New to hardcore, which build should I use?

[The Void]

I've been playing for quite some time and recently I got my attentions turned to hardcore, I would like to make a char and play untwinked, to feel the rush of danger when a high level char enters a game, etc.
So I would like to hear of any fun builds for hardcore char, even though my first one will probably get tppked (thinking positively here), I accept any suggestion of any class and build, but some less unusual ones might be better, anyway, i'll play untwinked and I favor fast characters.
BTW, this will be Europe Ladder!

[MoUsE_WiZ]

FA/LF hybrid zon!

Play her like an FA zon except for CIs and bosses, not as fast as playing her like a java except vs LIs, but definitely reasonable kill speed and MUCH more unusual than being just another java.

[The Void]

Hmm, that might be just what I was looking for, but the amazon is my least played character so I don't have much experience with them, is there a guide for such build?
Anyway, I'll take this as my best chance to use a zon... and to be tppked :fortuneteller:

=P

[Lord Penguin]

Make a ranger... yea:D

[MoUsE_WiZ]

I prefer throwadins to rangers... but they don't exactly fit under the 'fast' category =)

As for a guide... there might be, but I haven't seen someone post such a guide in here so I don't know about one.

Skills would be:
20 FA
20 FA's dmg synergy
20 LF
20 Charged Strike
10-20 pierce (shoot for 67% if you've got a razor tail, if not the more the better)
1 DAE
1 valk, and dump more in if you're not maxing pierce

Stats:
Block is optional, great vs bosses, useless when the bow's out. I like block, but it's your call. Dex for block or Dex for gear... don't pump dex like a strafer might
str for gear
rest in vit

Gear:
Tough to give specifics when you're untwinked. Biggest problem with FA is it's mana cost, mana after kill and mana leech should both be high up on your priority list. Other than that, +skills, razor tail, resists, ias, hp, +cold dmg items (Mostly in charms, but 12 second eye of etlitch if you can find one ^^), and run/walk are all very helpful to you. My favourite bow for the build (without getting expensive) is Lycander's Aim. I'd recommend an insight/holy freeze merc. Other than that if you're using the *wrong* definition of untwinked that seems popular on D2 for some reason you're stuck balancing the above stats with what you find so I can't really help here.

[cynicalcat1]

i too just started hardcore.i played a summoning necro and actually got to 77th level.got in a bad spot in the caverns and got whacked.oh well, my new necro is 42 already and i am having more fun then when i was on softcore.

[The Void]

I prefer throwadins to rangers... but they don't exactly fit under the 'fast' category =)

As for a guide... there might be, but I haven't seen someone post such a guide in here so I don't know about one.

Skills would be:
20 FA
20 FA's dmg synergy
20 LF
20 Charged Strike
10-20 pierce (shoot for 67% if you've got a razor tail, if not the more the better)
1 DAE
1 valk, and dump more in if you're not maxing pierce

Stats:
Block is optional, great vs bosses, useless when the bow's out. I like block, but it's your call. Dex for block or Dex for gear... don't pump dex like a strafer might
str for gear
rest in vit

Gear:
Tough to give specifics when you're untwinked. Biggest problem with FA is it's mana cost, mana after kill and mana leech should both be high up on your priority list. Other than that, +skills, razor tail, resists, ias, hp, +cold dmg items (Mostly in charms, but 12 second eye of etlitch if you can find one ^^), and run/walk are all very helpful to you. My favourite bow for the build (without getting expensive) is Lycander's Aim. I'd recommend an insight/holy freeze merc. Other than that if you're using the *wrong* definition of untwinked that seems popular on D2 for some reason you're stuck balancing the above stats with what you find so I can't really help here.
Thanks for the help. Well, I'll now be off to make my first char... and be tppked :fortuneteller:
Well, I pretend to use only items that I find and not trade or beg for free items or anything, who knows? with luck I might find some good item.

[The Void]

OMG, I cant believe that Name hasn't been taken yet...
Amazon: Fresh_Meat will start her adventure now!

[Treflipin]

Hey void a differnt class/build i would suggest would be a trapsin lighting sentry of course i feel this is prolly the best class of a character to start hardcore with shes a ranged character u can get life pretty high with decent gear and has good killing capability you wont die... also the first move u get fire blast or wahtever is actually a good skill mix that in with ur ls and synergies and u have a lean mean killing machine some points in fade to stay safe in hell and a point in BOS to get around quickly shadow masters i feel arnt worth the points but its all personal opinion

Here ill put together what i feel would be a solid sin... Here she is at lvl 80

20-Fire Blast
20-Shock Web
20-Charged Bolt Sentry
20-Lighting Sentry
1-Burst of Speed
5-Fade
1-Claw Mastery(pre req)

Heres a lvl 80 Sin with with 4 points to spare u can start pumping those into death sentry if u feel you want more dmg or fade if u feel ur not safe enough on my build i think i have a few more points in BoS just beacuse i like to be able to move around real quick and also i belive although not sure that my fire blast is not maxed because i didnt realize the effectiveness untill i was prolly lvl 89 however i had saved points and its still at an effective lvl of prolly only 7-10 points because of the synergies actually being ur main attacks synergies (i had extra points because i didnt pump of Death Sentry i felt with my items my dmg was sufficient enough and i could spend my points on skills like fade or fire blast). and on a final note if shadow master is for you go for it, i feel as though they dont do **** but if u are going to get one get shadow warrior as she will mock ur skills set to ur left and right i belive which should be fire blast on left LS on right maybe slap fade on there first so she'l cast that on herself. But in my opinion these are a waste of points that could be spent in synergy or fade. Good Luck and be safe

[IRoK]

My Favorite Hardcore Builds :

Summoning Necro
Tank Druid
Fire Sorceress
Singer/WW Hybrid Barb
Lighting Sentry Trapsin
Immolation Arrow Amazon
Hammerdin

These are all good builds maybe you'd like to try some...just a thought...

[The Void]

Hmm, I never thought that seeing another player die would be so funny... excuse me but I cant contain my laugh when I see level 9s and 20s being beaten by normal creatures... I also saw a sorc got killed by duriel in a 8 players game.. she served her purpose (human shield)
As far as it is I am currently having fun with it, but it is a little boring to avoid enter most games and cause of high level pkers (I dont avoid all but there seems to be some really obvious like: Ikillcowsforu-01 (2 mins passed and a high level sorc inside... hmmm, I don't think I will enter)

[Cleglaw_Himself]

Hmm, I never thought that seeing another player die would be so funny

Yes, can be quite entertaining, until it happens to u!

I remember a while back, a couple of ladder resets ago in act 4 normal,
Player 1 was slain by Infector of Souls
Player 2 was slain by Infector of Souls
Player 3 was slain by Venom Lord
Player 4 was slain by Infector of Souls

Ahh, good times. :thumbsup:

[The Void]

It's just funny when they are careless, I remember some guys in softcore once, killing diablo, each died an average of 10 times during it, they were all around level 23-28 I've never had so much fun in my life, lol. But I am not the kind to say "OMFG NOOB LOL", I just say rip or sometimes a lol if it's really way too stupid.

[Treflipin]

haha i was in a game the other day doin duriel 4 thats right 4 people got straight merc'd by duriel it was quite amussing

[The Void]

Ahahaha, oh what a day, first my throwing barb got pked by a f****** sorc in a enchant game, then later on my fishymancer got tppked by a level 79 strafer ama, it seems that the only char that I have left is my ama, which is the one with the highest level too. On a side note I lost my most important items on my barb (tal ammy, ik helm with 40 mf base). I just want to kill someone. Well, at least I still have my amazon and... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH H. (just kidding, she's still alive) Hope they have a day as good as mine.

EDIT:And just to make it even more sweet I am f****** lagging, can only see 4 games in the list

[BadFishh]

It's just funny when they are careless, I remember some guys in softcore once, killing diablo, each died an average of 10 times during it, they were all around level 23-28 I've never had so much fun in my life, lol. But I am not the kind to say "OMFG NOOB LOL", I just say rip or sometimes a lol if it's really way too stupid.

Seems like you have a very interesting life... :grin:

No offense, just kidding :tongue: .

[The Void]

lol, none taken.
SUMMARY: my life sucks, lol.

[The Void]

This is just getting better, I was just muling my only rare amu, plus lots of other items, gems, charms, and money to another char (was deleting that one, cause of a mistake in point distribution) and then I come back with my pala to pick up items, pick just a few... Connection interrupted!
Game does not exist...
A-R-G-H. Someone must not like me. =(
So now I am left with just two chars, one crappy low level pala, and my ama, which I haven't even tried to play in the meanwhile due to fear of being lag killed.
Just great, it's one of those days...

EDIT: just entered a game and noticed that I got none of the items that I picked... MUST... KILL... BLI..ZZARD PER..SONEL...

[Cleglaw_Himself]

(was deleting that one, cause of a mistake in point distribution)

EDIT: just entered a game and noticed that I got none of the items that I picked... MUST... KILL... BLI..ZZARD PER..SONEL...

Yeah, it happens sometimes.

You delete characters just because 1 small error??! :shocked:

[The Void]

Two skill points, he was low level, so it wouldnt make much difference, but I lost all my money and items on that char due to that :cry:

[robofen]

I also have been playing for a while and am new to hardcore, but I played a Holy Freeze Zealot which seemed to be pretty successful.

I might check out the zon build, it seems 'do-able', I might even jump on ladder for it. Any other suggestions for decent PvM builds without costing too much? I would have to say a singer and a hammerdin would not fall into those categories. How is a CL/FO sorc?

[Discord]

I, also, was heavily addicted to d2 back in the 1.09 days, and have just recently picked this game up again. If it helps you at all, the builds that I was looking (for completely untwinked play, of course) at included:

Lightning trapsin
Meteor/fireball sorc
Wind druid
Skellemancer

I was primarily looking for something that would allow me to mf to a certain extent for my subsequent chars, and whose killing speed/ability was dependent upon their skills, and not gear. I ended up selecting a fire sorc for utility and speed, and though she has a bit of a mana pot habit, it's working out for me so far. Just about to enter NM, once I get my resists straightened out. I don't have a single unique or set item on me, but once I get some, I'd imagine things'll start getting even easier.

Cheers :thumbsup:

[PhatTrumpet]

I would have to say a singer and a hammerdin would not fall into those categories.
What's the problem with a Hammerdin? Spirit sword+shield = gg.

[NightShade]

Hammeradins are rediculously easy and cheap to make...As well as being effective.


Spirits word/Sheild
+1 helm (anything)
+1 ammy
Fcr rings
Blood fists
Sanders boots
Somebelt.
Sovm (expensive when you're staring out, but a staple.)

[robofen]

What's the problem with a Hammerdin? Spirit sword+shield = gg.

I should mention this is the first time I have picked up again in about 3/4 of a year, and I have not played ladder. So I am completely unfamilar with the L runewords.. My NL din used hoto, hoz, soj, etc.. and I thought a HCL would be nearly the same, so I equated my broke HCL self with not being able to afford it.

Thank you for pointing that out however, as that was the reason this thread was started in the first place. I've jumped on the forum to try and catch up with all the 'new' builds, etc, because I certainley can't run a nova sorc anymore!

[bingoboy]

i would say making a fishymancer, hammerdin or firesorc would be your best bet due to their total lack of must have items. all of them can go through the game without any twinking. all can make use of spirit sword and shield Lore runeword or any other +1 skills helmet, +1 skill amu and fcr rings. good luck