Melee Guide For All Classes (and usable for some Variants as
well)

Charles Warren, aka the Muscle Mage


I wrote this guide to hopefully help out somewhat with the problems
that anyone who decides to melee with enemies will face, whether these
problems occur for Warriors, Muscle Mages, Sword/Shield Rogues, Monks,
Bards, and Barbarians.

So, without further ado, let's get started. BTW, feel free to nitpick,
or add to the items that I have here. These are tips and tricks that I
have figured out while playing, or from other posters here in the
Strategy Forum.

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So, you are new to the art of hand-to-hand fighting, and the enemies
seem to be having their way with you. How do you survive? Well, first,
a few tactics and strategies are needed, as well as equipment. With a
good combination of both, the enemies will not stand a chance.

I. Equipment

1. Weapons

Of course, always use the highest quality equipment available. For
weapons, look for prefixes which add to your to-hit% and damage, since
you need to make sure that you hit your enemy. The only exception to
this rule is the Rogue, since she has an extremely high dexterity, and
therefore a high to-hit%. With a Rogue, some damage prefixes (such as
Merciless, Ruthless, etc..) can become preferable after Dexterity is
very high (above 200, IMHO). For suffixes, look for items of
haste/speed (if the error is ever fixed, haste will become
preferable), damage suffixes, or, in the early levels, "of the Bear"
weapons (especially for King Leoric with blunt weapons, he becomes
much easier to defeat when using a Bear weapon).

2. Armor

Look for the strongest armor that you can wear at any given time. Try
to get prefixes such as Glorious, Saintly, Blessed, and so on that add
to the over all AC of the armor. For suffixes, I prefer "of
Precision", because of the increase in blocking percentage. Other good
suffixes are ones that add to HP, Vitality, Strength, or "of the Ages"
(as I have mentioned in previous posts, I like items "of the Ages"
because I hate seeing Griswold for repairs). With classes whose
strength can not reach 90, try to get jewelry with +all suffixes to
increase your strength to wear full plate.

3. Shields

I prefer shields "of the Ages" because my shields usually tend to take
a beating due to keeping my dexterity high enough to block most, if
not all, melee attacks, and I like to avoid paying for expensive
repairs at Griswold. Good prefixes are ones that are +all resists
(such as Jade, Obsidian, Emerald) and +AC (such as Blessed, Glorious,
etc.). Suffixes that are beneficial are the following: 1.) HP adders
(of the Wolf, of the Tiger, etc.), and 2.) "of the Ages". Always use
the highest quality shield available to you and, if you are not a
Warrior or Barbarian, try to obtain a Storm Shield or Holy Defender,
for the fast-block capability (and the Storm Shield is also
indestructible).

4. Helms

This area is really dominated by Unique helms. My favorite Unique helm
is an unidentified Gotterdamerung, due to 60 AC. In single-player
games, however, I usually use a Veil of Steel, because of the +50%
resist all. The Royal Circlet is a nice helm to have, since it has
many beneficial attributes. Finally, any Godly helm with a useful
suffix for your class and playing style is a great item to have if you
can't seem to find a RC or Gotterdamerung. Essentially, use the best
helm that you can find for your given situation, with these
suggestions for better helms as a guide for items to watch for. Also,
a Helm of Sprits is great for high-level Warriors, if they can afford
the AC loss (this item is not of much use to any other melee types
though).

5. Jewelry

For jewelry, I try to use +all suffixes (such as Zodiac, Heavens,
Stars). The reason for this is that I gain Dexterity (for AC,
blocking, and to-hit%), Strength (for more damage and being able to
use better equipment), Vitality (more HP is always a plus), and Magic
(although I do not tend to use spells, many in this forum are very
adept with them, and I am working on getting better with spells). For
prefixes, I try to get resist all (Obsidian, Jade) or +mana (Dragon's,
Snake's, Serpent's, etc.). If you have a Constricting Ring, and no
other means of resistances, by all means use it, just keep an eye on
your current HP and also only use it on levels where you must,
otherwise use another beneficial jewel in its place.

All of these items above have been rehashed in the forum multiple
times, and these preferences will not suit every style of play.
Instead, change these as needed to get the most effective setup for
your character class and level, depending on what you find and
current items that you can purchase from Wirt, Griswold, and Adria.

II. Tactics

Now that you have the equipment, how do you use it to survive against
the monsters?

1. Use the terrain to your advantage. Doors make excellent choke
points, just position yourself so that Archers can not hit you with
arrows. When exploring new areas, follow the walls, and do not be
afraid to make strategic withdrawals (or, in other words, retreat) to
force the enemy to fight you through a choke point, or while in a
corner to minimize the number of effective attackers. When exploring,
keep a specific kill zone in mind that you can lead your enemies back
to for easier kills.

2. When facing Archers, use the doors again to your advantage. If a
Goat Archer can not shoot you through a door, he will move to a better
position. You can use this to force him to get close to the door
where you can kill him. For Skeleton-type Archers, rush up to them
with a blunt weapon (or use an edged weapon if your damage is high
enough), and destroy them quickly, unless you wish to gain many arrow
dents in your shield and armor.

3. Zombies are only truly dangerous in swarms, but they are slow
enough that you should not get swarmed, unless you become careless and
try to advance through the room too quickly. Watch out for Black
Deaths, since they will permanently remove 1 HP if they manage to hit
you. I recommend avoiding these creatures at all costs, or using Holy
Bolt or a bow to eliminate them. Melee with Black Deaths is not a good
option, since the HP loss may prove extremely detrimental later in the
game (again, Muscle Mages are especially cautioned, due to lack of HP
to begin with, they can not afford to lose any HP to Black Deaths).
One may want to consider creating a new game if faced with Black
Deaths.

4. Acid Spitters are very dangerous to any melee attacker, and
especially Muscle Mages (due to low hit points, and the fact that Mana
Shield is not allowed in Normal Difficulty, and I do not use it in any
difficulty other than Hell). In order to defeat most spitters, you
only need to go around a corner to avoid the spitting attacks and
force them to melee with you. The bosses, OTOH, are much more
dangerous. First, fast spit capabilities can decimate your HP while
you are trying to corner just one of the spitters. The bosses tend to
be able to take a decent beating as well. Using a door in the
Catacombs will help, because you can assault them as they come through
the door by standing on one side of the door, but not directly in
front of the door. Again, this technique takes a little practice, but
can get most of the spitters except the boss. The best way to kill the
boss is to corner him, and keep swinging. The spitter bosses in the
Catacombs are Chaoscrawler and Deathspit. Telekill is also effective
against these creatures. In the Caves, you may meet Plaguewrath. Since
he has plenty of room to run around in, and his group is hard to
corner, melee with him can be difficult. To maximize your chances,
herd his group toward an impassable island or corner, and take plenty
of full healing potions. You will need them.

5. The Hidden are yet another interesting group. For the most part,
they are unchallenging, just use choke points to keep from being
overwhelmed. Also, walk in a zig-zag pattern, and you will be able to
separate the packs a little more than you could walking a straight
line (if you do not have any usable choke points). Crank up the AC and
Dexterity for better blocking, because, if you are not prepared, the
Hidden could be troublesome. The toughest variation, the Illusion
Weaver, is best defeated by use of any and all possible choke points,
and corners to reduce effective attacking numbers. AC and blocking are
especially necessary against this variation and, if they occur in the
Caves in your game, use the zig-zag technique mentioned above to
activate as few of these creatures at a time as possible by walking
along the wall and one square away from the wall, forcing the Illusion
Weaver to appear (it will only appear when it is in an adjacent square
to your position). In terms of a diagram,

  - = Wall, C=Character

  -----------------------------------
  C C C C C
   C C C C

6. Some of the lower level enemies are only dangerous in packs, such
as Skeletons and Fallen Ones. With Skeletons, use choke points, and
they will not overwhelm you. For Fallen Ones, the job is even easier.
Each time you kill a Fallen One, all of the ones approaching you will
turn and run a short distance away. One of the Fallen One bosses,
IIRC, does not run, and the same is true of his henchmen. Use a choke
point for this boss (I do not remember his name).

7. Horned Demons are actually not all that dangerous, if you deal with
them correctly. Sidestep their charges, by listening for the grunt
that they make before charging. After the charge, hit the Horned
Demon, since he will be stunned for a short time. Then, just stand
toe-to-toe until he is dead (if he survived the first hit). Use choke
points to keep them from overwhelming you, but do not stand in a
position where the Horned Demon can charge through the choke point.

8. Magma Demons require some attention. To take the edge off of the
ranged attack, increase your fire resistance as much as possible,
while still allowing for the other enemies on the level. For melee
with them, keep as high an AC as you can, with Dexterity for blocking
kept as high as possible. Use similar tactics to my recommendation for
Goat Demons in the Catacombs. In the Caves, force them to melee with
you by retreating around a corner, and standing one square from the
edge of the corner, so that the Magma Demon can not see you and lob
magma globules at you. When the Magma Demon appears in melee range,
start swinging. Try to stunlock whenever possible, as this enemy uses
both fists for his attacks and, similar to Lightning Demons and
Balrogs, seems to have a short recovery time.

9. For Lightning Demons, increase your Lightning resistance, and keep
AC and Dexterity high once again. Treat these enemies just like the
Magma Demons, and you will find that they die fairly quickly. BTW,
their recovery time is faster than the Magma Demons, so keep the
Dexterity high to block as many of their attacks as possible.

10. Vipers can be a real pain, with their short charge attack. Remain
stationary, and watch for the attack trajectory. If you swing right as
they charge, the charge will be aborted, and the viper will be
damaged. The bosses just need the same tactics as the rest, bosses
only have more HP.

11. Balrogs are among the most dangerous creatures in the melee group
of attackers. To defeat them, approach one of them as it gets close to
you in its circling of you, while avoiding the Inferno attack. This
takes practice but, if properly executed, will give you an extra shot
or two on the Balrog that you are facing. Also, the Balrog has, IIRC,
the fastest recovery time in Diablo, so make sure that you can block
very effectively (high dex and, if you are not a Warrior or Barbarian,
a fast-block shield such as the Holy Defender or Storm Shield). Have
plenty of potions on hand, as this creature's melee attack is worse
than the Inferno attack, IMHO. Also, you could try hitting one a
couple of times, then moving out a short distance, pick another
Balrog, then repeat. Avoid corners with Balrogs, as they can kill you
very quickly, and the Inferno can hit from a few squares away. This
tactic varies from the normal method of attacking one monster until he
falls, but works quite well, and keeps the damage inflicted to
workable amounts.

12. For Succubi and other witches, let them come to you. Force them to
go around doorways, into corners, or around obstacles so that they
must get near to you, and you can then take your shots as needed.
Also, read Bolty's High Level Warrior Guide, and learn how to telekill
when you are higher in level.

13. Knights are only a problem if you have low AC, low Dexterity, or
both. If you have high AC and low Dexterity, you won't run into much
trouble until Nightmare or Hell Difficulties. This is the reason that
all of my setups stress Dexterity, so that I can block the Knight's
attacks. Try to isolate the Knights, so that you only face one or two
at a time. For instance, if you activate three of them, retreat to
thin out their numbers, then melee with the first one to reach you.
When the other two catch up, retreat another two or three steps, and
repeat. Also, use walls to use your advantage. If you retreat to the
other side of a wall, the Knights will tend to line up, and get in
each other's way. This slows most of them down, and only 1-3 Knights
will make it to you at a time usually with this method.

14. The Counselor type is the biggest problem for those who melee. Out
of these, the best method is to get close as they are casting, so that
you can definitely connect with your first swing. After that, just
make sure they are stunlocked. Try to separate their numbers by
walking back and forth across the line of fire, and every so often one
of the Counselors will teleport to another location. Use this to draw
the enemy closer to you, for easier attacks. Of course, telekill works
great on these guys, if you let them start to cast before teleporting
(to avoid having the Counselor teleport right as you arrive). In
higher difficulties, this group is the toughest problem for all melee
attackers, so telekill or practice separating the enemy. For the
Advocate, make sure to practice avoiding projectile attacks, or else
use telekill. Getting in close to an Advocate can be dangerous, and
especially so if you are not avoiding the Fireballs very well. Keep
plenty of Full Healing Potions handy, or Full Mana potions and use
Healing (in which case, you should hotkey Healing). I personally
prefer to carry all Full Rejuvenation Potions whenever practical
(otherwise, I carry Full Rejuvenation and Full Mana Potions, and use
Heal). Also, in all difficulties, a speed/haste weapon is recommended
for stunlocking Counselors, and is necessary in Nightmare and Hell
Difficulties.

III. Dealing with Combinations of Enemies

Now that you can defeat each enemy individually, how do you deal with
mixed mobs? That is the entire point of this next section, so that
ranged and melee attackers will not tear you apart.

1. Melee Attackers of more than one type

If you get a level of all melee attackers, you will have a fairly easy
time if you have had some good luck with collecting equipment and are
well used to melee tactics for each monster. Just take out the enemies
through choke points whenever possible, or, in Hell, retreat around a
corner so that the monsters will line up as they try to reach you, and
only one to three will make it to you at a time. If you start to
become overwhelmed, retreat a few steps, and repeat.

2. Melee and Ranged Attackers

You will need to separate the two types, so that you can deal with the
melee attackers first. If the ranged attackers are Archers, try to
find out if they are Skeletons or Goat Men. If they are Skeletons, run
in, attract the attention of the melee attackers, then retreat to a
choke point out of sight of the Archers. Eliminate your opposition,
then return to deal with the Archers. If the ranged attackers are Goat
Men, you will have a more interesting time. For these combinations,
retreat to the aforementioned choke point, but stand to the side that
the Archers are unable to hit you from. Essentially, use the method
mentioned above for dealing with Goat Men Archers, so that you can
eliminate the Archers as you eliminate your other opposition.

3. All Ranged Attackers

First of all, I hate this combination. Nothing, IMHO, is worse than a
level containing three types of witches (For instance, Soul Burners,
Hellspawn, and Snow Witches). To deal effectively with these
creatures, try to separate each of the types, and corner them, use
choke points, or use corners to kill them before they can use their
ranged attacks. If it is a combination of witches, I would recommend
the above method or Telekill. If you are facing a combination of
witches and Counselors, it is easier. The witches will follow you if
you get their attention, but the Counselors will not. Draw off and
eliminate the witches, using methods detailed above, then return and
deal with the Counselors, again using methods detailed above.

Most importantly, be flexible in your melee attacks. If one method is
not working, quickly switch to another method, since failure to kill
your opponents in close quarters will certainly kill you. Also, be
selective in which creatures you attack first. For instance, if you
have Azure Drakes and Doom Guards, kill the Azure Drakes first, since
they attack more quickly than the Doom Guards, and hence are more of a
threat. Also, keep your dexterity high, so that blocking will be quite
effective against other melee attackers and physical missiles.

For those who are not familiar with Telekilling, Bolty has a great
definition of the tactic in his High Level Warrior's Guide.
Essentially, Telekilling involves having the Teleport spell readied,
then highlighting the opponent, right-clicking to Teleport, and begin
left-clicking to swing your weapon. If your damage and to-hit% is high
enough, you should be able to keep the opponent stunlocked, and then
be able to finish your opponent, and continue to the next.

For those who are magically inclined, I recommend reading Armin's
Sorceror 101 and Guide to Spellcraft, both of which are found at
http://www.arewehavingfunyet.com/diablo. Since I am not magically
inclined, the only attack that involves magic that I have included in
this post is Telekill, which is found in Bolty's High Level Warrior
Guide at http://pf.chemeng.lth.se/diablo. Also, thank you to Pete and
SweeneyTodd for some suggestions on additional tactics which I had not
tried or forgot to include, as well as everyone else who responded to
the previous posting of this guide.

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Feel free to respond to upadmin@bright.net with questions,
suggestions, disagreements, but elimination of flames would be
appreciated.

Charles Warren, aka the Muscle Mage