06-08-2004, 01:10 AM
It should be noted that an axe warrior is a relatively challenging character. As a newbie, maybe you should develop your warrior in a more conservative way. You can still switch to an axe setup later, if you want to. Diablo1 does not really have an individual 'skilling' of chars like Diablo2 has. Your char will probably have all his stats maxed by the time he reaches clvl 40. The individuality lies in the equipment setup used. This means that you can always switch between different setups. Later on, the equipment setups do not depend on a certain skill point distribution - you will have all stats maxed out anyway.
The 3 big disadvantages an axe warrior suffers compared to a sword/shield warrior are:
1) No shield = no blocking. Big big disavantage. On dungeon levels 13-16, foes have high "autohit" values. That means they have a good chance to hit you regardless of your AC. Without a shield, your AC is your last defense. In other words: In the deeper levels, you will take alot of hits.
Possible measure to deal with that: Use an item 'of Harmony' to reduce your hit recovery time. This won't reduce the number of hits you take, but it will help you to deal with their effects.
2) No shield = no boni from the shield. Your warrior will probably end up having about 15-40 AC and 30-50 HPs less than his sword-and-shield wielding brothers usually have. You will also have a harder time getting the resistances necessary for the deeper dungeon levels.
3) Axes are slow. Even with a speed/haste suffix, you won't be able to stunlock certain monsters (Advocate Class), which can be very annoying, because these guys like to teleport away when they get the chance to.
The only advantage of Axes is the slightly higher damage compared to a sword/shield combination. That advantage is clearly outweighed by the disadvantages. The fact that swords swing faster already makes up for the higher damage alone.
About Leo: DEX, DEX, DEX.
The usual way to start a Warrior is to put the first 8 level ups into DEX completely. You will then reach your maximum DEX (60) at clvl 9. If you solo and do not skip any levels, you meet Leo somewhere between clvl 7 and clvl 9, IIRC.
A shield also helps alot versus Leo, especially if you face him in your first game (after the first game of your warrior, his chance to block hits is reduced by 30% because of a nasty bug). If you decide to face Leo without a shield, I recommend to level your char at least to level 15 before going for him, with 8 level ups into DEX, the remaining level ups into STR, hopefully some decent AC (30+), and a good supply of health potions.
That is just from my experience though, and probably not very accurate.
You also may want to have a look at this great article by Charis:
http://realmsbeyond.net/diablo/forgecdmeleeleo.html
It was not written for your situation, but with Ironman warriors in mind. But it still contains alot of useful information.
The 3 big disadvantages an axe warrior suffers compared to a sword/shield warrior are:
1) No shield = no blocking. Big big disavantage. On dungeon levels 13-16, foes have high "autohit" values. That means they have a good chance to hit you regardless of your AC. Without a shield, your AC is your last defense. In other words: In the deeper levels, you will take alot of hits.
Possible measure to deal with that: Use an item 'of Harmony' to reduce your hit recovery time. This won't reduce the number of hits you take, but it will help you to deal with their effects.
2) No shield = no boni from the shield. Your warrior will probably end up having about 15-40 AC and 30-50 HPs less than his sword-and-shield wielding brothers usually have. You will also have a harder time getting the resistances necessary for the deeper dungeon levels.
3) Axes are slow. Even with a speed/haste suffix, you won't be able to stunlock certain monsters (Advocate Class), which can be very annoying, because these guys like to teleport away when they get the chance to.
The only advantage of Axes is the slightly higher damage compared to a sword/shield combination. That advantage is clearly outweighed by the disadvantages. The fact that swords swing faster already makes up for the higher damage alone.
About Leo: DEX, DEX, DEX.
The usual way to start a Warrior is to put the first 8 level ups into DEX completely. You will then reach your maximum DEX (60) at clvl 9. If you solo and do not skip any levels, you meet Leo somewhere between clvl 7 and clvl 9, IIRC.
A shield also helps alot versus Leo, especially if you face him in your first game (after the first game of your warrior, his chance to block hits is reduced by 30% because of a nasty bug). If you decide to face Leo without a shield, I recommend to level your char at least to level 15 before going for him, with 8 level ups into DEX, the remaining level ups into STR, hopefully some decent AC (30+), and a good supply of health potions.
That is just from my experience though, and probably not very accurate.
You also may want to have a look at this great article by Charis:
http://realmsbeyond.net/diablo/forgecdmeleeleo.html
It was not written for your situation, but with Ironman warriors in mind. But it still contains alot of useful information.