Can you guys fix the Maxx guides for rune words so they can be arranged by level and not just name? I’m sure early on new players might prefer to see rune words by level, toggle by name or level with a click. Keep up the good guys!!!
I played this a lot as a kid. Info like this is a good example of new generation of players. Highly competitive and singular focus to win. Really zaps the mystery and fun out of the game. I guess everyone is just going to make a sorc and run around like the same direction, wearing the same equipment, having the same build, following same guide, rush through, etc. because ‘it’s the best’ and they don’t want to left behind.
Completely agree with you. I have no interest in following any build or doing anything any specific way. I want to play diablo 2 and want to experience it. Not “oh, I have to pick this until I get this then farm that for these so I can level up those”. I just beat diablo for the first time using the assassin. I had the clone distract him for a split second to hit him in the back with my basic attack then ran when the clone got killed in a single hit. I died over and over and over because I couldn’t take anymore hits than my clone. My skills were useless. I was using two claw weapons. After defeating him and moving to act 5, switch to the cool scythe he dropped because the claws were junk and all the points I put into boosting them are wasted, but I’m super happy because I’m having fun doing my own thing and learning as I play. By the way, I horde gems and runes and keep my inventory empty for cool gear I might find. I’ve yet to use any of the gems or runes because I don’t find them necessary, yet.
Yeah it’s pretty amusing how a guide for new players is: “go farm the first boss as sorceress”. I don’t think most players are looking forward to farming and getting some OP armor so early. Most people are not into playing this game for thousands of hours like it’s a job, grinding for items and following build guides, they will finish the campaign once or twice then move on.
Really nice list. Useful information for new players. I don't think every player needs to start with a sorceress, but if you have no preference, you can't go wrong with her, especially in softcore.
Even I've been playing Diablo II like crazy so many years ago, this guide has been really useful, thank you! Looking forward your future guides for the D2R, cannot wait to play it again!
I wish I could give you 10 thumbs up! The simple description of how to figure out where to go when running countess has helped me A TON! I'm making a fortune running T-Keys and finding runes. I've already found 3 PUL runes and 5 T-keys in the last 4 days.
for non sorc classes early on, you can buy a teleport charges staff from vendors at character level 19+, they are expensive to repair but an ort + chipped gem will repair the charges them.
I really hope this game will revive me gaming again, i played this as a teenager, now in my mid-30s with a family, job and other interests. - subbed so i can learn playing again.
Nice starting guide. Just a few tips to add to it: 1. Health/mana potions refill life/mana over time. Rejuvenation potions are instant, refill 1/3 health AND mana, and 3 combine in the Horadric Cube to make a Full Rejuv, which restores 100% health and mana. 2. Raxx mentioned Stamina potions. Stamina, Thawing, and Antidote potion benefits all stack when used, giving 30 additional seconds per use, with Thawing also providing an additional 50% Cold resist and Antidote 50% poison resist. The resistances never add more than 50% though, only the duration stacks. So for example, using 10 at once will give 5 minutes of benefit. 3. At lower levels, using a shield can potentially(though rarely due to low monster damage) get you killed due to the block animation, mainly when surrounded(don't get surrounded) by mobs. You cannot move when blocking, and you cannot block when moving. Also, the first attack after blocking will miss 100% of the time, even on Single Player. 4. With runewords, check to make sure the item you want to socket is the proper item for that runeword, or it won't work. For example with Polearm runewords, be certain the item is one of these: www.diablo-2.net/items/polearms. Also, don't fall for the trap of 'Mechanics' items. They come with sockets, but are magical(blue), so as Raxx mentioned, they WILL NOT work. 5. Ethereal items are 50% stronger than regular items, but cannot be repaired and will break over time, unless it has the "repairs over time" affix. However, items equipped on followers(Mercs) will never lose durability thus never need repair. 6. You can quickly heal the follower by pressing shift+1,2,3 or 4. The alternative is just to drag and drop the potion on the followers picture in the top left. Also works with Thawing and Antidote. 7. Hold shift to stand in place and use an ability. Great for casters.
First timer here. Didn’t realize how freakin different D2 was from D3. Now I get why so many D2 players were irked. Seems like D3 went super casual compared to D2 (not bashing, just an observation. My wife and I love D3). Having played D3 for years, I’m really excited to sink my teeth into this next week and get a completely new Diablo experience. Would love more in depth coverage from ya Raxx. Thx for the tips.
D2 isn't some uber complicated game. Just play it how you want and you'll enjoy it. Yes it's a bit more difficult than D3 - but if you played D3 on release before they nerfed it, the challenge will be similar. It really doesn't require a specific set of tips and rules like this dude is presenting lol
I just used to play the original D2 way back in the early 2000s and had a beast of a druid. No hints or tips no build guide necessary. Just had a few buddies and countless hours Just clearing and killing everything. You will blaze your own path to an epic build. And it is waaay more fulfilling that way! I just downloaded resurrected last night and have no build plans just going to find and pick up whatever comes my way. I can't wait to get hours deep and have a powerful elemental druid that can just walk around and all the enemies just die without swinging a weapon! Good video as usual tho. I just would never use a guide for D2. I do for D4 but I always have my own little tweak to it. Happy hunting. May you poon many noobs!
These type of guides with emphasis is much better for new players! Oh, and consider making YOUR style of guide for hazards, like "red portal safe", eh, NO it's not. I should know, I have hoarded a hundred cows there myself xD GG hardcore players GLHF and I'll catch you streaming once in a while.
When I was a teen and Diablo 2 came out, I really wish I had had a better understanding of rune words. I remember struggling to get through Normal difficulty, only to get constantly slaughtered in Act 1 Nightmare difficulty. I played through D2 last year during quarantine, and rune words allowed to me to literally walk through Normal difficulty and cruise through Nightmare.
Ty for your in depth guides, they really helped me a lot... Putting an insight on your follower early on is truly a game changer. I was thinking to give back a little for your next videos. You keep saying left and right when you talk about map logic. I think clockwise and counterclockwise makes it so much easier to explain... especially for the Countess. Keep up the good work!
Raxx, your tutorial for Diablo 3 season start up really helped me out, and as a once avid Diablo 2 player, thank you again for putting out this great tutorial!!!
It's important to note that you don't go into hit recovery every time you get hit. It's only when you take 1/12 of your maximum life in a single hit, so the more vitality you invest in the less often you will go into faster hit recovery. Early on most good players invest exclusively onto vitality so they don't go into FHR often.
My biggest problem when playing D2 was always switching difficulties. I could make a new character, blast through normal in two sittings, and then not be able to kill or even get to Countess on Nightmare. Then I would slowly and painfully grind up some gear and get to a good point, blast through the rest of Nightmare, then have the same issue starting up Hell. After watching this video I think it is because I was always focusing on an end game build rather than "what will be strong from 25-50" or whatever
This is great advice! Thanks. Just bought it and was struggling after a few hours in with a necro. Gonna start fresh with a sorceress and follow your tips
Nice tips. I'm just glad that my fav class Assassin have Teleport-ish skill by herself so no need to play the class that i dont enjoy just as much. Still Sorc farm faster, but i'd rather play slower with the class i like than class i dont like.
i'm one of those D2 players that has played on/off since 06, and i know many things about the game, but this guide still gave some refreshed understanding and tips. the value of early runewords was really good. but you really hit home when you said "you wanna make an amazon? .. start with a sorc" .. i literally begun leveling my amazon for an hour last night when servers opened.. but i guess i know what i'm spending the weekend on!
My starter tips: - With the good stat bonuses on equipment, what numbers are good? Arguably all-resistances and non-energy primary attributes (strength, vitality, dexterity) less than 8, life and faster hit recovery bonuses less than 15, mana bonuses less than 30, and defense bonuses less than 100 or so, should be ignored after Nightmare mode when choosing equipment. If the number is proportionately quite a bit higher, then with other good stats and/or plus to skills, you have the makings of a decent item. For single resistances, look for fire and/or lightning (minimally +18% or so), and cold (minimally +20%), whereas with poison an item should have at least a 30-40% bonus as a good reason to wear it. In Normal mode, just put topazes and other gems in socketed armour and shields, until you can get a decent weapon (e.g. spirit sword for a caster). - Plus to skills is your biggest friend for damage, and damage is your biggest friend in general. - In Normal, the mercenaries you can hire seem weak (they die a lot). They gain in strength at higher level, and/or with better gear on them. You can hire new ones at a level one below your character's level, just make sure you remove your pre-existing mercenary's equipped items first. Or they'll disappear! - It's useful to build up some gold in your (shared) stash for resurrecting your merc. You will lose XP if you die, and only money if your merc dies. Say you don't know how deadly a particular aura around the enemies is. I recommend Act II melee merc with Prayer until Hell difficulty: by letting the merc go in first, you learn something about the enemies' strength without losing progress, and can run away if the merc dies. Or heal the merc by holding the shift key and pressing the relevant potion belt number. - Town Portal scrolls are very cheap even before Nightmare difficulty. Keep a Tome of Town Portal that fits twenty of them. Make sure you always have a portal up nearby when you're exploring a new area solo. - Don't pick up everything to sell, or the game will take ages. From the early-to-mid-game onwards, weapons generally don't sell for much. But chestpieces and shields often do. The exception to weapons selling badly is anything with skills on: skill items usually sell very well. Then gamble for circlets until you get one with skills and resists. Adding to the (great) video, that almost covers you up to Hell difficulty.
I disagree. It’s not that Rax says anything technically wrong. I’m sure he knows this game better than I do. But I don’t think a brand new player should adopt the mindset in this guide. ”Get to the endgame asap, make sure your first character is the most godly char possible.” Farming is actually kinda boring. A perfect build with perfectly farmed runewords can make a character really over powered, so that it feels like you’re playing on easy mode, and guess what? That is also boring. And *there is no endgame* to get to. So my advice to a new player would be: mess around and explore different skills before you go online and optimize your build. Accept that your first character isn’t gonna be the end-all uber dominator that you might eventually build. Also, in case that didn’t come through, you only get one re-spec per difficulty, so save it as long as possible. For your first playthrough explore all the maps and most of the side dungeons. When you’ve gone through the Blood Moor ten thousand times like Rax, yeah, get a sorceress and teleport past everything. But first time? Be a tourist. If you rush past content you’ll be under-levelled against some bosses. The end bosses of chapter 2 and 4 specifically has a tendency to force you to go back and farm previous areas for more experience and gear. If you skipped past a lot, you’ll have to do that for much longer. Don’t turn the game into an endless list of tedious chores. But after Duriel kicked your ass a dozen times, and you’ve had to go back and farm a bit, and re-think your tactics, and maybe even use one of your precious re-specs, and you finally take him down, you’ll be high for an hour! Don’t miss out on that. Cheezing the game with a cookie cutter build and godly gear is something you’ll do later, not what you should try to do on your first playthrough. That’s just my opinions. Your mileage may vary.
3:10 “Diablo 2 is a very very difficult game” I would 100% disagree with this, and a good example of this is wow classic. Everyone and there mother was like “it’s super hard core” “only the good players will hit 60”. Dude Diablo 2 came out in 1998 or something and it’s not hard to pick up or make a class anything is really visible and this is coming from someone who beat the game over and over again when I was 10. Anyone 18+ shouldn’t have ANY problems understanding how this game works and should be able to beat hell Baal with no help.
I actually forgot about teleporting in and out to reset traders,I was logging off and in to reset,when I was grinding Countess. This video is helpful even for old players. I didn't play in 10y or even more. Make some more dude.
I watched your 5 year vid earlier today . N i stumbled on this vid n i started a pally n just killed that boss but thia is a game changer. Im makin a sorcerer. Ty
You can pick up certain items, especially to start, wands, scepters, higher level armors, all get you that cold hard cash to buy your Leaf Staff, or TP staff.
Im confused regarding multiplayer. What is the multiplayer options or multiplayer way of playing this? Is it like wow but top down view? Get 5 players like tank healer dps and then do dungeons?
Summoner Necro is an amazing way to learn the game, but dont sleep on Corpse Explosion! Just beat Hell difficulty first time, all offline and I love this game
Great thank you but isn't Assassin also a very quick moving character with burst of speed? and i would play the class i like first makes no sense in my opinion to play a sorceress if you dont like it☺️
Awesome tips! I forgot what exactly I did, but I was able to beat the game back in the day.. but I definitely figured things out for myself.. but this guide would have made my progress so much faster back in the day and if I play again!
Other streamers and youtubers who cover D2R are happy to dish out advice, yey they all end up sounding like sports vloggers who loosely throw around their over-inflated opinions. However, Raxx, everything YOU say has a purpose. And a damn good one. It might come off a little too serious sometimes, but that's ok because it's just your style. The foundation of what you say is always best-in-slot for D3 (and now D2R). I almost started D2R launch with a hammerdin, but you set me straight for farming. Thank you!
Awesome vid as always, been playing alot of POE the past 6 months so Im glad to be back and looking forward to D2R this week, also glad to see Maxroll is going stronger than ever
thank you for this video,been watching videos after videos and they say stuff that might as well be in another language,i appreciate this for new players
Thank you Rex! Last time when I'm D2ing, I thought Paladin Hammer was the way to go, after seeing your THIS video, finally I know how to farm! i'm 20+ that time, till now, I'm already 40+ :(
Hammerdin is still one of the best builds in the entire game. It's technically very gear-independant, it doesn't struggle as much with immunities (there aren't many "magic immune" monsters) and it is one of the best, if not the best, MF build. But, the endgame build is very difficult and/or expensive to assemble, because you need an Enigma for the Teleport. That's why Blizzard Sorceress is generally considered to be the best for stuff like solo self-found, as your first build after a ladder reset, very easy MF, and of course everything Raxx said in the last part of the video.
Some of this is nice but personally I hate the "follow a build guide". What is even the fun of the game then like using your brain is part of the fun, thinking/creating/exploring/trial + error. Otherwise you are literally no different then the bots who are just programmed to run around and only pick up x item. To me there is 0 fun in that. For new players it should really be promoted to try their own build SAVE their re-stat/re-skill quest from act 1, and if they get stuck in nightmare and can't progress so then look at a build guide and consider respec from there. But most people can probably just read/use their brain and get down to hell via building into a couple skills and adding points to the synergies. Once they r stuck then they should look at a build guide only and respec, this is the fun of the game imo and will otherwise make new players probably get bored quickly. These experienced vets just want to build the supreme characters asap which means doing runs optimally which means optimizing characters early, but for new players no one gives af about that.
what about tristruns to get to 16 and then farm countess to to get spirit at about 18. then speedrun and be 20 at ancients . that's what i remember doing for all league starts. NM at around 1 hour mark or hell at around 3 hours. usually start with fireball and respec to cold at 24. fireball is gold low level.
Thanks Rax. I have alot of hours in D2 as well but would not have thought to start the Sorceress and farm runes. Really looking forward to your D2 content!
andariel is a beast.. my strategy : as soon as you enter her battle open a portal, when your mercenary dies, teleport out and revive it take the portal back and open a portal again repeat until you kill her
In diablo 2 lod 1,14 d i still have bug for paladin charge , it gets frozen until i change weapons but it still very bad . Is it fixed in diablo 2 ressurected ?
Even if they said that not much has been changed at the base, but the tower in particular is much larger and often the tactic with "only left" does NOT work
On my first ever play through would you still recommend the sorcerer? Won't I miss out by skipping over too much to fast or do you still think the experience I'll have is the same
I have a question. When those runes drop from the Countess runs, I've been placing them into my socketed armor and weapons due to having a full inventory full of mana potions. My question is if your inventory is not for picking up items, how am I able to get runes and items that drop that are of value into my stash? I followed your tip and never stored anything in my inventory other than mana potions while picking up all my currently equipped gear, but I've been unable to get any new gear due to my inventory being full of mana potions. Now I just die a lot and have no items to trade or sell.
You're not supposed to fill it up completely. Let some space to pick up items. At the start you might want to fill it half with potions and leave space for items.
@@NemesisEP1 also save your runes until you have the runeword you are looking for. You can remove them from the sockets via the cube but the runes will get destroyed.
I dont know if im just unlucky but i farm rune and i have 6x 6 different rune but i cant drop certain rune to make the shield or the sword or the helmet... why?
god damn. it's been so long, I forgot alot of this game. Hopefully there are tears of joy when a first timer remembers to fill the inventory with at least 1 portal scroll and all the health potions they can stuff in there before they hit Andariel's room
![[GUIDE] New Player Guide to MERCENARIES - Diablo 2 Resurrected](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cpzeAEZxDgY/mqdefault.jpg)
A few tips to get you started!
I will dominate the game, thanks Raxx!
I know that I 100% want to start with Necro.Still start with Sorceress?
pog!
Just the tip!
Thank you!
Rax, please honor this game with an hour-long tutorial much like the comprehensive one you did for D3 :)
Yes this please!!
Town is lava
mate, hes a busy guy lol, and anyways the greatest teacher is EXPERIENCE ;)
Why, exactly?
Can you guys fix the Maxx guides for rune words so they can be arranged by level and not just name? I’m sure early on new players might prefer to see rune words by level, toggle by name or level with a click. Keep up the good guys!!!
I adore D2 for a long time and i realise NOW that i do know nothing! Especially about Rune words. Thanks a lot Raxx, another superb guide...
I played this a lot as a kid. Info like this is a good example of new generation of players. Highly competitive and singular focus to win. Really zaps the mystery and fun out of the game. I guess everyone is just going to make a sorc and run around like the same direction, wearing the same equipment, having the same build, following same guide, rush through, etc. because ‘it’s the best’ and they don’t want to left behind.
you dont have to do that, there is so many builds you can do that are not main stream.
For real. The game isn't so hard to justify this stuff. Talk about solved lol
Completely agree with you. I have no interest in following any build or doing anything any specific way. I want to play diablo 2 and want to experience it. Not “oh, I have to pick this until I get this then farm that for these so I can level up those”. I just beat diablo for the first time using the assassin. I had the clone distract him for a split second to hit him in the back with my basic attack then ran when the clone got killed in a single hit. I died over and over and over because I couldn’t take anymore hits than my clone. My skills were useless. I was using two claw weapons. After defeating him and moving to act 5, switch to the cool scythe he dropped because the claws were junk and all the points I put into boosting them are wasted, but I’m super happy because I’m having fun doing my own thing and learning as I play.
By the way, I horde gems and runes and keep my inventory empty for cool gear I might find. I’ve yet to use any of the gems or runes because I don’t find them necessary, yet.
Yeah it’s pretty amusing how a guide for new players is: “go farm the first boss as sorceress”.
I don’t think most players are looking forward to farming and getting some OP armor so early. Most people are not into playing this game for thousands of hours like it’s a job, grinding for items and following build guides, they will finish the campaign once or twice then move on.
U sound so salty lol get a life
Really nice list. Useful information for new players. I don't think every player needs to start with a sorceress, but if you have no preference, you can't go wrong with her, especially in softcore.
Even I've been playing Diablo II like crazy so many years ago, this guide has been really useful, thank you! Looking forward your future guides for the D2R, cannot wait to play it again!
I wish I could give you 10 thumbs up! The simple description of how to figure out where to go when running countess has helped me A TON! I'm making a fortune running T-Keys and finding runes. I've already found 3 PUL runes and 5 T-keys in the last 4 days.
for non sorc classes early on, you can buy a teleport charges staff from vendors at character level 19+, they are expensive to repair but an ort + chipped gem will repair the charges them.
I really hope this game will revive me gaming again, i played this as a teenager, now in my mid-30s with a family, job and other interests.
- subbed so i can learn playing again.
Keep gaming for life bro
Nice starting guide. Just a few tips to add to it:
1. Health/mana potions refill life/mana over time. Rejuvenation potions are instant, refill 1/3 health AND mana, and 3 combine in the Horadric Cube to make a Full Rejuv, which restores 100% health and mana.
2. Raxx mentioned Stamina potions. Stamina, Thawing, and Antidote potion benefits all stack when used, giving 30 additional seconds per use, with Thawing also providing an additional 50% Cold resist and Antidote 50% poison resist. The resistances never add more than 50% though, only the duration stacks. So for example, using 10 at once will give 5 minutes of benefit.
3. At lower levels, using a shield can potentially(though rarely due to low monster damage) get you killed due to the block animation, mainly when surrounded(don't get surrounded) by mobs. You cannot move when blocking, and you cannot block when moving. Also, the first attack after blocking will miss 100% of the time, even on Single Player.
4. With runewords, check to make sure the item you want to socket is the proper item for that runeword, or it won't work. For example with Polearm runewords, be certain the item is one of these: www.diablo-2.net/items/polearms. Also, don't fall for the trap of 'Mechanics' items. They come with sockets, but are magical(blue), so as Raxx mentioned, they WILL NOT work.
5. Ethereal items are 50% stronger than regular items, but cannot be repaired and will break over time, unless it has the "repairs over time" affix. However, items equipped on followers(Mercs) will never lose durability thus never need repair.
6. You can quickly heal the follower by pressing shift+1,2,3 or 4. The alternative is just to drag and drop the potion on the followers picture in the top left. Also works with Thawing and Antidote.
7. Hold shift to stand in place and use an ability. Great for casters.
This is my favorite game. I played it in the 2000s and never played with a sorceress. Necromancer rules
I was 14 when this game came out!! I needed this cause I haven’t played it since. Thank you Rax.
I was just going to say, weren't you 14 with this game came out? That's crazy!
First timer here. Didn’t realize how freakin different D2 was from D3. Now I get why so many D2 players were irked. Seems like D3 went super casual compared to D2 (not bashing, just an observation. My wife and I love D3). Having played D3 for years, I’m really excited to sink my teeth into this next week and get a completely new Diablo experience. Would love more in depth coverage from ya Raxx. Thx for the tips.
D2 isn't some uber complicated game. Just play it how you want and you'll enjoy it. Yes it's a bit more difficult than D3 - but if you played D3 on release before they nerfed it, the challenge will be similar. It really doesn't require a specific set of tips and rules like this dude is presenting lol
I just used to play the original D2 way back in the early 2000s and had a beast of a druid. No hints or tips no build guide necessary. Just had a few buddies and countless hours Just clearing and killing everything. You will blaze your own path to an epic build. And it is waaay more fulfilling that way! I just downloaded resurrected last night and have no build plans just going to find and pick up whatever comes my way. I can't wait to get hours deep and have a powerful elemental druid that can just walk around and all the enemies just die without swinging a weapon! Good video as usual tho. I just would never use a guide for D2. I do for D4 but I always have my own little tweak to it. Happy hunting. May you poon many noobs!
Didn't know about the 'turn-left' tip for Countess farming. Thanks! Subscribed
Outstanding guide. Well explained and straight to the point. I just bought the game 16:46 for ps5 and haven’t played the pc game in 10+ years
These type of guides with emphasis is much better for new players!
Oh, and consider making YOUR style of guide for hazards, like "red portal safe", eh, NO it's not. I should know, I have hoarded a hundred cows there myself xD GG hardcore players
GLHF and I'll catch you streaming once in a while.
When I was a teen and Diablo 2 came out, I really wish I had had a better understanding of rune words. I remember struggling to get through Normal difficulty, only to get constantly slaughtered in Act 1 Nightmare difficulty. I played through D2 last year during quarantine, and rune words allowed to me to literally walk through Normal difficulty and cruise through Nightmare.
Ty for your in depth guides, they really helped me a lot... Putting an insight on your follower early on is truly a game changer. I was thinking to give back a little for your next videos. You keep saying left and right when you talk about map logic. I think clockwise and counterclockwise makes it so much easier to explain... especially for the Countess. Keep up the good work!
Raxx, your tutorial for Diablo 3 season start up really helped me out, and as a once avid Diablo 2 player, thank you again for putting out this great tutorial!!!
It's important to note that you don't go into hit recovery every time you get hit. It's only when you take 1/12 of your maximum
life in a single hit, so the more vitality you invest in the less often you will go into faster hit recovery. Early on most good players invest exclusively onto vitality so they don't go into FHR often.
My biggest problem when playing D2 was always switching difficulties. I could make a new character, blast through normal in two sittings, and then not be able to kill or even get to Countess on Nightmare. Then I would slowly and painfully grind up some gear and get to a good point, blast through the rest of Nightmare, then have the same issue starting up Hell. After watching this video I think it is because I was always focusing on an end game build rather than "what will be strong from 25-50" or whatever
Started playing D2 today, for the first time and this Hints helped alot! Thanks!
This is great advice! Thanks. Just bought it and was struggling after a few hours in with a necro.
Gonna start fresh with a sorceress and follow your tips
I love necromancer but I might make a sorceress.
Nice tips. I'm just glad that my fav class Assassin have Teleport-ish skill by herself so no need to play the class that i dont enjoy just as much. Still Sorc farm faster, but i'd rather play slower with the class i like than class i dont like.
Enigma has it though
@@Azsunes yes of course, tho it’s very expensive, I don’t expect it to own as fast as I want to 😂
i'm one of those D2 players that has played on/off since 06, and i know many things about the game, but this guide still gave some refreshed understanding and tips. the value of early runewords was really good. but you really hit home when you said "you wanna make an amazon? .. start with a sorc" .. i literally begun leveling my amazon for an hour last night when servers opened.. but i guess i know what i'm spending the weekend on!
My starter tips:
- With the good stat bonuses on equipment, what numbers are good? Arguably all-resistances and non-energy primary attributes (strength, vitality, dexterity) less than 8, life and faster hit recovery bonuses less than 15, mana bonuses less than 30, and defense bonuses less than 100 or so, should be ignored after Nightmare mode when choosing equipment. If the number is proportionately quite a bit higher, then with other good stats and/or plus to skills, you have the makings of a decent item. For single resistances, look for fire and/or lightning (minimally +18% or so), and cold (minimally +20%), whereas with poison an item should have at least a 30-40% bonus as a good reason to wear it. In Normal mode, just put topazes and other gems in socketed armour and shields, until you can get a decent weapon (e.g. spirit sword for a caster).
- Plus to skills is your biggest friend for damage, and damage is your biggest friend in general.
- In Normal, the mercenaries you can hire seem weak (they die a lot). They gain in strength at higher level, and/or with better gear on them. You can hire new ones at a level one below your character's level, just make sure you remove your pre-existing mercenary's equipped items first. Or they'll disappear!
- It's useful to build up some gold in your (shared) stash for resurrecting your merc. You will lose XP if you die, and only money if your merc dies. Say you don't know how deadly a particular aura around the enemies is. I recommend Act II melee merc with Prayer until Hell difficulty: by letting the merc go in first, you learn something about the enemies' strength without losing progress, and can run away if the merc dies. Or heal the merc by holding the shift key and pressing the relevant potion belt number.
- Town Portal scrolls are very cheap even before Nightmare difficulty. Keep a Tome of Town Portal that fits twenty of them. Make sure you always have a portal up nearby when you're exploring a new area solo.
- Don't pick up everything to sell, or the game will take ages. From the early-to-mid-game onwards, weapons generally don't sell for much. But chestpieces and shields often do. The exception to weapons selling badly is anything with skills on: skill items usually sell very well. Then gamble for circlets until you get one with skills and resists.
Adding to the (great) video, that almost covers you up to Hell difficulty.
Thanks, haven't played since like 2001 and I sure as shit didn't know what I was doing back then.
I disagree.
It’s not that Rax says anything technically wrong. I’m sure he knows this game better than I do.
But I don’t think a brand new player should adopt the mindset in this guide. ”Get to the endgame asap, make sure your first character is the most godly char possible.”
Farming is actually kinda boring. A perfect build with perfectly farmed runewords can make a character really over powered, so that it feels like you’re playing on easy mode, and guess what? That is also boring.
And *there is no endgame* to get to.
So my advice to a new player would be: mess around and explore different skills before you go online and optimize your build. Accept that your first character isn’t gonna be the end-all uber dominator that you might eventually build. Also, in case that didn’t come through, you only get one re-spec per difficulty, so save it as long as possible.
For your first playthrough explore all the maps and most of the side dungeons. When you’ve gone through the Blood Moor ten thousand times like Rax, yeah, get a sorceress and teleport past everything. But first time? Be a tourist.
If you rush past content you’ll be under-levelled against some bosses. The end bosses of chapter 2 and 4 specifically has a tendency to force you to go back and farm previous areas for more experience and gear. If you skipped past a lot, you’ll have to do that for much longer. Don’t turn the game into an endless list of tedious chores.
But after Duriel kicked your ass a dozen times, and you’ve had to go back and farm a bit, and re-think your tactics, and maybe even use one of your precious re-specs, and you finally take him down, you’ll be high for an hour! Don’t miss out on that.
Cheezing the game with a cookie cutter build and godly gear is something you’ll do later, not what you should try to do on your first playthrough.
That’s just my opinions. Your mileage may vary.
I'm a long time D2 player and literally never knew about the logic mapping. Cool! Thank you!
Thank god you spoke in simple terms so a noob like me understands. Some of these d2 guys say hey hows it going and I don't understand a word after.
As an experienced player since diablo 2 first released, these videos are still good to watch.
I played this game hard 20 years ago .....and everything you said is spot on ....Great Vid
I've been playing Diablo 2 for a while, and my friend, you taught me a few things here and there ehhehe. Thanks bud!
Excellent tutorial. Especially regarding the Countess
3:10 “Diablo 2 is a very very difficult game” I would 100% disagree with this, and a good example of this is wow classic. Everyone and there mother was like “it’s super hard core” “only the good players will hit 60”. Dude Diablo 2 came out in 1998 or something and it’s not hard to pick up or make a class anything is really visible and this is coming from someone who beat the game over and over again when I was 10. Anyone 18+ shouldn’t have ANY problems understanding how this game works and should be able to beat hell Baal with no help.
See even for experienced players, this is a good video to watch. I haven't played d2 in 16-17 years. Great refresher.
I actually forgot about teleporting in and out to reset traders,I was logging off and in to reset,when I was grinding Countess. This video is helpful even for old players. I didn't play in 10y or even more. Make some more dude.
Thanks for the uploads man. Most people don't explain things as well as you do. I appreciate the help.
Thank you for this! I never played LoD so there's a ton of additions that I have no clue about.
do you wash the hoody often or just own like 20 of them?
I watched your 5 year vid earlier today . N i stumbled on this vid n i started a pally n just killed that boss but thia is a game changer. Im makin a sorcerer. Ty
You can pick up certain items, especially to start, wands, scepters, higher level armors, all get you that cold hard cash to buy your Leaf Staff, or TP staff.
Im confused regarding multiplayer. What is the multiplayer options or multiplayer way of playing this? Is it like wow but top down view? Get 5 players like tank healer dps and then do dungeons?
Watched so many of your vids super glad to find out you'll be doing some d2 love the vids
I had this game forever but I never looked up stuff. I need this.
This video is amazing. You know só much about this game. Never knew it went so deep. Awesome video thanks
Summoner Necro is an amazing way to learn the game, but dont sleep on Corpse Explosion! Just beat Hell difficulty first time, all offline and I love this game
What would you advice for a novecento trying holy fire aura paladin?
ty!! it very helpfull i'm newbie . hope wait ep2 Hints :)
Great thank you but isn't Assassin also a very quick moving character with burst of speed? and i would play the class i like first makes no sense in my opinion to play a sorceress if you dont like it☺️
how many runes should i farm or level i should get while farming the countess before proseding with the rext of the game?
Can you fight the countess at any time? Even in act 1?
Awesome tips! I forgot what exactly I did, but I was able to beat the game back in the day.. but I definitely figured things out for myself.. but this guide would have made my progress so much faster back in the day and if I play again!
Other streamers and youtubers who cover D2R are happy to dish out advice, yey they all end up sounding like sports vloggers who loosely throw around their over-inflated opinions. However, Raxx, everything YOU say has a purpose. And a damn good one. It might come off a little too serious sometimes, but that's ok because it's just your style. The foundation of what you say is always best-in-slot for D3 (and now D2R). I almost started D2R launch with a hammerdin, but you set me straight for farming. Thank you!
What do you mean by early on? Nightmare? As soon as it's available from a new game? Whenever you move to a new difficulty?
I've only ever played Diablo 3...this is a daunting amount of stuff to remember.
I disagree with the “choose a sorc over what you want to play.” Play the game to have fun, not to “dominate.”
Kept saying "And Resistances".... Any tips on that?
Awesome vid as always, been playing alot of POE the past 6 months so Im glad to be back and looking forward to D2R this week, also glad to see Maxroll is going stronger than ever
thank you for this video,been watching videos after videos and they say stuff that might as well be in another language,i appreciate this for new players
Thank you for this video!!! I will start with a sorceress.. and i have played all the diablo 1,2, and 3.. Great job!!!
Starting as a support/bo barb for my team! So hyped! Good to see you on D2 Raxx
Agree 100% with you, Sorceress is a no brainer for solo play
@Deathplan haha it is challenging early - I was lucky to start with a full group. We're mostly farming ubers, so having a barb really helps 😅
the andariel's quest drop bug still on the game or have it been fixed?
WoW! i’m so so glad i found u! EXCELLENT VIDEO!!
So… start with Barbarian, Got It!!
haha 😂
Thank you Rex! Last time when I'm D2ing, I thought Paladin Hammer was the way to go, after seeing your THIS video, finally I know how to farm! i'm 20+ that time, till now, I'm already 40+ :(
Hammerdin is still one of the best builds in the entire game. It's technically very gear-independant, it doesn't struggle as much with immunities (there aren't many "magic immune" monsters) and it is one of the best, if not the best, MF build. But, the endgame build is very difficult and/or expensive to assemble, because you need an Enigma for the Teleport. That's why Blizzard Sorceress is generally considered to be the best for stuff like solo self-found, as your first build after a ladder reset, very easy MF, and of course everything Raxx said in the last part of the video.
What about using Enigma for teleport for other classes?
Only doable late game. Runes words drop rate too low to get it early game.
oh my god this is super exciting , I am new to D2R and will be consuming all Raxx's guides
Some of this is nice but personally I hate the "follow a build guide". What is even the fun of the game then like using your brain is part of the fun, thinking/creating/exploring/trial + error. Otherwise you are literally no different then the bots who are just programmed to run around and only pick up x item. To me there is 0 fun in that. For new players it should really be promoted to try their own build SAVE their re-stat/re-skill quest from act 1, and if they get stuck in nightmare and can't progress so then look at a build guide and consider respec from there. But most people can probably just read/use their brain and get down to hell via building into a couple skills and adding points to the synergies. Once they r stuck then they should look at a build guide only and respec, this is the fun of the game imo and will otherwise make new players probably get bored quickly. These experienced vets just want to build the supreme characters asap which means doing runs optimally which means optimizing characters early, but for new players no one gives af about that.
New to the game and best guide ive come across so far 🙌 thank u
what about tristruns to get to 16 and then farm countess to to get spirit at about 18. then speedrun and be 20 at ancients . that's what i remember doing for all league starts. NM at around 1 hour mark or hell at around 3 hours. usually start with fireball and respec to cold at 24.
fireball is gold low level.
how do you get 4 holes broad sword?
The two things I got from this video : 1- Raxx, do your Windows updates. 2- Shigh, looks like your WoW is unstable. Maybe try a repair ?
For a sorceress what stats do I use?
Thanks Rax. I have alot of hours in D2 as well but would not have thought to start the Sorceress and farm runes. Really looking forward to your D2 content!
Cb sorc = fastest early farming
Wow dude these are tips I haven’t seen on any other video A1!
andariel is a beast.. my strategy : as soon as you enter her battle open a portal,
when your mercenary dies, teleport out and revive it
take the portal back and open a portal again
repeat until you kill her
In diablo 2 lod 1,14 d i still have bug for paladin charge , it gets frozen until i change weapons but it still very bad . Is it fixed in diablo 2 ressurected ?
Insight is for the Act 2 follower right?
The hero we don’t deserve. Very helpful!!!
You earned my sub for this video and made changed my mind - Im levelling a sorc now!
Even if they said that not much has been changed at the base, but the tower in particular is much larger and often the tactic with "only left" does NOT work
Just a refresher and I can't wait to play again. Gonna get my buddies together and group up and lvl can't wait
On my first ever play through would you still recommend the sorcerer? Won't I miss out by skipping over too much to fast or do you still think the experience I'll have is the same
What’s your thoughts on Paladin ?
I have a question. When those runes drop from the Countess runs, I've been placing them into my socketed armor and weapons due to having a full inventory full of mana potions. My question is if your inventory is not for picking up items, how am I able to get runes and items that drop that are of value into my stash? I followed your tip and never stored anything in my inventory other than mana potions while picking up all my currently equipped gear, but I've been unable to get any new gear due to my inventory being full of mana potions. Now I just die a lot and have no items to trade or sell.
You're not supposed to fill it up completely. Let some space to pick up items. At the start you might want to fill it half with potions and leave space for items.
@@christophluger793 Thank you for the information. I was wondering why I kept having such a hard time surviving.
@@NemesisEP1 also save your runes until you have the runeword you are looking for. You can remove them from the sockets via the cube but the runes will get destroyed.
Hey guys, isnt there a build for the sorc where u can use your mana as defence? I slightly remember
First time checking your videos. Very well said, straight-forward and thorough! Definitely subbed. Cheers!
I dunno about tip 1. Beginning enemies REALLY aren't that difficult. But I've only ever player classes with summons.
Ty dude. Did D2 a loong time ago. Such a great help!!
I have played 1 and 3 and have only owned a console. So this is my first time to ever play Diablo 2. Thank you for this
I dont know if im just unlucky but i farm rune and i have 6x 6 different rune but i cant drop certain rune to make the shield or the sword or the helmet... why?
Thx for all info Raxx ;.)
Excited to see my fave D3 coach doing D2R content!
god damn. it's been so long, I forgot alot of this game. Hopefully there are tears of joy when a first timer remembers to fill the inventory with at least 1 portal scroll and all the health potions they can stuff in there before they hit Andariel's room
All your guides are very informative and easy to understand. Keep up the great work.
how can i share my farmed items on my 2nd char??
Does it have todo with being my game is a crack or pirated one?
nice job man. thank you!
Clear and on the spot , thanks!
could you make a video talking about dealing with cold immunities for blizzard sorc?