Best start-over build?

[AngryMob]

Hello lurkers, me again. I am considering making a ladder account for a few reasons, one of which is to upgrade runes. I am wondering your opinions on starting fresh, like which character can do better with no godly equipment. I was thinking summon necro, because he is not typically gear-dependent, at least less than a barbarian or sorceress. Basically i want a char that can solo in NM, and maybe a1 hell. Any opinions are welcomed! Thanks!

*mobsta* B)

[Munkay]

What my friend and I did (which appears most of BNet did) was we made a FO sorc. The idea was for her to do well in Nightmare, and eventually turn her into a MF sorc that could run nightmare mephisto, find good equip to supply other chars to take on hell.

While he used the FO sorc, I used the Hammerdin. They are unbeleivably powerful (especially in nightmare) with very little gear (I used a +3 BH +2 Conc scepter I bought and Sigons shield until much later). The issue I have with hammerdins is they solo fall apart in hell. They become too much of a risk concern, since hell monsters start hitting hard (especially hard in Ladder Act5), and you have to get some what close to hit them with hammers.

Although its important to note that up until hell mode my hammerdin died only once, and that was normal a2 before I got blessed hammer, due to my own stupidity with lightening bugs. I leveled him safely to 76 in Nightmare without much trouble.

I beleive both of these are considered 'tried and true' starting characters for the ladder season. But do remember I play Softcore, so YMMV in Hardcore.

Cheers,

Munk

[gekko]

For combination of speed and safety, particularly if the goal is to wear as much MF gear as possible, I don't think anything can compete with the summoner these days. A summoner could easily solo NM nude, even in HC, if you're careful, and finding +skills items for a necromancer is very easy -- and will dramatically increase your killing power. Since you can easily throw 15-20 bodies at the enemy, with cautious play you can pretty much ignore blocking, resists and defence. If you avoid the poison & bone skills entirely (except perhaps a few points in bone armor / bone wall / bone prison), you can get by with very little mana, meaning more points to pump into vitality for a greater safety margin. Finally, although a summoner usually relies on one damage type (physical), with amplify damage there are hardly any enemies that resist your attacks.

And finally, the curse tree is hands down one of the most powerful trees in the game, particularly from a safety standpoint. Dim vision, terror, attract, decrepify... the list goes on. While most players just sink a point in amplify damage and never look back, the tree is chock-full of one point wonders that WILL save your life.

gekko

[AngryMob]

Thats what I had experienced while playing my summoner on non ladder HC. He can tank pretty much any enemy in the game ( I solo'ed hell ancients and baal...myself) and he doesnt rely heavily on any equipment. A sorceress is a little too risky for HC, unless you have all the twinkly gear to give her, and even then she is just a breath away from death...lag has claimed many a sorc in HC. Necro seems to be the safe bet, so thats what im gonna do....now if i could only find enough runes to make a few vex's, ber's, ohm's, etc... :huh: