Newbie alert

[moltovir]

I recently bought D2 (only 5 euros in the local software shop) and I'm thinking of playing a necromancer for my first runthrough ever. I just have some small questions: what exactly do you mean with "ladders" and "builds", and how does the D2 multiplayer function? Do you battle eachother or AI enemies? And is there anything any D2 newbie should know about the game? Helpful tips for necromancers are welcome too

[Lonelypilgrim]

I don`t know much about the internet play,but i can give you some advice about playing the necromancer:When you start put only 1 point to Teeth,don`t take any summons.It is wise to take the first curse,that loweres monsters defence,this will allow you to get more damage.Conserve as many points as you can and when you hit the level for next skills then take 1 point to clay golem.I don`t remember very well,but if you can take golem mastery then put all the remaining points there,otherways conserver the points.Your main goal is to get as much Bone Spear as possible.So take 1 poin to all skills required to take Bone Spear.Once you have it,you will be unbeatable.Take it to 20 for sure for maximum damage.

[C Elegans]

@Moltovir: there are many things you should know about D2, I'll try to summarise the most important ones, and answer you questions at the same time.

1. D2 (did you buy the expansion pack Lord of Destruction too? I hope so, it is much more fun with the explansion) can be played in single player locally, on local networks and online, at Battlenet, http://www.battle.net. The game is best when played on Battlenet, since there are certain features that are only available online. To play at Battlenet (Bnet for short), you just need to install D2 on a computer with internet connection and log on to Bnet. You create an account with username, password and your CD key, and then you can build you characters and play just the same as locally. Bnet characters cannot only be played at Bnet, you can't play them both online and locally unless you play at Open Battlenet, but that's nothing I recommend since most people there played with self-made hacked items and characters.

On Bnet, there is something called Ladder season. The Ladder is a closed environment. Blizzard reset the ladder 1-2 times a year, and then the characters who played on the Ladder will become non ladder, and new characters must be made in order to play Ladder. When you start a new character, you can choose if you want to make it ladder or not. I always play ladder since Blizzard introduce new items or features on every new ladder.

2. If you play on local network or online at Bnet, you can play with others. In a game, there may be up to 8 characters, so you can team up with friends or strangers to make a party. Party play is more fun, and also makes the gameplay easier. On Bnet, you can create open games (ie games without password) or join others' open games. The disadvantage with playing in open games is that many people just want to rush their chars to higher level as soon as possible, or make item finding rushes, so they play only parts of the game. You can try looking for games named something with "quest" or "all quests", for instance "Act1allquests", that usually denotes the group play through the entire game.
You can also create closed games (like I and my friends do) so only those you give the password to, can enter your game.

You can party with other players and battle monsters, or you can play PvP, player versus player, and battle other players. In the game, you can go hostile on a player, and then you can duel. Duelling is a very common form of gameplay, many people team up in clans and duel with each other in gangs (so called "clan wars").

3. A "build" is a character plan. Usually the builds get names depending on what skills they use, but sometimes also after certain items they are meant to use. A Bowazon is an Amazon that uses a bow, a Strafezon is a Bowazon who has Strafe as her main skill. It is important that you play your character build well, otherwise it will be impossible to get all the way to Hell difficulty (first you play the game at Normal difficult, then you start again from the beginnin at Nightmare difficulty, and finally you start once again from the beginning at Hell difficulty. When you beat Baal at Hell difficulty, you have beaten the game.) D2 is very much about making builds that make it passed Hell Baal, and items for that build.

Necros can be played as Golemancers, Skelemancers, P&B (poison and bone) and various combinations. If you play alone, you must build a character that is viable on his own, if you play in a party you can specialise. Maxing Bone Spear like Lonely Pilgrim suggests in one way of playing, but you will need more than that to make it through Hell difficulty.

[moltovir]

Thanks! I'm thinking of restarting the game (I'm only level 8 anyway) and pick one of these builds. For now I've chosen a little bit of this and a little bit of that, just to try everything out. It's a great game, but the small inventory is really annoying. I heard that it's doubled in LoD, but sadly I couldn't find it. Seems I'll have to check out some other stores

[Lonelypilgrim]

I got to hell dificulty with Poison And Bone spells very easily.Only some golems to stand and block the monsters and then i shoot em.This is my way of playing a necro,and i got into Kurast with him.Maybe i was just so srong because i had Worm Scull and Shield Of The Eyeless,but I think that Kurast is pretty far.

[C Elegans]

@Moltovir: Use your first D2 chars to play around in, restart your char if you like, but it's not necessary at this stage. It usually takes 2-3 tries to build a really good character. It's easier without LoD, though.

The inventory gets larger in LoD, yes. I hope you find it soon

@LonelyPilgrim: Yes, the PB Necro is a very strong build, my husband used to play one. You need better and better items as you go on at Hell difficulty, so it's good you have found some nice items.

[moltovir]

I got the quest to find a certain "Cain". I found the tree, went to Akara, turned the Cairn stones, so far so good. But after I turned the stones I saw some lightning animation and then... nothing. I thought a portal to Tristram had to appear? Anyway, I selected Save & Exit and took a small look at the GB walkthrough. When I restarted the game, the scroll was gone and the stones in Stony Field did nothing! They didn't even glow blue like they did before. Do I have to do the whole tree-scroll-Akara thing again or is this a huge bug in D2?

Edit: after replaying the whole thing a portal finally appeared... Strange.
What is the difference between colored item names? Blue is magical in some way, grey can be socketed, but what is yellow and green?

[C Elegans]

Sound buggy, possibly caused due to lag. The red portal to Tristram is supposed to appear immediately after the lightning.

Blue items are magical, which means they can have 1-2 certain characteristics called modifiers, like plus to damage, skills, resists, and many, many more.

Yellow items are rare, which means they can have 4-6 modifiers. Rare items are worth keeping a look at, since the many modifiers mean they have a chance of getting incredibly good.

Green items are Set items, they belong to a certain cet (for instance Sigon's set which consists of 6 pieces, Tal Rasha's set which consist of 5 pieces etc) and the set items have hidden bonus modifiers when you wear more than 1 piece from the same set. Wearing the full set often have certain advantages.

Golden items are Unique items, the have certain names like Windforce (a unique hydra bow) and The Occulus (a unique sorc weapon). Unique items are often good because they have many modifiers and you can start using them at low level.

Grey items have sockets which you can put jewels, runes or gems in. With runes, you can build Runewords, which is a special type of items.

[Deadalready]

There are also grey items that are transparent called etheral, these cannot be repaired or recharged but only appear if you're playing Lord of Destruction.