newbie help? always get stuck

[drogpac]

using 1.13 (edited in)
hey guys. i've played diablo a few times over the last decade.

best i did was a lvl 60something sorc fire build with subpar gear.


i was looking for advice. i really want to try a barbarian. i've tried about 5 total. each time, i just get bogged down in being so far behind on gear that i just simply get owned by creates, even when out leveling them.

i was curious if anyone had a solid relaible newbie friends barbarian build or advice on a class/build that is fairly safe for a newb to try (ignoring necro/druid summoning, i hate minions)

my goal is to be able to complete nightmare solo without resorting to power leveling and be able to progress through the game solo as intended.

anyone recommend newb friendly builds ignoring summoning? i prefer barbarian input. i've got quite a few ideas for sorc, but not wanting to do sorc again... perhaps paladin?

[Krupa]

if you want to advance easily through the game without much hassle, i would suggest a skill based character opposed to a weapon based one. skill based ones will increase their performance constantly, while the others need to find things to increase theirs

if you want to go for a barbarian your stuck with weapon based: there is a build for an untwinked zerker by nightfish, that should get you through nm easily, while not being the fastest. frenzy barbs can be pretty solid if done correctly and donŽt mind a bit of rerunning targets

iŽd personally use one of these builds for the goal you set yourself: blessed hammer paladin (hammerdin), lightning fury amazon (lf-zon), lightning trap assassin with fireblast back up (standard trapper), fireclaw shape shifter bear druid (fc-bear)

they are easy to play, have huge damage potential without any gear and are fairly safe

if youŽd like more information to one of those, look through the mat/pat/gua thread at the top of the SP forum or ask here

[Black Cat]

For an easy time with a barbarian, you need at least a decent weapon, which can take time to be found. I would not say that barb is a newbie friendly class.

You can try an assassin : the easiest way is to start with fire traps (wake of fire mainly) with 1 to 4 points in burst of speed, 1 in cloak of shadows, and that's about it for a start (you will annihilate everything in normal mode).
Once you get to the beginning of nightmare mode, use stats & skill reallocation (act 1 quest 1 reward, look in akara's dialogue options) and go for this build : maxed lightning sentry, maxed death sentry, 1 to 4 in burst of speed, 1 in cloak of shadows, X in shadow master (if you feel like you need a minion), 1 in mind blast (can help in tough battles), maxed fireball (usefull for the end of nightmare and for hell, to help your mercenary kill the lightning-immune monsters), and then the rest in the other synergies of lightning sentry (shock web and/or charged bold sentry).
You could also stick to lightning-only skills (no skill points in fireball), and try the kick skill instead (dragon's talon, 12 or 18 points to get 3 or 4 kicks per attack) to kill lightning-immunes. For this option you will need to use high-damage boots (exceptional or elite), and maybe try to put some points in venom.
The full-trap assassin can finish hell mode while playing naked. Overall this is THE most powerful untwinked character build for normal and nightmare, and one of the best for hell.

As for other possibly easy classes, javelin amazon comes to mind (lightning skills, possibly with poison skills too). Your damage output will come mostly from skills, and so you are not reliant on having a good weapon.

Hammer paladin can be successfull, but you will die a lot at the beginning because you often need to get close to your target for easy aiming. However once you manage to get a solid character (good block, resistance, life etc...) and learn how to aim your hammers it gets quite easy because you deal very high damage, against which very few monsters are immune. This is a skill-based build, you do not need a good weapon for it, unlike the other paladin builds (vengeance, zeal etc...). If really you want a paladin that uses a combat weapon, you could try a zealot with holy freeze or holy shock, but this is not really good without good gear.

As for the necromancer, if you don't want too many minions, forget the summoner build and try a bone build (maxed spear/wall/prison, possibly bone spirit too, and a clay golem).

[edit] I forgot the fireclaw druid, as mentionned by Krupa above. A decent untwinked option, though not one of the best (a bit better than holy shock zealot, I would say).

[pharphis]

I would think that holy freeze is good w/o a good weapon, and Kitteh made a guide recently that covers gear selection throughout the game and skill point set-ups for a good frost zealot.

[Pijus]

The thing with weapon based characters is that they need weapons. The only way to get a reasonable performance out of them is to farm for weapons(run nm meph, maybe normal baal). When you quest up to them, just kill them a few dozen times. You're sure to get something decent.

For build I'd suggest Frenzy. 20 in Frenzy, BO, Double swing, And weapon mastery(I usually go with swords). I think frenzy isn't as picky with it's weapons as whirlwind. If you find 2 decent ones, you should be able to kill stuff. You can also have 1 good weapon and 1 Strength rw to kill bosses faster(if you don't yet have good weapons).

[Flayed One]

I'd suggest Frenzy (or Double Swing! Lower damage but much faster) as well, but with a Mace Mastery for Flails/Knouts/Scourges. The reason behind this is, that they are the only range 3, -10 speed, 5 max socket weapon available. This means, that once you find any Scourge, you immediately gain access to an end-game capable weapon - Larzuk gives it 5 sockets, and you can put 'Honor' runeword in it. Double 'Honor' Scourges coupled with 'Treachery' armor are perfectly viable (although a bit slow in the end) and possible to get untwinked.

[pharphis]

I like the steel/strength/black progression for frost zealots, which is why I suggested them. They have the elemental source of damage, huge safety by slowing the entire screen, and making those runewords isn't terribly difficult.

[Kitteh]

try a zealot with holy freeze or holy shock, but this is not really good without good gear.

Absolutely untrue.

Untwinked HF Zealot Mini-guide

[Flayed One]

Great guide Kitteh!

Frost Zealots are of course great untwinked, but I personally would never recommend 'Black'...
My first character after a restart was a Frost Zealot, and I did make him 'Black' knout, but ended up using it only as a switch for act bosses, since the Knockback turned out to be unbearable for a left-mouse-button-only zeal ;/ Do you guys have some secret on how to use it, or are you just more patient than me?

[djmbbandie]

I also recommend a Frost Zealot. Frenzy Barbs are fun too.