what char to start with

[KillSwitcHR]

hey ive been thinking of trying out classic ladder and was wondering what char would be fun/good to start with. keep in mind i am starting with no gear at all.

[Necrolestes]

A barbarian or an Amazon would be ideal (neither are very mana dependent, have good health, and have level 1 skills that can be used until the end of the game). A paladin would be a good second choice (Might aura is weak come NM but to a starting player, it's not bad...you also have prayer to heal yourself so you may not need as many potions). Sorcies and necros are more fun, of course, but for a beginning player on ladder, they require more micro management (not to mention good gear) than it's worth.

[Palm]

MF sorc. Make a 3D shield and stick 3 Ptopaz in a helm, fill up the rest of the gear as best you can and hit nm mephisto.

[mhl12]

fire sorc and do andy mf runs

[Noxarcana]

my first char was a hammerdin, he used a lot of mana pots, but he is a decent mfer with no gear. i guess a fire sorc would be better tho

[waaaghboss]

Best charactor to start with is always a sorc.

I wouldnt even bother with a barb till I have decent enough gear to know how to manage his stats. Barbs are MUCH more gear dependent than sorcies.

[Jezza]

Absolutely always start with a sorc. No other character is so versatile without good gear. No other char can mf like a sorc.

Personally I always go fireball sorc to begin, because mf is my main priority when I start out. Some of my friends go blizz, which is a nice killer, but I find andy drops the most good stuff.

This late in the season, people would be giving away shards by the dozens, I know I do. So you should be able to get some cheap, if not free sorc gear.

[Immortality]

I started out with a zon... the build got to like to lvl 70 b4 i stoped lvlin her. The build really sucked cuz i just maxed out the fire arrow thing and that really sucked. Zons probably isnt a good char to start out on since good bows are hard to come by.

If u wanna go solo go with necro, i find that summon necros are the most fun to play with because raising armies to do your bidding is quite fun, even though that isnt effective for dueling.

I have to disagree with you guys about starting on Sorcs. Their survivablity is really low, which in my exprience makes it difficult to play with, not even to mention sorcs below lvl 24 suck, expect fire sorcs. You really have to know how to build a sorc correctly to make it fun later on. Dont get me wrong, Sorcs is my favorite char, sorcs probably take the most skill to play, Orb sorcs > Billz, fire sorcs. :D Orb sorc ownz joo all.

Barbs, I find is a good char to start out on, just keep plugin all your stats into vit.. lol.

[Fearlessone]

Absolutely always start with a sorc. No other character is so versatile without good gear. No other char can mf like a sorc...This late in the season, people would be giving away shards by the dozens, I know I do.
Bahh...Humbug. He said he wants fun, nothing is more fun (most of the time) than a party, and chars who add something unique to the party are best. Well, that could be a few chars: necros for their curses (not often used anymore with the pumping of synergies), paladins with auras (but expect to only see concentration, and faint if they use cleansing or salvation or arent hammerdins), barbs with warcries (they almost universally have these by lvl 50 or so nowadays), and sorc with hi lvl static and tele (well, at least they can tele).

What Jezza wants is for u to start with a sorc for mf purposes to twink any char that u REALLY want to have fun with. It's true that they are easy to get stuff for. But I think half the fun with a first char on any realm is getting these items along the way. Problem is, when u play with chars in hell games, where the best stuff falls, autopickit cheaters make this ugly.

I usually start with a barb on the ladder, and max bo b4 anything else. If u cant find a good weapon, then scoop up other stuff, even flawless gems in hell to barter for one. Barbs can mf too, although far less efficiently on andy and meph than a sorc - best to consider travincal mf'ing for barbs, to get gold, then gamble, then trade ur gambles.

[KillSwitcHR]

i dont know anyone who plays classic so i would also need a build that can fight on its own. i dont really want to make an mfer because i dont plan on making other classic chars

[waaaghboss]

<i>I have to disagree with you guys about starting on Sorcs. Their survivablity is really low, which in my exprience makes it difficult to play with, not even to mention sorcs below lvl 24 suck, expect fire sorcs.</i>

Ive started from scratch on variour hc realms at least a half dozen times. Trust me, sorc is the way to go.

[Fearlessone]

i dont know anyone who plays classic so i would also need a build that can fight on its own. i dont really want to make an mfer because i dont plan on making other classic chars
Then start by posting ur realm and asking around here at this forum if anyone is starting a new char. There is a thread here to do that also. Public games in classic arent that bad, there arent that many games available, maybe 30 in normal on any realm at peak times, and much fewer late at nite.

If u have 389 posts, then u must know how to play LoD. There are fewer builds in classic than LoD that are viable ON THEIR OWN thru hell. Without the +skills items, u wont have as many skills beefed up, so u will have to scrimp on spending skillpoints. Most ppl do this by choosing a very specific build and pumping the synergies to max and ignoring other useful skills. It's harder to do a zon later in the game with this 1.10 patch, and u dont see too many melee pallys either. But that doesnt mean that these chars can't fight on their own. We CANT tell U what to make. U will have to list what U would like to make and ask if those chars are viable....

[stanzaman]

hey ive been thinking of trying out classic ladder and was wondering what char would be fun/good to start with. keep in mind i am starting with no gear at all.

I would either start with a maul barbarian, or a hammerdin. Either build is pretty powerful, versatile, a good magic finder, and not that equipment dependent.

For the maul barb, just build your standard WW barb. Max WW, Battle orders, mace mastery. Put atleast one point into find item. Put the rest whereever you feel like. Get as much STR as you want (170-200 is a good number if you aren't really sure). Put the rest into Vit. Equipment is not crucial - just look for leech, life, resists, crushing blow, and strength. Angelic set is good too, and cheap. Get the unique light plated boots (Goblintoe) if you can. Weapon is pretty crucial though, that's why I recommend a maul barb, as Steeldriver and Bonesnap are both good enough to get you through hell, and both are pretty cheap and easy to find. You can substitute a good Martel later on if you get your hands on one.

Hammerdin has been covered pretty well already in this forum. Basically, max battle hammers, vigor, blessed aim, and concentration. One point into redemption. Get as much str as you think you need (~75 is good), for dex no more than 51 (shard), and the rest into vit, or a few into energy if you want. Good gear includes things with life, resists, mana, fast cast, skills. Tarnhelm, 3 gem hat, shard, 3 diamond sheild, nightsmoke, magefists/frosties, SOJs, etc. But hammerdins are so overpowered that you could probably run around naked and still own hell. Seriously.

[phatskat]

what do u guys think about a poison/summoner? i am gona trade all my lod **** for classic **** and make some chars...i think i could make him work, if not then ill make a hammerdin and sorc too...right?

[Locke07]

what do u guys think about a poison/summoner? i am gona trade all my lod **** for classic **** and make some chars...i think i could make him work, if not then ill make a hammerdin and sorc too...right?

You might be able to make him work on expansion, but very doubtful on classic due to the low number of plus skills. Most people pick one skill then stick with it and its synergies. Try Poison, summoning, or bone if you want to go a necro.

[phatskat]

You might be able to make him work on expansion, but very doubtful on classic due to the low number of plus skills. Most people pick one skill then stick with it and its synergies. Try Poison, summoning, or bone if you want to go a necro.

pure poison works on classic right? with the poison skills and a cool golem would it make it? this is a char where gear is no object...if it was perfect would he work on classic pvm?

[fredsta54]

the lower amount of +skills on classic doesnt matter, considering the monsters are much weaker and have less life. There arent any really godly peiecs of gera on classic, like enigma on xpac, well, except of course for shard :-)

[Immortality]

Barbs are good for starting out cuz...well they own in the lower lvls.

[Murrogh]

I like a hammeradin starting out. Good survivability if u do lots of life and really high dmg.

[Locke07]

I think in expansion you need a sorc to start out. She can pack tons of MF and hit mephisto/andy to drop the high end uniqs. While on classic I am wondering if you could get by with a hammerdin that would be able to go with less mf but hit places like Chaos and Travincle, since high end uniqs dont exist and your just huniting for rares?

What do you guys think?

[Immortality]

Hammerdins, in my opinion, are a bunch of wimps. My reason: they pretty much stay in one place and summon hammers :eek: exciting isnt it!!!!!
Im more of charge/smite paly. I only run with low lvl sorcs and zons :D

neways, sorcs are fun to build but sorcs are pretty item dependent ( fcr :eek: !!!! ) I'd guess they could live without it but you'll get overwhelmed my enemies before you could cast again.

D2 really needs a +fcr skill!!!!!!!!

I still gotta stick with barbs to start out and get some stuff with.

[Fearlessone]

You might be able to make him work on expansion, but very doubtful on classic due to the low number of plus skills. Most people pick one skill then stick with it and its synergies. Try Poison, summoning, or bone if you want to go a necro.
A good poison / summoner necro on classic is quite a contribution to the party. First, he is providing a meatshield with the summons, be they skellies or higher life revives (some revives can actually kill in late hell if u get urdars, grotesques, or lots of doom knights AND u use amp curse). Second, he is providing good curses - amp for barbs, decrep for his, his minions, and other party members safety, and finally lower resist for the pnova and for all sorcies and any foh'ers.

My pnova reviver does about 2800 pois damage. I intend to make a guide about him in the next week. My LoD pnova necro does close to 7K damage with extra gear giving lower resists, and is quite good except in instakill overpowered groups. So, a pnova necro is SLOWWW in classic to kill either a single monster, a few monsters, or a large mob, but only if he uses just poison. Get a few lower life monsters dying and then use CE and KABOOM KABOOM KABOOM KABOOM KABOOM, (more KABOOMS, u get the picture). End of the mob. So such a char is quite powerful overall in classic. I find that he is stronger than most lvl 60-70's such as sorcies, other necros, and ww barbs in cs runs (who are very shy to hit much of anything there).

[Immortality]

A good poison / summoner necro on classic is quite a contribution to the party. First, he is providing a meatshield with the summons, be they skellies or higher life revives (some revives can actually kill in late hell if u get urdars, grotesques, or lots of doom knights AND u use amp curse). Second, he is providing good curses - amp for barbs, decrep for his, his minions, and other party members safety, and finally lower resist for the pnova and for all sorcies and any foh'ers.

My pnova reviver does about 2800 pois damage. I intend to make a guide about him in the next week. My LoD pnova necro does close to 7K damage with extra gear giving lower resists, and is quite good except in instakill overpowered groups. So, a pnova necro is SLOWWW in classic to kill either a single monster, a few monsters, or a large mob, but only if he uses just poison. Get a few lower life monsters dying and then use CE and KABOOM KABOOM KABOOM KABOOM KABOOM, (more KABOOMS, u get the picture). End of the mob. So such a char is quite powerful overall in classic. I find that he is stronger than most lvl 60-70's such as sorcies, other necros, and ww barbs in cs runs (who are very shy to hit much of anything there).

I dont feel poisin is effective. You have to wait...and wait..and guess what! wait some more!!!

[Locke07]

A good poison / summoner necro on classic is quite a contribution to the party. First, he is providing a meatshield with the summons, be they skellies or higher life revives (some revives can actually kill in late hell if u get urdars, grotesques, or lots of doom knights AND u use amp curse). Second, he is providing good curses - amp for barbs, decrep for his, his minions, and other party members safety, and finally lower resist for the pnova and for all sorcies and any foh'ers.

My pnova reviver does about 2800 pois damage. I intend to make a guide about him in the next week. My LoD pnova necro does close to 7K damage with extra gear giving lower resists, and is quite good except in instakill overpowered groups. So, a pnova necro is SLOWWW in classic to kill either a single monster, a few monsters, or a large mob, but only if he uses just poison. Get a few lower life monsters dying and then use CE and KABOOM KABOOM KABOOM KABOOM KABOOM, (more KABOOMS, u get the picture). End of the mob. So such a char is quite powerful overall in classic. I find that he is stronger than most lvl 60-70's such as sorcies, other necros, and ww barbs in cs runs (who are very shy to hit much of anything there).

While I agree that a psn/summoner would be good for a party this is about the setup for next ladder and most offten then not you will be spending most of your time by yourself. I think a summoner would be the best bet in the long run, but psn isn't bad either. About the number of plus skills I was commenting about how he is spliting up his skill tree and while that is possiable on expansion I don't find it possible on classic due to the low number of plus skills compared to the difficulties of the creatures.
you would have to go with unmaxed skills which would hurt your overall effectivness.