Blizzard’s Diablo 2 Resurrected was quite a success as franchise fans flocked to play the game in full HD graphics. The game kept its original feel, and I enjoyed spending plenty of hours playing my favorite characters, the sorceress and assassin. Months after its release, Blizzard is working on some character balance changes with the upcoming patch 2.4.
However, the most exciting aspect of the release is the Diablo 2 Resurrected ladder that will open the doors for people to compete towards the race to level 99. As people start from a clean slate, many are excited to grind for items and trade. Given how gear-depended classes are, finding the right gear is easiest with the right starting class. Here’s my opinion on which class outperforms the others and why.
Which Diablo 2 Resurrected Class to Pick for the Ladder Start?
If you’ve already played the game, you’ll know that there are seven classes in total. They are Barbarian, Sorceress, Paladin, Druid, Assassin, Necromancer, and the Amazon. Each of these classes features a fantastic range of builds for PvM and PvP gameplay. However, they are heavily gear-dependent.
Since we’re talking about Diablo 2 Resurrected ladder start, you won’t be able to get ahold of many items. Therefore, picking a class that lets you quickly cut through enemies is essential. As someone who spent thousands of hours playing the game, my warm suggestion is picking the sorceress as the first Diablo 2 Resurrected ladder character. Here are a couple of reasons why.
1. Grinding Speed
The race for the first valuable items is fierce, and the only way to keep up with everyone else is to go with the sorceress. One skill separates her from all the other classes, and that’s teleport. It allows her to move fast, get to the act bosses, and kill them quickly.
While every other character can do that later in the game, once they get the enigma runeword, building the armor takes a lot of time. Speed is one of the primary reasons why this is the favorite character for most players.
2. Gear Dependency
Because of the teleport skill, sorceress doesn’t rely on expensive gear until the late endgame. For a start, equipping her with a spirit sword and a shield, Skin of Vipermagi armor, and Harlequin Crest is more than enough to get her to clear enemies in hell difficulty. As you progress, there are more expensive gear elements to consider, but that’s not important for the start.
You can have all these gear pieces within a couple of days and start your magic find adventures.
3. Versatility
When you’re leveling a sorceress, you’re building three different characters. You’ll find three tabs in the skill tree, each specific to a particular element type. There are cold, lightning, and fire skills available to you.
Once the ladder starts, the best pick is to go with a blizzard sorceress, because the last cold dmg skill gives you the -resistance that is desperately needed in hell difficulty. That way, you can easily blow away act bosses and mobs which are not cold immune. Once you equip your mercenary with the right gear, you can clear all areas in-game.
While starting with cold skills is the best option, the fastest one is a lightning sorceress you can respec to once you make your first infinity for your merc. Alongside hammerdin, this is likely the quickest magic find a character that you can pick. Once you equip an infinity, all enemies will lose their lightning resistance immunity.
4. Broad Magic Find Area Options
Once you end up in hell difficulty, you’ll find plenty of cold immune foes; however, there are plenty of rewarding areas you can clear with a blizzard sorceress. Here they are by act:
- Act 1 – Mausoleum and Andariel
- Act 2 – Ancient Tunnels
- Act 3 – Travincal and Mephisto
- Act 4 – River of Flame and Chaos Sanctuary
- Act 5 – Worldstone keep all three levels and Throneroom
As you can see, you can clear all these levels with a couple of disclaimers. Travincal, River of Flame, Chaos Sanctuary, and Act 5 areas require a more powerful merc carrying a thresher insight and Fortitude for max DPS. Also, not all monster combinations will allow you to grind in these areas. Still, you can teleport to the next one and clear it.
Before you equip your merc with high-end gear, you can clear Mausoleum, Andariel, Ancient Tunnels, Mephisto, and Chaos Sanctuary.
5. Easy to Play
Playing this class is extremely easy, as you keep your enemies at range and blow them away with your spells. I prefer using the glacial spike on my left click and the blizzard on the right click. I can move quickly, cast blizzard, and keep teleporting while it’s on cooldown.
When Will the Diablo 2 Resurrected Ladder Start?
The Diablo 2 Resurrected ladder will start after the release of patch 2.4. Blizzard will likely check whether everything is running smoothly before starting the first ladder. I estimate that the first ladder will likely begin between late March and the middle of April.
Finishing Thoughts
If you’re wondering what is the best Diablo 2 Resurrected character for ladder start, the sorceress is your best bet. Of course, you can enjoy playing any class you prefer, but from a farming standpoint, leveling a sorceress pays off the most. You can use it to farm items for your favorite character.
Which character are you going to play? Feel free to leave your answers in the comment section below.
