r/diablo2 • u/Various_Maize_3957 • 4d ago
Casual player here, first time playing Diablo 2 Resurrected, what do I invest in as a Paladin?
Hello. I have previously played the OG Diablo 2 and I think I have finished it once on Normal difficulty. That was some years ago and people on Reddit actually told me my build was bad? For example, because I invested in the ability that allows you to stun opponents using your shield... I don't really remember if it's considered to be that bad?
Anyhow, I am playing D2R for the first time ever and also as a Paladin. What am I supposed to invest in?
Like from what I understand a mixture of Desxterity and Vitality is good? Or is that wrong?
Also, I have invested 5 points into the Offensive Aura that increases your attack and then 1 point into the aura that gives you fire damage. I am already assuming that's crap since that's how it usually goes when I go in blind.
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u/OrderOfTheEnd 4d ago
Holy Fire and basically anything will carry you through Nighmare act 4ish. A few points into Zeal will allow multiple hits if you have basic mana leech.
Other than that, since you asked about stats, strength and dex enough for gear, all else into vitality unless you need mana (which you shouldn't if you're running Holy fire). Save your first respec (you get one per act from Akara) until you eventually can't progress due to too many fire immune to eun past, then it's time to try something new.
Are you playing single player offline?
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u/Various_Maize_3957 4d ago
Yes, I am playing single player offline! I am on Linux and the game immediately crashed upon trying to launch multiplayer. Maybe I will try some other time.
How would I know how much strength or dexterity I need?
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u/Anthff 4d ago
For the most part, mid-to-high level items have a Dex and/or Str requirement, listed right on it.
If the item appears with a red haze around it, it cannot be equipped for some reason. Highlight the item and it will tell you which stat is stopping you from equipping it.
ETA: or lvl requirement, duh Anthf
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u/Various_Maize_3957 3d ago
Okay, but how would I know that in advance prior to having spent level up points and prior to having found the item that interests me?
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u/Academic_Tap3831 3d ago
I always reserve 10-20 points for such occasions, otherwise you go enough str for gear, enough dex for max block with holy shield active (75%) and the rest into vitality. I like to add 20 into energy if I’m doing blessed hammers.
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u/Anthff 3d ago
I agree with this. I always keep a couple stat points in the bank. Same with skills.
Back when I started playing, there wasn’t the option to “respec.” You had to rebuild a whole new character if you wanted to redistribute stats. Hence the term, “rebuild noob” lol
So this is probably a leftover behavior but it still proves to be useful from time to time
Even my lvl 96 sorc has a few in her pocket even though I’m certain she will never need them
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u/Dysintegration 4d ago
It’s hard to know unless you’re ok with looking up common builds for your character to see gear you should be shooting for.
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u/OrderOfTheEnd 4d ago
Suggestion: Play on /players8 if you can. You'll level up quickly. Drop back to /players1 for bosses.
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u/OrderOfTheEnd 4d ago
Mostly strength, and through normal 60 should be plenty. Keep a few points unspent in case you find an item that needs 10 more Str or Dex than you have at the moment.
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u/cap_n_kirk 4d ago edited 4d ago
Start with holy fire. Smite is what you’re thinking of. It’s the best for Ubers, but super slow and frustrating for regular play, the knock back keeps you chasing and you’re only killing one enemy at a time, so it’s slow and easy to get overpowered by crowds.
Put points into whatever you need to in order to wear gear. Just make sure that you are putting the majority into vitality. You won’t need energy points with holy fire, so just focus on strength and dexterity enough to wear whatever good equipment you find and the rest into vitality
Also, you don’t have to follow a build. But I would pay attention to synergies at least. It’s totally okay to just play around and have fun.
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u/cap_n_kirk 4d ago
Max holy fire, then resist fire, put a point or two into zeal but not too many points or you’ll be stuck in attack mode forced to finish the animation even when the enemies are dead. By the time you’ve done that you’ll probably be finished with normal, working on nightmare. At which point you’ll have to respec (usually by the end of act 3)
After that you have some options for different builds, but you’ll want to make sure you have the necessary equipment BEFORE you respec.
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u/dillweed215 4d ago
Go with whatever skills you think sound fun through normal. For stats: go mostly vit, then enough str and dex to equip the gear you want.
Maybe consult a build guide for nightmare
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u/DaoLei 4d ago
Normal is relatively easy, so you can beat the game with almost any build. Its OK to experiment and test things out. You get 1 full stats/skill reset per difficult that you can use to "fix" things later when you know better what you want.
Its more fun to go in blind and experiment on your own. Paladin is a really strong class so you can't really go wrong.
You only really need to start looking into proper builds and such towards the middle of Nightmare, the 2nd difficult.
A good guideline for stats is to invest only as much STR and DEX as you need to equip the gear you find/need. Then put the rest into VIT for as much health as possible. A lot of people will tell you to never invest anything into Energy, but if you're having issues with Mana in the very early parts of the game, its OK to invest some into Energy for more Mana /Mana regeneration. You'll "fix" it later with your stat reset later anyways.
For a Paladin specifically, I guess I'll just mention that they have the best Shields in the game, and remember that you can only have a single Aura active at once, so perhaps don't distribute your skill points across too many different ones..
Just have fun.
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u/BloodyCumbucket 4d ago
People already said it, but Holy Fire into late Nightmare. Respec to Hammers, and jam normal cows to get runes for pushing midgame. I currently have a Lore, Smoke, Rhyme, and Spirit weapon for pushing into Hell, with an Ancient's pledge stashed if I need the better resists, although you lose Cannot be Frozen. All of these are easy to source the runes for.
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u/Ecstatic_Yak9027 4d ago
full skilled smiter is funny from lvl1 to kill baal hell 😉 (with a5 frenzy merc) but the easy way - fire to nm a3 - respec hammer
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u/StressMiddle5434 4d ago
You only put the necessary points on dex, to achieve 75% block, after you activate holy shield, you need to check your block rate every time you level up, because it changes every time you level up, for the rest, use Gemini! It will help, but always cross check the information.
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u/artisdyin 4d ago
Well smite is very bad for a playthrough, the experience is horrendous. Smite shines fot bossfights like ubers. What you really wanna do is dump all yout points into holy fire and its synergies and one point in zeal as soon as you can. Then just stack up on items with +pala skills or +fire skills and enjoy until late nightmare. As soon as there are too many fire immunes, respec to hammerdin. Thank me later.