Newbie takes on D2 for the first time

[haphazard1]

Having played some classic Diablo with the GOG release of the original game, I am now moving on to fresh confusion (and lots of questions) in Diablo 2.

I decided to begin with a sorceress, tentatively planning to emphasize the lightning skills. I have been told this is rather a noob choice but since I pretty much am one hopefully it won't turn out too badly.

After chatting with the inhabitants of the rogue camp and being given an initial quest to clear a cave befouled by evil, I entered the Blood Moor (charming name) and started shocking fallen, quill rats, and the occasional zombie along with thwacking them with my staff. Hmmm, shrines and a well; not sure yet what these do. Are the shrines single use, or do they reset/recharge after a time?

I collect a bit of gold and a few basic bits of loot, explore the area, and find an entrance to the next region with a rogue who warns me to turn back. Seems like good advice for now. I manage to wander all over the place without finding the evil cave for quite a while, but gain an initial couple levels and find a little bit of basic gear (a cap, some boots, etc.).

Finally I stumble across the cave and cautiously enter. Fallen and some big shambling things, plus zombies. And they keep coming back to life. This could be a problem, although I suppose also a bit of a farming opportunity. OK, there are some shamans raising the killed monsters. How annoying! I am guessing I am going to get awfully tired of these guys.

A bit of work results in all the shaman becoming dead (can they raise one another?), and then I finish off everything else (including one zombie with spectral hit -- not really sure what that does) and head back to the camp. A bonus skill point is a useful reward. I put it in warmth for more mana regen. I gained a couple more levels, and add those points into charged bolt. Stat points go into energy, some dex, and a couple points of strength to allow wearing some quilted armor I found. Probably noob choices, but I will try it and see how it goes.

Another quest: defeat Blood Raven. I guess it is time to head past that guard into the next region. I talk to everyone in camp again and buy a couple more bits of gear (a belt, some gloves, simple stuff). Hmmm, what is gambling? Looks like purchasing unidentified items? Well, maybe later I will have more gold and that might be worthwhile to try to fill holes in my gear.

Onward to the next area, seeking the burial grounds and this Blood Raven person....

So far I am having fun, and getting used to the interface changes from Diablo 1. The day/night cycle on the Blood Moor was a nice effect, does that apply to all outdoors regions?

[superdeath]

There is, as far as i can remember.. a day/night cycle for most outdoor areas.

If you have any actual questions you want answered, and not just questions you might be writing down to question yourself/ect.. imo, put them at the bottom of your post. Like, i could answer the gambling, Whether shaman's can raise each other, what spectral hit is ect.

[haphazard1]

Thanks, superdeath. I will try to put actual questions at the end of posts. I was just giving my initial impressions of the game. I am sure this is all very, very old and basic stuff for D2 veterans who have played the opening of the game a ton of times. But it is new to me.

Shrines -- single use? Or do they recharge/reset over time? I guess I will have to work out what they do by experiment. Some seem obvious enough (skill shrine presumably boosts my skills for a while, combat shrine boost maybe attack rating?, etc.) but others are more obscure (a refilling shrine? Replenishes something, I guess, maybe mana?).

No idea about spectral hit. That zombie leader (or whatever the proper term is for a special monster like him) did not manage to actually hit me, so no info on that one yet. I know from reading some D2 accounts that there are a lot of these traits that can show up, and also in combination (presumably later in the game). Like shrines some seem obvious enough (extra fast for example) but others are less so.

I am sure I could look all of this up, but for the moment it is more fun to just experience the game fresh without knowing what everything is.

[superdeath]

I wish i could experience it all over again

[KingOfPain]

I wish i could experience it all over again

why not?

[haphazard1]

Hopefully my newbie impressions will bring back some fond memories. And maybe encourage a few people to fire up the game again.

[Boro]

I did, recently, trying out skelemancer for the first time since I fell off the chair playing it five years ago.

I have good and bad news: The bad news is, that neither static nor charged bolt work on immunes. the good news is, however, that naturally immune enemies never have more lightning resistance than 100% (not counting random boss abilities), which even the smallest lower resist wand (with fixed charges and rechargeable by blacksmith) can break that. down to 94%, for what it's worth

Another thing, that both blaze and firewall seem to deal respectable sheet damage without too much investment, making them reasonable (and fun!) options when dealing with immunes. (if you don't want to take frozen orb)

[Nelphine]

I wish i could experience it all over again

why not?

Eidetic memory when it comes to game rules.

[T-hawk]

Most shrines reset after a few minutes. A few are single use, I think at least Experience and Refilling. There's none with any permanent negative effect (unlike in D1) so you're free to experiment,

Spectral Hit is a random boss modifier that adds (multiple types of?) elemental damage to each weapon attack (melee or missile).

Most sorceresses will deal with monsters immune to their primary element by building up one skill in another tree once into Hell difficulty. Frozen Orb is a common choice.

[KingOfPain]

Btw, this is how you build a proper Sorcy.

https://www.realmsbeyond.net/forums/showthread.php?tid=2849&pid=33161#pid33161 

You've got to pump Strength to wield the meanest axe in the game even a barbarian would have trouble with.