Kinda newbie question

[Rockdocta]

Kinda newbie question

Hello,

I've had Diablo 2 for a long time, though only recently made any real progress. I am level 22 barbarian almost to the end of act 3. I have some pretty newb questions I hope maybe you could help me with:

1. As I increase levels, it takes more and more experience points to get to the next level. It seems like it is taking me very long to advance my character in the game because of this. Is there a better or faster way to advance? I see some people are level 90+...I can't even imagine how long it would take at the rate I am going!

2. I've been using double-swing crystal swords for my normal attack. Is this a better strategy than using a single sword and a shield? I feel like I mow through monsters much quicker this way, however I take a lot of damage (i'm always portaling back to town for more healing potion).

3. As I advance in level, I feel overwhelmed by the skills I can choose from to upgrade. I've been working on my sword mastery mostly (at level 6 now). Is there a "typical" route that should be taken when building my character?

Thanks for taking the time to read this and sorry this is so long-winded. I appreciate your time!

-Jason

 

[Evrae Altana]

1. If you notice that you're leveling slower and slower at the place you're at right now, that's a sign that you need to move to a more difficult area. High level people regularly do endless boss runs (ie. kill a boss and their minions over and over for mass experience), but it looks like you're solo, so that may be out of the question.

2. A shield would be the safer option, but at the expense of killing speed. At your level, dying isn't much of an issue. Make sure you get some life leech in order to ensure your survival. Magical rings commonly spawn with life leech, so be on the lookout.

3. Check out some of the guides in the class specific forums. :thumbsup:

 

[Mursilis]

Just a slight addition to your first question. If you are playing in Single Player and not on Battle.net you can make use of the /Players X (where X is a number from 1 to 8) to increase the Hit Points and Experience gained from each monster killed. This is how many people level faster in the Normal difficulty level and get to those 90+ levels faster. You will kill slower since all of the monsters have higher Hit Points, so pick a level that is comfortable for your killing speed.

Just as an example I have a character that is level 18 and just finishing Act 1 using /players 8 (meaning the game mimics the Hit Points and Experience given of monsters as if there were 8 people playing).

 

[Rockdocta]

Ooops

I probably should have mentioned that I am playing single player. I think I will try playing online after i beat the game. I'd also like to try LoD after I finish D2.

I've got some decent rings and amulets right now that replenish and leech life (as well as obtain 69% more gold from enemies). I don't have much of a money problem right now, I have around 130,000 gold. Unfortunately neither Charsi nor Fara have any weapons of worth to sell me.

When I set the players property to something other than it's default, does the game become more difficult? (more monsters?) As it is now, I can't even get to Tal Rasha's tomb because of the number of Steel scarabs and the Undead ravelers (too many of them!). I can't even imagine how difficult it will be to defeat whatever boss is waiting for me at Tal Rasha's tomb (Baal?).

Thanks for your advice guys!

 

[ffejrxx]

you cant get good weapons from npc's
equip as much magic find gear as possible and use /players 8 then run bosses again before questing whenever you make a new game, they have greater odds of dropping better gear

id recommend downloading atma to mule stuff between your sp chars
http://atma.diabloii.net/

 

[Eilo Rytyj]

Increasing the number of "players" via the /playersX command will increase the life and experience gained of all monsters. I think on /players8 monsters have +450% life, but don't quote me on that. There are no more monsters, but the ones that are there take longer to kill.

The best items come from monster drops. Bosses will cough up better items still, if you're lucky of course. If you're hurting for items, give Andariel a visit again, or Mephisto after you've finished act 3. Back in my single player days, I found that the Cathedral (with that unique poison skeleton guy) coughed up some nice low level items, and is easy to reach from the Inner Cloister waypoint. Also is the Arachnid Lair right next to the Spider Forest waypoint, which has a superunique monster and a glowing chest.

 

[Rockdocta]

Increasing the number of "players" via the /playersX command will increase the life and experience gained of all monsters. I think on /players8 monsters have +450% life, but don't quote me on that. There are no more monsters, but the ones that are there take longer to kill.

The best items come from monster drops. Bosses will cough up better items still, if you're lucky of course. If you're hurting for items, give Andariel a visit again, or Mephisto after you've finished act 3. Back in my single player days, I found that the Cathedral (with that unique poison skeleton guy) coughed up some nice low level items, and is easy to reach from the Inner Cloister waypoint. Also is the Arachnid Lair right next to the Spider Forest waypoint, which has a superunique monster and a glowing chest.

Thanks for the tips bro! I did receive some magic weapons/armor at the end of act 1 (Eagle Smasher scepter and another mace class weapon). I've been using them exclusively until I got recently, however they prove to not be powerful enough in Tal Rasha's tomb.

I haven't seen a Spider forest or arachnid lair yet, must be in a future act.

Can I set /players to 8 with my current character and just go back and re-defeat bosses? I don't really want to start over again. If so, I will go back to the inner cloister and beat stuff up in there again.

Thanks again!
Jason

 

[gorash]

i believe as long as u create a new game, the bosses will be recreated so u can gain more exp, otherwise there is no way to get to lvl 99 just by playing though the game once on each difficulty ^_^

 

[Mursilis]

Can I set /players to 8 with my current character and just go back and re-defeat bosses? I don't really want to start over again. If so, I will go back to the inner cloister and beat stuff up in there again.

Yes, you can go back and defeat bosses as many times as you wish. So you could, for example, go and defeat Andariel over and over and over again until you get the equipment you need, and gain more experience while doing it.

 

[Flip10thMtn]

B-Net

Rockdocta

I kinda regretted taking the time to defeat the game off-line before I jumped onto B-Net. My Pally when I finished had some decent gear and I couldn't "roll" him on to B-net, all that play-time seemed a waste? I figure you can still play solo on B-Net (not join public games) but still be able to trade (esp if you need low level gear) to help you along in the game?

Nothing against Single Players, I know there are many that prefer to play that way, but if you are thinking of trying B-Net, you might want to start out now as opposed to later :smiley:

 

[IsThisNamePermanent]

Seeing as how people have answered your questions, I'll tell you how I level up in the beginning.

I clear tristram over and over untill I'm between levels 13-15, from there I work my way to andarial.

Run a few andarial runs to gain a level, then I clear out the sewers untill I gain a level. From there just work your way through the Horadric cube quest, Maggot lair amulet quest, then the Claw viper staff quest.

By the time I've done that im atleast 18+, you can either clear out the place where the summoner is (I can't remember the name of the area, havent played d2 in 6 months.) or just do Tomb runs(clearing all of the Tal rasha tombs) to get to lvl 20+.

 

[Hrus]

Rockdocta

I kinda regretted taking the time to defeat the game off-line before I jumped onto B-Net. My Pally when I finished had some decent gear and I couldn't "roll" him on to B-net, all that play-time seemed a waste? I figure you can still play solo on B-Net (not join public games) but still be able to trade (esp if you need low level gear) to help you along in the game?

I kinda regretted the time I spent on B-net, My characters had some gear and I could not transfer it to Single Player. :wink3:


@Rockdocta: But you really should play LoD instead of classic Diablo. The first 4 acts are the same (I am talking about quests and monsters), but you will have larger in-game stash, you can find runes and make runewords, you will have resurrectable merc and a lot more! From late normal you can also get exceptional and later elite uniques, you can make crafts etc. etc.

I think that you are playing the game for the first time. It's natural, that you have some troubles with going fast. As other said already, use the player command. Don't go with players 8 if it takes too long to kill monsters, go with players 3 or 5. Allways use odd player settings, because even player settings will not bring you more drops. (Number of dropped items is the same in p1 and p2, higher in p3 and p4 etc.)
If you are going untwinked with a barb, I would suggest players 5 or players 3.

To your original questions: Double swing skill is faster than normal attack and gives you also some enhanced damage and attack rating. There are some guides in different character forum, you can learn how to place the skill points from them. Usually barbarians don's place more than one skill point in lvl1,6 and 12 skill (except mastery), they choose 1 weapon mastery and stick with it, they invest all possible skill-points in Battle Orders and choose one of the better attacking barbarian skill: Concentrate, Berserk, whirlwind, Frenzy. They also max the synergy and Shout for defence.... The rule is not to spread skill points and focus on the main skills.
If you have already invest into Double Swing, I would suggest to continue with Frenzy...

I haven't seen a Spider forest or arachnid lair yet, must be in a future act.

They are in the very beginning of Act3. Spider Forest is the only Area you can enter from Kurast Docks and Arachnid lair is the underground area accessible from Spider Forest.