I’m currently having an urge to come back to this game after a few years off. Never even made it through the first difficulty back then, but i really would love to finish and experience all of it this time. As far as I remember, the most difficult thing for me was finding a viable build that was fun and engaging to play as well. So I wanted to get some inspiration by browsing though various builds, but I couldn’t find anything that seemed to fit what I am looking for. The problem is, that I don’t have any items that I can build upon and neither do I have any of the DLCs. So i’m wondering, is there any up-to-date info for people like me (newbie, poor, no dlcs) or do I basically have to buy the DLCs before I can start? Any specific builds you would recommend?
Sorry if I come off as rude or anything, its definetly not meant that way, it’s just english is not my first language.
I’d really appreciate your insight here. Thanks guys and girls
You do not need the DLCs, but your build search might require you to look for build posts earlier than mid-year 2017? (iirc). A lot of the old forum was moved over, and this newer forum is much easier to search, which is a good thing. However…I`m not sure if the older collections are updated.
I believe that there are some of the updates (updates, not dlc) have tweaked some of the base-game gear for the better, as well. These updates possibly address some base bugs (I don`t know.) You could download these online for free but you could also just play base game without updates too.
Anyone playing a legit copy of the game should already have the latest updates available via their platform (Steam or GOG). When Crate updates the game ALL versions get updated, so if any changes get made to gear or masteries that are in the base game all versions get that update. Simple as that.
Yeah i’m on 1.1.8.something so I guess that’s the most up-to-date version, i’m just missing the DLCs. So I don’t have access to the DLC classes, but other than that every build for 1.1.8.x would be good?
As hammyhamster1 said, there’s no problem playing just the base game. Look in Build Compendium V for builds; everything I’ve tried has worked just fine. Or if you have an idea of what type of build you’d enjoy (melee/caster/ranged; what damage type; tanky or glass cannon; that kind of thing) I’m sure people would be happy to offer suggestions.
From my own experience, the smoothest, easiest to gear character I have is based on Superfluff’s Conjurer build, the most fun has been a 2-handed melee lightning Warder that I don’t seem to have based on any specific build, and my most capable character (so far) is based on Superfluff’s Commando build. Honorable mention to Weyu’s Trozan’s Spellbreaker build - not the most powerful thing ever since it’s a bit squishy, but I really like the playstyle of jumping in and dropping TSS on everything’s head.
Don’t bother paying attention to the later Build Compendiums. With just the base game you can only reach level 85, so all those level 100 builds with Mythical items are irrelevant until/unless you pick up AoM. And even the devotion maps won’t make any sense since they added a fair number of new constellations in the expansions.
Some of the updates have also nerfed base game gear, which is why I haven’t updated from 1.0.7.1 (also, I’ve only played intermittently these past couple years, so laziness is also a factor). Losing the +1 to all skills from the Empowered Essence of Beronath and the +1 to all Nightblade skills from the Unseeing Eye of the Blind Assassin would severely impact two of my level 85 characters.
On the other hand item skill modifiers have been added to the base game, which provides you with options that did not exist, when the base game compendium was created.
If you have a basic grasp of the game you should be able to breeze through the main campaign on the first difficulty. Get some inspiration from those build guides and tweak them with the knowledge @Stupid_Dragon compiled in his guides:
