Just a scrub lookin for glory...

[ColtFourFive]

Hello community, I've been lurking these forums (at work, hehe) for awhile, mainly because of the new ladder start coming up (I play USEast HC btw). I've had LoD forever but was never any good at it, and HC hasn't changed my luck. (Havent gotten a HC character above lvl 40, not kidding)

So me and my friend (also a noob) were planning on starting fresh with the new ladder, and were wondering what a good 2 character combination would be for survival in HC. Previously he was using a Zealdin and I was attempting to follow Socialisms orb/mf hardcore guide, both of us were untwinked, leveling very slowly and essentially walking the entire game. He hasnt died but I've died quite a bit (NM -40 resistance..uuuuugh).

So I guess my question is, what would be a fun/casual way of playing through d2 HC? We will be doing (mostly) private games with usually just two of us, and are hoping to grind through HC at high speed for potential ladder recognition (if at least for five minutes haha). We have plenty of time on our hands and can stay up late. For Glory!

So I was thinkin... maybe Barb/Sorc? Pally/Sorc? Druid/Necro? I have no idea. ANY ideas/comments/"hi there"s are welcome, this is my first post ever hehe

[ZappaFan]

A Barb that can give Shout & BO along with some sort of ranged char like a Sorc or Zon would be a good place to start IMO. Resists aren't as much of a problem for Barb once they hit lvl 30 and get Natural Resist. You should have that well before entering NM.

[BlastDuke]

Since you will have no items at ladder start, I recommend the combination of:


necro with summon+CE: can run naked into hell, skellies provide safety, equip with MF gear
amazon with CS+LF: can run nearly naked into hell (needs a javelin, even a cracked one will work)


All items that you find can be used for following chars, like sorc, barb for BO ,....

[ColtFourFive]

Survivability is my first priority, so I suppose a summon nec would be nice, but I'm also looking for the glory of being up on those ladder boards. I don't exactly plan on doing an all out sprint to 99 or anything, but I'd like a character with some pretty solid killing ability so I can at least do baal runs and stuff and pump out some levels. I like the barb/sorc idea the best, but do you have any build recomendations? remember, this is from a guy who has only been to hell once >.< so whatever is most simple

[ThomasJohnsen]

A paladin can support a fishymancer very well with his auras for added damage (hammerdin with concentration or zealot with fanatism). And the skeletons provide an excellent shield to hide behind.

A sorceror with enchant can also be very beneficial for a fishymancer. This combination of chars should be able to rush through normal and NM without too much trouble - even untwinked.

But Zappa is of course right - a barb shouter is excellent with his added survivability to all members of the group. In my opinion not much fun to play though.

My advice is to pick paladin/fishy or sorc/fishy. That way you can really help each other as a team, play through the game relatively safe, and also play individually, if at some point you feel like it.
Though the amazon/fishy isn't a bad idea either - with lower resist from the fishy, the zon can do all the killing.

Just my 2 cents