ChuckNoRis wrote:i often play naked after a patch that i can no longer enjoy , in the waiting for the next one to get released (HC because on SC you can just go suicidal for a milion times and eventualy you get the job done) . i have streamed some of this for a few times
for a naked build to succeed as forward as possible , you must always find a balance between meatshield (fat summons / merc) , enough damage and enough regeneration + some crowd control skills if possible. the summons are a must , there's no doubt about it . also , naked is naked . no rings and amulet , no nothing. just a row full of pots
then you must know when and how to avoid certain dangerous places that can get you killed out of nowhere / go there only after you got more level-ups / when you think you can beat that area / skip some of the parts that give you no benefits and put you in unnecessary danger (such as killing Griswold for example)
here's my top :
7. the Assassin is out of discussion even if it has access to a shitload of avoid . the hp pool is so low that any damage that you take in the face in Nightmare can get you killed
6. the paladin is also hard to play naked . if you go as holy caster + plague and the shadow tree (scourges and Demiurge) you can advance trough the game ok-ish up to Nightmare Baal where it's all about luck if you can kill him and get to Hell or not , same for the unholy caster . the neutral can get you more tanky , but you will deal crap damage . if however you manage to kill Baal on nightmare , then the unholy caster may have the higher chances to advance further into hell , as SoD deals a shitload of damage
5. the Amazon is mostly about getting to level 90 , as before that it's quite hard and annoying to make it trough and deals crapy damage overall . you need to go for maxing the fire elementals , balance and DH , get magic missiles as main attack + either bloodstorm or lava pit , while keeping the Bachanalia as 1-pointer since you always want your HP full and avoid getting killed , also invest some into wild and free .
if you made it so far (level 90) , then it starts to get a bit easier since you can access Spellbind which is also a good crowd control spell besides boosting your fire elemental's Hp . SoV is the obvious choice , for more damage , hp and reanimates , but Curare is also valid in some places as it is added to your Elemental's attacks .
4. The Druid - the acid fiends are good to have around and got the benefits of 2 more sinergies (poison flash and plague avatar) to boost their damage and HP . there is also Pagan Rites for healing + Elvensong for crowd control . The damage of the Plague avatar is OK-ish in normal/nightmare .
- if you get to level 90 , then the Lifeshield will make your life much easier , but the fiends' HP will stay crapy due to no gear and won't be able to tank so much .
3. the Sorceress : the cold tree is a must have (besides going full energy all the way ) , you will find yourself investing most of your skill points there as you also need to be dealing some decent damage and also have strong summons (sinergies) + crowd control (STF) before you get to level 90 and get chronofield . the blade spirits are also a must . now you need to decide which other tree to go for . The fire tree grants the living flame , but that is only decent in normal , later on it's outshined by the benefits of 5-pointer vengeful power and 1-pointer Miasma for extra crowd control . The lightning tree is worthless , The mana tree is also out of discussion besides a 1-pointer familiar and 1-pointer mana sweep . Symbols of Esu are also your dear friends .
-this setup can make you tanky-ish in normal/terror , but your damage will not shine too much (not enough damage boost , no elemental pierce) and once you get to hell and ubers they will take quite a loooong time to do in short steps , wasting a shitload of mana just to kill a few mobs while avoiding getting hit
-this setup can get you around level 110-115 hell when it will start to fail hard because there's just too much damage to tank with zero defense and crapy hp pool , when your damage is barely enough to kill something at a decent speed even if you go for Witch Blood instead of Chronofield
2. the Barbarian : the spirit tree is the obvious choice where most of your skill points are sinking, then you must pick one or 2 stances to use . if you don't want to drink that many heal pots , then the eagle stance is on the list- if not , then the wolf stance is going to boost your spirit's damage and mobility
- no crowd control and not as much hp regen compared to the sorc , a bit higher HP pool , but the summons deal a lot more damage while your character is there just to keep them alive while they do all the work , as you need to go full strength
- this setup can get you to the same 110-115 level and ubering range when your (summons) damage is still decent , but you will be drinking heal pots and run like a chicken from every monster that gets close
1. the Necromancer : the summons are quite good due to those passives that you got available to boost them . in Normal and early nightmare he's not so remarcable , but once you get to level 90 and get the Veil King out , he will be your main source of tanking and damage dealing along the Iron Golem . the sad part comes when he dies and becomes hostile , so in order to avoid that you must either resummon him when he's low hp or run away /tp home to have him regenerated back to full hp
- no crowd control besides investing into talon's hold for a shitload of reanimates , no hp regen besides heal pots , but the main summons can tank well + it can use totems for more concentrated damage when fighting single targets / small strong packs
- with enough patience , it can go to 120-ish ubers without so much trouble unless you lose the focus and get killed from stupid things that you could have avoided
- overall , even if it's damage is quite crapy , my money would go on the sorceress as she has the most HP regen and the best crowd control
- if you consider using a mercenary (with gear) , it will make your life easier . if not , don't bother much with it naked
Touché!
