Some time in November 1997, I purchased my Diablo CD (as well as my Hellfire CD). I know it is a bit late, but some things are better late than never. Back then i thought, "since i cannot access the net freely and hellfire offers three more character classes and two more 'dungeons', i might as well start off the game with Hellfire instead of Diablo", and so i did.
The Rogue
My first dilemma came about when i had to make a choice of which class to play; six classes stand before me, all apparently evenly balanced. Eventually, i came to a conclusion and decided to play the Rogue for only one reason. I had always been very comfortable with ranged weapons in previous gaming experience. Like many others before me, i was drawn to the power of cheats and promptly downloaded a copy of Raymond's Trainer and a whole bunch of 'supposedly' legitimate items that people found themselves. Trying out some of my most 'powerful' weapons on this first single-player hellfire rogue, i found many of them useless and pathetic but from the use of these cheats and dupes, i gain something that is to benefit me for the rest of my playing career. I now had a goal, a dream setup to look for (back then i had no access to any guides or forums).
Rogue Dream Setup 1: Royal Circlet, Godly Plate of Ages, Merciless Bow of Heavens, Obsidian/Zodiac (x3)
I then scrapped my trainer and started a real, proper and legitimate rogue "Mirjana". The game went on smoothly and i had not problems defeating Diablo on all three levels of difficulty, all using a setup close to the rogue setup 1 above (with Hellfire, good items are so easy to come by at Wirt). I simply loved the sound of enemies falling before i even see them and could soon identify enemies by their death cries. Since then, i had fallen in love with the Rogue class.
The Barbarian
Next on the list of characters i wanted to try out is the Barbarian. Hearing that a 1st level barbarian can chop down a hell difficulty skeleton was unbelievable and i had to try it myself (of course, i never managed to hit that skeleton). Nonetheless, after finding my first axe, everything was a breeze, especially after this barbarian "Heineccius" bought his invincible 'tin can', a near-perfect Godly Plate of Ages (ac 224). Wielding a King's Great Axe of Haste with an Undead Crown, he could go around chasing a HORDE of witches and still come out totally fresh, without any pots at all.
Barbarian Dream Setup 1: Undead Crown, Godly Plate of Ages, King's Axe of Haste, Obsidian/Zodiac, Dragon/Zod (x2)
Up till this point in time, i am still VERY pathetic with spell casting. My rogues, using a bow as a ranged weapon had no use for any spells while my barbarian could hardly read. At this point i started to become bored with this game and retired from the game. Date was only April 1998 and by then i had tried some characters from the other classes but found them not to my liking. To me, the Warrior is pathetic (just my opinion) as his attacking prowess pales in comparison to the barbarian while his magic is only that much better. The Monk and the Bard are good only for normal but sucks otherwise, while i simply cannot cast spells properly.
Woody's Diablo Asylum
Many months later, i decided to make a comeback. Searching for Diablo resources on the net, i came across the Diablo Strategy Forum and lurked there, gaining access to Jarulf's Guide to Diablo and Hellfire and other very important information in the meantime. However, my most important discovery to date is the link to Woody's Diablo Asylum. Woody and his site (and of course the variant community there) really taught me a lot of things about Diablo that i did not know and brought joy back to the game i had thought was boring.
It was then that i started my first mage, a Beyond Naked Mage. I proceeded through the first few levels with much caution (like how i play my rogue in the past, slowly learning the arts of wizardry. Once done, my BNM hit his 3@30 and i started a Beyond Naked Rogue, using the strictest rule available. But then, i had learned sufficient things about spellcraft to be comfortable enough with nightmare difficulty but hell difficulty was an impossibility. It was only after i received some tips about BNRs from a veteran rogue, La'Rouge, that i finally defeated Diablo on hell difficulty (using TOTALLY cursed stuff).
Charis
The next person to have a heavy impact on my playing capability is Charis. I am tremendously impressed by the HUGE amount of variants he could think up of (and dot) within a short time. In particular, his biggest and most developed variant, the Amazon, was one of the best i've seen. Since then, i have played and tried out all sorts of amazons (normal, dual-classed and even triple-classed). The three amazons that i have played and am most satisified with are "Icewynd" (Savage-Amazon-Fire Elementalist), "Mielikki" (Amazon-Animal Rights Activist-Valkyrie) and "Iceshadow" (Amazon-Nightshadow).
Through the playing of these variants, i have learnt much about the importance of melee, blocking and other essentials about combat. Other variants he hosted on his website, Charis' Diablo Variants and Strategy also kept me largely entertained with this game. The emphasis i placed on rogues (mainly amazons though) led me to rethink about my strategy with regards to how i played my rogue in the past.
Progress of a Rogue
Three veteran rogues in particular, helped greatly in my development from a bow-biased rogue to an extremely versatile one. First, La'Rouge introduced me to the various types of bows that are good for rogues, then Charis led me into the melee side of things, and finally Cathrin (Claudio) helped finetuned many of my flaws through his posts and his website Cat's Diablo Page. Now, my Diablo multiplayer rogue has a new dream:
Rogue Dream Setup 2: Thinking Cap, Awesome Plate of Precision, Emerald Bow of the Heavens, Dragon/Zod (x3)
Rogue Dream Setup 2 Alternative: Civerb's Cudgel, King's Sword of Haste, Emerald Shield of the Tiger.
These dream setups slowly took shape over time as i learnt about the strengths and weaknesses of each individual items. Gradually, i inched closer and closer to my dreams. At the moment, my awesome plate is already perfect (though suffixless), as is my emerald (long) bow of the heavens and my emerald (small) shield of the tiger. The thinking cap, civerb's cudgel and king's bastard sword of haste have all been found or bought. Jewels is where i still dream... to date, my rogue has but a Dragon Ring of Zodiac, a Drake Ring of Zodiac and a Dragon Amulet of Heavens. Close, but i still dream...
The Bard
The Bard was one of the three classes that i thought was weak (the other two being the warrior and the monk). Upon writing up and posting a Melee Weapon Analysis on the Diablo Strategy Forum, i came to a new revelation about the bards due to a nitting post by Da O'Toth. The possibility of using damage multiplying weapons (such as Civerb's Cudgel, Jester's Swords and Swords of Peril) made the bard one of the strongest class in Diablo. Her strong attack rivals even that of the Barbarian (due to high inherent to-hit) and the easy availability of the 'best' weapon combination. Coupled with a magical attacks that loses only marginally (??) to the sorceror, she is a highly versatile and formidable class to take on.
Armed with this newfound knowledge, i started a new bard in Hellfire V2. Though the starting was far harder than expected, upon finding a crystalline sword of leech and a jester's sword of leech, life was a breeze. To make things even better, i found a Civerb's Cudgel soon after and my weaponry are all set (champion's sword of haste was passed on from one of my other characters to this bard). Eventually, nightmare passed without a problem but hell difficulty was real hell. My bard actually needed to get a shield!!! Though reluctant, i had no choice but to give up my privilege of using two weapons as i am taking far too much damage for comfort. Sigh...
End of the Road
Now i have already semi-retired from playing Diablo and Hellfire. Studies are really taking a toll on my mental and physical health and time seems to fly so quickly these days. However, should Varaya and Khan decide to make a new Hellfire mod; or some nudist from the asylum comes up with a fantastic variant, you can be sure that i will be back ;-P
-- the player behind Ice(BNR) .
