Paladin
Designed for the holier-than-thou gamer, Paladins cut through the undead like a knife through butter.
Single player TIPS:
The Paladin is a formidable combatant. Because he straddles the line between
magic-user and warrior, the Paladin can mix it up with the best of them. And
although he can cast a number of potent attack spells, his specialties are his
offensive and defensive auras.
Perhaps the best aura to get early on in the game is Thorn, which both reflects
damage on an attacker and magnifies it. It's worth it to upgrade Thorn a few
levels--because there's nothing like watching a horde of bad guys surround you,
only to watch them drop dead like flies without you lifting a hand. It's also
useful to get at least one level of all the defensive auras--you'll always find
a use for fire, lightning, cold, or poison protection.
The attack spells are certainly nice, but their use of mana could prove limiting.
You may find it more useful to concentrate on building your Paladin's Strength
and Vitality, rather than his Energy. As such, you'll have a limited amount
of mana to begin with--not a good thing when you're depending on casting magical
spells to protect you.
A properly equipped Paladin can go head-to-head with most foes just fine, as
long as you have plenty of healing potions at hand to replenish your health.
Beware, though, that a lone Paladin can be overwhelmed if monsters surround
him. Although Thorn can help in that situation, the problem is that if you become
embroiled with battling underlings, enemy archers and mages can take a toll
on you from afar. It's always best to fall back and be sure to trim down the
enemy's numbers before you rush in after the magic users. Of course, sometimes
you'll have no choice but to charge in and go after the magic users early, especially
if they're spawning or resurrecting minions.
A really good tactic is to concentrate on your first three attributes, since
you'll need to build up Strength, Dexterity, and Vitality in order to handle
some of the more advanced armor and weapons in the game. You'll also need a
ton of hit points to soak up the damage you'll be taking. As said previously,
mana is less of a consideration--if you want to cast spells, after all, you
can pick the Sorceress instead. Once you've outfitted your Paladin with advanced
armor and weapons, you've got a potent warrior who can go toe-to-toe with just
about anything.
Multi player TIPS:
Multiplayer is an area where having a Paladin in your party is truly an asset.
As the Diablo II manual states, the Paladin is a natural party leader, thanks
to the fact that many of his auras confer their abilities to fellow party members
within a certain range. Thus, a Paladin in a group can help protect a party
from a variety of damage, as well as bolster the group's attack or defense ratings.
Because he's also a front-line combatant, the Paladin can help protect more
vulnerable characters, such as the Necromancer and the Sorceress, buying them
time to cast their magical spells. You'll find that most of your team will want
to stay in close range to you to take advantage of your auras.
Speaking of which, Thorn once again proves itself to be a highly useful skill
to have. Because of the lag on Blizzard's Realm servers, it's sometimes impossible
to hit anything accurately with your sword. That's because lag causes monsters
to warp around. But with Thorn turned on, it doesn't matter if you can't hit
them or not; all the monsters need to do is hit you, and they can receive triple
the damage--or more--in return