Diablo II Degenerate

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

The Sims thread inspired this. I now know the Sims aren’t my cup of tea.

It’s a beautiful summer morning and I should cut the lawn, go for a bicycle ride…the Calgary Stampede just started less than 30 minutes walk from my home.

Why am I hunched at my computer, my wrist numb from frenzied mouse clicking, guzzling coffee to keep my edge?

My Palidan (named “DanPalidan”) is up around level 17 or 18. He’s got a ring that increases his gold take from kills so he can afford the best armour and weapons. I’ve just cleaned out the desert and am about to go up into the hills in Act 2. I’ve been killed several times, usually if I get cornered or surrounded by a particulary vicious mixed mob of monsters. I’m using every trick I can think of and using hot keys. I don’t hire mercenaries any more. They were useful in the lower levels but now they slow me down, need constant baby-sitting, and usually get killed in the first big fight the moment you get separated from them.

If my Palidan doesn’t manage to kill the three demons from hell and save the world I’ll start all over again with my Barbarian (named “Onan”) and hack my way to victory. "JenniferLopez), my Sorceress, waits in the wings but I’m curious about the Necromancer’s fighting style.

Totally cool: the jail labyrinth with rooms full of torture and murder instruments and gore and body parts splattered everywhere. Also don’t miss the big blood-filled pit full of hacked up bodies - Amazon warriors I think the story is. I like it when DanPalidan sometimes steps on a scorpion or rat and they squish and splat.

Tips:
(1) Don’t waste those various rare jewels you find. Save them for a really good weapon or armour with sockets - for example, if you have a weapon that’s good for undead zombie types and it has three sockets, you can pop in three diamonds for a tool that will stack up bodies like cordwood.
(2) This game is diabolical. If you stop and save, or get killed, you lose some progress, so you are highly motivated to keep playing. The tip? When you get a chance to stop and save (completion of a quest, discovery of a new teleporter way point) TAKE IT! Stop and save. You may not get another convenient chance for hours! This is not a game to play at work.

Yes, I am damned for all eternity. How long will it take me to get through the game once? 90 hours? It just keeps getting better.

I won’t be able to keep up with my SDMB reading. OK - right now. I am turning off this computer and going outside.

2

Does this mean the game is actually out?

3

Yes it’s out, and thus I’m not much. My L23 Paladin is into act 3. I’ve fooled around with the other chars, and IMHO, Necromancer and Sorceress will have trouble going it alone. A Sorceress really needs to be in a party with a Barbarian, as there is just not enought mana in the game, the “find potion” skill is a lifesaver for her, and to a slightly lesser degree, the Necromancer. Wanna play a game on B-net some time?

4

Somehow I just knew there would be a few other lost Diablo II souls on the SDMB.

My L12 Paladin BigPimpinDaddy (why are we all Paladins?) is now in the Catacombs looking for whazherface, but I had to take a break and rest my hand. Thankfully, I haven’t died yet, for I might quit playing if I had to retrieve my corpse.

I will be moving over the next few days, so I probably won’t have much time to play :frowning: Better get a few more hours in tonight!!

5

Just so you know. If you die, then quit, your corpse will be lying in town when you start the next game. If you die trying to get to your corpse, you lose the character. ( tried the first, herd the second from a reliable source)

The mages you can hire in act3 are worth it, particularly ones who use cold- they freeze the enemys for you to kill. Act 3 is really dark, and these little bastards attack from a distance with blowpipes before you can see them. Gotta go. Mephisto awaits!

6

**

Ho ho ho! Not so! The Necromancer is easily my favorite. As long as there are corpses, I can raise a small army in less than a couple seconds. Between the various Golem spells, Raise Skeleton and Raise Skeleton Mage, a Necromancer is never truly alone :slight_smile:
My current fellow is only about 17th level, but his entourage numbers 5 skeletons, 3 skeleton mages and a clay golem. Rarely does he even have to lift a finger to get involved in a fight (except to keep replacing the troops, if necessary).

7

Now that BigPimpinDaddy is L17 and safely embroiled in Act II, I wish to follow everyone else’s lead and give a few tips for anyone who might eventually play the game:

[ul]
[li]Learn to use the hotkeys while one hand is busy with the mouse. Especially the 1-4 keys for items in your belt – this will save your ass during a big brawl, particularly if you rely on melee combat.[/li][li]Repair everything before selling it. You will make as much money as it costs to repair an item.[/li][li]Don’t be proud - RUN! Draw a few badguys away from the room and pick them off individually. If you have a distance attack, use it first.[/li][li]There are a lot of badguys that resurrect their dead cohorts. Get rid of them ASAP.[/li][li]Use the ALT key to see all of the treasure you are missing.[/li][li]Call all your friends and tell them you’re sorry. You won’t see them for a week as you have to finish playing this damn game.[/li][/ul]

8

The Sorceress will have trouble going it alone? Not so, my friend, not so! Ample manipulation of the Fireball and Warmth abilities can turn her into a freakin’ tank. Is that a group of demons I see? BWOOMF! They’re all dead!

Tips:

-Specialize: Don’t try to learn every single ability for your character. Pick one or two, and make them VEEEERY powerful.

-Don’t waste gems early on: Wait 'til you can improve them gems, hopefully to “perfect” status, and make a whamdingy of a weapon.

-Avoid the cows at all costs.

-Watch all the cinematics over and over and over and over… they’re AMAZING.

-BUY THIS GAME!

9

Spoof,

I didn’t mean that they didn’t have the ability to face down any monster, what I ment is that, at least in my limited exposure to these characters, is that mana was often too scarce to let them use their abilities to the fullest.

10

They wouldn’t be able to face my Monster! My character is a Paladin, named Sir Monster (I beat the game, and you get titled “Sir” after you do so). My level 28 character has almost all rare and unique items, which are way better than any socketed items you can make.

Just for your info, the Sorceress and Necromancer don’t have it that hard. Sorceress whips butt with her spells, and Necromancer rarely has to do any dirty work himself (Just let the minions do it).

My personal tip: Try and get increased chance of finding magic items, because that also means an increase in finding rare, unique, and set items.

I’m currently doing the game again on a harder difficulty, and it is difficult. I’ve been slaughtered by Fallen. Enemies also give me normal gems.

11

this game is really addicting… very fun :slight_smile:
im almost on act 2 now…

12

Just finished the first quest in act 2 with my Amazon - Bubbette. Bubba is my Barbarian at work. That’s right - I play at work. Lots. Be jealous. I’ll be going back as soon as I finish reading the board. Wheee!! I’ve been up all night, and don’t plan on sleeping today, thanks to this game.

13

This game has set back my evil plan by weeks. To address a few comments:

Tara, My Sorceress, once died trying to retrive her corpse: The first corpse remained, there was a pile of stuuf on the ground at the second site.

Leaving the game before retriving your corpse makes getting the gear back much easier; but you lose the gold.

Give Necro a crossbow of the Leech (or just wear a ring of the Leech), and give him a helm with the gem that gives him regeneration and watch the fun.

If you’re a Necro: forget the Cursing and Bone stuff. Skeletons and Golems are your priority. Think the enemy’s archers are irritating? Pay them back with your skeleton Mages. Hotkey your summoning, and always keep yourself surrounded by your unholy minions.

I hate the Hirelings; they keep dying and I can’t get them to drink a Health potion. Is there anyway to fire your first Rougue?

14

OK, 2000000 copies of the game were released Friday June 30 and I got mine delivered Tuesday July 4. I’ve been playing damned near full time for six days and I’m just finishing Act 2. Monster104 how the HELL did you finish so fast and know so much about the various characters? I think you were a beta tester and got in early.

Lots of good tips and tales from you guys. I have a shitty free internet connection so I can’t go on Battle Net. I’d get disconnected at a critical moment.

I like my Palidan and I like getting in close to fight. I get poisoned a lot but it hardly slows me down. If I have my fire/lightning/freeze shields hotkeyed I just chop up magic users. Footwork and precise targeting seem to get more and more important as the critters get tougher. I have to run away to string out a mixed pack of attackers, then come back and hack at 'em. I’ll trap a large pack in doorways and narrow spaces then press shift and chop 'em to hamburger. My armour is running around 95, helmet 30, I’m also definitely a tank.

I never go out of town with any gold in my pockets. I got fed up with that long run back to my corpse, especially when the killers are still there when I get there. I got killed by a trap. I was greedily smashing pots looking for gold and not watching my life meter.

Why am I still packing Wirt’s wooden leg along in my stash? Is this just a novelty item?

My guy got cursed a couple of times and had to run backwards for a long time.

I love it when I come around a corner and bump into some goon. It becomes a quick draw contest. I’ve got “Cleglaw’s Pincer’s” gloves, so a good first hit usually freezes and slows down the enemy.

Maybe my Palidan spent too much time selling stuff. I’ve got 90000 gold and now I don’t pick up anything unless it’s really rare or valuable. I left stuff on the ground in town and it stays around for a while but it all disappears regularly, I think when you complete a stage in the quest log.

Anyway, just MPSIMS.

15

Well, with Warmth 7, my Sorceress doesn’t stop to regen mana much, and it fills from zero in under a minute. She’s level 23 and eagerly awaiting the next batch of spells. There are a few types of monsters she has trouble with, but I see that going away once she hits 24 and gets mana shield.

My necro would disagree with the concentrate on summoning. Curses and bones round you out. Damage Amp makes your skeletons wade through crowds. Iron Maiden makes bosses fluffy. Corpse Explosion… there is no better spell in the game. Period. Kill one thing in a group, and the group is gone in moments. In the biggest mess you’ve ever seen.

Paladin is my choice for a hardcore char. My first char was a paladin, and has only died when battlenet decided to get ugly, and he lagged going into a dungeon. Zeal. Lots of Zeal. And some thorns. MMmm… thorns.

So far I’ve had to maintain 3 chars, so I’m not as far along as I would be. I have:
Almandor - level 19 Paladin on Act 2. My Battle.Net character.
Zandramas - level 23 Sorceress on act 3. Made because Battle.Net sucks ass, and I couldn’t ever get in to play.
Zulik - Level 7 Necro on act 1. Made last night because I just bought my girlfriend a copy of the game, and I wanted to be equal level with her. Big fan of corpse explosion.

I’m enjoying the Sorceress the most. But it’s close. She gets to stand back and unleash hell on anything she meets. Chain lightning clears rooms like a can of raid. But she dies easy.
The Paladin is great for solo, because he has no creature type that he just can’t deal with. His elemental resistance lets him adapt to mages, his thorns and zeal lets him clear groups of baddies, and his ability to use heavy hitting weapons lets him slay tough creatures fast.
The Necro is just cool. Using the ememy against itself is fun, and I love letting my minions do my bidding.

16

Damn. Damn Damn Damn.

Just got back from vacation last week. In that week, I’ve both gotten my nifty new car (2000 BMW Z3) AND received Diablo II in the mail (ordered it before I left.) I can’t decide which I want to do more - drive like a maniac, or play Diablo II for 100 hours straight. Oh yeah, they make me go to work, too. And the SO will want some attention occasionally.

Life’s gonna be hard these next few days. Maybe I oughta quit the job and dump the SO. Not enough time for everything, must prioritize.

17

I just got that game yesterday!! I am a level 16 paladin in act 2. I wanted to be a necromancer but for some reason I chose paladin. Oh well. Yay!! Time to go feed my obsession!

18

Al Zheimers: I was a beta stress tester, so I know a little about the barbarian. I beat the game by playing almost nonstop…Days I’ve stayed up all night playing.

I have an amazon character at my friend’s house, level 20. I have a necromancer character as well as my paladin on my computer. My brother is also a necromancer, level 20 something. Another brother is a sorceress. My friend plays a barbarian. I’ve seen most of the characters in action. Barbarian and paladin get screwed by ranged attacks, while necromancer and amazon get screwed by large groups of monsters, and necromancer and sorceress get screwed by enemies that drain mana (Primarily the ghosts in later levels, as well as uniquely enchanted creatures).

My favorite abilities for paladin are zeal and charge. Don’t bother pumping up the fire, ice, and lightning offensive auras, they’re really crappy later in the game.

Things I’ve focused on are zeal, charge, vigor, elemental defensive auras, and working up enough levels for the level 30 abilities.

I’m almost finished with Act I on nightmare difficulty.

19

Monster,
Thorns! Thorns! Thorns! I usualy keep Zeal and Thorns on, and alternate Thorns with resistances to fire, cold, lightning and Cleanse if I’m poisoned. I love watching some little melee monster run up to me and kill himself 'cuz of Thorns. I repeate what I said earlier. Anyone want to play on open B-net sometime? I have a L24 paladin, L8 Amazon, and others that just started. If we password the game we should be OK.

20

Ill play dave but I started on the single player game so I havent been on bnet much. I wish there was a way to import characters from single player to bnet. Oh well. I can use it to play the necro dude.