Here is a tip since you are re-rolling a bit.

Clear as many catacombs as you can as fast as you can from level 1 to level 15 for Maps (+Well sell) and also upgrading your gear along the way.

Collect up Tier III - Tier V whites (easily done) and well them as soon as possible... now if you are level 1 and find a Well, you have two ways to improving your survival and killing factor. #1: Use +1XX Max Life Tier III / IV armor or main charm to keep you alive longer so you can attack more offen without going to town and shrine #2 try to get a Tier III Heavy Weapon with either +Max Life or +% EE with your +max life armor or charm.

Why +Max Life of 150+ ... Barb starts with +50 Vitality = 120 Max Life, so another +150 Max Life is double right, at level 1... and that is only on 1 item, so if you have 2, you triple your hit points, thus lasting longer and dealing damage.

You do the maths... also... Tier III & IV's with max life is good to use, the heavy weapon suggestion is because it deals Double base damage, and you will never find a Club (Tier III) with 100% EE.

It is all up to you... welling is also a good way to get gear: When you put in a Tier III white item, the Side drops can go up to a Tier V item. So, if you are welling a Tier V (level 10) item, the Side drop could be a Tier VII (level 20 item). Hence the reason why I stated to Well items as soon as possible, and in early Well finds (level 1 or 3 catacomb) you need to survive and easily kill off the Well Monster.

Hope this makes sense... if not, trial and error.

EDIT: Well tip #2 if found at level 1... use Whistle standing next to the Well in hopes of whites to drop, also, if level 1, you can try welling Tier I items and hope for Tier III side drops, this also helps with experience points, you can continue on with Tier II items as well.

This post was edited by izParagonzi on Jul 25 2025 08:03pm

Okay I'm trying to make the transition from mage to rogue now, have bought a dagger with some consistent damage and it seems I had a HP charm as well. It seems like melee is faster even on mage which probably I shouldn't but I'm trying to finish this whole maze before reroll into rogue.

Start off with a barb... if not and you want to continue with Rogue / Mage, then I suggest you melee from level 1 to 15 minimum before casting... your hit points are too low. Dexterity on a Rogue is high (believe Mage also), so using EE weapons like dagger / staff will be more than enough to fast track to level 15 while building up your hit points either by adding Vitality or using + Max Life gear.

Hence people normally start of with a Barb ... or a fighter (barb is my choice out of the two). As for myself, I am an odd duck, I start with a Guardian ... I like them now.

Magic is strong at high levels due to high damage, high crit, and the ability to use big heals.

But at low levels melee is pretty much always faster for the first few classes.
And melee will shine on budget gear due to mana being a huge constraint for magic.

I wouldn't bother healing on melee, better to just get a lot of points in vit and use life regen items in town.

This post was edited by Bradymuck on Jul 26 2025 12:09am

To be honest I've asked in General Help which class would better fit for HC and got no answer which brought me the idea of going mage as I was thinking that can do higher damage and help me farm gear for another class. I've got a charm tier III with EE% and that made me continue casting and reroll when felt fights are slower and riskier.
Wasn't too lucky to find some upgrades or new gear for other class so I searched market, no luck there either, tho I have found a dagger EE% level 10 for a decent price and after purchased it had to look to see on what type of hero can be used and that got me to rogue.
Will do the same thing now, climbing to 20+ and see how it goes and take decisions later. Hopefully evil fights will be a bit safer as with mage were quite a struggle and very risky.

Okay... mage or rogue from level 1 to 15:

Rogue starting stats:
... Str 30, Dex 60 (Dagger / Staff & Spear), Int 25 (total 50 mana points at level 1) & Vit 35 (total 70 hit points at level 1)
Mage starting stats:
... Str 20, Dex 50 (Dagger / Staff & Spear), Int 60 (total 120 mana points at level 1) & Vit 20 (total 40 hit points at level 1)

Armor class use is a difference... Rogue can use Leather & Scale which have higher Universal defense vs Robes which Mage can only use, thus a mage is less defensive vs Melee attacks, and low vitality = low hit points and normally to counter this, you would use heal type charms, the downfall is that it consumes mana, whereas melee attacks don't... so early levels... melee / heal early levels or use +max life gear and switch at higher levels when hit points are optimal to cast / kill and heal to the next level without shrining (optimal outcome) ... or just shrine / regen in town.

Since they both have high dexterity vs other feeder classes... the conclusion at low levels is to Melee with Dagger / Staff or Spear with either Mage or Rogue.

Pump your starting stat points into... vitality... since you are hardcore, the advice is to keep pumping all stat points into Vitality until you reach a minimum of 100 base vitality.

You can work out what level your character will be by the time you want to add in points to Intelligence (Mage) for casting / healing or Rogue points to Dexterity for Melee... if you want melee / heal, then get a minimum of 30 Intelligence if you have higher heal charms with minimum of 100% EE. or you can pump Intelligence for casting / heal Rogue, you just need to work on gear with +Stats etc.

Play around from level 1 to 25 on either class, re roll, get accustomed to equipment and your play style to decide what you want to do... also, keep a track of what items you need if you were to pass Master Quest and then become a Samurai that has 10 base intelligence and can use Daggers, Sword or Longswords... no other weapons.

Research as you play.

EDIT: forgot to mention, if you pass to Paladin from your Samurai, just remember this, a Paladin can NOT use Daggers, Staff or Spears ... thus you have to find weapons suitable for a Paladin during your climbs.

Hence the reason why Barb is a choice ... Club / Sword can be used by Paladin, the Samurai can use Sword.

https://ladderslasher.d2jsp.org/index.php?g=2

This post was edited by izParagonzi on Jul 26 2025 02:12am