Introduction
Hello everyone, this is Erayz. As you may have seen on this forum, I have made a thread a while back where I give updates on my progress on my unreasonable Diablo II project, in which the goal is to reach level 99 with all classes, in all modes. Meaning all 7 classes in LoD SC, LoD HC, all 5 classes in Classic SC and Classic HC. This means a grand total of 24 characters, or 2376 levels.1.09 has always been my favorite version, by far, so I stuck to this version since back when it was the live version on Battle.net, so pretty much forever (started Single Player in 2005 IIRC) and have been working on this project off and on ever since. I had a few setbacks (Hard drive crash and lost all my data around 2009), some deaths in HC, some characters whose builds weren’t suited, or found too boring to reach level 99 that I had to remake. Considering all these years and time passed, I have relatively "little" progress, since I also play other games and have other hobbies, plus working a full time job (trying to be a functionnig adult, you know!)
My progress as of the writing of this guide is as follow:
Information for 1.09 is now very scarce on the internet, and the information you can find about leveling in this patch is mostly "go kill cows in a 8 players game". This is not necessarily suited for Single Player, so I decided I’d try making a guide, based on my personal experience and testing I’ve done over the years. There may be some inaccuracies and some suboptimal strategies, but all of this guide here is to the best of my knowledge about this version.
This guide is built so that both modes (Expansion, Classic) will have their section, in which I give some general guidelines and information, such as the best areas to gain experience, XP gains per monsters depending on your level, etc. This information will not be 100% complete, but should be enough for people like me who are crazy enough to try and go for a similar goal
. For each mode, there is a short section for every class, going through some builds, in order to try and give recommendations. Please note that this guide only covers up to players 8, even though version 1.09b allows up to players 64. Some strategies might differ on higher player settings. I just limit myself to players 8 when playing, because that is the maximum amount of actual players possible in a game.Last thing, this guide does not cover any leveling below the 80s generally, as anything before that is easily attainable just by going through the game on Hell difficulty.
Expansion (LoD)
In 1.09 Expansion, most of the best areas to gain experience are in late Act 5 Hell, and obviously the famous Cow level is among the best places to gain experience. In no particular order, here are some areas I use when leveling in Expansion:Leveling Zones
Bloody Foothills
Back when 1.09 was the live version on Battle.net, players loved to do the so-called Blood runs, which consisted of having a full party splitting in two groups. One group starting at the Frigid Highlands’ waypoint, and the other group starting from Harrogath, clearing everything in sight, and meeting at the center of the map, before starting a new run.This place must have been great for leveling in groups, with a variety of builds working together, but I found it to be not so good in Single Player. Melee builds will struggle because of the Death Maulers who are Physical Immune. Caster builds will struggle killing monsters here on players 8, mostly because the monster packs are rather small, and can’t really be lured easily to make bigger packs, due to how the terrain is. Enslaved are Cold Immune, so it limits options for most Sorcs. Javazons might do alright, but due to the small enemy packs and lots of Physical Immunes, may have trouble keeping their mana pool up.
Another option with Bloody Foothills would be to start from Frigid Highlands’ waypoint, kill Eldritch’s pack and then go down to kill Shenk and all his minion. This makes for a short run giving decent XP.
Abaddon/Pit of Acheron/Infernal Pit
These areas can be fun to do sometimes if you get bored and want some variety. Though it’s not worth doing with casters IMO. Suboptimal at best for melee builds, partly because of the frequent Immune Physical Frenzytaurs. You’d need to have at least some non-physical attack options, such as Vengeance for Paladins, or Berserk on Barbarians. Also those zones are usually far from waypoints and are pretty small.Crystalline Passage/Glacial Trail/Frozen River/Drifter Cavern
Those places are among the best to level with melee builds. I wouldn’t recommend doing those with casters due to the variety of immunities encountered. Bowazon will do well here as well. These areas are slightly outclassed by Ancients’ Way and Icy Cellar.Ancients’ Way/Icy Cellar
Same as the previous areas, but monsters here will give more XP per kill. For Paladins and Werewolve Druids, this is the #1 spot for leveling, all the way to 99. What I found to be the fastest XP per hour was to find a map where the waypoint would be close to the Icy Cellar, and kill all uniques/champions packs on the way to the Icy Cellar, and then fully clear the Icy Cellar. IIRC, each run will give around 1.5m to 2m XP.Zombie Garden (Nihlathak's Temple)
This place is great for most builds, when you want to play a bit when being pressed for time and still make some progress. To have the quickest access to this zone, you must not take the waypoint in the Halls of Pain. Zombie Garden runs are really quick and give about 400k to 600k XP at level 98. I would say this is #2 or #3 for melee builds.Halls of Anguish/Pain/Vaught
Just like Abaddon, PIt of Acheron and Infernal Pit, those place are suboptimal, but still give decent experience. They are great when you want some variety or are bored with other zones. The difference here, is those zones are huge, making for much longer runs. Monsters packs are relatively scarce in there though.Worldstone Keep/Throne of Destruction/Baal
Don’t bother with WSK level 1 and 3. Level 2 is where it’s at. On level 3, Death Lords are worth killing if you see them. If you don’t plan on doing Throne and/or Baal, you should stick with level 2. I haven’t ran much of Throne, but IIRC it’s a zone worth clearing out, not 100% sure though. I have a feeling Stygian Furies give low XP due to how frail they are. Baal runs are cool too, but are pretty slow. So it’s another fun thing to do for variety.I used WSK level 2 similarly to the Zombie Garden, as quick runs when I wanted just a quick D2 session. A full clear of level 2 would take about 2 minutes, and give around 600k-800k XP at level 98. So I’d consider this one of the top spots for Paladins and melee Druids. Really good for Whirlwind Barbarians too.
The Secret Cow Level
This place needs no introduction, Cow runs are what version 1.09 is most often remembered for. This is by far the most popular and overpowered place for leveling all the way to level 99. Lots and lots of monsters, huge packs and open areas, Hell Bovine have no immunities and give great XP. What else do you want? This is the obvious #1 spot for Sorceresses, Amazons, Necromancers, Whirlwind Barbarians and Assassins. Paladins tend to struggle here, unless they have Schaefer’s Hammer. Keep in mind, if you play version 1.09d, Schaefer’s Hammer will be useless because all Chance to Cast are broken in this particular version. At level 98, every full clear will net around 6-7 million XP.Quick tips for newer players or people coming from D2R: Do not kill the Cow King! This will prevent you from making another portal to the Cow Level. To make a portal, transmute a Tome of Town Portal and Wirt’s leg in the Horadric Cube while you are in Rogue Encampment in Act 1.
Classes
Amazon
Almost any Amazon build will do incredibly well in the CowLevel, so much so that any other zone is not worth doing, as they would give very little XP over time in comparison.In general, since you’ll spend most of your time in the Cow Level, resistances aren’t as important. You’re better off using physical damage reduction % gear. In HC you’ll still want to have decent Lightning and Cold resist in case of Lightning or Cold Enchanted Cows. But usually you can keep yourself healthy just by shooting/throwing in any general direction to leech life and mana from offscreen cows.
Here are some quick gear recommendations
Helm:
Any stat you need to complete your build, mostly life/resistance. Javazon will prioritize Lightning skillers. Bowazons don’t get much benefits from skillers, and would rather use a full inventory of poison damage charms, due to how poison works in 1,09 (shortly, the more poison damage sources you have, the more the poison damage stacks in a bugged way)
- Vampire Gaze
- Harlequin’s Crest (Shako)
- Tal Rasha’s Crest
- Cat’s Eye
- Highlord’s Wrath
- Raven Frost
- Bul Khatos’ Wedding Band
- Stone of Jordan
- Rare ring with leech, resists, Dexterity, Strength
- 1.08 Arkaine’s Valor
- Shaftstop
- Lionheart runeword
- 160/60 of the Whale (good luck!)
- Rare Gloves with 20% Attack Speed, +2 Bow or Javelin skills, Mana/life Leech, resists, Dexterity
- Crafted Blood Gloves
- Laying of Hands
- Thundergod’s Vigor
- Razortail
- Nosferatu’s coil
- String of Ears
- War Travelers
- Gore Riders:
- Rare boots with 30% Faster run/walk, 10% Hit recovery, high Lightning/Cold/Fire and Dexterity
- Buriza-do Kyanon
- Eaglehorn
- Windforce if you can find it!
- Titan’s Revenge Obvious choice for Javazon
- Stormshield
- Rhyme runeword
Any stat you need to complete your build, mostly life/resistance. Javazon will prioritize Lightning skillers. Bowazons don’t get much benefits from skillers, and would rather use a full inventory of poison damage charms, due to how poison works in 1,09 (shortly, the more poison damage sources you have, the more the poison damage stacks in a bugged way)
Amazon Builds:
Bowazon: Guided Arrow is a must, for single targets. In 1.09, if it pierces, it will go back and forth through your target, and for some reason, will even sometimes hit multiple times while going through your target. Multiple shot is really strong if you have a bunch of poison charms, since you can poison lots of foes at the same time. While it seems an unpopular choice, I love to use Freezing Arrow, it deals great damage and is amazing for crowd control as well.
Pierce depends on what bow you use, AKA don’t put any point in Pierce if you pla on using Buriza.
You should level mostly in the Cow Level, though this build does well pretty much anywhere, if only a little fragile, depending on your gear.
Javazon: Lightning Fury all the way. Pierce is a must. On switch, use a Buriza and max Guided Arrow for lightning immunes and bosses/uniques. Spam Lightning Fury in Cow level and you have the fastest level 99 build in all of Diablo 2’s history.
Pierce depends on what bow you use, AKA don’t put any point in Pierce if you pla on using Buriza.
You should level mostly in the Cow Level, though this build does well pretty much anywhere, if only a little fragile, depending on your gear.
Javazon: Lightning Fury all the way. Pierce is a must. On switch, use a Buriza and max Guided Arrow for lightning immunes and bosses/uniques. Spam Lightning Fury in Cow level and you have the fastest level 99 build in all of Diablo 2’s history.
Assassin
In my experience, Death Sentry is a must if you want to reach level 99 in a reasonable time. Phoenix Strike is really weak on players 8 most of the time, because most monster packs through the game are too small. In my opinion, the only real place to level an Assassin is in the Cow Level.Gear recommendations are as follow:
Helm:
Any stat you need to complete your build, mostly life/resistance if your resistances are lacking. Traps and Martial Arts skillers are very useful too.
- Vampire Gaze
- Tal Rasha’s Crest
- Highlord’s Wrath
- Raven Frost
- Bul Khatos’ Wedding Band
- Stone of Jordan
- Rare ring with leech, resists, Dexterity, Strength
- 1.08 Arkaine’s Valor
- Shaftstop
- Lionheart runeword
- Crafted Blood Gloves with 20% Attack Speed, Mana Leech, Resists and some stats
- Laying of Hands
- String of Ears
- Nosferatu’s coil
- Thundergod’s Vigor
- War Travelers
- Gore Riders
- Rare boots with 30% Faster run/walk, 10% Hit recovery, high Lightning/Cold/Fire and Dexterity
- Bartuc’s Cut-Throat
- Stormshield
- Rhyme runeword
Any stat you need to complete your build, mostly life/resistance if your resistances are lacking. Traps and Martial Arts skillers are very useful too.
Assassin Builds:
For most Assassin builds I recommend using 2x Bartuc’s, Dragon Claw as your finishing move, and Burst of Speed. If playing HC, you may switch one claw for a shield if you want, preferably Stormshield.
Phoenix Strike/Death Sentry: With this build, the only real option on players 8 is the Cow level. This build is very strong anywhere in the game on players 1, so you’ll have an easy time questing, but Phoenix Strike has pretty low damage for players 8 monsters. This is the build I used, and the rotation I did was as follow: Do 1-2 hits of the 3rd charge to freeze the cows directly surrounding you, then spam the Meteor charges until a few cows die. Then cast Death Sentry and keep spamming Meteors. Rinse and repeat. This makes for really quick runs.
Tiger Strike/Death Sentry: A physical version of the build above. Gives you more options of areas to run to level, but is a lot slower overall due to having no AoE damage. I do not recommend this build.
Blender: A build I read about online, supposedly you have to stack Crushing Blow, and have one source of Freeze Target, such as Iceblink. The build uses Blade Shield as its main attack, it is said that frozen enemies getting hit by a Crushing Blow are instantly killed , shattering in ice. I played around with this build in Hero Editor and could never make it work, not sure what I did wrong.
Phoenix Strike/Death Sentry: With this build, the only real option on players 8 is the Cow level. This build is very strong anywhere in the game on players 1, so you’ll have an easy time questing, but Phoenix Strike has pretty low damage for players 8 monsters. This is the build I used, and the rotation I did was as follow: Do 1-2 hits of the 3rd charge to freeze the cows directly surrounding you, then spam the Meteor charges until a few cows die. Then cast Death Sentry and keep spamming Meteors. Rinse and repeat. This makes for really quick runs.
Tiger Strike/Death Sentry: A physical version of the build above. Gives you more options of areas to run to level, but is a lot slower overall due to having no AoE damage. I do not recommend this build.
Blender: A build I read about online, supposedly you have to stack Crushing Blow, and have one source of Freeze Target, such as Iceblink. The build uses Blade Shield as its main attack, it is said that frozen enemies getting hit by a Crushing Blow are instantly killed , shattering in ice. I played around with this build in Hero Editor and could never make it work, not sure what I did wrong.
Barbarian
In 1.09, the Barbarian is one of the strongest class. In part due to the Masteries bug, which makes it so weapons Masteries skills give 100% Deadly Strike. Also, monsters in 1.09 have very low HP compared to later versions. Thanks to Berserk, you can deal substantial non-physical damange to deal with Immune Physical, meaning you can run absolutely anywhere, and quite fast.Gear recommendations are as follow:
Helm:
Max Damage/Attack Rating, Life, Resistances. IMO, Skillers are not very useful on a Barbarian.
- Areat’s Face
- Vampire Gaze
- Cat’s Eye
- Rare Amulet with Mana Leech, Barbarian skills, all Resists
- Raven Frost
- Bul Khatos’ Wedding Band
- Rare ring with leech, resists, Dexterity, Strength
- 1.08 Arkaine’s Valor
- Shaftstop
- Lionheart runeword
- Crafted Blood Gloves with 20% Attack Speed, Mana Leech, Resists and some stats
- Laying of Hands
- String of Ears
- Nosferatu’s coil
- Thundergod’s Vigor
- War Travelers
- Waterwalk
- Rare boots with 30% Faster run/walk, 10% Hit recovery, high Lightning/Cold/Fire and Dexterity
- Grandfather
- Doombringer
- Cruel Colossus Blade of Quickness socketed with one Eth and whatever. 2x Shael if not "of Quickness"
- Fury runeword
- Silence runeword
- +3 Warcries on switch
- Stormshield
Max Damage/Attack Rating, Life, Resistances. IMO, Skillers are not very useful on a Barbarian.
Barbarian Builds:
Whirlwind: This is the best build for a Barbarian. A must is to have at least one weapon reaching the last attack speed breakpoint. Based on my experience, you’ll also need one of your weapons to be socketed with an Eth rune. Eth rune is bugged in 1.09, multiplying the monsters defense by -25%, instead of reducing their defense by 25%, so you’ll have an automatic 95% chance to hit. Combined with the Masteries bug. Some guides say that using 2x Cruel Colossus Blade (of Quickness, 2x Shael’d) deals more damage than using Grandfather, but based on my experience, I had the best results with Grandfather and a Cruel Colossus Blade, even though everyone says I’m wrong. Grandfather cannot reach the last breakpoint alone. Use Berserk for Physical Immunes, and you’ll never encounter an enemy pack giving you trouble, except Stone Skin / Extra Fast / Mana burn uniques, I hate them.
Frenzy: I never tried this build, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Surely slower than Whirlwind in the cow level, but fantastic everywhere else.
Concentrate: Personally, I love this build, but to reach level 99 with it requires the patience of a saint. Killing one monster at a time can be tedious. Either use a single two-handed sword without a shield to maximize damage, or use a shield for block and resistances.
Frenzy: I never tried this build, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Surely slower than Whirlwind in the cow level, but fantastic everywhere else.
Concentrate: Personally, I love this build, but to reach level 99 with it requires the patience of a saint. Killing one monster at a time can be tedious. Either use a single two-handed sword without a shield to maximize damage, or use a shield for block and resistances.
Druid
The Druid was always one of my favorite classes in this patch. Especially in wolf form, with its super fast attack speed, and high damage and HP. But they lack options when facing monsters who are Immune to Physical.Gear recommendations are as follow:
Helm:
Shapeshifting skills, Max Damage/Attack Rating, Life, Resistances.
- Jalal’s Mane
- Vampire Gaze
- Highlord’s Wrath
- Rare Amulet with Mana Leech, all Resists, Dexterity, Strength
- Raven Frost
- Bul Khatos’ Wedding Band
- Rare ring with leech, resists, Dexterity, Strength
- 1.08 Arkaine’s Valor
- Shaftstop
- Lionheart runeword
- Crafted Blood Gloves with 20% Attack Speed, Mana Leech, Resists and some stats
- Laying of Hands
- String of Ears
- Nosferatu’s coil
- Thundergod’s Vigor
- War Travelers
- Waterwalk
- Rare boots with 30% Faster run/walk, 10% Hit recovery, high Lightning/Cold/Fire and Dexterity
- Buriza-Do Kyanon (Yes, it works while shapeshifted and is one of the top weapons!)
- Immortal King’s Stone Crusher
- Baranar’s Star
- Stormshield
- Tiamat’s Rebuke (Weird I know, explained in the build section)
Shapeshifting skills, Max Damage/Attack Rating, Life, Resistances.
Druid Builds:
Werewolf: Just the usual, max Werewolf, Lycanthropy, Fury. Put one point in Hunger, as it is very useful when you’re in trouble or when you run out of mana (especially if you do not have a source of Mana leech). As for summons, either Oak Sage for survivability or Heart of Wolverine for extra damage. Carrion Vine can be used too for a tiny bit more survivability, but it tends to die quickly.
As for gearing, if you want really want a way to deal with Physical Immunes, you can use Baranar’s Star, and maybe Tiamat’s Rebuke, if you don’t have Stormshield. Tiamat is pretty bad overall, but gives some elemental damage which can help chip Physical Immunes’ HPs away. However, doing so, you’ll sacrifice a lot of killing power, so I still think the best thing to do overall is to just skip those monsters. People will tell you to use either Rabies or Fire Claws to deal with them, but the elemental damage on both is pitiful at best, especially on players 8. If you can find a nice Buriza, socket it with a Perfect Skull, and you’ll be set, it will still be used as a melee weapon in wolf form, IIRC the range is terrible, but the Freeze Target, high damage and superb attack speed more than make up for this. On switch, I like to use Fleshrender and Lidless wall for transforming, and summoning my pets.
Please note that having too much +skills to Shapeshifting will cause a game crash when transforming.
I’m not sure if the crash is caused by a total Shapeshifting level, or by the amount of +skills you have. In my case, if I have +13 skills and trasnform, the game will crash.
This build can handle the cow level, but having so many targets for Fury makes it so they regenerate a lot of health in between hits since the targets are chosen semi-randomly. You’re better off leveling anywhere else. I loved doing the Icy Cellar with this build.
Werebear: I’ve never tried this build in the late game personally, I have one in its 50s in HC, but the recommendations are pretty much the same as they are for Werewolf. Exception being that you will use Maul as your main attack, and Shock Wave for crowd control (though I’m not even sure if Shock Wave worth using in Hell difficulty). Obviously leveling with this build will be a lot slower, considering you’ll hit only one enemy at a time. Forget the Cow Level as a Werebear
Elemental: Don’t bother trying to level this to 99. It might be fun to quest with it, but the damage is way too low to handle higher player settings, even with top tier gear. I tested one once in Hero Editor, and while it feels like it would be fun, eveything takes forever to kill. Not to mention the fact you cannot buy mana potions in 1.09. You’d need a lot of Mana After Each Kill, so grind those +30 rings out in 1.07, but you’d sacrifice some very important +skills.
Maybe someone can get very creative and find a way to make it work? Maybe the AoE can be used effectively in the cow level?
As for gearing, if you want really want a way to deal with Physical Immunes, you can use Baranar’s Star, and maybe Tiamat’s Rebuke, if you don’t have Stormshield. Tiamat is pretty bad overall, but gives some elemental damage which can help chip Physical Immunes’ HPs away. However, doing so, you’ll sacrifice a lot of killing power, so I still think the best thing to do overall is to just skip those monsters. People will tell you to use either Rabies or Fire Claws to deal with them, but the elemental damage on both is pitiful at best, especially on players 8. If you can find a nice Buriza, socket it with a Perfect Skull, and you’ll be set, it will still be used as a melee weapon in wolf form, IIRC the range is terrible, but the Freeze Target, high damage and superb attack speed more than make up for this. On switch, I like to use Fleshrender and Lidless wall for transforming, and summoning my pets.
Please note that having too much +skills to Shapeshifting will cause a game crash when transforming.
I’m not sure if the crash is caused by a total Shapeshifting level, or by the amount of +skills you have. In my case, if I have +13 skills and trasnform, the game will crash.
This build can handle the cow level, but having so many targets for Fury makes it so they regenerate a lot of health in between hits since the targets are chosen semi-randomly. You’re better off leveling anywhere else. I loved doing the Icy Cellar with this build.
Werebear: I’ve never tried this build in the late game personally, I have one in its 50s in HC, but the recommendations are pretty much the same as they are for Werewolf. Exception being that you will use Maul as your main attack, and Shock Wave for crowd control (though I’m not even sure if Shock Wave worth using in Hell difficulty). Obviously leveling with this build will be a lot slower, considering you’ll hit only one enemy at a time. Forget the Cow Level as a Werebear
Elemental: Don’t bother trying to level this to 99. It might be fun to quest with it, but the damage is way too low to handle higher player settings, even with top tier gear. I tested one once in Hero Editor, and while it feels like it would be fun, eveything takes forever to kill. Not to mention the fact you cannot buy mana potions in 1.09. You’d need a lot of Mana After Each Kill, so grind those +30 rings out in 1.07, but you’d sacrifice some very important +skills.
Maybe someone can get very creative and find a way to make it work? Maybe the AoE can be used effectively in the cow level?
Necromancer
By far, the weakest class in 1.09. So much that I won’t go through builds for this class and instead just give general advice. Most of its skills deal too little damage for higher player settings, and most of Hell difficulty is very slow, even on players 1.Gear recommendations are as follow:
Helm:
Poison and Bone Skills, life, resistances
- Harlequin’s Crest (Shako)
- Mara’s Kaleidoscope
- Bul Khatos’ Wedding Band
- Stone of Jordan
- Skin of the Vipermagi
- Frostburns
- Gloom’s Trap
- Silkweave
- White runeword
- Blackbog’s Sharp
- Homunculus
- Lidless Wall
- Stormshield
Poison and Bone Skills, life, resistances
Necromancer Builds:
Questing with this class is one the hardest thing I ever had to do in this game. The only semi-reliable way to kill monsters was to use Blood Golem + Iron Maiden. There is a bug in early version of Diablo 2, where the damage from Iron Maiden counts as "leech" damage from the Blood Golem, making him the best meat shield you can hope for. However, I say it is onlysemi-reliable, because Iron Maiden doesn’t work against ranged attackers, or Immune to Physical monsters. Worst of all, it doesn’t work against the Ancients, who will kill your Blood Golem in an instant. Bosses also tend to one-shot all of your summons. For the rest, I used Poison Nova and Bone Spear. Luckily, the Blood Golem/Iron Maiden combo is AMAZING in the cow level and makes one of the fastest levelers in Expansion. Herd a lot of cows together, summon your Blood Golem in the middle of the pack, spam Iron Maiden and Poison Nova. Once a few cows die, spam Amplify Damage and Corpse Explosion, and everything will die in a few seconds. Use Lower Resistance on unique cows who are Immune to Physical.
You can also use either Bone Spear or Bone Spirit. Both deal low damage, but Bone spear travels faster, and pierces. Bone Spirit is a little stronger, but only hits a single target and is very slow. Up to you!
I’ve read of someone who used Poison Dagger and managed to make it work for questing, and even did so without a single death. This is why you can see Blackbog’s Sharp and Stormshield in the gear recommendations.
You can also use either Bone Spear or Bone Spirit. Both deal low damage, but Bone spear travels faster, and pierces. Bone Spirit is a little stronger, but only hits a single target and is very slow. Up to you!
I’ve read of someone who used Poison Dagger and managed to make it work for questing, and even did so without a single death. This is why you can see Blackbog’s Sharp and Stormshield in the gear recommendations.
Paladin
I’m not sure if I should consider the Paladin strong or weak. WIth the right gear and build, he can be nigh invincible. The Paladin has options for every single situation, meaning you’ll rarely, or never be in trouble even with its relatively small Life pool. But he deals such low damage that everything takes a while to kill in high players settings. This class has very few useful attacking moves in 1.09, pretty much limited to Zeal and Vengeance.Gear recommendations are as follow:
Helm:
Max Damage/Attack Rating, Life, Resistances
- Vampire Gaze
- Highlord’s Wrath
- Rare ring with Life Stolen, all resistances, Attack Rating, Dexterity, Strength
- Raven Frost
- 1.08 Arkaine’s valor
- Shaftstop
- Lionheart Runeword
- Crafted Blood Gloves with Dexterity and/or Strength, resistances
- Laying of Hands
- String of Ears
- Nosferatus’ Coil
- Thundergod’s Vigor
- Gore Rider
- War Travelers
- Schaefer’s Hammer (but not in 1.09d)
- Cruel Cryptic Sword, socketed with ED%/Max damage jewels
- Baranar’s Star
- Herald of Zakarum
- Stormshield
Max Damage/Attack Rating, Life, Resistances
Paladin Builds:
There is only one build that I know of with the Paladin in 1.09. Your main attack will be either Zeal or Vengeance. Don’t put more than one point in Zeal, your +skills will allow you to have 5 swings. Your main aura will be either Fanaticism or Conviction. Max Holy Shield for the extra chance to block if you’re going for max block. Have 1 point in Cleansing for the times you want to get rid of a curse and 1 in Redemption to help regenrate mana when facing Mana Burn or Immune to Physical monsters. Vigor is useful when running in between monster packs.
A cool trick you can do in 1.09 is Aura Flashing. When switching auras, it will take a few seconds before the previous aura will lose its effect, while the new aura will be effective instantly for you. So, if you want to deal massive damage, you can combine the effects of Conviction and Fanaticism like so: select Conviction, wait for the monsters to be affected by it, then switch to Fanaticism for the speed/damage/rating boost. You’ll have enough time to do a few Vengeance swings before Conviction disappears. Note that Aura Flashing only works with auras that affect monsters.
Just like the Druid, this build is too slow for the Cow Level, unless you are using Schaefer’s Hammer, which will make quick work of the cows at any player setting, due to the Chance to Cast of Static Field. Otherwise, Act 5 ice caves are a very nice place to level a Paladin up.
A cool trick you can do in 1.09 is Aura Flashing. When switching auras, it will take a few seconds before the previous aura will lose its effect, while the new aura will be effective instantly for you. So, if you want to deal massive damage, you can combine the effects of Conviction and Fanaticism like so: select Conviction, wait for the monsters to be affected by it, then switch to Fanaticism for the speed/damage/rating boost. You’ll have enough time to do a few Vengeance swings before Conviction disappears. Note that Aura Flashing only works with auras that affect monsters.
Just like the Druid, this build is too slow for the Cow Level, unless you are using Schaefer’s Hammer, which will make quick work of the cows at any player setting, due to the Chance to Cast of Static Field. Otherwise, Act 5 ice caves are a very nice place to level a Paladin up.
Sorceress
A class that needs no introduction, has always been among the strongest classes in Diablo 2 since release. In 1.09, without synergies, most builds use Frozen Orb, along with another skill. But, even if the Sorceress is generally very strong, it is lackluster in most places in high player settings. However, it is one of the fastest and reliable cow killers, at any players settings.Gear recommendations are as follow
Helm:
Skillers depending on your build, life, resistances
- Harlequin’s Crest (Shako)
- Mara’s Kaleidoscope
- Crafted Caster Amulet with 2 Sorceress skills, faster cast rate, all resistances, life, Strength
- Bul-Khatos’ Wedding Band
- Stone of Jordan
- 1.08 Arkaine’s Valor
- Skin of the Vipermagi
- Magefist
- Frostburns
- Gloom’s Trap
- Silkweave
- The Oculus
- Lidless Wall
Skillers depending on your build, life, resistances
Sorceress Builds:
Since you cannot break immunities in 1.09, all builds listed here use maxed Frozen Orb, level 1 Static Field and some points in Cold Mastery. Cold Mastery works differently in 1.09. I’m not 100% positive, but IIRC, the percentage of enemy resistance reduction is actually calculated as a percentage, instead of being treated like an integer, like most resistances reduction effects. For example, at level 20, Cold Mastery reduces Cold Resist of enemies by 85%. If an enemy has 40% resistance, it will reduce by 85% of 40, which is 34, leaving the enemy with 6% Cold Resist.
Nova: Arguably the fastest class in all of Diablo 2 for Cow running. Obviously, max both Nova and Lightning Mastery. The only downsides I can see to this build are its relatively short range, making it semi-dangerous in Hardcore, and how much mana it consumes. Since you cannot buy mana potions in 1.09, you may want to invest multiple points in Warmth, maybe even max it out, and even put points in Energy. Use Stone of Jordan over Bul-Khatos as your rings for the extra Mana.
Fire Wall: I believe this skill is the single highest damaging skill in 1.09. On my Sorceress, Fire Wall and Fire Mastery are at level 41, and Fire Wall deals 13739-13837 damage per second. There are only two monsters in the game that I know of who can spawn both Cold and Fire Immune: Lord De Seis and Lister the Tormentor. To deal with them, I spam static, then Telekinesis for the short stun while my mercenary stabs them do death. This build is still fantastic in the Cow Level, just herd a big pack of cows, slow them with Frozen Orb, spam a few Static Field, cast a Fire Wall, then lure the cows in a way so they walk along the length of the Fire Wall. In 1.09, the monsters AI is weaker, so they do not try to avoid walking in the wall.
Meteor: Very similar build to Fire Wall. Very high impact damage. Paired with a high level Static Field, most monster packs will go down in 1-2 Meteor. The damage per second is not too shabby, not always reliable for stragglers. Still, it is one of the best builds for the cow level and reaching level 99 will be a breeze. You’ll have to run around more than with FIre Wall, but generally uses less Mana. Some people find it annoying to deal with Frozen Orb and Meteor sharing the same global cooldown.
Nova: Arguably the fastest class in all of Diablo 2 for Cow running. Obviously, max both Nova and Lightning Mastery. The only downsides I can see to this build are its relatively short range, making it semi-dangerous in Hardcore, and how much mana it consumes. Since you cannot buy mana potions in 1.09, you may want to invest multiple points in Warmth, maybe even max it out, and even put points in Energy. Use Stone of Jordan over Bul-Khatos as your rings for the extra Mana.
Fire Wall: I believe this skill is the single highest damaging skill in 1.09. On my Sorceress, Fire Wall and Fire Mastery are at level 41, and Fire Wall deals 13739-13837 damage per second. There are only two monsters in the game that I know of who can spawn both Cold and Fire Immune: Lord De Seis and Lister the Tormentor. To deal with them, I spam static, then Telekinesis for the short stun while my mercenary stabs them do death. This build is still fantastic in the Cow Level, just herd a big pack of cows, slow them with Frozen Orb, spam a few Static Field, cast a Fire Wall, then lure the cows in a way so they walk along the length of the Fire Wall. In 1.09, the monsters AI is weaker, so they do not try to avoid walking in the wall.
Meteor: Very similar build to Fire Wall. Very high impact damage. Paired with a high level Static Field, most monster packs will go down in 1-2 Meteor. The damage per second is not too shabby, not always reliable for stragglers. Still, it is one of the best builds for the cow level and reaching level 99 will be a breeze. You’ll have to run around more than with FIre Wall, but generally uses less Mana. Some people find it annoying to deal with Frozen Orb and Meteor sharing the same global cooldown.
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