Diablo 2: Resurrected
Hardcore 

1. Trap Assassin (Trapsin)

 

The top pick goes to a Lightning Trap Assassin. Lightning Trap Assassin is a ranged attacker capable of shooting off screen with as many as 5 lightning traps. This character is a great choice for anyone playing hardcore.

Recommendation: Lightning Trap Assassin

Stats: Enough Strength for gear, enough Dexterity for 75% block with a shield like Whitstan's Guard (a common shield with the highest block in the game) all remaining points in Vitality, no Energy

Build:

20 Lightning Sentry

20 Fire Blast (Great for lightning immunes and it shares synergies with Lightning Sentry)

20 Death Sentry

1 Burst of Speed

1 Fade

1 Weapon Block

1 Shadow Master

1 Mind Blast

All remaining points in Lightning Sentry's synergies

 

2. Bone Spear Necromancer

 

It may surprise you to learn that Bone Spear damage with a White Runeword wand does comparable damage to Bone Spirit and can also hit multiple targets. Not to mention you will have a recastable physical shield from Bone Armor. Synergy skills for Bone Spear also raise your Bone Armor's strength with every point spent.

Recommendation: Bone Spear Necromancer

Stats: Enough Strength for gear, 0 Dexterity as you will have a physical damage shield in Bone Armor, all the rest in Vitality to primarily help with elemental attacks, 0 Energy

Build:

20 Bone Spear

20 Bone Prison

20 Bone Wall (Bone Prison and Bone Wall also synergize with bone armor which is why these two synergies take priority, they will help a lot with survival)

1 Fire Golem (optional for early on, Clay Golem is a less expensive skill with a lower mana cost and comparable health on hell difficulty)

1 Amplify

1 Confuse 

1 Bone Armor

5-10 Corpse Explosion is enough for this build (very powerful spell with amplify curse)

Remaining points in bone spirit or teeth (the final synergies you should max for Bone Spear)

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3. Whirlwind Barbarian

 

Whirlwind barbarians have high health, fast attack speed, can survive very well with life leech, and dish out great damage in 8 player mode with crushing blow.

Recommendation: Whirlwind Barbarian

Stats: Enough strength for gear, 0 Dexterity (attack rating will be from Angelic's ring/amulet), all other points in Vitality

Build:

20 Whirlwind

20 Battle Orders

20 Weapon Mastery

Enough Natural Resist to top off your resists 5-7 should be enough

1 Increased Speed

1 Iron Skin

1 Berserk

All remaining points in Shout

Life leech, mana leech and crushing blow go a long way on this character. I recommend all three as they will increase your damage, keep you alive with a 2 hand weapon, and keep your mana pool high.

 

4. Blizzard Sorceress (BlizzSorc)

 

The best sorceress for hardcore comes with the ability to freeze mobs and dish out a great deal of damage.

Recommendation: Blizzard Sorceress

Stats: Enough Strength for gear, enough Dexterity for 75% block with a shield like Whitstan's Guard, all other points in Vitality, 0 Energy

Build:

20 Blizzard

20 Glacial Spike

1 Teleport

1 Shiver Armor

1 Static

1 Telekenesis

1 Warmth

All remaining points in Blizzard's synergies

A few points is enough in Cold Mastery (Cold Mastery is only more effective against mobs with higher resistances and not every mob has high cold resistance in hell difficulty)

Most cold immunes can be ignored and teleported past. For the cold immunes that just have to go down, teleport on top of them, static to 50% health and then Telekinesis to stun while your mercenary finishes them off. A might mercenary with a high damage weapon for the tough cold immunes works quite well. Faster cast rate is also very important for teleporting through mobs. Defense is surprisingly helpful so that the mobs miss you while teleporting through them with the added defense bonus you get from Shiver Armor. 

 

5. Werebear Fireclaw Druid

 

Without high plus skills hurricane Druids damage is a little low compared to a Fireclaw Druid. This character is capable of the fastest attack speed in the game. Add in crushing blow and this character can kill high health mobs and bosses extremely quickly. Not to mention a huge life pool to go with the damage.

Recommendation: Werebear Fireclaw Druid

Stats: Enough Strength for gear, 136 dexterity to meet the requirement for a phase blade and for moderate block. This is because Werebear Druids have a very slow block rate, all the rest in Vitality, 0 in Energy

Build:

20 Fireclaw

10-15 Lycanthropy (this should be enough for you to feel safe with the Werebear duration and the life increase it gives you)

1 Grizzly

1 Heart of the wolverine (optional for dealing with fire immunes and will be increased with all your +skills)

1 Oak Sage (Oak Sage dies frequently dropping your health. Lycanthropy is a better choice for a health buff)

All remaining points in Fireclaw synergies (not Armageddon because it doesn't do enough damage for the amount of skill points it requires to unlock it)

 

Consider using items with Crushing Blow. With a 6 socket phase blade and the fastest attack speed in the game, it will help with tough fire immunes and is very helpful for fights like act 5 Baal's minion's and Ancients. You can also switch into crushing blow gear for the more difficult fights.

 

6. Concentrate Barbarian

 

This barbarian is great at survival. Concentration has a huge defense buff from your main attack that stacks with Shout's defense buff. Battle Orders synergizes with Concentrate giving you a huge life bonus adding to both your damage and health.

Recommendation: Concentrate Barbarian

Stats: Enough Strength for gear, 0 Dexterity (attack rating will be from Angelic's ring/amulet), all other points in Vitality, 0 in Energy

Build:

20 Concentrate

20 Battle Orders

20 Mastery

Enough Natural Resist to top off your resists 5-7 is healthy

1 Increased Speed

1 Iron Skin

1 Berserk

1 Battle Cry (huge damage reduction and defense decrease for mobs around you, a very over-looked skill for Concentrate Barbarians)

Shout gets all remaining points

You'll be doing enough damage with a 2 hand weapon without the last damage synergy which is only half the damage increase of Battle Orders. Defense will go a long way when Concentrate adds about 300% defense onto your attack.

 

7. Blessed Hammer Paladin (Hammerdin)

 

Blessed Hammer Paladins do the most damage of any character type and yet can still be challenging characters to complete hardcore in single player. A favorite of many and the most powerful damage dealing class in the game.

Recommendation: Blessed Hammer Paladin

Stats: Enough Strength for gear, enough dexterity for 75% block, all other points in Vitality, 0 Energy

Build:

20 Blessed Hammer

20 Concentrate

20 Vigor

16 Holy Shield (with plus skills. At level 16 Holy Shield the next 4 levels do not offer any additional block)

1 Redemption (optional, a great skill to have and use)

Remaining points go in Blessed Aim as a synergy to Blessed Hammer

After 10 points in Blessed Hammer, Concentrate and Vigor take priority with points. Five points in Holy Shield early on is recommended in early levels. Blessed Hammer Paladins have great mobility with the speed from vigor and the burst of speed in charge.

 

Gearing Guide

Once you have completed the game you can go for the rare rune words that are difficult to find in single player. Here is a place to start...

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Weapon:

Will vary based on character and class

Trap Assassin - 3 to Traps Claw, On switch 2x 3 to Shadow Mastery (optionally for online play Call to Arms on switch)

Bonespear Necromancer - 3 to Bone Spear White Runeword

Blizzard Sorceress - Wizardspike or Oculus  (for online play Heart of the Oak)

Werebear Fireclaw Druid - 6 Shael Phase Blade and a physical weapon on switch or for online play Grief can be your main weapon with points in Werebear which will give you more physical damage against fire immunes and an added defensive buff

Blessed Hammer Paladin - 2 Paladin skills with 3 to Blessed Hammer scepter or Wizardspike (online play Heart of the Oak)

Other classes will vary

 

Shield:

All classes (except Paladin) - Whitstan's Guard (highest block shield in the game going well above the shown 75% it shows on the shield's description) or a high all resistance shield like Moser's Blessed Circle (which can be up'd for a higher block percentage)

If your build requires very high strength you can also use Stormshield for damage reduction

Paladin - Herald of Zakarum or Exile Runeword

 

Amulet:

2 Hand Melee Builds - use Angelic Amulet and Angelic Ring for a massive attack rating bonus OR Metalgrid and Ravenfrost for attack rating

For all other builds - Mara's Kaleidoscope is recommended but it's a rare find. Look for amulets with high resistances, plus skills, high health, and if you need it life leech and/or mana leech

 

Rings:

2 hand users - 1 Angelic ring for the attack rating bonus when paired with Angelic amulet or Ravenfrost with the Metalgrid amulet

For all other builds - elemental absorb rings like Ravenfrost or Dwarf Star or rings with high health and life and/or mana leech

 

Helm:

Melee- Arreat's Face, Jalal's Mane, Vampire Gaze, or Harlequin Crest (Shako)

Caster- Harlequin Crest (Shako), all resist and/or damage reduction helms

 

Armor:

Smoke Runeword for the high elemental resistances or Vipermagi for the +skill, resistances, and faster cast rate

Shaftstop is great for the 30% physical damage reduction and health if you can use a high resistance shield like Moser's Blessed Circle

In multiplayer you will generally want to use Fortitude, Chains of Honor, Enigma, or Shaftstop

 

Belt:

String of Ears, Verdungos, Thundergod's Vigor if you need high strength, or an inexpensive high resistance and health belt

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Gloves:

Increased attack speed gloves or leech gloves like Dracul's, faster cast rate gloves, plus to skill trees gloves, or resistance and magic find gloves

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Feet:

All resistance, run walk, magic find, and/or crushing blow boots

 

Mercenaries:

Act 2 Mercenaries are recommended for every hardcore build. For act 2 mercenaries use the following equipment in single player:

 

Helm: Tal-Rasha's Helm, Vampire Gaze, Andariel's Visage, or any life leech, damage reduction, and/or all resistance helmet

Weapon: Honor Runeword is an inexpensive option, Blackleech Blade is also inexpensive and gives the Weaken curse, Hone Sundan has high crushing blow, Reaper's Toll has the Decrepify curse, or you can optionally use any found elite polearm or spear. Life leech, high damage, curses, and crushing blow take priority. In multiplayer your mercenary can use the Insight Runeword for a low rune cost which gives a mana regeneration aura, Blackleech Blade which gives the Weaken curse, Infinity for the Conviction aura which lowers the resistances of enemies, Reaper's Toll for the Decrepify curse, or Pride for its Concentrate Aura which increases your physical damage at a very high rune cost

Armor: Shaftstop, Duriel's Shell, Treachery, or Eth Bugged Fortitude

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Tips:

1. Act bosses target the character or npc who is closest to them. This means if your mercenary can't survive Mephisto, you can move closer to the boss than your mercenary and he will target you instead.

 

2. Baal's Act 5 minions can be skipped which is great for magic find runs. Simply lead them a short ways out of Baal's room and then run back to the portal that Baal enters to skip them.

 

3. If you become overwhelmed by Baal's minions in Act 5, consider taking them to the side of the room and using the poles to let just a few through to single them out while your mercenary is tanking them. This will also take you out of range of Baal's Decrepify curse.

 

4. Antidote Potions and Thawing Potions not only cure poison and chill, they also have the added effect of raising your poison or cold resist by 50 and your maximum poison or cold resist by 10 for a medium duration. This works great for Andariel, Radament, The Summoner, Duriel, and Act2 Baal's Minions and also works for your mercenary.

 

5. Baal summons a copy of himself which makes him much more difficult to defeat. The copy of Baal has a chance at disappearing when you go to town with a town portal and then return to the Worldstone Chamber.

 

6. Mephisto can be easily killed by bringing him to the river and teleporting to the other side of the river. He will stand defenseless at the right range allowing you to easily unload your abilities on him without risk of dying. This is great for repeat magic find runs.

 

7. Some of the best items in hardcore are bought from vendors. The merchants commonly have some very useful items when you know where to find them. Merchants items include: 3 to warcry weapons, 3 to trap skills claws, 3 to shadow mastery claws, 100 health belts with a resistance, gloves and boots with magic find and a resistance, a +3 to Bone Spear wand to make White Runeword out of by cycling Drognan in Act 2 Normal, or even a strong Cruel weapon with a strong second modifier. To find these items all you will need to do is reset the merchants inventory by leaving town and re-entering. A three socketed flail purchased from Fara in Act 2 socketed with 3 Orts makes an excellent weapon early in the game. The Rals can be found from normal Countess runs and 3 Rals combined in the Horadric Cube makes an Ort. Resistance/magic find gloves and boots are available and semi-common from Elzix as early as Act 2 Normal. Also a good starting weapon near the beginning of the game is a 2-3 socketed chipped gem scepter. The base for it can be purchased from Akara in Act 1.

 

8. Eight player hardcore on single player adds difficulty if you ever feel like you want to add to the challenge. Strong survival builds are needed for a more difficult version of Diablo 2. Whirlwind Barbarians, Fury Druids, and Fireclaw Druids are highly recommended with high crushing blow when playing on the 8 player setting.