Could use some advice

[Zuri]

I began playing D2 (not LOD) about 3 or 4 weeks ago and I just killed Diablo. Now I began the playing in Nightmare difficulty and I'm getting totally ass kicked. Any advice? I need to stop dying as much as I'm right now or I won't get anywhere.

I'm Amazon 28.

THX

[Any1]

There are a few possibilties:

1. You may want to level up a little more (into low thirties) before going into nightmare. This allows you to unlock some high-end skills and pump them.

2. Another possibility is buying/gambling/finding a more powerful bow (I don't know what you're using now).

3. More life leech is always good. You can try and gamble a ring with LL.

4. More resists, specifically lightning. Try buying/finding/gambling a piece of armor with more LR.

It's been a couple of years since I played classic, so I might have missed something.

[kandrathe]

Monsters in NM are around Level 40-60. You might consider returning to Normal to clear some additional areas that you may have bypassed. Your at level 28, but your merc might still be below 25 and it might be worthwhile to get it up to your level.

I play the game differently than most, as I usually reach Diablo at around level 30, then finish Act V Baal around lvl 36-40 depending on the class. I'm generally not in any hurry to face the frustration you might be experiencing by taking a weaker character against tough bosses.

Also, once you played through NM and Hell with one character you will start to plan for NM difficulty all the way through normal (planning for the drop in resistances, increased monster HP and difficulty, increased resistances, etc). The same thing is true as you progress through NM, you want to plan on how you will be able to handle the many, many Physical Immune, Magic Immune, Cold Immune, Fire Immune, etc.

[AtomicKitKat]

It's D2C, not LoD. :P

[Occhidiangela]

We might be able to give better advice if we knew how you are equipped.

NM reduces your resists by 20%, if you did not already know that.

Are you on single player or the Realms?

What is your set up, stats, equipment, skill allocation.

[Zuri]

First of all, thanks for the help. I think I understood everything pretty well, except for kandrathe's post:

...Your at level 28, but your merc might still be below 25 and it might be worthwhile to get it up to your level.

What does that mean?

About the -20% in resistances, I just noticed yesterday :angry: . I got pissed off hehe :D . Whatever... I play single player. And about my equipment, stats and all that, I have a little problem I play the Spanish version (I'm Mexican, but I would preffer the English one), so I'm not quite sure how to name the weapons, armor, places, quests, rings, amulets, etc. correctly (the translations in the game are really weird). However I'll do my best:

Level: 28

Strenght: 71
Dexterity: 66
Vitality: 55
Energy: 55
Defense: 182
Resistances:
*Fire: MAX
*Cold: 29
*Lighting: 0
*Poison: 7

I mosty use a shor battle bow which adds 10-16 fire damage, and the ice arrow skill. However, as a backup I have and spear that adds 4-7 cold damage.

Is there anything else I should add up to this list?

Where should I level up? The best I can think of is go to Act IV (normal difficulty) and just keep on killing all monsters.

Well, thanks again.

PS: Can anyone help me with all those abreviations? (remember I'm new here). Such as slvl, clvl, etc. Plz and THX. Cya.

[Casperi]

I think I understood everything pretty well, except for kandrathe's post:  What does that mean?

Leveling mercenaries is something we do in LOD. I don't think you have to worry about that in D2 Classic.

I recommend getting more lightning resistance. Lightning enchanted monsters are very dangerous later in the game.

slvl = skill level
clvl = character level

If a bow is your primary weapon, you might want to add more to dexterity. Dexterity increases your damage with a bow, and also helps your chance to hit.

Hope that helps,
Casperi

[Occhidiangela]

I'd suggest a Pike, for greater damage: use a point in Jab for best results.

Do you use the Decoy skill? Handy for Crowd Control.

Ice Arrow is handy.

In Nightmare Difficulty, you will need to find a bow that does more damage, or consider boosting skills that do elemental damage. That will be up to you. :)

A long War Bow or Long Battle bow with even modest damage enhancements can be gambled or bought. Or found. :)

Socketing a Bow: depending on your luck with gems and gem shrines:

Perfect Emeralds do nice work, and perfect Sapphires will increase Freeze/Chill duration without you having to spend skill points.

[AtomicKitKat]

Just in case you have any problems with names.

Passive and Magic skills=Not Bow not Spear skill tree. Split into:
Useful for Party and self / Self-Defense / Self-Offense(improving your attacking powers)

Javelin tree split from left to right:
Physical Spear/ Lightning Spear/ Poison+Lightning Javelin

Bow tree from left to right:
Cold / Physical / Fire

List of skills(I'll be listing them based on each "branch" of each tree) Apologies to Bolty. I'm gonna make it short and simpler than the AS one.


Javelin and Spear:

Left Branch:

Jab(Level 1)(3 arrows pointing right)
This attack will do up to 3 hits(at faster than normal speed) each time you use it. It starts out with less damage than normal attack, but around level 5 onwards, it does MORE damage than normal. A good basic skill that is still useful even against Diablo. It also has an improved chance to hit(compared to normal attack)

Impale(Level 12)(an arrow poking through a person)
This attack does a LOT of damage, has a better chance to hit, but has a chance to damage/break your weapon. Small secret: Use a javelin. Javelin will NEVER be damaged by impale(but has a lot less damage than spear of course)

Fend(Level 24)(a circle of arrows)
You will do 1 attack for each enemy(so if you have 10 monsters, you poke 10 times) It has a slightly faster attack speed(a bit like jab), and it cannot be interrupted(means you can be hit and killed and you won't stop unless you die or run out of pokes) Can be useful, but can also kill you if you use it on the wrong type of monsters(especially if too many small monsters bite you)

Centre Branch:

Power Strike(Level 6)(lightning hitting an arrow)
Your attack will have some lightning damage added. Nothing very special. Slightly better chance to hit than normal attack.

Charged Strike(Level 18)(3 lightning bolts hitting an arrow)
Your attack will release small lightning balls that will always hit an enemy(unless the enemy avoids them) Otherwise, it is almost the same as Power Strike) More points=more balls.

Lightning Strike(Level 30)(2 lightning bolts in a V shape)
Same as Power Strike, but when you hit the enemy, it will release lightning that jumps around and hits many targets. More points=more lightning hits.

Right Branch:

Poison Javelin(Level 6)(a lot of small circles on an arrow))
Your javelin will fart poison. So when you throw to the left side you see a line going left with poison clouds. Anything hit by the javelin also takes poison damage. It stops releasing poison if it hits something.

Lightning Bolt(Level 12)(white lightning against a black circle background)
Your javelin becomes a bolt of lightning. Does lightning damage only(I think) It flies very fast, and will hit only one target.

Plague Javelin(Level 18)(3 wavy lines on an arrow)
Like poison javelin, but it explodes when it hits something.

Lightning Fury(Level 30)(black lightning against a white circle background)
Your javelin will split into many small lightning bolts(like the lightning bolt javelin). I think it goes like this: -----1 target=====2 targets====4 targets. So it can hit many enemies at one go.


Passive and Magic:

Left branch:

Inner Sight(Level 1)(Looks like an eye)
Useful at lower levels, generally useless later on except for lighting up targets. It makes monsters slightly easier to hit.

Slow missiles(Level 12)(Looks like 3 commas chasing one another in a circle)
Always useful, especially in Act 4, against those knights who fling magic at you. Missiles take 3 times as long to hit you. Also useful against LEBs(Lightning Enchanted Bosses, they spark when you hit them) Same cost as Inner Sight, and generally more useful. Can use it to light up targets also.

Decoy(Level 24)(2 people standing side by side)
Creates a copy of yourself that will stand there and be hit. It lasts for as many seconds as the skill allows, or until it has taken as many hit points of damage as it would take to kill you. Useful for distracting monsters while you pick them off 1 by 1.

Valkyrie(Level 30)(2 horns on a helmet/looks a bit like a bull)
Summons a "Dead Amazon Heroine"(minion) who will fight for you. She uses spear attack(possibly Impale) Also useful for distracting the monsters(and doing some damage)

Centre Branch:

Dodge(Level 6)(looks like 2 people running from each other)
Allows you to avoid getting hit while standing still or attacking. Only works on enemies that attack close to you. More points increase your chance to avoid. More than 10 points is generally not so good because the increase is smaller for each point.

Avoid(Level 12)(looks like Dodge, but with an arrow between)
Same as Dodge, but works against magic attacks and arrows/throwing potions.

Evade(Level 24)(Running person with a curvy line behind)
Works like Dodge and Avoid combined, but only works when you're moving(walking/running) Same rules about skill points.

Combining Dodge/Avoid/Evade(generally referred to as D/A/E on these boards) will enable you to avoid taking damage more than 3/4 of the time(together with shield blocking and defense)

Right branch:

Critical Strike(Level 1)(Arrow poking heart)
The more points you put, the more often you will do double damage. You can tell when you do a critical hit(double damage) because there will be a shiny yellow spark when you hit them.

Penetrate(Level 18)(Person with black hole in chest)
Increases your attack rating. Basically means you get better chance to hit enemies. Don't need so many points in here unless you miss A LOT(like if you miss more than 1 out of 3 hits, you might need at least 1 point). Fire/Ice arrows and Poison/Lightning javelins always hit(or at least, the fire/ice/poisonghtning part will ALWAYS hit, the arrow/javelin itself may not)

Pierce(Level 30)(a shaky image of people with holes in chests)
The more points you put here, the better your chance to go through enemy. As in, if you shoot an arrow or throw a javelin at an enemy, you have a chance to hit the enemy behind him as well. The higher level of pierce is not so good if you spend too many points and improve too little.


Bow/Crossbow skills(all arrows will ALWAYS hit, except for magic arrow and multiple shot, which still use your attack rating):

Left Branch:

Cold Arrow(Level 6)(Arrow with 2 lines on each side)
Adds cold damage to arrows. Always hits. Does 1/2 of normal arrow damage, plus the cold damage listed.

Ice Arrow(Level 18)(Arrow with a snowflake behind)
Exactly like Cold Arrow, but normal monsters(not bosses, champions, uniques), will be frozen(if they are frozen, they always explode into ice cubes when you kill them) Same rules about hitting and damage apply.


Freezing Arrow(Level 30)(a black arrow against a white snowball, with a few small arrows pointing away)
Your arrow will explode and freeze everything near the explosion(bosses, champions and uniques will only slow down)

Centre Branch:

Magic Arrow(Level 1)(looks like an arrow hitting a target)
If you have no arrows, this skill will use your mana to make an arrow. The arrow works exactly like a normal attack. More points=cheaper to cast(less mana needed) as well as more damage(it starts out same damage as normal arrow, but more points will do listed damage+normal damage)

Multiple Shot(Level 6)(many arrows chasing each other)
When you use this skill, 1 arrow becomes many arrows. More points=more arrows per shot. So if you have 20 points, you fire 21 arrows, but use up only 1 arrow. Unless I'm wrong. If I'm wrong, then you use up 21 arrows at one go. :P Allows you many many chances to hit enemies, but each enemy can only be hit once for each time you fire, no matter how many arrows disappear into his body.

Guided Arrow(Level 18)(a question mark ? that looks like an arrow)
Always hits. This arrow will automatically chase down enemies. It will turn up to 14 times to chase enemies. You can even fire to the left and it will turn backwards and chase enemies on the right. More points=less mana to use, and maybe more damage.

Strafe(Level 24)(3 arrows coming from one place, but pointing different directions)
This skill works like Fend(see above) You will fire one arrow for every enemy on the screen(and a little outside the screen) It moves faster than normal attack. Not sure what more points do. I think it allows you to shoot more enemies for every point.

Right Branch:

Fire Arrow(Level 1)(arrow with a little fire)
Adds fire damage to your arrow. Will make your normal damage into 1/2 normal damage, 1/2 fire damage. Always hits.

Exploding Arrow(Level 12)(arrow with explosion)
Your arrow explodes. Otherwise the same as Fire Arrow, with more damage.

Immolation Arrow(Level 24)(arrow with a lot of fire)
This attack leaves a lot of fire burning on the floor when it explodes. Otherwise, it is more or less the same as Fire Arrow.

I'm sorry if anyone felt insulted or is angry with me for wasting board space. I'm trying to provide a rough guide for this person's future reference. :) And it took me 1 hour to type it all out...

[Occhidiangela]

Jab (Level 1) (3 arrows pointing right). This skill does 2 hits per attack.

Lightning Fury(Level 30)(black lightning against a white circle background)

NOTE: This skill, when combined with the passive skill Pierce, really multiplies the effects of Lightning damage.

Plague Javelin

This skill makes green clouds of poison, which stops monster hit point regeneration for as long as the green dye lasts on the monster.

Slow missiles

NOTE: Slows every missile and spell attack by 1/3, but not Diablo's spell attacks. :)

Decoy

NOTE: When in Act IV, you can sniff out ranged ambushes with Decoy. Abyss Knights can shoot you from off screen. Be careful. :)

Right branch:

Critical Strike

NOTE: By the time you put 7 points into this skill, you will have hit diminishing returns.

Pierce

NOTE: With Ice Arrow, if you line up enemies, you will frequently experience the "Pierce one, pierce all" feature.

Freezing Arrow

Pierce can improve the performance of this skill. :)

Guided Arrow

NOTE: More points gives greater damage.

Strafe

NOTE: Each point added to this skill addes extra damage to each arrow that hits. Strafe also uses your AR to calculate "To Hit." Max number of shots per attack can induce Strafe Lock in big crowds. (Think little bugs on the River of Flame or in the Canyon of the Magi.

Immolation Arrow

NOTE: Pierce can help this skill spread fire along a line of monsters.

[AtomicKitKat]

Slow missiles

NOTE: Slows every missile and spell attack by 1/3, but not Diablo's spell attacks.

Errata: May not work on most Act Bosses. Feel free to experiment, if you can afford to.

Strafe

NOTE: Each point added to this skill addes extra damage to each arrow that hits. Strafe also uses your AR to calculate "To Hit." Max number of shots per attack can induce Strafe Lock in big crowds. (Think little bugs on the River of Flame or in the Canyon of the Magi.

Note: Strafe Lock refers to the time when you have so many targets that each time you press the button to fire Strafe, your Amazon will be stuck firing off arrows until the maximum number of targets has been hit(or until she's out of arrows, or has hit every monster once)

[Zuri]

WOW! Thanks, I'm quite sure that will help a lot, thanks very much. It'll take a while to read it all, but be sure I'll be doing so :). I have already found some interesting info. (for instance, I didn't know that bow damage depends on dexterity). Thanks again, and keep on posting anything else you think can be helpful, it'll be appreciated.

[ryan4nayr]

Repeatedly play through an "easy" area in the game. For example, for bow-users like yourself, River of Flame in Act 4 might be a great place to get experience.

In Single Player you can use a command to increase monster hit points & the experience they give.
"players x" (without the ")
where x is a number from 1 to 8; higher x gives more experience but makes monsters harder to kill. I'd assume this command isn't translated to "jugadores x".

I'd really recommend equipment with Knockback, but I'm not so sure Classic allowed that property for bow attacks. You should list your equipment (at least the stats) & your skills anyway, there are plenty of online dictionaries, even if most are of questionable quality. Also I'm curious how Valkyrie is translated to Spanish :-)

BTW, welcome!

[AtomicKitKat]

Classic has the players X command?

Altavista's translator(Babelfish)

Mujer del guerrero = Warrior Woman
Alcohol de la mujer del guerrero = Warrior Woman Spirit(LOL, I think they mistook my "spirit" for liquor)
Fantasma de la mujer del guerrero = Warrior Woman Ghost
Fantasma Del Guerrero = Warrior Ghost

That's about the best I can do. Valkyrie translates into Valkyrie. :lol:

Decoy=Trampa.

[Occhidiangela]

Knockback worked on Bows in Diablo II. However, since there were no runes, and you could not socket a bow, folks tended to use Cold/Ice/Freezing Arrow for Crowd Control. As I recall, Clegs knocked back monsters in Diablo II, but I don't remember if it was on every hit, or if it was based on an mlvl/clvl formula.

Self Nit: if you used that old SoJ formula to socket a rare, I suppose you could socket a bow, but once again, there were not Jewels or Runes to put in: just gems, and IIRC, the most popular was Perfect Skulls for leech.

I never used that recipe, so you'd have to ask anyone who did. :)

[Draconis]

"However, since there were no runes, and you could not socket a bow,"

Heh, can get a fair few sockets in a bow. PSpahires are good too, for extra cold dmg and freezing, or Topaz for lightning dmg.

Cleglaws pincers (set chain gloves) has "knockback" on it, which generally works for every monster. Not to mention the 25% slows enemies.

One thing, is that in D2 I got to diablo in normal at about 25 with most chars, and it was easy. it was really tough though to level from 25-36, and with melee chars, NM is very difficult since you have low to hit (50% constantly.). but with my rogue, she had some troubles hitting too, so maybe you want to improve your dex more, or get that skill that adds to your AR.

Also, like they said. get that lightning resists UP, and possibly try to find some fast running boots, so you can retreat then shoot, retreat then shoot some more.

Try gambling at Gheed in act1, or one of the other gambling people in the game for bows, because you can often find a nice rare in there. or you could just use an Imbue from Charsi in act1 to find a (hopefully) nice bow.

maybe we could meet up sometime in a game? i've only got classic too, and play singleplayer. could be fun:)

[Occhidiangela]

I suppose I was a bit unclear when I said "you could not socket a bow." I never said that bows did not come with sockets. What I should have said was:

You cannot add sockets to a bow, since there is no Larzuk quest. A plain bow with sockets had no way of introducing knockback. A bow with knockback could not be socketed.

I am trying to remember if rares ever dropped with a single socket in them or if that was an LoD feature.

[ryan4nayr]

Only "white text" items can have sockets in Classic, but even then only gems can be used, so Rares & Uniques & *some* Set items dominated uber kits back then.

If *bows* of The Bear drop in Classic, that's good news for Zuri. Personally I could only think of Cleglaw's Pincers in Classic that had Knockback, & somebody already mentioned it.

Hahaha, gives new meaning to Lady & The Trampa. :-)

If Zuri is gonna play Act 4 over & over, good resistances are definitely in order, personally I'd rather put my faith in great leeching.

I'm wondering which clvl 30 skill deserves the skill pt. the most: Freezing Arrow is certainly great for monster orgies, La Valkyrie for companionship in those dark lonely nights of combat in Hell, or Pierce for givin' all the lovin' that the monsters line up for.

[Zuri]

Hey everyone, sorry for not replying in a while. I just finished my summer course (Physics btw) and it was kinda hard. I haven't played in a while :(

I'm reading everything you post, and I try to remember it hehe it's a lot of information. I just have a couple of questions.

1) What the does "socketed" mean? and
2) What kind of information should I post about my equipment and armor?

THX

BTW Valkyrie in Spanish is: "Valkiria" hehehe (not so amazing, is it?). Those maidens from the norse mythology.

[Draconis]

"Socketed" means that it generally has grey text on the item, and you can stick in gems, like sapphires and skulls that you can find:)