That's something I don't quite get. Why *are* the central classes more support based, especially when there's not party play?
You can use things like Hamachi, Tunngle, or other Lan programs that network over the internet. I personally switched from Hamachi to Tunngle because of Hamachi's lag and bad connectivity vs Tunngle's service which has shown superior connectivity, way less lag, lower pings, and smoother gameplay.*
*Other user experiences may varyNo matter what you use for Diablo 2, there's always a way to play online without using Blizzard's battle.net service, not that there's anything wrong with it. I actually like their Battle.net service for D2, and have never had any major disconnection or connectivity issues at all.
Oh yeah, here's a question:
What type of character/build is everyone playing right now/had the most fun overall using?
I'm currently still in the 'Finding something I like' phase, but so far the most fun was had with a Shou/Remi hybrid. Not really tried out a lot of trees at all yet, however.
I'm currently trying to mainly use non-hybrid builds to see just how far I can push the individual characters without using or putting any points into the other active skills. (ignoring the the main character for that build.)
- Lv 71 "Marisa" LOLspark build Mk II, Version 0.90 got pretty high (110+? 120+?) I think 125 though Played only the last waypoint of act 2 (desert/tomb/boss) post 1.01I've got 10 points into Patchouli's base stat simply for the mana increase bonus, none of her other skills used. The character was extremely fun first time around, 2nd time was just meh for me until I got to the level where Pesco implemented..
SAUSAGE SPARK bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Then it got amazingly fun again just like it was before. Unfortunately, since I mained this class all through Version 0.90 so I'm almost burned out on her. Thus the others.
- Lv 57 "Reimu" full build Mk II, Version 0.90 had a Remilia/Reimu hybrid, mainly Remilia. Played full Reimu build for about 3 levels worth of exp post 1.01Decently fun so far. Haven't done much on it other than level it. Need to try more things. Needles seemed weak at first, so I jumped on Circle and Fantasy Seal soon as I could. I plan to revisit Needles once I'm higher level and have the points I can use on it.
- Lv 62 "Mokou" Phoenix AoE build Mk I, never made one in v0.90, but had plans to soon as I found that Phantasm glove. Have not played since v1.00With Flying Phoenix to get around and get the jump on mobs and Possessed by Phoenix maxed out for major AoE fire output. (in 1.00 the latter wasn't buffed by item Rage's % dmg increase) Even without the % damage, this build is extremely fun to use. Using in tandem with an item that gives +2 to Orreries Sun, which is solid 25% damage to mp, makes me want to use this as an mp tank class since sorc gets way more mp than HP from stat points.. makes the hp regeneration itself hard to use, but the defense on it is worth every penny. I've seen what Phantasm items are capable of having for stats for very lategame, so I plan to make use of this class to the fullest.
- Lv 24 "Tewi" MagicFind build Mk I, didn't have in v0.90 Have not played since v1.00Along with the gold find Tewi gets, I'll be leveling up Nazrin's Dowsing stat from items for as much Magic Find as I can get. Her traps are very interesting, but I only played an assassin once or twice on Vanilla D2, so it's completely new to me. I really like some of the traps (fire seems weak, ice is fun and awesome, poison seems powerful as hell, lightning is hard to use, but useful in mobs) Keep in mind, all of this was v1.00, so haven't tried with the nerfs.
- Lv 77 "Okuu" Reimu vs Okuu Dogfight build Mk I, did not have in v0.90 Haven't played since 1.00Inspired by the legendary dogfight video of Reimu vs Utsuho, I wanted to make myself an Okuu and explore the skills she had available. She mains Heat Sign "Break Prominence" and Burning Star "Fixed Star". I used Petit Flare for a while, but then realized how weak it was compared to Break Prominence once I got it, so I promptly switched my main skill. This character is extremely fun so far, and reminds me somewhat of Mokou, but without the teleport attack. In the video and in SWR, she has a similar skill to Mokou's Flying Phoenix. I plan to at least get major points into that skill in particular to finish off this build, though I can't say if it'll be very powerful.
- Lv 6 "Remilia" Gungnir build Mk II, original was Reimu/Remilia Hybrid in v0.90 Have not played since 1.00I did not get that far in this build, unfortunately. It was originally going to be trained with a friend, but she has no wants of playing Diablo 2 again, which very much saddens me.
- Lv 1x Remilia/Reimu Hybrid build / **Mk I Beta character v0.90 only**Truth be told, This is the most amazing fun I think I've had so far of any character I've made yet. It got to low 1x, 11 or 13? Maybe. I played this with friend as said above back in v0.90, and we had a lot of fun. I got Remilia's Critical "Heart Break" and flew across the screen laughing like a god damned madman while burning my entire MP pool in seconds. It was amazing. Once I got spear, I leered at the large lighted box around the spear animation itself. It bugged my OCD to no end, but the spear itself looked absolutely beautiful.
Keep in mind that I have NOT played this class beyond this level on any version, and have no idea what Red the Nightless Castle does or looks like, nor do I know if this class is fun later. I cannot imagine why it wouldn't be fun with stupid amounts of superspeed, but I do know that this is definitely a class I plan to play later on and give it lots and LOTS of love. I loved and cared for Zeusess, my Javazon (Lv 87) in Vanilla D2, and so will I take good care of this one.