Others have already mentioned some specific things, but I didnt see anyone mention the item that gave me the idea to try this build yet, and that is the Epic Ring, Marrow Band especially if you have 2 of them.
Heres a screenshot of my beloved classless pet build, who died sadly- It was my own fault, I rushed progression too far too fast.
It is. @Contragor has my eternal respect in all matters where this game is concerned for accomplishing this feat.
Well, you probably don’t care, but i couldn’t make it lol.
I died like 50 times… I don’t have any component and no mob seems to want to drop some…
So, arriving level 10±, i’m really starting getting big hit and don’t do aenough damage. It’s like i hit with a foam stick.
I will restart it with mastery because it’s too hard for me now. Maybe when i will know the game more i’ll try again but for now, i will try to finish it once at least 
Now, i will come back in like 10 days when i have chosen a mastery
I have study a little the devotion map. Blizzard seems super fun
I’m gonna do a arcanist trozan shard blizzard. Any idea for a 2nd mastery? I thought nighblade cause of the buff + cold damage but i don’t know.
What do you think?
Blizzard 
+ Whirlpool 
is the best combo visually, I’m currently making on of those builds that have the two.
Nightblade, Shaman, Inquisitor, Occultist are all good, perhaps even Oathkeeper.
Blizzard is op, I can only dream of a veteran
You couldn’t be more wrong, I do care!
You’ve got guts, kid! At least you tried it! And you didnt even say youd never try it again!!! That counts for a lot. When I first tried it, I had the exact same feelings you did.
I think you are on the right path 
You identified that you need to learn more first, and there is ZERO shame in that- This is a complex game where build mechanics are concerned.
Experiment with the classes, find some combos you like. Maybe dont go Hardcore yet at all. I started Softcore until I had 40 characters, but still only 2 or 3 that hit level 100. I enjoy whats known as “meme builds”, which are basically janky builds that have something really cool that they can do but are pretty much useless outside of that thing, whether that means their damage output is abysmal (Old school Battlemage) or they are toast if someone breathes on them at the wrong time (max Dodge/Evade), meme builds are not well rounded, but they are fun, exciting, and most of all unique!
I wanted to be able to play in a way that captured that uniqueness, while conforming to some type of meta via min-maxing stats as little as possible. The answer for me (simply because the majority of players don’t do this) was to play Hardcore Classless, and was inspired by a deep character creation process that @MikeHeydon cultivated in his personal NPC and LORE based thread. I highly recommend reading this thread if you are looking for inspiration before you attempt Hardcore Classless again!
Regardless, welcome to the community! I should have opened with that. You’re officially one of us in my book now that you’ve tried and died!
Hardcore Veteran only
The rest is just boring after 1600h ingame 
I think classless is probably the toughest possible challenge there is. I think there’s one stepping stone - use mastery for stats boost WITHOUT selecting any skill at all. But in order to excel in it, requires significant knowledge of the game and certain dedication.
So when you return to the game you need to decide what to play and as you know forum is great source for additional information 
I think Hardcore isn’t for majority of people’s taste. I mean losing a character you are attached to or spend time farming gear. But it’s great for hardcore gamers and for these seeking old school experience.
Classes and skills are worth experimenting but over time. I eventually want to try every distinctive style out there in my favorite RPG games.
Damn this community. 
I was on Diablo 2 ressurected forum for a while, IT IS NOT like in here lol…
Thanks all for your message. I think i found a build i like, i’ll go that way, i’m 21 now and still have super fun.
I am in veteran but in softcore. I’m too afraid for now because i don’t understand some stone. Sometime, some weird stone appear on the map and i activate it. It directly made pop 4-5 champion on your face, and sometimes, i don’t have time to get out and i’m just stuck between them and die.
I will definitely play hardcore, but when i will understand the game, there is too much surprise for me now to play it without losing my char at early level.
And once i beat the game in hardcore veteran, i will try it classless, cause i will understand more or the mechanics of the game. It will be tough but i think enjoyable. It’s gonna be a wonderful challenge.
You can play this game for thousands of hours it’s amazing, it’s like i’m again a 14 yo who discover diablo 2 at it’s release. I have the same feeling it’s amazing
Anyway, thanks, i’ll get you updated
Hi, sorry to bother again…
Do you think a mage hunter dual pistol could work with blizzard + whirlpool?
I wanted to try a dual pistol cold damage mage hunter (i play trozan now), but i wonder if pistol would work.
Hmm… I’d rather play Infiltrator.
There’s seems to be more synergy for DW Cold Shooter between Inquisitor and Nightblade which you can see in the following items:
You’d want to convert Piercing damage to Cold on Inquisitor and all of it is Nightblade gear.
Here’s a video (bad video settings) with such a shooter
Ok thanks, i just wanted an input.
I love my trozan arcanist, but i just wondered with the dual gun and the attack speed, that must making proc blizzard and whirlpool very often.
I’ll stay with my trozan mage hunter then. Thanks again
Veteran increases enemy level cap.
If you make a “full run” in Normal (Get all shrines, complete AoM and FG content) or use “+100% XP potions”, you get to 50+ level easily, while enemies remain low-levels noobs, that grant 0 XP and no good loot.
Also, a strong enough build steamrolls enemies anyway, Veteran or not.
If you struggle with enemies, die here and there, or it takes a lot of time to kill a boss or trash mobs, then turn off Veteran for sure.
Personally, I’ve never played Normal at all (other than first few hours of my first playthrough, before learning about Veteran). IMHO Veteran is just more fun without really being too hard at all. A build that would be struggling on Veteran probably isn’t viable anyway. I can only imagine playing on Normal with a hardcore character, just to make sure I don’t die. Otherwise, it’s no fun for me when I just steamroll everything without even trying, which is how Normal felt to me.
Well, some builds dont work without certain high-level items (skills/conversions/etc), or work poorly early (DW WPS builds, etc). And dont underestimate enemies in dungeons, AoM and FG content on Veteran, without appropriate capped resistance they can screw even quite strong builds. And if it’s your first playthrough, you wont have insane rep boost from mandates, decent leveling gear and components ready at hand.
Sure, with ultra-top-tier builds, like AAR or Forcewave, you can steamroll almost everything, if you cap your resists,
Well, that’s what respec is for IMHO rather than working towards specific “gear-centered” build from the get-go, effectively forcing yourself to play the game in “easy mode” (or grind and get frustrated a lot) until you get there 
I was level 46 when I finished the core game on normal difficulty. I went to elite difficulty for the fast levels and shrines. I died a few times, but that’s okay. I didn’t want to start the next part until I was 50. When I hit 50, I stopped elite mode and went back to normal to start Ashes of Malmouth. After a few minutes, I switched it to veteran difficulty and played for a few hours.
I took a few days off before continuing and I forgot it was on veteran mode. I didn’t notice a difference until I hit the boss mobs and the totems in my early 60s. I died a couple times here and there, but I didn’t mind. It is veteran and I am playing a dual melee Purifier that started as a dual pistol character. I am still working out the kinks here and there, especially with the different skills.
I am level 77 in the Forgotten Gods part and I still have it on veteran mode. The 10% increase in experience is hardly noticeable at all from 50 to 77, maybe I will start to see it more when I hit 80, I don’t know. However, I did notice that the loot drop is a bit better than normal mode. I still haven’t found any purples that I can use, but I have some for future characters. I have found a bunch of blues, some good upgrades too.
FYI Level cap in Normal / Veteran Forgotten Gods is 75 so you won’t level too much from now on.
That makes sense. I started the area at 76 and finished it at 78. Now I’m off to continue the core game elite mode, hoping to be in the early 80s when I start Ashes.