if you best build to play through the game on each class, honestly llama's videos are probably your best bet

but best budget build to make fg as of 2.5 is cold sorc

I was hoping for some more texted guides, so you dont have to watch a 40 min. video

the problem with llama's guides is that he uses up all his respecs.

for the barbs I like the mace barb for starters. you can use black rune word early. the best early game melee weapons are hammers. you can beat hell with an upped Bonesnap, Steeldriver or Bloody Tree Stump. the scourge and flail are good weapons for the cheaper rune words. the ik set other than the armor drops pretty common, and it is cheap to trade for. An Immortal King barb can farm hell without much problem, and they don't need an anni or torch.

standard ww barb is what I'd go with.
max ww
max BO
max mace mastery
1 natural resistance
1 faster run walk
1 to berserk too.

you will need 232 strength for ik armor so as you lvl keep that in mind.

when I level I usually but 1 into the skills and shouts I want and start lvling mace mastery. at lvl 24 i start lvling BO. at 30 I get all the final skills i want then go back to BO. then I lvl ww, and then mace mastery. then whatever.

the gear i recommend is IK set (duress or smoke would be good alternatives for armor in early ladder) ravenfrost angelic ammy and ring. 2 ravens and highlords would be good too. ik set adds a lot of ar but you'll still needs more imo. you don't really need warcry weapons, so the swap is free.

Exactly the kind of knowledge i was looking for! Thx for sharing bro

np i have a few more ideas ill add if nobody posts better versions.

For softcore. Blizz sorc naked is fine.

the nice thing about playing diablo 2 in 2022 is you can farm or trade for respec tokens

yeah, but they go 2 per ist rune. that is a lot when you are just starting.