Which Characters To Play?

[Waterfiend]

I started off playing D3 with the goal of playing all 5 classes in tandem, going through each act, so that when I reach Hell / Inferno, I'll have one of each class that's level 60.

Problem is, I'm finding that repeating the same act five times (once per class) is getting to be a bit of a bore. I knew I might drop a class or two along the way, but I wanted to wait to decide which classes are better or worse until I at least had finished Normal (so I could hear each of their stories).

I've only done Act 1 so far, and I have to say, the WD is really appealing to me (plus the Wizard and Monk, sort of), but the DH and Barb seem kind of weak. My Barb can't handle the heat in the middle of a group of tough monsters, and the DH... well... she can't handle more than a few hits, from anything really.

Should I play a few classes through Normal and play the others later? Or should I continue with the in-tandem approach I'm using? Also, am I just playing the Barb and DH wrong or do they seem frail to anyone else (and if I am playing them wrong, what skills should I use to make them better. Remember, I'm only in Act 2 so far.)? Thanks.

[Hitman]

That's an interesting way of doing it. I just made a barb and currently lvl 40. My plan is to just go character by character to lvl 60. The other nice thing is it will make it easier on my other characters since the gold, jeweler, and blacksmith all carry over to other characters (not sure if thats good or bad yet though).

[Mostly_Harmless]

Also, am I just playing the Barb and DH wrong or do they seem frail to anyone else (and if I am playing them wrong, what skills should I use to make them better. Remember, I'm only in Act 2 so far.)? Thanks.

I have a barb in mid-Act III, and I have not had the same experience as you. What skills are you using? I suspect that no matter how you play a barbarian, revenge is really important. That skill is incredible and makes tough battles oh so much easier.

My Demon Hunter is in mid-Act II, so I don't have as much experience with her, but I agree that she seems substantially more fragile than the other classes. From what I've heard, she catches up eventually. (Not on toughness - she'll always be kind of fragile - but on dps and survival skills.)

As for how to play the game, I'll give some cliched advice here. Do it whichever way you find most fun. Personally, I planned to take one character all the way through, then move on to another. However, every time I found a cool item for another class I had to switch over and build one of those. Now my characters are scattered through Normal (and my wizard is in very early Nightmare). There's no wrong way to do it.

[Shagsbeard]

D3, and to much degree D2, eventually becomes repetative no matter what. You know what to expect out of each act, and each area of each act simply by playing. D3 actually does a better job of keeping my interest up. I play through in tandem, like you started. My sixth trip to the skeleton king I got a rare enounter that actually triggered an achievement. Nifty. There are also many events that don't have to occur on a playthrough. I think these are going to make D3 much more "playthough" friendly.

It really just comes down to playing how you enjoy. My reason for enjoying tandem style is that I don't want too much "twinkage". A second character with access to "best" leftovers from a first character isn't going to have the same experience.

[SnickerSnack]

Is it possible that you're finding better items for those classes that are doing better for you? Or even choosing to prioritize items for some and then finding that those are stronger?

I have a level 32 wizard and a level 28 monk and I am enjoying both very much. The monk feels very powerful and many attacks have crowd control aspects (push/pull enemies). My wizard.....just decimates everything so far. It's fun, but it was getting a bit repetitive. Now that he's in act 4, things are getting a bit tougher and requiring just a bit of strategy; I hope that trend continues.

As was said, play however is fun.