Melee HC build

[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