Melee HC build

[arrunique]

My goal is to take a melee character through the whole game in hardcore. I did a werewolf in softcore with some of the best gear but it was difficult. In hardcore I don't have nearly the resources I did in softcore so this the gear will have to be limited to stuff that can be found in early nightmare. And some handmedowns from from other failed builds (that didnt die).

The only quests I plan to party for is normal duriel and all 3 chaos sancs/diablo because of iron maiden. If OB knights are rolled in worldstone I'll just restart.

This build will need maxed (or better) resists and the ability to deal more than one kind of damage. I'm not going to worry about double immunes since they are really rare.

I'm leaning toward paladin because I can get GA from a friend of mine but I'm open to suggestions. My last paladin was a conviction zealot who did fairly well but just didnt have one of the elite uniques necessary to make the build work. He got poked to death by a dark lancer(spearwoman?) in the frozen river.

Builds I'm thinking about:
Fanat/zeal paladin (is 1 in vengence enough to take PI?)
Melee assassin becaue you can buy good claws (tiger and fire?)
Frenzy barb w/ 1 zerk for PI
Bear druid (never played but considering the probs my wolf had I'm a bit gunshy)
Charged strike zon
And finally the really dumb idea "fists of fire" enchant sorc without a weapon

Any other ideas?

[Lady Vashj]

The only HC char I've even managed to kill Diablo with was a Frenzy barb.

My advice: Don't underestimate low-level runewords.

Weaponry:
Malice (Ith El Eth)
Steel (Tir El)
Strength (Amn Tir)

Armor:
Stealth (Tal Eth)

Helm:
Nadir (Nef Tir)
Lore (Ort Sol)

All low-level runes, but put them together and you are teh pwn in Normal.

[Assur]

My goal is to take a melee character through the whole game in hardcore. 

Hi

My suggestion would be a Shockpala, lots of damage and a big aera effect, for PI/LI monsters put a few points in Vengeance and carry a big (twohanded) weapon in your weapon-switch.

good karma

P.S. Don't neglect a few of the low-level uniques, e.g. "Hotspur" can give you 90% fire res, very nice if you talk with Dia solo :D

[bigeyedbug]

The first thing that comes to mind for me is a kick 'em while their down design--incapacitate you're enemies and then pound on 'em. The possibilities would be Barb (War Cry and Taunt), Bear (Shock Wave), Melee Necro (Dim Vision and other goodies), and the one I'm currently working on, Assassin (Mind Blast and CoS). All of these have options for multiple (or magical, in the Barb's case) forms of damage. If you go elemental Assassin, or Detailer, it's relatively easy to get gear. I've got no experience with the other classes, but I'd think it'd be much harder.

Paladins and Sorcs are out--as far as I'm concerned--because they have no crowd-control skills. Tankazons and Wolves are questionable. But anything is possible if you're not soloing.

Then again, what I'd really like to see is a solo HotBox sorc make guardian.

[Lady Vashj]

A good Bowzon, especially with boatloads of life and mana steal, can deal cold damage with a vengeance. Freezing Arrow has no cooldown time, plus it has splash damage (unfortunately, it's level 30). Fill her backpack with elemental damage charms and nothing is safe from your Strafe. Best would be if you could get a bow with Knockback.

[Taem]

Paladins and Sorcs are out--as far as I'm concerned--because they have no crowd-control skills.  Tankazons and Wolves are questionable.  But anything is possible if you're not soloing.

Have you ever played a paladin before? IMO, they have the best crowd control at low-level ever: ZEAL

I played hardcore exclusively and found they survive remarkably well through levels 1-11, then you get zeal and become a killing monster. Depending on your skills, you'll be tearing up the competition in no time.

Sounds to me like your (original poster) going at this solo, correct? I didn't see you mention that, but you said you didn't plan to party for any quests except Duriel, which is a mistake IMO. You really don’t need to party with anyone for any of the quests, except possibly Diablo.

For the best crowd control and the safest avenue of travel, take up Holy Freeze and later on for added damage, pick up a Might merc. By the time you clear act 1 and 2 without any help, you'll be high enough level to tank Duriel in a solo game with almost any gear. I recommend a 3 socket mace with gems inserted. You'll zeal fast and do lots of damage. Put 5 vit, 5 str, 5 dex every 3-levels until you have enough str for the items you'll eventually want and enough dex for 75% block at the highest level you plan to reach with the items you plan on using.

Someone mentioned using a bowazon, but I find that humorous, because the original poster said he wanted to do all melee. The way I see it, there three forms of attacks:

1.) Magic
2.) Missile
3.) Melee

[Obi2Kenobi]

The way I see it, there three forms of attacks:

1.) Magic
2.) Missile
3.) Melee

4) Summons
5) Thorns

(not really attacks, I know, but ways of doing damage)

[bigeyedbug]

Paladins and Sorcs are out--as far as I'm concerned--because they have no crowd-control skills.  Tankazons and Wolves are questionable.  But anything is possible if you're not soloing.

Have you ever played a paladin before? IMO, they have the best crowd control at low-level ever: ZEAL

You've got me there. That's what I get for trying to be Mr. Smartypants about Paladins: a subject of which I am mostly ignorant, and sadly bereft of personal experience.

My apologies, sir.

However...I think it's a bit of a stretch to call Zeal crowd control. Maybe it's such a kickass skill that Pallys don't even need crowd control...i.e. you push your button once and the crowds GONE! Wow! I'm gonna have to play one of these guys!

I did forget completely about Holy Freeze. Also Conversion. :unsure:

A serious question: How does a HC semi-untwinked Paladin go about soloing Hell in 1.1? I've got an untwinked Assassin in Act V, and there's no way she'd have made it without Mind Blast and CoS. I mean, to Zeal archers you've got to get to them right? In a lot of ways I think Assassins and Paladins are similar: Versatile, fast, but not super durable. The Paladin just seems to lack an equivalent to those two skills.

[arrunique]

A serious question: How does a HC semi-untwinked Paladin go about soloing Hell in 1.1?

Very very slowly. My conviction zealot paladin who had nearly 900 life and really high resists still took single hits that took down half (or more) of his life. I found a buriza which I switched to for iron maiden situations. The strategy was really cowardly, pull the monsters away from the group, pick em off a few at a time, frequently go to town to raise my merc.

I mean, to Zeal archers you've got to get to them right?

I had two survival methods, one was that I had about ~30% leech and really high resists. Two my holy freeze merc could chil a crowd. Unfortunately the best weapon I aquired was a lightsabre and for anyone OTHER than a conviction zealot it would be grand. For me it didnt do enough physical damage to leech from and didnt do enough elemental damage for my conviction boost to matter. Still it was better than anything else I had.

My strategy for skelton archers I couldn't leech from was to run past them, then as my freeze merc trundled past and froze them run back wack em a few times and run away before they offed my merc or me. Heal and repeat, it was tedious.

He worked fine if slowly right up until the time he died.

[Baajikiil]

A serious question: How does a HC semi-untwinked Paladin go about soloing Hell in 1.1?

Carefully. As mentioned, it's best to be very aware of what you can handle, and what you can't. Check boss mods carefully (don't fight fanat monsters or FE monsters if you can poissibly avoid them), and don't let yourslef be mobbed. It can be slower going, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Also, all this "untwinked" talk does mean something, but it's best to 'self-twink" yourself if you can. Hopefully your pally will stay in nm until say lvl 75 doing runs in act5 (either ancients way, or Baal if you're not afraid of IM). While spending that much time in late nm, you can often collect a decent amount of runes/ uniques/crafting ingredients to put together a decent setup.

The best advice is to use sound tactics, and take your time. I've run several pallys through 1.10 hell, and they certainly are viable.

Hehehe, of course all of my pallys are dead right now :), but I consider being a guardian and acheiving lvl 85 solo (and untwinked) except for ancients to be a successful character.