Now, D2R Ladder Season 3 start is right around the corner. You might asy you haven't decided what character to use yet. Do not be afraid. Bbecause today I'm bringing you my list of my favorite ladder starting builds.
Before we jump into this, I want to let everybody know what this list is not. This is not necessarily the most Godly End Game build in all of Diablo 2 Resurrected. This is also not a full list of all the ladder start characters that work really good. These skills aren't necessarily going to be the ones that you use through normal or even in Nightmare.
1. Nova Sorceress
First up we're jumping into the one that I'm actually starting season 3 ladder with and that is going to be the Nova Sorceress. The reason this one is so good is because Nova does not have that many synergies. All you have is Static Field and then you pump points into Lightning Mastery and that's a total of 60 points. And you can completely max out the damage on Nova with the extra points on that a lot of times including myself.
I would recommend this go into Energy Shield. it makes your build almost impossible to die. If you have the right gear, this build also varying from a lot of other builds in the game. You don't go Max Vitality going down the path of the actual lore of a Sorceress. You actually pump all your points into energy. So, with those points into the Nova and its synergies, you got your Energy Shield. And obviously your one point wonders your Warmth, your Teleport, Telekinesis and things like that. This character is ready to go.
This works great even with budget gear. But once you even get some of the basics, once you get your Magefists or once you get your Vipermagi (maybe a Shako), this character really rocks and actually on the glove side, the actual best in slot is an item you can find in normal Frostburns, because they actually have 40 percent to your Mana.
2. Lightning Fury Javazon
Next up, for one of my favorite ladder starters and I'm going with the Javazon. This isn't a jack of all trades. This is actually good at one specific thing and it's so crazy at it. I had to put her on here. The Lightning Fury Javazon is Bar None, the absolute best cow farmer.
You can take this build out in cows absolutely naked at like level 60 and just lay waste to all that beef. And what can you actually get out in college with this build? Cows are specifically known for getting a ton of Runeword Base, which are incredibly high demand at the beginning of ladder.
On top of that, cows are a great place to find high D2R Ladder Runes due to the massive density out there and actually each individual cow has a higher Rune drop rate than a regular monster.
Now, this build absolutely shines early on but once you get a bunch of the Godly End Game Gear, this character is not to be messed with. It really does end up being one of the most powerful builds in the entire game.
3. Blizzard Sorcerer
Now, the next ladder starter here I'm going with is actually one that just got a huge nerf. Actually in the new patch 2.6, the Blizzard Sorcerer's got a nerf, the way it's Cold Mastery works while having a Thunder Charm. But that doesn't do anything for affecting how good of a ladder starter it really is. This is really one of the most versatile characters and that's why it's used so often at the beginning of ladder.
It's great for taking out Mephisto. You can take out Cows, Easy Peasy, moat trick and Mephisto. You could go after Pindle. It is really great at a ton of areas or you can go out and even hit some of the Level 85 areas, such as Ancient Tunnels and Stony Tombs.
On top of the absolutely amazing damage from Blizzard, you also have the Teleport skill. So, it's real easy to get anywhere you want to go. Obviously, being a great ladder start character even with budget gear, it does absolutely amazing and getting the Godly End Game Gear will step up your kill speed a ton.
4. Hammerdin
We're coming in with another absolute classic here and that is the Hammerdin. This one's been used at the start of ladder since the beginning of time and you'll know why if you ever used one once again like a lot of the builds on here.
Obviously, with just even budget gear, the Hammers do a crazy amount of damage unlike a lot of the other ones though. You don't even necessarily need a Thunder Charm to break immunities in order to really be able to clear everything in the game. These Hammers are actually magic damage and there are almost no magic immunities in the entire game with the exception of just a few.
This build is specifically known for doing great in the Chaos Sanctuary but it works great almost anywhere after you end up stepping up to that Godly End Game Gear. A lot of people would agree this is the most powerful, most versatile and most overpower build in the entire game, as well.
5. FoH Paladin
We're coming at you with another Paladin next and it's kind of a new kid on the block here for Diablo 2 Resurrected anyways. And that's the Fist of the Heavens (FoH) Paladin. It got the bump up at the same time that they decided to redo the Nova skill, making that one now very good. Vista Heavens came right up with it. It actually has some advantages over Hammers because you can cast the Fist to Heavens on monsters all the way across the screen just sniping them right out from in the middle of a pack and just like everyone on the list here.
It's very good even with budget gear. The good thing with Fist of Heavens is actually takes less points into the synergies, leaving you with a little bit extra left over. So, you can actually go ahead and dual or even like try speck it. Maybe you want to go Fist the Heavens and do a little bit extra damage. Maybe you want to get out ubered with it, as well.
Putting points into Smite and things that help that out. There's even different specs of it where you can have vista heavens and then put some points into Hammers and put some points into Zeal. There's a lot of different ways you can go with it because you have a lot of extra points left over these other skills' dual spec.
And it really does add to the versatility of this build because the Holy Bolt and the Fist of Heavens by itself only does that damage to Undead and Demons widening.
6. Barbarian
Next one is an absolute classic type of character and we're going with the Barbarian. Unlike the other ones, I'm not actually going to specify a build here. There's a lot of personal preference based upon what you really want to do. I've seen people starting off with all different types ranging from the Singer Barbarian, Berserk Barbarian and Frenzy /Whirlwind Barbarian. They all seem to be their own type of good it just depends on what you really feel like doing.
Travincal, which is known for jewelry and is really a great spot to find high D2R Ladder Runes. Now, I gotta put my bias aside. Generally, I haven't found a lot of high D2R Ladder Runes in the past. But I know that this is actually a good place to farm them.
The reason this Barbarian is such a good ladder starter is because of the find item skill, even if you're on players, one difficulty that doesn't affect the drops, you get from the actual find item. What you'll get from the find item is based solely upon your find item, your fine potion, the synergy and how much magic find you have.
There is another option for this build, too. You could even not go out and kill any monsters. How you gonna find anything you can actually just kind of follow people around and use the find item skill on all the monsters that they've killed, so you're getting free opportunities with no effort of your own in order to find good items.
7. Summon Necromancer
Now, I hope you all stuck around here for the final one because this is one of my absolute favorite and one that I've never used until more recently here. And that is the Summon Necromancer. This build early on perhaps, isn't quite as fast as things like the Sorcerers because you can't teleport around like that. But it is so basic and easy. That's why I love it so much.
Once you get up all those summons, you get a half decent mercenary, one body drops. You use Corpse Explosion and you can melt an entire room and this is even with budget gear. You don't even necessarily need the crazy end game stuff, you can march right into a Chaos Sanctuary completely naked Necromancer and take the whole joint out yourself.
But it is also great about this once you get the most Godly End Game Gear. Some people might not believe it or might not even realize it. You can literally clear mobs as fast as any character in the game with a sick amazing Summon Necromancer.
One little thing I will note right at the end here: though the Summon Necro, it benefits a ton from being able to have Teleport, so getting a Teleport Staff on this character just to reposition your summons and your Mercenary is very key.
