# More Diablo 2 Questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 17, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090 "2005-12-17T20:01:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090/1 "2005-12-17T20:01:54Z")
Playing with expansion & v1.10. 1. I finally got past the Big D (Diablo) himself. He did, however, kick my buttocks across the land doing it. Anyone have some ints for future reference? I got creamed. His red lightning attack is just too much. Sure, I can dodge it - but eventually he’ll get me with it. And he did. Many times. 2. Can I use all the old (1.09 and before) Runewords in single-player now? That’s the impression I get, anyway. Also, does the gemming trick still work for Runewords? That is, if you have a shield with four sockets, and you want to put Ancient’s Pledge RalOrtTal in there, can you fill the first slot up with a gemstone and then put in the runes and get Ancient’s Pledge? I found a frickin awesome Paladin shield, which would become really great. If not, I’ll probably go for Holy Thunder, since a War Scepter has exactly the right number of sockets if I use the socket quest. 1. I’ve had a hard time hitting enemies with only 60 Dexterity (on the plus side, I have +100% Magic find!). Right now, I’ve got 100 Strength, 60 Dex, and 45 Stamina. I’m low on both Dex and Stamina, but I couldn’t find any decent weapons outside of a bought greatsword. Any hints? On the bright side, I’ve got the Tannr Gorerod on the Act 2 Merc. He’s dealing about 300 damage each hit. Ouch. Probelmatically, he’s far more powerful than I am. In fact, he killed Duriel and Mephisto for me, while I ran around dodging death. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090/2 "2005-12-18T01:07:56Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > 1. I finally got past the Big D (Diablo) himself. He did, however, kick my buttocks across the land doing it. Anyone have some ints for future reference? I got creamed. His red lightning attack is just too much. Sure, I can dodge it - but eventually he’ll get me with it. And he did. Many times. From the BradyGames hint book: > [@](#): > > **Barbarian** > Go toe-to-toe with Diablo, but run when he is about to launch the Lightning Inferno (Diablo makes a certain gesture when this is about to happen), then go back and fight. Also use your leap attack because you can’t be hit when you’re actively Leaping. Make sure you are stocked with healing, or better yet, Rejuvination potions. > > **Necromancer** > Use a Golem to distract, then curse Diablo with Amplify Damage. The lesser Necromancer minions are largely wasted on Diablo, so only use a Golem to distract him then attack him with anything you’ve got. If you are using Poison or Bone spells, be sure you bring along plenty of mana or Rejuvination potions. > > **Sorceress** > Use the Meteor skill plus Static Field to knock down his hit points quickly. Remember, the Static Field skill takes the enemy’s hit points down by 1/3 every time you use it. In Diablo’s case, that’s a LOT of hit points. Be sure to keep a good supply of mana or rejuvination potions at your fingertips. > > **Paladin** > The Paladin should use Thorns for the same reaso the Sorceress uses Static Field. Every time Diablo hits the Paladin, the damage will be returned (may times over if Thorns has skill points in it). Make sure to keep a full belt of health and rejuvination potions as well. > > **Amazon** > The Amazon needs to put some points into Decoy to keep Diablo distracted. If she’s using a bow, then fire the Immolation Arrow with a Long War Bow or Heavy Crossbow. Her battle strategy can be summed up quite simply–hit and run! Points into passive skills such as Dodge, Evade, and Critical Strike are also crutial to secure victory. Having Heath, Mana, Rejuvination, and even stamina potions are all good ideas. The hint book for Lord of Destruction doesn’t give any tips for the Assassin nor the Druid. ---
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090/3 "2005-12-18T01:43:17Z")
1. It would help a little if you tell us the type of character you have, and what build it is. For example, there are fire sorcs, cold sorc, lightning sorc, bowazon (amazon) or javazon, etc. Then we can give you a little more help on how to get passed the various bosses. However, normal Diablo is normally one of the hardest bosses in the game for the time you have to kill him. 2. The gemstone trick doesn’t work anymore, you need to have an item with the correct amount of sockets. 3. Again, it would help if you tell us the type of build your going for. However Act 2 mercs are the best ones in the game, just make sure you get one with a good aura. Also, have you thought about playing online? We have a nice active community of dopers playing on USWest Ladder and if you want to join us we can help you in any way you want, along with give you some REALLY cool stuff. We normally play in game sdmb (or sdmb2, sdmb3, etc) with the password cecil. Or you can wisper me by typing /w \*hirka ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090/4 "2005-12-18T02:50:12Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > Playing with expansion & v1.10. > > 1. I finally got past the Big D (Diablo) himself. He did, however, kick my buttocks across the land doing it. Anyone have some ints for future reference? I got creamed. His red lightning attack is just too much. Sure, I can dodge it - but eventually he’ll get me with it. And he did. Many times. First, stock up on the resistance. Make sure you are at the max. Getting some Lightning Absorb does help against his Inferno Lightning. Get some “cannot be frozen” in case you are chilled by him. Against his Inferno Lightning, get some items which reduces physical damage, for it does half lightning and half physical. Since it is also physical, you can block it with a shield. So invest in Holy Shield if you are a paladin (…you are, right? Since you are going for Holy Thunder) Not getting killed is half the battle. The other half depends on your build. Since you are asking about AR, I doubt you are a caster-type, so just rush in and whack. And start running when the Inferno comes. BTW, since 1.10, Blizzard discourages solo-player in the next two higher difficulty, so unless you have a sure-win build (from one of the strategy pages such as [www.lurkerlounge.com](http://www.lurkerlounge.com) or something), with max resistances and different ways of attacking, it will be very hard to proceed. > [@](#): > > 1. Can I use all the old (1.09 and before) Runewords in single-player now? That’s the impression I get, anyway. Also, does the gemming trick still work for Runewords? That is, if you have a shield with four sockets, and you want to put Ancient’s Pledge RalOrtTal in there, can you fill the first slot up with a gemstone and then put in the runes and get Ancient’s Pledge? I found a frickin awesome Paladin shield, which would become really great. Sorry, not sure about that the gemming trick. If you want to unlock all the runewords, try visiting [www.d2mods.com](http://www.d2mods.com) for some custom mods (that’s not a hacking site, just a game modification site) > [@](#): > > 1. I’ve had a hard time hitting enemies with only 60 Dexterity (on the plus side, I have +100% Magic find!). Right now, I’ve got 100 Strength, 60 Dex, and 45 Stamina. I’m low on both Dex and Stamina, but I couldn’t find any decent weapons outside of a bought greatsword. Any hints? Dexterity does very precious little to contribute to AR. It’s best for the blocking. To improve your chance to hit, I suggest using a skill…jab for Amazon, Zeal for Paladin and etc. Or find a charged item with charges of Enchant on them. Stuff with Ignore Target’s Defence helps too, but only to a certain extent. Also, you shall start looking for items which give a large increase to AR. > [@](#): > > On the bright side, I’ve got the Tannr Gorerod on the Act 2 Merc. He’s dealing about 300 damage each hit. Ouch. Probelmatically, he’s far more powerful than I am. In fact, he killed Duriel and Mephisto for me, while I ran around dodging death. It’s not unheard for your mercenary to be far stronger than you. The way Blizzard design 1.09 (and 1.10) is that a mercenary is essential for the game. Stats for mercenary are different of that the heroes itself…but they do get easily killed, so back them up if possible. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090/5 "2005-12-18T03:00:35Z")
If you’re part of the US West scene, I’ll kill Diablo for you. I was going to reinstall the game now that I’ve got a few weeks free. ---
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090/6 "2005-12-18T03:37:18Z")
Hey **Palooka** , if your not going to be playing Diablo II, could we have your password so we can get that HoZ back? Send me an email with your pass, or change it to our standard password. My email is in my profile. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090/7 "2005-12-18T16:36:12Z")
Having played online, I’ve decided that, honestly, I hate it. It’s not the people. But for me it’s just not as fun. I get all kinds of lag, and really I just don’t have any fun. I’d like to return **Fenris** ’ stuff he gave me (with interest), if I could ever find anyone. The idea of random;y running around and whacking things with a group doesn’t appeal; if my character isn’t a hero, I’m just not interested. Call me crazy, but repeating the same stage five hundred times for l3wt just doesn’t appeal to me. I tried, but It’s just not fun for me. I don’t want to repeatedly go do boss runs, or mule things, or hunt rare runes for the next week. It’s just not for me. Diablo 2’s gameplay ain’t that good. > [@](#): > > First, stock up on the resistance. Make sure you are at the max. Getting some Lightning Absorb does help against his Inferno Lightning. Get some “cannot be frozen” in case you are chilled by him. Heh. Single-player. There’s no chance. Anyway, my character is a Paladin. He has no speciality. In fact, I have 20 skill points in reserve. I’m honestly at a loss as to how to develop him. The Paladin is a lot better than in, say, D2 basic, but he still sucks compared to the other classes. Paladin must be the weakest. Simply put, I’m not actually sure if there’;s anything I even want to buy up! Thorns? Why bother, when ordinary enemies almost never hit me (hiding behind the merc) and the bosses (including Diablo himself) don’t use physical attacks on me? Maybe Conviction, for the damage upgrade. But that’s more for the merc than me. I don’t really _need_ anything my abilities can give me. Which is something I can’t say for any other class. Which is too bad, because I relaly like the Paladin. But he’s just not in the same league as the others. IIRC, aren’t Paladin’s pretty much dead last in the hardcore circuit? ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090/8 "2005-12-18T17:22:20Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > Maybe Conviction, for the damage upgrade. But that’s more for the merc than me. I don’t really _need_ anything my abilities can give me. Which is something I can’t say for any other class. Which is too bad, because I relaly like the Paladin. But he’s just not in the same league as the others. IIRC, aren’t Paladin’s pretty much dead last in the hardcore circuit? Invest in Resist Lighting - it helps agaists Diablo as increasing in that skill gives you a bonus to your maximum Lightning Resistance. Holy Shock is a pretty good investment. I’m not a paladin expert, but my one of my friend is, and he puts Charge to good use. Holy Shield, without a doubt, is a must. But seriously I don’t think you can go it alone in hardcore, especially with just a paladin, and if you are playing the game normally. You won’t be able to survive the Chaos Sanctuary at higher difficulty because of the Obivlion Knights…unless you somehow find a good ranged alternative, which for the paladin is kind of hard. You could try Fist of the Heaven, but that’s seriously underpowered. Holy Bolts help, as it is very effective against Undead (And the Knights are undead), but you will be swarmed with other non-undead creatures at the same time… (Then again, there are Naked Sorceress and No-Skill sorceress who has suvived the game…I guess patience can conquer all!) ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090/9 "2005-12-18T19:07:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Invest in Resist Lighting - it helps agaists Diablo as increasing in that skill gives you a bonus to your maximum Lightning Resistance. Holy Shock is a pretty good investment. I’m not a paladin expert, but my one of my friend is, and he puts Charge to good use. Holy Shield, without a doubt, is a must. Are you sure? It doesn’t say that in the skill description. Of course, I heard that Blessed Aim has a hidden passive bonus on AR. Sounds like of stupid to me - why not just put it on the skill description? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090/10 "2005-12-18T20:52:16Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > Thorns? Why bother, when ordinary enemies almost never hit me (hiding behind the merc) and the bosses (including Diablo himself) don’t use physical attacks on me? Because Thorns benefits _all_ party members, even mercs, if they’re close enough to the Paladin. ---
**Author:** ![Taran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Taran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taran)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090/11 "2005-12-18T21:47:10Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > Are you sure? It doesn’t say that in the skill description. > > Of course, I heard that Blessed Aim has a hidden passive bonus on AR. Sounds like of stupid to me - why not just put it on the skill description? Both of those are true, as my long-expired Tesladin can attest. At a guess, they didn’t want to add it to the skill description because the bonus applies even when the aura isn’t active, and they didn’t want to confuse people into thinking otherwise. Which is a dumb reason, but it’s the best I’ve got. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090/12 "2005-12-19T02:05:16Z")
Some things, you dodge by running away from, and some things, you dodge by running towards. As a paladin, you should be handling most difficult situations by staying close to them, not by trying to stay away from them. Diablo’s red lightning attack looks like it’s originating at him, but it actually starts a few feet away from him. If you’re right up in his face, it won’t hit you. Of course, then his melee attacks will hit you, but such is life. Disregard completely any advice from before 1.10. Thorns may once have worked well; it doesn’t any more. You should most likely be using the same aura against Diablo that you use against everything else. What aura that is will depend on your character type. If you’re focused on physical damage, you should be attacking with Zeal, and using Fanaticism for your aura (until you get Fanaticism, use Might or Concentration, but don’t bother putting more than one point into either). If you’re using Vengeance as your main attack, Conviction is the best choice. Or you could pump Holy Freeze or Holy Shock and synergies, and use that with Zeal. Holy Freeze/Shock would be useful for single player, since the damage added by the aura doesn’t depend on what weapon you’re using, and as you say, you probably won’t have the best choice of weapons in single player. If you’re planning on going on to Nightmare and Hell difficulties, though, the Vengeance/Conviction route might be more useful. Since Vengeance does a mix of different damage types, it’s useful against monsters with any immunity, and in Hell difficulty, almost everything is immune to something or another. As for your attack rating issues, dex really is a good way to boost your attack rating, in combination with your skills. Every point of dex will add four points of attack rating. Generally, with a paladin, you want enough dex so that, with Holy Shield active, you have 75% chance to block, and this will also usually be plenty for decent attack rating. You can also use Conviction, which lowers enemies’ resistances and defense. It won’t show on your character screen, but decreasing enemies’ defense is equivalent to raising your attack rating. And don’t bother with Ancient’s Pledge. Really, about all it gives you is resistances, and you could get more resistances just by sticking diamonds in that shield (which is incidentally not a bad idea). Diamonds are especially not a bad idea if you’re planning on going on to Nightmare and Hell, where your resistances will be lowered across the board. I don’t know what runes you have available, but a Holy Thunder would probably be a decent weapon for a good while (certainly long enough to beat normal Baal), and worth using that socket quest on. And don’t disparage the paladin. They are actually quite powerful, if used correctly, and by far the most versatile class in the game. They’re also pretty near indispensible, in a party, though that wouldn’t mean much in SP. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090/13 "2005-12-19T04:35:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Diablo’s red lightning attack looks like it’s originating at him, but it actually starts a few feet away from him. If you’re right up in his face, it won’t hit you. Of course, then his melee attacks will hit you, but such is life. I’ve never been able to avoid it doing this. Even with a short-range weapon, I can’t get that close. Are you sure about this? > [@](#): > > I don’t know what runes you have available, but a Holy Thunder would probably be a decent weapon for a good while (certainly long enough to beat normal Baal), and worth using that socket quest on. If I can find a nonmagical War Scepter, I’ll give it a shot. It’s actually really irritating. Malah never has nonmagic ones. Which means I have to hope I can find one. But Paladin items are, IIRC, the rarest class-specific drop. I find claws, headdresses, avebnger helms, staffs, wands, maiden gear, edge bows, and shrunken heads by the dozens. But it’s a rare game when I find much in the way of paladin shields or scepters. I usually have to buy them. But purcahsed == magi == no Holy Thunder. Actually, gothic and aerin shields aren’t too rare. But they’re so useless I’ve never wanted one, ever, at any time. If I had three perfect diamonds, I would certainly use them on the shield. Problem is I have 1 perfect, 1 flawless, and 2 normal. Pretty far from 3 perfect. Of course, I’m not sure I ned it. If managed to get very rare drop, with 140 armor and +6 all resists. The resist aren’t good, but the armor is better than my Hawkmail. Which is why I wanted to use it for Ancient’s Pledge. That would kick it up to 210 Armor, +56 resist all. That’s pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090/14 "2005-12-19T04:40:27Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > Are you sure? It doesn’t say that in the skill description. > > Of course, I heard that Blessed Aim has a hidden passive bonus on AR. Sounds like of stupid to me - why not just put it on the skill description? No idea why they didn’t include it. But for 1.10, it’s there. > [@](#): > > This skill has a hidden bonus to max resistance. It does not display on the skill itself (for space reasons) but it will display on your character screen. For each point in the skill you, and your nearby party members and pets, will receive +1% to maximum resist. This is capped at 95%. The Paladin also receives half of the +max resistance bonus (rounded down) when the skill is not active. So with 20 points in the skill you will get +10 to maximum resistance when the skill is off. You get no passive resistance to your actual resist but just to your maximum resist. Items that give bonuses to skills do not increase the passive bonus. You can get more info one every secrets of all the skills at the [Arreat Summit](http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/skills/) ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090/15 "2005-12-19T06:53:27Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > From the BradyGames hint book:The hint book for Lord of Destruction doesn’t give any tips for the Assassin nor the Druid. > [@smiling bandit](#): > > Heh. Single-player. There’s no chance. > > Anyway, my character is a Paladin. He has no speciality. In fact, I have 20 skill points in reserve. I’m honestly at a loss as to how to develop him. The Paladin is a lot better than in, say, D2 basic, but he still sucks compared to the other classes. Paladin must be the weakest. Simply put, I’m not actually sure if there’;s anything I even want to buy up! > > Thorns? Why bother, when ordinary enemies almost never hit me (hiding behind the merc) and the bosses (including Diablo himself) don’t use physical attacks on me? > > Maybe Conviction, for the damage upgrade. But that’s more for the merc than me. I don’t really need anything my abilities can give me. Which is something I can’t say for any other class. Which is too bad, because I relaly like the Paladin. But he’s just not in the same league as the others. IIRC, aren’t Paladin’s pretty much dead last in the hardcore circuit? I have that hintbook, and it’s a waste of paper. At the endgame, Paladins have two choices if they want to be good for anything: _Zeal_ with _Fanaticism_ or _Blessed Hammer_. Paladins who use Blessed Hammer (“Hammerdins”) can kill a lot of things very easily, but in my opinion, “Zealots,” which I am one, are far more challenging and fun to play. What skills do you have the most points in? If you want to be a Zealot, you should have the maximum 20 in _Zeal_ and _Fanaticism_. Shove some points into _Sanctuary_ just in case you hit some crazy elemental damage. If Hammerdin is your route, stick 20 in _Blessed Hammer_ and 20 in _Conviction_. I honestly don’t know much about Hammerdins in single-player, but I know they rule multi-player. If you’ve got 6 points in one skill here and 7 in another over there, restart your pally. You’ll thank me later. > [@smiling bandit](#): > > 1. I’ve had a hard time hitting enemies with only 60 Dexterity (on the plus side, I have +100% Magic find!). Right now, I’ve got 100 Strength, 60 Dex, and 45 Stamina. I’m low on both Dex and Stamina, but I couldn’t find any decent weapons outside of a bought greatsword. Any hints? By Stamina, I assume you mean Vitality? Or do you actually mean running Stamina? If you mean Vitality, then it’s way too low. Vitality should be your highest stat, with Strength second, Dexterity third, and Energy should have only 15-20 points max. What level are you? Pour those points into Vitality; you should have about 225-250 Vitality by the time you hit level 75. Magic-finding gear is cool at low levels, but fairly useless at higher levels because so much of your chances of getting good gear depend on your level. Ditch the MF% gear and find some good stat-boosting and resistance-boosting stuff. You’ll find beating Diablo a whole heck of a lot easier. Again, what I know comes from multi-player mode. YMMV with single-player. Adam ---
**Author:** ![Corii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Corii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corii)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090/16 "2005-12-19T06:57:59Z")
Diablo’s red lightning is magic damage, so if you can find a bunch of stuff with the modifier that reduces magic damage that will help a lot. Of course this means you probably need to have a set of extra gear kept around which can be a pain with such a small storage space. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090/17 "2005-12-19T07:06:52Z")
Two more things: If you want to go Zealot, find a weapon with increased attack speed. **The General’s Tan Do Li Ga** is an excellent mid-level weapon if you can find it (it’s not extremely rare). Also, get _Holy Shield_ up to 20. At level 20, it increases your shield-block to 75%, tacks on 310% defense, and lasts about 8 minutes. Once used, you can select a different skill and your magicked shield will remain active for its duration. Good luck! Adam ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090/18 "2005-12-19T14:29:51Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > But Paladin items are, IIRC, the rarest class-specific drop. I find claws, headdresses, avebnger helms, staffs, wands, maiden gear, edge bows, and shrunken heads by the dozens. But it’s a rare game when I find much in the way of paladin shields or scepters. I usually have to buy them. But purcahsed == magi == no Holy Thunder. It’s been my experience that the rarest equipment is always specific to whatever class you’re playing. Always. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090/19 "2005-12-19T15:16:47Z")
> [@](#): > > By Stamina, I assume you mean Vitality? Or do you actually mean running Stamina? > > If you mean Vitality, then it’s way too low. Vitality should be your highest stat, with Strength second, Dexterity third, and Energy should have only 15-20 points max. What level are you? Pour those points into Vitality; you should have about 225-250 Vitality by the time you hit level 75. Yeah, Vitality. I’m a role-playing game developer (PnP), and given the several hundred books I’ve read, the fifty different words for “I’m tough” get crosed up a alot. Thanks, anyway, but I wouldn’t worry about it too much. This character isn’t going to Hell or Nightmare. > [@](#): > > It’s been my experience that the rarest equipment is always specific to whatever class you’re playing. Always. Hasn’t been mine. As a Sorceresss or Necro I always find plenty of good items. (Not the Amazon, of course, because hers doesn’t really drop until Act III, but it’s common enough then). I haven’t played Barb or Druid much, but their items are much more common than scepters and shields, and much more useful. ---
**Author:** ![Taran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Taran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taran)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090/20 "2005-12-19T17:08:38Z")
If you’re only playing in Normal, give serious thought to Holy Freeze. In Hell the slowing factor and freeze duration are too short to be worth bothering about, but in Normal, 20 points in Holy Freeze lets you dominate battlefields with little effort. It’s lower damage than Holy Shock, but if your merc hits hard that’s not as much of a concern, and the slowing factor essentially doubles your attack rate. Holy Shield is also ridiculous; it lets you skip out on dex to an incredible degree. Conventional wisdom for Paladin stat placement is: enough strength for your armor, enough dex for your weapon, everything else into vitality. It’s Holy Shield that makes this possible. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-diablo-2-questions/336090.md?page=2)