The Best Way to Start The New Ladder on Diablo 2!
As Blizzard has officially announced at their forum, the next Diablo 2 ladder reset will take place on December 12th, 2017 05:00 PST.
If you’re asking yourself “What’s the best class to start with for the new ladder?” or “how can I get ahead from other players?” you came to the right place.
Well, the ladder is a type of competitive, closed multiplayer realm. It resets about every 6 months or when Blizzard thinks it’s the best time for a reset. Players are leveling up in order to unlock higher difficulties and compete at the leaderboards.
After a ladder reset takes place, all previous ladder characters are moving automatically to the non-ladder mode. Then, all players start from scratch without having powerful items or skills. It’s a great chance for new and more experienced players to start over in a fresh environment and a new economy.
Also, there are definitely some pros for playing on the ladder. There, you can find some powerful items, Runewords, and upgrades that are available only in the ladder mode. But you can keep them in non-ladder mode after your ladder character expires!
As a result, the best thing you can do some days before a ladder resets, it’s trying to find as many ladder-only items as you can.
The best way to start a new ladder is focusing on a build that’s very effective for PvE (Player-versus-Environment) and Magic Finding. You should be able to quickly take down large groups of monsters, so you can level up fast and have the highest chance of finding the best equipment.
The items play the most important role in Diablo 2. They can make the difference and skyrocket your build. So, your primary aim while you’re playing on the ladder should be the searching of the strongest and hardest-to-find items.
Another thing you have to take care of (if you play solo mostly) is the immunities of enemies at higher levels. You don’t want to reach a point that you can’t kill many types of monsters due to their immunity to your element.
The most popular class to serve the above purposes is the Sorceress. It’s probably the easiest way to start a ladder, especially for new players. This class can easily focus on two different elements. For example, you can level up Chain Lightning and Frozen Orb, Blizzard and Chain Lightning, or Blizzard and Fireball. This way you will be able to deal with every kind of immunity while destroying large groups of enemies with ease.
In addition, Sorceress has some useful utility tools. Teleport lets you “pass” through walls, saving you a lot of time. You can also use this skill to trap Mephisto and kill him solo within seconds.
You can consider the Barbarian build with Immortal King set too. It’s performing extremely well at higher levels and difficulties like the Hell mode. Sorceress is much stronger at the early stages of the game though.
If you want to level up as soon as possible, the best you can do is to gather a big party (up to 8 players). This party’s better to include different builds that work well together. In general, the best places to gain experience solo or with a party are:
First of all, it’s very helpful for you and your party to have equipment that boosts the Magic Finding (MF). This way, your chances to find a strong item increases significantly.
The next most helpful thing you can do is to team up with friends in order to farm bosses like Mephisto, again and again. You can do it solo as well, but it’s not as effective. It’s a kind of time-consuming and repetitive progress, but still, the best way to find powerful items.
If you’re bored to go through this progress and you want an immediate head start on the new ladder, you can always purchase your desired items.
After you reach further than level 85+ the best areas to farm items and more experience are:
What are your plans for the ladder reset? Which character are your starting with? Feel free to let us know below! Don’t forget to check out our store in the coming days for latest offers and updates for the ladder reset. Stay tuned!
Welcome fellow Nephalim! If you’re returning to Diablo 2’s Ladder community after a break or joining us for the first time, this article is just for you.
To further maximize your time this weekend, we’ve put together a suggested build path for the 22nd season of D2’s Ladder.
In any ARPG, loot is king, and every D2 veteran knows ‘Magic Find’ (MF) will get you to the endgame faster. Obvious to some, this strategy will require another account on Battle.net to trade the items to your main account. Some items and runes listed below can take literal years of grinding to drop, Tyrael’s Might and the runeword “Zun”. Tyreal’s Might has a .00002% drop rate and is only dropped by Baal, and Zun has a drop rate of 12 out 1,000,000 drops meaning it has a .000012% drop rate. If you don’t have years or access to another account, Yesgamers can provide both the items and the Mule to get your character the extra edge they need.
Get ready to farm, farm, farm all day long. Sorceresses have access to Teleport, which will get you where you need to get quickly without the need for the runeword “Enigma”. Remember maximizing your MF is key to the character, however if you can’t kill monsters/bosses quickly you’ll find yourself falling behind on the ladder.
Balancing MF, against other possible traits (damage and survivability), on your gear and on your mercenary can be accomplished in a few different ways. We suggest snagging a Tal Rasha’s Set (Helm, Belt, and Armor), War Traveller’s Boots, any Monarch type shield (the easiest to socket 4 syllable runewords), and Mage’s Fist gloves. Rings, amulets, and charms are interchangeable but focusing on MF and cold damage is key.
The only exception to the rule is Fireball; this will be your main damage to bosses, as you can get 2-3 off in between Blizzard casts. Also it benefits from Tal’s set bonuses, and is accessible early on in the game, so you’ll minimize wasted skill points. Max your vitality each level, you’re farming not PvP-ing or going for DPS.
Cold Armor: Your survivability, 1 point for every 3 you have in Blizzard. Shiver Armor is a better skill, the decision to use it is up to you, but remember this is a farming character not your main.
Cold Mastery: 1 point for every 3 points you have in Blizzard.
Blizzard: Max first
Static Field: 1 point, the best boss killing skill.
Telekinesis: 1 point, to get access to Teleport.
Teleport: 1 point, because each subsequent point only reduces the mana cost.
Firebolt: 1 point to give access to Fireball.
Fireball: 2nd skill to max.
Easy to build, Leaf is made of two runes Tir + Ral and should give a nice boost to your fire damage for easier boss rushing/clears. Do NOT put this into Monarch, as there aren’t any other items that have as many sockets as the shield. Save Monarch for late game Runewords depending on your play style.
Recipe and Stats
Tir (3) + Ral (8)
Staves {2}
Character level required: 19
+3 to Fire Skills
Adds 5-30 Fire Damage
+3 to Inferno (Sorceress Only)
+3 to Warmth (Sorceress Only)
+3 to Fire Bolt (Sorceress Only)
+(2 times your level) Defense
Cold Resist +33%
+2 to Mana after each Kill
Final thoughts
MF on your mercenary’s kills use your character’s (no matter the class) MF and the mercenary’s MF combined. Also using a ‘Prayer’ (healing) act 2 mercenary is suggested.
This is not a PvP build, most Barbarians are built and kitted to eat your lunch even if your sorceress was built for damage. Do not engage, this is your farming character, and you don’t want to waste time fighting an uphill battle.
Over 40% of loot is found in other places than chests and drops from battle, turn over every rock and break every urn.
Learn your Runes and Runewords. Late game, every character build is dependent on Runes. Save every Rune you find, and learn what words they can be turned into. Also save your opportunities to add a socket to an item, this will help with later headaches.
‘Barbarian versus Caster’ builds have few counter builds and are the one of the most played PvP characters in D2’s ladder community. Due to the desync issue of their main damage skill, Whirlwind, you can either abuse desync or counter by using damage types the tanky Barbarian has no inherent resistances for.
BvCs are also completely countered by a ‘Barbarian versus Barbarian’ build.
Each build has countless variations, due to Charms and Runewords, be sure to mold each build to your play style if you run into issues like low mana or getting one-shotted by monster mobs.
Arguably the only caster that can stand toe to toe easily with a BvC. High DPS, the lack of resistance to your main damage type, and survivability combine easily to conquer BvCs in most altercations. You’ll be maxing your Dexterity (Primary) and Vitality (Secondary) each level to keep your Bonemancer tanky. Items will keep your DPS up with fast cast times, and extra synergy into your main damage type.
Suggested Items:
Any 2 slot wand with +3 Bone Spear (Runeword “White” slotted), Mage Fist gauntlets, Harlequin Crest, Skin of the Viper Magi/Archon Plate (Runeword “Enigma” slotted), Any Monarch Shield (Runeword “Spirit” slotted), and Arachnid Mesh Belt.
As before rings and amulets are interchangeable.
Bone Spear: Max first for ridiculous DPS.
Bone Spirit: Max second, your late game missile that locks onto the target. Also has Crowd Control by stunning a bit on-hit.
Bone Wall, Prison, and Teeth: All remaining points after completing Summoning and Curses skill tree selections.
Clay Golem: 1 point, this is going to be your buddy keeping you alive by slowing enemies.
Revive: 1 point with 1 point in each skill required to unlock it. Revive will provide you more a meat shield while duking it out with other players or monsters.
Optional, as they’re most useful in party situations or Lagamancer (Summoner Necro, also fun for adding to the Whirlwind desync) builds.
What’s more fun than teleport-punching enemies like Scorpion from Mortal Kombat? Not a lot. Tele Zeal/Smite Paladins can also utilize Charge, instead of the runeword “Enigma”, to further add to a BvC’s desync. Keep in mind the “Enigma” runeword is hard to build and find components for, buying it outright will save a lot of time.
Smite is a shield based attack that hits every time, no roll required.
Zeal hits with your weapon, in an area to multiple enemies each animation.
Word to the wise, you can kill yourself by teleporting on an enemies with a thorn aura, using zeal, and kill yourself in splash back damage. Look before you teleport on tankier classes, and Charge down the rest.
You cannot build for both, however they do utilize the same items in their build. Smite Paladins are the most common; Zeal Paladins are rare and used for PvP.
You’ll be maximizing your Dexterity and Vitality primarily, and only putting points into Strength to equip your items.
Items: Berserker Axe (Runeword “Grief” slotted), Archon Plate (Runeword “Enigma” slotted), Crown of Ages, Dracul’s Grasp, Herald of Zakarum (Runeword “Exile” slotted), and Arachnid’s Mesh.
As before rings and amulets are interchangeable.
Sacrifice: Maxed only due to synergy with Zeal.
Zeal: Max first, this is your main damage output.
Holy Shield: Max late game, with one point in each skill needed to unlock it.
Defiance: Maxed
Vigor: 1 point
Salvation: 1 point
Fanaticism: Maxed, with one point in each skill needed to unlock it.
Smite: Max second, this is your main damage output.
Holy Shield: Max first, with one point in each skill needed to unlock it.
Salvation: 1 point
Fanaticism: Maxed, with one point in each skill needed to unlock it.
Thanks for reading, and to the veterans who never took a break in playing, we’d love to hear your comments and suggestions to returning/new players below: a growing player base keeps our community strong.