recommended Diablo class for rookie player?

[BlueWeasel]

This post is like 8 years too late.

I've been motivated to reinstall D2 and its expansion after its recent revival. I've played the game in the past, but not on Battlenet and never got past Act 2 in the SP campaign. The reason for quitting early was probably due to gimped builds and playing without a strategy.

Unfortunately, it's easy for a new player to feel overwhelmed with the amount of D2 information on the web. I've looked over GameFAQs and other D2 sites for info, but many of the builds, guides, etc., are several years old and I'm not sure if they are still valid for the current version (1.12).

I'm really looking for a balanced build that's both fun and relatively easy to play. Generally, I prefer melee over magic, but I'm game for anything. I don't care to be pure melee (aka, Barbarian) and prefer hybrid builds.

I'm really interested in recommended Paladin and Assassin builds, as both seem to be mentioned a lot. The Amazon also appears popular and think a ranged (bow) build would be fun.

What builds would you recommend and why?

 

[TridenT]

Depends.. I'd go with a orb sorc. That or lightning rage machine sorc.

You are obviously not far enough into the game to do a blessed hammer paladin, as those are ONE of the most expensive characters to do in the game. (I'd say smiter is more expensive and let's not even get into PvP zon)

 

[BlueWeasel]

That's correct -- I have nothing...no mules, uber items, etc.

Isn't a sorc generally tougher to play for someone new? I checked GameFAQs and the orb sorc guide looks pretty good. What about paladin and assassins?

 

[biostud]

Barbarian, sword and shield. The ultimate tank. Get sword mastery, battleorders, and concentrate up first. And spice them with some of the other skills.

 

[TridenT]

Originally posted by: BlueWeasel
That's correct -- I have nothing...no mules, uber items, etc.

Isn't a sorc generally tougher to play for someone new? I checked GameFAQs and the orb sorc guide looks pretty good. What about paladin and assassins?

Paladins and Assassins are too much money to make. You'll never get one that is any good that early in the game. Sorcs are the BEST mfers for early gamers.

 

[Zenoth]

Barbarian with either Swords or Maces, of course with Swords giving you more "better" choices, but Mace Barbs can be good too (for example Immortal King is a Mace Barb, or Dual Baranar's Star using Frenzy makes one heck of a fast punching Barb especially with a Shael Rune in both weapons). With Swords you could use a Stormshield and a Lightsaber or an Azurewrath, with the Lightsaber being quite affordable already, couple those with Gore Riders for the Crushing Blow and the Deadly Strike bonuses, along with a String of Ears belt, and you're good to go.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Paladin with the aura that causes people to die when they hit you.

 

[Elcs]

Originally posted by: biostud
Barbarian, sword and shield. The ultimate tank. Get sword mastery, battleorders, and concentrate up first. And spice them with some of the other skills.

Im sorry but the best tank available is the Paladin. 75% block with high defence and faster blocking rate is immense.

Me and a friend made an identical build down the the equipment, full Fana, Holy Shield, Zeal and just set upon each other. The attack and block rates were insane!!!

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: Elcs

Originally posted by: biostud
Barbarian, sword and shield. The ultimate tank. Get sword mastery, battleorders, and concentrate up first. And spice them with some of the other skills.

Im sorry but the best tank available is the Paladin. 75% block with high defence and faster blocking rate is immense.

Me and a friend made an identical build down the the equipment, full Fana, Holy Shield, Zeal and just set upon each other. The attack and block rates were insane!!!

better hope death knights don't iron maiden you during a zeal

javazon FTW! although all of act1 hell was lightning immune last night. that screwed me over :|

 

[I4AT]

A skellymancer is a good start, he starts out slow, but holds his own very well in the higher difficulties/levels and is cheap to gear up.

 

[imported_Imp]

Necro since you don't have to do much other than raise a horde and hope they last long enough. Unfortunately, it doesn't translate over too well on battle.net.

 

[Maleficus]

Is there some secret WS real resolution mod ou there I just don't know about? how can you guys possibly play @ 640?

 

[HOOfan 1]

I played through once on Barbarian...I need to install the Expansion and decide if I want to try Assassin, but I may play through a second time on Paladin. Necromancer and Druid look interesting though.

 

[Shlong]

Originally posted by: Maleficus
Is there some secret WS real resolution mod ou there I just don't know about? how can you guys possibly play @ 640?

lol 800x600 for the lord of destruction expansion pack. 640x480 for starcraft. On the Nvidia settings for my card, I can do a mode where you have black bars for widescreen. But yeah after playing D2 & Starcraft after the Diablo3 announcement, it just wasn't the same (back when I would play it on a 19" CRT compared to 24" widescreen lcd now).

 

[CottonRabbit]

For your first character, do not build anything that relies mainly on your weapon for damage unless you don't plan on going past normal. Unless you get some free gear (which is entirely possible), anything you find on your first play through will do minuscule damage in the higher difficulties. Melee characters viable in hell are far more expensive to build than casters.

If you want to do something melee-ish, I suggest a javazon using lightning fury and charged strike. It'll do decent damage properly built and untwinked, and you can easily trade for titans revenge with whatever rune that drops on your nightmare hell-forge quest. With those, you should be able to take on most enemies pretty well. You'll need to find some mana leech though.

A pure lightning trapsin is also pretty easy at least through nm. Ample usage of mind blast and a shadow gives you a good safety net.

 

[Dumac]

For a first character, a great way to get a feel for the game is the Barbarian class. However, I always found Barbarians to be ultimately boring.

Another good beginner class is a Necro focused on summoning. This isn't very useful for PVP on battlenet, but it works to get you through the game.

Orb sorcs are very, very useful, but they can be a bit tough. If you think you can handle it, want your character to be a lasting one, and don't mind playing on battlenet, I recommend an orb or meteorb sorc. Both of these are a little more involved, but there are guides on sites like Gamefaqs and such.

I mention battlenet because playing through a couple of the acts as an orb or meteorb sorc can be tough since most likely you want to save your points for higher level skills.

 

[Jschmuck2]

I too am starting out from complete scratch and rolled up a 'zon. Should I stick with her or roll a sorc?

 

[MH2007]

I found a hydra+forb sorc to be very easy to level up and used it for my initial magic find character. I used her to gear up a barb and built up a ton of mules.

 

[Kromis]

Damn this D2 revival. Haha. Got me wanting to play again.

I'd agree with a Barb as well. Hulk...I mean, Barb SMASH!

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: Kromis
Damn this D2 revival. Haha. Got me wanting to play again.

Same here. My mom is sending me my discs from home just so I can do that. Though, I might play try playing single player through since the last time I was on B-Net, it was all about just doing item rushes and endless leveling.

 

[bunker]

I haven't played in a loooong time. Is it still possible to mule by creating a game, dropping stuff on the ground, then coming back in as fast as possible with your mule?

 

[Kabob]

Someone asked this same question a week or two ago. There was a big debate. I said Barbarian or Amazon, other guy said Necro. You'll do fine with anything though, just pick one.

 

[Dumac]

Originally posted by: bunker
I haven't played in a loooong time. Is it still possible to mule by creating a game, dropping stuff on the ground, then coming back in as fast as possible with your mule?

Yeah. It's easiest to do on server's where people leave their mules to perm them all night, but I've had an occasional person pretend to be afk only to try to take dropped items from people trying to transfer.

D3 should really have a shared bank, like EQ2 or Titan Quest.

 

[SirStev0]

my first char was a druid. fell in love and is my favorite to play. IK set drops fairly easily (most of it anyway) and it makes an amazing fury or poison lycan

 

[JoPh]

are you playing on bnet?

cause then it doesnt matter. just build and get to a5 and do baal runs and then do nm baal runs. then u can tweak any way you want. but if u dont want to do baal runs well........