NBrid

Diablo 2 for Dummies: How to Play

No summary available.

Written by: Frink

Its that time again! Yes, your beloved PC fiend FrinK is here, and I FINALLY typed up another dealy… well actually I started working on a few mmm-glayvin…. Anywho, after the hours upon hours upon hours upon hours I've spent on Battle.net playing Diablo 2 and perfecting the art of "P-K'ing" and generally playing the game, I grew tired of all of these Unrefined "Newbs" and basically and fucking dumbass who doesn't know how to play. Maybe this is a form of road rage? BATTLE.NET RAGE. So I went and took matters into my own hands. Over a couple of editorials, I will explain in my own words, how to play this game. Maybe I can help a few people… nah… probably not… nobody is gonna read this except for whoever posts it.

This first installment is cleverly called "How To Play". Later sections will discuss "Item Hunting: What and What NOT to Keep" (these people keep rare items just because they are rare… even though they SUCK major fagor penis) and "The Art Of P-K'ing" (PK is player killing, for those who don't know).

I will start with character selection. In Diablo 2, there are 5 character classes… and in the Diablo 2 Expansion they add 2 more but I wont go into them since the Xpack isn't out yet. The 5 characters are Barbarian, Paladin, Necromancer, Sorceress, and Amazon. When you play a character and you kill things you gain experience. When you gain enough you "level up" which means your character grows stronger. Each level up you get 5 points to put into stats (Strength, Dexterity, Vitality, Energy) and 1 point you can put into a skill. Below is a basic and dulled down over view of how to play each character well. Please note that you have to have some knowledge of this game to understand what the hell I'm saying. SO if you just got it, read the fucking manual, and play the game a bit… then read this. If you want more knowledge… go to www.diabloii.net

Barbarian: A close combat guy, can wield 2 one hand weapons at a time, and beats the shit outta stuff. When you play him, do not put stat points into energy, you don't need mana… just use mana leech items. For skill points, you need to put 1 into every skill in the combat skills tree until you get to "whirlwind" (character level 30) and then max that out (put 20 skill points into) cause its really good. You will not survive without mana and life leech and the War Cry "Battle Orders" (clvl 24) which you also need to max out. Barbarians do best with Sword/Shield Combos or Lances (2 handed). They need high defense armor, boots, gloves, belt, helm etc. You must have some resistances on those items cause if you don't then a lightning enchanted monster (or fire or cold for that matter) will whomp your ass. Magic Find is cool too, helps you find better stuff.

Amazon: She mainly uses Javelins, Pikes or Lances, and Bows. In normal Diablo 2, Bows are best. In the Xpack, the Javelins and Pikes are made better for her use, but bows are STILL BEST. Ranged attack is good. For stat points, go into all four categories€¦ but again you don't need much Energy since you can just leech mana. Skill points are fun here, only go into Bow Skills and mainly put points into "Guided Arrow", "Strafe", and "Multi Shot". The skill tree Passive Skills is also useful, put points into them at your will but use them, mainly use "Dodge" and "Evade" and other skills like that, and put points into "Valkerye" as well. Amazons basically wear the same equipment. You want to use stuff that increases your attack speed, adds to skills, adds to Dexterity, and resists stuff. Defense doesn't really matter as much since they are ranged.

Sorceress: She is all magic. She doesn't do hand to hand, all she does is cast tons of spells which is totally cool. They mainly use staffs, although some wand/shield combos are damn good. For stat points… she needs LOTS of mana. Put a maximum of 55 points into strength, NOTHING into dexterity, and put plenty into Vitality and a lot into Energy, since you need mana to cast spells. For skill points there are 3 main spell categories: Fire, Cold, and Lightning. Here's what I do: I max the fire spell "Warmth" over time cause it makes mana regenerate faster. Then I put about 7 points into the lightning spell "Static Field" over time. And then I go all the way through the Cold Spell section until I hit "Glacial Spike" and "Blizzard" which I put about 4 points into each. And the at lvl 30 I can get "Frozen Orb" and "Cold Mastery" which I max out. Sorceress' need a decent defense armor, and items should have + mana and life, resistances, and such.

Paladin: This guy is another hand to hand, but he is best with Scepter/Shield or basically any 1 hand weapon and a shield. For stat points, again put points into everything evenly, but not too much into mana, since mana leech takes care of that. For skills, you can do combinations of auras and skills. You can use "Zeal" for your attack skill and "Concentration" for your aura. In the expansion pack, the "Vengeance" skill with the "Fanaticism" or "Concentration" aura will work well. So max out the 2 you choose, not wasting points in anything else. That's fairly simple. For items, you want to wear a good defense armor, boots, helm, gloves, belt, shield, with resists, + to stats (Str, Dex, Vit, Eng) and skills if possible.

Necromancer: A very interesting character, this guy raises up the dead to fight for him! That's cool. Mainly using a Wand/Shield combo for weapons, he doesn't fight, he can cast spear type things and such. For stats, do basically the same thing for sorceress, but put some more into strength. For skills, there's a lot to explain. In the "Summoning Skills" section put some into the raising skills, but not a lot. Always save up for the highest lvl requirement skills, in this case "Revive" and "Fire Golem" which are the strongest minions to raise. For "Curses" mainly use the curses "Amplify Damage" and "Iron Maiden" and in the "Poison and Bone" skill tree, use the skills "Bone Spear" and later "Bone Spirit". For items, use a wand and a shield, and armor etc. should have decent defense, with + mana and life, resistances, and the like. Mainly all Necromancers wear the same unique helm called "Wormskull" so if you wanna play this guy, try to trade for one, or get one somehow!

Ok I think that was enough, again I doubt anyone read it but who cares, it was something to do! If you are unclear then read the manual again dumbass. I'll be back with my other installments sometime! P33C3 Out.