GoHabsGo
18-07-2007, 06:42
Hello everyone! Like many people here, the ladder reset lured me back into this simple yet, very addicting Diablo game. Not able to dedicate as much time as I used to back in the ‘old school era’, I figured I might as well just go for something I never tried and hope to have as much fun as possible. Obviously, my previous account had expired and all my gaming buddies we’re long gone. So I guess this is really what we call Starting from scratch.
So here I am, looking at the 7 classes around that fire, wondering what should I pick. The 5 original classes got eliminated quickly, since I overplayed them in the past. So it was down to Asn vs Druid, our 2 lovely expansion add-on. I finally decided Druid would be the path I follow. Having played a wolf druid a couple of times, the only thing I hadn’t tried with this class was the elemental tree (always felt sorceress we’re more appropriate for this type of build). So the adventures began!
My goal was to take the Wind Branch, as the synergies we’re pretty easy to figure out and I didn’t want to read a guide. The only problem is, the good stuff only comes at lvl 24. For a moment, I was tempted to just beg for a normal rush, leech in baal runs until lvl 50 and then start to roll with my 2 mains skills maxed. But the little angel on my shoulder warned me ‘’You came back to have fun, play the game the way it was meant to be played!’’ ... So I did!
I figured with some decent melee gear, I could probably reach act 4 without having to use skills. And it was true. I took my time in act 1, making sure to sell as many magics I could find in order to get a lot of gold. I was lucky to find a +2WW, +2 lycan helm which served me well for almost 4 acts. Spending one point in oak sage at lvl 6, I saved everything else in order to max my 2 main skills by 50. For people who never tried it, you’d be really surprise how well you can handle the game (at least in normal) just by using the right gear. My weapons of choice we’re usually axes socketed with either a lot of poison gems or cold gems. Of course, I made sure my act 2 merc was well equipped and he did most of the job when thing became harder for me. The fun thing is, by the time I was getting serious in act 5, my true build was finally showing up. It was like a brand new character. I had a great time running normal with gear only and nightmare was a walk in the park with maxed hurricanes and tornado. Now I’m in Hell act 2, level 78. Took me a little less than a week, playing a couple of hours after work each night.
But the most important thing, I played the game at my own rhythm. I didn’t have to prove anything to anyone and I was in no hurry to become a high level. You always have to be careful when you play hardcore but also enjoy every moment with your character since you can lose him any minute. I visited every area in all acts in the first two difficulties. I plan on doing so in Hell as soon as my resists allows me to.
So for anyone who would like to Start from scratch like I did and try to make it on their own, here are some little tricks that might help you;
-Pick up every gem you find and transmute. Perfect Gems is poor players money. You will have to be patient when trading with them but with a bit of luck and good manners, you’ll find a rich taker willing to give you some very reasonable gear in exchange for them.
-Spot some midclass runewords (Spirit for example) and collect every runes you find in order to complete those. Remember you can transmute low level runes (up to THUL I think)
-Don’t try to rush your way up. By playing your character at your rhythm, you’ll get used to his skills, his weakness and so on. The better you learn to handle your character in lower difficulties, the best it will be for you when times come to face greater challenges in Hell.
-Don’t give up just because the experience seem to slow down at some point. This attitude will make you play in public games or trust people you shouldn’t and you’ll end up Pked sooner than you expect. All I have to say is there is always some area in the game where your character will gain decent XP, regardless of his level. That’s why you need to explore as many places as possible. Right now I’m running Pit Runs (tamoe highland) with my lvl 78. The danger isn’t that high and I get a level up at about every 3 runs.
So there it his, hopefully it will help a newcomer or two. And if not well ... I’m still happy I shared this with everyone :)
So here I am, looking at the 7 classes around that fire, wondering what should I pick. The 5 original classes got eliminated quickly, since I overplayed them in the past. So it was down to Asn vs Druid, our 2 lovely expansion add-on. I finally decided Druid would be the path I follow. Having played a wolf druid a couple of times, the only thing I hadn’t tried with this class was the elemental tree (always felt sorceress we’re more appropriate for this type of build). So the adventures began!
My goal was to take the Wind Branch, as the synergies we’re pretty easy to figure out and I didn’t want to read a guide. The only problem is, the good stuff only comes at lvl 24. For a moment, I was tempted to just beg for a normal rush, leech in baal runs until lvl 50 and then start to roll with my 2 mains skills maxed. But the little angel on my shoulder warned me ‘’You came back to have fun, play the game the way it was meant to be played!’’ ... So I did!
I figured with some decent melee gear, I could probably reach act 4 without having to use skills. And it was true. I took my time in act 1, making sure to sell as many magics I could find in order to get a lot of gold. I was lucky to find a +2WW, +2 lycan helm which served me well for almost 4 acts. Spending one point in oak sage at lvl 6, I saved everything else in order to max my 2 main skills by 50. For people who never tried it, you’d be really surprise how well you can handle the game (at least in normal) just by using the right gear. My weapons of choice we’re usually axes socketed with either a lot of poison gems or cold gems. Of course, I made sure my act 2 merc was well equipped and he did most of the job when thing became harder for me. The fun thing is, by the time I was getting serious in act 5, my true build was finally showing up. It was like a brand new character. I had a great time running normal with gear only and nightmare was a walk in the park with maxed hurricanes and tornado. Now I’m in Hell act 2, level 78. Took me a little less than a week, playing a couple of hours after work each night.
But the most important thing, I played the game at my own rhythm. I didn’t have to prove anything to anyone and I was in no hurry to become a high level. You always have to be careful when you play hardcore but also enjoy every moment with your character since you can lose him any minute. I visited every area in all acts in the first two difficulties. I plan on doing so in Hell as soon as my resists allows me to.
So for anyone who would like to Start from scratch like I did and try to make it on their own, here are some little tricks that might help you;
-Pick up every gem you find and transmute. Perfect Gems is poor players money. You will have to be patient when trading with them but with a bit of luck and good manners, you’ll find a rich taker willing to give you some very reasonable gear in exchange for them.
-Spot some midclass runewords (Spirit for example) and collect every runes you find in order to complete those. Remember you can transmute low level runes (up to THUL I think)
-Don’t try to rush your way up. By playing your character at your rhythm, you’ll get used to his skills, his weakness and so on. The better you learn to handle your character in lower difficulties, the best it will be for you when times come to face greater challenges in Hell.
-Don’t give up just because the experience seem to slow down at some point. This attitude will make you play in public games or trust people you shouldn’t and you’ll end up Pked sooner than you expect. All I have to say is there is always some area in the game where your character will gain decent XP, regardless of his level. That’s why you need to explore as many places as possible. Right now I’m running Pit Runs (tamoe highland) with my lvl 78. The danger isn’t that high and I get a level up at about every 3 runs.
So there it his, hopefully it will help a newcomer or two. And if not well ... I’m still happy I shared this with everyone :)