Diablo II/Classes

In the original Diablo II, the player could choose between five different character classes. Two more were added in the Lord of Destruction expansion. The character class is chosen at the start of the game; which class is chosen heavily influences the game play.

Within each class, specialization is possible with the acquisition of a new skill at each level; depending on the skills chosen classes can further be broken down into subcategories with potentially wildly different game play and strategies. Classes also receive different benefits from each stat type, as well as having different weapon proficiencies. Each class has a specific type of equipment (weapon or armor) unique to that class, which usually provides skill bonuses.

The five original classes are Amazon, Barbarian, Necromancer, Paladin, and Sorceress; the expansion added on the Assassin and Druid classes.

Items

Each character starts the game with the following items equipped depending on selected hero class:

Amazon	Barbarian	Necromancer	Paladin	Sorceress	Assassin	Druid
Javelin Buckler	Hand Axe Buckler	Wand +1 Skeleton (Necro Only)	Short Sword Buckler	Short Staff +1 Fire Bolt (Sorc Only)	Katar Buckler	Club Buckler

Buckler Chance to Block is also dependent on selected hero class:

Amazon	Barbarian	Necromancer	Paladin	Sorceress	Assassin	Druid
25%	25%	20%	30%	20%	25%	20%

Just as wands can give +(1-3) bonuses to up to 3 Necromancer skills and staves can give them to Sorceress skills, scepters can give them to Paladin skills. Diablo II: Lord of Destruction introduced items which can only be equipped by a specific class:

Amazon	Barbarian	Necromancer	Paladin	Sorceress	Assassin	Druid
Bows Javelins Spears	Primal helms	Shrunken heads	Auric shields	Orbs	Claws	Pelts

Attributes

Each character starts the game with the following attributes depending on selected hero class:

Attribute	Amazon	Barbarian	Necromancer	Paladin	Sorceress	Assassin	Druid
Strength	20	30	15	25	10	20	15
Dexterity	25	20	25	20	25	20	20
Attack Rating	95	85	80	85	75	80	70
Defense	6	5	6	5	6	15	15
Vitality	20	25	15	25	10	20	25
Stamina	84	92	79	89	74	95	84
Life	50	55	45	55	40	50	55
Energy	15	10	25	15	35	25	20
Mana	15	10	25	15	35	25	20

Per level

Attribute	Amazon	Barbarian	Necromancer	Paladin	Sorceress	Assassin	Druid
Stamina	1	1	1	1	1	1.25	1
Life	2	2	1.5	2	1	2	1.5
Mana	1.5	1	2	1.5	2	1.5	2

Per point

Attribute	Amazon	Barbarian	Necromancer	Paladin	Sorceress	Assassin	Druid
Attack Rating	5	5	5	5	5	5	5
Defense	0.25	0.25	0.25	0.25	0.25	0.25	0.25
Stamina	1	1	1	1	1	1.25	1
Life	3	4	2	3	2	3	2
Mana	1.5	1	2	1.5	2	1.75	2

Skills

Skills are what make your character in Diablo II. A Sorceress wouldn't be a Sorceress without the ability to summon the elements to her finger tips; in the same respect a Barbarian wouldn't be the same if he couldn't wield mighty axes and swing them as if they were nothing. Each character type's skills are set up into three trees, with each tree focusing on a different set of skills.

Amazon	Barbarian	Necromancer	Paladin	Sorceress	Assassin	Druid
Bow & Crossbow Passive & Magic Javelin & Spear	Combat Skills Combat Masteries Warcries	Curses Poison & Bone Summoning	Combat Skills Offensive Auras Defensive Auras	Fire Spells Lightning Spells Cold Spells	Traps Shadow Martial Arts	Summoning Shape Shifting Elemental

With each new level, a single skill point is given to the character to invest in an available skill; certain quests also give skill points (4 total over the course of each difficulty). Up to 20 points may be invested in each skill. Each skill has a level requirement and many have prerequisite skills - only a single point must be invested in the prerequisite to unlock the higher-level skill. From the 1.10 patch onward, skills have had "synergies" as well, such that a point invested in one skill may give a bonus to other skills as well; 1.10 also introduced much harder monsters at Nightmare and Hell difficulty levels so that without good use of synergies the game will become very difficult or unwinnable.

The skills that are chosen and focused upon are what make your character; for example by choosing mostly fire skills as a Sorceress, you become deadly with that element while weak with others. Your choice of skills is your "build." Character builds are what determine how you will play the game and what your strengths and weakness are. Usually trying to have a broad focus of skills, i.e. using all three skill trees will end up making your character a jack of all trades and weak in every respect rather than strong in one, and weak in another. On the other hand, since monsters at higher difficulty often receive immunities to certain types of damage, single tree/element strengths will fail in solo mode.

As the game difficulty advances, the selection of a good build becomes more crucial. At level 80-90 a character will have about 100 total skill points as he approaches the end of hell difficulty; any wasted skill points at this point could be crippling. A good build, therefore, needs to have a general plan for investing about 100 skill points such that each of them contributes to the final goal.

Animations

Achievable in Diablo II

Achievable in Lord of Destruction

All animations display at a rate of 25 frames per second, so each frame is 0.04 (1/25) second. The length of some animations is dependent on the type of weapon equipped:

1HS	1HT	2HT	STF
One-Handed Swinging Throwing axes Axes Swords Blunt weapons	One-Handed Thrusting Javelins Throwing knives Daggers Amazon javelins	Two-Handed Thrusting Spears	Staff Two-handed axes Polearms Two-handed hammers Staves

Attack Speed

Diablo II Attack Speed Calculator

Block Rate

Faster Block Rate required to speed up blocking animation.

Class		Frames
		17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
Amazon	1HS	0	4	6	11	15	23	29	40	56	80	120	200	480
	1HT													0	13	32	86	600
Barbarian												0	9	20	42	86	280
Necromancer								0	6	13	20	32	52	86	174	600
Paladin	HS													0	13	32	86	600
	HS																0	86
	Bear												0	8	37	120
Sorceress										0	7	15	27	48	86	200	4680
Assassin														0	13	32	86	600
Druid	Man							0	6	13	20	32	52	86	174	600
	Wolf									0	7	15	27	48	86	200	4680
	Bear						0	5	10	16	27	40	65	109	223	1320

Cast Rate

Faster Cast Rate required to speed up casting animation.

Class		Frames
		23	22	21	20	19	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7
Amazon						0	7	14	22	32	48	68	99	152
Barbarian												0	9	20	37	63	105	200
Necro	Man									0	9	18	30	48	75	125
	Vamp	0	6	11	18	24	35	48	65	86	120	180
Paladin										0	9	18	30	48	75	125
Sorc	(C) L					0	7	15	23	35	52	78	117	194
	Other											0	9	20	37	63	105	200
Assassin									0	8	16	27	42	65	102	174
Druid	Man						0	4	10	19	30	46	68	99	163
	Wolf							0	6	14	26	40	60	95	157
	Bear							0	7	15	26	40	63	99	163

Hit Recovery

Faster Hit Recovery required to speed up hit recovery animation.

Class		Frames
		15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2
Amazon						0	6	13	20	32	52	86	174	600
Barbarian								0	7	15	27	48	86	200	4680
Necromancer	Man			0	5	10	16	26	39	56	86	152	377
	Vampire	0	2	6	10	16	24	34	48	72	117	208	638
Paladin	2HT or STF		0	3	7	13	20	32	48	75	129	280	4680
	Other						0	7	15	27	48	86	200	4680
Sorceress		0	5	9	14	20	30	42	60	86	142	280	1480
Assassin								0	7	15	27	48	86	200	4680
Druid	Man			0	5	10	16	26	39	56	86	152	377
	Man 1HS		0	3	7	13	19	29	42	63	99	174	456
	Werewolf									0	9	20	42	86	280
	Werebear			0	5	10	16	24	37	54	86	152	360