THIS SECTION COVERS THE VERY FIRST THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
THE GAME BEFORE ACTUALLY PLAYING IT. IF YOU DON'T KNOW ANY OF THESE THINGS
YOU SHOULD READ SOME BEGINERS GUIDE NOW!
CLASSES:
The first thing you should consider id the class you are going to use.
If you like head on battle and you are not a very strategic fighter I suggest
you use a Barbarian.
If you like mostly head on battle but like using different strategies, then I suggest you
use a Paladin or a Spearazon(an amazon using a spear classed weapon).
If you're the kind of who likes to stand back and lob arrows at people, then use a
Bowazon(an Amazon using a bow).
Leveling up
As you level up you will get more attribute points and skill points to distribute.
You must learn to distribute these wisely and carefully or else you will regret it and
curse yourself when your in you level 50's or over as it will take you quite long to get
there again. Pick a few skills you like and think is likely to be good and max those.
Where you put your attribute points is entirely up to you but it really depends on
what class you are. If you are a barb then put tons into strength and vitality and don't
put a single one into energy. Trust me just find +mana items.
If you're a Paladin, then put
as many strength points as you desire but if you are to use blessed hammer then
don't put more than about 100 points into it so you can hold things but not do extra damage
as it doesn't work wit BH. Put lots into vitality as you can as it is good. A barb will be stunned
if you can survive a W/W. Put a few but not more than 15 - 20 into energy and put no
more than enough into dex to hold a weapon or item of your desires. Don't worry about
defense. Use something like a Twicththroe as an amor as it has good mods.
If your an amazon then put points into things like the pal but instead of strength
put it into dex. Put about 200 dex as you would with a melee pal putting 200 into
strength. Put heaps into vit and put a few into energy.
If you want to use a sorceress then put heaps into vitality and even more into
energy. Go for the cold tree as it is much better than the other tress. Fire hurts jack
all and lightning hurts jack all as everyone resits it so much. Put enough into strength
and dex so you can use a desired item. Oh yeah and if you get cold mastery
they can't resist it as much. And whats even better? It's a passive.
Planning on using a necro?? Eh? Well........ he's basically the same as the Sor,
just put heaps into ener and vit but don't waste points into raises. Wait for revive
and revive things like Abyss or Oblivion knights. then stand back and cast bone
spirit or bone spear. Learn a few curses too. Iron maidens good escpeicially against
impatient barbs. Cast it on them and surrond them wit puny skeles so if he hits
them(which he can hit up to 3 with 1 W/W)when he's high leveled he's dead as it reflects damage.
Allocating skill points:
With an bowazon you will want to either put some points into the skills that you are
good with, or you could miss out the fire tree which can be quite a good idea. But
never miss out the cold or magic tree. Try maxing things like Freezing arrow, Strafe
Arrow, definetly Guided Arrow, Multi-shot or if you aren't going to miss out the fire tree
then, Immolation Arrow. Guided Arrow is good as it is bloody homing and it gets
more powerful per level and wastes less mana.
With a barb you should aim to get a powerful lance and whirlwind with it. He really
doesn't require any strategy, just max a mastery of your choice, maybe learn some
War Cries and pick a few good Combat skills. Oh yeah and don't forget things like
Increased speed unless you want a challenge.
With a necro just max Revive, get Bone Spirit and/or Bone Spear, get some curses,
and early on put many points into the golem of your choice and skele mages. they are
awesome espicially the poison ones as no one resists it alot. Or hardly anyone.
If your using a Paladin then max some of these depending on what kind of
pal you are going to be. Auras - max concentration - very important, maybe fanactisism,
maybe vigor, get some into salvation or just one and put some extras into ones you
like. Combat skills - max either Charge, Smite or BH. Use Smite with one of the
other two for crowd control. Put some into other ones you like such as FOH.
With a sor, I suggest you use mainly the cold tree and maybe use some others.
max cold mastery, Frozen orb and others you like. max warmth from the fire tree and
if you have a fast connection then fire mastery and Firewall. Get static field and maybe some
others. But most importantly defintely max TELEPORT. This is super important. Trust me
you'll thank me when it gets you outta crap.
ITEMS:
The type of weaponary and armor you use is up to you. Whether you enjoy
using Axes, Swords, Bows, Staves or Wands. I highly recommned you use items that are
good for that class. For example if you were to use a Necro,
I strongly suggest you don't use an Axe as he is slow and inaccurate wit them. Oh yeah
also, I will remind you if you are using a Paladin with a sheild an increased 25% chance to block
is better than +800 defense. It's all up to you but this is what i recommend
HEALING AND MANA POTIONS:
These are essential for survival! If you are a melee fighter, stock up on mostly healing
potions and mana pots for ranged fighters. Here is a table wit what pots are avaliable and when.
Minor Healing&Mana - ACT 1
Light Healing & Mana - ACT 2
Standard Healing & Mana - ACT 2
Greater Healing & Mana - ACT 2(rare)
Super Mana - ACT 1
Super Healing - ACT 4
Other pots such as Antidote and Thawing pots aren't that important but they are
good if you have the space.
Dont' see them as essential though.
WAYPOINTS:
These are excellent. Activate as many as you can. They provide you wit a shortcut back to where you
were last. Beware though as some can be camouflaged such as some in ACTII.
Just check your automap now and then. I suggest you leave it on(I find that easier).
GOLD:
This is important in many ways. you use it to buy things, repair,
get people to do things for you and to trade with people although not many people
trade for gold now it is still quite good. You are allowed to hold 10,000 gold per level.
So, if you were level 9 you would be able to hold 90,000 gold. It's quite a good
idea to stash gold every time you have over about 1000 gold. You will find out
why if you don't.
TOWN PORTALS:
These are also essenTial for survival. When you are facing a monster that you
think you may die on then cast a town portal so you can get your body back easily
later. I always cast one when i face Diablo. Just remeber to recast the town
portal when you return so if you die again you can get your body back again
STASH:
This is super important. Store anything that is valuable for trade if you want something.
Well this is mainly for B.NET but still you may want to give that item a go later. Basically
it is your main or in fact your only source os storage apart from you inventory. you can store
anything. obviously only you can access your stash even though it may look like
someone else is going into it.
