Class: Pal, Nec, Sorc suggested. Ama, Bar not advised.
Tag: None

This is a description of what it's like to follow the Naked Way in Diablo 2. This is NOT something pertaining to you sitting and playing Diablo in your bare ass. Basically, the Naked Way is a description of characters that play without items.

I did not invent this playstyle. I have simply played using this style on various characters so I think I know enough about it to make a nice, informational write up. :)

There are no set-in-stone rules to Nudism, but here are my thoughts on it.

Mercernaries are optional. Some may find it vile to slay enemies with one who does not follow the naked way, but others may see it as a chance to show the item-using merc the folly of his ways and the power of the Naked Way.

In-game quests are unrestricted. (Items required to be equipped to do quests, such as Khalim's Will to destroy the Compelling Orb, are allowed to be used for that reason only.)

Throwing Potions are optional. Some would call them a weapon, yet they are not dependant on Attack Rating to hit their targets. In short, Throwing Potions are allowed because they're much like the scrolls of D1: They're used one time and that's it. They're also over-priced, as were the scrolls in D1. A final aspect is that they're a type of potion!

Some of us may prefer to keep "Run" mode toggled all the time. However, sometimes you may wish to toggle "Walk" mode and use the manual "Run" button (CTRL button for PC). One reasoning behind this is strategy. If you have a monster following you, it will move at either a Walk or a Run depending on how you move. If you're walking and then suddenly run, you'll have gained some distance on your pursuer because while you were running they were walking. This can be very useful. You also recover some stamina while you walk.

A player corpse has two uses to the nudist. The first use is that in a laggy environment it shows you where you really died as opposed to where you thought you died. The second use, while probably never going to be used on purpose, is that a player corpse provides a light radius, so, if you wish, you may die to provide extra illumination in a particular area.

Use terrain to your advantage and, at all costs, prevent monsters from using terrain to their advantage. An example of this is the forked path beyond the River of Flame way point. This particular area is very leathal to some nudists because of Abyss Knights. Abyss Knights often gather in clusters on a forked path and fire at you when you often cannot even see them. To make matters worse, the maze-like forked path can lead to dead ends in more ways than one.

Skills are the life of a nudist. IMO, Offensive Skills should be honed first. Defensive skills are situational. Neutral skills are somewhere in between. Putting skill points in non-damaging skills can lead to hardships later on when your skills need many repeat castings to kill a single monster. On the other hand, having some defensive skills (such as Bone Armor) can prevent you from dieing after a monster lands a single blow on you. Still yet the neutral skills (Warmth, Redemption, Meditation) can keep you from returning to town as often.

The Sorceress is probably the class most weakened by the way of Nudism. There are many reasons for this, but I shall not go into them here as they are very numerous.

You may wish to bind "Throw Item" to your Left Action Icon so that you don't end up charging into a mob because you have melee attack selected.

Know your enemies' resistances so that you dispose of them with the greatest of ease.

How much Warmth do you need, if any? Constant regeneration of mana is a good thing, but will you be returning to town often anyway (to sell things, get more healing potions, etc.)? Your frequency of town visits and reasons for town visits may be a good indicator of how much you need to invest in Warmth if you wish to invest at all. Remember that the opportunity cost for investing in Warmth is a weaker offense.

Inferno is useful early on. In fact, it is very useful even in multiplayer games because of the damage per second. Damage per second is much more economical than damage per cast. Test this theory for yourself, if you wish, by using Fire Ball to kill things and using Inferno to kill things in a multiplayer game. I think you'll see what I mean.

As far as I can see, there are two main paths to Nude Paladins. The first path is the Blessed Hammer Nudist and the second is the Thorny Nudist. My experience is with the Blessed Hammer Nudist (BHN), so that's what I'll address.

Even as a BHN you might want to invest 1 point in Thorns until you can get Blessed Hammer. Otherwise the trip will be a long one.

I highly recommend that BHNs pump Energy early on, but later I'd recommend pumping vitality to prevent one-hit-kills. Also, if you get Redemption it is unlikely that you'll ever really need a load of mana.

Redemption is, hands down, better than Meditation. It requires a few prerequisite points, but I think you'll find at least Vigor to be a useful prerequisite.

The Necromancer is pretty straightforeward. He's got minions and walls to absorb damage, Bone Armor can absorb physical damage, curses can do all kinds of things to monster AI. Experiment on your own and see what he's like. :)

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