Super noob needs help

[TheDonk]

Hi, i'm coming back to D2 after a 2 year layoff or so and had a couple questions. Out of the 6 heroes how would you rate them in terms of 'easy to play/easy to win with.' I would guess that the Barbarian/Paladin would be 1 and 2, but I don't know for sure. So if a few of you guys could help me out and rate the heroes 1-6 (1 being the easiest to play/, etc.) and tell me why the hero is easy/not easy to play, that would help me out a lot in deciding who to start with. BTW, you don't have to mention anything about who is good PvP, I simply mean beating the lvls/bosses/game. Thanks in advance.


--Donk

[TheNix]

Most, if not all, of the seven characters as have an easy build. The easiest I've found happens to be a necromancer, a Fishymancer to be correct. A character capable for completing the game without any equipment. Any of the usual cookie cutter build are easy, hence there being so many of them. You can look at a hammerdin, trappersin, windy druid, et al, all are quite easy builds, but some are more gear dependant than others. It's is more what you do with a character that makes a character more, or less, easy, more so than the character itself.

[Mursilis]

Easiest is subjective, so you'll get a few different opinions as to what character/build you should start with, but I'll give it a go.

#1 Necromancer
The Fishysmancer is the stable of this character and a normal starting point for most players. This character is completely item independent and could solve Hell naked if necessary. With 20+ minions doing the dirty work you'll find yourself in personal danger infrequently. Going can be a bit slow and tedious, but since this character can load up on the MF he makes an excellent runner of areas for equipment for the rest of your planned builds.

Other builds are possible with the Necromancer, but the choices are fairly small and the rest are more difficult.

#2 Sorceress
There are many more options for this character, all relatively the same as far as ease of play is concerned. Popular choices are the Meteorb, Blizzballer, pure Blizzard and pure Lightning sorceresses. The first two make excellent all around MFers and can solo any part of the game due to dealing multiple types of elemental damage, while the second two are more specialized in that some areas they will be relying purely on their mercenary to deal with all encountered monsters.

They are fragile creatures however, so care must be taken to keep them out of harms way. Thankfully they have Teleport as a skill that allows them to run away from danger, or reposition their mercenary companion at will.

#3 Paladin
This character is the most versitle of all the classes, and has the most possible builds available. The easiest build type would be any of the Zealot types, or the Hammerdin. A plethora of auras for all occasions ensures the Paladin is not without a means to deal with most situations and Holy Shield ensures his survivability is high with a decent blocking ability.

Both types mentioned above require very little skill switching. The Zealots (Frost Zealot, Telsadin, Fanaticism enhanced pure Zealot) are pure click-and-hold until the monsters are dead type fighters. The Hammerdin is similar in that he simply spams fields of hammers and waits for monsters to wander through and kill themselves off. The Zealots have some issues with immune monsters in Hell and therefore require backup skills, while nothing except a single monster in Act III is immune to the Hammerdin (which is why he's so popular).

#4 Assassin
The easiest of builds for this character would be the Trapper. Simply cast Cloak of Shadows, lay traps and wait until the monsters are all dead. Move forward, rinse and repeat. Not the most interesting play style but simple.

However on the flip side the Martial arts builds are much more difficult. Due to the number of skills used they are being switched constantly so great attention is required to ensure the correct number of charges is obtained and the right type of attack used depending on what immunity the monsters have. More intense than almost any other build type and fairly item dependent to boot.

#4 Amazon
This character also has a fair amount of possible builds available, the easiest being the Lighthing Fury Amazon and the MS/Strafazon. A pure LF build can deal with most packs and all bosses within seconds and has the needed backup skills (Jab, MA...) to take on the LIs as well. The Bowazon takes on enemies from afar and with skills like Knockback and chance to flee ensures no one ever gets close.

What makes these builds really shine though is that the Amazon has access to the best tank in the game, the Valkyrie. Along with that she has an excellent scout in the Decoy that can be cast far ahead to see what monsters/dangers lie in wait.

#6 Druid
Druids have a limited number of "easiest" builds available. The normal ones are fire, wind and werewolf/werebear. The fire and wind druids have an excellent tank in the form of a summonable bear, however their skills are not the easiest to aim, especially Armageddon. The werebear/wolf builds, while powerful do have trouble on the defensive end (wolf) or slow attack speed (bear). This makes them a little more difficult than the above characters to play, but not absurdly so.

#7 Barbarian
Probably his easiest build would be an Immortal King WWer. Not the easiest set to finish but very viable to solo the game. He's not the fastest character and will encounter trouble when fighting mana burn monsters, or when simply swarmed since he has zero blocking abilities (2-handed weapon). He doesn't have a summonable tank to help relieve the pressure nor any good crowd control skills. A couple of the warcries help, but this character relies on his fighting abilities to win.

[Hrus]

Mursilis - great work, I would probably do the very similar 1 to 7, but would be lazy to describe that all.
I would probably place fishymancer on 2nd, but it's just because I think they are boring.

Most builds are ok through normal, they really start to shine/suck in hell. Melee builds really need to have good equipment, especially weapon, later in the game and it's not easy to get... Casting equipment is much easier to get.

1. orb/ball (sorc)
2. fishymancer (nekro)
3. FA/LF zon (gunslinger?) (zon)
4. trapper (sin)
5. hammerdin (pala)
6. fireclaw bear (druid)
7. WW barb

I am not sure about druid, because I didn't play winddruid yet, but fireclaw druid do great damage to fire vulnerable monsters, can do it fast and have shockwave, which is great for starting characters. Barb is quite hard to equip to be really effective...
Hammerdin is so low, because it's hard to play him well for beginners (and without Enigma).

[AnimeCraze]

Lies. One only needs dual spirit to perform well with a hammerdin (except for maggot's lair, but even there you can still hammer enemies). I would have put that way above an LF/FA zon (and probably above the trapper as well).

[TheDonk]

Thanks. That helps alot! Now i just have to figure out what some of these terms mean (Hammerdin etc). But I guess that's what the strategy forums are for. :yes: Thanks again.

--Donk

[lionheartthebrave]

There is an abbreviations guide here somewhere

*grabs Thyiad's signature*

Read this (http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=538888)

EDIT:
hmm, it doesn't have hammerdin in it, a hammerdin is a paladin that uses magic hammers to inflict lots of damage, and only act3 hell wailing beasts are immune to them, the paladin forum will probably be helpful

[rswt]

Hi,

In my opinion they are all easy, as long as the equipment is right - and this doesn't include high runes, although an Um to make Duress and trading for a few items worth a Pul is really useful.

I can't even rank them, these can all finish Hell consider

Druid: ribcracker fury
Amazon: either Lightzon or Witchwild strafezon
Barb: Frenzy w/warcries - Fun as anything
Paladin: Mine is a one point zealer - goes everywhere, including Uber, but slow
Sorc: Dual tree - Chain Light/ Cold Orb or Blizzard
Necro: Skellymancer - needs no gear but boring imo
Assassin: Hybrid martial arts/ trapper

My recommendation is pick the character that interest you the most.

*swt41

[Mursilis]

I thought I'd spruce up my original response a bit so I don't have to rewrite it each time this question comes up. Just a fair warning I'll be reposting it as a separate thread.