Avengor's Introduction Thread

[Avengor]

Hello SP Community!

I have played Diablo 2 off and on since high school (I just aged myself, I know).

I enjoy playing single player ssf simply because I enjoy the fruits of my own labor. Having a character made entirely from gear that I have dropped or gambled 'feels' better than one that is put together by trading. This isn't to say I am strictly opposed to trading, but it is not my go to mechanism for acquiring gear.

By joining the community, I am starting with a completely blank slate. While I did have 1.14 characters and stashes, I have moved those into storage (I didn't have the heart to fully delete them).

My top 3 historic favorite builds, in order:
1) Trapassin. I adore traps. Burst of Speed makes the lack of teleport less onerous. I am so used to playing lightning traps, I need to give a full fire trap build a go!
2) Fishymancer! Summoners are always fun for me. A strong merc to help with bosses and corpse explosion to clear crowds, what more do you need?
3) Lightning Fury zon. Deleting entire screens of cows will never get old.

It has been a long time since I started from scratch, and it feels a little daunting. Would you guys recommend I start with a tournament? Any you would personally recommend?

Also soliciting tips for untweaked javazon or elemental druid playthroughs. If I'm starting over, might as well scratch some of these builds I've always wanted to do off the bucket list!

 

[Arparrabiosa]

Also soliciting tips for untweaked javazon or elemental druid playthroughs. If I'm starting over, might as well scratch some of these builds I've always wanted to do off the bucket list!

I have personally played this Amazon Leveling Guide and this Druid Leveling Guide, and they work really well. They are really well written and are very easy to check while playing. The first one starts as poison java + exploding arrow and then respec to pure javazon, while the second plays fire druid until late NM and respec to windy.

Some people prefer MrLlamaSC guides, you can check them too: amazon and druid.

Welcome to the SPF!

 

[Avengor]

I have personally played this Amazon Leveling Guide and this Druid Leveling Guide, and they work really well. They are really well written and are very easy to check while playing. The first one starts as poison java + exploding arrow and then respec to pure javazon, while the second plays fire druid until late NM and respec to windy.

Some people prefer MrLlamaSC guides, you can check them too: amazon and druid.

Welcome to the SPF!

Oh those links are fantastic. I appreciate it!

 

[little birdy]

Just an idea: IMO a Summoner Druid is a very fun build now that you can summon all your pets in D2R, if you want to try that instead of an elemental Druid. You could even do a hybrid approach, which, come to think of it, is actually what I did with my first character when I started back up in D2R: I played a Druid as a Summoner until A1 Hell and then re-spec'd to a Wind build. That was pre-Patch 2.4, and I found that just Dire Wolves, or just a Grizzly, wasn't cutting it early on in Hell. I also had zero gear at that time. Switching to a Wind build, with one point in Grizzly to help tank, proved to be easier for me. A Wind Druid is a pretty strong and safe build.

Since Pat'ing that character, I've also started questing an untwinked HC Summoner Druid, and he is cruising through Hell with the ability to summon a Grizzly, both Spirt and Dire Wolves, and Ravens all at once. Very safe and pretty fast too. I actually ran through Normal difficulty using nothing but Ravens. They're surprisingly good since the changes in Patch 2.4! In NM, I started to mix in wolves and a bear.

 

[Avengor]

Just an idea: IMO a Summoner Druid is a very fun build now that you can summon all your pets in D2R, if you want to try that instead of an elemental Druid. You could even do a hybrid approach, which, come to think of it, is actually what I did with my first character when I started back up in D2R: I played a Druid as a Summoner until A1 Hell and then re-spec'd to a Wind build. That was pre-Patch 2.4, and I found that just Dire Wolves, or just a Grizzly, wasn't cutting it early on in Hell. I also had zero gear at that time. Switching to a Wind build, with one point in Grizzly to help tank, proved to be easier for me. A Wind Druid is a pretty strong and safe build.

Since Pat'ing that character, I've also started questing an untwinked HC Summoner Druid, and he is cruising through Hell with the ability to summon a Grizzly, both Spirt and Dire Wolves, and Ravens all at once. Very safe and pretty fast too. I actually ran through Normal difficulty using nothing but Ravens. They're surprisingly good since the changes in Patch 2.4! In NM, I started to mix in wolves and a bear.

This idea has really piqued my intereest, I forgot they significantly buffed druid pets that way. Rough build being max ravens, max spirit wolves, max dire wolves, max grizzly. After that, it seems there's some points to play with. maybe take a few in lycanthropy/werebear for the life/defense boost? i assume you can only have one spirit, so that would probably be wolverine.

Yeah that..actually seems like a solid, potentially workable build.

Edit: Actually, Lawbringer + werewolf would let me take an active role, boost my parties damage and my life, and let me take a might merc..I think there's some potentially cool ideas here!

 

[LouB]

Welcome.

And no you haven't aged yourself. Based on you HS comment that puts you somewhere between 20 and 45. Over the years the people who find and join the SPF tend to be an older crowd - late teens and up. Now if you were to say something like I was introduced to D2 in 2001 by my 20 something daughter that would be aging yourself!

It's a good thing you prefer self-found items. Because while there is a SP Trading forum, there isn't a lot of trading like there used to be.

I'm a fan of barbs and Paladins. Zealots are also pretty easy to play. Take a look at the build your own Zealot guide.

You can also look at the build compendium sticky and see what builds others have made. Definitely some noncookie cutters in there.

 

[little birdy]

This idea has really piqued my intereest, I forgot they significantly buffed druid pets that way. Rough build being max ravens, max spirit wolves, max dire wolves, max grizzly. After that, it seems there's some points to play with. maybe take a few in lycanthropy/werebear for the life/defense boost? i assume you can only have one spirit, so that would probably be wolverine.

Yeah that..actually seems like a solid, potentially workable build.

Edit: Actually, Lawbringer + werewolf would let me take an active role, boost my parties damage and my life, and let me take a might merc..I think there's some potentially cool ideas here!

A few points in Werebear and Shock Wave also works if you want to be active albeit in more of a supportive role. Stun everything with Shock Wave and let your pets go wild. If your merc has ‘Insight’ then you can spam Shock Wave almost non-stop. I found it to be fun, but your mileage may vary

And yes, only one Spirit. They flip a coin, they can both be helpful situationally for life or damage/AR. They tend to die too easily though, especially when you need them most (eg, boss battles) so you have to re-cast it a lot.

 

[maxicek]

Welcome to the SPF.

Trapper is a good character to start from scratch with, especially if you are already familiar with it. We have starter guides for every class here:

Diablo Guides, Strategies, and Builds - PureDiablo

Starter Guides Diablo 2 Sorceress Starter Guide – Blizzball or Meteorb Diablo 2 Assassin Starter Trapsin Build Guide Diablo 2 Necromancer Fishymancer Build

www.purediablo.com

Some people prefer MrLlamaSC guides

He makes me want to Fireball his head. I hate how these YouTubers have basically become the voice of D2 by making videos of other peoples work over the years.
"Here's my guide for a Fishymancer..." They don't even know why it is called a Fishymancer. Give me a well written text guide any day [/rant]

 

[Arparrabiosa]

Well, calling them “guides” was perhaps a bit generous. They are more like skill point allocation order and lists of possible equipment. His video guides are a bit better than his written guides, and his Let's Play are better than his video guides. But I prefer other content creators. DarkHumility is my favorite, by far. Neandertha1 and MacroBioBoi come to mind, too. The leveling guides by Teo are excellent.

 

[Avengor]

Thanks for the advice and welcome, all

I'll hold off on a more substantial update until I'm a little farther through normal. I'm currently running with a summoner druid after the discussion with @little birdy above. Ravens are fantastic in normal! the need to resummon them is a little onerous, so I could see myself speccing out of them in later acts - we will see.

I also really like how good it feels to be in werewolf form and attacking alongside them. Using Feral Rage is mana intensive at this point. The run boost is nice though.

All in all, I'm taking it a bit slow on the restart. I'll keep farming Countess to get Stealth and then move on.

 

[PhineasB]

Welcome to the SPF @Avengor and good luck with the new character!

 

[little birdy]

Ravens are fantastic in normal! the need to resummon them is a little onerous, so I could see myself speccing out of them in later acts - we will see.

At higher skill levels they do more hits before they disappear, so that helps to cut down on the frequency that you need to re-summon them. But I agree that they a little more high-maintenance than the other summons.

 

[LouB]

You need to find a ring or amulet that has 3% or 4% mana leach. It will solve the Feral Rage mana issue. You wouldn't think that a skill that only uses 3 mana would burn up a lot of mana, but remember that Feral Rage doesn't recover any mana and that when you get really going you will have a lot of hits.

 

[DaveW]

He makes me want to Fireball his head. I hate how these YouTubers have basically become the voice of D2 by making videos of other peoples work over the years.
"Here's my guide for a Fishymancer..." They don't even know why it is called a Fishymancer. Give me a well written text guide any day [/rant]

Welcome Avengor *steals wallet ... drinks on me* All the best for your D2 career.

Totally agree with Maxicek here. Mrllama should be Mr lamer! His recent Phoenix Striker playthrough was abysmal. He enters Hell at around clvl 60 and wonders why he's getting crushed. Next to no use of CoS.

And his gearing choices are a joke. Why does he need to equip Enigma? And the Archs Mesh? If you want to play Sorc, play Sorc. Assassins are stealth fighters, hiding in the shadows and striking when they least expect.

As for the Fishymancer, the 'Fishy' refers to NightFish, an HC immortal from the forums here and back there. I remember MPing with him, myself, Kitteh and Pancakes I think it was. The HC All Stars we were. I hope my write up of that got transferred here.

Anyone seen NF? I'd like to get his take on D2R. Sorry for thread hijack Avengor.

 

[Avengor]

Welcome Avengor *steals wallet ... drinks on me* All the best for your D2 career.

Totally agree with Maxicek here. Mrllama should be Mr lamer! His recent Phoenix Striker playthrough was abysmal. He enters Hell at around clvl 60 and wonders why he's getting crushed. Next to no use of CoS.

And his gearing choices are a joke. Why does he need to equip Enigma? And the Archs Mesh? If you want to play Sorc, play Sorc. Assassins are stealth fighters, hiding in the shadows and striking when they least expect.

As for the Fishymancer, the 'Fishy' refers to NightFish, an HC immortal from the forums here and back there. I remember MPing with him, myself, Kitteh and Pancakes I think it was. The HC All Stars we were. I hope my write up of that got transferred here.

Anyone seen NF? I'd like to get his take on D2R. Sorry for thread hijack Avengor.

It's no problem, intro threads are meant to go off the rails imo. Thank you for the kind welcome