I went and tossed Diablo 2 back on my PC (plus Lord of Destruction) yet… I’m not sure what to build.
First off, should I be single-player, battlenet, or open battlenet? I might want to trade stuff, but I never really had good experiences in multiplayer.
Necromancer: I was thinking Golemancer. How much should I drop nto Skeleton Mage? Nothing? I got a point into Corpse Explosion - it’s a no-brainer. But what about Bone Wall? Is Bone armor really worth it? Seems like you’d need a LOT of points to make it worthwhile (although I have a funny mental image of Bone-Armor specialized necro with nothing else running around absorbing damage by the thousands and killing enemies in melee).
How do the elements interact on the Amazon? I never really went with one before, so… what kind of Bowazon should I make? I do want the Valykrie, so I’m splashing at kleast something into passive. Plus, the various dodges are nice.
I’m thinking of making a new Paladin. I once went with the Zealing Coldadin. What else is fine without going Hammerdin?
As a side note, who should go with ranged and who shoudl go with melee party members? Is there any point to the Rogue merc instead of the Act 3 wizard merc?
I just picked it up again as well. I’m playing a Skelemancer - maxing Raise Skeleton, Skeleton Mastery, and Summon Resist, and Revive if possible. Only at level 22 or so, but it’s been easy going so far.
Back in the day, I had a high-level Multi-zon, which, from what I’ve read, is not as viable as a Strafeazon anymore.
If you’re using the latest patch w/ LOD, Skeletons + maxed Skeleton Mastery is the way to go. Maxed out they are durable and will kill ( somewhat slowly ) even in single-player Hell difficulty. Skeleton Mages, sadly, aren’t terribly useful except as somewhat fragile meat shields. Due to their ranged AI they don’t die super-quickly either if you have a horde of other pets out to soak up attackers, but the damage they put out is pitiful. Only the freeze mage ( perhaps the poison as well ) has any real utility. Might be worth a spare few points for style and in the theme of “every little bit helps.”
Golems all have their uses and defenders, but none really kill quickly ( or at all ). For minimal investment the favorite is probably the standard Clay Golem just for durability - it’s a very good meat shield + its slow effect is slightly handy against bosses. The Fire Golem, oddly enough, might be the least useful in Hell difficulty - expensive ( in point expenditure ) and kills nothing. It does draw aggro well, though. If you want to really concentrate on Golems, the Iron Golem might be the best bet, but they work best by sacrificing pretty decent gear.
Corpse Explosion should eventually be maxed for the range - it can clear a whole screen at top level.
Amplify Damage vs. Decrepify is an individual choice. Both are useful, neither really needs to be maxed. Amp Damage is best in general as it really helps those skeletons kill, Decrepify is better for bosses because of the slow and lower damage effects.
Dim Vision has some strategic use. So does Revive, despite an awful AI ( zombies are apparently rather stupid ), if used on tough individual opponents like minotaurs.
Skeleton-based Necromancers are probably the least gear-dependent single-player character in Diablo II and the safest to play in higher difficulties. It’s a very solid choice for that. It’s less optimal in party play - they kill slowly and spend most of their time just cursing stuff and blowing up or resurrecting corpses to the annoyance of Barbarians.
ETA: Oh and you want a “Might Merc”, again to help your skeletons kill.
I’m in Act 2 at the moment and agree with Tamerlane - I’ve been using [url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/370600/38778]this necro summoner guide]/url] and the game almost plays itself.
I had tremendous success with mages, but it requires somewhat particular gear. It has been a few years so my recollection is dim, but my Skeleton Mastery was around 35.
The trick to making Mages work was Enigma. You raise a full complement of Mages and one large sized Revive. Whenever you teleport, you and your minions will form a nearly unbreakable stack. All of the Mages will focus their fire on the nearest target. The amount of elemental damage is devastating. AoE attacks hardly harm you at all, since the stack of minions soaks the damage before you do. This build is subject to the same devastating weakness as a barbarian: a sudden Iron Maiden. This will kill you quicker than boiled asparagus.
However, if you don’t think you are going to get Enigma or enough +skills gear to get your Mastery up into the stratosphere, you should probably stick to regular skeletons.
), if used on tough individual opponents like minotaurs.