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The question got rather long, so I try to some it up in one sentence for those with little time. How do you develop skill combinations as a player in a new game where you cannot rely on experience?
For those with more time, here are my thoughts:
I played D1 and D2 a lot in the past, but most of the time in single player mode or in a small LAN. I always tried to get the best out of my chars, but I never really put much energy into finding the perfect skill balance. My experience in these matters is therefore very little.
How do the good players do this in a new game that was just been released? You have nothing more than an empty skill tree and want to optimize the skilling in advance. I see several possibilities:
- Trial and Error... Just experiment with some ideas and see what works. If you have lots of time, this seems like a valid approach.
- Do some calculations... Trying to calculate what results in the best character skillset seems complicated and error prone to me. Or is it possible for a good player to calculate which skill combo will be best?
- Guild secrets... Do you find a good skill combo for yourself or do you work it out in your guild where it is kept as a secret for a while? Or is such information spread quickly over the web?
I know when D2 classic first came out, I already had a plan in mind for what skills I wanted to max based on the skill descriptions that were already known. I had maxed strafe, frozen arrow, immolation arrow, and valk on my first char, an amazon. It seemed to make sense, multiple ways to deal damage and a tank to keep monsters off of me. It actually worked out pretty well at the time but it could just as easily not worked at all.
In the end I think you have to endure some trial and error since no one knows anything. Eventually, build guides will arise as people discover the most effective combinations of skills.
Here's something to consider: if people can perfect skill optimization on the first try, before actually playing the game, the game is poorly designed.
Your characterization that players aren't able to rely on experience isn't strictly true, however. You go into new games with knowledge you've gained from other games, where knowledge from the direct predecessor is most useful. While there's no way to account for mechanics that you aren't aware of yet, it's definitely possible to consider the skill trees and predict to some extent which skills will be most useful or powerful.
Diablo veterans are likely to know, in large part, what to expect from Diablo 3 (barring a major shift in design philosophy), and should be able to recognize skill combinations that are similar to strategies that worked in past games (or other games). The nice thing about D2 is that you were given full skill trees the moment you created your character. This allowed you to consider all skill effects and combinations, even if you had to do this without knowledge of what high-end equipment would be available, or what monsters you would have to fight.
Real optimization isn't possible without all of the numbers, however. You have to know how all of the skills scale, and you have to know exactly what each skill does and whether any skills have special quirks. You can't do this without playing the game and testing (unless Blizz is nice enough to give us all of the skill tables and breakpoint tables ahead of time). In a game like Diablo, knowing what exactly what equipment is available is a major factor also.
Without knowing how skill stats progress with level you won't be able to tell which skills have the most potential. Rush through SP with a char saving as many points as possible, copy the file, spend them, post a chart online... voila, a day after release, everyone can plan their chars. Not to perfection certainly but with a good idea of what's most viable. Between that and having completed the game on one char to get a feel for enemy resistance etc, people should have no problems making strong chars from all classes. Even then, knowledge of the available equipment is necessary, e.g. knowing how many +skills you will have so you don't waste points being between bps.
If synergies are present in d3 i think it will be fairly simple to figure out casters at the beginning, but i think that if they are they will be very minor to allow versatility. If not, I'll just use common sense until i get a functioning character. Hopefully this is easier said than done.
I recall every character i've ever made in d2 being based upon putting enough strenth/dex to hit the bare minimum to use your gear or get max block(sometimes none), then pump vitallity until you get carpal tunnel. The only exception to this that i can think of is finding the perfect life/mana balance with es sorcs, which was definetly fun.
They need to make all the stats important, not just vitality. This would offer tons of customization as opposed to the "everything in vit" philosophy that d2 suffered.
First you figure out just exactly what each skill does, what stats are important, check if there's any stat thresholds you should reach. Play around with numbers and find a template of what should work, then tests upon tests whilst checking findings with others.
The most important thing IMO, is figuring out just what do you want from the char -- do you want a char capable of soloing the game or do you want to focus on being a powerhouse in a party, specific area/boss running.
In short:
a) Know the skills.
b) Know stat thresholds.
c) Specialization.
D1 was easy to figure out: speed kills and so do fireball/energy shield.
D2 was more complex, but in the end pretty much boiled down to the same.
I expect D3 to be much like D2 in this regard, considering they wanted to game to be possible for the casual gamer, but I'm still looking forward to breaking the game. :-)
i fully expect my first 'toon to be something of an overall 'failure'. it's going to take a while before we know exactly which builds perform and which don't.
It's also not always easy to see or figure out beforehand what skills are one hit wonders. That you only needed 1 point in the barbs berserk skill wasn't obvious from the skill tree alone for example.
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