Starting HC again...help needed!

S

Someone14

New member
Starting HC again...help needed!

Yo,

It has now been 8 months since I last played diablo2 hc. Im starting to play again, but I haven't played 1.10 ladder so there are some things I'd like to know.

1. What kind of character would be the easiest for exping / mfing at the start. What are the best places to hunt items?!

2. Does whirlwind barbarian (sword) still rule, like it did in 1.09? Or is whirlwind useless (I've heard that there are more phys. immunes in 1.10)

Im starting with no items at all, 'clean table' as someone would say :)

Any advices for 1.10 noob would be greatly appreciated!! :worship::worship:
 
Skelly Necro Max skelleis and mastery get golem and revive 1 point max Spirit or Spear, all curses, all remaining points in Bone Wall or Prison to boost Bone Armor.

Trapper LS DS pump synergies High lvl Shadow, Master is my choice, lvl 17 for Cruel Claws. Use your mindblast and Cloak of shadows 1 point, Fade.

Java LF pump synergies, get a good lvl Valk lvl 17 is Warpikes! They actually kill stuff!


Barbs are fine, jsut item dependent, more places with Iron Maiden, Leeching life is not like it was, damage is fixed, no more bugged 100% Critical like 1.09. Crushing Blow is king! i suggest making one later

Sorcs moslty 1 tree only, pump the synergies, lvl 16 +Telekenisis and ES rock for safety, Blizz/Glacial rock IMO.....still need items for good sucess.

Necro overloard......same as 1.09 basically just mass minions

Druid, Elemntal the Wind tree seems the better especially nrom and nm

Bowas are very tuff to play.......

Pallys, Hammerdins rule the roost for damage, and can rock with no gear, but must tank thus leaving them to be hit a lot so without some decent stuff you can be in deep fast.

Druids for Melee are still good, but IM is around more places and Melee as a whole is much tuffer now.



Melee took a big hit, but it is still doable. Pick a caster that is item independent like the Trapper or Necro.....Even a Java is item independent.

Take some time, make one of every character at lvl 1 and study what the synergies do for you, figure out what you think you will LIKE to play and then come back for a more specific build help!

Have fun!
 
Someone14 said:
Yo,

It has now been 8 months since I last played diablo2 hc. Im starting to play again, but I haven't played 1.10 ladder so there are some things I'd like to know.
Click to expand...

Welcome back!

Someone14 said:
1. What kind of character would be the easiest for exping / mfing at the start. What are the best places to hunt items?!
Click to expand...

Starting out untwinked a summon based Necromancer will get the job done. They REALLY beefed up skeletons in 1.10 and they will be your bread-n-butter, as opposed to revives. Blizzard also changed from monster based levels to area based levels. Now instead of having only higher level monsters in Act V,there are higher level areas in each act. They include:

Act I: The pit and crypt or masoleum (forget which).
Act II: Ancient tunnels
Act III: Some of the temples in Kurast bazzar, upper Kurast (not sure which ones )
Act IV: River of flame and CS
Act V: WSK2, 3 and throne

Someone14 said:
2. Does whirlwind barbarian (sword) still rule, like it did in 1.09? Or is whirlwind useless (I've heard that there are more phys. immunes in 1.10)
Click to expand...

WW barbs no longer rule. :rant: Concentration barbs now are about the only playable barb build. You can go WW, but it takes a crap load of damage to make it work. The IK set works well with a WW build. Anything short of that and I wouldn't bother with it.

Hope that helps a little. Good luck.

TM
 
OH, a Skellymancer can go anywhere and kill anything, they just arent the fastest killers of everything but are very adequate and safe if played properly!
 
1. Summoning Necro seems to be the favorite starter build (20 Raise Skeleton, 20 Mastery, 1 in Clay Golem, Summon Resist, and Revive, a few in CE). Lightning Trappers also work rather well, as do Hammerdins and Wind Druids, but they don't normally get effective until higher lvls. Normal Baal, Nightmare Meph, Eldritch/Shenk, Pindle, and Hell Andy, Pit are all great places to start MFing.

2. Barbs are pretty crappy without top-end gear. Mine is barely worth keeping around with Lionheart, upgraded Headstriker, and most of IK set. Full IK Barbs work pretty well, but unless you have a ridiculous weapon you're kinda screwed. If you must make a Barb, the "cookie-cutter" build nowadays seems to be Conc/BO/Shout.

Resists have always been a priority for HC play, but now in Hell they're even more important as everything seems to do some sort of elemental damage. Also be aware of the monster randomization in NM and Hell Act5... i.e. Oblivion Knights in Worldstone.
 
terrymanning said:
WW barbs no longer rule. :rant: Concentration barbs now are about the only playable barb build. You can go WW, but it takes a crap load of damage to make it work. The IK set works well with a WW build. Anything short of that and I wouldn't bother with it.

Hope that helps a little. Good luck.

TM
Click to expand...


i beg to differ here, WW is still very viable and the use of any good weapon with speed and range is workable, but you need Crushing Blow to really make it work. Two Handed is really the better way to go in the long run as it brings bigger damage chances.

BTW, A SteelDriver, high end upgraded twice does a damn nice job and is even better with some crushing.

Even with that said, I suggest not making a Barb first off!
 
Someone14 said:
Yo,

It has now been 8 months since I last played diablo2 hc. Im starting to play again, but I haven't played 1.10 ladder so there are some things I'd like to know.

1. What kind of character would be the easiest for exping / mfing at the start. What are the best places to hunt items?!

2. Does whirlwind barbarian (sword) still rule, like it did in 1.09? Or is whirlwind useless (I've heard that there are more phys. immunes in 1.10)

Im starting with no items at all, 'clean table' as someone would say :)

Any advices for 1.10 noob would be greatly appreciated!!
Click to expand...

1.10 101... no ww barb, melee in general is rather item dependent, and a good way to ask for death. The easiest char for exping/mfing with no item base is actually two characters- trappassins (with fade for easy resists, dr) or skelliemancer (skellies got crazy buffed, but hold off on skellie mages and revives- 1 pt only +skills please). Either of these two characters are pretty item independent, or are dependent only on things that can be shopped (+skills weapons). Sorcs can be extremely fast killers too, but unlike in 1.09, you have to focus on one major and one minor skill- you need to take advantage of synergies to have one powerful skill, and something like orb works well as a second, minor attack as it requires fewer skill points for good killing power. Many choose an only cold skill sorc (with the usual accessories) for their mfer, but this build is still a little item dependent- mana stuff, +skill stuff, good resists, etc.

Look around other forums and do some searching and you'll find build guides for all 3 of these chars. But I can't stress this enough- go go resists and defensive techniques... many many nm and hell monsters can kill you easily, so take it easy.

Oh, and as for good mf places, the usual meph/pindle/eld/shenk/baal and minions are good still, but andy in hell tends to be a new favorite, and just killing monsters is good too- the chance to drop good gear has decreased for bosses and increased for general monsters, and it seems that my best drops have come from them. Also, places like the pit (a1 place you've never been), the sewer tunnels below the lost city, crypt, masoleum, and a couple other places like that that i'm forgetting are new favorites, as monsters are the highest lvl monsters in the game so they can drop the best items in the game.

And next time, please use the search function- all this info is available in many posts in the recent history of the forum...

stay safe, stay alive :D


edit: wow, i must be a slow typer.... when i started this there were no replies :D doh
 
I'm not going to argue with you Stinger, but you can load up a Barb with any weapon you want with as much crushing blow and deadly strike as you want and it still won't be anything like what 1.09 was for a WW Barb. WW viable? Sure. Absolutely the secks like in 1.09? Hardly.

TM
 
Skills

Summoning:
20 Raise Skeleton (RS)
20 Skeleton Mastery
1 Raise Mage (RM)
1 Clay Golem
1 Blood Golem
1 Iron Golem
4+ Revive (should be ~10 after + skills in late game)
1 Golem Mastery
5+ Summon Resist

Poison & Bone:
1 Teeth
1-20 Corpse Explosion

Curses:
1+ Amplify Damage (Amp)
1+ Dim Vision (Should be at least 9 after + skills)
1+ Attract
1+ Decrepify (decrep)

and 1 in each of the prerequistes but not more than that.



This will Work just fine but i want to make a few suggestions.

Max CE is nice, but overkill, points can be put to more use in other places. 1-5 invested points will be lvl 10-15 later which is plenty.

All curses do fine with 1 point in them and a few +skills which will be found or shopped pretty easily.

I personally like Maxed Bone Spirit or Spear instead of the big CE. This allows you to get a corpse or help kill bosses. IMO this is essential for untwinked as you cant rely on your merc to live without good gear which of course you probably wont have. Also, every point placed in Spear or Spirit boosts your Bone Armor thus giving you killing power and safety.

Skelleis dont listen to your screams of "GET THE BOSS" they just go after anything close. I have seen MANY times where some Ranged boss sat back and picked off every skelly and Merc when that boss has some nasty mods like Fanta or Might, or if there are two or three boss packs together which is VERY common in 1.10.

Get your 1 point Bone armor and use it, its irreplaceable.

Any and all "extra" points put into something to boost your armor.

Get 1 point Lower Resist, it doesnt cost a lot, but in situations with parties it is so good to have.
 
"Dexterity: Enough to equip your gear OR enough for 75% blocking if you go with the CB variant (more on that later, in the appendix)"

What do you guys think? Is 75% block worth taking so much DEX or should I take DEX just as much as my items need, and put rest to VIT. In softcore I'd maybe go for DEX but since it's hc...well tell your opinion! :thanks:

Thanks in advance.
 
If you have the solid Bone Armor I see no need for Max Block especially with 10-17 Minions or more depending on skills.
 
The issue of max block on a Summoner can really go either way if you have really good twinking gear planned out already. In the case of an untwinked or only semi-twinked build, blocking is hardly worth it. You already have Bone Armor and tons of minions tanking for you. Worry more about resists.
 
Log in to Reply / Create Site Account
Remove Ads - Go PurePremium

Latest posts

Back
Top